[Trevor]

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
...
On 4/29/2013 7:23 PM, Trevor wrote:
Good luck finding a new Windows laptop with Firewire though

I don't even have an old Windows laptop with Firewire, but I have one with
a CardBus slot, and a Firewire adapter. But they don't even make laptops
with those slots or the one that replaced it (ExpressCard) any more.

Exactly. I bought my last laptop with an express card slot for that reason,
even if it's just a backup to my Samsung that has built in firewire 6P that
works faultlessly, unlike many others. That's why I chose it of course.


But then why limit your choice to a laptop just because everyone else seems
to nowadays.

Because I need one for recording concerts. In the studio I can use both PCI
and firewire, and USB of course.


If I want a portable multiple recording setup, I'll take my Mackie
HDR24/96 and leave the computer at home.

Your choice. I chose a laptop and MOTU interfaces and have been extremely
happy with the hundreds of live recordings so far.


And for working in the studio, I'd just as soon use the monitor, mouse, and
keyboard of my choice and not pay for the ones on a laptop that I'm not
going to use.

I never use a laptop in the studio either, have far more power in my
desktops.


So what you are forced to do at the
moment is hope your old one doesn't break down, can be fixed, or you can
find a S/H one that does the job.

You've lost me here. What's an S/H?

Sorry, Second Hand, i.e. used, not new.

I think it's going to be a while before they build a motherboard that XP
won't run on,

They already build some with no XP driver support, it will become
increasingly common as time goes by :-(


so I can keep a computer that will work with the discontinued interface and
its drivers. Of course everything breaks eventually, but it's easier to
repair, rebuild, or replace a computer than a multichannel audio interface.

Back to where we started, laptops are not so easy to repair when there is a
mainboard fault! And replacement boards are not always available (and
usually outrageously priced when they are). Hell even desktop motherboards
are not available for most older CPU's, you may have to replace the
motherboard, CPU, RAM and possibly I/O cards if an old computer breaks down,
and then it's the same as buying a new one with the same driver problems! At
least you have more chance of finding a suitable used one though,


And of course hoping to sell you a new unit instead of you using the old
one
makes them happy too.

That's' part of the business model. Some people will buy a new model from
the company because their old one worked so well. Others will swear that
they'll never buy another piece of gear from that company because support
for their old unit has been abandoned.

Right, I make that decision on just how long their support actually lasted
and how good it was. No expensive item is worth it if the performance *and*
support are not both satisfactory IMO. Of course if you never need any
support over a reasonable lifetime, I probably consider that acceptable as
well ;-)

Trevor.