my original video featuring the best laptops for music production is one of
my most popular videos ever! but those are not cheap laptops. they were
high-end machines. if you're on a tight budget this video is for you.
these are not some recommendations from me gathering specs online. my viewers
have tried and tested these laptops and are getting real results in their
studios. to give you my own first impressions I even checked out these
laptops in person at a local store to give you my take on some features that
you can't tell by checking them out online. these laptops range in price from
$500 to $700 and will run the most popular music production software out
there. let's cover some of the basic specs for popular DAWs. Cubase, Ableton
Live, and other DAWs recommend at least an i5 processor or a multi-core AMD
processor. recommended Ram is 8 GB. the higher processor cores, speed, and
more RAM you get, the better. it translates to smoother performance
especially when running multiple plugins at once. so all the laptops in this
roundup have those minimum specs. and all of these laptops will run all the
popular DAWs including Ableton, FL Studio, Reaper, Reason, Cubase, Studio One, Cakewalk,
and others. I'll put links to get any one of these laptops in the description of
the video. now I'm not gonna get into MacBooks even though I use one myself. the
prices are pretty high so I don't consider them budget laptops. that said a
MacBook Air with similar specs will be a good choice if you want to stick with
Apple. especially if you prefer running Logic or GarageBand. you should also
check out the used market for cheap MacBook Pros - or cheap Windows laptops.
here's some quick information about my audience - the people recommending these
laptops. most of you are Windows users the
majority make Hip Hop and EDM. thanks to everyone who contributed. take the time
to leave a comment for the people who took their time to share their
experience for your benefit. let's get started! at number 5 are laptops by Dell -
the Inspiron and Latitude. Inspiron, Inspiron? Inspirons
start at $600 at BestBuy and include all the specs you need to run the popular
DAWs. in fact at the $700 retail price point you can get an i7 processor for
even better performance. these are excellent budget laptops for the price
and could be the cheapest you can find. check your local stores. the sales on
these laptops are insane! in person the Dell was my least favorite laptop to
look at and handle. it looked and felt dated and wasn't as slick and modern as
the other laptops in this roundup. it kind of reminded me of something a
student would take to college for their term papers. the keyboard was okay but
every other laptop keyboard in this list was better. the trackpad was nothing
special either. you should note that Dell has had issues with their XPS laptops
and audio latency. i've reported that in my last video. i found that people also
reported similar latency issues with Inspiron laptops. if you do find a Dell
laptop that you're interested in buying, Google "DPC latency" to see if anyone is
reporting major issues. I'll link to a good article about DPC latency in the
video description. by the way, if you've got some extra cash laying around,
upgrading to an i7 on any of these laptops in this list will cost you
around $200. but that upgrade seems cheaper with Dell. at number 4 are
laptops by Lenovo. the Lenovo ThinkPad e590 has all the specs you need for your
music studio at $700. if you want the flexible form factor the Yoga model
comes in at around the same price with similar specs. both models have been
recommended by my viewers. I had a hard time finding good deals on Lenovos at
local stores like Best Buy or a Micro Center but on the Lenovo website there
are similarly spec'ed Ideapads that start at $500. I find Lenovo laptops very
business-like but I love their keyboards as does another one of my viewers. they
feel really good quality and very comfortable to type on. another
viewer pointed out that Yoga laptops have good Geekbench scores. in person the
Lenovo ThinkPad was kind of boring but discrete if that's what you like. the
keyboard felt excellent. I actually use this laptop at work and love typing on
it. the trackpad is decent but doesn't compare to my MacBook of course. this is
a well-built laptop and has been dependable in my own experience. now if
you're ready to upgrade to something higher-end, check out my previous video
listing the top laptops for music production. those are a high end which
means more plugins, smoother performance. check it out in a video here. at number 3
is HP. my HP viewers are running FL Studio and Ableton on HP's Pavilion
model laptops. I found the lowest prices on HP laptops online. in fact several
Pavilion models come in just over $500. definitely some of the cheapest laptops
I found. in person the HP Pavillion looks awesome. it looks and feels more
expensive than it is. possibly my favorite form factor in this list. the
keyboard felt excellent and high quality and the touch screen model I tried was
responsive and quick. but the trackpad was my least favorite.
it felt scratchy to the touch. at number 2 is Acer. viewers recommended the
Swift, Aspire, and Nitro models. I couldn't find an Acer laptop under $700 so
they're not the cheapest in this roundup. but viewers really liked them. and for
$30 extra I found a Nitro model which is a gaming laptop by Acer. with the Nitro
you get better graphics and some other bells and whistles. viewers who love Acer
are running Ableton, FL Studio, and Studio One. and they're reporting "no issues!" good
enough for me! in person the Acer Aspire reminded me of
the Lenovo. subtle and businesslike. it felt a little big and bulky. the keyboard
felt great and the trackpad was excellent. probably my favorite trackpad.
The contrast on the screen was a bit off. it may have been the one I was looking at
or maybe the store lights. the Nitro model definitely had that gaming laptop
look. it felt premium and super high quality
but kind of like the aspire it's really big and bulky. maybe even bigger. before
we get to number 1, if you're finding this information useful hit that like
button and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. also leave a comment
below if you have any questions. Alright coming in at number 1, the most
recommended budget laptop, is by Asus .the Asus VivoBook comes in at a very good
price point at around $700. one of my viewers said it "runs like a dream." and
you get everything. the i5 quad core processor, 8 gigabytes of RAM, a 256
gigabytes solid-state drive, and a 15 inch screen. most of my viewers are
running Ableton and FL Studio on their Asus laptops. but with these specs you
can really run anything. I had several other ASUS models recommended by viewers
including the ROG laptops which are more expensive. but the higher-end
Zenbook is only $100 more. I couldn't find an ASUS VivoBook in person. most
stores were selling the Asus ROG laptops which are the higher-end Asus
laptops. they're the ones I recommended in my last video. I did find a couple
small Zenbook laptops by Asus at the store. the Zen books felt really premium
looks really good. the screens were top-notch and the keyboard felt good as
well. by the way I found very few reported DPC latency issues with both
Acer and Asus laptops. maybe that's why they made it to the top two positions!
now listen, if you don't need portability you can save some money and improve the
performance of your studio by getting a desktop computer instead of a laptop.
desktops with similar specs to the laptops on this list are typically
cheaper. so you can even upgrade some options like the processor and RAM.
and it's easier to install upgrades later on a desktop than it is on a
laptop. desktops excel in performance efficiency and cooling which is
important in a quiet studio. so all the laptops in this video are priced
similarly but check the latest prices and models using the links in the video
description. listen if your studio is working you may not need to upgrade at
all. several viewers said they're using an i3 processor with 4 gigabytes of RAM
and are still making music. if you're interested in what I use, I have a 2018
MacBook Pro with an i7 processor and 16 gigabytes of RAM. it's been great for
music production but you know Mac's have their quirks as well. I hope you found
this information useful. if you have a question leave it in the comments below.
make the music you love. and I'll see you guys later.