i need to buy a new computer. it will be exclusively for music composition (basically using cubase sx2 or sx3, midi and virtual instruments, and audio recording of instruments and voice). i would prefer a laptop/notebook (for ease of portability) but am not sure of its ability in my price range. dell has 1.6 ghz with 512 ddr using win xp. any musicians out there who can refer some decent specs? or, should i just stick with desktops.

For multitracking you are going to want a desktop system. The spec for laptops just aren't going to give you the performance you require. Once you start adding together several tracks of audio recording (MIDI won't matter, those are very small amounts of data) you are going to notice your laptop hard drive just can't keep up.

I agree, for the purpose you will be using for, i would opt for a desktop. You will not find a laptop that will have enough power and that will suit all of your needs.

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A Powerbook would... I edit video / Photoshop on mine quite a bit. 7200RPM 100gb internal + firewire 400/800 (mines 400) externals.

I record through a mixer all the time. Encode too. I also use cooledit on my PC. Powerbook goes places though.

Depends on yur desire for portability I guess...
2nd gen macbook pros will be ass kicking.

754 3700+ @ 255x10 HTx4
ASUS K8Ne Deluxe
2GB PQI DDR3200 @ 215mhz
Nvidia 6600GT
Ultra 500w x-connect PSU

Editing video and Photoshop do not require real time performance the way a multitrack audio program would. I would be hard pressed to beleive a Powerbook would handle 10 to 16 tracks at once without hiccuping occaisionaly. How many have you tried?

Cool Edit is nice but it doesn't run on a Mac. The nice thing about Cool Edit is it does allow you to do background mixing during playback but you still are going to have issues while recording.

Decent processor (1.67) & fast HDD (7200) + lotsa RAM + firewire drive + ProTools & Garage Band + powerbook + small mixer is all I do with it-- it's just for fun.

It doesn't sound like he's setting up a 64 track digital recording studio either... sounds more like single tracks brought into multi tracker + loops, levels & effects. I'm totally guessing, but that's what most people I know do.

Really I only use Cool Edit (now Audition) to edit audio being placed in video projects. Premeire Pro has an audio editor, but Cool Edit blows it away, + I'm familiar with it because PC used to be my messing with music platform.

The macbook is G5 speed with 7200RPM SATA HDD-- fast as a current desktop. 2nd generation are gonna be the ones though...

All I was saying is, it depends how important portability is to you. If it's a must, I'd go power/macbook over a Toshiba (have one too)/Dell anyday. If you're setting up a serious studio, you're probably not considering a Gateway laptop anyway.

I'm a fan of both platforms as desktops. Look at my gear--

Video is my thing, and I'm currently using a dual 19" AMD64 3700+ 2GB Ram PC with Premiere Pro and I'm happy with it as well. Not really biased platform wise, but I can tell you my next purchase will be a MacTel Tower (G6 equiv?) running FinalCut. Mostly because of FinalCut.

This OC'd 3700+ won't be going anywhere though. It's killer, and I do alot of freelance design work so I need Windows in my life too. Did I mention it's fast? lol.

754 3700+ @ 255x10 HTx4
ASUS K8Ne Deluxe
2GB PQI DDR3200 @ 215mhz
Nvidia 6600GT
Ultra 500w x-connect PSU

Laptops today ARE EVERY BIT AS POWERFUL as desktops, and in some cases even more powerful. In fact, laptop technology is beginning to creep into desktops.... a flat panel is a good example.

You can even get full desktop grade video cards in a laptop.

The only disadvantage still in laptops today is the lack of upgrade ability, so if you are going to get a laptop, go for broke so that you don't get stuck with something that you will outgrow.

It's simply a question of whether you care about lugging around a computer case and monitor to wherever you are jamming/recording. I would say "no". There are plenty of laptops out there that are quite capable of processing large audio files. Go for at least a P4 with 1G of RAM. Be prepared to spend about 1000 dollars. Don't forget a DAT unless you already have one.