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Re: Looping with a PC laptop... which one?

We've been over this ground before.  The last time I suggested a 
rackmounted
desktop PC on this list as an alternative to a laptop I got no love from
anyone.

It's true that if you move a desktop PC around shit inside it comes loose.
Nothing in it is really going to *break*, unless you drop it, but it will
come loose just enough so that shit doesn't work, or works intermittently,
which is no good for something you rely on in a live setting.  However, I
think if you have the time beforehand to open the PC up and re-seat, or 
just
give a checking over to all the cards, power connectors, IDE cables, RAM,
etc. it might be viable.  They make cases now for the PC enthusiast which
are very easy to get open in a hurry.  A rackmount case is going to be more
of a pain, if it's in a rack and there's stuff racked on top of it.

Project idea:  Try building an ATX chassis into a nice aluminum or steel
rack drawer so you can just pull it out and check out the insides whenever
you feel like it.  Also, would look cool on stage if you put case lights in
it and stuff.

I don't know anything about the noise results from lights and ground loops
with laptop vs. desktop.  It seems like that would depend mostly on your
audio interface's breakout box shielding, where it was mounted in your 
rack,
and the condition of the power being supplied to it from the wall.  I would
say that if you're going to take any electronic gear that's worth anything
out into a dingy club and plug it in, buy a good power conditioner/surge
protector so it doesn't get cooked, or go haywire, when someone uses the
microwave in the breakroom, which is on the same 15 amp breaker the club's
light show, and your $8000 rig is on.

If you're poor and you mean it, then drag that desktop computer out with 
its
Megadeth sticker on the side, and that 13" CRT monitor, and show people the
beauty of gutter tech.  I just pulled a monitor off the street this
afternoon.  A kid was hitting it with a crowbar.  I'll sell it to you for
$30.  http://www.neoprimitive.net/jlucas/tmp/Picture%2020.jpg

-J