Re: using laptops for music

["Kris Hartung" <khartung@cableone.net>]

You can't typically buy a commerical box at a retail shop. That is the
primary difference from a sales/marketing standpoint. The other is that 
they
don't market commerical boxes to consumers, but to fortune 500
companies...in short, the sales model for commercial PCs is direct from
company to company, not indirect from company to channel partner, to
consumer. Most consumer computer sales, with exception of Dell, occur in a
retail shop, so most consumers unless they are web savvy like you, never
even become aware of a more robust notebook solution. They are too damn
expensive and not as commoditized.

Kris



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Travis Hartnett" <travishartnett@gmail.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: using laptops for music


But what exactly constitutes a "commercial" box?  I'm not seeing this
hard distinction being drawn in their online sales sites.  For things
like kitchen appliances, you go to a restaurant supply store and find
that everything costs way more--like, $300 toasters.  It looks pretty
much like a $30 toaster you buy at Sears, but all the components are
heavier so it can stand up to commericial duty cycles (such as making
500 pieces of toast, every day for years).  It seems to me that a
"commercial" lap top would weigh a couple pounds more and be visibly
bulkier than a consumer unit, the ports would all have rubber gasket
covers to keep water/sand/whatever out, the screen would have some
super scratch resistant coating, etc.

I don't see that in the HP or Thinkpad models that have been
discussed, they just seem to have a faster processor, bigger hard
drive and more ram.  It's like someone's Civic with a bunch of bolt-on
performance parts as opposed to something that's a racing chassis by
design.  And if you say that your consumer grade HP laptop has held up
to all sorts of physical abuse, then it appears that the issue is more
one of performance and not physical ruggedness, which was my concern
when this sub-thread first started, i.e. how well will a laptop hold
up to road conditions, being dropped on the floor, having cable yanked
out by passing strangers, etc.

TravisH

On 10/26/05, Kris Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
> And now
> my personal laptop is starting to crap out and get the "blue screen of
> death."  I'm in trouble, because this is my music notebook...I should 
>have
> taken my wife's advice, and NEVER have bought that consumer model
> notebook...bad, bad, bad...I learned a big lesson.  I should have spent 
>an
> extra grand for a commercial box with an M processor, XP Pro, etc.
>
> Also, regarding your statement below, I might argue with that when it
comes
> to "some" commercial boxes. I have had my work notebook, the NC model, 
>for
> over three years, using it 10-14 hours a day...it is on 24 hours a day.
I've
> taken it on business trips, yanked it around to meeting rooms, dropped it
in
> its bag, worked on the plane where people in front of me jammed their 
>seat
> back into my display, worked in hotels, in bed when my back was hurt,
> etc.....I expect this thing will easily last another two years. You are
> right about the insurance, or what we like to refer to as extended
> warranties in PC land, or Care Packs in HP.  You'll note that with the
> expensive commercial boxes like the HP NC models and IMB models, you 
>often
> get 3 year warranties. This is another reason why enterprise level
companies
> buy these commercial boxes.