| Professional M3 Added to MusicXPCs Laptop Lineup - As good as it promises? |
 |
 |
|
New from MusicXPC is the Professional M3, a Pentium-based media production Notebook computer specifically designed for audio professionals such as musicians, producers and composers. The Windows-based Professional M3 is a computer specially "tweaked" for media production. The computer is configured from the BIOS up to handle music applications running dozens of audio tracks, effects and virtual instruments. The M3 is designed by Les Bateman, an industry veteran and Hammond B3 ace who has been in the studio business for more than 30 years. The Professional M3 features a 15.4" WXGA wide-angle TFT LCD display and supports resolutions up to 1280 x 800 pixels. It is built around a 2MB cache Intel Pentium M processor running at 1.73 GHz on a 533 MHz front side bus Intel 915GM motherboard. The M3 comes with 512MB of DDR-333 RAM, an 8X DVD-/+RW and an 80GB, 5,400 RPM hard drive. The hard drive has 8MB cache and when combined with the 2MB cache on the processor, results in very fast throughput and high audio track counts. The Professional M3 supports an external VGA monitor and provides Gigabit LAN for fast connectivity. Virtually all popular interfaces, ports and connectors are supported including FireWire, USB 2.0, PC Card Bus, Memory Card Reader, wireless LAN and 56K modem. The Professional M3 features heat-pipe technology which ferries heat away from the CPU without the use of the large noisy fans that usually perform this task. The result is a very quiet notebook that is ideal for music production and recording spaces. http://www.musicxpc.com/products/m3/m3.htm ----- Ok folks, I'm putting my geek hat on here and questioning these folks. It's a pretty machine, even if it isn't a mac, but the specs are a little, shall we say, "Meh"? I've emailed MusicXPC to ask about the special sauce that makes this thing different. Ok, here is the information I've gotten from them so far: The M3 is designed for musicians because of the component choice coupled with our Windows Music Tweak. This results in a computer that runs audio software flawlessly out of the box. Now, I don't know what this Windows Music Tweak really is, but I do know the sound components are, at best, average. MusicXPC uses a Realtek ALC250 chip for providing sound capabilities. It's plenty good for the average user, but provides only 100db S/N ratio, where even Creative Labs portable (USB or PCMCIA) devices provide a much better 102db to 108db S/N ratio. The Realtek chip offers 18bit or 20bit ADC, with the Creative Labs devices offering 24bit. However, the Realtek does offer an interesting Mic preamp, selectable +6/12/20/30dB boost. Is the quality there, though? No sir, unless they can come up with something better, I'd have to suggest you forget about this machine, pick up a Dell, Asus or Acer and add on one of Creative Labs external devices. Afterall, the M3 is $400USD more than a comparably spec'd [this word isn't in my dictionary but I don't feel like changing your syntax to fix it. I will allow your slang go . . . this time -- ed.] Dell Inspiron 6000, so you should be able to use the money you saved to buy one of the Creative Labs offerings. And some beer. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          Add your comment
|
||||
