Cheapest Laptops For Music Production: It used to be that creating music at home to a professional grade costs tens of thousands of dollars. You can now get started for less than $1,000, if not much less, with the appropriate laptop and digital audio workstation. We’ve produced a list of the best budget laptops for music production to make things easier for you, and we think you’ll appreciate what we discovered.
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Best 10 budget laptops for music production
1. HP Business 15.6 Touchscreen
This is a fantastic laptop with a powerful processor, a separate (non-integrated) graphics card, plenty of RAM, a camera, and an HDMI connector. That’s well than enough to run any of our favourite DAWs with plenty of plugins left over, plus its also touchscreen
PROS
a. There’s a large hard disk here.
b. It’s quite powerful for a low-cost PC.
CONS
a. It does not employ a solid-state drive (SSD), which means it will slow down with time.
b. The battery life isn’t very impressive.
2. Acer Aspire 5 Slim
You simply won’t be disappointed with the Acer Aspire 5 Slim for the price; it’ll appeal to the majority of aspiring music producers. It offers a good combination of CPU, SSD storage, and RAM (8GB), and the USB-C interface allows you to easily transfer information back and forth.
PROS
a. A high performer at an unbelievable price for a laptop under $500.
b. At this pricing range, the USB-C connector is a wonderful feature.
CONS
a. The processor is decent but not exceptional, thus it won’t win any speed tests.
b. If you wish to install another hard drive, you’ll need one with a 7mm thickness, which is more costly.
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3. HP Jaguar – 15.6 inches
Another HP touch screen enters our list; it boasts a strong CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 1 TB hard drive. It lacks a dedicated graphics card, but it compensates by providing enhanced Bluetooth capability, which makes wireless instrument use easier.
PROS
a. The touch screen has a 10-finger multi-touch option, which is a first in the industry.
b. When compared to other HP models, it has extremely long battery life.
CONS
a. It still uses a hard disk instead of a solid-state drive.
b. When you’re not creating music, having any separate graphics card limits your possibilities for photo/video editing and games.
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4. ASUS VivoBook Flip 14 Thin and Light 2-in-1 Laptop
If you’re going to be carrying your digital audio workstation (DAW), you’ll be glad to do it on this laptop, which is strong mid-range performance and looks beautiful. The touchscreen is excellent, and the basic spec isn’t bad either; nevertheless, the 256GB SSD may seem restrictive in the long term.
PROS
a. For a feature-packed laptop, this is a good price point.
b. It’s compatible with all of our favourite DAWs.
CONS
a. The touchscreen is functional; however, it is quickly soiled by fingerprints.
b. The SSD is a little on the tiny side, with only 256GB of storage.
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5. Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6
It is pleasantly impressive how efficiently this IdeaPad manages our favourite digital audio workstation, which we attribute to the strong 8GB of RAM and AMD CPU. This model has a dedicated graphics card, the ability to upgrade your RAM, a solid SSD, and numerous Bluetooth ports.
PROS
a. This laptop is well-made and has a good-sized keyboard.
b. At a later time, you can update the RAM to improve performance.
CONS
a. Some customers have complained about problems with Lenovo’s customer service.
b. There is no way to increase the processor’s speed because of the lack of a turbo option.
6. Microsoft Surface Go 10″ Tablet
The Microsoft Surface Go is a terrific option whenever you need something ultra-portable, and the 10″ screen doesn’t seem as little as it sounds. You may customize this laptop’s settings, and the more RAM and SSD you allow, the better it will function.
PROS
a. If you want something “ultra-portable,” this is a great deal.
b. The design is incredible, and the accessories are fantastic as well.
CONS
a. Those peripherals are somewhat costly, especially the keyboard and Bluetooth mouse, which are both necessary.
b. There is just one USB port available.
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7. Dell Inspiron – 15.6 inches
This no-frills Dell Inspiron is an excellent alternative for producing music at home on a budget. It comes with the MaxxAudio system, which provides excellent sound through speakers and headphones. This is great for pairing with some favourite free music applications.
The 1TB hard drive, 8GB of RAM, and 7th Gen Intel Processors are all extremely affordable, albeit the Intel HD Graphics 620 chipset isn’t particularly impressive and won’t handle any video editing.
PROS
a. MaxxAudio is a fantastic audio output option.
b. You will be given a large hard drive to store your files on.
CONS
a. It’s not a solid-state drive, and it’ll wear down at some point.
b. The onboard visuals are a little lacklustre.
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8. Samsung Chromebook 4
Well, one word of caution: most digital audio workstations will not run on a Chromebook. If you wish to utilize this, you’ll have to rely on applications from the Google Play Store (like the stripped-down FL studio) or internet services (like Audiotool).
However, if you don’t mind it, you won’t be able to beat the unbelievably low cost, and you’ll be able to quickly construct simple beats and rhythms.
PROS
a. It’s small and portable, making it ideal for on-the-go use.
b. The price of the laptop is very low
CONS
a. Runs on Chrome OS – the applications you can use is severely limited because of this.
b. According to consumers, Samsung’s customer service is not very excellent at addressing difficulties.
9. ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin & Light Laptop
Boasting an 8GB of RAM, a Quad-Core R7 CPU, an integrated AMD Radeon Graphics Card, and a 512GB SSD, this VivoBook is very amazing. It is quite impressive that despite the low price, they proceeded to include a fingerprint scanner on the laptop, providing the highest level of protection if it is hijacked.
PROS
a. At this price, a large solid-state drive is an excellent addition.
b. In the event of an emergency, the fingerprint reader will protect your files.
CONS
a. The webcam’s resolution is quite modest, at 640×480 pixels.
b. The integrated graphics aren’t great, therefore you won’t be able to play games.
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10. HP 15.6″ HD Touchscreen Laptop Intel Core i3-1005G1 8GB DDR4 RAM 128GB SSD
A further excellent touchscreen is probably not that necessary when using a digital audio workstation, although it could be very useful with other software programs.
The CPU, on the other hand, is a touch lacking, and we feel there are better alternatives on this list with a little more firepower for when you’re at your innovative thinking.
PROS
a. For a laptop, it has excellent interactive and executive options
b. It’s a good size.
CONS
a. The CPU consumes a lot of electricity.
b. The 128GB SSD fails to impress
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Conclusion
Well, this is it, our selections for the best affordable laptops for music production, all of which, except the Chromebook, make using and operating a digital audio workstation at home a pleasure.
Simply said, a good budget laptop for home recording will prioritize power, performance, and speed over all other factors. If you can put aside your aspirations for flashy features and other insignificant-but-cool characteristics, you should be able to create a machine that will suit you well as you begin your journey into music creation.
Spending a little more money gets you a little more performance, and the two items that are most likely to add value are hard drive space (especially SSD capacity) and additional memory (RAM).
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka ACMC, is a Law Student and a Certified Mediator/Conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a Developer with knowledge in HTML, CSS, JS, PHP and React Native. Samuel is bent on changing the legal profession by building Web and Mobile Apps that will make legal research a lot easier.