I've been using Bidule on a Sony Vaio with 32bit Windows Vista for some years and I'm thinking of getting a new laptop, Windows 7 or 8. I would use it primarily for music, mostly for Bidule, sometimes also for Ableton Live.
The old Vista laptop works fine in principle, with two related problems:
1. I use many 3rd party VST plugins. They all run ok but something about them (their memory management I guess) is often not stable and especially in large setups, this leads to Bidule crashing or hanging when I close Bidule. Sometimes Bidule hangs so bad I have to unplug USB devices to make the process go away. After this, it often takes several attempts to make all the USB devices work correctly again. Of course, this is not something you want to happen in a live situation. Actually it would be nice if I could make several smaller specialized setups and switch between them for different pieces, but that is not reliable enough, so I ended up basically using one HUGE setup that contains everything I might ever need, so I don't have to switch.
2. Of course the big downside of this approach is that many plugins eat up processor power even when I don't need them. Going close to or beyond 100% processor usage happens often. Of course this is also something you don't need in a live situation.
So, a new machine with more power. I don't want Apple machines for several reasons that don't need to be discussed here, so:
- Windows 7 or 8 ?
- 32bit or 64bit? I think most of the plugins I use are 32bit. Is there a downside to using a 64bit Windows and 64bit Bidule anyway?
- What are the technical parameters that would make Bidule most happy?
- My old laptop was heavy. Are there ultrabooks that are fast enough?
- Any recommendations?
1000 thanks
-Michael
