Buying new laptop for using Musescore - guidance, please
First apologies if this is a tedious question, the wrong forum and a question that has been asked on countless occasions. I am buying a new laptop and want one at the cheaper end of the market. It will be mainly for light use. The two heavier type of activities will be using musescore (usually orchestral compositions) and watching youtube. I suppose I might use it for recording at some point but if that means needing a medium price to expensive laptop I will have to forego that. I have tried internet searches to find guidance on what specifications are required for using Musescore well but didn't find much and couldn't understand a great deal. If you do respond please try and keep thing quite simple. Some people seem to say that a reasonable amount of RAM is important (eg 8GB). Apart from that I didn't manage to get clear guidance. I am thinking that quite a large screen might be good so that I can look at all staves of an orchestral score at the same time without the notes being tiny. Would appreciate any (reasonably simple) guidance.
Comments
I believe that any mid-level laptop can easily support MuseScore. Processor and memory are two important factors but screen size is no less important.
Look for a compromise.
Then consider that the operating system (which you probably can't choose) affects performance if it launches applications in the background.
You will still be able to try a live version of Linux on your old laptop or your new one, it's not a very greedy operating system.
Also see: https://musescore.org/en/node/70361
In reply to I believe that any mid-level… by Shoichi
Thanks, Shoichi. I have seen that going for 8GB RAM takes me above my budget. I don't want to spend more than 350 pounds sterling (450 US dollars). I have been borrowing a laptop to do my Musescore stuff and that laptop only has 4GB RAM and it seems to be working ok. Are there any important benefits of having 8GB? Do you have any specific guidance on processor? Is there a minimum CPU needed?
I've only used Windows as an operating system before. Would Windows 10 cause problems?
In reply to Thanks, Shoichi. I have… by damiengregory7
For minimum requirements see: https://musescore.org/en/download#Minimum-requirements
I myself use a more than ten year old laptop with MuseScore, with an intel i5 processor and 4 GB Ram. And it works fine for me also with orchestral scores.
Only if you need extensions like the MDL (https://musescore.org/en/mdl) or if it's important for you to use several soundfonts inside the sam score (https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files) you'll need more RAM.
I don't also work with an external monitor, but could be maybe useful.
In reply to Thanks, Shoichi. I have… by damiengregory7
I have a couple of Win 10's on which I've been working with Linux Mint. I don't have great needs and I don't have any problems. 4G may be enough if you don't compose orchestral scores of many pages. However you can always divide them into movements and assemble them at the end.
I still use a 32 bit pc (Linux Mint) but unfortunately it doesn't support the latest versions.
Windows works well, but I find it overbearing and its updates are often heavy (and maybe I'm a bit obsessed) ;-)
Consider that many PCs can use a TV as a second screen.
In reply to Thanks, Shoichi. I have… by damiengregory7
For minimum requirements see: https://musescore.org/en/download#Minimum-requirements
I myself use a more than ten year old laptop with MuseScore, with an intel i5 processor and 4 GB Ram. And it works fine for me also with orchestral scores.
Only if you need extensions like the MDL (https://musescore.org/en/mdl) or if it's important for you to use several soundfonts inside the sam score (https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files) you'll need more RAM.
I don't also work with an external monitor, but could be maybe useful.
If Windows 10 is preinstalled, it shouldn't cause any problems AFAIK. Only if you are using an older laptop, it could slow down the speed. But I'm a Linux user ;-).
In reply to Thanks, Shoichi. I have… by damiengregory7
If 350GBP is your max, there is this excellent one at 299GBP (on Amazon, but that's only a suggestion):
Dell Latitude 3340 13.3" Core i3 4005U 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 10 Home 64Bit (Refurbished)
Refurbished, but 1 year warranty!
Latitude laptop are high quality, and you can easily buy an external 21" (or bigger) external screen later on, best of both world: portability AND huge screen ...
There's no such thing as too much ram. But 8 should be plenty. 4, if you must.
Consider a refurbished laptop from a computer store or Amazon.
You didn't say if you already own a computer. If you do, what's wrong with it that you need to replace it?
Good luck seeing an entire page of an orchestral score. My 17 inch screen can't do it well.
You don't need an expensive computer to record.
Don't buy a NEW laptop. Get an ex-corporate one from eBay. 15 to 18“ screen, 8Gb RAM, not a gaming machine but perfectly adequate for well under your budget.
In reply to Don't buy a NEW laptop. Get… by underquark
If the ex-corporate one breaks after 2 weeks, even low that budget is just completely lost ...
I wouldn't buy a laptop without its 2 years warranty
-EDIT- Sorry Underquark, actually your advice is excellent IF it comes with warranty which is does on some site
Buying with 4GB is a bad idea vs 8GB, if you really do so please make sure it is expandable memory so you can put 8 later on.
What will the disk be? SSD or HDD? If HDD any memory swapping will be pain..
So:
8GB + SSD: good
4GB + SSD: +/- ok
8GB + HDD: +/- ok
4GB + HDD: don't
In reply to Buying with 4GB is a bad… by frfancha
Dear Frfancha, Shoichi, Kuwit, Bobjp and Underquark, thanks so much for your guidance. This was really appreciated. In the end I went for a refurbished Dell Latitude E7470 Laptop 14 inch Core i3-6100U 6th Generation Ultrabook 8GB Ram SSD Hard Drive with 128 GB storage & Windows 10 which I got for 320 pounds.
Not huge storage but I don't use that much. Should arrive on Friday. This was the first time that I have ventured into Musescore forumland and I have been impressed.
In reply to Dear Frfancha, Shoichi,… by damiengregory7
storage later you can buy an external disk or save your scores on .com (no limits). 500 scores (*.mscz files) occupy about 50 mega.
Congratulations and enjoy.