netbooks and ableton

[bizmuth]

Ok, so I've been running Ableton Live 8 on my netbook for a few months now. The netbook is a Dell Mini 9, 32GB RunCore and 2GB RAM, running OSX 10.5.8. I'm using a Korg NanoKontrol as my mixer. I'm running 4 channels of Clips in Ableton, with a SuperLuper on each channel, no other efx running. I am VERY pleased with the performance, but there is still a hiccup every once in a while.., which is making me a bit hesitant to use the netbook at a gig. It seems that when my clip loops are starting over (Every 16 Bars or so) I get a hiccup in the audio. It's a slight cut-out sound, nothing serious, but it is noticeable and undesirable. I don't get the hiccup when running the same Live Set on my higher-spec iMac, so I'm pretty sure it's a performance issue. I'm going to look into giving the CPU a slight overclock, update the BIOS, and un-install or disable EVERYthing except for Ableton to see if I can get this problem to go away. I'm also constantly tweaking the settings in Ableton too, to see if I can find the perfect balance and make this little netbook run even better, so far I'm just going in circles, but this is definitely a worthwhile venture!

[Shpongler]

Oh, guys. If you plan to use ableton - DO Not buy a Atom-based laptop. A couple of effects on two-three tracks playing - and the sound becomes corrupted. I am distressed - I have bought a tiny nice atom ASUS. It looks fine, but does not work good with ableton. Many-many nights freaking with settings - and still no result- thinking of upgrading for a normal laptop.