I didn't think about Sony, I refuse to look at those too. Sony is the outfit that put a root kit on their music CD's a few years ago. yes , I agree with it.
The equipment you use should be considered when using the application(s) you need.
I.e. I have an IBM T42. It's an older laptop with a single core.
But I was planning on using that because it works well with Cakewalk Sonar 6 which is not software intensive.
BUT if you are planning on using Sonar X1 (current version>?), you better have a current dual core machine with matching sound card and new O/S because that's what it takes to make it run like it's supposed to.
(Know what apps you want to use and work backwards making sure your system can handle the resource load)
PS: The latest version of Sonar is not to my liking and it's not as fond of a new computer as you'd think it would be.
