Dear Independent Music Producers, Artists and Sound Engineers,
I am a sound engineer and an independent artist and I remember the time when I was searching for affordable laptops for music production.
I was not lucky enough to find a good list of laptops like this one, but you guys are lucky J
Most of the DAWs that we guys use can work flawlessly on these 10 Cheap Laptops.
As a brother and a guru, I will suggest new musicians grab a normal laptop from this list so that you can save some bucks and later spend those savings on your music promotion.
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Everyone in the music industry knows that a laptop with the heavy specification is essential for producing good music and all laptops cannot do that effectively.
Digital audio workouts require powered and high-end hardware to operate, that’s why you may have noticed that most musicians like to use MacBook for this purpose.
Please don’t worry!
This list includes those laptops that will cater to all of your music production needs and that too – on a budget!
Let’s dive right in…
In This Article
New Apple MacBook Pro
When we think of Apple’s name, the bell rings in our mind about the exceptional performance of their gadgets. Simply put, Apple alone has left Dell, Acer, and HP behind in the performance field. MacBook Pro is a praiseworthy thing. At the moment, the MacBook is the best and leading laptop in the market for Music Production.
You may be wondering why this review started with the Apple MacBook Pro laptop?
Because it is slim and compact?
Or due to its beauty?
But can these skins make it great for music production?
Not at all.
Apple’s fast 7th generation 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel i5 processor and DDR4 RAM make this laptop ideal for music production. They combine and make this laptop so fast that it runs multiple software suites at once without sticking anywhere.
It has the ability to create, edit and record music without facing any delay due to rendering issues. Another great feature that makes it so unique is its battery with a backup time of 10 hours.
With this remarkable battery, Apple MacBook Pro is the perfect choice for a good music composer or a DJ and newcomers in the field who are learning right now.
Asus Zenbook 13 UX331FA-AS5
Next on this list is Asus Zenbook 13 UX331FA-AS5.1 Asus appears to be one of the leading brands which are renowned for making good laptops.
In terms of music production with high-quality performance and design, Asus Zenbook 13 UX331FA-AS5 laptop is not far behind from Apple MacBook laptop.
The portability of Asus Zenbook 13 is mind-blowing due to its slim body and less weight. However, we have many more reasons to put it on our top picks.
ZenBook has a 13.3-inch Full HD display with extended 170-degree watching angles that are very useful when you are playing any musical instrument, and you want to watch your DAW screen too.
Another significant progress in its display is the anti-glare coating on its bright screen to save your eyes from the tiredness that may occur due to long recording sessions.
I know how tiresome it is to record so many takes of just one verse. A good laptop like this one can be a life-saver in such cases.
ZenBook 13 is equipped with the most recent and speedy Intel Core i5 1.6 GHz quad-core processor that gives a throttle to your music production job.
Multi-tasking and apps management is a fundamental characteristic for music production laptops and Asus uses the best 8 GB RAM on this laptop. So, no worries my friend!
ACER ASPIRE E15
Acer has built its market by making many good laptops. Just as its latest masterpiece, Aspire 15 laptop is excellent for music production.
For creative work like music production, Acer used 8th generation Intel Core i5 3.4GHz processor in Aspire E15 so that you can efficiently utilize it for artistic works.
Its display contains a 1920 x 1080 widescreen display that makes you able to watch detailed clarity with decent colors.
Aspire E15 has Bluetooth option that connects with your HDMI music instruments easily and provides uninterrupted connectivity between them.
Often, we see that laptops get slow and lazy to work when they save too many files in their memory; for this problem, Asus gives a solution by putting in a Solid State Drive in Aspire 15. This 256 GB SSD helps you save many of your projects without facing the hanging problem.
It has an outstanding battery. Aspire’s battery gives almost 10 hours of power to produce the music that you want.
Finally, you may use DAW and many other apps for music production with the help of its faster Intel core i5 processor.
Acer Predator Helios 300
If you have enough budget to buy the best laptop for your music production, you should have no ambiguity to buy Acer’s latest laptop as it is perfect for your music production.
Predator Helios 300 gives you the full reliability of all necessary specs to accomplish your goal and additionally facilitates you with the latest thermal management system. That way, you get a joyful on-the-go workstation for recording and editing all your music.
Predator Helios is primarily designed to deliver an excellent action for gaming, but also competent to work as a music station. Its display includes a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display that recognizes you with vibrant colors, clearer image, and more spacious angles.
Thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate, this helps to save your valuable time during rendering by boosting the laptop’s refresh rate.
Acer Predator Helios 300 uses the 8th generation super speedy Hexa-Core Intel Core i7-8750H processor to operate your desired DAW or any other audio plugin for music production.
Moreover, 16 GB DDR4 RAM has been taken to facilitate multi-tasking. So you no longer have to worry about hanging or low memory issues while creating your music.
Microsoft Surface Book 2
Microsoft’s Surface series is a masterwork that allows you to convert a laptop into a tablet.
This series has gained a lot of popularity in a short time due to its versatility. Surface Book 2 has not only proven itself perfect for everyday use due to its specs but has also proven itself to be comprehensive for music production.
Microsoft Surface Book 2 is available in two variations according to their sizes 13″ and 15″. You may select as per your budget, but in our view 15″ is highly recommended for music production.
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15” incorporates Intel Quad Core i7 Processor of 8th generation, which is too fast to handle all of your tasks.
With the 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD storage capacities, this is ideal for creative works like video editing and music production.
Despite its two in one style, it has no shortage of ports, including two 3.0 USB ports, one Micro SD port, and one USB-C port that make it easy for you to transfer your music data.
On the whole, Microsoft Surface Book 2 is an ideal choice for DJs and enthusiastic composers who love to create music at any place.
Dell – Inspiron 15.6″ Laptop
If you are interested in buying a decent and low-cost laptop that can offer you good creative music, then Dell Inspiron 15.6″ Laptop would not be a wrong choice. This will give you a sense of ease while you work on your music projects.
In terms of the processor, Inspiron offers the Intel Core i3-7100U Dual-Core 2.4 GHz processor that performs in four ways and makes your computing more accessible.
Thanks to its 8 GB DDR RAM that makes effortless multi-tasking and smooth-running games or video/ audio editing applications. Inspiron 15.6″ Laptop has many connectivity options, including Bluetooth and ports.
Other notable features are MaxxAudio that provides you optimized crystal apparent sound effects while mixing, listening or composing music.
With the help of the latest Intel HD Graphics 620, you will able to create a music visualizer according to your desire and edit HD artworks for your songs and instrumental beats as well.
Moreover, it has a 1TB hard drive to save plenty of music files without being worried about low memory.
MSI GV62 8RD-276 15.6″
Currently, in the list of laptop manufacturing companies, MSI has made an unbeatable place by producing the best laptops for gaming.
As you know that gaming laptops have very powerful features, so they can be used for music production.
This is the reason behind the inclusion of MSI’s latest GV62 8RD-276 laptop in our top ten lists.
GV62 8RD-276 has a set of specs better than many other laptops with around 1000$ budget, which is slightly unbelievable. So it may consider the ideal workstation for low budget music producers.
This laptop is equipped with a high-class Intel Core i7-8750H processor and 16GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM for multi-tasking. You will enjoy multitasking with music.
As it already been mentioned that this laptop is specially made for gaming, so it has NVIDIA GeForce GTX1050TI 4G GDDR5 graphics card for smooth running and makes it compatible with DAWs and DJing as well.
In short, GV62 8RD has everything you are looking for in a laptop for your music production.
Razer Blade 15
The RAZER name may be a bit new for traditional laptop users who are only familiar with laptop brands like DELL, HP, and ACER, but gamers will be well acquainted with this name and its different laptops.
Designed to resemble Apple’s MacBook Pro, Blade 15 is made of all-aluminum, which enhances its beauty.
With a 15.6-inch full HD display as well as a bright screen and the IPS panel for sharpening it, it gives you the real viewing power to analyze the colors with top-class viewing angles.
For those who are concerned with the performance, Blade 15 laptop has an Intel Core i7 Hexa-core processor that, combined with 16GB of DDR4 RAM, gives the best experience of the fastest performance during multi-tasking.
In the field of graphics, all its competing laptops have lagged behind, thanks to Blade 15’s new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. Its 6 GB card is more than suited for gaming but also for music production.
When it comes to communication, Blade 15 has many good communication options such as 01 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C port, 03 ports of USB 3.1, 01 Ethernet port, 01 HDMI and 01 Mini Display port with 01 audio jack of 3.5mm.
HP Jaguar 15.6 Touchscreen
We don’t think there’s any laptop user who doesn’t like touch screen laptops.
Additionally, how amazing would it be if a laptop is on the touch screen and even cheaper?
HP offers its amazing laptop Jaguar 15.6 Touchscreen for you that is available under $600. With its brilliant performance, it is on top choice for music production if you have piles of dollars.
For using HP Jaguar as your workstation for music production, this laptop comes with Intel Core i5-7200U 2.50 GHz up to 3.10 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology of 3MB cache. It looks like the most reliable processor that can stream your music production projects quickly.
Specs don’t end here because they are connected with 8GB DDR4 SDRAM (2 x 4 GB) with 1 TB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm), No longer will your work be interrupted by less storage neither your work speed will reduce during multi-tasking.
It has a dual control 10 finger multi-touch panel with a full-size keyboard. Now you can take advantage of dual control according to your desire and produce music with ease.
Dell i5378-3031GRY-PUS Inspiron
Dell is a trademark, and it is clear that there is no need to be introduced its name in the world of best laptops.
So, last, on this list, we will talk about Dell i5378-3031GRY-PUS Inspiron.
It gives you complete freedom to work on your music production wholeheartedly with the help of its decent 7th Generation Intel Core i3 7100U Processor.
In Dell’s laptop, 4GB DDR4 (2400 MegaHertz) is used to save you from lagging during your essential works.
Moreover, its RAM is extendable so you can extend its RAM up to 16 GB according to your music requirements.
Dell i5378 comes with a new design that gives you more screen by reducing the bezel size around the screen, so you will be able to enjoy a more comprehensive display for your visualizer creation as well.
Overall, Dell i5378 is an attractive and multi-role touch screen laptop that is seamless for your routine tasks, watching movies and creating music, especially when you don’t have more than $500 for spending on buying the laptop for mixing or mastering.
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