recording lab lectures onto laptop

Therog,

I have a different perspective on this from Fluke and I'd like to share it as an alternative viewpoint, not as a contradiction to his.

I use demanding multitrack audio recording software, specifically Sonar 1 originally and now Sonar 4, on my desktop Pentium 3 computer. I got an Inspiron 1100 last year with a lowly Celeron processor to do some undemanding midi playback in performance. Since Sonar is one of the programs I use for midi I loaded it into the machine and naturally started using the 1100 for audio applications. I've been amazed at how well it does considering what it is. I'll spare you the details, but I consider it to be the equal of my P3 desktop.

Based on my experience with the 1100, I'd say that you don't need anything more than the most basic machine to record in a simple mono or stereo format. That task was well within the means of machines years ago and is certainly no feat for any modern computer. But Fluke makes a good point re weight and battery usage considerations which might rule out the basic Celeron Inspiron.

As far as RAM memory, the 1100 came with 256 MB and it worked fine with that amount even though I later added 512 more.

Hard drive size: 10 hours of a standard mono audio file takes up 9 GB of space or 18GB if stereo. However lectures can be saved in very compressed formats without compromising quality very much. I think one could squeeze about 100 hours into 1 GB (about 200kB per minute). When the material is saved onto cd media then the disk space is recovered so I wouldn't worry about drive size. Of course one should always get as large and fast a drive as possible.

As far as software, a Dell comes with 2 basic recorders: Musicmatch Jukebox and Windows Sound Recorder (which requires some reconfiguration to be useful). These are not the best choices in your brother's situation because the recordings of lectures he makes are going to contain a lot of silences and dead time he will want to get rid of, and perhaps he will want to reorganize the information in different ways. To perform these tasks he needs editing software. The GoldWave that Fluke cited is an example. It is a shareware program that costs $40something. A free one is called Audacity. I would recommend anything from Cakewalk because they have pro quality intuitive interfaces that are powerful and very easy to use. If Dell offers an audio editor I'm not aware of it.

I'm not familiar with Fluke's recommended microphone but it seems like a good choice. The main thing about a lecture mic is not its overall quality but rather how sensitive. It is going to have to pick up a voice perhaps on the other side of the room. Doesn't matter how good it is if it can't do that task.

Finally I have to throw in my 2 cents worth. Because of weight, battery, and general complications that could arise with both hardware and software, I'd say leave the laptop in the dorm and take a shirt pocket lecture recorder or mini disc recorder to the classroom. Just easier and might save a lot of grief. I say this as someone who has recorded with all the different types of equipment starting with an Akai reel to reel deck and everything since then and who loves computer recording above them all. But I would use a computer as a utility recorder only if I had to have the computer along with me anyway and felt it was worth the hassle of using and the risk of damaging. Just my 2 cents.

Jim

An erudite response, jimco!

I generally do a bit more with the laptop (it is, in essence, my office), so the demands that I place on the machine are high - hence my preference towards heavier duty processors.