Newbie asking about best laptop for Pianoteq

+1 to what sjgcit said. I can add only few things:

* if this computer is only for the piano, consider a large monitor (the size of two letter pages or more, so you can use instead of a music holder) with a small computer such as a zimaboard

* for computers, use the single-thread performance of the page suggested by Modartt in their FAQ, if you want to rank them by CPU horsepower, but keep in mind that any in that list with a reasonable amount of memory (4GB or more) will be more than adequate

* if anything, try to find one which has reviews with EXCELLENT power managements: avoid fans completely if possible while at the same time allowing you to keep "churning" at full throttle rather than going in power-save mode (these are somewhat opposite requirements, so you have to dig a bit)

* in my experience too, Linux is much better than Windows and Mac, since YOU are in control and can fix things if needed (e.g. the CPU reducing its clock speed) rather than relying on MS, Apple or the motherboard manufacturer's drivers

I agree with the 2 in 1 observation, now I'm using an HP x360 with 13" screen. The CPU I have is an Ryzen 7 5800U (but it is an overkill, a 5500U should be more than enough, or an i5). In any case, I trend to buy laptops over specified and keep them several years. I suggest you to look at the generation of te processor, because there have been big improvements these last years. I would aim to Intel i5 12th gen or AMD R5 5th or 6th gen. But i3 or R3 should be enough now, may be not in 4 or 5 years.

Regarding the size of the screen, 17" would be nicer, I also use another 15" laptop and is better to read the music, but I use it on my Kawai MP11. Because the CL35 digital piano is so compact, the screen ends being near my eyes, so 13" is ok. Also, being a small laptop, the fan kicks in from time to time, but it is due to windows stupid tasks we don't ask but they are there (like randomly checking the system for viruses).

It is barely noticeable, but the score can be seen quite well (I just use edge in full screen, and Calibre to organize the files).

On the same piano, I used to have just a monitor and an Odroid N2 which worked flawlessly (and costs less than USD 100, running Linux). But I needed to have a mouse (needed to open the PDF files) and a mini keyboard because at the end of the day, the N2 is a computer and from time to time you need to write something. So I had the USB for MIDI, the HDMI for the screen, the power supply for both screen and PC, it was a little mess of cables, but it was OK and cheap. My current solution is 10X more expensive but easier to work with.

In any case, don't think that a Windows touch device is as good as an Android/iOs/iPadOS device. Windows as touch oriented operating system is terrible, it's a shame to have this operating system on such nice devices as laptops with touch screens! Pianoteq is not very adapted for touch devices either, but in compact mode and zoom at 175%, it is kind of OK.

For occasional use, there is a very good app for Android phones/tablets (I assume there must be one for iPhone too) which pretends to be a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Of course it has all the drawbacks of a phone/tablet keyboard, so you wouldn't use to type your dissertation on it.... But no cables and no additional devices messing up the piano are needed!!!

With some logistics work, something like the N2 could be attached behind the monitor and attached to it with a very short cable tucked there. If one is creative and has the means could even do a 3D printing or wooden box to hide the whole thing, including the power supply. Basically a DIY all-in-one. In that way you will have only two cables: power (to be split between the Odroid and display) and USB (to be used for both MIDI and audio). This is what I am planning to do myself if/when my 12y old all-in-one iMac (on which I am currently running Linux) dies or my playing becomes better for me to require more performance. But definitely no keyboard or mouse, that would be a mess, and for the occasional use the app is great.

As for the processor requirements the best is to make own investigation. With Pianoteq playing on your wf laptop go to the Task Manager and then to Performance. You will see the processor load in realtime. 

If you plan machine dedicated mainly to Pianoteq the conclusion will be clear: even i3 is an overkill.

Recently I built dedicated small computer running on Win11 and powered by low-end Intel Celeron N5105 processor, with Pianoteq the processor load is 30-40%. So, instead on focusing on the processor it is more constructive to think about the user interface. In this vein, with my small processor I am using big and powerful 17" touch display @2560x1440 resolution. Not the smallest issue here is that these components can be ordered from Aliexpress at affordable prices.  And despite what somebody said, Win11 touch is working fine to the extent it has not even come to my mind that there might be problems with it.

Sorry not to have come back sooner, but thank you for your kind replies and some thought provoking suggestions.

I think I will go for a 12th Gen i5 with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, which hits the sweet spot between cost and performance, for me at least.

Having an over-specced machine will be useful if (when...) I try out some other Virtual Pipe Organs which are more resource hungry than Organteq.

Regards,

Jeremy