Tablet for Kontakt including Galaxy Vintage D?

[kwyn]

I want to keep it affordable but also have acceptable latency. It needs enough storage for Vintage D and some other NI libraries. Scarbee keys and some Kontakt factory sounds.

 

Surface Pro seems extremely expensive. Any ideas?

[ElmerJFudd]

Right off the bat, I would suggest a Surface Pro 3 or 2 if the 4 is too expensive.

 

The reason why the Surface Pros are more expensive is because they're slim like a tablet but sport a proper mobile processor. Surface Pro 4 has a 6th Gen Intel® Core i3, i5, or i7. Plus it comes with your choice of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD drives and 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of RAM.

 

For all intensive purposes it's a proper computer that can handle all sorts of computing tasks - it's designed for content/media creation, not just consumption.

 

Piano sample libraries have gotten pretty big of late (5gb and up). So the larger the SSD you can afford the better and 4gb of RAM would be minimal if you intend to run a VST host multiple VSTs and FX simultaneously. I'm thinking 8gb would be preferable.

 

Processor wise, you want a proper 4th-6th generation Intel Core Mobile processor (look for marketing words, "Haswell, Broadwell, or Skylake" and "i3, i5 or i7"). Not Atom. And it has to run Windows 7, 8 or 10. Not Windows RT or Chrome OS or something.

 

Here's a good place to start your search:

 

PC Mag Best Windows Tablets of 2016

 

Best Tablets of 2016 - PC Advisor

 

[kwyn]

Would an i3 with 8GB RAm cut it?

 

I guess the RAM should be sufficient, but I only have experience with my i7 laptop.

[ElmerJFudd]

Yeah, an i3 with 8gb of RAM will cut it.

 

Using NI Kontakt 5 as as an example,

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit), Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2

 

4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended for large KONTAKT Instruments)

 

1gb of free disk space.

[Noah DC]

I managed to pick up a Surface Pro 2 (4 GB RAM, 64 gig storage) for $200 on craigslist and have had no problems running VB3, Pianoteq, AcoustiSamples Wurlie, and a few Kontact factor sounds. Granted, Wurlie is the only larger-sized VST in that mix, but I've been impressed with how simple the setup has been. It's my impression that the used and refurbished market is fairly swamped with older model Surface Pros in good shape so I'd take a look there.

[Reezekeys]

Considering I used to run a laptop rig with multiple sample-streaming virtual instruments on a 2007 MacBook Pro with a 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, using one of the two cores, at a 128 sample buffer setting, I would be surprised to hear of any issues at all with any of the Surface Pros.

[Baldwin Funster]

I've got a tablet with an ATOM z8300 running reaper , vb3, Dexed and various other synthedit freebees. It's 32 bit so that might be a problem but I also have a 64 bit mini computer, also an ATOM Z8300 running the same stuff. Definitely needs to be dialed in but has been pretty reliable lately.

[kwyn]

Bought a surface pro 2 on Craigslist. 128gig i5 with 4 gigs ram. Runs vintage d and studio drummer without a hitch inside Reaper. This old tablet is very impressive. Got it for $275 too