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Question

Best way to access home PC and run taxing (music) programs?

Mar 9, 2013 7:33AM PST

Hello All.
So I've gotten pretty used to working on my laptop and running some music production programs. Now I'm going back to a desktop (apparently more stable for audio), but would really like to keep the mobility of a laptop as I spend hours on hours editing music on my bed, couch, at work, etc. My idea is to get the desktop and connect via wifi, or i guess bluetooth when I'm at home, through my old laptop, or (yet to be purchased) notebook or tablet. I understand there are some apps/ programs that will let you do this.

So, my questions, is it realistic to attempt to do this? All the processing is going to be done on the desktop itself right? I do not want any lag, as the poor performace of my laptop is the main reason I'm going back to a desktop. If you think it will work:

-Should I go tablet or laptop?
-Is there any specific hardware I should look for when buying the desktop, laptop or tablet?
-Recommended software?
-Also, it would be a home run if I could connect my portable keyboard via usb to whatever mobile device I will be using, although in this I'm sure there will be some lag in response time.
-My home internet router says 54mbps, I'm not sure how accurate this is though. I would say its above average to very good, depends.
-Thoughts?

Much, much appreciated

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I do not want any lag,
Mar 9, 2013 9:27AM PST

As of today all remote solutions have lag. Sorry but maybe in the future there will be a lag so slight it could be called no lag.
Bob

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reply
Mar 9, 2013 3:58PM PST

Well I expect some lag. I dont even have deep pockets to spend. But is it feasible, will it interrupt my workflow?

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That's not what you wrote above.
Mar 10, 2013 5:18AM PDT

Some folk find the mouse and screen lag disturbing. I've used too many remote apps so for me, as a programmer I understand the lag and don't fret it.

When folk make their specifications known that's nice so others can avoid leading the others down the garden path.

In your case, you should try remote apps like VNC (there are many variations) to see if that is good enough for you. Given the price of VNC then why would you not try it?
Bob

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It depends.
Mar 10, 2013 12:21PM PDT

Thank you for your response. You're right, any lag is not some lag... I can tolerate a lag in response time, but not a randomly intermittent lag, if that makes any sense. Let's say I press play to see how this song sounds, and it skips a few parts of the song... The thing is, I'm buying most of this, and not just the app. Alternative D would be to get a high end laptop, but like I said I would prefer this.

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Now that we are getting more granular.
Mar 10, 2013 9:31PM PDT

This is something we did years ago. That is, launch something on the remote computer. It did not stutter or lag any more than it did as it did when we did this locally. So the remote computer plays the song and that's it.

Maybe you were thinking that the song would play on the local PC?

This is why you should dive in and try VNC.
Bob

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excellent to know.
Mar 11, 2013 1:20PM PDT

I should try to look at more tests like that... I still got to do some more research.