entertainment lap top?

hi guys, my old HP 2630ea came to an end the other day and i need to replace it. it ran windows vista and windows media centre which was great running through my hi fi and telly.
now i need to replace it with another media based lap top and the nearest thing in the HP range is the HP DM4

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/651249/HP-DV6-3085/tab/specification

What do you guys think? would it be better to build an entertainment based lap top?
In terms of sound quality do different sound cards perform differently or is it all down to the amp?

Any thoughts?

 

I don't use my laptop for music at the moment but have read the best thing is to add a dac and not bother with in internal soundcard which will most probably be crap.

jim.

 

thanks jim , i have also read this but if i were to use a digital amp surely a DAC would not be needed?
i have also read that a good sound processor with good sampling rate is essential and on most lap tops this information usually isnt included in the spec.
perhaps i should be looking at media servers and perhaps even building one?

 

i'm no expert on servers but the likes of the Slim Devices and others, a dac has proved beneficial. Obviously they have dacs themselves its just up to you whether you need to upgrade. You have to consider what size hard drive you need in your laptop unless you go for an external, which are really cheep nowadays.

Jim.

 

If you want to play your music through a computer a desktop/media style pc would be best bet and i would advise that you make sure it has a good psu a laptop just isnt practical for seriously playing music in my opinion. I just dont understand why lots of people at home would want a laptop over a pc as most people just use a for a main computer and dont even move from their desk which a desktop is far better which a laptop really is only designed for portability which in your case you need a desktop/media pc if your serious about playing music a good soundcard like asus essence or running a dac might be your best. Of course it just depends on how much you want to spend.