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Hey everyone, I have a question regarding Piano VSTs. I am looking to get a laptop to run my VSTs from, since up until this point I have been using a desktop computer and that is not practical for gigs. I don't have a large budget to work with at the moment, and I was thinking about getting a Chromebook to use for this purpose, as they are relatively cheap and I need something soon. My setup would looking something like this:

• Chromebook: Runs the VST software itself, be it UVI Workstation or Ivory Cantible
• External SSD (500 GB): Holds the VSTs (the ones I usually have on hand are the Kawai EX-Pro, Ravenscroft 275, and Ivory II American Concert D)
• Keyboard (Kawai MP-11): Connected by USB to the Chromebook

Will this setup work? I would of course install ASIO drivers to help reduce latency, but will the Chromebook be able to handle it? Has anyone else had success/failure using a Chromebook to run VSTs? Any information/insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Most chrome books are low-end. Some are very low-end. Limited CPU. Little RAM. No disk ... just some flash storage (like a tablet).

If you can add an external drive/SSD ... then what interface will you use? My wife's chrome book has only USB 2. Not good enough.

Also ... can a chrome book even run VST software?

Why not just get a regular laptop?

I was mainly looking at Chromebooks because of the price. If you know of a laptop that will do the trick for around $300, I'm totally open for suggestions.

Chrome books run the Android operating system. There are no serious piano simulations available for Android.

And as MacMacMac says, Chromebooks won't have enough CPU power.

Intel i5 CPU's are OK for Pianoteq, under Windows. The Atom and similar low-power chips just don't have enough horsepower.

Check the Pianoteq User Forum for latency suggestions. I'll post some links later today.

A low-end laptop will run Pianoteq because it's a lightweight application.
But I don't know of one that will run a sampled VST. Perhaps someone else can comment.

Anyway ... I'm not fond of cheap laptops or chrome books because they're poorly built. They not made to last, and they don't.

If I had only $300 to spend on a laptop, I wouldn't. Cheap home laptops (even at twice your $300 budget) are garbage. I've owned several, and I never will again.

Decent (business) laptops start at nearly $1000. (That's what my wife is now using ... a $1000-ish Lenovo.)

Upon re-reading your original post, I see that you intend to use a laptop for the sake of portability.
So, for travel/gigging purposes I'll double-down: Forget the home laptops. You need the durability of a business laptop.

These are the low-end Intel mobile core processors: i3-7100U, i3-7130U or the newer i3-8130U. Laptops usually run around US$300-600. * Keep in mind, I don't know much about about VST hardware requirements except for Pianoteq.

Stay away from Android for anything related to music production because it has really bad latency, not to mention that you're not going to find good enough music apps. To my knowledge, there's only Ikmultimedia iGrand.

If you're really low on money and don't want to spend above $1000 on a good laptop, your best bet is to buy a used iPad Pro. Ravenscroft for iOS is just as good as the desktop version, also Ivory II German Grand is also available on Korg Module app for iOS and i confirm that it sounds just as good as its desktop counterpart.

Besides, latency on iOS audio is optimized for music apps.

Just a minor clarification, Chromebooks run ChromeOS which is distinct from Android. But some builds of ChromeOS now have the ability to run Android apps, which blurs the lines a bit.
Also, higher end Chromebooks use x86 processors and have 4-8gb RAM, but still don't run traditional x86/Windows apps.

I couldn't stress enough what Mac has said. Durability is essential if you're thinking about gigging. You wouldn't want to look at a laptop that just broke before the gig. For that budget you could look at an older business notebook in the local ads or on ebay (dell latitude, hp probook / elitebook, lenovo thinkpad). Look for a decent CPU (preferably at least an i5 since we're talking about older versions, but not i5-**** u, those are low voltage) with good benchmark scores and even if it's got a few years of usage, it should do OK.
A new laptop in that budget would likely be underpowered, and certainly of very low build quality.

I've been using an HP Elitebook 2760p for the past 2 years. I use it to run all my piano VSTs such as Garritan CFX, TrueKeys, Production Voices, Pianoteq, etc., as well as my synths and orchestral VSTs.

It has an i5 processor, and it typically comes with 4GB to 8GB of RAM, but you can upgrade to 16GB.

There are a lot of them on eBay for less than $200, such as this: HP Elitebook 2760p

I have an external Samsung 850 EVO SSD with my VSTs attached via the eSATA port on the expansion base. The expansion base is optional, but you'll need to get it if you want to connect an external drive via eSATA instead of USB 2 (eSATA allows faster transfer rates than USB 2).

Honestly though, I didn't need a SSD to run most of my piano VSTs. The internal HDD worked fine for me with Garritan CFX, so you may not need an SSD unless you're gonna use something like Production Voices Grand 2 or VSL CFX which has lots of mics. I only got the SSD for my orchestral VSTs.

Here's an expansion base for $17.95: HP Elitebook Expansion Base

Battery life isn't the best (may be about 4 hours or so with the screen on); not sure if that's a problem.

If you need a longer battery life, you can also find a battery expansion for this laptop, but they're a bit rare and pricey.

I just make sure to always leave mine plugged in.


Hope this is helpful!

In looking into this sort of thing …. I ran across this phrase …… 500 HDD RADEON.

I have been away from the industry for a bit …… what is the significance of RADEON ?

That's a 3D video chipset. Not a factor for VSTs.

Thank You