Hello,
I just ordered a QA403 and was wondering what the minimum specifications for a laptop computer to use with it are.
Thanks,
David
Hi David . I use the QA403 with a Lenovo I3 4G Ram laptop, of modest performance, and Windows 10, and I have never had any problems operating the QA403.
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I also just bought a QA403 and being a Mac user, was curious about what Windows machine I’d need. My messages to QA support took a long time to receive answers. Just as an experiment, I bit the bullet and bought a Lenovo 14W Laptop Gen 2 with 14" screen, AMD 3015e processor (up to 1.20 GHz with 4GB or DDR4 Ram, 64GB eMMC. It was on sale and delivered by Amazon Prime in one day for $187.62. Windows 10 Pro was the OS installed on the new laptop.
You don’t want a machine which is stuck in S Mode like many low priced models since these can only download software from Microsoft and QA software is not available from the MS store.
I have very little experience with Windows since Windows 7 and I was never a power user of that.
While setting up the new laptop I did not give it wifi or internet access in order to prevent it from doing a Windows update (which can take forever on low power machines).
I installed the QA software from a USB stick (downloaded software on my Mac), plugged in my new QA403 and it worked great.
QA support told me they use fan-less mini pc’s which are around $100 on Amazon. They also use touch screens which make things convenient.
I needed a laptop format because I’ll be using the QA403 around my recording studio to verify equipment functionality so it needs a compact footprint and extreme portability.
I will report back again if I find any drawbacks or problems with this Windows PC and QA products but it looks good for a low cost PC.
Wishing everyone good analysis!
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I’d probably want to ensure the USB ports on the laptops you are looking at are sufficient in number and current sourcing capability, along with a decent onboard battery as the QA403 pulls ~4.5W in operation.
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@MarkKing also a macOS user here. Depending on how new your Mac is, you might want to consider virtualised Windows?
I’m running a 15 inch MacBook + Parallels + Windows 10. Works great.
Think you might need a new-ish Mac for this, so not for everyone.
I considered running Windows on Mac hardware but by the time I bought a Windows license and spent time getting it running on a Mac it just seemed like a lot less work to buy the inexpensive PC laptop I detailed in a previous post.
QA support recommended an externally powered USB hub if the laptop can’t handle the power demands. I’ve been running the laptop off the external power supply and it has exhibited no difficulty in my early training and experimenting with the QA403.
It seems like an advantage to be able to run the laptop off its internal battery to absolutely break any electrical ground connections, to provide backup power in the event of power loss and to be able to use it where an AC power connection is not convenient to where the test-rig needs to be positioned (behind the mixing console, in the back of a processing rack, in the amp rack, etc).
My new Windows laptop is strictly for supporting use of QA gadgets. I’m really impressed with the QA403 and my new PC. It’s not going to convert me back to a Windows guy but when I’m running the QA software I can’t see anything else; it is working great for me. Now all I need to do is to learn how to use QA hardware and software efficiently for my needs (but that is a different post :).
Wishing you all happy testing