Emu Extreme Lead

[MBTC]

Just some advice -- avoid laptops for a home studio unless you truly need the portability of it on a regular basis and are willing to pay the premium.

To get the most bang for your buck, you need a desktop-grade chip in a case with proper airflow and thermal handling. Anything less will always be faced with some combination of (a) not performing well enough (b) running hot (c) reduced life span becoming glitch over time as you said (d) high cost of replacement components (e) poor expandability. Maybe not all of those at one time, but they all greatly impact the viability of a laptop or slim profile case of any sort for a home studio.

You need a fast CPU to get the most out of modern soft synths, and fast CPUs require airflow that only desktop cases and cooling mechanisms can provide. Laptops are designed for portability and battery life optimization, not maximum performance.

Sure Mac Pros are nice but they are ridiculously priced. For about a grand you can get a PC that will deliver better performance than the most expensive Mac Pros. Remember Apple makes their money off of hardware -- to survive they have to find ways to keep you buying more of it.