For recording, I would take a desktop over a laptop any day. I have a laptop though, because I needed the mobility. My laptop is an HP with a 2Ghz AMD Turion 64 processor, 1Gb of ram, and an 80Gb harddrive. I use a PreSonus Firebox firewire soundcard with it, and have no issues at all... so far. That day will come though, as the software becomes more advanced, and my recording skills increase. lol