Any recommendations on a 2022 Chromebook model that will SMOOTHLY run MuseScore?
I have been using a Google Pixelbook for 3+ years for work and home. I need a new Chromebook and I wondered what people use for MuseScore that will prvide real-time, no-lg playback? My old Pixelbook is a bit laggy on playback, but it is usable. Any tips about your hardware setups would be helpful, too!
I am not so price sensitive, so I was considering the ASUS 14" CX5400 with 16 GB of RAM.
Thanks All!
Comments
I use a Pixelbook Go, which has an 8th gen Intel Core m3 processor. My Surface Pro 6 uses the same processor. Neither give me issues with playback except on extremely large scores with dozens of instruments and/or very large soundfonts loaded. Except - if I am currently live streaming (e.g., for the MuseScore Café), both can stutter on even "medium" sized score. The Surface tends to be a bit worse, especially with Windows 10 (it seems somewhat better with Windows 11).
FWIW, I also have a Lenovo Chromebook Duet running a more lower-powered CPU. To be honest, I don't really have issues with it either but I almost never push this one - I rarely try to play large scores or live stream with it. I will say, it was a bit of a pain getting a build of MuseScore for this since the processor is ARM-based rather than Intel, and there has not been an official ARM build of MuseScore for years. But I was able to create one myself, and eventually another developer (ABL) created an AppImage that I make available here:
https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/education-resources/install-…
It's a bit of unknown whether or not we'll be able to get MuseScore 4 build on ARM, but I'm certainly planning on doing what I can to try. Until that pictures gets more clear, I don't think I can recommend anything ARM-based.
I personally value small, light, and fanless over speed. The CX5 model you mention seems like a great option, although a bit heavy for my taste. If I ever needed to replace my current machine, it would be an extremely strong contender, although I'm hoping to be able to hold out until whatever the next Pixelbook model looks like. I gather Google is developing their own processor for it, which frankly is not a selling point for me as I'm guessing it means more build issues for MuseScore.
In reply to I use a Pixelbook Go, which… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for the detailed musings, Marc! I rarely travel or take my CB anywhere so weight is NBD to me. And I do want something with a bit larger screen than my Pixelbook. Glad to hear the playback is smooth. I am likely overthinking it, but I do like a single top-end device I can keep for years. Whatever I get I'll post back my review in relation to MuseScore. :-)