Sound Blaster Extigy for laptop???

[MWink]

I was wondering how a Sound Blaster Extigy would be for a laptop? I'm getting a Dell Inspiron 8200 and I would like some good sound. I use Santa Cruz's in my desktops and I really REALLY like the graphical eq and the reverb settings. I also want good MIDI. I don't need it for games (I can use the onboard sound for that) but I would like good music. Would the Extigy work. I can get it for $120 (actually it's more like $80 from my perspective). Is it worth a try?

 

[Atrail]

Yes the Extigy will work, but it is not worth it IMO. The factory installed sound is pretty good.
I don't know where you are going to be using your laptop most of the time.
But you are already going to lugging around a hefty laptop, power cord AC/DC converter, network cable, maybe a USB mouse, headphones, and add to that the Extigy device is one more thing to lug around. It all adds up and I don't think you'd be happy with your purchase in the end.
I have an 8100 BTW.

 

[lung]

While I agree with what Atrail is saying, my friend just bought an Extigy for his laptop and it seriously kicks ass. Great sound finally comes to laptops, but at the price of all the extra gear to carry around. Going along with what Atrail said, it all comes down to where and how you are planning on using the laptop/Extigy combo. My friend uses it for DJ gigs as well as for watching movies or playing games when he is on business trips.

 

[hans007]

wow people actually carry the extigy around? crazy.


i figured you'd just put it on a usb hub at home with all your other stuff. and unhook the usb hub when you are on the go and just use the internal stuff. i mean its a desktop replacement so when you are using it at home with an extigy it'd be like afull desktop

 

[BD231]

A friend of mine has it setup and it works fine, but it's not very portable IMO.

 

[bacillus]

<< it works fine, but it's not very portable IMO. >>

 

[NeilPeart]

Although this may sound semi-off-topic, I have found a great use for the Extigy. I was looking at a decent sound system to accompany my new DVD player. While I would never use an Extigy as a computer component (the USB 1.1 interface limits the device's capability, IMHO), I learned that it supports digital speaker output, which are featured on all new Creative speakers. $150 for a very decent Dolby Digital "receiver" is a very affordable price. While it doesn't include a tuner or decode DTS, it will serve my needs well. Now it was time to find great speakers at a great price. After reading many reviews comparing the new Cambridge Soundworks 510D (such as the in-depth one @ www.3dsoundsurge.com) to other great systems such as the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1, I became very intrigued. However, I encountered a poor experienced from my old Cambridge speakers (DTT2500), and my Klipsch 2.1s sound amazing, so I was hesitant to believe the many positive reviews of the 510D. I decided to listen to it myself at my local Fry's, and after a thorough listening, the 510D emerged as the best multi-speaker set I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I decided to buy the entire package, for a total of about $500 (150 for Extigy and 350 for 510D), which is a great deal for such a high quality speaker/receiver combo. The package now fills my living room with beautiful sound, and I saved a bundle building it. I only wish Creative released drivers and soundcards with such excellence as the 510D demonstrates.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Extigy owner (sadly) here...and if you want my $.02, don't buy unless you REALLLLLLYYYY want more sound out of your lappy. The ONLY reason I bot the piece of sh!t was to use the spdif in. And that doesn't even work right. Plus, CL basically lied about it's specs and abilities The extigy is far from portable, crashes my system all the time, and is a pain in the ass to install if you want JUST the drivers. Sure, if you want to do a full CL install just pop the disk in, but I hate all the crap that Suck Labs loads up. Think about it, when are you gonna travel with your laptop and carry the extigy, it's power supply, your speakers and their power supply and all the extra hook up wires? Do yourself a favor, blow the $120 else where.
j
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