Re: Laptop as field recorder

["Peter Nielsen" earthspectrum]

It occurred to me to use my laptop computer, with external mics
(stereo), as a semi-portable field recorder. One advantage is that by
using something like Spectogram, you can see the both channels on
screen during and after recording.

http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/gram.html

There are also combined oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer programs such as=
:

http://www.sillanumsoft.org/prod01.htm

If it works well, I could purchase a more compact laptop on eBay. Can
anyone who has successfully tried this offer any expert advice?
Recommended hardware setup, best software and control settings, etc.
How do the results compare with other techniques?

I would be using two EM-158 mics mounted on the lid. I don't know if
laptop mic inputs are normally powered.

Peter Nielsen