@ geoffreydean

Welcome to the forum!
We are not exactly a 'sales force' here, but rather a collection of vMix users that have either stumbled upon or converted to this powerful and cost effective software switcher that, in most of our estimations, blows away the competition. But having said that, I would say that most users here have limited or no experience with traditional/professional broadcast hardware switchers or industry "standards" with such things, and therein lies the opportunity to blaze new trails and do things differently, but also vMix works hard at adhering to most of the industry's 'common' practices and thus is still quite appealing to us traditionalists.
So depending on your workflow and specific "needs and wants", will likely determine how well vMix will work for you.
If you are coming from a 'hardware' background, you may have to make some adjustments or additional investments to replicate that with vMix (Control Surface).
If you are open to various solutions and options that vMix offers, then it might very well the perfect product for you.
The nice thing with vMix is that you can test it out for 60 days first and run it through it's paces to see if it meets your needs and/or determine what additional components you may require for your workflow.
I would suggest that vMix is fully capable of accomplishing pretty much whatever you are hoping to do with it from a "live" production standpoint, provided you equip it with the right tools for the job. As a piece of software, I am convinced it is 'Rock Solid', the 'hardware' you pair with it will likely be the "challenge" and this is where the forum can be the most help.
Alternatively, you could choose to invest in a 'turn-key' solution like the vMix Go which is tested and configured to work efficiently, but I think you will find most users here are relying on their own builds and/or purchased systems.
To answer your question about laptops vs desktop or rackmounts, well, yes, many are successfully using laptops, but it's not the fairest of comparisons, a desktop or rackmount is undoubtedly more configurable, customizable, versatile and ultimately can be built to be much more powerful, it's just not as convenient or compact as a laptop, and that is the trade-off.


Ice