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Forum: Video Discussion

Topic: Laptop or Hard drives

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hi guys a few questions
1: will virtual dj run ok if the music is stored on the laptop internal hard drive without any problems or is it better to run from an external hard drive same for the karaoke ?
2: would it be better for an external usb 3 hard drive to be mains powered or is it ok to use with usb only power

thanks chipz
 

Posted Fri 15 Jul 16 @ 5:18 pm
 

Posted Fri 15 Jul 16 @ 6:14 pm
I personally use both. I never use the same drive with OS, for music storage. I have a SSD internal for OS, a 1TB internal for storage, and 3 2TB externals on a powered USB hub.
 

Posted Sat 16 Jul 16 @ 5:59 am
I use VDJ with all my music on an internal drive, and I've never had an issue. I just find it way more convenient (and secure, as external drives can get dropped/lost/stolen).

Having said that, I do also have a bunch of external drives which I use to keep backups of my library, database, license and so on.
 

Posted Sat 16 Jul 16 @ 8:32 am
Like Groov, OS and all media on the lappy HD has worked well for me. I maintain a backup lappy with the same configuration, and 3 externals for media and VDJ folder backup.
 

Posted Sat 16 Jul 16 @ 12:12 pm
CannenPRO InfinityMember since 2016
Ideally, you would have them on two separate drives in your computer if you can. Some laptops have an extra place in them to connect a 2nd hard drive. That would be ideal. Then, your music is always with you and access speeds are fast. That makes analyzing your songs quicker. Also, your Operating System (OS) drive can be an SSD and that'll help your computer perform better. Whereas your second hard drive would be slower, but larger.

If you have your music on the same drive as your OS, that works well too, but you risk losing data if your system crashes or hard drive dies. Having a backup drive, external or internal, would be a very good idea. I would say mandatory. But again, you have the faster access for loading songs and analyzing them. One more downside to this one is that laptop hard drives generally are not big enough when you get the laptop. So, you either run out of space or need to buy a new, larger drive and migrate your data over. My laptop came with a 500Gb hard drive. My music collection is larger than that. Some computers come with 1Tb. That will work for a while for a lot of people, but you will get to the point where it's getting full. A full drive will end up slowing the performance of your computer.

If you want your music on an external drive, that's very convenient for hooking it up to another computer for practice, song maintenance, analyzing, or backing up. If you have a USB 3.0 port on your computer (usually it's blue), you'll want to go with that type of hard drive. They are much faster and approaching internal hard drive speeds. If you can only use USB 2.0, access is slower, but it does a good job. The downside to having a USB hard drive is that when it's hooked up to your laptop when you are working, you'll have a cable sticking out. You may find it unsightly. Also, with the cord sticking out, it could get bumped and damaged, the connection can become loose sometimes, or possible USB cord/port problems. Although I haven't experienced cord problems, I have had problems with loose USB ports.

There are positive and negative approaches for all three ways. You have to choose what is best for you and your situation.

Personally, at the moment, I use an external hard drive. When I get a new computer, it'll have an extra hard drive in it. If prices come down, I may decide to just purchase a larger capacity drive for everything. Although, I would dearly miss my SSD. My computer starts now in about 10sec and programs open very quickly.

Hope that helps.
 

Posted Sat 16 Jul 16 @ 6:27 pm
CannenPRO InfinityMember since 2016
You better hurry up and find some wood to beat on!! Them's dangerous words! lol

groovindj wrote :
I use VDJ with all my music on an internal drive, and I've never had an issue. I just find it way more convenient (and secure, as external drives can get dropped/lost/stolen).

Having said that, I do also have a bunch of external drives which I use to keep backups of my library, database, license and so on.


 

Posted Sat 16 Jul 16 @ 6:29 pm
I store my music files (mp3) on the laptop internal hard drive, and I store my karaoke files (MP3+CDG - zipped) and MP4 files on an external 1 terabyte USB hard drive. Everything seems to be working well.
 

Posted Thu 18 Aug 16 @ 2:28 am
Hi,
Just came over from using Serato for a few years. Not happy with it.
So far VDJ 8 has been amazing. My question is, I have all my music on my internal drive. I'd like to load my Karaoke stuff on a separate drive. Will I be able to read both drives at a gig? The internal to DJ and the external to do Karaoke?
Thanks in advance!
Joe
 

Posted Mon 03 Jul 17 @ 10:45 pm
jucenicPRO InfinityMember since 2012
Yes will do, I have 3 External High Drive, (1) For Music, (1) For Videos and (1) for Karaoke
 

Posted Tue 04 Jul 17 @ 1:17 am


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