warrenleef2
After 10 years absence from DJing I have been asked to start a night at a friends bar - however over the years I have moved onto Mp3s and stopped collecting vinyl, so this is an ideal time to embrace laptop DJing. After trying a few different software demo's I opted for Virtual DJ (hercules mk2 bundle) as it felt stable and I loved the features. I currently use a Toshiba with intel celron 1.4ghz / 448mb ram but I don't trust it for live gigs - songs take ages to load up etc.
Can any of the more experienced users out there advise me on a rock solid reliable laptop that won't let me down on my opening night? My budget is £1000. - this is urgent as my opening night is 10 days away!!
Any other kit advice would be much appreciated.
Can any of the more experienced users out there advise me on a rock solid reliable laptop that won't let me down on my opening night? My budget is £1000. - this is urgent as my opening night is 10 days away!!
Any other kit advice would be much appreciated.
Posted Thu 09 Nov 06 @ 11:09 pm
socross
I've been using a dell inspiron 9300 for about a year now and it's worked awesome! I've got a 1.2 gig processor, 2 gigs of ram and 100 gigs of hard drive space. I've used it with the mkII, and had no problems.
I'd recommend at least a gig of ram and a core duo processor, and you should be fine. If you're doing video, you'll want to invest in a nicer video card.
I'd recommend at least a gig of ram and a core duo processor, and you should be fine. If you're doing video, you'll want to invest in a nicer video card.
Posted Thu 09 Nov 06 @ 11:46 pm
make sure you get a system that equals or exceeds VDJ sys reqs. Better to get a desktop than a laptop.
Avoid windows media center edition. Recomend at least 1 gig Ram. Put the music on an external drive.
Keep your c: drive empty and uncluttered. Spring for the 2 dvd system recovery discs. when installing everything turn off the firewall and antivirus, and remember to turn 'em back on. Take your advice from DJ's and computer geeks not civilians.
Avoid windows media center edition. Recomend at least 1 gig Ram. Put the music on an external drive.
Keep your c: drive empty and uncluttered. Spring for the 2 dvd system recovery discs. when installing everything turn off the firewall and antivirus, and remember to turn 'em back on. Take your advice from DJ's and computer geeks not civilians.
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 12:57 am
forgot......10 days ??? That's an awfully short timeline......good luck.
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 1:02 am
keep the old laptop for emergency back up. for a thou i don't know if you'll have room for a soundcard,but that could wait.
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 3:29 am
mainedj
It all depends if you need to do video.
If not, you could get a barebones system from tigerdirect.com, which is what my friends does for his DJ pc's. (he has more than 6)
I shop newegg though, so I'm not as familiar with how good they are.
If not, you could get a barebones system from tigerdirect.com, which is what my friends does for his DJ pc's. (he has more than 6)
I shop newegg though, so I'm not as familiar with how good they are.
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 11:45 am
warrenleef2
Thanks to all for the advice - much appreciated.... I am now frantically searching for my new laptop. Can anybody tell me how good the mk2 is as a soundcard as I haven't really pushed it yet ??
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 12:18 pm
sbangs
its a good one for sure its good for recording audio aslo
use it with ableton and protools with it :)
use it with ableton and protools with it :)
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 2:41 pm
metizn
how can you use protools with it? whenever i want to start protools i have to connect digidesign hardware
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 2:55 pm
sbangs
protools free supports non digidesign hardwares:)
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 2:59 pm
warrenleef2
Ok here's the spec of a laptop i'm interested in; compaq v6150ea -- intel core 2 duo t5200/1.6ghz/533mhz fsb/2mb cache/1024 ram/120gb hard drive/ os windows media centre.
Any views on media centre as operating system??
Any views on media centre as operating system??
Posted Fri 10 Nov 06 @ 6:57 pm
i already answered that avoid media center. better to get a desktop. recommend xp professional. i have a good laptop and it has media center, i know what i'm talking about.you can't change or upgrade a laptop and media center has many issues unique to it.....don't put yourself through what i went through.you only have 10 days ? if you make an expensive mistake you'll have to live with it........
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 1:37 pm
warrenleef2
thanks for that - i'll keep looking!!
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 2:10 pm
sbangs
media center os is a horrible system
which doesnt like any non standard devices
which doesnt like any non standard devices
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 2:51 pm
warrenleef2
Ok this goes out to skyfxl & chucknorris..... as time is running out (8 days and counting!!!) and I don't want to rush into a purchase I may regret, I could optimise my desktop to get me through my first few gigs. Here's the spec of my desktop - amd sempron 3100+ / 1.81 ghz / 512 ram / xp home. The pc is a bit cluttered so I would need to remove a lot of surplus junk programs.
What do you think / suggest????
What do you think / suggest????
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 3:21 pm
sbangs
if you clean up that desktop it should be fine for the first few gigs
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 3:29 pm
You could probably do it and buy yourself some much needed time. to clean it up first defrag it.after the first defrag finishes do it again a couple more times. defrag the music drive also. keep your c: drive way less than full....i don't let mine get over 50% full . if you aren't online turn off the antivirus. if you have a registry cleaner clean the registry.when you run the software click on task mgr and see how much cpu you are using. experiment. see what it does and doesn't want to do b4 the gig....will it play and download? can it play and analyze,etc......if not don't do those things. absolutely scan for viruses and spyware and eliminate . at some point ( like overnight) turn it on and don't touch it.....no keystrokes don't move or click the mouse, for hours and hours.....this way the system will run cleanup tasks such as a boot defrag. see some of dj in norway's posts about optimizing your system for music playback. i think you can do this and i also think doing too many new things in no huddle mode is a mistake....
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 4:14 pm
you can get Alwil by Avast excellent free antivirus by download. MUCH better than Mc Afee or Norton.Or get Zone Alarm which isn't free. Also Trend Micro has great anti virus and anti spyware ($30). Trend Micro also has a free online scanner which is excellent.....when prompted update your java runtime environment, you will be presented with 2 choices....as far as I can tell from using both choices it doesn't seem to matter which you choose, then run the scan......if it finds viruses it will delete them ,you don't have to buy it first.........which is mighty big of them if you ask me...
very ordinary stuff will help a lot ....defrag , clean registry , eliminate little used programs, eliminate the incompatibles ( I had to get rid of Diskeeper a really excellent defragger cuz it couldn't play nice with some of the other software , as an example). Get on yer computer, run the software, experiment, put stuff through it's paces, do a lot of changes use a lot of features in rapid succession to get an idea of what it can do.
that's addressing some issues for you in the here and now to clean up your current system.....there are some excellent deals to be had out there now on xp home and xp professional systems because most of what is now coming out to retail is media center ...it's the last most bloated version of xp and vista is already available in beta and coming out in "final" form in january.....retailers want to get rid of all xp systems christmas shopping season is upon us .....I just bought a system for my teenage daughters, and by insisting on having xp home at best buy I got a store demo for $207....no monitor, bought a 19" flat panel for $249 and anudder 512 of RAM for $79....that's a pretty inexpensive system that I could even DJ with.........
very ordinary stuff will help a lot ....defrag , clean registry , eliminate little used programs, eliminate the incompatibles ( I had to get rid of Diskeeper a really excellent defragger cuz it couldn't play nice with some of the other software , as an example). Get on yer computer, run the software, experiment, put stuff through it's paces, do a lot of changes use a lot of features in rapid succession to get an idea of what it can do.
that's addressing some issues for you in the here and now to clean up your current system.....there are some excellent deals to be had out there now on xp home and xp professional systems because most of what is now coming out to retail is media center ...it's the last most bloated version of xp and vista is already available in beta and coming out in "final" form in january.....retailers want to get rid of all xp systems christmas shopping season is upon us .....I just bought a system for my teenage daughters, and by insisting on having xp home at best buy I got a store demo for $207....no monitor, bought a 19" flat panel for $249 and anudder 512 of RAM for $79....that's a pretty inexpensive system that I could even DJ with.........
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 5:54 pm
sbangs
http://www.diskeeper.com/
gives the ultimate optimisation
gives the ultimate optimisation
Posted Sat 11 Nov 06 @ 9:57 pm
I'm pretty sure that since Microsoft is gonna miss Christmas with the Vista roll out in January that the buying public and the big retailers are gonna be looking for them to issue some kind of Vista upgrade discount for any late 2006 xp purchases. Maybe they already have, I don't know.4w3
One thing that the retailers and Microsoft have not been communicating very well is that you don't get an install disc anymore. You do get the d: partition by default which is a recovery drive. However a recovery drive will only help if you can get to it. So, when they ask if you want the geek squad to make the 2 recovery dvd's for $30 say yes, or be sure to make them yourself at the soonest.
One thing that the retailers and Microsoft have not been communicating very well is that you don't get an install disc anymore. You do get the d: partition by default which is a recovery drive. However a recovery drive will only help if you can get to it. So, when they ask if you want the geek squad to make the 2 recovery dvd's for $30 say yes, or be sure to make them yourself at the soonest.
Posted Sun 12 Nov 06 @ 12:24 am
