Best Non-Mac Laptop for DJing

Diego Smartly

Story lads?

Well I'm finally in the market for a new laptop. I'm gonna be giggin a bit over the summer and theres absolutely no way I'm going anywhere near a venue with this piece of ****e i'm using now.

Whatever I get I think i'll just be solely using it for running traktor pro a couple of controllers. I have a few ideas as to what to be looking for but after browsing around the NI forums my head is completely ****ed with all the nonsese they're talkin!

So if anyone has any recommendations on a decent laptop that would suit DJing in the price range of around €600-€700 that would be deadly.

jonnny68

Something with a dual core processor and about 4GB of RAM with a graphics card,getting a new Samsung laptop in a few weeks myself:cool:

Diego Smartly

Dual core and decent RAM are essential so, yeah?

Do I really have to worry about the likes of Hard Drive latency or any certain OS?

ED E

Diego Smartly wrote: »

Dual core and decent RAM are essential so, yeah?

Do I really have to worry about the likes of Hard Drive latency or any certain OS?

Best would be i7 with 4GB DDR3 and a very large SSD, but thats kinda overkill.

Essentials:
Windows XP
DAW only installation(partition off maybe 30-40GB)
Nice screen(Dont wanna be craning over it to see tracklist)
COOL(I've had a shutdown in a warm room, lucky enough it was just messing with a few mates)
HDD isnt super important as the tracks will be loaded into RAM in any case
Number of cores is dependant on threading of your app, and i7 or a quad core may be a complete waste if your app dosent support them.

ED E

From NI Forums via google:)

From what I've seen on the forum, it appears that users with least problems with Traktor seem to be the ones running Intel Core 2 Duo

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I did a few tests on my Macbook. Apparently, when Traktor starts, it uses only one core to "load the collection". However, when it goes through my music folders searching for new songs, all cores are occupied. And as I might've suspected, analysing a track takes the juice out of all cores.

generally around 2.2GHZ dual core + 4GB will run traktor like a dream

Diego Smartly

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

From NI Forums via google:)

Nice one man.

When I was browsing NI I was just losing the head over some of the cnutness going on about "Ugh just buy mac, they're the best thing thats ever happened me since my gastric bypass..."

Not that I've anything against Macs.

So cool I start browsing for some 4GB i5s, apparently they're 2.66GHz, and then see what happens

ED E

Diego Smartly wrote: »

Nice one man.

When I was browsing NI I was just losing the head over some of the cnutness going on about "Ugh just buy mac, they're the best thing thats ever happened me since my gastric bypass..."

Not that I've anything against Macs.

So cool I start browsing for some 4GB i5s, apparently they're 2.66GHz, and then see what happens

If NI put in support for 8 threads the i5 would fly:)

acman

Diego Smartly wrote: »

Nice one man.

When I was browsing NI I was just losing the head over some of the cnutness going on about "Ugh just buy mac, they're the best thing thats ever happened me since my gastric bypass..."

Not that I've anything against Macs.

So cool I start browsing for some 4GB i5s, apparently they're 2.66GHz, and then see what happens

I know some Mac users can be very annoying and geeky...but surely something like that shouldn't put you off what probably is the most reliable laptop for Djing live.

IMO, with the budget you have, I would go for a second hand macbook...

Whichever windows based laptop you buy now, will not age gracefully or cope well with the speed of new, beefier software releases and you will end up at square one in a year or two down the road. Mac's on the other hand, tend to last much longer and it would be a far wiser investment.

Diego Smartly

acman wrote: »

I know some Mac users can be very annoying and geeky...but surely something like that shouldn't put you off what probably is the most reliable laptop for Djing live.

IMO, with the budget you have, I would go for a second hand macbook...

Whichever windows based laptop you buy now, will not age gracefully or cope well with the speed of new, beefier software releases and you will end up at square one in a year or two down the road. Mac's on the other hand, tend to last much longer and it would be a far wiser investment.

Ah no a few ejits aren't the thing putting me off, its just the price really.

It actually never crossed my mind to look 2nd hand though, so i'll defo have a look into it. Nice one

was.deevey

WANT! American Audio VMS 4 ..

Standalone Analogue mixer , Big Jogs built in soundcard and HUGE number of button midi controller .. probably around 450 euro(ish) .. Build quality looks good too...

Think its July / Aug for the release.

ED E

was.deevey wrote: »

WANT! American Audio VMS 4 ..

Standalone Analogue mixer , Big Jogs built in soundcard and HUGE number of button midi controller .. probably around 450 euro(ish) .. Build quality looks good too...

Think its July / Aug for the release.

For VDJ LE only for the time being it seems though, but I presume you can manually map it to Traktor.

Zascar

Diego is there a reason you do not want a Mac? I'm a huge PC head and would never abandon windows for my desktop, but I got a mac for DJing and I would never go back. Driver etc problems were fairly common on my previous win laptop. I have not had a single problem with the mac - it really is plug-and-play, works every time.

There are a few tiny little things I'm not so keen on with Macs but there are more than enough pluses to make up for it. I got mine really cheap and if I had not have I would probably not have made the switch, but I'm very glad I did. Even one single problem while gigging live on a pc and you'll regret it...

electrogrimey

Either get a second hand Mac, a Mac from the refurbished store, (Macs that are returned by people, completely checked/fixed, and then resold with guarantee), or get a PC with the above specs and then install OS X on it.

Using XP is only going to lead to problems.

Zascar

I did not know you can install OSX on a PC!

I've always wanted to install bootcamp and have xp or 7 on a dual boot but I've never bothered doing it really

electrogrimey

Zascar wrote: »

I did not know you can install OSX on a PC!

I've always wanted to install bootcamp and have xp or 7 on a dual boot but I've never bothered doing it really

AFAIK you can have a partition with a seperate OS, so you can have a Mac and PC in one. Perfect for you really - you could DJ on one partition, and everything else on the other.

was.deevey

I did not know you can install OSX on a PC!

Possible .. but definitely not the most reliable, especially for any form of gigging.

I had it running on a Lenovo netbook for yonks and it worked but not enough horsepower really for running traktor with more than a few FX (Maxed out the Ram)... only did it to have an extra Mac knocking about "just in case".

Each update tends to break all the custom drivers though that you'll need to install... and you'll need to match Apple's specs on graphics / lan / sound / etc.. pretty close to get things moving.

Its a very high maintenance way of doing things (unless you never plan on updating the OS).

Zascar

Yeah that's what I was thinking. The reason macs are stable is cause all the hardware and software are built to work together perfectly, that kinda goes out the window when you throw a PC into the equation. Some may argue but windows is a better os for stuff like file management, way more options. The 'Simplicity' thing kinda annoys me sometimes with Macs. Sometimes it's great, but generally, please don't take away my options

eeloe

I'm the same as zascar, have a fairly well spec'd windows 7 machine for the desktop, use it mainly for production!

Had a toshiba laptop running my xponent, and it was just horrible.

Got a MacBook off the apple refurb store, and I'm in love!!!!!

Not one single hiccup!

electrogrimey

eeloe wrote: »

Got a MacBook off the apple refurb store, and I'm in love!!!!!

Not one single hiccup!

Same here. You're actually more likely to get a defective new laptop than a refurbished one, because they check 100% of the refurbished ones coming off the line, but only 10% of new ones.

acman

Yeah, a refurbished Mac would be a good idea!

You could even opt for a second hand one which can easily be bargained for on adverts.ie or a similar website. Second hand Macs are a fairly reliable purchase as their owners generally tend to take good care of them and usually only sell them when they decide to upgrade to a newer model.

Whatsmore, there are no real "grey areas" when trying to spot a faulty Mac, they either work or they dont!

I think with your €600 or so budget, you will definitely find something!

Diego Smartly

Nice one lads

I've been browsing round the likes of adverts and i've me eye on a couple of Macsbooks that are in my range and fit the specs mentioned earlier, so i'm gonna look into that. Tried the refurbished ones but they're still all outta budget.

Ordered meself some Hs50s aswell after some nice reviews here; Fair bleedin plate-a yis!

Zascar

How do you find the HS50's? I'd really like to get a set for my PC/mixing speakers to replace the kinda silly setup I have now...

Diego Smartly

I just ordered them on thomann should get them in a week or so.

I've only read good things about them, here and elsewhere. My mate has a set of them, he only uses them for listening not DJing, but they sound excellent.

electrogrimey

Zascar wrote: »

How do you find the HS50's? I'd really like to get a set for my PC/mixing speakers to replace the kinda silly setup I have now...

I just got a pair. They sound great, but they're definitely a production speaker, not a general listening speaker. Everything in the track is so much clearer, I think they're great.

Diego Smartly

Thinking about making an offer on a second hand onea these

Specs:

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 memory
250GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics

Its only 2GB which is half of what someone suggested, would it do though?

was.deevey

Depends on the price and age, they were just updated a few weeks ago with the 10 hour battery.

Are you sure its exactly the same model (check model number)?

2gb Should be fine .. 4 is obviously better but I never had any issues with 2gb and Traktor. but I'd still be factoring another 100 euro in there in the near future as something " I must buy"

Zascar

pfft 2gb is more than enough.

Even on my desktop pc I had 4gb then I had a weird ram issue so I had to remove it. I've barely noticed any difference in speed

Zascar

Actually one thing about Macbooks that really annoys me is how they only have 2 USB ports. I have my VCI and my A2DJ plugged in, and they are all gone. If I want a wireless mouse I then have to involve a usb hub. Ridiculous. Maybe the newer ones or the pro has more but seriously, only 2? Come on Apple..

ED E

Zascar wrote: »

Actually one thing about Macbooks that really annoys me is how they only have 2 USB ports. I have my VCI and my A2DJ plugged in, and they are all gone. If I want a wireless mouse I then have to involve a usb hub. Ridiculous. Maybe the newer ones or the pro has more but seriously, only 2? Come on Apple..

Yeah, I was surprised when I first saw that. Seems most models only have two. You could use a hub but that would be awkward.

Does it have bluetooth?

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice_pointers/mice/devices/5747
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3287

electrogrimey

Zascar wrote: »

Actually one thing about Macbooks that really annoys me is how they only have 2 USB ports. I have my VCI and my A2DJ plugged in, and they are all gone. If I want a wireless mouse I then have to involve a usb hub. Ridiculous. Maybe the newer ones or the pro has more but seriously, only 2? Come on Apple..

Pros have 3, and not the new curvy generations, but the one I have of the Macbook Whites have Firewire as well as USB. My soundcard is firewire so that solves the problem of 2 X1s.

was.deevey

Actually one thing about Macbooks that really annoys me is how they only have 2 USB ports. I have my VCI and my A2DJ plugged in, and they are all gone. If I want a wireless mouse I then have to involve a usb hub. Ridiculous. Maybe the newer ones or the pro has more but seriously, only 2? Come on Apple..

Seems to be alot more than USB ports you have against them :P

Bluetooth + mighty mouse = solved

Mac book pro's have three USB's, except the 13'

I've had issues with PC laptops with 4 usb ports where I HAD to involve a hub anyways as the Kontrol DJ + Soundcard + NanoKontrol was drawing too much voltage.

pfft 2gb is more than enough

Been their done that, would not do it again...2gb is useable not comfortable .. like running a citreon 2CV up a hill.

Whack on 2 decks, Keylock @ high quality & a few FX & your 2gb becomes pretty redundant fast.

*waits patiently for the complaints to start again*

Funky G

was.deevey wrote: »

Seems to be alot more than USB ports you have against them :P

Bluetooth + mighty mouse = solved

Mac book pro's have three USB's, except the 13'

I've had issues with PC laptops with 4 usb ports where I HAD to involve a hub anyways as the Kontrol DJ + Soundcard + NanoKontrol was drawing too much voltage.


Been their done that, would not do it again...2gb is useable not comfortable .. like running a citreon 2CV up a hill.

Whack on 2 decks, Keylock @ high quality & a few FX & your 2gb becomes pretty redundant fast.

*waits patiently for the complaints to start again*

was looking at the macbook pro's recently - the new ones with the aluminum body

both the 13 and 15 inch screens have 2 usb ports.

the 17 inch has 3.

jaysus but the price of these bad boys.....