Has anyone else been debating the issue or whether to use a desktop or laptop when mixing in a club??
After years of having drunk dancers come up and rest drinks on the edge of the DJ booth, only for someone else to come and knock it off all over your equipment, I was very reluctant to take a expensive laptop into a club, when one accident would destroy it instantly. That together with the much faster processing power of desktops, the fact that you can get a 10in 10 out soundcard very cheaply, and a nice light flat screen, and it seems a no brainer.
Oh, and it’s so much easier to mix on than a small laptop.
When I have used it in clubs though, i do seem to get funny looks as i walk in, even though it’s not much different in size to a big bag of vinyl.
I’ve seen that Sasha uses a desktop, but I’ve never really seen anyone else.
Am I alone, or are there others out there, who are tempted by the less cool but more practical big black box…?
i built a cheap desktop for mixing at home and taking to parties.
i took it to one party and then sold it and bought a laptop…
maybe i’m just lazy but the laptop owns hard.
I’ve done one private birthday in a small club environment and the laptop really went well. a desktop would have sucked big time.
I forsee myself maybe having a desktop for mixing at home, so the laptop doesn’t have to be packed up/down, only problem is syncing traktor collections.
Well, there are several builder brands that have “Ultra small form factor” models.
So, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to choose one and take it out to clubs with you.
Personally, I use a Full tower desktop at home… and the laptop for gigs, so I don’t have to pack/unpack everytime I get home.
When I first started playing out I used a Shuttle XP that I still use as my desktop music station. It fit perfectly into a UDG record bag along with my gear and took up about the same overall space as a laptop. Then I modified an ATA case with the monitor in the lid. But it did get some looks. Looking back, the laptoop advantage that stands out is that I can put it in a backpack and take it on an airplane (or bike it across the Playa at Burning Man).
Any chance you’ll have pictures of it? I was contemplating the same thing. Getting a small form factor desktop isn’t a problem for me. It’s more so the cables and peripherals you’d have to carry along with the desktop. If you have a bit of money to spend, I’d think getting a laptop is better.
For years I used an Icebox small form factor machine that I put together myself. They sides were clear so I put a blue LED that had a little microphone on it so that it would flash to the beat of my music. I used a tiny 13" LED screen that weighed almost nothing. I had that system because at the time I couldn’t afford a laptop that was powerful enough to do what I needed.
The big downside was the extra cable hookups for the monitor, mouse, keyboard and a little extra setup time. The biggest upside was price and the ability to have a really huge hard drive internally.
That is just it, they are cheaper machines but they are not nearly as compact and easily portable. I say to anyone who is prepared to lug around the gear and have the extra setup time - go for it, you can save yourself some $ and actually get a more powerful machine. Go the DIY option and build your own though if you want a PC you will save lots and be able to choose your own parts, giving you the best bang for your buck.
Essentially todays technology allows us to have power in very small packages.
Unless your running multiple programs (Ableton+Traktor set up) theres no reason to have a powerfull machine.
My pentium4 desktop can handle traktor, and a few other background programs, fine. Keep in mind i do have a sound card on that computer as well.
With dual core processors and soundcards, we have an ample amount of power. Keep in mine that technology keeps expanding and we have more power availbe at a cheaper price. Yes, one can bring up the point the software will always continue to draw more processing power, but most of the time we are working with programs that have been developed years ago, hence requiring less processing power because the average user couldnt afford a computer that could handle that at the time.
You can have ample power in a laptop at an affordable price now.
or u do as i did, get urself an asus c90s, just over a 1k euro atm i think, a bit pricey yes, but it is built around a desktop processor, so ull have all teh juice u need.
my original idea was to start doin VJing, thats why I got it, but im not there yet so im not loookin at that part atm, but for any other DJsoftware it pwns, the overclocking features that come with it is also a nice touch,
I was not saticfied with Vista thou, so mine runs XP sp2, and is stable as a rock
ps, it can also be used to play WoW on it and raid 25man np was kinda nice to have when out on tour and u had downtime for it
I would say get a laptop…why? No keyboard/mouse/monitor/2x power cables/plus ur controller/audio card if not internal and the usb cables (I say chale!)…I did 1 gig with my XPC & the hercules dj back in 2005, it was a nightmare to setup!
My laptop setup is up and running in under 5 min I have a toshiba/echo indigo dj or audio 8 /vci100 se (in flight case)
I bought an aftermarket Arctic cooler. Great fans. I can’t believe I used to gig with this, but mycole is right: laptop DJs were The Future for about 2 weeks. Now some dude with a thumb drive walks in and plays a gig and looks at me setting up a laptop, and you can see him thinking, Wow – old skool!
Yeau I got round the many things to plug in issue by sticking a four way in the base of the computer box, and leaving everything plugged in so that only the monitor, connections to the mixer and plug for power needed plugging in at the gig. A large screen is great to use when mixing with Ableton. I’ve always thought a desktop would be harder to damage than laptops which can be tempermental.
I’ve even run this setup in the middle of a forest on a wet night and it ran perfectly. Still, by the discussion so far, i’m still thinking my lugging my box around isn’t as cool as it should be…
was kinda nice to have when out on tour and u had downtime for it 
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