have u ever ran a hackintosh ona netbook? They run like sh*t I set one up my dell mini 9 and it ran like crap. reinstalled win 7 and it runs like a champ. well not anymore my kid stepped on it and cracked the screen but none the less…
if u run a side by side compression the machine with a decent video card anything around 128 mb will out perform those with out some dedicated video memory.
Im just comparing hardware to hardware.
Punky, I was going to respond to your PM on DJF but then DJF exploded.
If you can bump up $100 in your budget, I HIGHLY recommend a Thinkpad. You can get a solid i5 based T510 in that ballpark. I can tell you that out of all the computers I’ve ever tweaked - for myself and others - the Thinkpads I’ve used were the easiest to get optimized. And the level of optimization I was able to get with them was INSANE (I got 3 T42s Stanton bought for trade show use down to a rock solid DPC under 30). They’re tough as well, able to take rough use and backpack punishment with no ill effects.
If you have to stay under the $800 range, but still want the latest goodies, an HP Pavillion or Sony Vaio will fit the bill. But I hesitate in recommending them at that price, because you give up a lot in the way of I/O and general connectivity (no firewire or expresscard for example).
As a general rule if you’re looking for a DJing laptop, it’s a good idea to avoid nVidia graphics chipsets, any built in cellular radios, and fingerprint readers. Also, on a personal recommendation I would stay away from SSDs right now. Performance is great out of the gate, but there are lingering issues that cause decreased performance over time.
Honestly, at the $600-$800 price range, I would consider getting last year’s discounted flagship model instead of this year’s mediocre model. There’s still plenty of life left in Core2 Duo processors, and things like upgrade RAM will be cheaper as well.
Thanks for the info, Nem. I knew I could rely on you.
Thanks also to the other posters, particularly the ones who listened to me when I said that I didn’t want to go with a Mac. 
Why are nVidia graphics chipsets bad? Do they introduce a lot of latency? And since when do computers incorporate cellular radios? WTF is a cellular radio anyway?
I’m a little hesitant to get a Core 2 Duo, as my current Core Duo 2.0 is barely cutting the mustard as it is. I know it’s a step up from a 32 to a 64 bit processor but is it really that much of a change, worth investing tons of cash into? I was considering an i5 and up because I wanted to future proof myself a bit.
Thinking about it…I ran a Sony Vaio VGN-NW240f (Win7 home premium, 3gigs ram I think, 2.2GHz CPU) but I was using Virtual DJ Pro Full vers. 7. Had no problems at all save sound quality (I wasn’t using a USB audio card). Bought it this past Feb for $630 after tax and sold it a month ago for the “friend” price of $480. Just found one on amazon for $700 something. It was pretty durable as I’d cram it in my backpack and take the sport bike to work, a 2hour round trip with plenty of curves 5 days a week =).
Oh, if your trying to avoid the core2’s the best advice I’ve read (as far as hardware concerns) was swap out the standard 5400rpm drive for a 7200rpm or SSD & up your RAM. They even have some hybrid drives that will be waaaaaay faster than the 5400rpms. They’ll probably be bringing in more of the i3CPU in laptops too but you could get a used core2, buy the upgrades cheap (new egg, tiger direct) and get great results and save cash.
One word :Asus.
No but seriously, Asus gaming laptops are great for djing in my opinion.
I am running the Asus G50
I just quickly newegged some links for you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220733
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220707
and for the core 2 duo haters
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220755
I don’t know, I might be a complete idiot. I don’t care.
I’m probably going to hold off on the Core 2 Duos, as I’m worried that they won’t be able to hold up against the strain of the next five years worth of DJ software. When I buy a laptop, I hold onto it for years and years. I figure getting a higher end i5 or i7 processor is going to do me best.
I’ve seen some ~$850 Lenovos on New Egg that are tickling my fancy. I’m hoping that the prices will come down after Christmas.
Thats what i said too. Im like why am i gonna buy a 2yr old laptop that im gonna have to replace soon enough. Makes no sense imo. So i got my laptop(look in signature) and i love it. Only thing with these high power chips is that the battery drains kinda quick. But im ok with that. I got the upgraded 9 cell battery too so it gives me like a good 2-3+hrs.
There are a few DPC issues with the power management on the mobile nvidia chipsets that will cause issues. Currently the 330M is a known problem chipset, but ALL nvidia mobile chipsets seem to have varying degrees of DPC nastiness.
Cellular radio is being built into LOTS of laptops now. It turns a 3G or 4g signal into an internet connection.
Huh. Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be sure to go with an ATI chipset in that case.
And I don’t need 3G or 4G internet on my laptop anyway. I’d probably just use it to waste time checking Facebook anyhow.
I found a good reputable Ebay seller selling refurbished HP laptops. They put some nice looking i5s and i7s within my price range. Think I should consider them?
id look at an hp envy.
great features. unibody construction. and a little thing about the beats audio that surprised me. its got dual soundcards. traktor recognizes them both, so you can headphone preview in one, send the second out to your speakers. this allows for dj’ing with a VERY minimal setup if need be.
i picked mine up for 999 at the microsoft store. they have an unadvertised academic discount thats basically the same one apple offers.
Yeah the envy is sexy but it was out of my price range.
www.TabletPCreview.com & www.NotebookReview.com
Great feedback from owners (Tablet/Notebook/etc)
Deals/Coupons:
HP: Latest HP Coupon Deal Tracker
Currently, 12-31-10, it’s an instant savings of $135. This is not a deal, yet. Watch the instant savings plus coupon discount rise over the new few weeks/month. I suggest keeping an eye out for the big $400 coupon and be prepared.
The high value coupons are used up quickly and usually last only a few hours, act fast when you see it or it’s
Current HP Coupon:
HP TouchSmart tm2-2150us 12.1" Touchscreen Notebook PC
The HP TouchSmart tm2-2150us is only $799 after $130 in Instant Savings
How coupons work:
HP has changed their coupon structure over the last 2 years. Coupons are now stackable on top of the standard ‘instant savings’ and different coupons apply to different HP laptops/tablets etc.
Link to current coupons and coupon tracking forum posts
Tablet: HP TABLET TM2/may apply to other systems as well
Laptop: uncertain location, TRY HERE
For example: If you see an instant saving of $135 off a base system purchase of $799, with no other coupons, you are starting at the bottom of the coupons pile.
Coupons will increase in coupon value over the next few weeks/months, depending on new product releases scheduled for the year as well as product demand vs. coupon usage. Coupons are used up at a rapid pace and if you are watching them rise in value, you are ready to strike the same day the $400 + instant savings is released. Don’t hesitate when you see it available, and I suggest building your expected system in advance so you are ready. I’ve missed out before, the coupon lasted 4 hours…4. hours.
Around March, HP begins to release the new products, leaving January/Feburary to clear out remaining stock.
NOTE With the introduction of Intel chips into the TM2 tablet line, there have been up to 4 revision releases in one year. This in contrary to the 2 releases per year when HP solely used AMD CPU’s.
Thank god they switched to intel. Faster, cooler, more reliable…AMD & Nvidia GPU heat wrecked tablets back in the day.
These instant savings will then allow for the first stackable coupon (generally $150 or $200 depending on the system), of values of something like $200, $275, $325 and $400.
You can then stack these coupons together with the instant savings. As the coupon discount increases, so does your base system price. In the case of $135 + $400 coupon, it is generally a base price of $1399.
This means in order to meet the $135 instant savings + $400 coupon, you must:
If your coupon is not working at checkout, you have not upgraded the base core hardware components to meet the $1399 base price. Go back and upgrade these to meet the requirements. This is where most usually miss it and during checkout it will tell you your coupon is invalid.
There are two reasons for an invalid coupon.
*NOTE* The $400 stackable coupon usually lasts no longer than a few hours to the most, that I’ve ever seen in 5 years of watching, 1.5 days before it expired.
Saving up to $550 off a tricked/Maxed out system…you’re over halfway to adding an S4 to the mix. 
I hope this helps you save money…you know, so you can buy more DJ Stuff and pay for the home entertainment…
…Dollar Dollar Billz Ya’ll
Hmm I don’t think I’m looking for a tablet system though. I don’t think I’d use that functionality… well… ever.
Agree with xtianw, the HP Envy is nice. The coupons apply to laptops as well. If you go HP, check out the coupon link above.
www.slickdeals.net and www.fatwallet.com can save loads of cash. Use the ‘search’ function on both sites to narrow your deal search.
There are also trackers for pricing so you know your getting the best deal, or to wait for something else.
Hope this helps
Thanks, I’ll check these out.
the core 2 and core 2 duo are very differnt chip sets and no matter what the only way to future proof ur investment is with a mac.. sorry to say it. i have a 3.5 year old black macbook that runs all the newest softwear and os without a problem.. show me a pc laptop from 07 in the 0-1000 price range that can run win 7 64 bit and be stable.. dont think so. apple does a good job with their computers atleast making them last. plus dealing with anti spywear and virus is annoing as hell.. imo spend the extra 200-300 on it or buy used its the industry standard for a reason
uh… Dell D830 running Win7 64bit.
Traktor 1.27 AND Cubase 5.5. (my last two tracks were produced entirely on this machine)
…and Stable enough to do a weekly 5hr gig without a glitch.
I still don’t understand the “no PC can do this” mentality…
PC’s have a proven track record for mission critical applications (have you been to a hospital lately?!?!?!) It could be argued that Traktor is far from being a clinical application, but how is it that I’ve been DJing on a PC since Final Scratch 1.0 (yes, the round one) without so much as a single glitch. (dirty stylus’ and drunken clubbers elbowing the decks notwithstanding)
Not hating on Macs, but let’s call a spade a spade… I guarantee macs have had their fair share of issues… a quick search will prove that.
Haha. Oh god. Remind me never to get ill.
