MacBook Air in DJ Booths
Anyone used/using a macbook air in dj booths? Only concern for me is how light and thin they are, could be a problem with vibrations as obviously you can’t have a solid state drive in them too. (i think anyway)
Any info or advice on this would be great, just looking to change my 13" late 2011 mbp which is a tad heavy these days.
Thanks
Tom
I use a 2011 MacBook Air 13" every week with no issues, and they already have an SSD in them. Yes the SSD is smaller than most people think they need but I get by easily with 256GB and one of my mates uses a 128GB version.
It forces you to streamline your music which is not a bad thing. I’ve got about 64GB of music, 15GB of Maschine library and 8GB of Bitwig samples as well as NI Massive … And I’ve got 50+GB free and can play any gig thrown at me from mobiles (21st, weddings etc), commercial club gigs, R&B, Retro, electro house and trance.
One thing I’ve always liked about the 13" is that it’s got the resolution of the 15" MacBook Pro so you get plenty of space for 4 Traktor decks. I’m actually considering the 11" for my next MacBook though as I’d no like to have a smaller footprint again.
Anyhow, no vibration issues or heat issues, the processor even at 1.3GHz on the latest Airs is plenty, it’s about 25% more powerful than mine and I only ever hit 40% of 1 thread giving Traktor a flogging.
The only issue at the moment though is one that most USB3 MacBooks have and that’s with drivers, do a bit of research first regarding the hardware you’re using.
Actually, the latest gerneration is even SSD-only.
Besides, the weight difference between a MacBook Air and a MBP doesn’t make any difference regarding vibrations, since it’s only a couple hundred grams.
To proof equipment from vibrations like those you experience on a party we’re talking about several kilograms of weight.
Asking if you should use a MBP or MBA to be safe from any vibration-related problems during a party is like asking if you should use paper or cardboard to protect your house from a tornado… 
I have a 13" 256GB 2013 version and it is perfect. Has SSDs soldered onto the motherboard. They also have rubber feet on them, which will partially absorb any vibrations.
[quote=““TCMuc””]
Asking if you should use a MBP or MBA to be safe from any vibration-related problems during a party is like asking if you should use paper or cardboard to protect your house from a tornado…
[/quote]
You just need to be careful with your gear. If you’re worried about vibrations - don’t put it near a speaker/sub!
Or any other sources of vibration…
To help with this, make sure you have LONG CABLES, so that you can re-locate your lappy if you need to.
Know what I’d love? A way to display Traktor’s Browser on a tablet that is separate to your lappy. Then, you could put the lappy under the table (as long as there is some kind of ventilation under there), and not put your £1K machine at risk of damage…
Now there’s an idea I have just had! Invent a laptop stand, at an affordable price, that utilises same idea as the Steadicam system (Steadicam - Wikipedia) for video cameras.
Theoretically, it would absorb and vibrations, knocks, shocks etc and not affect the laptop as the stand would ‘auto adjust’ to take the impact away from the laptop.
great replies, thanks guys.
I wonder if there’s extra feet/grips/ you can get to put on the bottom?
i never use a stand, always just put it somewhere in the booth, sometimes theres stands, sometimes not.
I would go for 256gb minimum, this mbp is 250 and thats done fine. its purely a gig computer for me anyway, and a streamlined setup of my main studio for when I’m on tour so i can still work on music.
I ALWAYS have at least TWO of these under my lappy’s:
For circulation more than vibration damping - but there are plenty of things you could stick underneath the cool balls for added vibration dampening.
Maybe something like this:
£10 well spent. You saw it first here, folks.
I do pretty much this already using an iPad and a program called Splashtop. Laptop goes under the desk, and the iPad just mirrors the whole screen to the tablet. Yes there is a slight bit of latency, but as I’m not using it to look at waveforms, purely just for browsing, it’s not a problem, and it’s not a massive amount of latency anyway!
dont traktor do an app for the iPad?
it would be dope if the X1 controllers linked up with the iPad over wifi or something, no cables needed.
Traktor do a standalone DJ software called Traktor DJ. You can plug some of the NI controllers into the iPad and have control over it, not quite the same as using it on a laptop though.
My method either requires that an ad-hoc wireless network be set up on the laptop, or a wireless router is connected via ethernet to the laptop (which I do, as I also plug my 2 SC2900’s into it for using it with Engine).
Tom, something I see Dubfire & Richie Hawtin use when they’re gigging, is just like what @Patch recommended: Pardon our interruption...
Would keep the bottom from heating up, save the bottom from being scratched/marked etc.
Yup. iPhone, iPad!
You guys are way overthinking this
Your laptop wont get damaged from vibration (if it has an ssd) nor heat (unless your playing a warm up gig in hell…)
And if it does theres a warranty for that 
(I would advise to buy apple care if youre using your machine for work)
You don’t need to worry about overheating on a new Macbook running Traktor unless you’re wrapping it in a blanket.
A case might be more appropriate to prevent scratches, and a keyboard protector would help reduce the risk of liquid damage.
The Macbook Air has no moving objects inside, so vibrations wont be an issue
Close … There’s 1 fan inside on the current model. Rumours are that the next version of the Air will have no fan therefor no moving parts by using the yet to be released Broadwell Ultra Low Voltage Extreme processors with a TPD around 4.5w. It is also meant to be a 12" retina only model around the same size as the 11.6" current model. Release date … Who knows, it’s Apple!
Always got my moshi keyboard protector on. Saved me on numerous times!