So, I decided I had to much money and to much time on my hand so I want to do the following.
I want to sell my Dell XPS 1330 and replace it with a heavy 17 inch i7 laptop for my photo, music and video editing.
Then I want to buy two netbooks, clone them and use only for DJing. If one breaks, just pull out the other one. I will also sell my Echo DJX card and get a USB audio interface.
The only thing that is not changing in my setup is my beloved Vestax VCI 100.
Now that we’ve got some pretty nice netbooks coming our way this spring I’d like to see what models you’d recommend. I’m obviously looking for a good balance between cost and performance. If it matches my sexy VCI 100 in color that doesn’t hurt either.
My Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1Gig RAM, OSX) runs traktor duo just fine, even with timecode. Still it’s not very usable due to the low display resolution (1024x600).
This is a Samsung NC10 running Traktor Pro. I haven’t tried layer 3-4 effects per deck yet or anything, but from the get go, I’m able to use the keylock, filter and I have my latency settings down to 5.5ms. It’s got 2GB of RAM running WinXP SP3 and I have WIFI and BT turned off(obviously). I’m gonna see if I can get some vids up too.
EDIT: Yes, if you look closer, I’m also recording with TP too (and that’s a Vestax SPIN hiding in the corner )
Lets please not pretend that Macbooks don’t crash, they do. More PCs crash because 90% of the market is PC (and most people who use computers have no idea how to use them). But if you look at the return percentage of various makes you’ll see that there is nothing extra ordinary about Mac as far as quality and long lasting.
So please let’s just stick to the universal truth that computers sometimes break down, it can happen to the best, and the worst.
The main reason why I want netbooks is because they are small and light. The secondary reason is the price. Simple truth is I just need a DJ machine, a dedicated machine that does nothing else than holding my MP3s and running Traktor and if you live in Europe you don’t want to fork out 2 000 euro for such a machine. I prefer to spend it on my killer work laptop instead.
Can we please stick to the topic now and discuss suitable netbooks for DJing?
I had a netbook set up as a backup and hated it because the screen was so small it was hard to read my track lists. It was an Acer Aspire One, and it did run everything just fine.
For screen real estate, I would say go with a 12" screen. My 10 inch netbook is fine, but I’ve mapped a button on my controller to toggle on/off my playlists. I’m gonna try gigging with this once I find out where the threshold is (where is sound/visuals start to deteriorate).
to the best of my knowledge, all netbooks are basically the same under the hood, save for a few ‘shiny bits’ which that particular oem has chosen to put in, i.e, bluetooth, 3g, wi-fi etc…
but they all run on a very similar spec (1gb ram, 1.6ghz processor - some are 1.3, but meh) with the OS choice being XP sp3 or 7 home starter, so just pick one you like the look of and buy 2.
simples
EDIT:
obviously HDD space comes into the cost, but i’m yet to see one rocking the ion graphics card, my nettop (used as media center/server) has one of those, and apart from that is identical in spec to my wifes netbook - both run win 7 home premium
Don’t wanna go into the Macbook thing here too much. Mine works fine and never failed on me during a set. I am pretty sure There’s a lot of windows machines out there that work just as well. Just don’t get the cheap discount crap laptop with bad drivers, and you’re probably fine. But - let’s face it - netbooks ARE mostly cheap crap. I have one, and I had two others before it (EEE 701 and MSI Wind). They’re nice as portable typewriters and internet machines, maybe even for watching a few videos. But I wouldn’t recommend one for serious DJing for a few reasons.
An Atom processor is pretty much on the edge when you use traktor. It works, but it uses a lot of the available CPU power. That means heat, and in a hot and possibly humid club environment, going on the edge power- and heatwise is a bad idea.
The display of a ten inch netbook is just too small. I mean, look at djgee’s picture above. Yes, you can fit two players and most if not all vital controls on the screen, but look at the size of the playlist.
If you go for a 11.6 incher, the size benefits compared to a standard 13 inch notebook are almost gone. Same goes for price. I mean, as long as you don’t need the most up to date tech, a 13 or 15 inch notebook isn’t much more expensive, maybe even cheaper than some 11.6’’ netbooks.
Yeah, It may be fun to make a netbook work with your DJ setup - but for the sole purpose of making it work. The “because I can”-attitude is what should matter.
It even comes with an external dvd, not that I ever use it but still.
Jimbob: Thanks for your extensive feedback. The processor heating was one thing I did not consider, thanks. But you miss my point about the size. 15 inch is out of the question, 13 inch is at least 800 euro… oops, spoke to soon. I found some at around 500 euro, which would be the same thing. Very good, thanks. I will keep this in mind.
Yeah make sure your netbook has a big enough native resolution.
I am using a lenovo ideapad s12 and haven’t had performance issues. It meets the requirements.
Also people talking about macbooks, stop being so zealous for no damn reason.
They are expensive as hell for the pure computer you are getting. So unless you’re buying it because you have a crap ton of cash and love apple’s design (they do design their products nicely), this is a bad purchase.
Okay, look, if we’re just going to talk computer vs computer then I can get a same specs PC as the mac for half the price, so still be able to buy two.
Yes, I want to have two because 2 is the new black.
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