Ok so as you may have seen i’m having major issues with my old workhorse laptop that I was going to attempt at fixing for digital DJ’ing but I started thinking …
… about how its such a waste of money to get a “store bought” computer when you could build your own. Then I thought “how could I build my own Laptop ???” I then thought about the OCZ one and then quickly threw that thought out …
I then started to think about the reason for the laptop being so expensive and its mainly because , well , its a laptop. Its thin and can fold up on your lap. So then I start thinking about what I would need for DJ’ing and I wouldn’t NEED something quite as portable as a laptop.
Not If I could find a slim enough HTPC type of case that I could toss in a backpack and plus I could save myself big $$$ with an increase in performance by going this route.
So I started thinking about how you could mount a laptop LCD screen to the HTPC type of small desktop case [or hopefully something a bit smaller] and its definetly do-able but is it cost effective… ?? there’s something like this that costs way too much but would work perfectly :
This is just something that has been bouncing around my head for a while and i’d like to know what folks think about it … and at the very least stimulate some conversations :grouphug: about CHEAPER solutions to purchasing expensive laptops while still remaining portable (or atleast somewhat portable).
I’ve thought about this as well… Especially when small form factor desktops came out such as the Shuttle, iMacs, etc… But it’s hard to beat the true portablity, power and price of alot of laptops right now alot of them coming standard with 2GB RAM or more, Pentium C2D processors, 15" screens, 120 GB HD’s etc for about $600 or less… In fact, I heard a report today that the age of the desktop is dead. I know the economy is tough and back in the day, building your own desktop was the way to go to get the computer with everything you wanted, but you can’t really beat the price vs. personal effort ratio in the laptop.
That being said, if you are doing full mobile setups, you could definitely mount a powerful desktop PC in an encased rack setup along with a 19" mixer, a nice power supply and even have the foldaway server keyboard / screen in there too… Depending on what you think is feasible for mobile setups, you may even have room for your amp and rack mounted CD decks… I personally like having my mobile setups in an “all-in-one” package…
…but if you are just cruising to the club… buy a laptop… Desktops + Monitor use up power outlets… and Lord knows that night clubs are not the best spots to find an abundance of power outlets…
As far as cost goes I don’t think its really feasible if you go all new parts, if you go used parts it probably could be done cheaper but then you’d still be pushing near the cost of of a laptop with better specs and less work.
The idea is to have the monitor power through the motherboard so that it uses only one cord.
I was thinking about something along the lines of these but not quite :
and ESPECIALLY THIS ONE … minus the welding of the aluminum
and last but certainly not least combining these types of cases/enclosures with a “hackintosh” setup running Leopard or a faster OS. However i’m still a windows guy and most of my software is as well so im trying to justify and figure out the benefits of the switchover to Apple operating systems for my uses - which would include DJ software of course :
Also I FULLY understand the prices are drastically dropping however I still believe this idea is a good one , as has been proven by the links i’ve posted and hopefully will be proven by my use of one
well, another idea is if you run everything in the same box just put a power strip in there, and once again, you have one cable, and surge protection at the same time
Also, you can look into rackmounted machines, that way you can just get a little rackmount travel setup (with handle and everything) and set it up however you want, shelves and all.
Not really good on the whole hardware modification stuff, but I’m sure there are things you can do.
Before I go throwing out outlandish ideas what kind of specs, options and upgradeable parts are you looking at? mobo/ram/cpu/video card(?)/hdd
you could go for a 1u half-depth rack and mount a used laptop screen to it. Depending on screen size and resolution you can ebay a used screen, or look around at local PC shops, sometimes they’ll gut broken laptops and keep the usable parts including the monitors. If you snag the model # off the screens you can usually find adapters for the screen to go to USB, or some other port.
I think you can wake it up again while closed by ‘wiggling’ a bluetooth mouse - not sure what other peripherals work tbh… My worry is that on the MBPro (new one anyway) the air outlets open as you open the screen, so a closed processing MBPro could get pretty hot?
Sorry about taking so long to respond but I had thought this thread was going to die out and no one was going to respond - thank god I was wrong
After doing a bunch of research on using Laptop screens for this project it turns out that It takes a shit load of work and extra money in order to convert a laptop screen into VGA or DVI for use with a desktop motherboard.
Also - I ended up aquiring a 19" samsung LCD for a good price so i’m thinking about using that now. Possibly modifying the external shell and what not to mount it to the thin desktop case [HTPC cases are looking like the best options at this point]
I know NOTHING about rack mounts other than what they look like … Also after searching this site quickly the prices are making me sick:
:::
As far as specs go … I’m looking , as always, for the best bang for my buck.
I want it so that this setup can power Traktor Scratch Pro without ANY hiccups , latency, analyzing, ect … and Also the ability to run a VST(i) and effects as well hooked up to a 2nd midi keyboard. I want to use my 1st midi keyboard the Novation 25 SL as my main controller for traktor with a single turntable hooked up on the side, mainly for scratching.
With that in mind i’m guessing either a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad - however my knowledge is such that I dont really know exactly what I need because i’ve yet to do little more than run the Demo for a little while on my desktop without any midi controllers.
I will build around my needs and it seems that my needs right now will be focused around the Case + Monitor and the CPU.
Did you have anything in particular in mind - again , I’m sorry but I dont know anything about travel rack systems.
My rackmountable amp for my home studio just sits on a piece of wood LOL
As a newbie here feel free to shoot me down, but wouldn’t an old aluminium technics 1210 flight case make a fantastic htpc case? It’s earthed, big enough and if you have an old PC case you can remove all the parts from there and fit them more or less directly in to the flight case. It would also have the physical protection it needs. Weight is the only obvious disadvantage, if you sort out the cooling.
Cutting the inputs and outputs would pose a problem, but there are many rotary tools out there that will cut aluminium efficiently. I’ve built a few PC’s from scratch and it’s really easy if you do the research.
