Anything with 1.8 GHz + Power
Integrated graphics are okay as long as they are rated @ 380 MHz GPU or above.
FSB should be rated above 600 MHz
Ram minimum is 2GB
HDD depends on how efficient you are. Currently I am running off of a 32 GB solid state harddrive.
The rest of the specifications don’t matter. As long as you have that you should be able to play a show without a hitch related to the lappy.
The bast laptop period, would inherently be the best DJ laptop but not to the converse due to the relatively low specifications that Traktor and Ableton are able to seamlessly run under. However if you feel the need for oscene computing power http://www.eurocom.com/ look for the Panther 2.0. It’s about 2.5 inches bigger but it has roughly 4-5 times the computing power. You could play Crysis while DJ’ing, while editing 1080p video while mastering lossless audio while cooking eggs on the heat sink compared to the weaksauce MBP.
I have a Vaio FW series and I’d rather have something with a better built case. It’s pretty-looking, stylish, and a bit of a beast in terms of performance, but putting it into and taking it out of gig bags for a couple of years has noticeably worn on the integrity of the case.
I bought a Dell Latitude E6410 for $702 out the door (that included ~$57 NY state tax). Got it refurbished from the Dell outlet using a 15% off coupon. These coupons are available most of the time (check this thread over in another forum for coupon codes).
What did I get for $700 out the door?
Dell Latitude E6410
14.1" 1440x900 screen (matte)
4.5 lbs (with 6-cell battery, it’s 4.2 lbs if you get the 4-cell battery)
Core i5-520M (2.4GHz, 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.93GHz Turbo)
4GB DDR3
250GB 7200rpm hard drive 4 x USB 2.0 (one is an USB 2.0/eSATA combo port)
Firewire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n 3x3 WiFi (up to 450Mbps), VGA, DisplayPort, SD Card Reader, SmartCard Reader, Wireless Smart Card Reader, Bluetooth 3.0, ExpressCard slot Backlit Keyboard 3-year NBD warranty
Built like a tank
DVD drive is in a media bay and can be replaced with a second hard drive or SSD (I replaced with an SSD).
Yes, screen and battery life aren’t as good as in the MBPs. But, hello, its $700 and I get better build quality than a Mac and a couple of additional features.
If your budget is that high, you should just go with a Mac.
I can understand that although the mac folks do have issues with DJ software… the feeling is that it just generally works consistently fine. This makes sense because (in the case of Traktor) Native Instruments only has to test it with less than half a dozen models and they’re done. It would be insane for them to test Traktor on EVERY PC Laptop that exists as there is greater variety, and the frequency at which new models are released is a lot greater than apple’s release sched.
FWIW, I play on an old Dell D800 with controller and haven’t a SINGLE problem…and this is basically a $200 laptop on eBay.
Getting a mac is safe… if your budget was less, then it would be a different story…but IMO, once you run Traktor in full screen they all look and operate the same.
On the screen-size issue, i don’t think a big screen is an issue at all. Infact i find if i stare at my screen my mixes actually suffer as it distracts from feeling the music.
Don’t buy a vaio! I have one and i hate it! Build quality is crap, the fan is louder than my hifi and the price is shit…
Get a mac if u have the chance