Windows updates?

Updates should have nothing to do with the problems you talk about. My primary look at things is that if it worked and you didn’t change anything and it suddenly stops working (normally) that something has broken. It can be either software or hardware. Since it’s both the mousepad and the mouse, this pretty much rules out those pieces of hardware. So I am leaning towards something in the software. The big question being … what!?

Do you have the idea the laptop gets very warm/hot after a couple of hours working?

Greetinx.

The reason I ask is that when problems start after a period of working and especially if they seem to have disappeared next time you fire the machine up, there is often a temperature issue. It is very well possible that the temperature reached a point at which it affected some functions and that the temperature dropped somewhat over the next hour after which the buttons “magically” started working again.

Solutions could be a laptop cooling pad for example.

It’s still weird, but then again … it’s IT. Lovely when it works, otherwise …

Greetinx.

You should still do updates because they can help with drivers and power management which can help with your heating issue. But as Chuck says a cooling pad should help. Changing laptop brands won’t make much of a difference if there is a heat issue.

Indeed, there is no such things as 100% technology. Even MBPs crash (had it happen twice, once while practicing – no sweat, once at the beginning of a gig – BIG sweat!). And I have had windows laptops that worked like a charm.

Most updates are ment to fix problems (other) people experienced, the other reason for updates is to plug security risks. The latter isn’t really important for a non-internet-connected PC/Laptop. That leaves problems you are experiencing. Obviously the heat issue COULD be such a problem more people might have reported and that they fixed.

However, fixing a heat issue through an update seems unlikely. The only thing to prevent heat issues is to prevent the computer from getting, well, too hot 😀 Keep in mind that DJ-ing is relatively heavy on a computer. Especially if you do a lot of keylock stuff, multiple streams of audio and such. There will typically be a lot of disk i/o as well. And you are usually performing in environments that aren’t the coolest, clean air places. A place packed with people tends to heat up rather quickly and stuff like smoke machines and hazers don’t do much for electronic gear either. Good thing we stopped smoking in public venues!

As far as Apple goes. I prefer a MBP over Windows, but not for hardware reasons. In general the inside is the same as a windows laptop. Intel CPU’s and chipsets, same memory, same hard disk, etx.

What sets a MacBook apart for DJ-in purposes, amongst other things, is:
* full metal enclosure
* backlit keyboard (for those dark DJ booths)
* better audio drivers (or rather, no use for external audio drivers, it’s all built-in)
* power connects with a magnetic connector, no breaking it off anymore (and this is bigger than many realise, broken off power connectors are one of the predominant failures of laptops)

Nothing you can’t live without, but all things that make your life a little or a lot more easy.

Greetinx.

As for having the same internal some people are missing a fact that many outside the IT industry do not know.

Well an MBP has an Intel processor and a cheap no-name has one, still the MBP (and for example a HP zBook) are still much more expensive.
This is due to the fact that all electronic parts come in grades of quality.
So while Apple (and HP, Dell, Lenovo in their premium or business lines) only use A and A+ grade components, in your 200 bucks cheap no-name laptop you might have grade C or D hardware. The fun thing about that is that such a C or D component might have the same product lifetime as the A+, but it is much less likely. So we are dealing with statistics here. And of course also an A+ grade component can have a lemon in it, it is just much much less likely…

The thing that sets Apple apart from HP, DELL and Lenovo is only that they design their own chipsets and have custom made mainboards build to their specs, but most other parts are generic indeed. (Aka the only other HW manufacturer who goes into the deal to incorporate its own chipsets and custom instructions on building was Alienware before they were invaded by Dell)

Tbh it’s a double edged sword. What makes the OS X experience so stable is the same thing that people dislike. Apple will cut off older hardware / support for older 3rd party peripherals which enables them to keep the OS code base cleaner, less redundant / orphaned code lurking in the background causing conflicts.

Windows is a different beast entirely, as MS retain support for hardware / peripherals that are from the year dot, it means that stuff can continue to work, but with that comes some pretty messy backing code for the OS. there’s still a bug in the Windows 8 kernel that has been around since windows 3… In fact it reminds me of the awful mess that was vista… (sorry this is deviating off topic) but the idea behind the OS originally codenamed Longhorn was looking very promising: clean code base, new file system to replace NTFS and a whole long list of bold changes. Unfortunately MS backed down from practically all of the original promises (in doing so it appeased developers) and gave the world Vista instead… thankfully windows 7 put most of that mess right!!

it really all boils down to personal preference at the end of the day, one is not better than the other. For me the things I like about the Apple software / hardware combination would drive some people mad, but it is what works for me.