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laptop or something else?

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  • February 24, 2016 at 4:51 am #2359921
    Todd Oddity
    Participant

    I don’t think I agree with your laptop pros and cons – my laptop has 1.5 tb of solid state storage, and is expandable to 4 (not that I would ever need close to that much), so internal storage is hardly limited. No external drives are needed. It also has far more memory than any DJ package could possibly need (16gigs), and has more than enough graphics capability to handle any video task I might throw at it.

    February 24, 2016 at 8:11 am #2360131
    Clifford Anderson
    Participant

    Todd – Nice gaming rig, more blasting power than most DJs have though.

    February 24, 2016 at 12:35 pm #2360261
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Yeah, I can’t see I am all there when it comes to agreeing to your list. Things you leave out are, imho, important ones like support for controllers (a LOT harder for tablets and phones depending on the software).

    I think these kind of pro’s and cons are very personal. What you might consider a pro I can view as a con or be indifferent to. While cheaper software on phones and ipads, none have the power their PC/Mac counterparts do at this moment.

    At home I have a big with a big screen (two actually) where I do a lot of prep work. But I do stuff on my iPad as well. When I play out I take my MacBook Pro 15.

    And I am quite certain that the next few years will see a shift towards iPad use, especially with the Pro out now offering laptop like computing power and a 12″ retina touchscreen. Even if a 128GB version would be the largest memory, having a core collection of over 1500 tracks is pushing it. Even in WAV this would amount to a maximum of 75GB. If 1 TB is a limit you find worrying for the size of your music collection, well … :-).

    February 24, 2016 at 7:55 pm #2360431
    Trevor West
    Participant

    remember, this is just a generic categorization of equipment, not specifics. not everyone can afford the latest and greatest, I know I certainly cant, darn mortgage kind of gets in the way..lol
    my point was to showcase the difference that each category brings to the game, yes I know there are fabulous laptops out there, I work in IT so I know the levels of machines in the market.
    myself, I run a shuttle system only because I am not a club style or scratch style DJ, most weddings don’t call for that style in my area, not to say that it doesn’t in yours.
    for backup systems, I carry a tablet, an ipad mini, 2 ipods, and my phone. I have tried running a laptop for my main system but for me it just seemed too slow and limited, had too many issues with external drives…etc..etc..
    my point is, find what works best for you and stay with that.
    but I do appreciate all the comments.

    February 24, 2016 at 10:04 pm #2360501
    Ronnie EmJay
    Participant

    I’ve only ever DJ’d once with an external hard drive – a 32gb SanDisk USB stick plugged into a friends MacBook. We were using Traktor Scratch with CDJs and had no problems.

    For my own laptop I have 2.5TB internal memory, which is MORE than enough for DJing. I’ve never used an external drive. There are now 2TB solid state drives out (1TBs have no dropped in price) as well as regular 9.5mm hard drives of 2TB for around $100 in the UK/US on Amazon.

    Even the most basic laptops come with HDMI or other video ports, so it’s easy to connect a big screen if you like . Sometimes I connect up a Dell 24″ IPS screen for photo/video editing.

    February 25, 2016 at 7:41 am #2360811
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    I use an external drive called “requests” (guess why?) and have my core collection (when I am done about 1200 tracks) on my internal SSD in my Macbook. So if I go to club or non-mobile gig, the laptop alone suffices, if I go to a mobile gig I use the external HD (soon to be replaced by an external SSD by the way) to find requests I might need to fill. Even if the external drive would fail, it’s not a dealbreaker cause I can play ANY gig with those 1200 tracks well.

    If/when I get a controller that allows me to use a USB stick, those 1200 tracks go on a stick that I can plug in to the controller to take over (seamlessly) in case of a catastrophic laptop crash.

    I never had performance problems with my laptop, I used a dual boot Dell (some kind of older dual core), then a 5 year old MacBook i5/4GB and now a 2 1/2 year old i7 with 16GB. Both the Macs were bought second-hand. Never a regret about that decision.

    February 26, 2016 at 4:49 pm #2361811
    DJ Spinn
    Participant

    I’m one that predominantly uses an external hard drive because of the nature of my DJ work. I’m mainly a House / EDM DJ – when I play out at clubs, lounges playing House music, I’m good with what I have internally. But for DJ’ing strip clubs, weddings, sweet sixteens, I must work with the external because that is where I have EVERYTHING including my house music that I have on my internal. I have never had any issues what-so-ever using an external hard drive. Now, given that, I like to have the full collection on the external for back up purposes as well – as I make an exact copy of one drive to another drive in case of failure, and keep them up-to-date at all times.

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