Recommended specs for a laptop running serato on windows?

Also: Cheap PC hardware (400 dollar notebooks from target etc.) will fail you in real DJ conditions.
I have seen it time and time again and it is not a Windows problem, it is the problem of cheap hardware.
You often work in an environment where the computer is in harsh conditions: Smoke, Haze, Heat from Lamps and or Sun, high moisture due to hundreds of people sweating on a small dancefloor, more smoke, fog machines,…
All factors that will iterally kill your hardware and sadly I have seen so many beginner/warmup sets, even in bigger clubs where “they give a chance to a newcomer” and the newcomer fails badly due to failing hardware (overheating, having power issues,…).

So in the end it is not the Operating System why many DJs use Macs, it is also because the hardware is really good and stable. I just replaced my MacBook from 2008! and I played literally thousands of gigs with it in front of thousands of people.

Now of course you can have a similary good Windows Hardware if you for example buy into good hardware like HP EliteBooks, Alienware etc. however those are usually the same price if not more than a MacBook Air 13”.
For example the EliteBook Folio 1040 that I use to write this now to you, did cost about 1900 bucks.

That is why many DJs even opt to buy a used Mac for 600-800 bucks, to be on the safe side.

I’ve also seen good business class laptops that are a great budget buy. Lenovo thinkpads, HP Probooks, things of that nature. I snagged an HP Probook recently that had some nicks but otherwise flawless for less than 150$ USD on ebay and they tick all of Serato’s requirements for things like PnT and Serato video should I ever decide to pay and use them. I also almost never have 600$ on me at any one time, so spending that on a laptop that you’d have to sink more money into for a new battery if buying used, (Important if you travel on public transportation and want use your laptop while doing so) an SSD if you don’t have one on hand, and probably a ram upgrade unless you are able cannibalize a laptop that had better ram and an SSD you can re-format.

The only time so far I’ve ever had issues with my dj laptops is with windows, but since Linux sucks for djing (No support from any DJ program except MIXXX) and iOS is for macs only, I just stick with 8.1 for now as I can never find a legit copy of 7 and 10 was causing issues on my probook. I’ll probably also see about getting another SSD for my old DJ laptop for home use as I loved having the bigger screen (Probook 14″ vs Clevo T5100 15.4″) but hated the added weight and unnecessary numerical pad. Like you, I highly doubt I’ll ever play in front of 1000’s, but I’m not looking to either.