What is the best laptop for DJing

[JesC]

this has been ask too many times, please search the forums.

My advice, buy what you can afford.


Get good at djing, make some money and buy better gear. If you dont know jack about computers goto the website of the software you plan to use and see the min specs to run it.....GOOGLE is your friend, plus its free to search.

[Nosferatu]

Nosferatu, there's really no point to defend one or the other. Practically both work and will do the job.

It's really not about Mac can and Windows can't do the job - they both can. It's just that one is Unix, the other is not.

OS X is Darwin based. Memory and process management are very well designed. The entire microkernel and kernel drivers module design are superior, the network layer is taken from FreeBSD - nothing better than that. The underlaying API is mostly coming from the NextStep OS, which is written by the team behind BeOS.

I have professional experience with Windows, Solaris, AIX, Linux and FreeBSD as Application, Database and Network servers. Also played with others. I'm a Software Engineer and I'm managing enterprise software projects for the past 6 years and I'm getting dirty into how these beasts work. Deep dirty at times.

Engineering wise, OS X/Darwin is a state of the art OS. On top of it runs a very nice UI - like it or not is subjective. Due to legacy and backward compatibility reasons, Windows cannot become as good OS as OS X is (not to speak for FreeBSD, Solaris, etc).

MS' Engineering Team is very capable and I respect them a lot.

EDIT: And BTW, I've checked your dream setup - Latitude is actually my favorite laptop, before I had MBP. I still think it's superior to the MBP in many aspects. It just lacks OS X ... and the backlit keyboard :-P

Cheers!

Thanks...

however... my point was actually more simple than that. Most folks won't know their Debian from their Red Hat...

Clearly you know what you're talking about (and being an information security auditor, I appreciate that immensely..especially for geeking out on DJTT) I was just trying to say that PCs shouldn't be discounted simply because they're not macs, since, as you said...

"Practically both work and will do the job"

[R3clu23]

http://store.apple.com/us_epp_55499

Don't worry about being a Federal Employee. I used it and got a nice 13mbp for $1042 for a basic unibody.

[maxonemillionone]

Nosferatu, there's really no point to defend one or the other. Practically both work and will do the job.

It's really not about Mac can and Windows can't do the job - they both can. It's just that one is Unix, the other is not.

OS X is Darwin based. Memory and process management are very well designed. The entire microkernel and kernel drivers module design are superior, the network layer is taken from FreeBSD - nothing better than that. The underlaying API is mostly coming from the NextStep OS, which is written by the team behind BeOS.

I have professional experience with Windows, Solaris, AIX, Linux and FreeBSD as Application, Database and Network servers. Also played with others. I'm a Software Engineer and I'm managing enterprise software projects for the past 6 years and I'm getting dirty into how these beasts work. Deep dirty at times.

Engineering wise, OS X/Darwin is a state of the art OS. On top of it runs a very nice UI - like it or not is subjective. Due to legacy and backward compatibility reasons, Windows cannot become as good OS as OS X is (not to speak for FreeBSD, Solaris, etc).

MS' Engineering Team is very capable and I respect them a lot.

EDIT: And BTW, I've checked your dream setup - Latitude is actually my favorite laptop, before I had MBP. I still think it's superior to the MBP in many aspects. It just lacks OS X ... and the backlit keyboard :-P

Cheers!

linux 4 lyfe nyukuh

EDIT: Hackintosh???

[maxonemillionone]

Thanks...

however... my point was actually more simple than that. Most folks won't know their Debian from their Red Hat...

Clearly you know what you're talking about (and being an information security auditor, I appreciate that immensely..especially for geeking out on DJTT) I was just trying to say that PCs shouldn't be discounted simply because they're not macs, since, as you said...

"Practically both work and will do the job"

Did you go to college from Comp Sci? I'm starting in the spring and I'm not sure if I should really pursue it. I feel like all the studying would kill any time I'd have to really progress in this hobby.

[loop]

linux 4 lyfe nyukuh

EDIT: Hackintosh???

Linux as a workstation was a nice playground for me. Learned a lot by running it as primary workstation for few years through my CS education. IMO, it's not as mature as Windows or OS X for straight forward work - have to put too much effort into keeping it up-to-date, running and fully functional. I also miss the commercial apps. Vendors usually don’t do ports for Linux. Emulation – too much of a hassle with questionable end results (usually lacks stability & functionality - e.g Audio emulation sucks! ).

Hackintosh - I have limited experience with it. Besides that it's not very legal, I'm a little bit concerned with the maintenance updates from Apple. When setting up the Hackintosh, you add & replace drivers and alter system properties. It's bound to create issues with updates – of course, they could be handled. Have friends who do it and enjoy it a lot. They all claim that it runs better than any other OS on the same (decent) comp . Yup it's an option to run OS X on non-apple HW.

[CrissC]

For out of the box windows func. with really low DPC latancies get an HP Envy (u can buy it with TSD), buuuut i have only read a few reviews, not my personal experience.

For real out of the box funciolaty get a MAC!

[Nosferatu]

Did you go to college from Comp Sci? I'm starting in the spring and I'm not sure if I should really pursue it. I feel like all the studying would kill any time I'd have to really progress in this hobby.

It's all about time management.... I have a friend who in addition to DJing is also a Chief of Neuroscience (read "brain surgeon")... he finds the time.

Up until recently I held a 10 yr residence at a local club... now I'm back in the studio (check out Soiree Records [Detroit])... all while maintaining my "day job".

knaumov has an intense job, and he seems to be current with the DJ culture...so I don't think you should have issues with college and DJing...heck, aren't there parties at your college??? Not everyone can have DJ Superstar status and fly around the world...

[fullenglishpint]

Post Tone: as non-confrontational as possible...

This is a mystery to me since I've installed various soundcard drivers without a hitch on multiple PCs...if I'm reading your comment right, mac users don't install an Audio8DJ driver? it's built in to OSX?

I don't doubt the mac's popularity within the DJ/Producer community, but the comment implies that working low latency drivers are somehow non-existent in the PC environment.

Sorry to beat this dog Karlos...but I think you get what I'm sayin'.

Some folks would have you believe DJing with a PC is the most horrible experience ever...and I just don't think this is the case cuz I've been playing DVS systems on PCs since Final Scratch 1.0 (circa 2001) without issues.

There's been a lot of talk lately about the uniquely friendly community here at DJTT, yet this type of blatant incorrect generalization continues (seemingly unchallenged)

EDIT: (thinking about the comment now... it has nothing to do with the DJTT community being friendly.... everyone actually is quite friendly here... no issues with that)

Sorry man, that was quite a bitter post of mine! Just remembering the experience of trying to get my Audio8 to work with my mate's PC, had horrible crackle at max latency and took some fixing.

I guess what I was really trying to say is that the plug and play compatibility of macs is better, but it came out sounding like there's no way to make PCs work for DJing :/

[Nosferatu]

^^

No worries mate...

Perhaps if my travels land me in your neighborhood we can order up a couple of full English pints!