In these times of economic crisis it’s getting harder to get by and even harder to rationalize purchasing high-end DJ gear. To help those with a limited budget, we are going to start a new monthly series called “The Frugal DJ”. In each article we will cover a different type of DJ gear and offer a few lost-cost recommendations. This month, we will start with the most critical component: Laptops. Continue reading for three solid DJ laptops under $500 that will easily run the top programs.
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE
UPSIDE
When the EEE first came out it was instantly a smash hit. It’s portable, cheap and has wi-fi, so they dubbed them netbooks. The first two facts also make them a great tool for DJs as they are very affordable and take up virtually no space. A friend gave me his EEE to try it out for two gigs and it was a treat to carry it around. Traktor Pro worked without any problems and the drivers for my soundcard didn’t complain too much since it was equipped with Windows XP and 3GB of RAM. This laptop has three USB ports, which is just right for the controller and the soundcard.
DOWNSIDE
There is one major flaw with a notebook; the screen is very small. Although the size of the EEE is a testament to its portability, it is also it’s bane. The screen is very difficult to see in the club. The DJ booth is quite well-lit where I spin, but this didn’t help after a few hours of straining my eyes on the 10-inch screen. Apart from that, the price is right and so is the weight. The EEE I used was about a year old and was in pretty bad shape, so I don’t really recommend a used unit when a new version is so cheap. You can pick up a new EEE for around $399.
APPLE MACBOOK
UPSIDE
Macbooks and Macbook Pros are the tools-of-the-trade for many a digital DJ, myself included. The build is amazing and the stability of the operating system makes it an easy choice, but the price doesn’t. A new Macbook sells for $999, which isn’t really in the price range of a frugal DJ. My personal recommendation would be to get a used black Macbook, which can be found from $400 to $500 and it is quite simply amazing. I’m not playing favorites here, just speaking from experience. I have been using mine to DJ for more than three years and it hasn’t disappointed besides a single freeze during a show.
DOWNSIDE
There is one disappointing aspect of the macbook – the battery – which bloated after a year and a half of use. This is fairly common with the 13″ macbooks, but a replacement battery is easy to obtain for around $50. To be fair, this was somewhat my own fault. To be even more frugal I use the same laptop for everyday use and DJing, which may not be the most prudent thing to do. If you cant afford separate laptops, make sure to turn off any interfering programs before djing. There is a nice DJTT guide to doing this automatically here.
TOSHIBA SATELLITE
The Satellite is among the best selling laptops right now. And rightfully so, for their low price you get quite a lot. There are two models that will work for the frugal DJ, the C650D-BT2N11 with a 15.6-inch screen and the more portable L640-BT2N22 with a 14-inch screen. They both boast 4GB of memory, 250GB of hard drive space and processors that are strong enough for anything you might want to throw at them. The 15.6-inch is priced at $399 and the 14-inch is priced $599, which puts them both in the right price range. If you can manage to find a clean, used model then that price could drop down $300. Remember to check out the DJTT article about optimizing your Windows PC here.
CONCLUSION
All the laptops featured in this article are great in their own way. The EEE is ultra-portable but the small screen leaves something to be desired. The Macbook is a very popular laptop for DJs around the globe but is starting to become outdated. The 15.6-inch Satellite is a great deal, while the 14-inch is a bit over-priced for what you get. If I had to make a recommendation then it would be the used black Macbook. You will get an amazing product that is trusted and relied on by many other DJs. The graphics card on the unit belongs in the medieval era to say the least, but if you don’t play games, that won’t be a problem. If there any other topics you would like us to cover in the next frugal DJ, please add your thoughts to the comments!
I would love to see an updated version of this article for both DJs and Producers
I have a toshiba satellite p300 1cn worst purchase ever I have tried every single optimisation tip on the net and removed the battery and wifi off etc and still drop outs evey ten mins. So pissed off, does anyone have a tip I have missed like a service running in the background or that?
Are HP laptops (dv7 series) good for DJing?
I’ve been using an HP DV-6 for about 4 years now without a single hitch , I had a Toshiba satellite before that which worked fine . But I love my HP , can’t go wrong in my opinion .
I use a Toshiba Satellite with Serato and it has been working fine for the past 2 years. I use Windows Vista with my program… So after 2 years of giging about 3 to 4 nights a week Ive only had a had full of freezes but the problems were to me not useing Serato right and not analizing my files… With that said the PC is bomb…. But It will not run VIDEO SERATO. I was directed to a page on a certain website (Not going to name names but it starts with an S) and followed the directions to optimize my PC to run video. After doing so, my PC kept crashing. I ended up damaging my harddrive. I emailed the “Company” and told them what problems I ran into and they told me that I had a bad harddrive… Duh…So its 89 bucks for a new harddrive. Not bad. So for Audio playback this PC is perfect. For Video, dont try it… Oh and after 2 years my battery only last 15 mins now. Minor problems, but Ive made a lot of money over the past 2 years… The satellite I use has a dual-core Centrino Processor @ 2.0 Ghz, 3 Gigs of Ram, 230 GB on the HD. Im going to replace the HD with a 500 GB HD and it runs at 7200 RPMs for 89 bucks.
I have Alienware m17x but i have problems with audio. Wehn i playing music starting music stuttering. If I Buy a new interfaces audio 4 Dj. that help or no? Sorry for my bad english
I’m a PC guy, and I would highly recommend either Toshiba Satellite laptops or even Lenovo Thinkpads for DJs who don’t want to go Mac.
I won’t get into the Mac VS PC thing, because it’s redundant. Plus I love surprising Mac guys when I roll out well on my Thinkpad. 😉
Lenovo does bring out some spanking nice laptops for djing!
i co-sign on an MSI netbook 2gb ram, 250GB hd, triple boot (Linux, XP, OS X) for Serato SL1 use in OS X. if for some reason the location i’ve spun at doesn’t have turntables i can always use Traktor in XP. Surf internet on Linux virus free. A fourth partition keeps all the music i need Fat32 formatted so all three OS’s can access it.
[quote comment=”34802″]One thing.
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware. I rather save some money and buy a used Mac that expend a lot hours rebuilding a PC.
Get a Mac and make Steve happy![/quote]
HAHAHA oh my god man don’t start with the “if you use a PC you’ll get a virus” propaganda.
I’ve used a PC all my life.
Havn’t had a virus on my system for 5-10 years now.
Reason why?
I’m not a moron, and know to steer clear of suspicious websites and files.
Find i3 laptops at slickdeals.net ez… why go for anything less?
I got a 15” Macbook Pro Core Duo for the last 4+ years replaced the battery once and it’s due for another and replaced the 80gb harddrive for a fast 320gb drive and maxed out the RAM. Still going strong. A friend of mine has gone through 3 PC laptops in the same time- yeah there cheap but you get what you pay for. Girlfriend got a netbook that she had to have last year, Ok fine it’ll be a back up at gigs and she can use it to spin a little for coctail hour… well 2nd harddrive and now the power supply is dead… I’ll keep my mac….
[quote comment=”34938″]Theres no problems with mac, i have been using mine for years. But theres no mac use for producimg…noooo way :D[/quote]
Are you saying that you gig with macs but produce on something different?
[quote comment=”34802″]One thing.
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware. I rather save some money and buy a used Mac that expend a lot hours rebuilding a PC.
Get a Mac and make Steve happy![/quote]
If you search for mp3s online and have absolutely no idea what you are doing or where you are going you might get a virus. I’m pretty tired of that pro-mac pro-ignorance party line. Just learn how to use a computer and become proactive in learning your hardware and software. FWIW I have had a Toshiba Satellite for many years and I love it. When I can afford it I am going to buy a decked out 500
P.S. I used to Use WinXP but switched over in Januray to Win7, had a learning curve but is fine for past 6 months now. Peace…
[quote comment=”34872″]I own an Asus eeePC 1101HA with 2Go RAM under windows 7 and with internal mixer + midi, it runs traktor pro very badly..[/quote]
VERY IMPORTANT:
To use a NetBook you must have an external sound card that supports ASIO!!! You must have 2G Ram. (a 7200RPM HD helps too). Next you have to tweek the operating system (NI has several Tweek guides;(mainly to turn of the powersave on the USB ports, disable built-in sound card, turn off eye-candy..Aero) Lastly you must turn of WIFI and kill all unnecessary programs from running while running your Program of choice. Especially any antivirus software. I use an Acer AOD250 and it runs fine with these changes… after use I reboot(turn back on antivirus…..) No Problems 4ms Latency in Ableton Live 8. Too many EFX though and it can be lights out which is Bad, very Bad. I mainly use this setup for my Ultra Portable practice on the GO.. I have a Toshiba w/AMD Turon X2 TL58 1.9Ghz for main laptop with 4G ram, 7200 HD, external soundcard, all other tweeks mentioned, been running fine 3yrs that handles what ever I throw at it!!! Also I run Win7 ultimate on both(32bit on Net & 64bit on Tosh) hope that helps someone. My only advice is keep your expectations in line with the amount of $$ you spend. I wouldn’t recommend anyone use a Netbook as main unit(but could be excellent back up travel companion)! Peace to all and I Second (or Third….Tenth) on the little doo-dads from the woods.. Ah/OR to use with performance article.
I can’t do anything but agree on the black macbooks. the macs are steady in all regards. the new OS handles breautifully, and the new screens makes it effortless to stare for hours during sets.
they are pricey. the pro I’ve got broke my bank.
On a sidenote, what you CAN do is to use a business laptop from HP or the like, strip a XP OS bare to the bone (by removing non-essential processes like printers, indexers etc) and use your DJ-program in a HI-priority mode (more info here: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager/).
This allows you to use a low-grade PC and still get the bang for your buck you deserve. You might even get a used or refurbished one of these and pay virtually nothing.
The thing about business laptops are the guarantee that you get with the buy. Main reason I got a mac was because of the service. same thing goes for business laptops.
my 5 C
how about a write up for the really broke dj’s who wont buy a new laptop but need to optimize their performance? there are many articles out there on how to do it but the contradict themselves so at the end its a lot of wasted time. i would like a reliable website such as djtt to show us the way!
I wonder, how good will be the new Macbook Air coming in September. If fast enough, it could be perfect solution.
[quote comment=”34802″]One thing.
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware. I rather save some money and buy a used Mac that expend a lot hours rebuilding a PC.
Get a Mac and make Steve happy![/quote]
Bollocks – just buy your MP3’s and don’t rinse them from shit blogger virus filled sites.
I’ve heard that some Toshiba laptops have issues running Traktor. Might want to look into that on the Traktor forums before investing in a Toshiba laptop.
So how are work?
I love apple and DJ.
I’m not Mac purist by any means, I work in other areas with PC’s every day and they (generally :P) never miss a beat. But compared to OS X for DJ’ing they just don’t cut it for me. Drivers are the main annoyance, with OS X it’s a literal case of plug-n-play. Not so much under say, Windows XP, where the the drivers need to be installed and ready to go for anything to work. I’d also allude to the amount of unnecessary processes that Windows runs by default (I can manage to get the list down to about 20 essentials, but that’s a lot). I haven’t used Windows 7 as yet, so can’t comment on that but I hear that it is much more appropriate. Feel free to inform me here 🙂 Stability and ease of use is why I switched to a G1 Unibody Macbook – hasn’t given me *any* grief. I can’t dream of, even on a budget, running Traktor on an EEE pc ! Maybe for a house party or something, but using one in a professional capacity wouldn’t be an experience I’d like to endure lol
@djchriscruz: of course… I could have gone more in depth: Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, IBM, Lenovo, Sony… It’s not as easy as it may sound believe me.
You could’ve gone more in depth in this article. What about Dell and HP netbooks?
There’s nothing really frugal about Macs. I’ve copped a few macbooks off Craigslist for $300-$400 but you have to watch CL like a hawk because they sell fast. Most Macbooks still sell for $600 used.
But I like Macs because of their build and they hold their value over the years. I used an Ibook G4 for 4 years with Serato with no problems. Nothing broke off, wore out, or malfunctioned. AND I sold it for $300 just last year.
I buy all my Apple products refurbished. Three iPhones, a 21″ iMac and a 15″ MBP not a single problem with any of them. They still cost more than a PC, but if your set on a Mac it’ll save you at the very least a couple of hundred dollars.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY2NQ
Great comments guys! This is what we wanted, your perspective into the whole frugality of digital Djing, other helpful tips and laptops that you think pass the budget test and you haven’t disappointed.
As for the EEE, I knew it was going to be a somewhat controversial choice but it is a cheap and well built unit. As said, the one I used worked pretty well. As with everything else, somebody else might have had a different experience.
This article is what I need!
Deadmau5 on the DJTT site. Didn’t know that you have time to read these articles. Maybe time for you to write a nice Ableton & controller DJ article for DJTT. I was always curious about your setup and mapping…And i thought all producers use MAC’s and LOGIC or PropHead Record….Tel us more please>>>>
Theres no problems with mac, i have been using mine for years. But theres no mac use for producimg…noooo way 😀
[quote comment=”34887″]I still say the best option is to get a used black macbook, and upgrade the RAM to 4GB. You will not be dissatisfied.
I switched to mac 3 years ago, and I am never looking back.
Show me a PC that can flawlessly run TPro, LIVE, and Logic Pro simultaneously without flaw, and I will show you the blue screen of death.[/quote]
Comments like this shit me. I can run 10 audio apps at the same time if i wanted to on my PC. My laptop has never blue screened. You’re basically saying you haven’t had any experience with a PC for 3 years yet you feel you can still comment on them. Technology moves pretty fast man..
The thing is with MACs you aren’t given the choice to buy the cheap, low quality one because it doesn’t exist. You are given a choice with PCs and most people buy cheap hardware and do stupid shit to fuck up their Operating System then cry when it blue screens. The point is you don’t need to buy a MAC to have a worry-free system, just a little bit clued in.
I know this thread is old but had to agree with this.. My desktop and laptop are loaded up with memory (memory is cheap these days so max it out!) and i can run a dozen audio apps, use aero and do whatever the hell else i want and it is flawless. I think traktor runs at 4 ms latency on my desktop and 5 ms on laptop.
I have friends with macbooks that seem to have more trouble surfing the web than i do with music apps. Its all about how YOU set ur computer up. If you give yourself nasty malware and viruses of course your pc will crap out. But these days, theres so many good free anti virus ant malware apps out there, you should have no problem if your not doing stupid things.
I will admit that pre win 7 was a different story for me. Vista and xp were shitty. Win2k was nice and stable tho.
I get the attractiveness of macs to those who cant be bothered learning about how to tweak a pc. But i find macs to be offensively closed as far as customization goes. If all i did was surf web, check email then a mac is great and simple (hence the ipad that im on right now). All they really do is pre-can the OS so much that a user couldnt possibly do something dumb. But if i wanted to, i could lock down my pc so much that it mimics the closed environment of a mac and hence prevent problems. But its not necessary.
So for those where cash is an issue, a mac is going to cost you double what an equally powered pc would. So id suggest learning the windows os and using ur money saved elsewhere. You can pretty easily emulate the restricted, stability of macs os x on win7 with a little research on the web.
And if your really saavy, you can build a pc desktop or get a laptop that is compartmental enough that you can upgrade it later as you need every few years as opposed to getting rid of the entire unit and buying a new unit when maybe only your memory/hd/motherboard needs replacing.
But whatever floats ur boat i guess.. I have a ton of respect for what Apple as a business has done. They really have some people completely brainwashed! Kudos to them for designing a slick, safe, easy product. But i wouldnt spend the cash they demand for their desktops or laptops. I did splurge on their ipad but thats a totally different story as i just use it for mail, web, videos and books 99 percent of the time.
Just dont say that windows will crash, get viruses etc because that is not a built in automatic feature.. Its caused by users activities. To say otherwise is very misleading and expensive to somebody who listens. If i smash a mac with a hammer, its not the OS’s fault, its mine. Well, if i bootleg music (tho i cant even imagine getting a virus from an mp3 even if i tried my hardest) and bootleg executable programs all day with no regard to protection, it is not windows fault, it is mine.
I know this thread is old but had to agree with this.. My desktop and laptop are loaded up with memory (memory is cheap these days so max it out!) and i can run a dozen audio apps, use aero and do whatever the hell else i want and it is flawless. I think traktor runs at 4 ms latency on my desktop and 5 ms on laptop.
I have friends with macbooks that seem to have more trouble surfing the web than i do with music apps. Its all about how YOU set ur computer up. If you give yourself nasty malware and viruses of course your pc will crap out. But these days, theres so many good free anti virus ant malware apps out there, you should have no problem if your not doing stupid things.
I will admit that pre win 7 was a different story for me. Vista and xp were shitty. Win2k was nice and stable tho.
I get the attractiveness of macs to those who cant be bothered learning about how to tweak a pc. But i find macs to be offensively closed as far as customization goes. If all i did was surf web, check email then a mac is great and simple (hence the ipad that im on right now). All they really do is pre-can the OS so much that a user couldnt possibly do something dumb. But if i wanted to, i could lock down my pc so much that it mimics the closed environment of a mac and hence prevent problems. But its not necessary.
So for those where cash is an issue, a mac is going to cost you double what an equally powered pc would. So id suggest learning the windows os and using ur money saved elsewhere. You can pretty easily emulate the restricted, stability of macs os x on win7 with a little research on the web.
And if your really saavy, you can build a pc desktop or get a laptop that is compartmental enough that you can upgrade it later as you need every few years as opposed to getting rid of the entire unit and buying a new unit when maybe only your memory/hd/motherboard needs replacing.
But whatever floats ur boat i guess.. I have a ton of respect for what Apple as a business has done. They really have some people completely brainwashed! Kudos to them for designing a slick, safe, easy product. But i wouldnt spend the cash they demand for their desktops or laptops. I did splurge on their ipad but thats a totally different story as i just use it for mail, web, videos and books 99 percent of the time.
Just dont say that windows will crash, get viruses etc because that is not a built in automatic feature.. Its caused by users activities. To say otherwise is very misleading and expensive to somebody who listens. If i smash a mac with a hammer, its not the OS’s fault, its mine. Well, if i bootleg music (tho i cant even imagine getting a virus from an mp3 even if i tried my hardest) and bootleg executable programs all day with no regard to protection, it is not windows fault, it is mine.
I know this thread is old but had to agree with this.. My desktop and laptop are loaded up with memory (memory is cheap these days so max it out!) and i can run a dozen audio apps, use aero and do whatever the hell else i want and it is flawless. I think traktor runs at 4 ms latency on my desktop and 5 ms on laptop.
I have friends with macbooks that seem to have more trouble surfing the web than i do with music apps. Its all about how YOU set ur computer up. If you give yourself nasty malware and viruses of course your pc will crap out. But these days, theres so many good free anti virus ant malware apps out there, you should have no problem if your not doing stupid things.
I will admit that pre win 7 was a different story for me. Vista and xp were shitty. Win2k was nice and stable tho.
I get the attractiveness of macs to those who cant be bothered learning about how to tweak a pc. But i find macs to be offensively closed as far as customization goes. If all i did was surf web, check email then a mac is great and simple (hence the ipad that im on right now). All they really do is pre-can the OS so much that a user couldnt possibly do something dumb. But if i wanted to, i could lock down my pc so much that it mimics the closed environment of a mac and hence prevent problems. But its not necessary.
So for those where cash is an issue, a mac is going to cost you double what an equally powered pc would. So id suggest learning the windows os and using ur money saved elsewhere. You can pretty easily emulate the restricted, stability of macs os x on win7 with a little research on the web.
And if your really saavy, you can build a pc desktop or get a laptop that is compartmental enough that you can upgrade it later as you need every few years as opposed to getting rid of the entire unit and buying a new unit when maybe only your memory/hd/motherboard needs replacing.
But whatever floats ur boat i guess.. I have a ton of respect for what Apple as a business has done. They really have some people completely brainwashed! Kudos to them for designing a slick, safe, easy product. But i wouldnt spend the cash they demand for their desktops or laptops. I did splurge on their ipad but thats a totally different story as i just use it for mail, web, videos and books 99 percent of the time.
Just dont say that windows will crash, get viruses etc because that is not a built in automatic feature.. Its caused by users activities. To say otherwise is very misleading and expensive to somebody who listens. If i smash a mac with a hammer, its not the OS’s fault, its mine. Well, if i bootleg music (tho i cant even imagine getting a virus from an mp3 even if i tried my hardest) and bootleg executable programs all day with no regard to protection, it is not windows fault, it is mine.
I know this thread is old but had to agree with this.. My desktop and laptop are loaded up with memory (memory is cheap these days so max it out!) and i can run a dozen audio apps, use aero and do whatever the hell else i want and it is flawless. I think traktor runs at 4 ms latency on my desktop and 5 ms on laptop.
I have friends with macbooks that seem to have more trouble surfing the web than i do with music apps. Its all about how YOU set ur computer up. If you give yourself nasty malware and viruses of course your pc will crap out. But these days, theres so many good free anti virus ant malware apps out there, you should have no problem if your not doing stupid things.
I will admit that pre win 7 was a different story for me. Vista and xp were shitty. Win2k was nice and stable tho.
I get the attractiveness of macs to those who cant be bothered learning about how to tweak a pc. But i find macs to be offensively closed as far as customization goes. If all i did was surf web, check email then a mac is great and simple (hence the ipad that im on right now). All they really do is pre-can the OS so much that a user couldnt possibly do something dumb. But if i wanted to, i could lock down my pc so much that it mimics the closed environment of a mac and hence prevent problems. But its not necessary.
So for those where cash is an issue, a mac is going to cost you double what an equally powered pc would. So id suggest learning the windows os and using ur money saved elsewhere. You can pretty easily emulate the restricted, stability of macs os x on win7 with a little research on the web.
And if your really saavy, you can build a pc desktop or get a laptop that is compartmental enough that you can upgrade it later as you need every few years as opposed to getting rid of the entire unit and buying a new unit when maybe only your memory/hd/motherboard needs replacing.
But whatever floats ur boat i guess.. I have a ton of respect for what Apple as a business has done. They really have some people completely brainwashed! Kudos to them for designing a slick, safe, easy product. But i wouldnt spend the cash they demand for their desktops or laptops. I did splurge on their ipad but thats a totally different story as i just use it for mail, web, videos and books 99 percent of the time.
Just dont say that windows will crash, get viruses etc because that is not a built in automatic feature.. Its caused by users activities. To say otherwise is very misleading and expensive to somebody who listens. If i smash a mac with a hammer, its not the OS’s fault, its mine. Well, if i bootleg music (tho i cant even imagine getting a virus from an mp3 even if i tried my hardest) and bootleg executable programs all day with no regard to protection, it is not windows fault, it is mine.
^^^^adding to above message.
Please no “just get a mac” comments. That’s not the response I’m looking for. But it’s one that Mac users love to give me all the time. I’m trying to use what I have to the best of it’s ability. 🙂
[quote comment=”34796″]Great short & to the point cross-section of options. With an Acer 10″ upped to 2GB of RAM, tweaked OS settings, a soundcard in the ‘main’ USB port and an APC40 or nanoKontrol controlling a couple effects and a huge bank of tracks in Ableton, I’ve been happily surprised.
For context, about $230 for the refurb netbook from woot.com, closeout M-Audio micro $40, $50 for RAM upgrade…it’s good enough to pull the train but not so expensive that I’d flip out if an accident happened…of course, wouldn’t turn down a ridiculously cheap legit Macbook rig either. The netbook just can’t run VSTs. EQ3? Yes. Some modulation EFX? Those too.
Side note: Might want to snag a USB HD for off-loading recordings or set backups. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best ‘n all.
Great write-up and look forward to what others have experienced.[/quote]
Man, I have a 2 Acers with 3gb memory and trying to run Ableton is hard. It’s just barely running good enough for me to perform. Lots of little pops and click. Pretty sure I’m using the “main: usb port. Using and Audio 8 as the sound card. If you see this message can you or anyone else out there point me in the right direction for how to optimize my laptops for good audio performance.
I just upgraded to a Dell Studio 15 that I got off of ebay for just over $300. I’m running a dual boot W7 for every day use and WXP used only for dj’ing. Works awesome! However, make sure to disable wireless in the control panel for Dells as it is a known issue. Use dplcat program to check your audio latencies. Other than that I am extremely happy with it, as it has a backlit keyboard and super bright screen (which I know has been standard on macs for a while, but if I could find a mac at this price point I would probably get it). Using with 2 Midi Fighters (just got em last night!) and a Korg Zero4.
i don´t want to dj on anything else than my late 2008 15.4″ MacBook Pro. As said before it f***ing solid as a rock, it will NEVER let you down !
yes these days almost any pc or mac you pick up will do the trick.
If your loooking for a new machine to pick up you should look at PROCESSOR, HARD DRIVE, GIGABYTES and USB AND FIREWIRE PORTS.
Any machine that is running a core duo processor will do the trick, A QUADCORE processor will push anything you throw at it. These days were seeing i5, i7 and so on come on the market. i7 is most likely ideal for you to get in long term functionality when using it for all programs and work. But really when the day ends its all about how you treat your machine. Keep you HARD DRIVES free, use externals for processing data to free up lag on your machine. POWER DOWN, dont just close the lid and say in good. Thats why you get errors when you try and load later. Always make sure your ventilated properly. The list goes on and on but if you treat your machine like shit and bog it down with now disk space it will crash and you sill loose all your data. Most programs require like 80 gb minimum and alot of peopel try and run them with 40gb. LoL
I still say the best option is to get a used black macbook, and upgrade the RAM to 4GB. You will not be dissatisfied.
I switched to mac 3 years ago, and I am never looking back.
Show me a PC that can flawlessly run TPro, LIVE, and Logic Pro simultaneously without flaw, and I will show you the blue screen of death.
Very happy with my MacBook for anything in mobile music like Traktor SP, Live 8.1, Maschine 1.5, etc.
However I’d love to have a very small and very cheap 10″ netbook as a backup solution (in case the MB breaks down before the gig) and asked NI if they can recommend any for Traktor.
They said, so far Netbooks are not capable to run Traktor, so I was a bit surprised to see the Asus EEE on top of this post.
But then again, I guess it’s only a matter of time, when Netbooks can run apps like Traktor SP with no problems, so I’d love DJTT to keep their eyes on that subject and let us know, when that time has finally come.
Very useful topic for most, as i too am on a budget.
I happen to own a toshiba satellite L500-1DT and it runs like a bullet train.
I have the bigger screen, higher priced version and already i’m thinking about switching to Mac.
Whenever i use fader FX on my vci100se, using my toshiba satellite traktor often packs up, forcing me to restart traktor back up.
This comes as a huge inconvenience as it has concluded that this machine is not reliable enough for me to perform with.
I don’t know if this is just a one-off problem but i have heard that others, running a PC have this problem..
Help is much appreciated
NewB
I own an Asus eeePC 1101HA with 2Go RAM under windows 7 and with internal mixer + midi, it runs traktor pro very badly..
I stand by ASUS. They are fantastic. Click on the link below to see the reliability of the top laptop manufacturers
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/
ASUS wins. I would definitely recommended spending a little bit more and going for the ASUS K42JR or similar. I have one myself and they are great. In Australia, they were just superseded so you can get them under $1000 AU. Here is the spec list
http://www.asus.com.au/product.aspx?P_ID=7O998GVGxD882pyg
– 14″ LED Backlight HD Screen
– 4 GB RAM (upgradable to 8)
– Intel® Core™ i5 520M 2.4 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.93
– Windows 7 Pro (64 bit)(rock solid, fast)
– 500 GB HDD
– I paid extra for a 4 year warranty!
I can run Virtual Machines, Traktor and Ableton at the same time without issue. It has a lot of power but packed into 14″
Toshiba’s still rocking I see! I supported a bunch of bankers back in the 90’s using Satellite laptops, and when I quit my job to do some traveling I gt one myself – was very sturdy – considering it crossed Canada in my truck from Ottawa to Haida Gwaii and back (including a lot of nasty backwoods travel and some rough ferry crossings) without a hiccup. On the other hand my new MBP has crossed the Atlantic and ripped 100gb+ of music* without crashing once yet 😉
* I did have it all ripped to my PC, but was not happy with that and decided to re-rip and use Trainspotter/Max/etc to get all the album info and artwork as well as convert everything to flac.
YO COMPRE EN 360euros UN´´ACER“ SERIE XTENSA 5630EZ.
LO UTILIZO CON VARIOS SOFWARE´S Y FUNCIONA GENIAL.
NUNCA SE ME HA COLGADO
SALUDOS
^^^ and Dell warranty arguably ranks as the best in business. Over the years, I’ve gotten replacements from Dell’s SBS unit a few times. And it was always no questions asked with replacements arriving within one or two business days via FedEx or UPS.
Refurbished Dell >>> Macbook
You can get a refurbished business-class Vostro or Latitude for $400-550 (after using one of the coupons that are regularly floating around). And compared to a Macbook, those Dells (i) are gonna be loaded spec-wise, and (ii) come with a standard 1-year (Vostro) or 3-year (Latitude) warranty included.
not really cheap but the HP Envy line is really good, maybe better than the apple line.
Nice article however I disagree that macs are played out to say something like that would make having a Mac a fad. I think what is happening is that pc makers of laptops are starting to finally catch up by understanding the needs of us DJ’s. I agree that the ASIs is a good choice for the frugal DJ… You should do an article on speakers for the frugal DJ.
[quote comment=”34802″]One thing.
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware. I rather save some money and buy a used Mac that expend a lot hours rebuilding a PC.
Get a Mac and make Steve happy![/quote]
mac have virus as well but if you want to get attention and visibilty its better to hurt 90% of the market. PC is fine if you know how to take care off, optimise it and keep it clean.
ASUS is a really good brand – much better than ACER
I got Two broken aspire One’s (rivals the asus eeepc) while the one asus eeepc is still running okay (for browsing)
i still think that the eee pc is not suitable for running traktor… except maybe in hackintosh mode
I like how the article mentions that the Toshiba is overpriced for what you get, when this is only true when talking about apple products. Macbooks are extremely overpriced, and the only benefit that the article points out is that “everyone uses one.” Buying one for $500 will get you a piece of hardware that is years outdated already.
[quote comment=”34822″]I would love to see something about little >>AFFORDABLE STAGE TOYS<<. You know what I mean? These little toys like a KAOSSILATOR or the small Kaoss Pad or basically anything you can have on stage to play around while you spinning your records.
I think that would be cool. ;D[/quote]
Have you seen Apple has brought a new trackpad onto market? that works through bluetooth connection, maybe get that to tweak some X/y pads ets…. Certainly cheaper than kaossilator ; )
I used an acer aspire 3960 (changing 80gb disc for a 250gb and adding another gig of ram)for around 4 years as my workhorse. worked pretty well with daily use (audio editing) as well as gigs.
That pc was in the midhigh range when i bought it.
my advice, buy what you need and if you can’t afford it just yet. keep saving a bit more. cheap things normally bring nasty surprises
I know HP doesnt have the greatest name out there but I’ve been using a HP DV4-2045X, 4gb, dual core AMD for just over a year now. Every port except the HDMI is filled while running traktor (4 decks, 4 effects) and never had any issues.
2x USB (1 controller, wireless keyboard/mouse)
1x e-sata/usb (1 controller)
1x express slot (firewire card – soundcard)
I do keep my PC clean and limit what processes are running but all in all for $549.00 USD I cannot complain. Its been stable and reliable even when I havent been.
Specs,
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01868471&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=4041680
How about a guide to buying used laptops? How do you make sure they are not jacked up and your not getting ripped off?
Slickdeals.net is a great site to check out amazing deals on laptops. I will be in the market very soon for one and I will more than likely use that site.
+1 for the eeepc.
If you’re having problems it was probably because you were using a netbook with an SSD drive. They had issues with throughput bottlenecks. As long as you stick with a regular HD it works fine. I’ve done live shows running 4-decks and effects in Traktor Pro with no problems whatsoever. Not bad for a 900mhz celeron with 2 gigs of RAM. I’ve stressed tested my Eeepc extensively and it is completely reliable for DJ apps. I bought it brand new for $179.
I also have been using a cheapo Dell dual-core as my main DJ laptop for nearly two years. Of course I had to initially tweak Vista (turning of all the stupid graphic eye candy for example). I’ve been using it every weekend with never a crash or hiccup, or even the cpu meter over 50%. It was only $399 from Best Buy.
I’ve had great success using Traktor on my Dell Mini 10v Hackintosh w/ 2gb ram.
I just hide everything in the interface that isn’t needed. You can get things pretty comfortable if you tweak the layout enough.
Just remember to turn off the wireless and bluetooth.
Acer 4520 or its new Win 7 eqivalent. $450,and awesome
Macs are the best way to go, and Acers are pretty solid for the most part. Dell has a few XPS models that are around the $400-500 range that have proven to be solid especially after Windows 7 came out, but the netbooks (from any manufacturer) are too much of a pain to even try.
I’m not sure I agree with this review. I have access to an EEEPC that we use at work and it’s pretty horrible for DJ applications. They run MUCH better with Unbuntu than they do with Windows, but then of course you’re stuck with horrible DJ software. In Windows, not only is the processor underpowered, but they also have issues providing adequate power to their USB ports.
A much better recommendation would be a Core 2 Duo based Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad. These machines are ugly, but make FANTASTIC DJ/performance machines, and can be found at places like amazon and Tiger Direct for around $500 regularly. We bought 3 at work for use at trade shows, and within a few minutes, I was able to tweak each one of them to give me a solid double digit DPC latency that never spikes. They have rock solid USB ports, and can be upgraded easily. They’re also built like a brick and will take a beating. We still have ours 2 years later and they still rock Traktor and Ableton Live.
Have heard a lot of good things about Acer laptops at the low-end (sub-$500); better made than most so should stand the rigours of DJing a bit better than some cheaper laptops.
Mac FTW!
…
Hackintosh rules…
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=219885
…
The new macbooks suck as no firewire on entry level. My older one has done me well for last 3 year and has never crashed once in traktor
I ended up going with an HP DM3-t. This thing is both solid and light! It’s about an inch thick and under 4 lbs. Also the aluminum shell looks great with the rest of the DJ setup without having to go with a Macbook Pro. I’m just not an Apple fan personally… It’s been a great DJ machine. I got mine fully loaded for around $1000 but they start at half that.
the eee pc for running traktor? i have an asus eee (less than a year old) and it runs traktor pretty badly
to say “traktor ran without a problem” was really misleading – yes it does run, but at optimum performance? not really
I would love to see something about little >>AFFORDABLE STAGE TOYS<<. You know what I mean? These little toys like a KAOSSILATOR or the small Kaoss Pad or basically anything you can have on stage to play around while you spinning your records.
I think that would be cool. ;D
I have my blackie…aka my black mb. It runs like a champ, but it has been set aside as a backup laptop. Upgraded to mbp
Ok, it’s not a real fair test. And that’s because the MacBook you show is like 2/3 years old. The new basic MacBook is a lot cheaper, has a new battery that will get you 10 hours of battery on the road (in best circumstances of course). This new battery also has a life rate up to 1000 recharging sessions, while the old one just 300 had.
I agree the MacBook’s still expansive, but you get a very good, stable, nice device in return. Unfortunately it’s only in the white colour these days 🙂
i like both pc and mac… yet to try djing with linux
Lol battry fix, hard to type of a blackberry
Batter fix
once it dies, drop ur batterys in tha freezer for 24hrs, wipe it down, fully charge it, then drain it down again, do this about 3 to 4 times shuld b bak to new, for a while anyways
I use a Dell mini 10v whit mac osx 10.6.2. The only problem is the dell mini 10v have no fan so it can be superheated. and only 2h battery life whit 3-cell.
Mac only for me. OSX is a genius piece of art.
been using a 15” Macbook Pro for the last 2.5 years. solid as a rock.
Thinkpads and MACs for life!!
My macbook’s batter has done around 750 cycles and still holds 5 hours charge. luck of the draw. By far better than the 5 pc’s I’ve owned though
[quote comment=”34802″]
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware.[/quote]
I dunno, Beatport, Juno, Traxsource and others are pretty safe.
Back on topic, I don’t have one but would definitely agree with Thinkpads being the shit.
Found it.
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52319
I just wanted to chime in and see if anyone else has read stuff against Toshiba laptops for audio use. I believe I read on the Native Instruments forum that there was an issue with some Toshiba laptops that caused them to perform poorly for realtime audio applications.
If I can find the post I’ll check back in.
solid post. gonna check out the satellite…
I’ve had great success with Thinkpads. I got a t41 for $125 off craigslist. And then maxed out the ram for another $20. Currently I’m able to run both Ableton and DJdecks with the ASIO latency cranked down on my FS OPEN card to 2.5-3ms. And the best part is they are bullet proof. Mine went from off a table on to concrete simply went into sleep mode. One push of the power button and the music picked up right where it left off.
One thing.
if you search for mp3s online and you are using a PC. You’ll get virus, malware and spyware. I rather save some money and buy a used Mac that expend a lot hours rebuilding a PC.
Get a Mac and make Steve happy!
This article is alright, but in all honesty there are more informative threads on the forums which cover this on a much deeper level.
I’ve been on the look out for a good laptop that I can dj with and produce beats with which I will be using maschine on… any good PC’s for this… ?? would help a lot thanks… I’m going for a pc as well because I wanna do 3d work …
Great short & to the point cross-section of options. With an Acer 10″ upped to 2GB of RAM, tweaked OS settings, a soundcard in the ‘main’ USB port and an APC40 or nanoKontrol controlling a couple effects and a huge bank of tracks in Ableton, I’ve been happily surprised.
For context, about $230 for the refurb netbook from woot.com, closeout M-Audio micro $40, $50 for RAM upgrade…it’s good enough to pull the train but not so expensive that I’d flip out if an accident happened…of course, wouldn’t turn down a ridiculously cheap legit Macbook rig either. The netbook just can’t run VSTs. EQ3? Yes. Some modulation EFX? Those too.
Side note: Might want to snag a USB HD for off-loading recordings or set backups. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best ‘n all.
Great write-up and look forward to what others have experienced.
studio monitors