listen...im not gonna tell you to buy a mac, but i did.

Considering you are well over the specs, I'd assume something is wrong.

First of all, what other programs are you running while running VideoSL?
Check taskmanager and see what is running (make sure you check the processes tab as well)

Also, what OS are you running? If vista, do you have aero on or off?

damm, this kinda complaint brings back memories

yup

i feel your pain. mine isn't as bad, but it's bad enough.

depending on how 1.1 comes out determines what lappy i'll get next, and how soon..

but then again, i might just get a mbp for other reasons anyways...

your laptop has all the required specs. there is no reason why it shouldn't work. there are a few guys on here who are using pc's for hours at a time for gigs with no problems.

LOL.....I am the lucky one...I can run SLV on both Mac and PC. They do need an update that way Phat-AL can use his PC...Simply put SLV was built for the MAC OSX so it will work better for Mac no matter what you buy. As one who did a Hack a Mac with my pc, I installed the OSX on my PC I noticed a big difference right away on how everything was handled and how smooth it ran. Yet SLV says it will work on both PC & Mac so it should I say hold them to it. FYI I am using Vista and I leave everything on to include blue tooth and internet. I suggest you see if there are any updates to your video card or even try a few hacked ones, for pc you have to try all kinds of stupid shit if it don't work right out the box like my HP did. Plug in play Mac,,,work hard to make it work PC... The End.

Here we go again.

A-Swift aahhhhhhhhh where's the guide..? : )I am hardcore PC guy and don't like MAC but fact is, with SLV to save time buy a MAC. I just got lucky on the HP laptop I didn't have to do anything for it to work. Not the case for many other folks like Phat-AL who is good with PC's but can't get his to work. So a-swith,,, we are not going again....Back to the GUIDE.....lol....

i think serato should just make scratch vsl and scratch live for ma users, forse veryone to get a mac, that way they dont have to deal with i, and then we can eliminate the djs who cant afford macs :)

therefore, no djs will want to charge less, they gotta mek up the mony the spent on a mac

yeah yeah ?

now that's funny,,don't think it will stop the undercuttng but oh well..I got em both so wont matter to me either way.

Drivers. Yes, I said it.

i got an ibm notebook too as well as a macbook pro... so im straight.

This doesn't make sense.

I'm kind of pissed off, because if it were advertised properly I would have just baught a Mac and an avrage PC.

My PC Spec's are BETTER then the Mac's out there.

Anyway, it's wired, I checked my CPU:
* 0-2% with nothing running
* 35% as soon as I start Scratch live\
* 97% as soon as I start Video - (without even playing any Vids)

* I got the latptop in October with all the drivers pre loaded so I doubt it's a driver thing...

Any ideas?

Rane, Serato any comments?

No offense... but that doesn't mean anything.

I heard of people who use exactly the same hardware... one a Mac and on Windows.. but the Windows drivers don't even provide the most simple OpenGL stuff. You can't do almost no effects, whicl in OSX you have almost all available effects.

(sorry for interrupting you)

All the effect are enabled.

It's not the transition that are a problem, even with one deck playing it chokes...

So, does that mean I window's drivers are useless? should I even try and updating them or is that th cause of the problem?

What kind of Videos are you playing Mr.Nice?

Could you copy and paste a few Movie Info Batch readouts of your files here for us to take a look at?
Info on Movie Info Batch here: scratchlive.net

Nick ruined the party. We almost had this guy convinced to buy a mac. Now they're actually gonna try and help him. Dangit.

Nah, Nick was just playing... :)

I mean, it was obvious Nick was just playing, cause he asked which videos Mr.Nice is playing... when Mr.Nice said "* 97% as soon as I start Video - (without even playing any Vids"

/me *runs and hides and shouts "buuuuuy a maaaac" *

;)

dont buy a mac
ur just wasting ur money
we dont need anymore wanna be vjs :)
jk:P

wonder if i'll have problems lol last day to take back my laptop was yesterday and I just started reading all these buy a mac threads....I have the same video card with 512 ram but a different processor, i get vsl thursday so i guess I'll be buying a mac...i mean seeing if it works then lol

Folks. It does work on PC. Yes its a bitch to run, but when push comes to shove it does run, and well at that. Number one suspect is files that you running... Depending on how you are encoding them etc. My mp4 files are encoded at about 2k using magic video encoder. I'm no expert i got tons of help from folks on the board like swift & twizzle etc but in the the end it does work on pc. Here's my config

Dell Inspiron 1521 2.3 Ghz (I Upgraded my CPU) 4 Gig Ram Vista Ultimate.
ATI graphics card 1270 (Lower spec than recommended but it does work very well).

CPU clocks out at about 75-79% now. It used to be at about 99% or so but you gotta shut down all other services. Other services running is a huge reason it does not work for most PC people, The difference is amazing once you shut everything else down.

Dude, did you read Mr.Nice's post? He has issues without any video running at all!

First thing to do is update the video driver and disable any unnecessary crap that loads up when you boot. After that, follow the recommended encoding options for your mp4's. I finally optimized things enough to get it to run smoothly on my high-end Vista notebook. But, in the end I could never get it to run without dropouts when the USB latency was set to anything lower than 8 (maybe 7 on a good day). But, then after some software patches or whatever things would run choppy and I would have to tweak things again. I finally gave up on Vista and am happily running a MBP now. So, it's definitely possible to get things to run smoothly on a PC. But, I figure my time is better spent practicing and listening to music than constantly tweaking a laptop.

Good point - I totally missed that point woops...

Mr. Nice,

Does it make a difference if you turn off/on vsync? What are your frames per second looking like? (in the info tab of VSL)

i'm on xp and ssl has the cpu about 15% but once vsl is engaged it jumps to about 50% and goes up and down between 70-80% and occasionally more. and of course it crashes when it goes past 99%.

one time i used it out (i hardly get to dabble at home) i used s-video out and had vsl crash maybe once in 2 hours. the other time i used the vga and it crashed maybe 3-4 times an hour.

anyone wanna buy an ibm notebook ? LOL

i was just kidding btw , dont be gettin all crazy on me

mr.nice, u have an intel extreme cpu, that is the hottest cpu on the market, there is no way serato vsl should run slow, i have core2duo on lapto and intel quad on desktop and both run fine but the extreme is the top notch and u can kick up the ram to 8gbs. Make sure u had the 57 connected when u installed any new serato updates that is the number one reasons people have problem because the software looks for the 57 and the sl1 which ever u use, it needs to find it during installation. try that cause u have more then enough power and NO U DON'T NEED A mAC..............

Im installing Sp1 for Vista right now, just flashed/updated the bios...cant wait till 1.1 drops :)

no dropouts no problems right out the box PC laptop with same specs as Macbook Pro.... I have one......Doooo be doooo be dooooo...... What would be simple is if Serato made their own OS.....Just for SLV users...one that could run from external drive.

Pioneer/Serato are already or have already done this...supposed to drop by the end of the year....

You can only support more RAM if you are on 64bit OS though, 32bit OS will only recognize and use up to 3.5gb RAM.

true..64 bit, but if u have the intel extreme u have a 64 bit os, he already has 4gb.......

I don't have a 64 bit OS.

I am running XP, because when I baught it 64 bit was not supported.

Should I upgrade?

Thanks for all the input guys, and extra thanks for Serato people jumping in so quick :)

I did some more testing.

V-sync does make a diffrence, when I switch off VSL CPU is running beteen 67-80, once I kick in a Video it goes up.. and when there are two videos it is between 90-100.

A few more settings:
* USB Buffer Size - at one gig
* USB Buffer - 10
* I am getting 60 frames per second
* I used MSCONFIG and disabled everything at startup.

As eye357 pointed out, my processor is one of the best on the market, and it still chokes without any videos even being loaded in.

Any other ideas or tests I should do?

Does the fact the I am outputting via VGA make a diffrence?

p.s
Having a freind with a one year old mac book pro come over to compare how it runs on his comp.

As I mentioned before CPU jumps to 90-100 when I start VSL and drops to about 80 when I turn off V-SYNC so it's not the videos...

But for your peace of mind here are some specs of some vids:

***********************************************************
C:\Documents and Settings\Jay\My Documents\My Music\#VIDEO\#Hip-Hop\Beastie Boys - No Sleep Til Brooklyn.mp4
Length(s) 245.65 (Samples: 245645, Timescale: 1000)
Size 121.11 MB
Movie Tracks:
VideoType: avc1, 640x480
Component 1) lppa, H.264 Decoder v.40004, Decompresses images stored in the H.264 format.
Audio Tracks:
AudioType: mp4a (48000kHz, 16bit)
Component 1) lppa, MPEG-4 Audio v.10009, MPEG-4 Audio Decompressor component
Frame rate: 29.97 per second
Keyframes: 612 (min: 12, max: 13,avg: 12.0)
***********************************************************

***********************************************************
C:\Documents and Settings\Jay\My Documents\My Music\#VIDEO\#Hip-Hop\N.W.A. - Express Yourself.mov
Length(s) 272.81 (Samples: 272806, Timescale: 1000)
Size 111.06 MB
Movie Tracks:
VideoType: avc1 (h264 encoded by FFMP), 640x480
Component 1) lppa, H.264 Decoder v.40004, Decompresses images stored in the H.264 format.
Audio Tracks:
AudioType: mp4a (48000kHz, 16bit)
Component 1) lppa, MPEG-4 Audio v.10009, MPEG-4 Audio Decompressor component
Frame rate: 29.97 per second
Keyframes: 680 (min: 12, max: 13,avg: 12.0)
***********************************************************

your video specs look fine...

Nice one, Nick.

About VSync...
Just to elaborate my thesis about the drivers... on some Intel cards in Windows VSync does not work, while it works fine on OSX. Drivers are very crucial nevertheless.

H.264 files run very ineffeciently with VSL on my OSX system. This can be confirmed by a-swift. If I run ME it runs a lot better with H.264. No clue what exactly the problem is right now (I suspect something is still wrong in VSL otherwise ME would not run a lot better than VSL, or maybe ME is oversimplyfing things... who knows).

OF COURSE UPGRADE TO 64 BIT.......u only got 3gb or ram because 32 can only see that even if u have 4gb in there, and then u can kick it up to 8gbs with that cpu extreme. make sure your driver are up to date on the motherboard this can only be done in dos! so get someone who knows what they are doing.

From how vsync affected the CPU load I can tell you that there are definitely some issues with the drivers and/or settings you have for your graphics card.
Not only as nik39 said does vsync not work on Intel but in some NVIDIA and ATI drivers vsync works horribly:

Under normal circumstances vsync means:
1. finish drawing
2. tell system to go away and do other stuff until the vblank signal occurs
3. draw to the screen

What appears to be happening in your driver:
1. finish drawing
2. USE UP ALL THE CPU SPINNING ROUND AND ROUND UNTIL THE VBLANK OCCURS
3. draw to the screen

Hence the 100% CPU and choking machine *regardless* of what CPU you have.

So if you have a 32bit OS on your 64bit machine, I'd recommend upgrading that and then ensure you have the very latest / best / games orientated drivers from NVIDIA...

Newer forceware drivers@ www.laptopvideo2go.com

hahahaha

The input from you guys has been unreal!

I'm testing tonight on my freind's mac and will do another test once I've upgraded my OS and drivers.

I also turned off Vsync on my graphics card so hopefully it will help.

thanks for all the input so far :) (there might still be hope for PC's out there...)

let's not go overboard here,... glad to see you making progress though.

hehe

Nathan, you Da Man!

Once I tunred off V-Sync on my Nvida settings things seem to work smooth.

I am now running at about 50%-80% CPU usage with the occasional 100%, it still feels a bit heavy for the specs I got but at least the thing runs :)

Once I upgrade to a 64 bit I will post some more results.

Should I go 64 bit Vista or XP?

The Mr.Nice Mac Vs Pc Test:
A freind came over with a mac book pro he baught in March 2007:
* 2.1 gh CPU
* 1 Gig Ram
* The CPU when loading SLV (without a video playing) was at 10% while mine was at 50%
* Once he played the video the system was running at about 80% similar to mine.. but my specs are much better!
* A funny thing that happined, all my videos that work fine on my PC came up as corrupt on his Mac
* After we finished the test SL deleted all his crates and we had to rescue them from the backup.
* I guess Mac's are bullet proof either... not sure why all the video's we corrupt on his system?

One last question... what should I set the Buffer in the Video settings to? (When I just tried sliding it towards the middle on his mac, the mac crashed!!)

For the Mac, 2.1ghz is really borderline. If your videos are H.264 over 2k bitrate, that Mac will fail. Also, 1GB of ram = fail (especially if you're trying to reserve a bunch of that for buffer).

Nice try though on denouncing the Mac as non-bulletproof. No borderline spec computer is bulletproof, Mac or PC.

Crap.

I think I owe someone an apology.

VSL is able to play back two h.264 streams at the same time, but not using the default QT decoder. ME performs a little better using the QT decoder. However, if you use Perian (which I am doing) than both apps play two h.264 streams fine. Now why did I say before that VSL is not able to playback two streams if I am using Perian?
It happened b/c I update PErian w/o properly (erm.. not at all) reading the release notes. With the recent 1.1.3 version Perian however defaults h.264 to the QT decoder because there were some reports bla bla. Anyway, if I revert back to 1.1.2 *or* I manually tell Perian not to default to QT standard decoder both apps play two streams fine.

Sorry for the confusion. Sorry to Serato (esp. Nathan) and ME/Inklen.

(just to add: this applies to *my* machine, obviously I can't say ish about a-swift's machine)

Hey, no attempt at denouncing a Mac, I actually think Serato should put out an official reccomndation to BUY Mac's for VSL.

No computer full stop is bullet proof.

Had I known the issues my high end PC would cause me, I would have got a Mac in the first place!

Mr. Nice your laptop still should work either way. I really don't see 64bit giving you anything but more memory as 32bit only sees 3gig. Like Nik said video drivers are most often your problem. True that when you take V-Sync off things seem to work better. What I did is to go into the Nivida settings and told it to let SLV control the video not Vista and I leave V-Sync on. Your laptop is for sure better than mines and should run it even better, and my laptop runs very well...Somthing is just not right on your laptop. My laptop runs at 50 to 60 and somtimes higher or lower depending on the videos and or how they have been encoded. Either way I know how you feel when you get it to work,,,I was just too damn happy.

Say Henry GQ my Mac the other night kinda crashed at a party the damn mouse would not move..Lucky for me I have a TTM-57 or eles I would have had to shut it down and use my I-touch for music(no VID) until it came up. Trust me they do fail and lock up just not as much as anything with windows on it. We all know windows will crash just because the sun came up. Mac is more stable no doubt but that is due to their OSX...... I have both so I can't hate.

my gig macbook pro uses Perian decoder. i don't think my mac is fast enough to use the native decoder.

hmmm.. so the 64 bit won't mean faster CPU Processing?

I'd like to get VSL to run at about 30-40% to allow for more room for error.

You will have faster CPU Processing....but the program was built to run on computers with much lower specs than yours.. That's why I said that... Which means it should run well as is...We need Nathon to chime in on this.

The reason I suggested upgrading to a 64 bit OS has little to do with the CPU and more to do with matching the OS with the architecture with the graphics driver.
I imagine NVIDIA has robust 32bit drivers for 64bit systems but there is always the chance that they are not as good :-)

Vista 64bit sucked when I was using serato SL, couldn't turn down the latency too much below 10. Put xp 32 bit and can put it down to 2 or 1 now. I'll test out video SL for you nathan just send me a copy of 1.1 :-D

Nathan, should I upgrade to 64 bit XP or Vista?

Mac people, what CPU usage are you guys getting?

I can't really say because we don't have objective measurements of 64bit XP vs 64bit Vista.

But in general I'll say we have far fewer problems with XP than Vista but it tends to depend on the individual hardware & driver configurations.

There is no metnion of XP, just Vista.. I have an upgrade to 64bit XP schedulaed for tommorow.

Nathan, can you please confrim that SL-Video supports 64 bit XP?

mr nice, how about testing it for us and let us know if it works?

also, I have vista ultimate 64bit, and my videos run nice and smooth, minor lag when loading videos, but thats it.

culprit... i asked that question and the response i got was that it works on vista 64bit...

as for me, im a PC guy since i got tired of reading about all the PC issues with video sl, i bought a mac yesterday... pockets are empty but my video problem is solved. lol

lol, im not one to give up. I have a mac book pro, but I still want it to work on windows vista and xp (32bit and 64bit).

Well I have a pc that does the damn thing and since the new beta version it running at like 35% doing video...How you like that. The only reason I don't like using my MBP is because I don't know what the hell is going on shortcuts not to mention when it locks up I don't have a club but PC got it down to a T..So 32bit Vista in case you want to know...

clue not club fast typing and no proofing.

Mr. Nice is Frustrated!

I kindly appreciate everybody's support... here is the latest!

* I installed Win XP 64 bit
* I downloaded latest Nvidia drivers
* I downloaded latest SL & SL VIDEO
* I made sure my 57 was plugged in when installed the drivers.
* I used MSCONFIG to clear everything out of the startup
* I turned off V-Sync

Guess what... IT'S WORST THEN BEFORE.

SL-VIDEO IS NOT WORKING ON XP64 bit.

* CPU usage jumps to 70% as soon as I start Video-SL
* CPU usage jumps to 90-100 as soon as I start playing a video
* I have the following graphics restrictions:
"
* no effects possible
* faders are limited
* V-sync not supported
"
* AND... I CAN'T PLAY VIDEOS IN FULL SCREEN??? (when I press full screen it just draws a small sqaure in the top right corner and only shows a small part of the video)

Any other suggestions before I paint my stupid computer blue and throw it into the ocean??


p.s
I spent $2500 on this new hot PC laptop with the latest specs.. $200 on the SL Plug in $1500 on my TTM57... pockets are empty but my video problem is far from being solved.. :(

sell on ebay, get cash, buy a mac. Sorry to say. I am mos def not a Mac fan(boy).

my only fear with doing that is that if for whatever reason it won't work for me on a mac my next thing will be suicide or the murder of Steve Jobs..

I am already concerned because when I tested on a Mac all my videos that worked on PC came up as corrupt on the Mac and didn't play..

i found that vsl in vista 64bit works better with vsync on (double check the fps)

Yeah, I feel you, but really, He is trying hard ;) And he is a cool guy.


What? Really?

I am using XP-64 bit.. not sure if I want to upgrade to Vista, I've heard nothing but bad things about it.

what i am saying is, try it with vsync on

didn't help :(

Oh, and I forgot... he is not to blame ;)

Your drivers are screwed. www.laptopvideo2go.com

For all of us PC people we have been there Mr. Nice and this too shall pass. Take your time you will find the problem like Nathan said sounds like Drivers... No need to kill yourself, trust me there is hope.

I must ask this why even use xp and 64 bit at that,,,I would assume that drivers would be even harder to get as it is 64bit xp instead of vista.

May I suggest something if you have two drives go into bios and make your second drive the master then install vista 32 bit. Download all updates then install SLV and try it. I willing to bet it will run smooth as butter. I mean you have nothing to lose. I would try it,, like you I tried many things and once I got it right it was on..... good luck..

dude, you are certainly not the first die hard pc guy who has posted on here for months and we all just keep responding "buy a mac". you certainly won't be the last. i can't tell you how many of my friends, personal friends and DJs swore off macs forever but when they finally get one they feel really silly and always say to themselves "why didn't i do this about $3,000 ago".

that would be including me. I purchased 5 PCs, literally and I'm not exagerating, thinking that I am smarter than all these people and dammit, i am gonna get video mixing working on a pc. driver installs, os tweaks, re-install, testing, more testing, crashing, cursing, frustration. i'm laughing as i type this because i know you're going through it too.

if you can't understand how infinitely large the PC testing matrix is for windows os, driver versions, video cards, hardware manufacturers and a dozen other "VARIABLES",.. then you will never understand how it is impossible for Serato or any company to test and INFINITE number of configurations. until you understand that, you're just gonna keep banging your head against the wall with the PCs.

oh yeah, I'm gonna solve your "all my videos are corrupt on a mac" problem for you right now. here it goes: you did not encode them properly.

see how easy that was.

for VSL?

no, I said "video mixing". when VSL was released I had already bought them all. I tried to get to work on any of the 3 Dell laptops I bought and the Shuttle PC (which was VERY high powered). No luck on those 4 so I bought a Mac. No problems with video mixing sense.

Can't understand why people continue to bang their heads against walls. Makes no sense to me whatsoever.

I am one of the OG PC guys here...

I bought a $2,200 high end gaming toshiba PC laptop.... works great with Virtual DJ, Sony Vegas, and other PC apps... but Serato VSL... no go...

I tried the whole getting new drivers, re-installing this, etc... hours and hours.. of wasted life I will never get back!!

I bought a MacBook Pro about a year ago. Plug-n-Play with VSL... no complaints. I just WORKS!

I did however try to revisit getting VSL to work on my PC Laptop again and once again... couldn't get it to work. Maybe with the new VSL 1.1 & Scratch Live 1.9 coming out, it will actually work.. but I am not holding my breath. The only reason I wanted to work on my PC laptop now is for back up purposes... otherwise when I get the money... I am buying a second MacBook Pro.

buy a mac

i think the 1.1 beta will fix this issue since they offload some processing to the gpu.

look back a year in the forum archives... and you would see my frustrations on this very topic.


In the very least I would suggest the Serato Team to update the system requirements to:

VSL-
Optimized for MAC and MAY work on a PC with no guarantees!

oh, i am a PC guy too,

Nik, ya smart arse, you're twisting my words!

Nathan, you are a good guy! and THANKS!! (I'm downloading drivers now so hopefully it will help...)

If you look closly, Nik replaced 'Steve Jobs' with Nathan from Serato... lol

I hear you... and it sounds like you sure banged your head against the wall...

Downloading drivers now, if it these fails I'll be at the Mac store very soon to get baptized.

I strongly recommend Serato put this update to the system requirement. It will save a lot of money, furstration and smilar posts.

Nathan, I followed your link and installed these:
www.laptopvideo2go.com

No change. Things are still disabled.

Are these the correct drivers?

Me, Phat-Al and many others have complained over the past year about the specs so I won’t go there. As a PC guy I know this there are many different companies that make PC laptops so that’s the first problem. What would be nice is if they took 3 laptops and tested them and confirmed them to work which will kill all the guess work on the PC side. I was told that because laptops change so much pc side that it would not possible…. In the end this boils down to Operating system Mac OSX is the key to a stable consistent laptop. Really same parts in Mac and PC only thing different is operating system. So that’s why everybody says buy a Mac… no guess work…Yet I am like most hardheaded and made it a point to make a PC work…which made my pull all my hair out hell I use to have hair like A-Swift but now I am bald…Don’t stress you will get it working.

Wouldn't these ones be more recent? www.laptopvideo2go.com

yeap right drivers....

That and the fact that laptop manufacturers use different model numbers for different geographical markets. (i.e. if I recommend 3 computers available in the NZ market, you'd find they wouldn't exist in the US ;-)

Anyway, I've said it before but the #1 reason why performance is better on a Mac is this:

An Apple computer has hardware designed by Apple and manufactured with Apple QA, Drivers are often written by Apple themselves or by employees seconded to Apple, and the Operating System is written by ... Apple.
And there are about 3 types of hardware configurations.

A PC is designed by 1 of many companies, and manufacturing (for any one computer) is outsourced to several of the lowest bidders, drivers are written by hardware companies AND are very old versions (like 2 years old) that are locked down and can't be updated AND aren't rev'ed in step with Operating System revisions. And the Operating System itself is written by Microsoft. And while I'm not an Apple fanboy either: Microsoft tends to write very shitty software...
And there are literally 1000s of configurations.

Apple cares about their brand image. If anything goes wrong with the system then there is only one place to point the finger. Plus with total control they have no excuse...
With PCs who do you blame? The driver writer who didn't even know of the OS's existence when he wrote the driver? The Manufacturer who isn't responsible for the software? Microsoft who doesn't give a $#%@ about the end user? And me, who has to try to write a solution that works on 3 macs and 3000 PCs?

We are working on making PC support better and 1.1 has optimizations that lower CPU usage somewhat. And we have a few other things in the pipeline that will make a huge difference...

(For the record: I do half my development on a 1st generation MBP and the other half on a Shuttle box I built dual booting XP and Vista)

Yeah what he said. :)

Well said Nathan, thanks for all your input and assistance here!

I honestly think Serato are miles ahead of the world in terms of customer service.. you guys actually care :)

Downloading correct drivers now... running off to a gig in 10 min. will post the results soon.

heh, and thats why i bought a mac. and i have a full head of hair.

im sorry i was late with the link response, but just to second nathan's post, yes it is a driver issue for him

www.laptopvideo2go.com

I have vista 64 running vsl smooth, except with the minor lag when loading videos, and thats the truth.

I will be posting a youtube video with a 10 minute mix just to prove it to you guys when i get around to it =]

i work in software development, well i've worked in software development before. i work for a software company now, but i'm in sales really. but the point is, i know all about regression testing. i know what a testing matrix looks like.

just for fun, i'd like to create a matrix of ALL the laptop vendors, video cards, driver versions and so on, just to demonstrate how impossible it is to test all of the thousands of PC configurations. this isn't a word processor we are talking about running,...

VSL will expose a crappy driver in heartbeat.

oh yeah. macs have a pretty big matrix to test too but it's TINY by comparison and honestly, i think they could probably skip a lot of the squares on the matrix and be ok.

well...i just finally hooked up 1.9 to my mac last night, and it ran soooo smooth, i was like shiiiiit this is nice, cant wait to see what video does.

a-swift, phat-al, kagen, and i'm sure countless others switched to mac. i'll be joining you guys soon. and yes, it's for vsl. granted, my current pc lappy is above specs and runs smoother than mr nice's, but it's still not as smooth as i want it to be. one gig it crashes once in 2 hours. another gig, it crashes 4x per hour. my next vid gig i do not want this happening.

too bad 1.1 hasn't come out sooner to see if it would've brought some nice optimizations but time was of the essence in this situation. i'll have about a week to get accustomed to mac if this gig goes on.

i ended up getting the pre-unibody mbp because i don't like those 4 gb ram issues the unibodies are having. yes, i know about pulling 1 stick out until a fix arrives but who knows how long i'd have to wait. could be as long as waiting for pc optimizations for vsl.... price-wise, the older model was cheaper too and i'll probably give it to my gf since she wants to try mac too (for her photos and simple ish)after i get a unibody. and that way i get to keep it around as a backup too =P

so yea, get ready for me to start asking mac noob questions...and yea, i already know about the search feature. wish all mac noob stuff was in one separate forum *hint*.

i know what you mean. when i got my first mac, the core2 duo had just come out and they were having mad problems with the right usb port so i got an older one with no usb port issues. then apple fixed it. now i wish i had got a newer one.

yea, beta culture sux but that's life nowadays. it's fun to be the first to have the new item but it sux to find all the bugs for everyone else. vsl, macs, phones, etc..

better than being a food tester

fork that!!

Beta testing foods!! no way!

---
testing experimental brownies...

version 1.5 ... this version made me more hungry after eating them... and then I kept losing my train of thought... on the other hand I felt good...

Having problem with video SL

Have a Toshiba Satellite running Vista 32bit ultimate with a 2.2ghz amd turion processor, just upgraded my ram to 4gb have a 250 gig hard drive but not sure bout video has Ati radeon X1200 128mb-319mb shared video memory. Cant load any videos on with plugin. Is my video card the problem cant process the video (MP4) just use the demo mode to test out before i bought it. Is there setting i could change or have to get a computer with better video card. It can handle SL out right i can set my usb buffer to about 2-3 and no usb dropouts. processor can handle it.

Have a friend i Dj with who has a Dell with OSX operatiing systems pretty much same processor except intel and his video are pretty much flawless. Gotta upgrade for video.

The driver fix worked :)

Thanks Nathan!

Running at about 70% CPU.

Funny thing... No keyborad shortcut support for Win XP 64 bit???

Is this a known issue?

I'm an idiot... forget about the keyboard comment had the 'shift' setting on..

dont u fell good.. although 70 is kinda high for what ur working with. I am sure your just happy its working.

Yap, at the moment it's just amazing to see it working :)

I'm convinced now that if my video set goes more serious I will buy a mac.

might also try upgrading to Vista 64 first and check it out, a lot of programs don't work on XP 64..

thanks ya'll for all the help!!!

just a buy a mac.

i have to refrain from saying this all the time. i just watch and snicker while the PC guys go through it.

hahaha
i always knew the a mac was better. i just didnt wanna learn something new
we djs are stubborn fukrs!

I wouldnt say better but for sure it will keep you from crying about slv and looking for hacked drivers and turning services off ect ect ect. Mac is for sure plug and play with SLV software... The end.

i agree.

Anybody else have problem with Vista 64?

SLV runs fine now on my XP 64 but everything else I use isn't supported by XP 64.. not even iTunes...

well, Let me preface this with this:

Im buying a mac soon.

but Ive had my dell XPS 1730 (2.5dual/4GB/Geforce8700)Bluray.
for a few months...
(i have my vids on a WD HD 320 passport)

I WAS using Virtual DJ to do video (Using the ttm57sl to control the sound)
mainly because all the videos I have were mpeg2...
(now I use a Korg nano pad on my rig too)

so over a few months I converted all my videos to mp4/264
and last week I finally bought VSL...

well, Ill say this. over a 5 hour set (DVI out to HD)
unless I tried to change something (like a setting or resolution) I had no crashes.
I got the C++ error a few times when I was configuring the set up to the TVs
but again, I was trying to tweak settings...I ended up with the buffer @ about 400 and quality at 75%

Performance:
Like I said no crashes, I got a stutter on the playing video when loading a track
on the other deck... less than a second, but noticable.
*videos would go out of sync...often...I wouldnt say alot.... but enough.
and just to make sure I wasnt crazy I tagged a bunch with a "1" and ran them yesterday in different media players.... they are NOT out of sync.
(could this be from the WD Passport? it would make sense...maybe for video a powered usb 7200 rpm might clean up things?)

Playability:
blows VSL out of the water...Im all SSL for audio, so it was real easy to do my thing.
Loop, loop roll, cue points were FIRE with the Korg nano pad.
Im thinkin I might set effects to the nano too... that was the only thing that slowed me down....

quality:
I have to say it... the same videos I played 2 weeks ago on VDJ looked better, and smoother...and it kills me...it really does...I only noticed because I got my hands on a nice big 300MB HDvid that I mediacoded and was saying wow, that looks amazing on our screen (theres like a 17x10 HD projection in this club)... and when I played in VSL I was NOT saying that... I kept tabs on this throughout the night... vids I thought were amazing quality.... now looked kinda....ehh...
(I know I only had the quality down 75%... but I pushed to to all quality for a bit too...it wasnt that much of a difference)


So, I have a PC, and it certainly works...
right out of the factory. no tweaks... and it costs 2600.00
but my original intent that this lappy was going to be my "everything" lappy.
and Ill be buying a Mac, after pretty much everyone saying that the Macs run video like butter.

my experience.

Josh

Thanks Josh, what OS are you running?

duh, sorry..

Vista 32 home premium SP1 (im kinda afraid to get the new service pack)

I'm kind of afraid to upgrade to Vista 64 but it's my last resort.

This thread really convinced me that my next computer will only be a mac.. though why do they only have 2 USB ports?

Because you have others firewire 400 and 800... usb2 in a few years will no longer be used or you will have just one on your laptop. SATA seems to be the new thing. As far as your XP64 that's what I was asking you why you even using that. Try down grading to anything xp or even vista 32 bit. Much better support even with 64 bit Vista things are not caught up like they should. I know you paid all that money and want to see you memory max out. I would back up my drive if not already and put as many OS's I can put on there for testing purposes. I am one that knows you can have your pc running just as smooth as a MAC.

yup..
i just bought a mac, and have the firewire 400 and 800 plus 2 usbs...
use one usb for serato, but... just ordered a express card e-sata, and just bought a western digital studio 2 book(external) so i can have a solid 2gb of music and video transferred thru e-sata
that shit will rock!

seen someone else post something about e-sata and the express card, so im gonna try it out :)

I've tried:
XP 32 bit - computer runs fine but not SLV
XP 64 bit - SLV runs fine but not computer..

I figure that with my processor (Intel Processor CPU X9100 Extreme 3.06ghz) being the latest it probably isn't doing it justice running an old OS.

Gonna put Vista 64 bit tomorrow and go to the Mac shop if that still won't work..

...so your going to the mac shop.

This is not good news....You might want to ask Nathan if they have one of those on the bench or plan on it. I do suggest that you try 32bit vista as most of us have success with it.... Good luck..

I've posted so much on here in regards to the exact same thing. I own a computer retail and service store in Michigan and I also run a local DJ music pool. Needless to say, I have been through everything known to man and came up with one conclusion...Serato ScratchLive is designed on a Mac for Mac. Period! This isn't my hypothesis, but a theory. What I used to test this theory was I took a plain Jane Dell Inspiron 1525 notebook ($499) equipped with XP, then Vista with only the necessary drivers installed while testing Video-SL and I experienced the same as all others. The question isn't whether Video-SL will work on a Microsoft based machine, but based on the machine and it's architecture, freezing, ticking, etc. will always be evident when using anything other than an Apple. Following many unsuccessful attempts with Microsoft's operating system, I proceeded to try this using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 on a Dell with slipstreamed dell drivers and reinstalled ScratchLive 1.8 w/Video-SL 1.0.2 and WHOLA! Videos juggling from a flash drive didn't have any stutter, popping, freezing, ticking what-so-ever! I've been back and forth with Serato support staff employees and nobody can come up with a "make-sense" reason as to why. But after a little research on my end, I found some solutions to what exactly what the problem is. At least one that makes sense to me and all of my Detroit DJ's. Serato Video-SL was designed to use QuickTime and of course that's an Apple video player designed for Apple, not for IBM based pcs. Because serato engineers refuse to apply DirectShow and Windows Media Player as options to open instead of the defaulted QuickTime, Windows' users will not be able to enjoy Video-SL and Serato has clearly taken Windows users money for the plug-in that definitely has major flaws in video playback. FOR WINDOWS USERS: Don't bother trying to reinstall your different operating systems as you will continue to have problems with Video-SL until Serato implements Directx Media coding to the plug-in. Here's a quick test that Windows users can do to see really quick if video will work before even trying to install the plug-in...Install QuickTime player, open multiple music videos at once (apprx. 10) and start clicking on the different video player boxes and see if the videos jump, stutter, freeze, etc. Video playback should be smooth through all the players. You should see all the videos moving flawlessly at the same time. NOTE: Audio will be only heard through the video player that's highlighted.

not only that...
but programs like VDJs ability to play VOBS, DIVx & MPEG2 @ 350-500MBs like butter is huge.

why wouldnt they WANT to be able to play other formats?
if it wasnt for the "playabilty" of SSL, Id still be using VDJ for video gigs

PS. I already made a huge mistake when I purchased a custom built Quad-Core 2.8GHz, 8GBs RAM, 3 x 500GB HD's, Dual GeForece 8800GTX's notebook and it still ran like an 82 1/2 year man to his gravesite. I purchased this machine specifically for Video-SL and wound up buying an Apple MacBook PRO for half the cost of my custom beast.

Oh yeah! Great point Josh!! I can't believe the ability Virtual has over Serato's video capabilities. Huge selection of video transitions, Text messages on the fly, drag-and-drop pics, long-ago had sampler, able to customize GUI, etc. I could go on and on.

please go on....go on and use it. this doesn't help with the topic at hand....besides, we could go on and on about why those programs are flawed as well....so let's see if we can get mr. nice smiling again.

by the way this thread is going seems like I'm only gonna be smiling when I acutally get the mac..

DJ Trixter, I think you're onto something with SLV's use of quicktime and that beast you describe is sure better then any mac specs.

Nathan, your thoughts on Vista 64?

=)

it's not like they set out from the start and said, let's screw these guys by not giving them VOB support. they decided to go with Quicktime library so they didn't have to write a bunch of decoding crap from scratch. so they are saddled with what Quicktime supports.

it was a good decision. it was the difference between getting it when I did or getting it in 2010. i'm glad they went that way. VOB support can be added later.

Agreed, it was a good decision on their part. There isnt too many options available when it comes to software decoding video that is compatible for mac and pc. Quicktime would be the best choice since it is maintained, constantly updated, and supported by apple. There will defenitly be options in the future tho. The software is only going to get better guys, not worse.

Well, iTunes (QuickTime) have absolutely nothing to do with Serato and their software engineers. If iTunes ever decided to pull the plug on QuickTime for Windows, Serato would be forced to come up with another player that will compliment ScratchLive for IBM based pcs. Bottom line: Until Serato changes from using QuickTime on Windows pcs, Video-SL users will not have a substantial benefit from using Video-SL with Windows. Because of all the updates and enhancements Serato is doing to ScratchLive may get better with features but keep in mind that it will also start taking more resources and if your computer isn't up to par, people will have to do major upgrades or buy newer pcs.

you mean "apple" not itunes, and that will never happen.

Mr. Nice is smiling again :)

Vista 64 bit seems to run both Video SL and the rest of the computer!
(Note: I am only several hours into it.. the picture might change soon..)

Lession learnt, buy a Mac next time, which will defintley be my next computer, especially if I start doing more video gigs.

Thanks for everybody that posted on this thread, it helped a lot!

And if you're reading this and haven't baught a machine for video SL yet.. save yourself a week of painful configuration and buy a mac!

LOL +1 and I am hardcore PC....

Glad to hear your troubles seem to be over Mr. Nice, although I have to admit a week of trouble is not that bad considering your work paid for the laptop, right? So all you really have invested is a little time at this point. Spend a little of your own money now and buy a mac. :P

you're assuming a week of his time costs less than $2000. a week of mine does not.

Well, another week...
I pushed the Quality up to 100%
and kicked the Buffer from 300mb to 500mb
The system was runnin 45-75% for most of the night.
(I have the TT57,Korg Nanopad,and videos on a 320gb WD Passport)

it seemed to be a Little bit better than last week...
heres the Issues I still saw (even though the crowd didnt really notice)

* Stutter on Load track to deck on the playing deck.
A brief second, but a stutter the same.

*Quality, I played a few videos off VDJ, and played them right after on SSL
for lack of better terms, VDJ still seems to have a more "fluid" playback.

Other than that, Using group 5 ALOT this weekend was great!
those effects mid mix REALLY spice up the video mixes.. I had
people staring at the screen like zombies.

I am goin to put up a suggestion though.
there needs to be a 2nd tab display for prepare.
IE, when you have the video tab open, or the hardware...(thats what I keep open)
you have to click prepare to see you lil cheat sheet of upcoming tracks.
maybe a right/left split screen of Crate/prepare....
or be able to make the crate list that is permanantly anchored, be able to swap
it out with the prepare tab.

my 02.

I am willing to bet that your passport drive is the reason you are stuttering on loads. Also be sure that it is a usb2.0 port that you are plugging it in to. Most often not all ports are not usb2.. If you have the videos on your hard drive and they stutter then it can be a few things but most often how the video was converted is the biggest one that I have found. For the PC it's work in progress I have to admit though for me my laptop is almost perfect loads videos on cue at the push of a button. I plan on doing a demo soon on how well it does work... I will call it it video editing on the fly as I suck at it in FCP AND VEGAS

put the vids on a firewire drive, if not internal.

Yeah, Im switching to Firewire...

But I had them on my HD before, and its always done that...

u build overviews even though video still must build overview due to audio. Bluetooth and internet off. shut off all the fluff and that should improve...

yeah.... I got all the tweaks in place.

my usb might be runnin under 400 (they say that it runs 200+)

VSL will stutter when loading a video. It doesn't matter what kind of drive the video is stored on, It will stutter, no matter what.

I think he is talking about the two second type.... Swift..... not the reg...

even on a new mac book pro?

I think a-swift means the video which you are up to loading.

i mean if you are playing a video on deck 1 and you load a video on deck 2, you will see the video on deck 1 stutter for a brief moment. doesn't matter what kind of computer you have or how fast it is. yes even a brand new most expensive best macbook pro in the world.

I can't confirm. Nope, does not happen for me.

i don't have that stutter on my mbp.

Mr Nice, what is your Front Side Bus? Check my post on VSL first report, and see my specs for my system (which arent too far off from yours), and VSL works pretty damn good. Are you overclocking your cpu? Did you try to take out a stick of ram or move your ram around? It seems to me you might have something wrong with your hardware. Did you buy this system already built, or did you build it yourself? 2500$ is alotta money for the system you are describing, so Im assuming you bought it pre built.

me neither not on pc nor mac...

no stutter that is.......

me neither, i have no stuttering problem either.

sorry forgot to mention, on my mac no, on my vista64 yes.

Here ya go playboys...
Watchwww.youtube.com

see, it can be done....

www.laloud.com
www.laloud.com
www.laloud.com

They are defenitly improving the cpu usage.

How did you do that?

I mean... how did you fit the Macbook into the Dell? Awesome work ;)

Nice try... playing a looped video ;) You know how the CPU jumps up when it is decoding new frames and filling the buffers.

Try playing your videos at double speed, try h264 files, and do it without a loop. Then I'll have a look again ;) Less shaking would also make it a little easier to see what is going on :)

Id like to see you load new mp4s in the decks to see if the playing deck jumps/stutters a few frames.

I always do it with the videos playing, I figured the loop is one more process for the computer to run.,,

yeah...Im always shakey, you didnt see the dunkachino right next to the left deck?

this is how I roll:
"
Container: MP4
Video Codec(Format): H.264
Bitrate: 3500 kb/s
Audio Codec(Encoder): FAAC/AAC
Audio Bitrate: 160 kb/s
Many other settings

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaCoderPrefs><node key="overall.ui.mode" value="Advanced"/><node key="overall.ui.optionTab" value="5"/><node key="overall.ui.param" value="807,713,876,216"/><node key="overall.ui.noWelcome" value="4106"/><node key="overall.task.destdir" value="D:\Temp\"/><node key="overall.task.tempdir" value="D:\Media\"/><node key="overall.audio.source" value="FFmpeg"/><node key="overall.audio.encoder" value="FAAC"/><node key="overall.video.mode" value="Two-Pass"/><node key="overall.video.bitrate" value="3500"/><node key="overall.video.quality" value="100"/><node key="overall.video.source" value="FFmpeg"/><node key="overall.video.encoder" value="x264"/><node key="overall.preview.render" value="false"/><node key="audioenc.faac.mode" value="Bitrate"/><node key="audioenc.faac.bitrate" value="160"/><node key="videoenc.x264.profile" value="Baseline"/><node key="videoenc.x264.level" value="30"/><node key="videoenc.x264.keyint" value="12"/><node key="videoenc.x264.keyint_min" value="12"/><node key="videoenc.mencoder.options" value="-deinterlace"/><node key="videoenc.ffmpeg.keyint" value="12"/><node key="videoenc.ffmpeg.options" value="-deinterlace"/><node key="audiofilter.resample.samplerate" value="48000"/><node key="audiofilter.volume.clipping" value="true"/><node key="videofilter.scale.enabled" value="true"/><node key="videofilter.scale.width" value="640"/><node key="videofilter.scale.height" value="480"/><node key="videofilter.frame.fps" value="30000"/><node key="videofilter.frame.fpsScale" value="1001"/><node key="videofilter.eq.contrast" value="60"/><node key="videofilter.eq.saturation" value="120"/><node key="videofilter.postproc.deint" value="YADIF mode 0"/></MediaCoderPrefs>"

the few times I loaded a track I did get that same lil stutter on the main output of the track, just like before. but its miniscule.

all my mp4s average around 80-120MBs.

this was just a quick quip becuase I was getting PMs from people actually asking if I can run VSL on a pc...and why Im still getting a MBP.
and this is 1.1 beta... the other version only has those few lil issues I already spoke of, which will hopefully be resolved with firewire drive arriving tommorow, if not
the MBP arriving the end of the summer (crosses fingers)

Joshua, i doubt the firewire will solve that problem, though it is a suggested choice for running videos.

yeah...I figured It was time for a new HD, and that Passport studio
has the usb/firewire power option, and well as its compact size...
and its Mac/PC friendly.

so, why not... and only 156.00 for 500GB right?

the stutter, is something we (the anal retentive perfectionsists we are)
notice more than most...I tried explaining to the club manager what was happening:

"there, did u see it? that lil hiccup....
what..what hiccup...
watch...THERE! right there....
I dont know what your talking about..."

then again club managers are "P"etarded

so, if it remedies it...great, if not then oh well...

internal mode uses much less cpu. i use to have problems with VDJ running high CPU, all i did to fix it was switch to internal mode after the mix.
here's a good test: in relative or absoulute mode, load up all the efx, put the crossfader in the middle and do fast scribbles with both records. i know you'd never do this at a gig, but i can make my mbp crash this way.

either way, good job joshua...

THERE YA GO.
I forgot about double speed....

Watchwww.youtube.com

impressive, thanks for this video

How do I check my Front Side Bus?

I baught the machine from these guys:
www.pioneercomputers.com.au

And I'm posting this link as a warning for nobody to deal with them. THEY ARE THE WORST.

The only reason I got it from them is becasue they were offering XP Machines and everybody was bad mouthing Vista.

Fact is, now that I have Vista 64 I'm actually starting to enjoy this machine.

can you please post the link to the exact model you purchased?

A buffed up version of this one:
www.pioneercomputers.com.au

with these specs:
* Intel Processer CPU X9100 Extreme 3.06ghz
* 4 Gb of Ram
* nVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256M VGA
* 320gb hard drive.

Once again, DO NOT BUT A COMPUTER FROM THESE GUYS. the casing is made of super cheap plastic and thier service and support is terrible.

WOW, those spec's should be able to handle VSL. and your having issues?

yeah, id be a lil suspect of any pc not having a MAJOR company on it.

if you told me I could get
* Intel Processer CPU X9100 Extreme 3.06ghz
* 4 Gb of Ram
* nVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256M VGA
* 320gb hard drive.
for that price id be kinda weary.

even buying my dell, I was hesitant, but with the purchase of alienware (and their new gaming laps showing that) I figured what the hell, its worth a shot.
this was way before I decided to do Video...

you have to figure they are saving money somewhere, maybe the motherboard

They saved thier money on having the worst casing and service in history!

About 4 years ago I got a custom laptop built elsewhere and it is still running amazing, I paid half of what major brands were charging. It felt good, save a lot of money on a logo I don't need... problem is you never know what you get.

After dealing with Pioneer computers, I am never buying a 'no brand' laptop again.

Since I put Vista 64 bit though the computer is running amazing. VSL is runing at about 60-70 CPU.

They also save money by only offering the 9300m gs, it's not a performance card. Was compared to an onboard ati chip they have out and barely outperformed it...

I have a non-major company PC - Sager. It's a VERY solid machine - great casing, great support. Other people on this site have had similar experiences with them.

I bought it from XoticPC.com and they have, get this, lifetime support. From a real person. Who knows their stuff about computers. It's fantastic.

Sager makes ridiculously awesome PC computers. Very reminiscent of the early days of computing when there were solid built computers everywhere. Now it's mostly cheap crap.

3200 bux for a Mac Book Pro 2.9 4gb ram, 1333 fsb 9600GT 512 vid card. Perfect fit for Video sl 1.1

u buying it ?
u dont have the balls !

Yea Im buying it, need a few more 100 bux. Im dipping into my WMC funds...gettin the student discount thru my brother.

there ya go haha, i knew u would dip eventually

I dont know if they recified it, but I know serato was having issues with MBPs with 4gb of ram...
maybe go with 3?

unless they fixed it

im actually going to put 8gb of crucial in it

So not even a mac is really plug and play with VSL.

Serato should collabrate with a computer company to have a reccomended 'VSL machine'.

i have these specs and have never had a problem with RAM issues.

^ only a unibody MBP issue

so the new unibody mbp's (the 2nd generation models that just were released today) have issues? im about to drop 3200 bux on this computer and i dont want to have ANY issues

it's just from the 4 gigs of memory, read around and see if 8 gigs will give you any problems

So... be pround people, this thread has talked me into buying a mac!!

I just saved my pennies for a top of the line Mac.

I am planning to buy:
Mac Book Pro - 15 inch
* 2.93 processor
* 4 gb of ram

Any known issues with this baby?

The only issue is likely to be the price.

and do not get it with 4 gigs of ram. 2.0Ghz Dual Core w/ 2-3 gigs ram is sufficient, 15" is good for portability, but 17" gives you alot more space to work with, but make sure you get a high end graphics card and you will be ok.

*forgot to mention there is an issue with the 4 gigs of ram causing distortion problems with the audio out, search the forums.

yea but the distortion problem only happens to users who leave their mbp on for hours and hours before actually using it to dj (or users who just put the mbp to sleep).

and it happens to users with 4gb ram and above (mine being 8gb)

On top of being the house dj, I also control the lighting for the venue, as well as help with the sound and coordinating schedules and music when special guest are there, so sometimes my laptop sits on stage w/ me for a while (up to an hour or more if I have dinner there with family/the wife/friends or the boss at one of my spots). I also get there early to do some praticing. There is a number of scenarios that can apply to this distortion problem.

I dont know what everyone else would recommend for the moment, but I would recommend going with 2-3 gigs to be safe, and upgrade the ram later once the problem is solved.

hmmm... so no 4GB ram?

What about the 2.9 processor, any issues with that one?

There are (or were) only 3 issues I have (had) with the 17 inch MBP (2.93c2duo, 8gb ram, 9400m and 9600m gt vid card). 1 day I left it on (Serato idle, I was browsing the net) then went and grabbed a bite to eat. Came back about an hour later (Serato idle for 2+ hours) and went to start, and I had the distortion problem. All I did to fix this was to reboot, and I never had that issue again.

The 2nd issue was several video/audio hard dropouts during a few sets about a month ago. I am almost 100% sure this issue has been resolved with Video SL 1.1 RC1 (Video SL 1.1 Final), and turning the Video Buffer from 2gb (max), to one click to the right of 1gb. Ran it 6 days total (3 days in a row, 2 weekends, at 5-6 hour sets) and had zero issues, using internal and firewire400/800 1tb external. I do have GUI freeze (10-30 seconds) from time to time when loading a mp4 from my firewire external, but Im pretty convinced its the Maxtor One Touch Plus 4 going into an idle/sleep mode when not used for an amount of time. If I continually use mp4's from the external, then I get no GUI freeze.

The final issue has to do with 1.9 Final. Up until 1.8.3, If you created a specific size for your columns, it stayed that way every time you booted up Serato. Now, since 1.9, every time I start Serato, I have to manually go in and set my column widths. I can't wait till this gets resolved.

cheers millz, this is great info.

17 inch MBP (2.93c2duo, 8gb ram, 9400m and 9600m gt vid card - shite.. this is really top of the line mac.

Other then the above, does it run super smooth? jumping to cue points, instant doubles, etc..?

Nice,

I have no issues with any commands. I do get some GUI jumping from time to time, but no audio/video issues from it.

cool.

What do you mean by GUI jumping?

I ran a few searches to try and find this 4gb ram issue but couldn't find anything recent, can somebody direct me to a relevent thread?

if you just recently updated to osx 10.5.7 they fixed the problem. Proceed to buy the mac with 4 gigs. You reeally dont need more than that, but it is nice to have.

I just bought a Acer Aspire 8730 for $999.99 here are the specs.

Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.40GHz
Processor Number: P8600
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3 MB L2 Cache

Graphics Description: Dedicated Graphics
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Video Memory: 1024MB dedicated - up to 1791MB of shared system memory
Video Interface: HDMI, VGA



Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 1066
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Drive Speed: 5400
Operating Systems: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit


When i got it i changed out the hard drive to a 128 GB Solid State Drive, much faster, and loaded Vista Ultimate 64-bit. Then loaded Serato 1.9.0 & VSL 1.1 I run video at about averavege of 80 fps at the best setting. When i load a video it dips to about 55fps but shoots up to 80 within about 3 seconds even when both are running. So for under $1500. I got a PC to work. Here is the link on where i bought it. www.newegg.com

what's your cpu usage?

sigh...im in the middle of moving, and it sucks lol

My CPU Usage is about 60 % when i have both videos running

I am going to install new vsl and ssl tonight on my alien and see the improvements.

still on my PC.. huge improvments with the new VSL!

However.. this thread convinced me that with VSL relying on QT player, which is engineered and owned by Apple, I simply need a Mac to run VSL in a relible fashion.

Been trying every combo on settings and betas to try to get better CPU usage (since this IS a software problem), and I think ive found the one that works the best for me:

win7 x64
SL 19034 (RC 3)
VSL 1.1
Compatibility mode xp sp2
run as administrator

Under these settings SL runs at 0% cpu at idle, VSL runs at 20%cpu idle (compared to normally 60), and running a fullscreen video preview it takes about 35%cpu total. Very impressive. When I get to my SL1 box ill try 2 videos + effects, but shouldnt add much more cpu usage...

wow.

+1

How do you tell perian to do so? i can't find the option

Enable Perian for all h264 profiles:


Revert changes:


You have to enter that in the terminal.

Turned my laptop on today to play with VSL and I lost all the amazingness I had going on the other day. Tried all the compatibility options again, nothing changed, like at 95% playing 1 video. 85% before even loading a video.

SERATO, FIX THIS SOFTWARE!

doesnt perian (when installed) change that setting anyways nik?

sorry, but that sounds more like the windows os (that i'm familiar with) to me....

With the final release of 1.1, its runnin like a pimp in his prime

No, its software that is buggy or built wrong. When I open media player and play an h264 video, or even quicktime, my cpu doesnt idle at 90%. On a mac using IDENTICAL hardware it doesnt idle at 90%. On other video DJing programs the same videos dont idle at 90% cpu. Definitely a software issue on serato's end.

I have ever faith they will take care of it, just wish they would hurry!

No, not Perian 1.1.3 (current version).

In my never ending quest to get this running perfectly for the PC --

Stumbled across what I used to use for quicktime before I used iTunes (since everything with apple is packaged) ........ QT Alternative.

Right now playing 2 videos on 'best' with effects im getting at highest 65% cpu usage, without having to play with compatibility mode. ~20fps

Try this out and let me know if it improves anyone elses performance:
1) Close VSL/iTunes/etc anything QT dependent
2) Uninstall ONLY quicktime from your computer
3) download and install this package:
www.codecguide.com

i did alot of research and testing myself. Quicktime Alternative and Quicktime really are the same. You wont see much if any improvements using vsl, but it is good for firefox/internet explorer.

Well like I said it worked for me....give it a try.

Im not trying to find a faster decoder, Im trying to find a work-around for whatever is giving up high cpu rates with PC's

It's not a me thing, or you thing.

It's a Windows thing. LOL

but not a OSX thing! ;-P

i knew someone was going to throw that one in

From wikipedia:

www.geocities.com

not to talk any shit or anything but...
why anyone would spend 2500 on a pc laptop is beyond me.
spending 2500 on a mac is ok...but a pc??

especially when you consider resale value. PCs, laptop or not have hardly any resale value. check the craigslist, even old macs get sold daily for good money.

2 year old macbook pros going for $1500!

i spent $2700 on my current pc laptop. it has an overclocked quadcore cpu (qx9300) in it. i've pushed it to 3.33ghz but it would throttle down into low power mode to cool off when it gets too hot. i normally keep it at 3.067ghz and it doesn't have any problems. i don't use it for ssl/vsl tho, just for video editing and it renders very fast. if macbook pros had replaceable cpus, i'd put this cpu in it, but they're soldered onto the mainboard making it pretty much impossible.

ahh...i suppose if you do a lot of video editing on a pc and especially if you need one "on the go" then paying that is reasonable and makes sense.

Hm, good point.

LMFAO!! Haha!

My MCP arrived today.

speechless.

this thing runs smoother then butter.

Should have done this a long time ago...

MCP?
Mac Crook Pro?

no, he got the bad guy from the movie Tron...MCp

lol Master Control Program

good to know I'm not the old school geek floating round here...

buying a mac, is a smart investment

i think he means MPC

sorry.. got a bit too exited.

I baught a Mac Book Pro - 2.9 processor, 320 gb hd at 7200 rpm.

I LOVE IT.

It just works!

Just like you guys said.. no messing around for weeks of drivers and configuration... simply works, I did not know computers did such things.

Thanks for pursading me into this purchase, best one I've made in a long time!

Mr. Nice is HAPPY :)

man, if i had a nickel for every PC guy that has finally broke down and been happy with their mac,.. i'd have about $5

Whatever. PCs are just as good as macs..... ;-)

I was blind... but now I can see!!! praise the lord!

bahahaaa!!

I was one of those guys... I bought my MBP because of VSL.. only way to go if you want to use it with NO PROBLEMS!!

here's your $.05

make that $5.10

hey, I'll throw in a $100, you might make some good business here!

Phat-AL fought a good battle, we should have some reunion threads

hee hee

No one fought the mac battle as much as Kagen. He was the biggest "i'm not gonna buy a fucking mac" PC fanboy,.. ever!

So what happened in the end, after proclaiming he'll never buy a mac. He bought a mac.

We could defeat the taliban with all the pent up anti-mac anger in the PC camp. I still continue to see it all the time. Eventually, they buy a mac if they are in this business. Either that or continue to pull their hair out.

I noticed KaGeN really posted a lot less on the forum once that happened.

He is probably just mac-ing off all the time now.

This thread is overrun with mac fan-boiz. Im still happily running VSL very very well, with no intent on changing any time soon :)

I am not a Mac fan boy... I just know it works with VSL perfect in comparison to a PC. I have several other PC's in my home studio. 3 PC laptops, 4 home PC workstations... so... just to clarify... not a Mac fan boy... just using what works right out of the box with no tweaks or settings to worry about WHAT-SO-EVER...

Mac+VSL=Peace of mind...
PC+home=fine by me

I can buy two PC's for the price of one Mac. Just have to buy the right one(PC),,,I too am hardcore PC, in many post I said Funk a Mac and then I brought one not becuse my pc didn't work but because I got a good deal on it and all the hype on these fourms about Mac.

I have said on other post that I have found that once I installed the Mac Operating system on my PC it ran just like a mac and stuff that did not work, worked after the install. End of statement. So I will never agree that Mac is better than PC becasue for the most part they use same hardware. What I will say is they have better OSX and that it doesnt hurt that SLV uses Quicktime had SLV used directshow turst me Mac folks would be having the same issue that PC are having right now.

My PC laptop has the same specs as MAC laptop hardware wise and both run very well also I had a PC laptop running before I got my Mac and once I got it(MAC) I was disapointed becasue I expected it to run much better than my PC and it didn't, honestly they run the same on both... rookies buy a mac it will save you much time and will work everytime. U want to save money buy PC if your lucky all is good if not you will end up pulling hair out killing the dog and then buying a Mac. Ends to the means...

I love that commerical where they are giving women and their kids money to buy a windows computer...each and every time they try to put apple down by saying its double the money for them. Id rather pay double for piece of mind (apple), than having the constant headaches of a pc based machine :)

its only double the price, if your time spent troubleshooting has not cost. also consider resale value. toshiba has new full size basic laptops for $400. used pc sales market is total crap.

i bought my dell laptops around the same time as the macs. i paid over $1200 each for the dell and $1600 for the macbook pro. i could still get quite a bit for the macbook pro in the used market.

i'd be lucky to get a few hundred bucks for the dell.

I've been using macs with my serato for the past 3 yrs and this is how many problems i've had....

= 0


Just installed the vsl plugin and started messin with it this weekend........so far this many problems....

= 0

^^^
nuff said

The mac guys always jump on stuff like this....SWIFT is a die hard MACFAN and for sure Final CUT. Millz same thing, Phat-Al 50-50 I think because he got stuck with a pc laptop that did not work. I think all here are missing the point doesn't matter if it Mac or PC,,, SLV said it will work on both open those Macbook Pro's and read the spec's. Simply put it's not working in most cases. If swift said he can do an edit that I can play on my psp and I paid him and that shit(no pun intended :)) only worked on gameboy you would be pissed as well as try to find a way to get to play on your psp... After all Swift as we know how is,,,,, is not refunding shit and now your stuck with it....just my 2 cents....

FYI Phat-Al congrats on getting married also I used your Ray Charles edit this weekend and lets just say people think I am the man even tough it says DJPHAT-AL CC video. I want that without the cc tag keep your name but not cc tag.

thanks!

As far as the Gold Digger video... I can't redistribute it without the Crooklyn Clan logo. Sorry.

they need to make that logo a lot smaller.... Damn

theres bazillions of PC variations.
theres only a handful of mac variations.

Mac pretty much Eli Whitney'd the computing world.

where as pc still is working through so many different manufacturers to get 1 pc.

you have a much greater chance of buying a PC that might have an element "out of line" with the ideal way to run VSL.
again might.
I have had my PC for almost a year now, running VSL hard and flawless.
Ive seen handfuls of guys running SSL on a <300.00 laptop...and its choppy
and slow.

I guess the take home point is you get what you pay for...
but just because its expensive doesent mean its right for your applications

Yes the hardest thing to account for is keeping the USB latency low and making sure there isnt any horribly cheap hardware/drivers causing USB hangs. But if you can run the audio fine, and have a new fast laptop (core2duo) and dedicated card, there should be nothing that would hinder the decoding of the video. As far as cpu and gfx are concerned, almost all macs and pc's seem to be identical. Thats why I still think most of these problems are programming issues with the VSL plugin, and hopefully will be smoothed out by the next patch.

Djgeeth you say VSL plugin, I think not because I did a hackamac and it worked perfect on my pc. Windows and hardware are the issues. SLV uses quick time like I said before above had they used direct show we would have a different outcome. I would bet that all pc that made specs would work if they used direct show. By the way DJGEETH how is your pc running these days?

If you got a hackintosh running it better than the same PC did with windows, then it CANT be the hardware, only either the drivers, OS, or program. Drivers may be the cause for some peoples trouble, OS - windows isnt half as efficient compared to mac code. Only thing left is the program (video plugin executable) that could be the problem. There are 2 different versions for mac and PC, and what Im thinking is they created for the mac first and got it 100% right, and kind of ported it to the PC haphazardly.

So, what Im thinking is, by the next patch, most all problems should be gone with no tweaks.

By the way mines still running 100% stable at around 60% cpu usage max.

I meant drivers which control hardware, video drivers were hell to get at first but others on the site started sharing which made it eaiser. I agree they did mac first no doubt as it was much easier to work with less hands in the cookie jar. Glad you got it running because I think it was a few months after I brought the plugin that I got my stuff running right. Can I ask you a question are your videos loading pretty fast? I load mine on que and they come in on point I have a dead frame every time I do it but it's hardly noticeable. If you don't understand what I am asking then go to my site www.vdjbig.com and click on the Michael Jackson picture. If you can load videos like that then no more tweaking is needed.

looks like my iMac died this morning. no matter what i do, it just goes beach ball waiting and never recovers. i think it's a hardware problem. lets see how well that applecare works. i purchased this computer in january of 2007. time to give apple a call.

for the record, i've never had a PC die on me and I've owned about 50 of them.

applecare is pretty good, and they speak english!

BONUS!!

Weird shit, my server last night raid 5 array died (but i was able to recover after 5 hours with dell on the phone), another laptop of my friends died this morning, oh and one of my sales persons monitor went out yesterday as well.

Oh my call the police a Mac died....Swift you know you can be banned for saying that anything happened to a MAC on these forums..... They are going to pull your MAC card...Man your messing up... : )

not sure how i ever got tagged as being a mac guy. i own exactly 5 macs and that's only within the last couple years. i only started using macs when i realized pcs suck for serato. i have at least 3 times as many PCs as i do macs, a FULL 42U rack full of PCs in fact. so if we're counting sheer numbers, pcs outweigh macs by a long shot in this house.

in fact, in my house if it doesn't run serato or need to do FCP stuff, its a PC.

macs are waaaay overpriced for general purpose computing which is most of what my systems do. which is why i own so many pcs. if i need a system for some general purpose computing, macs are not even being considered.

however, i don't consider the FCP Studio/Logic Studio or Serato to even be near "general purpose computing". macs will always be better for me, in those specific instances.

defense is a sign of guilt... come on Swift u know I was joking. Well not really
: ).... U have 4 more mac's than me I have 7 PC that I built in my house for what ever reason. I only own one Mac and on the real only brought that because you and my friend raved so about FCP. I must admit it was worth bying a MAC on the video side because I love motion in FCP. Although I am still waiting for a another class(motion) from you know who some dude named A-Swift. Hint, hint... No matter what they are pulling your MAC card.

say swift ... I have 2 DX64 that are still running and I built them bad boy more than 15 years ago... I use them for Duke Nukem tournaments with my friends. I have them set up on lan...they need to remake that game it is still the shit.

hahaha. Duke Nukem tournaments!

i'm trying to get a follow up to the FCP sessions but I'm pretty much knee deep in a project right now. should be done in the next 30 days though. of course you'll all see it when it's done.

it's not a new live demo mix.

Ah... nice one.


Thanks for being objective and taking care about *facts*. :)

30 days are you doing the new transformers movie. I know you got skills but damn. : ) it's cool that your even thinking about doing another class. I will wait for the knowledge like I always do and time from time throwing out some hints. Nik he kinda got tagged that way due to his aggressive manner when it comes to video and FCP. No matter what you say about video he will jump in and say it can be done on the Mac platform. I bet they got an app for that... LOL.

downs an app from appstore ¿ ?

I've never had 1 problem with the drivers that Win7 downloads, its very good at keeping drivers up to date and working. And what do you mean load a video like that? He has the video playing on the other deck then simply hard cuts with the video fader? I can do that?

Are you using windows 7 beta and are you able to run your 32 bit programs on it? And as far as hard cutting the video no I don't even touch the fader it loads as soon as I press the button(TTM57) or when I shift left or right to load the video to either deck. Meaning the video comes in on beat with no lag and I can do it even faster then I am doing but doesn't make for a good mix. At first I could only archive this on my Mac and can now on PC. The first videos were already loaded only use the fader to take left video off as I used it for beat rest were loaded on top of each other without using fader that's why there was only scratching in the front of the video none after that. Another example www.i-20riders2.com except it audio being loaded on top of each other instead of video no fader. Like I said if you can load them on top of each other with no lag then u can quit fiddling with the performance because it's preforming really well.

Just to update I also got VSL working on my AMD Turion 2.2 ghz 2gb memory, integrated video card with BIOS selectable dedicated memory up to 128mb (system memory, not on card).

2 Videos running about 75% cpu, 1.4gb memory used with effects on.

I used same method as ive posted for this result under the same circumstances (win7 64)

Serato is hiding the truth. Quicktime sucks on windows. Since day One. Video-sl plugin is not perfect either. Why does VLC works fine on any windows pc any drivers? even with video effects? I spent lots of money for my TTM57, dell xps laptop, video-sl software, projector. And i spent a lot of time how to tweak it to work perfectly. It Didn't. And i work as a PC Technician. That doesnt matter now, i got robbed during christmas, lost everything (hardware+data). Just wanted to say that its another Apple tactics to attract more DJ customers. (like Logic pro etc). What did you guys got back from apple for using quicktime?

grandmajster, is you still have a PC, try my method posted above. Its worked on 3 computers so far, 2 intel, 1 AMD. And yes, a good majority of the problem is quicktime, thats why I recommend QT-Alt :)

yo sell your dell and get a macbook pro. you will be a happy camper.

djgeeth> I dont have anything right now. They broke into my house before christmas and stole everything from me (data/hardware/money). I didnt want to start all over again, but i am getting back into it now. I got it to "work" before but i had to limit my video quality. It was 70-85% CPU usage on dual screen without video loaded. Also when i had a long cable on secondary screen, there were video signal dropouts when i was loading video on deck. So what you saying is that you got it to work on Windows 7 straight?

Dj Nyce> Thanks for kind recommendation but i would have to say no. I have a lot of reasons why i dont like Apple. This Apple/Serato "friendship" is just one of them. There were times when I was considering buying MBP with bootcamp but id rather have something more powerful for that money with QX9300 processor. If i dont make it work i will make a Hackintosh partition or i will switch to another PC-friendly VDJ product.

You would think the "partnership" between the 2 companies would be a good thing, to try to deliver to its customers a solid platform in which to do audio and video. I didnt want to face the fact, that SSL/VSL runs much better on a Mac, until I was given no other choice but to puchase a mbp, and now I have gained my mind back because of it. No more worrys about retarded PC issues.

That is nice that you gained back your mind because of Mac :-) Since when SSL runs better on MACs? There were no problems (just 3rd party isuess for lamers maybe) with scratchlive on Windows. u calling quicktime solid platform? Why r u replying anyway?

Im simply saying, I have far less issues with my mac than I did with any of my pc machines I used in the past. And I too had many of my old records and gear stolen back in the 90s, so I know how that feels.

I dont think its windows 7 that fixed any of the high starting cpu values, I just like the OS and SL runs fine on it.

What I posted earlier in the thread that DID help, is installing quicktime alternative, and using compatibility mode with SSL. Reduced the idle cpu of VSL from 75 to 40ish. What is the idle load on a mac I wonder? I would take a guess that when this program gets fully functioning in the future an idle load of 20% sounds reasonable. 75% cpu for a black screen is just rediculous.

@grandmajster don't get it twisted. i fucking hate apple. i hate their fans. i hate the apple store and i hate steve jobs. i don't have a macbook pro yet, but i'm forced to get one because i want to do video. right now i'm stacking my videos and i'll get a mbp sometime this summer. the only other apple product i own is an iphone.

and once you work in a mac then you will understand why a mac is 100 times better than a pc :) .

*sigh*

Djgeeth> Thanks for telling me this. I am gonna try that quicktime alternative. Does that alternative work under windows7? if yes which windows7 u use? So basically what are you saying is that apple is making DJs switch to apple MacBooks like sheeps by letting serato use their system-resource-demanding windows quicktime?

Dj Nyce>You Apple Hater. with Iphone. :-) Did you try that quicktime altrenative yourself?

I feel ya.. felt exactly the same, hated steve jobs with a passion.. hated all the mac hype and fans. only bought the mac book pro to do SL-Video after grinding my teeth.

I aint looking back, this machine is amazing a-z, serato never ran so smoothly and the usability of this machine is light years ahead of a PC.

Actually, I am happy it took Serato to get me to overcome my resentment of mac's and actually try one, it's amazing to finally use a computer that just works and an OS that makes sense.

I'm with Mr.Nice on this....

I had never got into the apple brand for any products but just bought the new 13" MBP on Friday.

My experience is the same, I've started to see why eveyone likes them so much.

Its only been a few days since I got it but I can already see myself staying with the apple brand in the future, which was something I always thought was just a lot of hype and good marketing to get people hooked in but they are actually really good products.

+1




+100

Me too guys!

My story exactly.

ok, this discussion is turning to be a mac fanboy and switchers fest. :-)
Macs are just computers. Not even Personal Computers :-)
I have one word for you guys: The Scene

Thank you Serato for FORCING ME to buy a Mac.
It was one of my best decisions ever.
Mac OSX is light years ahead of Windows.
And Mac's are even cheaper now, so the price is no excuse no more.

need to learn how to hack a mac, apple on the cheap :-)

not hard do a search on the web that's what I did..

Wow this thread really has turned into a fanboi fest. My PC works just wonderfully too but Im not making random posts bragging about it.




If you mean they can do about the same thing by "lightyears ahead", then yes, you are correct.

my only gripe for PC is that there's not a mix emergency program to compliment VSL.
(that I know of)
so now Im pre-making psudeo overlays and whatnots as mp4s.
pain in the azz

djgeeth> These fanboys made me wonder. My PC is working wonderfully too. Only problem was this Quicktime which is made by Apple. Lightyears ahead :-)
Which Build of W7 do you use? Does it have that Xp mode?

Joshua Carl> What R u playing? tekno? If you are that desperate why dont you make yourself a hackintosh? I think there will be something like that for windows as well soon. I think it is not that hard to do.

Well I'm bragging I HAVE A PC THAT WORKS and I use Vista so I know I got a right to brag. Opps can't brag too much cause I have a macbook pro. Don't know about windows 7 but I will find out soon since it's working for u DJGEETH plus I want to see all of my memeory not just 3gig..

J Carl I feel you on the making videos when something simple can be made to fix that whole thing. I make a bunch of mp4s saying all kinds of stuff when it could simple be a picture that could be displayed.

I play, like most people, what ever moves the floor.
I generally dont like bootlegs/hacks things like that...
not that they dont work, but theres no able-bodied support if it jacks up on ya.

I mentioned in another thread, Im certainly not a Mac-hater.
I just havent used one exclusively since my days of Oregon Trail & Lemonade Stand
(Apple2e)
with the prices of the new 15 around 2200...
Im in the market, and that will be my DEDICATED ssl/vsl laptop...
I use this for everything, games, internet,movies,editing....and it still runs strong.
but I want a dj only, and if the SSL is built around mac, im not going be:
Watchwww.youtube.com

@grandmaster
the newest RC, 7137. I upgrade it with a memory stick everytime a new release comes out. Sounds risky, but ive used win7 since first beta and never had ONE crash, just some minor problems -- and those are all gone now.

And no, XP mode is a (very nicely integrated) VM machine, meaning its video card etc is all virtual. It DOES support USB devices, so I guess its possible, but I think you will just lose speed in this process.

djgeeth> Thanks for info. I think i am gonna go with newest 7260 RC build. I think 7300 will be RTM. <link removed>

7260 is out? shit son!

PS its super easy to upgrade from build to build and you dont lose any programs or settings.

im getting a 2nd hand mac book pro here are specs can some tell me of any issues i might encounter its only going to be used for vsl im payin a lil over a grand (nz dollars)

The 2.33 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $5,049 (inc GST), includes:

* 15.4-inch widescreen 1440 x 900 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness;
* 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2Duo processor;
* 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB;
* 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in Airport Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio;
* Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard;
* the infrared Apple Remote; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter .



thats is all thanks

whys it list price at 5049?
thats complete bs
the 17" 8 gb 3.2ghz is only 3500

be careful

I got my mbp 17 inch, 8gb, 2.93, with some added bundled programs, a 3 year warranty, a case, and some adapters for about 4400. 5049 is a rip dude...if your going to buy a new apple, or something that is costing over 2k, go directly to apple.com and save yourself a headache.

I just ordered this morning a new 15" 2.8 ghz, 500 GB with 4 gig memory, dual graphic cards, and a 7200 rpm drive for $2144.00 plus tax.

Buy new and save yourself some used trouble.

thats EXACTLY the model im looking at!

that guy is in new zealand. nzd is different from usd.

it has a ($) dollar sign...
unless thats what they use too.

Joshua, I am getting mine by Friday or Monday. I'll let you know how it goes. Just starting to play with the encoding rates and compression last week, but really waiting for the new system to get here before I lock it in.

thank you for answering
to clear up a few things
nz dollars are bout half us dollars
we pay a price some of you wouldnt dream of paying to buy what you have said (I just ordered this morning a new 15" 2.8 ghz, 500 GB with 4 gig memory, dual graphic cards, and a 7200 rpm drive for $2144.00 plus tax. Buy new and save yourself some used trouble.) is round 4 to 5 k here its just how it is ...
im buying 2nd hand the list price of $5049 was from 2006/07 ...

i was wondering if any of you guys could see problems with this purchase/model im going to use to run vsl only not to worried about other uses for it soley djing/vjing

thanks jason wellington new zealand

if thats how the exchange is, Id say just get the new one.
its roughly the same price

its $1100 2nd hand about 709.789 USD

i will get new in the futre but at this point in time its all i can afford

oh, thats not a bad deal at all....

i was wondering if it will handle vsl its above minum specs , ill up grade it to 3gig ram im putting a 500 hdd in it ......im gettin it today to test drive so ill post up how it goes ....just lookin for sum freidnly advise

thanks jason

np Jason. The only question about it handling it would be in the video card, everything else is fine. I'm sorry I don;t know much about that video card.

thats what my mate was saying and i cant upgrade it either .....i just dont wanna spend 4k just right now its a good cheap option to get into the vjing market ....i hope


thanks

wow this has turned into an uber macbook thread. Cant believe you all are spending 3500+ on a laptop...my main and SPARE cost less than 2g new and both can run VSL very well

so ive got the macbook pro im writing this post on it all i can say s sold on the performance of macs awsome so happy...with the video card being able to handle it i may be picky or just havnt played with the settings enough but i find it jittery ...any ides out there please

so, to summarize:

wondering why ur having jittery video output..quality output should be set to medium..

djhuntah, i use the same laptop you have. i only do video,.. every week 4hours a night.

Well...... I'm about to serve up some crow and eat it. In june i bought a ACER Aspire 8730 it has a intel duo core 2.4Ghz, 4 Gigs of memory, Nvidia 9600M GT video with 1 GB or DedicatedVideo Memory, 18.4" screen, swaped the hard drive out for a SSD 128GB Hard Drive. I set up a Dual Partition, with Vista Ultimate 64 Bit & Windows 7 Ultimate RC1 64 Bit. Oviously the Windows 7 side worked better than the vista side, It played video @ 60 to 70 fps, but when it would do 2 videos at the same time it would go down to 20 to 30, then jump around to 50 then 20 and would look choppy til i ended one of the videos, then it went back to normal. The Acer was not stable, it got worse and i even had USB droupouts. Needless to say im disapointed with the performance. I used a friends Macbook Pro (2007 Model) it only can support 2 Gigs of memory and 256 Dedicated Video Memory and it ran perfect ! SO IM NOW EATING CROW, Im picing up my first Macbook Pro tommrow for $1195 here is the specs
2008 Macbook Pro Factory Refurbished
15.4” Widescreen MacBook Pro (1440x900) resolution; Matte Screen;
AppleCare Warranty until August 2011
Brand New Apple Battery
Brand New Apple Keyboard

2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (T9300) / 800 MHz Frontside Bus;
2 GB DDR2 SDRAM Memory;
250 GB Hard Drive w/Sudden Motion Sensor;
8x DVD-RW+- DL/CD-RW Superdrive;
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT Graphics Card w/ 512 MB of VRAM;
Express Card/34 slot;
1.3 Mp iSight Web Cam Built in;
Airport Extreme WiFi Card built in (802.11a/b/g/n);
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
MAC OS 10.5.7 Leopard / Windows Vista running on VMware Fusion (runs right on the desktop, no rebooting needed!!);
2 USB Ports;
1 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet Port
1 400 Mbps Firewire Port;
1 800 Mbps Firewire Port;
1 VGI Monitor Port for second monitor (2560x1600) Max. resolution;

So will let ya know how it performs

DJ Dollar

Sounds like a good deal. Boo to VMware compared to bootcamp though.

I have the second one you listed and it does the job well... To bad on the PC,,, to find one that works is like finding a dimond in the ruff. I got a dimond and a MBP... Life is good...

Just did a hour of playing around, and damm.......... im hooked, This Macbook Pro is flawless, so it looks like another mac convert.

DJ Dollar

Welcome to the club!

yeah its all good now my mac book rookieness /pc brainwashing is almost gone althoug i still use vegas on my pc .....im sold mac are the way to go had a wee problem on monday the driver got couruptd arfter a update was and easy fix but my rookieness i had to ask serato for help ...which they did .....cant wait for a stable version ov 1.9.1 the new sp6 will be awsome ...ive incorperatd a usb powerd midi keyboard (korg microcontroller) into the sets a bit easy to mess with the visuals ....can alomost do the whole night with out decks (but thats cheating ) hahahah ...... thanks all im updateing my mac asap to get me a brand spankin new one cant wait ....go mac keep pissing on pc

i havnet wriiten here since july wow well still roking the mac i got back in july upgradeing in the next 3 months to a new beast mac is defeintly the way to go i have had no live issues in the whole time i rock vsl every night 3 nights a week from 4 to 7 hrs and its still going ive even moved on to a abelton apc setup and its still handleing it so yeah if you thinkin about mac vs pc mac gets my vote hands down ...keep rocking out the my fellow djs

peace dj huntah