I kinda like this one... If i get it i will just use it for serato and nothing else. It will never see the internet or anything like that.

www.walmart.com

And no i don't want a mac. Thanks!!

why not a mac seriously just give it a try you'll be happy that you did especially for future use.

I know that macs are good but im really used to pcs. i have never owned a mac. I may try a mac at some point but i kinda need something quick and i don't feel like taking the time to get used to something I have barley dealt with. thanks!!

ive been on pc for 3 years, just got my new mac last month, took my a day 2 get used to it.. just saying haha

what he said lol macs are really easy to get used to as long as you're open to it.

That's a good question. Why should he use a mac instead of a pc? It's the same shit.

To give you a relevant answer, that laptop should be fine for scratch live. Try and get it running WinXP though.

If you've got the money try and get something with a slightly better processor though.

It's kind of tough... to call just from reading specs.

Like mentioned above... the processor is a lil on the cheap side but that might not hurt Serato's performance.

Run this tool on the laptop before you buy it...

www.thesycon.de

That will provide your best answer.

Remember... at the store there will be no "tweaks" done to it yet.

Ah yes... finally some helpful answers. Thanks guys!!

I do have enough money put aside for any kind of laptop... but damn it! that was money put aside for the 57! I could go buy one right now but do to my recent laptop issues i should probably take care of this first. If I can get away with something in the 5-6 hundred dollar range then i can still get the 57 in a few weeks. At the end of the day though, I'd rather have a laptop that won't fuck up with a 56 than a serato crashing with a 57. lol

I wish I would have started my rig with a Mac but I went the cheap PC route.
So I get multiple dropouts, and high latency.

Now I looking to get a Mac hopefully for a good price on Black Friday. I've been fighting the Apple conglomerate but resistance is futile! I really want to go with at least 2.66ghz but I'm not sure if the lower end models will be good to go. I want to run video eventually.

Spending more money doesn't automatically mean that the laptop will be better for Serato.

I am far from a computer know it all but I will do my best to explain and if I am wrong please someone correct me.

The laptop needs to be able to handle real time data. This is achieved through well written drivers and good hardware.

Do I give a shit about detail of either? No... I want to know the end result of the drivers and hardware chosen for a particular laptop I may want to purchase.

How do I find this out?

The tool I posted above for a Vista or 7 laptop.... or a RATT report for a XP machine.

I know you don't want a mac, but there is a reason everyone raves about them on this forum. It is not because they look cool, cost more, and are trendier, but it is because they are solid as hell, and yes everything has there exceptions, but macs are awesome. I will say, my back up computer is my brother's laptop. It is very very similar to the one you are interested in, and I have the buffer setting 12 on that, and still drops out and drifts under extreme scratching. If all I did was mix with no scratches, the laptop would work fine. But I don't, so I bought a mac. I am not hating on PC's but above even the computer, mac's osx is the real gem, and is awesome.


My End of the Day suggestion is if you are really looking for affordability, Microcenter often sells the $999 white macbook for $799 a couple times a year and usually before christmas. That is a hell of a steal, and spec for spec is definitely worth the $300 more than the dell you are looking at.


Pick up and extra gig, and buy a mac. and keep it for 4 years.

Apple just dropped some prices for the holiday. Hopefully this gets you closer to the Mac that you need.

www.macrumors.com

Don't forget the 're-furbed' Macbooks on the Apple store. Which also have full Apple warranty for great prices.

^^ quote fail damn

AMEN.


there we go.

^^ quote fail damn

OK guys.. you are not stating anything that has not been stated in the past.

We get it... Macs rule.

I could argue but it is pointless... so how about we help with the original question?



Wait... what is you current laptop and what is wrong with it?

Maybe we can get it sorted...

questioned was answered in post #6 and #7. In post 8 it was derailed by the OP giving more information about his future plans...and that's where the mac discussion really got started.

I understand that Mac are great and all but I am doing just fine with my 2gb amd turion 1.9 ghz windows vista Hp laptop. I run my buffer settings on 5 and can get it as low as 3 but I dont bother since anything around 5 and less will be able to track the latency pretty well (correct me if im rong I read that from a mod).

Knock on wood! i`ve been told that amd turions aren`t the best to run on serato but I haven`t had any problems with it and im sure that if I dont have probs than you shouldn`t. It seems that your above the minimum specs so just make sure you turn all your processors off and periodically defrag your hard-drives. Turn off all effects and services that you dont need than you should be good to go.

scratchlive.net

Last post you said everything was fine?

So you determined it was an overheating issue?

Have you cleaned your heatsync and checked proper fan operation?

Have you checked for any BIOS updates from the manufacturer that could have anything to do with over heating?

Did you buy a Mac?

OOPS! My bad, here is the update....

I have had no problems from that Saturday up until friday. On Friday I did a hip hop show from 8-9 in CT and had no problems then at 10:30 I Got back to MA to do my club set and thats when the problem came back to haunt me. lol. It was really embarrassing because it was the same club that the problem first occurred!!

The weird thing is this: my turntables (tech 1210's) have those European plugs that you need the adapters for so if the cords are touched or slightly moved then they could loose power for a second (I normally don't have to worry about this but this club's booth really sucks so I don't dj in it, I set up on the dance floor). This problem where the waveforms disappear and serato freezes seems to happen after one of the turntables turns off. After loading serato for the THIRD time after it crashing I did the rest of night with internal mode and everything worked fine. But then again, It happened once when the turntables were on the whole time so I don't even know.

And once again everything went smooth for my Saturday night gig. So it only seems to happen this one club. Up until now, I have had no problems with serato in this club since I started playing there a little over a year ago. I have not really had any problems at all but I can't afford to have this keep happening.

It's strange to have one location be the issue, have you spoken to any of the other DJs running DVS to see if they have any issues?

The laptop you previously mentioned would be fine but I wouldn't expect to run SSL maxed out.
What settings are you running SSL on now with your current laptop?

My Dell had heating problems too.

In my opinion it makes more sense getting a Mac and settle with the 56 for now, than buying a cheap Dell to afford the 57. I spent 1 year spinning SSL on a Dell, then switched to a Mac about 2 years ago. There is a huge difference. I know I sound like a broken record, but at the end of the day, I want to spend time on my music, not technical hurdles.

And yes, I was a die hard PC user from the middle of the 90s up until about 3 years ago (I still use XP worstations on a daily basis for 3d animation)...
As everyone is saying, you will be up and running comfortably within 1 day.

Why not just borrow/rent a mac for a day or so, from a friend/family? Do some DJ rehearsal on it at home, then decide... Buying decisions should always be based on actual personal experience...

Can you get to that club early and MAKE this happen?

Does it happen with both tables or just one?

Are you sure the receptcle you are plugged in to is properly grounded?

To rule out a heating issue... Do you have an Intel Dual Core chip? Try to find the "Intel Thermal Analysis Tool" online and run it... my lappy never gets over 66C.... if you can't find it I can upload it....

We sell some laptops where I work and I ran DPR250R's app on several different ones to see which performed best. I did not do any tweaking. The only thing I did was turn on and off any network cards and I let the app run for about an hour(most failed in only a few seconds). Here's what I came up with, worst to best:

MSI GX630001US - I was surprised by this as I thought it would have been our best. Wireless on or off. Terrible.

Acer Tried various models - Small improvement with the wireless off but overall fail.

HP DV4-1322US and DV6-1122US - They did about the same as the Acers. Some improvement with wireless off but eventually they had dropouts.

Gateway NV5423U - This one actually did well. It didnt really get dropouts but the overall latency was in the yellow a lot. Makes me wonder if it would fail under a load.

Sony VGNNW228FS and VGNNW240FB - The Sonys failed until I turned the wireless off and then they did great. Low latency no dropouts.

Lenovo 418555U and 33892BU - These operated flawlessly. Low latency, no dropouts, wireless on or off, running extra programs it didnt matter. I was surprised by this I never really considered them but based on this one test they were the best computers we sell hands down.

Note: These were all Windows machines, some on Vista and some on 7. We do not sell macs so I could not make a comparison.

That laptop is crap, dont throw away your money. You get what you pay for

Very cool and detailed report...

I wish i could say I discovered that app... but I did not... someone else did in the help forum a WHILE ago.. that's why I do not remember the users name.

But it helped me diagnose dropouts I was getting with a buffer setting below 5.

It is nice cause you can see the effects of your tweaks right away.... however... the RATT report gives device/driver descriptions causing the issue. It points you in a general direction. The RATT is not available for Vista or 7 though :(

Hey, Here is a MAC for $799!!

www.microcenter.com


Don't Hate, Get a Mac.

Hi guys,
i was not sure about creating a new topic for the same question.. or adding my question here..
So if i am wrong, sorry for that, and let me know to create another post.

I am thinking of buying this to use it with a ttm57-sl and the video-sl (i have to buy them also)

let me know your advice
i choose a HP because i can get it with a big discount (friend working at hp).
But i wanted to have your advice before.
i am still checking on a mac but too expensive..

HP-DV61430sf
Product Number VL074EA

Microprocessor 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7450
Microprocessor Cache 3 MB Level 2 cache
Memory 4096 MB (2 x 2048 MB)
Memory Max Up to 8 GB

Video Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4650 Graphics
Video Memory Up to 2815 MB (1 GB dedicated DDR3)

Hard Drive 500 GB (5400)
Display 15.6" Diagonal High Definition HP Brightview Display (1366 x 768)

External Ports

* 4 USB 2.0
* 1 VGA port
* 1 HDMI connector
* 1 eSata + USB connector

thanks

I really do not understand why a DJ who wants to do video would ever buy a PC. This forum is filled with issues about PC's. Not really being a fanboy here, but the Mac side just plain works better. Period.

Shrug.

If you have a friend that works there see if you could demo one... if you know you are buying the 57 and video plugin (although I don't know if you can install the video plugin on more then one comp)... get them and try it out.

Use this tool to check audio latency...

www.thesycon.de

I don't know much about video so I can't comment on that.

Oh and IMO it would have been ok to start a new thread... just know that if you ask about anything other then a Mac you will get fanboys dropping in.

Hard to argue with the facts of the situation...Macs are just flat out working better with VSL and ScratchLive.

Thanks for the reply.
I saw the macs. The thing is that for the same price you get a 13" instead of 15" i have the feeling that a 15" will be better for video.

Plus i dont like the apple policy of forcing mac user to only use apple product (like itunes)

@DPR250R, is not possible to test the computer before. my friend works at developpement, they dont have pc stocks over there.