Any PC to TV Coverter box will do the trick

sounds like you are looking at PC laptops... tsk tsk tsk

theres a few options out there:

Atlona AT-HDVIEW VGA to HDMI Scaler/Converter (USB Powered)

ViewHD Two Input HDMI to RGB Component YPbPr / VGA 2x1 Switch Converter

depends what you video feed is going to be at the end I suppose... VGA, Composite.

theres simple straight line converters, and then theres boxes

Macintosh

Actually I'm not too fixed on whether to buy a PC or Mac.

I've never owned a Mac so I can't testify if they're truly "worth it" versus a PC. Sure everyone tells me that the mac is a more efficient machine for various reasons, so I believe they are better than a PC with equivalent specs.

But in the real world I have a budget, and what really matters is can I get the job done well on a less expensive PC laptop? My experience tells me that PC laptops don't let you down, providing you buy the right spec and maintain it properly, ideally make it a dedicated machine.

Lets say money is no object and I want to spend around $2000.

I could buy a mac with these specs:

15-inch: 2.2 GHz

2.2GHz quad-core
Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz
750GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5
Built-in battery (7 hours)2

$2,199.00

For the same price you could have:

ASUS G53SW-XN1
CPU: Intel i7-2920XM (2.50 GHz x 8 Threads) | 8 MB L3 Cache | Turbo Boost up to 3.50 GHz (x 4 threads)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
RAM: 16 GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz
Hard Drive: 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD#1 + 500GB 5400rpm HDD#2

Bearing in mind these would be dedicated machines, which would provide the best performance?

for the same price you get no mix emergency on a PC...

from someone who just made this decision back in November....its worth it.

I found out the hard way that Macbook Pro is the way to go. I did all my studio editing on my studio (PC) desktop and (PC) laptops...Vegas, Soundforge, Acid etc that's the world in front of a studio desk. You can restart...Thats not "live" and it's not the same like playing the cd's or vinyl on a pro set up (pioneers or technics).
Then I switched to tractor (did not like it) and then to serato SL and since a couple of months to serato video SL. I bought two expensive laptops. (don't wanna diss their brand...)
I had to restart with those expensive (PC) laptops. I cannot afford restarts...and most dancers don't like it either...I was performing stressfully with always a back-up plan.
Just like I HAD to adjust myself to the pro quality pioneer cd players after playing for years on technics turntables, I had to do the same with my laptops choice. I tried so called pro quality pc laptops...MANY restarts and embarrassments. Within a month a macbook pro 13" (till now NEVER a problem). Now I own two, the 15" dedicated for serato video mixing. (NEVER a problem and I do 5 to 8 hour sets...).
I love certain pc software (Sony bundle, waves plugins) but thats not "live" and I can restart at home.
If you're just scratching at the beginning of the song, it's NO PROBLEM... the mediocre laptop with some tweaks will hold on...if you're sampling, looping, backspinning, loading three banks with 6 samples and also recording your performance and/or maybe doing serato video mixing....believe me... get a macbook pro. You will feel the difference...I have NOT met any pro DJ yet who regretted their switch to a mac.
Just my humble opinion.

Sorry..I also forgot to tell you that in the real world the difference in price is not always the best measure to make a good choice. Simple macs are generally more expensive than PC laptops with outstanding theoretical specs...BUT If you consider yourself a (future) pro who depends on his hardware you should TRY to equip yourself from the start with the best possible equipment (means more $$) in order to deliver PRO quality. That includes for example decent headphones (not the 30 dollar crap which ruins your ears at high volumes). If you choose the 30 dollar headphone and think it serves you well as a PRO you might as well buy any laptop that boasts fantastic specs.

i feel the op. apple and steve jobs can go fuck themselves...but if you want to mix videos, mac is the way to go. the os/hardware integration just performs better.

but for all other uses windows pc's kills a mac in performance and performance/dollar. i have a quad core laptop that i use for dev, music produciton, post, mograph, vfx and it was cheaper and performs waaay better than a mac. but when i dj i use the mac. wish it wasn't so, but it is.

also mix emergency is mac only. i would get a mac just to be able to use that piece of software when mixing vids. it blows video-sl out of the water.

You're basically making the same point: there is a difference in remixing, producing, editing, etc and real LIVE performance. I still use SONY product with tons of plugins on a PC at home but I wont thrust any windows based laptop (anymore) during a live performance...I simply try to eliminate stress out of my live.
But DJ NYCE can you imagine a macbook pro upgraded to the before mentioned specs like the asus has that Christoffer 2 wants to buy? 16 ram? two hard drives? WHY?
I run 8 ram on both and believe me... I don't feel the difference.
I rather get a big SSD hard drive.
Anyway a macbook with those ASUS specs would be called a Macbook Pro E A K E
(Elephant Ass Kicker Edition)
greetings from Curacao

I don't think it's just a question of studio versus live based software, I think it's simply a question of the software itself and whether the laptop is capable of running that software, and is the end user getting the best out of both (clean system, optimum settings, common sense etc).

I know we aren't supposed to swear around here, but take a look at Virtual DJ, their development staff are PC based and the Mac version is secondary (and behind in some levels) - you go over there and the majority of people say get a PC it runs perfectly on windows 7 on a standard spec laptop. I'm not sure if the Mac version is less stable but the point is that the PC version is stable, although admittedly it's taken long enough to get it there (especially on the DVS front, it's been solid with midi based controllers for a long time).

VDJ = PC
VSL = Mac
Traktor = it doesn't matter (although no video support)

I don't think it's fair to say that a PC laptop is a bad tool for live performance because of the failings of certain models, and certain programs, especially today with the kind of high spec models around at very reasonable prices.

I'd be interested to hear what the development team have to say about this, although it may be a little late now they've forced half their user base to go out and buy a MBP, perhaps their on the apple payroll lol.

Bren... the initial question of Christopher 2 was basically about the performance of two laptops that he has in mind and some of us gave our opinion. First of all he wants to do VIDEO (this is the forum for that) and also I suppose serato cause this is the forum about serato. This is not a forum about virtual dj etc. Second, we are giving our personal opinions hopefully based on actual "real live" experience. Maybe it's better if we stick to that and relate to him our experiences based on those details and not on hypothetical situations and or comparisions with other software. From what I experience around me many DJ's, producers etc tend to fall for the marketing tactics from certain products. Those specs are selling tactics but not real life... I am telling VJ's about my real life experiences and I am definitely not on the Apple payroll but I wish they would give VJ/DJ's like me who have that glowing Apple logo up in front a little incentive for "wearing" their brandname.
The VJ/DJ community looks at succesfull collagues, proven club set-ups and copies their hardware set-up. I know for a fact that most aspiring VJ's/DJ's that have the cash buy a midisport uno, macbook pro, serato SL3, pioneer or technics headphones, pioneer 2000's and a pioneer DJM 800 because that's what we demand and works flawless when we perform. I am just saying that if you are a PRO you tend to bet on the sure thing and till now for most of us that has been a proven succesfull combination.

amen

that is understandable, fair enough.


...
My experience tells me that PC laptops don't let you down, providing you buy the right spec and maintain it properly, ideally make it a dedicated machine.




NOT in the case of vsl.


not really much else to say on that. it is 100% true.

Remember also the following points that I think most people here would agree with:

OSX is a very well designed stable OS which means that you don't have to have a dedicated system. You can store other programs on your MacBook pro and not really worry about slowing your entire machine down in the same way windows systems can get bogged down.

ALso if you get a macbook pro you will have a machine with the exact same specs as about 1000000 other people on the VSL forum and thus you will always be able to get good trouble shooting advice.

Also seriously this mix emergency thing is the kicker. Read all the threads on this forum about why you need it.

don't buy a dell xps... mini display port won't pick up vga to composite converters ! & asus g7 has a vga in the you tube vids but not on the spec sheets !

I still need something with VGA or S-video then?

Im confused Chris... so your looking at other models becuase of the HDMI out?
(as opposed to Mac's MiniDisplayport or PCs usual VGA or DVI out)

basically once you commit to a video out option, you can start exploring converter options.
sadly, unless your a mobile dj, or have complete eingineering control over your clubs you
constantly be "try to figure out" how to patch into club systems.

Obviously, all the new stuff has HDMI, but the cable is pretty expensive.
and a bit of overkill (you dont need to transmit audio)

If you find a model you really like start hunting for a solid hdmi converter.
the sad fact is the "down conversion" is pretty thin.
why theres not alot of VGA/DVI to Component options.

all the spots I do have different hookups. some have a nice VGA line waiting for me, others I need a Vga to component , some I need a VGA to Composite....I have YET to run into S-video.
so unless you KNOW your only gonna need one option... join the converter hunt!

Im sure all of us vj's were pc dj's until we wanted to do video and then found out that a pc wouldnt give you stress free gig. Then someone had a macbook pro and said he does video with no problems go we all went that way to only find out its the truth you can do video with a macbook pro and 1.8 ghz dual core (not recommened) buy not with a pc and 3.0 ghz and 16gb ram. So that speaks for it self. Im sure the serato vsl team would love to have vsl run like it do on a pc. But it just aint happing. Every vj on here is using a mac. And even all the serato team. At namm there was not 1 pc in the booth. Not 1. It was all mac's and even all there dj's had mac. I think if they can get everybody that want to do video on a mac we would get faster vsl updates. Were over 1 year without a vsl upgrade. I think cuz of pc. Op you want to do video with vsl get mac. End of story.