Recommended laptop

Hi,

I'm looking at getting a new laptop purely for dj'ing with Traktor and wondered if anyone could suggest a recommended spec or laptop that they have. I currently share a Toshiba 2gig dual core which is ok, but I have major problems with the latency.

I'm thinking 4gig RAM with lots of disc space are musts. Also XP if there are any XP OS Laptops still going? However, might go down the Mac route.

Mac? PC? RAM?, Spec? advice all appreciated

 

Acer lappy with 4gb RAM here, Vista 32 on it too. Just got TSP on Monday and have been running it fine so far, munched its way through a 4 hour session last night. It'll probably crash at some point but then most software does.

Mac if you want to pay 3 times as much to do the same job, Windows if you don't mind tweaking your OS install and streamlining it.

 

cheers for the feedback guys. Might just go down the mac route.

Given that I have had problems with latency I'm interested to know what latency settings you have set up (USB buffersize, audio buffersize and sample rate)

At the moment with my Toshiba I have latency set at 19 or higher to reduce the pops and crackles I get, but this makes it difficult to mix

 

See sig, the settings are on a unibody Macbook Pro 2.53GHz Core2Duo. Having come from a PC it did make a world of diference in that I wasn't rooting about the registry, BIOS, Services, and msconfig trying to sort out a crackle or pop issue.

 

man that latency is mad high. I run a pc at 6ms. are you using control vinyl or cd? One of my boys has a unibody macbook pro, his latency is at 5ms. Not sure how much lower you can get without any pops or clicks while using control vinyl or cds. Maybe it is just luck of the draw? While the macs are nice, they are also having popping and clicking issues with TSP(check the forums). In the end, get what makes you happy, if it is a pc,cool, if it is a mac, cool.
There are some good pc's that match up to the mac when it comes to the hardware, Dell XPS(not the studio line), Sony Viao, IBM Thinkpad. The only prob with mac is the price, it is forcing people to consider other options. The price of a MBP is more than my monthly mortgage (yes I have a really nice house). If it feels right just pull the trigger and don't look back, they all do the same thing.....Help us push the DJ game to higher and higher levels. There are plenty of people out there making good music, without 12's,cdj 1000's, djm 800,etc. "I aint hatin, I'm just sayin."

 

19ms latency? That's insanely high. I'm running a 400 quid Acer laptop and Traktor popped at 1.5ms latency, but I've had no trauma as yet running it at 3ms. Latency as high as yours could be indicative of another problem, or maybe Traktor has issues with your brand of laptop

 

Yeah, it does seem stupidly high, but its the only way I can get rid of the pops. It makes it impossible to scratch or even drop tunes in sometimes. I'm running both a timecoded vinyl and cd. The latency is a lot worse on the vinyl which could be the problem

I've tried everything else (wireless off), computer running nothing in background, mains not plugged in, downloading ASIO driver etc

Maybe the cheapest option could be to up the RAM to 4 gig and see if that works. However, buying a new laptop has the added benefit of stopping my girlfriend from moaning everytime I want to use hers to have a mix with!

 

Check the sig:
"Sony Vaio VGN-NS11M/S 15,4" - IntelCore2Duo 2GHz - 3 GB Ram - 250 GB/5400rpm / Windows Vista Premium 32bit"

After I configurated Vista: Energyoptions, Backgroundprogramms, turning off all the Vista Visual Enhancements etc...I have TSD running steady and smooth as a motha, with no crashes, no crackles, no audio dropouts etc. even during 8-9 hours sessions, with vinyl-timecode-control, effects, looping etc! Latency is set to 5,5ms, I guess I could go lower, but why change a winning team!

 

Nice! Why meddle with it if its working as well as that! I'll check out that Vaio as well then. The MACs are waaaaay out of my price range for the minute unfortunately.
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Cheers for the advice everyone ;-)

 

The most important thing wether you end up using Xp or Vista is to properly config your laptop!
Dunno about Windows Seven or Mac OS, but I'm guessing they as well need some cofiguration/customization to run TSP/D @ its best!
Greetz
Strategy

 

Definately. The sole purpose of this laptop will be to run Traktor so I will configure it properly and make sure nothing unneccessary is running in the background. I can't find the Sony for Sale in the UK. This Acer at currys is winning so far. It looks a decent spec and has just come down in price.

Acer Aspire 5536-643G Laptop
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/118586

 

I myself am looking at this replacement for my Asus laptop after 8 years of sterling service under every laptop-unfriendly environment I threw at it...

Asus N50VC-FP008C: http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=50VC-FP008C
(with 320GB/7200RPM HD upgrade)

Your opinions?

 

Might have a winner. Cheap as chips refurb.

ACER AS7730 REFURBISHED INTEL CORE 2 DUO T5800 PROCESSOR
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...m=null&tm=null&sku=466908&category_oid=-28487

That Asus looks quality. Double the price of this Acer though

 

Yep, it is expensive, but I'm looking at 3-4 years of futureproofing - laughable as the subject is, plus the possibility of using Ableton Live should I need to. My previous laptop was an Asus L8400 laptop + Traktor v2.2 running on (shock, horror!) WinME, with a P3/1Ghz CPU and 256MB RAM + a 40Gb HD, and the durability of that laptop convinced me to go for another Asus.

I was also looking at Sony Vaio laptops, but something throws me off them, and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the 5400RPM HD's, or that Apple-like feeling of not being allowed to tamper with, say, a HD upgrade unless it's done by a Sony-approved employee. It seems that until some months ago, Sony gave you options to buy your laptop of choice with a 7200RPM HD, but their website seems to have perished that option. Am I wrong to presume this?

 

ive just got a sony vgn-ns20s £500 its great!

ive found sony laptops work better then any of the others, they seem to put less crap on them.
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im interested in how you do all this stuff can you help me?

 

I found a link on Audioforums.com to configure Vista: http://www.audioforums.com/windows-vista-optimization.php
Is there a more complete 'to-do' list than this?

 

Thank you Woody for posting that link....saved me about 3 hours of typing, as I only have a personal list in german, so in order for me to help toxic nihilist, I would have had to complete my list, translate it into english and type it all out...
greetz
Strategy

PS. @ toxic nihilist - I checked and compared woody's list against mine...and I got NOTHING to add!

 

Sweet...

 

What you have to do by in large depends on the laptop.
If you buy new and are within the warranty return period and hit that ACPI problem, my take is you return the laptop.
On some laptops your config steps will be to turn off wireless and just about all your other peripheral gear
Other systems, it will be to ensure you force your power profile to max to force full CPU speed.
A huge one that SHOULD be contemplated for both Vista and Win 7 is switching to Non-Aero themes. The glass look is lovely in all but it chews up CPU like a fricking madman. For Mac users having problems try two things one is create a new clean user profile just for Traktor and DO NOT install Jack Sh!t additional Software in the profile. Run it a raw as you can. Second turn off Spaces Its a good idea, poorly implemented and suffers from the apple Coersion notion of you must do it our way which isn't how most users work and sometimes it causes significant DPC times.

 

I honestly think there is no need to spend more than £400 on a laptop just for traktor. The specs are more than adequate (dell machines). I also think getting a mac is OTT unless your a pro dj that is making a career out of it. Just wish windows 7 would hurry up.