Karaoke Forums

I am in a market for a new laptop that comes with an optical drive capable to read and write CD+G disks. Unfortunately, none of the online documentation of the major manufacturers mentions if their drives have that capability though there must be some, I figure. So the only hope I have is a forum like this where some of you know the answer from experience. I am not interested in hosting any karaoke shows, just ripping and burning my own CD+G disks. Maybe later I might even build some of my own.
So does any of you know of a 14 or 15" screen, stock laptop model that fits my bill here? I can go with either Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion X2 Dual Core processor.

Thanks,
"Da" Slickster

Depends on the machine & the karaoke software you are going to be using.  Many laptops are cdg compatible with the right program.  MTU Hoster/Microstudio are compatible with most cd/dvd drives.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I've been using CDRWIN with a Plextor drive in my old desktop and would like to continue to use the same software with the new laptop.
I like your avatar, BTW.

CDRwin is the most stubborn of softwares out there when it comes to compatability issues as it doesn't use deinterleave that PowerKaraoke's burning program, tricerasoft's CDGripper, elite tools and MTU Microstudio to name a few do that allows them to work with other drives you wouldn't have thought would work.  
In my old Rackmount I had a lite-on dvd drive that cdrwin does not work with but PowerCDG and MTU's software come up with perfect rips.  I can get imperfect rips (poor graphic quality) with AudioGRabber and KJrip N ZIp with the drive, but CDRwin will not work with it.  Personally I would keep your old desktop for ripping and not rip with your laptop. less software to hog up harddrive space on your laptop.
The only thing you should have on your laptop is the software to play your songs and the operating system.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Hm, that's interesting ...
Actually, I've been thinking of switching to PowerKaraoke of late, so your post just gave me the kick I needed. Remember though that this new laptop is also meant to pretty much replace my old PIII desktop, so there will be other software on it, too. But I still might opt for XP instead of that hog, Vista. With the kind of options and price performance I have in mind, HP laptops seem to come closest. The only thing that keeps me from HP is the reputation of their Customer Support. In that regard Dell seems to be better.

Slickster,

To receive Dells Customer Service, you must PAY for it!
Once your warranty ends... no free help!
Customer Service isn't what it used to be.

sw00000p

Just a friendly warning. I bought a Toshiba laptop a couple of months ago with Vista Home Premium. I regret that I didn't listen to all the warnings to stay away from Vista. If I could do it over I would have searched for an XP laptop or gone with a desktop with XP. I got PCDJ at the time and now I plan on taking it off the laptop and installing it onto an XP machine instead.

For basic computer uses Vista is fine I'm sure, but for DJ/KJ work I personally wouldn't recommend it. I had a variety of problems including intermittent crashes out of the blue with no warning, weird file problems when trying to copy or move large numbers of files and some programs not working properly. You may not have any problems at all. I keep reading comments from people that say, "I've been using Vista for X amount of time and I've never had any problems". I'm getting sick of reading that.

Of course you have to pay for service *after* the warranty expires. My concern is mainly for the warranty period as I feel that the most critical period is right after you buy a system. Once it works fine for 1 or 2 years, I can be assured that it will serve me fine till I decide to upgrade again. Unfortunately many companies give you a run-around even during the warranty period.

Stogie,
your Vista problem on Toshiba sounds not so much as a problem with Vista as with the hosting program not being quite Vista compatible or maybe you don't have enough memory. Of course there is a known file copy problem in the current release of Vista that is supposed to be fixed in the upcoming Service Pack. As I am not going to use my notebook for hosting, it's not really a problem for me. Vista being such a resource hog is more of a problem with me. On the other hand XP's days are pretty much numbered and soon we all will have to switch to Vista anyway.  Installing Vista over XP later on can cause more problems than starting out clean with Vista right now. So there is that thing to consider, too.
Decisions, decisions ...

I don't trust ANY Operating System until it's been released with a service pack.

Heck, I still use 2000Pro, and for home use, XP!

Make Vista run your program like it XP.

From what I've read, doing that doesn't solve the problems... just makes it look different.

Very easy, buy a cd slimdrive that is cd+g compatible, go to best buy and let them install it/switch it for a flat fee. I think I paid $49 or so? Problem solved...

I finally bought a small (12.1") HP notebook with a tiny optical drive in it and put CDRWin to the test. Surprisingly, it was able to rip a CD+G track fine but when I put in a blank CD-R disk to burn CDG the software refused with the message that the drive was not compatible. So, I bought and installed PowerKaraoke's burner which had no problem with the drive and burned a CDG that played fine with the lyrics included.  So no more CDRWin for me.

cdrwin on some drives can RIP but can't BURN.

OLDER drives work fine with it...

but I agree that rapidly CDRWin is going by the wayside and I think Powerkaraoke has really done well with working with stuff other manus can't work with!

I agree with you on CDRWin. I've been disappointed with Golden Hawk for some time as I could get no response to my email question. I doubt much development was going on with it recently though I noticed a slow progress in newer minor versions where I could see no substantive difference at all. I came to see them more as a reason to charge renewal fees than real upgrades.  On the other hand CDRWin is much simpler and easier to use than PK's burner that has all kinds of options I have no idea what they are for.

Regarding your earlier post to this thread, I just learned that Vista's first service pack is coming out next month. Corporate preinstallers already got it this month. I can hardly wait.

I use a Toshiba with Windows Vista and have no problems so far. So I guess it is your Hosting Software not being compatible. I use CompuHost and it's rock solid.

I have an acer aspire laptop that nero's infotool says it reads CD+G, doesn't write though.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I think it's sad to see people buy a new laptop on Vista when Dell still offers XP on their Vostro??? Most brand except Dell & Lenovo comes with Vista, no option to upgrade the hard drive (7200 rpm), poor video graphic... and there selling at a higher price than Dell!  Folks, PLEASE, make sure to do your homework before buying, stay away from those branded laptop out there if they can't offer XP or let you upgrade with better hardware, you're paying more and have less!!