Karaoke Forums

Ok, this is another one of those WWYB threads but I'm in the market for a new lappy. Of course I'll do DJ music and Karaoke but I want something powerful enough to run/mix video. I currently have a Sony Vaio w/ T6400, 4g ram ,1TB ext HD. It works fine but sometimes the video on the music videos freezes up as the audio continues. Not a huge problem, but last night it froze up a few times. It never freezes on karaoke.

My problem could be not enough processor or something I'm not doing correctly in the ripping process. Or just something else altogther. So I'm looking for a new laptop for my needs (I need another one anyway)but don't want to waste my $$$ on more machine than I really need.

By the way, I'm a PC guy so the "Get a Mac" reply might be a good solution but not for me.

Thanks, Mojo

I think any new computer today would be more than sufficient for most programs today. But I would still pay more attention to the memory - too much is never a bad thing, video output for extended video (singer screen). Hard drive can be added externally, sound card I prefer external as well.
So basically set a budget & get the best you can afford.

I'm curious has anyone ran a show on those mini-net computers like from Dell? I would think for $200, if it worked, even as an "in a pinch backup" this could be interesting.

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

I got compuhost on an Asus EEEPC. It works fine, although I have never actually done a show with it. I'm just using it for converting & practice.
Its 40GB/1 GB DDR2 667 RAM/1.66 GHZ Intel Atom CPU.
There is only 3 usb ports on it though so I'd have to do without a mouse if I were to use it. The soundcard, Compuhost dongle are usb and extra video card is usb powered.

I guess it would make a handy backup though, I never really thought about that. I only really considered taking the discs and the CDG player as backup.

I run my karaoke without any problems on a IBM Thinkpad T42 (circa 2004) that I bought off EBay for $235.00. They were $2300 computers 5 years ago.

It has an Intel Centrino M processor @ 1.7 Ghz (M processors are faster than Pentium processors in the laptop application)

1 GB memory

40GB hard drive (though I run my karaoke off an external Western Digital 250 GB drive)

64MB ATI Radeon video card built in (which I think is key to run ActiveX properly and keep the karaoke lyrics in sync)

I bought from this guy who claims to refurbish corporate lease trade-ins:

http://shop.ebay.com/thangnguyen_20060/ ... rom=&_ipg=

These older thinkpads are also built like tanks, which fits the karaoke application very well!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I've thought about a net-book but that tiny screen would be annoying. It's annoying already on my 15".

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

you can buy a usb hub for about $5 at walmart. it will slow down an external hard drive, but most other stuff works fine on them.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

You can spend more on a self-powered high-speed 2.0 USB hub that will maintain the speed of the device connected to it like the external hard drive. Many hubs that have a 2.0 specification are not always high-speed so make sure you are getting a 2.0 high-speed hub.

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

The weak link here is the usb connection. For better streaming of vid, you may want to try an external HDD with a firewire connection.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

4g of ram should be plenty for your needs. How much free space do you have on the hard drive? You say you use an external but do you still have space on the internal. Anti-virus software constantly runs on pcs so you may try shutting any applications that you are not using down while you are running the videos. Some apps can be running without appearing in your tray. If you access the task manager (cntrl+alt+delete) you can see what apps are running.

Sry if this is info you already are aware of.

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

USB 2 will deliver the videos fine from an external hard drive with the right size processor.

I don't know that the hosting program has any effect. Win amp works fine with it.

My video device is only powered by usb, it doesn't send the signal through it. Its one of those VGA >> TV convertrers. Maybe that & the mouse would run ok from a hub, I don't know about the soundcard, but the compuhost dongle won't.

Really? Huh, I always leave the dongle plugged into the hub, no problem here.

Really? I don't actually have a hub, so I wouldn't know. It just says on the packet that it won't work in a hub.

This conversation has just split into two different topics.

I think the original question has to do with the hosting program and the size of the processor needed to run the video with out lag time issues.

The topic suddenly went to feeding the TVs with video. Totally different than the original question.

Thanks everybody, I think I'm gonna try Jian's suggestion first. I realized my Sony and my ext HD are both firewire ready. If that works, then another computer with similar specs of my first may be sufficient.

Mojo

oh yeah, My internal HD is a 320 and I hardly use any of it. I've used up about 60% of the TB and will stop loading on it around 75-80%. I think I'm just gonna get another TB just for the videos. That would give me alot more room. I use Numark Cue for everything-karaoke/DJ/VJ. Pretty much the same thing as PCDJ.

Mojo

Fire wire may help but if the processor can't keep up what good is it? All the info needs to be processed and the funnel will get clogged.

What hosting software do you use?

MP3s will run on any computer. Playing video is a different matter.

Do you think you are teaching kindergarten here?

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Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.