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.

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.

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.

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

Maybe that & the mouse would run ok from a hub, I don't know about the soundcard, but the compuhost dongle won't.

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.

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.

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.

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