Karaoke Forums

Hey everyone. I am new here and have a few quick questions for you

I dj'ed for about 5 years and 6 months ago quit and sold my equipment. Now im getting back into it.

I am going to DJ and also do some karaoke at the events that I do.

Now to the questions.

First will this laptop be good to run a DJ software and Karaoke software while running its own screen and an external screen at the same time

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 7074865130

Also what karaoke software would you recomend using and where should I get my karaoke songs from? I want good quality at an afordable price.

Thanks for any help in advance!

I just took a look at your link and I wouldn't recommend you get a laptop with a 14" screen. This is just my opinion.

I got a lpatop recently with a 15" screen and it's just barely adequate IMO. I would get a 17" next time, but that's just me. I'm getting old and my vision isn't as good as it once was. Other than that it looked to be powerful. I'm also not a fan of Windows Vista since my experience with the laptop. I'm changing over to my desktop with XP until Vista gets the bugs worked out. Again, just my opinion.

I fully agree with the screen size - in a session, you may not only want to have the Karaoke software, but maybe also Firefox or a search tool or a text ticker tool... a lot of things which fits much better on a larger screen. I looked at the other offers from BestBuy. If I would have to make the decision, I would add $50 and buy this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 6470439579

Same technical data like your first choice, same brand, but 17.1" screen.

And for Windows Vista: There is a way to downgrade from Vista to XP - but it must be written in the license (EULA) of Vista. Best you ask your dealer.

For the Software: This depends very much how much comfort you want, which features you think you need and which type of music you want to use (CD&G, DVDs, MIDI/KAR,...). There is not "the one and only" solution for everybody.

You may take a first look into Karafun, which can be downloaded for free: http://www.karafun.com/  I think it is a good starting package, allows many different file formats, is very simple to handle and do not offer confusing features. If you search here, you may find some more threads regarding the right software which may help you with your decision.

For music, many people here recommend the 100 $ package for 100 songs from Tricerasoft ( http://www.tricerasoft.com ), which allows you to download exactly the songs you want. (CD/DVDs may be cheaper, but from 20 songs you may only find 2 or 3 useful).I like the possibility to even be able to download during a session (if Internet is available) - so I have for very low price the chance to choose from 10.000 titles - very helpful when you start with limited budget and have no idea what people want in your bar.

As you are also DJ, it may be clear that you will also need a hardware mixer and at least two microphones - so I do not commend this.

Just my 2 cents

Wolfgang

Hello!  Well I myself just went to laptop after years of hauling around cd's & cdg's.....WOOT to not having to do that anymore...!  But I actually purchased almost the same laptop:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/produc ... UA%2523ABA

got mine at Circuit City for the same price you mentioned!  It's been perfect, along with the purchase of Compuhost!  Compuhost is the program I use for both my DJ & KJ needs!  It's a GREAT program, has everything you need!  Then for karaoke downloads I go to Tricerasoft!  So hopefully this helps ya out!!!  Good luck to ya!

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So, Compuhost works well with Vista?

I suppose the graphics card in your HP laptop handles everything, too.  ?? Any jumping or freezing of the graphics?  Are you using external monitors?

Thanks,
MDP

I acutally returned my HP because of small screen size and went with an open item from Best Buy. You wont believe how much I got it for and I upgraded the RAM to 3 GB for only an additional $50.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sony-va ... ?tag=specs

It should be able to run en external screen because of the HDMI output that puts little stress on the computer.

I am going to try out a few programs and use that one website yall said was good to get karaoke songs.

Why don't you go with the S-Video Output? Radio Shack has an Adapter for RCA about $23.00, which I use to plug directly into the Video In on the TV. Good picture quality, no complains. With an RCA Y-Adapter you can even connect more TVs.

I just purchased this laptop:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... M976-17001

The price is awesome! It is refurbished and sold for $999 new.

I'm a bit leary about it having Vista but I'm pretty computer literate. I have Vista on my desktop. I actually like Vista. I haven't had a single problem... even running old software.

I think this should be sufficient for running a karaoke show.

Feedback welcome,
MDP