Karaoke Forums

Hey Folks!

I have a Dell Inspiron 1200 Laptop that I use for DJ Gigs and want to use for karaoke. I'm finally stepping out of the stone age. I've been using CDGs until now. I have purchased CDG Ripper from Tricera and it works fine, albeit slowly, for ripping. I found some shareware to zip the MP3 + CDG files, which also works well. I purchased the Numark DJIO to take care of getting the sound from the laptop to my mixer and it works superbly. I'm using Numark's CUE 5.* software for Djing and will use it for karaoke. I don't want to turn this thread into another discussion of software. I know that Cue5 doesn't handle rotation and other aspects of hosting a karaoke show as well as some other software, but it will still seem like heaven to me after spinning discs for all these years. My question for you tech experts is this: What External USB Video device should I buy to get the video from my laptop to the singer's monitor? There is no room in the Inspiron 1200 for a video card upgrade; so it must be an external device that plugs into the USB port. Let me thank you in advance for your advice. You guys haven't let me down yet!

Regards,
Mike Barefield
Klass Act Productions
Hampton Roads, Virginia

This is one of those examples where you ned to purchase or build your pc to your needs, not trying to configure one after it's already bought.

I couldn't find a direct usb cable for your needs right away. However, I did find some good news.

From PCCABLES.com
http://tinyurl.com/6zmbnk - usb to VGA for extending the desktop. ((Sorry for the url frim tinyurl.com, but the one on PCCABLES is incredibly long!))

Then use another adaptor for converting vga to usb. Please note that this vga device has both an rca and a s-video.
http://tinyurl.com/6cssqw
SVIDEO-RCA to VGA Port LAPTOP

The first one is about fifty bucks and the last one is about 15

Thanks Knightshow. I don't know how you find all this stuff. I'm a pretty sharp guy and I spent an hour on google and didn't come up with what you did. I appreciate your effort. I gotta' tell you. This ripping is tedious. I'm bored to tears and only on Disc #45 of 1500. I do highly recommend, for anyone who may find this in a search of the forum and be interested, Power CD+G Burner. It's inexpensive and nearly twice as fast as Tricera's CDG Ripper. Thanks again!

Mike

All of us computer-based KJs have gone through that horrendously tedious task, and some of us twice (long story). There isn't much you can do to make the ripping process quicker, sadly....but in the end, and I knew this for the 2 years it took me to finally take the step, it is SOOOOO worth it. Whatever method you use, you'll be so happy in the end. Just MAKE SURE YOU BACK EVERYTHING UP - EVEN DURING THE RIPPING PROCESS. Doesn't take that much time and it can really save you a lot of time. I've got two Western 'books' that I have everything backed up on.

k

you're welcome m'man.

I usually use www.pricewatch.com for my computer needs. So I went there and searched for "usb to s-video"

Found hundreds of capture devices, but nothing that would work the OTHER way (USB OUT). On one of the pccables links, it showed the usb to vga and I knew that would work with another adaptor!

As for the ripping... yeah, but look at it this way. Do ten discs a night. Soon you'll be done. Don't be like many computer kjs and try to get it all done. Do quality control checks along the way. Sometimes the databases are WRONG, so make certain the naming is right, etc.