Karaoke Forums

I don't understand the problem.

You can back up to the network, so if you have the (very rare) incidence of a hard drive failure then you can recover your files from there after restoring from the onboard setup.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I was a little taken aback by that statement as well.
I own a Dell Inspiron 6400 and am VERY pleased with it.
Very few problems at all and most were minor and solved very quickly. I did have a ghard drive failure when I first got it (Right AFTER I did a backup, thankfully) and the send a replacement hard drive the NEXT day.
Had two keybopards replaced due to keys breaking/falling off. I've had the laptop almost 3 years and use it EVERY day and it gets alot of use.
Their support is excellent once you get past the Indian call center guys who don't know anything (my only complaint with Dell - initial call support guys run off a cheat sheet and you generally have to escalate if your problem is not a simple common one). VERY fast turnaround for sending you parts - I am VERY pleased with their technical support in this regard.
Given the choice, my next computer will again be a Dell and I will purchase the extra warranty. In fact, I will go Complete Care again as well. Complete Care is if you spill a drink in your laptop and fry it, it's covered, no questions asked. I have a friend who got the complete care and had to use it (I haven't had to use mine yet) and he had NO issues and had a new lappy within a few days (3, I think).
I would beg to differ onthe Vocopro comparison Timberlea. You obviously haven't dealt with them or maybe you have and bought an inferior product or somehow fell through the cracks.
When I chose my lappy it wasn't the lowest end, but it certainly wasn't high end either. I also upgraded a few things, sound card being one of them.

Jreynolds, you only need one copy of Compuhost, unless you are planning to use both laptops at the same time. You can download Compuhost on both laptops, and just use the dongle on whichever laptop you are planning to use at that particular time. As for laptop, I've used Dell, now use HP. The Dell couldn't hold enough RAM, it was an older model.

Rosario

Thanks Rosario. No i'm going to use just one laptop at a time but want to build 2 brand new entire rigs and be able to back up and add new music simultaneously to both systems to keep them as IDENTICAL as possible (other than rig rack size). This might sound impractical to some, but i've had too much history of swapping parts, cords, power supplies, etc, out of one rig and later forgetting to replace it and STRESSING OUT at a gig when i was missing something. And worse was when my other djs would do it and not tell me, so when i sent out rig #2 0r #3, they were incomplete and i'd have to make runs out to a site for a stupid power supply or splitter... i can imagine myself trying out compuhost rig #2 and forgetting the dongle....ugh. the thought...

I'm semi-retired and don't wanna have to remember shee-it and am willing to pay for things to uncomplicate my already-fried and refried brain...and who wants to think about anything living in hawaii other than when the surf is up..? oh..and gig time!


I 've only used Dell before as a desktop in which both product and support was excellent. I switched over to Mac a couple years ago and use that in the office, but have little "lappy experience" other than an older ugly toshiba satellite.

Diafel, i'm glad you think Dells are good products and tech support excellent, but i'm surprised that you've gone through 2 keyboards and had a hd failure..THAT'S what i dread happening!

I guess i'm fishing for the most solid & reliable lappy out there..and wanna try a better alternative than toshiba, unless the new ones are considered best.

Like going from Gemini products to Denon and Audio-Technica to Shure many years ago, i wanna miss the curve and buy the "best" first rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Apologies for any rambling- still heavy on the meds this week.

Jr:
Understand, that this computer is nearly 3 years old and has HARD use for EVERY single day of thos 3 years. The two keyboards were only because 1 key came off and I couldn't / didn't have time to bother fiddling with it to get it back together. That's what I paid support for. Did not affect my use of it at all and had no downtime due to it. The HD was an anomoly, I'm sure as I have had no other issues since and that was nearly 3 years ago. I would guess that this lappy is as good or better than any others that were currently on the market at the time and I got excellent value for my dollar.
If you want a real "toughy" get the Toughbook.

Diafel, thanks for the clarification. Yea, now that i reread your post, you have gotten good longevity out of your lappy with peace of mind, and the HD thing was an anomaly.

I'm not usually an indecisive person but computer technology has zoomed past me too fast and there's too much to research. That's why i love this forum.

If i do go with Dell i'll be smart and go with the complete care package as you recommended- thanks! J.R.

Aside from the Complete Care program, I would guess that you can get as good a lappy from Staples or your local computer store, if you shop around. However, the Complete Care program is what did it for me. If someone spills a drink or drops it or whatever, it's covered and they really don't fight with you on it. Their service is speedy and hassle-free. That's why I would recommend Dell above others, not just the quality of the machine, although I AM happy with that, too.
I understand about the technology zooming by. I'm pretty much there as well.
I guess your best bet would be to get a decent middle of the road Dell, upgrad your sound card and your video card, if available. If you're into downloading, upgrade your wireless as well. With those upgrades, you should have a smoking machine that will zip right along for karaoke.
Good luck!

You don't really need to have Compuhost running to do that. But it is nice to have an extra dongle anyway in case of loss. We have three for two setups.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I hardly every buy a Branded desk top. The last one I had was custom ordered. The current one that I am using is also custom made for me. I do not believe in having a large C drive; just enough space and some spare gig. Most of my data files are in my other D drive and backed up on an external.

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

Thanks again for the replies. And mckyj yes an extra backup dongle is what i'm shooting for. But why 3 on your 2 systems? And did you have to buy 3 compuhost systems or did/could you purchase separate dongles?

Jian, i wish i knew enough about computers to know exactly what i need but my needs are pretty simple. These laptops are only for hosting karaoke and won't be used for anything else. I'm just not clear on the best specs, chipsets ,speed, etc, needed to maximize this without recurrent problems, and brand names carry a reputation, so i'm banking on that some.

Diafel, thanks again. I'm really anxious to buy this week after being "down with the sickness" so i'm really leaning toward Dell products. I have only leaned towards the vostro instead of inspirion because they're supposedly built tougher, but i don't really like or need the 4 usb2 inputs, slotcard, and the headphone jack is on the front of the lappy. I'm such a newbie at this!

I wanted, although silly, to be the first on the ISLAND to run compuhost (that i'm aware of) but my friend ordered it last week and i helped him run a great show with it lastnight. Ok, he was running it...but i was learning and i really like compuhost!

The only thing that we had a problem on was his computer recognizing the jvc standalone player to play others discs, and a slight problem running long high-def lines to 2 plasma from his HD router, but he/we started on time. Great show with excellent singers, and the bar rang $2300 drink only sales- no food service. I wish it were MY show but i only volunteered help in exchange for his tech knowledge when i start running a computer show.

We run three laptops with two sets of music. My service club has it's own library and laptop, and I have mine. If either rig loses its dongle, we have a ready spare in a central location (the service club, with keys for each of us).


The dongle is what costs money -- the software can be downloaded at any time.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I have my main karaoke laptop - which is a very much stripped down install of XP. It has a few apps on it - notably Compuhost and Winamp.

This plugs into a USB hub inside my rack. This connects to:

External hard drive containing music and karaoke
USB jog/dial controller
Compuhost dongle

Should the hard drive fail, I have 2 identical ones (1 is kept up-to-date but never used - the other is in use on my media centre).

Should the computer fail - I swap it out for my spare laptop. All apps and drivers are already setup.

Should I need to use "another computer" for any reason, all apps and drivers are stored on the removable hard drive.

Mckyj- thanks that cleared up a few simple questions

Niouch, this sounds like a BRILLIANT setup and you appear to have all of your bases covered. I will look into your usb hub idae, thank you. Any chance you have pictures of it? And any particular usb hub recommendations??

It's a simple idea. But the best ideas are simple.

It just made sense to keep the cabling as easy as possible.

As for hubs, I am using a £10 one, 7 ports - but most importantly powered.

Pics... I am actually building my new rig, so once I have all my parts, will take assembly pics

10 pounds seems heavy.. My Netgear 8 port is just a few ounces..