Karaoke Forums

Windows is a distributed operating system. This means that it all doesn't run at once but takes a little bit of this and a little bit of that mixes it all together with the application and with any luck it works. But, if you try to run an older application on a new operating system some of the older bits might have been left out so it won't work. If you try to run a new application on an old OS it won't have some of the newer bits because they weren't around when the OS was built.

I like your idea of turning a older desktop into a rackmount. I have such a beast and it has been running fine for years.

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Okay, who took my pants?

Thanks Micky. I've had good luck with Dells so your suggestion sounds good to me, but I'm wondering -- is there anything specific about that particular laptop that makes it a particularly good choice for karaoke?

When I originally started this thread I was thinking (and hoping) that there might be a general consensus as to which 3 or 4 notebook PCs were particularly good choices for karaoke gigs. From what I've heard so far it seems as though almost any late model notebook is as good as another.

I understand there are plenty of folks who prefer Apple and/or think MS sucks, but my wife is used to using PCs and XP seems to run her Karafun software just fine. I'd really prefer to not get into the "Apple vs. PC" battle (or notebook vs. desktop, or Windows XP/Vista/7 vs. OS X). She's decided what she wants so I'm working with that in mind.

It's starting to sound like I'd be best off just getting her a Dell or some other relatively reliable/durable brand of notebook PC. From what I've heard, most people really like Windows 7 so that should be an improvement. Aside from reliability, an important consideration would be the number and type of audio & video outputs.

Any thoughts?

Is it not still posible to order a new Dell laptop with an "upgrade" back to XP? I don't know if you can do this since 7 came out but I bought one with Vista about a year ago and you could get XP installed for about 150 bucks.

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Just about.
Late models all have loads of RAM and a fast CPU.
There are a few to steer away from such as many sold by PCWorld.
One they sell is a Philips laptop.
Philips don't make laptops.
They also sell major brand laptops that are not supported by the manu's.
It's a cost thing.
PCWorld will offer a certain price for a product that the manu will not sell to anyone else.
Searching that model on the manu's site will give you
"Product not found".

Also, these small web surfers are very low price & worth every penny.
They are usually quite low spec.

Thanks Jerry.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I'm used to forums having an "instant email notification" option. If I don't get an email, it's 'out of sight, out of mind'.

I'm thinking I may just get her the Toshiba Satellite that's a CR "Best Buy". It's only sold at Best Buy, which means we'll have to pay tax (6% now in MD), but it's only $680 and sounds like a very nice machine.

PCWorld will offer a certain price for a product that the manu will not sell to anyone else.
Searching that model on the manu's site will give you
"Product not found".


It's only sold at Best Buy


Anything look familiar?

Hey, if you can find one that looks just like a CD+G player.....

Just an SC joke.....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I'm in a similar sitation a sajohnson. I want to buy a laptop just to run compuhost on and I want to have the laptop deicated just to Karaoke. I want to buy used for the least amount of money, however, I know so little about computers in spite of the fact that I 've been through several desk tops and laptops for over last 20 years. Below is a copy of Compuhost's minimu requirements:

Windows XP / Windows VISTA 32Bit or 64Bit/ Windows 7 32Bit or 64Bit

AMD Athlon XP 1.2/Pentium 4 1.4 or above

512 MB Ram

40MB Free Hard Drive Space + Sufficient Space for compressed MP3+G Files, (Avg. 4MB per Song)

1024x768 Video Card (Minimum 64mb Video Ram) with Windows XP Extended Desktop Dual Monitor Support (Optimum performance may be expected by utilizing up-to-date video hardware)
Click Here for More Information on Dual Monitor Support

CD+G Compatible CDRom Drive (CDROM Drive must support reading of SubChannel data.)

High quality Audio Record/Playback Device (Sound Card)

(Optional) WDM compatible Video Capture Device (Required if you wish to utilize the External Lyrics Video Source Feature)

1 Available USB Port

I'm still uncertain about what exactly to buy. What else am I missing out on, such as upgrading to 320g @ 7200 rpm, someone said the other day no less that 2g of ram. And also, the above are min. requirements. Is there any way that this can collectively be tweaked to what you'all know that we really need? I think a polished up and complete spec list would help a lot of people; now and in the future.

Thanks to all who can help, Sincerely.... Joey (nubie)

Hey Joey,

Just about any present day laptop (stay away from netbooks) should run Compuhost just fine. As an example, I just checked the Bestbuy site and found that the cheapest laptop they offer, a Compaq, far exceeds the requirements CH needs. with 2GB ram, up to 768MB shared video, 3 USB ports etc. And it's only $329.99! No need to drop a lotta cash.

Here's the link if you'd like to check it out.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Compaq+-+Pr ... Id=9755437

I've used an older Compaq with lesser specs to run CH for about two years with no problems at all.

Unfortunately most newer laptops do not offer S-Video outputs, which my older laptop does. So depending on how you'll be connecting to your performer screens you'll probably need some sort of adapter, typically a VGA to Composite/S-Video adapter like this one...

http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Computo ... =pd_cp_e_0

Good luck

Thanks tbreen,

Your reply certainly cleared things up for me. This makes it very easy to choose a brand new laptop. I'm sure this will help a lot of others also.

Joey