Karaoke Forums

What would you recomend to be the best laptop to buy for karaoke. Not the cheapest but not the dearest.

If i run it with an external hard drive, i wouldnt need to go over the top price wise would i. I mean it wouldn't serve any purpose buying the most expensive one would it. Maybe something in between.Thank you

Most newer laptops have hard drives large enough for plenty of songs..

This is 2010, after all..

Acer is good, Dell is good, HP too..

Go to the store and see if the keyboard fits you hands..

I run CompuHost off a IBM R61. Intel Core DUO 2.0 MhZ processor, 3GB RAM (I think it comes with 2 GB factory, mine was upgraded), 120 GB hard drive (I use an external), MS Vista operating system.

I would recommend these things all day long. This was a $1800.00 computer in 2007-2008. There are several companies that refurbish corporate leases. These corporate leases are well taken care of in the first place, so a refurbished one is about 90% good as new. I've been using mine is a 2X week show for about 2 years now. I keep it off the Internet and proprietary to my karaoke show, and it'll probably run forever.

I bought my R61 for $259.00, and it came with a 3 month warranty. They are all over the Internet for $250-350, just do a little research and find a reputable dealer that refurbishes corporate leases. A little research and patience will get you a really good laptop for a really good price.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I agree.
I use a T60 and it has never let me down.
The IBM 2 core duo range are good.
Saying that I repair them to component level sometimes.
Yes they do go faulty.
Think the ones I know less about are Acers.
Only replaced broken screens on them.
Only once had a mobo go down.
I couldn't fix it.
Walk the plank tomorrow.

I think most off the shelf systems today are more than capable in processor/memory/hard drive/ expandability to run karaoke fine with most of the current programs out there. My laptop is an HP Pavillion Media Center.64 bit Vista, 2.3ghz, 3 gb memory, 250gb hard drive.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I have been using Dells for several years. My first Dell laptop bit the dust after about 6-7 years of use KJing 2-3 nites a week, 5 years of that in a VERY smoky bar.

I have had 5 Dell computers in total and out of that 5 only the one Dell laptop died. The rest are still going strong.

So I recommend DELL

I second the Dell recommendation, especially if your purchase their extended warranty. Well worth it. I run a Inspiron 6400 with several upgrades, one of which is the sound card. It's going on 4 years old with daily use and have had only one major issue when I first got it (hard drive failed at 3 months old), which Dell was VERY quick to respond to and take care of.

Jerry

Acer was the OEM for IBM prior to the Lenovo deal.. So they are as solid as any..

And now, Acer bought Gateway, and they owned e-Machines..

Acer is number 3 in the world in sales..

Got to add I think they are better looking than the Lenovo.

I went "over the top" and bought a computer with the best hard drive space, the fastest processor, etc. It wasn't necessary at all. I ran a karaoke show with a $100 computer someone sold me at the bar - definitely much slower - but all I was doing was playing Virtual DJ. I learned I didn't need all those bells and whistles.

However, I would reccomend that whatever you buy has an S-Video output. This is invaluable for not only karaoke, but for many other business and home applications. Buying a converter (PC to TV) adds another $30-$50 to your expenses and requires you to carry it with you to your shows. I try to carry as little as possible.

I use primarily a CAVS player, but I also do Trivia - which means that I have to use a computer to feed the TVs around the bar. I connected the S Video cord to a Radio Shack Distribution Amplifier that is installed in my rack. This gives me 6 lines out to use for TVs.

So, as far as I am concerned, the video capabilities are the only thing you should worry about when you buy a computer for karaoke. In fact, knowing what I know now, I would find a cheap used computer with an S Video and devote it to karaoke. Plus, if you have hired DJs, you will never have to worry about the well being of your computer.

Both my show laptop and backup are used. $500 total on ebay. Music kept on a hard drive and backed up twice. I only use the internet to update my hosting software when updates are available. I did spend $50 to buy a good anti virus. Nothing else is on my laptops, actually nothing but the usual crap that comes on a computer. The only issue I've had during a show was my software freezing up a couple times. Both times I was back up in less than a minute. Got the newest update and have ahd no problems since. I chose to spend my "extra" money on PAs, mics, mixers and CDGs.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Most newer laptops today do not offer S-Video as the 2nd video option anymore. I had a tough time finding one even a couple years ago. VGA, DVI and HDMI are the primary secondary outputs now in which you just need to get a converter.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

The best anti virus is simply to create yourself an account that uses Limited privileges.
A virus can not then do much.
They normally rely on having Administrator privileges.

I don't use anti virus software. I use the firewall and a little common sense as to what I download. I check my computer using Microsoft's (free) malicious software removal tool (free on their website). It will scan your computer and identify and remove anything it finds for free. The difference between it and other anti-virus software is that it doesn't MONITOR your computer like Norton does. But, my experience with Norton is that it is annoying and slows my computer down much like the viruses they are trying to protect me from.

Perhaps you need to install "Microsoft Security Essentials", also free, but does monitor your system..

(Or turn it off)