Karaoke Forums

I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

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

And just to think that we OBD’ed for like 14yrs or so ago. All the conveniences of modern technology that helped us be laptop kj’s – I have to say that I think it’s the best thing that happened to us since the introduction of sliced bread. Good luck, Lon. 'hope your laptop is up & running soon!

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I just replaced the entire drive, I had a new one sitting on the shelf that wasn't doing anything. Just reloaded the OS & my hosting program. Unfortunately my sound card isn't interfacing correctly and the videos I ripped from my laserdiscs (mpg) won't show on the extended screen for some reason, every other file plays fine.
As far as getting any codes off the blue screen - it only showed it to me once, I tried to reboot & it would get to the Windows opening screen, flash blue and restart. No time to read. I'm sure it was just an OS failure as the drive itself was test & it seemed all right. However, the computer is in a smokey bar 7 days/nights a week. It's almost 5 years old now, I do blow it out every couple weeks, but that is just surface.
Yes Brian. I have only been computer for 5 years now, prior it was 15 years of disc handling. Honestly I have no problem running disc (and do still have a knack). But people are so used to just giving me song titles without numbers anymore, that's the issue i'm having right now - either have them write down the numbers or be nice & look them up as I need to pull.

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

It's a pain starting over... That does suck.. One thing you could try is to boot up on the XP CD with the blue screen drive in. When it loads to the first screen you can hit "R" to go to the recovery console screen. Its a DOS based window and should be sitting at the C: prompt. run "chkdsk /r" It will take a while but it may repair the problem at least for the short term.

This is a very handy thing to have: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/pr ... /#overview

You can make an image of the drive when everything is working perfectly. If something happens, all you need to do is restore the image to a new drive and you are golden. You can also do drive to drive restores to make a backup drive. If one fails, pop in the backup and make a new backup drive.

I am lucky that I get my companies discarded laptops. I have 4 IBM Thinkpad T42s on hand. Two have drives set up and the other two are in case of hardware failures on the laptops. The drives will work in all of them as is. This might be a little overkill but getting two used ones of the same make and model can really save you in times like this. Of course you can easily go disc but, as you said, it is a pain.

That’s one of the pains I don’t miss. When I was obd, singers often gave me song slips with no numbers. So, it’s either telling them to give me a slip with # or I will just look it up myself from the book, which is often the latter. A time consuming matter if I may say so.

Being a laptop host, the search is lightning fast & that was definitely a great convenience. Would I ever go back to being obd? Only if dictated by extreme necessity.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

, now I tried firing it up today and it won't do anything.
I think it's time for a new computer. This thing is almost 6 years old now, had it specifically built for karaoke, but being it's in a smokey bar 7 days/nights, i'm sure that has took it's toll over the years.

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

It definitely is time. The last thing you need is a flaky computer. I suggest finding some used Thinkpads or the like and get at least two of the same make and model. Get one loaded up and dup it to the other. The only thing I don't like about the T42s (and a few others in that rage) is the composite out needed S video cables to get color. I'd also suggest getting a docking station to go with it. Then you can have everything plugged into the dock and all you need to do is pop the computer on and off the dock. I use a VGA to composite adapter on mine and avoid the S video all together. It's a much better image on the TV that way.

I prefer desktops for this club since it's never moved. It HAS to have an s-video card for the extended. Whether I buy an older one or try to use the one I have. The audio card I will also try to incorporate into the new one as well, if not i'll just use my Alpha.

But it all may have to wait if it's going to be a major cost - may want to have another one built to simialar specs, it cost me $1200 back in 07. Getting my laptop hopefully up to snuff to run for a while.

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

Ah, a desktop.. My, you should be able to get a XP level system for 200-300. XP Drivers for the audio card (PCI I assume) should work regardless of the box. I have two VGA to composite adapters that will do the trick. They both have VGA pass through and RCA\S Video outs so I wouldn't get hung up on finding a desktop with S Video out. It would be cheaper to get a straight VGA and buy an adapter.

I'm spoiled with my 17" screen. When I was able to leave my set up at the bar, the only thing I took was my laptop and my hard drive. Take 20 seconds to boot down and slip into the bag.

6 years in a smokey bar, seems like you got your moneys worth. Does this mean you lost your singer history?

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

I have picked up 3 different laptops at Fry's Electronics (one per week) at $400 or less each week. All run Karma with lightning speed, all have 4 gigs of RAM, all have USB 3.0 ports, and one is even a 17" screen ( the other two are 15.6").

Point being that a brand new laptop with manufacturer warranty capable of running karaoke software is inexpensive.

-Chris

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-Chris

Hmm, I'm interested, Chris. I might swing by my local Fry's & check it out. Which do you think is the better one (brand) among the three & what OS? Thanks.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I have a 22" screen at the bar
I lost probably the last 3 months of my singer history since I had copied it over to my laptop in September while I was replacing the hard drives in the tower at THAT time. I did copy it all in the beginning of December, if I didn't delete that off my flash drive I can just copy that to my laptop and only be out the last few days.
Really don't want a laptop because of space issues on the counter.

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

I buy Windows 7 machines for <$250 most weeks.. (Laptops)

and desktops <$200 or so..

All have new hard drives and a fresh install of the OS..

I picked up two Lenovos (my favorite) for $299 after a mail-in-rebate.
I also picked up an ASUS laptop for $359 after mail-in-rebate as a backup machine.

As JDMeister notes, you can find cheaper machines, but I am specifically referring to brand new, full warranty store bought machines.

-Chris

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-Chris