Paranoid about Laptop Vs Desktop.... ( laptop Rate of Failure )

M

magik20

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 10, 2002
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Ok heres the deal

I DJ part time / on the side, and although im starting to get involved in other aspects of the nightlife business, i might still need to DJ from time to time

for the last 5 years ive used a full ( ok micro tower ) PC, most recently the ASUS SFF Cube, love that thing

Problem is although its small, its still large to carry around all the time, the wires and cables can be a mess, add the LCD, full keyboard / mouse etc etc etc

now imagine setting all this up in tight spaces, poor ventilation, people knocking ur equipment around, hot women leaning their chests...... ok i digress

So, the reason ive always STUCK BY THE DESKTOP is reliability and the ease of fixing anything that goes wrong with the computer....

But, the above issues are starting to bother me, and i wonder if im just paranoid of getting a laptop for no reason.

Yes, laptops might have higher fail rates, harder to fix stuff, easier to get knocked off tables ( just happened to a friend of mine ) but, that being said,

based on this information, should i just shut up and buy a laptop for mobile DJing use...
 
Yes. I've had my laptop for about four years now, and the only thing that has broken is my AC adapter.
 
macbook pro, isn't that what all contemporary dj's using these days? Especially ones that are attached to a ipod
 
no need for a macbook pro.

macbook pro, isn't that what all contemporary dj's using these days? Especially ones that are attached to a ipod
Click to expand...

Why would you use an ipod if you had a computer? No respectable DJ uses an ipod or ipod mixer.
 
Higher failure rates in laptops are because they are lugged around, bumped, dropped etc. Since you're already doing that with your desktop, with the added burden of exposed cables etc, you may benefit from a laptop.

Don't buy more than you need and the prices will be tolerable.
 
Heat will be the biggest enemy. Still, in that application I would also go laptop. Make sure to get a full warranty package with overnight turnaround, because you can count on the thing failing at least once over its lifetime. (And you won't be able to just go to Staples or something and grab a replacement part right before a show.)
 
heat will be the issue so AVOID a macbook, they have like 1 fan in them and that is it and they can run hot

Most PC laptops, you can replace the ram, CPU or HD in them, macbook your stuck on the CPU part since they solder them in. and Macbook Pro is too far over priced and you already user window si assume so stick with windows on a cheaper windows based laptop.
 
I'm not sure Macbooks have heat issues or that replaceable hardware is really that important, but I agree that I'd go with a PC notebook on the basis of cost alone.

-S
 
not saying they over heat, but they get hot, so now cram it into a hot club around hot electronics and such.. and i doubt it would help much, dont want your cpu throttling back in the middle of some mix.....
 
Good point and some kind of effective cooling is likely in order under those conditions. Having little experience with either hot laptops or various laptop coolers, I wouldn't have a recommendation other than to go through reviews on the usual techie web sites.
 
No offense but I think your thinking about this too much.

You are looking for something portable and small because you don't have a lot of space. Most any modern laptop (maybe even an eee PC?) could do what you need with an external HDD and USB sound card/DAC. I'd say you should be able to get everything you require for <$800.

I can't see heat even being a deciding factor here for the most part. I know I have a Pentium M 1.4Ghz laptop. It can run quite hot but even when my place was 35°C, I was able to play games and carry on with normal work. I doubt you need to worry about the venue unless you like putting your laptop on a pillow instead of a table...
 
if I were you I'd even consider a customish portable rackmount setup...might be more annoying to get the parts for but you could even put a handle on it and carry it around like a briefcase

but to be perfectly honest you'll probably be OK with a laptop...though having a backup is always a good idea

also there are some interesting BTX and other small form factor setups you can build/buy
 
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