- Let's talk about choosing a DJ laptop.
So why do you need a DJ laptop?
Well, even if you're not planning
on using your laptop in the DJ booth
because you're using Pioneer XDJ gear
or other gear that doesn't need a laptop
you still need to discover music online,
'cause that's where it is nowadays.
You need to prepare your music,
you possibly need to rip
music from vinyl or CD,
you need to burn or export your music
so that you can use it
away from the laptop
if that's what you're planning on doing.
All of these things need a laptop.
And as I say, unless you're
going to be performing
on gear that doesn't need
you to take your laptop
into the DJ booth then
you're going to need
the laptop with you when
you're playing as well
if you're using a controller for instance.
So for all those reasons
it is important to have a DJ laptop,
it should be the first thing
you make sure you've got
before you move on to anything else.
And it's possible to DJ from
just your laptop as well.
So okay, we know we need a laptop,
what do we do when it
comes to choosing one?
Well the first thing
to do is to hammer down
the intended use of your laptop.
So if you're gonna be
using it for just DJing
then you don't need anywhere
near as powerful a laptop
than if you're going to be using it
for instance for with video DJing
or if you're gonna be using
it for music production,
both of which take an
awful lot more power.
Or you're going to be using
it for graphics design,
video editing, live streaming,
all things that take a
lot of processor power.
And then of course you
might not be in a position
to have more than one laptop
so the one laptop might be doing
absolutely everything for
you or your office work
or your day-to-day stuff,
running your music away from your DJing,
running your DJ stuff.
So, look, these are all
going to be considerations
when you're weighing up how much to spend
and what spec to go on your laptop.
Be clear what you're going
to use it for first of all.
So the next thing is we need
to look at that tech spec.
So in no particular order,
RAM is very important, it's
another word for memory
and the reason RAM's important
is that it makes your
computer fast and snappy.
RAM is instant access, your
computer wants something,
it's in the RAM, it's got it like that,
your computer wants to
put something to one side
so it can do something else,
it's in the RAM, it's like that.
It's literally instant
so the more you've got
the faster, snappier your computer is.
So as much RAM as possible
it's always a good thing.
Check whether you can upgrade your RAM.
In other words if you buy a computer
and you want to make it more
powerful by adding RAM later
can you do it, yes or no?
Know that when you buy your computer,
spend a bit more at the
point of purchase if you can
because you'll thank yourself for it.
Screen resolution and brightness
is very important for DJs.
DJ software's very busy
so screens that'll allow
you to have more pixels
will let you see more of your software
but also brightness is important
because especially if
you're DJing in the daytime
and there's a lot of sunlight around
then it's worth making sure
you're able to see that screen properly.
The next thing is processor power.
So the processor built into your computer
is overall the speed at which it runs
so if everything else is kept the same
the more powerful the processor is
the faster your computer will be.
Again you want to get the most
the fastest you can afford
but bearing in mind your intended uses.
If you're only ever going
to DJ audio, DJ software,
then processor power doesn't
become quite as important
as if you are using video, live streaming,
graphics processing for things
like video editing and so on
as we were talking about.
Size and type of hard drive,
this is an important one.
If the amount of memory you've got means
that sometimes your computer needs
to quickly find some extra space somewhere
it goes straight to the hard drive.
So the quicker your hard drive
and hard drives it's spoken about
in read and write speeds,
the quicker the read and write
speed of your hard drive,
again, the snappier your
computer is likely to be.
So you're looking at
speed in a hard drive,
the speed of reading and writing.
You're also looking at size,
really, really important
because it's much better to
keep everything on your laptop
rather than have an external hard drive
that you have to carry around and plug in,
it's an extra point of failure,
an extra weak spot in your system,
something else that you
can potentially forget.
No, it's far better to
keep it on your laptop.
So really you want a laptop
with a big enough hard drive
for all the stuff you're ever
going to want to put on it
without having to juggle stuff around
offloading it to backup
and all that kind of thing.
But the next point which
is the type of hard drive
normally brings in a compromise.
Why?
Because the best type of
hard drive is called SSD
or a solid-state drive, that
means it's got no moving parts.
It's the same as the drives
in your phone or your iPad.
They're great because in a busy DJ booth
with lots of bass and vibrations and so on
it's one less moving part to worry about
but the equivalent size of SSD
drive to traditional drives
which do have moving parts, it's tiny.
You know, it's about a quarter.
So in other words if you want
to buy one terabyte SSD drive
you're gonna pay four times as much
as if you want to buy a one
terabyte standard drive.
So you need to weigh up size
of drive and type of drive
and just go for the best you can afford
while making that compromise.
So if you are doing some
of those extra things
that involve graphics and
video and live streaming
and all that kind of
stuff it's always worth
looking at what GPU or
graphics processing unit
comes with your computer
because that's gonna
determine specifically
the speed and smoothness
of that kind of stuff
and graphics programs
tend to scale up and down
what they can do depending upon
how powerful the hardware is.
So if you're using video in
your DJ software for instance
you'll get far better
performance, better resolution,
better all-round if you've
got really decent graphics
built into your computer.
All goes back to what
you're going to be using
it for, doesn't it?
Now as well as the
features of your computer
technically there are physical features
that we want to think about it as well.
We've already talked
about the screen size.
let's just talk about the screen finish
because if the screen
is a nice matte finish
then it's less light
it's reflect sunlight.
So as well as looking at
how bright the screen goes
and the resolution look at
the finish on it as well.
And if possible pick it up in
the shop and move it around
and have a look in the sunshine
and see how well you think
you'll be able to see the screen.
Something a lot of people overlook
but worth thinking about.
Luckily you can buy screen filters
that can go over the top of it
that'll stop them
reflecting if you do have
a computer that has a shiny screen.
But as well as build quality and materials
is really important because
a nice metal computer
is likely to last a lot
longer in the DJ booth
being banged around in your
DJ laptop bag, et cetera,
than a plasticky one is so
it's worth bearing in mind that
they're not gonna be used
in an air-conditioned
office and never moved,
DJing's a pretty extreme game, right,
so they're likely to take knocks and bangs
and you don't want them failing on you
in front of an audience
if possible so again,
the better the build quality
the more reliable it's
likely to be for longer.
The next thing is the keyboard itself,
it's really worth thinking about
the quality of the keyboard
but even more important than the quality,
whether it's back lit
because a back lit keyboard
means that you can see in the dark.
Most DJ booths are dark,
stands to reason, right?
So look for a back lit keyboard.
And also have a look for the overall
size, weight, and portability
because there's a big difference between
this big 17-inch MacBook Pro
and this little 12-inch MacBook.
They could both do the job for you,
but aesthetically size, weight wise,
they couldn't be more different.
There's no right or wrong here,
it just depends upon how big
a screen you want mainly,
how much power you want, what
else you're using it for,
how much you can afford of course.
All these things play into
it but be aware of size
because clearly laptops
aren't all the same size
as I just showed you so
you will have choices there
so be ready for that one.
Okay let's go to what I know
a lot of you are waiting for,
I'm dreading this because I
don't like to offend people
but let's do it, Mac versus PC.
Right, let's do this quickly.
Firstly, it doesn't massively matter.
Traktor, Ableton, FL Studio,
Rekordbox, Virtual DJ, Serato,
they all work on both.
Doesn't matter what DJ software
or production software you want to use,
the chances are very high
it's going to work just
fine on either platform.
So it isn't a life-or-death choice this
and if you already own a computer
or you're already very happy with Windows
or with Mac or whatever there's
no reason for you to change,
even when you're upgrading.
But if you are kind of I'm not sure
whether it's go Mac or PC on your upgrade
or you don't even own a laptop yet
then let's talk about that.
So the first thing is
let's talk about price and availability.
Now Mac's are basically
middle to high-end.
There's no such thing as a cheap Mac
but that also means there's no such thing
as a badly built Mac so you
know you're getting something
that's well enough built when you buy Mac
but the choice at the
bottom end is non-existent
unless you go second-hand.
Whereas the choice at the
bottom end for PCs is huge,
there's loads and loads and
loads of Windows computers
at the lower budget so
if your budget is limited
you're going to find a
lot more choice down there
and you might well find a bargain,
you're very unlikely
to find a bargain Mac.
That said when you get to
the mid to high price range
it's more comparable, you can probably get
a little bit more for your
money with PC than with Mac
but once you do hit that
choice it was a bit more 50 50.
So the next thing about Mac versus Windows
is the susceptibility to viruses,
conflicts, general tweaking.
Generally you need to do less
of that stuff with a Mac.
Generally Macs are safer
although there are Mac viruses.
Generally stuff doesn't conflict
when you plug it all in together
and stuff won't work together.
So if you're someone who isn't technical,
you don't like getting under the hood,
you don't like trying to fix
things when they go wrong,
again you might find that Mac's
a little bit easier for you.
Macs have always been traditionally
well tuned for audio purposes over PCs
but that said, again, there's
not a great deal in it.
Hopefully you're getting a
sense of what I think about this
which is really stick with what you know,
stick with what you can find
that you think's worth the money
and don't sweat it too much.
Right, let's move on to some buying tips
before we end off this with
a look at some accessories
that you might want to consider.
So buying tips, as I say,
start with what you've got,
no rush to get a new laptop,
any old laptop will do to get started.
I'm almost a 100% sure
that the laptop you own
or that you're watching this
on now is absolutely fine
for finishing this course.
Upgrade in your good time, don't rush it.
Secondly spend as much as you can afford
when you do upgrade.
It is a false economy to
spend small on laptops.
You know, all this stuff
I've been telling you about
the size of your hard drive
and the quality of your hard drive
and the RAM and the processor
and a graphics processor,
this stuff isn't cheap, the build quality.
Spend as much as you can afford
and that computer year on year
will end up costing you less for sure.
Test it with your software
of choice before you buy it
or make sure that you have
got a decent returns policy
from the people you bought it from
because you just don't know
until you load it up with the stuff
that you're going to be
using and give it a go
whether you're going to have problems.
And rather than, especially
if you're buying PC,
so rather than end up with something
that just isn't suitable by mistake
do make sure that you
either give it a good test,
get it from a dealer that let you
take it back next week if it's not working
or some other kind of
refund or return policy
because we are talking about a specific
and quite specialised
use for a laptop here.
It's not just browsing the internet
and running Microsoft Word, right,
we're talking about some
stuff which is just possibly
gonna trip up hardware for reasons
that neither you or I can guess
until we get stuck in and give it a go.
And finally take a look
at last year's models
because every year the
computers get an update, right,
and quite often the difference
between them is very small
and you could just find
that there's a model
that's only just gone out of
date that is a lot cheaper
and you get a lot more for your money
and it might be a lot
more advisable to do that
than just go for the cutting edge.
Now remember, cutting edge now
in 11 months is gonna be
yesterday's model, right,
so worth considering.
Okay, let's talk finally about
accessories for your laptop,
stuff that it would be
really good to have.
So a laptop stand, this is
actually a very small stand,
more suited to iPads
and tablets and so on.
But a laptop stand is a great thing,
it gets your laptop nearer
to eye level in the DJ booth
and it means it if you knock
a drink over or something
it's not gonna go over your
keyboard which I've done
and completely ruin your
laptop but worse than that,
turn the music off for everyone, right.
So a laptop stand's are pretty
much essential purchase.
A cover for your computer,
this is my DJ laptop
and it's got a plastic, an acrylic cover
that just clicks on front and back.
It's just an extra layer of protection,
you forget it's on there
and it stops you getting
scratches and dents in there
or rather it helps you
prevent scratches and dents,
nothing can stop that.
A case is important, I use a,
this is an in case case which
I use to carry mine around in,
it's got a really nice, big,
padded laptop section at the back,
there's loads of good cases UDG, Magma,
Namba all have good cases,
Jet Pack have good cases,
but find a good case that you
want to take your laptop in
and also any other gear of course.
If you are controller user
taking your controller to gigs
then your controller case
ought to have a separate
laptop compartment in it
so your laptop gets cushioned
and gets all that love.
So you also want the correct USB cables.
This is a modern MacBook, it's got one USB C,
I think it's still got a headphone socket,
yeah, it's still got a head
phones socket and that's it.
So you need to ensure
that not only when you bought your laptop
that it had enough sockets
but that you've got the leads
that work with those sockets.
So USB C which all modern computers have,
and it is a great thing to have,
USB C generally is not the lead you get
with your controller, the lead
you get with your controller
would be the old type of USB lead.
So what you're gonna do?
Well, DJ TechTools do a
very, very nice native lead
so you don't need to plug
in the adapter in at all.
You may well need an audio interface.
So an audio interface is something
that is generally built into your DJ gear.
So these controllers,
these systems have got
a digital to analog audio
interface built into them
which basically powers your
headphones and your speakers.
No laptop, all laptops have
got audio built into them,
in other words most, well, most,
you can plug your headphones
in you can listen to them.
But where do you plug your speakers in?
'Cause your headphones are
in the only audio socket.
For that reason your laptop
generally is not internally
doing all the audio stuff for your DJing,
it's something external.
Normally it's built into the
DJ gear but sometimes it isn't.
Say I wanted to DJ with just this laptop,
plugging my headphones in
and plugging in some speakers
and DJing from the keyboard.
I'd need an audio interface,
this little Traktor Audio 2.
Works with Traktor but all
other DJ software as well,
it's a good choice, there's
other audio interfaces
that are similar to that.
But you might wanna be
ripping music as well,
ripping vinyl, ripping CDs.
And if you can't plug your
CD player or your vinyl
or your turntables into your DJ controller
and then plug that into your laptop
in order to be able to do that
you're gonna need an audio interface.
And if you're gonna be producing music
you're gonna need one as well.
So the minimum you want is
a four out audio interface
and two in, so two in, four out
if you're gonna be producing, ripping,
and using it for DJing.
But as I say it tends
to be built into gear
but just be aware of
where the audio processing
is going on in your system
and it might just be
that you do need to get
an interface as well.
External hard drives for backing up,
also if your hard drive is
too small on your laptop
and you don't want to get a new laptop
it can be more cost effective
just to buy an external hard drive.
All the same rules apply,
type of hard drive,
size of hard drive, speed of hard drive.
This is a blazingly fast SSD hard drive.
I think it's 500
gigabytes, it wasn't cheap,
they get more expensive as they get bigger
but an external hard drive might
be something that you want.
Your old laptop, I still
carry my old laptop around.
Why, because just in
case something goes wrong
with my current laptop I
can just turn that one on
and plug it in and the music plays on.
So don't get rid of your old laptop,
keep it you can use it
as a backup computer
and then who knows, you maybe even want to
continue using your old one
for all your office and home stuff
and only use your new one for
DJing, how cool would that be?
So an external CD or DVD burner.
This is probably more
useful for you for ripping
rather than burning CDs and DVDs but hey,
you might want to burn a mixtape to CD
to give to a promoter.
It's a little trick that one
because everyone's got a CD
player in their car, right,
but no one has CDs anymore so
if you gave a CD to a promoter
he or she might pop it on in the car,
it might stay there for six months.
It's more likely that
you're gonna want to rip
an existing collection of CDs but anyway,
they're not built into computers anymore
so you're gonna need
to get an external one.
They're not very expensive
but just bear that in mind
when you're pricing everything up.
And that's it that's all you need to know
about your DJ laptop.
