Laptop for Digital Dj

[john75]

Hi all, my first post here.

I am looking for a new laptop to use while Djing. It needs to have very low audio latency and be able to handle outputting audio to a usb soundcard as well as input from a midi usb controller. Using the laptop in nightclubs and pubs it needs to be light and portable but also strong and well built.

I had planned on getting a macbook pro, but then found this website.

Is the below spec overkill for this chassis?

Chassis & Display
Fusion-T: 14" 10-Point Multi-Touch Glossy HD+ Widescreen (1600x900)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Dual Core Processor i7-4500U (1.80GHz, 3.0GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4400
Memory - Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N WI-FI CARD (150Mbps)
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Fusion Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (44.6WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
FUSION SERIES INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £759.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[mantadog]

It looks fine to me, if your going for the touch screen capabilities of that chassis then you are fairly limited in processor choice because of that. the i7 you have isn't the most powerful thing in the world. if its just playback then I guess it will be more than enough as the main bottlenecks will be the storage drive, but that will be eliminated with the SSD you selected.

Overall looks alright to me.

 

[john75]

It looks fine to me, if your going for the touch screen capabilities of that chassis then you are fairly limited in processor choice because of that. the i7 you have isn't the most powerful thing in the world. if its just playback then I guess it will be more than enough as the main bottlenecks will be the storage drive, but that will be eliminated with the SSD you selected.

Overall looks alright to me.

the touch screen isn't that important to me.... could i get a better processor on another chassis? low latency is my aim here, touch screen and weight can be sacrificed if it gives better performance

 

[mantadog]

Yes you can do significantly better in the processor department, for a good but less money, if you change the chassis.

For your needs it might not be super important but the spec im about to post costs less, has a slightly bigger screen and should still be light enough to not matter.


Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB processor is probably more than twice as fast, the processor you selected above relies heavily on 'turbo' mode to give decent performance. This one has that feature too but its base performance is much better from the start.
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 740M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11 Dedicated GPU is going to be, in theory anyway, better than the integrated but wont matter for your needs. This chassis doesn't support integrated so you need the 740m here.
Memory - Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW) As you selected above, good drive, you cant get much better than these.
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N WI-FI CARD (150Mbps)
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
COSMOS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £742.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/cosmosII/K5crz7gJRL/

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Just something to think about but it may be worth getting an extra hard drive since I assume you have a lot of music?

 

[john75]

Thanks for the replies all very helpful. my budget is £1000 and it seems for that i can get higher specs with different chassis. I'll keep looking around the configurator and let you now what i choose before i buy

 

[john75]

Just something to think about but it may be worth getting an extra hard drive since I assume you have a lot of music?

i have considered sacrificing a cd drive for an extra ssd