Recommended netbooks for Traktor DJing?

[charo]

welcome to the forums, I think there is a little round&round going on here from unintended miscommunication.

I agree fully with the idea of optimizing any computer you are going to be using for audio work, and yes ideally it would only be used for that purpose. that's not super practical though, so the ability to multi-boot several OS's, one customized for audio and one for everything else, should also be considered. I am a huge fan of linux and basically stay in that world unless i'm doing audio and need windows software, then i go to my custom windows setup with everything stripped and optimized, and it never touches the internet.

you say you gain no added functionality when you use a more powerful computer but you are also conceding you can't fully use the program, so yes you would be gaining functionality if you could use the program fully without reaching the limits of the cpu right?

that's why i suggested you reread karlos thread, he makes a point that yes after a certain performance level (he used the macbook at that "standard") you don't gain anything by having more power, but netbooks are still below that performance level, which is why it makes it so critical you optimize it.

about the repurposing, i was saying if you had one, and you wanted to try traktor on it that's cool, and yes you'll have better luck with it if you optimize, but i would not personally recommend someone buy one for the express purposes of audio work. that's just my opinion, not saying you're wrong at all for doing that & i'm glad it works for you....you should post some videos of your setup. i used a xp-5 for a long time as a single jogwheel controller, i like eks.

[seb30303]

Hi charo,

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I think we are basically agreeing with each other :)

I just joined the forum as I was reading this thread which started with someone asking for a recommended netbook for use only for DJing. And then I read all the posts saying that netbooks don't have the specs to run Traktor, that it's asking for trouble, etc. I felt this was a little misleading as in my experience a netbook (specifically the NC10) has been more than adequate (although obviously when running near to capacity then optimisation is important).

you say you gain no added functionality when you use a more powerful computer but you are also conceding you can't fully use the program, so yes you would be gaining functionality if you could use the program fully without reaching the limits of the cpu right?

Well for me personally I would gain no more functionality. I rarely use the key-lock even on 1 track at once, let alone on 4 - I don't really like the sound of a pitch shift algorithm across a whole piece of music, unless using it for an occasional special effect.

And as for effects: it simultaneous runs as many as I've ever wanted to use, although I haven't tried pushing it to the theoretical maximum now that TP allows 4 effects racks.

I do take your point that netbooks were never designed for processor intensive software, but Traktor seems pretty efficient and is not doing a huge amount of stuff. The reason many people experience drop-outs and glitches on laptops has more to do with badly written hardware drivers than lack of raw CPU power. I used to use Traktor on an HP 8710w which is kind of the opposite extreme to a netbook - super high power, big laptop. And actually this used to glitch all the time until I worked out to disable the WiFi adapter.

Could also be that I got lucky with the NC10 that this model of netbook happens to have well behaved hardware & drivers.

Seb

[kea]

Hey guys,

I'm selling my MBPro right now and about to buy asus eee PC 1215N. I'm using VCI-100 with audio4. And here's the hardware of this little baby:
Brand: Asus
Model: Eee PC 1215N
Type: Netbook / Laptop
Display: 12.1-inch WSVGA LED backlit display with Color Shine, 1366 x 768 pixels in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, full 1080p HD video support
Processor: Intel Atom Dual-Core Processor D525, 1.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz, Max. up to 2 GB maximum

any comments on that? What latency will I get in traktor? Thanks guys

[Segfault]

You'll do fine. Latency is almost entirely dependent on the audio card you're using. Just be sure to disable the wireless card, bluetooth antenna, and anything (by which I mean everything) else that you wont be using while you DJ.

As a side note: when did Atoms get up to 1.8 Dual Core? I'm still running on a 1.6 with hyper threading. >:|

[theory28]

...where did the op go? i think he gave up on us

[DJMutagen]

I just upgraded to a used HP DV6500t... LOADS BETTER THAN MY OLD NETBOOK. I managed with the 10" screen... but this extra 5.6" of real estate reaffirmed my decision. It's a Core2 1.5, but much better than my Single Core Atom 1.6. Use what works for you! Get something, try it, bunk? Return and get a different one! Latency-wise, I was able to get sub 5ms on the eee 1005HAB with the Audio 4 DJ, It did the job, But... I can see space between the decks AND have my full effects bar with my 4 deck internal layout on this huge thing lol. Got snow leo 10.6.2 running like a DREAM and I'm not lookin back! xD

[TWD]

Time for some necromancing:

Thing things have come far since this thread was started. I've been testing with my new HP dm1z that includes the new AMD fusion processor. It runs Traktor great.

For my test I set the fx banks to chained mode so that I could have 12 effects running on both decks. Processor usage was around 80%, and it was only then that I got any dropouts. Even then they were barely noticeable. I couldn't test if changing the latency changes anything because I have the new drivers that won't let you change it. On the DPC side the DPC latency checker is consistently under 500 microseconds.

Overall I don't see any reason these new Fusion processors won't work for almost all Traktor applications. I was even impressed with the screen. It's still 1366x768 resolution so I can see about as many tracks in the browser as I could with my laptop. The text is smaller of course, but I didn't have trouble reading any of it.

I'll probably use the three day weekend to make a poor quality video with my phone for my blog so stay tuned.

[MuzicFreq]

I did think about getting a netbook but you can usually find sales on "Real" laptops for $100 more since netbooks usually range at $300
Mine when not on sale is around $550 but got it on sale for $430

AMD Turion II Processor 2.5GHz dualcore
4GB DDR3 memory
15.6" screen LED backlight
4hour battery life

HP-G62-367DX
Even has lightscribe

[popatheart]

Coming from a person who actually builds computers for people as a job... I am a graphic designer and game designer also,

Busy much?

[dj stifffy]

This is a Samsung NC10 running Traktor Pro. I haven't tried layer 3-4 effects per deck yet or anything, but from the get go, I'm able to use the keylock, filter and I have my latency settings down to 5.5ms. It's got 2GB of RAM running WinXP SP3 and I have WIFI and BT turned off(obviously). I'm gonna see if I can get some vids up too.

EDIT: Yes, if you look closer, I'm also recording with TP too (and that's a Vestax SPIN hiding in the corner )

Im using the same netbook nc10, would highly recommend it but upgrade to 2 gig ram and i tend to keep power cable in and use the factory overclock, it used to have problem running traktor till i upgraded to the latest version, i use it with a numark omni control, a hercules mp3 e2 and a ipad with faders mapped to eqs filters and volume, i have latency down to 2.5ms and i think ive made it crash one when unplugging the controllers, I usually run just 2 effects panels one with 3 effects and the other with an advanced effect thats usually a delay or gator, havent tried 4effects panels because ive never found a need, i have buttons to flick between effects i need, all my controllers are full led mapped which include flashing bpm leds which have played up in a few peoples setups but mine runs glitch free, hope this helps anyway, by the way my pc with pentium 4 and 2 gig ram has difficults playing and loading tracks so not sure why the netbook works better.