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I'm done with mac, so I've now opted for an Asus gaming laptop and it performs much better than my mac did and came fully loaded with two drives ssd and 2tb hard drive with 12gb ram etc, a mac at that spec would be 2k+ with 17inch screen. Its STILL running wicked from 2017 and that's with windows 10.

Great job explaining all this info in a knowledgeable, UNBIASED way. Very professional and very useful.

Great job,explaining all the ins and outs.keep up the good work

Excellent advice as always!!!! Thanks for sharing the knowledge!!!!!

As a rekordbox controller user. i5 processor (higher gen the better) 8gb ram, ssd hard drive for me are the best value / performance imo. Again my opinion!

Love the tips in here!

How can someone dislike a video which hasn't even shown yet? So stupid 😂

Good tips, i been using my MSI gaming laptop since it came out in 2017. It's still going strong

Been DJ-ing with controllers since 2011. Got a fully loaded 2011 MacBook pro, used it for downloading music, basic social media usage, VDJ & Serato DJ lite. 2015 onwards, moved from laptop DJ-ing to using an XDJ-RX & used the same Macbook for downloading music & Rekordbox ONLY. I think im gonna keep using my Macbook till 2021.

Well said!

More memory/ram doesn’t necessarily make a computer faster at loading content, especially as memory at even slower DDR3 speeds is faster than any storage as it affects load times. Storage media and the storage interface is typically the bottleneck as it determines load times. Memory can, however, effect how many things can be loaded at once. So if you have a few videos and songs concurrently running while perusing a large library, memory matters.

Brilliant video excellent covers all 👍🏻💚🕯

You are valuable to us thank you

Great video my friend!

Excellent video!

Old skool MacBook 2012s are great. They handle a lot and you can do tons of updates on them.

Great video, I've always believed in backup, backup everything!

For the budget minded folks that happen to live in the sf bay area, I've had great success getting used 2012 macbook pros. Parts are still modular (upgradeable) and you can get one fully loaded for around $500. 16gb ram, 500gb-1tb ssd, i5 processors, if you're lucky you can get one with the CD drive taken out and replaced with another ssd. I use mine for dvs and it's pretty damn snappy. I even bought a second one as a backup. Just hopefully it hasn't been stolen... 😂 But for real though, rental insurance is key.

It also depends on what software you are using...I've been using Virtual DJ 7 on a crappy old HP laptop for years and it's worked for me. Just make sure you only use it for DJing and turn off automatic updates as there's nothing worse then them popping up halfway through a set...I know!

Got my MacBook Air m2 13in 16gb 1TB for my DJING love it it’s very good for my DJing and live-streaming . Good advice Phil👍🏾🤘🏾👏🏾

Hey Phil! Just got myself a used laptop and wanted as much power as possible for $3-400 and still in good condition. I looked at Tradera, Swedens largest online auction site, and after a few days getting a feel for how much other people are prepare to bid, I found out that most people don't know the difference between models. Result was that very high end business laptops sold for the same or less than consumer models. I ended up getting a HP ZBook G2 a few years old but in premium condition for $290. Price new $4000. Full i7 cpu 4 cores/8 threads @ 2,8/3.4 Ghz, 32 GB Ram, graphics Nvidia Quadro K1100M 1 GB, Back lit Keyboard, Premium very bright matt 15'' Full HD screen, 4 USB 3.0, thunderbolt, vga, displayport, card reader, x54 ext, premium network hardware (Wireless/TP), Dual hdd's: 1st - 250 GB Samsung pro SSD, 2nd 500B mechanical drive. Also there is premium sound and a hd webcam. With that price I ended up switching the 2nd drive to a 1 TB Samsung SSD for $110. The original licence is for Windows 7 pro, but was upgraded to Windows 10 pro. The only thing missing compared to a brand new model is USB 3.1 (C), but I can live without that. This laptop is a beast. Full metall body, brushed dark grey finish and the 150 w power brick gives a hint of what it is. To see how it handles heat during full CPU load, I dropped 18 000 tracks in to Rekordbox for analyze. It was done over night and never exceeded 75 degrees Celsius. I'm gigging on a cruiser this week and are using that laptop to write this. For me this is a laptop that has no limits for any use I can think of me doing on it. 3 connections (power, lan & 1 USB 3.0) are at the back of the computer which is great for tight spaces. I'd recommend anyone on a tight budget to try this way of geting better specs. Tradera has protection against fraudulent behavior and if you like me only look for sellers with the highest ratings, you're pretty sure that what's advertised is what's going to be in the box when you get it.

Picking great macbook is easy, there are only some options. For windows i`d suggest stealthy options that are not a whacky geek shaped like an iron man. 1. Razer Blade 15 or Razer Blade Stealth (the most similar experience to a macbook, yet more powerful). 2. Dell XPS 15 or Dell XPS 13 (great build, great performance, solid). 3. Asus Zephyrus (lots of kinds, the G14 model is good) (worth every penny, some are plasticy but is very solid and powerful but heavy) 4. Gigabyte Aero 15 (kindof razer blade and asus zephyrus mix, great battery, worth every money, aluminum build, awesome screen, but heavy). 5. I don't know what to put here, maybe for honorable mentions : HP Spectre, HP Envy, Asus TUF, Lenovo Thinkpad. Those are what i've tried, opinions may vary. I currently use a built pc and Gigabyte Aero 15.

Great advice there Phil. I bought a Toshiba P8400 (Core 2Duo, 4GB ram, 256GB HDD) brand new in 2008 with Win7 installed and the Traktor Audio8 DVS package. After stripping out all the unnecessary software it hasn't missed a beat in 11 years!. Upgraded to 8GB ram and 512GB SSD along with the addition of a S2 Mk1 in 2012 and I've just updated to Win10 and Traktor Pro3 last month with no issues whatsoever (If it ain't broke...). I'll have to try a 2nd hand Mac (2011/2015) one of these days just to see as there's no way I could afford a new one!. :0)

Thsnj you

The guys at DJ City checked the Schenker Audio Line of Laptops. The Slim Line 14" seems to be a great choice in the Windows World and they come pre-configured for audio performance and they are upgradable . When my MacBook Air 13 2015 dies someday I' ll switch to Windows.

some links to the items you spoke about would of been a great help! good Video! thank you !

Just a Little side note I’ve got some problems with my Lenovo gaming laptop caused by the oem windows version. So make sure when you buy a new laptop, to install a fresh windows copy directly from Microsoft.

Very good video.... Today, would you recommend a dedicated graphic? that is to say.... are the intel (iris) or ryzen (radeon) graphics sufficient? Would they affect performance?

Speaking of laptops my Mac is now 12 years old and still kicking, in the same 12 years I've gone thru at least 8 windows laptops. Not saying Mac is better but I do love using them both for different reasons.

Using a Azus 2013 i3 pentium laptop I got for free with my Rane 72 and Serato DJ Pro windows 7x perfectly. Use a mac for daily production and my business. Was going to go with a Mac for the Serato but that would have cost me at least $1000 more. Go with what you got if you have it !!

Hey Phill got a back up lap top from a pawn shop dell latitude from2010 the latitude 6410 FOR 25.00 IT WAS aboit1000.in210 I rebuilt it upgraded it for over a 100 bucks it's A MONSTER NOW

Ryzen 7 all day for me. Works just fine for stems and so much more

Another point to mention on laptop stands.... as well as keeping them off a flat surface which could have a drink spilled on it and any of the other stuff you mentioned, it can also help with cooling.... Imagine you're doing a wedding in a marquee on a summer's day... or playing in a club with no AC where its hot and sweaty.... having your laptop on a desk top at home is fine, but DJing in these environments is not only likely to be warmer in the room, you're also performing tasks on your machine which will batter the processor and therefore increase the core temperature. Getting the laptop up off a table top and onto a stand allows the air to circulate around the underneath better (where most often the cooling system intake fan slots are located). Laptop stands are essential in my opinion and experience.... As the ancient Chinese proverb goes: daft is the man who runs his DJ laptop on no stand.... .....or something like that.

2012 Mac book pro /Rekordbox & DJ Pro2

I use a now its 4 years old recon hp widows laptop

Great video. If I am wanting to purchase a laptop for use with rekordbox/serato/djay and ableton/fl studio, what would you recommend to purchase? Stuck between either purchasing a mac or windows :/ thanks.

Maybe a bit to much information. As you said “...any old laptop will do to get started...” once you get experience you’ll know what’s important for you. Big screen, backlit keyboard with num pad are absolute essentials.

The only thing not really covered here is the lack of support of AMD chipsets. Some AMD chipsets can cause issues, not all I hasten to add. But if you do go the widows route it is a much safer bet choosing an intel processor. I use both os and Windows. For my radio shows I have an i7 16 gb imac which I chose because I didn't need portability so I traded portability for power. I also have a Windows Asus i7 zen book 8 gb 13 inch for gigging. Which is very portable but not as powerful. If you only wish to be a hobby DJ and play in your bedroom do you even need a laptop? You could get a much more powerful desktop for the equivalent amount of cash. I guess it's all about priorities 🙂

I’m looking for a new laptop to run rekordbox with my Ddj 1000. What would you suggest?

Would a relatively new Windows 10 laptop with a Celeron processor run Rekordbox assuming you then use USB sticks and if I wanted to swap to say a Mac Book Pro in the future is it easy to move MP3 files to the Mac?

Thabks this was really usefull.i ended up.gety8ng a bew asus vivobbok oled after tesearching n orderunh wieing ine at first

Can you please tell me where can I find a grad case cover for my laptop Model Dell Latitude E5400. “14.1”

Which Windows 10, laptop will be fast enough for me to be able to analyze like 16, (or even 32), tracks at a time? (on Serato). I've saw a bunch of other DJ's being able to analyze 12 - 16 tracks simultaneously, (and a few that were able to do like 32 tracks, but they had a Mac 🙄 ). I have a fast laptop, (HP Pavillion), that has 16 gb of RAM, GeForce NVIDIA 940MX graphics card, but it only allows for me to analyze 4 tracks at a time. Please can someone help!! Ive bought so many laptops & had to return them bc they all only allow for me to scan 4 tracks at a time. ~ I do NOT want a Mac ~ (It also needs to have at least 3 USB ports 3.0 or C is fine, Backlit keyboard, hdmi, and a number pad) - touch screen would be a nice bonus but not a must. Cost isn't that big of a deal, preferably around $800, but not more than a $1000 at the most. Unless I can analyze 32 tracks simultaneously, bc then that should be fast enough for everything I'll need it for; (streaming, 4k video editing, music production, etc) Or what do I have to look for within a Windows 10 laptop so I can analyze a large amount of tracks simultaneously & be able to run Serato DJ Pro smoothly with HD quality vids? I'll be DJing with HD Music Videos, and a (unnecessarily) MASSIVE Music / Video COLLECTION 😆 (using an external 3.0 hard drive).

My laptop is EXTREMELY slow and glitches all the time. I think that’s enough to make me get a new one for djing. Is that the right choice? (edit) yup Btw thanks! This was very helpful and informative, I was just gonna buy one off amazon or something but I might just go into a store now.

Hey does anyone have any take on Intel® Celeron® N4020 Processor with Serato?

What's your opinion on using a Mac book air 13 Inch 1.8 ghz with serato dj? Would it run smoothly with out crashing or glitches or maybe screen buffing abit?

When you produce music you will see the big difference between iOS and windows. The sound from iOS is super clean

That's my case I got a traktor now I'm going to buy a lap but they are so many right now that I just keep saying money but I don't really have any reference about which one should I get. Some advice will be helpful.

Hey Phil. My 12 yr old nephew wants a controller for Xmas but he doesn’t have a laptop, can he use his dads new Dell desktop to start?

Cheers! Great video ! Hey Bro , quick question. So I’m on a budget right now. If I was to purchase a 2012 MAC Book Pro will I be able to use Rekordbox Software on it today and for the upcoming new year 2024 ? I don’t want to by a refurbished laptop that I can’t use with certain DJ Software.

I wish I got a 15" instead of my 17" last year's model gaming PC.

please could you give us an idea about a laptop with an average budget ? is it mandatory to have an i7 processor ? because I've heard about the rayzen processor which are very powerfull and powerfull in the graphics side

Indian djs like 👍👍👍👍👍

Is it okay the Acer Predator Helios 300 i7 10850H RTX3060 6b and 8GB Ram? Or i should go with the new Macbook Pro 13' M1 Chip with 8GB Ram and 512GB storage? I used it for Video editing, music producing, Djing Graphics What should i choose? Windows or Mac?? Help me please

I'm still using my MacBook white 2011. I just boosted it to 8GB of RAM and an SSD but I think that I got the most of my money. However, I find it very hard buying a new Mac. They're just awful now.

If you choose mac you better wait with updates. Everytime osx get an update all DJ blogs have articles about what went broken. The compatibility with older hardware is on mac worst then on windows. Windows is better with legacy soft and hardware.

I got a Mac for 400+ and it’s a reconditioned one

Will I be okay with a 1.4 GHz macbook? Or will i need more GHz?

Dear Phil, for DJing will you better suggest an Apple M1 MacBook Pro (which has a fan) or would a M1 MacBook Air will be still enough? I'm also thinking of warmer environments like in summer days... Thank you heaps!!! ❤

My friend has just got a ddj 400. His laptop is AMD chip and it will not run rekordbox without serious issues. . is it true that AMD laptops will not work with rekordbox. ?

Do I have to have a computer to use my DJ controller

Buy a Dell Latitude E6540, Core i5 or better (2.5Ghz and DUAL CORE!!!) - Traktor, for instance, doesn't benefit from extra cores. At least 8gb of RAM, and a dedicated GPU (force "Traktor" to run on GPU). Used these go for $180.00. Install SSD and Win 7 or Win 10. Follow a tutorial on how to optimize windows for music. This very simple path will net you a bullet proof, stage ready laptop, for about $230.00. How do I know? Because I still use a backup Dell D620 (13 years old), 2.33Ghz dual core, on 4GB Ram, and an ssd. Stripped down Windows 7 install. 25% CPU usage, no DPC issues or drop outs. The E6540 is a total powerhouse for digital DJing. Not all laptops are the same. Buying the best one does not get you the best performance, nor remove you from the technical issues of DJing with a laptop. Don't piss away your money. Spend all the money I just saved you on tracks, and a professional mixer (XONE 92). And a subwoofer, your ears will thank you.

I have think pad with win 10 the sound is not good and have some terrible sound. I use instead Mac book pro and it’s super with Rekordbox

Virtual DJ 2021 + Windows gaming laptop computer + Numark NVii DJ controller + DJ pool downloaded music + VDJ Tidal streaming + Spotify streaming software + 22 to 27 inch FHD extender monitor + WALI monitor desk mount + usb mouse + Yamaha mg10xu mixer + 2 to 4 Shure wireless mics + 2 or 4 QSC CP12 + 2 or 4 Yamaha DXS15 MKii = best professional mobile DJ audio set-up in my opinion.

how many RAM GB would you recommend to dj with a controller and also produce music ??? please respond 🥺

I bought Complete DJ. Now it is going out for free? :8

Do think iMac 13 8ram 2012 is it good for dj

So I've been waiting/wanting to get a laptop for rekordbox for a year or so now. I used a Sony laptop about 12 years ago to run traktor, and I have an hp desktop now. I want to try an apple mostly based on the fact that I hate windows. I hate being forced to do updates and all the other crap that goes along with windows. It's just not intuitive to me. Does buying a mac for the intuitiveness and not being forced to update make sense?

What screen size do most djs use?

MacBook Pro(mid-2012) upgraded to 500 SSD and 16GB RAM working perfectly for me with Serato Video.

What laptop do you use Phil? And what size:)

INTEL AND AMD PROCESSOR LAPTOPS, WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR SERATO DJ?

I went from a Dell with Platinum Core to an Inspiron with i5 core, worst decision I ever made. It was latency issues and it is also outdated, I have heard wonders from Asus pcs, might look into those.

Just get a sc5000m

What about desktops? 😅

If going for a windows machine then get an ex Corporate grade machine which will be much tougher than something from your local computer store. HP Elitebook, Dell Precision, etc. All machines that retail for £1,300. But used for about £450. Stay away from Windows 10, just see Serato forums if you dont believe me. Windows 7 pro is the way to go. Look at Banks, Government, and industries where reliability / Revenue are concerned. They are all sticking with Win7. Use your DJ laptop ONLY for DJ work. Its your business tool. For day to day internet stuff use a separate machine.

After losing all my data on my internal drive..I want to respectfully disagree...I am not going to take any more changes with my internal drive...I'll pack the DJ bag and have all cords and external drive in there..just my two cents...and how long it took me to recover my files/songs😢😢

What about MacBook Air ??

PCs are getting better, I ran Serato DJ on a $350.00 HP laptop with an AMD a8 processor and it ran great with no problems. Just take care of your laptop and uninstall useless programs.

Mac new laptop no USB ports What a game changer...

One additional Tip. .. Test your new system with latency mon not only 5 minutes. Test it over hours/days and if you hear dropouts or other weird stuff look which driver is causing it. If no update of bios or drivers work, send the laptop back. I didn't test that hard at beginning and my system had serious driver issues later on which i couldnt fix. And i couldnt sent it back. Before you buy a windows notebook have a look on notebookcheck.com. They do some latency test as well. MSI and LENOVO seems to be very good at latency. DELL not.

Finding what's a suitable pc and judging a great deal from a shit deal takes time.

music ripping, i know u did not mean illegally obtaining music but that’s def what those 2 words imply lol

Macbook Pro is always the best laptop for djing.

Processor is more important than ram so stop saying ram is important if your processing is to slow so ram how will be managed to handle everything

here's a few tips from someone who made mistakes, (lots of them) Im a windows Pc person who bought a Mac, (big mistake) I hated that thing with a passion, it was so complicated i considered smashing the thing on several occasions, and if you mess up on a Mac, they keep insisting that you change your password, Drove me crazy, If you a pc person, stick with PC, you a Mac person stick with Mac, best way to keep you windows laptop working good, use it only to DJ, Bluetooth off, internet off, I had bad experiences with both. PC laptops are relatively cheep, get at least a quad core or better laptop, 8 gigs of ram minimum!, windows 10 sucks big time, I still use windows 7, Hoping windows 11 is a winner! sdd harddrive, as big as you can afford, i use a thumb drive to backup with no problem, and always have a second laptop in case something goes wrong and make sure run them before each gig, i had days where everything went wrong, if it could go wrong it did! good luck!

MacBook Air 2017 is good for dj

Lenovo L340 ryzen 5 3500u 400$ cheap laptop

It is easy.. a Mac

With all respect Phil I don't believe any laptop for DJ ying is correct info ! I play once a month Sunday Brunch DJ ying during hot weather even so I have giant umbrellas over me , my traktor DJ pro 3 went crazy on me , started skipping , audio went gurgling sound effect This happened 2 brunches in the row but it was fine my night gigs also outdoors Now if I didn't have a year contract with this resort I can assure you I would have lost this job, as GM was standing in front of me and cooling pads do not not work well either So people correct info do not by a laptop over heats like MacBook Pro models search well !!!

Sorry Phil's but HDD isn't memory, it's storage. RAM is memory. Random Acces Memory. The hard drive uses cache to speed it up a bit.

so off the wall info...one remove the bloat ware from the OS ..and cut off all the crap you don't need running ..if it's a dj pc, in any case and you only use it for djing,onlydl from a real dj record pools...and not bogus pirate sites you would be would be fine.. when you ready to do a gig cut off your virus scan crap...your gpu has crap to do with it...but always count on your ram as well as cpu...you can use a win xp till this day if you really wanted to...to still dj...so don't let the hype hit ya...to much bullshit out there to try to make drama...as well a sound card is a great thing as well...but all in all...a pc for djing should be for djing and not as an everyday pc use...it should be protected with on limit for what it's for...best i say is if you can make it internet free, would be best and add from a usb port...nothing running as well remove all bloat ware that OS...like fax and phone and crap like that...plenty of info on you tube that can tell you what to remove what's safe and what not as well show you how to remove it...but all in all it's for djing so...know what you need in your use of your pc or lappy. always save resources..common sense.