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MikeW
03-01-2011, 08:30 AM
Hi Guys

I have just downloaded VDJ pro. The plan was it was going to be more stable than PCDJ Dex (I had a problem with Dex when searching).

I only started using VDJ yesterday, and twice it sort of crashed and went to a blank screen and would not allow me to do anything apart from power down :bang: When loading a track the CPU seems to be working very hard (it hits 100% every time) The laptop I am using is approx 5 years old.

Anyway, my question is, has anyone bought a laptop recently, what did you buy and how is it working for you.

I don't want to go really expensive, possibly around the £400 mark, or less if possible.

Thanks in advance.

Mike.

hammy
03-01-2011, 09:33 AM
I just bought one it cost me £449 made by compaq,but then i got it off the wifes catalogue so minus £150 if buying from shop
are the fans clean???? have they got access to enough air flow,fleabay do a usb laptop fan that you sit the laptop on and has 3 fans for about £5

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300469844440&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

MikeW
03-01-2011, 09:43 AM
are the fans clean???? have they got access to enough air flow,fleabay do a usb laptop fan that you sit the laptop on and has 3 fans for about £5

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300469844440&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Thanks for that but although the laptop does get fairly hot at times, the fan seems to be doing it's job ok by cooling it down.

deltic
03-01-2011, 09:47 AM
would be good if you could list the spec,processor memory etc

djdave01
03-01-2011, 09:48 AM
my backup laptop does the 100% cpu thing while loading a track, still plays ok though.

about 6 months ago i bought a HP g72 laptop, with i3 cpu and 1g memory. It does a great job and cpu use is rarely about 40%. Cost £430 from comet.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 10:14 AM
would be good if you could list the spec,processor memory etc

I am using an Acer Aspire, running Windows XP. Intel pentium processor 735A

1.7GHz. It was 1gb but about a year ago updated to 2gb.

I sent an enquiry to VDJ, and they replied to try updating drivers, sound card etc.

My disco laptop is not connected to internet (apart from downloading the original VDJ software) so I don't get any automatic updates and havent for about a year.

deltic
03-01-2011, 10:59 AM
have you optimised XP and shut down all the background processes?

looking at the spec i don't see why vdj without crashing.
maybe clean install of xp and vdj and build from there.

i run vdj on a macbook with 4gb ram and it can be resource heavy sometimes when you are playing one track and you load and cue a video file but it remains stable and doesn't clitch.

i also have it installed on a dell laptop with 2gb ram not used it in anger but seems to run fine.

DazzyD
03-01-2011, 12:08 PM
I just bought one it cost me £449 made by compaq,but then i got it off the wifes catalogue so minus £150 if buying from shop
are the fans clean???? have they got access to enough air flow,fleabay do a usb laptop fan that you sit the laptop on and has 3 fans for about £5

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300469844440&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I've just bought a new Compaq Presario CQ56 at the price of £299 in the Sainsbury's sale. I wouldn't call it a powerhouse but it's got a 2.3GHz AMD V140 processor (which I am led to believe is AMDs version of Intel's Centrino and, therefore, aimed at the mobile market). It has 3Gb RAM and a 320Gb HDD. I'm currently testing VDJ on it and so far (touch wood!) no problems. There are a couple of issues (for me, at least, until I get used to it) of having an unusual keyboard layout with shortcut keys on the left hand side. I keep opening PowerDVD when I'm trying to press the tab key! I suppose after some time spent getting used to keyboard it will be alright.



I am using an Acer Aspire, running Windows XP. Intel pentium processor 735A

1.7GHz. It was 1gb but about a year ago updated to 2gb.

I sent an enquiry to VDJ, and they replied to try updating drivers, sound card etc.

My disco laptop is not connected to internet (apart from downloading the original VDJ software) so I don't get any automatic updates and havent for about a year.

I had an Acer Aspire (before the on-board power supply died and no-one wants a go at fixing it for me!) and it always ran VDJ well. I upgraded to VDJ6 (after a bit of persuasion!) and it seemed to work even smoother. So maybe an update of your drivers and an upgrade of VDJ is a solution?

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 12:31 PM
Make you're mind up quick and take advantage of the sales.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 12:55 PM
have you optimised XP and shut down all the background processes?

looking at the spec i don't see why vdj without crashing.
maybe clean install of xp and vdj and build from there.

i run vdj on a macbook with 4gb ram and it can be resource heavy sometimes when you are playing one track and you load and cue a video file but it remains stable and doesn't clitch.

i also have it installed on a dell laptop with 2gb ram not used it in anger but seems to run fine.

For the first time this morning (as I said I only downloaded VDJ a couple of days ago) I have run it all via my mixer and controller and it seems to be (touch wood) running ok. The cpu is still very high 100% when loading tracks, and does not come back down to normal cpu for about 8-10 seconds.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 12:57 PM
Make you're mind up quick and take advantage of the sales.

Thanks Charlie. I really hope I don't have to go down that route, but I am aware that it might be nearly time to buy a new laptop, and now would be the time.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 01:05 PM
have you optimised XP and shut down all the background processes?looking at the spec i don't see why vdj without crashing.
maybe clean install of xp and vdj and build from there.

i run vdj on a macbook with 4gb ram and it can be resource heavy sometimes when you are playing one track and you load and cue a video file but it remains stable and doesn't clitch.

i also have it installed on a dell laptop with 2gb ram not used it in anger but seems to run fine.

Are you able to tell me easily how to do that :)

Matty12
03-01-2011, 01:44 PM
What about a netbook.

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 01:53 PM
What about a netbook.

Aren't you selling that new one you bought?

Twinspin
03-01-2011, 03:16 PM
Ive recently bought a Sony Vaio VPCEE2E1E/WI its a nice piece of kit. I think you can get them for just over £400 if your budget will stretch.

I got mine from Makro in November it was in the Mail. Absolute bargain. If you look around you can get a vaio for about £449 or a bit less.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 03:26 PM
UPDATE: Yet again the problem appeared after approx two hours of running a playlist. I have now discovered (because this morning,for the first time, I ran everything via my disco laptop and DP2 controller) that although the screen goes blank (yellow,blue and the last time orange/red!) I am still able to pause/play/replay the tracks that have been set up before screen went blank via the controller.
This would suggest some sort of screen saver/sleep mode although I have no sleep mode/screensaver set up in my laptop.

Does anyone know if there is any sort of sleep mode/screensaver within VDJ?

yourdj
03-01-2011, 03:33 PM
What about a netbook.

I have one as a back up but would not recommend using it as soul playout.
(other than macbook air and higher higher spec windows models).

Have a look at a macbook. you can get some great deal on ebay.
These are arguably the most stable laptops you can buy.

You can also run windows on them!

i have two of these and they are excellent. look great as they are black as well.
This one is the last in the line of black models so top spec.



http://img.iwascoding.com/3/2010/12/28/E3/8BF80DD02F3F45CDA61B4D0AEB19A501.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-MacBook-Black-13-3-2-4GHz-250GB-4GB-/110630631889?pt=UK_Computing_Apple_Laptops_ET&hash=item19c21979d1#ht_3113wt_1141

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 03:36 PM
Curry's have a cracking deal on Macbooks. Have a look at the Apple refurbished site too. Probably a bit out of your budget though.

yourdj
03-01-2011, 03:43 PM
Curry's have a cracking deal on Macbooks. Have a look at the Apple refurbished site too. Probably a bit out of your budget though.

And also 0% finance if you buy it online at the moment too (from apple).
Paul party DJ took advantage of that last year. :)

Well worth it I have abused mine for years and it has never broken or stalled once!

MikeW
03-01-2011, 04:02 PM
Thanks for all your replys guys, I am still working on my problem and might be getting closer to resolving it.

Just as a thought and would possibly be out of my price range at the moment, but what makes macbooks better than the rest!?

I guess you will be able to answer this Toby.

Thanks

Mike.

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 04:21 PM
And also 0% finance if you buy it online at the moment too (from apple).


Is that a pay monthly option?

Jonathan Ford
03-01-2011, 05:21 PM
If it's of any use, I have/had a similar problem with VDJ.

The machine I run it on has plenty of spec, but the CPU bar still pushes to 100% when loading tracks. Though I didn't have screen problems, I had the odd sound drop out. I downloaded and ran an online latency checker, that reported that other drivers on the machine were crashing the CPU, so I stripped everything from the machine that was unnecessary (honestly, I don't have the technical knowldege to do this, but handed it over to a mate that does). All that's on it now is VDJ and iTunes.

I also disable the network adapters when I'm not connected to the internet (and only connect to iTunes, and only i Tunes, on my home network), and it's been fine for over a year.

MikeW
03-01-2011, 05:44 PM
If it's of any use, I have/had a similar problem with VDJ.

The machine I run it on has plenty of spec, but the CPU bar still pushes to 100% when loading tracks. Though I didn't have screen problems, I had the odd sound drop out. I downloaded and ran an online latency checker, that reported that other drivers on the machine were crashing the CPU, so I stripped everything from the machine that was unnecessary (honestly, I don't have the technical knowldege to do this, but handed it over to a mate that does). All that's on it now is VDJ and iTunes.

I also disable the network adapters when I'm not connected to the internet (and only connect to iTunes, and only i Tunes, on my home network), and it's been fine for over a year.

Thanks for that Jonathan. But.... after running a playlist, after 2 hours (again) it did the same thing (blank screen). Don't know why it does this after approx two hours running a playlist????? It has me baffled

WWDJ
03-01-2011, 05:52 PM
I know there are other advocates of Macs on here but as a playout you want to it to be as stable as possible both hardware and software so sometime you have to spend a little bit extra.

I bought my Macbook Pro at Dixons Tax Free at the airport and saved about £135 on a 13". I run Traktor Pro and if it is good enough for Pete Tong in the superclubs, it is good enough for me.

It just works, no messing. easy to configure and the light up keyboard is a massive bonus in low light.

I will definitely buy another when the time is right, with an SSD for super stability.

discomobiledj
03-01-2011, 06:06 PM
Is that a pay monthly option?

Not until you're 18! :D

deltic
03-01-2011, 07:07 PM
Thanks for that Jonathan. But.... after running a playlist, after 2 hours (again) it did the same thing (blank screen). Don't know why it does this after approx two hours running a playlist????? It has me baffled

i'm going to ask the obvious question are you running full registered version of virtual dj?

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 07:49 PM
Not until you're 18! :D

I was thinking the same...

Until I ask mother. ;)

Matty12
03-01-2011, 07:52 PM
Aren't you selling that new one you bought?

yes soon brand new kind of.

Charlie Brown
03-01-2011, 08:04 PM
Sorry to be a pain..

What macbook is best?

I don't want spend a lot of dosh for the sake of it...

Difference between the pro or not?

yourdj
03-01-2011, 09:12 PM
Just as a thought and would possibly be out of my price range at the moment, but what makes macbooks better than the rest!?.

Windows 7 is much better so they have done well with that. but Mac still have the upper hand by all accounts.

I like them as they are very stable and do not get viruses.
They are also exceptionally well made and you know what your getting.
All apple stuff is solid well thought out and compact for the money.

I am sure some of the laptops like the vios can beat apple for performance but you still have to work with windows.
Each to thier own really. With a mac you can also run windows (not that you need too).

http://apcmag.com/15_reasons_macs_are_still_better_than_windows.htm

http://store.apple.com/uk-business/browse/campaigns/macleasing

MikeW
03-01-2011, 09:14 PM
i'm going to ask the obvious question are you running full registered version of virtual dj?

Hi Andy

Yes I am running the full registered version. It is a very good piece of software, apart from this problem.
I need to do more testing of it tomorrow.
Although this doesn't make it ok, it seems the problem is related to running a playlist for more than two hours, which I wouldn't normally do anyway, but I would still like to get it sorted.

yourdj
03-01-2011, 09:26 PM
I downloaded VDJ today and cannot stand it.
I always thought it would be brilliant as everyone uses it.

I use Serato itch normally.

Will have another go but definitely not a replacement on my new windows machine.
I will try version 7 at some point as this one is 6 which may be the reason.

deltic
04-01-2011, 02:50 PM
ok i have run vdj most of the day on a dell laptop without problem,even using the wi-fi at the same time.

here is a link to one of the many articles on the net explaining how to optimise xp for music


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/articles/pcmusician0302.asp

hammy
04-01-2011, 02:55 PM
I dont know if this is a jinxed thread but i turned my pc on today and all i got was a grey screen,it wouldnt load into bios or take a disc or anything,all i did to get it to start was clean all the dust from the fans especially the processor fan it was caked

Excalibur
04-01-2011, 03:32 PM
I downloaded VDJ today and cannot stand it.
I always thought it would be brilliant as everyone uses it.
.
Dunno about brilliant, but it's Old Git friendly. ;) Even I can make it play things. :D


I dont know if this is a jinxed thread but i turned my pc on today and all i got was a grey screen,it wouldnt load into bios or take a disc or anything,all i did to get it to start was clean all the dust from the fans especially the processor fan it was caked

I have on one occasion overheated my laptop, and it would start to boot, and shut down. I simply left it to cool, and all was well.

MikeW
04-01-2011, 06:05 PM
ok i have run vdj most of the day on a dell laptop without problem,even using the wi-fi at the same time.

here is a link to one of the many articles on the net explaining how to optimise xp for music


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/articles/pcmusician0302.asp

Thanks very much, I will take a look.

MikeW
04-01-2011, 06:08 PM
Just to update. I am still having problems with VDJ. Still getting a very high CPU (100%) and taking a long time to fully load each track. According to VDJ team it all seems to be pointing to the drivers needing updated which I hope to do tomorrow.

TONYTIGER
04-01-2011, 09:40 PM
I know there are other advocates of Macs on here but as a playout you want to it to be as stable as possible both hardware and software so sometime you have to spend a little bit extra.

I bought my Macbook Pro at Dixons Tax Free at the airport and saved about £135 on a 13". I run Traktor Pro and if it is good enough for Pete Tong in the superclubs, it is good enough for me.

It just works, no messing. easy to configure and the light up keyboard is a massive bonus in low light.

I will definitely buy another when the time is right, with an SSD for super stability.

I can only endorse your comments re Macs my son gave me a Mac pro 15 a few months ago as i was fed up fighting with windows and loads of updates this thing does what it says on the tin in a logical manner,now i know nothing about computers but it seems to me and i may be utterly wrong that there seems to be a constant stream of Djs fighting or having issues with there laptops could it be that domestic laptops for want of a better term are not up to the job we Djs expect of them as i say i am a novice but i have noticed that when im backstage with some of the big name jocks i only ever see Macs why is that ? can someone explain.I myself have been digital for many years but have never used a laptop for Dj work other than running lighting and yet have never had a glitch in 10 years as i said to me they seem more trouble than there worth or am missing something and should be using one.

Get Me A DJ
04-01-2011, 10:53 PM
Windows 7 is much better so they have done well with that. but Mac still have the upper hand by all accounts.

I like them as they are very stable and do not get viruses.
They are also exceptionally well made and you know what your getting.
All apple stuff is solid well thought out and compact for the money.

I am sure some of the laptops like the vios can beat apple for performance but you still have to work with windows.
Each to thier own really. With a mac you can also run windows (not that you need too).

http://apcmag.com/15_reasons_macs_are_still_better_than_windows.htm

http://store.apple.com/uk-business/browse/campaigns/macleasing

Are you on commission? :D

yourdj
05-01-2011, 07:52 AM
Dunno about brilliant, but it's Old Git friendly. ;) Even I can make it play things. :D .

Agreed. :p

Serato is even easier still. Much simpler layout and tools etc.
The main problem was the lack of colouring on the waveforms which is very handy.
each colour is a different part of the track (ie bass drum, snare, vocals). Really handy when lining up cue points or scratching.

http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/268827-500-254.jpg

I suppose its a case of getting used to it.

- I think the main reason people are using VDJ is you do not need a dedicated controller and its cheap.


Are you on commission? :D

Hopefully if i send out enough links they will give me a free one :p

A well known brand of bass enhancer once contacted me when i was bigging them up and offered me a free unit for endorsement so you never know.