Backup Option: Pocket PC

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I always have two laptops up and running but the backup lappy isn't connected to the controller. I had an outside gig a few years ago where someone stepped on the connection of two extension cords which caused the controller to reboot. When that happens it takes a while to get the lappy and controller reconnected. I had the wedding party lined up ready to be announced when this happened. The 2nd laptop was ready to go with the intro song cued up so it paid off to have that backup.

Any other mp3 playback device would have worked just as well in that scenario. I'm assuming Scott has the Ipads with cellular or he brings his own hotspot when using Spotify?
 
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I've seen plenty of failures besides inflicted damage (dropped, liquid intrusion, etc). Heat certainly is a problem but it's not the only problem. Windows Updates are known to cause failures. User operations can cause errors. There are so many items that have the potential for failure - drivers, memory crash, etc. Add wifi to the mix and it is more likely.
 
Here's an interesting YouTube video that's critical of the repeated engineering failures of Apple products, especially the 15" MacBook Pro gpu overheating problem. I don't think this guys a fluke, he has a large following.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaJ8pDlxi8


ittigger, since you have had a lot of hands on with this stuff, I'd be interested in your opinion of the reverse question for Windows laptops. Who, in your opinion, makes the most reliable one's?

My limited experience is -
Thinkpad, never broke
Toshiba, never broke
Samsung, never broke
Acer, never broke
Asus, screen failed.

Obviously too small a database to mean anything. I'm still of the opinion that most are good, but I'd be interested in anyone's opinion of a real stinker.
 
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Here's an interesting YouTube video that's critical of the repeated engineering failures of Apple products, especially the 15" MacBook Pro gpu overheating problem. I don't think this guys a fluke, he has a large following.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaJ8pDlxi8


ittigger, since you have had a lot of hands on with this stuff, I'd be interested in your opinion of the reverse question for Windows laptops. Who, in your opinion, makes the most reliable one's?

My limited experience is -
Thinkpad, never broke
Toshiba, never broke
Samsung, never broke
Acer, never broke
Asus, screen failed.

Obviously too small a database to mean anything. I'm still of the opinion that most are good, but I'd be interested in anyone's opinion of a real stinker.

Interesting video... I'm NOT an Apple PC guy, but have had 3 iPhones. One had the failed power button issue described in the video. I have an iMac. I was going to use it with my Small System, but did not want to use the stand. Then I discovered to remove the stand required an EXTREME disassembly of the computer, and high risk of damaging it, so I did not remove the stand. I use the iMac occasionally in my home office. I bought a Dell AIO PC for my Small System, and couldn't be happier... well... except that it runs Windows 10. There's the rub. Apple's OS is really good (for the most part), but you can't buy a copy and run it on hardware of YOUR choice. There's too few operating system options if you use your computer for DJing.

Something a lot of people don't know... there are surprisingly FEW manufacturers (sources) of computer components. Most PC manufacturers use the exact same suppliers (exact same parts). It's HOW they are engineered and assembled that makes all the difference. Most are assembled in China. Let me assure you, Chinese manufactures DON'T care if your computer is unreliable.

Used to be Dell products sucked. They were famous for buying the absolute cheapest parts available. The parts in one model were often different from another computer with the SAME model number. They changed... Now I believe Dell computers are as good as you can get. They also are VERY good about supporting their customers.
 
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ittigger, since you have had a lot of hands on with this stuff, I'd be interested in your opinion of the reverse question for Windows laptops. Who, in your opinion, makes the most reliable one's?

My limited experience is -
Thinkpad, never broke
Toshiba, never broke
Samsung, never broke
Acer, never broke
Asus, screen failed.

Obviously too small a database to mean anything. I'm still of the opinion that most are good, but I'd be interested in anyone's opinion of a real stinker.

I'm a big fan of Toshiba laptops - unfortunately they don't make them anymore. Vaio laptops were nice too. Thinkpad's are also pretty nice. I also like the ROG machines. I currently have an Asus desktop and it's been solid for years. I recently picked up an Asus laptop and it's been flawless thus far. My experience with Asus goes back to their P3B boards (Pentium III Coppermine), which also still runs - though it's very outdated. The flavor of the month in the office is the Dell Latitude - we experience very high service issues with the fan's and the errors it generates as well as other pieces, smart card readers, keyboards and docks. We've had many systems get new motherboards - because it was easier than trying to figure out what was wrong. All of these machines are less than 1 year old.

Acer's are on the lighter end of the scale IMO.

They all make crap - and they can all make good stuff. You can't expect the crap to work as good as the good stuff. Even the good stuff breaks. The best Windows machine currently is the Macbook Pro - and it's been king for a few years. This is not my opinion. This is the opinion of many, many reviews and after severe testing by the PC and Mac magazine and other groups. While we're discussing this, most desktops will outperform comparable laptops - much less restrictions, more air, bigger and more stable pieces of electronics, etc.
 
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I don't see me getting away from laptops any time soon. I prefer them over the cdj/mixer USB stick things. Prefer them over racked PC's, and prefer them over iPads.

What I like about iPads is the fantastic battery life. Don't even have to think about plugging it in during an event. Easy to carry around when I need it for other things...like mcing. And a fine DJ program that can fill in and become a main player if needed. Also, because it has its own 4g connection, I don't need another hot spot if I do need to get a song. And I can take credit cards on my iPad.
So, while I don't see the iPad replacing a laptop for me at event, I see it as a great add on
 
Used to be Dell products sucked. They were famous for buying the absolute cheapest parts available. The parts in one model were often different from another computer with the SAME model number. They changed... Now I believe Dell computers are as good as you can get. They also are VERY good about supporting their customers.

The Dell laptops (6530, 6540, 5570, 5580, 3510 and 4800) we have will demonstrate that as incorrect. It's not terrible but the Thinkpads were better (other than a few smart card readers, no problems whatsoever with the Thinkpads). The Dell guy is in about once a month.
 
The Dell laptops (6530, 6540, 5570, 5580, 3510 and 4800) we have will demonstrate that as incorrect. It's not terrible but the Thinkpads were better (other than a few smart card readers, no problems whatsoever with the Thinkpads). The Dell guy is in about once a month.
Well... I have been out of the IT/Computer Support business for a few years, but at the time, we supported 600 plus Latitude laptops, and about 1000 Optiplex desktops... all Dell, and they were very reliable. When anything did go wrong, the replacement part(s) were FedEx'd, or if I needed it, a technician would deliver and install it in any one of the 77 counties in Oklahoma that had an office my team supported. Perhaps my experience was better because of our location.:nod:

I'm using my Dell Latitude E6530 as I'm typing this post, and I use a Dell Optiplex 7440 AIO for my Small System computer. Love 'em both.:)
 
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I've been using Dell laptops to DJ with since 2005. But, I've been more of a Mac guy (for other things) since I bought my first Mac in 1997.

The only problem I had with a used Dell I bought was the fan was covered with dirt and stopped spinning. Found a video on youtube with step by step instructions on how to access the fan. Didn't need to be replaced, just cleaned.
 
I'm thinking about using my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with Djay Pro 2 and PERHAPS something like a Reloop Mixtour Portable DJ Controller as a backup system.

product-mixtour-a0839e8a429bbc0f64e7fb1b798ba146.png

Anybody using anything like this? I've only used the Djay 2 demo briefly, but it seems to have some pretty impressive features.

Screen is kinda small, but if I get it close enough, it might work?[emoji4]
 
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The Dell laptops (6530, 6540, 5570, 5580, 3510 and 4800) we have will demonstrate that as incorrect. It's not terrible but the Thinkpads were better (other than a few smart card readers, no problems whatsoever with the Thinkpads). The Dell guy is in about once a month.


I have 3 Inspirons (1525, 1540) one my main DJ machine, that have been running 10 and 11 years
 
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My main laptop and backup are Dell Latitudes. The 3rd and newest (and soon to be main) laptop is a Dell Inspiron gaming setup. I had 1 issue with the 1st Latitude (video cable issue) that they fixed under warranty 8 years ago and no issue since.
 
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I'm thinking about using my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with Djay Pro 2 and PERHAPS something like a Reloop Mixtour Portable DJ Controller as a backup system.

product-mixtour-a0839e8a429bbc0f64e7fb1b798ba146.png

Anybody using anything like this? I've only used the Djay 2 demo briefly, but it seems to have some pretty impressive features.

Screen is kinda small, but if I get it close enough, it might work?[emoji4]
I've set up my iPad and Numark DJ2GO similarly (borrowed someone's lightning USB adapter, but can do things just as easily on the iPad itself.
 
I've set up my iPad and Numark DJ2GO similarly (borrowed someone's lightning USB adapter, but can do things just as easily on the iPad itself.

I could run Djay Pro with the Surface Pro alone as well, but I'm concerned about the audio quality of the built-in sound card.
 
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Unless you're rocking uncompressed audio files (.wav, .flac, etc.), through a PA system, straight from the headphone jack .. no one would notice. That would simplify even more .. :)
 
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Backup Laptop (slightly older laptop) cloned from my daily DJ laptop. I love me some Carbon Copy Cloner :)

What is the sense of a backup, if it does not perform and operate the EXACT same way. When shits hits the fan, you need to carry out the job as if nothing happened.

Having a iPad loaded with music is pretty worthless since you can't actaully DJ and access your full libray the way you would on DJ software such as Traktor or Serato. I have an iPad with my mixes and background music (cocktail or dinner hr)...
 
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Backup Laptop (slightly older laptop) cloned from my daily DJ laptop. I love me some Carbon Copy Cloner :)

What is the sense of a backup, if it does not perform and operate the EXACT same way. When shits hits the fan, you need to carry out the job as if nothing happened.

Having a iPad loaded with music is pretty worthless since you can't actaully DJ and access your full libray the way you would on DJ software such as Traktor or Serato. I have an iPad with my mixes and background music (cocktail or dinner hr)...
But you CAN use an iPad to play a few songs while you get a spare laptop up and running.
 
a few songs?? So in the event, my computer just turned off (I assume that is what you mean), my backup laptop is already loaded. Just need to plug in the USB. So it's a matter of 10 seconds (if that).
 
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