So i'm on here looking for a new laptop for my brother who has recently decided to get into DJ stuff..

[Tommm]

So i'm on here looking for a new laptop for my brother who has recently decided to get into DJ stuff.. He's after a decent Laptop that can run high end programs for his work such as Photoshop, CAD software etc and DJ programs such as Rekordbox and other software. Just wondering if these specs of this laptop i picked are abit over kill or not good enough.., or if anyone has any idea of what laptop he/I should be looking at instead of this one? I would imagine this Laptop would be able todo most stuff with ease considering it's specs but would just like some more info or tips from others thanks! ✌

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
500GB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 535MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Battery
Optimus IX Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,010.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[ubuysa]

What's the budget? There is little point in people making suggestions if the cost of them is not affordable.

 

[Tommm]

What's the budget? There is little point in people making suggestions if the cost of them is not affordable.

Sorry my bad! I thought it said the price of the PC i quoted above Around£800-1100

 

[Frank100]

Hello,

As someone who occasionally DJs with a laptop and console, I do wish I had a bigger screen than 15.6" sometimes. That's in part because I am getting that bit older now but in terms of searching through lists of songs, it would make it a little easier. Some more expensive DJ consoles have their own screens and so you don't use the laptop screen much, if at all.

Getting a 17" laptop adds cost but more importantly adds size and reduces portability significantly. If the DJ thing is more of a sideline then I certainly wouldn't get the bigger one just for that. If DJ'ing will be the main thing and if portability for other uses isn't an issue, I'd recommend at least having a look at the size difference and see if the extra screen space is worth it.

As for spec, Serato, Traktor etc will all run very comfortably on that laptop.

Frank100

 

[Tommm]

Hello,

As someone who occasionally DJs with a laptop and console, I do wish I had a bigger screen than 15.6" sometimes. That's in part because I am getting that bit older now but in terms of searching through lists of songs, it would make it a little easier. Some more expensive DJ consoles have their own screens and so you don't use the laptop screen much, if at all.

Getting a 17" laptop adds cost but more importantly adds size and reduces portability significantly. If the DJ thing is more of a sideline then I certainly wouldn't get the bigger one just for that. If DJ'ing will be the main thing and if portability for other uses isn't an issue, I'd recommend at least having a look at the size difference and see if the extra screen space is worth it.

As for spec, Serato, Traktor etc will all run very comfortably on that laptop.

Frank100

Thanks Frank was wondering what you would recommend switching out/down grading on the current spec I have, to tone down the price so i can add in the bigger screen, trying to keep it close to 1000 as possible atm. Also looking back will 500GB SSD be enough? Mainly he will be using it for DJ stuff and music mixes etc I would assume they will take up some space so i'm not too sure on that either! any more tips would be handy before I purchase!

 

[markh]

From a music perspective, I'd add an extra 8gb RAM, so 16gb total. 8 is a bit light these days. Photo editing not my wheelhouse but I think it is RAM-hungry also. It'd be worth checking if there are any mentions about DPC latency in windows with the Optimus on these fora as that can be a thing in windows, it's the enemy of audio basically. Another way around would this be to dual boot Linux as latency tends to be much lower in Linux distros, but then the dj software you mentioned might not be available for Linux. If it wouldn't be too much of a compromise on the graphics card side, the Vyper laptop is very good value also.

 

[Frank100]

Hi,

Here's the 17" option on the same chassis: -

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1

FREE Geforce Fortnite bundle w/ select GTX cards
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Optimus IX Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: £955.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusix-17/S4R6yABBat/

As suggested minutes ago having 16GB of RAM makes a lot of sense. It will make a big difference on photo editing and many other tasks.

The savings have been achieved in two main ways. Firstly I have reduced the graphics chip to a 1050ti. It will do a decent job even for moderate to high (ish) end gaming but saves you quite a lot of money. The other is to not buy an external sound card. When using a DJ console you won't be using the laptop's sound chip but the console's one. The laptop will connect to the console via USB and the console will either have XLR or jack outputs direct to an amp or active speakers, or will have L+R phono outputs to go to a stereo mixer or an amp. The headphone socket will also be on the console so all the laptop is doing is hosting the music and running the software to integrate with the console.

I also changed the storage drive to a M.2 SATA, which will be much faster than the SSD you chose and leave you with a free 2.5" internal drive bay for future expansion. This M.2 SATA module also has slightly more space. I wouldn't go smaller for the price range you are paying.

The build could be tweaked further and in different ways for different purposes but from a DJ'ing point of view I think this one suits your purposes better.

Frank100

 

[markh]

Personally I'd spec up a Vyper - it'd have the same GPU/CPU and would save money, also the Vyper's chassis is known to handle cooling very well. Also since it adds very little extra I'd add in 2666MhZ RAM and put a faster SSD in, either the WD Black or Samsung. Something like this:

Chassis & Display
Vyper Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1

FREE Geforce Fortnite bundle w/ select GTX cards
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Vyper Series 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: £943.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/vyper-15/RsmQKdZWUq/

If you do go with the Optimus then definitely add the better thermal paste

 

[Tommm]

Thank you both Mark and Frank for the great advice! Franks one is looking like the winner so far, he loves the idea of the 17.3 Screen but also Marks lower price one is also a good shout. I think he will wait abit then probably go with the bigger one (17.3). Will probably add the better paste in too for him, Thank you both for the tips and advice!🤲

 

[Oussebon]

If going with Frank's spec, consider 2x8gb RAM rathre than 1x16gb. If you are sure you will want 32gb RAM in the future (think carefully on that, not all users will) then 1x16gb keeps a slot free for a second module.

If it's unlikely you'll need more than 16gb, then 2x8gb has the RAM in dual channel, which improves performance.

The Vyper's screen is probably not as good as the Optimus's in terms of colours - the % NTSC is quite a bit lower. Possibly an issue for someone running PS and CAD.