Karaoke Forums

Hello gang,

I am trying to asisst my Father in moving to a laptop system.
He is in his 60's and is tired of lugging around a lot of heavy equip.
I don't know much about Karaoke equip and he doesn't know much about computers.
So we are the blind leading the blind.
He is using a multi disc system with a vocopro dig converter.
He has nice Peavey speakers and a decent mixer an the voice processer.
I am not sure if he has any software....I do know he has KJPro to create his books.

I need some helpful advice about what laptop to purchase etc.
His budget is probably around $1200 ~ $1800.
He is playing about 2 or 3 times a month (mostly bars) but plans to step it up a bit.
I told him about the MTU KJ ready laptops but that didn't excite him.
What about the Dell Multimedia Laptop?
Whatever advice you have...we would appreciate.

We do realize his entire collection will have to be "ripped" and he will have to be able to troubleshoot the laptop if he has problems.  These are some of the reasons he has held off going to a laptop but he says he is ready to tackle this.

TIA   - JEFF

You're probably going to need an external drive for the songs and you're going to need a cdg capable drive to import the songs.  Why didn't the MTU units not excite him?  If I hadn't built mine and had the price range that would have gotten me one of their laptops, I probably would have gone with it as their unit is specialized for the karaoke envirement.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I have been using a Toshiba Satellite A105-S2081 which I bought from Compusa for only $399.99.  I added one gig of memory to it and it has been running quite fast.  It has dual display which is needed for hosting karaoke and USB ports for hooking up an external hard drive and a Maya 44 USB sound card.  I use Roxbox for hosting karaoke and it works a lot better than Sax n Dotty or others out there.  It also uses MP3G which seems to be quite common among computer-based karaoke systems.  MTU is very expensive and uses a proprietary format.
You will need to rip the CDGs to MP3Gs and should consider getting Plextor CD drives.  If your budget is $1800, the money you'll save by not buying the MTU based system can be used to buy a better mixer.  I bought a Mackie CFX12 used off of ebay for only $220.

Good luck.

This has been discussed to death but....  Don't use a laptop, go rackmount.  Cheaper and more dependable.  Any old computer can run karaoke, you just need the right software.  You don't need to even spend money on software.  AutoKDJ is freeware, Sacks-O-Nuts is beg-ware (you don't have to pay for it) there is no need to pay big bucks for MTU or Compuhost.  You can do a little research and save thousands!

I agree with Weed on this one, it has been talked to death, and if I had to do it over again, I would go with a rack mount PC.

As far as software.  It seems the more $$$ you have to spend of software, the more powereful and more expensive the computer running it has to be.  People are going to say that this one is better than that one, but it is all personal preference.  TRY THEM ALL, they all offer some kind of trial period, or are free, and pick the one that works for YOU, not for others.

And.....I don't understand anyone paying MTU to "build" (yeah Right) you a laptop.  For the bucks you spend on their laptops, you can buy a similar one yourself for about 1/2 the price.  Then you could install the MTU software, and save about $400-$1000.

I am still undecided on laptop Vs rack mount.

Either way I will not do it without a computer back up.(2 computers)    Including backup hard drive.

Laptop Expensive.

Laptop Light weight.

Laptop will still need external Video and sound cards.

Laptop will run hotter.

Laptop has a built in monitor.

Laptop connections are possibly more lightweight.   Meaning they may not stand up to the plugging and unplugging every night.

Rack mount  Cheaper.

Rack mount Heavier.

Rack mount has more cooling.

Rack mount internal video and sound cards.

Rack mount no monitor.   Need an external one.

Rack mount less wiring to plug and unplug.





It all comes down to, which one can play the dance music better?

Did not realized that are free. Now i want to try them out and not limit my self to winamp.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Don't toss out winamp, both still requre winamp to work.  THey just dress it up a lot.

BTW, Roxbox offers a free program that will rip CDGs to MP3Gs.  Just visit roxbox.net and download the program.

I'm not sure why there is so much concern about the lack of speed of a laptop versus a screaming latest and the greatest rack-mount PC.  By the time you are done building a rack-mount PC, and buying a keyboard and an LCD monitor, you would have spent a lot of money.  You will also be carrying more weight and more gear.  My old setup used a minitower, a keyboard and an LCD monitor and I hated it.  The only difference with using a rack-mounted monitor and a minitower is that one is permanently mounted to a rack and the other is movable.  One could argue that having a minitower is better because you can still use the PC for other things.

My Toshiba laptop runs fast,  does not get hot, and very easy to set up.  Stay with Toshiba and you'll be happy with it.  Dell laptops tend to get too hot.  

As long you run Roxbox or other karaoke hoster out there and use MP3Gs, you should be okay with a laptop similar to mine.  The Maya 44 USB is cheap, very portable, and easy to set up.  External drives are getting cheaper and you might find a good deal out there.  I was able to buy an external drive with 250 gig at compusa for only $59 after rebate, then days later it was dropped further to $29 after rebate.

while I agree with your post. RoxBox isn't the end all of hosting programs but it is one of the better ones.    AutoKDJ is as good as RoxBox with some of it's features and if you get an older machine Sack-onuts is probably the best suited for that machine.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I bet Dad already has a desktop computer, huh?.....Ok, that's cool if he does.....let's save some money and let him host off a laptop if that's what he wants.

If he has a desktop, rip his cdg's with it using a cheap/compatable CD-ROM that will fit in a desktop....transfer the music to laptop or external drive, then use laptop or laptop with external drive to host....Also use knightshow's 40 buck USB soundblaster to interface the laptop with his mixer and he is good to go.

Do NOT buy ready made karaoke hosting laptop from anyone, especially MTU!....save at least half what they charge and buy the latest single core multimedia notebook with appropriate video that will support dual display and load it with free hosting/player software.....also add RAM up to 1 GB if not included.

He will be very happy and good to go.

As far as laptops getting too hot............

Make certain to NOT buy a laptop with a desktop CPU inside.

Yep, they make lots of laptops with desktop CPU's, and they run very hot and suck up battery power too....I've got one, so I know all about it.

A 'mobile' CPU costs a little more and is rated slower, but in actual use it works out to be faster and will run lots cooler and your battery will last up to twice as long.

My Dell laptop with the Celeron desktop CPU inside automaticly slows down as CPU temps increase.....The fan screams and sucks up battery power.....I did not save $$ when I bought it....I should have bought a 'true mobile' laptop and been done with it.

What's all this talk about DELL laptops overheating????

I have 2 and have ONLY had one over heat once, but only casue the AC broke in the bar and it was about 95 degrees in the corner I was set up in.  Pointed a small fan at the laptop, and all was fine.  One has a P4 in it, and the other a Celeron M.

Laptops have short legs. Always make sure that the fan intake on the bottom is not plugged up by setting on a hard surface.

 The question is not whether to have a laptop or rack mount, here are the factors to consider.  We have evolved into using both for redundancy.. Two hard drives (one for backup) should be able to be used on either the rack mount or laptop, in other words use usb on both... An external plextor can be used on both also using usb although there are not very many singers bringing in cd's anymore but either can be used for ripping...

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He does have a desktop already.
He is pretty well set on getting a laptop.

Thanks for the idea of doing the ripping on the desktop...he has a nice Sony CD burner on there that will likely handle the ripping (hopefully, I will check that out).

You guys are great!  Thanks for all the ideas!

Laptop may be a little more expensive but not much.

You will want an external sound card for the laptop but not an external video card.

Laptop with a mobile processor runs pretty cool.

You can use a USB hub to plug in the external hard drive, sound card, and wireless mouse receiver so there's only one USB plug to the laptop.

Rackmount also needs external keyboard.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not some laptop fanboy.  I actually want to build a rackmount system.  I just think that, in you dad's case, he would be better off with a laptop for it's simplicity and weight.

The laptop will break (all computers do).  With rackmount only part of it breaks, and you can replace that part cheaply and quickly.  When a laptop breaks the whole thing is down and there are no generic parts.  There are just too many things that can and will go wrong with a laptop to use it for a karaoke machine unless you are going to buy a backup laptop while you're at it.  Money down the toidy.

Celeron M means 'Mobile'....It is not a desktop CPU, it is designed to be in a laptop therefore it runs cooler and your battery will last longer.

I was not dissing Dell...any laptop with a desktop CPU will have the same problem.