I have just posted this on VJ Forums
I am wondering what the âUltimateâ (entry-level) live performing rig would consist of.
I am at the stage where I need to get a dedicated box, probably before a new years party next month.
I figure if I can work out what the ulitmate rig is, and the cost, I can take steps backwards until I hit my maximum price point.
I have been scrounging articles from around the place and have come up with a couple of possibilities. For obvious reasons a kick ass laptop would be pretty good. Nice and portable. Plenty of speed, and little power consumption. Something like an
Alienware Aurora⢠m9700 or Sagar NP9890-V . The Alienware seem better speccâd with the Dual Sli cards. But there is a lot of bad talk about poor build quality and crappy service, 15% charges on returns etc etc. So I think it would be a bit silly to buy from them.
The other alternative I guess is a shuttle or something. I am thinking a touch screen would be pretty cool as well. 17″ if possible.
Then I got to thinking for an ultimate rig I would really like 2 pcâs. I need a dedicated kick ass VJâing box - and a second box for Virtual DJâing on. Then both of them with touch screens or a KVM switch to alternate between them. Dual screen would be preferred though.
I am pleased to read that it sounds like the touch screens work well with Resolume and others.
I know that thermaltake make a double pc tower case for media centre pc and workstation in the same box. Clever. You can even get it with a 7″ pop out screen. Probably a bit small for my liking, but maybe be fine for virtual djâing. Or even find a Touch screen the same slot size.
I could always make a custom box. I have just received an old Osborne âportableâ from â84. I have a mind to mod it with a dual pc rig. It is quite large and i think capable of fitting two pcâs. One would probably have to be a micro form factor but that is OK, just costs a few more $. The beauty of this approach is I save $400 easy on a good chassis and If I play my cards right I will be able to reuse my existing components. I have an external M-Audio USB sound card so that will work well. I have an Athlon 2000+ or something with a Gig of ram, so that would probably work well for the DJâing. Then I could get a fat desktop from components and install them into the gutted Osborne. Slap on a couple of 17 touch screens, and youâre away laughing. Iâll partition the VJ box and set up images, one for dedicated VJâing, the other a general propose workstation. The DJâing pc would acts as a media centre pc when at home for uninterrupted listening/viewing while working on the other pc. A damn sight heavier than a laptop and a shit load more power consumptive as well. though.
I think for the same sort of $, say $3000 - for an nice laptop you could have a dual pc dual touchscreen rig - perfect for making the transition from DR _or_ VJ to âlive performerâ VJ ing perfectly matched visuals to your own DJ sets.
I am keen to hear peoples thoughts so Iâll check back over the next few weeks and see what you think.
