Question: I am new to DJing. What is the best DJ laptop to use?
Okay so you want to be a laptop DJ and you’re wondering what brand of laptops you need? Don’t worry, you’re not the only beginner DJ to ask such a question and all truth told even veteran DJs making a switch from CDs (or vinyl!) ask me about the best DJ laptop.
The answer is simple and straightforward but also controversial.
The best DJ laptop is an Apple MacBook Pro.
No, Apple is not paying to write this. Yes, I have been on Mac every since I have been buying computers. No, I am not one of those Zealots (unless I owned shares in Apple Inc.). Yes, I have experience in PC based DJ laptops. Yes, if I had a child that wanted to get into DJing, I would purchase an Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop for her without even considering the alternatives.
Why should you use an Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop to get into computer based DJing?
There are many reasons and one day I will list them all but the most important one for me is:
An Apple MacBook Pro is unique while PC-based DJ laptops vary.
Let me explain with a real life example that happened among the circle of DJs I have regular lunches with.
DJ 1 (an made-up alias) tells us of a problem he has with his Serato. He fires up with Sony Vaio DJ laptop and we all take turns trying to figure out what the problem is (I was among the first to give up because I hardly know my way around PC based laptops) and we all fail.
A few days later, he tells us that there was a patch or driver or updated that he needed to download from Sony to make his Vaio DJ laptop work. At the next lunch, a Dell DJ laptop user laughed at him saying that he did not need to pay for drivers unlike what our Sony friend had to.
A few months later, DJ D (our Dell DJ laptop user) had a problem and he called another DJ friend in a panic because it was before a really important gig and he was on the other side of the city and had forgotten his power cable at home and needed someone to lend him one.
Needless to say that since no one else owned a Dell DJ laptop, he was in a jam and he had to resort to playing music from his back-up CD book.
Where am I getting with this?
With an Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop, you have 1) one piece of hardware that runs 2) one operating system. Finally, a Traktor or Serato is your 3) DJ software of choice. In total, there are only three variants.
(See in the above screenshot example for an example of how the PC world has so many variants for Traktor DJ software users!)
A PC DJ laptop has five for instance such as: 1) brand of the notebook 2) Windows XP or 3) Windows Vista or 4) Windows 7 (operating systems). Then 5) Intel 6) AMD in processors and finally 7) Traktor or Serato.
My record label has about five artists that all use the latest generation of Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptops. Three of us have the 15” while the rest are on the 13”.
Our operating systems are identical Mac OS 10.6 and while we all are on different models of processors, Intel makes them all.
In other words, we have the same laptop DJ systems (most of us are on Traktor Scratch Pro) and we can help each other out better because we tend to have the same issues.
For instance, one of the Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop user told me to be careful when turning my Internet connection on when Traktor is on. One day, I forgot and turned it on mid-set and the song froze for 3 seconds almost but I was like because it actually sounded like a cool effect!
Fast forward a year or so later… I overslept a disco nap and in my rush to make my gig, I forgot my stupid power adapter at home. In a panic, I called all my DJ friends for help but it never occurred to me that all DJs were working.
Then while lamenting to a lovely lady who worked the coat-check that evening, she told me that she had her MacBook laptop in her bag because she had come straight to the club from her early evening university classes.
Needless to say, she saved my butt that evening! Yes, sometimes being part of a herd can be a lifesaver! (Although I will admit that I try my best to hide the fact that I am on a Mac because I don’t want to come across as a hipster. Thank God for Speck Macbook laptop covers/cases!)
I will not say here and try to preach to anyone that an Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop is technically better than a Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Acer and what have you. The only truth that it is more expensive but you may want to read this article if you’re new to DJing: First Things First: DJ Stuff Can Be Expensive.
All I am going to say is that if you like life to be simple and easy and free of problems, you’re better off with an Apple MacBook Pro DJ laptop. I hope that the above examples (yes, that was a freaking long story) are aspects that will help you see this debate under a new light.