Re: mp3 use - laptop purchase
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> On Tue, 4 Apr 2000, Ben Messinger wrote:
> >
> > I need to purchase a laptop within the next two weeks. One of the most
> > critical factors is superb sound support. One of the primary functions
> > of my laptop will be to serve up mp3's through an ampliphied sound
> > system at dances. I also am looking for a laptop with at least
> > 1024x768x24bit resolution/color.
> >
> > Please let me know which laptops have sound working well under Linux. I
> > am not so concerned with the quality of the speakers on the laptop, just
> > the quality of the signal at the line-out jack. Thanks in advance!
> >
I recently purchased a laptop with partially the same idea (I'm a
consultant so a laptop was going to be useful to take with me on trips
anyway).
I bought a second hand Toshiba 480CDT - 200MMX, 64Mb RAM, 6.8Gb HD,
800x600x32 TFT screen for $850aus (less than $500US). Unfortunately
it doesn't have a line out - only headphone out. However at volumes
appropriate for this sort of use you don't really hear any extra
noise as long as you set everything correctly. You can actually
purchase a line out module for the expansion port on the back if you
really want it though.
A side note as well: I think the worst part of MP3's if you aren't
ripping them from original CD's is that the typical encoding quality
is very poor. 128kb _should_ be fine, but not many people encode for
quality instead of speed, so you start to find extra noise and
glitches when playing through high quality equipment. But of course
you own the originals that you want to use and can encode them in
highest quality :)
> I'm not sure whether you would want a laptop if this is more or less what
> you plan to use your computer for. You have to decide whether its worth
> spending more or less double your money on a laptop for what you could get
> for half the price in a desktop form (and usually for better).
>
After using my laptop for this I think it's quite handy. A desktop not
only requires the case, but also space to use a keyboard, mouse and to
position a monitor. And if you use the laptop for other purposes, then
you can listen to some music as well.
> I would recommend any "bog-standard" Celeron 500Mhz desktop with an Aureal
> Vortex 2 card (around _65) thrown into one of its PCI slots. The Aureal
> Card is a very good card with digital in/out ports on it, also providing
> damn good sound quality.
>
> Remember on a laptop quality is often sacrificed for space (except for IBM
> thinkpads, however they are usually quite big) and so the sound although
> claiming to be 16bit may in real use be quite cruddy.
>
Most laptops use the same sound chips as desktops. Unless you're referring
to the ones with multi-purpose DSP sound/modem/whatever chips.
> You may say that only one of the uses of the laptop is to play mp3's,
> however how portable is your amplifier and its speakers? not very I would
> imagine. If you want a laptop I would buy a resonable "arounder" (if such
> a thing exists, you kjnow what I mean) and then as your mp3 player get an
> old 75-100Mhz Pentium with the aureal card thrown in and plugged into your
> amp. With a 1Gb harddisk you should be able store about 20-30 albums and
> also use the machine as a proxy server or fileserver. The old pentium
> will just sit in a box next to your amp, no need to move it
> around. Laptop's are not really mp3 players, and if I'm wrong their damn
> expensive ones :)
>
I think my purchase was extremely lucky at that price :) And with 6.8Gb
of space it is the perfect all-night mp3 source where you'll even be
able to take requests. If it's just general DJ'ing at places where they
already have sound systems (like home parties or whatever) then you
will only have to bring your laptop, but even at larger venues they don't
really make much space at the DJ console (to fit a desktop/monitor/keyboard).
Regards,
Steve
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