Converting to MP3

[Art Dearing]

:wow Nothing like information overload to make one stop dead in their tracks and take notice! :usd

I can't thank you both (CAP and Sir Wolfy) enough for your forthright and honest response to my dilema. Believe it or not, there are probably others lurking about who are commenting, "Yeah, just what I wanted to know!" Both comments are worthy of "benchmarking" for future use.

Having read your advice, I belive the generic build-your-own model will be the best fit for my Desktop. Can a laptop be generically built?

Cap, thank you for narrowing down the options: "Operating system, mp3 software, Office 2000, and that's edit! K.I.S.S." These were for the Laptop, right? CD-R/RW are automatically included as a minimum Laptop need? How much storage would you recommend? 80GB? Was Powerpoint included in "Office 2000" or is it a separate software program?

Geeeeee! Now I am confused! Would music database be stored in Laptop along with a certain quantity of CD music and MP3 music?

Let me see if I understand the double HD issue. The Desktop would have two distinct hard drives; one for operating system and office work, the other HD for storage of converted MP3 music files?

Why would the Laptop not be set up for wireless printing and internet use? Reason? Not doubting, only rationale for why not?

Cap...your website? Location in states? Telephone number? Could you email me from my website twinspindj.com?

I'll be in touch after I do more consulting. :nutz

Sir Wolfy, I look forward to your publication, too! Thanks for advice.

"Less Mic, more music for dancing"
"Still spinning after all these years...vinyl 45's and CDs"

DJ Art

[SirWolfy]

Oops, my bad... I should have more carefully read (and understood) exactly what you were asking. That being said, lemme rephrase a thing or two for you:

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Having read your advice, I belive the generic build-your-own model will be the best fit for my Desktop. Can a laptop be generically built?
[/b][/quote]

I thought you were asking about a CPS to DJ with only... For your desktop, yes you can just as easily (while saving money in the process) build yourself a top of the line computer for about 40% - 60% of the costs from a manufacturer. Laptops may be built as well and will save you some money in that respect, but for either case (and as Cap pointed out), you can just as easily get a good deal on E-Bay.

Office 2000 & Office XP (2002) both come standard with PowerPoint.

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Let me see if I understand the double HD issue. The Desktop would have two distinct hard drives; one for operating system and office work, the other HD for storage of converted MP3 music files?
[/b][/quote]

Yes. Even for a CPS that is used for DJ only, I highly recommend the use of at least two or more HDDs. The smaller drive (C:\) holds your OS, Microsoft Office, Quicken, Leisure Suit Larry; The Computer Game, etc. and on the second, larger drive (80GB minimum), you store all of your MP3s.

Simply put, your computer is constantly reading and writing stuff on your HDD, if your split the reading and writing between two or more drives, you reduce the workload on one drive, decrease the system latency (time lag between commands and execution) as well as making the overall functioning of the system that much more stable by spreading the work load. You of course can get rather fancy with HDD configuration, but thems the nitty-gritty of a multi-drive setup.

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Why would the Laptop not be set up for wireless printing and internet use? Reason? Not doubting, only rationale for why not?
[/b][/quote]

Sorry, I didn't mean that you shouldn't, just that it was not necessary. Wireless = slower data transfer rates plus the possiblity of losing your signal due to a number of factors. In the spirit of KISS, it's just something else that may potentially cause you problems later.

There, hopefully I was a lil less confusing that time...lol :tup

[Cap]

SirWolfy: Another computer geek. Hooray. Somebody to talk to!

So, let's have some fun. Described your home made desk top. Make me drool!!!!

[Art Dearing]

:clap Thank you Sir Wolfy for the extra effort to make clear the options available to me with regard to both Desktop and Laptop. :nutz And Cap, thank you for the call to ascertain my needs and clarify a myriad of digital details. Cap, have a super vacation that's just around the corner.

And Cap, for a single op who is able to knock down $100,000 in a single year doing nothing but DJ work, C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S! Albany, NY must have some deep pockets and a populace that just loves to PARTY!

It may be a while before I jump into the Digital arena, but at least I can begin converting CD's to MP3 in the interim. Looks like a new desktop and a minimally loaded 17" Laptop, designed for Presentations, emergency DJ backup, and music database recall. When I do decide to go digital, the concept of "3's" as perfected by Cap looks like the way to fly. But then, that's another thread.

:heh

DJ Art

[SirWolfy]

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So, let's have some fun. Described your home made desk top. Make me drool!!!!
[/b][/quote]

Make you drool on your keyboard from sleeping? lol

My two office towers are comparatively ancient, when speaking about puters...

System #1:

500MHz Celeron
512MB PC133 RAM
Intel 810E Chipset w/ 100MHz FSB
Onboard Audio & Video
40x32x50 CD-R/W
Linksys 10/100 PCI Ethernet Card
40GB 7200RPM Maxtor C:\
80GB 7200PRM Maxtor D:\ (Music Library Drive)
80GB 7200RPM Maxtor E:\ (Backup of Library Drive)

System #2:

550MHz PIII
640MB PC133 RAM
Intel 443 Chipset w/ 66MHz FSB
NVidia AGP 2MB VRAM
SoundBlaster Live PCI Audio
Linksys 10/100 PCI Ethernet Card
Promise Technologies Ultra ATA/66 PCI Card
16x DVD-ROM
10x8x32 CD-R/W
20GB 5400RPM Seagate C:\
20GB 5400RPM Seagate D:\
20GB 5400RPM Western Digital E:\
30GB 5400RPM Western Digital F:\
40GB 7200RPM Maxtor G:\
60GB 7200RPM Maxtor H:\

[Cap]

Art: The vacation was wonderful and I'm always glad to be of any help I can.

Having a well established and squeaky clean reputation for service while pursuing this career choice as a business allows for a comfortable income. I can't make any comparison about my area to anywhere else because "here" is the only place I've practised my trade.

50 mile service radius, 800,000 total population, 261 facilties that can have a banquet/party of 80 or more people, 97 DJ's in the yellow pages (2 times that amount underground), and 9 out of 10 events are 5 hours max, the first hour being a social/cocktail hour.


Sir Wolfy: Work horses, for sure! You have the stuff that allows you the right to say "They don't make 'em like they used to"!

Hmmm, maybe I can reverse that drool syndrome:

ASUS P4C800-E Motherboard;
2.8ghz P-4, 800mhz f/s bus;
Intel 875P MCH chip set;
1 gb (2 -512mb Matched Chip) PC3200 DDR-SDRAM;
nVidia GForce 5600 Video Card (256mb ram);
DI-514 wireless router;
C: = 36gb WD 10,000rpm Raptor SATA drive;
D: = 72gb WD 10,1000rpm Raptor SATA drive;
5 - external IEEE1394 7,200 rpm hard drives from 60gb to 120gb;
2 - internal CD/R/RW DVD/R/RW (Dual Layer - 9.4gb) drives;
SB Live sound card;
GigaAPort-AG USB sound card.

Do you need a tissue? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

[SirWolfy]

:tup Sweet!

[Cap]

Sweet? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/huh.gif[/img] SWEET? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/img] Is that all? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif[/img]

Guess I'll have to try harder next time. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

[SirWolfy]

Would it help if I said I was a tad bit jealous too??? lol :wow

[Cap]

That's BETTER!!!! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]