I know I'm getting into this a little late, but I do have a few comments since i've been familiar with the CAVS system for a number of years and have been doing digital djing and karaoke for about 3 years.
First off the while the CAVS system is convenient...it is more of a pain then it is worth the money. First you are only allowed up to 20,000 songs on an 80ghd. That is the max the system will allow, (though there are ways to be able to add a 2nd hard drive IF you really know what you are doing). The second problem is they use a proprietary formating system which if you don't know how to do it, you'll be sending your hard drive back to CAVS and be paying about 100.00 for them to do it. Third CAVS uses a proprietary .MCG+G format. This is a different MCG format than we all know that uses .mp3 and cdg or mcg. So if you ever decided to change systems you'll be stuck converting all your files. I have done this and it is no easy task by far. I switched from CAVS for all of these reasons.
With a computerized system there is no limitation on how much you can have in your catalog PLUS you are not limited to karaoke. You can do digital DJing as well which is nice to be able to play some stuff between people singing...or if you like to throw in a few dance tunes here and there. The best karaoke software out there by far is PCDJ's Karaoke. It is able to be used as a stand alone (which will play MP3+G (cdg's), and all WMA or MP3 audio files, or you can use it with any of PCDJ"s VRM packages. The karaoke is 99.00 which is about the same price as some of the lesser quality karaoke programs. Also very few of the other programs use the standard CDG format. The other advantage of the PCDJ is that all MP3+G files can be zipped into a .ZIP format saving you a LOT of disk space. I have been using MP3TOOLZ to do all my CDG ripping. No special cdrom required unlike other programs. Also MP3TOOLZ will ripp, convert, zip and name all your files using KJPRO's cdg data. Basically all I do is put the disc in, tell it how i want the files named, tell it the name of the disc and done! In about 10min the disc is on the computer ready to use.
The other nice feature about the PCDJ karaoke is the ease of use, displays, song lists....etc...the list goes on...you really should try this before spending money on something else.
As far as the computer/laptop. You are better off buying something yourself. You are going to spend a TONS more money on the MTU system...and to be honest the HOSTER program is far inferior to PCDJ's. I've tried it and it's not very user friendly in my opinion and I don't have much patience for that. LOL
I went on ebay and bought an HP Pavilion with an XP mobile processor, 60ghd, s-video out and that's all you need really. I paid 700 for this one compared to paying twice that if not more for MTU's setup.
Also PCDJ tries to sell you on the sound cards, but i've found a way to be able to plug into the headphone port and go right into my mixer and be able to DJ and do karaoke just fine. If 60g isn't enough you can find one with a bigger drive or just upgrade to a bigger internal or get the 2.5" external usb drives. They get power right from the usb port (as long as its usb 2.0). Also you can get the Dac 2 controller for PCDJ. Controls the music just like a real dual cd player. I love it. I can mix just as good as the guys in the clubs (sometimes even better LOL)
Well anyways I'd be glad to answer any questions you might have, and if you still decide to go with MTU....well good luck!
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