Best Laptop For DJing

Buying the best laptop for DJing isn't just about buying the best laptop you can afford. When it comes to music and music production there are specific things you need to look out for, which help you get through your set on stage.

Without the right laptop you could find that your set isn't running as smoothly as you’d like it to. 

There is nothing worse than when your laptop lets you down at the most important moment. Whether that is at the start of your set, between tracks or just before a heavy drop.

It may seem difficult to choose the right laptop for you, but you have plenty of choice.

In this article we have collected the best laptops for DJing on the market right now, which will take your sets to the next level. 

Best Laptop For DJing

OUR TOP PICK

Apple 2020 MacBook Pro M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD Storage) - Silver

It can’t be surprising that a MacBook is on the list. With up to 20 hours of battery life, you won’t have to worry about this laptop failing you mid set.

This is a powerful laptop with an 8 core CPU, which gives a faster performance. Making it easy to flick between applications seamlessly. Apps and files are loaded instantly, there is no waiting around with this laptop. 

The Apple MacBook Pro has two thunderbolt ports and a 13.3 inch screen. You will be able to clearly see what you are doing in any light. This is an easy and fast laptop to use and reply upon.

It is lightweight and has up to 8GB RAM and up to 512GB SSD storage space. You have plenty of disk space and nothing will affect its performance.

Pros

  • Long Battery Life - The MacBook Pro has up to 20 hours of battery life, so you won’t have to worry about this laptop dying on you during a set.. 
  • 13.3 inch display - A 13.3 inch screen, with perfect resolution so you can see your laptop in any light. 
  • Fast Performance  - This laptop has a 8 core CPU, which makes it 2.8 faster than a lot of other laptops. You’ll be able to easily flick between apps, files and applications with no issues.
  • Lightweight - This is an incredibly lightweight laptop, which makes it easy to carry around. 

Cons

  • Expensive - This one of the more expensive laptops but it does provide good quality. 
  • No USB ports - This laptop comes with 2 Thunderbolt ports and no USB ports.

EDITORS CHOICE

Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13' Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray

From the Apple family, the MacBook Air is an extremely lightweight and compact laptop choice. This is one of their thinnest laptops they have created so far, which makes it easy to carry around with all your other equipment.

This laptop comes with an Apple M1 chip with an 8-core CPU. This gives you a 3.5x faster performance with its 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor.

With similar running time like MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air manages to last for up to 8 to 12 hours, although some customers have claimed that their Air lasted up to 16 hours. 

The Air has two Thunderbolt ports and two USB ports and a 13.3 inch screen. This laptop comes in at a lower price compared to other Apple laptops, which makes it a great option for DJ’s who are just starting out. 

Pros

  • Reasonable Price - Compared to the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air comes in at a lower and more affordable price if you really want a MacBook. 
  • Thin and Lightweight - This laptop is one of the more thinner laptops on the market, thus making it lighter and easy to handle and carry around. 
  • Long Battery Life - When being in constant use this laptop can last up to 12 hours between charges. 
  • Fast Processor - The MacBook Air has a fast processor, therefore this laptop has a quick performance rate.

Cons

  • Not suitable for heavy workloads - This laptop doesn't enjoy heavy workloads, which causes the performance speed to slow down at times. Thus there is a chance of possible lags.

BEST VALUE

Dell XPS 15 laptop 15.6', 4K UHD InfinityEdge Touch, 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5, 1TB SSD storage, 16GB RAM, XPS7590-7565SLV-PUS

The Dell XPS 15 is one of the most powerful laptops Dell has created recently. This laptop has up to 64GB of memory and up to 2TB of SSD storage space.

This laptop will provide you with plenty of storage room with a quick performance response rate so you can run your applications quickly. You will have plenty of space to save your backup sets that you have sent so long putting together.

The Dell XPS 15 has a 4K display which will provide you with perfect visuals. This laptop features a powerful 9th generation processor, which helps make this laptop have a more reliable performance.

Featuring more ports so you connect more cables to help give your audience the best set possible. 

Pros

  • Fast Processor - The processor is fast so you run your applications quickly and don’t have to worry about any lag.
  • Storage - There are options to upgrade your storage and you can get up to 64GB of ram and up to 2TB of SSD storage space. This gives you plenty of space to save your backup sets that you worked so hard on.
  • Backlight Keyboard - You can use your keyboard while in the dark, so you can easily see what you are doing.

Cons

  • Speakers - The speakers are on the bottom of the laptop and therefore don’t sound very good when playing sound through them.
  • Screen Size - There are some laptops that have a slightly bigger screen size than this one on the list.

RUNNER UP

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 – 12.3' Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD – Matte Black with Black Type Cover

The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is a 2 in 1 tablet, this makes this product portable and compact. This is a versatile laptop, because you can type, draw, touch, write and work all in just one device.

The Surface Pro 7 contains a 10th generation Intel core processor and has both USB C and USB A ports. This laptop can last up to 10.5 hours and super fast charging abilities. You can get up to 80% of battery after just over an hour of charging.

Like most laptops, this Microsoft Surface Pro comes in Platinum or Matte Black. Compared to the MacBook this is a more affordable option and is a versatile product that will help you with your music sets.

The speakers are powerful and you can choose how much space and power you need.

However the issues customers faced with the Microsoft Surface Pro 6, were not fixed with the 7. Although, this is a much more affordable and portable laptop, due to its slick design.

Pros

  • USB-C  - This laptop comes with a USB-C port which is very versatile which a lot of laptops don't have.
  • Compact and lightweight - This is a tablet and a laptop in one. It is incredibly light and likely the lightest laptop on this list. The laptop can fold into a tablet thus making it small and easy to carry around.
  • Battery Life - This laptop has a long battery life of 10.5 hours and charges very quickly as well.

Cons

  • Pro 6 is very similar - There isn't much of an upgrade between the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and 7. They are both very similar, with  similar performance rates. 

RUNNER UP

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver

The Acer Aspire might be a brand you haven't heard of before. However if you are a DJ starting off or a DJ who is on a budget the Acer Aspire 5 Slim should be worthy of consideration.

This laptop might not be as thin as the other laptops on this list, but it is still easy and light enough to carry around. Weighing around 4.85 pounds, this laptop is quite large but it's not difficult to carry around.

However you need to make sure you have plenty of space when you want to use it. 

This laptop comes with a 8th-generation Intel Core processor and up to 16GB of ram. The Acer Spires has a 17.3-inch screen, so you won’t need to strain to see this screen. This laptop has all the ports that you will want or need.

It comes with two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0, a USB-C, Ethernet and SD memory card port. This is a great laptop for DJ’s who are on a budget but don’t want to compromise on quality. 

Pros

  • Price - This is a great laptop for DJ’s on a budget. It has a lower price but a similar performance to those higher priced laptops.
  • Plenty of ports - The Acer Aspire 5 comes with 4 different ports, an ethernet port and a SD memory port, so you will be able to connect to more devices from your laptop. 
  • 16GM RAM - This laptop comes with up to 16GM, which will give you lots of space for all your saved sets and music applications.
  • Processor - This laptop comes with a fast processor which means you can switch between applications and programs really quickly and with ease. 

Cons

  • Size - This is quite a large laptop, compared to others on the list but it isn't that heavy. It is still easy to carry around. 

Buyer’s Guide

When it comes to laptops there is so much to think about.

With so many options, it can be hard to know if a laptop will be good for DJing? It's a fine balance to find. You must be aware of certain components that make up the laptop, because some of these will tell you if your laptop is good for DJing or not.

Best Laptop For Djing

Processor

The processor, also known as the CPU, is one of the most important parts of your laptop. It is the brain of your computer. It is the thing that makes your laptop work properly. It is composed of a collection of cores and threads.

The more cores you have the better, because you need a powerful core to be able to run multiple programs, applications and plugins at the same time. If your core is too weak then your laptop will lag and the software may struggle to open.

You should be aiming for a processor of i5 or above, to make sure that your laptop wont lag on you. However if you aren’t under a budget then we’d recommend a processor that is i7 or above because they are better than i5.

You may find laptops with a processor of i5 or below are older models and you should try and look for newish models because they will have better processors, which in turn will help make Djing so much easier.

RAM

RAM is always important as you want to make sure you have enough space for all your work. Depending on what kind of DJ you are, this may affect how much RAM you need. You will need a minimum of 2GB of high speed RAM, but we’d recommend at least 8GB.

This will cover all your software demands and especially during a performance. If you produce your own tracks or remixes, we’d recommend a minimum of 8GB or more to cover the software. 

On a side note, if you work with an audio interface or turntable, you need to make sure that specs all meet the requirements of your equipment. 

Connective Ports

Audio on these laptops arent of huge importance because you are most likely going to be connecting your laptop to external audio interfaces. However in the past few years more laptops are being created with fewer ports.

You need to be aware of how many and what kind of ports the laptop you are buying has. A lot of laptops come with USB-C and Thunderbolt ports, and while they are smaller and faster, a lot of equipment only uses USB.

You might have to buy adapters if you buy a laptop that will have no standard USB ports which may add to your costs. This is something you need to be aware of and keep your eye on when purchasing a new laptop.

Battery Life

The battery life for anyone is really important but it is even more important for a DJ. The last thing you want is for the low battery sign to appear during a set.

Try to get a laptop with a guaranteed longer battery life, so then you won't have to worry about finding a charger if your laptop does run low during a gig. Or find a laptop that has a quick charge.

Either way you want to find a laptop that won’t die on you. All the laptops mentioned above have very long battery lives which is what you want when you are a DJ. The battery life of your laptop should be the last thing that you need to worry about. 

Portability

You will be carrying this laptop around with you to wherever you are performing. Thus you need to make sure that your laptop is light enough to carry around with you. Ideally your laptop should be as lightweight as possible and thin, to make it easier to travel with. 

Conclusion

When it comes to finding the best laptop for DJing, you have lots of options to choose from. Some brands are seen as better than others, but in this list a wide range of laptops have been chosen.

There is a laptop on this list for everyone, for a first time DJ buying their first laptop, to a DJ on a budget and for the more experienced DJs. Each one will give you a great performance and a long battery life.

While also all these laptops have strong and fast processors that will be able to handle opening and dealing with multiple programs, applications and plugins at once.

MacBook may be your first thought when it comes to a laptop but this list has also shown you that some not so well known names can still give you what you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much RAM Do I Need For Djing?

You need an intel core of i5 or more, with at least 8GM of RAM to run your DJ applications, programs and plugins. 

Can I Use A Gaming Laptop For Djing?

You can use a gaming laptop for your Djing adventures as they have good processors and lots of RAM. However you will be spending your money more on the graphics that come with the laptop, that you don’t really need for Djing. 

Do You Need A Laptop To DJ?

You don’t have to have a laptop to be a DJ, some old school DJ’s rely on mixers and turntables. With that being said it is becoming harder to be a DJ without a laptop.

With a laptop you have all your music ready on one device and beatmatching is a lot easier with a laptop and the right programs installed.

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