Digital discos 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 I have thought about this for ages and ages. I am trying to come up with some ideas to case the following equipment 19" mixer 14" tft monitor Shuttle xpc Keyboard I have thought of some ideas but I'm sure you guys will know better solutions than a novice like me. If you could help that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
buck_rogers 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 Does it have to stay in the case or is it just to protect it during transport and you take it out at the gig when you get there. Matt Link to post Share on other sites
DJ Marky Marc 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 sell the shutle and build a 19" pc , use a rack mount tft in a draw with keyboard and mouse pad that pulls out, now case the lot up in a nice size flight case ! will look great ! <a href="http://www.djassociates.org"><img src="http://www.djassociates.org/anims/compres_banner.gif" alt="Join the DJ Associates Disc Jockey Association" border="0" width="468" height="60"></a> Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 Yes great idea but I have no intentions in selling my shuttle. I no a shuttle is not the best thing to case hence why i'm asking you guys. Suggestions greatly appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisPointon 0 Posted August 6, 2004 Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 There are custom cases which can be made for this sort of thing, but they cost a lot of money - often more expensive than the actual PC which is being flightcased. Q Flightcases Offer a range of DJ / PC Combi cases, so why not send them an email to see if they can help? The only cheap(er) way really is to brush up your woodwork skills and make something yourself. Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2004 Suppose I might as well try build something myself! I'm not particularly great with wood but I will give it a go. Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2004 Now I'm considering selling the shuttle and going for a rackmount pc. Do you reckon it would be worth getting ones of those large trolley/large rack type things. Something I could just wheel in a wheel out and no need to put on a table/stand? Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisPointon 0 Posted August 19, 2004 Report Share Posted August 19, 2004 If you get a standard rack Mount PC case complete with Fan and PSU and spaces for the external connectors and CDrom etc you should be able to rack it in a standard DJ style flightcase, as the common empty cases are only 4U high. Your cheapest option would be to buy the purpose built case with P4 PSU etc for around £130, fit you own memory, Motherboard, HDD, CD etc and then simply buy a stucco or ABS case and rack the completed cased PC in there. Link to post Share on other sites
Gary 0 Posted August 19, 2004 Report Share Posted August 19, 2004 (edited) Getting the TFT monitor cased, and in a usable position might be possible with this sort of design. http://freespace.virgin.net/gary.job/fromleftofcentre.jpg But, replace the two CD-deck control panels (top) for your TFT panel. You'd then have room for the mixer (I've got about 9U on a rise'n'fall rachet system) and room in front for a lift up, or slide out keyboard, if it wouldnt fit infront/behind the mixer. The back of the case (under the sloped back lid) remains high so you might get shuttle case in there. Coffee cup optional http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/beer.gif Edited August 19, 2004 by Gary Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 (edited) where can you get a case like that from? I suppose I would need to dismantle the monitor I.E take the legs off and some how strap it down. Maybe it would be easier getting a laptop? I'm sure after selling the shuttle I could afford to get a fairly lowish spec one and one of these would be ideal. Gig box What do you think? Would a laptop be up to the job? As I have heard lots of stories about overheating problems etc. Edited August 20, 2004 by Digital discos Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisPointon 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Laptops don't overheat these days. Business people on the road use and rely on them 8 or 9 hours a day, 5 days a week to communicate and do important deals. A few hours use at a gig every week won't kill it http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif . Usually the people saying that they overheat are the ones who have never actually owned one. Running software like OTS, PCDJ etc uses very little of the Laptop resources, and both my Sony Vaio and IBM R31 have thermally controlled fans, and it is very rare that you hear the Fan even running at full speed. I have been using a laptop for the last 6 Months, and never had an issue with either overheating or it's use (Touch Wood) even during the recent humid spell. I know, with a lot of people it's down to personal choice, but to carry around a full sized PC flightcased, and also a monitor flightcased then I may as well still be lugging around several cases of CD's. Unless you flightcase it all together, by wiring Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor etc then you just seem to be adding set up time to your Roadshow. I use and external Soundcard which is left pre-wired in the same flightcase as my mixer, so when I set up, all I do is to pull the USB lead from the Flightcase, plug it into the back of the Laptop and then plug in the Laptop PSU and thats it - instant Laptop D.J'ing http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif . When I get to the point where I need to use the external HDD, I hope to fit some sort of quick release mech into the case, so even the ext HDD and it's PSU is also left pre-wired in the main Flightcase. Some tips to consider when using a Laptop (1) Use an External Soundcard, I personally recommend the Creation MP3+ (2) Invest in a decent quality carry case or at least a protective bag (3) Buy a Spare PSU, they can be bought for £20 - £30 on Ebay (4) Buy an Earth loop isolator they cost less than £10 and you don't lose anything by keeping one fitted at all times just in case a hum appears. (5) Mount the Sound card in your main mixer flightcase. This way you can leave the Soundcard "safe" in a protective environment and the RCA outputs already pre-wired into the channel(s) of your mixer, then simply pull out the USB lead, plug it in your Laptop and your good to go http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif . You can mount this things easily using Cable Tie bases and cable ties!. A friend of mine uses a full size PC for his full time job along with a LCD Projector for making business presentations and in transport he has had problems with the PCI Cards vibrating loose and the Fan dropping off the CPU. Full size PC's in my mind are not made to be transported around from gig to gig, they are made to sit in a server rack or on a desk at home, and the problems which he has experienced certainly put me off. Certainly the 'D' Style connectors on the back of a conventional PC are not designed to be constantly plugged and unplugged. You only have to look inside most standard PC's using Tower or Desktop cases to see that they certainly aren't made for use 'on the road'. Plastic rivets holding the Motherboard in place, Stress clips holding the CPU fan on the heatsink, even the guides made to hold an AGP or PCI card in place often will 'give' if if the PC is turned upside down or subject to a lot of vibration. The last thing you want is to get to a gig and find that a PCI card has come slightly adrift from the motherboard socket and shorted out http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/scared.gif . Okay so Laptops are delicate too, which proves that whatever you use should be well protected, but it is often easier and cheaper to buy a Stucco case for a laptop than one for a PC & Monitor due to the size. I don't doubt that a PC has some advantages over a laptop, just as the size of a laptop has advantages over a PC, but given the size and bulk of a PC then don't skimp on protective flightcases if you choose this route. Again, it's personal choice, but if I was going to go with the full size PC route, then I wouldn't be shopping at PC world, I would be building my own, based on a proper server style 19" rack mount case. A good example of a 4U 19" Rackmount Chassis can be found Here Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Chris do you have any pics of how all your equipment is flightcased/arranged? Can you reccomend a good laptop for about £500? Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisPointon 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Main Flightcase Thread Link I paid £370 and £320 respectively for the Sony Vaio (P3 700Mhz) and IBM R31 (Celeron 1.2ghz) both from Ebay and they happily run OTSDJ with no problems whatsoever. I know Andy has run OTSDJ on a 500mhz Laptop for years http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif . You don't need to spend a fortune on a P4 2.6ghz etc for this sort of application. Here are some suggestions:- Sony Vaio P3 866mhz (Should go for £300 - £400) Bargain R31 - But be Quick! IBM T22 - 30GB HDD, 1.13GHZ Trust me when I say that you really don't need to go OTT on spec and price to get a decent laptop if you are running OTS or software with a similar minimum spec. Considering that it will run on a 266mhz Processor, even a 800mhz - 1ghz is plenty of additional processing power beyond what you need. Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 cheers, I'm going to take a trip down to bowlers one saturday. Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisPointon 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Links added to post above. Link to post Share on other sites
YourBigEvent 0 Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 I have run Ots on seven different machines P2 233MX P2 266 P3 500 P3 700 P3 800 x 2 Intel 2.2 Most had external hard drive caddies, all worked fine, in fact my preffered laptop is the P3 500, have used it for years, in fact noticed at my last gig I have played Can't Get Blue Monday Outta My Head by Kylie 100 times since my last clearout. Why buy a state of the art machine if you are not going to use it ? .....but what do I know ? Your Big Event Office:01803 813540 Direct: 0797 0717 448 e.mail:info@yourbigevent.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites
Digital discos 0 Posted October 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 so do you have any of your other laptops for sale? Link to post Share on other sites
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