I am thinking of buying a PC to use whilst DJ'ing I will still predominatly use my Cd's & occassional vinyl, but want to store all those mobile tunes on it, so in effect it will be used as a third player.

should i use a laptop or desktop style pc,
what is the minimum spec i need
do i need one or 2 soundcards
what is the easiest software to use

etc etc etc

Hi Ian
I use a laptop with Windows Me
800 celeron chip
128 RAM
40 gig hard drive
The computer is only used for music and does not connect to www or have anti virus
It is stable and has never crashed

Obviously the bigger chip and ram even more power for the future usage.

I use Mix Miester Pro 4 which is simple to use will beat mix if required or just radio mix tracks.
You get two screens one library and one live
Search for tracks by title or artist then drag & drop from library to live section & away they go
You can pause or change song by instant mix to next track.
You can load a list of tracks and save for next gig or save playlist from one night for use again
http://www.mixmeister.com/products.htm

For ripping MP3 tracks from my original CDs I use Music Match 1st class and imports & exports to mixmiester
http://www.musicmatch.com/

Playback from Laptop is via mini stereo jack headphone output into say chan 1 of my mixer
By adjusting laptop sound card volumes for optimum sound being sent via headphone socket.

It is possible to opt for a preview out put on mixmiester and by connecting a cheap external soundcard via USB port and then sending that signal to your mixer deck on another channel 2 you can then use head phones to preview the tracks yet to be played.

Be warned this is a very good system for finding the more obscure or modern day artist/song title. Requests can be found and played instanly It always amazes clients when they see how powerful this software is.

I still use CDs on the odd occassion and carry a few in case of system failures to see me through a night.

I find the system is really ace to use and gives you more time to chat to clients, sort requests, visit toilets, eat buffet, dance with the bride and generally focus on the audience reaction.

Clear as mud!

e mail me if you want more and I will ring you

I agree with Peteee on the Mixmeister front but I use a tower system with a 850 meg processor 256of ram and 100 gigabyte hard drive. I also use a tft flat monitor and cutomise the screen saver to the party.

Hope this helps.

Rob