Build A Karaoke Laptop Computer

By "karaoke laptop" I'm referring to a laptop computer that can be used to host karaoke performances and play the song tracks from a hard drive instead of discs. The karaoke laptop described here is suitable for hosting professional karaoke shows and also great for the home user. Best of all it won't cost you a fortune.

The Laptop
The minimum hardware requirements of a laptop largely depends on the software you will be using. The hosting software we will be installing on this laptop does not require a powerful computer. In fact, most laptops sold over the past seven or eight years will suffice. If you don't already own one you might shop around for a good used one on ebay.

The minimum requirements for this laptop:

Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz or Higher
Windows XP Service Pack 2, Vista or 7
128 MB System RAM
64 MB Video Card
A Soundcard
5 MB Hard-Drive Space

    The laptop will need to have the extended desktop feature which allows you to display your workstation on the laptop while displaying the karaoke on a separate monitor or TV. The sound card that comes with the laptop is all that is usually needed.

External USB Hard Drive
    You will need a fairly large capacity external hard drive for storing the karaoke music. A 300GB drive should suffice in most cases. You may want to consider a duplicate drive as a backup in case of the first drive ever happens to fail.

CD/DVD Drive
    You will need an internal or external CD or DVD drive capable of ripping the song tracks from your CD+G discs. Later generation CD+G ripping applications work with many modern CD and DVD drives. The drive must support DAO/96 mode. The CDG Certified USB DVD+R External Mount is a great choice.

Hosting Software
    For professional features and ease of use JustKaraoke is hard to beat. Feature List

Singer Rotation and Playlist
Singer Announcement
Singer History
Ambient Music List (w/ Auto Management)
Request Tool Server (works with Free Client and Super Remote Request Tool)
Resizable Interface
Customize Announce Singer
Customize and Select Logos and Backgrounds
Auto Gain Control (live normalize and compress)
Single Player with Preview Screen
Two Output Screen Support
Key Control in Semi-Tones (Half-Keys)
Multiplex Options
Easy Search and Database Lookup
Quick Sound Effects
Hot Keys
Next Singer Ticker
Auto Recovery List (Recovers from a Power Failure)

CD+G Ripping Software
To rip the song tracks from your CD+G discs, to the compressed MP3+G trademark

format, I recommend Power CD+G Burner and many professional karaoke hosts would agree. This software produces professional results and has automatic song naming using free online karaoke databases.

Audio and Video Connections
    You will connect the audio with an 1/8" stereo to dual RCA adapter cable that connects from the earphone jack of the laptop to the RCA connections of your mixer.

    You can connect a monitor to the VGA connection of the laptop. If your laptop has an S-video outlet (most do) you can connect to any TV with an S-video input. Alternatively, you can use an RF Modulator with S-video input to convert the signal to VHF and then connect to any TV with a coaxial connection.

Putting It All Together
    Ripping all the songs from your CD+G discs is a time consuming venture. You will use Power CD+G Burner to rip them to the zipped MP3+G trademark

format. This will leave you with one file per song instead of two and JustKaraoke will index and play zip files just fine. It will serve you well to take your time and make sure you name all of your song files correctly.

Connect your extended monitor or TV to the laptop before you open JustKaraoke and the program will recognize it automatically. Importing your song library is easy and straight forward. Just be sure to select the correct naming convention.

You don't have to be a computer guru to build your own karaoke laptop. Once you have it up and running I assure you that you will never miss those karaoke discs.

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Build A Karaoke Laptop Computer