Question regarding laptop CPU

[John Wo_O]

I'll be in the market for another laptop since my old D630 was recently repurposed and so I have a question regarding the different types of CPU available.

The requirements per the site are

Windows 7 or Windows 8
Mac OS X 10.6 / 10.7 / 10.8 or 10.9
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.1 GHz or equivalent
2 GB RAM
Screen resolution 1280 x 720 pixels or higher

I'm planning on getting something used with a 3rd generation i5. There are M (mobile) models and U models (for ultra low voltage).
U models come with lower TDP but slower clock speed as well. So if you compare [url="http://processors.findthebest.com/compare/829-830/Intel-i5-3317U-vs-Intel-i5-3210M"]2 similar SKUs[/url] in each category, the M has a 2.5Ghz clock speed but the U has 1.7Ghz.

Would that be a problem with Cross? Any recommendations?

[DJ Vintage]

Any i5, regardless of speed, can run circles around the fastest Core2Duo. So a 3rd generation i5 should work just fine. Important is getting plenty of RAM memory (4GB minimum, 8GB advised) and the best thing to speed things up is getting a laptop with (or retrofitting) an SSD drive.

Finally, in general, (and I am most definitely not a big Apple fan) MacBook have some distinct advantages for audio/DJ work. If your budget allows it.

I'd even go as far as saying that a used two-year old MacBook is a better option than a new windows (especially windows 8) laptop.

Just my opinion of course.

Greetinx.

[RoJeC]

CPU speed is a key for the video functions, if you intent to record video even more.
With DJíng you should not consider any powersaving.
It will always instantly need capacity and cannot wait for an intelligent piece to decide it will increase a saving threshold.
A peak with 2.5 is solved like 33% faster then with 1.7. you would say, but in most cases it is way more, as a part of the capacity is used for 'general purpose'', so all the extra 0.8 is fully additional performance.

And you (likely) are investing to use it a couple of years... Memory and hdd usually can be replaced at reasonable cost, CPU upgrade is more tricky and expensive to do (given the history).

[John Wo_O]

thanks for the input gentlemen, very appreciated!

SSD speed is nice but not a necessity in my case, unlike the RAM.
Also I'm definitely not getting a macbook. If anything, it's just out of my budget.