Expanse57

Actually, just checked another secondhand t430 we have, and it does seem to have two usb 3 ports, apparently they are blue and have a SS (superspeed) symbol. I shouldn't be surprised, since amazingly usb 3 ports came out in 2008 and the t430 in 2012. The refurbished ones are also significantly upgraded, wrt ram and hard drive, compared to original spec.

Thanks Drlojo. So, the t430 at least has the i5 cpu and SSD, but I suspect not the usb 3. Is the USB 3 a critical spec?

Thanks Clarkey. I was looking at an old lenovo T430, refurbished with 16GB Ram and 512 GB SSD. i5 processor. It's a chunky laptop and I'd probably need to get a new battery. Not sure if this would be OK, speedwise.

Hi. I'm thinking of getting a secondhand laptop for general use, and since I would like to do some astrophotography in future, thought it would be useful to know the minimum spec it should have, if I wanted to set it up linked directly to a guided scope? Excuse my ignorance on this, so any general advice on the computer spec side of astrophotography would be welcome. Thank you

Hi everyone Please can i have advice on best equipment for imaging planets? As a starting point, I'm thinking of buying C9. 25 nexstar evolution. Thank you for any help Mark

Hi everyone In the future, I'm thinking of buying a a C9. 25 nexstar evolution. What additional equipment would you recommend for planetary imaging? Best planetary camera? Any other tips? Thank you Mark

Hi Everyone. I would like to ask for advice on what people here would suggest for visual observation and astrophotography. I am not a complete beginner. Just to help set some parameters and indicate what I have, currently I have a secondhand ED80 and Mak 127,and a skywatcher az gti mount. I have been saving up slowly to get equipment which I want to be final purchases. I'm nearly 58. If my saving goes according to plan ( which is a BIG if, in these financial times), I hope to have a budget of around £4000 in two years. I've aimed for that time, as I know Jupiter will be at its best. I'd like to have equipment which can do both visual and astrophotography (planetary and dso) . I've been playing with the idea of the celestron SCT 9.25 with cgx mount. My thought is the mount could handle both astrophotography and visual. I know this would eat all the budget, but I could probably add a camera for planetary, for £ 300. I have a dslr already and an old t430 laptop. I am sure other people have already been down this path, so anything you've learnt that could help me, would be appreciated. One note, please don't recommend a dobsonian. Been there several decades ago. Now, goto and tracking is a must. 😉Thanks