Which Laptop/Netbook

[oshb5]

Hello All

Now i have my kit to start and image i am going to get a laptop just for the Astronomy side. At the moment we have a few laptops/netbooks in the house to many infact lol, I use a sony Vaio 15.6 screen i also have a Acer Netbook 10" screen and there are various other that are just sat in the cupboard a Dell and a Toshiba but are all quite slow and only around 40gbs hard drive.

What i am wanting to ask is your opinions as to what you are using and would be best for astro imaging use in such as screen size, hard drive size and also portability. 10, 12" or larger for the screen size Obviously as much hard drive as possible and I suppose this is where the portability of the laptop will come in as well, I think my Sony is to large and heavy and the Acer is to small and not powerful enough as it only has a SSD hard drive and runs Linux

So over to you iv done about as much research as I think Is possible. So what are you all using in the field or any suggestions on which to get The other thing is I am not talking about new or anything over say max 200-250

thank you Andy

[Bizibilder]

What operating systems are the old 'uns? If XP (or Vista - YUK!!) they may well work for your astro stuff 40Gb is more than enough space.

[Whippy]

IMHO, I'd use an old one as they get a fair bit of abuse out in the field. Dew, dirt possibly even the odd spit of rain if you're not quick enough!

I use an aincent Toshiba laptop (hasn't even got USB2!) and it runs everything I need it to for image capture and guiding, I use a USB memory stick to transfer the data to my desktop machine for processing.

Tony..

[antimorris]

I agree with Tony - go cheap and something you dont necessarily mind getting rained on, dewed up, etc. I have a cheap ($100) Dell Netbook running XP that has crappy screen resolution and USB1 but runs everything I use to image, guide, Starry Night, etc at the same time just fine. However it was cheap enough that if something unfortunate happened to it, I wouldn't mind too terribly.

[RikM]

I have a little HP Mini netbook that does okay for me.

[fatwoul]

Up until now, I have been using a little Advent 4211, the only alteration being slightly more memory, and a larger hard drive. It is currently XP, and has only been used with Stellarium, and some basic capture stuff, but is now also running EQMOD without any problems. The only problem, I have found, is that even if a netbook is up to multi-tasking, the small screen makes it difficult. It is for that reason that I am handing all the telescope control over to a desktop I'm putting in my obsy, and letting my netbook concentrate on imaging duties. I'll still leave the other stuff on there for field use, but it should make things easier at home.

Anyway, it has served me well. Remember that whatever laptop you get, you should also try and get a piece of red gel to cover the screen (if you don't already have any), to preserve your night vision as best as possible.

[antimorris]

Definitely agree from fatwoul about the red cover! I had gel sheets for a while then ended up getting a sheet of red hard plastic, cutting it to size, and glued an elastic band on it and now i can slide it on easily with no fear of it blowing away, tearing, etc. Saving the night vision is essential!

[oshb5]

Anyway, it has served me well. Remember that whatever laptop you get, you should also try and get a piece of red gel to cover the screen (if you don't already have any), to preserve your night vision as best as possible.

Hi Thanks for the reply I have got a small piece of gel that i have used before on this Linux m/c for stelerium Buy for the XP iv come across a bit of free software called Night Screen or something close and it changes all the screen as if you have a red gel filter over it? So was thinking of using that to start. Iv also think i may have dropped on a Dell 420 its 12" Which is a god send as my eyes hurt looking at the 10" screen and only 512mb ram and 40 gig H/D but i do have a 80gig 2.5 H/D and i will have to try and up the memory I think i can get it for around £70 so a bargain i think and its quite thin so should be lite Just need a 12v power adapter next for it.. Will see how it goes

Andy

[Timbo]

We all use different set-ups!

I use a lightweight & very portable Asus EeePC 9" netbook running XP. Build is fantastic (we use over 70 of 'em at work, daily), lightweight and very portable. Biggest bonus is the many hours battery life. The latest Asus netbooks - 1005/8s & 1015s have even longer battery life and slightly larger 10.1" screen in same shell.

I would not hesitate to buy another Asus again.

hth