Good laptop for imaging?

[broadsword]

I'm planning to move from an old desktop on its last legs to a laptop for image processing, and also for camera control, focusing improvement etc. Has anyone got a recommendation for the minimum/ideal spec. for the hardware, plus any sofware must haves? Any models particularly good? Thanks in advance.

[Bizibilder]

It may well pay to seek out a Windows 7 system as there is quite a bit of Astro specific software that won't (yet) run on Windows 8. A second advantage is that some suppliers are offloading decent spec computers pre-loaded with Windows 7 at quite good discounts.

[Stevp]

The more memory (ram) the better for image processing. I'd suggest 4gb of ram on a windows 7 machine as a minimum if you are using it for processing. It will work with 2+ of course, but you'll quickly see the advantages of more.

In terms of processor i'd reckon anything you get will be an improvement over an 'old' desktop.

[ian_bird]

Try to get Windows 7 32 Bit. Had a lot of problems with Windows 7 64 Bit. It does limit how much memory you can use to a maximum of 4 Gb - but that should be plenty.

Bigest

[ian_bird]

Try to go for Windows 7 32 Bit. I have had a lot of problems with Windows 7 64 Bit. Using 32 Bit will limit the memory you can use to 4 Gb - but that is usually more than enough.

[pete_l]

For telescope / obsy control, you really don't need a powerful or modern machine at all. Any old laptop running XP with 512MB or memory and 60GB of disk is good enough for that.

However, for image stacking/processing you'll want something with a fair bit of power, memory and disk space. Though one other thing I'd suggest is that you have a nice big external monitor (e.g. 23 inch full HD) plugged in for image processing. Trying to fit a reasonable sized astro image on a laptop screen AND all the I/P controls and pop-outs can be a pain. You may even find that a dedicated desktop + LED-LCD display is the best option for image processing combined with a cheapy, second hand laptop for telescope control.

[AstroAdam]

I tend to use my laptop for imaging, but transfer all the files to my dual screen quad core mac to process.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Viv]

You may need to split the requirements.

I have NetBook (Samsung) for outdoor use, the battery is 10 hours life & runs the camera software & scope software fine. Then have a HP Pavillion for pic processing. Proving its one with a good sized RAM & hard drive, allot should be ok.

[Stevp]

A "nice-to-have" feature for a laptop is a backlit keyboard if you're using it in low-light / dark a lot. It's a lot less obtrusive than having to direct a light at the keyboard to see what you're pressing.

[nightfisher]

I recently bought a HP 6910p second user from feebay, ex corp it came with win 7 64bit, 4 gig ram 500gig HD and a really fast pentium core 2 duo 9300 processor,it arrived in as new condition and its really good (still prefer my ibm stinkpad T40) i paid around £160 all in

[jjongmans]

I recently bought a windows 8 laptop, no problems so far. Running CCDAutoPilot, Maxim, CDC, FocusMax without problems. It's basically win7 with a different UI.

[broadsword]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I'll get a hi spec laptop for both uses (as the family want to use it as well, around the home), but I'll look for the back lit keboard and get a separate wide LCD screen for processing.

Anyone had any issues with moisture getting into a laptop during outdoor use?

[AstroAdam]

Generally they stay warm enough, and the internal fans help to avoid that. Never had any issues...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[earth titan]

In my experience mist current laptops work fine for AP. I run an old Vista :*) one to good effect in the obsy and an XP netbook for in the field.

These run the mount, tracking and the imaging camera fine.

Typed by me on my fone, using fumms... Excuse eny speling errurs.