Imaging Computer choices

[jetstream]

I may purchase a computer dedicated(basically) to imaging & processing software.What would be a good choice of processor,operating system RAM,etc?I am hoping that picking the right one will help me in my looming imaging adventure .

[Steve Ward]

I'd get a Windws 7 Laptop with as much memory as you can find , say a 1 Tb HDD and 1 Gb Memory. 

And a seperate external HDD for storage/back-up , 3 Tb for about $150 .

There seem to be some issues running certain AP software in W8 .

[Leveye]

Agreed on the windows 7 guiding programs like PHD just work better at this point. l also found that using USB 3 connections to autoguide my mount and using a canon camera had communication issues so leave yourself at least 3 USB 2 ports to use. I built my own PC with everything purchased thru Newegg for about 700 dollars and ended up with a killer rig that would have cost at least 2500 if purchased at a brick n mortar shop. Oh get the extra memory for sure cause RAW files add up quick.

[Jessun]

Depends if you want to travel to a dark site too I suppose where power is limited and lower specs might be a good idea.

I have taped over the USB3 ports on my laptop so I don't accidentaly plug the hub that runs all into it  - that always used to cause a complete crash.

Oh yeah, and W7 for sure. If the budget allows a SDD can be an idea for cold nights.

/Jesper

[JamesF]

I've been tempted to put an SSD in my imaging laptop.  It's very expensive for any decent size disk though.

James

[AlexB67]

I'd get a Windws 7 Laptop with as much memory as you can find , say a 1 Tb HDD and 1 Gb Memory. 

 

And a seperate external HDD for storage/back-up , 3 Tb for about $150 .

 

There seem to be some issues running certain AP software in W8 .

Not that I know anything about imaging in astro, but pretty sure I'd be right in saying that I would recommend to get at least 2Gb RAM these days, to be honest, I doubt, unless you buy second hand many machines will come with less than 2 GB in the laptop market anyway, by the time windows 7 has gobbled up a fair amount, and if you are using an onboard graphics chip that RAM will be shared with video memory, in that case 1 GB is not a lot of memory to do any serious work with.

[earth titan]

Imaging really isn't that fussy about PC speed. I run .phd, an ASCOM mount, CDC and Artemis capture on an old Samsung XP netbook.

The images from Artemis save directly on a central network over a LAN, pulling down from an Atik 314 over a USB 2.0 cable.

All devices run on a single multiport USB hub and there is never a murmur.

I wouldn't suggest an XP machine though as sorting out the .net framework required for ASCOM is a right pain as it takes a long time to find all the right drivers, but it just goes to show that any modern laptop will do.

I tried windows 8 and had issues with serial drivers for the EQMOD module ( I see FLO have a listed fix on their website though), but 7 seems fine.

[JamesF]

Good point.  Where speed (particularly disk speed) can be an issue is in imaging of solar system targets where framerates are potentially very high.

James

[kirkster501]

I have an "at the scope" laptop - a Dell 630 with 4Gig RAM and Core 2 Duo on Windows 7 - that I only use for tasks at my scope - i.e. ASCOM/EQmod/PHD/CdC/Artemis/APT.  I then dump all my data onto my main computer where I process it when I come in/following day.

The Dell 630 cost me £150 off the bay. Superb. I have considered upgrading to a SSD too.  A 64 Gig is only £60 or so.

[laser_jock99]

Laptop screens aren't great for image processing- you'll need to find a decent, large monitor to work with- it will show you things (e.g. noise in dark areas) that a small lappy screen won't.

My advice would be to keep a laptop/notebook for the scope and having a decent desktop pc for the hard work of processing. You don't want to spend hours looking at a small screen on slow computer.

My upcoming desktop image processing PC build will be something like this:

Intel i7 4770k processor

Gigabyte main board

16Gb RAM

Windows 7 64bit OS

250Gb solid state hard drive for the OS & programs

2 x 2Tb drives for storage

Plus a half decent display card.

[jetstream]

Laptop screens aren't great for image processing- you'll need to find a decent, large monitor to work with- it will show you things (e.g. noise in dark areas) that a small lappy screen won't.

My advice would be to keep a laptop/notebook for the scope and having a decent desktop pc for the hard work of processing. You don't want to spend hours looking at a small screen on slow computer.

My upcoming desktop image processing PC build will be something like this:

Intel i7 4770k processor

Gigabyte main board

16Gb RAM

Windows 7 64bit OS

250Gb solid state hard drive for the OS & programs

2 x 2Tb drives for storage

Plus a half decent display card.

A photographer friend has his processing software on a big desktop as well,I think your advice is a good one.I am trying to minimize any potential software conflicts as I don't really know anything about computers-I have friends that do however.Its funny,he also recommended the same i7 etc.Thank you

[jetstream]

Many thanks to everyone who has posted to help me along the way.There is great deal of info here that I will sort through,I'm sure glad I was told about using Windows 7 and all the other recommendations,this will really help me down the road.I can see the challenge to imaging and "kudos" to everyone that does.Thanks again

[leebca]

An additional question, if I may. . .

So the 'strategy' then is to use a laptop to control the camera; store images on the memory card(s); transfer the images from the memory card(s) to the pc for processing.  Is this right?

[earth titan]

An additional question, if I may. . .

So the 'strategy' then is to use a laptop to control the camera; store images on the memory card(s); transfer the images from the memory card(s) to the pc for processing. Is this right?

That's about it. My obsy PC is cheap, in case it gets damaged, wet etc. but I do my processing on a Macbook.

[leebca]

Do you swap out camera memory cards during the imaging session?

[JamesF]

An additional question, if I may. . .

So the 'strategy' then is to use a laptop to control the camera; store images on the memory card(s); transfer the images from the memory card(s) to the pc for processing.  Is this right?

I store the images on the laptop as well as or instead of the memory card in the camera.  The laptop is less likely to run out of space and if I'm taking a lot of images that might well be an issue, particularly with RAW format images.

James

[Steve Ward]

I now shoot directly onto a 3Tb HDD plugged into laptop , both DSLR RAW and AVI's from planetary cameras .

No fear of clogging up the laptop HDD again.