Laptop specs for image capture and processing

[Legoanakin]

Dear Stargazers,

 

I would really appreciate some advice as to what specs I should be looking for in a laptop that I want to use for image capture and processing.

 

My main concerns are around processing power required in order to run programs like Deep Sky Stacker and RegiStax etc. without having to wait days for the processing to complete.

 

I plan to store the images on an external HD which I already have but am looking to buy a new laptop which will be suitable. I would much rather have a laptop that is capable of both capture and processing rather than having a laptop for capture and a desktop for processing (unless the overwhelming consensus is that this is the way to go).

 

I'm not looking to go dirt-cheap or mega expensive and to be honest i'm not too concerned with budget at this stage. I just want to make sure I get the right specifications.

 

Thanks

[MoosBros]

the capture is not particularly resource heavy...The processing on the other had, well, yes, like most video or intensive image processing, lots of memory and  CPU muscle are important....which makes for a laptop up for the task with speed to have the beef of a desk top.....hey, it's only money......I use an Asus i3 netbook with full Win 8.1 in the field. I wouldn't even attempt to do processing on it even if it could,,,, it's just to slow.....I have a couple of Win7 desktops at home, one in particular with lots of real muscle.......All the software has min requirements listed, but they don't tell you how many birthdays will pass waiting, waiting,,, and waiting......

[riklaunim]

Similar thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/212139-laptop-recommendations-wanted/

If you want good performance at good price then you can look for Ivy Bridge sales on ebay and alike or maybe some Haswell promotions.

[Langy]

A few pointers to think about.

On capturing the main thing is the screen resolution. No good buying something with a small screen resolution when the live image you see is a lot bigger. I would guess that most modern laptops will cater for actual recording especially something that is good enough for processing.

For processing a couple of items are memory and processor. The more memory the better, if you go for at least 4GB would be good however if you go above 4GB then you will need 64 bit windows as 32 bit cannot make use of anything above 4GB. I think that DSS can make use of more than one processor at a time not sure about registax so best to check them both. If they do then a quad core processor will seriously cut down on your processing time.

Also you mention you will store the images on an external HDD, make sure they are stored on the laptop when processing as they will be far quicker. Copy or move them across when you have finished.

[lensman57]

Dear Stargazers,

 

I would really appreciate some advice as to what specs I should be looking for in a laptop that I want to use for image capture and processing.

 

My main concerns are around processing power required in order to run programs like Deep Sky Stacker and RegiStax etc. without having to wait days for the processing to complete.

 

I plan to store the images on an external HD which I already have but am looking to buy a new laptop which will be suitable. I would much rather have a laptop that is capable of both capture and processing rather than having a laptop for capture and a desktop for processing (unless the overwhelming consensus is that this is the way to go).

 

I'm not looking to go dirt-cheap or mega expensive and to be honest i'm not too concerned with budget at this stage. I just want to make sure I get the right specifications.

 

Thanks

Hi,

As has been mentioned the capture part is not as power hungry as the processing. I actually use an old laptop for the capture but  it does have 3Gig of ram and four fully implemented USB2 prots for fast downloading of the data ( some lowend laptops have problems with multiple USB2 ports ), as for processing I use an Win 7 64 i5 laptop  with 8Gig of ram and I find that I stuggle with both the StarTools and PI at times if I am processing the very large DSLR raw files, with CCD files I have no problem. DSS is a 32 bit piece of software and the speed of it is mainly dependant on the processor rather than RAM ( it can only see up to 3 Gig ). I would also make sure that all your hardware could work with USB3 of the newer machines as there are still driver issues with some hardware if you were going for a new one.

A.G

[JB80]

I think capture can be quite important, I know for example Imaging Source list a set of minimum computing requirements to run their cameras and on my old laptop I can't get the DMK41 to run at full fps rate. And the faster cameras now days like the ASI 120s probably use up a fair bit of resources too.

Just how much I would like to know myself.

[lensman57]

I think capture can be quite important, I know for example Imaging Source list a set of minimum computing requirements to run their cameras and on my old laptop I can't get the DMK41 to run at full fps rate. And the faster cameras now days like the ASI 120s probably use up a fair bit of resources too.

Just how much I would like to know myself.

The trick is not to allow the camera to use the computer do all the hardwork, if the camera is not capable of onboard processing then it becomes a resource hug. If at all possible the camera should be able to download data in the raw format and then process  by the computer post capture to maintain max fps, I know that ASI 120MM is capable of doing this.

A.G

[Legoanakin]

Thanks Riklaunim, that was a useful link.

[Legoanakin]

Thanks all for posting. It seems it is a lot down to individual preference for the best setup.

[Cornelius Varley]

Duplicate thread merged