Laptop/notebook/tablet for mount and camera control/imaging

[Ouroboros]

My old Acer laptop has given up the ghost unfortunately.

I'm looking for a reasonably cheap replacement to drive my AZ-EQ6 mount, control my canon SLR and I need to run the usual PHD and BackyardEOS etc.

I could just go and buy a bulk standard £300-400 lap top. But I don't really need a lap top for other applications. I use a desktop and an iPad most of the time. Is there an alternative? A small notebook perhaps, or even a windows based tablet.

What do others use?

[oldpink]

if its only for control and capture a cheap entry level laptop will be ideal
problem with tablets and notebooks is lack of USB ports and decent HD size as you need decent storage capability for capture if you are like me
I can go 100gb in a session easily, also remember some tablets won't run PC software as they use Android etc

[richyrich_one]

I agree.

If you already have a desktop with plenty of grunt for processing images then a cheap laptop would be my choice. It would already have some pretty reasonable storage as standard. And of course those precious usb ports. You could use a USB hub but the less wires/connections the better in my opinion.

[Mukv]

Greetings

FWIW My route for control was a choice that came down to cost over function but in the end I got both, I have used for many years home build water cooled PC's overclocked to silly levels but when it came to laptops and multi tasking for astro  I opted for a used DELL XPS M1710 for the full HD screen resolution and the more than ample CPU

This cost me under £100 from the internet auction site EBAY

It can handle PHD BYE Firecap Stellarium ASCOM and it can handle some post processing with GIMP or PS with registax

Andy

[Vanilla]

Greetings

FWIW My route for control was a choice that came down to cost over function but in the end I got both, I have used for many years home build water cooled PC's overclocked to silly levels but when it came to laptops and multi tasking for astro  I opted for a used DELL XPS M1710 for the full HD screen resolution and the more than ample CPU

stats.PNG

This cost me under £100 from the internet auction site EBAY

It can handle PHD BYE Firecap Stellarium ASCOM and it can handle some post processing with GIMP or PS with registax

Andy

As a certified tech, MCSE (and all that stuff), I agree with Andy.

Buying a new  inexpensive laptop will put you in the position of fixing a cheap piece of junk over and over.

Find a used good model laptop (you can check past reviews on the web) and maybe even post your possible choice on this forum. Andy, myself and others will critique it. 

[Christopher Davenport]

+ 1 on industrial strength refurbished lappies.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/231189806192

I have one of these and they are solid and reliable.

All my imaging is done outside and lappy lives happily in a bag and works at sub zero temps.

[Amra]

I've just bought a Dell M1730 from a friend to fix up (it has a broken keyboard) and probably needs thermal paste re-applied & dust cleaning, it's a great machine that'll replace my old struggling Dell Inspiron 9400. I'm just relieved I don't have to spend a lot of money on a new laptop for astrophotography, I do all my processing on my desktop & just need something that runs smoothly and has a lot of USB 2.0 slots.

I'm just worried it's going to be a power guzzler for use in the field, for my Inspiron 9400 I used a car charger with my leisure battery, but this laptop consumes a lot more power. 

[Mukv]

Greetings

Agree the XPS is quite a power hungry beast  I bought a DC-DC inverter to turn 12V into 20V at around 140W and added it to my home made power tank.

Andy

[lensman57]

My old Acer laptop has given up the ghost unfortunately.

I'm looking for a reasonably cheap replacement to drive my AZ-EQ6 mount, control my canon SLR and I need to run the usual PHD and BackyardEOS etc.

I could just go and buy a bulk standard £300-400 lap top. But I don't really need a lap top for other applications. I use a desktop and an iPad most of the time. Is there an alternative? A small notebook perhaps, or even a windows based tablet.

What do others use?

Follow the posted link for the buisness laptop on ebay and find one their Dell 630 laptops, these have 4 full usb2 ports and are about £150.00, more than you'd need for capture and mount control. Processing is another matter and you need a lot of processing power and ram.

A.G

[Ouroboros]

Interesting suggestion to get a used, good quality lap top. I hadn't thought of that. I'll look into that.

I will also need to replace my ageing XP desktop at some point.

I'm quite keen to get an Apple Mac. I'm cheesed off with Windows, frankly. I don't like Windows 8.1.

It has occurred to me that I could instead buy an Apple laptop. For my day to day desktop requirements I would use the Apple OS.

I could use Boot Camp to run astronomy software that only works in Windows during an astronomy session.

[SnakeyJ]

Hp 4530s - rugged, pokey and usb3 - I got a freebie with a broken screen, which I replaced with a good 1080p panel and hi-res cable for £70. Probably best avoid win8 for the time being.

typed on my mobile with Tapatalk

[Christopher Davenport]

Hp 4530s - rugged, pokey and usb3 - I got a freebie with a broken screen, which I replaced with a good 1080p panel and hi-res cable for £70. Probably best avoid win8 for the time being.

typed on my mobile with Tapatalk

Win 8, is a bit of joke. It's going to take a lot to get me off Win7

My imaging rig runs on a stripped down version of XP. This only consumes 64mb of memory.

That leaves the other 3.6gig for other stuff

[oldpink]

the problem is Windows 8 is installed onto most new laptops these days

and you can't easily remove it and go back to Win 7, it can be done but you need a bit of computer savvy to do it

[Ouroboros]

Don't get me going about 8/8.1. I have bought and set up 3 lap tops with 8.1 for other people or groups within the last year. I've tried to love it. I've tried to see the problem as me being an old geezer not liking a new way of doing things. But however hard I try I can't help coming back to the view that it's a pile of poo. Frankly W8 should never have got out of the design meeting in which they sat around free associating ideas just to see what came out if it.

[Mukv]

Greetings

My second-hand Dell XPS has win7 ultimate but also win XP on a spare HDD in a c cradle for easy swapping, the XP drive has no antivirus or protection to slow it down it isn't even using networking in this configuration it is quite nimble for all things astro even a little post processing when away from home. It is the best £99 I ever spent on a piece of equipment for astro.

Andy