New laptop

[Anthony1979]

What laptop should i buy...  It will be used for capture, processing, stacking and storage.... Looking for what specs i should be looking at

[Frank the Troll]

Lots of Ram, and SSD for storage, I have 16g ram, and 480g ssd and a seperate 240g usb SSD for storage

Min dual core chip or quad core would be better, and intel rather than amd or celeron

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Frank the Troll

[noah4x4]

Depends entirely what camera and its demands, also what else you are running.

For example, I had an i5-7260U Intel NUC with merely 4 Gb RAM and my 16 megapixel Atik Horizon camera spluttered. Worked somewhat better with 8 Gb RAM, but still a little slow, notably after I added the graphics intensive Celestron CPWI. My system now flies with an i7-8559U processor and 16 Gb RAM.

A problem with both laptops and mini computers is that most steal system memory when loaded  with graphics intensive applications. You definitely need an appropriate level of RAM if you choose a large sensor, high resolution CMOS.

Conversely, folk with 1.2 megapixel cameras succeed with low specification laptops with modest RAM. 

If you can advise what camera and what else you will be running, we can offer more definitive advice.

[david_taurus83]

Buy the best laptop you can afford.

[Anthony1979]

I will be running APT, dss,and photoshop.. All using canon 450d

[bomberbaz]

I recently purchased a HP Envy, basic specs below

• AMD Ryzen 7 3700U Processor
• RAM: 16 GB / Storage: 512 GB SSD

Sadly it seems the price has gone up from £800 to £999. Anyway, it's extremely fast loading in less than 10 seconds, also comes with a dedicated graphics board.

The new Ryzen processors are far better than the old AMD processors and if you check out reviews give far better value for money than it's Intel counterpart.

Only fair to say I have not actually used it yet for processing images. However I do use it all the time for other processor intensive work and it is a huge (monumental even) step up from my last Intel chip machine.

[Adreneline]

I bought one of these two years ago; it runs SGPro, APP, PI, and PS-CS6 faultlessly. It also controls my Intel NUC (running all the same software) via Remote Desktop. At £260 I can't really fault it! OK, the display isn't on a par with my MacBook Pro but everything else is great and you could buy a 4K external monitor and still be quids in.

I replaced the DVD caddy with a second SSD caddy off eBay for £8.50 and fitted a 500GB SSD for image storage.

Refurbished, recycled, upcycled!

 

[Alien 13]

As a general rule a "gaming" laptop will have most of what you need, better still if it has dual SSD and HDD drives. The downsides with a laptop is cost vs performance and the screen colour accuracy with applications like Photoshop although this can be improved if you calibrate it with something like a Spyder 5 or similar.

Alan

[Anthony1979]

Im thinking pc for stacking and processing and laptop for capturing

[LukeSkywatcher]

Myself and Lorna recently bought this between us. We bought it in the local PCWorld.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Touchscreen-1920x1080-Business/dp/B07LCSD4CD/ref=asc_df_B07LCSD4CD/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583726547684139&th=1

Its brilliant for what we need it for.We paid about 660 euros. The next model up (essentially the same specs was about 900 euros).

Edited February 24, 2020 by LukeSkywatcher

[Gina]

I've found Amazon good for refurbished items.

[cjdawson]

I've gone for a different approach to the one machine to rule them all approach.   It has pro's and cons.

Here's my setups.   I have multiple scopes, so bare with me.

 

Scope 1 - Meade LX-90 8" Sct

* Laptop HP Pavillion 8Gb Ram, 256GB SSD, 15" screen (1366*768)

* ZWO ASI1600MM-PRO, with Filter wheel and LRGB filters.

* Starlight Xpress Superstar Guide scope.

* MyArdunioPro2 focusser.

* Software - SharpCap Pro, Carts De Ceil, Sequence Generator pro. ANVERS for plate solving, PHD2

 

Scope 2 - William Optics SpaceCat51 mounted on Skywatcher Star Adventurer.

* ASI Air (not pro)

* Canon 70D main camera

* ZWO 290-MM Guide Scope

* 64GB flash external storage

 

Seperate laptop - Macbook pro (2015 model).

Desktop - self build i7 with 32Gb ram.

Stacking software that I use - Astro Pixel Processor to stacking, Photoshop CC for post stacking processing and combining LRGB.

 

I've combined the MacBook and Desktop machines as I can use either or both interchangeably.   The Macbook is handy if I want to do the processing on the move,  the desktop is better when I'm at home.   Could also employ both machines if I had a lot to do, and wants to multi task.

 

The idea is that I use a dedicated machine for the image capture.  The HP Laptop runs my LX-90 and that's it's sole purpose.  This means that I could get a much cheaper machine when I purchased the machine as it was never intended to do anything other than control the scope and capture images.  It handles the pointing, slewing, guide processes with ease, and I mean it barely makes the processor work at all.    Image capturing again is handled easily.   Which means that for most of the time the i5 processor is overspec'ed for the job!   However, having that processing power available really comes into it's own when the platesolving kicks in.  It can do this quickly and without the need to be connected to the internet.

 

For my second scope, portability was also a concern, being able to run the whole setup from a Tracer battery, for a whole night without worrying about power is great.  The PI in the ASI Air is good enough to do all the tasks needed including the plate solving needed for polar alignment.  I've also used it to help with plate solving for finding targets - just have to manually slew and manually look up the co-ordinates in Sky Safari Pro to be able to see where the scope is actually pointing.

 

Having the processing seperated means that if I had several good nights in a row (wishful thinking) I would be able to transfer the images captured from the scopes to the processing laptop/desktop then perform the processing whilst the scopes are busy capturing the next set of data.

 

The downside of this approach of course is that you end up with more equipment to cart about.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I use an ASUS 14" Zenbook with an i7 and 16GB of RAM, plus a 1000 GB SSD. That works a treat on lunar imaging with the ASI183MC (19.6 FPS sustained capture). For DSO capture, with much slower data rates, my old i3-based laptop with a Samsung T5 external SSD worked fine

[LordLoki]

I would defenetly go for a ryzen machine since it beats Intel when it comes to multicore usage and price. But ultimatively I would agree with having a pc and a laptop. I have a beastly gaming rig which I use for processing and a 10+ year old nearly dead hp laptop that runs camera mount platesolving etc. 

Not the best for my nerves but it works just bought a ccd and filters etc so no money for laptop