Laptop advice

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
Post Reply
rbenton
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:33 pm
Location: El Dorad Hills, CA
Been thanked: 34 times
Contact:

Laptop advice

Post by rbenton »

I am gearing up to look at the sun in Ha for the first time. I have the scope, and a 6mp PGR Grasshopper3. I am a Mac user, but sadly the software support for this hobby on a Mac is pitiful. So I need to get a Windows laptop to run the camera and process the files. I won't use the new machine for anything else, so I want to spend a little as possible on it. What specs should I be looking for in a new laptop that will get the job done? (without later wishing I had spent more) Lots of RAM? Big HD? SSD? Fast processor? Thanks to everyone on this forum for their help so far. I am excited to get started.

Randall Benton


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34526
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17521 times
Been thanked: 8763 times

Re: Laptop advice

Post by Montana »

Must have a fast write speed SSD, I have the Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB and it is very good. Writes at 520MB/s

Alexandra


User avatar
rxdeath
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 168
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:05 am
Been thanked: 61 times

Re: Laptop advice

Post by rxdeath »

definitely need an ssd if you're serious as alexandra says, the bottleneck for most people will be hard drive i/o so that's really paramount, you can make up for it a little with a truckload of ram, but it'd be cheaper just to get a nice ssd, and as far as capturing you will really want it.

as far as processing, you are combing video files, and video editing is one of the most processor intensive tasks left in today's high end electronics world where everyone has amazing computer power at their disposal for cheap. you don't NEED it but it will make a huge difference in processing time if you buy a cheapy processor and only 4 gigs of ram.

as do many others i'm sure, i try and max out those 3 specs because it's all useful, but if i had to rate one the most important it would be ssd, followed by proc, then ram (really any decent machine should have 6-8 gb anyway, not to mention usually ram is owner-serviceable/upgradable)

many times i'm already processing video in as2 while i'm capturing new stuff so i can evaluate if i like preliminary post processing results.

i use a lenovo t560, it was under 2k, 512 ssd, i7 proc, 6gb ram. occasionally i wish i had sprung for more ram, but again that is the thing easy to add on later so no big deal.


User avatar
Annanub
The Sun?
The Sun?
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 12:27 am
Location: Bermuda

Laptop advice

Post by Annanub »

Sorry man. No advice here. Never had a laptop. Wheres that damn Woody? Hes the man.

___
XRumer 12.0.17 + SocPlugin : Most popular program for SMM


User avatar
04Stefan07
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 163
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:10 am
Location: Australia
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Laptop advice

Post by 04Stefan07 »

I use a MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 model with an i5, 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM for when I am out on the field. This is running BootCamp with Windows 10. For my main processing machine I am running Windows 10 with multiple SSD's, 16GB RAM and an i5 processor.

If you are going for just the one laptop get something beefy and I highly recommend an SSD. It's the way computing is going.

Recommended specs
- Intel i7 (4th, 5th or 6th generation)
- Minimum 8GB but if you can afford it just go for 16GB
- Solid State Drive is a must! They are getting cheaper and cheaper. Depending how much storage you need make sure you have 250GB minimum
- A decent graphics card for Photoshop will help!


SOLAR SCOPES: Lunt LS50THa Pressure Tuned with B600 filter & Moonlite Focuser, Daystar Quark Chromosphere
MOUNTS: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro & Skywatcher Star Adventurer
CAMERA: Player One Neptune-M & Flea3 1.3 MP Mono USB3
adair
The Sun?
The Sun?
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 4:12 am

Re: Laptop advice

Post by adair »

What kind of work do you do on your laptop?


User avatar
solarchat
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4355
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Has thanked: 83 times
Been thanked: 1304 times
Contact:

Re: Laptop advice

Post by solarchat »

Im the lone wolf here being all Mac. I use 4-6 year old macbook pros and iMacs in this hobby. I have found that the SSDs offer the biggest overall improvement for solar imaging capturing and processing followed by more RAM.


Stephen W. Ramsden
Atlanta, GA USA
Founder/Director Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
http://www.solarastronomy.org
adair
The Sun?
The Sun?
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 4:12 am

Re: Laptop advice

Post by adair »



Post Reply