What to buy a 7D or good new lap top?

[hotspur]

I have earned some royalties over the last couple of months,and now have enough to buy a 7D or a good powerful lap top.

My current lap top is 5 years old,small RAM,has a few issues,I find it difficult to PP astro images in particular with it,as the DSS images are rather large for it.I have lost some interest in astro because of this,It also works every program-except EOS utility.I will get it totally cleaned out and re formatted,but it will cost me over $100 for the tec guy to get all the XP updates etc etc.

So,a very high spec lap top,with 5 GB or even 8GB RAM is very appealling-any suggestions on one? I could spend around $1000 and have a few hundred left over for some other toys (or bills:shrug:)

The other option I'd seriously like to look at is a Canon 7D,I have a 50D,it two years old,going strong-taken some good images,I am fairly pleased with it-a little noisy perhaps,but its never given trouble in use-still a good few years left in the tank.

But,a 7D has better AF-something I'd like for wildlife,better noise handling,and movie mode-rather important for a possible in the field project that could make money,and be a great challenge.

Most of my royalties come from wildlife images,I enjoy out in the field activities.My son is doing film and Television course and good at making editing footage,we were thinking of making some sort of in the field DVD and eventually look at selling them,we did some shooting with his 600D and 70-200 F 2.8, I am amazed at how crisp the video is.My 50D has no video feature,so I would need to look at a canon that does.As I would be most likely be the one getting the footage.

So not sure which option to take at present-any thoughts.Thanks

[rcheshire]

Chris. I would first buy the laptop first, because irrespective of the camera, post processing will be slow.

Cheers,

Rowland.

[hotspur]

Yes,I am leaning in the lap top direction,its a foundation piece for any photo projects.

Had a quick look in computer/software-they mention a Toshiba Qosomio laptop.(any suggestions appreciated)
Which appears to favoured,I also quickly read a few threads-appears when lappy's get to 5-6 years old people look for a replacement.Such is demands of users of gear on theses pages-seems updates in computers are more needed that updates in cameras.

[gregbradley]

As far as laptops go I wouldn't get another HP. I have had a few. My wife's one failed a few weeks ago after 5 years. The guy in the store reckoned that was a great life span for laptops. That they usually only last 2 years. He said ASUS lasted a bit longer at about 5.

I was surprised as I assumed a good laptop should last for 10. so buyer beware on laptops and it would be worth your while checking them out at review sites, personal recommendations etc.

Another possibility for video is the cheaper end Nikons. D3100 has video and I think they are only about $500. 7D no doubt has a better feature set in video but I am sure the little Nikon will be no slouch. That way you could get both.

A good high end laptop is more like around $1000 rather than $1500.

You'd want an i7 chip and 1 terrabyte of hard disk and a decent amount of RAM. I think I have 4gb RAM, i7, 700gb hard disk and this computer does astro processing fairly easily. Its an HP and it cost around $1000 about 2 years ago.

Greg.

[hotspur]

Thanks Greg.

I am thinking a decent laptop somewhere around $1000 might be the better option.The one I have,after its been re formatted etc,will still be a working computer,Its just it only has 1 GB RAM.I've not had any mechanical issues with it-its a Toshiba tecra,with matt screen (I like the matt screen-will be hard to get using gloss)

Any thoughts or suggestions on a 1K lap top most welcome,I know very little
about them,Toshiba use to be the best,but then I heard lots about them over heating,something about fan design not good,other names I have heard off being good are acer,and asus,one with this i7 bit sounds good,I've heard some have even up to 8GB RAM these days.

[koputai]

Chris,

The 7D is an awesome wildlife camera. See some of the pictures I've posted from our recent Galapagos and South America trip for examples of what a bad photographer can do with it!

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=89878

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=89843

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=90006


With a modern tele lens (I have the 70-300 L) with fast auto-focus (your 400/5.6 also has fast focus) the ability to capture that quick shot is fantastic.

Cheers,
Jason.

[pgc hunter]

Check out MSY. They seem to be provide the best bang for your buck.

One I found on their site:

Asus N53SM-SX164V

i7-2670 CPU
Nvidia GT630 2GB graphics card
4GB RAM
1TB hard drive

$999


You get get quite a few nice i7 machines for under a grand with dedicated graphics cards and 4-8GB of RAM.

check their full price list
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/notebook.pdf

[hotspur]

Thanks-looks like a handy site,and the have walk in stores too,one at Brendale,might be worth visiting.The Toshiba
machine just to left of the Asus one you mention also may be worth a look-it has 6 GB RAM

Yes,David-would certainly want to be able to add to the RAM,not sure if that can be done with Toshiba in my previous link.

[Octane]

MSY is fantastic, but, you need to know exactly what you want before you go in there.

http://ozsoapbox.com/melbourne/newbie-guide-how-to-shop-at-msy-australia/

^ so true.

H

[hotspur]

That's a handy read thanks H,amusing as it is,I imagine its all true.Sounds like going to a MSY store is like an electronic excursion of 'Indiana Jones' features-trap doors etc LOL

[MrB]

MSY are great.
Thats a great read H! :lol:
Fortunately the Perth store isn't too well known yet so I never have to wait long.

[jjjnettie]

I never knew that store existed H. The nearest one to me is nearly an hours drive away. Might have to head over there one day.

[pgc hunter]

I've been reading up on MSY and it looks like they are hit and miss with regards to stock availability and customer service.... basically they expect you to walk in knowing what you want, and if you're lucky enough that what you're after is in stock... they give it to you, pay and walk out...

Although it appears the big lines only occur on weekends ;)

[Stardrifter_WA]

Hi Hunter, Any store can be hit and miss regarding service, as it will depend on what the company's service policy is and the person who is actually providing that service. For instance, there is a "tech" store that has a branch I refuse to deal with and another branch which I am happy to deal with, as the person I deal with gives great service. Frankly service is the biggest issue facing most stores these days. It is getting harder and harder to find great service. This is one of the reasons I have supported Bintel and Extravision, as these companies give great service; and you can't put a price on great service, even though I can often get things elsewhere for less, but then service only becomes really important if something goes wrong, or if you need after sales service and advise. After all, it is not whether you have a problem that is important, but how that problem is dealt with! It is mostly improbable to get the absolute cheapest price AND get great service too.

Hi Chris, a laptop that is 5 years old isn't really worth spending money on it, IMHO, as it may likely fail in the future anyway, and it isn't worth selling either, as you wouldn't get much for it. Save your $100 and put it towards the new one. Besides, if you decide to upgrade any of your software, it is likely that they will need an updated operating system to run anyway. I update my laptop every two to three years, when I upgrade my graphics packages, for the above mentioned reason. Most programs these days need "grunt" anyway. I give my old laptops, if they are still working, to someone that hasn't got a computer. I gave my last computer away to a student, along with my old printer, which still worked fine.