Will any old laptop work?

[thercman]

Hey guys,

I am setting up my imaging rig and will need a laptop to run the setup. Can I pick up any off the shelf $400 laptop to run the system? It won't be used for processing that will be done on my desktop...

On a side note, are there options to guide etc using my iPad?

[glend]

ZWO have a WiFi guide setup you might have a look at:

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/asiair/?v=6cc98ba2045f

It supports Apple IOS and Android. It is also on sale at the moment if you use the Bintel discount code.

[rustigsmed]

if you going to do planetary capture it would be worth considering a laptop with ssd and usb 3. but regular guiding / capture, an old laptop is fine.

[thercman]

Thanks guys... I'll look into the ZWO wifi module...

[angelgirl]

Hello from not very sunny britain, I do mostly imaging of the Sun and use either a ZWO 120 mono camera ( on my Lunt 50, no other camera works as well) or a Grasshopper IMX 174, with ZWO it works ok on usb 2 and a normal hard drive BUT the Grasshopper needs a usb 3 and a ssd. I use for capture software, Sharpcap and my other sofware is Autostakker, Registax and Photoshop 2.

[sil]

this is the answer you are looking for.
you CAN capture with HDD and USB2 but you WILL not be able to use your camera at its best if at all. USB3 and SSD are essential for stable captures and the rest of the laptop is irrelevant so yes a cheapie or old one will do otherwise.

[The_bluester]

"It really depends" is the answer.

I am currently dipping my toe more in to AP and am giving new software and hardware a crack at once. I am using EQMOD to control my mount, PHD2 for Guiding and APT to control my capture and to drive the other two. I am giving it a crack at running under Windows 10 on an older Intel NUC and it is moderately OK but very slow on plate solving. It is slower than a cheap old laptop I was using before it. I tried out the NUC as while it is old it has one USB3 port which the laptop lacked and I have the imaging camera connected to that.

I am toying with the idea of running a later NUC with a higher specification to improve plate solving speed and general responsiveness, if I recall correctly the later ones all run on anything from 12 to 19VDC, the 12V side obviously being very useful for being able to run the whole show from a 12V power supply. The NUC is small enough to put a VESA bracket on my mount and actually site the NUC right there where the action is.

[Pepper]

My little eeepc I’ve had for ten years works with the software I’m trying to get my head around.
Puny little 1mega hurts and a smidge under a meg of ram.
Struggles but works.

[Merlin66]

I ended up investing in a Hot Shot MSI gaming machine with 16Gb ram, 1Tb SSD drive and USB3
It is FAST!!!!!
I use it with ASI 174 and ASI 1600 for solar imaging, FireCapture AS3!
Works 100%

[RobF]

Greg, might be an idea to share specs and model of the $400US models you're thinking about along with applications as people have said (is it guiding and long exposure acquisition, or any need for high frame rate planetary). Anything else you might be tempted to run or play with worth sharing too.

Other things I'd suggest thinking about:

- screen size (very small, light portable "netbooks" can have small screens and lower res - its nice to be able to read what you're doing and spread out your applications though)
- dimmable and backlit keyboard (really miss this off my old laptop surprisingly)
- decent USB

Most new laptops nowadays will have at least a couple of USB ports (3 is nice for astro), SSD not essential but nice for fast booting, ensure you have enough space (unlikely to be an issue).


I've bought my last couple of laptops as refurbed units from local auction site. Usually have full warranty and you get a bit more power at lower cost - if you have anything like that nearby.

[Merlin66]

Rob,
I disagree....
The SSD drive is almost mandatory for fast frame solar/ planetary imaging.

[sil]

absolutely mandartory I say for fast imaging. hdd is ok for laptop drive with a usb3 ssd just for capture . anyone saying else is getting dropped frame (ie data loss) and /or using their cam below its performance. since the original question didn't include details we can only guess. for specific hardware/software control see manufacturers minimum system specs.

Merlin's gaming laptop covers all uses with ease, so if you can pick up last generation gaming laptop for cheap (and you can if you look) it'll work well for years for most uses.

Personally I say to avoid using the machine for anything except specifically one use like capture. No internet. no processing. and isolation means stability and no worries. capture direct to external usb3 ssd device, then you can plug into any other machine for backing up safely and processing.

[Startrek]

Like merlin66 I bit the bullet and went down the gaming machine path and bought a HP Omen 15” laptop which has 32GB of ram
It does everything for my AP plus more
You have to pay for fast machines
If you have the money I can certainly recommend an MSI or HP Omen gaming laptop for your AP requirements
Cheers

[RobF]

Fair call - and SSDs becoming much more common anyway
(Unless......fast planetary/solar imaging is not on the menu.....)

[thercman]

Hey guys! Thanks for the replies!

Well, I am interesting primarily in DSO imaging. I have a pretty fast desktop PC for processing so I don't want to spend a ton of cash on the laptop. I don't really like working on them anyway so it would only be used for this application. I did go to Best Buy the other day looking over the models on display to see what I could get for $400-$500. The answer is, not much. Even if I was to spend a couple hundred more I would only be getting 128-256gb SSD. Really?!? I have that much storage in my iPad!!! I'm still not sure if a laptop is the way to go. With that said, I have been looking at the ZWO ASIair as an alternative. I do worry about the WiFi connection as a possible fail point though unless the ASIair would continue to correct tracking without being connected to the iPad. With a laptop I would be hard-wired to the mount. *shrug*

[Camelopardalis]

Greg, I use an Intel NUC connected to the telescope and camera, and control it over wifi from my laptop/tablet. Several benefits to this approach:


they’re relatively inexpensive
they run off 12v for use at a dark site
small and easy to cover up to avoid dew
wifi control allows you to stay inside away from the elements/wildlife :lol:


For DSO imaging, you don’t need a high-spec model...mine has a quad core Atom chip which even running Windows 10 is sufficient to run EQMod for mount control, PHD2 guiding and image capture software without breaking a sweat.

[The_bluester]

I am using a NUC as well at the moment a 2820 Celeron one. I am finding it short on grunt but I am having it trying to plate solve. I use it headless (No monitor or keyboard) and am running it via Teamviewer to my PC in the house, or my laptop.


It is working well enough that I reckon I will just get myself a higher powered one later on. I only set it up to see if it was feasible.

[Camelopardalis]

Yeah my first one has the Pentium N3700 chip, which takes 20 seconds or so to plate solve. My newer i5 NUC solves in 3-5 seconds :lol:

[The_bluester]

The old Celestron is more like 90 seconds to blind solve with all sky plate solver, it is dreadfully slow, but it is the slowest of the first generation ones.

Thankfully it is working as a proof of concept so I am keeping n eye on eBay for a secondhand I5 one.

[Saturn488]

Personally I think it's a good investment to spend a little more on a laptop. These are the specs I consider most important.

- SSD (minimum 256GB but ideally you would want 512GB so you have enough storage space to capture your data). Prices for SSD's have dropped significantly over the last 6 months.
- Minimum 2x USB 3 ports
- 13.3" is ideal! 1080p resolution so you have enough real estate on the screen for your apps. I have seen people use a little 10" netbook. While they are portable and easy to carry around the resolution is dreadful!
- Decent battery (if you have no mains in the field or at home)

[cathalferris]

Regarding SSD upgrades to existing laptops and buying a laptop with a new SSD in it., please check the reviews for the exact model you are looking at, to make sure you are getting your money's worth. Some SSDs are properly slow and not worth the money. I've seen newer SSDs with utterly abysmal transfer rates.

The laptop I'm currently using for capture is a year-old Dell Latitude laptop with USB3 and 240Gb SSD, but the SSD is only ~250megabytes/second transfer at best and lots lower for random read/write. The manufacturer provided a dirt cheap device for Dell to include on the build so that Dell could tick the box. The performance figures are pretty poor for an SSD. I have spinning rust drives (WD Raptors) with faster throughput than that. I have a handful of SATA6 SSDs, ranging from Intel i520 120Gb through Sandisk Extreme 500Gb drives and they perform at the ~500megabyte/sec level for all workloads and are great for working with.

I've attached the i520 drive via a USB3 adapter to save capture streams to on that laptop even with the SSD system disk, otherwise I run the risk of slowdowns.

I've also used a Lenovo x220 as a capture laptop with a proper SSD with great success, but no USB3 on that laptop so when the ASI224 arrived I diverted another laptop of mine to capture duty.

In general, new build laptops with NVMe SSDs need to be looked at carefully to make sure you are getting what you expect.

[va1erian]

So, suppose I get a notebook with a SSD, and use the notebook to capture the video. How would I transfer the data to the PC for processing (stacking) ? There is no such thing as a direct connection of the two computers with an USB cable... (suppose I do not have an external SSD as you suggested.)