I'd like an Astrolaptop. What would you include?

[[1ponders]]

I'm thinking of getting a laptop built specifically for Astro work. These are minimum must have items. I only want to have to use a PCMCIA cardbus if it is unavoidable.

15.4 - 17 " screen
1.6 - 2.0 GHz Duo chip
120 gig hdd
1 gig RAM (pref 2 gig) running Windoze XP (I have a disk)
2-3x usb2.0
Firewire - 6 pin capable of running a firewire camera (1.66A min)
DVD Burner
built in wireless
eSATA port
If possible an old fashion serial port for mount guiding.
dedicated graphics card (not interested in gaming, just for processing)
Cardreader

Ok what else should I include? What are your recommendations along this line? How much would something like this cost?

Keep the techi lingo to a level to suit a layperson.

[rogerg]

When I'm out doing astro photography with my laptop (portable setup) I require:

6 x USB (not all USB 2.0)
1 x RS232 (I actually use 2, but use a converter for one)

And it's only going to get worse.

So for me, knowing that I will need 2 RS232's I'd have as a requirement (unless absolutely impossible) 1 RS232, just to ease the load on the USB and save clutter if nothing else. And the more USB's built in the better - the less clutter with hubs etc.

LPT would also be very high on the list, there are a lot of camera's & devices that still use it. From modified webcams to home made stepper motor kits for focusing.

Good battery life would be high on the list too, even though I use a SLA would be convenient to have more than the 1-2 hours I currently have.

Good brightness & contrast controls on the LCD would be nice too.

Roger.

[rogerg]

Oh, and personally for me I wouldn't rate a large screen on the list. Compactness is an issue as I have to somehow fit all my gear, myself and my partner in my car when travelling to the country for astro :) And all my processing will be done at home anyway. Bigger screen probably means less battery life also. So I'd be sticking to 15" or something similar.

Roger.

[matt]

Good thread, Paul.

I was wondering exactly the same thing the other day, too.

What would be the ideal list of features, nothing more or less, for a dedicated astro laptop?

That's a good line-up of features you've already compiled.

Would also be good to know what you can throw out (software/hardware) if you want to strip back your existing lappie to maximise its perfromance solely for astro.

Interested to see the responses.

[[1ponders]]

I didn't think of the RS232 as my autoguiding is currently controlled through a serial port on the mount, but if I ever get a gemini for the losmandy I would need something for that.

Hmm, LPT, I can see me quickly running out of edges on the laptop to put things :lol:

I don't use battery much atm, though that is definately something to think of.

Good brightness and contrast controls is something I didn't think of. Even though I curse this laptop all the time for not having contrast controls (I do use adobe gamma though which is something I guess).

I'd like a good wide screen as I will probably do a fair bit of processing on it as well. Unless I lash out and get myself a decent CRT for my desktop.

[matt]

What's LPT?

[[1ponders]]

parallel port for hooking up your long exposure ToUcams etc. The old fashion printer port.

[Wombat_In_Space]

You could go one of the new Mac book pro laptops which have the Intel chip set in them as they will run windows and mac OS. they come with a wide variety of ports on them.

[[1ponders]]

I suppose I don't really need the serial and parallel port as I have an old T20 ThinkPad that is used exclusively for autoguiding. Bit of a bugger though when I want to hook it up to the internet. I have about 60 feet of network cable running from the modem out into the back yard. Doesn't that catch your feet by surprise some dark nights when walking around with bare feet. My wife thinks it's a very funny dance. :lol:

[Dennis]

In addition to all the above, my shopping list would also include the following:


Hot swap 2nd drive bay for hot swapping between a DVD/CD RW and a 2nd HDD.
At least x4 USB 2.
Hi res screen, at least 1400x1050 as I like to have the real estate to have several Windows open without the need to Alt-Tab between them.
HDD 5400rpm minimum.
RS232 port for legacy devices.
Built in WiFi and Bluetooth.
Battery life 4+ hours (currently mine is >5hours).
Built in LED for keyboard illumination.
Parallel port for my ST7.

I suspect this would cost around $2000+.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Some of the above could also be acquired through the use of a docking station, which is very useful for its 2nd power adapter and leaving all the cables connected when you bring your lappy indoors for the night.

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

Good points Dennis. I like the hot swap drive bay idea.

I was thinking more along the lines of 7200 rpm for the HDD considering some of the rates I'll be able to capture at with the DMK if I ever get a 20" scope to illuminate the chip. :lol:

You and Roger are right 2X usb isn't enough. Minimum of 4.

I was just lying here thinking about how to mount my red led on the usb gooseneck and was thinking of a usb port mounted on the edge of the screen/lid. A built in one would be great if it could be made directional.

[[1ponders]]

How would you connect the docking station to the laptop?

[rogerg]

If you can't get a built in LED (great idea!) get one of these USB led lights from office works (http://www.officeworks.com.au/ims_docs/44/44EAAB2A9F2601BE00000000AC193D36.JP G), only <$9. I use one, it's great. BUT it does contribute to my USB port overflow :lol:

[[1ponders]]

That's the one I was talking about. I got two of them from crazy clarks for about $5 each. They are great, just cover it with red gel film or red lens paint (takes a couple of coats though)

[davidpretorius]

for my ideal laptop for planetary, me thinks more than 2 gigabyte, only cos if you want to capture to memory for high speed usb capture (60 fps+ ) in 12 bit or more detail, then I would be wanting at least 4gb ram

[[1ponders]]

What about with firewire Dave? Would the same thing apply?

[Dennis]

Hi Paul

I’ve had experience with a Dell and an IBM docking station. They are both proprietary and use the built in proprietary connectors. I have found them extremely useful for the following reasons:


They use a separate mains power adapter, so it leaves the laptop mains adapter free for use with the laptop when it is undocked. Otherwise, you are forever swapping the mains adapter between docking station and undocked laptop.
The docking stations provide additional USB2 ports as well as an RS232 port.
I leave all the cables (USB mouse, ST7 Parallel, USB xtn for ToUcam etc.) plugged into the docking station ports and just undock the laptop to take it inside. When I am ready to image again, I just dock the laptop and all the cables are already plugged in.

I have seen some “universal USB” docking stations, but have never used them. Here is a photo of the naked docking station – note the cables behind it.

Cheers

Dennis

[davidpretorius]

i would have to get birds opinion, but I know Paul Haese is just about to be in the position of have 18" of light for his sdm, the exposure he can get down to means he can capture at 75 - 100 fps IF and a big IF, something can get the frames from the camera and store it.

His laptop has a 7200 rpm drive, but I feel the hard drive and maybe even some of the buses in the computer may not be able to handle the optimum of say 100fps in 12 bit.

The USB 2.0 or even the Firewire will be fine, but will the bus or the hard disk be the weak links?

I tested the LU Cam Recorder over the last few nights with a Lumenera LU075m. Capturing to the hard disk, 8 bit @ 30 fps was fine, 8 bit @ 60fps peaked out at 50 fps, 12 bit @ 30 fps was around 24fps and 12 bit @ 60fps also peaked at 26 fps.

If however I wrote to the memory, then a full 60fps and 12 bit was easy!!!

So the hard disk was not able to keep up with 640x480 12 bit frames coming in at greater than say 25 fps?

And to think the skynyx cameras can get up to 1024 x 768 I think.

This will be a very important over the next few year, there will be bigger but portable mirrors ie SDM's, huge focal lengths, fast cameras with bigger greyscale ie 16bit, but the poor old medium to capture it on (the harddisk) is no where near fast enough!!

[Dennis]

The (white) LED on my IBM notebook is mounted in the lid and bathes the keyboard with just sufficient wide angle light to make out the characters on the keys so you can type without a head torch on.

Cheers

Dennis

[Ric]

Hi all, I have been thinking about a laptop as well for sometime now but wasn't sure about what to get or where to start.
This discussion has been great in giving me a starting point to work off.

Thanks all

[jjjnettie]

[QUOTE='[1ponders];195801']
I'd like a good wide screen as I will probably do a fair bit of processing on it as well. QUOTE]

Tell the truth Paul, you want a big screen to accomodate all your icons. :P

[[1ponders]]

That's what I have a 42" plasma for Jeanette :P :lol:

[h0ughy]

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/au/en/ho/WF06b/1090709-1116637-1116665-1116665-1116665-12936518-78180561.html just get this sucker Paul, should be ok just to use as is

[[1ponders]]

:lol: I wish h0ughy. Gotta spare 3 grand you can give me ;)

[h0ughy]

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/results.aspx/notebooks?~ck=anav&c=au&l=en&s=dhs&cs=audhs1&a=24534~0~110090&navla=24534~0~110090 try this one Paul!!!!

[h0ughy]

I was goingto ask you for the loan;)

[RB]

How much are you looking at spending Paul ?

[snowyskiesau]

There are always few vendor auctions for laptops at http://www.graysonline.com.au. (http://www.graysonline.com.au/category.asp?PARENT_ID=3)
Some are reconditioned with a limited manufacturers warranty.

[[1ponders]]

Don't ask that question Andrew :lol:

Not as much as I'd like to spend.

Alright lets try it this way.

If you had $1500 to spend what would you get?

[davidpretorius]

$1600 from dell no fire wire though, this is their base system with a few upgrades

http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif
Date 25/02/2007 05:55 PM Catalog Number 530973 Base System [UW529] AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile technology TL-50 [+AUD 89.10]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ BRM-040 ] 1.6GHz, 256KB+256KB L2 Cache Operating System [FOS-I501] Genuine Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium - with AERO experience [+AUD 89.10]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif [ DMN-065 ] Added performance for entertainment and movie making. Features the new 3D Aero [ DMN-066 ] graphics interface. Includes Windows Media Centre functionality, [ DMN-067 ] Movie Maker, advanced photo features and DVD authoring. 2GB+ RAM recommended. [ NP858 ] Genuine Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium 32 bit (English) [ RY174 ] System Driver DVD Kit [ DJ631 ] Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Software Driver Dell Warranty & Support Services [WXTX111-IA] 1Yr Limited with Next Business Day Onsite Service http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ TEXT-026 ] 1Yr Onsite Warranty with Standard Phone Support(Mon-Fri 0800-2000,Sat 1000-1600) Limited Time Offer 1 (For Online Orders Only) [DT-O-HDD-679] Free upgrade from 60GB to 80GB hard drive
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif Display [DJ632] 15.4" Wide Screen XGA TFT Display (1280x800 res.)
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 Memory [DC063] 2048MB (2 X 1024MB) 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM [+AUD 418.00]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 Audio Solution [BSC-012] Integrated Stereo Sound
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 SATA Hard Drives [MY074] 120GB SATA Hard Drive [+AUD 69.30]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 Internal Optical Drive [UY651] Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities [+AUD 49.50]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ XM387 ] Roxio Creator 9.0 Primary Battery [GR929] 4-cell 29Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 Wireless Network Solution [UY159] Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 Wireless Networking [BWIR-501] No Wireless Router chosen
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif Software [PN175] Microsoft(R) Works 8.5 - OEM version
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ BSW-D041 ] Word Processor/Spreadsheet/Database/Calendar/Powerpoint viewer/Email Tools Security Software [FW598] McAfee(R) Security Center(TM) - 15 Months OEM
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ DMN-055 ] Installation media not included Carry Case [BCC-002] No Case
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif [ X0087 ] Shipment Box with No Case Floppy Drive [BFD-008] No Floppy Drive
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif Item included in the System [BRM-005] 1 ExpressCard Slot, (DOES NOT SUPPORT PCMCIA CARDS) [+AUD 391.60] http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif [ UW179 ] Base Assembly [ MY810 ] Shipping Mod with Powercord [ 0P216 ] Mod Specs Info (Australia) [ GM081 ] Dell Support [ JK133 ] Google Software [ UW899 ] Regulatory Label [ BCOL-010 ] Artic Silver with Alpine White accents on a black base [ JP927 ] Dell Welcome Note [ UN078 ] Vista(TM) HTML Guide [BVC-033] ATI Radeon ® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory(TM)
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [TX110] Internal Dell(TM) 87 Keys Keyboard (English) [+AUD 17.60]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [BNC-010] Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [XM544] Dell(TM) PC-Restore http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ DMN-025 ] PC Restore will occupy some HDD capacity. [ DMN-026 ] The capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment. [DN199] Internal 56K Modem
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 [ NF274 ] RJ-11 Modem cable (Aust) [CF809] 65W AC Adapter [+AUD 23.10]
http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif 1 http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/public/images/dot.gif

[[1ponders]]

Bugger that 'eh Dave. A new laptop for me is a must have firewire. I'm not having much joy using the PCMCIA cardbus and Belkin hub atm.

[davidpretorius]

yes, i am looking at dells latitude range, it is the the next range up from inspirion base range, but it will be more than $1500.

good thing about the dell.com.au website is that you can configure any computer, print it out and then go shopping and getting quotes from other shops!

[davidpretorius]

hmmmmmm me cant find any firewire option in any dell configuration???

[RB]

OK so far the closest I could find in that price range is around $1831 from
Citysoftware for an Asus F3JP (http://www.citysoftware.com.au/Browse/73f2e4026b5a4ab9af864a23592a4368001 ItemDetail.aspx).

Intel Core Duo T5500 1.66Ghz
1 GB DDR2 ram
ATI 512Mb video card
80GB SATA 5400 rpm H.D
4x 2.0 USB
Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
Modem socket,Gigabit, WLAN, Bluetooth
15.4" WXGA
Built in web cam
Touchpad
8 in 1 card reader
On the Asus website (http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=26&l3=316&model=1358&modelmenu=2)it states it has a Firewire port but check with Citysoftware if it does come as standard.
Windows XP (So at least you know all your devices eg DMK still work under XP, not sure if they work with Vista yet.)

Best to contact them and find out the full specs because their web site has little info on this model.

I'd say you may be able to find it a bit cheaper elsewhere though.

[RB]

Here's a link to one supplier (http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/20261)who has all the specs and is a little cheaper.

And a link (http://www.shopbot.com.au/p-25091.html)to a price comparison page.

[monoxide]

a tip with laptops, stick to ebay and look at the 'new' laptops on there from ebay shops,
i have scored a few cheap laptops that are brand new still sealed in the box with full manufacturer warranty in one case even less than half the rrp.
best advice i can give you when choosing a laptop is to buy the highest spec laptop you can afford, that way it will last you.
i wouldnt take much notice of the battery life on the spec sheets as if you really cared about it you would already know that you should be pricing a bigger battery rather than counting on the standard one.
the main brands of laptop that id be looking at are HP and DELL, ive never had any problems with these 2 brands. if you do get a dell laptop from ebay make sure its not being sold because the owner is too lazy to send the battery back from the recall a while ago (exploding laptops)
the laptop i am using is now discontinued but it is classed as a desktop replacement (HP Pavillion dv5200) and i got it for just over $1k, its a powerhouse and will last for years.
also avoid onboard graphics, they are just plain crap.

Intel Core Duo T2250 Processor 1.73GHz
1Gb DDR II 667 RAM
100GB Hard Drive
8x Dual Layer DVD Burner
15.4" BrightView Wide Screen.
Microsoft® Windows® Professional Edition
nVidia Geforce7400 Graphics Dedicated 256MB Turbo Cache RAM
802.11b/g Wireless + 10/100 Lan
Built-in Bluetooth & Wireless LAN

[[1ponders]]

I think you will only fird it in business computers.

Nice find Andrew, looks pretty good.

I hadn't really looked at ebay TJ, sounds like it might be a good idea.

[monoxide]

unless it says 'brand new' on ebay, you will more than likely need a new battery for it as most times they wont tell you the condition of the battery and exclude the battery from any warranty/doa.
to put it plainly unless its brand new from ebay dont touch it.