Quote:
Originally Posted by jman17
Hi,
I am doing some fixed tripod astrophotography with a Nikon D3100 DSLR and want to buy a laptop to help with checking my focusing etc before I do my shots, using a tethering program. I want to buy a laptop that will also be able to be used with a GOTO mount and scope if I buy them in the future, including for long exposure astrophotography. What sort of laptop should I look for? I read that an older operating system is preferred so take it that I should be looking for a laptop with Windows 7 or 8 on it. Is this advisable? What specs should I be looking for?
Thanks,
jman17
|
If it's purely for DSLR control and mount control (assume you want to use guiding and planetarium as well), then an old laptop with win 7 is sufficient. But if you want to use it for stacking and processing, you will need more grunt (more RAM and SSD as well as good graphics card).
I have an Alienware M14X with 16 GB of RAM and SSD. The SSD runs Win 7 and all the programs including Photoshop and camera capture and control programs. The data is saved on a 500 GB internal hard drive and back up to a 1 TB external HDD.
Hope that helps.
Bo