Laptop suggestions?

[iceman (Mike)]

I'm trying to convince my boss that I should use a laptop at work in place of my desktop, so I can take it home etc.. of course I don't tell him that the main reason I want it is for astronomy!

Failing being able to convince him, my only other options are:

1. Get one out of pre-tax money, salary sacrifice. Pros: new. Cons: costs more

2. Get one 2nd hand off ebay. Pros: cheaper. Cons: older and slower.

What sort of specs would I need for a 2nd hand one?

I really only need it for running CDC or similar, as well as webcam capture programs so it doesn't need to be a beast.

I was thinking something like a PII or PIII 400-600mhz with cdrom, 128m memory etc would be enough.

Your thoughts?

[beren]

Ice i got a 2nd hand Toshiba portege 3490ct P111 20 gig hard drive , 256 ram for 750 about a year ago . Its very slimline and smallish but has a nice screen , it has a external cd/dvd rom with all the ports which leaves the laptop light and mobile but you have the incovenience to connect everything but i dont mind it . I have heaps of astro software running on it and everything goes well including the LPi {the lpi software crahes sometimes but other people with more advanced hardware experiance it as well }.Im sure you would be able to pick up a bargain , i did a bit of research by checking pc mags 1 to 3 years earlier at the libary and checking reviews on top picks on the net and monitered the classiefeds and ebay etc.

[gbeal]

Ice,
when I first started ToUcamming, I had a reasonable PII 233 with all the bits and bobs. It choked with the ToUcam, running K3CCD Tools. I got dropped frames all the time, and sometimes it just stopped.
I now use a new P4 2.8 and don't have any problems.
However, there have been a few threads on the Yahoo ToUcam forum suggesting that the old laptops will actually cut the mustard. Maybe take a peek at them, and re-put the question. I am keen myself, as the laptop I use belongs to my son, and he wants to re-possess it soon.
Gary

[iceman (Mike)]

Good ideas Aragorn.. there's so many cheap laptops on ebay around the same price, it's hard to know which are the good brands and which are the bad ones.

Gary, with the laptop I have access to now, it's around 500mhz, and running k3ccd tools and the old webcam, I often get dropped frames, especially if i'm trying to capture at 20-30fps. Almost every 2nd frame was dropped. In general I didn't get any (or much less) dropped frames when I was running at 10fps.

From what i've read though, i'll probably only be wanting to run at ~10fps, so hopefully if I can get a 2nd hand laptop 500mhz or faster, I shouldn't run into the dropped frames.

Ideally I want a new one that work pays for, but i've gotta come up with some convincing reasons why i need one in place of a desktop

[rumples riot]

If I was, wanting to convice a boss, and I am one, there is one reason I would use.

You could say that this gives you more mobility for work, meaning that you could infer that you could take work home over night and on weekends. This would mean that you would actually have to do some after hours work. Us bosses love slaves who love to work, makes us feel warm inside knowing that someone wants to make money for us when we are at home relaxing.

And, so what if you use it for personal uses also, so long as you are not searching for adult porn.

Best of luck with convincing the boss.

Paul

[iceman (Mike)]

yeh i've tried the "being able to work from home" line, his argument is that he doesn't want us to have to work from home

I might investigate the salary sacrifice route, and at the same time, check out the deals on ebay for a 2nd hand one.

I'm guessing that most old laptops wouldn't run windows XP very well? Would I have to install win2k instead?

[Daring Dave]

Gday Ice

I picked up an IBM Thinkpad P3/1000 256Ram DVD etc for $675 + gst. Came with warranty and W2K preinstalled...

Good value and it runs everything I need.... HEAPS on offer on ebay.... That was about 4 months ago...prolly cheaper now...

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Dave..
yeh there's soooo much choice on ebay atm, almost too much!

I spoke to my boss again and it looks like he might've been turned to getting me one for my desktop at work.. which would mean it would be a newer faster laptop, which is all good. The difference is, I wouldn't own it, and would have to return it to work if I left the company.

I'd really like to own one, so might go down the salary sacrifice option.. I'd get 50% off the price by buying it pre-tax, which would mean I'd get a much better laptop for the same price as buying a 2nd hand one from ebay.

[jossupp]

I read all your comment and one question come to me

what exploitaion system is the best for astro image capture like toucam
or other

I replace the original system by windows 200 and add sp1 on some system for navigation sofware but in astro like astrosnap

whitch one is the best or the more stable and do not drop anything

maybe that is the second questions we should anwser

or htis is part of the shois