Laptop for Astrophotography

Hi All,
Sorry if this was asked before...

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a basic spec laptop for
doing astrophotography....

I'm assuming battery life is important (especially in the cold!)
and processer speed...

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a basic spec laptop for doing astrophotography....

I'm assuming battery life is important (especially in the cold!)
and processer speed...

Battery life is important, but it depends on where you are imaging. If its near a house/shed then you can get away with a garden power extension lead. On occasion I've powered my laptop off my 12v power station. Laptop batteries really dont last long in the cold, mine gets about an hour max.

Processor speed isnt that important. All you need is to have the processor fast enough to run the OS and the webcam. You can then do the image processing on a better PC.

Cheers,
~Al

If you're going tobe doing image processing, then the more ram the better, USB2 is useful and a CF card reader also helps if you have a DSLR.

If you're imaging with a CCD imager, USB2 is the only way to go (though all new laptops should have it as standard). Its also handy to try get a serial port for mount control but you can always buy a serial to USB adapter.

As Al says, you're probably better off post processing on a desktop PC with a good monitor (CRT or high end LCD flat panel) - a laptop screen will drive you mad. You could always go for a refurbished second-hand laptop or a really cheap one a la Tesco for the outdoor stuff and get a reasonable desktop for the indoor stuff. Then you could link them and and run the laptop from your desktop - liike me! Warm, cosy, coffee on hand...

Cheers

Dave

Thanks guys.

I have a good enough spec PC to handle processing, so I guess all I need is a bog standard LT to capture the CCD images etc...
Then as Dave says 'link' them....

Tesco's? Laptops? Really?
I was thinking Dell would be cheapest?......

Get the cheapest you can - Dell outlet have some great bargains. Tesco were doing laptops a while back but I don't think were terribly cheap...

The remote (well, 70 metres or so) setup is superb and well worth the trouble, er, learning curve

Dave