Lap Top needed???

[glojo]

More expense

It looks like the observatory would benefit by having a computer installed, so that we can upgrade software on the telescope. I think it would be easier to have a laptop so that we can always take it indoors to connect up to the Internet or other computers.

I want a lap top with a decent monitor and CD\DVD function. My knowledge of these things is just about zero, so what do members recommend.

Must have a decent monitor and acceptable memory etc.

Thanks for any advice,
John

 

[league67]

Laptop

Just watch out for dell offers. I'd think about installing wireless repeaters or running permanent cable so you can have notebook permanently inside there. Memory these days you want at least 1gb. Processor less important (either Pentium or dual / Core ).

Or save yourself a lot of headache and buy MacBook Pro.

Regards Voya

 

[jdrrco]

Just watch out for dell offers.

Having heard so many horror stories about Dell, I went for a Sony Vaio. Never let me down, excellent customer service and cool looking box too.

 

[grober]

John ,
does your telescope have an existing computer or does this upgrade mean adding one? Otherwise probably most modern portables with built in WIRELESS capability will suffice. Things to look for specifically would be what sort of interface is required to link to the telescope controller to make sure the portable you go for has that onboard. Battery life might be an issue also if you want it run it without mains input. Dell and Hewlett Packard have the infrastructure (service, software updates and web presence) behind their products to give them useful longevity. If there are specific software packages out there you wish to run ( I would guess that they would be designed for the windows xp environment??) worth checking what they recommmend in way of hardware. Just a few thoughts anyway.

 

[glojo]

John ,
does your telescope have an existing computer or is this upgrade mean adding one? Otherwise probably most modern portables with built in WIRELESS capability will suffice.

Hi Graeme,
The telescope has it's own 'computer' type operating system with what I believe is an RS232 connection. The telescope has an operating system that helps it track, locate and follow objects. This system can be updated via a Windows based program, so that is a consideration. Luckily the observatory has a power supply so battery life is not an issue. Regarding Internet connection, we have a wireless router, but such is the size of the house, and distance from observatory to the router (and walls ) I doubt very much if it would be within range. I would either connect the laptop to one of the home computers, or use a wireless connection??

I don't want to spend a fortune as it will not be used very much, but I do want a decent monitor that will show detailed graphics (star charts etc)

Thanks everyone and thank you for the constructive questions.

John

 

[fuzzer]

For what your looking for john , a laptop suits you down to the ground.

Go for something from IBM , will last forever but costs more to buy.

i echo the 1gb+ on the ram side .

Getting something like an R51 or R52 will be good. Also get a port replicator 2 which will give you the rs232 connector which you will struggle to get on a new laptop.

avoid sony at all cost as they are way overpriced and built as badly as the cheapies from pc world. they also ahve pathetic battery life and spare parts are a nightmare as you need to deal with belgium.

This advice doesnt come lightly , i manage a fleet of about 60 laptops , all ibm R51/2 's never let me down.

 

[AJTHOMAS]

What's the budget ?

Linking to your telescope and general Internet browsing / email is not a heavy burden on a Windows PC.

Entry level laptops with 512Mb RAM and a 15" screen would serve the purpose well.

Premium brand IBM / Dell are designed for business travellers roaming the globe and overpriced for modest duties around the home.

As a surplus stock / reconditioned item they would be a good buget buy.

High street retailers shift last years models at silly prices if your not fussy about brands and badges.

Dell sell online making purchasing a breeze though they have a funny pricing system that quotes seemingly random prices day to day, page to page.

 

[glojo]

What's the budget ?

Linking to your telescope and general Internet browsing / email is not a heavy burden on a Windows PC.

Entry level laptops with 512Mb RAM and a 15" screen would serve the purpose well.

Stupid me forgot the nitty gritty bit, I really do not want to spend anymore than £400 - £500.

John

 

[Ashley]

What's the budget ?

Linking to your telescope and general Internet browsing / email is not a heavy burden on a Windows PC.

Entry level laptops with 512Mb RAM and a 15" screen would serve the purpose well.

Premium brand IBM / Dell are designed for business travellers roaming the globe and overpriced for modest duties around the home.

As a surplus stock / reconditioned item they would be a good budget buy.

High street retailers shift last years models at silly prices if your not fussy about brands and badges.

Dell sell online making purchasing a breeze though they have a funny pricing system that quotes seemingly random prices day to day, page to page.

I have to agree.

With regard to wireless the range is very impressive with this
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatSectionView.process?IWAction=Load&Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=203875

much better then the older ones.

 

[dchaddah]

John,

An idea for you.....

Once you've got yourself a laptop setup in the lab, if you do manage to connect it to the internet and can give it a IP address theres a application called VNC available shareware on the web, which will allow you to sit in your house and use the laptop as if you were sitting in front of it. So if you can view images on the laptop of the skies, you'd see this in the comfort of your house!

 

[Sp!ke]

For what your looking for john , a laptop suits you down to the ground.

Go for something from IBM , will last forever but costs more to buy.

Hmm... can't buy IBM lappies anymore, now bought by Levono with all laptops manufactured in China & PC's being made in the Czech republic. Quality isnt what it used to be.

Besides for Johns use, I'd suggest something less pricey with a view to changing it every 18 months to a couple of years. Just try and get something with next day onsite warranty as laptops tend to require at least 1 callout over a 24 month period in my experience.

Right now, my money would be on a Toshiba...that is as long as you can get used to the slightly odd keyboard layout. For £500 new you should be able something pretty nice if you shop about on the web... just steer clear of the nasty brands found on the high street like Packard Bell.

John,

An idea for you.....

Once you've got yourself a laptop setup in the lab, if you do manage to connect it to the internet and can give it a IP address theres a application called VNC available shareware on the web, which will allow you to sit in your house and use the laptop as if you were sitting in front of it. So if you can view images on the laptop of the skies, you'd see this in the comfort of your house!

If he's running XP, you can just use remote desktop, its built in, and runs far better than VNC and doesnt have quite so many security vulnerabilities.

Oh, and one more thing... if you are buying now, then consider whether you might want to run Vista come christmas... coz if you do you'll neeed a dual core laptop with a 256Mb video card and 1gb of RAM if you want to run Glass smoothly. It'll cost around £1k for that spec mind.

 

[glojo]

If he's running XP, you can just use remote desktop, its built in, and runs far better than VNC and doesnt have quite so many security vulnerabilities.

I'll have to have a quick look at the Toshiba's.

Thanks very much,
John

 

[andy_k]

avoid sony at all cost as they are way overpriced and built as badly as the cheapies from pc world. they also ahve pathetic battery life and spare parts are a nightmare as you need to deal with belgium.

just to give the other side of the coin, my Vaio has performed faultlessly for the three years I've had it. With both batteries it can go for 8 hours running 3D apps such as Max or Cinema 4D

Driver support is superb and when I did need a couple of spares (new battery cover due to my own stupidity ) it arrived within two days from Ireland.

Would I buy another? Absolutely

Andy

 

[Sp!ke]

I'm currently doing a notebook/desktop study for a major multinational with half a million staff globally and have every worthwhile vendor/manufacturer excitedly chomping at the bit for the business.

You will soon be seeing laptops with 3g data cards on the motherboard and mobile providers retailing notebooks at seriously discounted prices or perhaps even free with data contracts in the same way phones are often free with a contract.

Forget wifi, forget ADSL broadband, think HSDPA, its going to turn PC/laptop sales on its head!

Oh, and moving one step on, if you no longer needed ADSL, would you still need that expensive landline?

You heard it here first

 

[SimonsMerc]

Hi Graeme,
The telescope has it's own 'computer' type operating system with what I believe is an RS232 connection. The telescope has an operating system that helps it track, locate and follow objects. This system can be updated via a Windows based program, so that is a consideration. Luckily the observatory has a power supply so battery life is not an issue. Regarding Internet connection, we have a wireless router, but such is the size of the house, and distance from observatory to the router (and walls ) I doubt very much if it would be within range. I would either connect the laptop to one of the home computers, or use a wireless connection??

I don't want to spend a fortune as it will not be used very much, but I do want a decent monitor that will show detailed graphics (star charts etc)

Thanks everyone and thank you for the constructive questions.

John

Be careful. Most modern laptops don't have a serial (RS232) port built in. Find out if the software you have will work with a USB->RS232 interface, and if you need to get a specific one. Perhaps a small desktop and a TFT screen would be better? Go for a new intel based Mac Mini - it's absolutely tiny, you can run windows on it for updating the software, and you get to use a Mac in the bargain ;-)

I'll PM you regarding laptop prices.

-simon

 

[glojo]

Be careful. Most modern laptops don't have a serial (RS232) port built in. Find out if the software you have will work with a USB->RS232 interface, and if you need to get a specific one.

Good advice,
Just been on the telescope site and they have RS232 - USB drivers. I have shown my son the thread and passed the buck. He has come up with the Centrino based system:

Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology with Intel® CoreT Duo Processor T 2300 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
1024MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 512MB)
60Gb Hard drive

Fingers crossed that my son has made the right choice, but the bottom line is, it is my decision

Thank you very much for ALL the excellent, constructive advice, and a special thank you to SimonsMerc

Regards,
John

 

[sparkyspost]

John,

Having been in maplin the other day, I noticed that they had a USB - RS232 connector, so you should be able to pick one up from there (or possibly order online).

I'm always on the look out for laptops so would be interested to see what you are thinking of going for (brand and price).

There are a couple of cheaper Sony Vaios around, but these are above £600, and didn't have 1gb of memory.

Cheers

Sparky.

 

[glojo]

John,

Having been in maplin the other day, I noticed that they had a USB - RS232 connector, so you should be able to pick one up from there (or possibly order online).

I'm always on the look out for laptops so would be interested to see what you are thinking of going for (brand and price).

There are a couple of cheaper Sony Vaios around, but these are above £600, and didn't have 1gb of memory.

Cheers
Sparky.

Hi Sparky,
Right up to the last minute my technical advisor (son) was advising me to go for the Dell Inspiron which came with the latest Intel Duo Core processor. Just as I was about to place the order we found acernotebooks.co.uk and my son changed his mind and advised I get the Acer Aspire 5602WLMi LXAB105.096 (there are any number of similar models) This laptop comes with the Intel Centrino Duo Core 1Gb DDRII SDRAM, 80Gb hard drive, DVD read writer, 15.4" Wide screen, LAN Card, 5 in 1 card reader, Windows XP, and Microsoft Works, all for £669.

This was slightly more than I had planned but that's typical of me !! For an extra £99 plus VAT they offer a full 3 year warranty including accidental damage, so I have also taken that out. It should be arriving tomorrow??

The Dell was a few pounds cheaper, but the warranty was mega expensive.

Another plus for the Acer is the fact that the repair warehouse is on the outskirts of Plymouth, so if we are unlucky enough to have a problem, we will simply drop the thing in for repair.

Bye for now,
John

 

[DieselE]

John,

My son has two Acer laptops. The first is four years old and the only time it missed a beat is when he spilt coke over the keyboard (which cannot really be blamed on Acer!). Apart from the mouse pad being a bit iffy as a consequence, it's still going strong. The second had a fan failure so we had to test the warranty. Picked up from home, fixed and returned in 72 hours.

Based on this very small sample, Acer come out fairly well IMHO.

 

[sparkyspost]

Thanks John,

Acers tend to be well kitted out for the money, and it sounds like you got a good deal there, with the peace of mind of a warranty.

Enjoy!

Cheers

Sparky