small laptop with atom processors to run PTE shows

[EOSPete]

I need to replace my presentation laptop and I am wondering if the Intel atom based netbooks are up to the job particularly with regard to smooth transitions and pans. Thanks for any guidance you can give.

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I need to replace my presentation laptop and I am wondering if the Intel atom based netbooks are up to the job particularly with regard to smooth transitions and pans. Thanks for any guidance you can give.

Peter

Unfortunately you are asking a question that only WNsoft can answer. If you are using lots of animation & effects, the more resource your laptop will need. There's also the Windows 7 operating system around the corner. We have tried on a few occasions to establish what sized system is needed to fully utilise PTE to it's full potential but this has not been decided. I'm not familiar with the atom based system, but there have been doubts raised about screen resolution with netbooks, particularly if you are connecting to a projector with a VGA/Sub d/15 pin connection. My laptop has a 4GB of ram and I started having problems when 5.6 was introduced, where I had to switch off my laptop screen to prevent jerky animated movement when connected to my projector or 32inch TV. My advise would be to wait a couple of months and see how Windows 7 reacts with PTE & the mass market.

Yachtsman1.

[EOSPete]

Thanks for those wise words.

I am running my compiled shows on a small and light laptop with Core Solo 1.2MHz in 1Gb of RAM and some of the smaller simpler shows work fine. As the evening goes on the following shows seem delayed in starting and my finale shows tend to be the ones with greater numbers of images, music and transitions and can run to 25mins. The laptop is a Phillips one and the battery is jut goosed! It literally lasts 5 mins and Phillips claim never to have even made this model so getting spares has proved fruitless. The number of times my laptop power has bee pulled by mistake as someone walks past the table/stand!!!! I used to understand about processors when all you needs to know was the speed but since Intel started to use different names for each performance type I am confused. Since posting the question I found a very useful guide to buying laptops in Staples though it was not specific to running software just generric business or multi media. I think my best solution is going to be to take a more advanced show on a pendrive and ask them to run it on my intended purchase.

I have found an HP model with the following specs I am going to check out

Memory Size 2GB

Processor Type AMD Athlon Neo Processor MV40

Memory Type DDR2

Graphics Card Type ATI Radeon HD3410

Graphics Memory 512 MB

Thanks again for your input it helps to fill some of the gaps in my knowledge.

regards

Peter

[EOSPete]

and also found

Acer

CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T5870

CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz

Screen Size: 12.1"

Resolution: 1280x1024

Memory: 2GB

Memory Type: DDR2

Memory Speed: DDR2 - 800

Graphics Chipset: Intel GMA 4500MHD

p

[Lin Evans]

Hi Peter,

This may be of interest:

---------------

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 6th 2009 at 12:01AM

And here you thought AMD's 45-nm Conesuswas its next generation netbook / ultra-portable processor. Sorry, forthat you'll have to wait until the beginning of the second half of 2009according to Bahr Mahony, Director of AMD's mobile division who we justspoke with here at CES. Instead, AMD's Athlon Neo ultra-portableplatform built around existing 65-nm processes is scheduled to make itsretail debut in the US in March. Remember, AMD won't be challenging Intelin a race to the bottom so Neo is aimed squarely at that soft, chewymarketshare nestled between the underperforming $499 netbook andover-the-top $1,499 ultra-portable. Neo boasts more processing powerthan Intel's 45-nm Atom at the cost of a higher load on your batterythanks to the 35W thermal envelop of the Neo chipset combined with adiscrete, ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 3410 graphics. The result however iswhat AMD calls balanced performance from ultra-thin notebooks capableof smooth 1080p playback of your HD media -- a feat that Atom-basednetbooks saddled with integrated graphics struggle with. Interesting,now let's see the 3rd party benchmarks. AMD's data versus the Atomposted after the break.Continue reading AMD kinda sorta takes aim at Atom with Athlon Neo

--------------

This would indicate that the Atom-based systems with integrated graphics probably won't be suitable, however the HP system may be quite sufficient.

One thing you might want to do is to take some samples of difficult graphics to see how the card handles them. Let me know if you want a link to a test file which challenges graphics and I'll post a link for you. Quite a while ago I made a couple puzzle shows which look very similar but are quite different in terms of loading a video card. If a system can play the difficult one smoothly without excessive "stutter," it "should" be sufficient for almost all PTE animations.

Best regards,

Lin

[bwat]

I'm in a similar situation in finding a new presentation laptop for my Camera Club to use for Members PTE shows. We want to get a unit that will not become obsolete in a few years and need early replacing as the Club has limited funds.

We felt is is better to opt for a laptop with the maximum size dedicated graphics card and currently several manufacturers are offering laptops with 1GB dedicated cards fitted. Inherently they all offer good mid range processors and minimum of 4GB RAM mememory.

We have short listed several manufacturers but at present favour the Dell Studio XPS 16 on price. Further detail as follows:-

Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium (with free upgrade to Windows 7 when available)

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo P7150

Memory 4GB DDR3 (upgradable to 16GB)

Grahics 1GB ATI Raedon 4670

Comments would be appreciated

regards

bwat

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Bwat

I went down this route for a colleague earlier this year, however his requirements involved using XP3 as his operating system. I also looked at up-grading my laptop but put it off until Windows 7 becomes the norm & has been assessed by Wnsoft.

A couple of sites that may be of interest are:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebook-Laptop-Reviews-and-News.48.0.html

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=laptopsystembuilder&gclid=CL-0zfKW2pwCFVUA4wodTg9HKQ

You may have already checked them out? PC Specialists have a laptop wizard where you tick boxes with the extras you want from a basic spec. However, if you do go this route and buy from them, make sure you have clarified exactly what you want, we ordered what we thought was a fully specced machine & it arrived without DVD burning software, even though the drive was capable of burning.

I also checked out cube type PC's which some clubs are now using, they are easier to transport that tower types & can hold many more goodies than a laptop & best of all can be upgraded to a certain extent.

Let us know how you get on with your search, what you purchase and how it performs please.

Yachtsman1