Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

Anyone using a netbook with lightorama?


taybrynn

Recommended Posts

I am wondering if anyone has experience using a netbook (instead of a laptop) to run LOR on ?

Last year I found using a laptop really made it convenient to do my sequencing on a number of places: at soccer practices, on the sofa, in the car, etc.

The problem is that my 14" T40 laptop screen has died and is beyond simple repair ...

So now I'm looking at all my options and wonder if a 10" netbook would make sense.

Obviously the keyboard is small and somewhat lacking.

The screen is also small at 10" and only 1024 x 600 resolution.

But the size, light weight (like 3 lbs), long battery life and low cost are all appealing.

These is a deal currently on a brand new asus 10" netbook with 2GB memory, 160GB HDD ... and the whole deal is only around $325 shipped (and has excellent reviews on both newegg and amazon). Supposedly 7-8 hours battery life.

On the other hand, I could see instead getting a large screen (buy perhaps low end) laptop instead, so I would be able to enjoy all that real estate for sequencing. Of course, then battery life and size and weight are not so good for taking with me.

Comments appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott


Attached files 173599=9938-asus netbook1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest wbottomley

Scott.... I have the Dell Mini 9 and it handles LOR 2 great.

I'll post some video with the sucker in action.

But... here's one catch, I've upgraded my ram to 2 gig and getting ready to increase the SSD to 32G.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks!

And do you find the size to be an overall positive or negative ?
So if you could get a 15.5 or 16 inch screen for say $200 more, but have
twice the size and weight and maybe half the battery life ... which would
you go for?

I was worried that the sound and/or video might become laggy.

I was also worried that the 1024 x 600 might not be usable, but I normally
only used 1024 x 768 on my T40.

I think the portability and battery life would be advantages ... and I don't
do a lot of typing when using LOR, just cut and paste and lots of mouse work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my friends has one, I play with it all the time. Don't know about running S2, but I am sure it would handle it. The size is a little small for my taste. Surfing the web while on the couch is great, that's why he bought it. Battery seems to last forever. But using the keyboard is very hard and uncomfortable. Can't image trying to sequence on it, I think the screen size would limited you a lot on amount that you could see.

My advice, I would buy one if you want a machine to cruse the net with and have a stand alone machine at christmas to run S2. But would want another machine with that "big" screen to sequence on.

These are just my thoughts, and I am sure others will differ.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest wbottomley

Overall, the pc works fine and handles LOR very well. But, I wouldn't recommend working with the sequence editor for an extended time. The screen size (1024x800) could put a strain on your eyes. I suggest connecting an external monitor to it via vga connection on the side.

Here's video of one controller and the pc running using the sequence editor: http://www.vimeo.com/3857259

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you'd be fine however the constant scrolling up and down would drive me nutz. The more I can look at on a screen the better. I like sequencing with 2 screens. One for the Animation window and one for the Sequence Editor.
Just my 2 cents worth!!!
-Evan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the great demo and useful comments.

I had originally thought that if I could upgrade to a couple of 22" LCD flatscreen monitors that can pivot to portrait mode ... then go dual monitor with those ... that it would be my dream setup.

i.e. two of these costs around $380 (Shipped)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001254

And thats only a little more than a decent netbook with a 10" screen.

The other option is to go with a big laptop, like the 17" HP thats on sale right now, for $570 (with $30 coupon code added) ...
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=series_detail&category=notebooks&series_name=G70t_series&jumpid=in_r329_ad_homepage/top/2
... but thats almost twice the cost as a good dual monitor setup.

The scrolling on 14" laptop did drive me crazy in 2008 ... and that was with 96 channels. This year, I've got 160 channels and then another 96 for my dad's show ... so I'm looking at a lot of sequencing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, that price is for both (shipped) ... and they are new, not refurbs.

Those dell monitors look nice also!

My video card supports dual monitors ...

I just got spoiled last year, sequencing on the sofa ... that
was nice with the laptop ... comfy (lazy) sequencing ...

This one also looks nice:
Dell S2409W 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $233 after coupon 1Z829VM32T983V with free shipping
[ but it can't pivot ... do you use your pivoted much? ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I picked up one of those ASUS machines about a month ago and have fallen in love with it. I purchased it for travelling and use with LOR. I plan to have it replace the aging desktop that now controls my display. But as much as I just it for other things, I think that my old laptop will replace the show computer and I'll be using my ASUS for building the show. I'll still do the lions share of synchronizing with my desktop (it has dual monitors) but for those times when I'm away from my desktop I'll be using the ASUS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For sequencing we (she) uses a 17" laptop and it works good (on the couch in front of the TV). Dual monitors in wide format would be awesome (no TV then however). I have a "palm top" as I call them and it would work good for running the show.

I bought a fancy sound card for a PC to run the show but all in all I think laptops are so cheap now you can't go wrong unless you need some serious processing power. The good news is the LOR software isn't a hog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've decided to try the asus 1000HE with 10" screen because of the size, weight and amazing battery life. Thanks for all the helpful advise and comments.

I may just go with dual (existing) 19" monitors for the desktop setup. My video card can do dual monitors, but I just need to find a VGA to DVI adaptor to use it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest wbottomley

Jeff... that's hard core work, LOL!

Since I just switch the main house pc back to a desktop, I'm using a 23" Samsung LCD HDTV that can double as a pc monitor. My resolution is 1920x1080, which is great.

One thing I wanted to point out on the netbooks, most of them can't be upgraded. Which means that memory, SSD, or other things like hardware can't be changed. One thing I like about the Dell Mini 9's are the ablitily to upgrade or replace hardware. I recently upgraded the memory to 2gig and waiting for runcore to restock SSD's so I can add atleast a 32gig.

Here's a link to can read more about Dell's mini netbooks: http://mydellmini.com/forum/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a sweet setup!!

I appreciate you taking the time to post about your setup.

I've also lost some long posts and its frustrating when that happens!

I've basically been buying $300 laptops an getting a 2-3 years out of them.

I liked that you could get XP on a netbook. The asus was more upgradable than most, but honestly I'm starting with 2GB member, which is all the thing can handle anyways. And the base 160GB hard drive (not solid state) is plenty big ... my old T40 laptop only had a 40GB drive which was too small.

It seems like with any other laptop ... you are forced into Vista ... and I didn't want it.
In another year it'll be the old OS that nobody wants ... IMHO. XP is still mainstream for now.

I think I'll get the VGA to DVI adaptor and do the dual monitor setup .. I have some old 19" samsung (CRT) monitors that just won't die ... and still work good.

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

taybrynn wrote:

It seems like with any other laptop ... you are forced into Vista ... and I didn't want it.

With any notebook that has Vista, you can always go back to XP. I have done that on several.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I upgraded my ASUS 1000H to 2 gig RAM and while I was at it, I noticed that it utilizes a standard laptop HD so if I needed to upgrade that at all, it would be easy to do. As far as CPU or Video, ya gotta be pretty hardcore to want to upgrade that anyway. As much as I enjoy building computers, I still just buy a new laptop whenever I need an upgrade.

BTW, for those of you who are wondering about the longevity of a netbook... Microsoft is of the opinion that these microPC's are the wave of the future (yeah, yeah I've heard that before too) and as a result they are gearing their new OS, Windows 7, down in order to be used on any PC even the netbooks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

smjosephrn wrote:

BTW, for those of you who are wondering about the longevity of a netbook... Microsoft is of the opinion that these microPC's are the wave of the future

Longevity really isn't an issue. A netbook will last as long as a notbook. A netbook is great if you don't need the processor power or screen size. I carry a 15.4" notebook and I am looking for the next replacement unit for later this year.

I want so much to go to a smaller unit, but with the work I do, moving to a smaller screen just may not happen. I may go to a 14" tablet, but I just can't see moving to a smaller processor. My next unit will be at least a Quad Core and 4 GB of memory.

For my show machine, I'll use one of the many Dell GX270 Small Form-Factor units I have.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest wbottomley

garyfunk wrote:

For my show machine, I'll use one of the many Dell GX270 Small Form-Factor units I have.


Same here Gary.

I run the LOR show, webcam streaming, and Zara Radio nearly the same time. Those little suckers have some horse power.

I really like mine.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hello and sorry for waking an old thread. I have an old Acer Aspire One netbook and was wondering if it would handle running a show? I do sequences on a larger desktop, but wanted to have a dedicated show-only computer.

I would be running the latest LOR ver 3.x on the netbook if it could handle it.

Anyone tried?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...