Guest guest Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Pete or anyone who can help ... I have a colleague that wants to purchase a laptop suitable for doing neurofeedback using BioExplorer and either BrainMaster or Pocket-Neurobics hardware. She has been offered cheap deals on the following and I was wondering whether either of these machines would be suitable. She would be using a second monitor for the client. 1. Acer Aspire 3002WLC Notebook PC, AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz processor with 1600 MHz front side bus, 256 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15.4 inch WXGA with CrystalBrite TFT, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Windows XP Home etc. 2. Toshiba Satellite L20 notebook PC with bonus 256 MB RAM, Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz, 256 + 256 = 512 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15 inch XGA TFT, integrated wireless and wired networking, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Windows XP Home SP2 etc. Thanks for any advice. Mark Darling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006  , Thanks again, as always. Mark Re: Computer specs Mark,The Celeron computer will most likely be underpowered. I have been in correspondence with another BE user who found her celeron based laptop inadequate. The AMD sempron is AMD's competition for the Celeron, there is reason that these laptops are inexpensive. They do not have a great deal of computing power. They also most likely do not have dedicated video processors.I would recommend that anyone using BE at least meet the minimum specs that Larry recommends.Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XPMicrosoft's DirectX version 9.0800 MHz Pentium 3128 MB RAMA graphics card with 3D acceleration is required for some displaysA sound card is required for audio outputMy old Laptop was a P3 800Mhz 256 ram 32 MB dedicated video ram. Win 98 This handled all the designs I used until I purchased a 4 channel system., Then I had to upgrade.My current laptop has p4 1.8GHz 32 mb video 512 MB ram and it handles anything I throw at it.On Jan 30, 2006, at 10:15 PM, Mark Darling wrote: Pete or anyone who can help ... I have a colleague that wants to purchase a laptop suitable for doing neurofeedback using BioExplorer and either BrainMaster or Pocket-Neurobics hardware. She has been offered cheap deals on the following and I was wondering whether either of these machines would be suitable. She would be using a second monitor for the client. 1. Acer Aspire 3002WLC Notebook PC, AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz processor with 1600 MHz front side bus, 256 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15.4 inch WXGA with CrystalBrite TFT, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Windows XP Home etc. 2. Toshiba Satellite L20 notebook PC with bonus 256 MB RAM, Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz, 256 + 256 = 512 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15 inch XGA TFT, integrated wireless and wired networking, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Windows XP Home SP2 etc. Thanks for any advice. Mark Darling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Mark, Can't speak for the AMD chips; the Celeron is a low-end Intel chip. My main issue would be RAM. Do NOT buy a computer with less than 512 Meg of RAM. Get 1 Gigabyte if possible. Also, video cards/chips are an important issue--or will increasingly be so in the coming year or so as fancier game software comes out. If you are getting desktop units, you should be able to add a relatively inexpensive video card. Pete > > From: " Mark Darling " <mdarling@...> > Date: 2006/01/30 Mon PM 11:15:07 EST > " BrainTrainer List " < > > Subject: Computer specs > > Pete or anyone who can help ... > > I have a colleague that wants to purchase a laptop suitable for doing neurofeedback using BioExplorer and either BrainMaster or Pocket-Neurobics hardware. She has been offered cheap deals on the following and I was wondering whether either of these machines would be suitable. She would be using a second monitor for the client. > > 1. Acer Aspire 3002WLC Notebook PC, AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz processor with 1600 MHz front side bus, 256 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15.4 inch WXGA with CrystalBrite TFT, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Windows XP Home etc. > > 2. Toshiba Satellite L20 notebook PC with bonus 256 MB RAM, Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz, 256 + 256 = 512 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15 inch XGA TFT, integrated wireless and wired networking, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Windows XP Home SP2 etc. > > Thanks for any advice. > > Mark Darling > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Thanks everyone for your advice. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Mark, I've been using AMD procesors since 2003 with BioExplorer and runs fine. But I prefer to use Intel P4 or above,like M processors. But the main thing here is RAM memory and video capabilities. I prefer the Toshiba Satellite model but no Celeron in it. As our friend J. Toomim wisely recommends few months ago: Recommended Computer Configuration: Windows XP Microsoft's DirectX version 9.0b or later 2 GHz Pentium 4 or faster 512 MB RAM or more SoundBlaster or compatible sound card A graphics card with 3D and DVD video acceleration and 64MB or more dedicated video RAM. Integrated video systems that share memory with the processor are not recommended. Assuming your PC meets the other requirements, a fast video card will give you the most bang for the buck. Cards targeted at the gaming or multimedia market with newer chipsets from ATI or NVIDIA should work well. Two cards or a single card with dual independent video outputs are required for dual monitor display. DVD compatible drive WinDVD 6 or PowerDVD 6 for DVD playback Hope this can help, JR Van Deusen <pvdtlc@...> wrote: Mark,Can't speak for the AMD chips; the Celeron is a low-end Intel chip.My main issue would be RAM. Do NOT buy a computer with less than 512 Meg of RAM. Get 1 Gigabyte if possible.Also, video cards/chips are an important issue--or will increasingly be so in the coming year or so as fancier game software comes out. If you are getting desktop units, you should be able to add a relatively inexpensive video card.Pete> > From: "Mark Darling" <mdarling@...>> Date: 2006/01/30 Mon PM 11:15:07 EST> "BrainTrainer List" < >> Subject: Computer specs> > Pete or anyone who can help ...> > I have a colleague that wants to purchase a laptop suitable for doing neurofeedback using BioExplorer and either BrainMaster or Pocket-Neurobics hardware. She has been offered cheap deals on the following and I was wondering whether either of these machines would be suitable. She would be using a second monitor for the client.> > 1. Acer Aspire 3002WLC Notebook PC, AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz processor with 1600 MHz front side bus, 256 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15.4 inch WXGA with CrystalBrite TFT, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Windows XP Home etc.> > 2. Toshiba Satellite L20 notebook PC with bonus 256 MB RAM, Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz, 256 + 256 = 512 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15 inch XGA TFT, integrated wireless and wired networking, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Windows XP Home SP2 etc.> > Thanks for any advice.> > Mark Darling> > Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, more on new and used cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Thanks . Mark Computer specs> > Pete or anyone who can help ...> > I have a colleague that wants to purchase a laptop suitable for doing neurofeedback using BioExplorer and either BrainMaster or Pocket-Neurobics hardware. She has been offered cheap deals on the following and I was wondering whether either of these machines would be suitable. She would be using a second monitor for the client.> > 1. Acer Aspire 3002WLC Notebook PC, AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.6 GHz processor with 1600 MHz front side bus, 256 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15.4 inch WXGA with CrystalBrite TFT, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Windows XP Home etc.> > 2. Toshiba Satellite L20 notebook PC with bonus 256 MB RAM, Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz, 256 + 256 = 512 MB ram, 40 GB HD, 15 inch XGA TFT, integrated wireless and wired networking, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Windows XP Home SP2 etc.> > Thanks for any advice.> > Mark Darling> > Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and used cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Gretchen,Integrated card is computer salesman talk for " there isn't one. " You would have to get a video card installed in the laptop (others who are buying more recently than me may tell us that I'm wrong on this). The video card should have at least 512 Meg. I'm not sure what was meant by 1 GB of shared memory. If you are getting Windows7, you should not buy any machine without at least 2 GB of RAM. If you are using RAM for video processing, I'd look at something more like 4GB RAM, but even so the processing that is done by the video card will have to be done by your main processors. The deal is, at least in BioExplorer, you may be asking the computer to produce DVD quality video inside another program (BE) and perhaps trying to change the brightness or size (or both) of the window. That's a LOT of video processing. I don't know that which version of Windows 7 you buy makes much difference.Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.com USA 305 433 3160BR 47 3346 6235The Learning Curve, Inc. On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 3:55 PM, Gretchen <blueartcat@...> wrote: Hi, Pete, et al - I am shopping for a laptop that will run BioExplorer and Brainmaster software with EEG. Brainmaster's recommendations (by Mulhall) online recommend 512MB of dedicated video memory or 1GB shared. Is this a " must " ?? It does leap the cost of the laptop up a bit. The guy in the store showed me an HP model with the best " integrated " card...I assume higher memory. Also, Win 7 " Home " or " Pro " to run the EEG software and my version of Office 2000? Thanks much! Gretchen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Thanks, Pete - let me be sure me and my blonde brain get this - If I were to buy a computer such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/TOSHIBA-Satellite-L505D-LS5010-Notebook-Dual-Core/dp/B003A\ 1CM4S/ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8 & m=A3POGP1ZJMBY9K I would then need to have a 512MB video card installed? Thankya much! Gretchen > > > > > > > Hi, Pete, et al - > > > > I am shopping for a laptop that will run BioExplorer and Brainmaster > > software with EEG. > > > > Brainmaster's recommendations (by Mulhall) online recommend 512MB of > > dedicated video memory or 1GB shared. Is this a " must " ?? It does leap the > > cost of the laptop up a bit. The guy in the store showed me an HP model with > > the best " integrated " card...I assume higher memory. > > > > Also, Win 7 " Home " or " Pro " to run the EEG software and my version of > > Office 2000? > > > > Thanks much! > > Gretchen > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Aside from the fact that it's not in stock and they don't know when or if they'll get any more, it does have 4Gig of RAM and the Radeon4100 is a video card, though it doesn't indicate the amount of VRAM on it. Be aware that 64-bit Windows is the latest software, so you'll be guaranteed to have problems getting a DVD player to work with BioExplorer in it. There's just not a lot of 64-bit stuff out there yet, though presumably it will come along. Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.comUSA 305 433 3160BR 47 3346 6235 The Learning Curve, Inc. On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM, blueartcat <blueartcat@...> wrote: Thanks, Pete - let me be sure me and my blonde brain get this - If I were to buy a computer such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/TOSHIBA-Satellite-L505D-LS5010-Notebook-Dual-Core/dp/B003A1CM4S/ref=rsl_mainw_dpl?ie=UTF8 & m=A3POGP1ZJMBY9K I would then need to have a 512MB video card installed? Thankya much! Gretchen > > > > > > > Hi, Pete, et al - > > > > I am shopping for a laptop that will run BioExplorer and Brainmaster > > software with EEG. > > > > Brainmaster's recommendations (by Mulhall) online recommend 512MB of > > dedicated video memory or 1GB shared. Is this a " must " ?? It does leap the > > cost of the laptop up a bit. The guy in the store showed me an HP model with > > the best " integrated " card...I assume higher memory. > > > > Also, Win 7 " Home " or " Pro " to run the EEG software and my version of > > Office 2000? > > > > Thanks much! > > Gretchen > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 So...do you recommend 32-bit to avoid the video player problems? Thaaanks, Gretchen > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi, Pete, et al - > > > > > > > > I am shopping for a laptop that will run BioExplorer and Brainmaster > > > > software with EEG. > > > > > > > > Brainmaster's recommendations (by Mulhall) online recommend 512MB > > of > > > > dedicated video memory or 1GB shared. Is this a " must " ?? It does leap > > the > > > > cost of the laptop up a bit. The guy in the store showed me an HP model > > with > > > > the best " integrated " card...I assume higher memory. > > > > > > > > Also, Win 7 " Home " or " Pro " to run the EEG software and my version of > > > > Office 2000? > > > > > > > > Thanks much! > > > > Gretchen > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Gretchen,The graphics issues are always a question mark with BioExplorer and Windows. A discrete video card is always best if you can get it. My laptop (MacBook Pro running windows XP) has 128 MB of dedicated video ram and performs very well for all with DVDS and many visual displays in BioEx. Todays integrated video systems are much better than in years past and a good quality one that shares 512 to 1026 MB ram should work alright. DVD playback requires some work from the video processor and some from the main CPU. You can see this when you look at the percent of system resources used in the BioEx menu bar. The CPU percentage use goes way up when a DVD starts to play.I have run BioExplorer in a laptop with just 64MB of dedicated video ram and Windows XP, DVDs ran alright as long as I did not use the 3d display for the spectrum analyzer. THat laptop had 512 MB ram and a 1.9 Ghz pentium 4. Very underpowered by todays standards. If you want to use dedicated graphics buy a laptop that already has them, I do not believe that it is possible to install a video card most laptops. They tend not to be expandable.The Radeaon 4100 is not a discrete video system (it does not have its own memory, rather is shares system memory). Unlike the older shared memory systems that were common on laptops it does have 3d ability. I would recommend the 32 bit Windows as there are still problems with availability driver software for 64 bit systems. georgemartin@...www.northstarneurofeedback.com On Jun 16, 2010, at 2:48 PM, Van Deusen wrote:Aside from the fact that it's not in stock and they don't know when or if they'll get any more, it does have 4Gig of RAM and the Radeon4100 is a video card, though it doesn't indicate the amount of VRAM on it.Be aware that 64-bit Windows is the latest software, so you'll be guaranteed to have problems getting a DVD player to work with BioExplorer in it. There's just not a lot of 64-bit stuff out there yet, though presumably it will come along.Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.comUSA 305 433 3160BR 47 3346 6235The Learning Curve, Inc.On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM, blueartcat <blueartcat@...> wrote: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 If you want to see the specs for the 4100 chip here is a link.http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Radeon-HD-4100.23240.0.html georgemartin@...www.northstarneurofeedback.com On Jun 16, 2010, at 3:32 PM, wrote:Gretchen,The graphics issues are always a question mark with BioExplorer and Windows. A discrete video card is always best if you can get it. My laptop (MacBook Pro running windows XP) has 128 MB of dedicated video ram and performs very well for all with DVDS and many visual displays in BioEx. Todays integrated video systems are much better than in years past and a good quality one that shares 512 to 1026 MB ram should work alright. DVD playback requires some work from the video processor and some from the main CPU. You can see this when you look at the percent of system resources used in the BioEx menu bar. The CPU percentage use goes way up when a DVD starts to play.I have run BioExplorer in a laptop with just 64MB of dedicated video ram and Windows XP, DVDs ran alright as long as I did not use the 3d display for the spectrum analyzer. THat laptop had 512 MB ram and a 1.9 Ghz pentium 4. Very underpowered by todays standards. If you want to use dedicated graphics buy a laptop that already has them, I do not believe that it is possible to install a video card most laptops. They tend not to be expandable.The Radeaon 4100 is not a discrete video system (it does not have its own memory, rather is shares system memory). Unlike the older shared memory systems that were common on laptops it does have 3d ability. I would recommend the 32 bit Windows as there are still problems with availability driver software for 64 bit systems.georgemartin@...www.northstarneurofeedback.comOn Jun 16, 2010, at 2:48 PM, Van Deusen wrote:Aside from the fact that it's not in stock and they don't know when or if they'll get any more, it does have 4Gig of RAM and the Radeon4100 is a video card, though it doesn't indicate the amount of VRAM on it.Be aware that 64-bit Windows is the latest software, so you'll be guaranteed to have problems getting a DVD player to work with BioExplorer in it. There's just not a lot of 64-bit stuff out there yet, though presumably it will come along.Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.comUSA 305 433 3160BR 47 3346 6235The Learning Curve, Inc.On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM, blueartcat <blueartcat@...> wrote: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Thanks much, Pete & ! > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 Modern laptops should come with dedicated memory for video - some of the lesser specced ones will have shared memory but this isn't what is wanted. 512MB is common & ideally it should be DDR2 standard & preferably DDR3 standard. Note that only 64bit versions of Windows will even see 4GB of RAM - 32bit versions (which is what you will get if you don't specifically ask for 64bit Windows) and 64Bit Windows is limited in what software will run effectively on it - it is getting better but at the moment you're better with 32Bit versions. for compatibility. Ideally, specs should be something like... Core 2 Duo chip 2GB RAM 512MB dedicated Video RAM 160GB SATA II Hard Disk 15.4 inch screen - must run better than 1024x768 resolution. Most new laptops will have wireless built in which can make your setup more mobile. Make sure it is A/B/G standard adapter. Many better laptops come with Safegurad protection - they detect free-fall (when it is dropped) and park the hard disk so you have less risk of losing all your data. Many of the name brand laptops come with a Recovery partition & also allow you to build a set of Recovery DVD's - use it & store your recovery disks. If it offers to make a backup, do that also AFTER you've installed all your software & got everything working as you want. Then save the backup out to DVD's as well. Cheers... Mark > > > > > > > Hi, Pete, et al - > > > > I am shopping for a laptop that will run BioExplorer and Brainmaster > > software with EEG. > > > > Brainmaster's recommendations (by Mulhall) online recommend 512MB of > > dedicated video memory or 1GB shared. Is this a " must " ?? It does leap the > > cost of the laptop up a bit. The guy in the store showed me an HP model with > > the best " integrated " card...I assume higher memory. > > > > Also, Win 7 " Home " or " Pro " to run the EEG software and my version of > > Office 2000? > > > > Thanks much! > > Gretchen > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.