Laptop on a budget

I ordered the Standard Kit from autonerdz this week, with the 4425 scope. My question is what is everyone using computer wise to run the scope? I'm ballin on a budget and with it being used in the shop I wouldn't want to use a high dollar computer. Any input would be awesome, thanks in advance everyone.

Any PC / Laptop built for windows 7, or later, will work just fine. The system requirements for the software are minimal.

HP or Asus or Acer or Lenovo do some very decent Notebooks and laptops at a very good price. I currently use an HP Stream 4GB with a Celeron Processor and a very big hard disk

Look for a decent sized hard disc --- not a small hard disc + cloud storage thisis especially important as Windows 10 eats hard disk space for backups and hard disks are now usually soldered to the motherboard and cant be upgraded. I would regard a 64gb SSD hard disk as a minimum.
Don't go for a large screen size as you will want to use inside the car.
For working outside you might also want to extend your internet wifi --- I use networking over mains wifi access point.

I've become very fond or used/off-lease/refurbished Dells. Once a bit outdated you can get stuff like bargain priced new batteries for them. I launched a 1/2" drive socket across the keyboard of a ten year old one and was surprised to find I could buy a new keyboard online for like $12. And found a how-to to help me replace it. That's just one example. Although there are a LOT of Dell model numbers they tend to share a lot of common parts, so that helps. One big reason I like Dell is because they keep the old drivers and such online at their website. So if you have a major crash that wipes it all (or you just WANT to wipe it all) the driver's and stuff you need are there for download. They may be ten years out of date or something, but there.

Tiger Direct (for example) always has a selection of used and refurbished laptops for around $199 that make good work laptops. It's usually very much worth it to get one already loaded with what version of Windows you need. Windows 10 is working for us. Some things will still run on Windows 7.

I picked up the cheapest HP I could find from best buy for $300. It works but it takes 8 minutes to boot.

Also, a side note, Windows has some release "mode" that doesn't allow any apps other than verified Store apps to be installed. You won't be able to install Pico software if you get that version. I forget what it's called but the salesman should know.

GypsyR wrote: I've become very fond or used/off-lease/refurbished Dells. Once a bit outdated you can get stuff like bargain priced new batteries for them...

Tiger Direct (for example) always has a selection of used and refurbished laptops for around $199 that make good work laptops. It's usually very much worth it to get one already loaded with what version of Windows you need. Windows 10 is working for us. Some things will still run on Windows 7.

Thanks for this advice. I've been shopping around for a work Windows laptop. I'm kinda hard on equipment? :silly: So I really like the idea of easy component replacement.

Got my eye on this one:

www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=6598619&Sku=

My personal taste is a bigger hard drive (because I load a LOT more junk than the average person) and I kind of like a Core I5 a bit better but beyond my personal tastes that Dell really checks off about ALL the boxes for a decently price work laptop that will do about anything you should reasonably ask of it.