What laptop or notebook are folks using for their calibration chores?

Thanks

What laptop or notebook are folks using for their calibration chores?

Thanks

You could always try a Thinkpad W700 as it has the calibration equipment built in.

http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/W700_Datasheet.pdf

I use a Toshiba Qosmio G35 (outdated model) with HD-DVD drive and 17" WUXGA screen. It's somewhat akin to the Lenovo outfits mentioned above. The HD-DVD drive and HDMI out have come in handy at times, but the thing sure is heavy. If you plan to travel much with it, you should think seriously about a smaller screen and overall size/weight.

I agree on the size issue.

I bought the ASUS A8 about a year ago because it had a smaller screen (14") and a better video card than othe small units. Most of the high end video were only available on the bigger screens. I wish I had an even smaller one for portability. I am perfectly happy with the ASUS other than size, and particularly like the DVI rather than HDMI connection, as the connector is much more durable. The two year warranty is a plus as well. I am not sure what they company has currently.

ColorHCFR and Calman don't take much to run. I just use a Medion that sold for around $500 in 2004. Except for Netbooks, most everthing sold today will have higher specs.

ColorHCFR and Calman don't take much to run. I just use a Medion that sold for around $500 in 2004. Except for Netbooks, most everthing sold today will have higher specs.
Agreed. Even an Asus Eeeeeeeeeeeeee (did I get enough E's in there?) is more than powerful enough to run the software. The hard part comes when trying to use the laptop for BD/HD-DVD and/or as a signal generator.

Bill...

In this regard, does it make sense to look for a laptop with a HDMI output?

There is a real good Best Buy deal on the HP G60 @ $549, and although it's not the best performer in the class, it has HDMI output.

Bill...

In this regard, does it make sense to look for a laptop with a HDMI output?

There is a real good Best Buy deal on the HP G60 @ $549, and although it's not the best performer in the class, it has HDMI output.

I think HDMI output is very important. I would love to speed up my calibrations by using HCFR's generated signals instead of flipping around chapters on a Blu Ray.

That assumes that the results would be identical (using patterns off a Blu Ray vs. off the PC from HCFR). Anyone know if that's the case?

Thanks for the heads up about the HP with HDMI. Any other laptops out there with HDMI you guys recommend?

I believe the Macbook Air has a DVI port that should work with a DVI->HDMI adapter.

The Dell 1525 looks another good option for a little less money and a little less horse power. The Dell has a better range of connections.

I don't see why you would want to calibrate using the laptops drive or its internal generators, at least for calibrating a DVD player source or a blue ray source. Not using the source for displaying the patterns will not give accurate representation of the source device when watching actual movies. Just is common sense to me. For sat boxes and Cable boxes or Over the air stuff is a different story.

Oh and I use a mac book running windows, for the HCFR and Cal man and Babble on the mac side.

Athanasios

That assumes that the results would be identical (using patterns off a Blu Ray vs. off the PC from HCFR). Anyone know if that's the case?

In theory using a digital connection, and the computer pattern set to 16-235, you should get the same levels if the devices don't change the signal, but apparently that isn't always the case based on an article that made the front of AVS Forum. If I measure my desktop computer, Blu-ray, or HD DVD over HDMI they're all the same by default. Anyway, the point is just that hardware could vary so ideally you would check.

Using our HTPC pattern generator on a PC that has a digital output DVI/HDMI you will get the correct levels. Our pattern generator was written to a low level DirectX direct draw interface so none of the ICC/ICM etc... get in the way.

Yes you want to use a pattern generator first to get the display properly calibrated from a know reference then you go back and make any of the necessary adjustments on a per input by input case to match each source device.

Any other laptops out there with HDMI you guys recommend?

I believe the Macbook Air has a DVI port that should work with a DVI->HDMI adapter.

The MacBook Air is a little to much $$$ for what you get. Don't get me wrong, as I earn a living on a MacPro 8 core.

I find myself at the all too familiar fork in the road of spending just enough to get the calibration job done, or investing more to take on other jobs like BD burning.

Anyway... after a little research, on the low end $$$ laptop that do HDMI:

Gateway T-6330u $500 3GB/250GB BestBuy sale $150 off normal ( looks good but, lots of crash reports :( )
HP G60-125nr $550 (no express card for G3 internet card )
Dell Inspiron 1525 $479+ depending on setup.

The Dell can load XP Pro, from what I'm told for those who want to stay away from Vista, but it cost an extra license fee.

I haven't looked into something used with a DVI port which would work just as well as HDMI.

I haven't looked into something used with a DVI port which would work just as well as HDMI.

The last time I looked at laptops was probably early 2007. At that time digital outs of any kind were not very common, and hadn't been very widespread before that. A few high-end models included digital, and HP had HDMI on their non-integrated graphics. Aside from HP, I would guess easily less than 1 in 20 models had digital. Because it was the high-end that had digital they're probably still more powerful than current entry-level, so if you can find one the only consideration I would have, besides general physical condition, would be that batteries wear out with time.

I bought a black Dell 1525, 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, 3GB/250GB from the Dell Outlet store for $509 shipped overnight.

I just missed a ruby color 2GB/160GB model for $419. When I went to load it in my cart, someone else had snagged it. :D Man that was a bargain.

The laptop comes with a full 1 year Dell warranty and Vista Home Basic license.

I'm gonna give Vista a try, but will load XP if I have any trouble. Speaking of which, I'd love to hear any Vista war stories, including downgrading back to XP.

I'll post some feedback on the 1525 later if anyone is interested.

If you want to check out the Dell factory outlet, here is the link http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

You can search a wide range of Dell products under the categories: scratch & dent, refurbished & certified, off lease, and pre-ordered but not delivered. Miy 1525 was a refurb, and based on my experience with previous certified refurbs, it's easy money saved off buying a new laptop. Apple refurbs have also been good to me, (knock on wood) :D.

Thanks for the input on laptops.

cheers

RJ
...

I'm gonna give Vista a try, but will load XP if I have any trouble. Speaking of which, I'd love to hear any Vista war stories, including downgrading back to XP.

First thing to do on a Vista system is turn "User Account Control" off. It will behave and perform more like XP with UAC disabled. Every system I have done this with all of the complaints about Vista go away. The UAC is the system that was designed to keep a user from doing something bad to their system but in reality it just causes lots of frustration and confusion when the user keeps getting ask if they really want to perform or continue an action. The UAC toggle is in the User Accounts management from the Control Panel. BTW, this is a user by user toggle.

Thanks Derek...

What laptop or notebook are folks using for their calibration chores?

Thanks

If you use an external video signal generator just about any laptop will work fine for calibration.

If you intend to send test patterns from the laptop, there's only 1 way I know of to send patterns that are absolutely correct... and that would be to use DisplayMate. Not sure what the minimum version is (there are many varieties for different purposes) that would have gray scale windows, 75% and 100% color windows and common patterns used to evaluate displays. I use the MultiMedia edition (way more content than needed for calibrating but it has everything needed for calibration too) and there's a new version coming that will help you evaluate loss of resolution during motion sequences. DisplayMate works because it stores the patterns as equations, not as image files. This allows DisplayMate to write directly to the frame buffer, completely bypassing the computer's internal video system - so it doesn't matter how good or bad the video subsystem is on the computer - every computer produces the same results with DisplayMate. All you need is an HDMI output (not all that common yet but it is showing up on more and more computers). You won't be able to send component video or other formats unless the computer has some internal support for those other formats which is even less common than having HDMI output.

Clearly, using a standalone video signal generator is the preferred tool for serious calibration, but you can use DisplayMate or a disc player with a test pattern disc and still get good results.