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USA
Asked — Edited

Hello & Quick Computer Question

My names Grant. Eagerly awaiting me kit to arrive.

I'm a puppeteer with the Jim Henson Company and I'm excited to try my hand at building an animatronic puppet. Control the mouth and eyes/eyelids with the kit.

I am a die hard Mac computer user. I know my options are Parallels on a Mac but it's $70 for Parallels and then $199 for windows 7. I'm thinking for $250 I could just get a PC laptop to use exclusively with my robots.

Being a die hard Mac guy, I'm wondering what the minimum requirements are to run the software? Or the optimum requirements. I've poked around on the site and didn't see them butnifmive missed them I apologize.

Thanks so much! Can't wait to join the fun.


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Canada
#2  
I'm considering the same as a small cheap EZ-B dedicated laptop and would like to know what you end you with.

I was contemplating a used HP Mini or similar netbook, but was discouraged when I upped the camera resolution on my 2011 i7 MacBook Pro (Running Window$ in Boot Camp). The camera FPS was deadly. Couldn't track a thing. So I returned to the original resolution.

I'm sure others are thinking the same... at least until my iPad 3 is fully supported 100%:D

Thanks for asking Grant and welcome! It's a great and fun hobby and you'll find this community truly friendly and helpful.
#3  
Just browsing, Target has this one for $249


Gateway 15.6

Decent reviews online and seems like it'd be powerful enough as it runs windows 7/8
#4  
celeron and sempron is another word for SLOW. sorry :-(
PRO
Synthiam
#5  
Hello @ToasterBoy, I'm a little jealous of your job! Building puppets for a living:D Very cool. My development machine is a powerhouse, but that's not what I expect others to use. I spend most of my testing time on a netbook with an AMD-C50 processor (4 gb ram, solidstate drive, windows 7 home).

As with any software, it'll "run" on any machine - but because ARC is a development suite, you're CPU will be dependent on how complicated the robot projects are.

My first suggestion is to wipe the laptop clean with a fresh install of Windows. Don't install much on it - keep it barebone as possible. My testing machines and development machine are very boring systems with no software installed:) Just Office, Visual Studio, PIC Compiler, PIC Programmer, Photoshop, SALAEA Logic and that's about it:)

If you're thinking of using EZ-Robot for work related items, let us know through the Contact Us page and Alan will provide you with bulk pricing.

Looking forward to see what you build with the kit!
USA
#6  
@ToasterBoy - First, welcome! Second, OMG the Jim Henson Company!?! Grant, you rock! :D

Please give all the Muppets a big "Hello!" from me and be sure to give '80s Robot a hearty handshake from me. He captured the '80s-ness of robots for sure. '80s Robot can be a house guest of mine anytime. Tell him he can stop by when he's in town.;)
#7  
@JT - Thanks. Unfortunately you'd have to ask Mickey Mouse to say hi to the Muppets. They bought them from JHC back in the early 2000's. I could pass along kind words to any Fraggles for you. :D

@DJSures - I actually don't build puppets for the company, I just puppeteer them. :D This robot/puppet will be for a web series I'm working on privately. Will keep you all posted though.

Thanks again. Still looking for a laptop, maybe Craigslist. As I said I'm a Mac guy so this would be devoted EXCLUSIVELY to EZ-Robot. My kit should arrive tomorrow. I'm excited to get going.
PRO
USA
#8  
Hey toasterboy ! I will tell you I picked up a am3 socket mini itx motherboard and put.in.the lowest wattage am3 AMD processor I could find. 25 watts tdp 2ghz dual core and it works great!
Canada
#9  
While I browsed eBay and Kijiji, I found this site useful:

2012 netbook CPU comparisson

I'm not sure if you're looking for a netbook like I am but I think for the size and portability it would be best for a good EZ-B Controller. slap an SSD in it an the battery life should be good too.

Good luck and FYI: Fraggles > Muppets ANY day in my books!
PRO
USA
#10  
Toasterboy , search for a atom 1.6ghz acer one netbook , I've had 3 of them. They are powerful enough , small , light , and reliable. Find them on eBay for about a hundred dollars.
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