Jeremy Smith United Kingdom Local time: 11:54 Member (2003) French to English + ...
Oct 30, 2009
Hi,
I intend to buy a new netbook very soon, as the feeble battery power of my laptop makes it fairly useless for working while travelling on trains and planes.
My questions is, is the standard 1MB RAM you get on most netbooks sufficient to run Trados Studio 2009. I see from past threads that there's no problem with running Trados 2007 on such a machine, but I can't seem to find any minimum specifications for Studio 2009 listed on Trados' website, so I wondered if any of you good people could enlighten me. Should I err on the side of caution and get a netbook with 2MB RAM?
Thanks in advance.
Jeremy
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Karol Kacprzak Poland Local time: 12:54 Member (2007) English to Polish + ...
1GB will do
Oct 30, 2009
I understand that you mean 1GB, not MB.
I use Studio 2009 on a 3+ years old laptop which is basically the same as an average netbook. I have 1GB ram and creating projects or operating in the menus of Studio is rather slow, but translation per se goes very smoothly. Of course 2GB is a better solution, but it's not necessary.
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Jerzy Czopik Germany Local time: 12:54 Member (2003) Polish to German + ...
Do not buy a notebook with only 1 GB RAM
Oct 30, 2009
They are outdated today, believe me.
When you buy now, it will come with Windows 7. To get things running smoothly allow at least 2 GB RAM. 1 GB RAM is about 20 EUR now, so what the heck with just one?
Buy that much RAM you can afford. If the money is enough for 8 GB, so go for that.
Better chose a little bit smaller HDD but take more RAM. And no not buy a single-core processor or a dual-core under 2 GHz... Nowadays you can get laptops with dual-core with 2 GHz or more and at least 2 GB RAM for very reasonable prices.
My experience with a 3 yrs old Sony with a single core 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM is not very good... It is a bit to slow for Studio.
OTOH I also am able to use Studio on a netbook with Intel Atom 1,33 GHz and 2 GB RAM, but that's nearly a pain, it needs a lot of time to setup a project and read the first matches. However, when it then runs, than you even can translate with that setup.
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
Appr. 3 GB is probably ideal
Oct 31, 2009
I got an answer from SDL regarding the need for RAM under Trados 2009.
"First of all, you can run multiple instances of Studio on the same machine so the addition capacity will server you well if you like to do this. Secondly, under normal circumstances a standard process running on 32 bit Windows can access a maximum of 2Gb of virtual address space (which at any point in time may either be contained in physical RAM , ‘swapped’ onto the hard drive or a combination of both). Individual processes on 64 bit Windows can *still only have a maximum of 2Gb* of virtual address space but the difference is that the operating system can cope with a lot more (up to 192 Gb, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7). This means you can put more physical memory in the machine and have the capacity for more processes (which are still capped to 2Gb) to fit in the super-quick physical memory before their memory has to start using the hard drive for storage (‘swapping’) – which is the thing that slows everything down."
Based upon this, I would say that the upgrade from 1 GB to 2 GB is a no-brainer - you will probably feel a great different for large projects. 3 GB RAM is probably also a good idea, since, even on a netbook, you will have some other processes running simultaneously with Trados.
If the laptop already has 3 GB, I would spend the money on bigger screen/higher resolution, better keyboard, SSD drive (=shorter start-up time and less battery consumption) and quicker processor instead.
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
4 GB is "sweet spot" for enthusiast
Oct 31, 2009
Jerzy Czopik wrote:
If the money is enough for 8 GB, so go for that.
Better chose a little bit smaller HDD but take more RAM.
Many laptops have two memory slots. 4 GB modules are still quite expensive, something which makes 8 GB (2x4 GB modules) much more expensive than 4 GB (2x2 GB modules).
I agree with you that most translators don't need a big HD, but unfortunately this saving will normally not buy you 4 GB extra RAM.
Their conclusion reads as follows: "Not much has changed since 4 GB of RAM became the “sweet spot” for performance and price in the enthusiast market. While 32-bit operating systems previously limited those 4 GB configurations to around 3 GB of useful memory space, today's test shows that 3 GB is still usually enough."
[Edited at 2009-10-31 18:58 GMT]
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Jeremy Smith United Kingdom Local time: 11:54 Member (2003) French to English + ...
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I'll go for 2GB
Nov 2, 2009
Hi,
Thanks for all the responses.
My main motivation behind going on the netbook (as opposed to laptop) route, is the wonderful battery life of the netbook. Any work I do on the machine will be while travelling. Naturally, the lion's share of my work is performed on my shiny new desktop PC, or sometimes on my ailing laptop (which still works OK when plugged into the mains). It was just too frustrating with the laptop having insufficient battery life for a long-ish train journey.
As Jerzy correctly pointed out, RAM is inexpensive, so I'm going to go for either the Asus EeePC1505 or the Samsung NC10, with added RAM.
Cheers,
Jeremy
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David Jessop Spain Member Spanish to English + ...
2 GB RAM max on netbooks
Nov 3, 2009
I relish your correcting me if I am wrong but at this point it appears that netbooks are not manufactured or have the slots for more than 2 GB RAM. In addition to the RAM, the processors are quite sluggish compared with non-Atom or other similar CPUs.
My personal experience is that I have an Acer Aspire One 150 1.6 Ghz Atom processor with 1 GB of RAM and I run Trados 2007 on it. It does the job alright but I certainly notice a lag compared with my faster full size laptop. Cleaning up documents, especially larger ones can lag...and then lag... and then lag some more.
That being said I love my netbook and use it for tons related to translating. In fact, I am typing on it right now.
DropBox is my latest blessing for my netbook.
Good luck!
David
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
Trados 2009 more demanding than 2007
Nov 3, 2009
My personal experience is that I have an Acer Aspire One 150 1.6 Ghz Atom processor with 1 GB of RAM and I run Trados 2007 on it.
Trados 2009 is a different environment than the Workbench/Word or TagEditor environments of Trados 2007. I decided to upgrade both my desktop and my laptop (a latitude D430) after upgrading to Trados 2009.
Personally I would not use Trados 2009 on a netbook, but people have different pain tresholds when it comes to sluggishness.
If I wanted to get something that is small, cheap and have long battery life, I would look for second-hand business laptops.
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Jeremy Smith United Kingdom Local time: 11:54 Member (2003) French to English + ...
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2GB it is, then
Nov 4, 2009
Amazon offer a good deal on bundled netbooks+RAM+external DVD drives, so I'm going to go for that.
The netbook would only be for very occasional Trados/professional use, and I notice that my desktop computer is only 2GB RAM anyway, and that deals fine with everything I throw at it. Although I expect things to be a little slower with the Atom processor as opposed to a dual core "proper" processor, if it's frustrating in any way with 2009 Studio, I can always fall back on Trados 2007.
Thanks, all.
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Marinus Vesseur Canada Local time: 03:54 Partial member English to Dutch + ...
Trados on a Netbook?
Nov 4, 2009
Hi Jeremy
Have you ever typed on a Netbook? Make sure you do before you buy one untested. It must be pretty awful working with those midget keys and screen. There is no NUM block either, so forget about shortcuts.
This is not a good idea, honestly. I'm a bit of a hardware nut, buying and selling equipment all the time, so I can tell you that the ideal configuration is what I have right now: a super light-weight Acer Timeline with a 15" super bright wide-screen (LED backlit), DVD burner, WiFi-N and 8 hours battery time. I'm not kidding. It really lasts a whole day on a charge. And it cost me 500 dollars. That may not be your price, over in Britain, but it will still be way under 1000 dollars there.
It is small enough to still be usable on a plane (because of the lower wide-screen), it is bright enough to work in daylight ambience, it is fast enough, because of the Pentium processor, 4 GB Ram, 320 GB 7200 RPM HDD and Windows 7 64-bit.
Listen to me bragging. LOL.
The only trouble is that it's an Acer, so the build quality is not entirely up to par with HP or DELL. The keyboard and touchpad are not the best I've ever had
There are other laptops that run a whole day on a charge as well, possible some HP models. Don't forget about the not-really-luxury of the NUM block if you work with a CAT tool.
HTH
- Marinus
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
Marinus : Have you tried Trados 2009?
Nov 4, 2009
Marinus Vesseur wrote:
There is no NUM block either, so forget about shortcuts.
Trados 2009 has fully customizable keys, so that is not a too serious problem.
It is small enough to still be usable on a plane (because of the lower wide-screen), it is bright enough to work in daylight ambience, it is fast enough, because of the Pentium processor, 4 GB Ram, 320 GB 7200 RPM HDD and Windows 7 64-bit.
I suppose your laptop has the SU9400 processor? Have you tried it with Trados 2009? I have a U7600 myself (Dell Latitude D430) and find such low-voltage processors quick enough for Trados 2007, but not for Trados 2009 (particularly larger projects).
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Jeremy Smith United Kingdom Local time: 11:54 Member (2003) French to English + ...
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Thanks Marinus
Nov 4, 2009
I had no idea such a thing as a notebook with excellent battery performance existed. Looking through the options here, it look a lot like I'm going to forget about the netbook idea and go for an Acer.
And I wouldn't have had a clue if you hadn't told me. Thanks a lot.
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
Battery life
Nov 4, 2009
Jeremy Smith wrote:
I had no idea such a thing as a notebook with excellent battery performance existed. Looking through the options here, it look a lot like I'm going to forget about the netbook idea and go for an Acer.
And I wouldn't have had a clue if you hadn't told me. Thanks a lot.
Battery life depends on the combination of laptop battery and laptop components. Almost every laptop with a smaller screen, decent laptop battery, low-voltage processor (e.g. the 10-watt SU9400 in the Timeline) and integrated graphic will have outstanding battery life. If you swap the HDD for a SSD, you will get a few % more as well.
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Marinus Vesseur Canada Local time: 03:54 Partial member English to Dutch + ...
Samsung offers a similar product
Nov 5, 2009
Jeremy Smith wrote:..Thanks a lot.
Pleasure.
It really works for about 7-8 hours, though I do pay attention to switch off the Wifi when I'm not online. Like Bjornar says, the energy efficiency is achieved by reducing performance dynamically, so the processor is not fast, except... I haven't noticed it yet, not even with SDL Studio 2009 and about 10 other programs running. 4 GB Ram may have something to do with that. Windows 7 is great as well. Make sure you check whether all your software can run on 64 bit Windows.
Samsung offers a similar product. More solidly built, but quite a bit more expensive, too.
On a side note: what I find really cool is the HDMI bus. You can connect a full HD 1920 x 1200 monitor or tv and the desktop or movie is shown in full resolution. If you get yourself a Samsung 24" flat screen tv for about 200 pounds it can also serve as a super-sized monitor and is tax deductible. How about that for Christmas?
Have fun shopping.
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Bjørnar Magnussen Norway Local time: 12:54 Member (2002) English to Norwegian + ...
ASUS UL80Vt
Nov 5, 2009
Marinus Vesseur wrote:
Like Bjornar says, the energy efficiency is achieved by reducing performance dynamically, so the processor is not fast, except... I haven't noticed it yet, not even with SDL Studio 2009 and about 10 other programs running.
That come as a surprise to me, since I am quite unhappy with the performance on a similar laptop processor. Perhaps it depends on the size of our files, termbases and TM?
For a good compromise between battery life and CPU, I would consider the ASUS UL80Vt - it provides up to 12 hours of light office use. Asus uses a Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 that they have managed to clock to 1.73GHz.
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