Win XP friendly laptop to pair with ATI AIW USB?
 

I'm a Mac user since a very long time and I'd really appreciate any hint on a decent portable option to run Windows XP for capture purposes through the use of an ATI AIW USB.

For some reason I have some sympathy for the IBM Thinkpad models. I could get a A31 for around 150$.
Will it perform decently with a P4 M 2.0 GHz in your opinion?

Apart from that specific machine, would you have any suggestion for an ideal old laptop that could become my capture box for a while?

I'm still trying to figure out a decent workflow, and I'm considering many options, a laptop instead of a desktop machine is one of them.

Update:

I'd like to provide the actual specs here directly, as it might help a quicker assessment of the machine.

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 M 2.0GHz
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
Display: 15,0" TFT XGA 1024x768
RAM: 768MB PC2100 DDR-SODIMM
HD: 2,5" HDD PATA 4200 RPM
OS: Windows XP Professional
Chipset: Intel 845MP / AD1881A AC'97 Audio Controller

Is it any good for a USB-based capture job?
If not, what would be the things I'd need to improve in this machine or in general?

I'd be very concerned about less than 2gb of RAM. Yes, you could capture with 512mb to 1gb, we did it 15+ years ago, but it could cause issues. I was relieved when I finally got a 2gb setup more than a decade ago.

TFT is always a concern, impossible to calibrate, you never realyly know what the image quality looks like.

I'd completely avoid non-SATA laptops. PATA/IDE 4200rpm is probably too slow, will drop frames. Even 15+ years ago, we had 7200rpm drives. At worst, a 5400rpm drive via SATA.

Pentium 4 M was massively underpower.

I would imagine the USB is miserable slow, making capture file transfer frustrating, maybe even impossible (as sometimes too-large files would simply refuse to transfer on earlier-era USB).

When I say "capture laptop", it needs to be something no older than bleeding-edge 2006 (which is what I used for my first "portable studio" type setup). Or more likely a used laptop from sometime within the past decade. That probably eliminates anything you'll find a local junk shop, as even 5 year old laptop has some resale value.

Understood. What kind of CPU should I be looking for?

There are plenty of options out there, my concern is that a laptop that's too new might not "accept" Windows XP – that's why getting an idea of what to look for will be very useful.

My 1st system still works:
- Intel Core Duo T2250 1.73ghz
- 2gb RAM
- 100gb SATA II 5400rpm OS
- 500gb SATA II 7200rpm capture drive (added few years later, upgraded from 2nd 100gb))
- USB2
- Windows XP Pro SP2

That was bleeding edge in 2006, easily $1k+ laptop.

It has some quirks, with the main one being USB is slow to transfer files. Literally takes an entire waking day to migrate 500gb to an external drive. That's the main reason it was retired for regular use. That's where my own ATI AIW USB is, and an ATI 600 clone. I won't currently part with it for that reason (using the ATI cards). Used for small projects only, doubles as an emergency backup if a desktop goes down for any reason.

My main Win7 capture laptop has 2013 i7, eSATA, USB3, 12gb RAM, 1tb SSHD, IPS matte, also $1k+ bleeding edge at the time.
And my extra is on the marketplace: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/mark...ng-system.html