I am thinking of getting this laptop to enable me to take CS4 - Pemiere only on the road with me. It looks as though it would handle it. Can anyone who is more technically minded than I am tell me if the spec is okay.

HP EliteBook LY530ET 44 cm (17.3") LED Notebook - Intel Core i7 i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz - Laptop from JR Linton Electricals UK (http://www.jrlinton.co.uk/computing-c24/laptop-c6/elitebook-ly530et-44-cm-173-led-notebook-intel-core-i7-i7-2670qm-220-ghz-p12526?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=hp-elitebook-ly530et-44-cm-173quot-led-notebook-intel-core-i7-i7-267-9435xlg&utm_campaign=product+listing+ads#12897)

EliteBook LY530ET 44 cm (17.3") LED Notebook - Intel Core i7 i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz

Processor Manufacturer - Intel
Processor Type - Core i7
Processor Model - i7-2670QM
Processor Speed - 2.20 GHz
Processor Core - Quad-core (4 Core)
Cache - 6 MB
Standard Memory - 4 GB - Maximum Memory - 32 GB
Memory Technology - DDR3 SDRAM
Memory Standard - DDR3-1333/PC3-10600
Hard Drive Capacity - 500 GB
Optical Drive Type - DVD-Writer
Optical Media Supported - DVD-RAM/±R/±RW
Dual-Layer Media Supported - Yes
Screen Size - 44 cm (17.3")
Display Screen Type - Active Matrix TFT Colour LCD
Aspect Ratio - 16:9
Screen Mode - Full HD
Backlight Technology - LED
Screen Resolution - 1920 x 1080
Graphics Controller Manufacturer - NVIDIA
Graphics Controller Model - Quadro 3000M
Graphics Memory Capacity - 2 GB
Graphics Memory Accessibility - Dedicated
Ethernet Technology - Gigabit Ethernet
Wi-Fi - Yes
Wi-Fi Standard - IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth - Yes
Bluetooth Standard - Bluetooth 2.1
Webcam - Yes
Finger Print Reader - Yes
FireWire/i.LINK - Yes
eSATA/USB Combo - Yes
DisplayPort - Yes
Operating System - Genuine Windows 7 Professional
Operating System Architecture - 64-bit

I use a far less potent laptop than this "on the road" editing 1920p25 both as mpeg2 and AVCHD.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, I use a fast external eSATA drive for all media.

Also I use CS6 - in my CS4 days, I used a much LESS powerful laptop than either your proposal, or my current laptop, but this was not used for AVCHD.

Thanks Alan. I've got a chance to buy this at a good price (£700) but as I don't really need another laptop for anything else I don't want to buy it if it won't let me use Premiere.

Does your eSATA drive need external power supply; do you know if there are any that don't - I've googled but can't find any.

Do you know if a USB, like a Western Digital Passport drive would be good enough?

The one I use does not. I use a WD Caviar Black drive in a small Icy Box. This has eSATA and USB ports. I use the eSATA for data, and connect the USB port to a USB port on my laptop with a lead suppled with the Icy Box to power the drive.

the Icy Box is an IB-266StUS-B and was bought from Scan. I use these boxes extensively, they really are very useful.

As your proposed laptop is a 17" screen type, it is just possible that it has a spare HDD bay internally. My previous 17" Sony had one.

I've got some ICY boxes around, I have used the small ones with HDs and bigger ones with DVD drives. I had 5 in sequence to write discs simultaneously when I used Record Now, before I got a tower duplicator. I use a WD Passport on my main comp and that seems to handle AVCHD okay, so I will give it a try. As I will only be using it occasionally, and only for Premiere I guess that I can just load it on as I need it, I can't see that I'll have more than one project on at a time.