So Im very new to this and bought the atomstack A5 before anything else …It a brand new hobbie to me . Now Im going to buy a laptop for it . What system and requirements should I look at that will run both LightBurn and LaserGRBL ? I would like to try both to see which one is better for me… any help would be greatly appreciated
LaserGRBL runs only on Windows. So you will need a Windows computer or plan to run LaserGRBL under emulation which I’ve heard works fine under Mac or Linux.
LightBurn will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux so plenty of flexibility there.
Outside of that the specific system requirements for both programs is fairly light. I don’t know if either has a true minimum requirement but I suggest at least 64-bit (anything new will support this) and 8GB of RAM. I’ve run LaserGRBL on a Windows 7 laptop from ~2010 with 4GB of RAM with no issue. I’ve run LightBurn on a 2013 Macbook Pro with 8GB with no issue. So essentially any modern system will run either of these programs without fuss.
You’re likely to be constrained more by other programs that you rely on.
Both programs are well supported in either W10 or W11 so I haven’t seen that be an issue. There are some known issues with USB connections to Ruida controllers with Mac but not an immediate issue for your Atomstack.
Linux is only officially supported on a handful of older distros but folks on this site have gotten it to work on a variety of systems.
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Thank you for the information but that brought up another question , would it be better to run them on two different laptops to get the better proformance out of each one ?
Not sure what your long term requirements are but in terms of evaluating the products I don’t think you’d need separate machines.
A lot of folks will have a design machine and a job machine. Based on that the potential needs of the 2 systems could be different. For example, you could run a different operating system on the job machine and it wouldn’t need to be as fast since it’s only being used to run jobs. You could repurpose an older computer for that role.
I’d suggest starting with just the one and adjusting based on how your needs develop. In reality, you won’t really know what your needs or workflow will be until you’ve done it. No need to build ahead of your need if you’re not in any particular hurry and you might end up wasting funds and brain cycles needlessly.
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Your laptop can likely run both programs. You can use either one at any time, but not run jobs on both concurrently.
LaserGRBL doesn’t have anywhere near the functionality of LightBurn, and it’s free. Try it first then try LightBurn.
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Lol this will be just a hobby , need something to get me away from work , The soon to be wife and her 3 grandbabies ( age 2 ,3 and 4) that we took in a year and a half ago thru a c.p.s. issue and have now been awarded permanent… not alot of time for anything else … but I really do thank you for the information
Oh wow. Good for you guys. Sounds like you’re going to have your hands full for a while and lasering quickly becomes a full-time hobby on its own. 
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Sounds like you will have 3 experts on lasers in the family in a couple years… 
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