"you can cheaply throw more CPU power at the problem, or just wait and then you're done" How am I going to "throw more CPU power at the problem" when I'm using

"you can cheaply throw more CPU power at the problem, or just wait and then you're done" How am I going to "throw more CPU power at the problem" when I'm using a scanner hooked up to my laptop? Should I buy myself a new, more powerful laptop? That doesn't sound cheap. As for "just" waiting... my time is valuable, and I have better things to do with it than wait... and, unfortunately, the process of scanning and encoding needs a lot of babysitting from me, so I can't just dump a bunch of photos in my scanner and come back when it's all over if I want even half-decent results, not to mention archival quality images. In this real-world scenario, a quicker encoding speed would save me a lot of valuable time, and there's no getting around it short of hiring a skilled and trusted person to do it for me.