Well, from what articles I've read so far, steem is mined through cpu power, but you don't technically "mine" it, you become a "witness?" (someone who knows better, correct me if I'm wrong.) and get steem power through solving problems given to you. I guess that would mean that it depends on your laptop's cpu power and ram allocation and what you could get away with. Again, I'm asking for help to get started here, so hopefully our answers will be met with a better knowledge base. :)