Laptop choices

[William]

Originally posted by Don Palese
I did have an idea for you but it was deleated, the nightmare cotinues

You mean your delusion continues there Don? If you're not gonna help.. then at least don't pretend, eh?

[MoeDaddy]

I have had multiplel laptops and have had great service from Dell. The support is what sets them apart in my opinion.

[Cutch]

...without a doubt...

Sharon Stone

[Anders Karlsson]

I just got a Compaq that was on sale at Circuit City for $750 after mail in rebates, I got it to replace a Sony that's been working OK for about two and a half years.

15 inch screen
CD burner
2 Ghz Pentium
40 Gb Hard drive
256 Ram
It does not have the 802.11 but it has a mini-pci slot and the 802.11 cards sell for about $40 on e-bay, I use a PC card for now.

I used to buy high end systems but seeing how fast prices drop made me stop doing that, now I only buy cheap stuff.

I paid over $3500 for a Dell P90 ten years ago, never again, should have bought Dell stocks instead

[Overkill]

Originally posted by Anders Karlsson
I just got a Compaq that was on sale at Circuit City

I'm sorry.

[Anders Karlsson]

Originally posted by Overkill
I'm sorry.

I like the new Compaq's, got one for my mom a couple of weeks ago in Sweden, they were selling for $1200 over there.

Looked at the Toshiba's but they seamed flimsy, was going to get a Sony considering how good my old one has been, running 24/7 with four users two of them kids, surprised it still runs at all, but didn't feel like paying $1100 for the same thing I could get for $750

[Stu Olson]

My laptop shipped from IBM today so it will arrive this coming Monday.....bummers, I had hopped to have played with it over the weekend.

[Dan-H]

you'll just have to go wheeling stu.

[Darrell C]

Hey Stu, BTW, you use a mini-PC or something similar in your Jeep IIRC. Can you elaborate please??

I'm looking for something smaller to interface with my GPS, digital camera, etc while on Jeep trips.

Thx...

Darrell

[Stu Olson]

Darrell,

I have a small Panasonic Toughbook. It has an 8" touchscreen TFT display. No air vents on the case (conduction cooled) and supposedly pretty rugged (magnesium case). I found some software to invert the video display which I need for my mounting solution.

I was speaking with my engineer friend just the other day about the mounts for this PC. He will fabricate an aluminum mounting plate that will hold the Toughbook upside down. The plate will be attached to the roll cage and will allow the display to open and swing down for use. Since OziExplorer can easily be ran with using just the mouse (or in my case, the touchscreen), that will be my primary method of control. I intend to power it via the small 110VAC power supply which will run off of the inverter. I have a wireless connection for it so I can actually do maintenance on the OS and other software while sitting in the driveway.

As soon as I can get over to the east valley, I can drop off the PC at my friend's place and let him start on the plate. When I finally get it going, I'll post some pics of how it is coming along.

[Darrell C]

Thanks for the info, Stu.

Is the wireless 802.11b?? Was it built-in or via PCMCIA?

I already have an 802.11b setup at the house so I'm curious.

I'll have to check those units out...

Good luck with the project and I look forward to your updates.

[Overkill]

Those Panasonic Toughbooks are rather impressive, If I recall correctly the hard drives are set in a gooey gel. Pretty neato. Where I used to work we torture tested several and I think it was coffee that finally killed it. Not a cup, a pot

[Darrell C]

Some of our ambulance companies have gone paperless; doing their PCRs (patient care reports) on a laptop and then printing the form at the ED for medical records. They've tested the Toughbook (full size units) and they seem to be holding up well.

Let's face it, if anyone can break them, it's EMTs and medics using them in a field environment

[Stu Olson]

Darrell,

While other Toughbooks have built in 802.11b, mine did not. In fact, they don't even make the 8" display any longer (too bad I think because it is perfect for a TJ!).

Right now, I have an unused USB 802.11b that I can use on it. If that does not work out (I'll proably just unplug it and toss it in the center console when I am not networked), I'll switch over to a PCMCIA card and try that.

I also read some evals where the US Forest Service used the Toughbooks in the field. They even managed to drive over them with a vehicle and drop them (with display open and running) off of a standard table as part of their acceptance testing. They wanted field tough units. As such, I am hoping mine will survive the rigors of being attached to the roll cage. Maybe I'll have to see if Blaine has any miniature RS-9000 shocks I can mount between the mounting plate and the cage. Knowing him, he probably does!

Edit:

One other thing that a buddy and I had kicked around doing.....networking while on the trail! LOL Do you know you could actually use some of those inexpensive web cams and send the pics live time to each other on the trail. Talk about remote spotting!

[Overkill]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
=
One other thing that a buddy and I had kicked around doing.....networking while on the trail! LOL Do you know you could actually use some of those inexpensive web cams and send the pics live time to each other on the trail. Talk about remote spotting!

Wouldn't be hard it all... but man that would be awesome Too bad I'm the only freak who runs 802.11a on the trail.

[William]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Maybe I'll have to see if Blaine has any miniature RS-9000 shocks I can mount between the mounting plate and the cage. Knowing him, he probably does!

Idea: Why not build a flat mounting plat form and place gel pads between the bottom of the CPU and the platform?

Anyway, Stu: Do you mind telling me where and how much you paid for your toughbook? Is it a decent lap top preformance wise for the $ ?

[Darrell C]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Darrell,

While other Toughbooks have built in 802.11b, mine did not. In fact, they don't even make the 8" display any longer (too bad I think because it is perfect for a TJ!).

Too bad. My biggest issue (other than ruggedness) is size. I have two laptops at home (an older NEC and a Dell). The NEC has a 14" display...smallish for a laptop but still too large, IMO, for the cramped quarters of a TJ.

Right now, I have an unused USB 802.11b that I can use on it. If that does not work out (I'll proably just unplug it and toss it in the center console when I am not networked), I'll switch over to a PCMCIA card and try that.

My 802.11b question was mostly aimed at being able to easily itegrate the unit into my home network. My Dell currently uses a PCMCIA 802.11b card and it functions fine. My guess is you won't have any problem getting either the USB or PCM card to function.

<snip> As such, I am hoping mine will survive the rigors of being attached to the roll cage. Maybe I'll have to see if Blaine has any miniature RS-9000 shocks I can mount between the mounting plate and the cage. Knowing him, he probably does!

My guess is if he doesn't, he could fab something up in no time.

I would think your biggest worry would be the hinge point for the display if you plan on leaving the unit open/on while wheeling. Probably take it's toll after a time, but I could be wrong.

The ambulance units in this area don't operate the PC's while driving too often. The conversion to electronic PCRs was mostly driven by the desire to facilitate providing the required data elements to our rather large database and do away with the manual entry of data on the provider's end; a slow, cumbersome, expensive and fraught with input-errors process.

Edit:

One other thing that a buddy and I had kicked around doing.....networking while on the trail! LOL Do you know you could actually use some of those inexpensive web cams and send the pics live time to each other on the trail. Talk about remote spotting!

Yep, that could work. If you got a PC that accepted external video signals (of the proper format), then you could mount those all-weather cameras underneath your rig and display the ground...kind of a self-spotting process that someone else (I forget who...was it Frank??) had already posted about.

[Stu Olson]

William,

I did some horse trading for it so it is hard to put a value on it. The unti I got was brand new but the person who bought it picked up several on clearance with the intent of selling them and turning a few $$ profit. If the one I purchased was to be my regular laptop, I woudl not like it....but that is because it has a Celeron processor in it....not enough horsepower for me for normal tasks. However, for a mapping device, it will work just fine.

Darrell,

I've tried the 802.11b USB device on it and it works great with the network in the house. I am still not certain if I want to use that or get a PCMCIA card to handle the network. My soon to retire Toshiba notebook will be used in a room that will require a wireless connection. I was thinking about using the USB wireless on it and getting the more compact PCMCIA wireless for the TJ.

It is possible that the display's hinge might become an issue. I doubt I will be doing many trail runs with it actually "deployed" and running. I can easily download the data to the Garmin for that task. Where it is more likely to be used while mobile is on the highway....and then I'll have a moving map display running with the GPS feeding the data stream to the notebook. I can't load enough enhanced map data to get me more than two hours away from Phoenix (not enough memory in the GPS). This will certainly fill that nitch AND it will give me great backup for when I get my butt lost on the trail! LOL

[Sephiroth]

A guy at work sent me an email with a forum that does nothing but install PC's in Jeeps, I dumped it thinking it was a joke so Monday I will have him resend it and I will post it.

[TObject]

Darn, can a forum do that? If you ever run over a link to a forum that does nothing but bake apple pies, please make sure to holler me right away.

[Stu Olson]

Don....if you find it, put it up here. I would be interested in looking at it. It is probably much more than I would need, but as with many forums, there is usually something useful that one can glean from it.

[Sephiroth]

He was off work today but will be in tuesday, I will post the link.

[MoeDaddy]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
I found some software to invert the video display which I need for my mounting solution.

I have been looking for that SW for for some time. Any info you may have on it would be appreciated


Thanks

[Stu Olson]

The new IBM was waiting for me when I got home last night.

Nice....very nice......I am totally impressed with the 1400x1050 display.....those DVDs look like they will come out of the display and get you! LOL

Still moving files over from the old notebook but the transistion is going well.


MoeDaddy....I will have to dig up the name of the company as the software is installed on the Toughbook right now.

[MoeDaddy]

Thanks, no hurry whatever you can find out would be great.

[Stu Olson]

Anyone running an IBM laptop.....

There is an application called IBM Access Connections that is used to manage multiple network connection profiles and/or network cards (Ethernet, Wireless, etc.).

For some reason, my R40 doesn't comprehend this application, although both the wireless and network card work properly.

Any ideas before I run through the IBM question and answer process?

[Stu Olson]

Originally posted by MoeDaddy
Thanks, no hurry whatever you can find out would be great.

You want the Pivot Pro software application, made by Protrait Displays, Inc.

http://www.portrait.com

A 30 day trial can be downloaded (which is what sold me on the idea).

Hope this will do what you need

[TObject]

If there is another application installed that does similar things, there could be a conflict between the two. I once had a nasty conflict between LanDesk Manager Software and SuperODoctor monitoring utility.

Also, maybe this can help:
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site...ZLNJB.html#lim

[Stu Olson]

Not that I can find. Since it is an IBM utility, I kind of figured it would run on their laptop (could be a bad assumption on my part) because they put it on there. I've loaded no other management anything software to date.

I did find one hit in their knowledge base that told me I needed to uncheck an XP networking option so that one of their functions would work correctly....but my problem is far beyond that....it simply has no idea that the wireless card is even installed. Pretty strange...

[MoeDaddy]

Stu,

Thanks