Laptop suggestions

[five.five-six]

If there's a tool section, we could put this thread there. The long and the short of it is that it's time to replace my field laptop. It's a Compaq 5610B. A few years ago I replaced the HDD with a SSD just to get a few more years out of it but it's time has come. Here's the thing, I can get lot's of much more powerful laptops for not much money but this Compaq is an enterprise grade laptop and it survived many years of being opened up on job sites, downloading cut sheets, creating circuit inventories and programming everything from access controll to distributed audio systems without breaking. I am fearfull that If I buy some new cheep laptop that it may just fail on me. This one has been running for 10 some years and am looking for a tool to replace it.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I know that there are many laptop specifically made for the field. Dell, Samsung etc all make them. I would probably avoid things like the surface pro and other- not cheap- but delicate type pc's.

Heck they even have military grade laptops. Search for construction or rugged laptops

 

[Fulthrotl]

If there's a tool section, we could put this thread there. The long and the short of it is that it's time to replace my field laptop. It's a Compaq 5610B. A few years ago I replaced the HDD with a SSD just to get a few more years out of it but it's time has come. Here's the thing, I can get lot's of much more powerful laptops for not much money but this Compaq is an enterprise grade laptop and it survived many years of being opened up on job sites, downloading cut sheets, creating circuit inventories and programming everything from access controll to distributed audio systems without breaking. I am fearfull that If I buy some new cheep laptop that it may just fail on me. This one has been running for 10 some years and am looking for a tool to replace it.

i use a macbook with parallels on it for windows requirements.
i also use this as a case to carry it. never had any problems.

http://www.vivaxcases.com/

 

[Smart $]

What I've seen the most of in the field is Panasonic Toughbook.

 

[zbang]

What I've seen the most of in the field is Panasonic Toughbook.

Never used one, but they -do- seem to be tough. I've been using T-series Thinkpads for, hmm, 16 years, and even the oldest one still boots (win2k).

Unless you're knocking it around in a gangbox, any of the commercial-line units from a major maker will probably do you well*. Keep it in a padded case, anyway (along with the power supply and a locking cable). Check on their business warranty service, too.

*I think they all come with SSDs now, but get as much memory as it'll hold.

 

[donaldelectrician]

Computers with Electronic Hard Drives will hold up the best .




Don

 

[tom baker]

I am on my second Panasonic Toughbook, this one is a CF-52, it has a solid state hard drive. I am thinking when I go to Win 10 I'll get a new Toughbook.
Our police and sheriffs dept all use a Toughbook, they are a touchscreen.
Mine has a handle, and covers over the ports. There are different versions of toughbooks.
The CF52 has a serial port and some of the old equipment I use still needs to talk on Com 1

 

[mgookin]

I am on my second Panasonic Toughbook, this one is a CF-52, it has a solid state hard drive. I am thinking when I go to Win 10 I'll get a new Toughbook.
Our police and sheriffs dept all use a Toughbook, they are a touchscreen.
Mine has a handle, and covers over the ports. There are different versions of toughbooks.
The CF52 has a serial port and some of the old equipment I use still needs to talk on Com 1

Our city has 200+ Toughbooks and I know contractors who use them. Everyone I am aware of also has the vehicle mount to make your vehicle a mobile office. I've seen some pretty tricked out worktrucks complete with file cabinets, printers, etc. I've never heard anything bad about a Toughbook.

I would think that with all the vibrations and bumping around, SSD is the only way to go.

 

[Smart $]

Computers with Electronic Hard Drives will hold up the best .

They are better known as a solid-state drive or SSD.

 

[iwire]

I just had the companies IT guy replace my laptop drive to SSD.

Huge difference in performance of an IR software program I use.

 

[petersonra]

I just had the companies IT guy replace my laptop drive to SSD.

Huge difference in performance of an IR software program I use.

We have been using them in industrial workstations now for several years. They make a lot of sense. We use a fanless computer so there are no moving parts at all. It does not even look like a PC, more like a heat sink. We mostly are not worried about the performance but moving parts eventually fail.

 

[kwired]

I don't really have a preference on manufacturer, and even little preference on performance features unless you use software that has specific demands from hardware. But what I have found doesn't work as well for me is small screens. Even my smart phone is convenient for a lot of things
but when doing serious work at least a 15 inch screen sure is easier to work on. Used to have a little 10 or 11 inch netbook which was compact and very portable, but not so good to actually do serious work with like looking at or making drawings or even just reading an PDF instruction manual.

 

[five.five-six]

Mac just won't do. There are just too many things you can't program with an apple. I looked at the toughbooks $2k for an i5 with SSD... That's steep. It turns out that the power supply/charger went south and my laptop was going into perpetual power saveing mode. I replaced the charger and now the batteries charge and it runs serviceable fast again

Used it today to find some wires in a wall. The guys straightening the walls with a plane knocked my ring off and neglected to replace it. There I am with the painters still on sight, USB fiber scope looking up the inside of a wall. That's a typical use for a laptop for me. Dust and dirt everywhere.

 

[69gp]

If there's a tool section, we could put this thread there. The long and the short of it is that it's time to replace my field laptop. It's a Compaq 5610B. A few years ago I replaced the HDD with a SSD just to get a few more years out of it but it's time has come. Here's the thing, I can get lot's of much more powerful laptops for not much money but this Compaq is an enterprise grade laptop and it survived many years of being opened up on job sites, downloading cut sheets, creating circuit inventories and programming everything from access controll to distributed audio systems without breaking. I am fearfull that If I buy some new cheep laptop that it may just fail on me. This one has been running for 10 some years and am looking for a tool to replace it.

I use a Lenovo touch screen. saves a lot of time in the field when you can just touch the screen as opposed to using a thumb roller or pad. Granted might not be as rugged but in 3 years I have not dropped mine and it sees a lot of construction sites.

 

[__dan]

Lenovo has been having really great pricing on a few models, like some kind of inventory liquidation as they clear for new models. I have been watching the g50 and g70 only because of the low price. Some of the models have 'mil spec ruggedness' whatever that means. G50 and G70 have been $329 with an I5 processor.

I don't know the details of these models, just posting an example.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8654030-len...b-hdd-win-10-285-free-shipping?src=SiteSearch

The refurb T410 with an I5 is a good machine for cheap. Swap the drive for an ssd.

Myself I've been waiting for a crazy deal on the T 5x0 with the 4k ips display. Should be ~ $700 with the 4k display when I buy plus the wireless modem.

Changing the hd to ssd is an easy drop in replacement. The work is in reloading the OS and software, it takes time and knowledge but it's something everyone needs to be able to do.

Backups are necessary, even the $70 WD unit Costco sells. It's a USB plug in auto backup drive.

At $329 for a decent build laptop, it's an option for low exposure to loss in the field compared to needing a $2k laptop.

slickdeals.net and dealsnews.com are the best places that index current crazy deals all over the internet.

 

[marksg]

I've been thru several laptops over the years. My company refuses to budget for Toughbooks they are not cheap. I have never had a laptop go bad being in the truck. Its always from a fall because the program cables wouldnt reach a safe place. So I have a ThinkPad, and I carry a 50' Ethernet patch cable. I also carry a 32' sub extension cable (monoprice 9$) which I use with my serial port adapter. Haven't damaged a laptop in a long time now.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Cmdr_Suds]

The company I used to work for wouldn't budget for toughbooks either. We used Dell Latitudes with good success. Usually we got about 3-5 years of use out of them before they were too outdated to keep up with the software. Not having an onboard serial port has been a problem when using older software. Had to test several USB serial port dongles to find one that would work the old stuff.

On newer equipment with Ethernet communications, I configured a wifi router so all I would have to do is to plug it in to the controller and then my laptop would connect via the wifi. This was great for working on outside control panels in bad weather.

 

[mgookin]

The company I used to work for wouldn't budget for toughbooks either. We used Dell Latitudes with good success. Usually we got about 3-5 years of use out of them before they were too outdated to keep up with the software. Not having an onboard serial port has been a problem when using older software. Had to test several USB serial port dongles to find one that would work the old stuff.

On newer equipment with Ethernet communications, I configured a wifi router so all I would have to do is to plug it in to the controller and then my laptop would connect via the wifi. This was great for working on outside control panels in bad weather.

Try using a uart converter bridge for the serial to usb adapter. Works for us.