laptop

[Toryboy1]

My employer would not thank me if I dropped their laptop in the 'oggin, so I am contemplating buying a S/H one for use on the boat. I would like to run a plotter and AIS software, and play DVDs to keep the kids amused. It would be for amusement/backup only. The problem is that looking on Ebay is really scary. I thought about £150 would be what i would be prepared to pay- my question is, what sort of spec should I be looking for for that sort of money? Any experience of the sites that sell reconditioned ex corporate machines? Any other tips about buying S/H laptops appreciated.

 

[cliff]

You would be hard pressed to beat http://www.laptopsandpcs.co.uk/ for value for money - might not be the cheapest around but I have found them "value for money" and their after sales service is way above average in my experience. (So far I have bought 5 laptops from them without any problems apart from one decided to play silly buggers after nearly one year of abuse - no problem repaired under warranty without any arguements).

(Usual comments apply - no connection except as a (very) satisified customer)
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"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"
sailroom <span style="color:red">The place to auction your previously loved boatie bits</span>

 

[fireball]

Sent a PM with a link to a place I've used - I'd normally post it here, but haven't used them for a while.

 

[SimonD]

You'll be wanting a Panasonic Toughbook CF-27. Not only can you drop it in the oggin, you can use it as an anchor, i.e. it's as tough as old boots and extremely heavy.

Try to get a MkIII version: faster processor and a slightly larger screen. They don't come up for sale very often, but worth waiting for. I got mine from Ebay for £110. It runs SoB quickly enough. You'll need to add a DVD drive - I haven't so I can't comment on it's performance playing films.

A standard laptop for the same price would probably be more up to date and higher spec. But if you want one that will stand up to bashing about and a bit of water, a toughbook is the job.

Hope that helps

Simon

 

[KINGFISHER 8]

Question from one who lives in an IT desert ..... what spec is required? Ram etc. I'm not sure what a ram is but I'm sure it's useful. How many GB hard drive? How many USB ports? Does it need to run XP?
Would it be possible to answer in plain English please?

 

[fireball]

Anything above Pentium spec will run ok. Obviously the faster (newer) the processor the quicker the applications will run.
Each program will require different amounts of memory. FWIW I've run Maptech Offshore Nav lite on a Pentium 100 with 128Mb Ram and a 6Gb HD (raster charts stored on the disk) but it was too slow. We now run it on a PIII 600Mhz with 256Mb Ram and a 20GB HD - we don't need the bigger HD, but the RAM and the Processor sure do help!

 

[Nick_Pam]

I use a 2nd hand IBM T41 notebook...been on board and running plotting software on the chart table in a force 7...has a nifty shutdown sensor on the Hard Disk that detects G-force and stops the disk spinning to avoid damage....then restarts.

Titanium case too, so can take a knock and DVD to keep the kids (or missus!) happy with cartoons or weepies! Runs off a 12/18v car-type inverter or a mains supply of course, and has on-board wireless so you can get your weather files etc.

All for the princely sum of £200 on eBay - refurbished. PM me if you want the name of the supplier...

OK...OK.....I know I used to work for IBM, but they really are good!!

Nick

 

[SvenglishTommy]

Dont be scared of ebay, you'll probably get the best deal there. The only problem is sifting through the thousands of laptops that are available.

Ideally you want something around 1 to 2 GHz chip with 512megs of ram. Do not worry so much about other specs, the most important is the ram for your needs, but double check it has a DVD player rather than just a CD. You wont get this spec easily for £150, but if you bid on few you should get one for around that price.

One big issue with second hand laptops is the batteries, but you can use this to your advantage if you only intend to use it on the boat. Many places will put in a new battery because the old one is dead, which will ramp up the price, so make sure you're not paying for new battery if you dont need one. You can actually just completely remove the battery and run the laptop directly from the 12V supply which is more efficient than an adapter.

For use on a boat the most important thing is build quality, in particular the hinge between the screen and the laptop. In my opinion, the IBM Thinkpads are best in this respect. If you can get a T30 for £150, that would be perfect. They are ruggedly built and almost 100% of the IBMs we have used at the office are still going strong. We have switched to HP now and everyone is trying to hang on to their old IBMs rather get upgraded to a HP.

Personally I use a T21 which is only 800MHz and only has 256MB ram. It runs DVDs fine, links up with my Navtex/GPS no problem and allows me to plot using Tsunamis, running under windows XP.

The most important thing is that when you get it you wipe the disk and do a fresh install of XP. If you leave the original operating system in place it will no doubt have collected tons of junk over time, so a fresh install will allow you to just install what you need and dramatically reduce memory consumption. My T21 starts up faster than my dual-core HP with 2GB ram due to the crap my company installs on it.

Feel free to send me a PM if you want a second opinion on something you see on ebay.

Tommy

 

[Birdseye]

I suspect that one key issue will be the battery - ideally you want a lappy with a new battery and as slow a processor as will do the job since processor speed is one of the factors in short battery life.

maplins do a good 12 v to whatever adaptor.

dont forget that the likes of dabs.com are doing brand new HP lappies for 299.97 so any second hand one needs to be 150 or less to make any sense at all unless the spec is exotic.