"rugged" laptops

[stravaigin]

\"rugged\" laptops

While looking for a new laptop, we've learned of Panasonic rugged [or semi-rugged..] "Toughbooks". They are five times more expensive than regular laptops, but are they worth it in terms of lifespan, durability and tolerance of marine environment ?

 

[Guest]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

I don't know the answer, but one option must be to buy five normal laptops instead!

 

[BrendanS]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

depends where you are going to use it and what for. If in cabin, away from direct exposure to water, then no. For same price you can buy upteen cheap second hand laptops and a disk to clone your programs and data, and throw away the cheapy when it fails after 1 to 10 years, and replicate your system on one of the other cheapies when the first fails. Do the same when the second one fails, etc.

 

[jeanne]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

I bought a second hand toughbook 14 years ago, from a firm dealing in ex lease models (lots of surveyors and people on building sites use them) at a fraction of new price. It is still going strong - although at snails pace by modern standards, and is now our fall back laptop. If you can get hold of one, I think they are the best. It says a lot that we only take that one onto the boat. They are fit to use with wet hands, and are pretty shock proof.

A friend did the same on my recommendation - his survived some pretty violent treatment in some bad weather, and still works.

 

[Roberto]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

fwiw, I do not what I am talking about, but a couple of IT geek friends both strongly advised to look at ebay where these toughbooks can usually be found for a few hundreds, as they are generally in top shape

I haven't got one, but admit being tempted.. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[macd]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Quite so. Four years ago I bought what I think was an ex BT Toughbook. It's not fast (struggles with MaxSea), but it is reassuringly rugged and does pretty well everything else needed on board. Even the battery holds a good charge. It cost £150, so you can have Brendan's cake and eat it if you can find one. When new it retailed for over £3000, which doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[BrendanS]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

but why would you want one, when you can pick up much more powerful laptops that won't struggle with running recent programs for pretty much the same price. Do you really need the specialist specifications when a normal laptop will give years of service onboard?

 

[colvic987]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

the cf27are very slow now, but the cf29 are alot better, have used them for the past 7 years, have seen plenty still working after been really abused, dropped, chucked in back of van etc.

 

[LadyJessie]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

I just saw "PC World" advertise a very powerful laptop with all the latest speed gadgets for 399 pounds. You can buy many of those (and a USB memory stick for your backups) for the same price as one old slow "rugged" PC.

 

[TigaWave]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

In my experience an ex work Tosh Satelite from 99 is still going strong, its been dropped and broken a few solder connections on the board to the rear inputs, dismantled and re soldered twice on board. Been through a few storms and lived on board for over a year in all climates from winter here to summer down south.

I just have a spare disc and another cheapo laptop as Brendan suggested.

 

[webcraft]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Some non-ruggedised laptops are better than others.

Thinkpads regularly come out tops in reliability studies. I have been basicly running my business on one (somewhat upgraded) for five years now, hammering it on a daily basis. This includes a year's working from the boat on our East Atlantic cruise. Our other machine is an identical Thinkpad, also still in VG condition.

Insted of a Toughbook why not get a couple of Thinkpads on Ebay? You will get a P4M 1.7Ghz 256MB RAM R32 or similar model reconditioned and with a licensed copy of XP Pro for under £300, so you could buy two.

Just a thought . . .

 

[2Tizwoz]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Panasonic CF-28 runs Maxsea ok. Touchscreen is easy. Rubber keyboard is ok to use also. Power consumption is better than more powerful laptops. No fan needed. The price on ebay in North America (Canada/USA) is better than the uk.

People like testing them Like this videoed test of a CF-30, the more recent and presently very much more expensive model.

 

[macd]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

"Power consumption is better than more powerful laptops"
Yes. Forgot to mention that. The latest laptops draw more than the damn fridge, and double that when charging.

 

[Jonny_H]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Agree re IBM Thinkpads. Our firm uses them world wide (140,000 staff) and they are excellent - the newer ones (T40 series onwards) have built in shock sensors which stop the hard drive if a fall is sensed - seems to work well (mines always getting dropped - thrown etc!)

Jonny

 

[cozzykim]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

I agree that Thinkpads are well designed and engineered, I use one myself (T41p) as my main workhorse.
There are (allegedly /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) some problems with flexing of the chassis in the T4x models which result in the BGA ATI graphics chip breaking away from the motherboard, which might make me wary of using one aboard an oceangoing vessel (and buying one unseen off ebay ) without taking this into account (making sure it's fixed to the nav table securely)
Having said that they also appear to run happily from a direct 12V D.C. supply as mentioned in another thread.

I also have a Compaq M300 PIII 800 which has a mag alloy chassis and has survived for years being hiked round the world to numerous foundries (the worst environments possible along with seawater) still working perfectly!

The more recent versions of this machine (N4xx, N6xx series) are very cheap on ebay

I am in the "more recent, faster, cheaper, add some more memory then chuck it away" camp

 

[Onyva]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

We have just returned from 2 years living on board with a Panasonic CF-72 Toughbook (4 years old now) and cannot praise it enough. Yes, it is expensive but if you can afford it, go for it, particularly if you plan to use it "up top". Otherwise, go cheaper, and have at least 1 back-up, but don't use them in the cockpit.

 

[wingdiver]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Another option is to use a standard laptop down below and a rugged touch screen up top.
Send me a PM if you like.
D

 

[Swagman]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

Brendans given good advice. I'd go with him and buy multiple cheapies rather than one marinised version.
Having one on board as a spare makes good sense anyway.

And for whats its worth - we've seen a full can of lager empty itself into a Sony Vaio keyboard when underway. Quick battery ejection (as the beer foamed out the disc drive), flush with distilled warm water, dried out overnight in hot cupboard over engine - and it powered up fine to continue until the boat was sold two years later.
Good luck with your decision.
JOHN

 

[DavidJ]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

[ QUOTE ]

Thinkpads regularly come out tops in reliability studies.

[/ QUOTE ]
I second the Thinkpad recommendation, Mine is 6 years old and has been humped over 4 continents as well as used on the boat. The battery management system is a known weakness so make sure the battery is fully charged if you buy secondhand (click on the power meter icon)

 

[Jonny_H]

Re: \"rugged\" laptops

[ QUOTE ]
The battery management system is a known weakness so make sure the battery is fully charged if you buy secondhand (click on the power meter icon)

[/ QUOTE ]

We give our Thinkpads a very hard life at work (always being lugged around the country, on and off airplanes, car boots, trains etc - often left on standby every night) - the only things I would warn about are:

1) Hard drives - these go on the T2x series quite often (in my experience) - the T4x and T6x series are much better
2) Batteries - after 18 months use (our replacement terms) my battery would only last 20 mins. However it was badly mis-used!

If buying second hand chances are the laptop will be ex-work from a big firm like mine, so I would budget £30 or £40 for a new battery off ebay - it would be worth it as even if it looks ok chances are it will not last very long (the gauge is always hysterically optimistic on the power meter icon!)

Jonny