We are in the process of buying a new laptop for the club. I can find plenty of basic laptops at a reasonable price but there seems to be some concern, particularly from our SI team, over isues such as overheating and recharging at events when using si etc. Has anyone any experience of buying a laptop/system recently that has overcome all these issues.
Can we simply recharge from a car battery with a 'halfords' multi volt charger (19v to 12v) or does this cause problems. I know if I use a laptop in the car for too long it does overheat.
Any help will be appreciated and I have been known to buy a beer or two for any genuinley original and useful help.
Thanks
Advice required on new laptop etc
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There are download stations available with USB connectors, but I do not know of any club with one (and hence cannot comment on how well they work - though I would guess that they have the potential to be faster).
Serial ports are not, however, needed in a laptop (which greatly increases the number of laptops to choose from, since many modern machines no longer have a serial port). You can use a serial port to USB convertor, which does the job just fine.
Serial ports are not, however, needed in a laptop (which greatly increases the number of laptops to choose from, since many modern machines no longer have a serial port). You can use a serial port to USB convertor, which does the job just fine.
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Simon - brown
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 7:40 pm
- Location: here or there
laptops should not overheat unless you put them in direct sun or on the hob. if you have them on a soft surface the cooling system might not work properly because the slits on the bottom are covered. but a good laptop should be able to cope with high processor activity. I personally have a hp omnibook and if it's really busy (e.g. with a huge word document) the ventilation is constantly running and battery goes down very fast, but it never overheated. I guess you should avoid buying laptops with desktop processors. these are often cheaper and more powerful but use more energy and might tend to overheat. the pentium mobile processors are specifically designed for the use in laptops and are supposed to consume energy more sparingly therefore creating less heat.
we always use diesel generator sets for our competitions which generate enough power to plug in several computers, printers etc. with the normal power cable. but with the right adapter car batteries should be fine as well.
hope, i could help a bit...
we always use diesel generator sets for our competitions which generate enough power to plug in several computers, printers etc. with the normal power cable. but with the right adapter car batteries should be fine as well.
hope, i could help a bit...
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o-a - white
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:52 pm
- Location: in the middle
Hi
Laptops.
Chasers are running 3 P2 400s as download stations with a faster machine running as the database server. The main thing is to have a fast ethernet network rather than 10BASE T
Most overheating problems on all laptops are caused by blocking the cooling vents on laptop bases (normally uising them on a bed or lap!)
My main advice is just stay clear of 98 or ME.
Power.
I have used most power sources from Car Battery and invertor setups to huge genys.
My prference now at small events is to use a 700w generatopr (two stroke) that
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 8&ts=26075
runs and runs is very quiet and costs £99.00
For larger events I tend to hire in a 3 kva geny but make sure you dont get a beat up old builders job.
The obvious though, with power is to have a backup .
Best is a form on inverter although I have had a few problems with overheating with cheap ones.
Laptops.
Chasers are running 3 P2 400s as download stations with a faster machine running as the database server. The main thing is to have a fast ethernet network rather than 10BASE T
Most overheating problems on all laptops are caused by blocking the cooling vents on laptop bases (normally uising them on a bed or lap!)
My main advice is just stay clear of 98 or ME.
Power.
I have used most power sources from Car Battery and invertor setups to huge genys.
My prference now at small events is to use a 700w generatopr (two stroke) that
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 8&ts=26075
runs and runs is very quiet and costs £99.00
For larger events I tend to hire in a 3 kva geny but make sure you dont get a beat up old builders job.
The obvious though, with power is to have a backup .
Best is a form on inverter although I have had a few problems with overheating with cheap ones.
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stodge - blue
- Posts: 411
- Joined: Wed May 05, 2004 12:02 pm
- Location: Milford
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