Onboard Computer

[Tom Spohn]

Here is some more advice:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/ ... 253,00.asp

[kmclemore]

OK, so I'm biased having worked previously at IBM for 14 years, but I use Thinkpads exclusively... they're brutally durable and easy to get repaired (even *many* years after you bought it) if they should somehow get damaged. They are often at the forefront (but not, thank God, 'bleeding edge') of technology, and they are compatible to a fault with nearly every device you can hook'em to. Also, virtually *every* software manufacturer tests their code on Thinkpads, so your likelihood of getting an incompatibility problem is greatly reduced.

Also, you must consider after-sale support and how long you'll be able to run the box comfortably. Support - both software and hardware support - is one of the least considered but most important factors in a computer purchasing decision. And in my humble opinion, IBM supports their computers better than anyone in the business.

First, with regard to software support, IBM is careful to keep the drivers up to date, and that's worth its weight in gold. This may seem like a minor issue, but proper software support is key to the longevity of a computer. For example, I have a Compaq Presario tower, and I can't load any OS later than W98SE because Compaq failed keep their driver list current - so now if I load a later OS I'll lose functionality in my display, sound and other cards inside because there's no drivers available... my Compaq is only about 4.5 years old and I'm stuck on W98SE for God's sake.. grrrr... the blasted box has effectively been orphaned. On the other hand, I can buy an older, used Thinkpad off of eBay, go to the IBM website and download all the necessary driver files for W98, W98SE, W-NT, W2000 or W-XP.. and everything will work a treat... and when a new OS comes out, they'll more than likely have drivers for that one, too. They even have drivers for Linux, if you like that sort of thing.

With regard to hardware support, Dell, for example, states that they will maintain parts availability only up to the expiration of the machine's warranty, and that thereafter there is no guarantee of parts... so if you have your laptop 4 years and crack a screen, tough luck, pal. OTOH, IBM keeps parts for bloody ages... frankly, I'm not entirely sure how they are able to do so, but they do. Indeed, you can still get parts for the original IBM PC (yes, really).

While in a previous position I ran the integration department for the largest pharmaceutical firm in the world, and was the one who had to make the purchasing decision on laptops, among other things. We chose IBM Thinkpads, and that was at least 8 years ago... and the company has seen no reason to change in all those years.

If you do consider an IBM, go for the "T" series as they are the toughest, most flexible and best supported of the lot.. or, if you're looking for more of a 'thin/lite notebook', then go for the "X" series - just as well supported, but lighter and smaller. Yes, IBM's do cost a bit more to buy initially... but they're worth it, and in terms of longevity and useability, you'll save money in the end. The bottom line is, you get what you pay for.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Yea, I agree with Kevin, I have a 3 yr old IBM T-21 and it is majorly used and abused. Serial port works fine with the Garmin.

If you're thinking about buying a tuner card, keep in mind we're only one year away from analog NTSC broadcasting being shut down, leaving only digital ATSC broadcasting of both standard and high-definition TV. I haven't really kept up with it lately, but have been following the goings-on with ATSC and HDTV for several years. To my knowledge, there is only one external ATSC/HDTV USB2 tuner available right now and that's the Sasem OnAir USB2 HDTV tuner. Besides ATSC, it also tunes the current NTSC, as well as unencrypted (non-premium) QAM digital cable. I haven't seen any independent reviews of this product, however, but there is a forum here.

What??!??! Already? Its hard to believe that they are shutting that down already, usually, these things end up getting delayed year after year, etc. Is there some additional reading on this? Perhaps an FCC link?

Thanks for the link to the Sasem tuner, I had been looking at the Hauppauge devices but it looks like their digital line are all internal PCI cards. I'll bet they will have a USB2 digital tuner out soon though.

[Mark Prouty]

One thing that really irks me about Dell is that much of their support is outsourced to India. Try getting a periphial device from them. I waited on the phone for 10 minute before someone answered. When they did answer, they were difficult to understand. Every question I had, the person had to ask the supervisor - about a 5 minute delay each time. After politely saying goodbye, I called back and the second time I had the same problem. Only this time the guy went to ask a question the his supervisor and never returned to the phone.

Hello! Anyone home at Dell Support

[Moe]

FCC DTV FAQ

Note: "After the transition period (2006)... the analog TV service will end on all channels."

[on edit] I forgot about this dedicated site the FCC put up:

http://www.dtv.gov/

It also looks like the deadline is 31 December 2006, so I was wrong about being one-year away. I always thought it was 1 January. That is dependent on 85% of the major markets having access to DTV.
--
Moe

[Moe]

WRT IBM, this is what I got from Dell:

2.0GHz 755 Pentium M w/2MB L2 cache 400MHz FSB
Intel 855PM chipset
1024MB 333MHz DDR memory (2 DIMMs)
ATI 9600 Pro Turbo w/128MB memory
15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200) wide-aspect screen
60GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA hard drive
24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD-ROM
Dual-band internal wireless (802.11a/b/g)
Windows XP Pro

I couldn't get all these things from IBM, and the closest I could get priced out at over $1000 more.

--
Moe

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Well, even 2 years away seems like pretty soon. Guess we have been so "cable"ized, that I wasn't even paying attention to broadcast anymore. Of course, that DTV USB tuner is pretty expensive at over 200 bucks. You can get older models of Hauppauge USB on Ebay for 15-40. Probably still ok to pick up the analog stuff if it is cheap. Again, I expect the "transition period" to last considerably longer than planned. Wasn't Loran supposed to be gone by now when they initially put up the GPS satellites?

[Jack O'Brien]

Mark, et. al:

We got a Dell Inspiron 1150 last April for $1,077 including $61 tax, free shipping and later a $200 rebate = $877
Intel Celeron 2.4GHz
14.1 XGA
512MB DDR SDRAM
30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
MS Windows Home Edition
Integrated Network Card
Internal 56K Modem
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
65WHr 8-cell Lithium Ion Battery
Broadband Icon for Commercial
Dell Photo Album Standard
MS Worksuite 2004 with CD and documentation, including: Money, Encarta, Streets & Trips, Works, Word and Picture It.

It is our first laptop and we are happy with it - but we wouldn't know if we weren't. The only thing I don't like is there is no "adapter" for it to run it directly off the 12VDC of the boat or car. It needs to have its 110VAC power supply plugged into AC to recharge the battery. I can do this with an inverter but would have preferred to eliminate the "middleman".

I have Fugawi and MapTech software on it. Haven't used it hardly at all for that as I've misplaced the MapTech CDs and haven't downloaded any free USGS charts since April when few were available. Got a USB/serial adapter for it and my Garmin etrex works with it. Haven't tried the big Garmin GPSMAP 180 with it yet. Have never used a DVD anywhere yet.

[kmclemore]

... The only thing I don't like is there is no "adapter" for it to run it directly off the 12VDC of the boat or car. It needs to have its 110VAC power supply plugged into AC to recharge the battery. I can do this with an inverter but would have preferred to eliminate the "middleman"....

Jack, Dell lists a great 12v power adapter for your model... see here.

Lind lists it on their site, too, here.

You'll find that Lind power supplies are built far better than even the OEM units. As it happens, I know the president and founder of Lind Electronics - he's an excellent engineer and a real perfectionist. Indeed, I used to buy his supplies for our clients, too. One nice thing is they come with a standard auto adapter, but also include the unique airline adapter, too.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Good info. I have to say though...pretty overpriced transformers. Bet there is a healthy profit margin on those types of devices...seeing as you can get a 400 watt inverter for half the price these days.

[deacm]

I'm a big fan (and have used on the water the last two years) the Sony 505 series laptops. They are lightweight (3-4 lbs) have a built in DVD and CDROM writer combo drive and have held up well at sea (ok, 'at lake', since I'm on the Great Lakes). I have used the verizon PCMIA card for internet connection but find that it too often is slower than the 56KB dialup speed they claim (and for $80 a month therefore not worth it unless you REALLY need to download those noaa radar images.......which by the way, have saved my bacon as you can see fronts coming 'real time') So I end up just plugging the laptop into my cell phone with the modem cable kit and it's maybe half as fast.........which is just fine for email . I charge it with a 12V inverter from Radio Shack (cost about $20) and use Blue Charts mapping software to download my routes and waypoints into my Garmin GPS Map 76 and it works like a dream.

Now, the Sony 505's have only a 12" screen and that has always been more than sufficient for me, however I don't have kids that want to watch movies. But I DO like to have TV on occasion and I bought for the last two summers a 15" (they come in 17 and 19" too) Samsung LCD TV that is just fantastic. It also has PC inputs so you can use it as a display for your laptop too as well. I think a great place to mount it would be between where everyone seems to mount their cabin speakers (behind the anchor locker) but the Samsung folds completely flat, so I usually just kept it stored flat until those days like last summer where we were stuck in Port Colborne due to howling 35-40 knot winds ALL DAY and watched all three Lord of the Rings in a marathon (doesn't speak too well of how fun of a port Colborne is unless you like to watch big freighters go through the Welland Canal instead, eh?

As far as the USB TV tuner devices...........I've heard some caution about them because the throughput on them just about maxes out their bandwidth and if you're doing ANYTHING much else on your computer at the same time you're watching TV, the image will flake out on you as it tries to catch up.

I COMPLETELY agree with Moe about buying an I Pod and leave the CD's at home for music. I mean 20,000 songs on something smaller than a cigarette pack? I THINK that will actually hold ALL of Jimmy Buffets albums (which might be a bad thing . I installed a marine Jensen radio/CD player/weather band unit in my Mast 28 . This particular model has one auxilliary input which I patched out from the back of the unit into a 'tray' area on my boat so I can just plug the I Pod in and set the Jensen to "aux". Or, you can also buy for less than $50 an FM tuner that allows the I pod to broadcast directly to your radio and play it that way.

Now, what you REALLY need is one of those LCD projectors that are about the size of brick and on windless evenings invite other boats over near your anchorage, hoist your mainsail, and project "Master and Commander" on your sail and crank up the cockpit speakers...........VOILA ! the first ever Drive-In movies at sea !! Don't laugh, I've thought about it the past two years as a lark and may just try it this summer !!! And you guys were complaining about people who ran their generators all day/night to pierce the quietude of a peaceful anchorage..........somebody STOP me !!

[Moe]

The "A-dock" crowd where we're gonna moor this year at the state park does this. One brings a DVD player and projector, one brings a Honda EU2000, and one volunteers his mainsail. I think the last venue was "The Wizard of Oz." I've been thinking of getting a projector for our Airstream so we can have our big screen TV along.

I believe that's the power adapter I got for our Dell 8600. Works well, stores compactly in its carrying case.

--
Moe

[on edit] Corrected "more" to "moor" above

[Mark Prouty]

Going hi-tech sailing!!

Just bought a GATEWAY M350WVM Laptop Computer.

Intel Pentium 4 HyperThread Processor 2.8 Ghz
DDR RAM 512K
40g Hard Drive
15.1" LCD XGF TFT
Slimtype Combo Drive (DVD+CD/RW) plus 6 in 1 Memory Reader
Intel Graphics Controller 64MB Video
SigmaTel C-Major Audio Card with Microphone and Headphone jacks
USB Human Interface Device (Touchpad)
Agere Systems AC'97 56K Built-in-Modem
Intel(R) PRO10/100 VE Built-in-Network Connection
D-LINK AIR Wireless B Laptop Adapter (PCMCIA CARD) - for Wireless Internet Connections
2 PCMCIA Slots
1 Parallel Port
1 15 Pin External Monitor Port
2 USB 2.0 Ports
1 IEEE1394 Firewire Port
AUTHENTIC GATEWAY Carrying Case w/ Power Supply and Adapter
64MB GATEWAY USB PEN DRIVE
UPS Power Surge Protector
Operating System - Windows XP Home Edition U.S. English 5.1 Service Pack 2 Installed (COA Included)

Software Included:

Intervideo WinDVD
Pinnacle Instant Video Album Version 1.1 Microsoft Office 2003 Basic Edition - Microsoft Word and Excel 2003
Ahead Nero CD-ROM Burning Software
Quicken Basic 2003 Software
Gateway Application and Drivers CD

[Jeff Ritsema]

Mark,
I tought you were an IBM guy- used to work for them? What did you pay for this new toy?

[Mark Prouty]

Mark,
I tought you were an IBM guy- used to work for them? What did you pay for this new toy?

I only worked for IBM for 2 semesters as a college intern. Once in Endicott, NY and once in Manassas, VA. This new toy set me back $955 including shipping.