Laptop recomendations

xilios

Hi all,
After our last tour my wife and I are thinking about taking a laptop on tour but there are so many out there we do not know where to start. We are mainly concerned about road vibrations, as we've heard it can play havoc on those delicate machines. Also weight could be an issue because I've seen a couple that weight over 4kgs :eek:
We're thinking of using it to keep maps, photos, write journals, a couple films "optional" (for those rainy days traped in the tent), internet, etc...
Has anyone out there been using one that they can recomend?
cheers

FCE2007

Not a recommendation but these seem all the rage atm and would suit size/weight/price wise (I guess).

craker

Yeah definitely the Asus, chap at work was showing me one yesterday. Solid state hard drive, titchy but pretty powerful. His had some Linux version on it, whether you want to pay more for windows and have it go slower I don't know...

ColinJ

I was thinking of buying the original model of the EeePc earlier this year but decided that it was a bit too small for my purposes (and eyesight!). It also has a fairly small solid-state drive instead of a hard-disk. That would be more reliable on the move but you wouldn't be able to store a lot of digital maps or movies on it. It doesn't have an optical disk drive so you'd have to carry an external one if you needed that facility. The EeePC battery life is also fairly limited which could be a pain on the move.

The newer 900 series EeePCs have bigger solid-state drives and bigger screens but they are still tiny. It would be nice to have a really small PC to carry on the bike so the EeePC might be your best bet.

If, like me, you decide to go for something bigger you might like to look at my choice - the Dell D430. I picked one up on eBay for just over £400 (about half the new price, despite the fact that it was in perfect condition). It doesn't have a built-in optical drive either, but it does come with an external one. I get close to 3.5 hours use on battery with the screen brightness turned to about 50% and using the wifi connection for general web browsing. The D430 is the size of a sheet of A4 paper, is about an inch thick and it weighs about 1.5 kg without the powerpack which is fairly small, but adds a couple of hundred gms to that weight. Ditto for the DVD drive (which I'd probably not carry on the bike). My laptop came with a Dell bag which is overkill really and adds considerable bulk and weight. The laptop has a rugged magnesium case so I'd probably just settle for using a neoprene sleeve cover and carry the computer further protected by clothes in a pannier.

There are all sorts of configuration options. You shouldn't go for the fastest processor option because battery life would be imortant on the move and speed = current drain.

There's a good review of one of the Dell D430 variants here.

PS The reviewer is right - the speaker (mono!) is crap. It is okay for beeps and warning noises but not much cop for music or movies.

wallabyhunter

If you go with EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEassus, even with the small storeage, you can always go with SD cards.

I have an old laptop I take on tour (if it sh1t5 itself, it is old enough I can throw it away). But it has a card reader & every thing I don't want to lose is backed up that way >4gb SD cards. So far (touches his head) it hasn't missed a beat, slow, but then what is fast on a cyle tour?

(trick question of course the answer is Lance!) :oops:

gb

pneumatic

Seems to me that you could use the money you save buying an Assus to kit yourself out with some Assos!

That way your hard drive and your 'floppies' will both be cosy and safe!

Sorry, I'll get my coat.

ColinJ

wallabyhunter wrote:

If you go with EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEassus, even with the small storeage, you can always go with SD cards.

Oh - I forgot that - yes, you're right!

My Dell has an SD card slot too, but there's less need to use card storage because it has plenty of free space on the hard drive.

ThatGuyOnABike

eee pc looks cool. the macbook air is said to be quite tough actually and a product i've seen called the pocket surfer might be of interest to you but it is only for internet. don't get the eee pc with windows, it is slow and has been slated by reviewers.

xilios

Thanks for all the tips, we will have to go and check out the EEE 900pc but are concerned about the size. We would also like to use it at home on occasion not only on tour.
Our budget is about 500 euros, we wouldn't like to take anything more expensive than that along on tour.
So that leaves out the nicer toys like the Panasonic R6, Macbook Air, and a few others.
Has anyone heard of Acer Aspire http://www.paradigit.nl/configurator.php?system=2152 (sorry link is in Dutch)

tarpaullynn

We have an Acer Aspire laptop, actually I'm using it to type this response.

We've had it about 18 months and its been absolutely hammered, for nearly a year it was our main pc. Its been on daily since we got it, the only thing we've had go wrong with it is the battery has finally packed up but we can still use it plugged into the mains. The laptop has had heavy use and has had some big knocks and is still working fine.

I'd recommend the Acer to anyone, great product, reliable and a good price.

Cunobelin

Personaly I use (and have for the past year) a Packard Bell Easynote XS

Small, but manageable and has commuted for a year as well as doing Hadrians Wall,and the Hull and Harwich.

The only problem with small portable PCs is that hey use slower chips to prolong battery life and to keep heat generation down this is one compromise you have toaccept as a function of reduced size.

Having said that with a 30Gb hard drive, inbuilt WiFi and Bluetooth, USB connectability and a manageable screen it is exactly what I need. NOte I have used "sales images" as they give a better idea of size and scale

nun

I have the Asus eeePC 900 and it's GREAT! Asus now sell a 901 that is a bit faster and has better battery life. I have the Linux version with a 20Gb drive which is ample for storing music and photos. As extra memory I bought a 16Gb USB flash drive, it's also useful if I want to transfer data from the Asus to another PC.

Interfacing is easy, just plug cameras etc in and the Asus will see them as drives. the wifi and ethernet are super simple to use and I blog from the road using wifi hotspots. If you want to connect away from wifi you can get a USB modem or tether it to your cell phone.

At 2lbs it's a little heavy, I wish it was 1lb, but now I'm just being over picky.

hosiescott

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/eeePCday

some info here

McHattie

I'm not sure, unfortunately, you can use the Asus EEE Linux version with USB broadband dongles (because of the software). This is a drawback for use on the road.