Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear …

[Howard Millichap]

Re: Could get an older laptop...

They tend to be bigger/heavier than the newer ones,

Try a "DELL Latitude LS". Mine has a 500MHz processor 12 Gb hard drive. It's good quality and robust (I've taken mine all around the world) They should be quite cheap by now. In fact I'm typing this on it now. so while it's not bang up to date or the fastest thing in town, it is still very usable.
Another use not mentioned here is you can down load your digital camera onto it every couple of days to keep the memory card free.
Definately the way to go.
The only negative I can think of is that I need a USB/serial port adaptor to load the GPS. This particular DELL does not have a serial port. Other similar models might.

 

[Zebedee]

They tend to be bigger/heavier than the newer ones, but for simple stuff should work OK. I've seen some quite decent ones at computer fairs - only thing would be to get some sort of warranty - and an address for the dealer! You can get a WiFi card for very little dosh these days, although a built-in modem would be fine for B&Bs and hotels.

Cheers Paul,

The fact that the older pooters are bigger and heavier isn’t too much of an issue, as I’m pencilled in for a set of Vern’s finest from the next production run.

Morgan are doing a P-III 500 for under 300 quid, … stick ’98 and Office on it, add WiFi on a USB stick, and bag a couple of USB memory sticks for good measure and the job’s a good-un … cheap as chips (sorry )

… now all I need is to get a few extra hours in at work to pay for all the toys …

 

[Banjaxed]

Good job!

This one is £50 more, but looks pretty thin and light - might be worth investigating.

 

[PanEuropean]

Richie:

Gee, I'm going to start getting nervous that maybe you won't like me anymore, because I am going to disagree with you (again).

You wrote: A wifi node is useless to you, with a secondhand portable PC. Not so. As long as the older, secondhand laptop has a PCMCIA slot (little slot in the side that accepts a component about the size of a fat credit card), you can buy an 802.11 wireless card for about USD $50, put that card in the slot, and voila, you have wireless.

That's exactly what I do when I am on the road - although I have the latest, greatest 2004 IBM laptop with all the bells and whistles, I don't like carrying that around in my saddlebag because it is too damn big. So, I carry an IBM ThinkPad 240, which is a tiny little thing of 1999 vintage,only 233 mHz, and I also carry two PCMCIA cards - one for Ethernet, the other for 802.11b wireless. Works just great, and you can buy the ThinkPad 240's on the used market (eBay or similar) for about USD $300. I even have Windows XP loaded on mine, although I had to goose the RAM up to the maximum capacity to handle that.

There's nothing wrong with using older - much older - laptops as the "motorcycle computer", as long as you don't get carried away and start loading PhotoShop, Quark Xpress, and all sorts of other heavyweight applications on an older machine. If you just stick with MapSource, an internet browser, and an email client, you will have no problems, and no need to upgrade the hardware or software, other than the purchase of the PC cards for network connectivity. As Howard mentioned earlier, make sure whatever you get has a USB connection on it (if you have a SP III or SP 26xx, or a digital camera), otherwise, map downloads to the chip will take all night with the serial cable. If you have a GPSR with small, limited memory (like a GPS V), you don't need the USB connecter unless you want it for your camera.

PanEuropean

PS: Here's a good tip from my experience on the road - if you want a FREE wireless connection, just find the most expensive hotel in town, go inside, and buy a coffee in their restaurant. I guarantee that they will have an 802.11 node in their lobby and restaurants, and the access will be free, even if they charge for access in the guest rooms.

 

[richie]

Pan don't worry m8 I am always in awe of your superior knowledge.

But seriously it is good to be able to read peoples experiences and seems fairly easy to read between the lines and see who knows what they are talking about.

Which is why I finished my last post with
"By the way I know absolutly nothing and I'm sure you should be speaking to Paneuropean or adamski. As they seem to be the GPS gurus."