Laptops for Warm Climates? 67
macrostiff asks: "Where might one locate a product comparison for laptops and notebooks that includes environmental specifications? Why do I want this? Well, I'm on my second notebook that will not work outside of a climate controlled environment. In the real world, one often encounters temperatures above 35 degrees celcius. I've been through two notebooks for which this was the specified operational limit, which was not published, and the manufacturer or dealer led me astray until there were problems. In particular, I am looking for a notebook with 900MHz or faster CPU (fast enough to play DVD's) which will work under full CPU utilization at 40 degrees celcius (104F) and 90% relative humidity. While a bit extreme at the limit, 35-38 degrees and 80% relative humidity is not uncommon for those of us who work in areas with no air conditioning. Oh yes, it must run Linux!"
Ug.... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Ug.... (Score:2)
Shoulda used some protection.
NEC Daylite E120 (Score:3, Informative)
The Panasonic Toughbook series is also supposedly rugged.
Close... (Score:3, Informative)
Each PowerBook in Apple's current professional lineup [apple.com] can handle (according to the tech specs [apple.com]) close to your requirements.
Operating extremes are: 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 35 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 20% to 80% relative humidity, non-condensing. Maximum operating altitude is at 10,000 feet.
Storage extremes are: 40 below to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 to 47 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 15,000 feet maximum altitude.
And, of course, Linux on PowerPC [penguinppc.org] kicks ass (as does OS X [apple.com]).
Best of luck.
justen
Re:Close... (Score:2)
And, yes, OS X rules. I don't see why you'd ever want to run Linux on Apple hardware to be honest.
Dave
Re:Close... (Score:1)
OS X rules on reasonably modern hardware. OS X blows on the castoff Lombard I got from work.
"Video RAM? Why the fuck would we put any of that in a laptop?"
--saint
Re:Close... (Score:2)
Re:Close... (Score:2)
Re:Close... (Score:2)
What happens when it's too cold? (Score:2)
Another question... I notice the humidity on the weather channel is often 100% when it's raining. If I have my windows open, would i be unable to run my mac since the humidity would be 100%?
Oh, and i can't really take my power book if i go into space... or even just climb mount everest?.... damn, that sucks...
Re:What happens when it's too cold? (Score:2)
The heads on the hard drive "fly" just above the surface of the platters due to a combination of aerodynamics and air cushioning. If the air density drops too low though (for example, higher than 10,000 feet) it's insufficient for the heads to get propely "airbourne" over the platters to work properly, in which case a special sealed hard drive is required.
Re:What happens when it's too cold? (Score:2)
Re:What happens when it's too cold? (Score:2)
what about storage at 400 degrees F? (Score:1)
Unreasonable (Score:1)
Re:Unreasonable (Score:1)
Re:Unreasonable (Score:2)
And where are you going to find an air conditioner that will work in the wide open? Say 500 feet up a radio tower? (Where you might need a computer to diagnose equipment up there) Or in a desert only reachable by heavily modified 4 wheel drives (Jeep).
Plenty of locations have equpment that needs maintance, and most of that today requires a computer to get status.
Panasonic Toughbook line (Score:5, Informative)
The drawback: cost... you're talking about $4K for a top-of-the-line model. But you'll never have to worry about breaking it.
Re:Panasonic Toughbook line (Score:2)
Re:Panasonic Toughbook line -- Argh! (Score:1)
MIL-STD 810F (Score:2)
Of course we all know that the bullet resistance [ibistek.com] is the coolest requirement.
There are plenty of other [google.ca] laptops that meet those specifications -- but I assume they all have similar price tags. :(
IBM (Score:3, Informative)
Re:IBM (Score:2)
Re:IBM (Score:1)
Their experience with cooling shows in
not making unrealistic claims
Panasonic ToughBook (Score:4, Informative)
The toughbook can operate at tempratures up to 140F and 95% humidity.
If you really need a ruggedized laptop, the toughbooks are the only way to go. I've heard stories about toughbooks falling into the Amazon and being pulled out with the screen still powered up...
The
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:1)
i speak as the voice of experience here. i'm a marine (still) working in iraq (i've been out here for six months).
since the start of this conflict, my unit had a number of Dell [dell.com] latitudes and a number of Panasonic [panasonic.com] toughbooks. Let me tell you, the weather here in the fertile crescent is, in a word, unforgiving.
often, both the dells and the panasonics are hot to the touch.
however, i can count on one hand the number of toughbooks that i've seen fail, while to count the number of latitudes
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:1)
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:2)
The war in Iraq is about protecting all of us back here in the States?
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:1)
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:2)
What do you think when a person gives you a list of reasons for something, and one of them turns out to be a deliberate lie?
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:1)
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:2)
So his having an *agency* doesn't mean a damn thing if he flat out ignores the advice he receives!
That's not to say we didn't do the right thing, just for the wrong reasons. We should have made the move way back when in Desert Storm when we promised we would. (At the time we welched on that promise and got a lot of people killed).
But yeah, kudos to our troops. It's not their fault these decisions are being made the
Re:Panasonic ToughBook (Score:2)
I've used the 17 as an umbrella more than once, and after seeing the filthy water that ran out of the keyboard tray after the first time, I've taken to rinsing it regularly with tap water. Try that with your favorite titanium fruit!
The 25 has served as a wheel chock
I have an Idea. (Score:1)
Re:I have an Idea. (Score:2)
Probably much better would be to add an auxillary fan to the exisiting small fan. The massive increase in airflow would be more of a help than trying to decrease the ambient temperature. You could use a case fan and custom-made ducting.
The hard drive would have to be handled differently - my inspiron 8000 keeps it stuffed into a little confined
Humidity? (Score:4, Interesting)
Like others, I suspect a TiBook would work well. Mine runs fine through long compiles at temperatures in the 90's (F ), and without getting into MHz squabbling, you don't need nearly 900 to play DVDs fine on a G4. And while they have a reputation for being hot, that's because the design conducts heat out the bottom so well -- they're probably relatively cool inside.
But here's my question: is humidity relevant? It is for us humans, cooled by evaporation, but does a fan-cooled CPU care whether it's in Phoenix or Jakarta? Or is the humidity concern tied to mildew or corrosion issues?
Re:Humidity? (Score:2)
He probably needs those MHz to decode the DVD without the advantage of hardware decoding.
But, I wonder, in response to a posting above, if Mac On Linux could take advantage of the hardware decoding?
My personal experience with an old PowerBook G3 (Pismo) is that the fan only runs on hot days (80F+) when it has been sitting on my bed (with comforter) for a while (+20 minutes) doing CPU intensive tasks. I can't recall the fan turning on while sitting on a normal surface or my lap.
As for DVD, I can watch
RTFS (Score:2)
I know TiBooks are very nice and all, but they're not the panacea that many owners seem to think they are.
Re:Humidity? (Score:1)
humidity wont matter (Score:3, Informative)
Re:humidity wont matter (Score:4, Informative)
Humidity can case several problems for laptops:
Your standard run-of-the-mill IC's in the black plastic/cases are not well sealed against moisture. Over time, moisture seeps in and can damage the chips. This problem is accelerated by high temperatures and humidities.
Humidity and temperature changes can cause plastic parts to change in size (think of all the plastic moving bits in a typical CD-R*/DVD/etc. drive).
Condensataion when the device moves from a cool envronment to a warm humid environment (where the dew point of the humid environment is higher than the temperature in the cool environment).
Humidity will have a minor effect on cooling, but can kill the laptop in other ways.
Apple iBook (Score:2)
Your laptop has a FAN? (Score:2)
One reason good laptops [panasonic.com] have metal cases is so they do
Get a Patriot 1 (Score:3, Informative)
As far as TCO goes, you might just be better off buying 10 or 12 cheap Thinkpads [ebay.com] from ebay. Get all the same (or close) model numbers. When one dies, pop out the hard drive and put it in another one. Or keep an OS image on a PC somewhere and load up the "new" laptop that way. Or image them all at the same time and keep your personal stuff on a network someplace. I'm not sure what exactly you need the portable for.
BTW, you can get cheap Toughbooks on ebay [ebay.com] as well, as long as you don't mind running a slower processor.
-B
Ti Apple Powerbook. (Score:4, Informative)
I can play a DVD for almost 2 hours before I must let my powerbook cool down. Granted the fan is on during this, and it makes a big difference if it is on a hard surface. Generally I get through the movie, but I have to let my powerbook cool for about a half hour before I can watch any of the special features. In general I have found that the optical drives on these computers tend to generate a bunch of heat. I only fail to burn a CD when I am burning 3+ in sequence... so now I let it cool down after 2 discs.
At these temperatures it is very important to run on a hard surface. With normal use (php/apache/mysql to a local web browser for data entry) and processor cycling on, the fan will stay at a happy medium speed.
I have used my powerbook in all kinds of conditions, and several of my friends take them camping from cars. You have to be careful with the Ti powerbook because they are a bit fragile, but they seem to be able to deal with camping / generators in death valley, etc.
MAK
Mobile chip important! (Score:1)
I think one of the biggest factors to look at is whether or not the laptop contains a mobile chip. These will not only run cooler but give you longer battery life. All the laptops I've had success with ha
Pentium-M (Score:2)
Re:Pentium-M (Score:1)
Re:Pentium-M (Score:2)
Apple iBook (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Itronix (Score:3, Informative)
I don't have a comparison site, but I can give you one...
Operating temperature: -20 to +60C (-4 to +140F)
Storage temperature: -55 to +75C (-67 to +167F)
http://www.itronix.com/products/notebooks/goboo
http://www.itronix.com/upload/specifications/us
Any insights on what generates heat on laptops? (Score:3, Informative)
I was concerned that my 512MB SODIMM was defective, but I did order it from Crucial. XP only seems to get flaky when the laptop becomes abnormally warm. Is it possible that somehow heat is being transferred from the CPU to that SODIMM area? Why would DIMMs get so hot when in operation? Would it be a prudent move to get rid of the 128MB SODIMM in order to reduce a heat generator? Are there software tweaks that might reduce the need to feed current to memory?
As to the writer's question, I would think that the key is slow, low power CPU with good heat design. If you have money to spend, I'd recommend looking at a Transmeta CPU off of dynamism.com. Also, you may want to look at exotic notebooks/PDAs running off of ARM chips or other cold CPUs. Perhaps an older powerbook might do the trick. (While the G4s can't compete with heat generation from Intel/AMD CPUs, I do hear they run hot.) Finally, start googlefishing the usenet archives on laptops and heat. There are bound to be notebook users in the same climate you're in that would have an insight.
Re:Any insights on what generates heat on laptops? (Score:2)
The major heat sources in any computer are the hard drive, memory, CPU, graphics CPU and north/south bridges.
Heat and power hotspots on laptops (Score:2)
Honestly, I don't see why we have such obscenely powerful laptops anyway. I'm more than happy with my 300MHz Celeron. I'd love to see a laptop with yesterday's CPU as long as it got 20+ hours on a battery.
I think at that point, the screen becomes the major power sucker, and we have to go back to
Not a Toshiba Satellite... (Score:2)
Toughtest I know of (Score:1)
Check out http://www.itronix.com/ for details.
Then buy from us
Re:Toughtest I know of (Score:1)
All I need is the temp/humidity spec.
Why should I have to pay 3X the price just to
have a notebook that will work in what is the
'normal' environment of tropical and summer temperate zones?
It's worth noting that not one response related a comparison site. Perhaps there isn't one.