Show Laptops - opinions?

[Bradfo69]

I have about as many laptops as I do lasers. Those that are familiar with me, know that's a lot of damn laptops. And they seem to be about as finicky as lasers too. I'm getting a little irritated with all the quirks and issues that seem to pop up - I've got two that have lost their audio output. (Dell and Acer) One locks up in LD2000 from time to time (Dell)- which I know is more Windows related that hardware related and I need to do a fresh install and reload everything. (read: pain in the ass few hour project) One HP has a crappy touchpad. And another Dell that the left/right buttons stopped working while in Quickshow and I had to control-alt-delete to get out of the show I was programming and lost what I was working on.

I'm sort of forced to use older Dell's as my QM cards are in docking stations. There are three ATG Latitude D620's. A Precison M70. A Latitude 610. I can't use a .net box since the serial numbers on all four QM's are below 7400. I don't want to lug around a desktop. I have two IBM Thinkpads that I just use for Moncha and Fiesta. There are a couple Acers floating around that I don't use for shows.

So... my question is, what laptop do you/would you TRUST when it comes to being your dedicated show laptop. I don't want a designer boutique gaming machine. I'm looking for durable, reliable, "it just works". (And reasonable - I ain't as flush as I used to be.) LD2000 is probably dropping out of favor now that BEYOND is the program of choice and I have a handful of FB3's so, I'm not as concerned about the docking stations anymore.

Thanks!

[The_Doctor]

I'd never use a laptop machine. I'd use a small 1U rackmount case (or close enough, it varies with mechanical needs) and a MiniITX board. It's easier to protect against shock and stress, it's modular so you can change things better, the sockets are more durable, more standard so the peripherals are usually more easily available and cheaper so you get to save there as much as you had to spend extra to start with. They usually run cooler and last longer too. Performance is generally closer to a desktop machine too, but is usually optimised for power saving and small size. A modern one will have enough power for fast HD video and audio playback, more than enough for laser control probably, while not being capable of hardcore gaming. So pretty much the right sort of compromise you need, hopefully.

Also unlike laptops, they tend to run on 12V instead of weird values chosen by makers to limit you to using their expensive PSU's.

EDIT: MiniITX boards usually come with video, audio, ethernet, etc, often including PCMCIA slots for laptop peripherals too. This dramatically removes the headache of finding compatible stuff to add as is usually demanded in a desktop machine. Also, some of them, like the Jetway 1.5 GHz board, have been tested for performance at widely varied temperatures, so wide that military standards can be had very cheaply. To get that in a laptop for less than several grand is probably impossible. That Jetway board might be had foe a few tens of bucks.

[Stiffler]

Before it started over heating (bad TEC, perhaps?), I really liked my Asus G73. It's a gaming laptop, and while I have ZERO games loaded on it, gaming machines tend to have lots of RAM, processing power, and great graphics cards. If I ever get around to fixing it (currently I use dry ice to cool it when I'm taxing the processor), I'll swap the dual hard drives out for solid state drives. While expensive, SSDs are amazingly fast & don't crash.

That all being said, The_Doctors advice is probably a better option if you don't mind the size.

[dave]

I can't use a .net box since the serial numbers on all four QM's are below 7400.

Why not? I have qm2000's in the 4000 and 5000 range both in .net boxes. Granted they did need to go back to Pangolin for a software update, but they work fine.,.,.,

[Bradfo69]

I was under the impression (and had to work with Pango on it once before) that QM's below 7400 wouldn't work in .net boxes.

Not familiar with what the Doc has suggested but, I'll do some looking into it. Thanks!

[The_Doctor]

I was under the impression (and had to work with Pango on it once before) that QM's below 7400 wouldn't work in .net boxes.

Not familiar with what the Doc has suggested but, I'll do some looking into it. Thanks!

Ask Swami. Well, he posted a pic recently with a modifed Layla and what looked like a small (ish, 2U) rackmounted computer. Full size optical drive too, which is another of the perks of doing this. I'm not sure what mainboard he's got in there, but MiniITX, or MiniATX seems likely.

If you really want SMALL, look at PicoITX, but prepare to spend loot. There is also NanoITX, 17cm square boards, but I think the Mini size works best because RAM and sockets and other connectors are all desktop-machine sized, which makes things easy and cheap. On the other hand, you might be able to use NanoITX with bits from some of those old laptops to save money too.

[swamidog]

it is a little 2U short rack machine. here's the BOM (all items from amazon):

MSI AMD Radeon R6570-MD2GD3/LP Video Card - Silver/black
iStar D Value D-213-MATX 2U Rackmount Server Chassis (Black)
Intel Core-i5 3350P Quad-Core Processor 3.1 Ghz 6 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i53350P
2X Cooler Master Slim 80mm Standard Case for Fan (R4 SPS 20AK GP)
ASUS P8B75-M/CSM LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
Corsair CX Series 430 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Bronze ATX12V/EPS12V 384 Power Supply CX430M
WD RE4 1 TB Enterprise Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA II, 64 MB Cache - WD1003FBYX
8GB of something something ram (couldn't find the order info)

Ask Swami. Well, he posted a pic recently with a modifed Layla and what looked like a small (ish, 2U) rackmounted computer. Full size optical drive too, which is another of the perks of doing this. I'm not sure what mainboard he's got in there, but MiniITX, or MiniATX seems likely.

If you really want SMALL, look at PicoITX, but prepare to spend loot. There is also NanoITX, 17cm square boards, but I think the Mini size works best because RAM and sockets and other connectors are all desktop-machine sized, which makes things easy and cheap. On the other hand, you might be able to use NanoITX with bits from some of those old laptops to save money too.

[The_Doctor]

Nice list! I wish 'Short rack' really meant it though. I've looked often, since making a 1U silent machine based on CF cards, fanless, with case depth just 170mm. Finding a rack cabinet short enough for it isn't easy either. Worth it though, perfect match for Layla boxes too, even with full size plugs inserted back and front.

My aim for a new machine is 1.5U (to allow mounting of a standard backplane widget), silent cooling with bigger external heatsink, and still have it no more than 170mm from back to front. I know laptops are smaller, but for a portable system this is still great, size and weight likely not a lot more than a fisherman's bait box in a 3U rack box. Could be a lot smaller with a tiny DAC box instead of Layla. Room to fit a full size standard keyboard, too.

[swamidog]

i was originally shooting for 1U, but it was hard enough finding things to fit into a 2U case. i also wanted it to be quiet enough for living room laser show programming and i reckoned teensy fans for a 1U case would be annoying loud.

Nice list! I wish 'Short rack' really meant it though. I've looked often, since making a 1U silent machine based on CF cards, fanless, with case depth just 170mm. Finding a rack cabinet short enough for it isn't easy either. Worth it though, perfect match for Layla boxes too, even with full size plugs inserted back and front.

My aim for a new machine is 1.5U (to allow mounting of a standard backplane widget), silent cooling with bigger external heatsink, and still have it no more than 170mm from back to front. I know laptops are smaller, but for a portable system this is still great, size and weight likely not a lot more than a fisherman's bait box in a 3U rack box. Could be a lot smaller with a tiny DAC box instead of Layla. Room to fit a full size standard keyboard, too.

[The_Doctor]

I solved that once, sort of.. Little impeller type, draws air in the top, lies flat, blows air out one side. It's a lot more flow for the fan size, better pressure, lower speed, and easier to silence with a bit of wadding (which also filters dust).

Finding good small adapters and such can be hard, but that's one thing that eBay and China do really well... I gave up on local supply long ago.

The big problem I think is the back-front length, because of leverage on the front case mountings. I know there are ways round that but the easiest is in simple reduction of leverage, so short and 1.5U seem like a perfect compromise for me. The tough bit is finding a case. Probably got to get one made specially for me. 2U that short might be a lot easier though.