Which laptop?

Submitted: Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 08:43
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We have only ever had a PC at home and we are about to head out and offroad. We need to buy a laptop to suit all our needs and friends have told me that Apple might be the way to go but have never used one.

I am a keen photogrpaher with a digital slr and use my computer for my photography. My husband loves maps and has lots of software and maps etc, we would also like to use the internet whenever we can.

My priority is to have an excellent quality screen, fast computer for handling large images, large memory capacity. I am willing so spend up to $2500 - can I get what I need for this?

We will appreciate any advice we can get from computer savvy forum members - we just know what happens at the front end - not all the technical stuff we need to look for.


Thanks, Glenda
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Reply By: bigfut - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:09

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:09
Hi Glenda,

Apple would definately be the way to go. I went to apple 3 years ago, and wouldnt go back. From what you've said, for $2600 you can get the Macbook Pro, which has the 15-inch screen and 2.66GHz Processor, and has 320gb Hard drive, so plenty of storage. The good thing about the mac laptops is their battery. The macbook pro has a 7hr battery so great for being out an about.

In terms of photography, they come with Iphoto as standard, which is great for editing photos and tagging etc, it can view/edit Raw photos if you take photos in that format. For more in depth changes you can purchase Aperture (apples in house advance photo program) which is great for that next step. I use both and havent had a problem with them yet.

My imac is now 5 years old, and hasnt been upgraded, apart from the Operating system, it still runs fast, and has no problems. Thats not something you could generally say about a 5yo standard pc running windows 7 for instance, if it could even run it, so they are a long term investment, and can stand the test of time. Screen quality is great too. If you did need for whatever reason, to run Windows, you can install windows and have a dual setup, and run whatever system you need to at the time.

Hope this helps, any questions just ask.

Lochlan
AnswerID: 409712

Follow Up By: Member - Tony V (NSW) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:26

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:26
Lochlan,

Apple is great for photos, but what about mapping?

I don't believe that Ozi or any of the other work on Apple.

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Follow Up By: bigfut - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:49

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:49
Hi Tony, Agreed with the mapping, I use Ozi on ours using Parallels, which runs Windows as an application within Mac. Works well, its almost the only thing I use windows for. I have read about MacGPS Pro, which is meant to be similar to Ozi, but havent looked into it, as the current setup is working well.
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Reply By: mikehzz - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:12

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:12
Hello
Apple have a great product but unfortunately the bulk of software is written for windows. I would consider changing to Apple if software such as Oziexplorer was available for it. The other thing to consider is that you generally get more for your money on a windows spec machine. More memory, faster processor for the same dollar value. Also, Windows 7 is actually quite good ( for windows). Still, if the software is available for your needs, then Apple is a good choice.
With your budget you could just about take your pick of reputable brands and be a winner but be wary of any that have a lot of proprietry 'bloatware' that just slow them down. For example, the latest Toshiba's can be a real pain until you get rid of all the Toshiba utilities running in the background.
For travelling, battery life can be an important consideration such as using it in a maccas for free Internet access etc. The latest intel I series can come up short in that area.
Cheers
Mike
AnswerID: 409713

Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:48

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 09:48
I have a 15 in laptop and found its size was its worst point.

In the van unless you only pull it out occasionally they are a pain.

It is also too big to use comfortably in the car

I would recommend a 10in ASUS NETBOOK these are going for about $350 at present when they were previously close to $1000.

They arent as fast as the big new ones but have a very readable screen and a 160gig Hard drive and have a footprint half that of a 15in They do everything the bigger ones do with the exception of writing discs.

They dont have a DVD drive. You could do as I did and buy a 1TB external drive for your photos and edit them when you get home.

A WIndoze based machine gives you a much better selection of software.

Apples are used by graphics creators and are supposedly quite good at it but personally I would stick to the more used type.
AnswerID: 409718

Follow Up By: mikehzz - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 10:29

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 10:29
I agree with a lot of what you say but the net book would not be very suitable for photographic purposes due to memory and processor constraints (atom processor and 1GB memory). Manipulating graphics on a 10" screen would also be a pain. Otherwise a good general choice. It would depend on what photographic software features that were needed.
Mike
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:34

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:34
I realise that Mike and thats why I said to get an external HDD and do the editing at home later.

We found early on the big lappy was to cumbersome, it lived under the bed and I just pulled it out when I needed it for something. For $350 it might be worth having both.
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Follow Up By: obee1212 - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:04

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:04
And canon digital photo professional wont work on a netbook.

owen
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Reply By: Maîneÿ . . .- Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 10:26

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 10:26
Glenda,
I won't knock the apple product as I use their iPhone and the technology they use is terrific.

I bought aDELL laptop and had it configured to suit my specific requirements.

I wanted a 15+ inch, 1680 x 1050 pixel screen, as I like to look at my photo's in hi-definition, not the lousy 1180 x 760 pixels of the usual laptop screens available, as you spend a lot of time looking at the pictures when doing photography while travelling.

Maîneÿ . . .
AnswerID: 409722

Reply By: olcoolone - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 12:02

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 12:02
We use a HP 13 inch laptop when travelling, it has a 2.66 Ghz Intel processor, 4 gig of ram, 1 gig video card, LED screen and a 320 gig hard drive.

The biggest buying point for use was the size, daylight viewable screen, good processing powers and the number and location of the USB ports.

We run high end computers at home and work including a 17 inch Toshiba laptop with 2.8GHz processor, 8 gig of ram, 2 x 500 gig hard drives and a full keyboard for on site work, but this laptop is to BIG for mobile use, it's heavy, has a shorter battery life and is more bulky to transport.

When away we use an external hard drive to back up photos just in case the laptop fails or gets stolen plus we use multiple 2 gig CF cards for our photo's again just in case.

The other thing to look for is is a 12 volt power adapter available for it, don't use an inverter and a 240 volt charger.

I prefer Window based machines over Mac but I find Mac's are easier to use and offer good functions, Window based machines have more support available whereby Mac has a limited support network, try finding someone in a small town on a Saturday who might be able to help you with a problem with you MAC...Windows based no problems.

You can always find someone at a caravan park who knows Windows inside out.

Software easier to get too.

Mapping software is very scarce for the MAC unless you run it in Windows.

Try and stay away from Netbooks.
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Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:32

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:32
Thanks for the great information - but reading "The other thing to look for is is a 12 volt power adapter available for it, don't use an inverter and a 240 volt charger. " is a bit scary as that is exactly what we are about to spend our money on this week - before we buy the laptop.

Can you please tell me why where to find info about the 12v power adapter as this could save us quite a few $$$. We would use the inverter to also charge phones and camera batteries as well as the laptop.

Glenda
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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:40

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:40
An inverter is not a bad idea to charge battery's up but these days you can buy genuine 12 volt chargers at not a bad price or after market ones.

A laptop 12 volt power supply from Targus will set you back about $250.

http://www.targus.com/au/accessories_power.asp

I don't see the point in using 12 volts and inverting it to 240 volt and them converting it back down to 19 volts for the lap top.

The other thing is you have 240v running in the car and it limits you to using the laptop in other peoples vehicles.

Some 240v inverters can introduce radio interference.

You are paying good money for a good laptop so you should do it right the first time.





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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:53

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:53
12V adapters are readily available for a lot less than $250! Depending on just how hungry the laptop is, a suitable adapter will probably be available from Jaycar and similar places for less than $50.

HTH

John
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Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:19

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:19
Please pardon my ignorance - but is this 12v adaptor one that will charge the laptop while we are driving along in the car and/or operate from a 12v socket in our fifth wheeler? The toshiba seems be 90w and I have visited a few of the suggested websites but I am not sure how to work out exactly what to buy. Sorry for being a bit thick with regards to this.
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:32

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:32
You can buy adequate CONVERTERS which previous posters have incorrectly named adapters.

They up the voltage from 12 to whatever the lappy needs usually about 19v

A 6000ma one which is made by Projecta is usually big enough I have one of these powers my 15 in Compaq OK

Other makes are Belkin, Targus, Kerio,.


Jaycar have a 150 watt part no MP3472 $74.95 which will do the job I would think.


Much safer than having 240 volts floating around in a car
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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:00

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:00
Glenda and Max,

As Graham has said, the Jaycar part number MP3472 should do the job. These things are variously known as converters, chargers, power supplies, and most commonly (though incorrectly as Graham says) as adapters. Basicly what they do is take the 12V available from either the vehicle or van system and convert it to supply the voltage required by the laptop and supply sufficient current at that voltage. The voltage and current capacity of the 240V mains power supply will be labelled on it, and any adapter/converter/etc supplying the required voltage and matching or exceeding that current capacity should do the job.

HTH

John
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Follow Up By: obee1212 - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:14

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:14
Consider that the 12v nominal from a car can reach fifteen or so volts. Inverters have output regulated to 12v. Sometimes a car will be running well below 12v if the battery is getting old and you have a lot stuff using it without the motor running.

Nothing wrong with 240volts in a car. I have it in my house for long time now.

owen
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:24

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:24
Pardon but I thought inverters took 12 volts in and put out 240 volts.

Why up it to only have to down it again Inefficient and dangerous.

Lots of us have 240 volts in our houses now

But very few are likely to end upside down in a ditch with a bottle of drink spilt over the inverter maybe making the whole car alive and preventing rescue just as the fuel goes bang.

Worst case scenario I know but it could happen.


Think about things a bit


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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:41

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:41
Definition of an adapter.
An adapter is a physical device that allows one hardware or electronic interface to be adapted (accommodated without loss of function) to another hardware or electronic interface.

Sorry if I got it wrong.

Targus describes there things as.
Universal Wall/Auto/Air Power Adaptor for Laptops. (12/240 volt in 17+ volts out)
or
150 Watt Auto/Air Power Inverter - Slimline Style. (12 volt in 240 volt out)

Glenda ignore what I said as I would not have a clue what I'm talking about and there seems to be like usual other people on this forum who appears to know more about the subject...or they think they do.

Word of warning, buy a good quality power whatever and not a CHEAP Jaycar one....it seem pointless spending good money ($2500) on a laptop and buying a CHEAP power whatever.

Sorry to misinform you but it seems I was wrong.




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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:15

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:15
Sorry to upset you Richard, you are usually pretty good with advice and as you say the broad name is an adapter.

However I have always been told to call them converters to differentiate them from other types of adapters which cut down the voltage from 12 to something lower.

Just a case of differing terminology I guess.

I paid $69 for my Projecta 6000ma one and it has been going every day for the last 12 months on either of my laptops with no adverse reaction to any bits

Cheers and you were right.



G
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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:05

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:05
How about we call it a power supply.

The only problem with the Projecta and Jaycar ones is they don't have available tips to suit most of the latest laptops.

For the HP we had to go with the Targus as it was the only one with the right tips.

When we spoke to Projecta they had no interest in sourcing tips and Jaycar.....try and get spare parts.

I wasn't having a go at you Graham but it seems a lot of people forum who offer no real input in a post but are very very quick to knock someone over a single word.

Maybe if these people had an active involvement regarding the original post this forum would be a much nicer place.

I suppose in the mechanical world some people call a whatsamacallit a union and others call it an adapter.
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:12

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:12
Yeah some are difficult and the worst is Dell who have a patent type of connector although I heard they have changed it.

My Projecta came with about 6 different stubs so worked Ok.

I had 8 fag lighter sockets and plugs for everything up till last month while we were on the trip but have cut back to the front 2 and a triple in the back now.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: That Troopy Bloke (SA) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:48

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:48
Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know of a converter/adaptor/power supply thingy that puts out more than 6 amps?
My Toshiba needs 19V 6.32 amps, and my Targus 120 watter won't supply the grunt to run it and charge the battery.

Cheers
Glenn
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Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:56

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 19:56
Glenn, after all the advice I have received this is what I was thinking about for the toshiba we want to buy. Would it suit your needs?

http://www.eziautoparts.com.au/projecta-6000ma-laptop-power-adaptor.html

Glenda
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:01

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:01
You could take the battery out and just run it on the whatever One of my friends dose that as they said the battery was overcharging with the power on all the time


The one above is 6 amps only

That is the one I have and I paid $59 at a Battery World shop for mine
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Follow Up By: That Troopy Bloke (SA) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:03

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:03
Thanks for that Glenda, but that one puts out the same 6 amps as all the others I've found.
I think I may need to bet an inverter, and upset the purists.
I wonder if there is another name for an inverter :-)

Cheers
Glenn
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Follow Up By: Member - John Baas (WA) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 23:36

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 23:36
Re:

A laptop 12 volt power supply from Targus will set you back about $250.

http://www.targus.com/au/accessories_power.asp

I bought one at Harvey N's last Nov for $144.

Cheers.
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Follow Up By: Member - John Baas (WA) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 23:39

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 23:39
Should have said - unlike direct 12v power supply, inverters allow you to charge mobiles, camera batts etc.

Cheers.
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Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 07:39

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 07:39
Glenn , most of those voltage converters have a switchable voltage output.

Drop yours down from 19v and it will probably work ok.
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Reply By: Motherhen - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:25

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:25
Hi Glenda

We choose Toshiba Satellite for travel laptops, having the reputation of being the one to take the knocks of rough road travel. I too want a larger screen for viewing our photos. The screen is good for viewing from slightly different angels, whereas my sister's Dell can only be viewed at optimum angle so only one person at a time can really look. I put the day's photos on as screen saver, and it sits on the bench displaying the day's tour while we have tea.

We have a tiny USB NextG modem which doesn't need separate power for the modem as some do, and we have an antenna which can be put onto the caravan roof for better reception.

We use a dash mounted GPS, so do not want to try and fit a laptop in the tow vehicle for mapping. The laptop can be used to hold the software and download it to the GPS as needed.

I carry a Terabyte external HD for backing up photos (which are also backed up of DVD, CD or USB thumb drive before i blank the camera memory card).

When the inverter i was using for the laptop died on me, two members here suggested purchasing a power supply to run the computer direct from 12 v. What good advice - much more efficient and easier too. I need mains for the external HD, so back up onto the thumb drives most days, and periodically to the Terabyte and burn to DVD.

Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:39

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 13:39
thanks - your requirements and set-up sound very similar to our own and I am definitely going to check out this running a computer directly from 12V it could be a great solution for us. I would use the computer every night I imagine, for reviewing/editing etc.

Definitely will take external storage/backup system.

Battery life is very important too - guess I am trying for the best of all worlds ;)

I hadn't thought about finding Mac users to help out with issues in remote locations ---- hmmm ... so many things to consider.
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Reply By: WYSIWYG (Bundaberg Qld) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:33

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 14:33
We have a Toshiba 17" laptop which often goes days at a time without being brought out of it's bag but is still essential to us for it's large capacity and screen. As well as having a large amount of mapping software, including OziExplorer, CoPilot Live Laptop and many of the Hema maps, we are also very much into photography, as the multitude of A4 prints of our travels which adorn the walls of our house will testify, so we have very similar requirements to you.

We have an external hard drive that is usb only, so it does not need a separate power supply but runs off the computers power - very handy and we back everything up to it frequently.

For daily use we have a 10" Acer One Aspire which has a 160Gb hard drive and which can be bought for under $400 now in many shops. It also has every bit of the mapping and photographic software that we have on the Toshiba and runs it all very well. We keep the little 'puter in the car when we're travelling as we have a Telstra Next G usb modem that the passenger can use when we get near a town to check emails and research the areas we are heading to for things to see etc. Because we usually free camp away from towns we generally can't get phone and internet reception where we are camped so having the little one in the car makes it easier to pay bills etc. online and it's easy to take into Maccas to use their free internet.

We also sometimes use the Acer when we're in remote areas as we have a bluetooth Holux gps (no wires) that interacts with OziExplorer on the Acer so that we can figure out exactly where we are when we're in the middle of nowhere. We have often managed to find great camping spots in this way as we can see when promising looking tracks are coming up soon. The screen on our HP PDA (which has Ozi as well as Tom Tom) is a bit small to see the big picture so we use the PDA for navigation and for recording our tracks and then transfer it to the 'puters.

We generally use the little Acer every day to back up our tracks and photos as it has a 12v power supply as well as 240v, but we bring the Toshiba out every few days to do another backup of the whole lot and to make it easier to edit the photos on the big screen.

I know this has been a bit long winded but the main point I want to make is that the cost of all our equipment together would have been less than the budget you have allowed, and it gives us a computer each when we want it and allows us so many options for a reasonable price. Hope I haven't just confused you more.
AnswerID: 409762

Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 15:11

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 15:11
Thank you so much - I appreciate the time and detail you have given me. We also want to freecamp most of the time and I hadn't considered the little laptop for emails etc as you go through towns.

You all have been so helpful and given us heaps of great advice. I am off now to see if the Toshiba 17" has a 12v power supply available :)

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Reply By: Cruiser 2091 - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 15:13

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 15:13
I use a digital SLR and have several photo processing programs on my desktop IE Paint Shop Pro, Nikon capture NX, Photo Shop Elements etc. These all run perfectly on my old 3 Ghz Pentium with 160 G hard drive and 2Gb ram.
I also use a calibrated Samsung Syncmaster 245T Screen.

Recently I brought a 17" Toshiba satellite L550, it only cost me $1260 and I am surprised that it is almost as capable as my desktop. The screen alone on my desktop cost as much as the Toshiba.

The laptop only has a 2.1 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor , 4 G ram and 300 HD.

So what i am saying is any of todays laptops should serve you more than adequately.

Have fun with you decision and take some great photos.
AnswerID: 409771

Reply By: Robin Miller - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:24

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 16:24
Hi Glenda

Unfortunately their is no suitable laptop at the moment , if by good screen you mean one that can be read out in the open - but hope is on the way.

A good screen for this requires at output of about 1000 nits and most today are around 200.

Same issue with GPS's and mobile phones.

This means that some form of shading or geting it out of strong light is required.

Recently Samsung released a moblie phone using OLED technology, check it out - as a design engineer in these sorts of things , I can tell you its been something we have been waiting for for a long time.

It is expected that this technology will go beyond demo units and be mass produced this year.

So whatever unit you buy today will be more quickly obsoleted than normal.

Hence I would go with the suggestions above and by a cheapie like the $350 Asus EE pc mentioned - just ensure you get model with matte screen as most are switching to shinny screens which and even worse to use.













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Reply By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:23

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:23
This has been great - so much help - my first question on the forum and it has saved me about $300 -$400! I have found the exact adapter/converter/powersupply ;) that I need for the laptop I am thinking of thanks to you all. My husband is happy to as we have decided to take the advice of also buying a small laptop for him and we won't have to share!

I hope to be able to pay-it-forward with advice to others sometime in the future (but it won't be about electrics that is for sure!!)

Thanks everyone.
AnswerID: 409786

Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:02

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 18:02
Glenda,

One word of warning on the charger/adapter/.... These are a general purpose gadget that must be configured correctly to suit you laptop. Most come with lots of connectors to suit all sorts of computers. Most can also be connected wrong way round (with + and - reversed) which can be seriously fatal to the computer. If in doubt, suggest take the computer to the shop and get them to set it up for you. Then add enough glue so it stays that way!

You may already be aware that 12V chargers are available for just about any battery powered gear you a likely to carry - cameras, phones, torches, mp3 players.....etc. Much better in my opinion to use them than to carry an inverter.

Hope it all goes well, and we'll see you again here. Final request - please post you travel diary and some photos as a blog here on ExploreOz. Great source of info for those that follow.

Cheers

John
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Reply By: Member - Bob E (WA) - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:51

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 17:51
Hi Glenda and Max, I won't go into the pro's and cons of PC versus Mac but I want to make 2 points.
1. For mobile navigation I found a 15" screen far too big. Weight, size, ease of mounting caused me to purchase a 10" laptop. It is excellent for mobile navigation, easily read, easily mounted without being in the way.
2 I use windows, my travel mate uses a Mac but for navigation he runs windows. This is because the range of mobile nav software for Mac is limited and not as good. They are his words, not mine.
As for viewing images on a larger monitor all you need is a 2nd monitor.
Good luck.
AnswerID: 409790

Reply By: D200Dug- Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:32

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 20:32
Head to a good Mac shop and talk to them about Virtual PC it is a software program that allows you to run PC programs on mac systems.

Being a luddite I have not got it on my mac but I love the mac system and OS.
AnswerID: 409818

Reply By: Bazooka - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 21:38

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 21:38
Hello Glenda & Max

Prices vary enormously as you probably already know. You might like to check out https://www.mln.com.au/ to get a guide (no I'm not involved with them in any way). Once you have decided on a model you can check http://www.staticice.com.au/ for best available price - if only to use it as a bargaining point with your local supplier. Most will go close to matching prices or offer another sweetener. The laptop market is very much in the buyers favour, has been for last 12 months at least. Whirlpool.net.au is a great resource for expert and user views of various laptops.

Laptop reliability survey> http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

PS high-powered (fast CPU) laptops with dedicated graphics cards can get VERY hot. Need good airflow underneath.

Cheers
AnswerID: 409843

Reply By: Ballfyboy - Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 22:12

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 at 22:12
Glenda,
I use mac, and I think that they have lots of advantages your your situation. I would suggest you look at the 13 inch macbook pro. Spec it with 4 gig of ram and 250 gig hard drive and keep the min processor to save money. You will find the base processor more than up to anything your are ever likely to do. If you purchase a program called Parallels or another called VM ware fusion you can run any windows (xp, vista (wasn't that a success, sorry couldn't resist lol), or 7) and their associated programs for any windows mapping or other program. Most people who "switch" like this security, however after a short time they just use all the apple stuff. They don't need any virus protection so will run very fast (there is more to life than numbers!). They come with a really cool magnetic power cable so it will not pull the computer off the table if you trip on it. And the best part is if you purchase a portable hard drive designed for laptops and hook up with firewire, it will do auto backups from within the operating system every hour without any extra power cords, very cool, very important for those special photos. Check out Apples website. Most big news agents will have a copy of Macworlds Mac Basics 2. Before you make up your mind get a copy and you might be pleasantly surprised, at worst it is the most elegant way to run windows.
AnswerID: 409847

Reply By: chevypower - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 03:27

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 03:27
Get a MacBook Pro. You won't look back. iPhoto and Aperture are great for organizing photos, and you might wan't to get PhotoShop CS4. I have Fusion with Windows XP on mine, but I never use it. Just get all Mac programs for it, and import all your files over from your PC.
AnswerID: 409856

Reply By: DIO - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:13

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:13
If you finally decide to use an inverter to keep the laptop operating, whatever you do, DON'T have an inverter running and producing 240 volts whilst driving. In the event of a collision it is possible that (a) the vehicle occupants could be electrocuted (b) Emergency Service workers coming to aid injured may also be unknowingly exposed to 'live' 240 volts and be injured or killed. A very stupid idea to run an inverter whilst mobile.
AnswerID: 409864

Reply By: Member - Mfewster(SA) - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:29

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:29
Fascinating read and exchange of views and experiences. OK, for my two bobs worth. and what we have done. Get two. A netbook id great for mapping, if you want mapping while on the move. Good size/power weight for handling inside the car. We use an Acer Aspire. No problems, run it off cig lighter but in future will run it so that it stays on, but in sleep mode, when the ignition is turned off. Saves lots of starting up fiddling around each time we stop.
We have an ASUS for handling our photos. Got an AUS purely because PC has all the photo programs I use and because ASUS topped Cnets notebook reliabilty review. Combined cost of both under $1500. Asus set up with all the photo programs I use (and that is quite a few) so I can organize/process while we are travelling. Like Motherhen. we have a big, USB plug in back up drive as belts and braces in case of hard drive failure. I strongly support doing this, whatever way you go.
And now something I just found that amazed me. Despite all this, I lost some shots. I was advised to try a product from Lexar that can search flashcards for shots taken yonks ago, even when the card had been reformatted many times since the shots wre taken. And it found the shots!! This is not foolproof, it doesn't always get all shots but it is extraordinary how far back into a cards background it can go. So, I now carry and interchange several memory cards (they are pretty cheap these days.). Even if I lose my hard drives, even if I have used the cards and reformatted them several times, I am still pretty confident that in an emergency, I will be able to recover most of my photos.
AnswerID: 409866

Reply By: Richard W (NSW) - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:54

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 08:54
Glenda,

Much has been covered.

Below is my setup.

It is a Dell Latitude ATG D630. Not cheap but the laptop has got about 50,000KM of Oziexplorer recording plot files all over Australia. It has a ruggedized hard drive and although only 80gb does me.

I have a quite a few MP3's and play them through an FM transmitter to the car stereo system.

When I run out of CF card storage for the camera I can transfer the photos to the laptop where I have Photoshop and can edit photos.

My Next G phone can be used as a modem so if I have a phone signal can recieve emails and browse the web.

I use CoPilot for street navigation in the metro area and Oziexplorer for outback touring. GPSGate allows both applications to share the GPS reciever.

I use a Globalsat BT338 is the GPS reciever.

Although I had many digital maps I bought the Hema which has all their maps plus the Geoscience 1:250,000 set.
Also have 1:100,000 for some states and 1:25,000 for NSW.



AnswerID: 409869

Follow Up By: Member - Glenda and Max C (QLD - Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 20:45

Monday, Mar 22, 2010 at 20:45
thnaks Richard - that is one professional looking set up there. I appreciate all the advice and information - it makes my decision harder and easier at the same time!
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FollowupID: 679908

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