Just recently attempted new software install to find that display would not support new stuff. Screen was only capable of 800x600! Time for a new one. What is everyone using and any suggestions?

Had an Acer, Had 2 Dells, I have been using a Toshiba for a year and a half and am a happy customer at last.

It will be mainly used for programing and off site work. Pronto, Theater Master, Lutron, etc. Trying to sort thru all the advertising junk. Thanks for the help

That's what I use mine for. You will need a USB to serial adapter. I use the Keyspan usa-19hs.

i use a velocity micro built with a centrino 1.6. long battery life and boots fast. might be overkill but it gets the job done in style

I use a "Spartan", they OEM to major computer manufacturers. But its a sweet laptop...15.3" display, pentium 4 3.06GHz, wireless lan built in, and to top it off, it has a serial port as well.

Do yourself a favor...If it's just for field programming work, get a refurbed Dell. For $400 you can get an 800MHz PIII with 256MB and a decent hard drive. And if you drop it, it's not a $2000 loss like a new one. Also, you don't have to wade through all the factory-installed crap of a new one.

My field laptop:
-Dell Latitude CPxJ
-P3 750 MHz
-256 MB RAM
-10GB HD
-NEW Secondary Media Bay battery for 6.5 hours of life
-PCMCIA Cards for WiFi, LAN, and Modem
-Docking Station and KVM switch for office
-Total investment: $575
(and it has done more than I've asked it to EVERY single time I open it)

Dell now lists a new laptop with a serial port. Get the no questions asked service policy to cover it if it gets dropped.

Curious as to what App doesnt work with 800x600. Seems kinda odd.

ANyway, Its true that a 800Mhz PIII may work for most remotes, but I would still suggest getting something more powerfull for the future.... AMX and Crestron definatly require more significant processors, even the Pronto NG and MX can take advantage of faster processors. You can get a 2GH+ Laptop for under $1200 now. even under a Grand if you shop a bit. $600 for a PIII seems excessive.

Impaqt-

I'm Crestron and AMX Certified, that's pretty much all I do on this laptop. I doubt you can get into a new 2GHz+ unit with extra battery, Wifi, docking station, and everything I listed for under $1700. On the laptop itself I spent $385 after shipping. But yes, if you can afford a shiny new one with more power and no-questions insurance, then by all means. As a small operation, I'd just rather put my money in other places.

My $0.02

Me, too. I had a 1024 x 768 but changed to one that is 800x600. I have to scroll sometimes now, and it is a little irritating but comes nowhere near "doesn't work."

My present one is a five year old IBM Thinkpad. I previously had two different used Toshiba Satellites, a la the suggestion above (to minimize loss if dropped). The software and software were always fine. They never failed me except when the display finally went, or when I ran out of space on the hard drive. My first one was 800 megs, then 1.3 (or so?) gigs, then 4 gigs, now ten gigs.

New Lutron Radio Ra software will not work with 800x600. Damn thing. I have seen this with other laptops too. Mad silly crazy like that.

Just got a Toshiba Tecra 8200 PIII 900 20gig 256K USB, serial, parallel, composite video out, monitor out, ps-2 keyboard/mouse port and docking port for $600 added cd-r/dvdrom drive for $130 and this thing runs all programs without fail...Highly recommend staying with windows 98SE if you are wi-fi-ing it alot. Too many back doors in XP as well as being a memmory and disk space hog.

I need a new laptop as well. JWhitby, where did you come across that deal?

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This message was edited by QQQ on 05/11/04 13:58.