They work fine until someone drops them on the dock, drives over them in
the marina parking lot (seen that), drops them down the companionway
ladder (that really does 'em in), etc.

Ive had quite a good experience with toshiba notebooks (though admittedly
mainly the older satellite pro's) and again it needs to be taken with a
grain of salt that i am a sample of one. I've destroyed so far through
abnormal use on land 2 comapq's, one sony vaio, and one thinkpad. I had two
of the earlier toshiba satellite pros that i put through various forms of
suffering including dropping numerous times and once accidentally driving
off with it on the roof of my car (it fell off at about 25km/h, closed. a
lot of scratching where it slid across the road, but still functions to this
day).

is
anybody opening up their laptop and sparying the circuitboards with
anything?

Keep your fingers out of it. Static electricity does in computers, like
spraying air across things....not good.

this seems to be a very common misconception to me..... Ive been into
computers since the vic 20, owned a commodore 64, an amiga 500, the first
ibm xt, then an at, then a 186, a 286, 386, 486, and so on.... my machines
started with 360k floppy drive, then twin 360's, then my first 1.44 drive,
untill the day i bought my first wopping double height 10Mb drive (I had no
idea what i would do with all that space in the days of machine code). i
built most of my computers by hand as did a lot of my friends, and despite
never owning a wrist grounding strap, ive never destroyed a component to
date. I do suffer from the odd static shock on my car door as a result of
living in a very dry climate and not being very selective about what i wear,
but i generaly ground myself with my hand as a matter of practice.

There are plenty of aftermarket PCB sparays that promise the earth, i wonder
how many of them are useful

G'day Group

My 2 cents worth:

I went through this about 2 years years ago. I went for a high end
Toshiba (Portege M300) that has a solid magnesium case, gel mounted
H.D. and a spill resistant keyboard. It does triple duty on board:
1. Navigation - used with a Garmin 276c *plotting *real time tracking:
*chart and map management.( Map Source 6.5, Bluecharts V8.0 )

2. Printing my "chart-of-the-day" from Garmin Map Source 6.5 via
Bluetooth to a Canon IP90 printer

3. DVD player

4. Communication when WiFi is available (Skype).

This is also the puter I use at home 95% of the time (like right now).
It is "tough". I haven't dropped it but it is showing some battle
scars: worn (shiny) keys, small dents on the cover, and signs of wear
around the mouse pad. No problems so far. That being said, of course
it is not dedicated to my boat in that it goes home with me so
exposure to salty air is kept to a minimum.

I reckon there are three choices:

1. Buy TWO used laptops. One to work with, one for a backup. You
should be able to buy something suitable in an older "name brand" in
the thousand dollar range (for both). If you are in Canada have a look
he


http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...goryId=2576396

If you can find a used tough book in decent shape that would be a
great choice in my opinion.

2. Buy a NEW high end unit and hope that it is as good as its
reputation and advertising. I opted for the Toshiba Portege because a
new Panasonic Tough Book was out of my budget.

3. Buy a dedicated "marine" PC that will likely be even more $$$ than
the Tough Book. (it was when I bought my Toshiba)

Have a look here for what I *think* is a good unit (only heard
feedback from one purchaser)

http://seapc.se/


Whether you buy used or new consider your purchase carefully. Avoid
the big screen "multi media" notebooks. They can suck more juice than
your fridge. Stay to a small screen size. A 12 inch is best but harder
to find and more $$$. Another note... A boat is about the worst
possible place for a computer. As soon as you bring it on board the
circuit boards, contacts etc are being exposed to moist salty air and
start corroding. In the meantime when the engine is running there is
vibration. Sooner or later it will take its toll. Some of the traces
on motherboards are as fine as a hair. It doesn't take much of a
"smudge spot" to develop into corrosion causing an open or short
circuit and a dead computer in need of a Mother Board. Rest assured
this will not happen while you are tied up in a Marina watching a DVD.
It will wait until you are in the middle of re programming your
GPS/Plotter.

My comments are based on my own experience and that of my former
customers.
I owned a retail computer/software store for 9 years. I have owned 10
or more notebooks during that time and since. Things to avoid for
SU "no-name" or "house brand" laptops NEW OR USED. Most are
impossible to get repaired. Again in *most* cases if you have problems
and are not close to the selling dealer - you are screwed.

regards,


Sam I am....

On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:15:21 GMT, Sammy Spamson
wrote:

I am not the OP, but would thank you for this contribution, lots of
good information.

G'day Group

My 2 cents worth:

I went through this about 2 years years ago. I went for a high end
Toshiba (Portege M300) that has a solid magnesium case, gel mounted
H.D. and a spill resistant keyboard. It does triple duty on board:
1. Navigation - used with a Garmin 276c *plotting *real time tracking:
*chart and map management.( Map Source 6.5, Bluecharts V8.0 )

2. Printing my "chart-of-the-day" from Garmin Map Source 6.5 via
Bluetooth to a Canon IP90 printer

3. DVD player

4. Communication when WiFi is available (Skype).

This is also the puter I use at home 95% of the time (like right now).
It is "tough". I haven't dropped it but it is showing some battle
scars: worn (shiny) keys, small dents on the cover, and signs of wear
around the mouse pad. No problems so far. That being said, of course
it is not dedicated to my boat in that it goes home with me so
exposure to salty air is kept to a minimum.

I reckon there are three choices:

1. Buy TWO used laptops. One to work with, one for a backup. You
should be able to buy something suitable in an older "name brand" in
the thousand dollar range (for both). If you are in Canada have a look
he


http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...goryId=2576396

If you can find a used tough book in decent shape that would be a
great choice in my opinion.

2. Buy a NEW high end unit and hope that it is as good as its
reputation and advertising. I opted for the Toshiba Portege because a
new Panasonic Tough Book was out of my budget.

3. Buy a dedicated "marine" PC that will likely be even more $$$ than
the Tough Book. (it was when I bought my Toshiba)

Have a look here for what I *think* is a good unit (only heard
feedback from one purchaser)

http://seapc.se/

and I look at this system, and think it is worth it to have a
integrated system, with a laptop as a backup.



Whether you buy used or new consider your purchase carefully. Avoid
the big screen "multi media" notebooks. They can suck more juice than
your fridge. Stay to a small screen size. A 12 inch is best but harder
to find and more $$$. Another note... A boat is about the worst
possible place for a computer. As soon as you bring it on board the
circuit boards, contacts etc are being exposed to moist salty air and
start corroding. In the meantime when the engine is running there is
vibration. Sooner or later it will take its toll. Some of the traces
on motherboards are as fine as a hair. It doesn't take much of a
"smudge spot" to develop into corrosion causing an open or short
circuit and a dead computer in need of a Mother Board. Rest assured
this will not happen while you are tied up in a Marina watching a DVD.
It will wait until you are in the middle of re programming your
GPS/Plotter.

My comments are based on my own experience and that of my former
customers.
I owned a retail computer/software store for 9 years. I have owned 10
or more notebooks during that time and since. Things to avoid for
SU "no-name" or "house brand" laptops NEW OR USED. Most are
impossible to get repaired. Again in *most* cases if you have problems
and are not close to the selling dealer - you are screwed.

regards,


Sam I am....



--

Woodsy,
Off the Grid, Off the Road, Off my Rocker...

G'day Group

My 2 cents worth:

I went through this about 2 years years ago. I went for a high end
Toshiba (Portege M300) that has a solid magnesium case, gel mounted
H.D. and a spill resistant keyboard. It does triple duty on board:
1. Navigation - used with a Garmin 276c *plotting *real time tracking
*chart and map management.

2. Printing my "chart-of-the-day" from Garmin Map Source 6.5 via
Bluetooth to a Canon IP90 printer

3. DVD player

4. Communication when WiFi is available (Skype).

This is also the puter I use at home 95% of the time (like right now).
It is "tough". I haven't dropped it but it is showing some battle
scars: worn (shiny) keys, small dents on the cover, and signs of wear
around the mouse pad. No problems so far. That being said, of course
it is not dedicated to my boat in that it goes home with me so
exposure to salty air is kept to a minimum.

I reckon there are three choices:

1. Buy TWO used laptops. One to work with, one for a backup. You
should be able to buy something suitable in an older "name brand" in
the thousand dollar range (for both). If you are in Canada have a look
he


http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...goryId=2576396

If you can find a used tough book in decent shape that would be a
great choice in my opinion. (I couldn't at the time)

2. Buy a NEW high end unit and hope that it is as good as its
reputation and advertising. I opted for the Toshiba Portege because a
new Panasonic Tough Book was out of my budget. I reckon the Portege to
be tough but not crazy tough like the Panasonic.

3. Buy a dedicated "marine" PC that will likely be even more $$$ than
the Tough Book. (it was when I bought my Toshiba)

Have a look here for what I *think* is a good unit (only heard
feedback from one purchaser)

http://seapc.se/


Whether you buy used or new consider your purchase carefully. Avoid
the big screen "multi media" notebooks. They can suck more juice than
your fridge. Stay to a small screen size and pay attention to battery
consumption/time. Mine is good for 5 hours (still!) Another note... A
boat is about the worst possible place for a computer. As soon as you
bring it on board the circuit boards, contacts etc are exposed to
moist salty air and start corroding. Sooner or later it will take its
toll. Some of the traces on motherboards are as fine as a hair. It
doesn't take much of a "smudge spot" to develop into corrosion causing
an open or short circuit and a dead computer in need of a Mother
Board. Rest assured this will not happen while you are tied up in a
Marina watching a DVD. It will wait until you are in the middle of re
programming your GPS/Plotter.

My comments are based on my own experience and that of my former
customers. I owned a retail computer/software store for 9 years. I
have owned 10 or more notebooks during that time and since. Things to
avoid for SU "no-name" or "house brand" laptops NEW OR USED. Most
are impossible to get repaired. Again in *most* cases if you have
problems and are not close to the selling dealer - you are screwed.

regards,


Sam I am....