Laptop for routing

[Tom Chambers]

Can you plug your gps into it?

Yes, the Tab E has micro-USB 2.0 to connect directly with a GPS device to load maps and transfer data. It also includes built in GPS, MicroSD up to 128GB, and Micro-SIMM + SingleSIMM. One thing I'm impressed with this tablet is also the battery life of 8 + hours. It's a good tablet and value for the money. Here's the website for the tablet, and scroll down and expand the "SHOW MORE SPECS". http://www.samsung.com/in/consumer/mobile-devices/tablets/galaxy-tab-e/SM-T561NZWAINS

 

[Steve Bracken]

I have an HP Elitebook 8460P

It has 8Gb Ram and an Intel Core i7 processor ... What that means is that it re-calculates BaseCamp routes very fast

I bought it from arrowdirect.com, and authorised re-seller, for $300

It has been perfect.

 

[bikerbill]

I have been eyeing the HP Stream at Wal Mart as my new Rally laptop. The specs look good, it has a SSD drive, it gets good reviews, and it's only $199!

http://tinyurl.com/pa6hppp

Following up on this HP Stream laptop. About a month ago I gave in and got one in Cobalt Blue. As advertised it is lightweight, quiet (no fan), easy to type with, and has great battery life. Although its screen is slightly larger than my old Acer netbook it fits into the same storage case nicely. It did take a bit of creative thinking to get everything I wanted on it though. I haven't taken it on a trip yet but using it for practice I am so far very pleased with it.

Here's what I did to make it work: When I unpacked it I immediately began removing 'bloatware' to gain as much storage space as I could on its tiny 32gb drive (28gb available). Then I installed Garmin Basecamp, Garmin Express (with newest maps) and MS Excel '97 (for ezBake). But try as I might there wasn't enough space left to put the working files for more than a couple of events. In short my 10lbs of stuff was just not going to fit in its 5lb bucket. I was going to Give Up when I found a setting that will move certain things (Apps, Downloads, Documents, etc.) to external storage, such as a SD card. *Light Bulb* moment. I installed a 32db micro SD card and told Windows to use it. Voila! I now have ample space to install my Apps and Documents to make this a viable Road Computer.

Time will tell if this is a good investment.

 

[Brian Thorn]

This thread is 2 years old if you're just now jumping on to my post... instead of creating a new thread I thought I'd just dogpile onto this one. I'm a Chromebook guy, but I need a Windows based laptop for routing with Basecamp when on the road. It needs to handle spreadsheets, Basecamp, Garmin Express, Gmail, and that's about it. I want it to fit in the top trunk on the Wing.

So what should I be staying away from / looking for?

 

[kwthom]

Wow...sad to see gramps' post in this thread. RIP, Larry!



So, that same Lenovo Yoga 2 13" I mentioned two years ago in this thread? That was a computer from 2014, and it is still holding up remarkably well.

I did spend a pretty penny on that one (MSRP on them was ~$900...but I did get an education discount thru my wife's employer).

I'll easily get another few years out of it. It's a lot like buying good motorcycle gear; pay for it once, and enjoy it for a long time.

You want RAM - 4G or more the better. Hard drive size 250Gb or more is good...solid state drive? The one I have has an early SSD version which is a hybrid drive. They'll boot quickly with the SSD drive. Be certain it's a 64-bit machine, rather than 32-bit. The one I have is 4 lbs. Great for travel *away* from the bike.

Ports? USB3 is better. The one item this Lenovo didn't have is an Ethernet port. I purchased a Ethernet dongle ($40) that plugs into my USB3 port that allows for wired internet. Yes, there are still places that charge for wireless Internet, but the wired access is free.

This machine has a SD card slot, which has become intermittent. I doubt I'd do that again; I think external USB-C card readers & other peripherals will be faster overall; less crap on the machine itself to worry about.

The mousepads always suck on every laptop I've had, so I still carry around a wired Microsoft mouse - bombproof.

That'll get you started.

 

[Brian Thorn]

Will something larger than the 13" fit in the trunk?

 

[kwthom]

Will something larger than the 13" fit in the trunk?

Yes, but with increased screen size comes an exponentially higher cost.

The messenger bag I use would hold 15 inches, now you're getting to be a tight fit.

 

[LeMaitre]

If you can find a used 14-15" with Windows 10 installed, you can do one upgrade to give much better performance. Most older laptops have the spinning hard drive by replacing the hard drive with a solid state hard drive you will speed up boot times. Added benefit is that bumpy roads won't hurt the hard drive. Play with the numbers. Laptop $100.00 SSD $100-200.

-Mark

 

[DJFriar]

For those of you looking for cheaper laptops, check with your local university. Many of them lease their equipment on 3 year terms then sell them after. My dad has bought a few machines this way before, they were all $75-$150. If it doesn’t have an SSD, you can pick them up pretty cheap now, and you’d have a great machine for $200-300.

 

[kwthom]

For those of you looking for cheaper laptops, check with your local university<...>

That's a great idea!

My former employer purchased desktops by the semi-load (no, no joke...) and we'd do the computer shuffle every three or four years.

So, about 15 years ago, they'd do similar with three year old desktops that had whatever OS was installed at the time of purchase. Eventually, program was expanded to laptops.

Program was so popular, it was a quarterly lottery to sign up to purchase. Once you did, you were ineligible for two years before you could do it again.

I managed to get four of them over time - a complete computer system for $100.