I agree the D600 and other Dell refurbished notebooks are a good way to go. Generic memory and/or HD upgrades are readily available at your local computer shop or nationally at places such as TigerDirect.com
Just Google "Dell D600 Refurbished" and get stuff such as
http://laptopcentre.ca/dell-latitude-d600-pentium-512mb-dvdcdrw-wifi-p-511.h tml
My personal preference is the D800
http://www.usanotebook.com/1297-DLAD800_dell_latitude_d800_laptops.php
which is about the same price, larger ( thicker ) and was sold originally as a desktop replacement for business. You can swap out the DVD for a second battery. Again, generic component replacements ( memory upgrades, HD, batteries, A/C adapters, etc ) are everywhere.
My D800 is my dedicated ham radio PC and I keep all the neat new ham software and experimenting away from my mission critical PC.
That being said, the 2 USB ports are never enough nor the one serial port so I run a powered USB hub and serial/usb converters. e.g. A serial port for a PacComm for Wisp, serial CAT for FT847 on a USB converter, and a bunch of other USB connections for LVB Tracker, printer, external hard disk etc.
These old business work horses are fast enough for any ham work I do.
... Alan
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anthony Monteiro Sent: October 3, 2008 6:44 PM To: JD; AMSAT -BB Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Computer hardware
At 05:56 PM 10/3/2008, JD wrote:
There was a similar thread on TAPR_APRS group and many good suggestions were made. I had a similar need and bought a TOSHIBA TECRA A9-9019X (WIN XP PRO) about 6 weeks ago. I have noticed they are rapidly disappearing so others must like it too. I believe it has been out of production for about 8-9 months.
Dear Friends,
In the same vein, I can recommend the Dell D600 (WinXP Pro) which comes with a serial and a parallel port as well as the usual WiFi, USB, Ethernet etc.. These were extremely popular business laptops so they are still widely available.
73, ony AA2TX
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