More Laptops/netbooks
 

So I programming captain this year :) and my team has more programmers on the programming sub-team as all of our previous years combined :yikes: , but also we are low on funds due to new PR leadership.
what would be a good idea for a few (about two or so, so that its more groups of 2 looking at the code and not groups of 4 using a mentors notebook as one) cheap notebooks that can run labview and aren't as slow as the driverstation/classmate :rolleyes: .

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

What do you call cheap?
I think $1000 is a reasonable price for a MacBook Pro, but that probably wouldn't be considered cheap.
Are you looking for something that comes with a Windows license?
It looks like the classmates are about $400. You can probably get something better for the same price (preferably with a CD drive). I would check newegg.com

One thing that slows down computers is installing lots of software. If you want to use a cheap computer for programming, don't install CAD software on it too. There are also system settings which can affect the computer performance.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834100063

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834200068


Those look fine, pretty cheap for easily affording 3 for the price of 1

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I actually would not recommend the iBook for running LabVIEW. NI has stopped supporting powerPC-based Macs, so unless you have a copy of LabVIEW 8.5, you won't be able to run it.

The Dell laptop looks pretty good. Realize, however, that it's only a 600MHz processor. You won't see amazing performance out of it, but it will work. Expect builds to take around 2 minutes.

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We just picked up a 15" inspiron from dell for $400 or so, not my personal tastes, but it is good for the pricerange.

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If I were you, I would look for a local Computer store. They will always have used laptops to sell for cheap. Maybe you can find a good deal there. :)

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Walmart....$350 for a cheap full size laptop. New. With dvd drive.

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I'll second that. There's no reason to be buying out dated or used equiptment when you can get a new machine for about $400 at WalMart.

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It's a dual core 1.66 ghz processor, much better then a netbook. You're confusing the speed of the front side bus with the speed of the processor.

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Hey, I got my 1.6 ghz c2d, 2 gb ram, 120 gb hdd thinkpad tablet off ebay for about 650 with a dock. I thought it was a pretty good deal considering it's a tablet. Consider buying used (although it is a pain to sort through). Buy PC, they tend to be cheaper for similar performance (not a stab at apple, just something I've noticed). I've seen nice older models on ebay for about 400 which would be much better than what you would get new for 400.

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Ebay, Ebay, Ebay.

Look for Dell Laptops coming back off corporate lease. $200-$225 for a 1.8 ghz intel with half a gigabyte of ram. I've bought 4 for various reasons (watching movies on my boat, etc). They're cheap, durable, and best of all parts can be had off ebay for next to nothing.

For example:

Here is a higher end one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-LAPTOP-LATi...item2eb070dd90

Here is a mid-range-price one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=200525052103

Here is a low end one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LAPTOP-1-DELL-LA...item3cb1738bcd

All three will run labview with ease.

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Thanks, I missed that.

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why duo core? get one w/ a quad-core (they do make those for laptops, right?)

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They're making laptops now with 8 cores (i7), although those are much higher-end (macbooks, alienware, etc.)

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Tom - Do you happen to have puzzled out a good set of search keywords I/we could use to sort through the Ebay clutter and home in on just these offers? If you have, please post a copy of the search query they create.

Blake

For example, here are the terms from one of my Vex searches: vex -chest -dress -guitar -drum -zvex -z.vex -skateboard -benchmade -"sol-vex" -"Vex Red" -"Diablo 2" -"Hi Hat" -halter -"E-Vex" -xbox -"C-Vex" -"Vex x4" -roost -Nintendo -handlebars -verde -exemplars -airtronics -MTG -neopets -"controller chip"

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the i7 is only 4 core, but hyperthreaded to act like 8, tho amd is comin out with 6-core processors

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For a cheap programming laptop, a single cored cpu would fit the bill better, for compiling code a multi cored processor just eats the battery faster I imagine.

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I use this search term:

dell laptop dvd wifi xp -broken -damaged

Set your selections in the check boxes that will display on the left hand side to further refine it. I always put in 150-250 as a price range.

No matter who you use, make sure they've sold a ton of product and have a good rating. If you're careful, you'll end up with a latop bag and may even get a docking station out of the deal since many of these are corporate leases and they're just trying to get rid of them.

Always make sure that they state it comes with an AC adapter and battery before you order - buyer beware of course. I just installed the new Beta Labview for FIRST 2011 on my 1.6, and it runs just fine.

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alienware has 1 that lasts 6.5 hrs

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I can't get both "cheap programming laptop" and "alienware" to come into focus at the same time.

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it's not that bad... i think it's like 1k
edit: yeah, the m11x, $800, and powerful at that

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Ok I will tell you this: I am running a PC thats 7 years old right now, running fine, its probably not even worth $10 right now. It has 693 mb of Ram with an AMD Semprom processor LOL. It can compile just fine. I think the computers I posted are more than enough for compiling.

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Does the school have any old laptops that aren't being used? If the robotics team is tied to the school, you might find a great deal.

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option 1) go to www.slickdeals.net and search for "laptop" or "notebook"
for example, this looks somewhat promising
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthr...id=0&t=2284203

option 2) the classified sections of online tech forums are usually good places to get used computers e.g. notebookreview. Although they usually impose a min post count limit to access their classified sections to avoid fraud so you kind of need to already be a member/know someone who is.

option 3) the lenevo budget laptop lines are typically decent and are cheap, especially if you can get them on sale. About a year ago, I got my sister a 15" G530 with a core duo cpu for like $270 (I miss Bing cash back :p). Slickdeals.net is a good place to be notified of said sales.

Re: More Laptops/netbooks
 

Compaq Presario cq62
$300 at Best Buy new
2.2 ghz amd v120 single core
2 gigs ram
What more can you ask for?
This is my personal laptop, so I haven't done much FIRST related programming on it, but this is my main computer. I do all my personal programming on it, mostly C# with XNA. If you're used to dual core, you might be a little annoyed going back to single, but it really does everything you would ever need to do for FIRST. Full sized keyboard for easy typing.

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Alienware are also big, heavy, awkward and slippery. My experience is with the larger model. I hate it. YMMV.

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well... an alienware is probably a little overpowered for this...

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Alienware is overkill, even at $800. A good used $200 something-or-the-other will suffice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're not talking rendering videos or 3D models here.

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well... you do want an all-purpose laptop, but yeah, alienware is a bit of overkill
-just a bit :D

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Just to add a low performance option: I was using a 7 year old XP compaq, with 512 MB RAM and 2.4Ghz processor. It worked, but it sure tried my patience. You can really use whatever you want it seems, but it might be worth your while to pay for speed so you are not waiting forever to compile everytime you update your robot code.

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A note on that regarding the Beta Test - Labview teams will once again get a nice surprise in that the Labview team has streamlined and improved the compile times even more.

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Thank you for your suggestions
sorry i was so long to return i have 3 AP classes and that keeps me from having much free time for robotics and stuff

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If you are still thinking of something decent, look into a Dell Studio, I have a 1558, with an i5-520 and ATi (sort-of) dedicated graphics, and it was $1000, but they start around 600 with an i3 and 3gb of ram, and was ranked well by CR (hence why I got it). If you can get it through an EPP discount, thats even better. Comes with a DVD drive (slot load), and Up to 8 hours of battery (9-cell upgrade). To be honest, there are a lot of options out there, but a full sized laptop for 3-400 might not have a strong construction. It is your decision though.

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We tried to use an ACER netbook with Windoze 7 Starter and could not install the drivers station. As I remember, we were able to install Labview - but not use it to drive. Anything we can add to Win 7 Starter that will allow us to run the driver's station?

We have a purchased a couple Dell D420's lease returns with XPPro that work well for programming - Labview (and driver's station), and RobotC and pretty well PTC ProEngineer (a bit slow - and definitely need a 3 button external mouse).

The Dell's are light, have good battery life and have pretty decent power for our uses. One down side is no serial port on the laptop, although there is a serial port on the docking station, and the laptop is still pretty light with the docking station. And the serial port is only needed for the IFI controllers and VEX controllers, both of which are not used by FIRST anymore, but we occasionally still use.

Chuck

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I'm running a D620 (ebay lease purchase), and it does have a serial port: Ibought that model specifically for that reason.

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Since Win7 has increased security policies, it is necessary to run the DS as administrator -- even if logged in as an admin. The specific details are to right click, even on the start menu item, and chose the Run As Administratornoption.

Also, the drivers for the First Touch need to be updated to work reliably in Win7.

Greg McKaskle