Quote:
Originally Posted by Trez
I would recommend using the classmate to drive. We used a Dell laptop to dive last year and and it was very unreliable, though a Thinkpad would probably not have very many problems.
Last year I remember the judges getting very mad at us and blaming us for problems with the field equipment even though our lead programer (who is a very intelligent person) was positive it was not our fault. So I guess using another laptop could make your team a target for hate.
Also there are power connections built into the field for the class mates.
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I remember from some offseasons teams that used non-classmates for driver stations did have some problems, but I don't think it was significantly more prevalent than on the standard classmate. The things that I recall being problems on custom machines: Driver account not named Driver (won't be a problem this year), firewall issues (Honestly, Classmate or not, I would just disable this at the competition, just in case), and antivirus as it can take up a lot of processing power.
Make sure you can connect on practice day, as that is when the field staff will be under the least time pressure, and can probably tell you better what the problem is.
Edit: Just actually read the OP's post (oops) and it
Do Not image your thinkpad with the E11 key, you will actually brick the thinkpad, because the E11 key has specific drivers for the 2011 classmate.
- Oliver