A few thoughts on laptops. On my last trip i purchased an IBM T-23 for $500. The battery was shot and it needed a new CD drive. These parts are available on E-Bay for cheap, and with a PayPal acct., you could probably talk the seller into shipping parts to an un-confirmed adress, like i did when i was in Reno.
If you choose to run a PC, i wouldn't settle for anything less than XP. It works, well, most of the time anyway, and accepts current software. Old operating systems will give you trouble when trying to load new software. PC is easily infected with vermin from the internet, use someone elses computer for surfing and use yours strictly for photo's, movies, GPS, etc... If you run it without anti-virus software, it is remarcably fast! When packing, place it on top wrapped in a shirt or you run the risk of breaking the display when running off-road. The IBM is a great choice and parts are cheap and available. Also, if you damage the harddrive, you can send it to any IBM office in the world where they will most likely retrieve your info, something most computer companies donot offer. You can find IBM in almost every major city in the world.
My laptop survived three months of hell, with dead batteries and a broken screen. It was a great computer...unfortunately it was a PC. I've recently gone the Mac route and sold every PC related item in my house with great satisfaction. Its simple, well build and WORKS over and over again...no more blue screen of death! If it survives my next trip...thats yet to be determined.

I can second the comment made about the Panasonic Toughbook CF-27.

I bought one of ebay. It indeed struggles with Windows XP, but is fine with 2000. I ran Oziexplorer on a trip, and it worked a treat.

It is a cheap option, and as tough as the name suggests. The batteries as new have enormous capacity, so even as an old used one it gives me more than an hour of runtime (but might have been replaced by previous owner).

Make sure you get one with extra memory, otherwise things might run very slowly indeed.

Hobnob

When are you going and what route?

We are leaving about May 07 following the usual silk route then Madras to Perth chille then up north.

Andy

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www.landroveradventure.co.uk
Land Rover Discovery 2, Yamaha Super Tenere

i just bought new batteries for my old laptop and cameras. i paid less than 20% of the retail price and these are not reconditioned batteries. the company is in california though for those who live outside north america. try www.atbatt.com or maybe www. at batt.com. don't have my invoice right now, but they shipped them with no problems to my place in oregon and when i get back there next week i will have full power again. the camer batteries are normally 65 usd. i bought 3 of them for 53.85 and that included shipping. the laptop batter is 190 and from them it was 42.50 plus 7 shipping. they seem to have every battery ever made.

We have done hard time on the road with a re-furbished Think Pad and a more expensive and, at one time new, Toshiba Satellite.

The Toshiba is bigger and heavier, but MUCH more capable. One thing to consider is that if you are going to be using wireless in various locations the Think Pads are far less good at sorting out conflicting and weak signals than the IBMs. They are also faster and better able to handle large amounts of pictures and video. Our Toshiba has been with us a year and a half and logged over 50,000 tough miles. It has been dropped, spilled on, Stepped on you name it. It now LOOKS terrible but works great. Has never missed a beat.

The frustration of having a smaller and lighter machine (IBM) that won't do wha you really need it to do is not worth the the few bucks and bit of weight you save.

IMHO

Cameron

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The Harley Dude and Beemerman Road Show

I don't know too much about RTW motorcycle touring as I haven't gone on a BIG ride yet but in my business we take our laptops to the extreme. I work in fireworks and special effects and laptops are crucial to drive these shows. Our job sites are everything from driving rain, mud to -20C winter. We use the Itronix brand military laptops and buy them off eBay. They are cheap and very dependable in extreme use. Certainly not the fastest, most modern units out there (if you buy used that is) but literally bullit proof. THey can be rained on, dropped on concrete, and put up with extreme heat and cold no problem. Check them out if you think you can deal with something with a little less MHZ power and a lot more dependability. Here is a link to what I am talking about.
http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-3-ITRONIX-GO...QQcmdZViewItem