Mini-laptop with CD burner
 

Here's a good little laptop with a CD burner, to send the pictures home before your laptop gets stolen.

http://www.fujitsupc.com/www/product...books/p_series

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Good idea, but not too practical. I carried my IBM laptop, equipped with a CD burner, around with me this summer when I toured Europe. I was riding a ST1100 and stuck exclusively to paved roads.

The CD burner failed twice due to (presumed) vibration, and the screen failed once, again due to vibration. I was fortunate that I was touring in Europe, thus with easy access to IBM service, and also fortunate that IBM has a 3 year international warranty on their products.

Worth noting that two of the three failures occurred in the Republic of Ireland. I have never encountered worse roads in my life than I did in Ireland, and I have been all through Africa. The IBM service staff took one look at me, with my helmet under one arm and the dead computer under the other, and laughed.

I don't think I'll take a computer with me again on an extended motorcycle tour. Too much of a PITA overall, worrying about damage, possible theft, etc., and just too large and heavy, relative to everything else.

I travelled for one year through North and South America with a IBM Thinkpad 240 and a Panasonic external burner. Only problem I encountered was a hard disk crash which could be traced directly to an accident we had.

I mounted a typical motorcycle luggage net inside the Givi topbox by attaching the net to the sides of the lid. This gave the laptop a dampened base to rest on. Also, it was wrapped in thick fleece and packed in a hard foam case. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

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Dag
http://RocinantesTravels.com

We took a Toshiba 610CT laptop with us on our trip(s) and had no trouble. Around the world and not a moments problem. BUT we had it sitting vertically on 20mm of very high-tech shock absorbing foam designed for scientific instruments. Back and front was 5mm of the same stuff, and misc packed junk elsewhere. It was inside a soft nylon carry bag only.

In some parts of Africa and South America the dirt/gravel road corrugations were so bad my vision was blurring and the grips were 3" in diameter, the fairing cracked in a half dozen places, and the windshield plastic screws disintegrated from the vibes, so it wasn't as if it didn't take a pounding.

We didn't have a cd-burner, only a portable cd drive which still works fine - and so does the laptop, although the hard drive died about 6 months after we returned home. Couldn't possible have had anything to do with the trip http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

For most people I think something like a Palm may be the way to go, all solid state, and a digital camera. See the Communications Forum for more on the subject.

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Most computer equipment can handle abuse pretty well since they are manufactured as solid-state technology. This basically means that there are no moving parts. The only exception is the Hard Disk. If you can, buy the HD separately. Get one of the new breed of HD which withstand a good number of Gs (sometimes called G Shock or G Factor). The small 2.5” HD used in notebook computers are usually designed to handle a lot of Gs. You might find the number of Gs it withstands on the HD label. If not then check the specs on the manufacturer’s website.

When the laptop is shut down and there’s no power reaching the HD, the heads will be parked away from the disk surface in a tight place. So it’s imperative that you shut down the laptop and not leave it in hibernate or sleep mode. If you don’t then the computer might kick in for any reason (scheduled virus or system check for example), One big bump on the road and problems will start.

It’s also important to back up. On the road it’s a hassle to deal with backup tapes or CD-ROMs so I got one of the new tiny HD that hooks up to PC Card (PCMCIA) (USB and parallel options are available) port. I attach it to the laptop every once in a while and back up my data to it. Don’t just backup to another partition on the same disk, it’s useless.

The padding method mentioned above is also imperative.

Hope this helps.

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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com

Wise comments about the packing methods. I didn't use any special packing, I just put the computer in the middle of all my clothing, hoping that would cushion it. Evidently, it didn't do the job well enough for rough roads.

I still think that I will leave the computer behind next time - too large, and too much of a security concern.

Have been using a sony Viao C1 picture book, 1kg and half the size of normal laptops, and it has performed perfectly. Just jam it in between clothes, lock my tourtec panniers for security, and open up the throttel of the KTM LC4 on even the worst roads with no concern, even had a couple of stacks with no damage. Sony even does a small (size of 2 CD cases) CDRW that would mean very little space taken up.

Well, it's been 4 years since I started this post .... Since then, I've bought a P series Fujitsu notebook and I have nothing but good to say about it. As well, sicne technology has come a fair ways, I think the best way to back your data is with solid-state USB sticks. You can take 2 or 3 2GB sticks and be covered. Burn to CD when you get somewhere feasible. And 2 or 3 sticks will take up less space than CD's

Hi,

that USB-Stick-idea is grat. I just discussed it with a friend of mine who knows a bit about IT-matters.

He advised to further stick to good quality CDs. Obviously, USB-Sticks are not reliable enough to be used as back-up mediums. And they seem to have a limited life as well.

Sounded to good...

Regards

Lars

Grant,

What sort of foam did you use for packing your laptop (manufacturer/merchant)?

I am planning an overland trip from London to Sydney, and I'd like to take a laptop with me to edit images I take on the road. Ideally I'd like to shoot in raw format, so USB/CF storage isn't really an option.

Pixie,

all I can tell you is "20mm of very high-tech shock absorbing foam designed for scientific instruments"

It's probably most easily obtained from companies that create packing/shipping boxes for musical and scientific instruments.

Personally I'd plan on backing up from the camera's card to at least two mediums. My experience and from what I've heard, the CF etc cards ARE very reliable.

I know of a number of people who have lost all their photos from one disaster or another - theft, bad processing of all their film, defective cameras etc - and listened to their tears and wailing and gnashing of teeth - to want to be very careful.

I'd probably back up to the laptop, and keep the original on the CF card and keep plugging in new ones, NOT overwriting the originals. Finally upload them to a photo site, and have a friend download them and save them to at least two places, my favorite being two separate USB hard drives. (CD's are NOT completely reliable, and they're a pain in the butt) THEN I might wipe the original CF cards.

FWIW - My backup at home/office (for EVERYTHING, including this entire website) is original on one of two different mirrored RAID drive set, backed up to the other mirrored RAID set, all backed up to two rotating USB hard drives. Overkill? Perhaps - but not if you've ever lost important irreplaceable files!

Remember - CF etc cards are dirt cheap compared to the loss of all your pictures, and the cost of the trip. Or even to the cost we used to pay for film. Take lots.

hope that helps!




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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com