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From: Daryl Manning (no email)
Date: Tue Aug 17 2004 - 23:55:14 EDT
This always ends up devolving into a personal computing philosophy
discussion rather than anything else but since you've asked for 2
pennies worth.... I've been in IT for over a decade and I have to say I
have never been as happy with a laptop as I have been with my Apple
iBook and the PowerBook I upgraded to. And I've had laptops for 15
years (since they were 640k memory and 2 3.5" disk drives back in 1989
using DOS =} )
I am a poweruser, but I have to say I have never had a more useful,
easier and more pleasurable to use laptop in my life and one which
meets all my needs. They are slightly pricier than spartan windows
models but well worth it in my opinion (an a entry model iBook I think
is a much better value than most windows laptops).
Everything is integrated, well constructed, everything just works, they
are simple to use, a dream with multimedia (DVD, CD burning, music,
video, photos) and run a variant of the unbelievably stable unix BSD
operating system with probably one of the easiest interfaces to use
anywhere. Excellent security (a *good* integrated firewall, no virii to
speak of), and world class, award winning software, much of it free. I
regularly plug it into the TV and play DVDs (and have done so in both
Europe and here in North America).
Your mileage may vary but I just thought I would chime in. I've used
win, linux and mac based laptops and I'm seriously happy with
switching. if you have the time I would suggest investigating this as
an option. Shipboard software such as GPSNavX and the like is available
and comparable with most windows based platforms.
Good luck with your decision and fair winds,
Daryl.
On 17-Aug-04, at 4:00 PM, Roger Rippy wrote:
> I have been informed by the Admiral that it is high time to get a
> laptop computer aboard Tin Cup. Not that the walks to the local
> library are not interesting and good for a little exercise. I have
> surfed the net and also checked a few stores and there is a wide range
> of computers and features out there for sale. What I would really like
> to know from you that have used them aboard your boat for a period of
> time is what is important and what is not. We would keep some personal
> records, do a little word processing, do email (and winlink if I ever
> get busy and buy the gear), surf the internet, and simple work like
> that. We would be concerned about product reliability in a salt air
> environment, tech support, and service contracts. This past winter the
> marina we were at in Florida had free Wi-Fi which was great; we are
> now up north and that is nearly as common.
>
> How many of the bells and whistles are really worth it for the
> purposes that I have outlined? Any thoughts and recommendations,
> either off-line or thru this site, would be greatly appreciated. Norm
> shared a few thoughts with us a couple of years ago, but prices and
> features have changed some since then and we are taking another
> serious look at what has come to be common place aboard many boats.
>
> Thanks in advance...........Roger & Marie SV Tin Cup
>
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
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