开云体育

Hi Bob:

I have the program in my PC but it is far from the train room so I don't get to use it except when one of my operators brings over a laptop.

My question is sort of basic(dumb)but I would like some information on what to look for in a laptop if I were to go out and buy one. Most models I have seen on the internet start at about $1500 and go up from there. I can probably equip my entire fleet of engines with Soundtraxx decoders for that kind of money so I need info on the very most basic laptop that I can expect to use successfully with Decoder Pro and not have it cost an "arm & a leg"...am I just dreaming or is this a possibility? I am probably talking about a used instrument and also wonder if this is a reasonable possibility?

Thanks in advance for any pointers you can give me.

Jim Hanna
El Cajon, CA

At 8:08 PM -0700 5/7/02, Jim Hanna wrote:

I would like some information on what to look for in a laptop if I were
to go out and buy one.

...

I need info on the very most basic laptop that I can expect to use
successfully with Decoder Pro and not have it cost an "arm & a leg"...am
I just dreaming or is this a possibility? I am probably talking about a
used instrument and also wonder if this is a reasonable possibility?

Although I'm a Macintosh bigot, you can probably get a better deal on a PC laptop.

I'd look for something with 48MB of memory, Windows95, at least one serial port, and a 180MHz CPU or better. That's not much, so it should be possible to find something like that used for less than $500, perhaps much less. More memory, more speed might be good if you want to use a more recent Windows version.

But, it might make more financial sense to pick up a used command station for your existing PC instead. I've seen used SystemOne units for much less than a laptop would cost.

And running a long cable can be really cost-effective! That does leave you with the hassle of walking to the train room when you want to change the loco on the programming track, unfortunately.

Bob

--
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Bob Jacobsen (Bob_Jacobsen@..., 510-486-7355, fax 510-495-2957)

Bob weighed in as the Mac bigot so I guess it's up to me to provide the Linux
bigot viewpoint. I have a Sony Viao 505TR (value less than $500 now) that
runs DecoderPro pretty well. I say 'pretty well' because this machine doesn't
have much memory and is slow. Everything works correctly, but some actions
are slow. For example, there is a 10-20 delay to open the programmer window.
The point: one can buy a low-end PC laptop, run Linux and run DecoderPro.

Be sure you include the cost of a serial port when looking at a PC laptop
that you intend to use with a DCC command station. Some newer laptops don't
include serial ports so you'd need one of those USB-RS232 converters (I'm
guesssing they would work) or some additional proprietary hardware. My Sony
came with a 'port replicator' that has all the old bulky ports, but newer
Sonys do not include this so you'd have to spend another $75-100 to get a
serial port.

cheers,
Mike


On Tuesday 07 May 2002 08:08 pm, Jim Hanna wrote:

Hi Bob:

I have the program in my PC but it is far from the train room so I don't

get to use it except when one of my operators brings over a laptop.

My question is sort of basic(dumb)but I would like some information on what

to look for in a laptop if I were to go out and buy one. Most models I have
seen on the internet start at about $1500 and go up from there. I can
probably equip my entire fleet of engines with Soundtraxx decoders for that
kind of money so I need info on the very most basic laptop that I can expect
to use successfully with Decoder Pro and not have it cost an "arm & a
leg"...am I just dreaming or is this a possibility? I am probably talking
about a used instrument and also wonder if this is a reasonable possibility?

Thanks in advance for any pointers you can give me.

Jim Hanna
El Cajon, CA







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Well what about an old Desktop P100 with 32/64MB RAM and dedicate it to the
layout permanently.

That will definitely be cheaper than an equivalent laptop so you have more
money to spend on trains...

Cheers

Alex

To Our New Group:

Thanks for your input on my recent question RE: laptops. I think your ideas about getting a used PC instead of a laptop really is the best solution to the situation. I have plenty of room under the layout for storage of the PC when not in use...why didn't I think of this!!!???

Thanks again to all,

Jim Hanna
El Cajon, CA

Jim,
What I did was go to my local PC guy and told him I wanted the cheapest
one available to connected to my trains. He went to his old parts and put
one together for $150, Win98, 128M, 233M mem, Intel chip, CD, extra ports,
etc. With some states charging disposal fees for tubes it might be possible
to get one of those free for the taking.
The only problem with this idea is, of course, room!

Jon Miller
AT&SF
For me time has stopped in 1941
Digitrax DCC owner, Chief system
NMRA Life member #2623
Member SFRH&MS

As far as PCs go, I managed to pick up a Shuttle SV24 barebones system +
1.1GHz Celeron at Fry's electronics for $250 a few months ago. (I think
it is now obsolete & discontinued)

I had some extra RAM, an old HD, and a CD-ROM laying around. Adding
those things brings the price up another couple hundred bucks.

It is a very nice small box-- I need it for microcontroller
development. At work I'm buried up to my ears in iBooks (I work at
Apple) and Keyspan serial adapters (we use them for kernel debugging)


On the Macintosh front:

If you are interested in a NEW nice small laptop that runs Linux/Mac OS
X well, the most recent iBooks are now being sold for about $999 at
ComputerWare/Elite Computers here in the valley.

Older CRT iMacs are available for about $599 in some places as well.

You need to add a Keyspan PDA Adapter for about $39 to get a 9-pin COM
port.

Also it is important to note that you really need to be running OS X for
Java to work decently well on a Mac— the version on Mac OS 9 really
sucks.

-Dave Falkenburg

At 9:25 AM -0700 5/8/02, Dave Falkenburg wrote:

Also it is important to note that you really need to be running OS X for
Java to work decently well on a Mac- the version on Mac OS 9 really
sucks.

I do keep DecoderPro running on MacOS 8.1 through 9, but I agree that it's really a dog. Startup performance is particularly slow; on my 90MHz test machine, it can take 20+ seconds for the program to load and start. That seems like forever. During programming operations, it doesn't seem so bad, as you're just clicking controls and waiting for the command station to do its thing.

But it does work, and I intend to keep it working so that people with older Macintosh hardware have something they can use to program decoders.

The layout-control half of the code is much more problematic on earlier Macs. They have trouble keeping up with mid-size layouts.

Bob
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Bob Jacobsen (Bob_Jacobsen@..., 510-486-7355, fax 510-495-2957)