Portable, High Performance, Computing Options?

Mostly a lurker asks: "I am a consultant with a need for a high performance machine (fast I/O and minimum 1GB RAM, perhaps more) with which I sometimes travel. I am willing to accept anything up to a 20lb traveling weight, but it must be compact enough to take by air. I would obviously welcome something that does not break the bank. Right now, the best I can come up with is something built around the Shuttle SB51G XPC with a separate LCD monitor and keyboard. It is really frustrating at the apparent lack of good alternatives. If I could wait six months then, the best desknotes would probably fit the bill (with the new IBM 7200 RPM drives). Today's desknotes fall short on I/O performance, and I would not be able to push RAM past 1GB. The lunchbox computers that qualify for air travel are mostly expensive rubbish, unless one's main concern is ruggedization. All-in-one computers like the IBM NetVista, Gateway Profile and ECS Aio's also seem to fall short. So, am I totally missing another great option? Have I mis-evaluated one of the options above? If I go the Shuttle XPC route, is there a really good light (and, equally important, compact) LCD monitor out there that someone wants to recommend [15" minimum, 17" would be nice, 30ms refresh or better, XGA acceptable, SXGA nice]? Thanks."

Comments

Look for a laptop

[KFK2]

I'm not sure what the I/O specs are, but I know you can get laptops with 2 RAM slots and it shouldn't be hard to get a Gig of RAM for those.. for Processor, I know my brother has a 1.7GHz P4 in his new Toshiba, along with a 15" UXGA screen and a GeForce4 video card (not sure exact model).. all for around $2,000, too, so it won't break the bank.

Have you looked at Dolch?

[Raetsel]

I used to see ads for Dolch all the time when Byte was still a print magazine. I always thought they were a neat idea, since that was (pretty much) the only option if you wanted a portable computer that would take an osciloscope card.

Fast forward to present times, and you have the FlexPac, a P4 portable with all the bells and whistles of a "desktop". (Yes, I know the page talks about P-IIIs, but their main page references P4 FlexPacs.)

They were never cheap... but someone has to make these cases -- find their supplier! (I know, I know, that's what you're trying to do...) A nice case like Dolch is using (with an integrated LCD and keyboard) should be available for $1000 to $1500.

If that approach fails, get thee to your local yellow pages, find a metal shop that does custom work, and have them build you one. Have it painted at an autobody shop -- perhaps a nice coat of Imron (epoxy paint -- very nice, very durable... but very nasty to work with!) and some clearcoat to protect it in those overhead bins.

There are some very talented people out there, incredibly innovative and artistic, they just happen to be gearheads instead of geeks. Get to know your local machinist, you'll be surprised!

Finally, I think the MicroATX form factor gives you more options than FlexATX does, though the FlexATX case options tend to pack things closer together (and thus be much smaller). For example, MicroATX allows 4 devices (generally 3 PCI and 1 AGP) vs. FlexATX's 2, and there are a lot more cases out there for the MicroATX size. I'd swear I've seen cases that include an LCD built-in, but I don't remember where I saw them right now... and my Google skills aren't kicking in.

Tadpole Laptops

[radon28]

If you don't mind the high cost, Tadpole sells a variety of 32 & 64 bit SPARC laptops, some with a capacity for up to 4 gigs of RAM. It comes pre-loaded with Solaris. I think these are usually used by the military for on-field trajectory calculations.