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

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.

Don't plan for more than a years worth out of one.

[stienman]

If you change your specs slightly from "...I want a machine that will meet my needs for the next few years..." to "...I want a machine that will meet my needs now, knowing that I'll be upgrading in less than a year..." then you'll find a ton of options.

A Dell precision laptop (such as the M50) will hold a gig of ram, has a UXGA display, and is essentially a desktop in a laptop form factor. The price is a paltry $2.5 k (for what you're asking for) and it'll resell next year for $2 k, so you'll be 'renting' a machine for $500 for a year.

You'll want to upgrade in a year anyway, regardless of the machine you pick out now. A mid-range machine will keep its value longer than a high range machine (in the laptop world).

Please don't forget that the shuttle and other small form factor PCs almost always trade performance for size and cost. An equivilant laptop will have equal or better performance, but will keep its value, and last longer.

Lastly, desktops and desktop LCD screens are not meant for travel. If you look at the vibration specs alone you'll find that a laptop can take much more abuse than most LCDs and desktops. Trying to get a desktop machine with lcd and associated pieces through airport scanners without a lot of hassle (please turn on the computer and/or open the case of not only the computer, but the LCD and other parts which could possibly hold explosives or other lethal items). Putting it in baggage can be much worse (wear and tear, lost luggage, etc).

So, in the end, I would strongly suggest you get what will work for you now, and leave the future to deal with itself. Even if you do get a tiny PC which holds 2g of ram, you'll still want a better PC this time next year when you want a processor that doesn't fit your MB.

-Adam

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.

Here's an idea

[afidel]

Buy any laptop with firewire built in, get a handfull of 7200 rpm firewire disks (or ide with firewire enclosures) and do software RAID of your choice on em. This should beat any other portable solution for I/O. Get a big honking Dell laptop with all the trimmings and you should have a laptop more powerfull than most people's desktops. Oh yeah and if you want to run them off the firewire's power be carefull almost none of the built in ports support power, to do that you would need one of the pc-card adapters that sucks power from elsewhere on the laptop.