Laptops for Warm Climates?

macrostiff asks: "Where might one locate a product comparison for laptops and notebooks that includes environmental specifications? Why do I want this? Well, I'm on my second notebook that will not work outside of a climate controlled environment. In the real world, one often encounters temperatures above 35 degrees celcius. I've been through two notebooks for which this was the specified operational limit, which was not published, and the manufacturer or dealer led me astray until there were problems. In particular, I am looking for a notebook with 900MHz or faster CPU (fast enough to play DVD's) which will work under full CPU utilization at 40 degrees celcius (104F) and 90% relative humidity. While a bit extreme at the limit, 35-38 degrees and 80% relative humidity is not uncommon for those of us who work in areas with no air conditioning. Oh yes, it must run Linux!"

Comments

NEC Daylite E120

[toybuilder]

I have an NEC Daylite E120 laptop which works great outdoors with the sun beating directly onto the LCD. I don't know if 35 degC sustained is going to kill it over the long term, but a notebook that was designed to be for outdoor use would, I expect, do better than many.

The Panasonic Toughbook series is also supposedly rugged.

Close...

[Justen]

Not perfect, but close.

Each PowerBook in Apple's current professional lineup can handle (according to the tech specs) close to your requirements.

Operating extremes are: 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 35 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 20% to 80% relative humidity, non-condensing. Maximum operating altitude is at 10,000 feet.

Storage extremes are: 40 below to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 to 47 degrees Celsius) for temperature; 15,000 feet maximum altitude.

And, of course, Linux on PowerPC kicks ass (as does OS X).

Best of luck.

justen

Panasonic Toughbook line

[NetRanger]

Your specifications will easily be met by a ruggedized computer -- check out Panasonic's Toughbook line... that's where our company is going.

The drawback: cost... you're talking about $4K for a top-of-the-line model. But you'll never have to worry about breaking it.

IBM

[keesh]

An IBM sales droid will supply you with full environmental specifications for ThinkPads if you ask. Plus, ThinkPads run Linux pretty well...

Panasonic ToughBook

[OneFix at Work]

Check out this link.

The toughbook can operate at tempratures up to 140F and 95% humidity.

If you really need a ruggedized laptop, the toughbooks are the only way to go. I've heard stories about toughbooks falling into the Amazon and being pulled out with the screen still powered up...

The .mil also use the toughbooks in the field. In fact, the only real difference between the .mil toughbooks and the civilian ones is the case/color.

humidity wont matter

[7-Vodka]

Humidity is only opressive to us because we cool ourselves by evaporation which happens slower when it's humid. It shouldnt affect laptops at all since they cool their cpu by radiation conduction and convection.

Re:humidity wont matter

[SagSaw]

Bzzzzzzzt....wrong.

Humidity can case several problems for laptops:

Your standard run-of-the-mill IC's in the black plastic/cases are not well sealed against moisture. Over time, moisture seeps in and can damage the chips. This problem is accelerated by high temperatures and humidities.

Humidity and temperature changes can cause plastic parts to change in size (think of all the plastic moving bits in a typical CD-R*/DVD/etc. drive).

Condensataion when the device moves from a cool envronment to a warm humid environment (where the dew point of the humid environment is higher than the temperature in the cool environment).

Humidity will have a minor effect on cooling, but can kill the laptop in other ways.

Get a Patriot 1

[Wee]

You want a Patriot 1 from AMREL. It meets MIL-STD 810F, which is an operating from 0C to 45C. Their extremely tough laptops. Not cheap, however, and not easy to get. But they're the best. A Panasonic Toughbook might work. They're not cheap either.

As far as TCO goes, you might just be better off buying 10 or 12 cheap Thinkpads from ebay. Get all the same (or close) model numbers. When one dies, pop out the hard drive and put it in another one. Or keep an OS image on a PC somewhere and load up the "new" laptop that way. Or image them all at the same time and keep your personal stuff on a network someplace. I'm not sure what exactly you need the portable for.

BTW, you can get cheap Toughbooks on ebay as well, as long as you don't mind running a slower processor.

-B

Ti Apple Powerbook.

[mkoz]

I have used my 15" 667MHz Ti book in un-airconditioned E. Texas with temperatures in the mid 90's with some success.

I can play a DVD for almost 2 hours before I must let my powerbook cool down. Granted the fan is on during this, and it makes a big difference if it is on a hard surface. Generally I get through the movie, but I have to let my powerbook cool for about a half hour before I can watch any of the special features. In general I have found that the optical drives on these computers tend to generate a bunch of heat. I only fail to burn a CD when I am burning 3+ in sequence... so now I let it cool down after 2 discs.

At these temperatures it is very important to run on a hard surface. With normal use (php/apache/mysql to a local web browser for data entry) and processor cycling on, the fan will stay at a happy medium speed.

I have used my powerbook in all kinds of conditions, and several of my friends take them camping from cars. You have to be careful with the Ti powerbook because they are a bit fragile, but they seem to be able to deal with camping / generators in death valley, etc.

MAK

Itronix

[yancey]

I don't have a comparison site, but I can give you one...

Operating temperature: -20 to +60C (-4 to +140F)

Storage temperature: -55 to +75C (-67 to +167F)

http://www.itronix.com/products/notebooks/gobook ma x.asp

http://www.itronix.com/upload/specifications/us/ go bookmax.pdf

Any insights on what generates heat on laptops?

[slashdot_commentator]

I'm sure many readers are saying "duh, its the CPU". But actually, on my HP ZE4101 (Athlon XP-M 1500+), it seems to be generated in the area holding the SODIMMs (512MB+128MB). It appears while the CPU has its fan, there is only a metal contact plate to distribute heat from the RAM modules. It also seems that the DIMMs generate more heat than the CPU.

I was concerned that my 512MB SODIMM was defective, but I did order it from Crucial. XP only seems to get flaky when the laptop becomes abnormally warm. Is it possible that somehow heat is being transferred from the CPU to that SODIMM area? Why would DIMMs get so hot when in operation? Would it be a prudent move to get rid of the 128MB SODIMM in order to reduce a heat generator? Are there software tweaks that might reduce the need to feed current to memory?

As to the writer's question, I would think that the key is slow, low power CPU with good heat design. If you have money to spend, I'd recommend looking at a Transmeta CPU off of dynamism.com. Also, you may want to look at exotic notebooks/PDAs running off of ARM chips or other cold CPUs. Perhaps an older powerbook might do the trick. (While the G4s can't compete with heat generation from Intel/AMD CPUs, I do hear they run hot.) Finally, start googlefishing the usenet archives on laptops and heat. There are bound to be notebook users in the same climate you're in that would have an insight.