Ritter v4.0

Been an Apple guy since late 80's but need a dedicated PC for data acquisition and don't have a clue about things MS.
Requirements are Windows 98 2nd ED, ME, 2000, XP or Vista 32.
What's with all these OS anyway- I say like Oprah, pick a weight and go with it.

Anywho I was thinking about a smaller almost iPad size laptop- anyone have a recommendation?
Do any come with MicroSD readers built in?

TIA

bobt993

You can run a Apple notebook with the Racepak program. It take some adjusting of the screen windows etc, but I have seen it done when we rented a G2X to a racer last year. I use a couple of computer in the trailer now which have XP and 7 running. One aspect of the Racepak system you really want to take advantage of is syncing up to 4 cameras with your data for reviewing. Get plenty of memory and a current fast processor with an external card reader.

Ritter v4.0

After deriding MS my MacBook battery not hold a charge so Ill get a little pc- how much memory do you think, like 50 GB hd and 2 GB RAM?

lowside67

Careful, the software has a minimum screen resolution that is higher than most netbooks, I bought one for that specific purpose and it doesnt look like it's going to work!

Ritter v4.0

That's why I'm askin'.

93 FireHawk 968

I bought a cheap Compaq for $400.00 from Best Buy and it works fine, large screen and plenty of processor speed. Don't mind bringing it to the track and exposing it to the elements. Prefer to leave my Mac laptop home.

bobt993

David, I run 1366 by 768. Memory is cheap video files eat up storage so get the max you find reasonable. I just picked up a Toshiba Satellite for 649.00. You can also change the font size on the text for the program and remove channels your not interested in to give you more display room. The program has a ton of flexibility that is overlooked. look under Settings>> Preferences. If you highlight a data marker, right-click, you will open the scaling window and there is a button that allows you to hide the data marker giving you some more room.

MUSSBERGER

If I go dedicated that's the path I'll take. You don't need anything crazy.

Ritter v4.0

Do tell, which model and OS did you chose?

comatb

I use a Toshiba Satellite L300 with Vista Home Premium software. It looks to be just over a 15 inch screen. It has a SD card slot. 2.16 GHz and 2 GB RAM.

I have used it with RacePak and Race-Keeper software with no problems. I thought about using a Mac, like at home, but this laptop is cheaper and is dedicated to this one task.

Bill

Streak

Office Depot. $320. Toshiba Laptop.

rlm328

What you may run into is that a lot of the computer systems out today, 64 bit processors, do not play well with a lot of the software used in the different automotive systems out there. i had a heck of a time finding a 32 bit system. Ended up getting a reman from Dell for 225

kgorman

$299 Asus net book at Costco. Just order a 2gb memory upgrade from crutial to go in it. We try to use cheap laptops for the track. They are dedicated to the purpose. It also has SD slot for video in it.

Ritter v4.0

Thx all.
Kenny- per above which OS do you use and 32 or 64 bit?

Tom W

Don't assume that you MUST buy a "Windows" PC.

I use a MacBook Pro to run MoTeC software using boot camp or Parallels to run Windows XP or Windows 7. It works great and I only have to run Windows when I have to, the rest of the time it's a Mac.

I also run boot camp and Parallels on my Mac Pro desktop for the main data analysis, the laptop is to download the data from the data system and do a preliminary look while at the track. I keep the data files sync'd between the two with a program called ChronoSync.

I doubt the OS flavor (32 or 64-bit) will have any meaningful impact. My laptop runs Win7 x86 (32-bit) and the Mac Pro runs x64 (64-bit) and the difference in most data analysis tasks is minimal and mainly due to the processor difference.