Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Need a laptop

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Posted by Phil Ranucci (Member # 3820) on 07-21-2009, 10:27 PM:

Apparently I'm getting sent to Barco school. I have searched past posts about laptops but there aren't any recent posts. What's a good laptop that has serial ports? Are any still made? Also, has anyone tried a Mac running XP and a serial adaptor?
Thanks for any info you can give me.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-21-2009, 11:10 PM:

Dell Latitude series laptops is what you want. I use the D830.

Posted by Julio Roberto (Member # 4976) on 07-22-2009, 04:32 AM:

If you just need a basic laptop mostly for surfing and not-intensive work stuff, this sounds like it could be a good deal:

http://img525.yfrog.com/img525/4949/coverynw.jpg

Walmart offer starts 8:00am July 26
$298

Compaq Presario CQ60-419WM Laptop
2.10 GHz AMD Sempron SI-42 Processor 512KB L2 Cache
3GB RAM
Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8200M Video Memory Up to 1407MB
Hard Drive 160GB
Multimedia Drive SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Display 15.6" Diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Display (1366x768)
Fax/Modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity WIFI
Sound High speed 56k modem (11)
Keyboard Altec Lansing
PC Card Slots
External Ports 802.11b/g WLAN (10a)
Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical scroll Up/Down pad
Integrated microphone
Power 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0; 1 Headphone out; 1 microphone-in; 1 VGA (15-pin); 1 RJ-11 (modem); 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot; Power-on password; Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery

I have installed XP on a few Macs, including Airbook notebooks. Haven't tried usb-to-rs232-serial adaptors with it, but no reason whatsoever why they wouldn't work.

But save your money on Apple stuff, specially if you are planning on using Xp mostly, and get a real notebook for less with more and better choices at better price/performance ratios.

Insisting in finding computers with a rs-232 serial port nowadays is going to limit your choices too much. Just use an usb-to-serial adaptor. It's today's better choice.

Posted by Chase Taylor (Member # 778) on 07-22-2009, 10:23 AM:

Getting a laptop just for the permanent serial port is just silly. The only thing you will need a serial port for BARCO is to find the IP address if you can't find it on the projector or the touch panel. Barco will even tell you that using the serial port for anything else is just futile. To be honest when I was there we didn't even use the serial port we just talked about it being used to find IP address. It is just to slow for anything else.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-22-2009, 11:09 AM:

I'm agree with Brad. Serial port or not, I think Dell makes the most reliable notebooks available for the PC platform and also offers a far better variety of configuration options than just about any other system builder. Dell's Latitude and Precision Mobile Workstation product lines offer a lot of high quality options. Dell's Vostro lower priced notebooks in its business section aren't bad either.

Apple makes a good product, but you pay more and get very little in the way of variety. With Dell, you get more choices of screen resolution, disc drives and more. Oh, and you can get a Blu-ray burner installed on a Dell notebook. You can't get a Blu-ray burner pre-installed on any Apple product.

I can't stand computers sold by department stores, particularly the department store models sold by companies like HP and Compaq. They often use proprietary parts and leave little room for expansion or modification. The systems are often pre-loaded with a ton of crap-ware that is difficult to remove. If you do a "factory restore" all that crap-ware is restored too. Dell's business notebooks don't have that problem. Dell doesn't put a whole lot of crap-ware on its home/home office line of computers either (although there is some).

USB to serial converters work fine. Just be sure to buy a good one and not whatever is the cheapest. I've tried out a lot of them over the years in setting up LED message centers on customer desktop and laptop computers. I think Belkin makes a very good one. That's what I use with my notebook.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-22-2009, 11:59 AM:

The current Dell Latitudes have dropped the serial ports. [Frown]

The Dx30 series might be available as refurbished or closeout units, however.

Most video equipment and sound processors have a web interface or terminal interface and shouldn't require much in the way of computing power. You likely do not need the latest and greatest laptop. Build quality and portability are more important.

I can recommend the Dell Latitude line as being reasonably well built and reliable, as well as the Lenovo (nee IBM) T-series. I don't know about the current HP or Toshiba models. Get the extended warranty on whatever you buy. For laptops, it's usually a fairly good deal, as they tend to be somewhat fragile and even one repair is likely to cost more than the extended warranty.

I would not consider any of the current Mac laptops because they do not offer matte-surface LCDs and I cannot stand the glossy surface, but that's a personal bias. The people who use them tend to like them.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-22-2009, 12:28 PM:

Apple has a number of deal breakers for me regarding their notebook line. The lack of Blu-ray options is a problem. Their newest 17" notebook has a "green" battery that cannot be removed. That's another deal breaker. I've seen plenty of laptops that required the user to remove the battery to make the system reset after a serious crash or to just merely start. One minor hiccup and the proud owner of a 17" MacBook Pro will be shipping his notebook off to Apple to repair an otherwise very simple, routine problem.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-22-2009, 12:50 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
Their newest 17" notebook has a "green" battery that cannot be removed.

It is this sort of pompous "our equipment is perfect and the battery doesn't ever fail or need to be removed" nonsense which makes me hate Apple.

That sucks Dell has dropped the serial ports from their laptops though. I guess I had better hang onto my D830 for awhile.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-22-2009, 04:02 PM:

Being a graphics person, I like things that look cool. But it's another thing entirely when the product quality gets goofed up beyond all hell just to make a product thinner and more pretty. That's the big problem with Apple and its 17" notebook. They've effectively applied iPod style production to a notebook computer. The big problem is this isn't some $100 throwaway gadget. It's a freaking notebook with a $2499.99 base price tag.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-23-2009, 07:59 AM:

I don't think he's going to be doin much D-Cinema servicing with an Apple laptop no matter what...

I agree on the Dell and in reality the serial port really isn't even a thing one need worry about any longer. Just get an IO Gear USB to serial adaptor. I've used one on my XPS laptop for quite some time and there isn't a dang thng on the planet that the IO Gear can't connect to. It also has a blinky light on it so you know it's talking to hat ever you're hook'd up to.

Mark

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 07-23-2009, 12:48 PM:

I've now run into a few things that the USB/Serial ports don't work with...normally, it is a speed/response thing. However usnig a PCMICA card com port by SocketCom has worked on everything.

Steve

Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 07-23-2009, 06:43 PM:

Fujitsu notebooks are consistently rated the highest in quality and reliability. I had much better luck with my old Fujitsu than I have with my Dell, or HP laptops.

Dell does offer great support which makes it a good choice as well.

The Lifebook E8420 has a serial port.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-23-2009, 10:17 PM:

Wow! You'd have to have a really old laptop that accepts those cards. I have yet to run into a single thing the IO Gear can't handle. There are some pretty cheesy USB to serial adaptors out there though.

Mark

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-23-2009, 10:54 PM:

Yeah, you really have to watch it with the USB to serial adapters. I haven't had any problems with my Belkin adapter. But I paid $40 for it whereas others cost less than half that.

Any good USB to serial adapter must have a software utility that will allow you to change any parameter in how the adapter communicates. You must be able to make sure the adapter isn't conflicting with Windows' own COM port settings. The baud rate and bit formatting must match with whatever device is getting connected. And then the adapter has to give you decent feedback that it is doing the job. The one I have features LED readings for "Link," "TX" and "RX".

Posted by Phil Ranucci (Member # 3820) on 07-28-2009, 01:08 AM:

Thanks for all the replies. The reason I asked about a serial port is because Barco requests it. Whether or not it's needed or useful, I'm just following their lead. Guess we'll be looking for a Dell.
Thanks!

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-28-2009, 01:28 AM:

You can hit Craigslist for older laptops that have the serial port already on.

I have an old Micron P266 GoBook (1998) with Win98 installed that is great for my Dolby/DTS junk since I have both the serial extention cable and the null modem cable that DTS uses.

But, I do have a USB to serial cord that I use with my DELL Inspiron 6000.. works great!

-Monte

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-28-2009, 08:17 AM:

quote: Phil Ranucci
Thanks for all the replies. The reason I asked about a serial port is because Barco requests it.

Ya got to have serial to get logged onto the TI boards in case all else has failed. Serial always works... if the boards are working. Most other D-Cinema equipment use USB except USL JSD-80 and Dolby CP-650.

Mark