JeffC Posted August 19, 2008 Author Posted August 19, 2008 Jeff, I've literally just bought myself one off ebay, you could use that if you want to fiddle with the omex software. I've only bought it to install some guitar software and itunes. No problems lending you it when you need it. On the otherhand, lad at work is selling a toshiba laptop for around £150, I could get the spec if you want. Either way, for what you want, cheapest is king, it wont need to be owt fancy at all!!! Pete get the spec of the toshiba, could well be interested,as for using urs I would get you to fiddle with the omex as It would be beyond me anyway Quote
Jonah Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 Jeff, Try these people for new laptops at good prices. www.morgancomputers.co.uk I use a 13 year old very low spec toshiba laptop for programming my Omex & it works fine. I have also used a modern laptop with a usb to rs232 converter & that also worked fine. You could download the manuals & software from Omex onto your desktop pc. Its very easy to adjust the rev limit and if you are using a TPS this may also need adjustment at some point & is also easy to do. If you do not have a copy of your ignition & fuel maps then I would get them copied from the Omex A.S.A.P. Hope this helps. Pete Jones Quote
Pilot Pete Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 Pete get the spec of the toshiba, could well be interested,as for using urs I would get you to fiddle with the omex as It would be beyond me anyway Yes, you definitly want someone you can trust to set those figures, someone might "accidently" set the rev limit t o 5000rpm. Quote
Blatman Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 Hmmmmmm.... Modern or older makes no odds if you can do one or two things to it once you've bought it. If you're buying second hand, then *definitely* make sure it has an RS232 plug on it. If you're buying new(er) and it doesn't have an RS232 plug, budget for an RS232 PCMCIA card to slot in. More expensive than a USB to Serial adapter, but much more likely to work. In either case if the operating system doesn't support the Omex functions you need to load, then "simply" get hold of a copy of Windows 98 (or maybe even Windows 95, but that may not work with current fast processors) and make the machine a "dual boot machine". With two operating systems loaded, at start up it will ask you which one to load. If you want to surf the web and do all the usual PC things, load the newer OS. If you want to play with your ECU, ask it to load Win95 or Win98... Do you have a back up strategy for your business? Quote
gixermark Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 If you buy one 2nd hand budget a battery anyway - they are pretty much consumable items on a laptop - and are normally deteriorating anything past 12 months old.... some gradually some rather quickly.. If you use internet for work - updating web site etc ? you could get a mobile broadband contract from '3' at the mo - and get a 'free' laptop... obviously means getting into a contract with them - but gives you flexibility to surf when on the move.. at race tracks etc etc..... Quote
JeffC Posted August 19, 2008 Author Posted August 19, 2008 Do you have a back up strategy for your business? all I do is send a copy by email of my accounts I do on the computer every vat quarter to my accountant, I figure that way if I balls something up he has a copy Quote
dombanks Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 i cant remember the last time i saw a serial port (rs232) on a laptop? the last 3 ive bought havn't had them. in fact i had issues with the new lab pcs not having one one either and had to get a card with one on. i have used a USB/serial one tho with little problems on a few of the pieces of lab equipment when i was waiting for the cards to arrive. ETB even supplied a usb one with their digidash. Quote
pete g Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 i have just got a new one for car asus 1000h cant recomend it enough fantastic machine upto 7hour battery life totally mobile.and runs all my programs no problem. 10"screen £330 new but you will need a usb serial adapter from maplins for £12 Quote
Chasmon Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 i have just got a new one for car asus 1000h cant recomend it enough fantastic machine upto 7hour battery life totally mobile.and runs all my programs no problem. 10"screen £330 new but you will need a usb serial adapter from maplins for £12 What about one of these? Got one at work today £215 from the right place. Tiny - perfect for in the car... I'm guessign this is similar to what you have Peter Quote
pete g Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 i have just got a new one for car asus 1000h cant recomend it enough fantastic machine upto 7hour battery life totally mobile.and runs all my programs no problem. 10"screen £330 new but you will need a usb serial adapter from maplins for £12 What about one of these? Got one at work today £215 from the right place. Tiny - perfect for in the car... I'm guessign this is similar to what you have Peter yes almost same but i went for the 80G harddrive and bigger screen nice bit of kit for the money Quote
Pilot Pete Posted August 19, 2008 Posted August 19, 2008 How often will you be setting the rev limit, if its only once in a blue moon, just use your PC. Or this will do the job nice and cheaply. Expect anchor performance though but if you just using it for mapping/rev limit software etc, it'll be fine. Might just wanna check how much space the software will take up as the hard drive is only 2.1gb! Quote
Blatman Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 QUOTE How often will you be setting the rev limit, if its only once in a blue moon, just use your PC. You can do a lot more than set the rev limiter. Diagnostics are much easier if you can plug a lappy in, and you can diagnose an awful lot... QUOTE all I do is send a copy by email of my accounts I do on the computer every vat quarter to my accountant, I figure that way if I balls something up he has a copy What happens if the hard drive fails a week before your next email to your accountant? Do you have copies? What about your contacts list? Web site upload files? Family photos? Track day vids? All gone if the HDD fails and you have no other back ups, and with back ups easy to do for the sake of <100 quid spent on an external USB HDD (you'll get 500Gb's for well under a ton these days) I think you should rethink your strategy, *especially* if you have an amount of mission critical data on there... Quote
Pilot Pete Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 You can do a lot more than set the rev limiter. Diagnostics are much easier if you can plug a lappy in, and you can diagnose an awful lot... True, however this is the man who thought his mouse wasn't working properley when he was holding it the wrong way round. Quote
Blatman Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 You can do a lot more than set the rev limiter. Diagnostics are much easier if you can plug a lappy in, and you can diagnose an awful lot... True, however this is the man who thought his mouse wasn't working properley when he was holding it the wrong way round. It's a good point well made... If only Coops lived nearer the effluent south. I could sort his computers and get him to a good set of rollers to fix his ECU *and* fix his understeering problems all in a few hours... Quote
Leon B Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Thought the laptop was just for using on the car? Quote
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