Testing GPS

Toughbook · 07-29-2007, 10:43 PM

The hard drive is easy to swap. 5 little screws (I think) and carefully pull everything apart. make sure you watch how it comes apart though there is really only one way to put it back together. Any 2.5" drive should work. (Except SATA drives) Some seem to think that the hard drives that are shipped stock seem to be some sort of "special" drive... 4200 RPM I think... (To withstand heat, vibrations, etc.) The part numbers I've seen don't show that.

I have the lighted rubber keyboard and I'm still not sure I like it. The "feel" is way different than a regular keyboard and it takes getting used to. You definitely type slower and sometimes you miss a key. It is nice typing in the dark/low light though. I may keep it on the new one I'm getting. I haven't bought it yet. I'm waiting for a few things I have to sell first so the money comes out of Paypal and not the bank account. (Yes... the wife IS watching!) I'm not sure about the RAM... I'd go to one of the many sites that sell it and cross-check it to make sure it will work before installing it.

I'm lickin' my chops waiting for my stuff to sell so I can get the 1Ghz with GPS...

DJACID · 07-30-2007, 04:59 AM

which ram will you be installing?????????
am looking for a 512mb sdram to install, do you think it'll install and work........

jamesjrl · 07-30-2007, 07:22 AM

thanks for the info on the drive removal toughbook
my main concern was seein the word gel pack, i had images of a burst bag and green sticky stuff spilling all over :-)
looking at this tech manual the disassebmbly looks nothing like my sony, i had to strip the keyboard, speakers, shielding and cdrom to get to that.

i think i'm right, you have bought / hope to buy from the auction in usa (CA i believe), if i was in the usa i would have bought the 800MHz from another auction with the backlit and 512MB and gps, but the git wouldnt be persuaded to ship to UK.
kinda lucky i feel cause then i went for this one instead with the faster cpu, which to be honest is the sensible choice over the keyboard.

there are a few very good deals on these things over there, meanwhile they go for stupid amounts of cash here, if it all works and customs dont stop it i will be well chuffed. as a bonus i get a US keymap too, same as the sony playstation2 linux keyboard i'm using now :-)
the only thing missing is the pound key, and with the exchange rate the way it is who wants to use pounds :-) ;-)

djacid, if you wanna hold fire till i get mine, i can at least tell if my ram fits, and give you the crucial part number and specs on that.
i may well be interested to see some of your gps software if you are semi local, last time i used gps on a laptop was route66 and the microsoft one while in the states.

Toughbook · 07-30-2007, 07:48 AM

jamesjrl... The gel pack is just foam rubber. It's very squishy but there is no liquid.

I believe that the regula keyboard is fairly water resistant too. As I'm sure you have seen... The area underneath the keyboard is sealed anyway so there's not a lot that can go wrong. I suppose the regular keyboard could short out but all it would take (if the notebook got wet) would be to shake it off and let it dry and it would still work great!

jviss · 07-30-2007, 07:53 AM

Sorry to break up this great discussion on memory, but I have an update on GPS Testing" - the genesis of this thread.

Friday, spent some time in the driveway with a good view of the sky and the internal GPS finally got a fix. Took forever. I think it's because it was coming out of a cold reset. Subsequent fixes were faster.

Took the CF-28 to the boat this weekend. In the ****pit, under the bimini (a cloth canopy), about 72 miles South of where my house is, the thing acquired a fix almost immediately! Great! Six birds in view.

So this means for less than $500, I have the best self-contained marine chart plotter available!

Question: anyone have detailed specs for this GPS receiver? Anyone have a better GPS managment/test software than "Navigate?"

Thanks,

jv

Toughbook · 07-30-2007, 07:58 AM

Sorry for straying off the point. A new thread should have been posted!

By "forever" how long do you mean? Several minutes? Do you think you got a quicker fix on the water becasue there was no treeline or anything else in the way?

What software are you using to navigate?

DJACID · 07-30-2007, 08:53 AM

well i do have more gps software, which i have copies over from time to time from work,
getting a fix from cold always depends on where ur laptop is located the fastest method is jumping straight into ur car, switching it on and start driving within a miniute or so you will have a perfect fix and the sat nav will be running fine.............
james how long you think you will be getting ur toughbook in, 5-10days or more........
i live in ealing but work down central

jviss · 07-30-2007, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toughbook

Sorry for straying off the point. A new thread should have been posted!

By "forever" how long do you mean? Several minutes? Do you think you got a quicker fix on the water becasue there was no treeline or anything else in the way?

What software are you using to navigate?

"Forever" was 30 minutes to "never." I think it was a combination of poor view of the sky (trees around house) and cold start. On the boat the view of the sky is great, as one can imagine.

jamesjrl · 07-30-2007, 11:51 AM

jviss- i've got a fujitsu pda with built in gps that usually takes 5 minutes to get a lock, (often 30 secs) but maybe 1 in 20 uses fails completely from the same location (outside my house) and need to be powered off, my friend has a bluetooth reciever and he says he has had the same thing happen once or twice so i'd give it a few chances even in built up areas.
for me i find it isnt city but trees that kill mine.
this laptop sounds perfect for boating btw :-)

-toughbook ah foam, not gel they lie :-) phew gel sounded scary
only ever had one spillage incident - my (2 day old)commodore /plus4 back in '86
pint of orange juice into the keyboard while playing a game
switch off, rinsed in water, left to dry for hours no probs
computers were built then :-)

djacid - checking the tracking apparently the laptop flew out of los angeles 11pm yesterday, would assume west coast time errr -8? ah search engine... yeah about -8.
so if customs dont stop it, royal mail stay off strike & dont play rugby with it for too long then i should see it this week

i'm often in the angel area. maybe we can get some screwdrivers out over a pint ;-)

DJACID · 07-30-2007, 03:49 PM

ok too make life easier for everyone when it comes down to gps, i will make a iso image with bootable gps navigation software,
great thing about that is it will run of ur cd drive so will be fast too run and also the 2 gps software i will make bootable i will test over this coming weekend as me and my mate are going off roading, so what results i find i will update, also will include all maps of the usa plus europe......

and the down size to having a bootable navgation software is that the gps fix takes a longer time as its always starting from cold, after this weekend i let you know the result and deside what will be best what ever it is,
once completed i will upload the image on what ever site gives me the space and put the link here for you guys to download from........