Computers and vibration and damp

Does anyone know how well laptops, PDAs and computers stand up to vibration?
Also how to they handle damp, like as in a covered place, but with outside air around them?

Mith said:

Does anyone know how well laptops, PDAs and computers stand up to vibration?
Also how to they handle damp, like as in a covered place, but with outside air around them?

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PDA's...no real problem with vibration due to no moving parts.

Laptops...actually able to withstand surprisingly high shock loads. I believe the harddrives are rated somewhere in the range of 300G. A bigger problem might be harmonics. If the vibration has a harmonic freq, it may cause problems with the read/write heads in the drive.

Regular computers are pretty similar to laptops as far as the hard drives goes, however the case is not constructed anywhere near as durable.

Now your big problem....high relative humidity can be a problem, and can lead to over heating. If you are talking about condensed moisture, you are pretty much out of luck. A PDA sounds like the safest option for the limited set of requirements you listed.

What is the application you are looking at?

What are you going to be using it for?

We use regular laptops in some of our small delivery & service trucks (1 ton vans), but there are special laptops that are designed for rough service. Panasonic makes the Toughbook line that is used by many police departments. A lot of servce techs carry ruggedized laptops too. I guess it really depends on how rough the service you are planning on using them in. Our 1 ton vans bounce around pretty hard and the standard laptops don't seem to have any real problems with reliability. We have the laptops attached with velco strips onto a wood panel that is bolted to the floorboard.

The vibration question was just a wondering.
The damp one was I was thinking about putting a computer into the shed for music and reading manuals on. I have too much music for any walkman or anything. It sounds like it could be a very quick way to kill a computer installing it in there though.
I would have liked a PDA but the hard drive on them is pants, laptops are too pricey and a desktop will get killed by the damp and isnt easy to move, so thats out.

Have you looked into getting a used laptop? They often are inexpensive and if you are simply using it for a music system you don't need anything fancy, just a good size hard drive and an output jack.

Bob, having had laptops stolen from members of the family, I dont like the idea buying a used one. Its just me.
I have a minidisk player and 5:1 in there at the moment, just means I have to make another disk if I want something new.

Has anyone tried those hard-drive music players? I hear you can get them in about 4Gb size, that would hold a good variation of music.
I'm happy with what I got, but I always want more........
Thanks

Mith said:

Has anyone tried those hard-drive music players? I hear you can get them in about 4Gb size, that would hold a good variation of music.
I'm happy with what I got, but I always want more........
Thanks

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If all you are looking for is to play music, I would look at cheap (used) desktop computers, and just make sure all your music is backed up on the house system, and then put it in the shop, and if it goes tits up, just get another one. I know here in the states, you can pick up a used PIII for less than $100US, and it is more than powerful enough to simply play music and read manual.

Dave, I agree, and it strikes me you could run an ethernet cable from one PC to the other and that would allow for easy updates between the systems.

B_Skurka said:

Dave, I agree, and it strikes me you could run an ethernet cable from one PC to the other and that would allow for easy updates between the systems.

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I think Mith is refering to a detached shop, and unless he wants to trench a cable, he would have to deal with 802.11 wireless, and that would add complexity and hassle.

I just did a search on eBay, and there are PIII systems on there for less than $25US. Heck, I bet a FF member has one or two or ten spares that could be sent to you if you want to pay shipping. I know I have a PIII laptop with a busted monitor I'm not using. All it needs is an external monitor, and it works fine.

Good thought on the old desktop, the software I use will run on a P3 aswell.
We have wireless on the internet, but I think it would be easier to transfer it on a USB stick or CD or something.
I'll think more about it overnight, liking this idea
Thanks