Ruggedized laptops

[LVFD301]

We are looking at putting some CF27's in our engines. They are cheap, lots of used accessories out there, and they are toughbooks... We have virtually no
money to do this.

We want to do basic mapping, ERG, Archie, Cameo, and a basic reporting program (which may end up just being a word processor)

How do we set these up to power up as soon as we start the engine? I want the engineer to be able punch the address in and go - but am worried that it will take too long to boot up - and end up not being used.

Ideas?

[txgp17]

As far as the software is concerned...

Reformat the Hard Drive and install the operating system only.
After that, install only the necessary stuff. No word processing, no "MS Messenger crap", nothing but the bare essentials.
Turn off all automatic updates

If you want to make it faster still, install a SSD (solid state drive), and the absolute maximum of RAM that is allowed. SSD's boot almost twice as fast as any HDD made. There are several youtube vids that demonstrate how much faster they are.

My Dept uses toughbooks, but we keep ours booted up 24/7, unless there is a problem. It's only shutdown if the apparatus is off and not plugged into a shoreline for several hours. But, our IT dept has soo much crap running that it takes several minutes to boot. It's a darn shame that those people are paid to do what they do.

There's just no enough time to boot one up for practical use. Even the fastest computer with SSD takes 36 seconds to boot. If my company isn't out the door in less than 1:00, 80% of the time, then we're failing the Dept's benchmarks.

[ohaydel]

In order to make this work, they need to be powered on all the time. I use Motorola ML900's in our Engines, with a docking station. The truck is plugged into shore power so the computer stays on. You are correct in saying if they have to boot it every time, it will never be used.

[islandfire03]

we use a CF-29 with touch screen capability & max ram . It has worked well for us and takes a beating on our rural roads.