Laptop for Tuning, Panasonic Toughbook CF 29 Options

[Marty]

Many of you tune and modify the LS1. This requires a laptop with a serial port which is hard to come by and the add on serial ports from a USB may or may not work. I've also heard that programs like HPTuner don't like Vista which is the current standard. I was wondering if there was a market in the GM EFI tuning community for a remanufactured laptop?

There is a picture below along with a review. The specifics of what I have is 512 MB Ram, 80 gig hard drive, 2 USB ports, recessed serial port, and a DVD reader. The drawback I can see is they are bigger and heavier than a standard laptop. You could get a bar bones new mini laptop plus remote serial port for the same price. The Benefits are that you can drop them while running, will work after being driven over by a light car, and they are water resistant. This would help for the tough environments where cars are tuned. The parts and batteries are still available from Panasonic. It would come with a fresh load of Windows XP Pro but no Office Suite. This laptop was between $3500 and $4500 new and it would be around $450 used.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/panasonic-...7-30676333.html

Would there be any interest out there?

[pknowles]

When I started tuning in 2004 it was hard to find a laptop with a serial port that wasn't one of those huge desktop replacements. USB to serial adapters (at least my Keyspan) work great and besides all modern tuning cables use USB anyway, so don't worry about finding a laptop with a serial port. I have HPTuners, and I've run it on vista and XP, never had a problem. HPTuners supposedly had issues when Vista first came out, but those are gone as far as I know. Seems the biggest issue was making sure you had the correct version of .net extensions. I think the issue initially with vista was that Vista has .net V2.0 and originally HPTuners was built on V1. They updated the code to V2.0 a few versions ago.

You don't need a lot of power for a tuning laptop. I use a 2GHz Pentium M with 1.5GB ram, more then enough processing power. Tuning aside, I like Vista a lot for my desktop, but not for a laptop. The disk I\O makes Vista way too slow on laptops. My mom has a 2GHz dual core laptop with 4GB ram and I swear my tuning laptop (specs above) with XP is much more responsive.

This post has been edited by pknowles: Feb 9 2009, 01:45 PM

[sgarnett]

I might be interested in theory. My tuning laptop died, and replacing it with a ruggedized box does have some appeal.

In practice, my net taxable income for 2008 is going to be much higher than my net actual income for 2008, so taxes are going to be very painful this year. My employer has also made it fairly clear that the January layoffs may not be the last.

So, the timing sucks, at least for me (along with the rebuildable hubs, tire blankets and several other items that hit just as my budget cratered). Maybe later.

[pknowles]

I might be interested in theory. My tuning laptop died, and replacing it with a ruggedized box does have some appeal.

In practice, my net taxable income for 2008 is going to be much higher than my net actual income for 2008, so taxes are going to be very painful this year. My employer has also made it fairly clear that the January layoffs may not be the last.

So, the timing sucks, at least for me (along with the rebuildable hubs, tire blankets and several other items that hit just as my budget cratered). Maybe later.

Sean, I'm an HP fan boy. I have an HP DV1000 laptop and love it. A quick search on eBay found a bunch of these for under $200. Take out the 2 that are crazy overpriced and all of them are under $200. There is a great one with out a HDD for $102!

Over course it depends are how comfortable you are working on computers. I find that most people don't want to touch them to fix them. My wife has a DV6000 that I got free early last year with a bad motherboard. I replaced the motherboard for $200 and a few hours of my time (laptops are not fun at all to work on). Can't beat a 1.83GHz core 2 duo with 2GB ram for $200 and a few hours of time. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

[25thRallySport]

Toughbooks are WAY overpriced for using them as a basic tuning tool. I sell toughbooks to law enforcement all day long but you can get darn good units for tuning way under the price of a new toughbook. There are a lot of companies out there offering semi-rugged models for good prices, but as Phil mentioned above you can get "decent" laptops for tuning use only on ebay for around the $2-300 range.

Just my $.02

[Marty]

When I started tuning in 2004 it was hard to find a laptop with a serial port that wasn't one of those huge desktop replacements. USB to serial adapters (at least my Keyspan) work great and besides all modern tuning cables use USB anyway, so don't worry about finding a laptop with a serial port. I have HPTuners, and I've run it on vista and XP, never had a problem. HPTuners supposedly had issues when Vista first came out, but those are gone as far as I know. Seems the biggest issue was making sure you had the correct version of .net extensions. I think the issue initially with vista was that Vista has .net V2.0 and originally HPTuners was built on V1. They updated the code to V2.0 a few versions ago.

You don't need a lot of power for a tuning laptop. I use a 2GHz Pentium M with 1.5GB ram, more then enough processing power. Tuning aside, I like Vista a lot for my desktop, but not for a laptop. The disk I\O makes Vista way too slow on laptops. My mom has a 2GHz dual core laptop with 4GB ram and I swear my tuning laptop (specs above) with XP is much more responsive.

This is good information and I appreciate the input. I see and hear a lot about people using HPTuners and other software without a Dyno. This opens it up to anyone with an EFI OBDII car as long as they have a laptop. I was thinking of a laptop that would have replacement parts for a long time and could withstand liquids, grease and minor abuse. The used Toughbook at the $450 price point would allow for some profit margin for the seller and would offer the buyer a dedicated long term solution at a fraction of the cost of a new Toughbook that would start above $3500.

I found them on Ebay for more than $450 but they wouldn't be fresh loads and would probably have less then reputable history. They would only make sense if there is a niche market for them with a large quantity of buyers. I think my post is gently moving over to the general discussion forum....

[25thRallySport]

don't forget that a lot of the toughbooks do not have a CD\DVD-ROM drive.

This post has been edited by 25thRallySport: Feb 10 2009, 07:13 PM

[Marty]

I realize there are a lot of different versions out there. Here are the specific specs of what I would have for $450. I'd love any comments about the specs and price given this market.


CF-29's Panasonic toughbooks
Processor Intel Pentium 1.20GHZ
Memory 512 MB (installed) / 1.50 GB (max) DDR SDRAM
Display adapter Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller
CD/DVD Matshita UGDA750 CD-ROM
Modem Agere Systems AC'97 Modem
Wireless Network Adapter Intel Pro/wireless 2915ABG Network connection
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
PCMCIA (2 slots) Ricoh R/RL/5C476(II) or compatible Card buss controllers
Ports (1) com port (1) ECP port (1) USB port
Sound SigmaTel C-Major Audio
Battery Panasonic (CF-VZSU29) LI-ION output 11.1V 6.6 AH
Hard Drive CF-29HTQGZBM (80 GB)
Screen size 13.3" TFT active matrix XGA (1024 x 768)
Input devices Touch Screen, Touchpad, Keyboard
Weight 7.9 LBS
Operating system Windows XP

[codename Bil Doe]

Easier to buy a dirt cheap used one. HP Tuners uses usb cable. I've been tuning on Vista for 1.5yr now even before they released their "vista friendly" version. No problems at all. Well, no problems with HP Tuners...

[RedHardSupra]

recently there's been an active thread on efilive's board about various laptops, lots of people using the new netbooks, apparently these little buggers work quite well with the 1.6ghz intel atom cpu