In article ,
J. A. Mc. wrote:
They're a bloody workhorse. Mine rides (lightly strapped down) in an OR 4x4
when desert crawling.


On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:43:06 +1000, "Patrick" No e-mail thanks found these
unused words floating about:

Went to a 2nd hand laptop dealer asking for the strongest thing. Left with a
Toshiba Satelite. Still working after a 1 year trip in Europe with 2 young
kids. It is scatched and ugly but did the job fine.
If you can afford the weight/size I would take a laptop.

Patrick.

"Bill Lillycrop" wrote in message
...
I am planning a holiday and will be gone for three weeks. The problem I
have is the memory card won't last that long (Canon Rebel with a 512 MB
card - can easily fill the card in one or two days). I am trying to
decide whether to purchase an Image Tank (or similar item); or for the
same amount of money if I should purchase a used Laptop with CD burner
and 10 GB hard drive.

I realise the Image Tank would be a lot smaller, lighter and easier to
carry, but the Laptop would allow me to process the images in the
evening and to get a view on how the camera is working. Also, I could
transfer the images directly to the Laptop via the USB.

1) Has anyone else considered the two options and if so I would greatly
appreciate any feedback.

2) Are there any other items similar to the Image Tank out there? I see
the Digital Wallet is no longer being made.

3) One of the advantages I liked with the Laptop, was that I could plug
my camera directly into the Laptop without having to remove the card. I
was concerned with this continuous removing the card from the camera
every day, if this was going to wear out or affect the connection
between the card and the camera. We had a card damaged a work when it
was removed from the camera.

Thank you.





Take a look at a used (or new) Panasonic ToughBook

Example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=42205&
item=3484851515&rd=1

These were purchased in quantity by police departments and mounted in
vehicles. I'm told the military bought them until recently. The
internal parts were shock mounted and the exterior and kbd is water
resistant.

There are all sorts of models. The older ones were small, had a 10
inch screen. Originally ran w/95. These things have become a cult
item for field technicians and run Linux great. They have a handle and
look a little like the kid's lunchbox. This is a little OT because
I've never seen an old one with a CD burner in it. It's also never
going to run Photoshop ;-( You might be able to fit a 30GB disk in
it and run Win/98 and Irafanview and delete the junk shots as you go.

There are lots of models, do some reading of the fan sites before you
buy. The CF-71 looks fast enough to be interesting.





--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m