Batboard

Hello, all
Well after some years of service my dell is finally showing it's age. I'm looking to replace it with a panasonic toughbook.... not brand new of course but used... I like the idea of having one for field programming work, ruggedness and all that.....
what i am asking is which model seems to suit our need for programming? specs? I would like to be able to Use my RSS (purchased legally naturally)and be able to access the net, also looking for internal WIFI and network connector.... It does not have to be the fastest on earth(i'd like it to be) but it does not have to be....I have seen them as low as $200 and as high as all get out.......which sellers do you trust? i'm assuming ebay is the local source
thanks gig

i think you are in a catch 22 there. to run most rss you need a slower machine but to get it to run a wifi card the cutoff is around a 400mhz processor. if you are running any cps you will be fine. but that 400mhz is going to be the whole key. i'd go to best buy or circuit city and look around at the specs of the cards.

I'm sorry.. i come from saber time... where everything is RSS. I meant CPS.....
same question goes..

I have a CF-25, and it works fine with Sabers, MT1000s, MTS2000 and GM300.

You should not have any troubles programming Jedis or Waris series radios using a toughbook.

Mine is 150 Mhz, 64 MB Ram, 3.8GB H.D with external CD-ROM and I run dual boot, DOS6.22 and Winblows98.

I've even run MTSX under the MS-DOS reboot prompt from Winblows and it churns away just fine....I just can't 'run' RSS.

I almost for got, even the GTX as well as LCS/LTS2000 also runs just fine on the Panasonic CF-25.

Jedis will get a N ACK error if you are running under the 'run' section OR under the MS-DOS prompt...every time!

I will not even bother with 'Trac RSS.....it's no longer worth keeping RSS that old alive anymore, at least the GM300 works, as does Spectra.

I have had troubles with ASTRO RSS loading though...Runtime refuses to load.

thanks for the reply....
I will be looking for a pano TB shortly.. as my ole dell wont be long for this world..she's stiil running but before i have a catastropic accident i'm going to retire her... I have just cdm's and i run ht 1550's i think they are the waris line i dont have anything other than that...
thanks again.
Gig

I think the problems you are having are OS related. We've gone through several toughbooks out here at the shop all the way up to P3 600 and they work just fine even with older stuff like the maxtrac.

I've NEVER run into a problem with using the 'MS-DOS mode with EMS & XMS support for Games' icon, located in the 'C:\windows' directory in Win98SE computers. Double-clicking this icon will re-boot your computer into a true DOS mode where no aspect of Windows loads. Even on a 'hard boot', your computer will reboot into DOS...you have to type "exit" at the command prompt to boot back into Windows. This mode will also emulate DOS recognized 'extended memory', as opposed to Windows controlled 'expanded memory', which leads to better RSS operation. In fact, I've seen instances where this method is superior to booting with a DOS 6.22 floppy disk.

Of course, this is assuming you're using the latest & greatest DOS RSS version available for your particular radio, and it shows as "pentium compatible" in the matrix shown in the sticky thread at the top of this forum. If you're using an older version you found 'for free' on the internet, all the above probably won't apply.

Todd

All,
I have made the move finally to all windows based radios... the dos stuff was great for it's time, but that time has come and gone... I must admit i never had a real problem finding the stuff to work- the problem i had was finding and configuring OLD LAPTOPS to support my old equipment!
But since my move i no longer have the problem.
thanks. and good luck.