Durable Laptop for OTR

Someone mentioned the Dell Latitude. That's the only kind of laptop I've ever owned. In ten years, I've had three of them, and all of them are still working.

 

Dell Latitude is a OK laptop, performance wise is great but built quality not so good. I have owned a Latitude E6400 and its design wasn't so great. Laptop feels kind of cheap, no offense, when you stick it in a truck on a laptop mount it wont last long.... just my opinion. Like I mentioned before HP and IBM from my point of view are way better build quality.

Raf

 

I've yet to own an E series, so I can't vouch for those. My first one was a C610, which I pretty much built from spare parts that I purchased on ebay. I sold that one for $400 after using it for two years. Not bad, since I spent about $70 all together for all the parts. Then I bought a c640, which I still have packed away in a closet back home. Right now, I'm using a D531, that I bought directly from Dell, it was one of the last of the D series that they had, so I got it cheap. I've been using it for two years now. My daughter has a 14" D620, and I'm amazed at the abuse it takes and keeps working. She flings it around the room like a frisbee, and I've seen 40 pound toddlers standing on it with the lid closed. I don't know if mine will stand up to that type of abuse, I'm not that stupid enough to try, but hers is none of the worse for wear. My E531's motherboard is tucked away in a steel frame. That's crucial for traveling, because it minimizes flexing the motherboard, which is the reason most laptops fail. The Toshiba Tecra, which is Toshiba's business model, is a good one too. So is anything made by Lenovo.

Another advantage of owning a business model is they are made up of interchangeable parts, to make it easier for IT departments at large corporations to maintain them. As a result, parts are readily available, inexpensive, and easy to find on Ebay. If something does go wrong, the fix is usually not that expensive.

 

"She flings it around the room like a frisbee"

I love it! Finally! Someone calls it like they see it !

 

I've been using an HP Pavilion dv6105us for 3 years. No Problems ...yet.

I removed my passenger seat and installed a homemade plywood computer workstation. Its perched atop 4 motor isolater pads bolted to the cab using the seat bolt holes (to keep vibration to a minimum). My computer sits on top of a sliding angled platform with cooling fan, beneath is an HP low profile inkjet printer - also on drawer slides. On the right side is a custom fabbed giant spring clip that holds my log book for easy access and storage. On the left side is a vertical pouch for my truck/trailer registration book. And just to the left of the printer is my ever handy pen holder that I made out of a piece of 4" PVC. Works great.

I use my computer everyday for loads AND permits/printing.

But NOT while driving - (FYI -- My wife calls me "Mr.Safety" - for a reason.)

TMike

 

Agreed! My father owns a D620, it is nice laptop, kinda slow now days but when it comes to performance, durability and upgrades, Business Pro series all the way!

Raf

 

I picked up my Toughbook 52 at a pawn shop for $400.00, put in a new 300 gig hard drive, upgraded the ram, and replaced the keyboard for a total investment of $600.00. I love it and will stick with them until the end for the truck. I've seen them cheap on e-bay too, so you may want to check around.

 

i know this is an old thread,but you guys saying toughbooks are to expensive need to check ebay.i have had 8 differnt laptops in the last 10 yrs of driving.the only one that has taking non stop abuse has been my toughbook. in fact the wife hates it so much she had to buy a new hp with all the bells and whistles.well after 6 months it went back to best buy for the 3rd time. ...

when on ebay search cf-29..those normally had pentium 4 and up proccesors.i bought my lastest cf-29 for 300 plus shipping.it has all the bells and whistles including backlit keyboard,touch screen,removeable media bay,ect,ect,ect. i put a 50 dollar peice of ram in it,and it will flat smoke my wife's new dual core.

if you are into moding laptops,check out notebook reveiw.(google it) they have a section dedicated to toughbooks.the site has helped me do numerous things.

 

I have been using a Lenovo 3000 for the last three years without problem.

As for using it without a mount, or not using it while driving? I do both. I use a Ram mount because it is extremely well built, very easy to use (the laptop can be moved out of the way by turning one knob), and it allows me to position the laptop up front right beside the auxiliary gauges for ease of viewing.

My laptop gets turned on when I start a trip and gets turned off when I'm done. The only thing running while I am driving is MS Streets & Trips with a USB GPS receiver (which I prefer over a stand-alone GPS unit). I have been through plenty of inspections and no one has ever said word one about the computer, its location, or the fact that it is running. The only concession I make is that if I'm going through a coop at night I lower the screen.

 

I'll have to agree with you on Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad.
While we were getting unloaded at the receiver I was in the top bunk with the laptop. When the lumper knocked on the door I jumped down to get the bills (forgetting about the laptop.) Luckily I did remember to at least close the lid.
I didn't remember the laptop until I hit a very bad bump in the road, the laptop came through the bunk curtain and hit the floor next to me.
I went thru 2 other brands that died with A LOT LESS ABUSE.

Howard