Laptop heavy duty for 18 wheeler

I have owned 3 Toshiba's and now a Dell laptop. So far the Dell is holding up just fine. I keep my laptop in the case or on the bunk and have not had any major problems with it so far. I did have to replace the hard drive, but other than that it has performed very well. I had different problems with the Toshiba's. None of the problems had anything to do with being on the road in a truck.

All the major cell phone carriers offer an air card which enables you to get online anywhere you have a cell signal. Most of the newer laptops have built in Wifi which is accessible at most of the truck stop chains for a fee and many restaurants and some rest areas also offer Wifi access. Wifi is not as secure as an air card.

I have a friend who retired his air card in favor of a smart phone. He can do everything from his phone. He can even send things from his phone to his printer. I still prefer my laptop.

 

Lonewolf brought up a good point about the heat issue. A laptop needs to breathe and many will use the steering wheel. They will get hot sitting on the blankets or your lap.
I kept one of them wood folding TV dinner tables behind my seat. It makes a good laptop table plus eating too.

 

I think that heat is the reason that at least one of my Toshiba's died. It fried the motherboard.

 

I liked the larger screen and keyboard on my Toshiba. If a motherboard wasn't so expensive I would have bought another one rather than a new computer. The motherboards cost just as much as a new laptop. The first Toshiba I bought cost over $1,200. The next one was $1,800. They have sure come down since then. I can buy the same computer for about $500. I still have my last Toshiba. It is one of the Satellite's. If I could find an inexpensive motherboard, I would still use it. I have some data in some software that I cannot access due to the software being upgraded and not being completely compatible with the new version. I would really like to get my data off the old system.

 

Ebay you can buy laptops that are broken. Its a good source for purchasing laptop motherboards when the LCD gets broken. Can usually get them very reasonable.

 

I think if it were me I would take the money and purchase a decent laptop instead of a toughbook. For that price you can get a new machine. The toughbook is good for very harsh environments but I think its overkill and highly overpriced for what it is.

If you want to purchase used I would suggest at least a dual core processor it does make a difference in even normal usage. Not much is more annoying then the little hourglass indicating the processor is busy when your trying to use the User Interface.

 

Thanks. I will check it out.

 

You may also check out your local state surplus stations. I can't speak for other states but here in SC they are open to the public. Lots of good deals. The one in Columbia is only a few miles from the pilot on 321.