Minimalist laptop for embedded work?

If you don't need to run the programmers (usb) in the field and can run your code on linux, consider the Zipit. With a simple mod it has an rs-232 port at 115,200 baud. Please look at an example:

Regards,

Michael

You really think you could do software development (e.g. run a decent programmnig editor, make, gcc, gdb, etc) on a machine with 2MB of flash and 16MB of RAM?

The MSP430 toolchain requires 20MB of disk space.

You should pay the attention to the LCD visibility in the sunlight and the battery life. It is very important for the work outside.

There are solid military style laptops with the titanium body, sealed keypad, etc. made by Panasonic and others. Those machines are intended for what are you planning to do however their price is in $5k range.

Vladimir Vassilevsky

DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

I'm inclined to agree. Zipit is really just a toy. Go back to your minimum laptop search. I am interested in what is around also.

Don...

I do it all of the time on the Zipit natively; I mirror the Zipit's toolchain on a cross toolchain and can hop between the two at my convenience (for speed the cross toolchain is preferred). Needless to say my software development work on the Zipit is done when the unit has access to an NFS filesystem, but if the O.P. doesn't need to do development but only updates, etc. in the field, it could work well.

(Notice on our site that many of the programs described were developed entirely on the Zipit natively.)

If the targets are located in areas near 802.11 access points, then full development is possible on this platform in the field (readonly nfs over the Internet and private data over VPN is quite reasonable).

Regards,

Michael

I should also point out that others have added MMC cards to the Zipit for large local stores; I prefer to use the stock device and NFS.

Regards,

Michael

Hello Michael,

Actually that was the idea, to adapt code on site. IOW a debugging process, not just the download of new code which I could probably do via a cell phone, modem and bootloader.

Mostly that's not available or I am not permitted on there.

Hello Vladimir,

Well, $5k is what I want to avoid. Stuff like that has a habit of "growing legs"...

I heard mention last week, that RS232 ports are making something of a come-back and are re-appearing in some business laptops.

-jg

Yep, execs can't do without their EEPROM burners. Or do they frequently need serial console to rack servers? :)

Seriously, any reason for this supposed trend?

Good question, all we could think of was to talk to the emerging Cell Phone Modems ? [for those who don't have/trust bluetooth ?]

-jg

What about to connect to a real modem?

We use Dell Latitude D600's - get a 2nd hand one off eBay. They have a serial port and seem to be reliable, even when bumping around in the field. In Australia they are fairly cheap so, comparatively speaking, you could get 2 duds before it became more expensive than a new one!

Peter

I would applaud that if true, but I have a real hard time believing it.

All of the ones I've seen in the past few years were USB.

Laptops all come with built-in modems.

But they aren't real modems - they are often so-called winmodems. Usually useless under a real OS.

Hello Peter,

They seem to be around $370 after a brief look on EBay. My latest Inspiron was about $500 (new) but if the D600 is more rugged it could be worth it.

I am really missing the small and efficient laptop of yesteryear, my old Compaq Contura. Their Aero was the best of them all but they are long gone and wouldn't run the bloated softwares of today anyway. AFAICT there was never anything that came close in efficiency after the Contura series. Mine lasted over 5 years and got a whopping 6hrs out of its little NiCd. Then its enclosure began to crack around the perimeter after too many rough flights :-(

Hello Grant,

Exec market or not, a good indicator is usually Walmart. If they ain't got it, it ain't popular. They do carry a USB-parallel adapter but I have never seen any USB-RS232 adapter there.

Hello Chuck,

But execs, marketeers and Power-Point jockeys rarely use a real OS ;-)