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Topic: Laptops for technicians?

John Gordon
Film Handler

Posts: 62
From: Earth
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-20-2002 03:22 PM

A few questions regarding tools used in the field.
1) What operating system (95, 98, 2000, etc.) do you have on your laptop computer(s)?
2) What screen resolution do you use (640 X 480, 800 X 600, etc.)?
3) If you were going to upgrade your laptop, what would your operating system preference be?

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 02-20-2002 04:41 PM

Check and see if the software you use for the SDDS, Dolby Digital, Etc. to determine what it will be happy with. The techs I know use Windows 98. Whether Windows ME or XP will run your software, I don't know.

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Jon Bartow
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Massachusetts
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-20-2002 05:57 PM

1. I use a laptop with Win98SE.
2. it has a resolution of 800x600 active matix (which is very nice if you want to look at the screen from across the room at an angle. heck of a lot better than a dual scan)
3. If I were going to buy another laptop it would either be similar or "weaker" (The one I have is an AMDK6-2 380Mhz "multimedia" i.e. DVD-rom and a decent video card)
Most of the software (Dolby, SDDS, THX etc uses DOS so you really don't need much. I think the R2 software only requires a 386 with a CGA monitor. The Dolby CP650 software does require Windows.
Windows ME and XP have a lot of problems with their simulated DOS modes, so I would shy away from those (besides the licensing with XP is a pain)
I am about to upgrade my laptop to Win2000 Pro with a dual boot for Dos 6.22 however (I use my laptop for non-theater work where the NT architechture is going to be needed)
Randy has had some luck with running the theater programs on an i-Mac I believe

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Kris Brunton
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 108
From: Napanee, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 02-20-2002 07:22 PM

I have a PII 333Mhz Sony laptop currently running Win 98. As most theater programs (Dras10, R2, Load500, etc.) are still running DOS I find this the best for me. I was running Win2000 with a dual boot as described by Jon but had to switch back. I found the it was always causing screen freezes and various other windows headaches. I found the dual boot portion worked great though.

My screen resolution is running at 1024x768.

I have had this laptop for about 3 years now, halfway around the world and it is still ticking.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-20-2002 08:51 PM

Old Toshiba 120 mhd dual scan color. Running Win 98SE. Have lept it all these years to run my R-2 as its very stable with it. This laptop was actully reccommended by Lucaspixel and that has paid off for me. I recently installed a 20gig HD in in place of the 1.3gb drive it came with. I ahve no intention of buying a new one till this one craps out. I spend enough time on the computer already!

I also run a number of lighting system programming type programs on it that are DOS and have had no problems with them either. for those that have heard of them Strand Premiere, Premiere networking, CD80SV O.S., and Colortran Viewpoint are several that get used the most.
Mark @ Home

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Trevor Bailey
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 113
From: Woonsocket, RI
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-20-2002 10:33 PM

I would definately stay away from XP (and most likely any other NT based Windows). It does not work with any Sony software...DCP-1000, DFP-2000, DFP-3000. I am also told it does not work with Dolby's CP-650 but they are working on it.

Some people have been able to get processor setup software running on ME but others have not. I have been able to run all of the Sony software under ME.

I am not very picky about screen resolution as long as it is at least 800x600. But, active matrix (TFT) is much better...passive (PSTN) is harder to see.

Most important...in my opinion...is a SERIAL PORT. USB to serial converters do not seem to be reliable, so make sure the laptop has the legacy serial port...and save yourself some headaches!

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-21-2002 08:59 AM

I still use a trusty (and a bit crusty) IBM thinkpad P133
It has 2 partitions on the HD with Bootmagic
DOS
Win98
OS2

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Scott Christopher
Film Handler

Posts: 69
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-27-2002 08:43 PM

Get ready for this......

the laptop i'm using is:
486 (???MHz) no faster than 75
Win95b
8Mb Ram

Yes it's slow, but it's running 'DRAS' beautifully.

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Glenn Conatser
Film Handler

Posts: 73
From: Northern California
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 02-28-2002 12:13 AM

Im a little curious to know if there is any software for Mac's available ?

Thanks

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-28-2002 10:36 AM

You can run DRAS and LOAD500 on a Mac with little or no trouble once you have Virtual PC installed correctly. You can also run the Sony program and USL's DSP-60 as well.

WinScope and SmartPro are supposed to work OK but the problem is getting proper interface inputs. When you use a piece of equipment that works on a serial RS-232 interface you can buy an adaptor. When you are using audio inputs you may have trouble. The new iBooks don't have direct audio input. You have to go through the USB port. I haven't even attempted to make that work yet.

I have had very few problems getting my Macs to work in environments where all the people using computers are on Windoze systems and behave closed-mindedly towards Apple.
I can network Macs to PCs. I can share files. I can even run most of their programs. People tend to have this mythical belief that the two systems can NOT work together when it is clearly not the case. On a couple of occasions I had to show a guy, in person, that sending me a file by e-mail from his PC to my Mac could be done.

Incompatibility is just a myth propogated by closed-minded people. (On BOTH sides of the fence.)

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