lap top for shop environment????help

lap top choices for shop environment

  • cheap then repeat as needed

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • nice mid grade

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • tough book and nuttin else

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    2
WARRIORWELDING

WARRIORWELDING

Owner opperator Of WarriorWelding LLC.
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Location
Chillin, Hwy 64 Mocksville NC
I need a lap top for my fabrication area. I need to tote it around the shop and to and from home office. Needs enough balls to handle Bend Tech, QuickBooks, and some basic Plasma cutting and drawing in the future. Here's the rub......
What do I invest in that the inevitable dust, grit shop crap is going to be present doesn't kill it?

Tough books are tits but even refurbs are expensive as crap.

Who has what and how's it holding up?

I gotta pull the trigger asap.
 
As a note I hate computer shopping worse than any other purchase. Too much changing way fast and too much bloody lingo with bells and whistles I don't need.
 
What about a cover. Like an old clear fridge drawer to keep over it when not in use? That's what I threw over my security system and it keeps it clean as new.
 
I have a higher end hp that has enough processor and graphics to run solid works and bend tech or solid works and autocad simultaneously. I take to to the shop often but keep it away from grinding dust.

If I need to run bend tech with dirty fingers, I put a piece of plastic food wrap over the keyboard, just like restaurants do.

I got a deal from office Depot on it late June early July as it was a previous year model, and they were cleaning house for the new models.

I had to get a model with upgraded entertainment package to get the better graphics card.

I also have a separate cheap flat screen monitor I can hook up and run two screens at once.

It is working great, but I have to transport back and forth from the shop to my house.

Fwiw, it has i7 processor and was less than $500 on sale. Sticker price was $930ish.

I couldn't afford a tough book.

I've had this one since summer 2011.

Before this one I had an entry level hp that held up pretty well, just didn't have the processor to run multiple cad programs.

Before that I had a Toshiba laptop from 03 - 07. It worked great but the hinge for the screen failed early.

I tried a Toshiba for a week before I bought my current hp, and it blue screened several times after installing my cad programs and printer software.

Somewhat related, may want to check out onshape cad software. Similar to SW, but you run it though Internet connection, so it requires less hardware to run than SW, or 3D autocad or inventor.

I'd say buy the best processor and graphics you can afford. Bigger screen, bigger keyboard, and number pad help me greatly

I am very far from a computer expert..... there are tons more people on here that know wayyy more than me about the topic.
 
Dell Rugged - I've been using the Dell ATG and now the Rugged version for 5 or 6 years in our shop. They have held up very well and can be had at a reasonable price.

Latitude 14 Rugged
 
Cheap as will effectively run your apps... Ziplocks (they come up to 2.5gal size) over the screen & KB with painters tape at the seams FTW!

EDIT: the main thing you have to account for will be airflow! You can't (shouldn't) totally seal the intake/exhaust or it'll get crispy inside...
 
I would buy a PC that can perform the tasks that you need and build a protected area for its storage.

Build a closed/filtered environment to stick the PC in, in the shop. This might even be a location, in another room to keep it safe. I would then invest in cheap monitors/keyboards/mouse to place in the shop in the different locations where you need them.

Laptop stays closed in a controlled environment, and cheap wired peripherals allow use in dirty areas.
 
You can do like the Chinese take out joints and wrap the keyboard in Saran Wrap and replace as needed.

A cheap flat filter over the cooling fan will help.


Or, use a standard desktop keyboard plugged into the laptop as they are pretty disposable.
 
rockcity said:
You can do like the Chinese take out joints and wrap the keyboard in Saran Wrap and replace as needed.

A cheap flat filter over the cooling fan will help.


Or, use a standard desktop keyboard plugged into the laptop as they are pretty disposable.
Click to expand...
W a wireless mouse ????
 
Personally I would get a desktop and put it in a cabinet that is away from all the dust/dirt/grime/etc.
And then get a laptop or something from home, and not have to deal with taking it back and forth. Save the files you need on both in cloud storage, or remote into the desktop when you need to.

Hell, I guess you could do the same with a laptop though. Regardless, run an external monitor, keyboard, mouse in the shop, keep the computer away from all the dirt and make sure where you put it is ventilated enough. Like other have said external keyboards, mice, and monitors are cheap as crap.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Regardless, run an external monitor, keyboard, mouse in the shop, keep the computer away from all the dirt and make sure where you put it is ventilated enough. Like other have said external keyboards, mice, and monitors are cheap as crap.
Click to expand...

I would look for old parts that ppl throw away to get "new" wireless devices; CRT monitors, wired keyboards, mouse, etc.
 
Back in the day when I did warranty work for all the major PC brands, I had a couple of locations that were loosing HDDs at alarming rates, like every couple of weeks (that equated to hundreds of HDDs/week).
Took a couple months of replacements before the engineers (WD, Seagate, Quantum, etc.) finally figured out WTH was happening...
These locations were "synthetic fiber" manufacturing/weaving operations ("ifinU") and the talc used to "lubricate" the yarns being woven was finding it's way into everything, wicking the oil/grease thru bearing seals and causing them to burn up.
They had a few cabinets with filtration, but it wasn't cost effective ($1000+ cabinets for $500 PCs).
Ended up covering the PC cases with... pantyhose! Later, they had some covers made using some of their own materials ("breathable" panty crouches! :D)...
3 years later, they refreshed the lot of them without further failures
 
For it's worth... We figured out a long time ago that just simply turning the PC's on and off was wearing them. We stopped turning on and off and just turned on off the monitors and we quit running through PC's.
 
All good ideas, as a note I have a good desk top at the home office. I also have a big hutch style toolbox, and it is showing all the debris of the environment. I fear the magnetic qualities of the electronics the most.

HMMMM...... maybe a fan for positive pressure in the tool box hutch. A damn good cleaning. Sourcing or creating some good covers.

@Mac5005 I really like HP and Dell stuff. Since yours has some years on it any ideas on a "CURRENT" equivalent since all this stuff changes at light speed?
 
i would enclose the hutch with all the openings/vents filtered. Might could place a magnetized metal screen outside the filter to assist in catching the metal dust. then just wipe it down/blow it out on occasion.

could also duct the vents/fan for the enclosure outside or into an attic/clean space.

I also think that good containment/collection/filtration systems for the areas in the shop where dust/debris will be dispersed will do wonders for the cleanliness of the whole shop.

I know you likely talked to him about most of this, but Mud went through a lot of these things in the last few years.
 
I'm going to go ahead and vote on a laptop with a docking station that has a keyboard, mouse, and monitor hooked to it. I've supported PC's in various types of shop environments and the keyboard seems to be the biggest problem we have along with periodic cleaning of the cooling vents.
 
Get on CL or ebay. Dell e6420, e6520 or lenovo t420 t520 thinkpad can be had for under 200 sometimes under 150. Those are business class laptops, not walmart/best buy. Not the newest, but they will run everything short of 3d cad. You don't need anything more than that to do what you want.

I have a desktop to run my plasma, and another desktop in my shop. I tried using my laptop, and like that better. Also have one at m and m. Neither one of use has killed one, I've killed a few monitors, but I buy used ones for less that $40 so no big deal. Get an older quad core, i3, or i5 dell optiplex or HP elite desktop for $100-150. I always buy used computers for 10-50% of new cost. Computers are like cars. I'd never buy a new BMW, but I'd rather have a 5 year old BMW than a new civic.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I would look for old parts that ppl throw away to get "new" wireless devices; CRT monitors, wired keyboards, mouse, etc.
Click to expand...
No way on mouse and keyboard

Good wireless ones are sub 20 for the combo on amazon. Some sub 10.
 
Red04Cobra said:
I'm going to go ahead and vote on a laptop with a docking station that has a keyboard, mouse, and monitor hooked to it. I've supported PC's in various types of shop environments and the keyboard seems to be the biggest problem we have along with periodic cleaning of the cooling vents.
Click to expand...

^^^This.
 
Ok guys I really liked the advice and points of view. I settled on a mid grade Fell. Going to mod the snap on hutch with a positive pressure fan and get in the habit of not grinding right on top of it and such. I really wanted portable, so I can do busy work or explore ideas when we go out with the camper. So no desktop. Did decide on a wireless keyboard and mouse just for shop use. I though about the plasma table and likely it will just have a opperating system, the one I want is even supplied with that already.


Thanks again and I really love the background and ingenuity you guys bring to the table.:beer:
For all!
 
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