> From: "Christopher Hammond" <christoc@christoc.com>
> Subject: Laptop and Autocross
>
> With all the Palm converation lately I was wondering what people's opinions
are of laptops in their car while they run? What do you use? <..snip..> I don't
know if i'd want to subject my VAIO to that much abuse
I'm one of the people who carries a laptop in the car to record my GEEZ! data.
I find this preferable to using a Palm since it allows me to quickly review the
data between runs - something that is now part of my "routine".
I use what I have - which happens to be a Dell Inspiron 7500 (PIII 600, 256MB
ram, Windows 2000 Pro). Serious overkill for recording G-Cube data and running
GEEZ, but with an incremental cost of $0 vs. buying a Palm or dedicated
low-budget (or military grade - good grief Dennis!) laptop it was the cheapest
solution for me.
If the laptop is *properly* secured in the car I don't think you need to worry
about damage. The key is to isolate the laptop from shock. It needs to be
mounted in a manner that will keep it from sliding or bouncing into anything
while being cushioned at the same time. I personally put the laptop in the rear
footwell behind the passenger seat and pad it in place with four rolled up bath
towels - one on each side. I've configured my machine so it stays on when the
screen is closed (disabled hibernate mode), which allows me to close the screen
securely so that fragile part isn't flopping around. With the passenger seat
pushed rearward and laid back, the laptop is "pinched" between the front and
rear seats, and isn't going anywhere during the run.
I've seen others use bungee cords to secure the laptop to the front seat by
wrapping a bungee around the laptop and then around the seat back or seat
cushion iteslf. Different strokes, different folks - what ever works for you!
Of course all this is in relatively softly sprung stock class cars (Neon - what
stock class am I now?), so the shock forces are significantly less than an SP,
P, or M car would experience.
I haven't tried using a web-cam yet. That sounds like a great idea! Has anyone
tried this: using a web cam to record their run to a laptop *while* recording
from the G-Cube at the same time? I wouldn't expect stunning results...
--
Steve Couture
Wixom, MI
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