Garage PC

prestidigitizer · #1 02-21-2010, 10:41 PM

Cool stuff courtesy of UPS and USPS!

I haven't done any mods (or repairs, thank goodness) on my Ranger yet, but I want to be ready when the time comes, and in addition to building up my tool set (I haven't worked on my own vehicles since about 14 years ago), I figured good reference materials would be important. With that in mind, I ordered this from Helm:

Now I don't want to drag my nice new Dell notebook out into the garage, nor do I want to mess with printing a bunch of stuff (if I wanted paper, I would've bought the book), so I decided to look for a cheap PC to use in the garage. That's when I stumbled on this Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 on eBay:

It came complete with 1.2GHz Pentium M, 1.25GB RAM, 40GB HDD, DVD-CDRW, built-in 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, 13" daylight viewable touchscreen, licensed copy of Windows XP Pro, AC adapter and battery that holds a 2-hour charge (not bad for used!) Best of all, it's spill-, particulate- and impact-resistant, with a full magnesium alloy frame and chassis and sealed ports and drive bays. Not bad for $285 including shipping:

I received it, cleaned it up (it was a mess, but fortunately it was all dirt and no damage), ran updates, and installed antivirus and the rest of the usual software. Next I made a .iso image of the factory Service Info CD above, and used the Microsoft Virtual CD Control Panel to create a persistent virtual CD that I used to install and run the software without having to keep the actual CD in the computer.

I haven't had a lot of time to dig into the Workshop Manual yet, but it appears to be fairly comprehensive - I hope it proves to be worth it in the long run. Along with this computer, it seems like it will be a useful setup

aaron_ariens · #2 02-21-2010, 10:46 PM

Thats a sick set-up!

Congrats!

Pbav8tor · #3 02-21-2010, 10:53 PM

Nice setup.

Jimmyboiii · #4 02-22-2010, 03:10 AM

I heard you can run it over with a tank and it wouldnt even phase it.

2001xlt4d · #5 02-22-2010, 04:44 AM

your gonna love that toughbook. i work at a s/o and we had the toshiba rep drop one off a 3 story floor pick it up and check his facebook. they are amazing.

prestidigitizer · #6 02-22-2010, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron_ariens

Thats a sick set-up!

Congrats!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pbav8tor

Nice setup.

Thanks! I'm sure I could manage without a fancy computerized manual, but it can't hurt, right?

prestidigitizer · #7 02-22-2010, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmyboiii

I heard you can run it over with a tank and it wouldnt even phase it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2001xlt4d

your gonna love that toughbook. i work at a s/o and we had the toshiba rep drop one off a 3 story floor pick it up and check his facebook. they are amazing.

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about these fully-ruggedized models, and the thing sure feels solid.

The only improvement I could make is to swap in a solid-state hard-drive with no moving parts, but that's more than I need to spend on this, and I'll be backing up the system regularly anyway.

sortel · #8 03-02-2011, 04:27 AM

Oh man that toughbook is SWEET!!!

edgeman4.0 · #9 03-02-2011, 05:45 AM

i'm jelly.

FireRanger · #10 03-02-2011, 05:49 AM

I've seen them used as self-defense weapons too. If you get a good swing and smash someone in the head with it, they will back down.

bluerang3r · #11 03-02-2011, 05:59 AM

how did you get a hold of the CD.?? i would like to get one. i used to work at a dealer ship and im spoiled on using the CD instead of a paper book. plus that one is model specific