Looking for the right laptop/tablet for the job

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Khaydarin

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I'm an undergrad systems engineering student, and I'm picking out a laptop or tablet for my capstone project. The computer will sit on top of a mobile robot that drives outside over a grassy field, an environment which affects the parameters of what I'm looking for. This robot has been worked on as a capstone for the last two years, and the current laptop on the machine is an ancient piece of junk (slow, battery hardly works, bad screen, etc)

Criteria for what I'm looking for in a laptop or tablet :
1 Has at least 3 USB ports, (the more the better)
2 Great battery life
3 Fast
- this computer will be processing digital images coming through a streaming video (frame-by-frame), so I'm looking for serious processing power and lots of RAM.
4 As readable as possible in direct sunlight (anti-glare screen?)
5 "Semi-rugged" to prevent damage to the hard drive when bounced a little. "Full-rugged" would be overkill.

Bonus items:
• Current one seems too big and heavy (ancient laptop, like I said) and our group would like to go smaller. However a netbook size screen would be so small as to be annoying since we'll often be adjusting our code and checking GUI's.
• Back-Lit keyboard.
• Touch screen might be handy. Tablet style that folds flat could be nice.

The budget is $2000-2100. Any help would be appreciated!
 
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Any limits on size? How important is outdoor readbility and how good does it have to be? How rugged? You could look at an industrial tablet from Motion Computing, they make pretty much these kinds of tablets but they are pricey, you might find somthing there, a J3500 would be perfect for your needs, has everything you want but it's very pricey and the i7 version is well beyond your budget but they have other devices. But if those feature are ciritcal you have a lot of other cheaper options.
 
I'm still a little confused on the "capstone project" sounds like a senior year, final project type deal.

Either way it almosts sounds like you could get a used laptop, broken screen even, setup an AD-Hoc from it (on the robot) and remote desktop/vnc into it from the computer of your choice. If thats the case, consider a netbook, or like I said a used laptop.
 
dam....if the 4 usb wasnt set in stone the HP EliteBook 2740p would fit perfectly (only 3 onboard USB though)...

it's built to mil spec, fast as hell, and the like(touch as well)

I got one for $2200 configured as follows:
-i7 620m
-4GB DDR3
-80Gig SSD
-Touch/Pen Screen


Those are the main bits.....I have the Dockingstation and slice battery as well (which added $300).....I had to call HP and talk with a guy, ended up with a 26% discount(bringing it to the $2200 I paid)......Been using it since begining of the year, can say mine is pretty damed rugged/durable, and atleast my configuration is fast dam fast.


Maybe this will hep if you can overcome the 3 USB port(maybe a hub?), if you can get the discount that is.


Problem with the XT2 from Dell is its still based on C2D chips(from last time I looked), the Lenovo X201 is also a great choice, its dam close to what the 2470p is, just Lenovo ;)


PS: the 2740p has a LED at the top of the screen as a light for the entire keyboard


edit: reading your description again, a Mil Spec device is probably what you want(for going all around outside)
 
X201T is probably mil-spec, and also has an LED at the top of the screen to light the keyboard (ThinkLIght). Either that or the 2740p should satisfy your needs with the exception of the USB port requirement. But then, you can get a hub.
 
the X201T has the same 3 ports for USB?


In that case, either of them will be about the same, go with better price if your decide to go that route



regardless, going the buisness class way is probably your best bet for ruggedness (with SSD rather than mechanical HDD), and for better build quality
 
OP-

we need a bit more specifics on this project, it sounds like you can get away with less than 4 usb ports and just use the hub instead, they have some really great hub solutions.

Any details about the actual project or examples would help this move along quickly
 
tm2t is pretty nice by hp, and with coupons you can get the one without switchable graphics for about $750
 
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