View Full Version : Any recommendations for pilot laptop?
737TG
19th Feb 2005, 10:37
Thinking of buying a laptop for use in the flight deck.
Any experience/recommendations for a good light laptop with decent battery life and a daylight readable screen?
Cheers!
Specaircrew
19th Feb 2005, 15:02
I can recommend the Fujitsu P5020, I use it on the flight deck all the time and with a second battery installed I get over 6 hrs use out of it!
Keygrip
19th Feb 2005, 17:16
You could even have a look at the NavAero (www.navaero.com) website and consider the T.Pad
It's a remote screen for laptops, laptop gets stowed away (anywhere) in the aircraft and the T.Pad straps to your knee with Velcro strap - just like any kneeboard.
The screen is 100% daylight readable and will show whatever you can see on your laptop - aboslutely anything - all pages of all programs - from Solitaire to moving map, GPS driven, flight software.
In the evnt of a lighting failure, select an empty white screen on your T.Pad and you'lll have plenty of light to see the flight panel.
It's actually quite a neat bit of kit - and the kids can watch DVD's in the car on the way home.
Pablo Martin
20th Feb 2005, 19:03
I would recommend an IBM laptop. One of the Centrino or Pentium M.
I have the T40. Its very thin, quite light (lighter than most). Durable, you can drop it/bash it and nothing happens. IBM screens are regarded by many as the best and brightest, I was impressed.
Also on a good day from a full charge I can get 7 hours out of the battery if the screen brightness is turned down and I'm just word processing or watching a film.
Only slight problem is the price. IBMs tend to be vastly more expensive than others but you are paying for the build quality. If you browse ebay a bit you can find some very good deals. I got the T40 for £700 a year ago, relativly brand new(box had been opened), when the RRP was still about £1600+
Generally speaking though, if you don't want an IBM then make sure you get a laptop with Centrino. Much longer battery life, very fast and very thin. Also intergrated wireless is good for those airport wireless hotspots. ;)
PM
BEagle
20th Feb 2005, 19:19
Personally, I reckon that the best flight deck laptop device would be a sweet little blonde stewardess with a cheeky smile....
Guess that's no longer allowed in these PC days though?
Guess that's no longer allowed in these PC days though?
Was that pun intentional? :)
Mushroom_2
23rd Feb 2005, 07:58
Sony Vaio VGN- S2XP
Less than 2kg. 13" screen, 3.5 hours battery life
For me I think we need performance material and moreover something very light and easy to put in our pilot case. I bought a Samsung X10 XTC1700 and I am very happy with it. Now you can find a new version of it: X10 PLUS HTM 745
CPU Intel® Pentium® M 745 (1.8GHz) processor
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
Core Chipset Intel® 855PM core logic chipset
Graphics Processor nVidia GeForceFX 5200 Go with 64MB DDR video memory
Display 14.1" XGA (1024 x 768) TFT display
Memory 512MB PC-2700 333MHz DDR memory
Hard Disk 80GB UDMA hard disk
Audio 16bit SoundBlaster compatible audio
Audio Output Headphone, SPDIF digital w 5.1 surround
Audio Input Microphone input port
Optical Storage 2xDVD-R, 1xDVD-RW, 2x DVD-RAM, 16xCDR, 10xCDRW (9.5mm)
Battery Extended battery with up to 4.5 hours life
Battery Recharge Pulse battery charging with 2 hour recharge time
Other Batteries Optional 9 cell 6 hour battery
USB 2 X high speed USB 2.0 ports
Monitor Output 1 x VGA port
TV Output 1 x S-Video TV output port
FireWire 1 x mini 4pin FireWire connector
Removable Storage Internal Memory Stick Pro reader/writer
Wired Networking Internal 10/100 Ethernet
Modem Internal 56k V.90 modem
Wireless Networking Internal Intel® Pro/Wireless 2200BG 802.11g wireless LAN
Security Internal Fingerprint reader with BIOS level security
Anti-Virus Symantec Norton Anti-Virus
Other Software Ulead Video Studio 5 SE, Ulead Photo Explorer 7.0 SE
Disk Writing Software Nero Burning ROM
Docking Optional USB port replicator (SPR-X10)
Weight (kg) 1.9Kg weight
Dimensions 315.5 X 259 X 23.8 / 28.3 mm
For the price I don't know exactly but I it shoul be around 1900€.
LOU2
2300€ will be more accurate !
LOU2