New Backup Computer

It was in Hawaii  during the spring of 2009 that I upgraded Pachuca's communications with a Pactor III modem and  Micom M700Pro HF radio.  A part of that upgrade was the procurement of a small Acer netbook computer.  That Acer netbook, with its small footprint and full functionality XP Home operating system, has been an outstanding success on the navigation table. 

A working computer is an indispensable part of the communication system - no computer means no Sailmail, weather faxes, etc.   My backup computer has been a full-sized Toshiba laptop running XP that I brought from Fremantle.  However, that model seems to have a problem and I refuse to replace its dead batteries again.  That means that it will run only when plugged into boat power, and the slightest interruption of that power will result in immediate shutdown.  I thought it prudent to purchase another netbook computer, preferably running XP, during this visit to the USA.

After a two-week quest with the help of Sandra, who passed along the many glossy advertisements that came to the house, I arrived at two conclusions about netbooks in late 2010:

1. They have lost much of their cost advantage over laptops
2. They usually come with Windows 7 Starter operating system which sucks!  (An upgrade to Windows 7 Home can be made, but that drives up the price by another $70 or so.)

Six days ago I ordered a full-size Toshiba Satellite laptop (http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/C650/C655-S5082) for $299.99, which turned into $342.07 after taxes and shipping.  That's not much more than the cost of a new netbook but delivers a more powerful CPU (Celeron 900), twice the memory (2GB), more disc (250 GB), a very good DVD optical drive (vs none for netbooks),  and the full monte Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OS.  But in the quest to minimize the cost the laptop was supplied no built in web camera, no mouse or pad, and only 2 USB ports (vs 3 for the netbooks).

The laptop was delivered to our door two days ago and yesterday I did the bulk of the setup, which included the production of recovery and repair DVD's and the installation of:

- 35 updates to the OS
- Airmail3 V 3.4.062
- C-Map (93)
- Open Office 3.2.1
- TeamViewer V 6.0.9895
- CCleaner V 3.0
- Skype /V 5.0
- Panda antivirus (free version)

The installation of C-Map was particularly satisfying.  Arnold loaned me his GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS receiver and soon I head had our position displayed on the chart of the Kingston area.

Airmail3 is required for my Sailmail communication via the Pactor modem and HF radio.

So I hope to depart Mexico for  the wilds of Drake Passage with 3 interchangeable computers, each running Airmail3 and the C-Map backups to the Raymarine chart plotter.

Welcome to modern cruising.