Dedicate laptop for SDR#/DSD+/Unitrunker and others

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I run Unitrunker, two SDRs, and DSD+ on an ASUS X205TA which has an Atom processor and 2GB of ram without issue. My biggest bottleneck in running more applications on my machine is memory. You will be in a better spot with 4GB. I think this would be a good SDR computer.
 
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moonbounce

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I have a Dell D630 with the Intel 2.2 ghz Centrino CPU 4 GB of DDR2 ram and I can run DSD and SDR but not with great success. After a very short time of running, the audio will cease, it will still run but that is about it. Even running SDR by itself is hit and miss, sometimes it will stop on active frequencies and sometimes it won't. I will say one other thing it could be the RTL dongle that I am using, I have both the R820t and an R820t and the R820t2 both with same results. Also the computer will run hot, fan on all the time.
 
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reconrider8

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i tend to stay away from dell as much as i can but i run an older compaq for unitrunker. it doesnt have the push for sdr# tho but it runs unitrunker fine. wha ti look for in a good lappy is good amount of ram and at least a higher end duel core
 
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moonbounce

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reconrider8 said:
i tend to stay away from dell as much as i can but i run an older compaq for unitrunker. it doesnt have the push for sdr# tho but it runs unitrunker fine. wha ti look for in a good lappy is good amount of ram and at least a higher end duel core
Click to expand...

I should have bought the Lenovo I was looking at but the Dell was cheaper. Bad mistake.
 
EricCottrell

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Hello,

I have been using IBM/Lenovo laptops for years, so I am partial. I recently bought a refurbished T400 for dedicated radio use. It uses a Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I upgraded to the 8 GB maximum memory and run 64 bit Windows 7 on it. It works very well. The T400 does not have any problems running software for the various SDR units I use.

Lenovo provides the Hardware Maintenance Manuals (HMM) on their website, so it is easy to install upgrades. There are also PSREF pdf files that give a specification summary of the various models.

There are some good deals on T400 laptops if you look around. There are likely off-lease.

Celeron is Intel's lower performance tier, but I do not know how a new Celeron compares to the older Intel Core 2 Duo.

73 Eric
 
br0adband

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You can get a decent used HP ProBook (business class) or Dell Latitude (also business class) laptop on eBay these days for $200-300 or something close to it. A lot of them will be Core i3 or i5 powered machines with 4GB or more of RAM - they're off-lease business machines so they could have some scuffs and scrapes on the bodies along with whatever else the auction listings happen to inform you of but, in my experience and as my recommendation I'd avoid the typical consumer plastic-shiny crap that you can buy in stores or people tend to dump cheap on eBay or craigslist.

That's just my personal opinion there after working with computers for decades and having to deal with the typical computer problems. The business class hardware stands up better over time; if you're lucky you might even find one at a decent price that could still have some manufacturer's warranty period left on it (it's rare but it does happen).

As for the processor, at this point I wouldn't buy anything Atom powered, it's just too weak - even the quad core Atoms - to do anything of any real use overall and as the SDR hobby continues to grow the software will just continue to add more new aspects and features so, instead of wasting money on a low end low price device with an Atom processor in it, buy something with a bit more powerful that will last for years to come.

The machine in the OP isn't that bad, really, but it's still what I call "cheap plastic consumer crap" so I personally wouldn't buy such a piece of hardware, ever. Been using business class machines for too long to ever go back to the consumer stuff.

Just my $.02 and change...
 
mciupa

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I respect br0adband's opinion and it is good advice so think about what he says carefully before you consider the cheap route.

But to answer your question, I just wanted to let you know that I am using a 4 year old Acer netbook quad core Atom Acer 2GB RAM and run DSD+1.074 and Unitrunker, even Trunk88 simultaneously without issues. Paid $199 back then.

I even play audio through Stereo Mix rather than Virtual Cable. One thing though, I'm using an old discriminator audio tapped scanner that I bought for $10 and added the resistor and phone jack and mono cable for less than $10 again.

Yes, I am a cheapskate.:p
 
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KA2ZEY

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br0adband said:
You can get a decent used HP ProBook (business class) or Dell Latitude (also business class) laptop on eBay these days for $200-300 or something close to it. A lot of them will be Core i3 or i5 powered machines with 4GB or more of RAM - they're off-lease business machines so they could have some scuffs and scrapes on the bodies along with whatever else the auction listings happen to inform you of but, in my experience and as my recommendation I'd avoid the typical consumer plastic-shiny crap that you can buy in stores or people tend to dump cheap on eBay or craigslist.

That's just my personal opinion there after working with computers for decades and having to deal with the typical computer problems. The business class hardware stands up better over time; if you're lucky you might even find one at a decent price that could still have some manufacturer's warranty period left on it (it's rare but it does happen).

As for the processor, at this point I wouldn't buy anything Atom powered, it's just too weak - even the quad core Atoms - to do anything of any real use overall and as the SDR hobby continues to grow the software will just continue to add more new aspects and features so, instead of wasting money on a low end low price device with an Atom processor in it, buy something with a bit more powerful that will last for years to come.

The machine in the OP isn't that bad, really, but it's still what I call "cheap plastic consumer crap" so I personally wouldn't buy such a piece of hardware, ever. Been using business class machines for too long to ever go back to the consumer stuff.

Just my $.02 and change...
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Yeah I just went to Bestbuy to check out some of these hybrid touch/laptops. I can't stand that intro screen they use. Maybe that's a Windows 8 thing. Being a Mac user it's pretty bad. So yeah, I'll just go with a rugged business class laptop for all my radio needs. BTW, I do run Win 7 via Bootcamp on my MBP and it works nice but I really want to keep my Mac dedicated for work work.
 
br0adband

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KA2ZEY said:
This?

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/sys/5012665515.html
Click to expand...

Nice machine but I'd say it's a bit expensive for what the hardware inside is, I'd offer $250 to go and see what happens. The trick here is you don't have to get the latest and greatest piece of hardware to get the job done. That T430 is a pretty current model (I know they have the T440 out now) but it's not absolutely necessary to always get something that's brand new or nearly brand new hence the used laptop/computer market.

Case in point:

I just picked up an HP ProBook 6470b at a pawn shop not 4 days ago: Intel i5-3230m processor at 2.6 GHz (peaks to 3.2 GHz for "turbo" operation), 2 cores/4 threads, has 8GB of RAM in it, 250GB 7200 rpm hard drive, 14" 1366x768 display (thinking about grabbing a 1600x900 panel to swap it out), and the usual rest of the accompanying hardware (Intel 11n WiFi card, Bluetooth 4.0 card, 8x dual layer DVD burner, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, a combo eSATA/USB 2.0 port, 4-pin Firewire, Intel Gigabit NIC, etc).

How much?

$150+tax out the door. I know it's not stolen either because here in Las Vegas the LVMPD Vice squad is pretty thorough in doing their weekly scans of pawn shop hardware based on serial numbers - if it was stolen it never would have been put up for sale in the first place. Outstanding little machine, damned powerful too, did a nice clean installation of Windows 7 Professional SP1 x64 on it, fully updated, it's fast and snappy and powerful and gets the job done.

Am I going to keep it? Nope, it's actually listed on craigslist at the moment for $225 - competing and even similarly equipped models are being sold on eBay for $330+ but I'm not that greedy. ;)

It's rock solid and dependable, however, and I'm sure it'll find a buyer soon.

So keep pawn shops in mind as well if you have some in your area, you never know what kind of amazing deals you'll find. Take your time in making a buying decision else you might miss a great deal someplace...
 
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reconrider8

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yup find a good lappy at a good price before you jump on something i wouldnt go over 300 tbh there are amazing deals out there below $300. ill see if i can find the link i have to an ebay dealer that has great deals you can get for under 300 and the computers are pretty near perfect except for maybe a body flaw or so
 
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