MacBook is getting old

[K2KOH]

Thinking of buying a cheap Windows computer strictly for radio programming. I saw an HP laptop, 64 GB of space, 4 GB of RAM and running Windows 11. I only want it for Sentinel and for my Alinco DMR programming. My Mac still does my Motorola programming for me but getting talkgroups from Brandmeister into the Alinc program is impossible since the security can't be updated, and half the time the Uniden downloads time out as well. This is the laptop. Thoughts?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-str...gb-emmc-diamond-white/6499940.p?skuId=6499940

 

[wtp]

not bad even from just a computer point of view for the price.
S mode (a security thing) might cause some problems, but it can be turned off.

 

[Syncopations]

I have a Dell Latitude D620 with a Windows XP and Windows 10 installation and it works flawlessly. Got it at a pawn shop for $50. Best part, it has a serial port, USB, and Bluetooth. I use it strictly for Harris radio and Uniden programming.

 

[jaspence]

The low end Windows machines often come with Windows S, which can only install software approved by MS from the MS store. There is a free upgrade to full Windows 11 that is easy and quick,

 

[hiegtx]

Thinking of buying a cheap Windows computer strictly for radio programming. I saw an HP laptop, 64 GB of space, 4 GB of RAM and running Windows 11. I only want it for Sentinel and for my Alinco DMR programming. My Mac still does my Motorola programming for me but getting talkgroups from Brandmeister into the Alinc program is impossible since the security can't be updated, and half the time the Uniden downloads time out as well. This is the laptop. Thoughts?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-str...gb-emmc-diamond-white/6499940.p?skuId=6499940

The laptop you are looking at would work for scanner programming, and I presume for your Alinco programming.

Bear in mind that scanner programming software programs don't require a lot of system resources. You don't need the latest & fastest processor, nor do you need a big chunk of Ram memory. As long as it can run Windows 7 or later for ProScan, and can connect to the internet, that's all you need. Sentinel, I believe, still might run on XP, but not other software. (Spot checking a couple, though not all ARC programs, later versions do also call for Windows 7 or later.) You would need to look at the minimum ssytem configuration needed for the Alinco software, to verify if it can run on Windows 7 or later.

And, as jaspence noted, many of the newer machines, particularly laptops, do come with the "S" version of Windows (such as Windows 11 S). These only allow the installation of apps from the Microsoft Store, not from any third parties. But the procedure to remove that restriction is posted online, and there is no charge to do it.

 

[sefrischling]

I keep two Toughbooks, one on 7 and the other on XP, solely for programming radios. Day to day my work is done entirely on Mac.

 

[K2KOH]

Awesome. Thanks much one and all!

 

[SABER3]

Stay away from HP machines; my friend has one & they don’t have a true Microsoft bios; he had a hard time getting some scanner & Icom programs to work on that machine that work fine on my plain-Jane Dell & a used Toughbook.

 

[TGuelker]

Stay away from HP machines; my friend has one & they don’t have a true Microsoft bios; he had a hard time getting some scanner & Icom programs to work on that machine that work fine on my plain-Jane Dell & a used Toughbook.

“Microsoft BIOS”? I have been flipping laptops for years, specializing in HP. I have never heard of a Microsoft BIOS on a laptop.

Microsoft Surface tablets use a Microsoft BIOS.

I suspect the issue was with your friend’s laptop, perhaps an antivirus program keeping the programs from installing correctly.

 

[ProScan]

Stay away from HP machines; my friend has one & they don’t have a true Microsoft bios; he had a hard time getting some scanner & Icom programs to work on that machine that work fine on my plain-Jane Dell & a used Toughbook.

Not true. Programs don't care if it's a HP machine or not and the same goes with the BIOS. What matters is if the program is designed for Windows then it should work on Windows. Look at running Windows programs on Parallels for Mac. Definitely no "Microsoft BIOS" if there is such a thing for desktops.

Who knows what didn't work on your friend's computer. If there was no serial port communications then it could have been a driver needed to be installed.

 

[kg4icg]

Have a Lenovo E15 Gen 4 ThinkPad myself with 24gb ddr4 and a 512gb Kioxia SSD in it. Got it for 900 at Microcenter last year. Do all the programming for the radios in my sig.

 

[N9JIG]

If you are wanting to stay with MacOS, many radio programs work fine on M1/M2 chips with Parallels and Fusion. If you get a newer (to you anyway) Intel based Mac you can run it all in BootCamp as well.

The biggest issue you will have with Uniden scanners and M1/M2 Macs is that the drivers for the older XT types will not work on an ARM processor. For P2, SDS and X36 type scanners that use a true USB port you should be fine. I could not run the USB-1 cables I had been using for my 996/15 and 536 scanners on my M1 Macs with ProScan, Butel and others but the 536, SDS and P2 radio sworked fine with the front panel USB port.

As for the sub-$200 computer you noted it should work fine if you get past the S-Mode limitations, you will need to do that for almost any radio programming software.

All in all, while I love my Macs I keep a Windows machine specifically for radio stuff. It just simplifies things sometimes.