Digital Knowlege on Laptop post SHTF

[Mac5.56]

My sisters fiance is an engineer and he got really excited about this project a few years back. As far as I know these things are a reality. They are crank powered laptops, the projected cost was $100 dollars. It may be an option for long term data storage. http://laptop.org/en/laptop/index.shtml

[HES]

I remember those. I think they cost about $200 or so. The problem again is do you keep it stored in a Faraday cage to protect it?

[flecom]

i would also recommend having a backup set of CD's... optical storage is a lot more reliable, and if your stuff does get hit by an EMP, im sure you can find a computer/laptop with a CD-Rom drive somewhere...

the idea of an old toughbook was pretty good, i would go with an itronix personally, but either way

[JB2000]

Waggneer,
Great suggestion on CD3WD, what an in-depth rsource.

[PMcMullen]

I have been playing with the idea of picking up a second "net book" with a 9cell lithium battery (8-12hr) for use of storing the loads of data if have collected over the years (i.e.: FM's, TM's, Maps, Training Manuals, Survival Guides, Medical Guides, etc) for use in the event the SHTF. There just isn't any way you could remember everything and carrying a library of books just isn't feasible. But having the knowledge at your finger tips can make a big difference.

Of course proper steps will need to be taken to ensure all is well when you need it. Items to be purchased are:
1. Laptop (net book) running XP. Vista is a power hog!
... suggestions?

As someone who has supported windows since the beginning, I would have to say that it would be better to run Ubuntu in this scenario. Much less risk of virus/malware infections, and you can boot it from a Live CD in a pinch

[Audacia77]

As someone who has supported windows since the beginning, I would have to say that it would be better to run Ubuntu in this scenario. Much less risk of virus/malware infections, and you can boot it from a Live CD in a pinch

I havent' had any experience with Ubuntu, but will check it out. Originally, I wasn't to worried about malware/virus/spyware, as the idea was to have a stand alone system in a SHTF scenario. A tool to reference useful data and morale. But over the last several weeks I began planting my feet into reality. This setup would most likely be used post disaster/emergency as a potential primary means of communication to friends, family, insurance companies, etc. With that said, additional maintenance will be needed to keep the protection software and other updates current.

I would love to get my hands on the Toughbooks again, but... I got one through my company few years back and it didn't hold up like I thought. They are also ungodly expensive. I just figured that a netbook in a pelican box would do just as well for a quarter of the cost.

Shortly after I got out of the military, I had more damned TMs, FMs, ARs and other literature then I could ever use. Since then I have relocated about 5 times. The collection slowly faded down to a few, out dated FMs. I have since updated everything electronically and my once monstrous library is now on my laptop. Making hardcopy backups of keep literature maybe a good idea though.

I'm heading back home in the next few weeks and will try to make time to get some pictures of my set up.

Thank you everyone for your input and please keep the suggestions coming.

[PMcMullen]

I havent' had any experience with Ubuntu, but will check it out. ...

I would love to get my hands on the Toughbooks again, but... I got one through my company few years back and it didn't hold up like I thought. They are also ungodly expensive. I just figured that a netbook in a pelican box would do just as well for a quarter of the cost.
..

Thank you everyone for your input and please keep the suggestions coming.

Ubuntu is actually pretty straight forward and easy to install and use, but should do a little model specific research to make sure of potential driver issues. Dell makes a semi-ruggedized E6400 ATG Latitude. Competitive price and a decent size screen. They will stand up better to rough treatment, are more water resistant. They also make a fully ruggedized version (E6400 XFR). Best thumbdrive on the market btw is the IronKey. It meets military standards for waterproofing and encryption, has the best security of any device on the market. https://www.ironkey.com/personal-solutions

[Pinder]

I recently purchased a Netbook, the Asus Eee PC 1005HA. Has a removable battery and stays alive for 10 hours or so. First thing I did was got rid of Windows XP, GetEasyPeasy.com. Its a Ubuntu Linux version designed for Netbooks. the only issue i had was getting the wireless card to re-engage, but a simple download fixed that. In the SHTF Scenario we probably wont be worried about wireless too much... I wanted a Netbook because of how fast they charged, in the next 2 weeks I will be picking up a solar charger just to see how long it takes to charge. I will be going home to Download that 3rd World information. the 1005ha has a 120 Gig HD, so its portable, wieghts very little, Oh, and the netbooks dont have a CD Drive, but will load Linux from a Thumbdrive, thats how I loaded mine.

We had 2 Toughbooks while I was overseas in Afghan, they ran slow, ate a lot of power, and were just too bulky to want to carry around. My Eee Seashell PC is fast, simple, and easy to transport. I vote Netbook, with all the PDFs, I will attempt to find my SF Medic FMs on PDF if anyone is interested just PM me.