Laptop Durability in Marine Environment

[horizonline]

Hi all,

We are currently looking to buy a laptop for the next couple years of cruising and are looking for any advice people have on the durability and maintenance of laptops (mac or pc). Taking into account the fact that the laptop would be carefully protected from splash or immersion, of particular interest would be knowledge of corrosion problems, effectiveness of warranties, or other issues that affect computers in the humid, salty environments. Thank you.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Haven't had any problems with any laptops during 5+ years of full time cruising.
They have never been sprayed with salt, but have been used in the cockpit at anchor. In the cabin they are always placed on non skid stuff (sold by chandleries and carpet places), as even in quiet anchorages unexpected wakes can send things sliding. Some hard drives don't like to be jolted while in use, so take this into account as well.

[rossad]

Hi horizonline
I reckon the i pad is better because it has better water proof cases and is proven to be more dependable to other pads or touchscreens or laptops which are less reliable.
Laptops are multi functional but are so easily salt effected.
I have gone through 3 laptops and now have reliability with a Garmin Chart plotter.
when you really need a position in dire straights you gotta have the best.
Other wise you might loose your boat or you life.
Laptops are good back up and multi functional
All good brand laptops will do the job. Newer the better

[MarkJ]

I guessed a laptop would last 2 years on a boat cruising when only in the nav station.

I was right...

By the end of 2 years the corrosion in the USB ports and HDMi etc ports was beginning to creat connection problems.... You gotta remember that there's lots of USB hookups with modems, AIS, mouses, cameras etc.... Oh and the million times it gets stuffed into a backpack, into the dinghy for a ride to a bar with beer sodden tables for wifi!

At the 2 year mark I was plugging it into the 12 volt system... And did it incorrectly... I normally plug the computer end in first then the 12 volt end, but I did it the other way around and missed the hole and shorted the mother board. So it wasn't really a boat error, but it kinda was too, if you know what I mean.

Some people go with tough book style very expensive laptops, but I prefer the cheap ones with good batteries....
But I buy on the knowledge it will last about 2 years.

The big one I have now is... Well, it's not on the way out, but.... Well, touch wood.... I wouldn't mind buying a small $400 back up.

Ad I have an iPad too... Stupid kids toy.... But great battery life.


So 2 years! Buy accordingly!


Mark

[kb79]

Our laptops have been working after 2 years out. That said, if you're worried about it, and have money to spend, overkill is available:

Toughbook computers, fully rugged, shock proof laptop, outdoors computer, rugged tablet, rugged notebook reviews

[Kettlewell]

In my experience Mark is about right for fulltime use onboard--two years or so. In the future I will try to have several onboard of the same type, or very similar, in order to be able to either switch computers or cannibalize parts. I had two hard drives go and a motherboard on an HP and an Apple when down in the Caribbean. A generic PC laptop is much easier to get fixed, upgraded, software for, etc. in out of the way places in the world--Apples not so much. I'm thinking solid state memory is the way to go, as the hard drives do fail when used underway.

[Greenhand]

I think one of the hardest decisions for us is going to be whether to go all Mac or all PC so that we can share bits.

[Kettlewell]

Very tough to get Apple parts in many places, so you have to order and shipping is usually very expensive and iffy in any place it is hard to get the parts in the first place. On the other hand, if they have electricity there is someone around who can work on PCs and has parts. Learned that the hard way. Also, apples tend to be built so they are very hard to repair yourself. Get a big clunky laptop that you can take apart with screw drivers.

[Cheechako]

I would focus on battery cost (they seem to go fast on a boat for some reason) and getting a water tight case to store it in when not using it. Should help prevent the corrosion issues vs just sitting on the nav station all the time, or going ashore with a moist environment on the dingy ride.

[klubko]

Two years as others say. Three year warranty really pays off (at least it did for me several times, I always buy Thinkpads). The best thing that can happen to you is corroded USB ports, because that requires replacing the whole mother board.
Buy cheap and light unless you require large screen, install 64bit Windows (better battery life, Mac service problematic at many places as others pointed out). Get compressed air cleaner to get rid of the moisture keeping dust.
Get some water proof bag for transport in a dinghy. Three ziplocks or just three layers of plastic bags are great too.

[Kettlewell]

Use a netbook to take ashore, and leave the big laptop on the boat. No need to carry your main navigation computer around with you in the dink.

[S/V Alchemy]

I agree with laptop aboard/netbook ashore. You don't need computing power ashore, and the smaller size is less obviously something worth stealing. Also, they cost about $300 each, even tricked out.

I already run OpenCPN on my Asus eeePC and expect I will just bring a few of the latest version when we leave and ghost a couple and seal them in bags with silica gel.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Greenhand

I think one of the hardest decisions for us is going to be whether to go all Mac or all PC so that we can share bits.

Data sharing between Mac and PC is generally not a problem these days. I'm not an Apple person, but do use an IPad. For computing, all PC.

I have had problems with condensation inside laptops kept onboard in winter. Went away when the air got dryer. Otherwise never a problem.

[colemj]

Wait! Who was that in post #4?

My Macbook pro motherboard just failed after 5 years. It was rode hard and put away wet during its life. Michele's Macbook pro is still in perfect shape at 6 years.

Opening up my Mac to have a look see, I noticed that all the circuit boards have conformal coatings and are in perfect shape (other than the motherboard is dead as a doornail).

Other than something as catastrophic as a motherboard, Mac standard parts are the same as PC standard parts - drives, memory, bluetooth modules, wireless modules, peripherals etc. There is nothing at all special or rare about most Mac "parts". There is no problem getting those anywhere computer stuff is sold. More model-specific parts, like the motherboard and display, are more difficult to replace, but that is also true for PC's too (PC's are not generic - if you have a HP, you will need to find an HP dealer for parts and hope he has parts for your specific model). Most likely, you will also be waiting as the part is shipped in at extra cost. Besides, once you blow something like a motherboard or display, you are 3/4 of the cost into a new computer.

Having to use a big, clunky heavy laptop out of the 90's just out of fear of needing to cut into it is a non-starter for me.

Software is also a red herring. Pretty much all software is available for purchase and download off the internet. A lot of software is sold only in this manner.

While PC and Mac cannot share software applications (perhaps that was the concern?), there is absolutely no problem sharing data, pictures, movies, etc. Most common software itself comes in both flavors. If the sharing concern was add-on hardware, any peripheral will work with both.

Mark

[Greenhand]

We will be standardizing in order to share software and parts. I suspect my partner will choose and we will build, while I whine about it not being Mac.