7 year old daughter in need of a laptop

Brian Carpenter

Hey everyone.
My 7 year old daughter is just getting started into WAM and i have an old Thinkpad laptop with a serial port that she has been using. When we fired it up yesterday to start learning motion control with servos, it had a bios error. I worked past that but now it cant see the serial port. I took it to an IT guy and he says that it is not worth fixing. (the battery is also dead and wont hold a charge).
I am looking for another machine for her that has a serial port. I know i could get a usb to serial converter but we are looking for simplicity.
Anyone out there have an old machine they could part with for cheap.
Thanks for looking.

LoopyByteloose

First of all, did you reburn the BIOS? Or did you do some other work around?
If you did upgrade the BIOS, that may be the source of problems. Sometimes the later BIOS upgrade is more buggy than the original and you need to be careful to get a good BIOS image.

Two things can happen - the burn of a new ROM image for the BIOS did not properly take or the image is NOT really appropriate for the machine. The solution is usually to go back to the original or another earlier BIOS image.

Second, you might try reloading the oldie with Ubuntu Linux. They do have legacy support that is better than anything in MS. That might just revive the laptop with either a conventional RS232 (if you have one) or with a USB to RS232 adapter.

There is a web site for Linux on laptops. http://www.linux-laptop.net/

And there are additional advantages with Linux for a 7-year old as there are many free games and software applications for such youth.

You will have to emulate Windows under Linux to run much of what WAM has to offer.
http://useopensource.blogspot.com/2007/02/five-ways-to-use-windows-apps-in-linux.html

But all of this beats the payout for a new netbook with a new OS image for a 7-year old. Serial ports have disappeared and been replaced by USB ports with the addition of a USB to RS232 adapter. About the only computer that can easily provide RS-232 directly is a big box desktop. You can just insert an after market RS232 card into it.

Microcontrolled

How about this: I have a bright pink Dell Inspiron laptop that I fixed up, it's running Ubuntu Linux but you could easily install Windows if you needed to. The battery is totally dead, but it works fine if you use the power cord. It is in very good condition and hardly has a scratch on it. Not to mention that it is only a few years old. One thing it lacks is a serial port, so you would have to use a USB to Serial adapter. Other than that, it should be perfect. I'll give you more specifics if you are interested.

Here's a stock photo:


Thanks,
Micro

mikev

Linux can run windows programs with Wine. A free software download.

Microcontrolled

Seriously?? I'll go try that out.

Mike Green

A little caveat about Wine ... It can't run arbitrary Windows programs. True, it runs a lot of the most widely used Windows programs, including Microsoft Office, but the Stamp Editor and the Propeller Tool won't download programs and some features of both are a bit flakey.

Peter KG6LSE

Mike, I agree that WINE is hit and miss..
that said ..
I have WINE and it runs the stamp and prop software REALLY well . ( besides a squished font issue)


to the OP..


Get her a used CF28 toughbook .300-500 USD ebay they are great on Win XP and have a REAL serial port and she can try as hard as she might want and not break it ...

I am on a CF 29 Spent 500 and its super fast on debian.


Ill never buy a consumer PC again .

Peter..

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

@Brian,

Bryan (who is planning on being at UPEW/PEXPO) winds up with used laptops all the time and certainly would have what you are looking for.
PM me your email address and I'll put you in contact with him. Maybe he could tote one along with him for you.

OBC

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Brian,

I have a ThinkPad that also encountered a BIOS error. It was due to a dead lithium battery that powered the CMOS RAM. Replacing it fixed the problem. A word of warning, though: the IBM lithium batteries have leads spot-welded to them with a connector on one end. I would recommend buying the proper replacement. I tried soldering leads to a lithium coin cell to save money. Bad idea: the battery blew itself apart.

IMO, ThinkPads are worth fixing and keeping. They're well-built, rugged little laptops -- perfect for a kid to use.

-Phil

SRLM

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

Brian,
...I tried soldering leads to a lithium coin cell to save money. Bad idea: the battery blew itself apart...

If you are quick it's easy to solder to a coin cell battery. Just make sure not to heat the case up too much. I've been successful soldering an LED to the coin cell battery, but I don't know what size the leads are so it might not work.

Gadgetman

The only 'safe' way to mount leads to a Lithium cell is to use a special spot-welder(there's a few homebrew designs out on the net, if you want one... I want one, too... )
If you get hold of(or build) a welder, it shouldn't be too much of a problem rebuilding a battery pack for an old laptop, either.

Panasonic Toughbooks are tough... and well worth the money. Maybe on the heavy side for a 7year old kid, though.
I expect the 28/29/30 series to appear on the second-hand market(eBay) quite regularly now as they can't run Win7.
(We have a few CF30 machines in my organisation, which are used on mobile drilling rigs taking core samples, and the latest version of the SW they need is W7 only. Unfortunately, government agency and rules of how to get rid of old equipment forbids me from packgaing one and shipping it off... )

I know that Toshiba had laptops with serial ports until quite recently. The A11 was one, I think.
(I think it was meant for network professionals and such)

Brian Carpenter

thanks guys for all the great replies. I will try the lithium battery route first.

LoopyByteloose

Regarding WINE.....
Originally I wanted to use WINE to run Parallax IDEs and at that time it did NOT support RS-232 ports. This was a big deal as Linux and Windows have very different means of calling an RS-232 port.

BUT, from what I have read over the past few years - many people are using new versions of WINE that adequately support the RS-232 port for Parallax IDEs.

There may be some machine specific issues, but in general I think it is doable. If you are absolutely against learning Linux, buying a newer - but used - netbook with Windows7 Starter installed is a viablable option - but you will need to buy a USB to RS232 adapter.

I just personally love the idea that my old machines are very functional with Linux - whereas the same are considered beyond support or repair in a Windows OS. Why should a parent have to spend a thousand dollars for a first computer for a young child? The EEEpc addressed the issue with the first $300 netbooks and they are still optimal for children in many ways.

http://wiki.winehq.org/HowTo

http://www.witch.westfalen.de/Wine-HOWTO/ch-serial.html

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1523814

RS_Jim

Brian,
I sent you a PM with my cell number. I have a Toshiba laptop with serial and parallel ports and Ethernet connectivity. I live in the Phoenix area so we could easily hookup.

Jim