rather that ideas for specific laptops Im looking for sugestions please for hardware specifications of what would be reqd for a the ideal laptop PC for use in a truck, obviously a DVD player would be great, but what else should I look out for?
maybe using it for;
satnav
interweb
and anything else that you can think of that I might have missed
Make sure it has WiFi, built in would be better but you can get add on cards or USB dongles. that way you can take advantage of the WiFi hotspots in places such as MSA’s and connect to the net, check emails etc. I’m with BT for my ISP and on some of their options you get free minutes each moth to connect to a BT Openzone hotspot.
I’d also suggest making sure that the CPU (proccessor) is designed specifically for mobile use - they are more efficient and therefore help in allowing your batteries to last longer.
Have a look at both ‘normal’ and ‘widescreen’ format before you buy. I have access to (at least) one of each and really struggle to ‘get on with’ the widescreen setup.
marcustandy:
Have a look at both ‘normal’ and ‘widescreen’ format before you buy. I have access to (at least) one of each and really struggle to ‘get on with’ the widescreen setup.
I would suggest that if the main reasons for the purchase is to watch DVDs, then the widescreen option would be a better choice though.
I have to say I prefer the widescreen version and I’m going to be changing the screen I use on my main PC for a widescreen version.
I don’t like widescreen TV’s neither!!
Must be a ‘personnal choice thing’ - check before you spend the dosh!!!
Don’t spend too much - should easily get what you want for under £400, which if some little scrote nicks it is far less to loose then £1500 top of the range one. If all you want is to watch films and do normal type stuff then there are plenty around, go for good battery life so you can use it unplugged - you only need a top notch one if you are into gaming or heavy photo manipulation - and go for a well known make like HP or IBM/Lenovo, far less likely for these to have faults,at the lower end of the price scale there is only really £20 difference and it is worth spending. Also go for as much RAM as you can afford, it may only come with 256 or 512mb, but RAM is quite cheap to add so I would suggest you double what ever it comes with, this again may only cost you an additional £40-50 but will be far more beneficial then the top of the range processor.
Built in Bluetooth for gps,
built in TV,
it is good to have the facility to dim the screen brightness for night time map use, (standard in Toshiba pc’s)
good speakers for watching films etc (built in or seperate)
That sounds pretty close to what I would have said smcaul.
£4 - 500 on the computer should get you a good enough system for using in a truck. Taking in what others have suggested as well.
I’ve got a fairly old Compaq laptop. It’s got an 800MHz processor, 80GB hard disc, upgraded to 750(ish)Mb RAM and DVD drive. I paid £250 for it a couple of years ago. It does everything I want it to, with no dramas
I use it for watching DVD’s, downloading photos from my camera (or is that uploading ?), writing things up in Open Office and the main use is Autoroute for navigation with a GPS receiver.
I have a 300W inverter, plugged into a 24v socket in the cab which keeps it going with no problems, (I had a 150W inverter but that blew up).
Try Crucial for RAM. They aren’t the cheapest, but they are the best IMHO. They also have a tool, which you down-load from their site, which will tell you exactly what spec’ of RAM stick to buy and fit. You can then, obviously, look else-where for your RAM.
Ive recently bought an "acer 3053 wxmi" from tescos for £369. It comes with built in wi-fi.
I have also just sorted out an internet connection through my mobile with t-mobile. I pay £12.50 a month to use my mobile as a modem for my laptop.
Just been out today and bought a usb analogue/digital tv stick. I havent tried it yet but will report back with the pro`s and cons
Funnily enough JB, I have just bought a one year old ACER Aspire 3000 for £100!! I’m quite happy with it as it does everything I could want from a lappy . . . and it met the important criteria (for a tight Yorkshire git!!) of not costing much. 
Here is the current selection (of the same) available on eBay. Good deal, me thinks!
JB:
Ive recently bought an "acer 3053 wxmi" from tescos for £369. It comes with built in wi-fi.
I have also just sorted out an internet connection through my mobile with t-mobile. I pay £12.50 a month to use my mobile as a modem for my laptop.
Just been out today and bought a usb analogue/digital tv stick. I havent tried it yet but will report back with the pro`s and cons
JB. Is that Web n Walk? cos I have tried to use my Tmobile as a modem and it took weeks to retrieve my emails 
It could have just been the amount of ■■■■ that I download though
Its web n walk plus or something like that malc. (and its a ■■■■■ to get working!! i spent two hours in the shop today while the staff configured it for me 
).
I had web n walk on my pda and just pay another £5 to use it as a modem with a fairly big allowance of browsing