NEW LAPTOP ADVICE

[Bering C Sparky 7]

Hello all and good Monday morning to you. I know the subject of what laptop and which operating system has appeared on this sight before but I am just about to pull the trigger on a new laptop purchase and wanted to see if I could get some opinions and advice/feedback before I spend the $$. Of couse I would like to have a Panasonic Tuff Book or a Dell XRF or even a ATG but they are out of my price range at the moment so I have decided to go with the Dell E6520. A couple of questions that I have are: WHICH OPERATING SYSTEM SHOULD I CHOOSE THAT WILL PERFORM BEST WITH A.B. / ROCKWELL SOFTWARE? Windows profesional w/ xp mode in 64 bit or 32 bit or go with the Ultimate w/ xp mode in 64 or 32 bit? If I choose the 64 bit with XP mode will I be able to run all the the A.B. / Rockwell software seamlessly? This laptop does not come with a serial port but they do advertise an E-LEGACY EXTENDER that is supposed to allow you to connect as serial. Any one familiar with this? I have never used windows 7 so I am not familiar with its use or "XP mode" I am assuming XP mode is just that: like you are using XP. Also I have never used any of the virtual machine software and I am hoping that Windows 7 with XP mode will do what I need as far as A.B. / Rockwell programs are concerned and I will not have to get a VM set up to use the A.B. software on this Windows 7 machine. I have heard different things from different people and really dont know what to think. If you read this post please chime in as I would like to hear you opinion / advice before I make my purchace in the next couple of days. Best Regards, BCS

[Chris Elston 79]

Yes, it looks like an mini-docking station that snaps on the bottom of your laptop and sticks out the back. It adds about 3/4" of an inch to the back of your machine.

[Joe E. 259]

I have one of these for my company laptop. Be advised that, on my machine at least, it does NOT appear to function as a native COM port, so any devices that won't work with virtual COM ports will also not work with this. Which OS to choose will really depend on which programming software programs you need to run. For instance, if you're using RSView Studio (or its newer name FactoryTalk View Studio), you'll need to use version 6.1 if you go with Windows 7. XP will work with up to 6.0 (according to our vendor. We're still using 4.0). There should be a matrix somewhere on AB's website that shows which OS you need for which version of which software. I think that will drive your OS selection.

[Bering C Sparky 7]

So then Windows 7 with XP mode is still not realy XP when you are in XP mode. ( it is just some derivitive of Windows 7 ) IS THIS CORRECT???? or is XP mode actually like running XP and anything you could run on XP will work in XP mode????????????? Sorry if this question above seems odd, but I am not familliar with it and am curious before purchasing. Also with the Legacy extender, worth getting or just stick with the usb to serial cable????? thanks for the advice, keep it comming. BCS

[Joe E. 259]

When I need a serial port, I start with the USB unit, just because it's handy. I usually have my laptop in a docking station which plugs into the same connector as the legacy port extender. When I need to go out on the floor, I just undock the laptop and grab my handful of cables, including the serial adapter if necessary. In my experience ,the devices that won't talk to the Keyspan adapter also won't talk to the port extender, so I usually don't bother with it. Not sure if it's a hardware issue or an OS issue. Probably hardware since other computers running XP SP3 with native COM ports seem to work mostly OK. I keep the extender in the drawer just in case, though. My computer is running XP Pro SP3. I had 7 on my home computer for a while but never used XP mode. My understanding is that it's a sort of virtualization environment, but I could be way off on that. If I were you, I would seriously consider the use of virtual machines if you have an XP license you can use. So far, it's been a clean, easy solution for me. For example, when RSView decides to get froggy, I can just erase the VM and restore the original from the archive. Hard to do that with a native install.

[OkiePC 14]

I am successfully running the following A/B software on Windows 7 Professional 64 bit natively: Drive Executive v5.03.11.00 Panelbuilder32 v3.83 RSLinx Classic Gateway v2.57 (SNDPT and PIC/AIC+ drivers not available) RSLogix5 Standard v7.4 RSLogix500 Professional Pro v 8.40.00 RSNetWorx for DeviceNet v10.01.00 Ultraware v1.82 The NET-ENI utility does not work, and I have not found a workaround for this one. I rarely use it, but if necessary, I can do it with a VM (later after I learn all about VMWare). Also, several other programs I have succeeded with: Crimson 3.0 Build 459 (no emulator with 64 bit) Datalogic Genius v1.10.0000 Digi Device Discovery v1.6.19.0 Digi Port Authority v3.03.46 EZTouch v3.1-A Hirschmann HiDiscovery v2.06 Keyspan USA-19H Drivers v4b for Windows7 Panasonic/NAiS FPWIN PRO Demo Version 5.22 UltraVNC v1.0.9.6.1 Wireshark v1.6.3 You must be an Administrator on the PC in order to successfully run RSLinx, and probably others. One program required me to disable UAC too (I forgot which one). It was recommended to me that when installing any software, that I right click and "Run as administrator" the setup programs. I will not be installing FTView Studio on the host...too risky... For a USB to serial port converter I highly recommend the Keyspan USA-19HS. Of course nothing is going to work with a 1745-PCC or 1747-PIC except a real serial port or a newer USB based interface. Hope this helps, Paul Edited 3 Dec 2011 by OkiePC

[panic mode 246]

XP mode description http://arstechnica.c...ows-xp-mode.ars personally i never bothered with it, I use VirtualBox from Oracle. it is free, slick, very easy to use, even supports 3D acceleration. entire image is single file that is easily moved to other computer. it is available for multiple platforms (win, lin, mac) and does not need updates every week or two.