Concept2 Forum

Hopefully I'm not rehashing an old topic . But My wife and I would like to get a laptop so that we can get and use rowpro. Would any of you have advice as to the size of the screen? They seem to range from 12" - 17". Thanks, John.

<!--QuoteBegin-Yukon John+Sep 28 2005, 04:11 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Yukon John @ Sep 28 2005, 04:11 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Hopefully I'm not rehashing an old topic . But My wife and I would like to get a laptop so that we can get and use rowpro. Would any of you have advice as to the size of the screen? They seem to range from 12" - 17". Thanks, John. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Hi <br /><br />I've had various sizes in laptops ranging from 12" to 17" My favourite laptop size is 12". We have Wireless LAN so I bring it everywhere in the house. This is great in the *** DELETE - SPAM ***, in the bedroom, in the livingroom and for travel. I really prefer this one to all the other sizes for portability. <br /><br />However if you're thinking Rowpro I'd imagine that this size is too small. My 12" is a Macintosh so I haven't been using it for this purpose. The laptop I use for Rowpro has a regular 15,4" monitor. This works fine by me. I'd imagine that the programme looks better on a widescreen or a 17" -> however these are not really very portable, so looks like you have some hard decisions to make <br /><br />good luck<br />Anna<br /><br />

I will have to check my computer at home if someone doesn't post a clear answer, but my memory is that the display in RP may not scale depending on the resolution, and you are not going to get more info or better display at a higher resolution. So the size of the monitor (and more importantly, the resolution that it is running) may not really matter for rowpro. I am using an old, leftover 15" CRT running at 800x600 which works fine, so any laptop display is also going to work fine. Finally, and maybe this is because I have good eyes, the info on the rowpro screen is pretty basic and easy to track even when you are rowing, so the display also doesn't really matter that much.<br /><br />If you are committed to a laptop, there are major differences between the quality of the LCD screens and the native resolution that they support, and you don't want to run an LCD at a nonnative resolution. The only advantage that I could see to having a high resolution monitor for RP would be that would give you the screen space to have chat running on the side, and maybe itunes running on the side for your music, etc.<br /><br />Laptops are expense. I think rowing computers should be cheap or free. Do you need a laptop for something else? For a dedicated rowing computer, I would think a $200 box from walmart and $70 CRT monitor would be more than good enough (and way better than I what I have); although you do want wireless or ethernet networking.

I use a 12 inch laptop and I made a shelf where is attach right onto the arm of the PM2 so when i rowed I just have to look fwd and i am in the action. if interested send me a email I will send you a picture.<br /><br />Alain

Thanks for all the info! Michael, I'm thinking of the laptop because I teach a class at the local college and I use some powerpoint presentations otherwise I think I'd use your idea. Captain, I'd love to see your invention! If you could send me a picture I'd really appreciate it. My e-mail is: meekins@northwestel.net<br />By the way, I see that you're a fellow Canadian. If you don't have an online team, check out "The Eh Team" . Thanks again for all your comments. John.

Rowpro runs at 1028x768 on my monitor; that is the max resolution that I can run so I can't test higher resolutions for you. It won't run in window mode but is always full screen for me, but I don't know if that would be true at higher resolutions. It works fine at that resolution, and I would think that is the minimum that any laptop would have these days.<br /><br />Rowpro is demanding on the video card, so make sure the laptop you buy has a legitimate video card with 32 or 64 or more VRAM.

<!--QuoteBegin-captain+Sep 28 2005, 07:28 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(captain @ Sep 28 2005, 07:28 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I use a 12 inch laptop and I made a shelf where is attach right onto the arm of the PM2 so when i rowed I just have to look fwd and i am in the action. if interested send me a email I will send you a picture.<br /><br />Alain  <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />can you post the picture here.. I'd like to see your setup... <br /><br />thanks,<br /><br />SF

<!--QuoteBegin-Yukon John+Sep 28 2005, 09:35 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Yukon John @ Sep 28 2005, 09:35 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Thanks for all the info! Michael, I'm thinking of the laptop because I teach a class at the local college and I use some powerpoint presentations otherwise I think I'd use your idea. Captain, I'd love to see your invention! If you could send me a picture I'd really appreciate it. My e-mail is: meekins@northwestel.net<br />By the way, I see that you're a fellow Canadian. If you don't have an online team, check out "The Eh Team" . Thanks again for all your comments. John. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />The advice I give to my clients is to go to a store where they have many laptops lined up side by side and try them out. Size and usability of the keyboard. screen resolution and size can be a major problem for some people. I do not have good eyesight and a laptop is impossible for me to use, my brother has large fingers that make a small keyboard impossible. There are also different screen illumination methods, some are better than others, some can not be used outdoors or there are others that you can not see unless you are directly in front of them. Technology has gotten better, but there are still problems that you must look out for especially in more moderately priced laptops.<br /><br />Make sure the laptop you choose has ports for a monitor, mouse and keyboard, you may want fullsized versions from time to time, and the pointing device that comes integrated in most models today, drive some users nuts. This is a large expenditure to make for a device that is ultimately unusable if you don't take the time to check it out.<br /><br />Please don't misunderstand, this is not a rant against laptops, I bought 2 for my children, but I ended up spending about $2,000 each for laptops that were usable by them.<br /><br />Fred Dickie