Partners in Crime:

The Hardware behind the Code

Some folks design their webpages on state-of-the-art or at least fairly recent equipment. Others make do with a firm grasp of HTML and a simple text editor on a old clunker. I fall between the two extremes, using the ancient AOL Press HTML editor to automate repetitive tasks, and a variety of less-then-impressive portable hardware to pull it off (though the extent that this hardware is used may impress some).

Primary Laptop
Toshiba Satellite 4015CDS

CPU & Clock Speed: Intel Pentium II 266MHZ
RAM/HDD: 96MB/ 4GB
Spindles: 3 (HDD, FDD, CD-ROM)
Display: Chips & Technologies dual-scan SVGA, 800x600, 24-bit color
Networked: Yes (PCMCIA)
OS: Win 98 Second Edition

This is my primary jack-of-all trades system, used for Internet functions, as well as file archiving and image editing. Plugged into it's side are an Adaptec 1460 SlimSCSI card that runs the Iomega Zip, Jaz 1G, Jaz 2G, and CD-RW stacked alongside it, for a total of 7 drives. Despite the sizable sprawl, it works well enough not to give me headaches. An offline copy of this site is maintained on Zip disk, and an archive of finished as well as uncompressed, un-resized versions of the site's graphics and photographs exists on a Jaz cartidge. Updates to the site are collected on the Zip and merged with the rest of the offline site to make certain everything works, then the updated/additional files are uploaded from this machine. This laptop seldom moves from it's spot at the end of the dining room table, although I've managed to secure and condition a pair of used Li-Ion batteries for those times that I need to take it somehere (the original battery was ruined by leaving the laptop plugged in, and thus on charge, 24-7). A Wacom Grafire tablet serves as part-time mouse/full-time imaging godsend, and is keyboard-port powered for mobile use. Accessories not yet installed include a Ratoc CardBus IEEE1394 adapter, and a Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge.

Networking: The D-Link USB Ethernet adapter sitting behind the Zip drive in the above photo has been retired, as it was found to be the cause of my home network's long-time dysfunction. It was replaced with a PCMCIA adapter from SOHOWare which performed flawlessly from the get-go. I've been told that USB Ethernet is regarded as problematic, and I won't dispute that. A USB CD-RW from Archos also failed after several months of light use (its laser is unable to properly calibrate itself) in which it only got the chance to make 2 or 3 CDs.

Occasionally a BAFO TravelScan PCMCIA portable sheetfed scanner is used to import inked artwork for further processing. Material that cannot be run through a sheetfed is scanned on a conventional flatbed scanner assigned to the lone desktop PC in the house, (not pictured) which also serves as the 'Net gateway and DHCP server for my new home network.

Secondary Laptop
Toshiba Portege 620CT

CPU & Clock Speed: Intel Pentium I 100MHZ
RAM/HDD: 40MB/ 2.1GB
Spindles: 1 (HDD)
Display: Chips & Technologies TFT SVGA, 800x600, 24-bit color
Networked: Yes (PCMCIA)
OS: Win 95 OSR2

This laptop, (actually an early subnotebook) is a retired corporate machine purchased for $220 at a KGP Computer Show in Hackensack, NJ, literally seconds before the show closed. What clinched the sale was another vendor at the same show who had used Toshiba floppy disk drives that fit this machine for $65 (yes, it's identical to the one pictured below--I now have two of 'em). Expensive for a floppy drive, but the laptop was cheap enough to make up for it--especially since the laptop reseller was throwing in a power supply and external CNF 20x PCMCIA CD-ROM for no extra charge--AND the machine sported an bright active-matrix display. I later added a USRobotics 56K modem at a subsequent show.

This is my 'true' portable machine. Being a subnotebook, it fits in a carrying case with room for more accessories than normal. Part-time add-ons include a Wacom ArtPad II (shared with the 4015 above and 2155 below until I got the Grafire) and a BAFO TravelScan portable PCMCIA sheetfed scanner, shown below the Wacom and the CD-ROM. Typically, I'll carry this laptop along with the ArtPad II and the TravelScan, along with AC adaptors and an extension cord. The ArtPad requires a seperate power supply, but I'm investigating fitting it with a battery pack made from Radio Shack parts. Most of the activity is website updates and additions. In fact, this page was entirely composed on the 620CT while away from home. A complete copy of the site is copied to the hard disk, so that new material can be tested before being incorporated into the main site. Upon completion, the system was connected to the 4015 via parallel null-modem cable and Direct Cable Connection/ LapLink 7.5), and the files transferred for synchronization and upload. As of 9/17/01 the 620CT was fitted with a Netgear PCMCIA Ethernet card, and after a couple of false starts* , I was up and running with the third machine on my home network.

The only calamity to befall this machine was accidentally deleting the hard drive in a mishap that occurred while controlling it thru LapLink from a computer at work. Basically, during a large (515MB) transfer of game files, certain files were breaking the connection when transferred, leaving half-empty folders on the laptop. I missed the folder I ws supposed to delete and clicked on C: by mistake. When I quickly clicked through the "Are You Sure?", I lobotomized the machine. Luckily, I killed power to the laptop before the entire drive was wiped out, but it took an entire week to figure out how to resurrect it. As of this writing, I need only to restore a Toshiba help file and Internet Explorer 4.x with Desktop Update.

*(relating to that old "The file xxx.xxx on the Windows 95 CD-Rom could not be found" bug (the file in question resided on the install floppy--this wasn't in the documentation, and I only found out about it by accident when I glanced through the help file on the install disc.)

Tertiary Laptop
Toshiba Satellite 2155CDS

CPU & Clock Speed: Intel 486DX4 75MHZ
RAM/HDD: 20MB/ 2.1GB
Spindles: 2 (HDD, CD-ROM)
Display: Chips & Technologies VGA, 640x480 8-bit color
Networked: Not Yet
OS: Win 3.1

My first multimedia laptop (my first PC was a T1910 with no CD-ROM or sound), the 2155CDS was my primary machine that did everything (including Internet). At it's peak, it ran a Zip drive, Jaz 1GB, flatbed SCSI scanner, printer and a Brother P-Touch PC, as well as a joystick through a NewMedia PCMCIA Gameport. It ran it's factory-installed copy of Windows 3.1 for five solid years until it's hard drive died the morning of 1/1/1999. An attempt to shut down the computer after having left it on all night greeted me with clunking, scraping noises that told me the drive was finished (it had been making occasional faint screeching noises for some time). Fortunatley, I had outgrown the 500MB drive some time ago, and had moved all my applications and data to Jaz cartidges and Zip disks, respectivley. I would boot up on the main HDD, then run all applications (except those that came with Windows) off the Jaz drive. But I was still without my "own" PC (my brother had adopted the desktop as his machine of choice). So after a month or so, I bought the 4015, for about $1300 (remember this was 1999). A few months later, I wanted a laptop to carry to Anthrocon '99 but didn't want to risk my new machine. I found a (relativley) cheap 2.1 GB Toshiba 2.5" HD at a computer show and bought it two weeks before the convention. Defective. Called the vendor, they had another, and authorized it's return. Got back the replacement two days before I was to leave, installed it...GOOD!. Installed DOS, installed Win 3.1, and after some tense moments, found the drivers for the CD-ROM and everything else got installed the night before departure. It has performed without skipping a beat ever since (except for the time I was messing with the video drivers and accidentally set them to something the display could not handle--the machine could not boot Windows until I found the offending filename in an obscure system file and changed it back to the default). I even found a used NiMH battery that I managed to coax into holding a charge, just like the 4015 (and at $10 a pop, I saved hundreds of dollars by not having to get new ones)

The 2155CDS is infrequently used for some content generation. It has a better keyboard than the 620CT (not because it's bigger, but because my particular 620's keyboard is prone to sticky, difficult-to-press keys that make me miss characters if I'm not careful). It's main use right now is recording sound clips, as it's Windows Sound System software is relativley easy to use, and I can let the 486 chew on the data while I do something else on another machine. My Olympus D320L digital camera came with Win 3.1 drivers for photo transfer (although this capability is not listed on the box), and the SmartMedia floppy-disc adapter also works with the old OS. The Wacom ArtPad II is compatible with the 486/Win 3.1 combo, and thus I can use it for certain kinds of image editing when necessary. It may see some field use when I start using graphics archived on CD-R, as the 620CT doesn't have it's own built-in CD-ROM. Eventually, I'll install the Windows for Workgroups upgrade (already bought) and connect it to the home network. While I could install Win95 on it (it has 20MB of RAM, and I have a memory expander on hand to boost it to 28 if need be), it runs just fine as it is, booting up just as quickly as the Pentium Win32 machines, and only really showing it's age when compressing long sound clips.