Laptop replies + new issue #5

[Leisha Wharfield]

Hi, Dr. Wright,

For you and for the list, here is a synopsis of the replies I've 
received to my laptop queries so far. I've received recommendations for

1. Toshiba Satellite Pros, on which Carol A. Miller actually ran RT 
experiments with eprime.

2. Dell Inspiron
    + Dell again, with the caveat to use the AC power rather than the 
battery, to avoid timing issues. Thank you, Mr. Bigio.
    + Dell Inspiron, recommended by Kim Lesniewicz. However, her Dell 
has a wide screen that stretches text, and we wish to avoid this. Also, 
she has found it necessary to reboot her laptop after each run to solve 
a freeze-up issue, and I don't wish to ask our experimenters to do this.
    + Lee Hogarth recommends a Dell Latitude D505, saying it has never 
failed her. Actually the Dell Latitude D610 meets our present 
specifications, but I think I can do better on price.

3. IBM. Highly recommended. I agree with Dr. Sudevan that they are 
rugged & reliable, but he has not used them specifically with eprime.

4. General issues. Dr. Crowley reminded me to check the archives for a 
discussion of timing issues on laptop computers, including refresh rates 
and use of AC power versus battery.

5. A final issue to add: We use input devices that were made for our RT 
experiments. They are large switches or buttons, one for each hand, that 
can be pushed easily and give a solid clicking sound. They are wired 
into a serial device because when we began this series of RT computer 
experiments, we were told that the serial port was the cleanest, 
quickest way to get to the processor and we are measuring very fine time 
differences. Now serial ports are hard to come by on laptops, and when I 
read about new laptop connectors I find that the now-standard FireWire 
IEEE 1394 is a port that was designed for using a computer in "real 
time," that is, to play 3D games or to interact with streaming video. 
Wouldn't this now be the best port for measuring very fine time 
differences? Or is serial still the best way to go?

I'll post another synopsis of replies received.

Thanks for all your help.

Leisha

Alison Wright wrote:

> Dear Leisha,
>
> Could you possibly send me a copy of any off-list replies that you 
> receive to this query?  We're also trying to decide on a new laptop 
> for our unit, and it'd be good to have one that worked well with E Prime
>
> Thanks for your help with this
>
> Best wishes,
> Alison
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Alison Wright PhD
> Research Fellow
> Health Psychology (at Guy's)
> Institute of Psychiatry
> King's College London
> 5th Floor, Thomas Guy House,
> Guy's Campus
> LONDON
> SE1 9RT
>
> Phone: 020 7188 2597
> Fax: 020 7188 0195
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leisha Wharfield" 
> <leisha at decisionresearch.org>
> To: "E-Prime" <eprime at mail.talkbank.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 11:48 PM
> Subject: Laptops running eprime
>
>
>> I'm pricing out laptops to run a simple eprime task at various 
>> locations. Do any of you have recommendations for laptops that work 
>> well for this? So far the HP Pavilions and Dell Latitude or Inspiron 
>> are looking good. I'm steering clear of Celeron processors and I 
>> don't think I can use MacIntosh, right?
>>
>> Any problems to report? Any praise for specific laptops?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Leisha Wharfield
>> Decision Research
>> Eugene, Oregon USA
>>
>>
>
>

-- 
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