A unique opportunity

Wildduck, Thanks for the info. I've looked at some IBMs on ebay and most of them seem to have everything I need on the laptop itself. I tend to like the T series they have. Although they are the pricier models. I've seen some Acers on there too, but now that I have some models to consider I'll look again and see. I figure that I'm not going to spend any more than $400 for a laptop as I can get a brand new Dell one for $599 (unfortunately without serial ports, but you can get a serial to usb adapter for that). So it would be pointless to buy a used one for more than $400.

I guess I will have to talk more with the engineer and see what he thinks and recommends me get since he was the one to offer the position to me. I'd like to have one "kit wiith everything in it so that I won't be lugging around several pieces of gear with me. I can pick up that one box and go.

I wpuld think that the recovery partition could be accessed somehow and a CD manually made from that, but I'm not familiar with the setup. I recently worked on a Compaq desktop that had a recovery partition that was accessable through Windows so it could be backed up to a CD.

With the IBM, there are some instructions for backing up the recovery partition somewhere on their website, and they are great for documentation etc. I just got it going and did a Ghost image. I think the IBM system is meant to update the recovery partition from the system every now and again, but it appeared to be saying that the recovery partition would grow over time because of this. Therefore disk space would shrink.

I might be completely wrong about this, but I really do prefer having recovery CD's. I used them to rebuild the Acer as I wanted when I upped the HD size and it all went very smoothly.

I've never used the usb to serial converters, but they seem surprisingly expensive and I also see people who report on the newsgroups not being able to use them with certain equipment.

I wouldn't pay over the odds for a s/h laptop. Ideally try to find someone who is upgrading where you know how its been used. And don't go for one that's too big. In particular don't buy one with a 14" screen in a 15" size machine/bezel. Some Acers are like that, I think. The warranty on a new machine may well make it a much better deal than buying someone else's problems. It's all obvious really, but it's easy to miss something.

Good points. I too prefer some form of recovery disc. If not a recovery disc at least the original CDs to help restore most of the software that was on it. I too am not fond of a second hand PC. In many cases it costs too much to "fix" an older PC than it does buy a new one and when it comes to a laptop the costs go up more to repair it. I'm not sure about the usb to serial converters, but I have seen them and figure that it would be an alternative if necessary. I've also seen these interface boxes that are an o'scope that don't have a screen that hook to your PC. They're less expensive than the ones with a screen but I'm just wondering how good are these vs. a regular one.

[**** Update ****]

**** Update ****

Well it looks as though I will be in Russ Parr hell for the forseeable future. Although we have it automated the network is not reliable enough on sending the tones for it to be totally "walk away" automated. So that has put the Assistant Engineer position on hold for the time being or at least until the contract for the show ends. I still am considering the tools and all, but until that time comes I'll have to wait.

I just wanted to update everyone on the progress of the opportunity.