New laptop - trap for young players

[BobB]

I am over USB/Ethernet ports - USB ports kept dying - big footed electricians in plant rooms falling over the cables.


Went looking for a laptop with a real Ethernet port - finished up buying an ASUS TUF gaming laptop - latest Ryzen processor - latest nVidia graphics card - it flies.
Proper Ethernet port and a fairly rugged laptop as well. Others I saw had drop down Ethernet ports and they just looked like trouble.



Tried to install Omron CX-One and the only language choice that came up were several forms of Chinese.



Finally found what caused the issue - ASUS had installed the Chinese language on the computer - removed it and US English came up straight away.



If you have this problem remove Chinese LOL.



Have installed all other PLC software as well now without issue.

 

[VAN]

I am over USB/Ethernet ports - USB ports kept dying - big footed electricians in plant rooms falling over the cables.

When I was an integrator and was starting up a skid (before conecting to customers local network) I'd do it all wireless. It made IO check out so much more easy and being able to get up walk with your laptop to a table and still be connected to the skid.

Went looking for a laptop with a real Ethernet port - finished up buying an ASUS TUF gaming laptop - latest Ryzen processor - latest nVidia graphics card - it flies.

Not sure how much traveling you have to do, but I had a big *** gaming MSI laptop that was cool... but heavy as ****. I usually spun up a personal VM for when I'd do non-work stuff, so I didn't need two laptops but that weight sucked in the field.

 

[OkiePC]

Others I saw had drop down Ethernet ports and they just looked like trouble.

They are craap. I used the silly hinged Ethernet port on my latest laptop twice before it became useless. I don't know what happened, just intermittent connection the 3rd time I tried to use it. Luckily, I had a USB to Ethernet adapter in my bag which I prefer anyway.

The only drawback I have had with it is the fact that I can't change the configuration of it (through normal windows settings) easily unless it is plugged in. Should someone trip over my cable, I think the USB to Ethernet adapter is more likely to be yanked out of the port than it is to damage the laptop hardware.

I loathe the fact that everything has become more and more delicate and feminized. I mean everything from the pastel light gray on white text on smartphones to the fragile terminal blocks in modern VFDs, to the gas pumps with advertising screens on them aimed at people 5 feet tall and shorter.

The world is saying to me "Stoop down, touch lightly, serve your remaining time in this ever weaker and more pathetic place." [/rant]

 

[BobB]

I have tried the wireless route as well but also have other devices in the control panel where I need to plug in with USB cables and also switching things on and off, switching things on the touch screen - fairly complex at times. Makes life difficult if you are up and down all the time. Also hooking in an programming level sensors.



The ASUS TUF is quite heavy and appears to be very well made - time will tell.

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

I wonder what will happen when the X86 fades away. There will be Risc V and Arm left.

 

[GaryS]

Here's what I have found that works well
just plug it in to the machine network Power it and you ar connected using you WiFy
I like it because it provides me with an air gap between mu laptop and the syatem so if something shorts out I am clear

http://www.lb-link.cn/products.php?Keyword=BL-MP01

you can get Ethernet to USB hubs that you could install in the pannel and everything would be air gaped and you wouldn't be dependant in the USB cables

 

[dogleg43]

I am over USB/Ethernet ports - USB ports kept dying - big footed electricians in plant rooms falling over the cables...........

Speaking from the perspective of a big footed electrician, I must say that programmers typically set up right in the way of everyone else with short cables blocking the pathway. Just my experience.

 

[mylespetro]

Speaking from the perspective of a big footed electrician, I must say that programmers typically set up right in the way of everyone else with short cables blocking the pathway. Just my experience.

Speaking from the perspective of a programmer who typically sets up right in the way of everyone else with short cables blocking the pathway...


Sorry!

 

[BobB]

Unfortunately plant rooms are getting smaller and the control systems are getting bigger. I have just finished a board for a filtration plant and I was given the size of the board I could use to allow for regulatory clearances - my comment to my client was I could not find a big enough shoe horn!


This also translates to commissioning with the laptop - 6 people in the plant room where there is room for two.


As far as programmers parking in front of the board with short cables - I was parked nearly 10 metres away with a 10 metre Ethernet cable and it was suspended over the top on those cable stand. Electrician with a ladder soon fixed that - had to go away and buy a new laptop - load it and go back the next day.

 

[BobB]

Speaking from the perspective of a programmer who typically sets up right in the way of everyone else with short cables blocking the pathway...


Sorry!

I am an electrician as well - I design, build and program all my own systems.

 

[mylespetro]

Unfortunately plant rooms are getting smaller and the control systems are getting bigger. I have just finished a board for a filtration plant and I was given the size of the board I could use to allow for regulatory clearances - my comment to my client was I could not find a big enough shoe horn!


This also translates to commissioning with the laptop - 6 people in the plant room where there is room for two.


As far as programmers parking in front of the board with short cables - I was parked nearly 10 metres away with a 10 metre Ethernet cable and it was suspended over the top on those cable stand. Electrician with a ladder soon fixed that - had to go away and buy a new laptop - load it and go back the next day.

As VAN mentioned, I've been looking into grabbing a travel router so I can do (most of) my commissioning over WiFi. Won't help for anything I need to plug into USB for or if I need to plug my laptop in, but it would be much more convenient for everyone involved. Worked in a panel recently that had a WiFi router installed and I was able to talk to the equipment wirelessly, so that was a nice touch. I didn't use it as my main method of communication but it was nice to have as an option in case I had to move out of the way of the workers in the area.

 

[TurpoUrpo]

I wonder what will happen when the X86 fades away. There will be Risc V and Arm left.

what makes you think its going away anyway soon?

It has its problems and baggage, but so do others.

 

[BobB]

Some years back Omron used to sell a Bluetooth setup and I had a Bluetooth tranceiver plugged into 8 PLCs and the laptop and that was very convenient I must say. Mostly these days it is a single connection due to improvements in networking and the like.

 

[ganutenator]

I have a Lenovo P50 and it is a beast. 3 terabytes of NvME, spare battery, 32gb ram.
But this HP Envy 360 laptop is off the hook.
The Lenovo just sits in the Swiss Army roller bag.

 

[rupej]

I am over USB/Ethernet ports - USB ports kept dying - big footed electricians in plant rooms falling over the cables.


Went looking for a laptop with a real Ethernet port - finished up buying an ASUS TUF gaming laptop - latest Ryzen processor - latest nVidia graphics card - it flies.
Proper Ethernet port and a fairly rugged laptop as well. Others I saw had drop down Ethernet ports and they just looked like trouble.



Tried to install Omron CX-One and the only language choice that came up were several forms of Chinese.



Finally found what caused the issue - ASUS had installed the Chinese language on the computer - removed it and US English came up straight away.



If you have this problem remove Chinese LOL.



Have installed all other PLC software as well now without issue.

I also recently picked up an ASUS TUF with an 8-core AMD processor and NVidia GPU, with 16GB of RAM for about $1000 USD. Best bang-for-the-buck that I could find. Cheers!