Older laptops tend to have reduced brightness of the screens, depending on
use. I see quite a few as I recondition and sell them occasionally.
One of the cheaper new laptops would be OK,however I have been seeing
cheaper models fail relatively early, in only 2 years in a couple of cases.
I suspect keeping them cool enough could be a part of the problem, perhaps
requiring a fan to assist. Incidentally a P4 laptop would not be very good
as they consume a lot of power, and get quite hot. A P3M or Centrino based
unit would probably be best I reckon.
A desktop may be a better option, however more power would be needed than
for a laptop(and at 240V), and as was said dektops are better in terms of
wirless aerial extensions, this in fact could be a deciding factor. It's a
great concept though.
The little uATX and smaller systems from VIA would be worth looking at, these
are relatively inexpensive & can run fanless. Last time I looked umart in
Brisbane had them for sale.
Some low cost LCD screens run off an external wall wart supply & would probably
be relatively simple to run from batteries. We looked at mounting a pair in a
robust briefcase to take out into factories for PLC programming.
I haven't looked at the following idea in detail but I would suggest seeing if
you can bolster the back screen lamp on an LCD panel to increase the light
output. e.g. tandem lamps instead of a single unit to increase outdoor
readability. The idea stems from people dismantling LCD's & putting them on
overhead projectors to get a cheap equivalent of a conventional XGA projector.
Cheers
Don
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