The Garage Computer

[engineer2]

What are the specs on the computer? I have had great success reviving old computers by putting a SSD in as the boot drive.

HP2000 laptop, probably 10-12 years old. Pentium 2.13GHz. 3 GB RAM, 256GB SSD. The SSD helped a lot. Cleaning the malware off of it helped a lot too, LOL.

 

[HOTFR8]

Yes, he's a good kid(31), but we've always thought of him as a kind of adopted son. He can use my shop if he wants to.

Did he leave any codes to the vault on that computer? I guess not.

 

[Outlander]

I grabbed an older used Andoid tablet. For $50 I considered it disposable if I abuse it.

 

[danielbuck]

I use a cheap chromebook in the garage. The only real limitation is that you can't run real vehicle diagnostics software on it.

Other than that, it's great for playing music, researching & calculating/translating sizes, browsing image search for inspiration and ideas, and ordering parts. Mine has a touch screen so I can do rough sketches on it. Though to be honest I don't really use the sketching feature of it anymore, I still find it simpler to just use paper.

 

[engineer2]

Well the new HP I got for the wife is starting to piss me off. Error messages, buggy HP 'diagnostic/help' software, randomly hangs while browsing.

 

[Richie Rich]

I have a Raspberry Pi 3 stuck to the back of the garage tv using double sided mounting tape. A bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo works great with it. Just enough power for browsing internet and youtube videos.

My garage Pi is sitting on my desk in my office.
Probably going to dive into setting it up this week.
Already have a 32" tv on the wall above my workbench and an extra bluetooth keyboard/mouse.

Curious to see how well this works. All I need it for is web surfing and the occasional youtube video. Already have an Appletv and stereo with XM and streaming sources out there.

 

[Kburk09]

Planning a Pi build in the shop as well. Small enclosure and mount out of the way, I recently used some Ubiquity radios to shoot signal out to my garage to run a couple cameras. Can easily piggyback some wifi out there.

 

[Richie Rich]

I have a Raspberry Pi 3 stuck to the back of the garage tv using double sided mounting tape. A bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo works great with it. Just enough power for browsing internet and youtube videos.

Planning a Pi build in the shop as well. Small enclosure and mount out of the way, I recently used some Ubiquity radios to shoot signal out to my garage to run a couple cameras. Can easily piggyback some wifi out there.

I just set mine up yesterday. Mine was a prepackaged CanaKit. Came with Pi, software, case and power supply.

Grabbed spare bluetooth mouse and a keyboard for my ipad that I never really had any use for.

Put everything together, plugged it in, turned it on and about 45 minutes later it was up and running. Had to mess with some of the BT and graphics settings to get it dialed in but so far, so good.

Surfs the internet, plays Youtube videos.
Stuck it on the wall behind the tv next to the apple tv. I love not having a tower, monitor etc cluttering up my workbench.

 

[niget2002]

I use ubiquities unifi gear in the house too. Love their products.

Planning a Pi build in the shop as well. Small enclosure and mount out of the way, I recently used some Ubiquity radios to shoot signal out to my garage to run a couple cameras. Can easily piggyback some wifi out there.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[rburke65]

I think I could get by with an iPad easily.

 

[GypsyR]

The box I used to use which was retired by the office at work. It has been replaced by the Dell Precision 4300 laptop I personally retired from full time work duty sitting balanced precariously on top of it. Semi-retired Snap On scanner there also shares connection with that touchscreen the laptop is displaying on as it runs Windows XP and is essentially a (slow) Windows tablet. I also have an older Dell D610 whose only job is to run a parts interchange program on Linux. It rests on top of the Dell D610 it replaced which is there to donate parts to the running one if need be.
The jewel there is that Brother laser printer the office replaced for some reason. (Free to me!) I invested a total of $18 in an off-brand new print drum and a toner cartridge and have been been printing like mad ever since. Diagrams, technical specs, PDF manuals, wife recipes, homework, kid coloring pages, I don't care. It costs like next to nothing to print off stuff in black and white on cheap paper and it connects over wifi to the house.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

I just keep my old cell phone in my tool box and use my wifi to search if I need anything.

 

[Question]

My garage workbench is made up of the old kitchen counter and drawers, the bread drawer works perfect for the computer and it keeps it out of the dust and dirt...

 

[swedeking]

I also have an older Dell D610 whose only job is to run a parts interchange program on Linux.

What is the program? I have multiple machines running versions of Linux and a parts interchange program seems like it would be cool to have.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[GypsyR]

It's an older version of a salvage yard program that runs Hollander. I squirreled a copy away back in 2005 just before they changed the copy protection so I couldn't do that kind of thing anymore. I keep meaning to set it up in a virtual machine on a more modern Windows machine but as it's woefully out of date already and getting older it's not so much a priority these days. Actually for a few years there I even forgot I had it.

 

[CraigStu]

I use a refurbished 15" laptop. About $250 4 years ago. I use it more to listen to the radio and to podcasts than I do real research on it.

 

[anythingyoucanimagine]

Trying to sort out spacing and wires for a 50" TV and dual monitor PC over my bench. Haven't been able to find any good inspiration photos...