Posted: 2/15/2010 11:38:42 AM EDT
| I am thinking about getting a Kindle book for myself. Got thinking that it can hold up to 1500 books. So with a solar cell to charge it I could load it up with tons of books. Survival, camping, MAPS, mechanical, repair guides, farming, medical, etc. And have a excellant libary if it ever hits the fan. View points on a kindle vs a small laptop? I feel that in a true SHTF situation, almost all tech will be useless. Internet will be gone or taken over by what remains of the govt. GPS see ya later. Cell phones HAAA! Kidle is small and light weight. But how fragile is it? Just thinking! |
Get both.  Sure, a way to keep a lot of reference material is an excellent idea. A used Kindle owuld be great.
But, important shit you need even in Minor SHTF situations it won't be the be-all, end-all. A small $250 netbook juiced up with more ram is a hell of a useful thing. You could store .TIF or .PDF's of important papers (Ins., Deeds, titles, ATF forms) documents, User Manuals, Schematics for your Ham rig, etc, things that aren't available from Online book stores, or that are not "things" but rather tools, drafting SW, small-scale CAD stuff... |
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I'm still waiting for a more open reader. Not everything I want is available via amazon, so my netbook is still my main travel library (pdf, html, doc, txt, rtf), plus much more entertainment (sudoku, tv shows, etc). Get a cell/usb dongle, and you have the same wireless functionality. Does kindle have any kind of encryption/password protection? |
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I'm currently working on reformating my daily use laptop over to a more shtf/bob style laptop. It's an older compaq v2000 which is fairly small/lightweight and not super fragile.
I plan on prob using ubuntu just cause of the system reliability... I always have my iphone with me, but with cellphone's and a shtf scneario who knows especially with it in my pocket on a daily basis. A few things i plan to have on my battle laptop as I like to call it. 1. records... of just about everything and anything related to me and my self and anyone i feel the need to want to protect. 2. Maps.. I hope to find a comprehensive map program that is self sustaining.. As in i can download 10 gigs of maps.. and run it in a program and be able to pull up lat/long's as well as towns etc.. HAvn't really done to much searching but i'm sure somethings out there 3. Comm information.. Radio frequencies, blueprints for ham radios, owner manuals, ya know I would love if people also contributed there ideas to what specifically to store on these battle tech devices that they feel would be useful. I would of course have everything encrypted... go go 256b algorithms haha.. With a 80 gig basic hd (easily upgradable in a variety of ways) you can store a hell of alot of information.. |
| have a small laptop I use when travelling. I tour on a motorcycle and will often camp out. Space is at a premium so having tools that perform many functions is nice. I have the garmin mapping program as well as Microsoft streets and trips installed (can get lat long with them). Between those, Internet, gps and the handy atlas, you can navigate anywhere. If I'm going to be gone for a while, I move my quicken database over there for all financial info and I've got my ICE info in both the phone and computer. I've got a number of PDFs as well (entire bike maintenance manual, books, etc) and plan on finding more prep type material to add. I think a small laptop would serve you better than a kindle in this instance. It can do a lot more and laptops aren't exactly fragile. They are made to be portable. |
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I’m quite the high-tech survivalist, but I never saw the need for the Kindel. I suggest getting a Panasonic Toughbook. You may laugh at first because they are outrageously expensive, but they can be picked up used for under $500.
Mine, the CF-18, only uses 18W of power, and can easily be solar powered. Even at several years old it has more computing power than a ATOM-based netbook. Keep the data on a MicroSD card that you’re smartphone can also read and you should be good to go. Another idea is to keep your data on a bootable Ubuntu-OS based USB Drive. This can be connected to any working computer. Just reboot and its yours. Personaly I keep 3 copies: The Toughbook, the Motorola Droid, and the USB. Also pre-SHTF of FTP, on hard drive (in a fire safe), and on several home computers. (yes I'm very, very careful about dataloss). |
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I am thinking about getting a Kindle book for myself. Got thinking that it can hold up to 1500 books. So with a solar cell to charge it I could load it up with tons of books. Survival, camping, MAPS, mechanical, repair guides, farming, medical, etc. And have a excellant libary if it ever hits the fan. View points on a kindle vs a small laptop? I feel that in a true SHTF situation, almost all tech will be useless. Internet will be gone or taken over by what remains of the govt. GPS see ya later. Cell phones HAAA! Kidle is small and light weight. But how fragile is it? Just thinking! Well, a Kindle would be nice for SHTF but what else can it do besides hold books? I posting from a netbook that fits in my coat pocket, and it's a full blown computer with a color display, WiFi, every CD I own burned on it, all my email contacts etc. etc. I can discretely use the internet where I don't have access, can recieve commo from anyone in the world, and it runs off of 12Vdc. In fact, it has been my main computer since almost 2 months ago when my hard drive took a shit on my desktop. Got the new drive this weekend, but I am seriously thinking about ditching my $100mo cable bill because this thing will get free internet at several businesses I frequent, as well as several of the nearby apartments. I could just float someone $20 a month and be done with it. The kindle would be cool but what does it do that a laptop or netbook can't do? |
| Well the reason I was looking at a kindle was for a pure SHTF sit where size and weight matters. Was floating the idea about a kindle vs lap top. i figure if your hidding in the woods someplace you would not have internet even if it was still running! Just looking outside the box a bit! |
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ShaneS went into great detail on what to put on your laptop for SHTF preps at his site Listening to Katrina. Highly recommended.
If you're buying a laptop with the idea of using it for emergency preps, the netbooks are good IMO due to their small size, low weight, and low cost. I do recommend paying a little more money for one with a 6 cell vs. a 3 cell battery. The latter only get about 2 hours of battery life. |
One of my pet projects coming up at work is to ruggedize an inexpensive netbook for severe duty/outdoor/field use. My tentative plan is to tear down a netbook and rebuild it in a small Pelican case, complete with huge internal battery and external GPS antenna-like the antenna mounted on this laptop (lower right corner):
I intend to pot the internals where possible and waterproof the screen, keyboard, and external connectors. We can't find a ready-made, commercial product that fits our needs, so I'll build one. If the project is viable I'll post a how-to in this forum, like I did with the portable power stations 
A few years ago I built a proof of concept ruggedized laptop around a Pelican laptop case. Instead of using the case to carry the laptop, I incorporated the laptop into the case. The hardest part was dealing with the heat of the CPU and video card. That said, the Intel Atom CPUs in today's netbooks run much cooler, making a passive thermal solution far more viable. I solved the heat issue on my previous proof on concept laptop by installing a CPU with an unlocked multiplier and throttling it down. That wouldn't be necessary with the Atom CPU in a netbook. If anyone is interested in following the project I'll make an announcement once I get started. It will probably be April or May before I can get working on it. |
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First a vote for the project mentioned because I love reading about those types of things but doubt I would ever copy that project. I have stumbled upon some well used netbooks at soso prices lately though and am interested in run times out of larger batteries. I am a sucker for something like that. Now, on to the topic. There should be a thread that might still be active about netbooks vs laptops and power consumption was discussed. I have a used toughbook and I like it a lot because it can read and write on cds and dvds. So spreading information becomes simpler with it. Now for reading books I really would like to stumble across a used kindle for super cheap but at most I might buy the sony version eventually to help me thin out my enjoyment reading library. Some books I will always want in hardcopy most likely, but that comes down to me not totally trusting technology very much. And while printers were mentioned I figure you could kill lots of ink cartridges trying to spread information to everyone else. I have come close to buying a printer recently but so far I still don't own one. But my relatives own several in the extended family and I still keep 1k pages of printer paper on hand so I could get some stuff printed out for the family if I had to do so. I would just have to use some of their equipment. I also don't fully trust electronics but a house fire could wipe out my library with ease so having electronic reading materials and having copies stashed off site would be better than my current library that is all in my home. And no I won't be buying hardcopy books and storing them offsite. Overall it depends on options and what you are looking to do. I am mostly considering something like a kindle because I see it like an mp3 player. I can stick a lot of my stuff on it when it comes to the mp3 player and put the cds in storage. With the kindle competitor I can download books for entertainment reading and free up some space and also carry more stuff with me when I travel than what I do right now. I guess what I am trying to say is that in this instance normal life and prepping are kind of meeting and traveling on the same path but to some extent I see a kindle or competitor as a luxury since I see books as a bit of a luxury when I consider what is available at libraries or on the net to read on my computer. Even my blackberry can be used to read some stuff but it sure does have a small screen, I have a pearl and it is a smaller screen than most other blackberries. I guess something else to consider is what it would take to hook a couple netbooks with blue tooth together vs. the kindle that needs a cord I think. I don't know if it has bluetooth but I know it can access the net. My laptop and phone have bluetooth but I still have not used it since I usually let my ear roach use the bluetooth on the phone while surfing the net on the laptop with the blackberry tethered and I can't get the bluetooth to do 2 things at once. But that could be me, I still have not read the directions to all my toys. |
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If your looking at a Kindle, consider the sony reader. It comes in three different sizes and supports PDF.
I don't own one personally but my sister does and it looks rock solid. I'm not sure if the kindle has a note taking/ drawing function but I know the sony reader does. If it was up to me I would get a tough book and call it a day, but not on a college student budget.
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I think thats a great idea. A kindle is smaller, lighter, and more durable than a laptop. Hell of a lot easier to charge too and uses a lot less power. Obviously it doesnt have as many uses as a laptop but for this purpose I dont think you can beat the kindle. When you say durable I'm not sure that Kindle fits the bill. My father is on his third kindle. |
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I've considered a Kindle or Sony (as soon as the price comes down). The biggest thing I think it has going for it is the form factor. A laptop is a better choice for all around use, but in a non SHTF situation, I don't want to be carrying around a laptop just to be able to read something in my spare time.
Currently I have a laptop, but if I can find a deal, a reader is on the list... |
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Thats what I was thinking. What good is a laptop with out any internet? ? Are you kidding me? 1) FAR more books than a kindle on far more subjects 2) Complete topographical maps of the world (well in my case I just have the entire US) 3) Can use a GPS with it 4) Can use a TV Tuner USB fob 5) Watch movies you've stored on it. 6) Store copies of valuable family documents & photographs. 7) can help you send/receiver certain typs of HAM signals. 8) can hook up to the OBD2 connector on your vehicle and help diagnose engine problems on your BOV. A netbook is so much more versitile than the Kindle - with the bonus that Amazon.com can't delete the contents of your laptop (which they can - and have done - with the Kindle). |
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One of my pet projects coming up at work is to ruggedize an inexpensive netbook for severe duty/outdoor/field use. My tentative plan is to tear down a netbook and rebuild it in a small Pelican case, complete with huge internal battery and external GPS antenna-like the antenna mounted on this laptop (lower right corner): http://home.comcast.net/~cjan99999/PMag_Pelican.jpg I intend to pot the internals where possible and waterproof the screen, keyboard, and external connectors. We can't find a ready-made, commercial product that fits our needs, . Panasonic Toughbook U1, get the GPS option. Fairly small (smaller than a netbook, but much thicker), tough as hell - all ports have rubberized covers, and has a touch screen. We're using them on a project I'm working on. Neat little machines, they will be heading to the sandbox... |
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While society is still functioning, you can get a free program called Calibre, which is an ebook management program. It lets you download ebooks from any source, and converts the formats to whatever it is that Kindle uses. You are not tied to Amazon, and you can hook up a USB cable and upload anything from .txt to .pdf to .lit on your Kindle, automatically converted to the Kindle's format. I like my Kindle. The small one isn't great for diagrams or pictures. If you want to have stuff with diagrams, you'd definitely want to go with the Kindle DX. It's a slick little deal, and like I said, you can get stuff from any source if you use Calibre. The Kindle Wireless just makes it super convenient to shop the Amazon titles. ETA: http://calibre-ebook.com/ Calibre does a lot of neat stuff with organization, etc (I'll probably be more interested when I have a huge ebook library), but for me, the draw is the format conversion. |
| I think both a netbook/small laptop and a Kindle or e-reader have their place. I have both a small laptop and a Kindle. The biggest advantage of a laptop is the flexibility, you can do a lot with it. The advatage of a Kindle is the amount of power required. A netbook requires a lot of power compared to a Kindle. With one of the small handheld solar chargers you should be able to easily power a Kindle and have enough power for a couple of weeks, this is not at all the case with a netbook. I have my complete electronic library with all of my resources on my laptop and am going to have all of the essentials on the Kindle. |
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Might be a way to back up some saved info, but I wouldn't make it my primary info source.
Gotta figure that even if your E book and a power source survive, the unit itself will have a life of what...5 or 6 years, and could crash at any time during that? I'll stick to my paper reference sources as my primary sources. My thumb drives have my info backed up. |
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., the unit itself will have a life of what...5 or 6 years, and could crash at any time during that? .. Life depends on how it's used/abused. Crashing would be very unlikely as no internet means no viruses, and buying a netbook or U1 with a solid state drive means no moving parts. |
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., the unit itself will have a life of what...5 or 6 years, and could crash at any time during that? .. Life depends on how it's used/abused. Crashing would be very unlikely as no internet means no viruses, and buying a netbook or U1 with a solid state drive means no moving parts. Crucial 128GB SSD here Ordered solar charger today as well Would much rather have a laptop than a kindle. I have a 12tablet that's my main PC and a netbook as a backup. Also have BOFD (bug out flash drive) with Truecrypt data on it. |
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I really don't think laptops in general are very reliable. I remember hearing a statistic that half of all laptops have a catastrophic failure within 2 years. Personally, I would deem a Kindle more reliable for long term, just for the mere fact that it hasn't been proven to be fragile and finite as a laptop. A Kindle can be on and running for two weeks between charges. My laptop can be on and running for about an hour between charges (battery life isn't what it used to be, after all, it is about 3 years old now). Ultimately it depends on what a person needs it for, but it seems like a lot of people are just looking for something to view .pdf's and ebooks. Don't be scared of the e-readers if that's your purpose. Physical books have their place, but if you have to bug out, you're not carrying 1500 books with you. |
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I really don't think laptops in general are very reliable. I remember hearing a statistic that half of all laptops have a catastrophic failure within 2 years. Personally, I would deem a Kindle more reliable for long term, just for the mere fact that it hasn't been proven to be fragile and finite as a laptop. A Kindle can be on and running for two weeks between charges. My laptop can be on and running for about an hour between charges (battery life isn't what it used to be, after all, it is about 3 years old now). Ultimately it depends on what a person needs it for, but it seems like a lot of people are just looking for something to view .pdf's and ebooks. Don't be scared of the e-readers if that's your purpose. Physical books have their place, but if you have to bug out, you're not carrying 1500 books with you. Speaking from my own experience. I own 2 laptops, have 2 work laptops and have managed MANY, repaired lots: Saying a laptop is unreliable is like saying a gun is unreliable. There are different kinds, styles, build quality and random failures caused by things out of your control. Spend 400-600$ on a laptop and it's no suprise you'd have issues. Same as buying a 600$ AR, a 1000$ car etc. What one person calls a failure may not be an issue for me. What I call reliable you may not call it that. Take a 250$ netbook and compair it to a better built netbook, SSD, and a know how to fix it and you've got 2 completely different scenarios. If TEOTWAWKI comes I hope my life doesn't depend on a PDF. I hope i have access to it if I need but if the diff between me and survival is being able to have a field manual I'll take what I can get. Take a kindle and break 1 part of it, how useful is it? Take a netbook and break any 1 part and you've still got a nearly functional machine. If the whole thing is smashed as long as they don't physically hammer the HD I likely can get access to my data from some other machine. Or if that do smash it, I've got it backed up on a USB drive. A Kindle is easier to use, because it doesn't do as much. Its lighter, more energy efficient, doesn't require much knowledge to use, stores a lot of data and could provide you with entertainment in TEOTWAWKI situation. But that last one may not give me the pleasure of using it for that purpose as I'd likely be busy surviving. A netbook or notebook does all that a kindle can do plus many things as stated above from vehicle diagnostics to taking or saving a pic, document etc from another electronic device to many things we use computers for here. The ONLY reason I can see it as having a higher failure rate is if you had a subpar quality machine (read cheap) and didn't have a SSD. As for power, how long you going to be playing on that Kindle or laptop in TEOTWAWKI. Sure the kindle will got a long time in between but I don't plan on playing solitaire on my netbook while I wait for my water to boil for supper. And a 6 cell battery for a netbook will provide 4-5 hours of wifi access and surfing the web. Could provide much more if you are just occasionally reading a manual or a file on it. With all that is said, If all you are wanting to do is read a manual or some document you have saved to the device then I'd suggest getting an IPOD touch. Same setup as the kindle but with more space for data, can do GPS with an add on, can do your entertainment with movies, music and pics. Can do your ebook reader and PDF viewing along with maps etc. PLUS it's smaller, lighter and much more durable. They make Pelican/otter style cases for them, charging accessories are available everywhere. Like said before, each of us have different needs. I have my Ipod touch loaded with some of the things listed above, and a solar battery pack that will charge the thing. I also have a netbook with a SSD that has data that pertains to more SHTF scenario than TEOTWAWKI (things like scans of birth certs and inventory of house items for insurance to pics of me and my fam and contact info) |
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I remember hearing a statistic that half of all laptops have a catastrophic failure within 2 years. . Hey I have some ocean front property in AZ, are you interested? Seriously, that is a load of BS. The amount of laptops we run at work, such a statistic would kill us. As an example the project I'm working has a half dozen laptops, most are on the order of 3-4 years, and have significant operational time exposed in a desert environment. Yet they still run fine (zero failures). One truely has to abuse a modern laptop to get it to fail. |
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I have a sony vaio laptop that is probably 4 years old or so right now and its dvd/cd drive has an issue with the internal connection. Sometime the computer recognizes it and sometimes it does not. I have considered taking it apart but the battery is shot and lasts almost no time at all right now. I am probably going to set it up to view some security cameras I picked up cheap to play with. The laptop can run off a 12 volt backup battery setup pretty easily and will work if the power is out. If the hard drive can record the pictures I am happy and with usb ports I could handle getting information to a thumb drive if I needed to do that. The sony taught me a lesson and I just got a toughbook to replace it several months back. I know within my extended family there are some laptops that needed work while under warranty and some needed major work outside of warranty and while relatives tried to work on them that can result in failure if you are not used to working on laptops and their accordian style assembly. A toughbook seems simpler to work on in some areas, such as replacing the hard drive, since I can just pop the hard drive out of it with ease. But for the cost of a toughbook you are paying for that luxury. I think it comes down to needs and your specific level of being willing to work on stuff and what you can do with stuff. I would rather use my sony laptop as a security viewer and recorder than risk taking it apart and not having it work at all. Even if I took it apart and got it back together it is not made for much more than being babied since I don't think I treated it bad at all. Plus I don't want to buy it a new battery to make it portable since I have another laptop to use these days. Anyway, the sony cost maybe 500 bucks when I bought it and while it has issues right now and will need some money spent on a backup power system I find it to still be useful to have around for a portable security system once I get everything figured out for it. And if it breaks and becomes useless I would probably use a netbook for the next version of portable security system. |
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