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Re: computers in the field
Matthew S. Tomaso (Tomaso@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU)
Mon, 10 Apr 1995 12:25:00 -0500
I bring my notebook computer with me into the field all the time. However,
being an archaeologist working in the Caribbean and Texas, I generally have
access to electrical power and I don't have to worry about running down my
battery. Extra battery packs are recommended to folks who have to rely on
battery power. Battery conserving software is generally useless unless
you've got battery conserving hardware. Nevertheless, the software is
usually free with newer operating systems like MS DOS 6.22. My notebook is
'sleep enhanced' which means that, at the expense of some CPU speed, it puts
its components to sleep when they are not in use, thus allowing my battery
life to reach up to four hours (operating in Windows w/ all 8 megabytes
maxed out and intensive hard drive access). The only major concern I have
beside these is keeping dust and sand out of the keyboard.
When I get back to camp or hotel, at the end of a hard day's work, I am
delighted to be able to sit down with my notebook and type up a journal
entry or knock off some other project, but sometimes I just play solitaire.
best,
Matt
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Matt Tomaso, Human.
Anthropology.
University of Texas at Austin.
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