XO Laptop--Therion? other software?

[cavescom]

The question was asked on another Board and not answered yet...but would the XO Laptop have any application possibilities for cave survey software?
The current Donate one get one offer(valid till end of year) with a year of T-Mobile wifi hotspot service and a tax write-off is a great opportunity to get one now if it has any application possibilities.

More Information on the device: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO-1

Laptop Magazine Review: http://tinyurl.com/26jm6e

To Purchase/Donate: http://laptopgiving.org

Main Site: http://www.laptop.org

Mark Passerby, Cavediggers.com

[Martin Sluka]

The question was asked on another Board and not answered yet...but would the XO Laptop have any application possibilities for cave survey software?

Therion - way not? Not for the all Mulu system, but for more simple caves
it should work.

XO has two areas for stylus, so there should be no problems with
drawing of scraps.

Anybody may check it?

Martin

[David Grimes]

Looks to me like it should work fine. It uses a linux platform so you could add programs without too many compatability issues.

I would question its durability but it says its made for dirty humid conditions so maybe it just looks fragile.

Let us know if it works that is if you get one.

[Martin Sluka]

Looks to me like it should work fine. It uses a linux platform so you could add programs without too many compatability issues.

XO Laptop uses Fedora Linux. Therion works fine on it. Problem is the capacity of flash memory of XO Laptop and FULL installation of TeX. Only necessary parts should be installed - for comparison the Windows installation of Therion including TeX has about 50 MB only.

As mentioned Mark - the manual power source to charge batteries in field is available too - http://www.potenco.com/.

[cavescom]

This is what I got back from Potenco

<Hi Mark,

Thanks for your e-mail. At this time, the PCG is not yet available for retail sale. We are currently focusing on applications in emerging markets while also working on new designs that will be even more useful for specific commercial markets. However, I would love to learn more about your interest in Potenco and how you found out about us. Also, I would encourage you to sign up for our e-newsletter so that you'll know the moment the devices become available for sale.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Best,
Reed Bundy
Potenco.com>

[Martin Sluka]

However, I would love to learn more about your interest in Potenco and how you found out about us.
Best,
Reed Bundy
Potenco.com>

It is clear that for non cavers is quite difficult imagine that here exists a huge underground world without sun (for solar cells), electricity power generators or plugs. :)

Martin

[cavemanjonny]

I would question its durability but it says its made for dirty humid conditions so maybe it just looks fragile.

I've not used one in a cave, but I have used one above ground. They're a lot tougher than you would think. They have no moving parts, so dropping them isn't nearly as catastrophic as dropping a standard laptop. It has a flash drive instead of a standard hard drive. It also has no cooling fans, so sucking dust into the chassis isn't an issue.

The antenna also cover various ports when they are folded up, a very clever design trick. This should do a good job of further making the chassis impregnable.