Budget rugged dedicated PC for FORSCAN. Mac users take note.

[Meow What?]

My household is a Mac household. I'm not down on PCs. Macs just work better for me. That being said, being an ST owner wanting to "do some stuff" digitally to my ST with FORSCAN, I needed a PC. And I like the idea of having a dedicated one when I'm doing digital brain surgery on my ST. No more searching for the original build files cuz all of the files are for the ST. So I bought a Kano PC. The one designed for kids. I looked around a bit and found it at Best Buy for $190. And it's rugged cuz... kids! It is no powerhouse but it's more than powerful enough for FORSCAN. And it's compact and will also function as a tablet. Just sayin'

 

[Henkeldavid03]

And it worked ?

 

[Henkeldavid03]

Does a Mac running parallels or boot camp running windows work ? Just wondering.

 

[Meow What?]

1) It works great. The Kano is preprogrammed to run Windows in S mode but changing that so it will run any application is a simple procedure. FORScan is not a memory or storage hog so not a worry for even a most basic PC.

2) I've tried Windows emulators for Macs in the past with mixed and generally unsatisfactory results. The Windows applications never ran quite right. So I've long ago given up on using them and cannot say if FORScan runs with them with satisfactory results.

 

[svt1998gt]

I had luck running the bmw software using vmware fusion by mapping the usb controller to the windows OS. Havent had a chance to look at the Forscan setup

 

[Cdubya]

As a recent convert to mac, i had plenty of old windows 10 devices. one of my PC laptops died so I just used that license and ran it on my macbook air using bootcamp. works great. doesn't sound like I'll be able to upgrade to windows 11 but not a big deal since I'm mainly running Forscan with it.

 

[TMac]

As a recent convert to mac, i had plenty of old windows 10 devices. one of my PC laptops died so I just used that license and ran it on my macbook air using bootcamp. works great. doesn't sound like I'll be able to upgrade to windows 11 but not a big deal since I'm mainly running Forscan with it.

Hey, Cdubya, I've always been a windows user, but want to move to a Mac. I'm not building software, mostly just searching the internet and doing spreadsheets. I'd like a laptop with a decent screen. Any advice on what to buy?

 

[Cdubya]

Hey, Cdubya, I've always been a windows user, but want to move to a Mac. I'm not building software, mostly just searching the internet and doing spreadsheets. I'd like a laptop with a decent screen. Any advice on what to buy?

I'm not a poweruser or anything. I use an intel-based MacBook Air. I like it better than any windows laptop I've owned. Macbook Air is a good choice for all around screen, battery life, nice keyboard, power adapter, performance, portability etc.

 

[Corral Founder]

Does a Mac running parallels or boot camp running windows work ? Just wondering.

I have gotten Forscan to run just fine on my Mac using OpenVM from Oracle. Works just fine.

 

[GBVx]

On any given day I use windows, OSx and some flavor of linux. I believe in high-quality multiuse hardware...my daily driver laptop is a higher-end Lenovo business laptop. They are rugged (ish), have lots of hardware capabilities (NFC, smartcard reader, lots of ports...) and since it is a "yoga" model, it can fold itself in half and make itself a tablet, with a built-in stylus. IMHO it is the best "jack of all trades, master of none" laptop on the market, you can go with panasonic toughbooks for truly rugged, but you have weight, "meh" screens, and just overall compromise in every department for the sake of true ruggedness.

Hey, Cdubya, I've always been a windows user, but want to move to a Mac. I'm not building software, mostly just searching the internet and doing spreadsheets. I'd like a laptop with a decent screen. Any advice on what to buy?

The 2017 macbook pro I am trying to sell haha