Thread: Which laptop?

it's nice to be able to take it in & configure & play with skins, front ends, whatever... & browse etc... for sure, that's a great reason a laptop is a good carpc to begin with.

if you don't think you'll ever use the modem(wifi kills that anyway), that's a perfect spot to use an external remote start connection, just connect the 2 startup switch wires to 2 wires on the modem jack plug, now remote start is as easy as running a phone wire to wherever you need it. just unplug & go. you can also put another connector somewhere on the laptop, you can also just have 2 wires hanging out of the laptop even, but you should wire to the switch really. it sucks to have to go to the laptop each time you want to start it...

Okay, so confused about the modem thing, can you explain it a little better, or maybe show pictures of when you've done something like that.

ok, the power switch needs 2 wires connected to it. when these 2 wires connect, the power button is pressed. you need a way to do this remotely. you need to be able to connect to the switch when the laptop is installed in the car. you can disconnect the phone jack that was originally for the modem & use 2 of those wires, you can connect 2 wires from the power switch to these wires. now, when you plug a phone wire into the modem jack, the phone wire will become a way to start the laptop. on the other end of the phone wire, when you connect 2 of the wires together momentarily the laptop will start...

when you want to remove the laptop unplug the phone cable, the laptop looks & functions normally.

if you don't get what I mean I'll try to show you tommorow...

I understand what you mean on the laptop end, but what happens with the other end of the phone cable.

you'll just be using the phone cable as your power switch wires, and the connector as an easy way to connect/disconnect your remote power switch.

to use the phone jack as your connector, you'll have to disconnect it from the motherboard (you don't have to physically remove it, just break the circuitboard traces that lead to the pins you want to use). on the 'other end' of the phone cable, you simply attach a momentary switch (or a startup controller) to the two wires used in the connector.

of course, you don't need to open up your laptop at all if you use a docking station with a power button. HP makes docking stations with power buttons so you may still be able to go that route if you want. you can usually find docking stations on eBay pretty cheap (I bought mine for $19). I don't know if your laptop has a compatible docking station available to it because you didn't give any useful information about it ("HP 14.1" says absolutely nothing useful about the model laptop you bought).

Okay, it's a dv2419us.

Would something like this work for a dock: it's got the power button, but i don't know if it'll charge my laptop only through the expansion card
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/n...S631AA%2523ABA

that isn't a real docking station, it's basically just a port replicator. where do you see or read about a power button on it? I didn't see a power button on it, nor does it say anything about a power button in the description. it says "connect to power", which simply means it has a jack for the charger (not a power button).

the good news is; HP does make a real docking station with a power button for your laptop. click here and scroll down to the "HP 2400/2500 Series Docking Station" section. the model number for that docking station is 'EQ773AA'

...now you just have to find/buy one. there are plenty of places to buy them, cheapest I found was this place for $54.99. I got that info from a quick google search, you should verify it's what you need/want before you buy anything. I know nothing about that e-tailer or any others listed so you're on your own from here, I'm just trying to point you in the right direction.

If you zoom in on the side there is a power button.