Does using a laptop aboard a ship shorten the lifespan of the laptop?

soarwitheagles

Lookin' for higher ground
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Hi again!

My brother is a commercial fisherman. Recently he decided he would like to live on his boat [significant savings].

He is asking me to find a good deal on a laptop.

He was at Best Buy today and the sale associate told him that a new laptop would last less than one year when used near salt water. He also informed him he should purchase a military style laptop that is made for marine environments.

I am here to ask if there is any validity to this information at all.

It does not sound like accurate info to me, but I know next to nothing about marine environment effects upon electronics.

Can someone educate us?

Here's our big question:

Does using a laptop aboard a ship parked in the harbor shorten the lifespan of the laptop?

Please help us make an educated decision.

Any sailors out here?

It's me,

Soar
 
Believe it or not, he does have some truth behind his words when he says a laptop will not last as long when exposed to salty air on a boat. He could either go for cheap machines and use them till they bust, or go for a Panasonic Toughbook or similar, though, they are very expensive. He could probably get a low end laptop and use it in a room that has an air filtration system that can help remove salts and other substances in the air, such as his little cabin thing in the boat, as long as he has a filtration system for the air that uses a good high quality HEPA filter in a room that doesn't stay opened up all the time, he should be perfectly fine over the years. Just remind him he may want to backup his work/documents on the machine once in awhile.

But it is true, machines near salt water = bad idea due to metal corrosion while exposed to the air.
 
Like c0rr0sive, if he's near sea-water (i.e. saltwater), then yes, the corrosive salty-air can shorten the lifespan of electronics.

A military style (Panasonic toughbook) would indeed last a little longer as it's more tightly sealed and will resist the moisture / salty air.

For once, somebody at Best Buy was right ;).
 
Like c0rr0sive, if he's near sea-water (i.e. saltwater), then yes, the corrosive salty-air can shorten the lifespan of electronics.

A military style (Panasonic toughbook) would indeed last a little longer as it's more tightly sealed and will resist the moisture / salty air.

For once, somebody at Best Buy was right ;).

Ok, wow! You guys seem to have a gift of opening our eyes to stuff we've never heard of or seen before. Panasonic Toughbook is too expensive...some of em' run over $2000!

Believe it or not, he does have some truth behind his words when he says a laptop will not last as long when exposed to salty air on a boat. He could either go for cheap machines and use them till they bust, or go for a Panasonic Toughbook or similar, though, they are very expensive. He could probably get a low end laptop and use it in a room that has an air filtration system that can help remove salts and other substances in the air, such as his little cabin thing in the boat, as long as he has a filtration system for the air that uses a good high quality HEPA filter in a room that doesn't stay opened up all the time, he should be perfectly fine over the years. Just remind him he may want to backup his work/documents on the machine once in awhile.

But it is true, machines near salt water = bad idea due to metal corrosion while exposed to the air.

Ok, thanks!

get a lenovo thinkpad, some of them are Mil Spec and decently priced.

All great ideas! But he is on a limited budget [he never finds gold coins in any of the fishes mouths]!

How about this idea:

What if he purchased a Google Nexus 7 and only takes it out when he needs to check the buoy activity and weather/wave reports? Then, when he is not using it, he can store the Google Nexus 7 Tablet in a small, air tight container with some of those moisture sucking packets?

What say ye, land lubbers?

Soar
 
It isn't really the moisture in the air that causes damage to electronics, it's the fact that salt is literally in the air. But, using a good tablet, and when not using it, putting it in a container with those packets would help, might get away doing that with a small laptop too.

If you can, find the kind of packets that you can "bake" every few days to remove the moisture from them so they can be re-used.
 
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