Toughbook laptop as audio server

[hillbear]

I recently acquired (for free) a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29. The spec of this laptop is horrendous - 128mb RAM, 40gb HDD, no DVD, single USB port ! It is heavy and looks 'industrial' to say the least. However...it is silent in operation - fanless and the HDD comes in a bomb-proof caddy that is encased in gel. It is designed to operate in adverse conditions and be vibration-proof, so I thought I would try and set it up as an audio server. I stuck 1gb RAM in it - upgraded XP - got nice new battery that gives me 9 hours life and WOW ! It is silent and cool in operation, resistant to vibration and built like the proverbial brick out-house. As a normal PC/laptop it is pretty much unusable but it is superb as an audio server. Total cost so far is £50 ! I would be interested if anyone else has used one of these things - you can pick them up for next to nothing on ebay.......