Notebook Recommendation for Storm Shelter Area

[Nathan Parker]

I may be building a new house later, and I'd section off a small room as a "Storm Shelter". It won't be the full-fledged "storm shelters" that some houses have, but I'd store emergency gear, pocket HAM and GMRS radios, emergency food, etc. I'll probably have a Baron XMWX antenna on my roof with a cable drop in there, plus an Ethernet drop back to my office Internet (although the tornado could wipe out my Internet).

In the "Storm Shelter", I'd like to keep a small (13" would be fine) notebook with excellent battery life (I could also keep a UPS on hand if need it). I wouldn't need to run a ton of apps on it since my main notebook is in my office. I'd throw a Baron MTN receiver in there before a storm would hit so I could keep tracking in the event of an Internet outage. Here are the main apps I'd need to run. What brands/specs should I consider? My current notebook is an HP Notebook and has been decent.

• GRLevel3 and GR2Analyst
• RadarScope for Windows
• Weather Message Software
• Baron Mobile Threat Net (XMWX)
• NWSChat (Slack)
• Web Browser, Password Manager, and my work's antivirus (in case I need to access work on it, although unlikely)
• I may throw EchoLink, my HAM HT programmer (RT Systems Software), and Winlink on there
• I have some Emergency Records software on my machine now I could throw over on that one
• Maybe my weather camera software
• Maybe Snagit for screenshots of radar

I would want Windows 11 Pro

 

[Brian R.]

I was about to recommend the MacBook Air, just because mac's are historically more reliable than the windows os, but reading what you plan on having on it.... it looks like there is no way for a MacBook Air to successfully meet your needs unfortunately. My MacBook Pro from 2021 has exceptionally long battery life between charges, and runs radarscope perfectly, however most radio programming software and of course GR level 3 products are unfortunately windows based only.

 

[Nathan Parker]

I have a M2 MacBook Air that I use as my daily driver, and I love it. This is just something I'd throw in a storm shelter and boot it up to track while I'm taking cover.

 

[Jamie H]

I'm not 100% sure on current reviews, but until my ex spilled water on it and broke it, I had an Asus Zenbook laptop. It's kind of a MacBook clone, lightweight, and great on battery. That might be something which does what you need.

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[Brian R.]

also I would consider a slightly older MacBook, as long as it is running macOS Monterey, and you already purchased radarscope on another device like iPhone, iPad or your MacBook Air it will install on that MacBook. there are some good deals on used intel MacBooks circa 2015-2017 on craigslist/ fb market place.

 

[Nathan Parker]

I'll look at the ZenBook, thanks!

I thought about Intel MacBooks, but running Windows in a VM might be buggy with trying to pump the XMWX receiver into it. I'll probably stick with a bare metal Windows PC for this application and use/enjoy my MacBook Air when I really want to be on my Mac.