Page Comparison

Operating System

Windows

Mission Planner is Windows only.

CPU

i7 gen >= 10

GPU

ideally a discrete GPU, not mandatory

RAM

>=16GB

8GB is not enough, we can always buy RAM sticks to upgrade though

Storage

>=256 GB

We can back up stuff to external drives

IO

TODO: USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card, microSD card???

USB-C and USB-A is mandatory

You remembered to bring the dongle, right? No? Crap.

We have SD card adapters, not sure about HDMI to USB or USB-A to USB-C

Screen brightness

ideally 400 nits

Ground station is outside, potentially in the sun.

(for reference M2 Air is 500 nits and it’s really bright, lower than 350 is not visible in the sun)

Screen size

Touch Screen

no

Battery life

• Please note that a manufacturer’s advertized battery life is a lie, so divide their number by 3 when comparing to this requirement

• Most of the other requirements trade off with battery life (e.g. more powerful GPU will drain it faster, brighter screen will drain it faster)

>= TODO 3 hours

• This requirement can be dropped if a large external battery is purchased

Ground station may not have access to power during flight tests.

flight tests rarely go longer than 2 iirc and comp flight windows (even stretched) is max 1 hour

Weight

Not too important

light is better but low prio

Durability

Survive regular transportation to non city environments

Ground station is outside.

Expected lifespan

3-5 years is standard for a laptop (we’ll probably end up using it for longer)