....okay it's a pretty ancient toy but new to me. After the screen on my omibook500 froze (and I mean FROZE in the non I.T sense) when it got wet in the truck during the winter I was left without a carpc to use.

Hadn't noticed before but ToughBook prices for old low spec models are really cheap. I think a ToughBook is just the ticket for life in harsh careless life the Landrover.

It's a ToughBook CF-27 MKII. PII 300Mhz processor. 256MB RAM and a 100Gb HDD (which I added myself after digging out the 6GB it came with). Unfortunately its not fitted with a touchscreen like some are.

I chemically stripped back the lid to bare magnesium alloy as that's the way I like it. I fitted a low profile thumbnail bluetooth dongle but had cut the rear cover to accommodate it. I will reseal this over with a moulded bump. The BT is for the Holux BT GPS I use. WIFI is via an old PCMCIA card. There is an internal GSM modem but haven't investigate that yet.

I reluctantly set the machine up with Windows XP (a barebones release) so that I could use the HAM radio software I have which are difficult to emulate under Linux on a low spec machine. MemoryMap OS5 is installed along with the entire UK's 50k and 25k maps. The only other stuff I need to store on there is the landrover workshop manuals.

Anyhows... will see how long it lasts.

This is the recipe from the The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain - Episode 3 - Fermanagh.

Reproduced here mostly for the Boxty recipe which is rather nice comfort grub. On paper it reads like it might be rather like American hashbrown but I found it to be much lighter, creamer and more waffle like. Good camp food.

Ingredients

500g/1lb 2oz potato, peeled, grated
500g/1lb 2oz cold mashed potato
420g/15oz plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1-2 tbsp melted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml/7fl oz milk
1-2 tbsp olive oil
8-12 rashers smoked streaky bacon
maple syrup, to serve

Method

1. Wrap the grated potato in a clean tea towel and wring well to get rid of any excess liquid.

2. Transfer the grated potato to a mixing bowl, add the cold mashed potato and mix until well combined.

3. Add the flour and baking powder to the potato mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in the melted butter and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4. Add the milk, a little at a time, to the potato mixture, beating after each addition until the milk has been fully incorporated into the mixture. When all of the milk has been incorporated into the potato mixture, it should resemble a thick, heavy batter. If the mixture is too sticky, add more milk as necessary. Set aside.

5. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the bacon rashers and fry for 6-8 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

6. Add spoonfuls of the boxty batter into the same oil that the bacon was cooked in, leaving enough space around each spoonful for the mixture to spread. Fry the boxties on a medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the boxties are golden-brown and the grated potato is cooked through. Remove the boxties from the pan using a slotted spoon, set aside to drain on kitchen paper and keep warm. Repeat the process with the remaining boxty mixture.

7. To serve, divide the boxties equally among four to six serving plates. Place two rashers of crisp streaky bacon alongside each. Drizzle over the maple syrup.