Using Low-Cost Laptops as 'Not So Thin' Clients in the Mac Office

I remember that about 12 years ago all of the PC magazines were full of articles about thin clients, computers that booted from a network server and lacked their own local storage. These machines were due "any time now" and were to be both cheap and fast, a great combination.

Every few years talk of thin clients returned. Five years ago, as DSL and other broadband Internet access came to most homes, there was talk about Internet-based thin-client-like computers where the operating system (Windows) was local but all of your applications and documents were online, with faster-than-hard drive speed courtesy of broadband and efficient coding.

Even Apple got on the thin client bandwagon when OS X was displayed to an eager public network booting a bunch of iMacs at high speed.

Thin clients for the masses have clearly not come to be. Most of us don't keep a high-powered server in our closet, and broadband, while much faster than dialup, is still much slower than even the slowest of semi-modern hard drives. Remote applications are still in their infancy, and they're unlikely to replace local applications any time soon.

The one exception is the Web browser, which has grown into an email client, video player, and many other things - depending on what's on the other end. The browser is where the thin client concept, in a weakened form, is alive, well, and, in my case, taking over the office.

Legal Software

I run a small law firm, and, as a previous series of articles pointed out, I had some difficultly in selecting practice management software for my Macs. There are plenty of software packages made especially for the legal market in Windows, with titles like Amicus Attorney that handles docketing, billing, and conflict management.

There are similar programs for the Mac, such as Law Desk, but there are far fewer choices. These are general-purpose programs aimed at the typical civil or criminal lawyer in a large firm setting, but I practice immigration law, which has very practice-specific requirements, including hundreds of unique forms and electronic filing on certain types of applications.

Immigration law's form and filing requirements can be handled two ways. The old way is with PDF forms or a database-driven forms program (I used Immigration Pro, based on FileMaker 7) and government agency websites for electronic filing. The new (not that new) way is with integrated tools that do everything from one application, or, in the newest versions, website.

I chose a program called LawLogix (there are competing products INSZoom and Immigration Tracker that do largely the same thing) that includes the usual synchronized calendars, contact management, and billing modules, but also conflict database, tools for monitoring case status within the government maze, and, most importantly, a database-driven forms component that is always up-to-date. Add messaging to that and a client page where applicants can fill in simple questionnaires from their homes (which are often overseas), download and upload PDF forms (which they can sign), and never have to fill out complicated government forms.

It saves time and effort; more importantly, it really takes the burden of computer technology off of the law office. I can access a client's file from an Internet café in Beijing and add a new petition, file an addendum, or check the status of his/her application without ever going near my Los Angeles office.

One more thing - being Web-based, its 100% platform neutral.

Not So Thin Clients

This brings me back to the smart terminal or "not-so-thin" client. My office has some pretty nice Mac hardware. My office manager has one of the last 20" G5 iMacs (iSight model) with a gigabyte of RAM that is fast and beautiful. My associate has the high-range G4 mini with the stealth 1.5 GHz upgrade, also with a gigabyte of RAM and a very nice Samsung 19" LCD connected through DVI.

I use the 13.3" black MacBook maxed out with two gigabytes of RAM (see Can Apple's Consumer MacBook Really Replace Two PowerBooks and a ThinkPad?). At home, my ancient Sawtooth Power Mac, upgraded with a 1 GHz processor and Quartz-Extreme capable nVidia graphics card, gives up very little to the newer hardware at the office.

What I do not have, however, is space to set up a bunch of extra desktop computers for the temporary paralegal help I often hire. I've got a cheap Compaq PC in my associate's office that I frequently put one to work on, and I'd usually put another to work on my 12" PowerBook in the conference room, but I was never comfortable putting a temporary employee (whom I really don't know) to work on one of my regular computers, which, except for the Compaq, are all rather expensive.

I also don't like crowding my associate with another body in her office.

Cheap Laptops

The solution was the "not-so-thin" client.

My conference table is huge, with six chairs and no crowding. When we get busy, we get very busy, and I've actually had six temps in at one time. With six people at the table, each with a laptop, everyone still has plenty of room for a few documents and a mouse. Four people make it almost like each having their own desk.

What I needed was a fleet of very cheap laptops capable of running a version of MS Word, Adobe Reader (required for the LawLogix software), and a modern secure Web browser.

Even with ten computers connected, my DSL connection is fast enough for LawLogix, which mostly transfers text and is designed with minimal screen graphics. This is brilliant, as in many places dialup is the only access, and, except for downloading large PDF forms, everything is very snappy even at 33.6 kbps - and 56k positively screams.

Clearly the laptop specifications were not too important, with the main requirements being low price, reliable hardware, the ability to run a modern OS, and a small footprint.

Low price means that each machine will cost no more than $300 including internal wireless and enough memory for the operating system, Word, a browser, and Adobe Reader. And finally, they must be quiet in use.

Internal wireless is essential, because I really don't want to worry about wireless PC cards walking away, and I just can't stand things protruding from a laptop.

2001 Dual-USB iBooks (500-600 MHz) were my first thought, but these tend to fetch about $400 when configured with an AirPort card, and I'm a bit afraid of the logic board issues.

A Windows Solution

I turned my attention to the Windows world and found what I consider the perfect not-so-thin clients. I bought three Toshiba Portégé®® 4000s, which varied in price between $200 and $300 each. I'll buy three more once I get this batch configured and know what parts (memory, hard drives, WiFi cards) I have either left over or that need to be replaced.

These machines have a 750 MHz Pentium III processor, accept up to 1 GB of RAM, and have a slot for an internal wireless card, which most of them came with. They have the same 12.1" screen size as the iBook (adequate), similarly small footprints, are very quiet even when the fans come on, and, most importantly, have outstanding keyboards.

Two of the machines have 256 MB of RAM, while the third has 512 MB. Since I configured these with Windows 2000 instead of XP (they all have dual 2000/XP certificates on the bottom), 256 MB is actually quite a lot.

One machine had a bad wireless card, so I bought a new Atheros 5000 "G" card on eBay, which is the same chipset Apple uses for its AirPort Extreme and is very sensitive and fast. Finally, all machines had 30 GB hard drives, though I replaced a noisy one with an 80 GB 5400 RPM TravelStar that came from my last PowerBook.

Microsoft Office 2000 and Internet Explorer 6 (Firefox takes too long to launch) both perform very well, as they should being the same age as the hardware.

The best of these machines is actually an extremely nice laptop even by modern standards and will do regular duty as my associate's travel machine, in addition to use by temps when the other five are in use. The magic of Norton Ghost makes them all extremely reliable, which I'll explain in a bit.

Back to the Portégé 4000s and Windows 2000. Two of these machines (and the next three I buy) are as minimally configured as can be. Yes, they have wireless Internet access. Yes, they are clean, quiet, and can run at least 30 minutes on their 4-5-year-old batteries.

What they don't have is anything at all that is not required for the work we do.

What they don't have is anything at all that is not required for the work we do. Most of the extras that Microsoft includes with Windows were removed. Those I couldn't find or don't know much about are just inaccessible, as I removed their icons from the Start menu. All that's left is Internet Explorer, the WiFi client, FireFox (in case of IE troubles), Adobe Reader, and Word.

While I have full versions of Office 2000, I installed only Word onto these, as nothing else is required by temps.

The best of these machines is much higher spec. I ordered a slot-loading DVD-RW (Pioneer DVR-K05) to replace the dead CD-ROM on one of the machines, and it went into this one. I included WinDVD-7 and a brand-new battery so my associate can enjoy in-flight movies. The full install of Microsoft Office 2000 and Windows 2000 keeps it fast and makes it almost as versatile as a modern machine.

Finally, with a fast 80 GB hard drive and 512 MB of RAM, she can keep multiple applications open at once and has room to store her personal files and her MP3 collection. This one is not a semi-thin client, but it has an image on its second partition to make it one very quickly.

The Ghost in the Machine

When I say that each machine has a 30 GB (or 80 GB) drive, that is a little deceptive. All of the hard drives are set up with two partitions, the primary at about 2/3 of the drive capacity and the secondary at 1/3. The 80 GB drive is partitioned evenly. The secondary partition on each computer stores an image created in Norton Ghost, and after the temps leave (usually after 3-4 days), I just boot each computer using an old Windows 98 CD and use the DOS version of Ghost (also on the secondary partition) to restore the image file, cleaning up any damage the temps may have done by viewing websites or playing online games when nobody was looking.

I don't bother with antivirus, anti-spyware or software firewall software....

I don't bother with antivirus, anti-spyware, or a software firewall software because at the end of two or three days, all of the machines will be wiped back to a pristine minimal install with nothing in the browser cache.

The high-spec machine has two Ghost images: the full load for my associate, which I can easily recreate if she installs many files or makes significant changes, and the minimal temp-hire image for when I put a temp in front of this particular laptop. At the end of the temp assignment, I just restore the full load disk image, and once again my associate has an excellent travel machine with four-hour real-world runtime (and 2:45 on the best of the old batteries), internal 802.11a/b/g wireless, and a weight of only 4.5 lb.

Not bad for a machine made back in 2001.

A Low-end Solution

What is most important about these is that the machine itself, and even the software on it, is almost unimportant. I could get away with Windows 95 or 98 on these, based on my disk-image strategy, but I prefer the added security of Windows 2000, since client data - though well protected in LawLogix - is in use.

With the the minimal software loads, these machines are extremely fast, and since they are not doing anything remotely taxing, they are extremely stable. In short, while only the LawLogix program is remote (thus these are not true thin clients), the programs that are local run very quickly and, in LawLogix (where most of the work is done) these are every bit as fast and stable as the newest PC or Mac would be.

For me, this is proof that sometimes the best tool for the job isn't necessarily the newest.

Mixing Macs and Windows PCs

To tie it into the Mac-orientation of Low End Mac and my regular column, I'll add that it's because of the outstanding Windows support built-into OS X that I can even think about using Windows machines in my Mac office.

Each of these computers has a share folder on its hard drive that I can access from any of our Macs to both deposit (write) or copy (read) files. This makes it very easy to give each temp a checklist created in Word 2004 Mac (which opens perfectly in Word 2000 for Windows) of what he or she needs to do for the day, all of the supporting PDF and Word documents required, and an easy way for me to retrieve completed work to my Mac. Of course, much of the completed work stays in LawLogix with no copying or pasting required.

Finally, the front office iMac, which functions as our file server and is connected to the scanner, also has the share folders of each Windows machine on its desktop. My office manager can scan documents directly to any of the computers on the network, Mac or PC, with little or no trouble.

It couldn't be easier.