laptop stand

hi maureen and david,

our lemaire washing machine held a king size doonah cover but only that. we used ours on a daily basis whilst living in the van full time and it more than adequately coped with the washing load for a busy working couple.

as for the laptop stands, try this link:

http://www.jottodesk.net/jotto_desk_laptop_desk.htm

it's an american site but i see they do them for the Effie's.

Brian Fox also had a good arrangement for sitting his laptop on the console between driver and passenger. There are photos around somewhere but perhaps he will read this and get back to you. it was mainly a board and velcro that he used to secure his.

angie

re using laptop with GPS - I have also wanted to do this, but can't find a satisfactory solution to mounting the laptop. You will also need a power adaptor to the cig lighter, as it is almost impossible to read a laptop screen in a car when it is running on batteries at reduced intensity.

The 60C would be a Garmin portable unit, great for both in-vehicle and walking or fishing. We actually have the 60C - go to Garmin website to compare differences.

A couple of recommendations:

1) If you are going to use it in-car a lot, then be sure to get the City Navigator map upgrade. The standard maps are fairly basic.

2) The most recent version is City Navigator 5.0, don't get old stock 4.0 version

3) It is a bit of pain to install the map upgrade to the GPS and to the laptop - I am fairly tech savvy but found their "unlock" procedure very difficult and time consuming. I would strongly suggest you get the dealer to do the installs as part of the deal (be sure to get your unlock code in case you change computers at a later date).

Phil

To enable the laptop to be seen, it could face one way for say passenger or driver and the other have a 2nd display such as a lilliput lcd screen which could even have a reversing camera feed going into it.

Some use touch lilliput screens so that they can give basic instructions to the computer without fumbling with keyboards. Others use a wireless mouse for the same purpose.

http://www.bitdistribution.com.au/?stg=47

I have seen photos on the forum of a laptop table attached to the panic handle of a LC but don't know if it works for a F250.

http://www.exploroz.com/OntheRoad/Navigation/GPS_MovingMap.asp

If your F250 has the centre console, I believe some velcro the laptop to the lid of the console and some use a notebook type computer that allows you have the screen on the outside and all folded up.

Personally, I take a laptop for photos, fuel charts etc and for indepth navigation (but when staionary) and use a PDA for my onroad navigation screen.

Cheers
Alan

we use an iPaq HX2190 $469
unless your laptop has a daylight screen it is next to useless
the iPaq is a daylight screen and can be placed in a position you do not have to take your eyes off the road. iPaq also has easily used touch screen
the mounts for the PDA to fit your specific vehicle are obtainable from
http://www.neovox.com/products/clicon.html

We are off to NZ for 3 weeks so will have lots to think about with the replies to our GPS questions. Many thanks for all the input you have given us. I hope it will all become clearer when we get a chance to go into a GPS business and have some demos and actually see the products available.
There is so much to learn and become familiar with and really appreciate the help from people on this forum.
Cheers from Nu Zillun.
Maureen and David

Just back after 2 weeks in the van.

In our F250 we have the Garmin Street Pilot III which gives all the highways and navigation to addresses etc. We turn this on almost everytime that we drive the vehicle and have it powered from auxilary battery so that it can stay on while ignition is not on. This can be linked to the Laptop to give a bigger viewing screen.

We also have TrackRanger maps on the lap top that is linked to a seperate GPS as the settings to transfer information for TrackRanger and Street Pilot maps are different and it is fiddly changing the settings to change programs, much easier to just change a lead over, and I had both GPS's anyway.

The F250 has a large centre consol where we can place the lap top and it is easily viewed from driver or passenger seat depending on which direction it is placed, and secured by Velcro.

The TrackRanger maps are really only a toy for most driving, and are only really of any value when you are in remote areas where Topographic maps are the only maps available of the area, and they show you where all the features and wells etc are, while ploting your position and GPS grid references as you move.

I haven't scene the ExplorOz mapping but everyone that I have spoken to who has seen both says that it is far superior to TrackRanger.
ALL Mapping programs are only as good as the Updated maps that are loaded into them, and you need to keep updating maps regularly. Some of the Topographics maps that we have in TrackRanger are up to 20 years old in areas like the Kimberley, but not much changes in that area anyway.

If your vehicle doesn't have a suitable flat surface between the driver and passenger to place the Laptop then the only option would be for the passenger to have it on their lap while in remote tracks.

I will be away again from Monday so will not be able to reply again for a couple of weeks.

Brian

Try this

http://www.4wddevelopments.com.au/computer.html

cheers
mick