# Computers & Rv's



## 9873 (Aug 7, 2009)

Newbies, David and Karen here. Great stuff on this site--thanks for all of the info. We have a 230RS and are wondering if anyone has experience with desktop computers and how they hold up when traveling with the trailer? Also, has anyone ever installed an IMac in place of the TV? We'll be snow-birding this winter in the Outback and would like to take the computer but space is at a premium. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Welcome...Welcome...Welcome.

Glad you found us.








The computer will be fine. Just lay it on the bed while you travel.


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## RLP14 (Jun 18, 2009)

[sup][/sup]WELCOME!!!![sub][/sub]









The computer answer for us is a laptop. And we do lay them on the bed when we travel.

HAPPY CAMPING!!!!!


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

I would think a Laptop would hold up a lot better than a desktop. They are made to take some bumping and moving around and even puttiing the tower on the bed you are going to get a lot of moment. I'm not sure how an iMac is put together, but my Dell would not last long on the road. Besides that, a laptop is easily stored many places, small enough to not be in the way and if you want to, you can hook it up to the flatscreen with a wireless mouse and keyboard so you can kick back and compute all you want. They only way I would take a desktop is if I was going to one or two places and stay, even then you my have to open the case and reset boards and memory. The big problem is the hard drive, if it has not been shut down correctly, you can loss everything. We are looking at going on the road is a few years and for some of the graphics and movie things I do on my computer, I really need to have more power than I could get out of most laptops, but I also know that a $1600 Dell would not last long out on the road.

Good luck any way you go. I'm looking at the new verizon mini router so I can use my laptop, my netbook, and my PDA all at the same time.


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

David n Karen said:


> Newbies, David and Karen here. Great stuff on this site--thanks for all of the info. We have a 230RS and are wondering if anyone has experience with desktop computers and how they hold up when traveling with the trailer? Also, has anyone ever installed an IMac in place of the TV? We'll be snow-birding this winter in the Outback and would like to take the computer but space is at a premium. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


I just stick with my laptop, I had a mac pro tower that I had out with me a few times to do some work. The tower seemed to hold up ok between travels (i kept it over the axles so the bouncing was kept to a minimum.) It is just easier to work off the laptop though. it took up less space and allowed me to "work" outdoors.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

We carried a desktop computer this summer and had no issues with it. We connected it to our 26" lcd tv and could review pictures we took during the trip. Just don't leave it on while you drive and you should be fine.


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## Dave_CDN (Sep 13, 2007)

We use a laptop and have had no issue with it.

The common issue you may encounter is cards "wiggling" loose from the PCI slots. If the PC is a newer model they are typically manufactured as tool-less PCI connectors (meaning a locking bar secures the cards in place). There are also some great shipping cases available that provide extra protection.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Nathan said:


> Just don't leave it on while you drive and you should be fine.


I always leave my laptop on - at least the one mounted inside the cab of my truck, I use it for:

GPS navigation
finding campsites, restaurants, anything
plays MP3's loaded onto the harddrive or thumbdrive
instantly find out about anything that piques my interest along the way
stores photos we've taken
send and receive email
allows the passenger to watch movies


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

I'd advise a laptop, stored on the bed or in your TV while traveling. I've seen it posted here that your trailer bounces around to the tune of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, so I don't know how long a desktop computer would take that scenario. You could store it on the bed, too, but you'll be moving it every time you go camping and hooking it up and unhooking it every time you want to use it.

A laptop is MUCH easier (and it contains a Wi-Fi receiver to pull in the Wi-Fi signal that a lot of campgrounds supply for free these days).

Just my opinion.

Mike


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## 9873 (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks for all of your input. I was concerned that the desktop would not hold up under the vibration, but I was hoping that I could figure out some way to take it since laptops are just not that good for photo editing. I'll try the suggestion of hooking up the laptop to the HDTV and see what that looks like. Again, we appreciate your help, Karen


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

raynardo said:


> Just don't leave it on while you drive and you should be fine.


I always leave my laptop on - at least the one mounted inside the cab of my truck, I use it for:

GPS navigation
finding campsites, restaurants, anything
plays MP3's loaded onto the harddrive or thumbdrive
instantly find out about anything that piques my interest along the way
stores photos we've taken
send and receive email
allows the passenger to watch movies
[/quote]
Yes, laptops are designed to be more tolerant of motion.


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

David n Karen said:


> Thanks for all of your input. I was concerned that the desktop would not hold up under the vibration, but I was hoping that I could figure out some way to take it since laptops are just not that good for photo editing. I'll try the suggestion of hooking up the laptop to the HDTV and see what that looks like. Again, we appreciate your help, Karen


Well I do photo editing and graphics and I only work on my laptop. Of course the laptop has a 17" screen and has a bluetooth mouse connected while working on that stuff. I have this nice mac pro tower, and all I use that for is handling the printing on the large format printer and cutting on the large format die cutter.


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## Cj45 (Jan 22, 2005)

Anything we put on the slide out bed while traveling gets bounced around pretty thoroughly. I wouldn't put anything on there that I wouldn't mind finding on the floor after a bumpy road. I'd second the suggestion of a good shipping case.


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## BritsOnTour (Sep 15, 2006)

We are on the road for a year and have a desktop and laptops. The desk top is used as the server. Dh built a wooden cabinet for it with sponge, which also houses the printer and other 'boxes' (direct tv, etc - I'm looking at it now and there are 4 but don't know what they're all for, I think one is for the satellite internet!). The whole wooden box thing moves onto the floor for travel and up on the counter at the end of the 'kitchen' when we're stopped (we have a 28rsds). It's survived well thus far and we've had a few bumpy roads.

Left to my own devices, it would of course be laptops all the way but I agree, I much prefer editing on the desk top than a lap top - maybe an external mouse and external screen would be the answer - we do that at home for one of our laptops - kind of makes it a desktop without the tower, just a thought.

Ali


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## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

And regarding the second question - we have an iMac as the kids' DVD player in the back of the 300BH. It was basically extra here at the house (a used one given to us by the grandparents for the kids, but the kids use their PC.) So instead of buying a spare TV back there just so they could watch movies before bed, we put the Mac. Works like a champ. When we're moving, I just set it on the floor between the sofa/bed and the wall. The design is bottom-heavy so it doesn't tip or move.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

ZHB said:


> And regarding the second question - we have an iMac as the kids' DVD player in the back of the 300BH.


On that same track, we have a regular TV with built-in DVD player in the living area, but I put my laptop with its 17" screen on the shelf opposite the bed in the bedroom and use it to watch TV. I've got a PCMCIA card in it that's a TV tuner, and with it's built-in sleep timer, it's great.

This saves me from having to purchase a second TV for the bedroom, and since the laptop is battery powered, I can watch TV or DVD's without shore power.

When we're traveling, I lay the laptop on the middle of the queen bed.


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