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Mounting a laptop computer in a 4wd

Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 10:24

Greg

Can anyone please help with suggestions for mounting a laptop computer either in front of the passenger or in the centre console area of a 4wd. I would imagine some form of cushioning will be required to prevent vibrations. Protection from the sun may also be needed. Sitting it on a pillow on the passengers lap or the seat does not meet my requirements.
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AnswerID: 16767   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 11:05

Phil G replied:

Mine is mounted on a stalk between the front seats above and behind the centre console. I prefer not to have it in front of me. Can see it from both sides. On top of the stalk, I have mounted a piece of ply, glued car carpet to it and I use velcro to attach the laptop. Sits well and the carpet/velcro is solid while giving some vibration protection.
Reply 1 of 11
FollowupID: 10388   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 13:13

ExplorOz Team - David posted:

Phil,

How have you mounted the stalk and what is it made from?Regards ExplorOz Team - David -------------------------- Always working, not enough travelling ;-)
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 10418   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 20:53

Phil G posted:

David,

The stalk is a single piece of 20mm RHS steel. It "sits" on the hump in the middle of the Prado's back seat and is secured to one of the big bolts for the rear seat. One bolt removes it. In the event of a collision, I anticipate it would fold down and forward, but don't plan on testing that!

I also fit a cage for extra water and fuel instead of the 2nd row of seats and the laptop can also attach to that. I've emailed some photos to info@exploroz

Cheers

Phil
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 16772   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 12:51

Pilbara Lad replied:

This just has to be an opportunity/market for the budding entrepeneurs out there.Do or Do Not - there is no try !
Reply 2 of 11
FollowupID: 10410   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 19:52

Member - Willem posted:

Hi Pilbara Lad...........Just how many owners does this vehicle have as I seen it with Coops, Allyn and ? Just wonderingCheers, Willem
Never a dull moment
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 10505   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 21:41

Allyn (Pilbara) posted:

I have an identity problem, that's for sure !Do or Do Not - there is no try !
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 16775   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 13:02

Member - Glenn(VIC) replied:

Greg,

I am in the same boat as you. If anyone has any photos of how they have done it could the email them or direct me to any sites that have examples.Just Do It!
Reply 3 of 11
FollowupID: 10393   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 14:21

Member - Peter (WA) posted:

me to please re photos phewitson@westnet.com.auBorn to drive a 4x4 , not a keyboard Peter York 4x4
FollowUp 1 of 1
AnswerID: 16782   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 13:52

Member - Lex replied:

Mounting a laptop is very difficult and time consuming.Ihad partial success with a tray mounted in the central storage bin of a L/C 100 series but there is less room between the seats in a Patrol.

I gave up trying and bought a Ipaq handheld which mounts beautifully on the dash in front of me with velcro. Runs OziExplorer CE.Great screen with little or no reflection.Keep the PC tucked away for occasions when tou need to downlooad other maps etc.
Reply 4 of 11
AnswerID: 16787   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 14:51

Member - Moggs replied:

afternoon all, do you mean something like this....http://members.optusnet.com.au/ark000/Navigator%20mobile%20desk.htm
Reply 5 of 11
AnswerID: 16788   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 15:02

Member - Colin (ACT region) replied:

A friend has his laptop mounted in a frame in the centre just behind the front seats. The frame sits between the roof and the top of his 160 litre aluminium aux. fuel tank (which replaces the rear seats)! He has the full set of 1:250 000 topo maps loaded which is connected to the GPS so you can see the moving picture in the rear view mirror. The unit slides out easily so you can use it out of the car. I dont believe he has had any trouble with dust or vibration, althogh the GPS played up on our CSR trip in 2001 (a set of paper maps is a good idea for these remote trips!). This setup is in a Subaru Liberty - of course!Colin - Subaru Forester - size isn't everything ! -
Reply 6 of 11
FollowupID: 10439   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 08:52

Outnabout David (SA) posted:

Colin,
If you are looking through the rear view mirror aren't all the maps back to front?We have so little time to enjoy our land
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 10453   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 11:38

Member - Colin (ACT region) posted:

? mekborp a taht sIColin - Subaru Forester
- size isn't everything ! -
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 16789   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 15:11

Member - Moggs replied:

another site worth a look.... http://www.ram-mount.com/laptopcomp.htm
Reply 7 of 11
AnswerID: 16795   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 15:55

Grinner replied:

I had mine sitting on a board on the front passenger seat. I moulded the bottom of the board to sit flush with the contours of the seat (used thin mdf) and covered the top of the board with vinyl. I used some of those plastic clips that hold window flywire screens in place to hold the laptop on the board. Set the laptop on an angle so that you could see the screen just by glancing down at it.

I now have someone sitting in my front passenger seat (yippee!) and need to think of another way. Ideally I'd like to mount the laptop somewhere out of the way (under the seat or infront of the cargo barrier) and use a small 5 or 6 inch LCD screen mounted somewhere on the dash. Any ideas where I can find these screens relativley cheap?
Reply 8 of 11
AnswerID: 16817   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 20:04

Member - Raymond replied:

Hi Greg
I am 3/4 of the way through installing the laptop in the GU. As I am using it mainly for moving maps with the gps I have mounted the Laptop in a pocket made for marine ply (overkill but I had some lying around) which is lined with marine carpet with extra foam at the bottom. The pocket has cut outs for the cables and for the fan. The front of the pocket only comes up half way so that the battery does not get hot. The IBM is powered of a 300 watt inverter. The screen is a dropdown LCD screen mounted on the roof.
Will load up photo's next week. (Truckster where are you) for you to look at. I will probably have to send them through to David at ExplorOZ
Raywanderin' in retirement. victor 2010
Reply 9 of 11
FollowupID: 10419   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 03, 2003 at 20:56

Member - Peter (WA) posted:

Raymond I have just ordered a laptop (my first) Iam new to computer stuff what is LCD screen ? is it seperate from main laptop ? how much does it cost ? and how does it plug into the laptop ? I am thinking of a screen that I saw for running DVDs in the car am I right or way off track ? also what are the advantages of this system? SO MANY QUESTIONS SO LITTLE TIME???????Born to drive a 4x4 , not a keyboard
Peter York 4x4
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AnswerID: 16848   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 01:02

Member - Allan replied:

Greg, the in-dash stereo / TV units have now come down in price and most have aux inputs that you could use with your laptop. The laptop could stay tucked away in a safe place. Other bonus it can be used to play DVD's for those travelling with young ones. Mine is an Alpine system and I plug the video camera into the aux input to view/playback. Marlows do quite a cheap in-dash as well.
Reply 10 of 11
FollowupID: 10451   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 11:30

Janset posted:

Hi guys.

I was talking to another guy about a remote LCD screen but he said that he went into it only to find that he could not display the OziExplorer moving map program on the remote LCD screen. Apparently it had something to do with the pixels.

Are you saying that it can be done and it does work?

Regards
FollowUp 1 of 4
FollowupID: 10466   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 14:16

Greg posted:

Thanks to all who have replied. I certainly like the idea of using a remote screen. After posting the question I found professional moving arm units with photos on www.motiontouch.com but not sure if anything similar is available in oz.
FollowUp 2 of 4
FollowupID: 10472   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 15:36

Member - Bob posted:

I just picked up a Samsung 15 " flat screen from Hardly Normal for $540 and am just in the process of fitting it in the vehicle at the moment. It definitely works with the laptop (Toshiba) running Oziexplorer. The original stand attaches to the monitor by way of 4 screws. With this removed it is a matter of fabricating a plate attached to a swivel arm and then locating its base on the dash somewhere. The swivel arm came from a light fitting and cost $20 (I wanted an iMac arm but they kept watching me in the store). I'll photograph it when complete.
FollowUp 3 of 4
FollowupID: 10520   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 23:29

Member - Allan posted:

Janset, I have not used the moving map software but I can not see why it would be a problem. The remote screen looks the same as what is on the main screen (spreadsheets included) so I assume it would work. Anyone else experienced any problems before I fork out $ for any software or maps?
FollowUp 4 of 4
AnswerID: 16928   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 15:32

Janset replied:

Hi Allan.

I have OziExplorer on my laptop and have just wired up my iPAQ 3870 PDA to replace the laptop as it is more convenient for me.

Getting back to your question. If you can run any other program on your laptop and view it on your external monitor screen then I can see no problems that you might experience with the OxiExplorer program running 'moving maps', after all it is nothing ,more that just another program.

My concern was that the external screen (your proposal) was not compatible with a PC/Laptop as the resolution may be different.

Enjoy your 'Moving Map" program, its a ripper!

Regards
Reply 11 of 11