Home Grown Laptop Mount

[frogeye]

I'd like to thank all the people who contributed in this stimulating thread. I gained from both the positive and the negative feedback, and the suggestions and choices that were presented. I understand all the concerns and appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I've apologized to Bostonian for getting huffy puffy too.

If you don't like my idea that's great! Congratulations.

But now I've got people analyizing the use of animated gifs in my posts. I'm going to react any fuggin way I want to. In person, I'd say whatever I wanted to say as well. Here, let me give those that like to analyize something else to ponder on.... m!n,

[Captain Steve]

All in all this is a very good thread and it demonstrates that value of this forum. Frogeye offered a new idea that worked for him but many others thought it was ill-conceived, if not simply flawed (for safety reasons).

After some criticism and verbal sparring , more light was shown on the matter. NoisyCow pointed to an alternative on Ebay and then others started making suggestions for improvement so that Frogeye's idea might better work for them (sounds like progress is being made ). Sort of like as much as I love my '71 FJ40, my FJC is a whole lot easier and more comfortable and safer to drive.

Frogeye himself took some of those suggestions to make the mount better for himself.

Well done guys, good recovery. We're all better off if we are more patient. And better off we we make suggestions with the intent to improve and not tear down. It also helps if we had thicker skins, but didn't have to have that skin but to the test as much. So let's end this one and go have a beer. See you in Ouray.

[Gadget@URD]

Very nicely done.

I have been a big fan of Jotto Desk computer mounts. I have used them in my work car for years and I get Internet access by tethering my BlackBerry to the pc with a USB cable.

JottoDesk

They do not have a base mount specific to the FJ yet. They are located in AR so I am sure if one of you wanted to stop by they could whip one up or see of the Tacoma base will fit the FJ.

The way these mount is that the base mounts under the seat track mounting bolts. Then the arm mounts to the base. The arm assembly can be removed very quickly from the base and stowed away when not needed.

Gadget

[Prof T]

frogeye previously said:

Well, I would have posted this yesterday but I was not feeling very well. I've finished my laptop mount project for the FJC. The laptop is running my GPS and GoogleEarth. Before anyone rips on them ( like you ripped on my lens covers ), I want you to remember that my goal was to shoot for functionality and not looks. Also, I only used materials from my garage. Some aluminum scrap metal, nuts and bolts, some steel, and the most important part, VELCRO! I only had to pay for the velcro and that was less then $5.00.

I must say that it works fantastic and is very rigid. I want to thank Air2air for the great idea of using the rounded area of the dash as a top anchor for the rest of the mount. Mine is not as cool as his, but it works great. Passengers have plenty of knee room and the air bag is not covered.

If you notice a blue and black box on the lefthand passenger side, those are an DC to AC power inverter, and the laptop's charger/powersupply.

If you need any dimensions just PM me. Very cheap to make and works great.

Nice work.

[bone3412]

very cool mount, Im looking to put a laptop mount in my FJC, to use when wheeling, but mine is cause Im in the process of building a 4 camera webcam system that is mounted on my roofrack, one on each side of the car. the cams will feed into the laptop and record, so I can make vids for my own enjoyment and for friends in front or in back. one idea for you, my friend has a similar setup in his jeep that he made himself, but he has it hinged and the bottom so it can swing downwards and be facing the floor. then he wired them to the airbag sensors. they are setup so that if something hits him and releases the airbag before it deploys the hinges release and the laptop swings down to keep it from getting bashed by the airbag and in turn giving the passenger a face full of Macbook. just a thought for you if ya wanna get technical and creative, also to silence some critics. but in the end all that matters is what you want, intend and are happy with, its your FJ man do with it as you please.

[frogeye]

The killer laptop mount strikes back. I just ran Truckhaven and the mounts worked great. My Dell continues to cut the mustard and pump out the Delorme Topos. I've been very happy with this setup. I finally found a use for the Cooper Tire bag that I won at Calico 07. Everything breaks down fast and fits in the bag.

Why would you want to use a laptop? Well, it's so nice to look
at a huge screen while you're looking at a topo or viewing your progress on a road trip. I've got internet wifi access and could easily add a cellular card. I've got my music collection, a DVD player for movies, and it's portable. I've even have Pacman, Space Invaders, Missle Command, Asteroids, Battletank, Donkey Kong....The list goes on and on.

[frogeye]

Here is a pick for all of you people who think a laptop might be what you want to run your GPS, instead of looking at a tiny screen on a hand held.

[HITMAN]

I like it, anybody have a variation to turn it towards the driver so that he can easily lean over?

[frogeye]

HITMAN previously said:

I like it, anybody have a variation to turn it towards the driver so that he can easily lean over?

Ya there are some different mounts if you look back in this thread. I made this and my arms are long so it works for me. That is a picture from my drivers view so it's not hard at all to look at while driving. I just love the big screen, my MP3s and DVDs etc. The Delorme Topo USA software works great after you learn how to use it. Good luck.

[sonof40]

Has anyone tried splicing a signal from an aftermarket unit antenna (DN1700 in my case) to the laptop? I use both GPS units and want to try using one antenna for both.