Jeniko Laptop Mount Install

[1leglance]

So my laptop mount is in...
I have to say that this mount from Jeniko.com is the best thing going for $50 and worth twice that easily. I looked at the Ram mounts...the part that holds the laptop was too thick. Nothing else out there really grabed me until I saw Jeniko's website. They do have a "no drill" mount but I wasn't sure about clearance in front of the seat bolts and if you have looked at any pics or seen my FJC in person you know I am not afraid to drill a hole somewhere.

The mount went in super easy and as you will see in my pics the only mod's I did were to shorten the swing arm since it looked like it might hit the dash... and to angle the underside of the swingarm for the sake of the passengers leg...I will more than likely email a pic to Jeniko since I think that angle would be something that would help anyone.

Figure 2 hours for install only if you mod it like I did, otherwise less than 1 hr.

I did a desert night run and really pounded on some washes and whoops and the mount held my very heavy Toughbook without any trouble. Yeah it wiggles a touch but nothing serious. If you were really concerned Jeniko has a leg brace that goes to a seat bolt that would help.
Check out the pics and feel free to ask any questions you have.
http://blairsite.com/Gallery/Laptop-Mount-Install

[Prof T]

Nice work. Great price too.

[Shadow-Warrior]

Nice work Lance, I have the Ram no hole drill mount. I got the very first one for an FJ, I had to MOD it too. The post was about 5 inches to long. I paid 5 times what you did, I should have looked into those. Nice work.

[1leglance]

I almost went with the Ram mount but the thickness of the part that holds the laptop really bothered me...
1 advantage of having lots of free time working nights is that I can really search the net which is how I found jeniko.com...funny thing is I never found any istalls on sites...
So hopefully this will get the word out...the company was easy to deal with, fast shipping and a great price considering the heavy duty alum they use.
It also looks like you can mix and match parts to let you create your own install setup.
I hope someone goes for the "no drill" mount since I would like to hear if it does fit the FJC ok.
I forgot to mention it adj very easily up & down and swings towards me and holds well.
Also the tilt can be adj to your preference

[DokumentAMarble]

aw man the warping of the liner in this pic doesn't look so great. Other than that i kinda like it.

[twc13]

What do you plan to use th laptop in your rig for? I have a GPS unit and am thinking of doing a laptop for additiional functionality. Any thoughtss on that?

[1leglance]

The warping in the floor liner is my fault more than anything...I have been into it many times running various cable setups for cb, ham, power, laptop and more...I more studious person could more than likely get a cleaner install.....

The laptop serves the following functions in order:
gps running oziexplorer and iguidance
video recording from bumper/roofrack/backup camera (soon to install)
dvd's for the kids
music for me thru the aux audio port
empty the camera when full
burn disk of pics of runs for everyone when BS'ing at the end (gotta remember blank disk)
hold pdf's of service manual and other goodies I might want on the trail or for reference
access the internet thru my pda/phone with unlmtd access plan
access wifi when near...going to add external antenna for this
soon to use with the ham radio and gps for aprs which tracks location
too cool tech factor!!!!

[Air2air]

1leglance I couldn't believe how helpful out laptop was for trail runs. You have a bunch of good ideas there too. Didn't think of the video recording from the cam - that is COOL. What software should I look at for that?

I got an AirCard and added that cell number to our existing cell plan. Works awesome. I see you're doing that thru the phone; good idea. I found having Web everywhere makes such a vast difference when you are doing trips with the kids. We were able to not only learn everything about what we were looking at, we could find so much in the surrounding areas that we would not have known about without a Web connection. There is literally something to see every 5 miles, even throughout the Southwest.

I use TopoUSA which looks pretty similar to ozi. Have saved waypoints so that they're clickable and it brings a webpage about it, for instance a particular ghost town.

What I am currently hoping for is a way to use Google Earth in this setup so that I can get the much superior maps. But Frogeye has done a lot of work on that.

[1leglance]

I am still learning on the camera thing...
I am picking the brain of Andii - sdlsatcom since the setup he was running at the summit was ubercool...roofrack camera into a very small tablet!
Want I really want is a front bumper camera that will let me see the decent as I peak a hillclimb! After that I would like roofrack camera for run recording and backup to make sure I don't drop off a switchback

My only issues right now are regarding the toughbook..
I went for a older cheapie off of ebay for ruggedness but the 30gig HD and wgt are a real factor...
After I watch other folks HD's I will more than likely upgrade the laptop to something with more HD/RAM and lighter...

Andii is also working on setting us AZ folks up with rolling wifi for Carrie our Hearing Impaired FJer so we can can trail texting to keep her in the comm loop...That will be an extra bonus for me as it will increase my wifi range around town.

I agree about roving internet...I have sprint (changing to verizon this week I think) with unlimtd net access thru usb cable into my pda/phone and I get great speeds...

On the google earth issue it is still a bandwith problem...I hope that with the verizon switch and the faster network they are supposed to have I might be up to running google maps (which can be a pretty good option vs GE)

The other thing I like about this mount is that I can just spin the large knob on the swingarm and take the arm/table off with laptop velcro'd and no theft issue.

Oh and lastly I have to say I am much happier using my thumb trackball for input (velcro'd on pass side of shifter, will get a pic) than the touchpad!
When my 16yr old drives & I navigate I place it on the door and it works great bouncing around.

I will update as I put more mileage on this setup

[SpeshulEd]

you can buy rugged external hard drives too, might be a cheaper option then buying a whole new laptop. upgrading ram in a laptop is easy too, as long as the laptop can accept it, some lappies max out at 512 or 1gb if they're older.

if you were opposed to using external hdds, you could always ghost the current 30 to a bigger drive too.