Forum Discussion

westend's avatar
westend
Explorer
May 09, 2015

New toys from a geek friend

Awhile back, in a thread about displays and monitors I said, "Maybe if I get wealthy, I'll have a touch screen for displays of everything".

Well, I didn't hit the lottery but a geeky friend of mine gave me a call today and offered me this cool little small form factor PC with a touchscreen.



I plan to install this in my rig and have it hooked up to the solar controller, at a minimum. That will allow me to monitor power harvest and play with MSView without having to pull my laptop off the desk in the shop. I know it sounds trivial but I have a keyboard and separate screen connected to the laptop and having to disconnect all the wires and configure settings in and out is a pain.

This little Shuttle Flex ATX PC has a lan card, DVD player, and DVI/VGA outputs so it could be part of my entertainment gear, too. I'm sort of clueless about how folks get a better internet connection in an RV so any advice on that would be appreciated.

I haven't hooked it up to the inverter yet but I'm assuming the draw won't be anything the inverter can't handle.

It pays to have some geeky friends, thanks Chuck!
  • jrnymn7's avatar
    jrnymn7
    Explorer
    May 09, 2015
    Seek, and ye shall find. Ask, and ye shall receive.

    (don't ya just love king jameth english?)

    nice score!
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    May 09, 2015
    Met an RVer who got his receiver/antenna/booster from "3Gstore" Maybe they call it 4G by now, but that store had what he needed for better 4G in his DP.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    May 09, 2015
    jplante4 wrote:
    This guy has some info on improving you internet in an RV

    http://www.outsideourbubble.com
    Thanks, those solutions seem adequate and fairly inexpensive. Do you use the products he recommends?

    At the moment, I deploy two mast mounted antennas so the Nanostation could be mounted to one of them. In the future I may wish to change that since it involves extra steps for setup and removal. I'm wondering how the receiver works inside the aluminum shell of an RV, even when attached to a window. Do most folks mount these wifi receivers indoors or is there a better mounting scheme?
  • pnichols's avatar
    pnichols
    Explorer II
    May 09, 2015
    The trouble with touchscreens on larger screens is the arm fatique and longer selection time.

    I much prefer my Bluetooth connected wireless mouse set on high motion speed. Just a slight twitching of the wrist sends the point anywhere on any size screen in a flash. This combination is way faster and convenient than when I have to flip a finger around on even the relatively small DW's 7 inch iPAD screen ... let alone flipping my finger and/or arm around on a large screen.

    IMHO, touch screens are way over-rated for general use. They're something you have to put up with on small mobile device screens and on automobile dash screens, but otherwise - save them for the wow factor on CSI NY episodes and Sci-Fi movies.
  • jplante4's avatar
    jplante4
    Explorer II
    May 09, 2015
    westend wrote:
    jplante4 wrote:
    This guy has some info on improving you internet in an RV

    http://www.outsideourbubble.com
    Thanks, those solutions seem adequate and fairly inexpensive. Do you use the products he recommends?


    It's on the TODO list. Last year we thought we'd be working from the road, but it appears we'll both be retired by the end of this year, so a good reliable internet connection is less important now. Also, I'll be dumping Sprint and the hotspot I have with them and going to Verizon.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    May 09, 2015
    jplante4 wrote:
    westend wrote:
    jplante4 wrote:
    This guy has some info on improving you internet in an RV

    http://www.outsideourbubble.com
    Thanks, those solutions seem adequate and fairly inexpensive. Do you use the products he recommends?


    It's on the TODO list. Last year we thought we'd be working from the road, but it appears we'll both be retired by the end of this year, so a good reliable internet connection is less important now. Also, I'll be dumping Sprint and the hotspot I have with them and going to Verizon.

    Thanks, good luck and happy travels in your retirement years!

    Touch screen--smuch screen, I could care less. There is some intrinsic efficiency in having one mounted for controlling or accessing some devices. Dedicating it in a location close to the device is what I'm thinking. It just happens that the gift came in one package and the Flex ATX box has functionality beyond just using it for one device. There are VGA/DVI output jacks and I plan to connect to my 32" screen. I actually am still trying to get used to a display of that size and the ergonomics of sitting 6' from the screen. I spent too much time hunched over a CRT 15" screen in the olden days, I guess. :B
  • wclement1248's avatar
    wclement1248
    Explorer
    May 09, 2015
    I use his solution just as described and it works well. The key thing to remember is that your internet will only be as good as the bandwidth provided by the park. I rarely find a park with good service. Too many people trying to stream video and audio. I am usually connected to my Verizon hotspot through the lan. David's video will step you through the whole process.

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