Has anyone added a computer desk?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
There are some very fine examples of craftsmanship and even more good ideas in this thread.

My wife and I are new to camping in general and we have lived 6 months or so in our motorhome and we are still finding the learning curve quite steep. Listening to the "renovation" projects overwhelm us because we can't identify the things we can give up in the motor home and then finding a replacement that better fits our needs.

And then of course the "weight Bogeyman" is waiting, waiting for us to become complacent! But our computer/office desk/file storage is in the planning stage.

Thank goodness we found this RV campground in the Hill Country of Texas near San Antonio, beautiful site on the Guadelupe River, fantastic owners and staff with a great attitude and a friendly group of other"winter Texans" willing to welcome a Saskatchewan couple into their coffee circle, card night and potluck suppers.

I expressed our needs, the Park owner took 3 of his employees over to look the situation over and another camper helped out and our unit is being built this weekend.

Life is great.
 
Can't help much here as our MH came with a computer (laptop) slide on the navigator side
 
This is an old thread but I thought I would add my computer desk.  When I picked up the coach I gave the sofa bed to the service staff for thier lounge because I knew I wanted a full size computer desk in that location.  I went to Office depot and bought a full size business desk and installed it in the sofa location.  I did put some wood strips under the feet to allow it to fit and to make it level.  I used three monitors, two 17 inch normal Gateway wall mounted monitors and a large center mounted Toshiba flat screen entertainment monitor.  I also duplicated this setup in the Stacker trailer, but that was primarily for games, videos, and Directv.  The setup in the Stacker was stripped out when the rig was stolen and the stacker was bare when recovered.  The monitors in the coach were also gone but the desk remained.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/HueyPilotVN/002-43.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/HueyPilotVN/012-20.jpg
 
HueyPilotVN said:
This is an old thread but I thought I would add my computer desk.  When I picked up the coach I gave the sofa bed to the service staff for thier lounge because I knew I wanted a full size computer desk in that location.  I went to Office depot and bought a full size business desk and installed it in the sofa location.  I did put some wood strips under the feet to allow it to fit and to make it level.  I used three monitors, two 17 inch normal Gateway wall mounted monitors and a large center mounted Toshiba flat screen entertainment monitor.  I also duplicated this setup in the Stacker trailer, but that was primarily for games, videos, and Directv.  The setup in the Stacker was stripped out when the rig was stolen and the stacker was bare when recovered.  The monitors in the coach were also gone but the desk remained.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/HueyPilotVN/002-43.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/HueyPilotVN/012-20.jpg

I'm sorry for your loss. That had to be heartbreaking.

I like the desk setup; it's not far from what I have in mind when I get my trailer. Any guesses on how much weight all that added to the slide?
 
    Over 15 or so years ago and 4 rigs with dinette's - I finally found one with a table and chairs instead. As a solo rver have always used the dinette as an office - whereas now, I am very content with my office w/o having to rip anything out. This rig has a drop leaf table and chairs vs. a dinette. And is contained in the almost 3 foot deep slide.

Actually I did take out one of the bolted down chairs and replaced it with a filing cabinet. As with Ned's table/desk, the table is a drop leaf so extents for more office desk space or for use with the two folding chairs that came with the unit. Under the table bungied to the bulkhead is a small footprint desktop console. Much less expensive and easier to update than a laptop for stictly an office usage machine.

Ned, do you recognize that monitor? I finally just gave it away and the black one is not used anymore either. So the desktop now has a 22 inch flat screen and the laptop sits more on the drop leaf when not out and about with me. I do all of my remote desktop w/the laptop, wherever I am at the time.

Have attached a photo of the world headquarters of my business . . .  :)
 

Attachments

  • MyOffice(1).jpg
    MyOffice(1).jpg
    55.5 KB · Views: 347
You did get good use out of that LCD display, Bob.
 
Lady Fitzgerald,  Thanks,  I do not think that the desk I used added any weight because it replaced a sofa sleeper that had been in that location.  I think that the steel, mattress, and sofa weighed more than the office desk did.
 
Ours is a setup that won't work with most RVs, but it might give inspiration for thinking outside the box.  The queen bed in the rear of our 40-foot motorhome now rises to perpendicular, from the head instead of the foot, and a desk cantilevers out from under it.  Holds a computer CPU and three monitors and assorted junk that I am assured is vital.

Here are some photos and an animation of how it works:  http://debcar.com/rvinfo.htm#OFFICE

And here is a report on how it was designed and built:  http://debcar.com/Story0303DVI2c.htm

 

Attachments

  • desk.jpg
    desk.jpg
    44.1 KB · Views: 228
I used a piece of oak 1/2" plywood...sanded and Verathaned. Added 2 "L" brackets the the long side and made adapting hardware to a wall that we had space on. This way were are able to just slide it into the brackets on the wall and screw on a couple pvc legs to the front of the plywood. When we are done...unscrew the legs...pull the top from the wall and store it under the bed.
 
Trivet that is very very creative!! I guarantee  your idea will be pick up buy a manufacture and added as an option.

I just can't get over your vision and what you have done, and you now have a private office so others can use the front of the coach while you work.

Best mod i have ever seen!
 
Carmine said:
Trivet that is very very creative!! I guarantee  your idea will be pick up buy a manufacture and added as an option.

Can't remember the manufacturer - possibly a Fleetwood Storm, had just that in a model I saw in the late 90's at an RV show at CalExpo in Sacramento. The queen, or maybe it was a double, folded up into the rear bulkhead. The folded office desk was under the bed and rose up as the bed was raised.

At the time I was trying to decide the best way to have a real office in an RV vs. using my dinette. And was at a point of buying a new RV. I really liked the idea, but was concerned about how long it would take to set and break down the office. The desk was not the problem. It was the stuff one needs in an office, and stowing and unstowing time required. I run my business and need several computers networked - plus printer, scanner, et. al. For this reason I decided against that rig.

Several years later I asked about how that setup was doing - and was told they discontinued the model because few sales resulted for the same reasons I doubted it would work for me. I figured converting each night for me would most likely last a couple of days - then I would tire of it and wind up sleeping on my couch every night instead. And I "did" actually consider that because a bedroom to me is wasted space anyway.

My current office pic is posted earlier in this topic.
 
If you are going to build a cool desk you should build in the right computer. It should be silent, very low power, and small enough to mount in some place where you won't see it. It should drive at least 2 monitors. A laptop will not be good enough. Laptops clutter the desk, aren't bolted down, and make noise. Yes, I am being a perfectionist.

The photo shows a computer that is similar to the one I mounted under my desk at home. The idea is to mount this under or inside the RV desk. Don't buy one of those metal computer cases. They only consume space, power, and make fan noise.

This motherboard is an Intel DQ77KB (mini-itx form factor). It takes 19v DC in. It should be easy to find a 12v DC to 19v adapter to run it from the battery of the RV, but an A/C brick power supply that has no moving parts, thus no noise, is easy enough to find (logicsupply.com).

The cpu can be an i3, i5, or i7 and there are some of these that use a maximum of 35w. Mine is the i3-2100T which is plenty of speed for almost anything. The fan that you see is the only moving part. It cools the CPU, but since the CPU hardly heats up, the fan spins slowly. I cannot hear it unless I get under the desk to listen. The disk is an SSD (intel 330), so it is silent, fast, and low power. These disks come in a mSata chip that plugs into the motherboard, so the ugly cables you see in the photo would disappear if I had bought that type. The computer boots from off to useful in 14 seconds.

I have a portable external DVD player that I can plug in whenever I need it. You should be able to find an "internal" type dvd player and then mount that somewhere that allows you to get to it without seeing it much.

There are LCD monitors that are very thin and take 19v DC in. I have not looked in earnest to find one that has a removable stand so that it can be put onto a monitor arm, but I am sure they exist.

The other thing I need to find are the momentary switches and LEDs that comprise the front panel. The desk will have a switch mounted somewhere handy and hidden to turn the thing on/off, and there will be an LED that shows me when it is on.

Get a wireless keyboard and mouse so that there are no wires to ugly the setup.

Regarding the printer: it makes noise, is bulky, and eats trees. Go paperless.

jt


 

Attachments

  • 20121203_132713.jpg
    20121203_132713.jpg
    122.3 KB · Views: 181
Carmine said:
Trivet that is very very creative!! I guarantee  your idea will be pick up buy a manufacture and added as an option.

I just can't get over your vision and what you have done, and you now have a private office so others can use the front of the coach while you work.

Best mod i have ever seen!

Thanks for the props!  The vertical bed makes an excellent wall, and if there's still too much racket in the front, there's another door that can close the bedroom off completely.

It takes about 30 seconds to set it up or put it down.  Really, the biggest problem is that you have to make the bed first.  :)  The only things that ever get moved are the three monitors (laying them down or standing them up) and the chair.  Everything else on the desk stays right where it is even when traveling, even the loose items like pencil cups, staplers, stereo speakers, model cars, a joystick. 

But I don't think it would be a popular option.  We have it because we need this computer and three monitors to do the programming and testing for vehicle simulators--definitely a special case.  Most people don't need a "real" office like that, especially with everybody using laptops these days.  And you have to be pretty spry to get in and out of it because the chair sits on the engine cover.  But it works splendidly for us. 

And johntaves, you'd have a heart attack if you saw what's on there now.  The computer takes up an entire corner of the desk, is the biggest power hog on the planet, runs hotter than a pistol, has a rat's nest of dust-collecting wires, and is incredibly loud (mainly because of the two fans on it, one of which glows blue).  It does have a wireless keyboard and mouse, though.  Yay.
 
Trivet, I sort of assumed that was the case. The three monitors do not look like light, thin, DC powered units, so I figured that there was a loud beast under the desk too. Doing 3-d simulations might require some cool graphics card, and that card might be a power pig, but I would bet that there's no reason you can't upgrade to a quiet DC powered board. 3 new killer monitors, motherboard, RAM, CPU, and graphics card might be $1500. This is a serious skeleton in your closet. The desk is so cool and well done, and the computer so hideous that the whole thing is tainted. It's a bit like Lance Armstrong. 7 tour de France victories, beat cancer, wow what a guy! Oh, oops, he was on roids. Damn.

Why exactly is your pistol so hot?

jt
 
ArdraF said:
We had ours done by Davis Cabinets when the motorhome was new.  We were lucky that they could go over to Monaco while it was on the assembly line to measure the space and match wood, Corian, and hardware.  They did a beautiful job making sure the drawers were deep and all the way to the wall, the laptop drawer was intricately cut on an angle so the adjacent printer drawer could also hold a ream of paper, the Corian top comes off so you can get to wiring, the side cabinets along the outside wall can also handle a tower if someone wants a desktop instead of a laptop, etc.  There's a lot more to designing a functional computer desk than meets the eye.  Their experience paid off because they thought of a couple of things we hadn't even considered.  We're very pleased with ours.
ArdraF


BUT?? Yes they do fantastic work for sure  but also  Very very exspensive.I hazard a guess at 4K plus just for your new monaco mod??(or more)

 
My rig is still in a scatter brained assortment of epiphanies, finished masterpieces, and works in progress.
With this said, My setup is my 15" dell lcd with quick release from the stand (for safety in transport on those forest service roads) ((ten bucks as is @ sedona goodwill, one of my fav thrift shops)), mounted from the overhead shelf in front of of my little closet at the driver side rear of my house, facing towards passenger side 2nd row seat, but facing backwards, and I lay back with a wireless kb and mouse.
Oh, and by the way, my house is a United States version, so the driver side is the to the left.
Sorry, I just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you all for your posting.
Some one, please explain to me, why is it, that even when I'm boondockin' for a few weeks (I like to stay for the full 14 days, thank you, it helps increase my fun factor and also helps defray my fuel costs), I still have to get a dose of internet every couple days?

Happy Trails,
Lisa
 
Here is a store bought solution (actually, purchased online and shipped to the RV park for assembly)....

We don't have sleepover guests for the sleeper sofa, Christi didn't like how it held her long frame, and she was tired of three years full timing and not having her dining room table to use.

Before, during, and after pictures!

We are all much happier now... 8)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1541_540.jpg
    IMG_1541_540.jpg
    37.5 KB · Views: 166
  • IMG_1547_540.jpg
    IMG_1547_540.jpg
    43.7 KB · Views: 167
  • DSC_0005_540.jpg
    DSC_0005_540.jpg
    31 KB · Views: 206
Back
Top Bottom