Is a laptop better for travel in a motorhome?

[Pierat]

I'd appreciate your help in choosing between a laptop and a desktop computer for travel in a Class A MH.

I read the following on a blog recently: "One point to consider is that tower PCs are not as resistant to jiggling and bumping as laptops. They are designed for stationary locations whereas laptops are designed to be moved around and tossed into the trunks of cars. Generally a laptop will hold up longer in an RV."

We are in the process of selling our house and buying a motorhome. As part of the process, I'll be updating my old desktop to either an iMac desktop or Macbook Pro laptop. Is the laptop likely to be much more durable, and easier to store, than the desktop?

 

[Ned]

We've had a desktop (actually a tower) computer in the motorhome since we went on the road 12 years ago.  None of them has failed due to the travel, although I'm on my 3rd tower right now.  This one is 4? years old and the only failure was the power supply.  I have 4 hard drives in it and they have not given any problems.  The only cushioning we use is a piece of carpet underneath the tower.  We do turn it off while traveling.  If you need a computer you can use while moving then a laptop is a better choice.

These are all standard Intel machines, but I know of at least one full timer that travels with both Apple laptops and towers and I don't recall him having any problems.

I wouldn't "toss into the trucks of cars" any computer, desktop or laptop.  In some respects a laptop is more fragile in that if you damage the display you're likely out a computer or at least nearly the cost of a new one, with a desktop you just get a new monitor.

 

[geodrake]

Certainly, the towers have the advantage of expansion capability such as the addl hard drives that Ned has.  For gamers the ability to add sound and video upgrades is important.  We tend to like laptops because of the portability.  There have been times that we really appreciated the ability to do internet research driving down the road, although this isn't unique to laptops.  Probably the biggest advantage is their size, relative to storage.  Today, laptops can be very robust, too.  The DW and I each have our own laptops, which wouldn't be quite as easy otherwise.

 

[davemittan]

I read the following on a blog recently: "One point to consider is that tower PCs are not as resistant to jiggling and bumping as laptops. They are designed for stationary locations whereas laptops are designed to be moved around and tossed into the trunks of cars. Generally a laptop will hold up longer in an RV."

"Jiggling and bumping"?  Someone must have a real rough-riding rig.  If I wanted to carry a desktop, I think I'd have it riding on a bed while we were rolling.  We carry a laptop, though - just because of space limitations.

 

[Ned]

As George mentions, the only real advantage of a desktop is the expandability.  In all other respects, today's crop of laptops are just as powerful as most desktops.  If you want a larger display (and there are 17" laptops, we have one), you can always add an external monitor.  Same with keyboard and mouse if that's your preference.  External USB hard drives give you unlimited storage.

For most RVers, a laptop is a better choice, and the prices aren't much higher than an equivalent desktop.

 

[Ron]

We have only had laptops since we started living in the MH in 98,  We just feel that for us they are just the ticket.  Many members use laptops while other prefer towers.  One might say it comes down to personal choice.  Like Ned mentioned the laptops today are just as capable as many towers.

 

[JerArdra]

We have had both and now prefer a laptop because..

They're smaller so take less space
Easier to store when you're not using it
Does not require a separate keyboard
You can move it around your MH
You can take it to someone else's MH or house or even on an airplane trip for emergency visits to relatives
Easy to move in to your house if you have both a house and a MH
And the big positive for me is I now no longer need two PCs.  By buying a very powerful laptop I can do EVERYTHING on my laptop.  Years ago I had
     both a very powerful desktop and a laptop.
Ardra has her own laptop too and we couldn't fit two desktops in the MH

NEGATIVES:  Costs more than a desktop!

JerryF

 

[Tom and Margi]

We traveled for years with one HP desk top and one HP laptop.  No problems. 

For the last five or six years we have traveled with two Gateway desktops.  Tom's tower was in the computer section of the regular office-style desk which replaced our dinette.  He added some styrofoam to the sides to keep it from jiggling around.  His flat screen monitor was fastened with industrial strength Velcro to the desk.  My tower was behind my passenger chair (no extra protection) and my flat screen monitor was on the dash.  Our Bounder has a flat dash.  I'm the navigator, so the 19" flat screen was really nice to use with DeLorme Street Atlas and our GPS while underway.  No problems at all to report.

There's no doubt that laptops require much less space, but neither of us like the small keyboard or the little mouse squares.  The remedy for that is to add a separate keyboard and mouse, but we didn't.  If I were buying a tower today, I would want one of the shorter varieties now available.

Bottom line:  both laptops and desktops work just fine.  It's a matter of personal preference and space available.

Margi

 

[scottydl]

RV or no RV, our newest computer in the house is a laptop (replaced the desktop I custom built 10 or so years ago), and I don't see us EVER going back to a desktop.  This Toshiba laptop we bought is just as advanced as any desktop we would need, and I can pick it up and carry it anywhere in the house (we now have wireless internet throughout).  It's very lightweight and still has a 17" screen, as big as a desktop screen and great for watching movies in the RV too.  It moves between the stick house and RV easily.  If we are sightseeing during the day while camping, we can take it with us for mid-day surfing for any reason.  Free wifi is so easy to find nowadays that's taking the computer with you is quite practical.  Just leave it locked up out of sight when you're not nearby.

The old desktop is our boys' computer now, upstairs in one of the bedrooms for simple games and web surfing.  But it just seems so big and clunky now.  If you just need a standard-use computer for house & camping, a laptop is the way to go IMO. 

 

[John From Detroit]

Two advantages to a laptop.

Portabitility,, I can use it in the front of the MH, the middle of the MH the rear of the MH the "Ham Shack" (Which is also in the middle of the MH) the family center, Tim Horton's,  McDonalds, Panara Bread, the local library, the car.  With a tower I am kind of tied to the monitor (Thankfully just now I have a tower)

Second advantage is size. it's small enough to slip in a backpack or other carry case

Disadvantage is also size.. Smaller screen, smaller keyboard, no numeric keypad on mine

My choice in the MH will likely be both when the time comes. but for now it's the laptop.  When, that is. it is healed and returned (It is in hospital just now)

That time.. by the way, may come soon

(I still have not figured out where I am going to PUT the midi tower)

 

[Ned]

One consideration when choosing a laptop is the screen resolution.  The larger the screen the higher the resolution, and the smaller things are on the screen.  Lorna's 17" laptop has a higher resolution than my 22" monitor and I find it hard to read things like icon descriptions.  I've had to enlarge the fonts in Firefox so she can read them.  On the 22" monitor, the default fonts are fine, even though the resolution is lower than the laptop.  You can change the DPI on the displays, but with an LCD, they tend to get blurry due to aliasing if not run at their native resolution.

 

[ArdraF]

Pierat,

To answer your question as to whether a laptop is better for travel in a motorhome, I definitely believe the answer is yes.  As Jerry already mentioned we each have our own laptops.  I had used the tower and desktop for many years and was hesitant to make the switch for all the reasons everyone pointed out.  But, guess what.  I LOVE the laptop!  Mine has all the function keys and a numeric pad so nothing is missing there.  The keys are large enough but I did have to get used to the "non-click" feel and touch when pressing the keys.  Now the old desktop keyboard seems strange.  I don't care for the touchpad so we have a separate mouse which is no big deal.  It fits into the carrying case along with everything else like the converter and cords.  Mostly I like the flexibility of the laptop.  When we're visiting we can take it inside someone's house, carry it on an airplane, take it on a boat, or whatever.  Personally I would no longer want a desktop in a motorhome.  We still have the old one at home because it has two old DOS-based programs running on Windows 98 that we haven't been able to upgrade so we're keeping it for now, but it doesn't get used very much.  And, boy, is it slow!  My laptop has more memory, more speed, great color (17" screen), it can be moved around, etc.  The primary difference between our two laptops is that I have a non-glare screen whereas Jerry's is shiny and picks up more room reflections.  Unless you have a specific need for a desktop I recommend a good laptop for the RV.

ArdraF

 

[ctcamper]

I use a laptop for travel because of space considerations. I can't stand the touch pad and bring a portable wireless mouse with me. I prefer a normal keyboard but it's not that crucial to me for temporary use, but if I was using it all the time I would need one. The 17 inch laptops have a better keyboard and a keypad so are not bad. I like the smaller ones which is why I dislike the keyboards. I also find the laptop is good sometimes if I have to drive to a library or piggyback on a motel wireless network. I can take a ride in the tow and bring the laptop with me.
I use a desktop at home as I need it for business and they are cheaper for me to upgrade as need be plus I can load the ram and I keep everything cooler.

Heat is the enemy of hard drives and will shorten the life of them. Laptops will run hotter so be sure to make backups if you have important data. I burned a set of dvd's with an image of my laptop so if it does fail , I can go back to a point that I like. Plus I can reload the os when the unit slows down after time or if it gets hijacked with malware. For incremental backups and non sensitive important files I use an external usb hard drive and several flash drives.
Laptop hard drives are slower as a rule,  5400 usually for laptop vs 7200 or greater for desktop, but not important unless you are doing graphics video, or heavy database operations.
Video is not as fast, again not important unless you do graphics vid, etc.. Gaming or graphics capable laptops are very expensive and will never be as good as a desktop.
Hard drives are all the same in operation and any sudden jolts etc.. can result in damage. The exception to this is the newer solid state drives but they are expensive and on the small side still.

Wireless is not secure so be careful  on the road. Make sure your permissions are set properly to minimize danger.
I use a U3 flash drive with all my sensitive data on it -- I use it  to run a browser with things like bank logins etc..  It is encrypted and I keep it seperate from the laptop.  If the laptop is stolen there is no important information on it.

 

[Rae]

I like having both.

I spend a lot of time on my computer and use it for watching DVDs (saving me from lugging around a tv, too), so a laptop would be too puny and fussy for every day use. My desktop computer is a 24" iMac, so I don't have a tower to worry about and it's profile is no bigger than a similar-sized flat screen tv. When I'm traveling, I pack the computer into its box. It is none the worse for wear after six months of travel. Macs are known for being tough!

When I'm on the road and only stopping somewhere for a few hours or just a night, then I pull out the (ancient and slow) laptop to check my email. I also like to use the laptop as a fancy typewriter, pounding away at it outside or in the lounge, and then transferring the files over to the desktop.

Since the iMac is an 'all-in-one' machine, it's easy to move it to another part of the rig if I'm not getting a good-wifi signal in the study, where it is normally set up in front of the sofa.

I don't think I could go to a tiny laptop screen after having a 24" one for so long, especially for watching movies!

Rae

 

[Dick Zeiter]

Two years ago I elected to put a desktop tower in the motorhome. My reasons were:
1. the latest greatest processing speed at the time
2. could add maximum memory
3. could have 3 serial ports without using adaptors
4. plenty of usb ports
5. tv card (to listen to dish/serious music)
6. more bang for the buck

I had to take it in several times for problems (mostly drives from the vibration)
While I originally had two regular mirrored hard drives, I now have two mirrored military/police grade hard drives (about $250 ea) and no longer have "going down the road" failures. My last trip of 6500 miles was trouble free.
Because of the extras, the power supply is large and draws quite a bit. If I stop for more than an hour, I shut it down to keep from drawing down the coach battery (we do not plug in every night while on the road).
Plus side: plenty of power, speed and connections
Minus side: battery drain when parked at Wallmart.
Because I am 69' (MH/Concession Trailer) I use a Hawking HWU8DD and can park across from most hot spots in a larger lot and get my email.
My case is not normal. It was a little overkill, but, I'm extremely satisfied. Unless you need the expandable features of a tower, A laptop would be good for the average user plus it's more shockproof and rides better as it displays your map program and engine monitor.
We also have a laptop, but it's used mostly by the wife when we both log in at the J.

 

[Mike (ex-f-221)]

A question:
Reading about drives and vibrations I remembered that HDDs have a "parking position", so the drive is save, when the computer is off. Is it right or is it a "thing of the past"? (I am an old man who worked with 5 1/4" Floppy disks.)

 

[Wendy]

We have "his and hers" laptops in the motorhome, the same laptops we use at home. We'd probably be divorced if we only had one computer.

I haven't used a desktop in at least 10 years and I'm not sure I'd know what to do if I sat down at one.

We're in a small Class A (28-foot) and don't have the room for a desktop even if we wanted one.

We can carry the laptops outside to use while sitting around sucking up nature.

We used to set one on the dashboard while traveling to use for navigating (that was before we got the Garmin).

Either one of us can use either laptop sitting at the dinette, or in one of the front chairs, or on the bed.

Wendy
Pismo State Beach

 

[Pierat]

Wow, what a wonderful thing to see all these informed and detailed responses so quickly! Thanks for all responses, "Framily." It's all very helpful and a good dialog.

My computer will be used for the usual things, plus Photoshop and related photography work. I will need a screen capable of detailed photo editing, including color management. The 24" iMac is such a screen. The 17" Macbook Pro has a very good screen, particularly in its high-resolution version, but may not be quite up to critical color management, I'm not quite sure yet. Of course, a monitor can be added, for additional $$$.

As at least one poster suggested, one concern is that all the reflections in a motorhome may interfere with critical work on the screen, especially if it is one of the glossy screens that are so prevalent now. The iMac does not have an antiglare flavor, but the 17" Macbook Pro does.

I use several USB and firewire external hard drives and a DVD burner for storage. I think these can be connected to either type of machine pretty readily, perhaps using a USB hub for those drives.

Thanks again for all your wonderful and helpful posts. Please keep them coming!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We have carried a tower system for the last three years simply because we can use a large display (21"). Much easier on these old eyes and I like a lot of real estate for the desktop anyway. I'd guess our desktop system has traveled about 32k miles so far and it doesn't seem to mind the bumps.  I just got a mini-tower to replace it - one of the little HP Slimline PCs that takes up very little room under my desk. Dell has a small one too.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do;HHOJSID=nG5LJzpQdFkhySqr5pdTsctTnhhlgQnnBVBDsZbzhs6wTCJhZ4Tk!-1128004576?storeName=computer_store&landing=desktops&a1=Category&v1=Slim%20and%20sleek

 

[BernieD]

We've been carrying our laptop in the coach for a good number of years. However, one computer for both of us wasn't working, so a month ago we bought a new tower and a 22" Acer monitor. The computer had the option of Windows XP rather than Vista which helped keep all of our programs viable and both computers more compatible. The Acer works great in the coach since it has a matte screen, no glare. I picked up a base for the tower at Fry's Electronics for $5 so the tower is stable while traveling. The monitor pops off the base and we just lay in down on the bed when traveling. Marlene prefers the 22" screen to the laptops since when doing her graphic manipulations, it gives her much better detail to work with. We also just added a Cradlepoint 350 wireless router and Verizon USB 760 modem and we are both able to go online simultaneously and move files between the computers and read files on the other as well. The laptop works well since I have it mounted on a Ram mount while driving to display both my Silverleaf engine monitor data and a large screen version of my Garmin dashboard GPS. The large screen and full keyboard with 10 key pad is my preference when we are parked. When we are home, both computers get moved inside, the hardest part is disconnecting and reconnecting the wires