Vehicle Laptop Desk Suggestion

[Kurt Hulst]

I pretty much made mine with a few Ram mount parts added. But I just recently added a shock absorber. A gel padded bicycle seat. I was seeing how stiff some tables are in this forum and mine as well is some what stiff with very little give making it mandatory that the laptop it self will be taking a beating with all the bumps on the road. Though i think we all want out tables to be firm and not have much movement. It think a little give or a slight allowance for a wobble should be appropriate to help fight shock. And you can get creative and find some sort of shock absorbent pad that doesn’t restrict your air flow for you lap top fan. Its all about preserving the longevity of your computers life.

 

[Christopher Madairy]

Installation Ideas...

Good day everyone. I was thinking of ordering a two or three legged version of the Jotto. What do you think of this idea for mounting. I was thinking of having stainless steel bolts welded from underneath the vehicle so I could use "wing-nut" like fasteners on top to anchor the tripod. When not in use I could just remove the tripd. Any ideas or thoughts- just throwing it out there. 73 all.

Christopher, N3QXX

 

[Tony Laubach]

Chris,

Most of the Jottos have self-tapping screws which I hear do the job just fine. I'm not sure that drilling up through the floor would really make a huge difference. A wing-nut idea isn't bad and will probably help in making sure the screws don't losen over time, but I think you should have no issues if you install it correctly.

Also worth a note, the mounting plate which attaches to the floor is suppose to be permanent. You can, however, attach and deattach the desk at your leisure leaving just the plate and the couple inch high pole in place.

-Tony

 

[Court Hubbard]

I couldn't help but venture into this post, because now that I have a laptop and am ready for mobile internet, etc., I am too in the market for one. I was wandering around and ran into this http://www.airdesks.com/CarDesk.asp. Looks like it might work, not really sure. Any opinions??? The problem with me is, I don't really want to drill or use the self tapping screws in my Grand Cherokee, so I would be forced to either get that airdesk, or build my own.

 

[John Diel]

I suppose this would work however it leaves no room for a passenger in the front seat. Since I'm in a small truck, space is a premium commodity.

I looked at one of those and thought real hard about it. I even had the laptop set on a box to approximate the positioning. It just took to much room for my purpose.

The nice thing about the self taping screws, is that once they are through the carpet, and you decide you don't want it there or in the car anymore, just back the screw out. You will have a hard time finding the point of entry (except that you KNOW where it was). If leakage is a concern, a little bit of silicone will resolve that issue pretty quick.

Since my truck is paid for and I'm not planning on dumping it anytime soon, I can get away with the swiss cheese look.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I would be REAL, REAL careful when mounting a laptop to any mount
in a moving vehicle.

I've ruined two hard drives, I'm guessing from vibrations. Use
a lot of padding or some kind of shock protection.

Mike

 

[Brad Emel]

I've finally installed my 3 leg Jotto Desk in my new X.








I had to use some 2 inch self drilling screws since the 1 1/4 screws weren't long enough to get into the metal. The stand is very sturdy, much better than I thought it would be. I am going to have to build some sort of a screen holder so the screen doesn't flop around all the time. Other than that it is perfect.

The desk is mounted in a way that allows a passenger to sit normally. When there isn't a passenger, the airbag shuts off.

For the full size pictures go to http://www.brademel.com/pages/xterra.php

 

[Tony Laubach]

Oh yeah, I forgot to show off mine Jotto Desk and its configuration. I will likely add a second leg depending on its performance in the next few months, but my first test ran it just fine. I think a second leg is in the cards regardless since I really only avoided it to accomodate a passenger. Obviously this setup makes it very hard to fit someone in there, so adding legs to support it won't really hurt anything now.

[Broken External Image]:http://www.tornadoeskick.com/images/tracer-in11.jpg

[Broken External Image]:http://www.tornadoeskick.com/images/tracer-in01.jpg

[Broken External Image]:http://www.tornadoeskick.com/images/tracer-in12.jpg

[Broken External Image]:http://www.tornadoeskick.com/images/tracer-in05.jpg

More details can be found here!

 

[John Diel]

Very nice Brad.
I just went through and rewired everything. My original hack job was getting to worry me just a bit. I'll try to post a few photos soon.

 

[Ben Prusia]

Today I finished building a laptop computer desk for my car. After I road tested it in several different areas (bumpy road, gravel road, highway), I took some pictures of the assembly.

The desk itself cost around $19 (I'm very cheap!) to make, but it is very sturdy and very firmly bolted into a panel near the floor in the car. I used:

- two 1/2" pipe flanges
- one 45 degree elbow/one 90 degree elbow
- pipes: 2", 3", 10"
- 12"X14" pegboard
- various tech screws
- VELCRO! (for a belt system to secure the laptop to the pegboard desk)

I attached a 10lb barbell weight to the base of the pipe system on the floor to counterreact the desk from abrupt movements when sharp curves are encountered.

Pictures:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.kcroads.com/1.jpg

[Broken External Image]:http://www.kcroads.com/2.jpg

 

[Court Hubbard]

Very clever. I am still debating on whether or not to order a Jotto, but will keep that setup in mind.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Just a tip for those still fiddling with the laptop desk idea..

Decide whether or not mobility is a concern for you...

1. Do you care whether or not you can swivel the desk anywhere you want it at anytime?

2. Do you care whether or not you can pop the desk in and out of your vehicle in seconds.

You can build a custom desk yourself, but may sacrifice either or both at the cheaper price. If you want both, I would strongly recommend the Jotto. While pricey, it was VERY easy to install and can be moved and taken out at will. Something to keep in mind.

Ciao,
Tony

 

[Ben Prusia]

Very true to what Tony said.

On my setup, you lose the ability to take the desk out of the car (only way is to unscrew the flange mount). My desk is not fully tight (as in staying in one position), it can rotate from a driver's view of the computer, over to the passenger side so that the passenger can use the computer, also.

If you have the money, by all means get the Jotto Desk. I took 4 hours of a lot of trial and error before I got this desk to work. If you are very economical, making your own desk can save you over $100 than buying the cheapest of the Jotto Desk models.

 

[John Diel]

I have to go with Jotto. This is a case of You get what you pay for". I looked at the low cost and DIY versions. None of them have the versatility of the Jotto Desk. There is another system made (I can't think of the name right now) that is based on the Jotto and it looks very good. RAM Mount also makes a laptop mounting system and the experience I have with RAM Mounts leads me to believe it's a good solution as well.

The Pipe and Elbow joint rigs will work though. As stated above and as we've seen in several vehicles. They DO work. However, you are giving up a few things in the low cost solutions.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Well I spent the whole night working on mine... and its finally done! Its an el cheapo one I got off ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW





Iits sturdy, but its HEAVY. Its got to be 10-15 pounds including the laptop. It was meant to be bolted to the floor so I took a real gamble mounting it to the console, where its just thin plastic. It holds pretty solid when the weight is directly above the stand, but if I extend the arm out so the laptop is directly in front of the passenger it starts bending like the leaning tower of Pisa. But it does have a couple of swivel points for quick adjustments and everything above the first shaft will slide right off for quick removal.

And one last bit of advice to those still considering laptop mounts. Beware of drilling into the floor! Its far more work that I had originally anticipated and so I worked hard to find an alternative. Try to tap into your seat bolt if you can (I couldnt get mine off).