I've looked through a few threads here for some ideas, however some were dead, some pics were no longer hosted and so on...

I'm looking for pics/links/ideas of a laptop mount in the X. I need it to be easily removable, as I live in the city and any trace of anything valuable possibly in the truck (like an empty laptop mount) will have your windows busted.

I'm also interested in running GPS on my laptop, but I'm not really sure what I need for it, such as, weill it simply be just bying the software or are there any other things needed? I really don't have a clue on this one here, so any help is appreciated.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys have!

the mount that I made uses the bolt holding the passanger seat, I can take out the mount in a couple of min, but could be addapted to leave the mounting base intact and just remove the rod coming up.

i'll shoot you an e-mail with a pic of the setup.

Thanks, I appreciate that. I actually replied to your thread on the MXO as well (02terra). Take care!

I'm not sure how much research you've done on the hardware/software side of it, but there are a couple of different options. Either buy a handled GPS unit that has a USB output to connect to the laptop (or bluetooth) or they also make GPS PCMCIA cards if you want everything to be totally integrated into the laptop.

search for "GPS on Laptop" in Google and its all right there.

You using a power inverter for power?

Here's an off the wall thing for you to think about though. If you want this to be more permanent, you can get very small form factor towers that could fit under a seat, then permanently mount a flip down small LCD from the roof and use an RF keyboard with built in mouse. Though I admit using an already existing laptop would be easier

O.K. so GPS PCMCIA cards are what I'm looking for. I'll do a research on my own about it, I just wanted to know what I needed and you were right on, thanks!

And yes, I am using an inverter I have for power, sure.

The USB GPS are made for this type of thing. Really small usb gps solution that you can use with software loaded on your pc. I have the Garmin GPS 18, works awesome. PCMCIA ones are old school and pricey. i paid 60 bucks for mine :-)

If you go with a puck like AndrewH, you might have the option to go with a powered or non-powered (amplify the GPS signal before demodulation or demod w/out any amp), sport the money for the powered if its not too much extra. I've never used commercial pucks (maybe the all come powered, I'm not sure) but military pucks like this used to come in either pwr'd or unpwr'd configs so I'm guessing commercial version might as well.

Pucks? Demodulation, Apmlification, demodulation without amp? Whaaaa?

Slow down killer, I'm not so fast researching. The world of GPS navigation is all new to me.

AndrewH, got a link to what you're talking about?

So basically all I need is getting one of those that you speak of, plug into USB, get the sofware and I should be good to go?

I have just purchased a Delorme GPS reciever and software package.
Came with streets 2006. I also purchased a Delorme Topo version 5 software package. These can run at the same time gathering gps info from the same gps unit. For a mount I will be using the RAM mount sytem.(http://www.ram-mount.com/)
heavy duty and vibraton absorbing. They also offer cellphone and other specialty mounts that tie in the the laptop mount system. Topo 5 software show a 3D view of terrain and can be integrated with sattelite quad views in a second window pane. Really neat.

Sorry.

Puck - What AndrewH described for around $60 is often referred to as a puck since it is about the same size as a hockey puck and is often black.
See link here

Demodulation - probably no product description for a GPS unit will ever mention demodulation but its relevant to the amp/no amp discussion. When the GPS unit receives the satelite signals their frequency is in the gigahertz range like a cell phone. The location information that you are ultimately interested in is encoded in this RF (aka satelite) signal. In order to extract the location info, a process called demodulation occurs.
(this is the same principle as listening to FM radio. When the station broadcasts the show, they modulate the signal. Then when you listen to the show, you have to demodulate to actually hear it)

Amplification / No Amplification - Some GPS systems can amplify the satelite signal before they demodulate it. With an amplified signal you can acquire more satelites which increases the probability that you will always have 3 satelite acquisitions.

But like I said, in the commercial world they might not even have this choice. Don't know...never bought one of these pucks that we're talking about. I just wanted to throw the information out there in case they do.

Another term they might use for a GPS unit with amplification is an "Active Antenna"

Get a Ram Mount laptop bracket. The shaft can be removed quickly.

I would suggest a puck receiver over a PCMCIA. It can be mounted on the dash and get you better reception than the PC Card style.

Here is the puck I got and I love it. Very accurate and cheap. The only thing that could make it better is a longer USB cord.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16858196005

If you have any specific questions let me know.

Thanks! Great info fellas!

Jason, I would still need software purchased separately, right (unless I missed it when I was looking at the link)? If so, I'm under the impression that I can use any kind of soft?

are you mainly just looking for mapping software? Ever considered this http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/

pda with gps, i used one my friend has and loved it. You can get them on ebay still for less then $300 with a car mount.

Yeah, you can use just about any software with that GPS.

If you are looking for Street navigation I like the Delorme Street Atlas.

If you are looking for Topo maps, they are expensive but the National Geographic TOPO! State Series is the way to go.

There is a program called GPSgate that allows you to run more than one GPS enabled program at the same time. It's a great little utility if you ever run across the need. http://franson.com/gpsgate/

Awesome, I think I have all the info I need.

Thanks all!

You can check my site for my laptop set-up, had it for the past 4-5 years, great for trips.

Maybe this will give you some other ideas.
Data 1
Data 2
Data 3
Data 4

Damn, those are expensive notebooks!