Working From the Road - Heavy computer usein BF RV's

[Effjay]

I'm planning on getting an RV in the next two years so that I can live and work while traveling. I will be a fulltimer and, since I work for a software development company, I will be using my computer heavily in my RV.

I love the Born Free RV's for their quality and they have good layouts for general living and will be looking to get a used one when I'm finally ready to purchase, but I'm concerned about using a laptop with an extra monitor (pretty much a necessity for my job) for long stretches. I like the layouts that include the captains chairs with the pull out table but I'm not sure they'd be great ergonomically for working in long stretches, especially if I have to cram an extra monitor in the small space.

I was hoping that others might have some input on things I can do to make computer work more comfortable. Or maybe it's more comfortable than I might imagine.

Thanks in advance for your insight!!

[whemme]

Effjay,

I have a portable table made up of the 4 components shown in the 4 attached photos below. I use it in my 2002 Born Free 26' RSB coach. I use the table for my laptop computer and printer while camping. When not in use, the Table and its attached Surface Mount Pedestal Base stores easily between the back of the driver's captains chair and the front edge of the Flexsteel jack knife sofa. The Pedestal and Folding Table Base store on the floor directly behind the passenger's captains chair.

Table tops are available in lengths from 24" up to 48" and widths from 18" thru 24".

The components can be selected from the following online source:

http://shop4seats.com/rv-furniture/dine ... e-top.html

I sit on the sofa with my knees under the table when operating the computer equipment. My coach is also equipped with the pull up table located between the two captains chairs on the right side opposite the sofa referred to by Sam in his post above but its surface area is too small for the laptop and the printer to fit properly.

[ewagman]

If I was going to do what you plan, and would be OK with sleeping in an overhead bunk or converting the couch every night, I'd get a rear side bed model, remove the rear bed, and replace it with a work desk. You would have a lot of dedicated work top space, and room for drawers underneath. Fasten your monitor, printer, etc to the desk top for safe travel, or tuck into a drawer. Use either a fold up chair or one that would slide mostly under your desk top. A decent cabinetry guy should be able to do this in nice matching wood. Save the bed for later, when you sell. If you are not traveling alone, you would have to see what works for everyone.

What do you plan to do for cost effective, readily available internet data?

[oliverpsmile]

There are two of us in the BF. All the cabinet space above the table is dedicated to Office use: a small printer (you can drop down its cables to either one of the computers), disks, other office supply, additional large monitor and extension keyboard storage when on the road. User One (the photographer) has the large monitor and extension keyboard and mouse on the table and sits on one of the chairs. The laptop driving remote monitor and keyboard is on the second chair.

User Two, the Programmer, sits on the coach with a simple laptop desk and has access to the dropping printer cables if necessary.

[Nancy]

the BF factory made me a table that matches the table by the captains chairs and put 2 recessed holders in the floor along with the tripod legs to use it outside. Worked out great when needing extra work space.

[Effjay]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like I have some options to consider. I like the addition of a pedestal table as it's simple and I think it will work great if I end up without a rear bed area that I might be able to convert. I know that since I'll be looking for a used rv, I'll be at the mercy of whatever is available in my price range.

Someone asked about data, that's part of the reason I'm going with a used rv, so I can afford to pay more for the mobile data I'll need. Right now cost effective and reliable internet seem to be somewhat mutually exclusive for nomads Hopefully that's starting to change. The deals that the major carriers are giving this month have given me some hope that it will start to be cost effective down the road.

Thanks again!

[rjfboylan]

I'm planning on getting an RV in the next two years so that I can live and work while traveling. I will be a fulltimer and, since I work for a software development company, I will be using my computer heavily in my RV.

I love the Born Free RV's for their quality and they have good layouts for general living and will be looking to get a used one when I'm finally ready to purchase, but I'm concerned about using a laptop with an extra monitor (pretty much a necessity for my job) for long stretches. I like the layouts that include the captains chairs with the pull out table but I'm not sure they'd be great ergonomically for working in long stretches, especially if I have to cram an extra monitor in the small space.

I was hoping that others might have some input on things I can do to make computer work more comfortable. Or maybe it's more comfortable than I might imagine.

Thanks in advance for your insight!!

I'm currently living in a 2006 Born Free Built for Two and will have fifty years worth of experience in computers come next year so I think I have a qualified opinion. My BFT has twin incline beds and I use one for a bed (behind the driver seat) and the other for a couch (behind the passenger seat). I had plans to pull out the couch and build in a custom desk (which I may still do) but for now I installed a Jotto Desk and am quite happy with it.

The Jotto Desk has a tabletop on which I have mounted my 2014 Retina MacBook Pro and it works a treat. The table is tiltable and I adjusted it to a comfortable typing angle. There are a series of arms so I can move it back and forth and to and fro. I could attached an HDTV via the HDMI connector in the computer and have a Vizio 32" HDTV with 4 HDMI inputs but I don't have that attached currently.

I used to do desktop publishing and the larger screen was quite nice but now I'm retired and the 15" screen on the Mac is more than adequate (although there are always times when more space would be nice).

The Jotto Desk also has vertical adjustment to get it positioned just so and you can add (as I did) a slanted pole to increase horizontal stability (which I found necessary).

I have a 2TB Time Capsule for (automatic) hourly backups sitting under the couch in the storage space under it and secured with industrial-strength Velcro to the floor of the coach. There is an external hard disk Velcro-ed on top of that for (scripted) nightly backups. I have two external hard disks for rotating (manual) weekly backups. There is a small Epson printer also under the couch (an Epson XP-810 chosen for its physical size) and attached to the Time Capsule via Ethernet.

I rely mostly on RV park WiFi for an Internet connection but have an AT&T Unite device for fallback. I move around occasionally but not continuously and find that this configuration works pretty well. I can sit on the couch for hours as it is quite comfortable and the scene out the driver side window provides a continuously changing view.

If you go with the Jotto Desk, be careful of their web site as it doesn't reveal all the details of what you may need. It took me three orders to get all the parts I needed and I ended up with an extra support pole.

I hope you find a suitable Born Free for your adventures.

I just passed thirteen months in mine and have traveled to Canada and the West Coast. Comfortable driving (except for the logging trucks on the two lane highways through the Olympic National Park; scary ) and easy to handle.

I tow a Smart car behind it and don't even notice it is there (except having to be careful when pulling back into the right lane after passing someone as the combined length is now 35' long). My mileage is running 9.15 mpg for some 12K miles. The Smart car helps a lot as it is now averaging 35.54 mpg. They nicely balance each other.

At times, the coach feels like an extended jacket: it fits me very nicely both physically and psychologically. Highly recommended.

[ed]

Keep in mind we can build to your specifications as well so we can certainly do a computer work station to suit your needs!