Here is my laptop mount and radio equipment setup in my 4Runner. I use a Dell ATG 620. The features that made me buy this laptop are: Daylight readable screen (500NITS), Shock mounted hard drive, and dust resistant keyboard. I will soon also add a portable USB drive (powered via USB bus) to store large amounts of map data.
1.) New computer mount. Huge improvement. Before I just had a RAM mount that held the laptop in place. It was kind of a pain because every time I wanted to put the laptop in and out I had to disconnect the power, serial cables, USB cables, and the laptop was held by a strong spring that held the laptop like a clamshell from either side. Now I have a full docking station. I do not have to remove any wires to remove the laptop. Just push a button. The mount also has a lock to discourage theft. It also has a very nice screen support. The other mount also had a screen support but it was pretty cheesy compared to this. The mount is made by Gamber Johnson and is sold for fleet service and police duty. It is a much better product than the RAM Mount was. And really the RAM mount was not bad this is just way better.
2.) Kenwood D710A Dual band Ham radio with APRS- I was able to integrate the radio into the laptop installation. I really like this because I am not keen to mount it to my dash. Inhibits visibility and wire management becomes more of an issue. Also mounting the radio and the head unit near each other makes cable runs easier. I also wanted to avoid mounting the radio down low because I am concerned about liquids, spilt coffee, mud etc getting into the unit (generally concerned about abuse to the radio and head unit). I am pretty pleased with the way it came out.
3.) GPS - I was also able to integrate this into the laptop mount. I also like this because now I have all electronics in one place. It makes it very easy to get all the information I am looking for at a glance.
This setup really makes running Topofusion nice. I also run various APRS software.
Here is a picture of the installation:
For Comparison, Here is a picture of my old set-up:
The Ram-Mount Laptop
