I use my 2002 as my on the go office for my property management company. I was thinking about installing a rig to mount my laptop, put a printer in the back, etc. Couple of questions
1) has anyone mounted a laptop rig?
2) I would use an inverter to power printer and computer. Will this be too much on the current, stock spec battery?
Any help is always appreciated.

BobbyC
Shipwatch Property Management

1) has anyone mounted a laptop rig?

Used to be involved LEA laptop installs of a fleet of over 600. There are a lot of products available but you get what you pay for. If you don't get quality units then your laptop is going to wobble, have problems with elbows, mounting points, etc. Also try to get a unit designed for your vehicle, not a universal vehicle mount.

Here are some suggested resources:

http://www.jottodesk.com/Comersus/st...namicIndex.asp

http://www.mobiledesk.com/

http://www.ram-mount.com/?gclid=CK_i...FShGagodIyEHtg

http://www.precisionmounts.com/

2) I would use an inverter to power printer and computer. Will this be too much on the current, stock spec battery?

Best is to run vehicle power adapters for your equipment vs. inverters. I would suggest upgrading your battery if you use the equipment a lot, especially if you're running a wireless connection.

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'20 Ranger Lariat FX4 Oxford White

what type of laptop do you have.. if you are going to use the laptop just for that job i would invest in the toughbook and get the Gamber-jhonson mount. we have the 17inch toughbooks in all of our police cars and we just the gamber jhonson mounts. i love them

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2001 ford ranger XLT/4.0 sohc./160,000
Mods:Cb/recon third brake light/air silencer mod/new door speakers and h/u / shorty console, 245-75-16 goodyear wrangler duratracs on rock crawler rims. hellas and 03 honeycomb grille.

EDGEMAN4.0 FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!

...and, FWIW, I have (sitting in my living room) a Ranger/Explorer center console with laptop pedestal. It mounts over the transmission 'hump' and bolts to the inboard driver side and passenger side seat bolts. Make me an offer (including shipping) if you want it.

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2001 Ranger XLT 4.0L SOHC
Silver Frost w/ Dark Graphite interior


Modifications
Summit 3" Body Lift
31x10.50 A/T tires
Explorer overhead console
Explorer auto-dim mirror
Explorer auto-headlights
Aux1 & Aux2 inputs on factory AM/FM/CD/Cassette
Door-dinger silencer button
Seamless retractable roof and passenger-side ejection seat with steering wheel mounted controls and safety interlock

I would upgrade the alternator and batery if you plane to just use a inverter.

I don't know how much it would cost but may be worth installing a battery just for the laptop/printer

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Ditto on the Pansonic Toughbook and I forgot about Gamber Johnson when I was making your list of possible vendors. We had over 2,000 Toughbooks in service from the original to the 29s. We've had them run over and flyoff the top of units. They weren't pretty afterwards, but they still ran and the data was still recoverable. Great laptops...

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'20 Ranger Lariat FX4 Oxford White

I have this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-067-_-Product
Dual outlets, and what I like about this one is that there's space between the outlets. Some of them have the outlets right next to each other, and when you use one, the other is blocked.
I use it regularly, with stock alternator and battery, and have had no problems.

My netbook fits perfectly on the floor console.

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