Question for all you Tech "savvy" O/O's

Look for places like TigerDirect and such, I bought a used computer that was off lease for a decent price and it had Windows 7 and such on it with a warranty.

 

Why is everyone recommending $350 Walmart laptops when the goal is cheap, but new? My laptop took a dump on me last month in SC, so I bobtailed over to Best Buy and bought a new Toshiba for $249. Walmart isn't always the place to go.

 

I've had a laptop and data card in my truck for years,but booting up and down and up and down...ugh too time consuming. I grab my IPad and away I go. Hotspot from my phone and I'm always on "go"
No more diff bills,no more extra luggage,nice and stupid! Lol

 

Millinicom is just a resaler of Verizon products. you can but the same hotspot device from verizion but it cost a lot more per month. Buying from millinicom gets you the same device, same coverage, same quality, just a cheaper price. OP mentioned finding loads. Without internet you can't find loads on your laptop.

FYi, there are 3 networks that are truly nation wide. Verizion hands down has the best coverage in the most places. At&T is not far behind and has coverage in some places the verizion doesn't, but verizion has coverage in tons of place at&t doesn't. 3rd is sprint. Not great coverage,but cheap. Companies like us cellular work great in certain locations, but have major wholes in their network. they sometimes rent space on other networks...fees vary when of the primary us cellular grid.

I used verizion, at&T and sprint over the last year and Verizion truly had the best coverage as a long hual driver

 

I have pretty much done the opposite of what you want to do. I keep a small Acer Aspire 10.1 inch web book in the truck, but use it only to scan documents for email. I have an HP eprint 7520 all in one printer, Galaxy S III Android phone and a Galaxy 7.1 tablet. My phone is used the most because I can look for loads using Getloaded or DAT. The saving grace is that my wife does 99% of looking for loads and dispatching for me.

With the HP eprint you can print directly from your phone, tablet or laptop or scan directly to your laptop, if needed. I use Big Road app for my daily log book, which actually works better than a paper log. I then print the log sheet each night and email a copy back to the home office. I also have the ability through my phone to turn on a wi-fi hot spot so that I can connect my devices to the internet. Works well as long as I have a phone signal.

My tablet I use most often for reading, and checking email in depth as it has a larger screen. My suggestion is to get a good Android phone, and then a small laptop. A good all in one printer will be key to saving time when doing paper work. HP has some nice notebooks for a reasonable price, but you may have a fit using Windows 8. Acer also has some nice hardware that is inexpensive.

 

I would also recommend the DriversDailyLog software add a dot com to that and it'll get you to the website.... you'll need a cheapo printer to print and sign your logs every day... BEST $95 I ever spent... I've had 25 logbook inspections since I started using it over 3 years ago... at EVERY single one, they look at the printed out logs for a MAX of 3 seconds... the inspectors KNOW that they won't find any errors, and it's 100% DOT/FMCSA compliant, but NOT an EOBR... the fact is, the vast majority of logbook "violations" are simple math errors or stupid "form vs function" mistakes... DDL software eliminates those issues... be of luck to ya, driver...

 

Look at the Windows Tablet. They dropped the price and you can run anything you can run on computer (memory permitting). Plus the instant on function is nice for doing logs on computer (not eobr, just computer generated logs).

BTW, anyone that fears EOBRs is working too hard. Those that fear them are the ones that have to trim every minute so they can run as many miles as possible. Don't fear these, fear the companies that make you run 3,000+ miles to squeak by.

 

If you get the Windows tablet, get the Windows Pro not the RT. The Pro is Win8 based and will let you use the fullest of your software. RT won't.

I have a laptop at home running my Quicken and has my spreadsheets in it, a laptop in the truck allows me to access my files on my laptop at the house. I use a Verizons MIFI for internet in the truck and have an HP1040 all-in-one printer/scanner.

The wife has a Brothers all-in-one scanner/laser printer. She can access the laptop as well either directly or she can access it through her computer as well.

We have our email for the business set up as well and can access it in the phones, computers or where-ever....

 

I wasn't recommending he go there, its just where I went. I have checked the Best Buy's around me from time to time and the only lap tops they ever had out on display started at $700 and went crazy high from there. I bought one from there a couple of years ago for the house and spent a little over a grand on it, but my wife uses a lot of different programs that required all the gizmos and dodads that it has.

 

I'm getting ready to replace my Older (dead) Laptop.
With a refurbished one from Newegg for $275.

What does it mean when you say you don't want it to become outdated a week later?
Simple...does it do what you need it to?
You could have a Laptop from 5 years ago..and it will still do those things you listed.

Although, when you start talking about games, it changes things a little.