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

It's already happening. You can hardly find a sub-10" and sub $500 device with a keyboard anymore. Users in that market don't care about keyboard or full featured (PC versus mobile o/s) apps. Windows PC makers are coming out with their version of a Macbook Air (what I use) at a higher price point to target business users that don't want to tote around a bigger 5 lb. value priced model.

 

Verizon mifi works great I can't even recall when I've ever had a no signal except for once in Hatfield/McCoy Kentucky. It can/will happen but only rarely the coverage is great. I have an older commando smart phone and cant use it as a hotspot + take calls. It's either or. Now the new commando is 4g'd and supposed to be much better than the old maybe it can be a hotspot and take calls simultaneous I'll have to ask.

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I have both Verizon MiFi, and an AT&T android phone I can use as a mobile hotspot. Both work well in most places. I'd give AT&T a slight edge in coverage and signal strength, but that may vary depending on where you run. Most places I can just take my pick.

Pricing is about the same on each, and both are available as a data plan added to a (mobile hotspot capable) smartphone or a standalone hotspot unit.

 

To the OP, I find it rather hard to understand why people want to go 'cheap' for a tool that you will be depending on to find work. Spend the time to look at a good laptop and laptop mount for your truck, think about the solid state driver (SSD) which is now getting cheaper and buy a good multifunction printer/scanner - I've gotten good service out of HP and Lexmark.

Getting a cheap laptop means you may end up getting cheap hardware performance, like having a weak screen that cracks easily or having motherboard problems that are caused by vibrations in the truck. The last NEW laptop I bought a few years back is an HP and I beat this thing up, it has been dropped, had stuff dropped on it and so on - but still is working. It costs a bit over $1000 on sale and haven't regretted buying it for a second.

As for the Operating System, I would stick with windows of some sort, it is simple to understand why - support is so much better. I am a big Linux person, using Kubutu on this computer and have it on the acer business laptop I use to keep track of everything. I don't recommend it to people who don't have much computer skills, it has come a long way but even for me, it is sometimes a pia.

I can not recommend DDL enough, it is a good program and has a lot of unused features that people miss.

DDL is not 100% dot/fmcsa compliant, you can alter the logs after the fact and do other tricks to it. It is acceptable by most enforcement officers as a very good way to keep your log book and makes their lives a lot easier.

As you mentioned, most violations are stupid math errors and nothing more. I wish they would have pursued their GPS add on more.

 

I just think it's crazy to spend $1,000 on a HP when Wal Mart or other box stores have HP's for less than half that price. I don't buy it that the $1,000 one is built any better.

 

There's lots of major differences. From CPU,cache, memory and more


Your statement is as wrong as saying a 6nz is no better than an ACERT

 

He'll be doing spreadsheets, surfing loadboards, and emails for the truck. He doesn't need a "6NZ" for that when a "lawnmower engine" will have more than enough speed/power for those simple tasks. I've never sat there and wished I had a better laptop it's suited my needs well and rides shotgun everywhere just fine in passenger seat. Steering wheel is a dandy stand.

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you also didn't NEED to go with a 6NZ tune either. The MBN would have done you just fine as well. But you did.

Same thing.

Love to see what you think of someone that uses a system like this...
http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/precision-m4400/pd

 

I worked at DEC - Compaq - HP for 10 yrs. Since I worked on customer-facing deals that were charged back to profit (not cost) centers, I got to custom order whatever I thought I needed. In other words, turn the geek loose on the order page LOL. One of my toys er I mean work tools was one of those high-end laptops. It was pretty cool at first, then it got old. For 99% of users, all they're good for is building upper body strength toting them through the airport. The 200w power supply itself is about the size and weight of an actual brick.

They market them as engineering systems, but what they're really made for is 3D gaming. Most engineers I knew got the throw-away laptops that were hand-me-downs from the sales guys.