Computers and Internet connection for choice board.

That's the same thing I have with windows 7 it works just fine.

 

Going down the road ( as a passenger of course) I used a tablet ( 7in samsung) It had it's own phone number so didn't need wi-fi. For my Laptop, 5 y/o HP, I used a Jet pack from Verizon. Now I have a chrome book, still use the jet pack.

If my phone had a signal, my tablet had a signal. The tablet shared data with our phones and the jetpack, not the cheapest way to go. We could actually have used the phone's for a hot spot, but the jet pack has a better signal than the phones.

 

I use Verizon with six gigs of data. My phone is my hotspot and my computer is a two year old Asus laptop. I never have a problem. 4g everywhere I have been.

 

I use Verizon also, but I have a huge data plan of 30 GB. I use the internet a lot though so it's worth it to me. And I would definitely recommend some kind of data plan with one of the major carriers, you really don't want to have your business depend on truck stop wifi. And I recommend Verizon because there's very few places where I don't get fast 4G service.

Right now I'm using a small Alienware model laptop from Rent-a-center because my old one suffered a nasty accident. I've got a customer built one coming in the mail in the next week or two, but this one does okay for now.

The load board appears to work on any device that runs a full version of Windows 7 or Windows 8. Tablets that run Windows RT don't seem to get along with the board very well, but tablets running full Windows 8 seem to work great. And of course any laptop works great. I do know that Android and iOS devices will not work with the board.

 

I use BMI.net's unlimited plan which uses Sprints network. I have a Franklin U770 modem that supports 3G/4G WiMAX and 4G LTE. Combined with a tri-mode antenna mounted on the back of my truck it works everywhere I have been since I mounted the antenna out back there. It's not a cheap setup, but it works very very well. This is an unlimited plan (within reason of course) and I use it, believe me. I tend to try to keep my hours up so I don't have to reset on the road, so I rarely burn my days up, so usually I have a little bit of free time to watch Netflix, etc. That data adds up quick.

You definitely want a laptop to use the board on, a tablet won't cut it IMO. I often have 10 tabs in a browser open at once looking at different sets of loads and planning where I can go next and that can only be done efficiently on a laptop.

For prebuilt laptops I have always been a huge fan of the Lenovo Thinkpads. I have had this little X120e that I am on now for years, and it is still continuing to give me great service. It's only 11.6" so its small, but perfect for browsing the load board and easy to throw in my bag and draws very little power so it runs great off a small, fanless inverter that doesn't make any noise.

I also have a custom-built gaming laptop from AVADirect that is pretty much the exact opposite of this one that requires a small nuclear power plant to run. Obviously that one is used when I want to waste some time and its also nice for watching movies on a bigger 15.6" screen.

I'd highly recommend a SSD over a mechanical HD, especially in a truck. All the vibrations and moving around you do can be very hard on a mechanical drive and the last thing you want is for your one and only laptop to die leaving you without a way to assign loads.

Also remember to carefully look at the specs when comparing laptops. Just because one has a 17" screen vs a 15.6" screen doesn't mean you'll have any more room to work with if they are both made to run at a 1920x1080 resolution. I remember one of the instructors that did the load board training in Green Bay was going on and on about how he knew about a drive that had a 42" HDTV installed to look at the load board with and how he had so much room. Really? Because My 1920x1080 laptop screen has the exact same number of pixels to display on as his 1920x1080 HDTV.

So a list:

For laptop I'd personally recommend:
15.6" Screen with 1920x1080 resolution - good balance of size and portability
SSD
Windows 7 (not a fan of 8)
If you are using the laptop just for internet, load board, etc., any Intel Core i3/i5 would be fine, i7 if you have a need for the extra power. Always been an Intel fan here so I'm not much help when it comes to AMD processors
USB 3.0 ports, so you can get a USB 3.0 external HD to make backups on, or store anything else you'd want, USB 3.0 is MUCH faster than 2.0

 

I only have 6gb and use it for more than that with no problems.

 

ipad works just fine with the load board. I use it every day