Appliances and Electronics in the truck?

12v microwave.

 

For the air card, I would use Millenicom. It runs on Verizon's network, at the same speeds, but no contract. It's also the same $60 a month, but no taxes and other garbage added on. When the bill is taken out, its $59.99 flat rate. Oh, and no retarded overage charges.

For TV and everything else, I don't know of any company that includes them in their trucks. The drivers buy them. Me, personally, I sue my laptop for most everything entertainment related. I have thought about putting a small (22-24") LCD in the truck for a bigger screen, though.

I use a car charger for my cell. No microwave or anything like that, but I do have a 12volt cooler.

 

They're like cigarette lighter outlets, 12v. You can get a 475w cobra inverter that comes with a carrying case, alligator clips, and a 12v power cord that will work with the ones in the truck. It's on sale for $39 I think, Maybe $30. That inverter will charge your phone and laptop with the 110v cords you have now unless you have a huge laptop like the one I got. I had to buy an 800w and modify the 12v cord from the 475 to fit it. Now it drains the truck batteries nicely. Smaller inverters are cheaper but you may as well get the bigger one cause you'll need it eventually.

I'm not sure exactly how much bandwidth streaming tv takes up. HQ takes up a lot more than lower definition stuff, YouTube videos take up hardly any. If you watch a lot of shows you'd be better off downloading all the episodes you want at home and bringing them along on a big external drive.

Watching a few shows here and there shouldn't be a problem. Just keep an eye on the bandwidth meter. They send you a text when you hit the halfway mark and probably send more when you get closer to the limit. I haven't used over 3gb a month yet, so I dunno.

 

I do some streaming on my aircard. Millenicom has a "gentlemen's agreement" at the same 5gb cap, but they don't have the rediculous overage charges.


Also, streaming video from Hulu and such will chew up bandwidth, but not as bad as you would think. I don't make it a habit, though.


What I normally do is download everything I want to see on my home computer and load it to an external 320gb hard drive I have. I also have my home computer set up so I can remote in from my laptop, and start the downloads while on the road, but thats a bit more complicated.

 

That's a good idea.... hadnt thought of that..... thanks!

 

Generally, there is a place to hook up a 12V tv in the sleeper area. But if you are working on a budget, you can spend 20 to 30 bucks on a 300-400 watt invertor with a cigarette lighter plug, and put a regular tv (perhaps with a DVD player) in there. Smaller 110V televisions usually require 60 to 85 watts of power. Laptops generally fall into that range too.

I also have a 1000 watt invertor wired in by the shop, that I provided. I run my 750 watt microwave (60 bucks at walmart) and anything else, including my electric skillet. One other thing I have is a mini-crockpot. Perfect for throwing a can of soup or chili and some spices into. Toss it in, turn it on, and by lunchtime, the truck smells good and your lunch is ready. Quite convenient actually.

Like someone else said though, you need to keep an eye on your batteries if you do not have an APU with a battery monitor. Depending on the invertor, it can create problems for you in the morning. If you do have an APU, I would still recommend an invertor simply because you have a "backup plan" should the APU fail.

As far as wireless goes.... I have Verizon and I purchased one of those Netbooks. I absolutely love it. I can get online literally ANYWHERE, including the docks. Originally, I purchased the WiFi from a truckstop, but it sure limited me. I was spending 20 bucks a month, and could only use it if I was on their lot and close to the building. For 40 dollars more ($1.33 per day), I get faster speeds, and I can use the internet anywhere I go. And frankly, when you cant get a good TV signal, and you are going to be sitting for several hours, that $1.33 is a pretty good price to pay to avert boredom. At least in my world.

Remember one other thing..... the more appliances you have, the heavier your truck gets. Sometimes that is overlooked.

 

There are ways to transfer from dvr an encode to a video file but the legality is iffy and people already do it and put all the shows up for download (also iffy legality, but meh.)