Too many gadgets in the cab!

that's downright scary

 

what do you guys use the short wave radio for?

 

LOL Sorry dude, the problem is that you are a gadget freak. I dare say most truckers don't have or need half the stuff you listed and neither do you.

1. Cell phone
2. GPS/Garmin/Magellan/TomTom
3. CB Radio
4. AM/FM Radio Superfluous if you have XM or Sirius.
5. XM Satellite Radio If you have XM or Sirius you no longer need AM/FM radio
6. Police/Fire/EMS Scanner Totally unnecessary and bulky!
7. Ipod/MP3 Player
8. Laptop computer
9. Weather Radio There is an excellent weather channel on both XM and Sirius.
10. Shortwave Radio I realize your truck is your home away from home but it's not your basement. Get rid of it.
11. CD/Tape Deck Tapes are obsolete, CD's can be played on your laptop
12. Portable DVD player There should be a DVD drive on your laptop get rid of this.

This is all you need in your rig:
1. Cell phone
2. GPS/Garmin/Magellan/TomTom
3. CB Radio
4. XM Satellite Radio
5. Ipod/MP3 Player
6. Laptop computer
​

I just cut your list of alleged necessities in half. As has already been mentioned this list could be further shortened by the purchase of an iPhone or similar device.

 

So what part of that powers the speakers in your truck? Can't drive with earphones in, legally.

 

ok, here is what I have...
1. Nokia 6650 Cell phone with GPS & Bluetooth Headset
2. Uniden BCT-8 Scanner w/beartracker
3. ASUS EEEPC Netbook w/65ch USB GPS Reciever(larger screen using netbook), PC Miler, CoPilot, Media Player software, & aircard for cellular internet
4. Pioneer DEH-P5100UB AM/FM CD Radio w/USB & 3.5mm inputs & hand held remote
5. External USB 500GB Harddrive for netbook
6. Magnum S980 w/quad finals (80 watts) & RK56 mic
7. Neatreceipts USB Scanner

now the phone, cb and scanner are a given, but the netbook serves more than software... my netbook has 2GB memory and a 500GB harddrive. I put songs and pics on that drive and nothing but movies on the external drive... I have a USB stick with music for when the computer is off. so here is how everything is used with the netbook:

1. netbook on, plugged into 3.5mm input on AM/FM serving music, music is interupted with GPS directions (when they come up), aircard internet for traffic updates
2. if netbook is off, just plug USB stick with music into AM/FM and radio plays media files... it even displays ID tags with artist and title on display
3. truck parked for movie night, netbook on and external drive playing movies plugged into 3.5mm input on AM/FM for poorman suround sound
4. delivered load, scan bills and reciepts into computer and email to broker/dispatch (email cheaper than fax)
5. using aircard for internet and webcam & mic in netbook... video conference with my kids at home while I'm on the road... if you use yahoo messenger, I can play games with them too

when I'm home, I can use my desktop to change music and movies (transfer from CDs to external harddrive). I do other things also, but these are highlights. I save weight by using my netbook for most of what I need. it's well worth the investment and then I don't need other things like DVD player, TV, cases of CD/DVDs, etc... hope this helps anyone...

 

Ugh, I dropped my trackball in the driver's lounge at Kenworth waiting all day for my truck to be serviced and it died. So I stopped by a Best Buy to grab a new one and maybe a better video camera. Now I have two laptops in here.

 

I simply use my laptop to do a lot of those things plus all of my logging as well.

 

Gee, I thought everyone knew you could hook an iPod up to your car or truck speakers. iPod® Installation Guide

 

First sentence, lol.