Community Forums

Durango Dave · 04-23-2017, 11:57 PM

Hi, i am planning to travel with a full desktop PC, + 3 monitors and one external drive, and a full size printer.

I need the drive space and laptops just dont provide that space. My desktop has 5 hard drives and then as i said before i have 1 external drive. I really dont want to have to move all my data over to a laptop or some other drive configuration.

So i was just curious if this is rare or do alot of people travel with full desktop PC's?

If so how do you protect them during travel?

I was thinking of building a special compartment for it that was very shock resistent with lots of padding. Maybe even like a footlocker that floated on heavy springs.

see pic.. i need to convert this setup to the 5th Wheel.

Hgrace56 · 04-24-2017, 12:02 AM

I run a Surface book with 3 22" and a 55

Hgrace56 · 04-24-2017, 12:03 AM

55" monitor plus an external raid array.
No need for a desktop anymore

Durango Dave · 04-24-2017, 12:13 AM

Thing is i just built this thing late last year, over 2 grand and just the way i wanted it, everything i need. I hate to have to sell it or put it in storage.

Core i7 6700k 4.01 ghz, 32GB ram and MSI motherboard

ElvistheKing · 04-24-2017, 01:59 AM

As long as it's off (ie drives not spinning) it will be fine, just make sure it doesn't fall over or slide in case you damage the case.
Hard drives are delivered all over the world in the back of trucks/trailers with significantly less shock protection than your 5th wheeler and on roads significantly rougher too, if they are off they are designed to withstand it (although you should also have a backup strategy as well, ideally off site as well, I use CrashPlan).

**Spdracr39** · 04-24-2017, 05:15 AM

Your camper would be destroyed before an impact would damage a parked (powered off) hard drive. I would be most concerned about securing the monitors and case from movement.

Badlands Bob · 04-24-2017, 05:20 AM

Laptops with 2TB hard drives are pretty common. How much data storage do you need?

Triker56 · 04-24-2017, 05:56 AM

I have traveled Full Time since 1999. I have always had a desktop plus 1-2 Laptops.
The last almost 15 years in my present MH. The tower's has been sitting under the kitchen table on top of some rubber shelf lining. It never has been tied down and it rides there fine.

The desktop's has been replaced a couple times still working and no problem. I just wanted the newer faster and bigger hard drive when replaced.

The present 22" monitor sits on top of the kitchen table and never is tied down when traveling. It rides there just fine. I have a slide out key board mounted under the table top. I have no idea how a 5th wheel rides inside traveling down the road.

vsheetz · 04-24-2017, 05:58 AM

I traveled with similar setup for my work. 17" laptop, plus two external monitors, and a external drive for added storage and backup. Would setup when parked on the dash in front of passenger seat as my office. For travel would set everything on the couch. Only took a couple minutes to setup.

YC1 · 04-24-2017, 06:00 AM

I do and have for years. As suggested, having monster drives, fast devices, CD burners etc is very handy. I use my tv as a monitor. I just retired my laptop after four years and love my new Switch Alpha tablet/laptop. It is very fast and the touch screen is much better than I thought it would be. The thing is very cool and does not roast my lap.

My full size printer is in the bedroom closet on top of a box that holds the hwh and circuit breakers. It is set up wirelessly.

I use one of the hard drives in the PC to hold my other computer device backups. I also use a portable HD to backup on and then hide it in my toad in case the RV is destroyed.

I don't trust saving stuff to the cloud.

marknpeg · 04-24-2017, 07:44 AM

I make my living as a cloud developer, while living full time in our RV. Tech is king for me. Mobility is also king and I will never have a desktop again, although that is a personal decision. But it sure is nice to take the laptop outside and work on a beautiful day rather than being stuck inside all the time.

I have a laptop with a 750Mb SSD and a 27" external display (I use both displays), and then a NAS with multiple drives behind a WiFiRanger Core, which gives me high speed wireless access to all those drives. That means I effectively have almost 4Tb available on my laptop whether I'm sitting at the desk with the big screen or outside enjoying the sunshine.

Not to mention, when we visited my wife's brother for a couple days and I had to continue working, I could sit at their dining room table and work. So I was still able to be social and get my work done.

Technology moves on, but the setup I have can be put together for about $2k without much trouble.

Dale & Mark Bruss · 04-24-2017, 07:50 AM

We have a high power HP desktop that we used as a server in the trailer for 5 years. Several disks was one of the reasons.

We had a power failure in the park and the inverter cut in. I was amazed on the DC power being used. A check on devices by disconnecting, starting with the household refrigerator, we determine the HP box was using more than twice the rest of the devices combined.

We changed to a small form factor PC with a few external very large USB disk drives.

So yes you can travel with a desktop but you might reconsider what you need for processing and what form the storage needs to be.

twogypsies · 04-24-2017, 05:36 PM

We used one for extensive photo work. Our monitor was secured by 'hurricane straps', the tower was on the floor, unsecured and never moved in travel. We traveled full-time 16 years with the setup and it worked well.

fluffybunny · 04-24-2017, 06:33 PM

I'm not on the road yet but planning on full timing soon, I'm also planning on bringing a desktop computer with me, as well as a laptop. I am a big time PC gamer and laptops just don't have the horsepower that I want for a computer. I also work in IT and planning on working on the road as well and having a desktop with multiple monitors is a must for me. I don't have an exact plan for how I'm going to do that, but my biggest concern is monitors more so than the tower. If its powered off there is no concern for the drives in the computer as long as they are mounted properly in the case.

My plan for the monitors is one of two things to mount them to the wall with a good mount and strap them to the wall for driving, or use a table mount and move the monitors to a good secure location while moving.