Another RV office setup

[Neal]

I've been through various options for putting an office in my RV as I'm a full time software developer among other things. I've had my jackknife sofa out and a 72" updesk in its place, loved it for work, hated it for social. I recently discovered VIVO products as discussed in another thread and they have a dual monitor stand that I'd figure I would try. My main monitor from home, this trip, is a LG 32" with the secondary a 27" LG. Laptops are just too small for me typically but they can also be put in use simultaneously or drive the monitors, however, I have my PC tower with me this trip.

This one works great as it really keeps the desk space clear, umm, I mean dinette space as there are no monitor stands in the way other than the one in the corner. The problem is it's a pain to setup and take down to stow for travel that at the beginning of the trip I said nope, not gonna keep doing this. I've gotten the process down now and we'll see what I do next trip. With the PC tower on the other side and the slight hassle of this I don't use the dinette when guests are over for dinner, I use nice tray tables I learned of from @Chuggs but can't remember the name of them. This is a nice work setup, I like it, the dual monitor layout and clear desk space is nice. It's yet another option.

Amazon.com

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Keyboard is a logitech mx keys mini:

Amazon.com

Mouse is the new "quiet click" (love it!) MX Master 3S

Amazon.com

 

[Neal]

Found the tray table by Manchester woods. Cracker Barrel sells them now, got mine from Amazon but no longer listed.

shop.crackerbarrel.com: Manchester Wood Portable Folding Work/Laptop Desk - Cracker Barrel

Find product details, reviews, and more for this solid wood Manchester Wood Portable Folding Work/Laptop Desk at shop.crackerbarrel.com. Free shipping over 75

shop.crackerbarrel.com

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

We’ve been using the dinette as the desk for a few years - and some tray tables for eating (but not as nice as the tables you linked to).

Moving the monitors off the dinette when traveling is the most annoying part (if that 90 second activity is considered annoying).

Have looked at monitor stands that could be anchored to the wall or dinette top. Our dinette is stone so it isn’t easily drillable. Our top is bolted/anchored to the wall, it does not collapse for a “bed”. So we have solid material to work with, but been trying to determine how much stress 2 monitors will place on a stand while driving down the road. I tend towards over doing things, so I haven’t convinced myself or my Bride that the multiple hundred $ effort to keep monitors anchored would be worth it - to save 90 seconds each time we setup/tear down for travel.

Love the setup you have!

 

[Scotttkd2]

Literally just ordered this as I am no longer able to sit in a Lazy Boy and use a laptop. I really missed my old standing workstation anyway so will give it a go. Will update once it arrives.

Amazon.com

 

[Jim]

That's nice Neal. Question, what do you use the Stream Deck for?

 

[Neal]

That's nice Neal. Question, what do you use the Stream Deck for?

Mainly day trading but learning it for other uses such as software development, etc.

Edit: I'll also use it for video editing when I get back into that. It has content packs (in their plugin gallery) to use with DaVinci Resolve, etc.

 

[Neal]

End of trip report. I like the setup. I learned how to manage the monitors to get them to/from the bed without them flopping around. It certainly optimized my desk space and gave me a nice dual monitor setup.

I really need to evaluate my computer use in the future and not need the tower. I need to either find a new laptop, or use my existing aging Dell XPS 17, or try a Mac Studio when they come out with the M4 and that would give me both Mac and Windows (via Parallels or Fusion (now free)). Someday I'm going to figure this out!

 

[DennisT]

Parallels works great on a Mac.

Have a Mac laptop with the Apple M2 chip that runs well. Have four virtual computers running, 3 windows and one Linux.

Microsoft has a version of windows that runs on the apple silicone when using parallels or something like it.

Backups of the virtual machines are easy since you just copy the one file and done.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

After years/decades of using only Microsoft operating system machines at work, decided to try using a Mac in the work environment early this year.
After a little adjustment I am loving it.
There are a couple things that I cannot do natively on the Mac and need a virtual machine to use those applications, but overall I have more time to be productive as I spend less time trying to debug windows.
And the recent issues with Crowdstrike? Many o-workers on windows struggled for a few days, but I don’t have a single hiccup.

Used to live tinkering with TSRs back in the DOS days, ini files in the Win3.x days, registry settings, etc - but that was getting old and tiring for me.
Now I can just do the work that pays the bills.

 

[Jim]

I like it, the dual monitor layout and clear desk space is nice. It's yet another option.

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Another quick question. How do the monitors connect to the Dell laptop? Are you using a docking station or do they plug directly into the Dell?

 

[Neal]

I'm using a PC tower as you can see the white under the left edge of the right side monitor. However, I have used the Dell laptop in the past (XPS 17 as you know) and it works well and I need to start using that instead of the monster tower. I just like having "more power" on the tower with all of my developer stuff but quite frankly I've never had an issue or hold back with the Dell. I do have the Dell dock station and it works well, it's an added and unnecessary expense I believe but it's also an option.

You have options with the laptop and in fact it can also serve as an additional monitor such as left of the main. You can simply connect a USB C port on your dell to a cable that connects to the monitor. HDMI, Displayport or if your monitor has USB C ports as mine do, that works too. So you can go USB C to an USB C input, or USB C to HDMI or DisplayPort cable. Here is what I use for monitors and cable suggestions for you:

LG 27 inch monitor with USB-C (and HDMI, DisplayPort). I love these monitors, I have probably a half dozen of these between two office setups.

USB C to DisplayPort cable

USB C to HDMI cable

USB C to C cable

My favorite mouse

My favorite keyboard mini or full size

 

[Jim]

Thank you @Neal for that detailed explanation and the associated links.

 

[Jim]

Does the LG 27 inch monitor with USB-C connect directly to the laptop via the display port cable? Or do I need a docking station between them? And if I'm going to run two of these monitors, do I:

• run two display port cables from the laptop, each one to a separate monitor, or
• one display port cable into a docking station and then individual display port cables into the monitors, or
• can I run one display port cable from the laptop to the monitor and then daisy chain the monitors?

 

[Neal]

I edited my post of parts to add a USB C to C cable. If you have a monitor such as I linked and use that has a USB C "thunderbolt" port you can also go that path, C to C. I use both a Macbook Pro and Windows machine so I use USB C from the Mac and C to DisplayPort for Windows.

So you will plug your power adapter into one USB C port and I think you have 4 x USB C ports on your laptop (not near mine) so you plug your desired cables into USB C ports and connect to monitors. One port per monitor.

If you need to expand USB ports I also use these:

Amazon.com

 

[Neal]

Follow up on my ever evolving RV office setup and work to outfit the dinette to be a good alternative to my home office. As posted on the site somewhere, I once removed the jack knife sofa and installed my 72 inch updesk, that was a great setup but took out the social in my coach. I think I finally found my happy place for my office setup which is now on version 28, see below.

On this brief trip I started out by trying a VIVO 3 monitor mount. I knew it would be painful for setup and teardown but let's give it a try. The problem is the clamp mount does not work well with the dinette and the corian top. I tried it and noticed just in time the clamp was slipping away, it's just too much weight. So I went back to the dual monitor mount at the top of this thread.

I ordered and had with me a VIVO laptop mount as I figured the only way I'd get a good 3rd screen (I ultimately need 4) was to use my laptop. I did this on my last trip using my dinner tray fold out stand setup next to my dinette, less than ideal for walking the narrow path from front to back of the coach. So I figured I'd take this laptop stand mount of the box and give it a try. I had a welcome surprise when seeing the parts and reading the instructions that it can also serve as a monitor stand. Hmmm, this is going to work out great, and it did, and does. I really like this setup.

I'm loving my Keychron keyboards I posted about, this is the one I'm using in the RV. The ones at home are Q6 Max series.

Today's teardown and setup of the 3 monitor config wasn't bad. The 3rd (right) monitor is optional and probably will remain stowed on shorter visits as I really only need it on Monday to Friday work.

 

[Neal]

We'll see how long this lasts but I'm rethinking my RV computer setup for the future. I love having my mega powerful PC tower with me but I really really really hate the clutter. Granted, my monitors kill the dinette ability for meals with visitors but it's still a mess that is annoying me.

What I'm thinking of trying going forward is going with the new Mac Studio when it comes out presumably this summer (WWDC time frame) with the M4 or later, otherwise a Mac Mini M4. I'll run Windows on VMWare Fusion but about everything I do now can also be done on Mac.

I really want as much of this computer nonsense concealed as possible. I'd go with a gaming laptop like the ASUS Scar 18 or 16 but I despise fan noise. My PC towers are silent (water cooled) as are Mac's.

So we'll see what the next RV trip holds for another computer iteration.

 

[DennisT]

The Apple chips are quite nice.

The M2 pro laptop I bought before retiring has performed quite well.

I looked hard and long at the studio option before going the laptop route. Still have my “trash can” Mac Pro with Xeon processors for video editing.

Just make sure the studio, you can get in the case if desired. The older minis you could and then they redesigned to be sealed so no upgrading memory or hard drive without taking it in.

Parallels works well on them for running Windows or any of the Linux flavors if needed.

There was a bug with Win 11 version for Apple silicone that wouldn’t let it get updated any longer but the Parallels team had a registry fix that got around that. MS is supposed to be doing an update that fixes the issue. I believe it was only a problem with the windows version on the Apple silicone.