Let’s Talk IPAD !

Here’s the third entry in our series about e-readers for RV’ers. It’s time to address the Godzilla of the e-reader world. Yes, we’re talking about Apple and its iPad tablet. If Amazon is King Kong, Apple is Godzilla. (In this analogy, Nook is Rodan; never underestimate Rodan.) While iPad isn’t a dedicated e-reader, many people use it as such. NOTE: Images are not to scale (we all know that Godzilla is much larger than King Kong). It wasn’t so long ago that ol’ Mister Black Turtleneck himself was standing on stage like some sort of Silicon Valley prophet, proudly holding his gleaming metal tablet aloft. The initial response was a collective, “Huh?” On that day Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffered a few snickers at the device’s name, which reminded some of a feminine hygiene product. A lot has happened since that fateful day in 2010 when Jobs unfurled the iPad to skepticism and derision. It turned out that Jobs was once again right. The iPad became the most popular consumer product since running water. People around the planet bought RVs just so they could more comfortably camp outside Apple stores while waiting to buy the latest model. Apple became more valuable than the Earth itself. You never know when NOOK might fly into the scene and crash Godzilla's party. As for Steve Jobs, in 2011 he moved on to that great product launch in the sky. I read the authorized Steve Jobs biography (on my Kindle – sorry, Steve), and learned... Read more

Let’s Talk NOOK !

Let’s Talk NOOK ! Recently I wrote an article about the Amazon Kindle (one appropriately if unimaginatively titled Let’s Talk KINDLE !). The crux of my essay was that e-readers are the best thing to hit RV’s since flush toilets. There are many e-readers available for your purchasing pleasure. One of the most popular rhymes with “book.” Why did I choose to focus on Kindle? Conspiracy theories abound. Am I biased? Have I loaded up our investment portfolio on AMZN? Or am I merely an Amazon fanboy who wears Jeff Bezos pajamas? Nah. While I may be a bit of an Amazon fanboy, I wrote about Kindle because Amazon is currently KING KONG of the e-reader world. Yes, if recent sales figures are to be believed, Amazon is now perched on a skyscraper high above E-Reader Metropolis with Fay Wray sitting on its lap. Or is that Jeff Bezos in a dress? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a dress? This is wrong on many levels. Anyway, with Kindles selling faster than mouse ears at Disney World, it’s good to be King Kong. But if there’s a pesky swarm of biplanes on the horizon, it’s the Barnes & Noble NOOK. The author's book on his wife's NOOK. The Nook is a series of e-reader devices sold by everyone’s favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore behemoth. These range from inexpensive e-ink readers (Nook Simple Touch) to more robust tablets (Nook Color & Nook Tablet). You can buy Nooks online, in 90,000-square-foot bookstores, in shady back alleys,... Read more

Rand McNally TripMaker RVND GPS for RVs

In this third, and final, article about the Rand McNally TripMaker RVND 7710 GPS for RVs I’m going to talk about Route-Planning.  The other two articles were: What’s Up Ahead Multi-Stop Trips Some of the comments to the previous articles specifically asked about routing.  We want to know that the GPS is not routing us thru low clearance bridges or on other roads that are inappropriate for RVs.  This video shows how to plan a route thru Baltimore.  Other trip-planning devices would take you thru a tunnel, but the TripMaker knows that there’s a problem there.  Watch the video to see how it works. Alternate Link: GPS-Route-Baltimore.mp4 – 14.82MB Download Low Clearance Bridges I found a low bridge in Jacksonville, Florida for an example route.  Here is how Google Maps plans the route: Using Google’s Street View – you can see the low clearance! Here’s how the Rand McNally TripMaker GPS plans the same trip:   Now that’s exactly what we want right?  The Rand McNally TripMaker simply plans a route that avoids the low clearance. It doesn’t know all Low Clearance Bridges Be aware that *no* database has all of the low bridges – so, you still have to use all the tools at your disposal.  For example, we are members of Thousand Trails and we’ve spent some time at the Ohio park called Kenisee Lakes.  If you read the directions in the Thousand Trails book, you are told: Note: There are low clearance bridges... Read more

Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710: Multi-Stop Trips

We have been evaluating the Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710. Our favorite feature of the device is all the ways it can inform you about sights and services that are coming up just ahead in your route. We wrote about this in our previous article ‘What’s Up Ahead.’ Today, my topic is Multi-Stop Trips. With most standalone GPS devices, you get directions to a single place. The trip starts from where you are. You are asking, ‘How do I get from here to that single place.’ The RVND is one of the devices that allow you to plan and save trips with multiple stops. When you reach one stop the device notes that you have arrived at your first destination. When you turn it on the next time, it is ready to pick up where you left off and guide you to the next stop. Here is a video that shows exactly how to create a multi-stop trip with the Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710. Trouble watching this video? Try the Youtube version.  Read More →

Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710: What’s up Ahead?

7” GPS device designed specifically for the RVer and camper Website: Rand McNally Cost: $399.99 by Chris Guld, www.geeksontour.tv We received our evaluation unit of the RVND 7710 in early September and used it to navigate from the New Jersey Shore to Ohio, and then south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  There is a lot to this device and our review will be in a series of articles.  The first things I want to tell you about are the special features that none of our other devices can give us. Next Exit Information I know several people who swear by their ‘Next Exit’ book which gives all the amenities to be found at every Exit on America’s Interstate Highways.  Although that sounds like a great tool to have, we refuse to have any more books in our RV.  The Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710 now offers a similar set of information available at your fingertips as you drive down the road.  Here’s how it works.  During navigation, there is an icon on the screen that represents the Exit amenities – actually it’s a square of 4 icons: Food, Fuel, Lodging, and All.  Touch that with your finger, or the provided stylus, and you’ll see a list of the upcoming exits. Just touch the Exit info button and a list of upcoming Exits appears with the number of Gas, Food, and Lodging amenities Now you touch the Exit you want to see and you’ll get the detail of those amenities. If there are more than will fit on one screen, you will see up and down arrows to the right... Read more

Rogue Wave by Wave WiFi

Review by Jim Guld www.geeksontour.com If you’re an RVer looking to improve your Internet connections, take a look at the Rogue Wave Wireless Bridge and Ethernet Converter.  I have been working with WiFi equipment almost since the beginning of the technology. I have an arsenal of devices, large and small, that I have collected over our years of RVing.  The Rogue Wave is the latest and I like it. The Purpose of the Rogue Wave Of the three ways to connect to high speed Internet on the road, WiFi, Satellite, and Cellular, WiFi can be the best. WiFi is available in many places and is reasonably priced and often free. WiFi was never designed to cover large areas or go long distances. It was made for small and home offices and Starbucks. Advances in technology and innovative designs can enable communication over much greater distances and over or through obstacles. The Rogue Wave is a device to extend the effective range of a WiFi Hotspot . It works exceptionally well and is easy to set up and use.  Here is a typical scenario for an Rver: You are in an RV park that advertises WiFi, but your computer cannot connect reliably to the Access Point. You can take your computer closer to the AP, and it works fine, but you want to work from the comfort of your own rig. The WiFi built into your laptop is not good enough. A better radio and a better antenna will give you a better connection. One solution might be a USB WiFi adapter. USB WiFi adapters require device drivers and... Read more

GPS Coordinates with Google Earth and Streets and Trips

This article is going to explore the different notation used for entering Latitude and Longitude coordinates to find places in Streets and Trips. Sometimes you may need to convert the coordinates you have to the format that Streets and Trips understands. This article will show you how to make the conversions using Google Earth. Question: My Garmin says N 36 degrees 37.458′ W 92 degrees 08.017′ The Garmin will get me right here to the entrance of this ranch. But when I try to put it in Streets & Trips 2011, I keep getting an error each time. I am trying to locate Cloud 9, Caulfield, MO. Cloud 9 Ranch is a membership park in the Ozarks and we are planning some events involving Geocaching. We want to be able to provide people with the correct coordinates for whatever device they are using. Decimal or Degrees Microsoft Streets and Trips recognizes two types of GPS Lat/Long notation: 1) Decimal or 2) Degrees/Minutes/Seconds. Decimal: 36.624300° -92.133617° Degrees/Minutes/Seconds: 36°37′27.48″N 92° 8′1.02″W To enter the coordinates into Streets and Trips, you click on the Tools menu, Find, and click the Lat/Long tab. You can enter the coordinates in either of the formats above, but Decimal is the simplest. You don’t need the degree symbol – in fact, if you do include the degree symbol, you’ll get an error. Just use numbers, decimal points and the minus sign to show a West longitude. No symbols, no spaces. Degrees... Read more

Which Internet Connection Works Better–Droid Smart Phone or Mi-Fi?

by Chris Guld of GeeksOnTour.com People have asked us this question and we give a stock answer because our personal experience has not pointed out a difference … until now.  The answer is a definite … “Yes!”  That’s right, Yes, sometimes the phone connects better and sometimes the Mi-Fi (mobile hostpot) connects better.  Using the Phone to Provide Internet to the Computer In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, we sometimes use our Droid Smartphone, with Verizon service, tethered to our computer to provide an Internet connection to our computer.  You can see more detail included in this ‘Gabbing with the Geeks’ video. Last week we were staying at the Thousand Trails park Kenisee Lakes in Northeast Ohio.  The Verizon signal wasn’t great, but it worked fine with our phones tethered to our computer.  Our mobile hotspot often couldn’t connect at all, and when it did it was abysmally slow.  So, our preferred method there was to use the phones. Using the Mobile Hotspot to Provide Internet to the Phone The most popular way to connect to the Internet on the road today is the ‘Mobile Hotspot’ – sometimes called a Mi-Fi.  Most major carriers offer them, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T.  Ours is a 4g Hotspot from Verizon.  This little device connects to the Internet and then broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal for up to 5 nearby devices to connect. We are currently in the Adirondacks of New York, and Verizon... Read more

Motorhome Rally in Vermont

  by Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour: Just a small part of the 550 coaches at NorthEast Area Rally in Essex Junction, VT in 2009 We’re on our way to Vermont for the FMCA NE Area Rally July 21 to 24, 2011.  We were there a couple of years ago and enjoyed the area (near Burlington) very much.  It’s on the shores of Lake Champlain and the rally even includes an optional buffet dinner cruise on the Lake. The FMCA NE Area Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont If you’re anywhere in the area, come join us!  We will be presenting 5 of our Geeks on Tour seminars plus our new hands-on class, “Picasa Photo Editing.’  The hands-on class requires pre-registration at the rally – all the others are free as part of the extensive Rally seminar schedule. For more details on our seminars at the rally, check out our Geeks on Tour Facebook Page.  For more details on the Rally, see the FMCA NEAR page. Here’s a video of Geeks on Tour being interviewed at the NE Area Rally in 2009 – notice the beautiful weather!  This year promises to be the same.  Read More →

Change your Time Zone!

Most computers do not have GPS built in, so, although they physically travel with us, their clock is still set to the previous time zone.  It’s very easy to change! I haven’t worn a watch in years.  I really like using my cell phone to tell me the time because it automatically adjusts to new time zones.  Since it is connected to a local cell tower, it knows the correct time – coming from that cell tower. I also depend on my computer’s clock.  I’m almost always sitting at my computer.  Any time I want to know what time of day it is, I simply glance at the lower right corner.  So, I want it to be correct. Windows Time and Date Settings   Just click right on the time in the very lower right corner of your screen and choose ‘Change Date and Time Settings.’  Then click on ‘Change Time Zone.’    Once you’ve chosen the correct time zone and clicked OK, your clock will be correct.  Why not Just Change the Time Yourself? Many people choose the ‘Change date and time …’ and just set the clock themselves.  I think they just don’t realize how much easier it is to set the time zone and let the computer set the time.  You can even use the Internet Time feature (see the 3d tab on the date and time dialog box)  which will synchronize your computer’s clock with an Internet clock that is guaranteed to be accurate.  However, it will only be accurate for you if your time zone is set correctly. ... Read more

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