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

Part Time Mobile Internet Connections

As fulltime RVers, we have no problem signing a 2 year contract for Internet service from Verizon, but we know many people who only travel part time.  What are their options for mobile Internet service?  A couple years ago, your only option was to rely on Wi-Fi which is very UNreliable!  Now there are several options for short term cellular Internet connections.  The technology world moves fast, and nothing moves faster than cellular Internet plans, so take the information below as talking points only.  Check with your provider, and/or your contract for the details that apply to you. Verizon is the focus of much of the information in this article since it is what we use personally, and it is the most popular service among RVers.  There are links at the bottom for information on other providers. 1. Putting your Contract on Vacation: Even if you do sign a 2 year contract with Verizon, for example, you can put your service (and payments) on vacation for up to 6 months.   Be aware that vacation time will be added to the end of your contract.  That means, if your contract period starts on 1/1/11 and goes thru 1/1/13, and you put it on vacation for 6 months, your contract now goes thru 7/1/13.  Be sure to check with your service provider (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T etc.) for details based on your particular contract. 2. Bring your Own Device: People sign up for a two year contract because that is the way to get the device (Mi-Fi, or cellular modem) for a steeply discounted... Read more

Snowbird RVers can get DSL or Cable Internet Service

by Chris Guld, www.geeksontour.tv We write a lot of articles here about how RV travelers can get Internet service.  All the options are some type of wireless service (Wi-Fi, Cellular, Satellite) because there is no wire that stretches with your RV down the road! But wired is almost always better than wireless, it’s more reliable, it’s usually faster, *and* there are generally no usage limits.  So if you have that option – do it! What do I mean by a ‘wired’ connection? I mean DSL or Cable.  A service where you have a physical wire (or cable) to your Internet Service provider.  If you’re staying in one RV park for 3 months or more, you may have one of these options. We are currently staying at Paradise Island RV park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We got here mid-October and we’ll be staying thru March.  There are telephone lines at each site in this park so we called AT&T to get DSL Internet service.  They turned on the service at our site within just a few days, and we are paying $42/mo which is supposed to adjust down to $19/mo promotional deal after the first month. No Yearly Contract This is the second winter season we’ve done this.  When we left last April, we just called AT&T and told them to discontinue service.  Not so long ago, you had to sign a yearly contract to get service, but that’s not the case now. The AT&T line gets plugged into a DSL modem and that in turn is plugged into our WiFiRanger... 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

Put Woodall’s Info in Your Pocket *Free* Just in Time for Labor Day Travel!

Download our FREE Mobile App for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad in the iTunes Store Today! Before you hit the road this labor day, download Woodall’s RV & Camping Copilot, free! You’ll have access to all of Woodall’s RV parks and campgrounds, on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch!  It can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and provides complete campground information, including amenities, services, types of campsites, on-site recreation and identifies many camping discounts offered at parks. Private campgrounds also include Woodall’s 5W/5W Rating System, which is the most trusted consumer campground rating. Here’s a peek at what’s included, absolutely free! Search nearly 12,000 campgrounds and RV parks from Woodall’s extensive database. Toggle between list search results and map search results. Campground details pages reflect extensive campground information such as amenities, services and recreation. Plus, Woodall’s 5W/5W rating system helps you pick the right park for your needs. Help and settings screens let you personalize the Woodall’s iPhone App to save time, every time you use it. Plus save your favorite campgrounds or share them with friends on email, Twitter or your Facebook account! Download it for free from the Apple App Store The Woodall’s mobile application interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. It will offer the ability to search campgrounds by city, state/province, nearest location or by campground name in an... 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

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