I have had a RAM laptop mount in my rig for a few years now. I started out with a Panasonic Toughbook then migrated to an HP Pavilion dv3 laptop. The laptop mount tray for the RAM mount is bulky and cumbersome. The mount sets over the passenger seat so it is a pain to have passengers on board when you picot the setup over the center console you are banging your hand around on the bottom of it. If you raise it high enough for everything to clear underneath then the laptop blocks the drivers view out the passenger side windshield when the laptop is open. Additionally, when the laptop is clamped up in the RAM tray, the clamps block a lot of the plugs and disc drive access on the HP computer since everything is on the sides of the new computers.
Well, I fabricated a solution yesterday. I got my hands on a 1/4" thick piece of 12" x 12" fiberply board (fiberglass) and cut it down to 7" x 10". I removed the mounting ball from the bulky RAM mount tray and found a good location on the fiber board and marked the hole positions for the mount ball mounting holes. I drilled the holes and counter sunk the top side of the holes so the srewheads would be fluch. I then attached the mount ball to the board and layered the entire top of the board with the loop-side velcro. I layer the bottom side of my laptop, ensuring not to cover any vent holes, with hook-side velco.
I now have a super strong holding lower profile laptop mount. I can get to everything on the sides of my laptop, It holds tighter than the RAM Mount tray, and I can now have passengers in my truck without much issue at all. If the velcro gets weak I will switch to dual lock tape. However, if I have to go that route I'm worried about not being able to remove my laptop.
Old Laptop Mount Setup
New Laptop Mount Setup
