Windows 8 and the RVer

Let’s take a look at the technology requirements of RVers from a Windows 8 perspective.  To do a good evaluation of Windows 8, you need to look at what you will be using it for.  Most RVers both casual and full timers require:
1.  Email
2.  Web Browsing (and do online Banking)
3.  Social media (SKYPE, Facebook, Twitter etc.)
4.  Games
5.  Reading Books
6.  Ability to store and send pictures
7.  Trip planning and navigation.

With the exception of  planning and tracking trips,almost any tablet will do the trick and although many tablets have a GPS built-in, not all will provide the planning and navigation that products like Streets and Trips offer.

The big attraction to Windows 8, as I see it, is the ability to have a tablet when you need one and the ability to have full laptop functionality to run legacy applications you just can’t live without.  Many of us just don’t trust “the Cloud” to manage and store our financial information. 

Personally, I use Quicken to manage my day to day financials and I use TurboTax to do my taxes and submit them online while I am on the road.  I also use Microsoft Office, primarily Excel and Word, and you just can’t do that properly without a responsive computer and a keyboard.

While travelling, we plan all our trips.  We need to know, in advance, which roads we will be travelling and where we will be staying each night and want to be assured that the GPS is not going to lead us to a dead end road where we will have to detach the car from the motorhome and back up for a couple of miles to get out.  And trust me, if you have been RVing for a while this will happen.   Streets and Trip (I know some of you use CoPilot), not only allows us to plan but will provide turn-by-turn navigation.  We have come to trust it over the years.

More technical requirements include usability and how much storage you need on the device.  A Windows 8 tablet is very easy to use and there are a lot of very nice applications (Apps) available for download.  For most  RVers who require the basics listed above, almost any tablet will meet your needs and a Windows 8 tablet could be good choice, easy to use and very functional.  For those who require legacy applications and are coming from earlier versions of Windows, you will need a Windows 8 laptop and prepare for a steep learning curve.