Best Technology For Long-Distance Travel?

An anonymous reader writes "Over the past year I have traveled across the globe for work but I can't seem to find the right balance of technology to take with me. After reading a CNET article about tech for traveling, I'm still slightly undecided about what hardware suits me best. On the work side of things I need a laptop, nothing fancy but it can't be too heavy or slow. I also need a smart phone that can receive emails across the world and if possible a satellite navigation device, as I need to get to less-traveled locations on a regular basis. From a personal perspective I need my music but I don't care about video, so I'm looking for something with high-quality audio and great battery life. A compact camera wouldn't go amiss but dSLRs are too heavy for my needs and carrying strength, so something I can tuck in a pocket would be perfect. Any suggestions greatly appreciated."

Used HP Laptop

[The_Dougster]

I got myself a used HP nc4010 [hp.com] for cheap. I maxed out its RAM, put a big HDD in it, installed the 802.11g wireless board, and got the optional travel battery. To cap it off I got a mini bluetooth mouse, and its been great. I can dual boot it to windows or gentoo and it runs just dandy. It can even play WoW at about 7fps. Total investment was about $500. Its small and light even with the extra battery.

You could probably do as well with something similar, I've read that the IBM ultra-portables are pretty nice also.

Re:Hmm... I think

[Brian Gordon]

In any case, we already know [slashdot.org] the Best Laptop for Going Around the World.

Buy a charging system

[Anonymous Coward]

Get a good multi-charger so you only need 1 outlet and 1 transformer.

Try something like iGo, where it works in planes, cars, and with wall sockets from most countries. Then get tips for your various devices. When buying new devices, make sure they are supported (e.g. avoid Sony) Don't forget to make sure that your camera can be charged (e.g. custom tip, via USB, or via a tip for your AA battery charger). Although the iGo notebook charger isn't light, it will save weight overall.

I charge/power 7 devices off my iGo, many simultaneously using splitters: notebook, phone, bluetooth headset, MP3 player, camera, GPS, camcorder.

Ultraportable + Nokia N95 8GB + Canon SD8xx

[Anonymous Coward]

Get the lightest laptop you can afford (to buy & to lose).
If you don't need much, just word processing & email,
my friend bought a 4-5 years old Fujitsu ultraportable
from fleabay. It's not the fastest, but it gets the job
done, plus you don't have to worry much if it gets broken
or stolen while you're on the trip. (Always backup your data!)

MacBook Air seems solid enough. Very light & usable.
We'll have to see when Lenovo releases X300.

For phone, Nokia N95 has GPS, simple navigation software.
It's quad-band + UTMS, so you can use it almost anywhere
in the world. It comes with an OK media player & decent camera.

Granted, N95 UI isn't anywhere as elegant as iPhone,
but it doesn't have 3G,GPS. If you use local sim card,
you also have to unlock the phone.
In the worst-case scenario, if for some reason
Apple decides to cripple your unlocked phone while you're
in a middle of nowhere, you're screwed.

If you have a little more room & want a real compact camera,
get Canon SD870is.

DSLR vs. compact

[durdur]

Seriously, compact digital cameras have gotten a lot better lately. I got my wife a Canon PowerShot SD600 a little while ago, which is purse-sized, and takes very acceptable photos. The main differences between this and a DSLR are: first, the DSLR has a much faster shutter speed so can take much better action photos; second, the SD600 has a small non-replaceable lens with a limited zoom, so it is not much good for wildlife or sports where you can't get up close. But for landscapes, it is hard to distinguish its photos from those made with a high-end camera.

You've already said what you need...

[mrboyd]

- LAPTOP: Get one of the small Vaio.

- PHONE: Get a Nokia e61i/SonyE P1, they have a real keyboard and gsm, grps, edge, 3g, wifi, should get your mail mostly everywhere. I also have a crackberry subscription with intl roaming works on both phone with some added software and I use the gmail phone app when I need to search through my old emails. (it also work with exchange push mail, depending on what your company is using.)

- GPS: Get a real GPS. I suggest the Garmin 60Csx. It has a lot of memory, a sirf3 receiver, is rugged and waterproof. Otherwise you can get the GPS module from nokia for the e61i. I would never go for a GPS that doesn't use AA battery but that's just because I use my GPS a lot while going through no-mans-land and it would really suck to die in the desert because I can't find anywhere to plug my Nokia power adapter... Oh and it has relatively good map coverage, although not always up to date in some remote countries. And remember that almost no-one will be able to give you their GPS coordinate so unless you have the maps to look up addresses it's mostly useless. :)
Oh and the 60C* series will give you an adventurer look, and you know all the girl likes Indiana jones. j/k

- MUSIC: Get an mp3 player. If you travel for extended period of time, and can't live with your music get one that works on AA(A) batteries that you can replace, otherwise just get anything they are all the same anyway. I stopped using mine, I have some music on the phone's flash memory, I only carry headphones to use instead of the broken piece of junk they give you in planes.

- CAMERA: The e61i has a crappy camera but enough for snapping the white-board after a meeting. Imho Canon has very good products, last time I check you could find 7MP camera that will fit in your pocket very easily but still give you control over many settings. (iso, white balance, shutter speed, flash etc..)

- Get a good bag. Case logic has a wide selection of smartly designed laptop bag. There are other brand some with matching carry-on.

Don't forget the 7 in one plug adapter you can find in most airport. always useful. If you have the stamina, an additional battery for the laptop is always handy. I don't know what you wear but if you have to suit up, it good to have a special bag for suits as you can't always find a iron in the hotels.

there.
Have fun traveling.

Well

[kitsunewarlock]

If you buy a nintendo DS (or older PSP), you could just upload your music onto that device. The battery life isn't as good as an iPod, but it'll last most lengthy flights pretty well (assuming you don't want it on while you sleep).

You just need the right hardware/software along with your DS, of course. Which isn't that hard to come by.

Check The mod goDS at http://www.themodgods.com/ [themodgods.com] for more information and (best of all) links to more information sources beyond themselves. The basic "kits" will run about $100. Personally I just use my DS for playing a few games I own so I never bothered buying all the extras, but after seeing all my friend's things, I kinda regret buying an MP3 player...

super-durable small camera: Olympus Stylus

[kalinin]

This line has evolved to be waterproof (dive 33 feet deep), dustproof, crushproof, freezeproof. But is still small and light. Just feels a bit more solid than most. The latest model has 10 megapixels.

I own the model from a couple years back (stylus 800, 8 megapixels). Not yet waterproof, but has survided a fall into the pool. Not yet crushproof, but has survived a 6ft fall onto concrete.

Only minuses: takes proprietary Olympus (xD) memory cards, but adapters for miniSD are available. Also, picture delay is bigger than some.

All in all, could not be more satisfied. Get that latest 10 megapixel survive-everything model and you will be pretty much set.

Re:Asus eee pc

[drfrog]

id second this

love my epc as well light powerful its all good

best camera

[Ruie]

And best camera is easy to figure out as well:

• Digital is an easy choice - just from the point of view of durability of media and ease of acquiring lots of pictures
• 4-5 megapixels is the minimum to take a full 1:1 picture of a page and be able to read indices in formulas (this was you can use your camera instead of Xerox).
• Anything with more than 5 megapixels needs digital image stabilization - otherwise your extra resolution will be smeared out by natural shaking of your hands (or even your tripod - but this takes effect later).
• Similarly large "tele" zoom is useless - if you zoomed in 10x closer to your subject you have 10 times the effect of shaking (and thus need a good tripod or very short exposure time).
• Good wideangle on the other hand is great - not only you can get more of the scene in a small room but it also reduces the effect of shaking.

Thus you want a camera with digital image stabilization, as good wideangle as possible and at least 5 megapixels. Last time I did the round up (a few months ago) there were surprisingly few cameras that met these conditions - mostly because most of what is on the shelves in "Best Buy" (not best for at least several years) does not have any wideangle whatsoever.

My purchase was Panasonic Lumix LX-2 [dpreview.com] which, at the time, was not available in any store in Boston so I had to order it from Vahns. I was not disappointed and even found the movie mode to be useful - it has a higher resolution than my camcorder (which is NTSC like) and, best of all, the movie files are mpeg4 encoded and play readily on my Kubuntu systems.

Re:Just do your own research.

[F34nor]

I don't think cnet is going to tell you anyting other than who is paying the highest price for advertising this month.

From what he said I think I know what he needs. A Nokia e90. My wife has the e61 and it does 90% of the computing tasks I need. Wi-Fi, 3G, phone, office documents, acrobat, web browsing with Opera, Blackberry support, exchange, & Skype. The e90 is big enough to do any office task on and small enough to take with you. It has 2 cameras (one 3m with flash) and is a great MP3 player. If you don't believe me read Maddox's review of the iPhone vs. e70 titled "The iPhone is a piece of shit, and so is your face." [thebestpag...iverse.net]. Granted the e90 is a little different than the e70 but who is going to notice that the e90's balls are made out of tungsten instead of steel with kicking them? Plus it runs on Sybian, a great OS with lots of support and not a bitch of M$ or a BSD rip off with flashing colored baubles.

You know it is a great product because the US cell phone companies will only sell a crippled piece of shit version (e62) in the US.

charger!

[harlows_monkeys]

Here's a great little power brick [walmart.com] for travel. It is slim and light (59g according to my kitchen scale) to fit easily in your bag, and the prongs fold in for storage. It can charge two USB devices at once, and it is cheap. I had a long Amtrak trip last year (Seattle to Texas, and back a month later), and two of those kept my phone, two iPods, Nintendo DS, and Tomtom all happy on the train, and in my hotel room. And actually, one would have been enough.

For the curious, the reason I had two iPods is that I took my 40 gigabyte hard-drive based model that has my complete library, for listening to music in the hotel, and my Nano for listening to audio books and podcasts in the hotel and on the go. The flash-based players are better for the latter, because they are more response if you miss something and need to skip back a few seconds.

If I were doing that trip again now, I'd probably buy a Kindle. That would be perfect for a train trip.

Re:Just do your own research.

[jamesh]

Plus it runs on Sybian...

I think you meant Symbian [wikipedia.org] not Sybian [wikipedia.org].

Re:best camera

[jools33]

Compact cameras still have quite a way to go to catch up with the image quality on offer by even the cheapest DSLR and a cheap prime lens IMHO.
This is mostly a result of the small sensor size and restrictions on the optic size which forces compromise on image quality that is possible for a compact camera.
Also be wary of maxing out on the megapixels and on the zoom range of the lens - as the negative effects of a small poor quality lens will be far more apparent the more megapixels you place behind it.
Small lenses will exhibit more image floors the more glass elements that are in them - so a big zoom range - whilst sounding appealing to the beginner - will lead to image issues - especially
at the extremes of the lens - both in range and in aperture. Which is why I recommend a fixed focal point lens if possible - as these typically offer the optimum in image quality and cost less...

That said there are some compacts that are beginning to offer SLR sized / quality sensors with restricted range zooms or even prime optics - the panasonic mentioned above
is one of these - and certainly looks very appealing. Sigma have also been working on placing their DSLR sensor in a compact body - with a fixed 16mm optic - that to me
could be the compact camera of choice for keen photographers - this camera has been delayed quite a bit - but looks to have been worth the wait - see http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08013108sigmadp1.asp [dpreview.com]
Then there is the canon G9 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong9/ [dpreview.com] - this looks to be pretty capable at lower isos but dont expect too much over iso 400.

Then there's the Ricoh GRII which looks potentially interesting - but not enough info is out on this yet... http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd2.asp [dpreview.com]

Personally I think currently the best travel camera is maybe one of the olympus DSLRs http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse3/ [dpreview.com] (they're a bit smaller than the other brands) - which offer great value for the camera and optics although still pretty pricey - The Nikon D40X / Canon Digital Rebel should not be overlooked either. Then combine this DSLR with a cheap wide angled prime - and the DSLR isn't as heavy as you might think...

Re:Asus eee pc

[Quino]

It seems that there's a group of us fan-boys, but the first thing I thought about is the eee pc that I'm writing this comment on :).

I've only had it a few days, but the keyboard already feels completely usable, and the ridiculous boot times and portability (and cost) can't be beat IMHO.

The touchpad is as usable as the touchpad on my thinkpad (though I am a fan of the IBM nipple pointing device when you have to make do without a mouse), but it does work well (I guess if touchpads fundamentally sucked Macintosh laptops wouldn't ship with them).

I'm not sure about installing XP personally, unless there's a compelling reason to do so, when you can get Ubuntu with that 3D visual bling that seems to run great on this little machine based on youtube videos floating around. I'm holding out to the base software mostly because boot times would suffer with anything else, and it comes with just about anything you would actually need to get work done with a portable computer. Firefox, flash, MS Office Docs, and multimedia all just work with less (zero) tweaking than with a windows computer ...

I was impressed with the OQO (had a chance to play with one extensively) for portable computing, but the price difference makes it a no-brainer for me. In fact, work would have paid for either of the two, but I'm a Linux (GNU OS really?) fan, so a workable command line meant that my job will refund me 400 bucks instead of a couple of grand ...

If your work is mostly Photoshop (or Gimp) then a tablet might make more sense .... as for me, my 15 inch Thinkpad already feels ridiculously enormous in comparison ... (yeah, I know, weird - I wasn't ready for how small and usable this little computer is despite extensively reading reviews and watching videos of it in in action before buying).

YMMV, of course, but I'm happy as a clam with the eee pc ... for transcoding or ripping/burning video or the occasional Windows game, the fire-breathing massive and noisy Ubuntu/XP desktop is still there ... mostly unused 5 feet away, but it's still there ...

Here is my list...

[bayankaran]

...after a few years of testing out many items. For easy traveling, your items should be flat and thin. 1. Thinkpad X series (had to wait 3 years for the price to drop around USD1200 after rebate/coupon), a bag where you can fit the laptop on its side (easy to carry around) and a PCMCIA modem card (many Asian countries you will get net access through cellphone service providers) 2. Canon TX1 3. Any quad band cellphone with an FM receiver and a bit of memory for storing any music 4. A small LED torch 5. Earplugs 6. flat/thin LED book light, a flat Swiss army card etc. All the above will fit in a thin laptop bag (Wilson has nice leather laptop bags - and they look like normal bags) and will not weigh more than 3.5 to 4 pounds.

Re:The perfect is the enemy of the good.

[kalidasa]

Vinge is a retired CS/Math professor and he's involved with the Free Software Foundation (often on their awards committees). He definitely understands trusted computing.

try CHDK for canon

[bcaulf]

CHDK [wikia.com] is a free software package that runs on Canon compact cameras like A-series and S2 and gives RAW capability among other neat features.

Re:best camera

[pintpusher]

I second the canon A-series. I use an A-80 which takes 4 AA's, isn't too small for a normal person's hand, uses compact flash cards, has full manual control as well as all the bells and whistles. No image stabilization though. But at 4MP, that's no big deal. I find 4MP seems to be sort of a sweet spot for decent resolution, reasonable price point, reasonable file size etc. .02