Laptop or Tablet when travelling

[rodw]

Since I bought an Ipad, I hardly use my PC. But I will still take my laptop when I go away to file away  photos using Lightroom. I don't think I could store many 36 Mp photos on my 1 gB iPad!

Internet connection will be 4G  phone.

[Smoko]

iPad ofr us we have 1each no waiting for the other to finish





Smoko

[pattyann]

I luv my iPad

[Jasman]

I have all the toys (I'm an I.T. nerd) but when we travel we generally take a netbook to access work servers (I can do it on the tablets but it is painful) and a couple of tablets in the form of an iPad and a Acer A501 (Android 10" tablet) so the monsters (aka the boys) can have one each whilst we are covering distance or watching a movie before going to sleep.  The devices are all excellent but if I had to pick one to take I would probably take the Acer because is has a USB slot and a SD card slot so you can plug in and transfer between all the storage you could possibly need.

In terms of blogs, I think you'll find most of the blog providers will have an app for updating etc for both the Apple and Android platforms so I don't think it would give you much of an issue.  if they don't have an app then you could no doubt just use their website portal to update but if that portal was to use "flash" then your only option is an Android tablet. 

Also, I would suggest having a bunch of memory cards for your camera so you don't have to delete any photos whilst you are travelling.  If I was doing the once in lifetime type trip I would upload my photos from my camera to my tablet/removeable storage each night without deleting them from the memory cards, as the memory cards fill I would store them away from the camera and tablet in a secure out of the way spot.  This process works best with smaller memory cards as you spread the risk further ie. don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Probably also worth noting for campers is the power consumption, tablet chargers are usually around 10w (about 2a @ 5v) whilst from memory netbooks are 30-35w (<2a at 19v).  Tablets use less juice, charge faster and last longer. 

Jasman.

[gibbo301]

I love my eyepad to

[NewMax]

IPad works great for us.

Pluses for us are
- 12 hour battery life (we are mostly free camping)
- small and lightweight. We take it with us in small bag when away from camper.  No need to take extras with you ( mouse, power cable etc)
- huge range of APPS (mostly free or very cheap)
- 3G great for forums, SKYPE, surfing Internet etc
- camera front and rear ( rear camera not great but can use as back up)
- on screen keyboard okay for brief emails , forums etc. 
- with PC laptop we would find free WIFI and hook up only to find that whole range of programmes were seeking to update.  Tried and failed to prevent defaults to upgrades.  Often our free time used up on these upgrades.  Apple updates a couple of times a year.  APPS upgrades you have to select and action

NewMax

[Redcherokee]

Picked up my work iPad yesterday, so next trip I will be taking both it and the laptop.

The iPad will get most use for browsing and maps, but I want my full copy of photoshop on the laptop so if I feel like editing some pics or movies of an evening I can.   The iPad doesn't have the storage,  and I am not expecting to have very good Internet access so I can't rely on uploading or using online editors.

I didn't vote since I wanted the 'both' option.

[Kit_e_kat9]

I have a laptop, so chose laptop.   

It does movies, dvd's, cd's has an SD slot and takes 4 usb's at a time.  Battery is crap at 2 hours tops, but I have a 12V cord.  Takes less than a minute to warm up and less to warm down.  Much better for seeing and working on photos, doing my blog, etc.  I prefer a keyboard to a hard flat screen.  I don't use the internet when I'm not at work or at home, so no need to when I'm camping because I'm camping.

If I want a map, I get it out of our map bag and unfold it.  I like to use these when I'm camping or going camping or coming home from camping or dreaming about camping.

I have a regular phone.  It's an LG and works like a phone, it's not a wanna be laptop disguised as a phone, so therefore I only make calls and send texts on it.  I don't use it when I'm camping because I'm camping.

Works for me.   

Kit_e

[Wortho]

Also recently switched to an Ipad and found they are great when travelling. We did a 6 week trip through Europe and used skype and a VOIP app to connect via my home Mynetfone account so we could call anywhere in the world for a few cents. Never bothered with a sim card as we went to many countires and too much hassle. Would just connect to the camp ground wifi network for a few euro's or free.
Best thing with the tablets like others have mentioned is the battery life with is a MAJOR plus while travelling. Also dumped the photo's on the pad via a SD/USB adapter almost every night for viewing and backup.
I have a few laptops including a HP netbook but don't bother taking them anymore.

[08 Ranger]

Personally I'd go with a tablet.
If you spend any real time off road you will find the Lap top will Fail;
I've been down this path and find the tablet much more accommodating
Just try and get one with a USB socket as well as SD card
Norm

[D4D]

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

[McAbouts]

Have an IPad which was brilliant on our last trip. Downloaded photos each night so I had them stored in case anything happened to SD card. Great for Internet, checking emails, weather and so on. My biggest issue was trying to get photos on my blog. Drove me nuts. I tried various things suggested on here when I put the question out there but I just couldn't get it to work. So very, very frustrating. Am thinking about a small laptop now just for this purpose for future trips. I was heartily sick of spending hours each evening, instead of enjoying other things trying to get it to work. Typing is easy though on the IPad as I use it to type this. Charging was easy and battery life is fabulous as I have my books on hear as well.

Cheers
Louise

[LJs GU]

Have an IPad which was brilliant on our last trip. Downloaded photos each night so I had them stored in case anything happened to SD card. Great for Internet, checking emails, weather and so on. My biggest issue was trying to get photos on my blog. Drove me nuts. I tried various things suggested on here when I put the question out there but I just couldn't get it to work. So very, very frustrating. Am thinking about a small laptop now just for this purpose for future trips. I was heartily sick of spending hours each evening, instead of enjoying other things trying to get it to work. Typing is easy though on the IPad as I use it to type this. Charging was easy and battery life is fabulous as I have my books on hear as well.

Cheers
Louise

And that Louise is probably why I'll stay with my laptop... Couldn't agree more about directing your precious holiday time to the right cause.   
LJ

[SteveandViv]

And that Louise is probably why I'll stay with my laptop... Couldn't agree more about directing your precious holiday time to the right cause.   
LJ

[Eureka]

I have lap tops(Acer, HP and a no name ), desk top, Compaq 1850R servers , EePC and my partner has her Ipad. Her kids have Iphones and Ipads as well. But when we are away, the Galaxy TAB 10.1 is what goes with me. 
The laptops are too fragile - sick of replacing hard drives and cracked screens, the EePc does about every 2nd trip as it is a tough little machine, but the missus is the one that uses it for longish emails.
The others are not travel friendly in any way.
  Apple stuff is for consuming internet gunk, you need to get to MacBooks before creating ( editing photos and videos, decent length emails etc) stuff is feasible for me.
Touch screen keyboards are just way too painful to use. But the Galaxy TAB with a roll up keyboard, tiny Bluetooth mouse and a couple of 8Gb memory cards plus a 1Tb portable drive works a treat.

[LJs GU]

Thanks so much for all the replies everyone. At one stage it looked like being an iPad vs Android war, but it got there in the end... Great info. 

Anyway I've decided to stick with the laptop (it's killing me not to buy a new toy though) and tether it to the phone for internet connection.  Got that working last night after a bit of frigging around.  Using Telstra 3G the connection speed 'seemed' no different to the landline ADSL connection. (That means it's either really good... or they both suck!)

So the next question is...

The mobile plan is Telstra 3G with 1.5GB monthly data allowance.  Is this going to be enough for uploading photos to a blog? I know it depends on the photo size and how many etc, but as a 'gut feel' what do you think?

The other option, which I haven't really looked into is to buy a USB modem dongle/SIM card (what the hell are they called?) and just plug that straight into the laptop.  From my limited understanding the data usage runs out after a month.  Anyone used these 'things' and have any feedback?

Go on, impress me again.   

LJ

[Bird]

The mobile plan is Telstra 3G with 1.5GB monthly data allowance.  Is this going to be enough for uploading photos to a blog? I know it depends on the photo size and how many etc, but as a 'gut feel' what do you think?

Only you can answer that. How many photos do you usually take? How big? 300x300 or 4999x2934 in RAW?

Remember McD's has Wireless you can use too.. make use of it when you get to cities...

[LJs GU]

Only you can answer that. How many photos do you usually take? How big? 300x300 or 4999x2934 in RAW?

Remember McD's has Wireless you can use too.. make use of it when you get to cities...

McD's !! Never thought of that... great idea.

My 12MP camera averages about 3Mb per photo. So 1.5Gb is 500 photos... which is A LOT.  Way more than I intend to upload, even allowing for an amount for non photo usage.

How's the logic, have I missed anything?
LJ

[Bird]

McD's !! Never thought of that... great idea.

My 12MP camera averages about 3Mb per photo. So 1.5Gb is 500 photos... which is A LOT.  Way more than I intend to upload, even allowing for an amount for non photo usage.

How's the logic, have I missed anything?
LJ

I'd be uploading all photos to a server for backup 500 photos - your going for how many months?? Laptops die....

[LJs GU]

I'd be uploading all photos to a server for backup 500 photos - your going for how many months?? Laptops die....

4 months... but don't forget that's 1.5Gb/500 photos per month.  For back up I was planning on loading the photos to USB stick.

[cancan]

4 months... but don't forget that's 1.5Gb/500 photos per month.  For back up I was planning on loading the photos to USB stick.

I prefer portable hard drives to back on to.....and 2 of them. (keep 1 in the car and 1 in the CT).
Minimises risk

[Bird]

4 months... but don't forget that's 1.5Gb/500 photos per month.  For back up I was planning on loading the photos to USB stick.

Yea fair enough ...  Workout 20-30 photos a day

USB/Burn to CD.... and upload

I had a 4Gig SD die when I got home from first trip to the Flinders and had to pay thru the anus to get it recovered.

[FZJ]

Ive just bought one of these google nexus 7 things through work.the IT guys at work give them a bit of a wrap.Good bang for buck.$249 8gb, I picked up the 16gb for $290.Wont replace a laptop but looks like fun

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/tablets/google/nexus_7/428680

[Nay-DMAX]

We have internet dongle thing and you can load it with how much you want from c/c and I not sure about them all but ours what is loaded lasts a month but you can check what you have left etc

[99disco]

I too use my iPhone for connecting to iPad and laptop for mobile Internet. I get 3 gb a month, so trick loads for normal browsing. As for back up I would buy a couple of say 32gb USB sticks and put one in car one in camper. Much more resistant to vibration than a hard drive. Always remember to properly stop any USB device before unplugging it. I know it's rare they die from stopping them but it does happen



Shane