Summer holiday tech

[chrisvenus]

On my grand summer travels I'm considering taking various bits of tech with me and I thought I'd solicit opinions and ideas from people on the subject... Things I am considering taking are roughly as follows:

MP3 player

This shouldn't be too much of a problem. Thanks to ext2366 I have an mp3 player that is pretty damned nifty. Main problem is it charges

Comments

[omentide]

[leathellin]

A slightly general note - the weight of everything adds up quickly so it is worth keeping an eye on that when choosing the gadgets. The chargers can be particularly bad for adding slightly unexpected weight and bulk to everything.

Also since your route includes some pretty wet places I recommend one of these - http://www.over-board.co.uk/catalog//bwaterproof-bags-and-casesb/dry-tube-bags/index.30_23.html (that's just the first link I got btw rather than a rec for a place to buy)

And yay travelling :-)

[mi_guida]

Already made him buy one of those at the weekend (I have two)!

[leathellin]

They are so very useful.
The other thing I found as useful was my wrap - it turned things smart or covered up and took up no packing space.
Not so good as a recommendation for chrisvenus I thought :-)

[mi_guida]

Wrap as is a pashmina type thing? I've got one of those on the list :)

I sent the same list round to everyone coming on any part of the trip (it's changed quite a bit!) and kindly highlighted bras and pashmina in purple so they knew I wasn't trying to tell the men they should get them ;)

[brrm]

My parents have the Maplin version of that netbook, and I have to say it feels a bit on the cheap side, compared to my Asus Eee 701. Also, their PSU blew up within a couple of days of buying it. :-)
It *is* I think the cheapest option, but you might be better off spending a bit more on something like the Eee, or getting a used one.
Camera-wise, karohemd has good points. I'd only add that you might want to consider Olympus' water resistant/shockproof offerings, if you're going to give it a hard time. I took several photos in torrential rain with my (few years old) waterproof Olympus. The range used to be called 'Mju', dunno if it still is.
And for the phone, I bought a Motorola F3 from Play for about 7 quid. It's cheap, and *very* basic, but it is durable, being designed for the third world markets. :-) Also, the Orange-branded one is cheaper and is, in fact, not SIM-locked.

[brrm]

Ooh, two more things. First, you might find this compact camera shootout handy - posted just today. And also that a useful feature you might want in a camera if you are travelling is the ability to use AA batteries. I have a Casio compact that does this and, while the battery life is not quite up to a dedicated LiIon battery, it does mean you can find spares wherever you might be.

Also, cover your shiny new electronic gizmos in crappy gaffer/parcel tape, make them look less exciting to thieves. :-)

FWIW, the Eee PC's PSU is multi-voltage, and indeed has US-style pins under a removable UK plug, so that might be helpful in some countries.

[evath]

I found twitter best for blogging when on holiday. Since I didn't have time for long entries, and sending a text was easier than finding a PC in europe. I seriously had trouble finding the net for quiet a bit of that trip. And when not on twitter put it here or atleast cross post

[evath]

Two finallies, sorry !

[evath]

Oh and the car thing wasn't suddenly 120V in Swisterland, the mains was, the car kept working fine! Sorry the beer festival is effecting me.

[brrm]

Pretty sure Switzerland's 220V/Shuko plug. Are you sure you weren't trying to use the shaver socket? :-)

[susanofstohelit]

a couple things

[mi_guida]

My point with the phone was that we're going to be meeting up in HK (I'm travelling from the UK to HK by train through Russia and China) and also meeting friends in Australia, hopefully, so ideally I'd rather have a way of getting in touch - I have no intention of taking any kind of laptop or computer, and internet access on trains isn't going to happen! chrisvenus was originally of your opinion (don't need one) but it was me being concerned about how to make contact...