|
  |
 Have you ever traveled with a laptop? |
|
|
| itsgotime |
 Apr 2 2007, 12:45 AM
|
Newbie
Group: Members
Posts: 6
Joined: 14-September 06
Member No.: 17701
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
QUOTE(ScottWoz @ Mar 25 2007, 06:59 AM) 
Thanks for letting us know. What kind of problems did you have with the Dell?
Just a short list... very short battery life (less than one hour), incapable of navigating even yahoo email, we had to "wipe" and reinstall everything twice (including all our contacts...by hand since we were mobile) and it still wouldn't work right. I have a pretty detailed rant about it on our blog. Their tech support is outsourced overseas so they were useless there answer to everything was to reset and reinstall. The only thing it did effectively was skype calls. Total bummer! |
|
|
|
|
|
| dangabesisaak |
May 28 2007, 02:11 PM
|
Newbie
Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: 6-April 07
Member No.: 46966
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
How does it work with service providers overseas? Do you need one for free WiFi areas? does it make a difference between laptop or PDA?
|
|
|
|
|
|
| lisartw |
May 30 2007, 05:00 AM
|
Wayfarer
Group: Members
Posts: 42
Joined: 12-June 06
Member No.: 3672
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
I bought a laptop in the States back in August and have travelled around the world with it for the last 11 months. In the states there is wireless everywhere, free at most motels, which was perfect for updating my travelpod in the evenings.
Since then I have managed to use it in almost all of the places that I have visited (US, NZ, Oz, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Some guesthouses in places such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia have wireless that I've used but if no wireless then they have internet and have been more than happy for me to borrow the cable out the back of the pc to use it. I was thinking of posting the places were I stayed with wifi if anyone was interested?
I don't regret getting a laptop one bit, it's been great to have it. It might be a bit heavy but I'm, used to that now and it fits nicely in my daysack. No hassle from flights or anywhere really.
I've put movies and music on it, great if you're in a campervan around NZ or Oz parked up at a campsite (some of which even had wireless, for a price of course!), portable entertainment system. I've also been able to put all my photos onto it then pop them onto a DVD and post them home to be sure if it gets nicked or I get my camera/memory cards stolen I'm covered. And it means that I can work on my travelpod entries and the photos to go up off line.
If I've been worried about the safety of an accomodation then I just leave it with the reception staff (as per most accom rules about valuables anyway) and have had no trouble at all. Otherwise it goes into a locker (if there is one) or it's locked in my rucksack in the room if I;m confident about the place.
But to be honestly though, when I bought it I knew that it was likely to get stolen so I'd resigned myself to that fact and decided if I still had it when I get home then it's a bonus. If I don't have it then I've certianly got my use out of it, it was dead cheap (by UK standards) and it's covered for a certian amount on my bog standard travel insurance, not the full amount, but if it goes then so be it and I get 250 uk pounds back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| coconutty |
Jun 3 2007, 01:46 AM
|
Newbie
Group: Members
Posts: 1
Joined: 5-April 07
Member No.: 46853
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
QUOTE(lisartw @ May 30 2007, 05:00 AM)
I bought a laptop in the States back in August and have travelled around the world with it for the last 11 months. In the states there is wireless everywhere, free at most motels, which was perfect for updating my travelpod in the evenings.
Since then I have managed to use it in almost all of the places that I have visited (US, NZ, Oz, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Some guesthouses in places such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia have wireless that I've used but if no wireless then they have internet and have been more than happy for me to borrow the cable out the back of the pc to use it. I was thinking of posting the places were I stayed with wifi if anyone was interested?
I don't regret getting a laptop one bit, it's been great to have it. It might be a bit heavy but I'm, used to that now and it fits nicely in my daysack. No hassle from flights or anywhere really.
I've put movies and music on it, great if you're in a campervan around NZ or Oz parked up at a campsite (some of which even had wireless, for a price of course!), portable entertainment system. I've also been able to put all my photos onto it then pop them onto a DVD and post them home to be sure if it gets nicked or I get my camera/memory cards stolen I'm covered. And it means that I can work on my travelpod entries and the photos to go up off line.
If I've been worried about the safety of an accomodation then I just leave it with the reception staff (as per most accom rules about valuables anyway) and have had no trouble at all. Otherwise it goes into a locker (if there is one) or it's locked in my rucksack in the room if I;m confident about the place.
But to be honestly though, when I bought it I knew that it was likely to get stolen so I'd resigned myself to that fact and decided if I still had it when I get home then it's a bonus. If I don't have it then I've certianly got my use out of it, it was dead cheap (by UK standards) and it's covered for a certian amount on my bog standard travel insurance, not the full amount, but if it goes then so be it and I get 250 uk pounds back.
thanks for this account, lisartw yes, i'd be interested to know about the places you stayed with wifi, especially the ones in southeast asia and in queensland, if you don't mind posting that. coco
--------------------
"It's not what you do that matters, but the state from which you are doing" ~ J.Krishnamurti
|
|
|
|
|
|
| blighty |
Jun 6 2007, 05:08 AM
|
Newbie
Group: Members
Posts: 2
Joined: 5-June 07
Member No.: 59136
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
I never go anywhere without my laptop- i now consider it a travel essential! it means i don't have to download yahoo messenger and skype whereever i go, it's already got all my internet bookmarks, i can add photos as i go, and with virtually everywhere you go it's good entertainment if you're travelling along too!!
it comes with me in my crumpler backpack which is great:-)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| rbisset |
Jun 6 2007, 06:20 AM
|
Planet Pioneer
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 2215
Joined: 3-May 06
From: Guildford, UK
Member No.: 692
|
QUOTE(vagabonderz @ Mar 16 2007, 03:21 AM) Just thought I'd jump in here and tell ya what we bought for our upcoming trip. We weren't even really planning on buying one but came across it at Best Buy and it was too cute (and affordable) to pass up. It's an Averatec 1000 Series (1020-ED1), Celeron M 1.1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hd, 10.6" widescreen. It has DVD-ROM/CD-RW and and you can plug camera memory directly into the laptop. Not the most powerful thing I know, but for $700 Cdn I think it's well worth the price and we don't need anymore horsepower than that. It hasn't been road tested yet, but using it at home has been a pretty satisfying experience - of course, the keyboard etc is a little annoyingly small, but a small (pardon the pun) price to pay for something this mobile. It's 1.5 Kg with the battery in. Other than the common sense advice of don't show it off etc, any other maybe unobvious tips for traveling with a laptop? I would faint if I saw a laptop at that price in UK. Ultra Mobile laptops (Less than 12" screens) cost Ł1000+ here  I want!! I'm even looking on the bestbuy website to see if i can find it lol!
--------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
| henrik.caesar |
Jun 6 2007, 06:34 PM
|
Wanderer
Group: Members
Posts: 11
Joined: 20-January 07
Member No.: 35268
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
Take a look at this beauty: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/06/06/as...ows_wee_eee_pc/Not the best specs but if it retails for around $200 as they expect, then that might be just perfect for travels together with a 2.5" portable hard-drive for photo backup. Preliminary specs: 7" Display CPU & Chipset: Intel mobile CPU & chipset OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g Graphic: Intel UMA Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400 Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash Webcam: 300K pixel video camera Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P) Dimension & Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg
--------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
| wakingdream |
Jun 6 2007, 07:42 PM
|
Rolling Stone
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 5853
Joined: 18-August 06
From: Guelph, Ontario
Member No.: 13336
|
QUOTE(henrik.caesar @ Jun 6 2007, 07:34 PM) Take a look at this beauty: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/06/06/as...ows_wee_eee_pc/Not the best specs but if it retails for around $200 as they expect, then that might be just perfect for travels together with a 2.5" portable hard-drive for photo backup. Preliminary specs: 7" Display CPU & Chipset: Intel mobile CPU & chipset OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g Graphic: Intel UMA Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400 Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash Webcam: 300K pixel video camera Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P) Dimension & Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg Wow. That's looks pretty handy...
--------------------
~Susie
'Yesterday's the past and tomorrow's the future. Today is a gift - which is why they call it the present.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
| wakingdream |
Jun 7 2007, 07:22 AM
|
Rolling Stone
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 5853
Joined: 18-August 06
From: Guelph, Ontario
Member No.: 13336
|
QUOTE(rbisset @ Jun 7 2007, 05:01 AM)
Does sound pretty good but still only gets 3 hours of battery life! Surely they could find an extra couple of hours from somewhere. I mean it's tiny, how can it use so much power.
Plus whats the point in putting in a 0.3 megapixel camera lol!
It's the size that i find attractive, even though in reality, if you really had to use it, not just mess around on it, it would prolly become annoying! Def no point in the camera. I hate when they try to jam everything in one and scimp on quality. What's the point? Battery life sucks, yeah, but you can likely plug it in, get battery pack or something, but it should be longer for sure. With all this technology, WHY does battery life still suck so much? Maybe it's just me but most gadgets I have, the battery doesn't last as long as I think it should. It's weird that their selling it sort of as a 'kids' toy' at the bottom there!
--------------------
~Susie
'Yesterday's the past and tomorrow's the future. Today is a gift - which is why they call it the present.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
| henrik.caesar |
Jun 7 2007, 10:05 AM
|
Wanderer
Group: Members
Posts: 11
Joined: 20-January 07
Member No.: 35268
Nominate me as a Local Expert
|
Here is a showcase http://event.asus.com/eeepc/ for more pictures. My understanding is that battery life is one of the things that differ between a high end and low end laptop, and this is not a high end laptop in any way. I don't think 3h is too bad on that machine and specially not for that price! (if it sells for around $200). I just hope the power adapter doesn't weight more than the computer 
--------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
| seal |
Jun 7 2007, 10:27 AM
|
Globetrotter
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 296
Joined: 24-February 07
From: Constantly on the move
Member No.: 40939
|
With these new ultraportable laptops, I feel that it is going to make travelling with a laptop a whole lot more enjoyable. Take the new VIA Nanobook for instance, it might be small but with 30GB of memory, more than 4hours battery and just the small size, at $600 when it comes out I am going to be getting one, and the main purpose will be for travel use. Why carry a big laptop such as an Apple or an HP when this can pop into your satchel or even your carry on bag and still have more than enough room for all your travel photos with the 4 - 1 memory card slot. VIA NanobookVIA NanoBook UMD Reference Design Specification Overview Feature Description Processor 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV Processor Chipset VIA VX700 System Media Processor (integrated North & South Bridge) Memory DDR2 SO-DIMM up to 1GB HDD 30GB (optional 60GB) LCD Panel 7" WVGA 800x400 with Touch Panel Graphics VIA UniChrome™ Pro II IGP Integrated 3D/2D Graphics with shared memory up to 64MB Audio VIA Vinyl VT1708A HD Audio codec 2 speakers Networking Realtek RTL8100CL 10/100 Mbps Wireless LAN Azure Wave 802.11b/g (USB interface) Bluetooth Billionton (USB interface) I/O 4-in-1 Card Reader 1 DVI-I port 2 Hi-Speed USB2.0 ports 1 RJ45 Ethernet port Audio jacks • 1 Mic-in audio jack • 1 Array Microphone jack • 1 Headphone (line out) jack Status Indicator Power On; Battery; RF (with power button); HDD; Caps Lock Battery 4 cells for up to 4.5 hours of battery life (BatteryMark 2004) Dimensions 230mm (W) x 171mm (D) x 29.4mm (H) Weight Under 850g Operating System Supports Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and all popular Linux Support distributions Optional Accessories MobilityPLUS Modules: • Bluetooth VoIP Phone • GPS • DVB • 3G/CDMA Phone • World Clock DVI to CRT Transfer Cable Car Adapter Leather Cover |
|
|
|
|
|
|
