How to hold on to all the info.

[fireboomer]

Hi all,

On my last trip I noticed I really enjoy writing. Got some really nice response one the mails I've sent home. In total it turned out to be a 16 page story when I placed them after eachother. So you can imagen I have spend quite some time in cybercafés during that month.

Since I am more a typer then a writer I was hoping to find a solution for my next trip. I'd like to be able to keep track of my story and all the info on daily bases. So I should take a PDA or labtop with me.
I can't imagin a labtop would survive the beating I went through on piste in Marocco.
I am thinking about a PDA (Apple Palmtom) with a extra keyboard to make the input of text easier. I am not thinking about using it to send mails or so. Just to keep track of my stories.
Any remarks? How about memory capacity? Or is the Apple Ibook really indistructable?
Budget also plays a role. I am willing to spend money on this, but can't really afford a second labtop or something like that.

[JamesCo]

No laptop is indestructible, but the iBook was designed (in part) for use in schools & colleges, so it is more robust than most. The only weaknesses I see are the exposed ports, for which there is an accessory cover, the CD tray, which looks breakable, and the screen which can be scratched by the keyboard when closed - easily fixed by using the bit of plastic that it ships with. I like mine, but haven't committed to taking it on my bike trip.

A PDA has no moving parts, so it should be more shock resistant. I have a Visor (runs Palm's OS) and hate the bloody thing - it continually crashes, even with no third-party apps, therefore requiring a hard reboot (all data lost). Some people love theirs, mine is now an expensive coaster. Windows PDAs are also mixed - I used a Compaq iPaq for a while, and liked it, but apparently that model has a lot of fundamental defects.

Memory isn't a problem with either choice - no matter how much you type, you won't come close to using it all. A laptop obviously has a lot more capabilities and will be nicer to use, but is bigger and more power hungry.

Anyway, if writing is all you want to do, I'd suggest that you keep using the cybercafes, and paper when you have to; IMHO, writing just doesn't justify the hassle and cost of computer gear.

My two cents, YMMV, etc.

James.

[Derek-Jan]

I use a memorecorder to record everything i need. While you drive you can talk without leaving your attention to the traffic or whatever you'r doing at the moment.

Also usefull when spotting animals.

I bought a sony minidiscplayer but didnt tried it out in the bush so dont know if it will stand the rough conditions.

regards Derek-Jan

www.africa-expedition.org

[fireboomer]

Derek Jan, you mean like a little voice recorder?
I really like the moment of thinking back on what has happened and then writing it down. Especially if you can stay in the enviroment that you're thinking about and don't have to get into a cybercafe. Talking it into a voice recorder ain't really the same.

And this might sound strange or even stupid too some, but typing goes easier and faster then writing for me. (Help I am a result of the computer age??? ;-)

Power is no problem on the bike, I have two 12V sockets. For the Ibook for ex. there is a 12V adaptor that fits those.

You know what would be best. Since I'll be never travelling longer then a good month the comming years:
Taking a (trusty? Hi James) PDA / Palmtop with me and a keyboard. When comming home plug in the USB cable and transfer the whole thing to my computer. Then do lay out and corrections, input pictures and done.

I have also hear about linking a Garmin to a Palmtop / PDA. That would top it of for me.

[JamesCo]

Strange that typing is easier? Nah, we're the post-literate generation, after all.

Someone I know has a Palm & an eTrex; he had an ongoing problem where connecting the GPS would instantly crash the PDA... I'll not trust PDAs for at least a couple more generations, when they'll hopefully be powerful enough to run stable OS's (there's a couple that run linux, but I haven't heard much about them.) Other people will have had good experiences with them, but my PDA was a total disappointment.

James.

[A.B.]

Search the net for Panasonic Toughbook 17. It’s less than 700$ and built like a tank.

The ToughBook 17 is made by Panasonic for military and industrial use. You can drop it, kick it, spill coffee on it, leave it out in the sun---or the rain, and it will continue to work! Its tough, resilient magnesium case takes the punishment, and the touch screen LCD screen is sealed so dust and moisture can't affect it; the keyboard and touchpad are sealed as well---right down to the sealed hinge assembly. You can actually type---IN THE RAIN!

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

[PanEuropean]

Hi Fireboomer:

A.B. is right, the "industrial tough" notebooks can really take a beating. You could probably throw one loose into an aluminum pannier and expect it to survive. However, they are quite expensive, at least double the cost of a similar unit that is not "toughened".

I have carried my IBM A21p laptop around in my pannier for over 40,000 km and only had one minor problem - the modem board came loose inside it after two weeks of riding on Irish roads. IBM in Dublin fixed it free, while I waited.

I like IBM laptops because they are quite durable, and also IBM has laptop service depots in just about every country in the world. Plus, they offer a free 3 year international warranty on all their laptops. So, I highly recommend IBM to you.

All I do to protect the laptop when it is in the pannier is 1) I put a piece of felt between the screen and the keyboard when I close the lid, to stop the keys from touching the screen if I hit a really hard bump, 2) I have a very small laptop bag (the USD 25 variety) that has some foam padding around the edges - I keep the laptop in this, without any accessories closeby to bang into it, and 3) I just pack my clothing (socks, etc.) around the laptop bag to create a cushion.

Although I ride a ST1100, which is not an off-road machine by any means, I have ridden on a lot of really crappy roads, hit potholes, dropped the bike, etc. all without any damage or harm to the laptop, save for the one loose board mentioned earlier.

[fireboomer]

Took a look at the Panasonic Toughbook 17. Haven't yet found a picture. Need to look around a bit more probably. But did find prices, all over 1000$.

Paneuropean, do you put your labtop in the topcase? I don't have one yet. But... after my camera got stolen in Marocco I have been thinking about getting a sort of topcase that I would fix permanently. I would modify it to fit in all the electronic stuff. For ex: place 12V plug to charge the Inbook while riding. Same for the mobile phone,.... I would also make sure I can place my camera (that I will hopefully buy in the comming year) inhere if I have to leave it behind so that it wont be stolen that easy anymore.
The topcase woul be locked with a key.

1000$ is about as expensive as the cheapest Imac I can find here. So I might consider getting that one, then strip the Ibook and prep it a bit for the trip.

[dagjen]

I travelled for a year with my laptop in a GIVI topcase. What I did was use a net and attach it inside the lid so I had a soft bed for the laptop to rest on.

The laptop was packed in a hard foam case with some padding and then attached to the net. I tried to keep a little room under the net to give the laptop some degree of dampening in the worst bumps.

Except a broken hard drive after an accident, the IBM still looks and functions as when new.

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Dag
http://RocinantesTravels.com

[PanEuropean]

Fireboomer:

No, I put my laptop in the soft luggage that affixes onto the back of my moto. This luggage is made by a company called Ventura in New Zealand. I then cover the luggage with a stainless steel net made for backpackers that is made by a company called Pac-safe. The resulting combination looks like this:



It is very secure, no-one could slash through it with a knife to get at the contents.

When my motorcycle flipped over (picture here), the IBM laptop wound up supporting all the weight of the back half of the motorcycle - no damage to the laptop. No damage to the Ventura luggage either, although the mounting frame was somewhat bent.

[A.B.]

TigerDirect sold teh Toughbook 17 for $699 a while ago. It's no longer listed on their site but you might find it elsewehre. Here's it's picture.


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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

[This message has been edited by A.B. (edited 05 August 2002).]

[fireboomer]

Apple came out with some new labtops that might be of interest for all those travellers out there.
The smallest model is:

Size and weight (12-inch model)
Height: 1.18 inch (3.0 cm)
Width: 10.9 inches (27.7 cm)
Depth: 8.6 inches (21.9 cm)
Weight: 4.6 pounds (2.1 kg) with battery and optical drive installed

It is fully equiped with several comm tools (airport adoptor new generation, blootooth comm software,...)

All the rest of the info is one this link:
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

I think the price is accetable. What I might do is buying the small model and get an 17inch screen for desktopuse at home.

The fact that it is so small makes it really easy to pack it in well. Also the casing get cheaper (smaller) if you want to use one of those pelican boxes.
Apple is really aiming at travellers with this model. And then I don't mean the bussines folks.

If anybody get any experiences with it please put them out here. I am very interested.
I'll keep you posted. Might take a while though since I need to work on the financial side of it.

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

[JamesCo]

Hello,

I've been travelling in North, Central and South America for four and a half months now with my Apple iBook. With respect to size, it's basically the same dimensions, and has Airport and DVD/CD-RW. The major difference is that the iBook has the G3 CPU instead of the faster G4.

I don't use a case but just pack my clothes tightly around it in one of my metal boxes. This has been fine so far, but in colder weather (when I'm wearing all my clothes) it could cause problems. When I looked, Pelican didn't make a case that fitted the laptop without being too bulky.

I don't see how BlueTooth could be useful since you're unlikely to be trying to connect to other devices. Airport does peer-to-peer networking if you come across another person with a laptop, anyway. Airport, while it's fantastic at home, in the office and in the first world, isn't a lot of use in poorer countries where wireless networking just isn't known.

Apple hardware is top quality and their laptops are a delight to use. I haven't had anything break, and I've been over lots of rough roads. Battery life is excellent. OS X (I'm using 10.2) is a bit slow and iPhoto in particular was badly written and is a bit of a dog, but it may be more acceptable on the PowerBooks.

If you are using a digital camera (I have a Canon G2) then having a laptop is excellent - no worries with storage and you can label and manipulate the files so easily. This is pretty much the sole reason I took the iBook - I researched digital wallets a fair bit and found a lot of people having problems with reliability, and they're also relatively expensive for what they can do.

So, all in all, if you're convinced a laptop is something you'll take, I have no problems recommending one from Apple.

James.

[Gijs]

Hi all,

I am thinking about buying a PDA on windows-platform (Compaq) and let it communicate with a Garmin V+ to download maps in the garmin.
Any experiences with this combination ?
did hear about any so far....

cheers
Gijs