I've been looking because I want another Asus (or something close) with a bigger keyboard than the tiny one I have now. I'll be in Korea for another 8 months at least. I had an iBook but the thing rattled itself apart (in a car!) on a month long trip. I'm willing to pay extra for SSD after that (although my brand new iPod 160 didn't like the monsoon I rode through).

I'm pretty happy with my Asus -- it took riding around India on an Enfield just fine. I've been sitting here at work researching computers and it hit me, just check on the HUBB.

No matter what netbook you buy:
 

No matter what netbook you buy copy your back up CD to an SD card before you set off. If you don't know how to do this Google the users' forum, and you'll find out. Set up your BIOS in readiness so it boots first from SD card, it's perfectly safe to leave it like that the whole time with the SD slot empty.

Secondly, I'd recommend looking at Portable Apps there's plenty of free software there and all designed to run off a memory card/stick. Even if you install the same programs on your hard drive carrying memory with portable apps back ups gets you back computing in minutes not hours, and one card or stick hardly takes up a lot of room. And it means you can plug in your memory in any PC and use the same programs if it all goes belly up.

Hmmm. These suggestions might have saved me some struggle, particularly copying my system CD to a card before leaving home. Ah well.

Asus is now working fine, although quite subject to Microsoft glitches. Perhaps I'll get around to Linux and Open Office sooner or later after all. Thanks for all suggestions.

Mark

(Cali, and ready to move on)

Has anyone tried to run GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) or UFRaw via a Portable Apps program?

I want to cut the laptop/netbook completely out of the equation, but photo editing is the one stopping point for me. If GIMP and UFRaw on a Portable Apps cd/solid state harddrive works...Problem solved!

Hmmm. I'd forgotten about this thread, but I'll add that my Acer screen started going bad at around 6 months--that's 6 months on the back of a bike, about 40,000 km on and off road--and has continued to get worse since. It's still usable, but not much fun anymore looking at photos. Don't know whether it's significant that this never happened on my Asus.

Mark

(not far from home now, with the question being which will give out first: me, the bike, my netbook, my riding clothes, my bank account.....)

generally speaking they all use the same screens. Most screens are completely interchangeable between ASUS, Acer, HP, etc ... a 8.9 inch netbook screen is a generic item, sourced as cheaply as possible from factories churning out squillions of them. Spare screens are readily available on ebay.

No problem: How To: Install UFRaw into Gimp 2.6.8 Portable | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

Excellent.

How about a portable app that syncs photos with a GPS data file for geotagging?

Try GeoSetter (freeware / donations encouraged).

Download the .zip version. Instructions to make it portable (from its readme.txt file):

I haven't tried it myself but I believe you can just make an empty config.ini.

Thanks again, I'll have to try that out.

To me this is part of the fun. Researching and trying out different gear, software, ideas, etc.

I was trying to leave the laptop at home...but I very much doubt I'll want or have the ability to spend hours on end playing with photo editing software, gps syncs, etc.

Now I'm sort of thinking that a cheap, durable laptop with a WiFi card and a logmein application to my heavy duty comptuer back home will be the way to go. Sitting in a hostel or cafe with wifi and using the hardware back home via logmein is much more appealing than waiting in line and receiving dirty looks from fellow travelers.

I have a Sony Vaio, it's fantastic. I use it for video editing, photo editing, all my internet needs etc but it also has a good video card so I can play the latest games on the road! A real treat when you're bored...

Oh it's also core 2 duo, 4gb of ram, 300gb hdd and only of 15" size. To be honest I wouldn't want to downgrade just to save 1/3 of it's size compared to a netbook.

To travel with it I just wedge it in a blanket & towel inside my sports bag, no vibration or impact damage when my bike has fallen, tbh I couldn't be happier!

Tablets
 

Anyone using tablets these days? With all the new tablets that are out such as the ipad and others that are so small compared to laptops I would think they would be a contender for any adventurer.

Any using them that would like to contribute their thoughts??c?

combine the two! thinkpad x tablet series!

I used one of the original EEE PC 701's for three years and had it stuck in my tank bag for over 40,000 miles. I hate to admit it, but it survived about 20 drops of the bike doh in that time. No issues even though at times the tank bag would depart the bike during one of these memorable little events. I eventually installed a full-blown desktop version of Ubuntu on it, and while it worked fine with it, the rather small 4 Gig SSD didn't leave much working room.

As a result, I have since replaced the 701 with a 16 Gig SSD Asus EEE PC 900 that I bought second hand on Ebay for about $100. It's the same size as the 701, but in addition to the larger SSD hard drive, has a larger screen. It came infected with Windows XP and so I immediately stripped that off and installed Ubuntu 11.04. There were absolutely no issues installing Ubuntu on it. It recognized all the hardware including the touchpad, wireless adapter and webcam. I did upgrade a few things... upgraded the RAM from 1 to 2 Meg, upgraded the battery to a larger one that now allows a bit more than 3 hours online and installed an English-Russian keyboard. The SSD is a plug-in unit on the board, and so is upgradeable to a larger drive if you want to spend the bucks. With an SD slot and 3 USB ports, storage and transfer are not an issue. It's a rockin' little machine. Even does the Compiz cube and wiggly windows!

I would be hesitant myself about a laptop with a spinning hard drive... at least given my history of not being able to keep it on two wheels all the time. I took a laptop hard drive in a USB enclosure on my first trip to back up photos on, and although I thought I had it safely packed away in my luggage, it did not survive the first summer. My only issue with the old 701 was that when it was damp or wet for extended periods, the touchpad would sometimes lose sensitivity, although a mouse would continue to work. The touchpad always came back to life when the machine dried out though.

The EEE PC's are solid little machines and since they are a bit older now, they can be had pretty cheaply on Ebay. Very highly recommended.

Have to agree. I'm back to using my EEE PC now, following a motherboard replacement by the factory (following a lot of time unpadded on the back of my bike). I sent it in, they told me it would cost a couple of hundred bucks, I told them not to bother, they did it anyway for free. Good service, I thought.

My Acer Aspire screen was not easily replaceable, despite Colebatch's report above. I bought it in Panama, and it had an odd size screen. When I looked into it, replacements were thin on the ground in the States, and expensive. I bought another Aspire used for a hundred dollars and change, but I use the EEE PC more often because it's proved hardier.

I don't know how a new tablet or Mac Air might do. I'm good with minimalist, $1-200 Craigslist netbooks. The SSD drive has been durable and reliable for me.

Mark