Touring - small portable computer

Does anyone have any suggestions about a 'touring computer'? I'd like to use one to write reports, logs and a daily diary. What are the favourite choices?

I suggest getting a PDA. Even if it's an older B+W model they still run fine.

Ditto. Reports, logs and diary are longish texts, so I would suggest getting a foldable keyboard, too.

--J

No question about it PDA or PocketPC with foldable keyboard are the only good solution if you're concerned with weight at all.

Another thing to consider is batery power. My laptop runs out of power after 8 hours (2 new bateries), but the bateries in my very simple PDA (palm m100) last several weeks!

If you need layout capabilities, you can always transfer the text to your PC for layout when you get home.

Cheers,
TwinTraveller

i have an ipaq 3850 that i've toured with, found it to be very useful. the keyboard is a must-have is you plan on typing any reasonable amount of text. the big plus for me is a voice recorder of adjustable resolution, so i can record quick verbal notes or songs (i usually bring a guitar) with ease.


but if you're simply looking to enter data, i'd say stick to an older monochrome model. i almost picked up a palm IIIxe before the compaq basically fell into my lap. the battery drain for a monochrome screen is MUUUUCH less than for color.


best

matt b.

Wow, it's fun to read about these plans! Like this thread suggests, PDA is the answer. I have very good experiences and used to update a bicycle diary with a PDA and a cell phone. On my really long tour I decided to stay offline though.

I'll submit a text from my old homepage about which tech platforms I used and why:

Technomadic submission – two communication solutions

This is really cool: With these two streettech items – a Palm Pilot and an Ericsson cellular phone – I can submit entries to the bicycle diary without even being near a computer or a phone jack.

Times have changed since the original ”technomad” Stephen K. Roberts biked across America in the eighties, connected to the world with a 300 baud modem and payphones. Today you can connect from anywhere with gadgets literally not bigger than the Palm of your hand.

But the soul of the technomadness stays the same. Roberts’ motives were these: ”freedom, adventure, discovery, and a twisted fascination with mobile wireless connectivity.” I could agree with that. It’s about the feeling of being able to connect from anywhere, without having a steady place to live.

Even though the possibilities with technomadness are vast, so are the prices for a student like me. So when I won my Palm Vx by writing a slogan, I decided to take it as a challenge to build my own technomad platform. I came up with two models, the second one not much of a challenge:

1. The old-school model.

Hardware: Palm Vx + Nokia 5110 + TDK Global Pulse.
Software: Vodafone gsm cashcard + free ISPs + Erimax guestbook + Eudora Internet Suite.

The Nokia cellular phone is an old but rusty model. The TDK Global Pulse is a software modem that connects the Palm with the phone through a cable. Vodafone had a gsm cashcard focused on hightech, which meant it allowed data traffic, something you couldn’t even order as a ”side-dish” to the cashcard I changed from (Comviq). Finally, I designed the guestbook from Erimax in a way that it could be easily updated from the webpages as they are displayed in Eudora Internet Suite (meaning no frames for example). That way I only tap plain text, but the layout in the bicycle diary will appear as astonishing as if I had done it in Dreamweaver!

2. The half-modern model.

Hardware: Palm Vx + Ericsson T39m.
Software: Same as before.

This updated model was a result of my Nokia being stolen. When I bought a new one, I chose Ericsson T39m, which features a modem. That way I could get rid of the TDK cable – the Palm now connects through IR with the phone. This solution was of course much less of a challenge – I can even check email directly in the phone, but that’s not worth the effort, considering the stamp size of the display.

What’s the point with constant access?

Just because the possibilities have no limit, that doesn’t mean that my urge to tell the world what I’m doing every second hour doesn’t have one. I’m on my first bicycle tour. I don’t know at all what to expect, but I know for sure that I need vacation. When I traveled a month in India in march 2001, I never checked my email a single time. I needed to be offline. So if I feel like it, I might update my bicycle diary. If I don’t feel like it, it will just stay the way it is and you can check back later to read the full story.

Karl Andersson, May 2002

I submit a photo of what it looked like. This Palm Vx could work for a month on a single charge - that's what's so fantastic with the old-school b/w stuff.

If you're mainly interested in emailing, you may want to look into Pocketmail (pocketmail.com). It's low-tech, but works anywhere with a pay phone. We used one last summer for 4 month cross country trip and were very happy. Plus it's cheap. I bought an older used unit for $25 on ebay and the service is about $30 for 3 months. It's definitely limited in capabilities, but it did the trick for us.

Kes Roberts
Athens, GA



Does anyone have any suggestions about a 'touring computer'? I'd like to use one to write reports, logs and a daily diary. What are the favourite choices?