Old 07-29-19 | 03:50 AM
  #6  
Tourist in MSN
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,748
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From: Madison, WI

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

For travel I quit carrying a laptop, I was too concerned about loss or damage. And laptops take a lot of power. Exception, if I am staying at a relatives home for holidays, the laptop will come with me if I drove there, but the laptop no longer goes on airplanes. My latest laptop is too big to easily handle in an airport.

For travel where I am spending overnights indoors and can carry a bit more weight and volume, I use a cheap 7 inch Android tablet, I think I paid $30 for it, brand is RCA for my current one. Over the years I have owned a half dozen 7 inch Android tablets, one of teh best bargains out there. It will not take a sim card and has no GPS so I also carry my phone. Where I have wifi I can use the tablet with Hangouts app and Hangouts Dialer app to make phone calls, but making a phone call with a 7 inch tablet held to my head, I am sure I look pretty stupid doing that. And receiving a phone call with a tablet where I do not have wifi, it is not going to happen.

And a bluetooth keyboard and a bluetooth mouse.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitec...?skuId=4415400

Before I got my current smartphone (LG Phoenix II, $105 unlocked, two years ago, 5.5 inch screen), I carried a 7 inch Android tablet when bike touring. But now I use the Android phone. With a 5.5 inch screen it has as many pixels as my 7 inch Android tablet. I have configured my phone to work with the blue tooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse, but I do not carry these things with me when I am camping.

I am old enough that my eyes do not focus very well close up. I wear reading glasses when using phone or tablet or computer. I carry some extra strong reading glasses for when I want to use my 5.5 inch phone screen for any serious work that would involve holding it close.

Phone takes less power than my tablet. For bike touring that is important to me, but if I am living indoors and can plug in anywhere, that is unimportant. Thus, a 5.5 inch phone makes a lot more sense bike touring or camping than the 7 inch tablet.

Even the low end electronics that you can buy today is packed full of features, you do not need to buy a premium priced setup.
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