The Journey's Technology

[note: this is a post about the physical devices, not the connectivity schema. If you're interested in reading about that, go look at Transglobal's blogpost on "The Technology of Transglobal", as I more-or-less aped their setup with some modifications for my application. I may do another post on the software side of things later on.]

So, packing for a 7-week trip is tough. As far as what technology to bring, I wanted to find a good balance between connectivity and portability. Here's most of what I'm bringing:


[click the picture to go to Flickr, where there are notes for each item]


To Computer, or Not To Computer:

Weighing the pros and cons of bringing a laptop was a tough decision. On one hand, even a netbook would be pretty easily packable and would offer all the abilities of a full computer. On the other, I don't want to be worrying about it getting broken, stolen, wet, etcetcetc. and would rather have something that lets me focus on the trip and the experience, while still allowing blog-updates, photo-posting, and other ways to publish my memories and experiences during this trip.

Based on a few posts on the N95's abilities as a standalone device (which I'll link to here if I can find the articles again; they're at least a year old now), I decided to bring that instead of a small laptop. It's a pretty full-featured device, with most of the functionality of a low-end linux computer built into a smartphone.
The N95 offers a 5-megapixel camera (which, for example, took all my pictures during the Morocco trip last winter ) which I'll use as a backup camera, an internal GPS, an open-source software platform with a large developer base (so I can do everything from update my twitter to surf the web to calculate tips and currency conversion on)

I'm also bringing a bluetooth keyboard, which I'll use with the phone. This gives me most of the functionality of a full laptop with about 1/5th the weight and size.


The Camera:

Another key device is the main camera. I'm going to be using a Canon A2000 IS. The deciding factors here were: image quality, size and weight of the camera, price, and stand-out factor. It's a

Canon, so image quality is great. The manual mode even allows some SLR-like control of exposure compensation, ISO, and white-balance.

The size and weight are good- it's not the smallest camera I've ever seen, but for the image-resolution (10 megapixels) and quality (6x optical zoom, above-mentioned controls, good macro-mode), it's pretty good. It's also heavy enough that it feels fairly durable, but not so much that I wouldn't want to carry it around for several days on end.

The price was about $150, which is great for this level of camera.

As for how much it stands out: parts are a bit shiny, but the dark-grey color scheme and reasonable size make it reasonably nondescript. I don't want to be distracted from taking pictures by worrying about the camera getting swiped. I may break out the masking tape and try this camera camo-technique as well.

I also got a Gorilla Pod to use with the camera. It's really fun, and I look forward to no longer being foiled by trying to take stable long-exposure shots. There's a picture of it up on the Flickr as well.


Keeping it Charged:

The keyboard and the camera both take AA batteries. The phone charges from a proprietary Nokia power-cord. So, I've got two power-solutions. (and no pictures of them yet)

First, I found a great deal on a solar-charger/battery. It has outlet-adapters for USB and for the Nokia N-series plug. It has a 2000mah battery inside, which can be charged by the solar-panel or by USB. The only downside is that the charger feels a bit delicate, so I'm going to either make a case or some sort of protective cover for it before the trip starts.

Second, I got a USB-powered battery charger. It charges a pair of AA or AAA batteries, and (at least in theory) should attach to the solar-charger so I can recharge the batteries on the go if need be.


Cellular:

I ended up going with the GeoSIM card. I had a SIM card from eKit before, and they're okay but GeoSIM's rates are a bit better, and they seem to have better coverage in the places I'll be going. They also have data (GPRS) connectivity, which, while expensive, could come in handy.

I'll be bringing the eKit card as a backup.



Overall, I'm pretty happy with this setup. The keyboard/N95 combo has proven itself on the Morocco trip last winter, so I've got faith that it will work well here too. The camera looks like it will serve its purpose without being overbearing. The only totally untested piece here is the USB battery-charger, but, even if it explodes or something, AAs are easy to come by pretty much anywhere.