We have a dilemma! We have been thinking about the best way of keeping in touch while we are away next year - we are going to be very tight on space as we will have to be able to carry everything we need in 2 saddlebags (panniers) and a small back pack (for the first 3 weeks at least). That's going to be a challenge - we've never been light travelers!! Why not just use a smartphone? I hear you say. Well that would be a possibility, however, we need to be able to run our business (Razay Holiday Cottages) and September and October are key months for taking bookings, so we can't afford to be out of touch for those 2 months.
We could just take a laptop, however, our laptops are quite bulky and heavy, so a tablet or notebook would be better and easier. However, where do you start? iPad seems to be the favourite/popular option: small, light, loads of apps, etc but they are expensive and it would seem there are much cheaper options on the market. On the other hand, a notebook can be small and light and be the ideal cross between the tablet & laptop.
We had a look at some options in the shop yesterday. The iPad Air looks great - it's light, small but could it be too light, too small - would it stand up to the rigours of the journey (and beyond - we would need it to last a good while!). We also looked at the Microsoft Surface Pro, which looked just the job. It comes with Office fully installed (which we use for our business) and has a good size screen, good graphics, etc and has some very good reviews. On the downside, it is quite heavy and probably works out more expensive than the iPad, although it has Office installed which is worth a bit I suppose. Plus you can add keyboards, etc.
Decisions, decisions. It's very difficult.......
What a quandary.
ReplyDeleteI have a 128GB iPad and find it a wonderful product. I have oodles of music, films, etc on it and also app that let me do spreadsheets, documents etc.
I kept off of the iPad until a 128GB was available because of its inabilty to expand its storage space.
I can synch it with my phone, but it helps to have wifi for this. Any photos that you take could also be stored in the iCloud, but it also depends on what camera, if any you take to record your events.
The ability to plug into the Microsoft device could work to your advantage especially with camera SD cards and the such.
If all your current Razay related booking stuff is on Microsoft, I would defiantly think about heading that way.
Thanks Bob. I do like the idea of the iPad but on the other hand I like the idea of having a mini laptop - it could be more useful in many ways. Still, it's not as if we have to make any hasty decisions!
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ReplyDeleteWe took so many photos on our journey from Pheonix to Colorado Springs. Had to have spare memory cards. Loading them on to a computer could be good. Also then loading them on to a USB and mailing home to safeguard memories. Plenty to think about.
ReplyDeleteGood thinking - a USB memory stick and some spare SD cards will definitely be worth taking.
DeleteBetter to have more cards than just one with massive storage capabilities. That way, if one card screws up for any reason not everything is lost, just a "small" portion.
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