[pct-l] laptop or tablet on trail

[David Money Harris]

I appreciated all the responses to Robert's question on solar panels.

I'm planning to do the PCT next summer and hope to do write along the 
way seriously enough that I'd like a lightweight device with a proper 
keyboard.

I see in the archives that John Abela recommended a Macbook Air or iPad 
2, and have come to similar conclusions based on the specs.  But I'm 
wondering if anyone has practical experience carrying a device with a 
keyboard on the trail (e.g. does it stand up to the rigors of the 
trail?  Are there realistic solar chargers?  Are there nonobvious issues 
bouncing it across the Sierra or other places where the food weight will 
be high?)

Happy hiking,

David Money Harris

On Jun 2, 2011, at 9:17 PM, John Abela<abela at johnabela.com  <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>>  wrote:

>/  Hey Ned,
/>/
/>/  I have no idea what you are looking for so I will just throw out some
/>/  of the best options - keeping in mind the best quality available for
/>/  the lightest weight products and the longest potential battery life.
/>/
/>/  For a laptop that runs Windows as the primary operating system, I
/>/  would have to suggest the "Lenovo x220". It is a tad heavy at 3
/>/  pounds. Lighter options are available but Lenovo's are 100% the most
/>/  top of the line laptop that exists in regards to quality and
/>/  life-span. Battery life of around 30 hours, unless you are doing
/>/  really intense stuff, it will drop down to around 18-20 hours. If you
/>/  can afford it, pick up the i7 with a SSD drive (the largest you can
/>/  afford) and at least 4gigs of ram. All said it will be between 1600
/>/  and 1900 depending on how you configure it. Not a cheap option but
/>/  this machine will be more powerful than 90% of the computers people
/>/  use today.
/>/
/>/  For a laptop that runs OSX (Mac) I would have to suggest the Macbook
/>/  Air. The little 11 inch one is 2.3 pounds and has a 8-10 hours of
/>/  battery life (5 if using it for intense stuff like video editing) and
/>/  the larger 13 inch is about double the battery life. It is suspected
/>/  that a new model is coming out very soon, but here is what I would buy
/>/  if I was getting one today. I would personally get the 11 inch
/>/  version, with 4 gigs of ram, and the 128 gig ssd drive. Going to loose
/>/  some battery life but the size factor of this thing is almost backpack
/>/  worthy for business owners.http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
/>/
/>/  If you are looking for a phone that is ultra small, ultra light, there
/>/  is a brand new phone called the "modu" that is not yet here in the USA
/>/  but can be bought online and shipped over to the USA. It is exactly 40
/>/  grams (1.41 ounces) which has allowed it to be named the worlds
/>/  lightest touch phone.http://youtu.be/2XEQ1ExuM4Q  for a video of it
/>/
/>/  If you are looking for a phone that is a smidgen bit larger and can
/>/  surf the internet, I think the next smallest option would be the new
/>/  "Veer" from HP (palm). It hits the scales at 103 grams (3.63 ounces)
/>/  It is (sadly) only available on AT&T. I am not going to sit here and
/>/  play the "iphone verse android verses palm" game... I do not own the
/>/  veer, rather I am giving you the best options out there for what you
/>/  have asked for, and I think this is probably the smallest real phone
/>/  in regards to features verse weight. --
/>/  http://www.hpwebos.com/us/products/phones/veer/
/>/
/>/  Honestly, the only other option I would even remotely consider would
/>/  be the iPad 2 with 3G. It hits the scales at 1.35 pounds (613 g) has a
/>/  better battery life than anything listed above and is probably less
/>/  likely to break than anything listed above. I never toss my lenovo
/>/  laptops (say onto my bed or a couch) and I would never ever thinking
/>/  of tossing an Apple Air, but I have pretty much thrown my iPad all
/>/  over the place. Onto my bed, couch, desk, into my truck, it can take
/>/  some serious abuse, has the best battery life option.
/>/
/>/  If you went with the iPad 3G model you can pick either AT&T or Verizon
/>/  for your internet connection. If you went with the Lenovo x220 you
/>/  could also get a built in 3G antenna and purchase a data plan with
/>/  Verizon (best option out there, but the most expensive). If you went
/>/  with the Macbook Air you would have to pick up a third party product
/>/  such as the Verizon MyFi device. The little Veer phone would probably
/>/  come with a data plan. And the modu I have no idea, but you could
/>/  probably go with a Verizon plan at well (it would not work with AT&T
/>/  as the devices requires a CDMA service, of which AT&T is not, but
/>/  pretty much everybody else in the USA/World is)
/>/
/>/  Anyway Ned, those are (what I consider) to be the best options out
/>/  there. I suspect you will have a whole lot of folks jumping in here
/>/  and standing up for the Android, I am not one of them, but hear them
/>/  out as well. I have nothing against any of the Android devices, I just
/>/  do not feel they are the best of the best for ultra light weight and
/>/  exceptional battery life, such as the products I have listed above
/>/  (though somebody out there might have something out there running
/>/  Android that is the same size-factor as the Veer, I just don't know of
/>/  one.)
/>/
/>/  Hope that gets you started.
/>/
/>/  John B. Abela
/>/
/>/
/>/  On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 8:11 PM,<ned at mountaineducation.org  <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>>  wrote:
/>>/  As Mountain Education becomes busier this year, we are finding that we need to stay in touch with the email world from the trail (sad to say, at least until we have a staff to help out!).
/>>/
/>>/  We, as you know, use a satellite phone to stay in touch that way, but what kind of laptop or other device do we need to use to accomplish this??
/>>/
/>>/  We are not technologically current on what's available...
/>>/
/>>/
/>>/  "Just remember, Be Careful out there!"
/>>/
/>>/  Ned Tibbits, Director
/>>/  Mountain Education
/>>/  1106A Ski Run Blvd
/>>/  South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
/>>/     P: 888-996-8333
/>>/     F: 530-541-1456
/>>/     C: 530-721-1551
/>>/     http://www.mountaineducation.org
/>>/  ______________________________________________/