[Travel] Good electronic travel companion

[mattbell]

I have recently become spoiled by having the world's knowledge in my pocket.  It's a part of how I move through the world now.  However, when I travel I'm going to be visiting a vast range of different countries with (presumably) a wide range of different phone and data systems.  Can I (relatively inexpensively) get something that will let me use mobile networks worldwide without signing up for country contracts?   I'm guessing the world isn't there yet.

Basically, I'd be looking for an electronic device that (or a pair of devices that collectively) can do:
- GPS and a full world street map locally stored
- Wi-fi so I can use it at internet cafes. 
- Wi-fi+skype+earbuds = worldphone!  This is a cheap way of getting much of the functionality and convenience of a cellphone.
- A USB port.  At some point my camera will fill up with photos, and I'd like to be able to upload them somewhere far away and safe.  I'd prefer that over buying a pile of 1gig USB drives and and mailing one home every couple of weeks.
- A keyboard and screen that are usable for email (4-6 inches wide)
- A total size smaller than almost all laptops.  I do NOT want to lug a full laptop around.
- Awesome long battery life. 
- let me say up to date on lj.  I remember that after being off for a week, it took me 3 hours just to skim everything.

Does it exist? 


Alternatively, am I just spoiled?

Back in 1998 when I ran around Europe at the end of high school, I had travel books and maps as my guides, and I visited an internet cafe every three or four days to email friends and family.  I remember wasting a lot of time getting lost, checking out less-than-optimal tourist sites, and handling logistics over payphones with people waiting in line behind me.  If I can make some of that go away, I'd be happy.

Comments

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Most of the world does prepaid SIMs in a sane fashion.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Data or just voice?

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

I'm given to understand both, if you have a 3G phone. (Real 3G, with the correct bands for the region.)

[aaangyl.livejournal.com]

I hear TomToms rock even harder in europe, so see if you can find a GPS that runs tomtom software.

[doublefeh.livejournal.com]

The Nokia N810 hits most of those buttons, mostly. It has a GPS (the maps cost extra, though), wi-fi, and skype. It doesn't have a USB port, but if you're willing to invest in some MiniSD or MicroSD (I forget which) cards, you can pop the cards right out of your camera and into the device to access as normal storage. It's only got a small smartphone-style keyboard, but it has bluetooth so you can get a decent portable one. With power adaptor and bluetooth keyboard, it's a little over a pound of gear.

The experience of using it feels clunky and unpolished compared to using an iPhone, especially for web browsing, but it does manage to hit almost the exact niche you're describing here. I've taken my n800 (previous-gen; a bit slower, no GPS) on multiple trips now in place of a laptop.

[happyinmotion.livejournal.com]

Nokia E90. It's a phone that thinks it's a laptop. USB, wireless, bluetooth, keyboard, GPS, 16 Gb can go in the microSD slot, inbuilt razor blade and toaster.

[oliana0.livejournal.com]

A One Laptop? It's smaller than a regular laptop, luggable, has wireless, audio capable, and usb ports to hook up the camera and an external hard drive (not a lot of internal storage) and a GPS.

Then, multi-band cell phone. If you get one of those wlan capable nokias, you can load joikuspot (http://www.joikuspot.com) and use it as a wireless router.

[mongo42.livejournal.com]

The Nokia E71 has GPS, WiFi, Skype, USB, supports micro SDHC so it'll take the new 32GB cards when they're available. The battery life is excellent; I usually go about a week between charges. The only thing is that the screen and keyboard might be a bit small for your purposes, although I have no problems with them. And as Oliana mentioned JoikuSpot rules, so if you have a laptop as well you always have a WiFi hub available in your phone.

[mary-wroth.livejournal.com]

I think you are spoiled. :) I have yet to do an internatinoal trip that didn't involve books/maps and good old fashioned talking to locals.

If you do your research right before hand, that will be fine. And internet cafes are so prevalent you can easily look up anything you need on the fly.

I don't do a lot of communication with folks on the phone so being able to email suits me just fine. And besides, you will be having the adventures, you can tell folks about them after you're done.

I'd rather save my money that I'd spend on a gadget and spend it on a nice treat on the trip. Upgrade a hotel, fancy meal out etc etc.

[neoteny.livejournal.com]

Want to buy / borrow my VAIO U101? It needs a new home.

[crotchgoblin.livejournal.com]

A bit late, but just saw this.

[crotchgoblin.livejournal.com]

Oops - didn't mean to reply to you; sorry!

[crotchgoblin.livejournal.com]

OH CRAP I GIVE UP

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

Wi-Fi may be much less dependable than you realize. Matt just got the new Google phone and brought it with him to Australia because it has wi-fi capabilities. However, free wi-fi was much less available than we expected. Even in Sydney, McDonalds was almost the only place you could get free wi-fi (but those are dense enough that in the very downtown area you never have to walk more than about five blocks to get access). Also, every free wi-fi place definitely had limits on the total amount you could upload or download (I believe 50 megs a day on McDonalds), or else had very slow speeds. Thus, you really couldn't use it as an effective back-up for a camera, I would think.

Apart from the worry about wi-fi, the new google phone on T-Mobile seems like a good bet for all of these things, though Matt hadn't had it long enough to try to install Skype or download a full world street map yet.

gizmos

[catithat.livejournal.com]

Those things would certainly be nice. FYI, on the iphone SkypeOut in the Fring app works but has lag. Also FYI, if roaming with AT&T, text-messages are cheap/free but phone calls & data are crazy expensive. I'm using paper maps/guidebooks in lieu of gps.

Have you tried an Eye-Fi for photo backup?

An altnerative might be to borrow computers, if you can count on staying with a friend or at a fancy hotel every so often. Or since you're flying a lot, join an airline's first-class-lounge club. If you can't take it with you, have it waiting for you everywhere you go.