Should I take a laptop when traveling?

[Alberti]

I like to review pictures after a day of shooting (say 200 pictures on average) when I am traveling. City trips. I want to see what I did, learn, and improve my way of working on the spot. And not take along a batch of cards to be disappointed afterwards.

So what do you suggest I buy? I shoot M8, predominantly in RAW. I use Phase One's Capture1. This is great for instant reviewing of results.

And what would be best suited:
1) a Mac Air 128 GB? Backlit screen (high contrast viewing) and very slim and light at 1,5 kg.
2) a MacBookPro 13 inch. A shop adviser said this has a better backlit screen. Starting to be heavy at > 2 kg.
3) a plastic MacBook.

For at home I will settle on a MacMini I think, on which I plan to have Aperture running.
alberti

[martin s]

A 15" mbp and an iMac (preferably 24"). Works really well, if I'd be home more I might take a smaller laptop (mba), but usually I'm stuck with the laptop.

The 13" plastic macbook cracked on me twice. I'd say at least unibody.

martin

[irq506]

I took a 12" Powerbook around the world with me, and in all honesty it was a pain, because its responsibility and normally where you'd be adventurous with a camera you wont be with a notebook.
There are plenty of web cafes out there now (even in Kabul!) that it negates the necessity to have one for that purpose. A pelican box full of cards will be the best way to go. As for actually inspecting your images as you go, hey its vcation - leave the editing to later when you get home, that way you 'elongate' your trip!

[Roger Hicks]

The only reason I carry a laptop is if I'm planning on writing as well. Otherwise it's a waste of space and weight. If the pic is any good, that will almost always be evident from the camera screen. If not, likewise.

Cheers,

R.

[jarski]

if you do city trips, travel by taxi or rented car, laptop is not much extra.

last summer I did motorbike trip to Europe, and didnt take laptop with me, but missed it especially for seeking affordable hotels from the next stop. I had trouble finding internet cafes in most destinations in Central Europe, and ended up fiddling with iPhone's limited browser, or just driving out there and trying my luck

edit: alternative for bunch of SD-cards is iPod + camera connector. in my moto trip I used this setup and after the trip dumped all photos from iPod to my Mac at home. my camera connector is USB1.1, so transfer is somewhat slow, but never knew if faster model was done by Apple.

[swoop]

I'm from the film school. Earlier this month was the first trip I've ever taken with the M8. A road trip to St. Louis. Prior to that I brought along the M7 and a bag full of film. So I'm used to not looking at the final results until I get back. That LCD screen has spoiled a lot of people.

[back alley]

i bought a dell netbook, for image storage, processing (an old copy of elements) and internet/email use (should i ever travel).
works great in a local coffee house too!!

[wgerrard]

I carried a laptop when my employer paid for the trip. On my own dime, I don't need to carry one.

Whether you carry one or not depends, I suppose, on what you want to do with it. If checking that day's digital output is compelling, then have at it. If you have space on a server someplace, then FTP'ing the files up there rather than waiting until you get home might be a sensible thing to do.

[BillBingham2]

I have a laptop back at the room to make backups of all the cards. I lock every card at the end of the day and take out a different one. I have two old 20GB ipods with the photo adapter that I used a few years back and need to get into the swing again with it.

While I prefer a Mac you might think about a Netbook with a large hard drive. I still think Apple will come out with an iPod Touch soon to combat the windows netbooks. Some netbooks come with Linux loaded which would be my preference.

B2 (;->

[FrankS]

I'm all film, but still take a laptop when travelling. I recently bought a $300 Acer Aspire One netbook. It is sufficient for my computing needs and is nice and compact for travelling - fits in my Domke 803.

[Alberti]

Originally Posted by jarski

if you do city trips, travel by taxi or rented car, laptop is not much extra.
--> alternative for bunch of SD-cards is iPod + camera connector. in my moto trip I used this setup and after the trip dumped all photos from iPod to my Mac at home. my camera connector is USB1.1, so transfer is somewhat slow, but never knew if faster model was done by Apple.

Jarski, that IS an interesting thought. My iPod is some 80GB, so can hold almost a month of shooting (planned trip to Japan )

Last year I took my laptop along and it did help me, I went through an intensive course on how to shoot (the digital age does require quite some more discipline). The old habits of film age are that I just tried the extensive DoF often - to get a bunch of uninteresting group pictures or cityscapes. Having the laptop around helped me a lot.

I'll try this hint next week I think, to try out.
alberti

[martin s]

You guys are clearly a different generation. Traveling without a laptop? I'm amazed.

martin

[crawdiddy]

Originally Posted by FrankS

I'm all film, but still take a laptop when travelling. I recently bought a $300 Acer Aspire One netbook. It is sufficient for my computing needs and is nice and compact for travelling - fits in my Domke 803.

I'm all film as well. But I don't like to be anywhere without a laptop.

I wouldn't get a Mac, but that's just me.

[lemalk]

I'm a Mac guy - and I always travel with a laptop ( a first-generation MacBook Pro).

Recently, however, I've been traveling with the Dell Mini 9 and installed Mac OS X on it. It weighs about 2 lbs and is the size of a travel journal. It (and an iPhone) are all I need on the go.

Nothing beats getting home and editing the day or week's work on a nice, big calibrated monitor, but this combination is really fantastic.

It lets me back-up and double check my files. It's exactly the kind of work a netbook is made for!

Here are a couple pics:

[andersju]

Originally Posted by martin s

You guys are clearly a different generation. Traveling without a laptop? I'm amazed.

martin

I'm only 24 and have probably spent tens of thousands of hours in front of computers in my life; when I travel, I usually want to get _away_ from them

[petebown]

None of the above... I take an Acer Aspire One netbook with the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

These netbooks are very small and are easily carried in your hand luggage. However, it's a good idea to get it out and have it scanned separately at the airport security. If they spot it in your hand luggage on the X-ray machine, they will call you back and get you to empty all of your belongings out in front of them... Dirty underwear and all... Been there, done that! Thanks Dublin Airport!!!

[mike kim]

It depends on what kind of laptop we're talking about. I wouldn't take a Macbook Pro (or anything bigger than 12") since they're too big and heavy; they're ideal only to keep at home and take to work occasionally. I'd consider a netbook or a laptop equally small to check emails and do simple work. Anything bigger is a burden and asking for back pain.

[BillBingham2]

Originally Posted by lemalk

.....I've been traveling with the Dell Mini 9 and installed Mac OS X on it. It weighs about 2 lbs and is the size of a travel journal. .....

WhachUtalknAboutWillis? Running OS X on a non mac? Issue? How? Would love to learn?!?! We are a mac OS house hold in need of a Mac OS Netbook (no AirBooks thank you very much).

Let me know?

Thanks.

B2 (;->

[wgerrard]

Martin: Yep, I'm of another generation. But, I've been using some kind of computer pretty much daily for about 30 years. When I take a vacation, the idea is to be someplace different and to do different things. I specifically want to leave as much of home as possible behind. Carrying a laptop just keeps me tied to home. People I care about know how to find me in an emergency. That's enough.

DL: Like the Next sticker! A Next laptop would have been something. Back in the day, I couldn't afford a Next, but I certainly drooled.

[BillBingham2]

BTW, love the NeXT logo on it! I wish I had a Lisa sticker but all I have is a pin.

B2 (;->

[mike kim]

Originally Posted by BillBingham2

WhachUtalknAboutWillis? Running OS X on a non mac? Issue? How? Would love to learn?!?! We are a mac OS house hold in need of a Mac OS Netbook (no AirBooks thank you very much).

Let me know?

Thanks.

B2 (;->

You can install OS X on a non mac if the hardware is compatible. They call them "Hackintosh" I've done it in a few PCs... it can save you some money. You can probably find a lot of information just by googling the term.

[35mmdelux]

A cell phone and an analogue camera are all the extras I'll take.

[sonofdanang]

iPod Touch (WiFi = browser/email) and Epson P7000 (photo viewing and backup)
or
MSI Wind netbook with dual-boot (OS X & Linux (Ubuntu))

More and more I use the iPod Touch and Epson combo. Very compact and light.

[Al Kaplan]

A "reporters notebook". It looks like a steno pad but is half as wide so it'll fit in the back pocket of your jeans or the inside pocket of a sports jacket. Lots of ballpoint pens or pencils.

[jarski]

Originally Posted by Alberti

I'll try this hint next week I think, to try out.
alberti

did a bit of research but could not find the product anymore from Apple Store, this old (same than mine) version is avail in some shops.

if you choose this path, remember to copy camera files relatively often to iPod, as slow transfer sucks iPod battery quite fast if you have multi gig contents to transfer over. this almost did me a trick in my first week of trip, having accumulated 3-4 gigs of JPEGs and raw, then tried to transfer using half charged iPod. no chance, had to fully charge both camera and iPod and then all went through. later I copied camera more often, with smaller amounts of data. using 80 gig iPod also, never had a problem space running out, and there was also quite a bit of music in there too