With the cost of electronics rapidly dropping and wifi becoming more prevalent worldwide, many backpackers are now carrying around not just cameras, but smartphones and laptops. Here we take a look at what works, what doesn’t, and a few tips along the way.

Netbooks

Designed from the start to be low power and extremely portable, netbooks are a traveler’s dream come true. As newer, more expensive ION graphics based netbooks reach the market, the older first and second generation models are dropping in price. The Acer Aspire One and the eeePC 1005HA, for example, can now be had for around $200, or even less if you shop around and wait for sales. While not a powerhouse of computing, netbooks make up for it by being extremely lightweight (about 2 lbs total with battery) and extremely long battery life (normally 6-10 hours per charge).

These little computers allow more freedom when traveling, as you can stay in touch with people at home, keep up with any travel advisories or news that may interfere with your travels, and make on-the-fly arrangements for hostels and other things to do at your destination. They also allow for quick and easy inventory of all those pictures you take on a trip on a day-by-day basis, so you don’t go sorting though hundreds or even thousands of pictures (I like my camera, what can I say) after the fact and forget where or why they were taken. Our little eeePC 900 worked nicely for categorizing pictures, blog updates, and destination planning on our recent trip through Southeast Asia.

I would really recommend the two computers listed above, however, as their larger screens and keyboards as well as longer battery life are well worth the few extra dollars over our older generation computer. You might think this little guy would tie up your trip time with internet and whatnot, but if you use it during downtime at the hostel you can end up saving trip time by having more information on your destination at your fingertips. There’s something to be said for randomly wandering around a destination, but there’s also something to be said about having a guidebook to every destination in the world, along with picture editing and internet, right at your fingertips and in one small, lightweight package.

Smartphone/iPhone/Android

The iPhone, along with other similar products, are an extremely useful travel tool.  These phones all should have the following characteristics: quad band support and easy to use chargers. After that, it’s up to you what features you want. Just remember, it’s expensive to call from overseas to home, and even more expensive to use data plans in foreign countries. If you can, try switching out your sim card for a local one. That way you will have a local number and will just be calling long distance if calling in country instead of international rates no matter who or where you’re calling.

Tips

With all electronics, it’s a balance of price, weight, and usefulness. Don’t bring your heavy $1500 laptop along when a $200 netbook will do everything you need and will cause much less of a dent if lost or stolen. This brings up another point: don’t bring anything you can’t part with/replace if lost or stolen. When traveling, things inevitably happen, so don’t bring what you can’t afford to loose.

Special note: Power converters

Electronics run on electricity, and there are many types of plugs and four separate voltages used throughout the world. This brings up the question: how the hell do I charge my camera/netbook/electric razor/whatever on my trip? Well, there are two things to look for. The first is whether or not you have a power brick or wall wart on your charger. If you do, you’re probably in luck as they are made to step down the standard 110 and 220 volts used throughout the world into something usable by the machine. This means you do not need a more expensive voltage converter and can get away with a simple plug converter.

Photo by J. Shorenstein

Look at the underside of your charger brick or on the large wall wart plug of your charger.If the input says 100-240VAC  50~60Hz, you’re good to go no matter where you travel. If you don’t have that anywhere on the charger, you’re going to need a power voltage converter that will step up or down the power to the appropriate voltage for your devices. Luckily, a lot of newer electronics are of the first type, allowing quick and easy usage anywhere in the world.