Should I take a laptop when traveling?

[mike kim]

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.

 

[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]

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 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

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

martin

Dear Martin,

Why do you need a laptop when you're travelling?

Note the word NEED. How will your travelling be impaired without it?

Are you going to carry it with you everywhere you go (as I do with my cameras, which is why I favour a small outfit)?

Or are you going to leave it in your hotel room to get stolen? (Or at least, for you to worry about.)

Finally, how are you going to carry it? Especially when space is limited, for example on a motorcycle or in carry-on luggage on an aircraft?

If I'm travelling in Europe, by car, with a lockable trunk, there's not much reason not to carry a laptop, so I quite often do: mostly for keeping the accounts (most of my travel is on the business). But why do I need it for my photography? Cards are not expensive, and there's a screen on the back of the camera.

Cheers,

R.

 

[rxmd]

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?

I have OS X running just fine on a Dell Mini 9. I use a laptop a lot when travelling for taking notes and processing text (part of my day job). It's close to perfect, literally everything in the machine is supported out of the box (including wireless, Bluetooth, sleep, Software Update, etc.) The only thing that does not work is hibernation ("Deep Sleep"), but I don't need that - on a charged battery I can leave the machine in normal Sleep for more than a week. The machine costs about $200 and weighs slightly more than a kilogram. It feels plasticky and the keyboard is small, but for travelling it's much better than a MacBook Air - it costs eight times less, is lighter and more compact, the form factor is more useful, and there's less danger of losing it.

You need at least the 16GB configuration of the Mini 9. You can also get a faster aftermarket flash memory drive with 32GB for under $100. The machine has an SD slot, so extra user data can go on an 8GB or 16GB SD card or USB drives.

You need a retail copy of OS X if you want to do so. Also, the End User License Agreement (EULA) imposed on the software says that you may install it only on "Apple-labeled" hardware. Whether EULAs carry any legal force in your country depends on where you are - the question is whether the manufacturer may legally impose any restrictions on you on your use of the software after the sale - as long as you're not violating other laws, such as by copying it and giving it to someone else.

There are a number of guides for installation at http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-osx-guides/; the whole thing revolves around a bootloader called DellEFI (http://dellefi.mechdrew.com/guide/).

 

[sevo]

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

Different generation maybe - but hardly in terms of overall computer addiction. As you age, you gain in self-confidence (or maybe only in experience) and lose in carrying capacity, which makes it easier to leave all the "what if" stuff at home. I've shed most of that dreadful pile I carried across the world some twenty years ago, and feel much more comfortable now that I manage to carry my entire camera rig plus clothes for a week with one hand...

Much like Roger, I travel without a laptop unless I have anything to write - I am so far a computer junkie that my handwriting has long become tediously slow or almost illegible. FWIW I even travel without a camera, unless I have an assignment or given me a self-assignment. And if I did not have responsibilities which made a cellphone inevitable, I'd do without that as well.

 

[martin s]

@Roger

I work as a network administrator, I only travel where there's a internet connection fast enough for some remote care taking. Pays for the Leica habit, but there probably wasn't a single day in the passed years I wasn't in front of a computer for at least a few hours, that might be the main reason to take a laptop.

Otherwise I'd still take one, merely because it's a habit. Evernote makes up 30% of my brain. And yeah, I'd leave it in the hotel (usually a rented apartment). I carry my laptop in a Crumpler bag, no issues so far.

martin

 

[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. 🙂

Jarski, So just have "iPod photo software v1.1 or later. Simply plug the iPod Camera Connector into the iPod dock connector, plug your camera's USB cable and watch your images make their way to the iPod, ready to view in a slide show!", like the site says. I had a look on my machine, it is 30GB. Good enough for a week of shooting!

The other options with the netbooks though sound very enticing (specially if I can use a small $200 machine for quick reviews, sorting pictures in folders with appropriate titles, places visited etc, and making notes; as well as for emails.
This thought will keep myself happy until Christmas for sure.
alberti

 

[jarski]

Jarski, So just have "iPod photo software v1.1 or later. Simply plug the iPod Camera Connector into the iPod dock connector, plug your camera's USB cable and watch your images make their way to the iPod, ready to view in a slide show!", like the site says.

connect camera with USB cable to camera connector which is connected to iPod. turn camera on and iPod notices it, and asks can it start copying memory card contents into it. different copy rounds will show as "rolls" in iPod.

 

[Rogier]

I have a iPod camera connector. Somewhwere deep in a drawer...
Its a nice concept if it was not for the slow USB 1.1 speed. Backing up a couple of gigs can cost you more than an hour easily. If your iPod Classic battery lasts long enough. Further iPods are popular items among fiefs.

 

[Turtle]

No way, IMO:

Thief magnet
Work magnet
Another thing to lose/get broken/take care of
You are supposed to be on holiday!

 

[jarski]

I have a iPod camera connector. Somewhwere deep in a drawer...
Its a nice concept if it was not for the slow USB 1.1 speed. Backing up a couple of gigs can cost you more than an hour easily. If your iPod Classic battery lasts long enough. Further iPods are popular items among fiefs.

guess Apple didnt see enough markets for it, assuming most people carry laptop with them anyway, and stopped improving it 😕

one more thing about preview option in iPod for files copied over from camera. it works only for JPEGs, so video, raw etc. only an icon is displayed indicating file is there, but content can be seen only in camera or computer. so its basically a storage media, nothing more.

 

[Mephiloco]

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 (;->

I'm currently on a quad core hackintosh because I refuse to pay apple's insane prices for their outdated hardware. At the time that I built this box a similar configuration would've cost over $3500, for older hardware, with less compatibility. At the time I was mostly doing video editing and I'd sometimes have clients who insisted on the work being done in Final Cut (despite Avid being equal or in most cases, superior), so I needed to be able to dual boot Windows and Os X. Apple's bootcamp drivers leave much to be desired, and their hardware selection is very slim if you're accustomed to the x86 architecture (which apple has adopted).

Anyways, I'm running Snow Leopard on my hackintosh with no problems at all, and saved several thousands dollars and ended up with a better system. If you're looking for info, there's the forums at InsanelyMac (forums.insanelymac.com) and a few other sites.


To be on topic, when I travel I do not bring a laptop. I think the last time I brought a laptop with me when travelling was when I was 19 or so (I'm 25 now). Sometimes I'll load up apps I might need when travelling onto my ipod so I can just plug up the ipod to a computer anywhere and have what I need (Photoshop, Premiere, etc).

 

[rxmd]

Mac. Always the version for the operating system you're running.

 

[Alberti]

Thanks, I have seen a lot of very valuable feedback, and it changed my conception!
The hardware fiefs worried me too (leave a shiny MacPro in the hotel room, without a prper hardware lock . . .arghhh.

But the option to by an el Cheapo netbook and hackintosh it, that gives me an appeal. I thought it 'disgraceful' but it might just work.
It will allow storing a days work, for weeks at end, in all separate files and folders, and allow me to add some notes, and for reviewing just see it better than on the camera screen, even if I will have to double RAW and JPG for simplicity of viewing . . .
alberti