the search for the ideal travel gadget.. iPad vs Adam vs Netbook..

Usually on short ~2 week trips, i never feel the need to take my laptop along. A pen, a pad and a couple of decent sized memory cards should take care of all my computing needs. Which is to keep a record of my travels through words and through pictures.

 

For anything longer than two weeks, i would really feel the need to carry some sort of computing device. For exactly the same reasons quoted above. The memory cards would eventually run out and your own memories wouldn't fare much better either. And also there is this added burden of pouring through thousands of pictures after your return. Editing, cataloguing, putting a name to the faces & places etc. It all can get quite a bit overwhelming and if you are like me, you'll just put it off for later and later until eventually you sort of give up on it.

 

So for my current trip, i'am looking for the ideal travel gadget to carry with me. What makes it ideal would depend on the following conditions. The more preferred ones being in front..

1. Safely transfer the photos from my camera to a bigger storage device.
2. Jot down notes and journals.
3. Browse the net through WiFi and 3G.
4. Read eBooks and pdfs (the idea of carrying hunders of books without any added weight is too alluring to ignore). 
5. Light weight and compact.
6. Solar chargeable (to live off the grid)
7. Edit photos on the go.
8. Web Development on the go (would be nice to be able to add new features to Kettik whenever and wherever inspiration strikes me).
9. Good value for money.
    

 

I guess only two types of devices would fit my requirements above. Tablets and Netbooks. Im going to categorize any laptop under 1.5kg as a netbook. And i'll classify the tablets into two different categories. One category is the consumer oriented tablets like the Apple iPad which try to completely control the user experience and the other category is the DIY enthusiast friendly tablets like the NotionInk Adam. Lets see how they fare against each other.

  iPad
(Consumer) Adam
(Enthusiast) Netbook Pick   Lightweight and Portable Yes
(0.70kg) Yes
(0.65kg) Maybe
(1.30 kg) Tablet   Browsing and Blogging Yes Yes Yes All   WiFi, 3G, EVDO WiFi + 3G WiFi + 3G All Netbook   eBooks Yes Maybe Yes Tablet    Battery Life 10 hrs ~16 hrs  ~8 hrs Tablet    Solar Chargeable Yes Yes Yes Tablet   External Hard Drive No Maybe Yes Netbook   Photo Tagging  Yes Maybe Yes Netbook   Photo Editing (Lightroom) No No Yes Netbook   Web Development No Maybe Yes Netbook   Attractive to Thieves Yes Maybe No Netbook

 

The iPad: no ports.. no deal..
Well, the Apple iPad while being highly desirable loses out here because of its lack of USB support. Even with the optional camera connector kit it can only transfer photos from a camera into the tablet and not to an external hard drive. Maybe in the next revision Apple would see it fit to add a USB port to the device but im not gonna hold my breath waiting for it.

 

NotionInk Adam: Impressive but where is it ??
NotionInk's Adam is impressive on paper. Its Dual Display Pixel Qi screen would be ideal for eking out every last bit of juice from its batteries. Coupled with its availability of multiple USB ports, Dual Core ARM CORTEX processor and the ability to install other operating systems like Unix, it promises to be the ideal device to do just about everything (except photo editing) on my list above. But the problem though is that there is no specific launch date for this device and im pretty sure that even if it is launched it will not be available in India till maybe early 2011. 

 

The COMPUTEX 2010 show next month should see a few new tablets being launched in the market. So i still have some hope there would be an ideal travel tablet launched this year.

 

Netbook: the perfect tradeoff ??
The appeal with netbooks for me is that some of the new ones would have sufficient processing power to edit pictures using Lightroom. And I can use a 3G data card to surf the internet while traveling around India (no need to worry about your passwords being snooped at the shady net cafes). And i'll have the right tools for web development on the go (i could even try to do some freelance programming to earn some cash on the side). So the netbook opens up a lot of possibilities. But on the downside, they are approximately twice as heavy as the tablets and eBook experience is bound to be poor. But perhaps the tradeoffs are worth it.

 

Its a hard choice, but perhaps after the end of the COMPUTEX show next week i should have better picture on the available choices.