Lillian,
You're one of the few who have mentioned using an iPad on the road.
I'm thinking about one too. I'm not a computer guy ... at all ... and that's why I like Apple products.

I thought the iPad did not have a USB port? So are you saying you use an external HD for storage that somehow adapts to the iPad?
How does it plug into the iPad?

Thanks for any insight.

I don't do spread sheets and would never need "Word" or any other Microsoft product.

I'd only be sending email, web browsing, storing photos and music and doing the occasional video.(not editing) For that usage, would the iPad be OK?

I like the idea of storing video on an external device since it requires a lot of
MB.

Cheers!

I would also suggests an iPad for Navigation, writing a diary, sorting pictures from your camera, Apps like:

Currency converter, Dictionary, Audio Books, vpn, skype, MP3s and Movies & Games (if you want).

Streaming audio with Bluethooth...

The Ipad has no USB Connection. It has an Connection-Kit for SD Cards, where you can load pictures from your camera: Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit - Apple Store (Schweiz) There are good apps to work on your pictures too.

The screen is big enough to decide what pictures you can delete. With Photoshop Express and Apps like Retouch you can do much - without much effort.

But thats a one-way communication. To load the pictures or other Data from the iPad, you have to use Wifi/Internet - or an Computer - to bring the Data away from the ipad (or jailbreaking the device).

For Navigation it is great:

4x4tripping: Offroad Navigation mit MotionX HD (iPad)




Road Navigation



4x4tripping: Strassen-Navigation mit dem Tablet / Smartphone


For shure not the cheapest device. But it is leightweight, small, powerful - like no other device. The iPad Air is very lightweight, run a long time without external power and small.

And you can go smaller with the iPad mini. You can upgrade them with small bluethooth keyboards - and use them like a notebook.



There are cases around, for protect them if necessary.

Therefore you cant upgrade them, you should buy them with enough memory.

For shure are there ways to use external storage:
On the road with a camera, an iPad, and a Hyperdrive | Macworld

4 Best iPad Air and iPad Mini External Hard Drive Storage Options

Not easy for windows or android based devices, to to compete against it. These iPads are well made and can withstand vibrations.

If one of these Bluetooth Walkie-Talkie Apps could be handy for bikers - i dont have tested them...

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

If you take photos with a DSLR and/or shoot video you need a latptop. Some for of ultrabook since Netbooks just don't cut it these days. The 11" Macbook Air is a great little device, if expensive. Windows works with it via bootcamp, though I have Windows 8 on an external drive that will boot on anything. Garmin has native software for OSX and of course there is Lightroom and Photoshop.

The new 12" Macbook has a great screen but it's super expensive and no faster than the old 2011 MBA.

Probably the ultimate device at the moment is Microsoft Surface Pro. Light and powerful, but again very expensive.

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My blog about touring and adv riding

smart phone and Kindle

Smart phone replaces computer, camera, GPS, kindle replaces IPad and books.

Multi use is good


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Charles CCM450, BMW R90/6, BMW R50
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...a/027_27-1.jpg

I agree with the previous poster - keep it simple and use devices that can multi-task. Currently my solution is:

• Andriod phone with reasonable camera and GPS
• Android tablet
• Google email account to tie it all together.

Unless you are serious about your photography a phone seems to me to take more than adequate shots. If you use Googles Photo App they also then magically send themselves up to free unlimited cloud storage via wi-fi and then become viewable on your tablet etc. The app also has some useful features where it also automatically selects your best photos and makes up little storybooks with them.

I am sure there are some quality compromises in all of this and i know some people don't like committing all their life to a software company, however for me this is as close to perfect as I can currently imagine - no more pulling SD cards out of cameras, connecting to computers, backing up to USB sticks or external drives, nor time spent fiddling with photo software I only vaguely understood - time I much prefer to spend wandering around and drinking a local .

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Martin

finally back on the road again


http://awayonmybike.blogspot.com/

The multi-task kit idea works with simple items like a spork, or tyre levers with a spanner end. It's not as good with phone, music, gps, web device, camera.

But as with everything it depends what you are doing and what you want to get out of it.

I doubt very much anyone would want to write a 6 month ride report on their phone, complete with resizing images, and uploading to them to a suitable webspace.

Actually music and phones do tend to work well.

I wish I could carry less devices. Well I could, but that would ruin a lot of the enjoyment for me. Making little video clips, photographing things, maintaining a strong web presences, keeping in touch with communities like this etc..

Each unto their own.

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My blog about touring and adv riding

I can agree with you on the phone been adequate for taking photos, I used an apple 4S for all my photos when I was on my Laos and Thailand trip and it took some great shots

Wayne

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The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

Same. I used to have a dedicated digital camera with a whopping 2mp! A mini disk player with as many disks as I could carry, map books galore and hours in sweaty internet cafes (which was always a waste of time in the grand scheme of things and much better spent sucking up the vibe. Met travellers that borrowed other people's stories to fill their blogs because they were blogging). Thank F those days are gone. Gave up the logs long ago. Social media filled that gap nicely.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I have a decent Android phone with 2 extra batteries. Bought fake in Asia for total of 8 dollars. Works fine!

A separate gps Garmon gpsmap 62s which I love. Use for navigation, marking my route and alarm clock.

I ditched my heavy dslr for a small Canon Ixus 130 camera. Better weight, better battery and the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a factory issue with focusing, so 'useless' as a camera.

While travelling I bought a E-reader, and love it! I carried books around, but weight wise this is so much better.

In the last 9 months have not touched a laptop or anything and love it. A phone works fine for everything!

Alex

Still waiting for the day that "Equipment, Communications" becomes amalgamated with "Equipment, Photography", or some other combination as the technology all converges.

Meanwhile, I continue to use all of the above (except Apple stuff), mainly depending on how I am travelling.

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Dave

A phone should be good at being a phone, it may be acceptable at being a point and shoot camera too .. but a true camera should all ways be better than a phone trying to be a camera. Especially in difficult situations. Just depends on how important a photo will be to you. Looking back I'd like to have taken more good photos, that means stopping more often and using a good camera.

So I don't see them amalgamating ... if you are truly after a camera or a phone.

Me? The 'smart phone' is;
a phone
the point and shoot camera (and back up camera)
alarm
calendar
calculator
note taker (either text or voice)
MP3 player (music and podcasts)
a back up GPS/maper
a backup for the paper maps
backup torch
.. and a few other things .. not travel connected.

The wifi .. I'm concerned with the security of that so I'd don't use it unless I know the network.

Weird. No problems with my S4

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

It's a trade-off between convenience and features, isn't it? My last few road trips, I've taken an iPhone 4 and a cheap Samsung 11" Chromebook. The phone works great for phone (obviously), for street maps when walking, for quick emails, and as a decent-enough snapshot camera for a mediocre photographer such as myself. The screen is too small for anything more serious, so I have the Chromebook laptop for typing, watching videos, mapping out the next day's route, etc.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

+1 on the phone/ tablet combo. I do carry at least one camera but that's a hobby *

Biggest PITA is buying the things. My tablet is on its last legs. Battery lasts about 2 hours and you need to run the cleaner thing every hour. I can't face having to go through the specs and reviews or worst still having to talk to some Saturday morning sprog in some techno boutique.

* I explained my 60 year old film camera to two kids on the sea front at Scarborough. When I got to the bit about posting the film off and waiting a week they basically called me a liar

Andy

Yeah, some models do, some don't. Apparently you have to change the entire module. Could be done under warranty, but that is over. Anyway, be happy yours is fine!! It annoys me like crazy, every time you take a picture it focuses. . It is tacks sharp and bam, it flicks and a blur!

Alex