Hobnob

When are you going and what route?

We are leaving about May 07 following the usual silk route then Madras to Perth chille then up north.

Andy

This is not entirely true. If you purchase Apple Care together with your laptop you will receive worldwide service for three years. Worldwide really meaning worldwide, whereever there's Apple they have to fix it.

That said, the new Apple laptops really aren't that great. Sure they look neat but in terms of reliability, they're crap. When travelling, I prefer either a notebook and pen, or, if there's some space left, my old PowerBook G3 - it's a big and heavy chunk old, outdated equipment, but it's reliable, fast enough and never attracts attention - too old and looks very used - aka not interesting. And in case it breaks I can either fix it myself (all you need is two torx screwdrivers) or get a new 'used' one for 100 bucks. And last but not least, the PowerBook G3 Wallstreet is one of the last PowerBooks that doesn't require a harddrive to boot but can boot from a Compact Flash card with the proper PCMCIA adapter.

Itronix - Seriousle Tough Laptop
 

I don't know too much about RTW motorcycle touring as I haven't gone on a BIG ride yet but in my business we take our laptops to the extreme. I work in fireworks and special effects and laptops are crucial to drive these shows. Our job sites are everything from driving rain, mud to -20C winter. We use the Itronix brand military laptops and buy them off eBay. They are cheap and very dependable in extreme use. Certainly not the fastest, most modern units out there (if you buy used that is) but literally bullit proof. THey can be rained on, dropped on concrete, and put up with extreme heat and cold no problem. Check them out if you think you can deal with something with a little less MHZ power and a lot more dependability. Here is a link to what I am talking about.
http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-3-ITRONIX-GO...QQcmdZViewItem

battery supplier
 

i just bought new batteries for my old laptop and cameras. i paid less than 20% of the retail price and these are not reconditioned batteries. the company is in california though for those who live outside north america. try www.atbatt.com or maybe www. at batt.com. don't have my invoice right now, but they shipped them with no problems to my place in oregon and when i get back there next week i will have full power again. the camer batteries are normally 65 usd. i bought 3 of them for 53.85 and that included shipping. the laptop batter is 190 and from them it was 42.50 plus 7 shipping. they seem to have every battery ever made.

palm + folded keyboard +memo stick
 

Brian, are you coming at HUBB meeting next week? I was thinking for my trip to do same than you : get a palm including GPS and add a folded keyboard and memo stick. I really don't see thepoint of carrying big laptop! As I am not too techy I would like to see what you got (models etc...) and how you connect keyboard to palm? Is that what is called "bluetooth"?
Cheers - Maria

Refurbed Thinkpads and Toshiba Laptops
 

We have done hard time on the road with a re-furbished Think Pad and a more expensive and, at one time new, Toshiba Satellite.

The Toshiba is bigger and heavier, but MUCH more capable. One thing to consider is that if you are going to be using wireless in various locations the Think Pads are far less good at sorting out conflicting and weak signals than the IBMs. They are also faster and better able to handle large amounts of pictures and video. Our Toshiba has been with us a year and a half and logged over 50,000 tough miles. It has been dropped, spilled on, Stepped on you name it. It now LOOKS terrible but works great. Has never missed a beat.

The frustration of having a smaller and lighter machine (IBM) that won't do wha you really need it to do is not worth the the few bucks and bit of weight you save.

IMHO

Cameron