Traveling With Your Laptop

There has been such an influx of new technology in the area of connectivity.  There are laptops, netbooks, even tablet PC’s, that can help you keep up with your social networks as well as provide you with a way to keep working on the go, keep posting to your blogs, or provide you an way to save your pictures and videos on the go.

Portability

The laptops today are small powerhouses that can easily compare to the desk top computers from just a year ago.  Technology is constantly changing and improving so it will only get better!  With laptops weighing in from 3.5lbs up to 6lbs, there is a choice for everyone out there.

Many laptops are now being described as durable for those true adventurers who travel hard and might expose their technology to weather elements.  Extreme cold, heat, water, even rugged laptops that meet military standards.

Screen size

Most laptops have a screen size between 11.6 to 18 inches.  Netbooks have a screen size of 10 inches.  Typically the smaller the screen, the less weight, but not always.  The benefit of a smaller screen is usually the overall smaller size of the laptop for increased portability.

Hard Drive

Today more and more people are saving their pictures and videos to their laptops.  It is important to be sure that you plan on having enough hard drive size to meet your needs.  You can always purchase an external hard drive on the road if you underestimate your usage, but that can be expensive and is yet another thing to carry with you!

Extras

Built in Wi-Fi is pretty much a standard in today’s laptops.  If you plan to travel with your laptop for connectivity, it is imperative that you have the ability to connect wirelessly to a network.  Many smartphones can be tethered to your laptop to allow for web connectivity, but however you decide to do it, connectivity is key.

Web cameras are another common feature of most laptops.  This feature not only allows you to do self portrait videos, but also allows you to video chat using programs like Skype.

Here are some of our favorites

Laptops

Toshiba Portege R705-P25– This laptop has a media reader that will accept several different formats for all your digital photo/video transfer needs.  A lightweight, good performance laptop.  Cost is around $800.

• 13.3″ Display
• 4GB Memory
• 500GB Hard Drive
• 3.2 lbs

Netbooks

Asus Eee PC 1005HA – A great battery life – over 6 hours.  One of the better keyboards in a netbook.   Typical to notebooks, there is no DVD drive.  Cost is around $320.

• 10.1″ Display
• 1GB Memory
• 160GB Hard Drive
• 2.4 lbs

Tablet or Slate PC’s

With the increased popularity of the Apple iPad , new Slate machines are popping up everywhere.  They are relatively new to the market so we wanted to list a few of the top ones we have come across vs. noting a favorite.

Apple iPad – if you have not seen it, heard of it, or drooled over it you might be a little out of touch!  The iPad sold over a million units in its first month alone.  There is a cost issue if you want the most it can offer – over $800.  Most iPhone, iTouch users would agree, this is the tech gadget to have.

Android Tablets – Probably the closest competition to the iPad out there.  While it does offer some great apps and functionality, most users find that it is not quite as refined as the Apple version.  Keep your eyes on this one though.  We will see more and more Android Tablets and operating system functionalities shortly.

The one thing that will never change is the fast-paced enhancements to these products.  We will only see bigger (okay, probably smaller) better, and faster products pumped out fast and furiously to keep up with the ever increasing demand of a public who is always on the go and wants to connect on the run.