Although I really wanted to get away from electronics as much as possible, for safety and to make digital photography a reality, we needed to pack a not-so-small pile of electronics!
The camera equipment is covered in its own section - Camera Gear.
Choosing a laptop was no easy task! I had stringent requirements, which at the time narrowed down the choice significantly. One of the most important factors was the screen quality. I was looking for something clear, bright and as non-directional as possible. Typically, laptop screens are quite directional and do not lend themselves very well to Photoshop work. I wanted a laptop that was 4lbs or lighter, at least a 60GB hard drive, at least 512MB RAM and a DVD writer and a decent battery life.
With much excitment, I initially purchased a 12" Powerbook. Although I've always been a DOS/Windows user, the thought of escaping from Bill was quite appealing. Besides, I was ready for the image associated with being a Mac user! I'm artsy-fartsy. Well, at least I have the hair. The laptop met almost all the spec requirements and exceeded the specs of the Sony Viao laptop that I had also been reviewing. Further, the Mac was over 30% less expensive than the Sony! The 12" Powerbook had a 1.33GHz processor, up to an 80GB hard drive, up to 2GB of RAM, 4x DVD burner, integrated wireless and good battery life. I purchased a slightly configured 12" Powerbook with an 80GB hard drive and 756MB of RAM. The laptop was amazing! The fit and finish and ergonomics are superior to any other laptop I have ever used. It's almost sexy. Ok, it is. The ease of use was also astounding. Within minutes of taking it out of the box I was connected to my wireless network at home and surfing the web. So what was the problem? Unfortunately the screen was subpar. What an extreme disappointment. The screen was very directional and had little contrast; the images looked washed out. It was certainly not suitable for extended Photoshop work. Really unfortunate.Back to the drawing board. I eventually purchased the Sony Vaio S-Series. The S-170 has a 1.7GHz centrino processor, 60GB hard drive, 512MB RAM, 2x DVD burner, integrated wireless, a fantastic screen and weights 4.2 lbs. At the time it was the only laptop that met all of my requirements. Unfortunately, being a Sony product, the price tag was quite hefty. A few months after my purchase, Dell came out with the 700M. This laptop has a slightly smaller screen (12" regular aspect ration vs the 13.3" widescreen) but the rest of the specs are almost all superior. It will be only a matter of time before the market is flooded with even better laptops. I told myself I won't look for a while!
Initially I had some problems with my Sony Vaio laptop. I had the screen replaced three times, the touchpad once and some problems with the DVD burner addressed. It took me months to resolve these problems and I have to state that the service I received from Sony was absolutely appalling! From this experience, I am extremely reluctant to purchase another Sony product.
I have now used the laptop on the road for over four months, in sometimes less than desirable conditions, and have had no problems. I do wish I could get a keyboard cover (like the Mac has) as a lot of dust has been settling in between the keys. Also, the shell, especially the backing of the screen, is quite flimsy and needs extra protection. I have a well padded laptop bag and have inserted a clipboard backing on the side of the screen for extra protection. I have also noticed that sometimes when I am typing and my wrists are drapped over the front left or right corners, I receive a slight electrical shock through the seam in the laptop housing. I have found the battery life not to be as good as expected and highly dependent upon screen brightness. With the screen brightness at its maximum and running applications such as Photoshop, battery life is under two hours! One last comment is about the 5GB hidden partition on the hard drive for recovery. I would like to delete this partition but have not been able to figure out how to do this. If you know how this can be done, please send me an email.
I have several accessories that have been essential or have been extremely useful.
I do not like to use the laptop touchpad for extended periods of time and have found the optical mouse to be extremely reliable.
I have been using the Samsumg 80GB 2.5" hard drive with USB 2.0 case to regularly back-up my data. I use the hard drive as my primary and more frequent backup and then DVD's as the secondary backup when enough data/photos have accumulated. I use the second 80GB hard drive to store a copy of my MP3's. This way I can run iTunes and change/add/update my music library and then later sync to my iPOD.
The 512MB USB memory stick has been invaluable to quickly transfer files from my laptop to another computer; especially for internet cafe's where I cannot connect my laptop.
My Sony Viao S-170 laptop unfortunatly only has two USB ports. Seeing that I have at least six USB devices and often need to connect more than two at a time, I have added a 4-port USB hub to my laptop accessories. The device is self-powered, which also means that it draws on the laptop battery and reduces the run time on the laptop.
I have several devices with a serial connection. I tried several USB to serial adaptors before finding one that worked for everything. The Belkin FSU109 serial to USB adaptor works for my Garmin eTrex Vista GPS, the datakit for the Motorola 9505 satellite phone and for the Suunto Vyper dive computer.
A telephone cable has come in handy several times when I have had to use my modem to connect via dial-up.
Likewise, the network cable can also come in useful when an internet cafe does not have a spare.
I do not have a spare battery for the laptop (as they cost over $300cdn), but on several occasions it would have been nice.
I have the handheld black and white Garmin eTrex Vista GPS. I have found the screen to be a little small at times, but manageable. I have not spent a great amount of time learning all the details of the unit, but one thing that I have found is that the number of points that it can record, in the current track log, is limited to 2000. With a setting of one data point per 100 meters, a track log covers only 200km before it is full. I know that some of the other models can record significantly more data points.
I am using the Garmin MapSource version 6.7. I have found the software to be quite good and easy to use. I do wish that I could change the symbol for the via point when creating a route. Currently I am using T4A (Tracks 4 Africa) Maps v5.08 which canbe downloaded from the internet free of charge.
I sometimes get horizontal lines on the display of the unit coupled with an intermittently working pointer control. I have been told that the contacts are press fit and if the unit has been dropped or exposed to serious vibration, these press fit contacts can sometimes move slightly causing these problems. Twisting the unit has resolved these problems, unfortunately they tend to reoccur.
We debated whether or not to get a satellite phone. After deciding that yes, it was a good idea, we chose to go with the Iridium network. Apparently it is "the world's most extensive global wireless personal communication network." We didn't want to cough up the money for a brand new 9505 phone so we looked around for an older 9500. We ended up purchasing a used Motorola 9500 phone for $1000cdn. The newer 9505 is slightly smaller and lighter, better battery life and more resistant to dust, water and vibration. We could live without these relatively minor improvements.
You can either get a contract and pay a monthly rate and set per minute rate or you can get a prepaid card. We chose the prepaid card as we did not intend to use the phone very much. There are a variety of prepaid cards available in different time quantities. We purchased a "Global 500" card (500 minutes) for $745cdn. At this rate, overseas calls are sometimes cheaper than using a cellular phone, credit card or even international calling cards. The card is good for 12 months and can be topped up at any time, rolling over the remaining minutes and extending the balance for another 12 months.
We also have a datakit for the phone. I have tried to use it on several occasions, but have found the connection to be extremely slow and really not cost effective.
We can receive SMS messages for free! If you have our satellite phone number you can go to the Iridium website and send us a free text message!
I have found our mobile phone to be very useful, especially when we have been running around trying to organize things or repair our vehicle. It has also been an inexpensive way to stay in touch with friends via SMS. Incoming calls and receiving text messages is free and sending text messages is relatively cheap, about 10c cdn.
To use a cell phone overseas, you generally need a handset that supports (GSM) Global System for Mobile networks in foreign countries and either an international roaming plan from your home carrier or a local SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card from a telecom company in the country you are visiting.
It is best to have a "world phone" - a tri-band or quad-band GSM phone, although for most of the world a dual-band phone will suffice.
What is GSM? GSM leads the world as the fastest growing, most reliable and advanced digital technology available in the marketplace today. GSM provides integrated voice mail, high-speed data, fax, paging and short message services capabilities. GSM customers enjoy secure communications, and GSM offers unparalleled call privacy and fraud prevention. As members of the GSM Global Network, GSM subscribers can use their phones at home, across town, across the continent, or around the world. GSM operates on four different frequency spectrums - 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz. Essentially, North America uses 1900 MHZ and the rest of the world uses 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. If you wish to use your mobile phone outside your home country, you generally need a handset that supports multiple frequency bands. Make sure that the celluar phone you are interested in is compatible with the GSM band of the country/countries you will use it in. As a general Guideline:
Dual-band - A dual-band phone operates at both the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum. Dual-band works in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and much of South America.
Tri-band - A tri-band phone operates on three frequency bands, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz, allowing you to use it in Europe, Africa, Asia, nearly all of North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Quad-band - A quad-band phone allows you to roam almost anywhere globally. It covers the 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency ranges. Many countries in South America only have 850 MHz GSM service while both 1900 MHZ and 850 MHz GSM services are supported in the USA. 99% of all countries use the GSM standard.
As mentioned above, a dual-band (900 MHz and 1800 MHz) phone will work for most of the world. North America uses 1900 MHz, so if intend to travel to North America, it is necessary to have a tri-band phone.
We were donated an old tri-band Motorola flip phone. In North America cellular phones come locked from the factory to a specific service provider. You can still use your phone overseas, but will be charged roaming charges back to your service provider at home. It is therefore necessary to unlock the phone. On a number of phones you can search the internet and find the unlock codes and do it yourself. Some phones, however, are a little more complicated to unlock. For about $20cdn, there are numerous places that will unlock the phone for you. Make sure to ask around as the price varies. The Fido store in Vancouver wanted around $300cdn to unlock the phone!
In almost every country you can purchase a SIM card for the local service provider. Of course the number changes each time, but this should not really be a big problem. It is then easy to purchase prepaid minutes for your phone. Airtime in Africa is expensive! Local calls are the equivalent of about 50c cdn and if you want to call overseas you are looking at $5cdn a minute! As mentioned above, text messages are relatively inexpensive.
I have generally been quiet happy with the Motorola flip phone as a basic communication device. There has been no need for fancy organizers, games, polytonic rings, cameras, bluetooth, wireless, or other gadgets that most new phones come with now. The clam-shell design has been very useful in protecting the screen and keypad. Battery life is somewhat subpar and can probably be partially attributed to age. Standby time is around 100 hours and talk time about two hours. The external antenna was the only real problem and eventually broke off resulting in very poor reception. Unable to permanently fix the phone, it has been retired and replaced with a second-hand Siemens phone; the Siemens S55, also a tri-band GSM handset.
The hopeful solution for numerous tasks! I hoped to find a device that could be used as an MP3 player, a transfer/storage device for photos and a recording device. The Apple IPOD seemed to be a candidate for these requirements.
We deliberated for a long time what the best choice was for music. We definitely wanted to listen to music while crossing the African continent! Consideration was given to installing a CD MP3 player in the truck and burning MP3 CD's, installing a DVD MP3 player in the truck and burning MP3 DVD's, using a memory stick type MP3 player (1GB) with FM transmitter and periodically alternating the music (this meant having a hard drive with all the MP3's) or using an IPOD with the FM transmitter accessory. Cost and flexibilty were key factors. It was preferred that the solution would work for not only the Africa travels, but could also be used for our further travels. We ended up choosing the 60GB photo IPOD with the FM transmitter accessory. Unfortunately, this was also the most expensive option.
The benefits of choosing the IPOD were many. We could store our entire MP3 library on the one device and thus have access to any one of over 10,000 songs at any time! We could use the iTrip FM transmitter accessory to broadcast music on any FM radio. We thus installed a very cheap FM radio in our truck. However, for later travels we could still use the IPOD as a personal MP3 player.
Since the device had such a large storage capacity and was also intended for photo use, I intended to use it to transfer my photos directly from my camera to the IPOD in situations where I did not want to use my laptop. This is achieved via a USB connector that is available for the IPOD. I could not find the transfer rate posted anywhere for this connector but assumed since the IPOD was USB 2.0 compatible (or at least faster than USB 1.1), the USB connector for cameras would also support this higher speed. Unfortunately, the transfer rate is USB 1.1. This makes this feature of the IPOD completley unuseable. I cannot understand why Apple has done this. I hope that it is only a matter of upgrading the firmware at some point to enable this connection to have higher transfer rates.
Lastly, I was hoping to use the IPOD as a recording device and thus bought the iTalk. The recording quality with this mic is not very good. Perhaps a proper mic would have been a better choice.
In summary, we have only used the IPOD as our MP3 library and player. Having said that, it has been absolutely fantastic for this purpose! A few further comments on the performance of the IPOD. I have been quite disappointed with the battery life. While using the iTrip FM transmitter, the IPOD battery lasts less than three hours. Also, the IPOD crashes quite frequently! We are sometimes traveling on very rough roads, which I'm sure the little hard drive in the IPOD hates, but I would not have thought that it would crash quite as often as it has. After 12,000km's on the road, the IPOD now even crashes while being used on sealed roads. Hope it doesn't get worse.
The cameras all have their separate batteries and chargers. Luckily the Canon 20D and 300D use the same batteries and charger. This is one reason the Canon 350D would not have been as good a backup camera choice, the battery it uses is different from the 20D/300D.
The IPOD also has a more or less built in lithium ion battery and uses a separate charger. There is an external battery pack available for the IPOD that uses double AA batteries. This could be a good thing to have.
Some of the other portable electronics use double AA batteries so we have a Panasonic quick charger that charges four double AA batteries at once. When purchasing batteries, make sure you get highest mAh batteries you can find; 2200-2300mAh is good.