Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road

Posted on 29 November 2010, Last updated on 29 November 2010 by

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Now that the N350 has gone back to Samsung, I’m back on the Gigabyte Touchnote for a 5-day trip to London and Berlin starting tomorrow. 1.4kg + battery pack is not the lightest but it will last all day and, very importantly, has proven itself a stable, reliable companion; so much so that i’m being very careful about changing it.  The Runcore SSD and 2GB RAM upgrade was the right choice but looking to 2011 and possible 720p video editing (480p is the compormise I currently make for mobility) something has to change soon. I’ll be waiting for JKK to finish his testing on the Asus Eee PC 1015PN before I make my choice though.

The Sony Ericsson X10i smartphone has now gone from my life. Although a good Android phone and even better after a recent firmware upgrade, I decided to pull it from my kit. Partly due to battery life and partly because of the camera. I only need a smartphone for PIM, notifications, GSM, offline maps, brief Twitter and web moments and camera now that I have the Galaxy Tab. I’m looking for a new phone and If I’m honest, the Nokia N8 fits the bill well. Until then, i’ll use the N82.  The Galaxy Tab is the device that is slotting in as the 3rd one in my three device strategy and adding a spot of fun and saving my phone from becoming the battery life weak point.

The MiFi has gone (the Tab does that without any battery issues) and micro-sim / Bluetooth on all devices helps move data around so i’m cutting down on cables. I’ve still got the Canon S2IS as my camera but, like the netbook, it needs an upgrade.

Total cost of the kit, new, is 600+300+800+350 (Tab, N82, Touchnote, S2IS) so it’s certainly not a cheap setup at over 2000 Euro but where can I get all this for less?

  • Netbook with SSD and 3G, 5hrs battery. (Touchnote)
  • Pocketable camera with Xenon flash and Bluetooth (N82)
  • Personal navigation device – offline and online. (N82, GalaxyTab)
  • Phone with SMS, MMS, video calling, all-day (18hours) battery life (N82)
  • 3G/Wifi portable hotspot with 4hrs battery life (Galaxy Tab)
  • PMP – 720p with multiple codecs. (Galaxy Tab)
  • E-reader for web and books) (Galaxy Tab)
  • Gaming/entertainment device(Galaxy Tab)
  • Always-on, 3G-capable Social Networking tool (Galaxy Tab)
  • MP3 player (N82)
  • Bridge camera with good zoom, video, audio, usb. (S2IS).

Hmmm. The 2K challenge. What would you buy to do the above?

19 Comments For This Post

  1. UMPCPortal says:

    Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22857

  2. Gretchen Glasscock says:

    Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road:
    Now that th Read more …

    Related posts:What good is a smartphone without… http://bit.ly/f49kzk

  3. Steve 'Chippy' Paine says:

    RT @umpcportal: Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22857 < What would you buy for 2000?

  4. Josh's Tech Items says:

    Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road: Now that th Read more … Related posts: – What good is… http://goo.gl/fb/CDI0Z

  5. notlofty says:

    Could you just upgrade to the newest gigabyte netvertable?

  6. Chippy says:

    The question there is whether I can switch to 720p editing. I think I will need nvidia ion.

  7. animatio says:

    hp mini 5103 (fully blown up) hd resolution screen, 3g capable, 7-8 hrs online, 15d standby mode (did cost me 500)
    htc winmo 6.1pro smartphone umts/3g capable (also working as wifi router and serving as scientific calculator, info system on the go)(did cost me 150)
    canon powershot a590cam (8meg px) (with good vga video)(did cost me 120)
    nokia 1100 cellular, cause its running for hrs and days on a charge, has a desktopspeaker function good for work at the desk in parallel or mini conferences (got it for 20)
    total 790
    cables and spare power pack/charger for phones (another 100)
    total 900

  8. Chippy says:

    With nvidia ion?

  9. animatio says:

    unfortunately on has to decide:
    Optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator*
    with ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater 3 software
    * Can only be installed when HP un2420 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband Module is not installed.
    so i went for 3g. no ion on the list of available modifications. but instead of a harddisk you could opt for a ssd 64/128 gb.
    my package includes 2gb ram, 320gb 7200rpm hd with protection, hd display, win7 home premium, hd display matte, 6 cell battery, 3g, fast ethernet (wan/wireless), bluetooth.

  10. animatio says:

    just to complete the list: i got the dual core 550 model

  11. Guy Adams says:

    RT @umpcportal Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22857

  12. Guy says:

    Will be interesting when the Macbook Air arrives. I can’t wait to see if that can centre on a mobile device strategy although its high cost would put it over your current set up.

  13. BassoPT says:

    I’m afraid Nvidia ION wont help too much, dual core will. All software I’ve tested renders videos faster using just the processor power that using the cuda cores.

    JKK can fill you more on this… :D

    All the best,

    João.

  14. Alltop Mobile says:

    Another Reporting Kit Hits the Road http://bit.ly/fLgOms

  15. Stu says:

    Yeah, video editing is main processor intensive. Using an atom for any kind of HD video editing is gonna be a bit painful regardless of it is dual core or not (ion will make no difference).

    To put in perspective I use an i7 MBP for most editing. I have the new MBA 11 inch 1.6 and it takes about twice the time the i7 does (which is about expected). An atom processor I could see taking probably two to three times longer than the air does.

    While on portable kits I have the following set up in a small bag for mobile needs:

    MBA 11 inch 1.6 128GB 4B Ram (battery 5 hours)
    iPad 64gb
    iPhone 4 – with mywi installed
    Sony NEX-3 with microphone attachment and 32gb class 10 sd – used for video and stills
    Elgato HD Turbo.264 USB video encoder
    Lacie rugged external 2.5 inch 500gb usb drive
    Awesome cullmann tiny little tripod that extends to full size
    Mifi

    The setup is probably a touch over budget, but I don’t feel like I am making too many compromises over my ‘at the desk’ setup.

  16. nick95 says:

    i think a dell streak can do almost everything that these devices can do(supposing it has been upgraded to froyo)

  17. animatio says:

    “almost everything” a wise choice of words … some edges then: a) how to run a multi-full-os-environment with really powerful, specialized software;
    b) no phone/tablet cam will ever match a real camera. as long as you are referring only to pda/mobilephone functionality you might get the point.

  18. Jake says:

    Hi Chippy, how sturdy is the screen hinge of the Touchnote? Did it become loose after repeated use? I’m looking for a convertible and I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of typing with it on my lap in addition to using it as a slate. It’d be annoying if the screen wobbles.

  19. Chippy says:

    My touchnote screen hinge is as solid as the day I bought it. Overall, the device is very well built.

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