Camping Mobility

I honestly don’t know why we like our family camping trips. Our garden is bigger than the average local camping pitch area, our car is so small that the rest of the family has to take the train and there’s usually a three week ‘window’ in which we feverishly check weather and try and juggle our work schedules to suit any sign of extended sun.

Still, despite that, we seem to like it.

We’re of for a three day local camp with our 10-yr old daughter and her friend and our little 16-month old son tomorrow and there’s just one thing bothering me. No, I’ve already got a process for keeping beer cool and I have no worries about being able to get a decent Schnitzel. It’s something else.

Will there be coverage?

I have no intentions of going ‘off the grid’ on this short holiday. While I don’t mind that as a test scenario, if i’m honest, there’s rarely a place I’m going where I haven’t got a few minutes to check mail, update statuses and do the ‘here’s my awesome holiday photo while you work’ thing. I want to stay online if possible.

I’ve checked the provider coverage maps and even have a few different SIM cards with me but you never know. 64Kbps can cut-in at any time and you don’t want that to happen when you’re in the middle of a good Google Plus thread.

There’s no way of knowing until I get there.

So let’s assume I’m going to have connectivity. What mobile devices am I going to take to be able to cover all my needs while managing to be discreet. There’s no way I’m going to get away with a 15” laptop and a 2 minute boot-up time with the sound of a fan that could wake up my camping neighbours. No, I need stealth devices. I also need devices with long-term battery power or flexible charging options.

How about something that will plug into the 12V lighter socket on my car? I might get power on the pitch but, like last time, I may not have an extension cable long enough or with the right weather-proof connector. [Caravaners – You’re the experts on this one.] so 12V lighter sockets are a good fall-back.

Phones and tablets are generally good at charging from the USB adaptors that fit in those lighter sockets but watch out! My favorite little tablet, the Galaxy Tab 7, needs a huge 2A to get it charging quickly. You don’t get that from the average USB adaptor so it takes a good long night to top-up. That’s not good. My fave handheld PC, the Viliv N5, is the same. It needs 5V at 3A.

So I chose something else.

The Nokia N8 is always with me. Photo’s sublime! It’s a camera, not a smartphone, and it takes awesome pics. I’ve had it for 9 months and I’m really getting to grips with the ins and outs of the cam. I love it. It also has good 3G reception which means I can use Gravity to keep up with Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader. That’s most of my reading covered there apart from the slow web-page loading. Time is on my side if i’m kicked back and reading for pleasure.

But what about the rest. My Galaxy Tab does a great job of Google-type stuff. Maps, Mail, Messaging, Market and More. I use it at least 3hrs per day on average. Games, Gallery, Google Plus. Looooove it! I don’t think I can leave it at home, despite the long charging time.

And work? SSH, Web apps, image creation, hardcore twitter usage, Livewriter. These are things that are critical if there’s a problem or some breaking news and if I can’t cover the needs when my website crashes (as it will do when I’m opening a Krystallwiezen at 10pm) I’m stuffed.

I’m taking the Viliv S7. A low-power 7” convertible laptop. It weighs just over 800gm and it charges via a dedicated 12v adaptor. Perfect. Not fast, just perfect.

There’s still a need for a PC for many of us. Laugh, if you want, at UMPCs and Windows-based tablets, but when it’s time to work, do you really want to get busy with a phone?

Happy Camping.