Packing for Las Vegas Again
A week from now at this time, my feet will be hitting the ground in Vegas again. We normally don’t cover the CTIA Wireless show since we’re still catching up from the CES rat-race. In fact, we’ve never gone to the show. James is going to man the site from Mobile Tech Manor while I make the trip this time around. Since I have yet to spend a honeymoon with my new wife, Barb is flying out to meet me on Friday, the day the show ends. We’ll spend the weekend there and fly home the following Monday, so I should be all rested up when I return here next Tuesday. Or maybe Wednesday, depending on the Tuesday’s weather: a warm, sunny day could mean one last vacation day on the local golf course! ;)
As usual, I’ll be traveling fairly light: a DLSR, the Kodak Zi6 for high-def video capture, my USB-727 EV-DO dongle and just one computer. Of course, the computer is what I’m debating the most in my head right now. Will it be a netbook or will it be the MacBook? The Mac’s horsepower is better suited for image and video editing, so I’m leaning in that direction at the moment. I’m getting around fairly well with the Nokia E63, so I may leave the iPhone at home as well. All in all, it should be a fun trip since I’ve never attended it in the past. And hey, look at that! There’s a shiny new “CTIA 2009″ category in the sidebar!
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Ah, the kitlist dilema. I love it!
If you’re shooting in H.264 HD and want to post in HD then the netbook may fall short of requirements but if you’re just aiming for YouTube HQ (lets face it, most people have problems playing back YouTube HD format) then record video in a lower-Q and the netbook should be fine. You can write the post while the video encodes!
Steve.
I hear ya! But we’re actually pretty happy with the native WP player that we’ve been using. The killer to me may actually be batteries: I only have one for the Wind while I have two for the MB. :(
yep..
I edited and uploaded some 40 videos at CeBit on my netbook ( Eee 900A )and it was easy job…
If you go for HQ that is.. HD is cool but painfull to watch on mobile computers.
It seems like your Samsung Q1UP is not seeing the action as she used to. =D Any particular reason?
Didn’t Kevin sell the Q1UP?
I’d take the MacBook. The E63/iPhone should be good enough for any basic task on the go, and the MacBook’s power and versatility is something that can’t be matched by a netbook. It’d be worth the extra pound and a half in my opinion, especially if you’re going for HD video.
Excellent! Glad to hear that you will be there Kevin. I will definitely track you down so we can meet in person.
I’ll be there too with a press pass :)
I agree with Chippy and Jkk. Take the MSI Wind and any video you do just do in regular low format. I’m sure there is a fare amount of iPhone users and mobile phones that watch youtube and really wont be watching in HD. This saves you some time also. :)
Hey
Hope you have fun at CTIA.
Sorry to post off topic.. but can anyone suggest a good free multi-party video conferencing tool? I tried stickam.com (flash-based) but it was really laggy. I know iChat AV on the mac is supposed to be good but I need to conference with people who do not have macs.
I like skype but dont think it supports multi party video..
Thanks in advance!
Soum
Soum, you might want to check ooVoo: http://www.oovoo.com/
Don’t forget to tell us which bag(s) you’re using. My last trip I took an interesting bag: http://www.rei.com/product/775421 and was able to easily get a weeks worth of clothing in the bag.
thx
Bob, I use the same bag I always use for these trips: the free bag I get from a prior CES. ;) They give the press a nice padded backpack every year. However, I don’t use the whole thing. Part of it unzips off from the main backpack and gives me a padded messenger-type bag with several pockets and two compartments. It easily meets my needs to carry the few bits of hardware I take.
Kevin – I know it’s a mobile tech, not photography site, buttell us a bit about your DSLR and photography. Why a Cannon and not a Nikon D80 or D90? What do you like to shoot? How much shooting do you do?
Ross, I bought my first DSLR last year: a Canon XSi with the 18mm – 55mm kit lens. Recently, I added a 50mm f/1.8 lens to it, which I really like, especially at around $80. No particular reason I went with Canon over Nikon: like PCs and Macs, there are many reasons to like either. I’m more of a nature or image shooter than anything else, although I’m very new to photography. I don’t shoot often enough and really need to get out more. What I have shot is up on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinctofel/