Last week’s trip to Albuquerque was a mentally challenging one given the sad circumstances and when I decided what mobile gear to take with me I knew that would be the case and didn’t want issues created by those choices. I am happy to say that my mobile kit worked flawlessly and thought I’d share why that was. The main device in my kit for the trip was the HP 2710p Tablet PC. The 2710p is thin and light and easy to carry and can take anything I throw at it. I was able to work online in the airports and easily work offline on the flights. I got a lot done and fellow travelers were very impressed with the convertible Tablet on the plane. I gave several demos to folks who wanted to know how the Tablet worked and who watched how I worked, read digital magazines, read the New York Times and performed other leisure activities when I wanted down time. The long battery life was so welcome that I never had to attach the ultra-slim battery that was nestled warmly in the gear bag. The web cam let me record the impromptu video tribute in the hotel room when the feeling presented itself. Kevin was impressed with how thin and light the 2710p was the morning we worked together in a Starbucks. He used both his MacBook Pro and the Samsung Q1 to work for a few hours, while I just plugged away on the HP. When my back got stiff from working with the HP in that hard wooden chair I spun the screen around into slate mode and went to one of the comfy chairs for a while. Versatility is the key with the HP.
The HTC Advantage performed admirably for me on the trip as well as the HP. It’s so small that it takes almost no room in the front pocket of my gear bag yet can do so much it is well worth the space. I kept up with email regularly on the Advantage and finished one ebook and started another in my free time. The process of finding and buying the second ebook on eReader was quick and painless and with the integrated 3G on the HTC took only a couple of minutes. The most useful function provided by the Advantage on this trip was as a GPS using the TeleNav service. Neither Kevin nor I had been to Albuquerque and the GPS was worth it’s weight in gold. We always knew where we were and more importantly where we were going due to the flawless navigation. Kevin was very impressed with TeleNav which he’d never seen before. Come to think of it he was impressed with the HTC too and said at one point that push come to shove I could travel with it alone and he’s right, I could have without giving up too much functionality.

The iPod Touch came along for the trip too and it worked as expected. I listened to my music every chance I got and even watched The Manchurian Candidate I had downloaded for the trip. The seamless web browsing was also great given the free WiFi in the hotel and a lot of fun. It was worth bringing for the music so the rest was just free benefit for me. We compared it to the size of Kevin’s iPhone and the Touch is overall the same but much thinner. Speaking of the iPhone I got to play with Kevin’s a bit and am impressed with how well it works. Kevin is very happy with it and I understand why a little better now. I don’t need one myself but for those who own one I can understand how much you like it. There is nothing better than great technology that is fun to use, something that Apple gets better than anyone.
That sums up the trip from a gear standpoint. I can travel very light and easy and not give up anything in the way of functionality nor productivity. The right gear goes a long way to make a trip easy yet fulfilling from a work standpoint.
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