Looking for info on a tablet for travel

[aumommie]

We are going to be doing a lot of traveling in Europe over the next few years and I am looking for something that I can download my pictures to at teh end of the day. I have a lap top but it can be tough to carry when I travel with 2 kids. I am looking at iPad like devices that wold be lighter to carry and easy to transfer photos to computer when I get home. I am thinking of an iPad, but am also looking at the Acer it has a USB portand Sd card slot. Any advice??

[Tzetsin]

if your looking for just something to drop your pics off to at the end of the day, just take your laptop an leave it in the bag, at the hotel whereever. an ipad is useless to you as it has no usb ports, a tablet laptop of any kind is more hype and not enough delivery, so they're pretty useless too. they take up just as much room as a laptop as well.

If you really feel you need something super portable, consider a NETbook. they're simple laptops with no dvd drive, they run on the windows platform and have upgradeable hard drives.

If you really do plan on spending "years" there, get a REALLY good powerful and huge laptop, a good backpack type carry bag, and forget that the thing is going to be 15 pounds. If your going to be there a long time, you'll need PERFORMANCE and usability alot more than you'll need portability as this unit will likely replace the computer you currently use as the main device you work on.

[oldwolf]

If all you want to do is have a place to backup/store your images while you're on your trip then try the hyperdrive out.

HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA (120GB version)

You can also buy just the case only and install your own hard drive. Very easy to do and would save you money in the long run.

We use an earlier version of the hyperdrive when we shoot weddings. As soon as the card gets close to full we pull it, back it up on the hyperdrive and put the card away. That way we have the images on the card as well as backed up on a hard drive. We bought the case only and installed our own hard drive.

[RichardTaylor]

Edit: being written the same time as the post above.
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Have you thought of using a portable storage device as a backup for your pics.

Some come with screens so you can view your pics (including RAW) and some come without a screen.

I have been happy using Vosonic products .(May also be known as Wolverine depending where you are), however there are other brands out there..

TECHNOBOX AUSTRALIA - New Portable Storage Vosonic, VP8860, VP8870, VP5700, Coway, Air Humidifier, Purifier, xDrive, Breathalyser, AL6000.

We travel with a pair of them (without a screen) and I also have enough memory cards to hold about 5000 raw files that I do not re use until the pics have been uploaded (and backed up) when we get back home.

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Havn't used a netbook however it sounds like a good idea for a backup.

[K38871]

I have an Ipad 2. Saw yesterday where you can buy a camera connect kit for it that will either allow you to download straight from camera using the usb cord or just from your sd card. Needless to say this will be my next purchase at the end of the month when I get paid.

[Nicole]

The camera connection kit works well. I used that and my iPad on my last trip. Let me travel quite a bit lighter.

[amy_bb]

I use my iPad (first generation) for travel. I bought the SD/USB camera kit (about $30 I think) and it loads the pics in a flash. I also use Filterstorm (iPad app) to do light edits and then use Flickstacker (sp?) to upload pics to my Flickr account. Keep in mind I'm not doing this for a professional shoot but for vacations it works great. I have not found an easy way to go from iPad back to home PC so I usually keep everything on the SD card until I can get it on the home computer for more complicated PP.

[SwissJon]

I've an iPad 2 and a camera connection kit.. My only disappointment is the RAW file interpretation makes the previews on the screen poor quality, and since the memory is limited I keep needing to empty it out, so I'm beginning to consider the Vosonic.