My Travel Gear And What You Can Use Your Pocket PC For When Traveling

Readers who follow this blog closely would realize that Solsie has been making all the posts until recently as I was away for my winter holidays.  During this time, I had gone home to Malaysia and made trips to Singapore, Barcelona and Venice.  As the title of this post suggests, I would like to share with you what gadgets I brought along with me and how they were a essential part of my trips.

 

The most important thing I would say that I brought along in every trip would definitely be my camera.  I had recently upgraded my compact point and shoot camera to a …Read more after the jump!Digital SLR.  At first, I was quite reluctant to bring the DSLR with me because of the size and the weight but then I went ahead with it in the end.  I’m glad I made the right choice as the number of shots I was able to make with the DSLR that I couldn’t have otherwise was incredible.  The wide angle lens, the large range of ISO settings and the creative modes are features on a camera that are essential when traveling.

 

There will be those times where you want to take pictures but you absolutely have to use a tripod to prevent camera shake or when you can’t find anyone to help take a photo of you and your spouse.  This is when a tripod comes into play.  I personally don’t like lugging around the big tripods so I bring along my Gorillapod.  This is a lightweight small tripod which allows you to firmly secure your camera to just about anything.  The legs of the tripod are bendable so you can wrap it around a tree, poles or a bench.  It comes in three versions; a version for compact cameras, SLRs and SLRs with zoom lens.

The next thing in my arsenal is my Pocket PC, the Dell Axim X51V.  I would say that this is as important as my camera.  I use my Axim to do many things throughout the trip.  First off, I store all my bookings and reservations printouts in my Pocket PC.  I do print out a hard copy but I also keep a soft copy just in case.  Also, when I need to check out details of my bookings or reservations, I do not need to go searching through my bag for the hard copy.  I just take out my Pocket PC and look at the soft copy; takes way less energy and way less time.

 

 Next up, I use my Pocket PC for navigating around the city.  I would download soft copies of city maps from the net, available at most tourism sites.  This is not the most useful thing to do but in really desperate times, it comes it handy.  I also use Microsoft Pocket Streets coupled with my Bluetooth GPS Receiver to navigate around the city.  When traveling around Europe or the US this is not a problem but if you are traveling in less developed countries, maps will not be available.  The Bluetooth GPS Receiver I use is the GlobalSat BT359S SiRF Star III Bluetooth Reciever.  There is another option which I do not use because of the high costs involved; that is using your mobile to download maps off Google maps or similar online mapping services.  I have to stress that roaming charges and data charges would amount to a shocking figure so unless you print money, avoid this option. 

 

I also download soft copies of train/metro maps if such a mode of transportation is available in the city I am visiting.  Bus timetables or routes would be useful too but getting around a foreign city on a bus can be challenging at times especially if you can’t understand the language.  All of these maps and timetables can be download off tourism sites or the websites of the companies that run these public transportation services.  One software that is extremely helpful when going around using public  transportation is MetrO.  MetrO is a software which you can download for free and it provides you with a guide when using public transportation in more than 350 countries worldwide.  You can enter the departure station and arrival station and MetrO will tell you what bus or train to take.  It will give you the time, the number of stations and the number of connections required to get from the departure station to the arrival station.

 

Another usage of my Axim is to store pictures.  My camera uses a Compact Flash card and since the Dell Axim accepts both SD and CF, it is possible to transfer pictures from my CF card onto my SD card.  This not only allows you to take more pictures as it clears up storage on your camera memory card but also allows you to view pictures on your Pocket PC.  I know that you can already view the pictures you’ve taken on your camera but viewing it at 640×480 is a very different experience from viewing it on a 2″ screen on your camera.  Resco Photo Viewer is a powerful photo viewing and editing program which you can use to view and quickly edit your photos when you are traveling.  If you camera does not use CF or SD, you can buy CF adaptor (for eg. XD to CF adaptor) which allows you to convert your memory card into a CF card which you can then put into your Pocket PC (assuming your Pocket PC accepts CF).

 

The Pocket PC’s “usefulness” is not over just yet.  I also use it for listening to music and watching videos when traveling.  There will be parts of the trip where you will be either on the plane, train or bus and this is when the multimedia side of the Pocket PC come into play.  I have ripped music CDs stored on my CF card along with ripped DVD movies.  A good DVD movie ripper is SPB Mobile DVD and a good CD ripper is CDex.  A must have multimedia player on the Pocket PC is CorePlayer.  It will be able to play nearly all the file types you throw at it. 

 

To be able to listen to the music or video playback, I use an excellent pair of earphones which produces wonderful sounds and also filters out the noise around me.  I also use a headphone amplifier to give the headphones the umph it needs to further enhance my listening pleasure.  My earphone is the ever popular Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pro and my headphone amplifier is Headroom’s Total Bithead.  I would suggest that you get a good pair of headphones/earphones as you would really want to enjoy the time you spend commuting between places and not dreading every second of it.  You are on holiday after all.  Besides the Ultimate Ears earphones, you can also have a look at the Shure E-Series earphones or the Bose in-ear headphones.  If you don’t like putting things into your ears, you can go for the noise-canceling headphones from Bose or other manufacturers.

 

The next thing I use my Axim for is emailing home and surfing the internet (to look for important information perhaps?).  To email home, I use FlexMail 2007 by Web Information Solutions Inc.  FlexMail is just incomparable with the email program that comes with Windows Mobile 5.  I would strongly suggest you check out this email program if you’re someone who can’t live without your emails.  To surf the net, I switch between three browsers; Pocket Internet Explorer with PIEPlus, Opera Mobile or NetFront Browser.

 

Typing emails and surfing on the Pocket PC would  be a nightmare if I were to use the soft keyboard that came with Windows Mobile (or atleast for me).  Therefore, I switch between a soft input software and a bluetooth foldable keyboard for typing emails and entering text into the Pocket PC.  The soft input software I use is TenGO Keyboard and the bluetooth foldable keyboard I use is the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard.  Together with the foldable keyboard, I also use the iGo Stowaway Bluetooth Travel Mouse so that I can leave the stylus in the stylus bay.

 

Finally with regard to keeping my Axim safe, I use Innopocket’s Magnum Case when using with regular 1100mAh batteries, PDair’s Hardcase when using with 2200mAh batteries and finally Sena’s Extended Battery Fit Leather Cases when using 3300mAh batteries.  I normally just bring one case and a spare battery when travelling.  I also use the BoxWave ClearTouch Crystal Screen Protector to protect my screen from possible scratches.  As for charging the Axim, I use the VersaCharger PRO International Kit.  To connect my Axim to the charger, I use miniSync.  By using the VersaCharger PRO and miniSync, I am able to cut down the weight and bulk of my bag. 

 

There you have it, my travel gear and what I use my Pocket PC for when travelling.  I have mentioned a lot of software and hardware in this article.  If you’re looking to buy any of the software mentioned, head on over to the Solsie Store as we are having a Valentine’s Special.  There will be 15% off on all software in our store when you use the discount code SOLSIE15.  Be quick as the discount expires on the 15th of February 2007.

 

Traveling with WM device Op/Tech Straps WorldMate 2006 Pro Edition -%50 Promo

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