My objective is to be able, in addition to receiving emails, to sent messages, blogs, despatches etc while 'on the road' so tours and experiences can be shared with readers as they happen.

This page is a description of what I have selected and implemented, with some help by the experts.

Notebook

I’m talking about a computer, of course; not a scribble pad. For my travel notebook or ‘netbook’, as they seemed to be called, as opposed to my everyday notebook at home, I chose the HP mini 1000.

The first step in the choosing process was to eliminate the 7” screen netbooks. They simply seemed too fiddly. The next step up was the 10.1” screen. They also had the benefit of something like a 90% full size key board. It wasn’t a hard decision to focus on this range.

There were quite a few in this category. I looked at Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, HP. I think a couple of others.  All their performance statistics seemed to be in the same ball park. Reviews picked faults with each. I think the decision to go with the HP was the influence of the salesperson (he had one!) and the assurance that not all could take the offered upgrade to 2GB of memory.

The one I would have liked to buy was a 12”, ultra thin Toshiba. It felt light, had the benefits of the slightly bigger screen and full size keyboard, superior processor, bigger hard drive, more memory, optical drive ---but at five times the price, it really was not a serious contender. As a travel notebook, the demands on it would be well within the performance parameters of the netbooks I had been looking at.

The 10.1” screen does have some limitations for loading pages onto my web site (and for looking at web sites, for that matter), but it’s manageable; and not really an issue for Word or emails.

Modem

Since my mobile phone was on Telstra Next G, it seemed logical to focus on Telstra for a modem. Don’t ask me why! Possibly because I thought the phone might be utilised as a modem. After visiting at least two Telstra shops and two Fone Zone outlets, I had at least three different takes on what were my best options.  Using the phone as a modem seemed to be workable but there issues about speed and convenience.

Then there were two modem options. One was the ‘super’ one, at, from now receding memories, about twice the price of the ‘standard’ one. The super one had an aerial, so was likely to get better reception in some places; and was faster. But I was told the speed was more relevant to large downloads like music and movies; and would not be all that noticeable for other Internet usage or emails. So, the standard version seemed to suit my needs. And has done so.

Next was the plan or lack of plan. After the first three consultations, everything was pointing to the pre-paid option. The plans would turn out to be more expensive than warranted, not least because my use would be intermittent. There was an option, which one outlet pushed strongly as the one best suited to my needs, to ring up every time I travelled and get  modem access turned on and pay a $30 a month fee until I rang again and asked for it to be turned off. There was a pay-as-you-go option, but very expensive (on a per MB basis) compared to all others. Even the pre-paid option had the draw-back of stopping in mid flight if your money ran out.

The very last consultation came up with another option that none of the others had mentioned: a $0 plan. Basically, it’s called that because you are under no obligation to keep it going, as opposed to the normal plans, which are typically 12 or 24 months on a fixed monthly payment. If you choose to activate it, you pay $10 a month for 150MB. (The other ring in option above was $30 for 150MB, I think). There are some higher charges per MB if you go over the 150, but with an additional option of going to a higher monthly fee to avoid the penalties; but the higher fee would only apply to that single month unless you chose otherwise. It all seemed too good to pass up, so that’s what I have.

Adaptors and Plugs

 I picked up a great product a couple of decades ago at an airport somewhere. It was an all-purpose transformer/adaptor. You could plug it into a power point anywhere in the world. You could plug it into a motor vehicle power source (the old cigarette lighter). You could plug it into the specialised power outlets in aeroplanes. And you could get tips that would fit any laptop or notebook computer, somehow regulating the power input voltage to suit the item. That seemed to be the go for my current needs.

Unfortunately, over the years, changes had been made and my adaptor was no longer compatible with either the new tips, which were needed for the HP mini 100, or the ampage or whatever of my home notebook, a Toshiba Satellite 300. Having sorted all this out with the supplier, a US company called iGo, I then discovered that it doesn’t and wouldn’t export outside North America! I was subjected to the greatest amount of nonsense and uncooperativeness you could imagine (apart from one technician in the tech support area who was helpful within the restrictions of the company’s export policy). Unbelievable!

I eventually worked around it by getting the stuff posted to a friend in Minnesota, who kindly posted it onto me.  

There is a similar product on the market here but it hasn’t yet produced a tip to fit the HP mini 1000.

So I have this iGo all-purpose, go-anywhere adaptor. The key benefit is that you use it in the hotel or power it off the bike; and you only have the one adaptor no bigger than the one that came with the notebook in the first place.

Enter an electronic engineer friend, who created a lead that will plug directly from the BMW Merritt socket on the bike to the iGo adaptor, eliminating the need for another adaptor to link the Merritt socket with the standard vehicular plug. And just for completeness, he created such an adapter anyway to allow me to recharge my mobile phone as I ride.

The picture opposite illustrates the two alternative power sources going into the iGo adaptor (240v or 12v from the BMW Merritt socket); and the lead with HP tip into the computer. The additional cord is the adaptor from Merritt plug to standard car socket.

Other Bits and Pieces

I have thrown into my electronic collection a double USB adaptor (the HP has only two USB ports); A USB lead to upload and download between the HP and the Zumo GPS (it’s much more convenient to plan routes on the computer and upload to the Zumo); a short USB extension cord (it gets a bit crowded with the modem and power plug side by side); and a mini mouse and its USB plug (makes life so much easier than relying on the oversensitive pad).

Then there’s the mobile phone with both 240v and 12v charger adaptor leads.

I don’t need a USB lead for the camera. I’ve discovered it’s hugely faster to simply take the SD card out of the camera and plug it straight into the computer. With the camera, I’m restricted to a 240v outlet to recharge the battery, so having a second battery is a must.

A 240v double adaptor is most useful in hotel rooms and camping ground laundries when you have several items to recharge.

My travelling transistor radio serves me well. I always take a list of local ABC radio frequencies so I can tune into the news and local issues. The latter provides a lot of insights into what’s happening or topical in a region. So, there’re some spare batteries for that somewhere.

And all this needs a place on the bike, along with the camping gear, clothes and supplies!

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