Gear and equipment forum

Posted from within Vietnam.

If you are doing any serious amount of content (photos, video, blogging, etc) then take it. Wifi is everywhere and it is a god send for planning and booking hostels. I have both a laptop and my iPhone (on which I am writing this from a pub in Hanoi).

To secure everything I have a Pacsafe and a good day sack. I also have a big enough dry bag for when on water.

Regards,

Basho
Www.outsidecontext.com

I agree that it's great to travel with a small laptop. Electricity is not a problem and wifi is in many guesthouses and cafes. However, I've never found wifi on buses or trains yet.

Not all guesthouses have safes. If the netbook is really small then I think hiding it in your luggage and locking the bag is probably the only choice. Last year I traveled with a Sony Vaio TZ which was very small (amazing battery life) and easy to carry on me for the day or to hide in the luggage.

If you happen to have an Solid State Drive then you can be comforted in believing that it is in theory more rugged than a normal hard drive and its access time is speedy for that quick kneel, open laptop, grab address/phone number and move on sort of thing you might find yourself doing often.

I love having my own laptop for blogging and managing photos and posts and emails, even offline in my favorite programs. Battery life is key though and this year's Mac I'm lugging is not as good as the Vaio. An optical drive is also a must since there are DVDs to be picked up everywhere.

Kevin

AsiaSteps.com - Discovering Asia One Step at a Time!

I love traveling with my netbook. It's great for entertainment on a monsoon-y afternoon, backing up your photos, journal entries, etc. There is WiFi *everywhere* in SE Asia now.

I've never had a problem with security. If I'm leaving my bag somewhere that I question the security I usually take it with me in a small bag (but leave the cord in my big backpack). When I'm leaving it along in a guesthouse room for a while I sometimes just tuck it away somewhere discreet (under the mattress) and put the cord out of sight.

To answer the question about dry bags...yes they are available in Thailand and much cheaper than in Europe too! I wouldn't be without one and they don't only keep things dry.

Lateral thinking ----> also quite useful water containers and can be used as a portable bucket.

And why would you need a bucket you ask? Well, Thai bathrooms often don't have wash hand basins. Wash hand basins are new-fangled Western inventions, like "throne" toilets. ;-) If you are staying in basic accommodation you might well get a traditional Thai-style bathroom. This means soaking/washing clothes and swimwear can be a bit difficult unless you are provided with a bucket and sometimes you aren't. Sometimes you just get a scoop and a big water container which contains the water for showering and flushing the loo. (This water should be kept clean, you can't contaminate it with soap powder.)

No worries though, because a 5L drybag makes a great wee bucket!

Drybags also make excellent waterproof bags to carry toiletries in checked in baggage... dunno about you but I find things like shampoo, sunscreen, mozzie repellent etc often leak when transported on planes for some reason. A dry bag is better than a ziplock bag because it's a lot sturdier... even if a glass container breaks it won't matter.

If you're camping or have to spend the night in an airport or on a boat deck, just stuff it with clothes and there's your pillow.

Many uses, I'm sure you can think of more yourself ( good flotation device for when boats sink, might keep rats from eating all your biscuits during the night etc ) so it's worth investing in one. You can get them in sports shops in BKK and they are also often sold in seaside towns and at dive supply stores.


As for security ... well I've never had any problem either. I just leave my laptop in a locked backpack in my hut when I have it with me. that's why I like backpacks with zips rather than drawstrings. Sure someone could slash it but most theft is opportunistic and a bag you can quickly open without any tools is easier.

Just take sensible precautions ... don't leave anything valuable on the bed in full view and wander off to the restaurant leaving the door unlocked. Keep the laptop away from windows of beach huts so someone can't easily reach in and grab it when you're in the loo or something.

Don't put anything you'd hate to lose in the hold of a bus, particularly the overnight VIP Khao San Road buses. Always keep "precious" stuff like cameras, phones and computers in a small day bag that never leaves your sight rather than in your backpack when you're actually on the move. That way you can leave your backpack in a cafe or ticket office while looking for somewhere to stay without worrying too much. I've never ever had anything stolen from a backpack but it's silly to take unnecessary risks.

Thank you busylizzy!

I mostly use my drybag as bucket in Indonesia because the places I like going to have rather primitive mandis but it's useful elsewhere too. Even if there is a wash-hand basin, there's usually no plug in it... you waste a lot less water using a drybag "bucket".