Electronics

[Dez]

Hello all 

It may seem a little odd (it does to me at least), but the biggest questions on my mind right now about my future traveling experience have to do with which electronics to bring.

What are the benefits of bringing a laptop, or using computers in internet cafes? IPod or no iPod? And what to do about charging the darn things?! Is the extra weight worth it?
Anything I should know about keeping such items safe?
How frequent are the internet cafes around SE Asia? What about cost? From which decade should I expect the hardware/software to be from?

And anything else anyone can say to help me out on the subject would be great 

[Greg]

Hey Dez,

Internet cafes and wireless signals are easy to find in traveler areas - and really are cheap - $1 an hour or less.  You hit it on the head though, expect most of the hardware to be pretty crusty.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of writing or work from remote, carrying a laptop around can get pretty cumbersome. It changes your trip actually.  Personally, I didn't carry a laptop on my first trip and it was a good thing, I didn't have to worry about it constantly getting wet, abused, or stolen.

I do recommend carrying your own headset for Skype to make calls, not all the cafes have a working one plus maybe a large USB thumb drive for backing up files and pictures.  If you want to upload photos, bring a card reader or USB cable to get your photos on the internet cafe computers.

IPOD - hell yes. You will go mad on long bus rides without it.   I carry a USB charger and just charge it in the cafes when I use the computers...or you can get a power adapter that will work for multiple countries...the plugs are different everywhere.

Others' opinions might differ, this is just the way that works best for me.