Travel Gadgets

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shk292

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#177212 26-Jul-2015 14:56

Not sure if this is the right forum..

Recently returned from 4 weeks away in USA/UK/Europe and thought I'd share some experiences on travel gadgets I used/took:

Travel router - worth its weight in gold, especially if there is a group/family travelling. Instead of setting up multiple devices to use new wifi at each location, you just plug this into an existing router, or connect it to a hotspot, and your whole family/group immediately has wifi. Plus, client isolation is 'off' in your private WLAN, so you can use Chromecast etc. And it neatly circumvents any client number restrictions that you find in some hotels

Multi-port USB charger (eg the Anker 5-port) - lets you carry one travel adapter and charge all your USB-powered devices quickly

3 UK SIM card - 10UKP gets you a similar bundle to the NZ $19 ones, except you can roam for free in many countries inc USA, NZ, Aus. Only downside is that in UK, Three's network coverage is far from great so it's actually better when you're roaming

Laptop - still the only way I know of to safely back up hundreds/thousands of photos when travelling. I suppose if you used microSD cards in the camera, you could use a suitable tablet and a OTG cable

Bluetooth car hands-free kit - took one but never used it; all hire cars seem to have bluetooth built in these days

Bluetooth speaker - I took a Jabra Charge speaker, and while it was nice on the odd occasion I used it, I'm not sure if it's worth its weight in the baggage

Anyone else have useful tips for travellers?

jevvv

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#1352019 26-Jul-2015 15:13

Nifty list of used vs didn't need gadgets Simon.

So far I haven't been away long enough to have compiled a list. My nearest option is being away on the boat for a month at Christmas (our area is overrun by "visitors" from the city then) so taking a CAR charger is great because then we can recharge phones. My phone has a navigation chart app on it which gets used all the time, so recharging is essential, even when we're out of cellphone coverage. By the same measure we take a CAR power adapter for the laptop - means we can watch a few movies while away.

<- don't ask me where I am - I haven't a clue: its a tech thing ;)
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gzt

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#1352025 26-Jul-2015 15:38

USB car charger is a must have.

Stu

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#1352048 26-Jul-2015 16:58

For photo backup while travelling, I have a 1TB WD My Passport Wireless. Just slide the SD card in and it automatically (or manually, choice is yours) copies (or moves, again the choice is yours) the content to the drive. Each SD card has it's own folder and that days photos are copied/moved into a dated folder within the cards directory.

Another advantage is the drive can act as a router as well, by connecting to the hotel/guest wifi or a wireless hotspot on a phone, and then your devices connect to the WD drive and all accessing the internet as well as the content on the drive. Great for sharing/streaming music/movies/photos stored on the drive to all of your devices and still being able to access email etc over the web.

I travel with an 8" Windows Tablet which can access the drive via a browser for config and can also access settings via an android app on my phone.

Also have Anker multi-port chargers (a couple of 5 port and a 6 port to choose from) which are brilliant.

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shk292

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#1352094 26-Jul-2015 18:44

Stu:

For photo backup while travelling, I have a 1TB WD My Passport Wireless. Just slide the SD card in and it automatically (or manually, choice is yours) copies (or moves, again the choice is yours) the content to the drive. Each SD card has it's own folder and that days photos are copied/moved into a dated folder within the cards directory.

Another advantage is the drive can act as a router as well, by connecting to the hotel/guest wifi or a wireless hotspot on a phone, and then your devices connect to the WD drive and all accessing the internet as well as the content on the drive. Great for sharing/streaming music/movies/photos stored on the drive to all of your devices and still being able to access email etc over the web.

That is such a cool device, it does everything my travel router does, and the photo backup as well. Will definitely pick one up next time I do a big trip (or whatever is the equivalent in 2-3 years)

Wade

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#1352129 26-Jul-2015 19:40

gzt: USB car charger is a must have.

AS a variation of this i keep a 11,000mAH battery pack in the car, benefits are it gives you two outputs, gives you enough current to charge ipads/tablets and phones simultaneously, can charge devices with ignition off or in the boot/glovebox/out of sight, is completely portable - backseat passengers need to charge something pass it to them

I keep a 1A car charger in car just as case but can't remember the last time i actually needed to use it :P

linw

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#1352158 26-Jul-2015 20:41

What a great device, Stu. Very small and versatile.

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MikeAqua

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#1353849 28-Jul-2015 21:29

It is possible to connect a drive like this to Hotel WiFi that requires authentication in a browser window?

Stu:

For photo backup while travelling, I have a 1TB WD My Passport Wireless. Just slide the SD card in and it automatically (or manually, choice is yours) copies (or moves, again the choice is yours) the content to the drive. Each SD card has it's own folder and that days photos are copied/moved into a dated folder within the cards directory.

Another advantage is the drive can act as a router as well, by connecting to the hotel/guest wifi

Mike

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#1353851 28-Jul-2015 21:32

I haven't been in a position to test this. Won't be able to test until the end of next month. If I remember.

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