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Moto Computing
 What
to bring, what to leave home
No one we ever knew used a set of ROK Straps to connect a desktop
PC to a Goldwing, but there were times when you know someone must
have thought about it. But like I said - no one we knew ever
did - which, mind you, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
If you like to hit the road for several days or weeks at a time
but need to get on the internet or use photo and office
applications, the number of choices you have today as opposed to a
decade ago are many. From simple to sophisticated, ultra-compact to
small, the trick is to figure out what gear is right for you and
carry just that. But let's begin with no gear and take it from
there. Your options begin with the ...
Internet Café – A simple way to access email, internet
café’s abound in all major cities and most hip little towns from
Hood River to Bellingham, Post Falls to Eugene and along the road
throughout most of the world. For the price of whatever a location
charges by the quarter hour you can surf the web, pick up email and
stay in touch with the office. The most obvious benefit is you don’t
need to carry an ounce of computing hardware with you. The drawbacks
are many including restricted locations, hourly fees that add up, lack of work-related software and ability to do things
on the fly while you’re on the road. But if casual email, reading
your local paper, checking sports, weather and stocks is about all
you’d want to do it’s not a bad way to go.
Cell Phone – We’re taking simple cell phone stuff here.
The PDA part comes up later. Cell phones nowadays have lots of
capabilities. Aside from making calls anytime (provided your
provider has decent coverage), for additional fees you have
the ability to pick up a local weather report, news headlines and do
email. The drawbacks include a tiny screen, funky navigation of the
keypad and no office applications. But the size aspect is enticing
by virtue of how little space this appliance takes up.
Cell Phone/PDA – A cell phone with a PDA takes it one step
further by providing a slightly larger screen and the ability to run
office applications. For many of us who may need to edit a Word
document or Excel spreadsheet on the road, a unit with this
capability is a must.
Wireless Access Points – Before we get to the next
applications, it’s important to note that there are many places in
the world with wireless access points. They range from free wide-open access at the local espresso bar to pay-as-you-go programs like
the ones that Starbucks and TMobile have built. In between there are
many motels and hotels with free access and most of the better
campgrounds around the US provide free or pay-by-the-day access.
Another wireless access point may very well be your cell phone.
The advent of Bluetooth technology has made it possible for us to
link with our cell phone and acquire internet access via your
provider's web service or a modem dial-up which you can configure
between the phone and a PDA or laptop.
With all that in mind, let’s go onto the more useful pieces of
hardware for the two-wheel traveler.
Pocket PC/PDA - A PDA with wireless and Bluetooth
abilities may be just what the doctor ordered for many of us. The
units allow us to connect with nearby wireless networks, or
Bluetooth connect via our cell phone to get web access as was just
mentioned. The screens on PDAs without a built-in keyboard are
larger and easier to read than any cell phone or cell phone/PDA
combo. The little hand-held wonders run office applications, have
MP3 players built in and battery capacity is reaching beyond 7 hours
at a charge on many now. The latest version of both Palm OS and
Microsoft Windows Pocket PC OS make it easy to navigate your way
through a maze of options and do many of the things you can do from
your desktop computer at home.
If using a stylus or thumb type keyboard annoys you, there are
several options of full-size keyboards that fold up compactly. While some you’ll need to plug into, there are now
Bluetooth wireless versions available that run on
AA Batteries.
What’s important to remember is that if you’re using an option full-size kepboard and plan to link with your cell phone via Bluetooth at
the same time, in most cases you’ll need to go with a hard
connection to the keyboard since many appliances only allow one
Bluetooth device to communicate with it at a time.
The more you pay for a PDA, the faster it should be and the more
internal storage you should have as well as external storage
options. The HP iPAQ 2790 in my tank bag has two memory card slots
allowing me to travel with eight additional megabytes of storage. That
means I can transfer images from my camera to the PDA for storage
and free up the space I need on the camera card for the next round
of pictures along the trip.
The war continues between Palm and the rest of the computer
manufacturers as to who makes the best PDA but the fact is they’re
here to stay and are a great option for the motorcyclist who doesn’t
want to go so far as to carry a laptop. And, in most cases, why
should we?
Notebooks & Laptops – That’s right – in most cases why
should we carry a notebook or laptop? Well, there are several of us
out there who are in the category of ‘power user.’ Taking a notebook
PC with me last summer on a 10-day trip to Utah was very handy. Each
night I was able to edit my photos from the day, work on articles
for several magazines, create and edit PowerPoint presentations that
needed to be done upon return and recreate some artwork for a client
while out on the road. With the exception of the articles, which
could have been done on a PDA using an external keyboard, the rest
of these things wouldn’t have been good to attempt on anything other
than a laptop or notebook computer.
| Resources
NiteIze Cell Phone and PDA Holsters – Practical
cell phone and PDA holsters that provide options for
other everyday necessities such as a flashlight,
leatherman, pen,
credit cards, lip balm or Bluetooth ear pieces.
Use them on your belt, clip them to your waistband or
onto the adjusting strap on your coat.
Otter Box Waterproof Storage for Cell Phones, PDA’s and
Laptops – Keep your gear dry with these boxes. A
bit bulky, but worth saving your appliance to be sure.
Seattle Times Text Site – Includes headlines of
the day and it’s free!
Sound
RIDER! PDA Site – Includes a full directory of
every motorcycle dealership in the Northwest. Handy when
you’re on the road. Bookmark it on your PDA, Danno.
Seattle
DINING! PDA site – Coming into Seattle to get a
bite to eat? Search for restaurants by name,
neighborhood or food type on your PDA or cell phone.
Energizer Energi to Go – A small, nifty unit that
allows you to recharge cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players
when you’re on the go using
AA Batteries.
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Notebooks are laptops to be sure, but laptops are not always
notebooks. The HP ZD8000 laptop in my arsenal is so big no one has
any business trying to stuff it into motorcycle luggage with it’s
17" monitor and 12 pound carrying weight. However, its other little
brother, which is also part of my computing arsenal, is a HP DV1000
notebook computer. That notebook does everything its big brother
does with a smaller 14" screen weighing in at just 6 pounds. When I
ordered it, I went for the 12 cell battery over the 6 cell so now it
averages 8 hours of battery life on a single charge. Way more than
I’d use in a day on the road, but handy if my next campsite turns
out not to have electricity nearby.
Both of my laptops have wireless and Bluetooth technology built
right in so there’s no need to carry extra PCMCIA cards or USB
adapters. The hard drive storage is a plus because I can unload my
camera card and have it free for whatever comes along the next day.
Where’s the Music? - Just about every device we’ve talked
about here will play music. So do iPods and MP3 players, but most
don’t have Bluetooth yet. More stuff to bring along? Perhaps, but
for some of us the PDA with Bluetooth may be the best music player.
It does all the same things, has pretty good capacity and the
Bluetooth option allows you to update your library of tunes from,
say - your notebook computer that’s in your left saddle bag …next to
the tent!
Ride Safe, Ride Light and Ride Often
PT/Winter 2007
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