Exhausted all the check list “for girl“, it is finally time to talk about a most important one: the geek-list, or, all the necessaire for a geek for a long trip like this one.
Small premise: I usually bring my laptop to be able to copy the photos on an external hard drive, to check the mail, blogging etc. etc.
But, this thing is now prehistoric, as with the advent of smartphones and tablets, you can stay connected without the hassle of a laptop. My dream would be to have a Ubuntu Edge, but since it will remain just a dream, I folded on 2 Nexus: a 7 and 5.
We speak of course of a tablet (Nexus 7) and a smartphone (Nexus 5), that we will let us keep in touch with the Western world, without too many worries of mind.
The tablet, will serve as a room laptop: light and compact, it is ideal for the normal requirements of a geek. Checking emails, checking that Italy is still there, or copy to a backup external pictures: all this will be possible to conveniently reach of touch.
The smartphone instead will be essential to be able to “navigate” the city, find accommodation and avoid going to disreputable places.
Obviously a smartphone alone does not help much. It needs to be connected, to be useful. Ruled out a priori the possibility of using the data plan abroad (€ 0.51 / Mb is this a joke??? ???), I ended up an interesting alternative: a prepaid sim card, only for the data connection.
Wanting to “surf” the web, foreigners can rely essentially three choices:
- a cell phone rental (eg: Rentafone Japan ~30€ / week) : typically include the ability to call and receive calls from abroad (always check that your phone is supported: Japan has a different network, so it is likely it will not work!);
- a portable wifi router (eg: eConnect ~50€ / week): provides only data connection, and according to the tariff plan, can support or not the Voip;
- a prepaid sim card (eg: eConnect ~30€ / 30 days): 30-day, with or without traffic limits or speed, is certainly the cheapest alternative.
Of the three, the third option is also the simplest one: you get your sim from a sales point; you use it; you throw it away. The other two options require to return the device before departure, therefore, you should not forget!
Instead, my choice was on prepaid sim provided by eConnect: 1Gb of data traffic included, 30 days of validity, connection speed standard, no voip, home delivery on the day of arrival (in the hotel). Expect March 13 to find out if they actually will be so …
For the rest, in the bag of perfect geek two or three little things cannot just miss:
- camera (Canon 450D) + battery charger;
- backup camera (Canon 20D) + battery charger;
- SD card + CF card;
- card reader;
- external hard drive to backup photos;
- mini-USB Adapter – USB (to connect the card reader to your smartphone or tablet: immediate transfer of photos!);
- filters for the objectives;
- Lens Cleaning Kit;
- ebook reader (you never know …);
- 2x mini-usb cables usb (to charge various electronic devices);
- USB adapter – socket;
- Multi socket;
- GPS logger (to geolocalize photos when back home);
- iPazzport (to write the post: P );
- Raspberry Pi (again, you never know …).
It seems nothing is missing. And even if something was missing, for sure I do not worry: we go to Japan, the Nirvana of Geek 🙂
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