Carry laptop while travelling to backup and post photos on blog?

[usedhyphens]

Hi all, pardon me as i am new, if such a topic has already been discussed somewhere, please let me know!

my question is, should i or should i not bring my laptop while i backpack across Asia?

On of my biggest reasons why i'm more inclined to bring my 12", 1.8kg (with batt) laptop is so i can
1) backup my photos on my laptop
2) hopefully update my blog, with long posts and photos (any idea if wifi is readily available across asia?)
3) skype with my family
4) entertainment while stuck in boring dorms at night


the cons are
1) theft/fear of it breaking down
2) is there really sufficient wifi across asia to make it worth it?
3) heavy


also, can you all share how you all upload your photos on your blogs (if you keep one) and update on the road? i dont know if it's safe to connect my camera's usb cable to the cyber cafes around asia (viruses and all that)

THANKS beforehand!

 

[wildsoyabean]

i carried my laptop. was in china(BeiJing)...had wifi in hotel. but need to pay.
free wifi dun come easily.
for most south east asia country except sg...i think its quite hard to find free wifi unless u are staying in big expensive hotel.
if you are travelling budget...forget it...if its in europe/US. you can still be in luck for free wifi

 

[krishna91]

im carrying 17" macbook pro to Ladakh in the himalayas, one of the most remote regions in the world. Not to post photos on my blog/flickr/cs, but to post process photos after it turns dark so that i do not waste time.

 

[ortega]

you can consider a netbook instead, smaller lighter cheaper

 

[daredevil123]

I carry my laptop everywhere in the world I go. Was near the Russian and North Korean border in Northeast China once, living in a countryside home. Only thing that can be plugged in is power. Lights out at 7pm, too early for a city dweller like me to sleep. I was working on PS till 9pm before I turned everything off and went to sleep. Woke up at 5am the next morning for the biggest meal of the day, breakfast.. Laptop is my life, when I am on the road.

 

[usedhyphens]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I am thinking of traveling to isolated areas like kashmir, tibet, nepal, hopefully bhutan, some parts of china and indochina. so i guess wifi there is almost impossible.
but i guess having smth to play with while i'm there and when it turns too dark to go out to play.

 

[krishna91]

you can opt for a satellite modem if you're desperate. US$12 for a megabyte of data. :devil::devil:

 

[archlover]

i brought an asus netbook for my 3 weeks trip...
with 10 hours of battery life it's really useful, even when you can't found any power..
i use it for copying files from cf and online, not really can process a raw files, but can run pscs2 quite ok with the jpegs...
and facebooking.. can't tahan to life without facebook for more than a day.. lol
my trip is to europe where wifi is can be easily found though >_<

 

[Randius]

Hi all, pardon me as i am new, if such a topic has already been discussed somewhere, please let me know!

my question is, should i or should i not bring my laptop while i backpack across Asia?

On of my biggest reasons why i'm more inclined to bring my 12", 1.8kg (with batt) laptop is so i can
1) backup my photos on my laptop
2) hopefully update my blog, with long posts and photos (any idea if wifi is readily available across asia?)
3) skype with my family
4) entertainment while stuck in boring dorms at night

the cons are
1) theft/fear of it breaking down
2) is there really sufficient wifi across asia to make it worth it?
3) heavy

also, can you all share how you all upload your photos on your blogs (if you keep one) and update on the road? i dont know if it's safe to connect my camera's usb cable to the cyber cafes around asia (viruses and all that)

THANKS beforehand!

I think you can forget about updating blog and skype because from my experience, free WIFI is very rare (except in hotels) and you will need to pay for internet access. I also brought my netbook along for one trip but only for entertainment and secondary backup aside from my Epson-P5000. I did not bring it for subsequent trips.

 

[daredevil123]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I am thinking of traveling to isolated areas like kashmir, tibet, nepal, hopefully bhutan, some parts of china and indochina. so i guess wifi there is almost impossible.
but i guess having smth to play with while i'm there and when it turns too dark to go out to play.

Actually for most hotels in China, even in the boonies, you normally can find internet access. Just that it is not wifi, but rather, via ethernet cable. So bring a small cable along. I've been able to find internet access in hotels even in super ulu places in china. As long as there is a hotel, there is hope.

As for other places outside china, your guess is as good as mine.

And yes, remember to bring some dvds, or buy some dvds when abroad. Watching movies or tv series is a good way to kill time. Now in china you can get those super compressed dvds, they fit like 20 episodes in 1 DVD.

 

[limwhow]

Thanks so much for all your replies! I am thinking of traveling to isolated areas like kashmir, tibet, nepal, hopefully bhutan, some parts of china and indochina. so i guess wifi there is almost impossible.
but i guess having smth to play with while i'm there and when it turns too dark to go out to play.

Yes. If you are going to travel such long distances and I presume over an equally extended period of time, do bring you laptop. Not for blog. But for review and PP of your photos. Bring along your portable HDD to make a second back up too.

 

[petetherock]

I am in China now, with a 3kg laptop, which with the other associated stuff will weigh 5kg or more.

If you do not mind the weight, then it is a ncie thing. If you are hiking, I will not advise it.

I had internet in Cang Yuan which is really rural.

So consider the weight carefully.

Cheers

 

[usedhyphens]

thanks so much for all your replies!
yea, i'll be gone for quite a while, i'll most likely bring my laptop along, together with an intenet cable!
THANKS ALL! i love CS

 

[ortega]

when i went to melacca and penang also have free internet in the hotel
hong kong has free wifi outside the hotel (cafe)
i am going to taiwan and i also find hotel with free internet
korea also have but the signal was very waek

 

[WuffRuff]

I'd like to ask, how do you keep your laptop safe when travelling in high crime countries?

I usually stay in shared dorms in hostels and I would like to bring my laptop along but am cracking my head about how to keep it safe in the hostel if I don't want to lug it around.

 

[nemesis32]

you can consider a netbook instead, smaller lighter cheaper

i Agree with Ortega. Carry a netbook, i used it for my Eastern Europe trip, can watch some video on train/plane, surf net, update facebook etc. Also, i downloaded the Lightroom trial and process some photos when i was free.

 

[archlover]

I'd like to ask, how do you keep your laptop safe when travelling in high crime countries?

I usually stay in shared dorms in hostels and I would like to bring my laptop along but am cracking my head about how to keep it safe in the hostel if I don't want to lug it around.

@WuffRuff,
i also stay in hostel like that...
when i'm searching for hostel at hostelbookers.. i always looking for the one with locker then it should be ok mah...

 

[WuffRuff]

@WuffRuff,
i also stay in hostel like that...
when i'm searching for hostel at hostelbookers.. i always looking for the one with locker then it should be ok mah...

Oh, so u just put your laptop on the locker when you are out?
I thought of that too but still not very trusting of the safety.
Which countries have you done this?

 

[ahbian]

I do carry laptop on long trips, more for processing pictures. Its more effective than ploughing through hundreds of shots when you get back. Wifi are usually the exception then the norm.

 

[archlover]

Oh, so u just put your laptop on the locker when you are out?
I thought of that too but still not very trusting of the safety.
Which countries have you done this?

@wuffruff,
yes i just left the laptop on the locker, i think it's quite safe since we use our own padlock
i've done this in europe ( spain / france / holland ).. but i think it didn't considered as the high crime countries >_<