I’m heading overseas for a short getaway, giving thanks to airline deregulation and inexpensive Skype calling from abroad. When traveling Internationally, and/or for vacation, I prefer to go laptopless. However, I found a decent-enough Incase tote ($60) to house my new MacBook Air and replace my colorful-yet-ratty old bag with no-longer-functional zipper. So it’s coming along on this trip to protect my Kindle and a variety of paper magazines, courtesy of a small amount of soon-to-expire frequent flier miles.
Also, I made the very difficult decision to return the new Canon S95 (~$370). I totally waffled on this purchase, feeling both guilt and regret. The Canon’s still picture capabilities are unmatched in a cam this small. But after shooting the quickie Hulu Veebeam video, I had to let it go. I was aware that you couldn’t zoom in/out while filming. However, the S95 will not adjust focus at all as you shoot. Meaning that initial focal length remains even as you attempt to capture objects or people at different distances.
So I raced to the Sony store Sunday night (thank you, holiday hours) and picked up the WX5 (~$270). It doesn’t have the ability to natively handle complex or low lighting situations like the Canon, but through trial, error, and trickery decent shots can be obtained. This Apple TV one is a good example. The Sony also has the benefit of being slimmer than the Canon, with a 5x zoom lens, and ability to shoot (with continual focus) 1080p video. And, unlike previous Sony gear, this camera accepts SD cards (!) in addition to the more limited Memory Stick. Hopefully the S95 will see a firmware update and I’ll return to the fold, as it’s truly a special piece of hardware. But I’m unwilling to travel with both a still and video camera.
Of course, I’ll also have my iPhone with me on this trip along with a cheapie-but-sufficient pair of Jbuds. Although, I’ll be keeping cellular services off and using it for video entertainment on the plane and the occasional email or Twitter check-in. No doubt, I’ll also sneak in some web surfing for online deals. Being the holidays, Skype will enable me to economically stay in touch with the family back home (without jailbreaking and SIM-unlocking my phone).
To make it through flight tedium, on the content front, I’ve loaded up The Expendables as a movie rental and cached several Slacker stations on the iPhone. Additionally, thanks to a shared Amazon account, Mom has provided me with the new Michael Connelley and Grisham novels. But I fully expect that an iPad, or similar, will accompany me on cross country and International flights at some point in 2011 – a single device that better performs/provides both iPhone and Kindle functionality.