Bringing laptop?

[knbcruisers]

I am starting to think about packing. I am wondering if I should bring my laptop or can I get by with my and DH smartphones? I would use it to download and save photos but not sure what else? Anyone willing to weigh in with their experiences?

[trbarton]

I am starting to think about packing. I am wondering if I should bring my laptop or can I get by with my and DH smartphones? I would use it to download and save photos but not sure what else? Anyone willing to weigh in with their experiences?

 

I bring a IPad and find it useful since I do a blog of my trip. Your laptop can be helpful as a way to save your photos so you can free up space on your memory card. Be sure to bring a surge protector to protect your device.

 

Tom:)

[RSF Cruiser]

I always bring my laptop so I can upload photos each day. That way, if anything goes wrong with my image card, I have a backup of the previous days images. I generally like to have my photos in at least two places. So, the images go from my camera to my laptop. Once the images are uploaded online, I delete them from the image card. Once I burn a CD/DVD, I delete them from my laptop. I'm a little lazy about the backup drive..., but when I do use the backup drive, I then have the images in three places. I know from experience technology fails, so I try to protect myself from lost/damaged images.

 

I also like to play music from my laptop with a slide show going of the pictures taken from previous days. I could certainly use my phone or an iPod for music, but I like having the slide show, too.

[geoherb]

I like to bring my laptop so we can stay in touch through email and keep a "live" thread going on Cruise Critic. It helps that we get free Internet minutes from Princess. If we sailed on a different cruise line, I might be able to leave it at home.

[zqvol]

I am starting to think about packing. I am wondering if I should bring my laptop or can I get by with my and DH smartphones? I would use it to download and save photos but not sure what else? Anyone willing to weigh in with their experiences?

 

 

Do you need it? Some times I have to work, so a laptop has to go. Other times I take it to dump pics off the camera. Lately since I have a new portable hard drive with an SD slot, that I can use to dump pics, I just take an iPad. If you want to post pics using your iPad, get a lightning to SD adapter connector and you can do it that way without putting tons of pics on the iPad and filling it up.

[knbcruisers]

Hmm.. lots to think about. I won't need it for work and DH and I both get any emails we need on phone. I could buy additional memory cards for camera pretty cheaply, one for each day. But it would be good to have a backup of photos. DH also like to have movies/tv available for watching when we don't have WiFi available so I could download some to have on the plane etc.

[Lois R]

I never bring my laptop and thankfully do not need to be in contact

with anyone when I am cruising.....the cruise is my vacation time:)

I have no plans to bring it for my upcoming cruise either and thankfully

I don't even think about work when I am away.:D

[plenox]

I took my GoPro camera with me. So I always take my laptop and an external portable HD to download video every day

[peety3]

Disclaimer: I'm "hard-core"...

 

My wife and I love photography. We shoot our brains out on a cruise. Last time was (admittedly, a bit excessive) about 15k shots for about 350GB. One day was 157GB. I took a laptop and three external drives. I wrote a script that would copy pictures across the three drives and verify that they were 100% intact; only once the script said the third copy was good would I erase the memory cards for reuse the next day.

 

Normally, I'd tell you that I always take a laptop, but it only gets used for photo archival tasks. However, we're doing a four-day Alaska Sampler in 16 days (who's counting?), and with just one day in Ketchikan, I'm reasonably certain the laptop is staying home. I've also conditioned myself to do less high-speed-continuous shooting, so I suspect we'll be more than fine with the cards we own.

[lucky cal]

Do you need it? Some times I have to work, so a laptop has to go. Other times I take it to dump pics off the camera. Lately since I have a new portable hard drive with an SD slot, that I can use to dump pics, I just take an iPad. If you want to post pics using your iPad, get a lightning to SD adapter connector and you can do it that way without putting tons of pics on the iPad and filling it up.

 

I expect to shoot lots of photos on our Alaska trip. I don't want to take a laptop but I do want to back up memory cards or possibly offload images so I can reuse the cards on the trip. I don't know anything about portable hard drives. Would you share what kind you have with the SD slit? Have you used it yet, and is it easy to use?

 

Thanks.

[coco33]

This is a great question. Yes I am taking my laptop. I have bought a bunch of flash cards. But if the off chance that something happens (run out of memory) we can download the photos on to the laptop.

 

I just like to add to your question though. How are you bringing the laptop? Are you guys putting it in your roll away carry on? My idea was to put it in my laptop case and then put that into the small rolling carry on.

 

Do I still have to remove the laptop out of the laptop case or can I just leave it in the small carry on as it goes through the x-ray scanner?

[donaldsc]

I would take a tablet instead of a laptop. Much lighter and smaller. You can still use it to backup and check your photos.

[donaldsc]

This is a great question. Yes I am taking my laptop. I have bought a bunch of flash cards. But if the off chance that something happens (run out of memory) we can download the photos on to the laptop.

 

I just like to add to your question though. How are you bringing the laptop? Are you guys putting it in your roll away carry on? My idea was to put it in my laptop case and then put that into the small rolling carry on.

 

Do I still have to remove the laptop out of the laptop case or can I just leave it in the small carry on as it goes through the x-ray scanner?

 

If they see the laptop in your rolling carry on, they will probably make you remove it. Why not leave it in the laptop case until you get through security.

 

DON

[xlxo]

I always bring my laptop....

• nice to have a terrabyte drive to store images
  
• I can edit videos when travelling on my i7 game rig. I can burn DVD's to give to friends. I can also transfer images to USB drives to share.
  
• play blu-ray movies and I do pack a 2.1 soundbar with subwoofer
  
• much easier to type than on a tablet
  
• love DCL internet! Airport and hotel wifi is great.
  
• I considered getting a smaller ultrabook... but then I need to bring along an external hard drive for more capacity.
  
• laptops have bigger antennas than tablets and phones that find wifi deadzones in hotel rooms. I don't want to use my tablet over a toilet to get decent reception near hallway repeaters.
  
• if the 15.6 screen is not big enough.... I pack a USB monitor.
  

Edited April 14, 2015 by xlxo

[chipmaster]

Always take my laptop, not so much to use it on the cruise, love the fact that internet is so slow and expensive that the whole family unplugs. Doesn't stop the iPhone crowd from using it to play some mindless candycrush type stuff.

 

For laptop use it to and from cruise for email/work then uplugged!

 

As others noted when I seriously take a lot of pictures I do dump them to the laptop for some redundancy from corruption and theft/loss. IMHO memory is so cheap it should be rare one runs out of memory. Memory is also so reliable that corruption of images is more likely user error than hardware but prepare for "Murphy"

 

If one thinks there laptop is to heavy get one of the new ultrabooks, they are so more usefully than tablets or iPads. With the new supersized phones the usefulness and value of a tablet is shrinking IMHO.

[xlxo]

I just like to add to your question though. How are you bringing the laptop? Are you guys putting it in your roll away carry on? My idea was to put it in my laptop case and then put that into the small rolling carry on.

 

Do I still have to remove the laptop out of the laptop case or can I just leave it in the small carry on as it goes through the x-ray scanner?

 

If they see the laptop in your rolling carry on, they will probably make you remove it. Why not leave it in the laptop case until you get through security.

 

DON

The laptop is a significant piece of electronics.... They often want to swab it down for chemical analysis. Have it open makes it faster for screeners.

 

Once past screening, my laptop goes into a protective sleeve of my carry-on.

[varoo]

I bring along a small, relatively light laptop that I use for travel.

It is just personal preference as I dislike typing on a screen and prefer having a decent sized screen with a real keyboard.

 

All my travel documents are on it, receipts, itineraries, port info, flight schedules, medical info, photos, bookmarks just about everything I will want or need on the trip.

 

If I brought along a tablet instead, I would want to bring an attachable keyboard for it anyway, so as long as the little laptop still does everything I need, I figure I may as well keep on using it.

 

No need to pull it out at airport security if you have pre-check.

 

[zqvol]

I expect to shoot lots of photos on our Alaska trip. I don't want to take a laptop but I do want to back up memory cards or possibly offload images so I can reuse the cards on the trip. I don't know anything about portable hard drives. Would you share what kind you have with the SD slit? Have you used it yet, and is it easy to use?

 

Thanks.

 

 

It is a Western Digital, 2TB in size, battery powered, and connects with wi-fi. You set it up so that when an SD card is inserted the photos on the SD card are automatically copied to the hard drive. It comes with a USB charger, and can be plugged into any USB port on an PC to charge or act as any other external drive. Price is $199

 

here is a link to Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Mobile-Storage-WDBDAF0020BBK-NESN/dp/B00M9B4482/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1429028401&sr=1-1&keywords=western+digital

[judynorth]

It is a Western Digital, 2TB in size, battery powered, and connects with wi-fi. You set it up so that when an SD card is inserted the photos on the SD card are automatically copied to the hard drive. It comes with a USB charger, and can be plugged into any USB port on an PC to charge or act as any other external drive. Price is $199

 

We just bought the 1TB version of this today (on sale at BestBuy). In the past I have taken my laptop but it is relatively heavy. The WD external drive was a lot cheaper than buying an ultrabook which I would only use a few times a year.

 

Coco33, I have always had to remove my laptop from its case and put it in a separate tray at security. Also, I would never pack it in checked baggage. It is just too tempting to steal it.

[coco33]

We just bought the 1TB version of this today (on sale at BestBuy). In the past I have taken my laptop but it is relatively heavy. The WD external drive was a lot cheaper than buying an ultrabook which I would only use a few times a year.

 

Coco33, I have always had to remove my laptop from its case and put it in a separate tray at security. Also, I would never pack it in checked baggage. It is just too tempting to steal it.

 

Thanks for the info.

[judynorth]

Thanks for the info.

 

We haven't tried the device yet but I will try to remember to post here with our experience. I hope it does the job. I'll miss being able to review the photos though. I guess my camera screen will have to do until I get home.

[ghcstr]

It is a Western Digital, 2TB in size, battery powered, and connects with wi-fi. You set it up so that when an SD card is inserted the photos on the SD card are automatically copied to the hard drive. It comes with a USB charger, and can be plugged into any USB port on an PC to charge or act as any other external drive. Price is $199

 

here is a link to Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Mobile-Storage-WDBDAF0020BBK-NESN/dp/B00M9B4482/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1429028401&sr=1-1&keywords=western+digital

 

 

That seems really handy. My problem is that I usually make a new photo folder named with the date and location so it is easier to sort which stops the photos are for. Then I try to do a quick scan on my laptop to delete all the blurry and really poor photos so I don't waste time later attempting to sort through them all.

 

I might consider changing to something like this after I think about it some more. The laptop is only for my pics on the cruise since we unplug the family when we go.

 

Thanks for sharing!

Gary

[RaiderCruiser]

Absolutely bringing my laptop. As others have stated down loading pictures etc., but I love it on the 10 hours of flying/travel time to start and end the cruise. Love my laptop on the plane to watch a movie or start working on the photos.