taking a blackberry/iphone

[malcomavich]

Hi there,
I'm planning on a long tour through Europe later this year....... my first for many years. I'd like to know what people do to keep in touch whilst on the road; doing a blog, e-mailing, 'phone and camera for instance. I'm not too well up on these things, but friends who are tell me a blackberry or i-phone could do the job but are likely to be expensive to run, and what about re-charging?
Anyone's advice who has experience with these things would be much appreciated.
Happy cycling,
Malcomavich

[willem jongman]

A smart phone will be convenient, be it an Iphone, a Blackbery or an Android phone. Using any of them abroad is expensive, perhaps Droids least so (and avoid internet over the phone as much as you can). The good news is that there are many places where you have wifi so you can email from there. Charging in inhabited areas is not too hard. Just keep the phone completely off most of the time, and only turn it on for a short period each day, to check your text messages etc. If you do this, one charge will last for a week or more.
Willem

[hallmrh]

The iPhone will offer many related applications enabling you to email,blog,Facebook, GPS etc but I can only speak for iPhone. I have just had a front wheel built with a Shimano dynamo hub, this will enable me to charge the Dahon Reecharge unit which has the capability to charge most battery operated items both on the move and while stationary, camera's, phones, iPod Walkman can all be charged. This way you will have a constant supply of 'juice' for your electrical items and remove the need to pack all those different chargers, the Reecharge comes with multiple attachments for most applications. See the Dahon Biologic website for full details.

[johnb]

I took one of these touring In France and Spain last summer and found it to be very effective charges all manner of phones and gadgets, one full charge on this charged my HTC Desire from empty 4 times.


http://www.rvops.co.uk/pebble-power-2354.html

[Reigncloud]

Another option is to take a spare battery and 'desktop' battery charger. This has the advantage of not having to leave your expensive phone sitting in a shower block somehwere while it charges as you can just swap the batteries in the phone.

With and android phone (don't know about iphone) you can just switch off mobile data so as to not be hit with extoritionate overseas data charges. Then you can just use wifi as mentioned by Willem.

[Ron]

Hi there,
I'm planning on a long tour through Europe later this year....... I'd like to know what people do to keep in touch whilst on the road; doing a blog, e-mailing, 'phone and camera for instance.

I find one of the joys of touring is the escape from the world of personal communications but usually phone home when I am having the odd night in a hotel. Single use batteries keep my camera alive for as long as I need.

[nmnm]

I use a nokia 5800, great - email, sms, calls, photos, does the lot. Spare battery plus a charger, all good. As with all smartphones, if I spend too long on one function the battery goes and I'm incommunicado.

If you are buying an email travel thing, definitely consider a Kindle 3g:

Free 3g internet browsing throughout Europe (does your email too!)
Up to four weeks battery life
6" lcd screen (and nice for text, akin to looking at paper rather than a tv screen)
Light (247g, about same as a smartphone + charger + spare battery).
£152 for 3g+wifi model, £111 for wifi only.
Lets you have a wee light dumbphone in your pocket (10 day battery!) not a clunking great all-in-one smartphone.

So you'll not even need to take a charger maybe, you can load the kindle with a million guidebooks, maps even, browse newspapers online in the tent, check your email as you go (at no cost). Brilliant. Of course there's no radio in it, or movie playing functions. But in cycletouring battery frugal mode, I don't use these smartphone functions anyway.

NB if you're new to this, don't confuse this with the iPad (same web browser engine but 3 times the weight and price, 90% less battery, and you have to pay for 3g access yourself).

[malcomavich]

Thanks, guys for all those very helpful suggestions!
Another thought....... what are the best providers to go with for roaming around Europe? Should I go for pay-as-you-go or get a fixed contract?

[HP Velo Fan]

Any useful iPhone apps that are relevant to cycle touring?

What I would really find useful would be a map that can be accessed without having to use the internet. Google earth is really good but when touring in Europe I wouldn't want to use my iPhone unless I was connected to wifi so it's pretty useless for navigation.

Andy S

[nmnm]

Any useful iPhone apps that are relevant to cycle touring?

What I would really find useful would be a map that can be accessed without having to use the internet. Google earth is really good but when touring in Europe I wouldn't want to use my iPhone unless I was connected to wifi so it's pretty useless for navigation.

Andy S

Surely all these gps phones are able to have the maps just preinstalled? I know all the nokias can do that with Ovi Maps. I think if you know your route Google Maps can download the mapping before you leave your wifi zone. Personally I prefer the big paper picture - it has excellent battery life too.
.

[gordy]

Is it worth the hassle? I find you get a better touring experience if you just don't take any electronic communication at all. There are enough internet places (and phone boxes!) around so that you can check things out every few days... otherwise just ride your bike and enjoy the experience. It breaks my heart to see people staring into little screens in stunning places.

I'm off to France in four weeks and am looking forward to leaving my mobile at home. It's simpler.

[bikefish]

A friend is right now skyping us from his iphone in Chiba japan to our other home laptop - he is cycling near to the oil refinery fire which we can see as a dark grey burn - lots of people on bikes as of today there is no more petrol in any petrol stations and shops have sold out of water, camping gas, much food. There are frequent large earthquake aftershocks. Large area wifi is working OK, mobile net is droppy, fixed line OK - seems a good case to have a smart phone

[Cunobelin]

You can avoid roaming charges by buying local PAYG sim cards.

Providing your phone is not locked this is a simple thing to do. Then let the people who need to know what your new number is.

Also work in the UK.

I have a MiFi which is £10 for 1Gb or £15 for 3 Gb......... or I can buy a data sim card from 3 with 3Gb data for as little as £4!

[Reigncloud]

I have a MiFi which is £10 for 1Gb or £15 for 3 Gb......... or I can buy a data sim card from 3 with 3Gb data for as little as £4!

Are these in Europe you're talking about? And are they valid across borders, or is it a matter of buying a new one in each country?

[Mattie]

From reading some of the recent posts regarding smartphones it seems to me that there is a very strong argument for their use within your own country, you in the UK can tour around Cumbria, or wherever you like, and use your smartphone as a navigation instrument for little extra cost.

Then there is the other side of Touring and Expedition, which may involve extended tours of Europe the US and beyond, for which a smartphone package may be too expensive to use as your travel navigation tool.

See today's Times on page 15. There is an article about some guy being charged £5,000 for a data download in Dubai, to his iPhone. He is not alone.

"The Communications & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme, which arbitrates in bill disputes, said it was dealing with hundreds of bill shock cases - each caused by data downloading"

There are instances of people buying a data package, which they quickly exceed and then have to pay for ! Some guy did this after a 60mb limit was breached and he racked up a bill of £4,720 ! neither is he alone. One consumer racked up a bill of - wait for it -£23,000 ! because his ap was continually updating !

Mike Wilson from Money Supermarket.Com said " charges for using your mobile abroad, especially outside the EU can be extortionate and operators are doing little to protect customers."

Personally this is what frightens me with the idea of using a smartphone as a navigation instrument in Europe or the US. I still can only think that having a smartphone switched on to use as a navigation tool, whilst abroad, is asking for an expensive bill when you return home.