Ever since the very first iPad appeared on the market, I’ve had this desire to make traveling with only a tablet a possibility. As tablets grew in capability, and shrank a bit in weight, I continued to hope. I gave up making that work with my day job, but still had hopes of taking a personal trip with only a tablet. I picked up an iPad cover and bluetooth keyboard from Brookstone that I stumbled upon a few months ago on sale, and figured someday I’d give it a shot.
Finally, the opportunity presented itself last weekend with a quick Bahamas cruise. MrsMJ and I were departing at the crack of a.. dawn Friday morning, and returning Monday. Surely, I could survive that long without a laptop. I packed my backpack, purposely left my MacBook Air at home, slipped my iPad (3) and Brookstone cover/keyboard into my bag and went for it.
End result – I survived the weekend, but I won’t soon attempt it again. Why? Well, some of this wasn’t the iPad’s fault. The ship’s internet was flaky. OK…..that means the majority of my time with the iPad was spent reading a book. Hard to do in the sun, but that’s neither here nor there. A camera connection kit fixes the issue of managing and uploading photos. The least favorite thing about my weekend without a laptop? The Brookstone cover and keyboard. The combo of my iPad and that cover/keyboard weighed more than my 11.1″ MacBook Air! Worse yet, it took up more space in my bag.
The end result – Just my opinion, but I think the 11.1″ MacBook Air is the perfect solution to just about everything! Do you travel with just a tablet on a frequent basis? What works for you? Any tablet solutions you’ve found to be suitable?
MJ, February 20, 2014
I took my family and my iPad to Europe for six weeks last summer. I had a Logitech keyboard cover with it and it worked beautifully for blogging, uploading photos and checking email. Much better than lugging around my laptop for six weeks.
I have traveled on several European cruises with my Nexus 7 and it works great, especially on excursions.
Regarding your Trans Atlantic, I am elite on Celebrity and have always wanted to do a TA but have worried about the potential rough seas. Look forward to your trip report.
I usually travel now with just one of my Sony tablets. Like to shed the weight and size of my laptops and have greater ease in passing through airport security. The tblets can also fit in my Scottevests.
I usually bring my computer along with me on my trips because I don’t want to carry extra equipment with me to upload pictures daily. Also, there is something about feeling the keyboard when I am writing that just cannot be replaced. 😀
iPads have a lower power antenna. The Silversea site says it best. “Please note that onboard systems do not support 3G technology; the only option for iPad® users to access the Internet on board is via WiFi. Unfortunately, iPads assign little battery power to their internal signal. Unless the WiFi signal is very strong, it is likely you will experience interruptions or may not be able to connect at all. You may notice laptop users have no trouble connecting to the WiFi on board, while an iPad in the same spot drops and reconnects. In addition, the satellite signal fluctuates and iPads are more sensitive to this fluctuation, which may interrupt your iPad Internet session while going unnoticed on other devices.”
I don’t think reading a book in the sun with a MacBook Air would be that great either. I assume a kindle paper white type device would be best for that.
I travel with my iPad when on vacation but take my laptop along for business trips.
The ZaggKeys Folio is great. It makes the iPad heavy but it really does protect it, even if you drop it. I never thought I would travel with just an iPad and I never even liked using an iPad until I got this. My husband always has had an iPad since the first one and I never liked using it and finally broke down and got the iPad Air paired with the new ZaggKeys folio. I also have a MacBook Air but don’t really like to take it much when I travel. I have the 13 not the 11. So this is the perfect solution. The keyboard is pretty good and I couldn’t be happier with my new toys!
A lot of times I travel only with my samsung galaxy note. The pen really helps keep the tablet at home. Swyping on the keyboard with easy with the pen. You can even write and use handwriting recognition; but it is still not accurate. To read in the sun, I use the flap cover as a shade.
Whenever I have real work to do (meaning not just emails and mark-ups on existing documents), I ignore the iPad and don’t even try with the MacBook Air, I go straight to the Toshiba Ultrabook.
We did 2 weeks in Europe with just iPad Mini’s. It was great! I love traveling with my iPad. I leave my laptop at home and online so if I get in a real pinch I can always use software to access it remotely to do what I need.
I like the Incase Origami Workstation.
It’s actually a case for a Apple Wireless Keyboard that unfolds into a stand for your –iPad– anything.
Depending on your use case, it might not do what you need it to do, but my favorite thing is dropping by the lounge, whipping it out with my iPhone, and pounding out a bunch of emails and txt messages before a flight.
One Device Travel:
MacBook Air 11 MD712LL/A upgraded to i7-4650U processor and 8GB RAM
-or-
Microsoft Surface Pro 2
Computerless:
Origami Workstation + iPad 2
iPhone
Work Travel:
MacBook Pro 13 Retina ME865LL/A
Nexus 7
iPhone
ZaggKeys folio – will check that out!
The ZaggKeys Folio for my iPad Mini just showed up today and already it is changing how i use the iPad. I ran most of my weekly travel chat off of it. Emails are already flying out via the iPad.
I have always used the iPad Mini with the 11″ MacBook Air and yes the Air is damn near perfect, I love it … but i do at times shed the MacBook Air for an iPad only trip, usually a day trip.