Best phone for trail journaling?

[Myakka Mules]

We will be journaling on Trail Journals next year and are trying to decide which phone will work best. We are with Verizon but are stumped as to which phone will work for uploading from the trail. Any thoughts... Let the firestorm begin.... Thanks! The Myakka Mules

[Transition Bob]

Who are the Myakka Mules? I live in Sarasota in the winter...just getting into AT hiking. Where will you be hiking to use the Trail Journals? Do you hike down south in the winter?

[Stats 2012]

Forgive me for speaking out of school here, but I, too, have been pondering this question and my research is pointing me to the Droid X. Please note I have not yet not purchased a Smartphone, so please correct me if my conclusions are off base. I’m sure you guys will!

The ones that I examined most closely were the iPhone, the g'ZOne Commado by Casio, and the Droid X by Motorola.

IMO the iPhone has lots of issues on the AT. First, Apple hides all your files from you; it works great when you have Internet access to the "cloud", but you can't count on that in the green tunnel. You don’t have access to the battery, which means you need to take along some type of charging device.

The Commando is a great Droid-like unit that meets military specs for shock, dust, and water exposure. (It can be submerged for 30 minutes in 3-feet of water without damage.) The problem I had with it when testing it in the store was the screen was so thick (for strength) that it often couldn't detect when I had pressed a button. This wouldn't be too much of an issue if you were simply placing a call, but I think it would drive me insane as I journal! So this is out.

The Droid X has a lot of advantages and is the one I’m currently leaning toward. The battery is easily removable, so I'll purchase two lightweight spare batteries and that should keep me going for days. (I can then recharge all three when I'm in town.) This phone stores all your files on a micro-SD card that can be easily removed, inserted into any PC, mailed home, backed up, replaced, etc. In other words, you have access to ALL your files. I'll be using Word for my journaling, which saves files to the micro-SD card -- that is, you can work without the Internet! Again, this is key for a thru! With the Droid you can intelligently turn on/off any or all of these: WiFi, 3G/4G, GPS, which will help save battery life. Also the Droid phone uses an 8 megapixel camera (the iPhone's is 5 megapixel), but the jury is out on which phone produces the best images.

I’ll put the phone in an Otterbox, which should protect it while on the Trail.

[Furlough]

Stats,
How would the Droid do as a camera option/alternative?

[Myakka Mules]

Who are the Myakka Mules? I live in Sarasota in the winter...just getting into AT hiking. Where will you be hiking to use the Trail Journals? Do you hike down south in the winter?

We live in Sarasota fulltime and maintain 20 miles of trail in Myakka State Park. Look for us on www.trailjournals.com in the 2012 journals.

[Stats 2012]

Stats,
How would the Droid do as a camera option/alternative?

For the package, I am pleased with the quality of the images. I wouldn't recommend it if you desire telephoto shots or want to create poster-sized prints, but it will do nicely for a backpacker who wants to remember the places and people met on the Trail.

I need a cell to phone the wife and kids back home and I require an electronic journal for my book I am writing for my sabbatical. If I didn't have these needs I'd just bring a notebook and small camera. But since I do I feel that a Smartphone is a way I can simplify. The Droid camera has plenty of resolution for my book's needs.

[LDog]

... IMO the iPhone has lots of issues on the AT. First, Apple hides all your files from you; it works great when you have Internet access to the "cloud", but you can't count on that in the green tunnel.

I also intend to use a smartphone for journaling, light photo manipulation, email, and uploading to web sites. To deal with battery life, I intend to operate in airplane mode. If I can't get to a file while in airplane mode, well, that's a deal-breaker.

You don’t have access to the battery, which means you need to take along some type of charging device.

I think that might be preferable to carrying a bunch of xtra batteries. Droids have a reputation for sucking m/Ahs fast. A device like the New Trent external batteries might actually be lighter than a comparable number of spare batteries: http://www.newtrent.com/HTC-EVO-andr...00_android.htm

The Droid X has a lot of advantages and is the one I’m currently leaning toward.

Have you looked at the HTC Incredible 2?

[LDog]

Apple hides all your files from you; it works great when you have Internet access to the "cloud", but you can't count on that in the green tunnel. You don’t have access to the battery, which means you need to take along some type of charging device.

Per Apple's web site:

When airplane mode is on, appears in the status bar at the top of the screen, and no cell phone, radio, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals are emitted from iPhone. When airplane mode is on, you can still do things like:

• Listen to music
• Watch video
• Check your calendar
• Take or view pictures
• Hear alarms
• Use the stopwatch or timer
• Use the calculator
• Take notes
• Read text messages and email messages stored on iPhone

When airplane mode is on, you can’t make calls, send text messages, surf the web, or check for new email.

[Stats 2012]

A device like the New Trent external batteries might actually be lighter than a comparable number of spare batteries: http://www.newtrent.com/HTC-EVO-andr...00_android.htm

I'm intrigued by the New Trent extender, but I'm still thinking about just buying 2 or 3 replacement batteries. They weigh practically nothing (I don't have specs on the battery's mass, but the entire phone weighs less that the New Trent model you reference: 5.47oz vs 6oz) and it would mean keeping track of just one system -- the phone, its batteries, and its charger.

You are right that when in use with all the bells and whistles going any Smartphone will suck down power, but in standby mode the Droid's regular battery lasts 220 hours.

I've been thinking about this problem for six months and I'm still not certain what to do.

[Stats 2012]

Per Apple's web site:

When airplane mode is on, appears in the status bar at the top of the screen, and no cell phone, radio, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals are emitted from iPhone. When airplane mode is on, you can still do things like:

• Listen to music
• Watch video
• Check your calendar
• Take or view pictures
• Hear alarms
• Use the stopwatch or timer
• Use the calculator
• Take notes
• Read text messages and email messages stored on iPhone

When airplane mode is on, you can’t make calls, send text messages, surf the web, or check for new email.

Yeah, I know, but -- and here's the kicker -- the Apple notepad is truly pitiful and to work with something powerful (Word, for example) you must be on the cloud (Internet). I've tried using cheap-o notepad apps for the iPhone, but to get the text from the phone to a PC for editing is painful and I would spend days on the formatting.

So what I need is a full version of Word on the phone, from which I can open and edit a formatted template, and do so at the top of Clingman's Dome in airplane mode. I just don't see the iPhone being able to do that. I think of the iPhone as a consumer product and the Droid phones as producer products.

Can someone prove me wrong? Please.

[attroll]

The touch screen phones use more battery.

I thru hiked last year and wrote to my journal on my phone every night.
I only logged on the internet about every three days to upload the journals.
I carried about three extra batteries for my phone but really only needed one.
I used a blackberry curve and had not problems with it at all.
I purchased a word processor for it called Documents To Go before my hike and started doing a lot of practice typing before my hike.
Just keep it dry and practiced typing with it long before my hike.
I currently own a droid and the battery does not last very long. I think if I did it again I would use the blackberry again.

[Stats 2012]

I currently own a droid and the battery does not last very long. I think if I did it again I would use the blackberry again.

This was very helpful AT Troll. Thanks! I'm curious if you've tested how long your Droid batteries last if you turn off GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, etc. I ask because I anticipate I'll journal while in airplane mode.

[attroll]

This was very helpful AT Troll. Thanks! I'm curious if you've tested how long your Droid batteries last if you turn off GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, etc. I ask because I anticipate I'll journal while in airplane mode.

I have to charge my battery every night on my droid and that is without using the gps and Wifi.
Also keep in mind they when your phone does not have a signal it constantly continues to search for a signal until it locks onto one. If it is doing this it also drains the battery.
I had very good service my whole hike with my phone carrier. When I was in spots when the service was bad I would put it in airplane mode. This would save the battery too.
I also usually put it in airplane mod at night before I went to bed.

[Stats 2012]

Have you looked at the HTC Incredible 2?

I can't recall. I've been sifting through the quagmire for months and all phones are starting to blur together. I think any Android phone has major advantages over the iPhone. The Droid X is the one that keeps rising to the top of my queue, but I can't find any reason not to like the Incredible 2. In fact, the Incredible 2 has more memory, an additional camera, longer standby time, a smaller mass, and its global ready with a SIM card.

Hummm. Can nothing be simple?

[LDog]

I'm thinking a trip to my genius sister's place, and to the local Apple store is in order for me. Tho I am engaged in a great iPhone v Droid discussion on Google+ and I am being won over to the Droid side based on a number of issues. Being able to plug it into a PC and have it recognized as a drive is one. Having a removable SD card is another. The true multi-tasking nature of the OS....

[attroll]

Talk to anyone with an iPhone and a droid and see how long they can go before they have to recharge there phone. I think you will find out that if left one all day they will be dead towards the end of the day.

[LDog]

I've heard that with fairly aggressive power management, one can get a few days out of them. Leave em off when you don't need them, use them in airplane mode when you use functions that don't require connectivity, change email to manual vice push, turn off GPS checks in apps that use it, turn off notifications you don't "have" to have, close apps running in BG you don't need.

[Myakka Mules]

Sooooo, If all I want to do is Journal daily on some sort of Word program and every other day get on line and copy and paste what I have written to Trail Journals then turn off the phone I should be alright with the Droid or the Blackberry...... Right?????

[Grinder]

I tried to journal on a Samsung Intercept this spring. I couldn't do it!!! Skip coverage, which, admittedly is sketchy from Sprint. The phone had some "touch" commands that would rip the message I was typing from my phone and mail it. So then I ried writing using the note taking function. That wouldn't work either the message would get deleted

I specifically got a sliding key board to help me, but it was terrible!! You can't write while you're scared to death of hitting the magic button of death!1

Don't buy until you can try out the hardware.

Stumpknocker used a Verizon enV a few years ago and posted a bangup journal for his whole thru. Maybe his fingers are smarter than mine???

[Pushup]

Anyone use a netbook? I know they're bigger than a phone obviously but the advantage of the full keyboard seems like it might be nice