Technology advice

[frontovik193]

Hey folks, I am getting down to one of the most critical parts of planning for my AT thru next year, and that is budgeting.
While I am focusing on overhauling my entire hiking set up, I realize I need to set aside some money and research time for technology that I plan on bringing with me. I know that I do not want to take my current phone on a thru hike (Samsung Galaxy s4). Aside from being bulky and heavy, it usually overheats or dies the first day into a trip.
I am looking for either a device or a system that works and am open to ideas or suggestions.
My main concerns are being able to take pictures, listen to music, and make phone Calls (Internet access is a huge plus for making reservations and finding directions while in town, but I do not plan on using it to access social media while on the trail). I have spoke with some folks hiked with high end smartphones like the iPhone 6 ( most are out of my budget). Others chose to use cheaper phones that mostly stayed in the pack and used a lightweight mp3 player as well as a point and shoot camera.
Which system is more worthwhile to you, and are there any specific products you recommend I look into?
Thanks!

[Christoph]

Last year I took my Droid Maxx and left it on airplane mode most of the time. Also had an Ankor 10000ma external battery and a small point and shoot. I took videos and pics, Facebook, text, and calling. It lasted about 4 days on a full charge. I love that phone and just bought another one, factory manufactured for 75 bucks on Ebay. That setup worked great for me and I'll use it again for sure next year. I had the Nexus too and that thing overheated all the time and the battery lasted maybe a day, I feel your pain! haha If you decide to only take a phone, maybe consider another battery pack or 2 from Amazon (they're pretty cheap) or an external like the Ankor (pretty popular choice). For what it's worth, I carried AWOL's guidebook too. I will go PDF next attempt just for the weight savings and ditch the camera. The phone option will definitely serve well for me. Hope this helps.

[Slo-go'en]

I bought a really cheap ($10 on sale) LG Tracfone for the trail. If you don't use a lot of data, a $20 card is good for 3 months. If you do need more data, an extra $15 gets you 750Meg more. The main thing is if I break it, I don't loose much investment. Plus it will connect to pretty much any tower it can hear. I don't care about the phone # for this unit, so I can let the service expire and reactivate it the next time I need it.

Battery life was fair, I had to charge it up every 2-3 days. That was with leaving it on all the time (in airplane mode if not actively using data, which was maybe 15 minutes a day), playing 5-6 hours of music while hiking, making locally stored journal entries at the end of the day (there are a number of android journal apps available now) and for taking the occasional photo.

I used a 4400 mah battery pack to keep it alive between town stops, but I probably could have gotten away with a smaller and lighter 2200 mah battery pack.

The phone camera is only 3Meg, so I also carried a good point and shoot for high res photos and only used the phone camera for pictures I wanted to post to facebook.

[frontovik193]

I bought a really cheap ($10 on sale) LG Tracfone for the trail. If you don't use a lot of data, a $20 card is good for 3 months. If you do need more data, an extra $15 gets you 750Meg more. The main thing is if I break it, I don't loose much investment. Plus it will connect to pretty much any tower it can hear. I don't care about the phone # for this unit, so I can let the service expire and reactivate it the next time I need it.

Battery life was fair, I had to charge it up every 2-3 days. That was with leaving it on all the time (in airplane mode if not actively using data, which was maybe 15 minutes a day), playing 5-6 hours of music while hiking, making locally stored journal entries at the end of the day (there are a number of android journal apps available now) and for taking the occasional photo.

I used a 4400 mah battery pack to keep it alive between town stops, but I probably could have gotten away with a smaller and lighter 2200 mah battery pack.

The phone camera is only 3Meg, so I also carried a good point and shoot for high res photos and only used the phone camera for pictures I wanted to post to facebook.

The Droid maxx and tracphone both look like good cheap alternatives. I may end up going this route. I just can't justify spending the $500+ on a nice phone if there is a good chance it may get destroyed at some point. I think the biggest problem with going the cheap route is weight savings, (2-3 devices vs 1) but it is possible to make up for this in other departments especially if they are can all charge off of the same power source.

[rafe]

I have a three or four year old S4 that I still use daily and on hikes. Pretty amazing camera, considering.

I can only imagine what the newer models are like.

[-Rush-]

Hey folks, I am getting down to one of the most critical parts of planning for my AT thru next year, and that is budgeting.
While I am focusing on overhauling my entire hiking set up, I realize I need to set aside some money and research time for technology that I plan on bringing with me. I know that I do not want to take my current phone on a thru hike (Samsung Galaxy s4). Aside from being bulky and heavy, it usually overheats or dies the first day into a trip.
I am looking for either a device or a system that works and am open to ideas or suggestions.
My main concerns are being able to take pictures, listen to music, and make phone Calls (Internet access is a huge plus for making reservations and finding directions while in town, but I do not plan on using it to access social media while on the trail). I have spoke with some folks hiked with high end smartphones like the iPhone 6 ( most are out of my budget). Others chose to use cheaper phones that mostly stayed in the pack and used a lightweight mp3 player as well as a point and shoot camera.
Which system is more worthwhile to you, and are there any specific products you recommend I look into?
Thanks!

You certainly do not need a smartphone on the AT, but they are super helpful for a variety of reasons. When you think about it, a smartphone is one of the best multi-function devices you can carry and it's usually under 10oz with a protective case.

- Music
- Photos
- Video
- GPS
- Maps
- Journal
- Books
- Information gathering/research

I carry an iPhone 6S+ and it's been no issue whatsoever despite it being a larger phone. The photo/video quality is stellar, but not as good as my Canon S120, so I've been tempted to bring both.

[Odd Man Out]

You certainly do not need a smartphone on the AT, but they are super helpful for a variety of reasons. When you think about it, a smartphone is one of the best multi-function devices you can carry and it's usually under 10oz with a protective case.

- Music
- Photos
- Video
- GPS
- Maps
- Journal
- Books
- Information gathering/research

I carry an iPhone 6S+ and it's been no issue whatsoever despite it being a larger phone. The photo/video quality is stellar, but not as good as my Canon S120, so I've been tempted to bring both.

You forgot one. It can also be used for making phone calls ;-)

[Mags]

You forgot one. It can also be used for making phone calls ;-)

:) Apropos?

35352

[MuddyWaters]

Depends on your carrier.
Theres some great android phones in $250 range.

Look for nexus 5x unlocked to be cheap right before new model comes out.