Email, writing, pocketmail type device etc.

[Christian Torp]

Lord willing I'm going to thru-hike this year (March 10 on) and I'm looking for some type of device that allows me to receive and send emails (whether by payphone, internet connection etc.) and write with (i.e. journal), possible also use to send digital photographs. Also, cost is a factor, not that if it costs more for the right equipment I couldn't come up with the money, though it is a criteria. I've seen references to Pocketmail but it looks like their no longer in business. Can anyone point me to something that fits the bill.

[Spokes]

Payphone? What's that? You won't see hardly any on a thru hike except the infamous one at Abol Bridge- eats quarters faster than a Vegas one arm bandit......

Hmmm, does that mean you don't want to carry a smartphone? It's the most convenient. Do the FaceBook thing or set up a free WordPress.com account and add posts on the fly, upload pics, and even record audio updates. Bear in mind data connectivity can be an issue on the trail. Or, you could just carry a cheap cell phone and do audio updates with a free www.trailphone.net account.

In 2008, I just carried a regular flip phone and kept a paper journal. When I got to town I mailed my daily writings and camera memory card (carried a bunch of cheap ones I got off eBay) to a friend back home who acted as a transcriber. Worked remarkably well. Now I carry an iPhone......

Cheers!

[Sailing_Faith]

Might a Kindle be solution? Could type emails, use with 3G, and have a book reader to boot.

What say the gallery?

[Spokes]

That's a great suggestion. I love my Kindle. Fits great in a gallon size freezer ziplock bag too.

[RWheeler]

Plus with the Kindle, you could save each of the entries to submit at a later time if you don't have immediate data connection!

[Christian Torp]

Now the Kindles, I looked online but I couldn't find any info of substance. Can I use it as a word processer and store documents on it? If the battery dies, will I loose all my writing? Can I email from it, can it receive emails? Does it have a camera, does it take pictures? So on and so forth and many thanks.

[Slo-go'en]

With the possible exception of the new Kindle Fire, they are not very suitable for even basic web browsing and they have no word processing ability to speak of. I belive the Kindle fire uses the Android operating system, so there are many apps which will work on it. The down side is the 8 hour (at best) battery life. But that's a week or so if you only use it about an hour a day. You will also have to find an open Wi-Fi network to connect too, but that isn't too hard to find in most towns.

Since I already have an older Kindle (like last years model) I've been debating if I should spend another 200 on the Fire, but I would really like to see what it can do. There maybe some less expensive tablets available which can do the job, but picking one is a shot in the dark.

[RWheeler]

Kindles all have a primitive-style browser (that on the Kindle Fire is much more polished, but the rest are very minimal). Using this to access an email service or a cloud-based word processor (i.e. Google Docs) will allow you to create documents that will be retrievable even if the battery on the device dies. Models offer either Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi+3G. I'm unsure as to the 3G connectivity of the device, as I've only used Wi-Fi models.

I don't think any Kindle models have a camera.

[BJStuart]

If funds are tight, I'd say get an older Android phone from ebay - you don't need to get phone service with it. There are lots of older phones out there that would do what you're asking. I picked up a Motorola Droid for $30, it can do everything you ask & with the $10 app Backcountry Navigator it is a GPS too. You could write & store documents & emails, take pictures, read books etc. You would then connect to any wifi you encounter to actually send & check your email or browse the web.

[Spokes]

If funds are tight, I'd say get an older Android phone from ebay - you don't need to get phone service with it. There are lots of older phones out there that would do what you're asking. I picked up a Motorola Droid for $30, it can do everything you ask & with the $10 app Backcountry Navigator it is a GPS too. You could write & store documents & emails, take pictures, read books etc. You would then connect to any wifi you encounter to actually send & check your email or browse the web.

Freakin' amazing. I never thought about that.

[Christian Torp]

Maybe I should have added a second caveat: I don't really want to (and honestly I'm not going to) "write" by clicking buttons on a cellphone like I'm texting, I'd like either a keyboard or maybe some kind of character recognition (if it works well) that I can just write on. I'm crippled, my right arm doesn't work so I've got to take this into account.

[RWheeler]

If funds are tight, I'd say get an older Android phone from ebay - you don't need to get phone service with it. There are lots of older phones out there that would do what you're asking. I picked up a Motorola Droid for $30, it can do everything you ask & with the $10 app Backcountry Navigator it is a GPS too. You could write & store documents & emails, take pictures, read books etc. You would then connect to any wifi you encounter to actually send & check your email or browse the web.

I wasn't aware you could download apps without a mobile contract, though. And some phones (based on version of the OS) would require it to be rooted to enable Wi-Fi without a contract as well. Either a rooted phone, or an "unlocked" phone (i.e. not tied to one specific carrier - T-Mobile phones are especially notorious for completely disabling the phone without a data package).

Just a heads up.

[Miner]

Maybe I should have added a second caveat: I don't really want to (and honestly I'm not going to) "write" by clicking buttons on a cellphone like I'm texting, I'd like either a keyboard or maybe some kind of character recognition (if it works well) that I can just write on. I'm crippled, my right arm doesn't work so I've got to take this into account.

You can connect an external bluetooth keyboard to many smartphones and type with that. I know Gadget who hiked the CDT this year and the AT last year did that (his journal is on postholer and he does post here on whiteblaze occasionally).

[Rusty Nail]

I have a droid, other than my fully functional droid that I am doing this with. However I am not sure about the gps capabilities without a contract or wifi. I have never tried it. Just tried it with wifi on and its a champ, turned wifi off and it could not find me.

If you do pick up a used droid do a hard reset, if it has not been done already, and then you tube exactly to to get around the set up that would require you to "contract" your phone. For me it was as easy as tapping the 4 corners of the screen to skip the registration.

[Rusty Nail]

most droids have the ability to press the mic button on the keyboard and the just talk, if you PRONUNCIATE it is pretty accurate. This could be for anything text, email, blog, forum, ect. Anywhere you would type you can talk-to-text. Seems like the perfect solution for anyone with fat fingers or a problem typing on a small pad.

[RWheeler]

I have a droid, other than my fully functional droid that I am doing this with. However I am not sure about the gps capabilities without a contract or wifi. I have never tried it. Just tried it with wifi on and its a champ, turned wifi off and it could not find me.

If you do pick up a used droid do a hard reset, if it has not been done already, and then you tube exactly to to get around the set up that would require you to "contract" your phone. For me it was as easy as tapping the 4 corners of the screen to skip the registration.


most droids have the ability to press the mic button on the keyboard and the just talk, if you PRONUNCIATE it is pretty accurate. This could be for anything text, email, blog, forum, ect. Anywhere you would type you can talk-to-text. Seems like the perfect solution for anyone with fat fingers or a problem typing on a small pad.

The speech-to-text feature still requires some kind of data connection, either mobile or Wi-Fi. So as long as it's a phone that is unlocked and able to enable Wi-Fi without a working SIM card, it's all golden in those situations. However, access to Wi-Fi would be limited on the trail, so this wouldn't ultimately be the best option for journal writing. You could use the typing keyboard without that data connection (meaning the phone could be left in airplane mode to save battery, as well) while away.

The 4-corner thing doesn't really skip the "Contract" phase, it just skips linking a Google account to the phone, so phones with locked-down firmware will continue to be locked down, and those that aren't will be usable as normal. Long story short, as long as you choose a phone that doesn't have restricted firmware, you should be able to use it off-contract.

[BrianLe]

Great ideas, the idea of buying a cheap smartphone without service is a good one --- indeed, if you can make it work.

When I originally bought my Droid X, I didn't want to start the contract yet, and ultimately had to call Verizon to figure out how to get past the "set up your phone" stuff so I could use it as a general purpose device. But they talked me through the secret steps over the phone. Since then, I've gone to a different smartphone as the Droid X was way too expensive to use as a cell phone for an infrequent cell phone user like myself. But I still own it and use it infrequently around the house as a sort of mini-tablet. At least in this case, I absolutely can download and install apps off the android market via wi-fi without having cell service of any kind.

I did indeed use a bluetooth (wireless) folding keyboard for thru-hiking, and while it adds some weight, I found it worth carrying. For the CDT I used a Freedom Pro keyboard, http://freedominput.com/freedom-accessories/freedom-pro-keyboard
It took me literally months before I figured out that this unit got flakey in cold temperatures, but if I pre-warmed it by putting it inside my clothes for a while, it worked very reliably.

I've never rooted a phone, but if I had the need and didn't have a cell contract or cell service, and I wasn't concerned about getting operating system updates --- i.e., if I were in the situation of the person who posted the original question --- I'd be quite happy to read up and do that.

OP: if you're inclined to have a fairly low budget cell phone as part of this deal as well, I suggest that you look at the pre-paid (pay-as-you-go, no contract) options for T-Mobile and AT&T. For trail use, AT&T will be the best. This is what I did after the CDT, I went to an LG Thrive model using AT&T's "GoPhone" service. I put $100 on it and the minutes don't expire for a year, and that's generally more than I need (so the unused minutes roll over when I add another $100 a year later). No fuss, no muss, and the phone wasn't too-o expensive. In particular what I did was look at lower end smartphones supported by AT&T on their gophone plan, then narrowed down to one that ran Android, had a camera and built-in GPS chipset. Then to make things easy, I bought it via amazon.com along with a little rubber protective sheath a spare battery, and a screen protector. I'm NOT saying that's for you, but at this point if this sort of approach sounds good, have a look at something like the $120 "AT&T Avail Prepaid Android GoPhone". You could put on just enough minutes to use this as a cell phone for your trip and then stop paying more, or at least until you again wanted a cell phone.

[LDog]

Maybe I should have added a second caveat: I don't really want to (and honestly I'm not going to) "write" by clicking buttons on a cellphone like I'm texting, I'd like either a keyboard or maybe some kind of character recognition (if it works well) that I can just write on. I'm crippled, my right arm doesn't work so I've got to take this into account.

I use Swype on my droid smart phone. It is a virtual keyboard that lets you trace your finger from one character to the next. With just a little practice, it works very well.

[RWheeler]

I use Skype on my droid smart phone. It is a virtual keyboard that lets you trace your finger from one character to the next. With just a little practice, it works very well.

I think you mean Swype. If so, it's an excellent interface. I've been using it for about two years now. Learning curve is a few days, though, for sure. But after that point, it's beyond fast, simple, and accurate.

[hunter121]

Very very cool, and thanks for the lesson! I love your unique ink!
http://www.primeaffiliate.com/track/images/20.creation.jpg
http://www.canadablackberry.com/imgs/images/2.tod.gif

[QiWiz]

iPhone is a great multitasking piece of gear. I know some will disagree. I've been wrong before. Just the other day, I said I made a mistake, but turned out I was wrong about that.

[Pages]

how about an 11" macbook air? small and somewhat light. not nearly as light as a phone but much more capability.

TV

[Theosus]

iPhone is a great multitasking piece of gear. I know some will disagree. I've been wrong before. Just the other day, I said I made a mistake, but turned out I was wrong about that.

Completely agree. Match it with that freedom pro portable keyboard and it looks very promising. The only problem will be batteries. If you just turn it on at night, with the brightness down low, and on "airplane mode" with all the network stuff off but Bluetooth, you get much better life from the batteries. If you get a portable charger, turn the phone off when you plug it in. The charger works much better.
I've used my iPhone with a non folding apple keyboard and I love it. But it's too heavy and big to cart around. I really hope newer iPhones will be compatible with the iPad camera dongle. I love using my iPad on the road, popping the camera card in it and posting my stuff. But it doesn't work on the phone. Oddly enough you can hook the iPhone to the iPad and transfer photos, though.

[Rusty Nail]

The 4-corner thing doesn't really skip the "Contract" phase, it just skips linking a Google account to the phone, so phones with locked-down firmware will continue to be locked down, and those that aren't will be usable as normal. Long story short, as long as you choose a phone that doesn't have restricted firmware, you should be able to use it off-contract.

contract was the wrong term, "set up" is what I was getting at. The is a step where you must call in to register the phone before even getting to use it. That is what I was able to get around with the 4 corners. Now the phone is app and wifi only but that is all I wanted it for.

[RichardD]

I went through the same process of trynig to find a way to type and transmit my trail Journal entries prior to my thru hike last Summer. Although it might not work for you I ditched all of the technology and hand wrote my entries, at towns I snail mailed them to my wife and she typed them into Trailjournals. I did not have to worry about having to charge a device at a hostel or restaurant and it involved my wife with my hike immesurably more than if I had posted electronically.
Do not underestimate the hassle of trying to find a socket at a hostel to charge your electronics, they are in very high demmand. In restaurants hikers were looking for sockets BEFORE buying a beer or hamburger!!!
A plain old notebook and a pen with a few small envelopes and stamps worked very well for me, but of course I had a very willing wife at home who was happy to type my entries.

[BJStuart]

I wasn't aware you could download apps without a mobile contract, though. And some phones (based on version of the OS) would require it to be rooted to enable Wi-Fi without a contract as well. Either a rooted phone, or an "unlocked" phone (i.e. not tied to one specific carrier - T-Mobile phones are especially notorious for completely disabling the phone without a data package).

Just a heads up.

That's true; I can confirm that the Verizon Droid will work but others may not. What I do is put it in Airplane Mode & then turn on the WiFi, which stops it from looking for the cell towers. The GPS won't get an initial fix this way, so I have to turn off Airplane Mode and then go into the GPS program (Navfree for road use, Backcountry Navigator for off road); once it's locked I can then go back into Airplane Mode to save on battery. Downloading apps works just fine with just the WiFi. It's a bit of a pain, but it's ok for me; at some point I might get a mini tablet from Samsung or something but they're a couple of hundred bucks.
The Droid has a sliding mini keyboard, so it's ok for typing on but I wouldn't want to do too much more than short emails. That's the downside of such a small device.