Concerning Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, and Power.

[BobDole]

Hello all,

I love how I am able to bring up this topic amongst you all and not get laughed out of the forum. The fact that many of you understand exactly this issue is one of the best resources!

My issue is with regard to power. Im a slightly heavy user of electronics (spend large amounts of time on them), and I very desperately desire a severe reduction in that total time. In many ways, the comfort of home and the addiction to electronics/screens is what holds me back from travel moreso than anything else (though fear of the unknown helps too). I have worked in tech for far too long (since I was 9; 15 years ago now), and I hate it. I have attempted to minimize my tech, but I still feel some otherworldly pull back into overuse. I downsized my home computer to be an 11 year old iMac, which helps me learn patience, since it is much slower than my M1 Mac mini that was once my daily driver (which itself was a downgrade from my (at the time) top of the line gaming computer).

Without going too deep into nuances of my tech use, I primarily use tech for the following:

Watching Movies/Shows I like (primarily disaster movies, survival type shows like Mountain Men, some shows from my childhood like Scooby Doo)
Storing and viewing family photos and videos
YouTube videos (a main focus on educational type content in preparation for when I hit the road)
Writing and Research (I have published 74 books, and enjoy writing)
I would be a liar if I denied watching pornography, so there is also that (I lack a partner and my sexual anxiety sort of prohibits me from seeking out real connections; my religious trauma prevents me from accepting myself as a bisexual man)
Some light games, but nothing serious (mostly emulated Nintendo games from my youth)
Communication (with this forum, anarchist groups, friends/family, etc.)



I have two conflicting dreams. The first I have had since I was 5 - having a homestead in the Alaskan bush (Im from Alaska in all fairness), but the cost of land is what holds me back from this (I am NOT good with saving money). The second being squatting on land deep in the woods, which is somewhat of a combination between the desire for off-grid/homestead and also travel. I keep a lot of books (though I know my family is alright with storing them for me while Im on the road), which is one reason I tend to drift more towards that original dream of mine; since the second would likely require moving every now and again. I have also considered living on a mining claim, but I'm not so sold on that idea yet.

There are three paths forward with regards to technology that I see. These are my thoughts on the matter:

Laptop: I am an anarchist and work with some people for direct action. Therefor I recently took off stickers that might make it easy to identify me with. The laptop itself (an older MacBook Pro) is fantastic, and great for everything I listed as part of my use case. I prefer full sized keyboards for my writing, but the laptop's keyboard (recently replaced it) does the trick just fine. The laptop choice is also slightly nostalgic for me, as I grew up on a laptop that had no internet access, but it also had a DVD player. It ticks all the boxes for me, but since it is larger than my pocket, I oftentimes find myself at odds with it. The battery life is also of slight concern. On my phone I get 1-3 days of battery out of it (ALWAYS USE BATTERY SAVER), and even longer when it switches to it's e-ink mode (about 7 days of reading and short calls/texts). The laptop however gets about 8 hours if Im lucky. Battery life is a big concern for me. I know that I can always pack a solar panel or two for charging, and there are always unattended electrical sockets one can charge up with, but the panels introduce more weight, and the sockets can be hit or miss (unless you are able to sneak into new houses being built at night). The laptop is 13", and fits in a grab and go tech bag I keep in case some of my eco-anarchist action comes back to bite me in the rear. I can easily open up the back and remove the wifi and webcam cable, so as to prevent outgoing transmissions. For full scale action though, I never use macOS (I use old macOS versions like El Capitan) for this though; only ever use tails for communicating when I choose to go online). Perhaps I've said too much with regards to the action?

Tablet: The tablet that I have could be better. It is a decade old, so its slower (custom OS helps to speed it up and fully de-google/root it though). The screen is starting to separate, and so it creates ghost tapping, which can make using it a chore/headache. The ghost taps even deleted a file once! The size is great (8.4 inch) and fits (barely) in my pocket. I keep a lot of my data on MicroSD Cards (I 3D Printed a 24 slot round holder for them and a sim ejector tool and Micro to SD Adapter), which helps a lot since all my devices can accept MicroSD Cards, and with the help of a Sandisk Micro to SD Adapter, can work well with my MBP. The tablet has an above 2K display, though I do admittedly find that its higher PPI is of greater use, since it is technically a small screen, and my eyes are not sharp enough to tell a difference between 720p and 1080p, let alone 1080p/2k and 2160p/4k. I can't unplug the wifi or camera, due to how the device it built (entering into the mainboard would require removing the screen, not just the back), but my Custom OS makes me feel a bit better about not being spied on.

Phone: I have one of those TCL NXTPAPER Phones. Fantastic really, helps a TON with eyestrain, and feels genuinely like paper. Its e-ink modes helps me to focus when reading. That being said, unless I attach a keyboard and mouse via OTG cable, it is hard to write on. Even still, the size of the screen sort of dampens my ability to research and write at the same time. These are halfway acceptable trade-offs for having such a portable device. I used to hate smartphones due to issues many people have with phone addiction, but I genuinely don't have those issues (the only social media I use is YouTube (no account though) via NewPipe, Facebook for Messenger, and various forums like this one), so smartphones have been more of a blessing for me. This all said though, the privacy concerns certainly exist. I can't take the battery out of my phone, so I have to way to guarantee that its not still on, and of course we all know it listens 24/7, which is a big concern for anyone doing any type of protest/demonstration/eco-action, etc.). I also have radical texts/books on MicroSD Card, and I worry that those files are being scanned and uploaded to some server somewhere.

Power: This is the big one for me. The Laptop takes like 2-3 hours to charge, but gives me 8 hours of use normally. I have no idea about the tablet, since I rarely use it due to it's issues, and depending on how the answers/advice go on this, I may very well just get rid of it. The phone takes 2 hours to charge, and gives me anywhere between 1 day (full brightness, medium heavy video watching) to 7 days (e-ink mode, only reading books) of battery life. Battery life is a bigger decider for what I choose than I thought.

Anyway, that's about it folks. Any advice for me? I would prefer to stick with a device that I already have, rather than needing to go out to purchase yet another device (I am a regular down that road sadly). I try to practice digital/device minimalism, so getting everything onto a single device would be great, but I am fine with two devices. I also have a kindle, but I love that thing too much to get rid of it (even if my phone can do the same things just about).

 

[ali]

If your primary goal is power usage, newer tech is better than old tech, I'm afraid. As transistor density gets higher, power usage for the same amount of processing power gets lower. Similarly, anything with a physically spinning drive is a bad idea - CD or hard disk, just get rid of it, the nostalgia kick is not worth the extra draw. SSD or bust. Battery tech has also improved over the years, though not as much as the efficiency of the chipsets. The one exception is displays, which are getting more and more pixels, and to drive those pixels you need to use more processing, so finding a device with lower res would probably be better than higher res, if you are really trying to min/max. This is more a problem for phones than laptops, though.

Don't play 3D games, or if you do, prefer a low res. Steam Deck is 720p for a reason. Media-wise when decoding video picking a less complex codec may make a small difference, especially if the codec is supported natively in your chipset, but I imagine keeping the backlight on while you watch is still going to dwarf the cost of decoding it. It's possible that driving headphones might be cheaper than driving speakers, and lower impedance headphones will draw less power, but since modern devices lost the headphone amp anyway I'm not sure if it would be more efficient to listen on speakers or bluetooth. At this point you're really talking edge cases, though.

The answer to "what should I bring traveling" is always the same. As little as possible. Redundant tools are a waste. If you are emotionally attached to stuff that you feel you cannot bear to lose, you are either going to have a miserable time on the road, or you will never get out there in the first place.

If you want to type, get a small, cheap bluetooth keyboard. If you want a larger screen, keep the tablet and ditch the laptop. You already have an eink phone, no need to lug a Kindle around for reading. You already don't trust Apple, so keep your rooted Android tablet instead, or consider purchasing a Linux tablet. Bear in mind non-Android Linux has a reputation for not having the greatest power management features, at least when compared to proprietary operating systems with device drivers straight from the hardware manufacturer, but the trade-off is you get a full-blown desktop operating system. In any case, if you ditch the laptop you could carry multiple power banks for the same weight and that should last you much longer. It's also way less annoying if you leave a power bank plugged in charging somewhere and some asshole steals it than if they stole your actual device.

Make sure that everything you own charges from USB, period. Including low-tech electrical devices like head lamp. If it has a custom charging connector, get rid of it. One exception might be non-rechargeable bluetooth mouse or keyboard, but a couple of AAAs should last you weeks or months and you can pick up replacements anywhere. Don't get any devices that need dongles, they are less likely to survive rugged travel than ones which connect with bluetooth and much harder or even impossible to replace. If you don't trust bluetooth for whatever reason or don't want to carry more stuff then suck it up and use the on-screen keyboard. Sure, maybe it's uncomfortable, but so is sleeping on the ground in the rain, and that's just part of travel. You'll either get used to it or you won't.

 

[BobDole]

If your primary goal is power usage, newer tech is better than old tech, I'm afraid. As transistor density gets higher, power usage for the same amount of processing power gets lower. Similarly, anything with a physically spinning drive is a bad idea - CD or hard disk, just get rid of it, the nostalgia kick is not worth the extra draw. SSD or bust. Battery tech has also improved over the years, though not as much as the efficiency of the chipsets. The one exception is displays, which are getting more and more pixels, and to drive those pixels you need to use more processing, so finding a device with lower res would probably be better than higher res, if you are really trying to min/max. This is more a problem for phones than laptops, though.

Don't play 3D games, or if you do, prefer a low res. Steam Deck is 720p for a reason. Media-wise when decoding video picking a less complex codec may make a small difference, especially if the codec is supported natively in your chipset, but I imagine keeping the backlight on while you watch is still going to dwarf the cost of decoding it. It's possible that driving headphones might be cheaper than driving speakers, and lower impedance headphones will draw less power, but since modern devices lost the headphone amp anyway I'm not sure if it would be more efficient to listen on speakers or bluetooth. At this point you're really talking edge cases, though.

The answer to "what should I bring traveling" is always the same. As little as possible. Redundant tools are a waste. If you are emotionally attached to stuff that you feel you cannot bear to lose, you are either going to have a miserable time on the road, or you will never get out there in the first place.

If you want to type, get a small, cheap bluetooth keyboard. If you want a larger screen, keep the tablet and ditch the laptop. You already have an eink phone, no need to lug a Kindle around for reading. You already don't trust Apple, so keep your rooted Android tablet instead, or consider purchasing a Linux tablet. Bear in mind non-Android Linux has a reputation for not having the greatest power management features, at least when compared to proprietary operating systems with device drivers straight from the hardware manufacturer, but the trade-off is you get a full-blown desktop operating system. In any case, if you ditch the laptop you could carry multiple power banks for the same weight and that should last you much longer. It's also way less annoying if you leave a power bank plugged in charging somewhere and some asshole steals it than if they stole your actual device.

Make sure that everything you own charges from USB, period. Including low-tech electrical devices like head lamp. If it has a custom charging connector, get rid of it. One exception might be non-rechargeable bluetooth mouse or keyboard, but a couple of AAAs should last you weeks or months and you can pick up replacements anywhere. Don't get any devices that need dongles, they are less likely to survive rugged travel than ones which connect with bluetooth and much harder or even impossible to replace. If you don't trust bluetooth for whatever reason or don't want to carry more stuff then suck it up and use the on-screen keyboard. Sure, maybe it's uncomfortable, but so is sleeping on the ground in the rain, and that's just part of travel. You'll either get used to it or you won't.

I do believe you are right. A lot of it is subjective, and I do feel as though having lower res when possible helps, especially with battery. Within reason, of course!

I keep hard drives full of my main data and spare data that I don't mind using. For family photos/videos, I have 4 backups and 1 main, two of those three of those backups being on hard drives. All hard drives are kept at my parent's place though, in the event I do finally make it out into the real world to travel. Some things, I am certain I don't want to lose, even if it means being a bit larger/heavier and remaining hundreds or thousands of miles away from me, especially with regard to my family photos/videos.

I am waiting on external SSD prices to come down at least 50 percent, or for 4TB micros to come out next year (already announced, but no idea about price or hardware compatibility since its a different standard).

With regard to resolution, I feel it. My 2014 tablet has between a 2k and a 4k display, but it does drain power. I might sell it and order a replacement tablet, though I'm not sure. Im still fairly stuck on wanting to keep the laptop since it can do way more than the tablet can. The main drawback of course being battery life. Even a brand new battery wouldn't last as long as my phone though.

Regarding media codecs, is AV1 really all its cracked up to be? I've never done any kind of real test between devices for real world use, I just know the general figures. Ive heard H265/x265 tend to use more power, and Im worried AV1 might be the same, especially on a 2014 tablet or a 2015 MacBook Pro. Then again, my phone (TCL 50 XE NXTPAPER 5G) has a 720x1612p screen, so that may turn out to be the better option for saving power. The big drawback being the smaller screen, and not being able to write without an external keyboard hooked up via OTG cable.

Thankfully all my devices have headphone port. That and an SD/MicroSD slot are non-negotiable for me.

What you say rings true, especially regarding "never getting out of there". I've been spinning my wheels for years. Partly because of comfort, partly fear of the unknown, but Ive realized (partly from your response) that I keep trying to find the "perfect" device as well, which drains me of cash, and my time. The time to live is indeed now (though with winter approaching - well, I'm sure you know the common excuses I/we all make to avoid actually hitting the road).

Regarding batteries, I purchased a rechargeable battery pack (though one got stuck in a Magic Trackpad, so I'm down one, but I did find 2 extra, so it made up for it), which claims to last for 1,300 cycles. Heres hoping that claim is correct.

Thank you for the advice. I hope my response to it didn't come off as apprehensive, as that wasn't my intention. We (I am more guilty of this than others, I am sure of it) all tend to make excuses for the things we keep and the reasons why. To hear sound advice that sort of upsets those excuses with logical points, well, it is jarring, but is indeed much needed. Truly, you have helped me in many ways!

 

[ali]

If you have someone with a house who can store all your stuff while you go on the road, that makes everything so much easier. Just leave everything with your parents, take the bare minimum, and if you're 7 days in and really find that you cannot live without some of your stuff, ask them to forward you on the thing you're missing. Or just go back and get it.

The thing is, you'll never know if you never go.

The only thing you can really be certain of when you head out traveling without any particular goal or destination is that shit will be whatever it is. Some brand new piece of gear which should be indestructible will fall apart at the most inopportune moment. When packing all your stuff up you'll forget or lose something that meant the world to you. If you're lucky a month later you'll find it again inside the lining of your sleeping bag or whatever. Strangers will give you food and money. Strangers will curse you out and call the police. Nothing is guaranteed, so the most important thing is learning to be adaptable. For this reason, there will never be a perfect piece of equipment. Even if there was, circumstances might occur that render it unusable for the situation. If you're not willing to bend like a reed, be like water... you will have a bad time.

So back on tech, i think hands down a phone is the single best piece of equipment you can take traveling today. Offline maps. Offline translations. Wikipedia. GPS. Emergency services. Weather report. Public transport schedules. More free books and stuff to read than the Great Library of Alexandria. Bring a phone and a power bank, make sure you have a data SIM, you will be safe, informed and entertained for days. Preferably a cheap phone, so when it inevitably breaks you can buy another one.

Anything beyond that should be based on any special personal requirements you have. For example, i choose to travel with a high-end tablet (Surface Pro). It's expensive and fragile and it would suck a lot if it died, but i am a software developer and a gamer and a hobbyist electronic musician, so having a bit of kit that can run VS Code and Steam and Ableton is worth it to me. Some people i know who are just gamers and/or Linux enthusiasts prefer the Steam Deck because they don't need Windows software or they'd rather have 3D acceleration than a slim form factor. If you do not need desktop software at all but you do want a larger screen for watching shows, then an Android tablet is just fine. Nowadays tons of useful stuff runs on Android, and especially if you plug a keyboard and root it you can do a hell of a lot. Even still, plenty of Apple nerds will never be torn away from their Macbooks or iPads. Train riders like to bring scanners. Hikers like personal locator beacons. Photographers carry around DSLRs. But all this stuff is optional because end of the day a phone will get you 99% of the way there for everything a traveler really needs aside from these specialist hobbies.

Imo it is much better to go traveling with not enough stuff and then only pick up what you need after you realize it's missing, than to haul around a bunch of shit that you either don't use, or is so fiddly and frustrating to use that it's not worth the effort. Alternatively, if you are a pack rat who cannot give anything up, consider rubber tramping instead, then you can bring all sorts of luxuries that people on foot or bicycle cannot.

There will always be an excuse not to go, or to postpone your journey. If you want to do it - and especially if you have a support network that can look after all your shit that you don't bring - just do it. Hell, just go for a few days, or a week. It will become very clear very quickly what's useful and what isn't.

 

[BobDole]

If you have someone with a house who can store all your stuff while you go on the road, that makes everything so much easier. Just leave everything with your parents, take the bare minimum, and if you're 7 days in and really find that you cannot live without some of your stuff, ask them to forward you on the thing you're missing. Or just go back and get it.

The thing is, you'll never know if you never go.

The only thing you can really be certain of when you head out traveling without any particular goal or destination is that shit will be whatever it is. Some brand new piece of gear which should be indestructible will fall apart at the most inopportune moment. When packing all your stuff up you'll forget or lose something that meant the world to you. If you're lucky a month later you'll find it again inside the lining of your sleeping bag or whatever. Strangers will give you food and money. Strangers will curse you out and call the police. Nothing is guaranteed, so the most important thing is learning to be adaptable. For this reason, there will never be a perfect piece of equipment. Even if there was, circumstances might occur that render it unusable for the situation. If you're not willing to bend like a reed, be like water... you will have a bad time.

So back on tech, i think hands down a phone is the single best piece of equipment you can take traveling today. Offline maps. Offline translations. Wikipedia. GPS. Emergency services. Weather report. Public transport schedules. More free books and stuff to read than the Great Library of Alexandria. Bring a phone and a power bank, make sure you have a data SIM, you will be safe, informed and entertained for days. Preferably a cheap phone, so when it inevitably breaks you can buy another one.

Anything beyond that should be based on any special personal requirements you have. For example, i choose to travel with a high-end tablet (Surface Pro). It's expensive and fragile and it would suck a lot if it died, but i am a software developer and a gamer and a hobbyist electronic musician, so having a bit of kit that can run VS Code and Steam and Ableton is worth it to me. Some people i know who are just gamers and/or Linux enthusiasts prefer the Steam Deck because they don't need Windows software or they'd rather have 3D acceleration than a slim form factor. If you do not need desktop software at all but you do want a larger screen for watching shows, then an Android tablet is just fine. Nowadays tons of useful stuff runs on Android, and especially if you plug a keyboard and root it you can do a hell of a lot. Even still, plenty of Apple nerds will never be torn away from their Macbooks or iPads. Train riders like to bring scanners. Hikers like personal locator beacons. Photographers carry around DSLRs. But all this stuff is optional because end of the day a phone will get you 99% of the way there for everything a traveler really needs aside from these specialist hobbies.

Imo it is much better to go traveling with not enough stuff and then only pick up what you need after you realize it's missing, than to haul around a bunch of shit that you either don't use, or is so fiddly and frustrating to use that it's not worth the effort. Alternatively, if you are a pack rat who cannot give anything up, consider rubber tramping instead, then you can bring all sorts of luxuries that people on foot or bicycle cannot.

There will always be an excuse not to go, or to postpone your journey. If you want to do it - and especially if you have a support network that can look after all your shit that you don't bring - just do it. Hell, just go for a few days, or a week. It will become very clear very quickly what's useful and what isn't.

I am reminded of a doctor doom quote. "More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision if the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind".