Well the countdown is on.
We leave in t-minus 4 days and the packing is getting serious over here. One of the most important things we had to take into consideration when packing for this trip was the tech we would need to stay connected as well as what we would need to make home schooling a lot easier. We obviously needed to think about the size and weight of each item and the multi-purpose capabilities of everything. So after some research and some online shopping, here is what he have put together:
The Tablets and Cases ~
Choosing which tablets to purchase for the trip was pretty easy for us. As a household we don't have any apple products. Our phones are Samsung and we have always been more on the PC side of things. The obvious choice was to go with the fully compatible S2 Samsung tablets. We opted for the 9 inch screen so that it could double as a TV when needed and I needed to make sure that it would be easy enough for me to use for blogging and vlogging.
The tablet itself isn't very heavy and has a pretty slim profile. We also opted for a full tough case with a pop out stand. After reading many reviews, we went with this one HERE. Although the little stand on the back isn't the strongest, the fully enclosed case should help protect it from the fearsome 2 year old.
Also... we bought two tablets and cases. We knew we would need more than one so that we could get schooling done efficiently each day.
The Mouse ~
Nothing fancy. Just a small, lightweight mouse with USB charger and bluetooth capability. It should work for what we need it for. You can find this little guy HERE and it comes in lots of fun colours.
The Keyboard ~
Here is probably my favourite part of our little setup. David mentioned that he had a friend in college that had a cool foldable keyboard and I knew we had to find one. Just the idea of having something super compact that traveled with all of the keys enclosed and protected!? Perfect.
We looked into quite a few options. There are lots on the market, including tri-fold and a few that have some pretty fancy features. This one is bluetooth capable and USB charging and it was also very affordable. It comes with a slide on case that also has a slot to hold your device. To be honest, the angle on the screen when it is in this slot is a thousand times better than when we use the stand on the back of the cases themselves. I am going to call this one a major win-win. You can find it HERE.
The Camera ~
So this was actually the first purchase that we made. We sold our old Canon DSLR with the hope of rolling the cash from that purchase right over into a new camera. I had done some research on mirrorless cameras and I knew that it would be the best option to fulfill our needs. With good quality photos, HD video capabilities and full WIFI connectivity, it pretty much checks all of the boxes. To be able to pull media off of the camera without having to make an actual physical connection is huge.
Dave did a little searching and actually found this little guy as a open box item at Bestbuy. It ended up coming in under the amount that we sold the DSLR for, so we actually came out on top. I have to play around this one a little bit more.... but it is so mice and compact!
Because almost everything is USB charged and has a mini USB connection, We really only have to bring one cord and block. So in the end, this is chat the entire setup looks like. We picked up a nice little wet bag from MEC and it all fits inside nicely. All in all we are pretty happy with the amount of space we will save and the convienience of everything. Now.... lets hope the WIFI in each location is decent.
More soon!
Steph
