computers

Netbooks are great - there are several now: Acer (which we have) Toshiba
HP and others. They only weight about 2 lbs with a small battery (though larger batteries are good to have). My husband packs his netbook with its small battery and takes the larger (9 cell, I think) one packed in the bottom of his carry-on. We use it for Skype and email. I also carry an IPod Touch with WiFi (not IPhone) - it has a Skype app and works great for audio connections (no video, though). It also is better for quick checks of email because it doesn't need the start up time that a laptop needs.

I agree, a netbook is the way to go. Mine is an Asus, purchased at Best Buy for less than $300. It has wifi and a built-in video camera, so it's perfect for Skype. It's also nice to have to store photos on to free up my memory card.

iPad is light, long battery time and is easily hidden away. There is a Skype app that works well.....also, it is great for downtime on trains and planes.

If all you want to do is email and Skyp, and iPad might work, although a little cumbersome. However, I use my Netbook for real computing, and an iPad would be totally inadequate.

Checkout Dell's Mini netbook: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-mini1018/pd

I was on the village italy trip in oct and took my Samsung netbook with me and almost every hotel we stayed at had free wifi in the lobby area. The netbook is small and I would not travel anywhere without my netbook.

Unless you need computing capabilities, a smartphone is sufficient. Our iPhone has a Skype app for phone calls and is easy to use for email, both when on wifi; coupled with a data roaming package for occasional web use when wifi isn't available it is a great tool for travel abroad. Netbooks are good for processing and uploading photos to the internet and for word processing, so if you need those applications, get a netbook but be aware that the keyboards are smaller than normal. My Asus Eeepc is very useful but I hate the keyboard.

I have a Gateway netbook (I'm using it right now) and an Ipod Touch. I have taken just the Ipod on a couple of trips and checked email with it, but frankly it was not that great for sending emails. I love having the netbook, and took it on my last couple of trips because it is much easier for emails, I can Skype with it, I can store pictures on it, etc. I bought it at Best Buy with the larger battery for under $300. We also have a regular sized laptop, but I almost exclusively use my netbook. I also take my Ipod for music, etc. and I keep it with me while out touring for podcasts and a few occasions I have used a wifi spot to check something out. I think it would be a pain to have to locate and use an Internet Cafe.

Sam's Club has a HP network for 228 on Black Friday. Guess I'll be spending Thanksgiving Day/night in the line there. @2303 - edited prce is 228 not 288 - my bad

Spend the extra money and get a MACBook. Then don't worry about all the virus and security problems that you will encounter on foreign internet access.

I've traveled to Europe and Asia 10+ times since I've gotten my windows based Dell Mini netbook. Not once has been infected by a virus from "foreign internet access".

I have the Dell Mini 10 and love it. Whatever notebook you get....be sure to get a very good wireless card.

Dennis, As the others have said, a Netbook is a good choice as they're compact, designed for long battery life and include Wi-Fi, a built-in Camera in the front and most include a 250 GB HD. However, it's important to note that Netbooks are not designed for, or capable of many processor-intensive tasks such as gaming or photo processing, and they usually don't include a DVD drive (however, a drive can be attached via USB). I decided to travel with a Netbook for the first time this year, and it will be with me on every trip from now on! I was thankful that I had it on numerous occasions, including those times when there was a queue of people waiting to use the ONE computer supplied by the Hotel. I'm normally a huge fan of MAC computers which I use at home, but at the time of my purchase my only option was a Windows-7 model. As I used PC's at work, getting used to the different OS wasn't an issue. After much research, I decided on a Toshiba NB-305 with 250GB HD, an extra 1GB RAM, Virus protection software and MS Office. It's worked extremely well so far (check the reviews on AMAZON - they seem to be very good). I've looked at the new MacBook Air (which was released after my purchase) but IMHO Apple still hasn't quite found the right formula. One of my primary uses for a "travel computer" is photo storage, and therefore a HD is essential. 128 GB of flash storage just isn't going to work for me, as the Memory Cards I have on hand are equal to about half that amount! Of course the other significant disadvantage of the 11" MacBook Air is that it's THREE TIMES THE COST of my Netbook! A Smartphone or iPod Touch will work (and I've tried that), but working with the small screen and Keyboard gets to be a bit tedious very quickly. Good luck and happy travels!

I use the same (free) anti-virus software on my netbook that I do on my home computer, and I have never had a problem with viruses from "foreign internet access", either.

I just got back from a 3 week trip to SE Asia, and took my iPad. Loooong flights (18 hours!), 2 weeks in a very remote, isolated location (electricity but no media, limited Internet). It was just about perfect. Light, incredible battery life, it served as a perfect media device: I ripped about a dozen DVDs from netflix before leaving, so we had movies on demand whenever we wanted. Brought along more than a dozen books in electronic format. Maps of cities, countries, and airports. Apps for finding good restaurants (and free wifi). It's a perfect travel computer - so light and handy - no way I would lug a laptop or net book. Only problem is anytime someone sees it, they want to play with it. Now, if only a certain European travel book publisher would start releasing electronic versions of their titles....It would be about perfect. How about it, guys? I want to ditch the paper versions and save some trees on my next European trip...

Some of Rick Steves' books are available in the Kindle store which can then be read on the iPad. I hope there will be more in 2011.
I wish there were more travel books available digitally it is the perfect combination iPad and travel books.

David, thanks for making the plug for iPad. Those that haven't tried it, have no idea what they are missing. The greatest travel tool in a long time.

Agreed, Michael. It's not quite perfect (I have just a couple gripes about it, which I expect will be addressed in subsequent models), but it sure beats the pants off anything else out there. Nearly ideal for traveling. I just need the blue books available in the proper format (hint hint...).