To bring a Netbook or not?

I took my netbook last trip and it did come in handy for emails and such (and some banking things to keep track of) and killing time on FB waiting for slowpoke husband. That being said, I am questioning taking it this trip as I got an ipod and can do some emails and web surfing with that. But if it would only be to email your sister, I'd leave it...just one more thing to worry about breaking...you can buy calling cards and use that to call you sis - it's always nice to hear a familiar voice when travelling

I take my netbook everytime. I find that the weight is minimal and all our hotels have some sort of wi-fi. It is great for free SKYPE calls back home and useful for updating travel plans. I also use it to back up all my photos (just in case). I would suspect unless you are staying in the ****hotels,the business centres would be somewhat limited compared to home. Have a great trip.

Few hotels outside of business class ones will have computers available for guest use. WiFi is sometimes free for guests and sometimes there is a charge. If you only need it for an occassional email and could call briefly, leave it. I use my netbook for posting photos to Facebook, emailing, keeping a journal, backing up digital photos, etc... Make sure you turn off any data roaming on smart phones, tablets, IPads, etc... Use only the WiFi or turn on data roaming only when you need to check. Otherwise, people have gotten gigantic bills...

We leave tomorrow for Italy. I'm taking my Nook for reading, iphone for texts home and my ipad. I downloaded (rented ) some movies to watch on the ipad, and I plan to check and post photos to Facebook for my friends back home. I've decided this trip to download each day's photos to the ipad as well so I have my pictures in 2 places for safety. If the weight isn't too much, take it. You will use it. And if you don't you will know for the next time!

For the past 5 years I've taken my Acer with me; fits into my daybag w/my ereader and both have becme essential tools on my trips. I Skype, email and make rez with it - plus watching our back home newscasts
(DH's sports). Wouldn't travel w/o it.

We took our Acer with us last year and will take it again next year. It came in handy to check emails and to update my travel blog. And now that I've created and saved a Google Map for each city we'll be in, it will be very helpful.

An (apparently) minority vote for leaving the netbook at home! For me, one of the joys of traveling to Italy is to "disconnect" and truly immerse myself and experience where I am. I love Italy and don't want to use any of my previous time there being online or checking email. I want to be walking the streets, enjoying espresso or wine at a cafe, sitting in a piazza walking the locals going about their business, or any of the thousands of things that I can do in Italy that I do not experience at home.

Like previous posters, I bring my Acer netbook computer. It's not easy to get WIFI at the B&Bs I stay at, however, when I can I like to update my blog, send email to the family, etc. I also like to download pics. Gives me something to do, late at night, when I am still struggling with the time change and can't get to sleep. Have a great trip!

I took a netbook on my last trip, primarily to store photos I took each day. I had grand plans to update my flickr, facebook, and travel blogs, but for the most part found that in Italy, most free wifi is about worth what you pay for it.

We leave for Italy on the 16th and I plan to take my ipad and my Droid phone (wi-fi use only). I have my Kindle guidebooks downloaded on my ipad as well as on my phone. I also have all my travel information about our hotels, directions, copies of our passports and other important info downloaded on the ipad. I also have maps downloaded and tons of other uses for it planned. I also plan to backup my photos every night and I hope to be able to keep in touch with my aging parents via email. I can also listen to my music from home in the hotel room, check the weather and I also plan to use it for my alarm clock. I find new uses that I plan to use it for it every day.

I usually stay in smallish hotels or B&Bs that are not really business hotels, and many of them have a computer for guests to use (they will give you a password). I do plan to take my small Acer next time, because I like to write and journal with a full-size keyboard and a word-processing system.

Thank you everyone. I'm going to think more about bringing my netbook. I think I'll pack what I'm taking and try the carry on with and without it. I know that coming home I had so much more in my carry on coming back from Scotland and I'll have to remember that I'll have also to get it home. I also want to bring a small art kit with me, too, that has to go in my carry on. When it comes to a choice the art kit wins hands down.

I think I have the same model as you. I took my netbook to Italy in May and was glad I did. In addition to the obvious stuff like emails and the blog I sent to my family at home, I used it for train schedules, restaurant menus and reviews, and attraction hours. I wouldn't travel without it. I never used my cell phone. I also brought my Nook, but I never used it. Gerri

Pam, I took a netbook on one recent trip. It was useful. There are still some things that work best on a computer. On more recent trips, however, decreasing the weight of what I took won out over convenience and usefulness. I made do with a smartphone. I found that I could function well enough with the phone over wifi or a foreign cell phone company's prepaid data plan. I doubt I'll go back to carrying a netbook. I have a tablet as well, but it doesn't have anything over the smartphone other than a bit bigger screen, so it stays home, too.

I always take my netbook. I download all my photos every night (back-up in case something happens to the memory card and/or camera). I also keep a running diary - especially useful for figuring out where in the heck I took that photo. I can also keep track of expenses. Mostly I stay in small hotels and B&B's and the wifi usually works fine and is free. I don't have another device that I can use to connect to the internet. Sometimes I send a couple of photos to friends, sometimes it's to check opening times or directions to a sight, or look for a restaurant, or train schedules . . . really useful.

You answered your own question -" I hardly ever use it." In the art of packing light you do not take things that you hardly ever use. If you don't use it at home you will not use it on the road. While we would not travel without our ipad it is because we use it extensively for lots of things. I would not take it just for email. "Few hotels outside of business class ones will have computers available for guest use" - our experience is exactly the opposite. Over the past few years every hotel we have used has a lobby computer for guests. Sometimes with odd keyboards (European), can be slow but fine for email. For European travel we use a special email address and log on so if it was compromised at a public computer nothing is at risk. However, nothing has every happened.

Thank you everyone. And Frank, I've got to agree about not taking something I don't use all that often on a trip. I do get on my computer every day, and I got the netbook so I could take it with me when I travel. But I've been thinking a lot about packing light and that netbook would have to be truly feather weight before I'd take it with me. I only used a computer once in Scotland and that was the last day to check in & print my boarding pass. Which leads to another question... when traveling in a group on an organized tour, how do you get your boarding passes coming home? Is it the same as going on a trip on your own? Pam