Eastern Europe and photo CDs

[cher1e]

I sort of asked this in a previous post, but I was wondering how hard it is to get pictures put onto CDs done in Eastern Europe.. I know most places have come a long way since the cold war, but just checking, because some countries I'm unsure about..

I'm planning on going to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Albania, Serbia (pos.), Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia..
After reading that some countries (well Albania) dont even have ATMs, I was thinking that this might be and awkward activity.. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on this?

Thanks

[commie]

where do you stay? most hostels should have an internet-pc and at least one cd burner. think its no big deal in turkey and bosnia+croatia, but im not sure about albania.
became albania a favourite tourist destination recently? i dont know a single person who spent holidays there...

[cher1e]

What can I say, after reading about it I thought it would sound like an interesting adventure! lol i think i like the fact that its.. different and unusual but also interesting.. travelling there might also be "interesting"!

In that case, should I bring with me a few blank CDs? Or would it be better to buy them there? I remember when I had to buy CDs last time they were rather over priced... and that was in Belgium...

[Eagle]

cher1e, I don't have a lot of information on what facilities might be available for burning CD's / DVD's in some of the countries you mentioned. You're going to be travelling "off the beaten path" to some extent, so I think it's a fair guess that the computer facilities won't be as modern or prevalent as in most of western Europe. Given the countries you'll be travelling in, bringing some blank CD's might be a good idea? I suspect that Albania might be the most difficult to find modern computers. Not to say that they don't have any, they just might be harder to find?

If I were travelling in the same area, I would probably opt for a Portable Hard Drive, as it would be much simpler to operate "self contained" (so to speak), rather than looking for external facilties for photo storage. In fact, that's the method I've chosen as I've just bought a PHD for travel use. When I have some experience with the unit and see how well it performs (hopefully no problems), I'll post a "mini review" here. Incidentally, the same manufacturer offers portable CD / DVD Burners. If you're interested, check out www.ezpnp-usa.com for further details. Some of our members here have also used the Apacer Disk Steno, and as far as I know that also worked well.

Be sure to let us know of your experiences travelling in the Eastern countries, as I'm sure it will benefit all of us here.

Happy travels!!!

[fireisbeautiful]

Well this is almost a month later, but perhaps you didn't leave for your trip yet... so...

-- you should be able to find Internet Cafes that have a CD burner for sure. In Romania you'll find Internet Cafes with cheap internet access, but you will get what you pay for. Go to a nice one and you will definitely have a working CD burner, and those places will even sell CDs there. A lot of places in Romania advertise this and that, but you really don't get what you buy... and they don't give you the money back. Also, they've been building new malls and the like in Romania, and from what my Aunt has been telling me... you could get your pictures put on a CD for you at some Photography store in a mall. The price wouldn't be bad either, because Romania hasn't changed over to Euros yet.

-- as for Poland and Hungary, they will have places as well. The rest I couldn't tell you since I've never been - but, in a worst case scenario you could always just print them and then later when you get back home, scan and put on a cd. Hassle, I know, and I doubt you'd have to go there.

[spymoose]

Most of these countries have up-to-date gaming cafes so I'd assume you'll be able to find an internet cafe with a burner, may just take some looking and it may not be cheap.

Poland, Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Turkey should be fine. Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia shouldn't be that bad either, but likely not as accessible. Albania I have no clue. However, I doubt you will take so many pictures that you'll need to burn a CD every single city. You may have trouble finding a place in certain places but hopefully not too many in succession.

[tim]

Serbia definitely has it. Great place too, I've been there twice. Find a local to take you out to the nightlife. Best in the world if you know the right people.

[stylescriber]

i agree with you Tim. Serbia is a beautiful place in Europe!