saving Pics

[snpr520]

Im leaving for a 3 month trip in Western Europe and I have one memory card that will hold about 300 pics. But I plan to bring my labtop to dump the pics on Facebook or photobucket every week or so. Do you think this is smart. Is Wifi commonly avalible in Western Euorpe or will this be a pain the the neck?

Thanks...

[pointofnoreturn]

Don't bring a laptop with you, esp. for 3 months. Chances are something might happen to it. You should consider investing in a couple of memory cards (2 GB's seem to be the rage now). Not to mention, the 2 GB cards (which are usually sold in packs of twos) definitely hold a LOT more than 300 pictures.

You could also bring a couple of blank CD's with you and burn the pictures on computers available in hostels and internet cafes.

[Eagle]

snpr520, I tend to agree with PONR on the topic of travelling with Laptops. So far I've resisted the urge to pack a Laptop, although there have been times when it would have been useful. It's something I might try in future?

However, as you'll be travelling for 3 months (and probably staying in Hostels at least part of the time), the possibility of theft is something that should be considered. As I understood your Post, you would have all your trip photos transferred to the Laptop, so if it was lost, stolen or the hard drive "crashed", you'd lose everything! If your Laptop was equipped with a DVD Burner, the risk would be somewhat less.

Wi-Fi seems to be somewhat more prevalent these days, but of course in many cases this is provided for a charge (usually billed to a credit card). Some Hotels and B&B's offer free Wi-Fi to guests. Also, some Net Cafes provide an EtherNet connection point for those travelling with Laptops (I encountered one of those in Ireland last October).

I also concur with PONR that you might want to pick up a few more Memory Cards for your trip. Memory is very inexpensive right now, so there's no reason not to have several Cards for trips (I'm assuming you live in North America, as I have a general idea what the memory costs are here). Having only one is a bit risky as they do fail on occasion, and while you can buy Memory Cards in Europe, they are often more expensive.

There seemed to be lots of photo shops in most cities in Western Europe, so it shouldn't be a problem getting CD's or DVD's burned (I even noticed several that offered battery charging for Cameras). However, uploading photos to other sites might be a problem, unless you can find a Net Cafe that will allow you to connect a Card Reader (I usually travel with a small Card Reader, in case I need to transfer files, but these don't work with all computer OS, and of course the computer has to be a newer model with USB ports).

Good luck and happy travels!

[zsoulan00]

I can't agree or disagree with either member. You definitely have to make the decision yourself, ultimately.

I brought 4 2-gig memory cards with me for my 3 month trip. I ended up losing 2 of the cards, and with them, over 1000 pics.

next time i go, i will be bringing a labtop, for sure, so i can back-up all my pics somewhere.

If you're careful with your belongings, you shouldn't have a problem with bringing a labtop. Just make sure you stay 110% aware of it at all times.

[kshaffer]

I'm planning a 2 week vacation to the UK this summer and want to take my digital camera. Do I need to worry about the memory cards being damaged while going through security at the airports?

[Eagle]

kshaffer,

First of all, welcome to the Boards!

AFAIK, there are no problems putting digital Cameras (and Memory Cards) through the X-Ray machines for hand luggage. I've never had a problem with that so far.

Have a look at www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1248.shtm for information from the TSA, which states "Our screening equipment will not affect digital cameras and electronic image storage cards."

Cheers!