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Advice for what to get for a cruise?

K

kmarketing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 26, 2004
416
0
Hi,

We'll be taking a 7 day cruise in the near future, and would rather not take our macbook pro with us. So I just wanted to get some of your suggestions as to what to do.

I guess the main thing will be the ability to store the photos that we will be taking, and if possible, to browse the internet etc.

I have an old Dell Pentium 3 laptop that will need a new hard drive, but I think I should be able to get a 120gb one for $70 or so.

So the questions are:
1. Do you think that the Dell will suffice, and will spending the $70 be worth it? Or should I be looking at anothe Mac laptop?
2. If I upload the pictures from the camera onto the Dell (XP), will the picture files be transferrable to our Macs?

Please help!
Thanks for your advice!!
 
Spending $70 on a new drive is way better than spending $1000 + on a new laptop assuming it's a mac. So if you are taking one cruise one time and it's 7 days if $70 is all the Dell needs then take that. However, I believe ships have computers and you may be able to upload photos from your cards to an image bank. I certainly couldn't see myself taking a cruise and worrying about buying a new laptop. As a matter of fact, I'd probably just take a few CF cards (I use CF so whatever you use) and then if I want to view the images on a screen bring the cables so I can hook my camera into a tv. I mean, if it were me.

And yes, if you put your images onto a Dell you can probably either transfer over a network or burn to a CD/DVD and put on your mac that way. Again, buying an entirely different laptop for a 7 day cruise seems like a waste of money.
 
Hi,

Thanks for your response!

I was thinking of getting a used one just to hold us over, looking to possibly spend $200-$300 or so. Is that better, or do you still think the dell is a better way to go?

Our camera uses memory sticks, and those cards are pretty pricey still also. We were thinking of getting several 4gb cards (we currently have a 1gb memory stick), but that can add up also.

In terms of the files, is the picture file format/extension universal whether it is pc or mac? Will it require any tweaking at all?
So say we have 10gb of photos, could we transfer that to an external hard drive, and from there to a Mac?

Thanks so much!
 
The ipod connector looks great also, but the only compatible ipod we have is a 4gb nano. We have other ones but they are not photo ones.

So for 4gb, I would probably just prefer a 4gb memory stick.

Do you know if it would take video as well? Our camera has a movie mode that we sometimes use.

Thanks!
 
What kind of camera do you have? And do you know that you're going to take more that a card's worth of photos?

If you buy a second hand iPod thats compatible with the camera connector and the connector It's still cheaper than a laptop and you'll have an iPod!
 
Hi,

We have a sony 7 mega pixel camera. Sometimes though (even though the quality is not as good), when we don't carry our camcorder with us, we'll use it to take short videos. So I was thinking on a 7 day excursion, we may be taking up quite some space quickly.

What do you think?
 
Hi,

I didn't plan on buying a Dell. I already have an old one that needs a new hard drive. So I figure it would cost about $70 to get an 120gb hard drive in there.

I was thinking about buying a used ibook or powerbook -$200 - $300. But if everyone thinks it's just not worth it, then I'll just get the old Dell going again.

I just remembered that I will probably need a usb 2.0 card in the dell, so that should be another $10 or so.

So here are the choices:

1. $80 for a dell with 120gb
2. an used ibook or powerbook for $200-$300
3. an ipod + camera connector for $200+
4. extra memory sticks for about $40+ for 4gb if I can look around.

Let me know what you think,
Thanks!
 
1. I wouldn't go with the dell 'coz its a PC
2. Depends on the spec but it will probably be obsolete in a few years anywyas
3. My solution. If you dont already have an iPod (other than your nano go for this)
4. probably the best solution since theres no need to risk data loos through transfer if the power dies or something random happens.

just my $0.02
 
To be honest, you should be completely fine in taking your MBP with you. However, the Dell (running 2000 or XP?) should be fine for your tasks as well, with the 120GB upgrade. I wouldn't buy a completely different computer.
 
Hi,

Thanks everyone!

The Dell is a Pentium 3 700 running XP.

I'd love to bring the mb pro with us, but I would be too nervous about it. Getting the memory sticks would probably be my 2nd choice, and I may get a 4gb one anyway, just in case.

But overall, it would be great to have the extra space, and even the accessibility to the internet, etc. I just don't know how much space I would need for 7 days, and most likely taking 7 mega pixel pictures with some short videos with the camera.

It would be terrible if I ran out of space somehow.
 
:D

Do you think it is necessary to get a usb 2.0 card for transferring the photos, etc.

If I save up 10gb of pictures onto the dell, can I connect the dell directly to one of the macs to use as an external hard drive and just pull the pictures from there?

Will 10gb of photos, small videos, transfer through usb 1.1? And how long would that take?

Sorry for these ridiculous questions, and thanks for your help!
 
Hi,

I thought about that as well. But I've put that aside at this point, thinking about the hassle that may just come with that.

Thank you though!
 
Go with the HDD for the dell, it's cheap, will give you a fully-functional PC that would give you the option of viewing your images on a large screen, storing them, using the ship's wifi connection, and when the cruise is over, you'll have an extra lappy around for whatever else it might be good for.
 
I'm going to side with the extra memory card folks on this one. Especially now with all of the Christmas sales, you should be able to pick up cards for $10/gig or less. Add in whatever you already have, and you should be ok.

Think of it this way - do you plan on taking more than 1GB of pictures/video per day, especially with whatever days you have at sea and not on shore? I think 4-8GB of cards will suffice and you will have something that you can take anywhere in a small pocket in your camera bag, rather than a laptop - no matter what you do in the future.

There are a million and one things to do/eat on cruise ships. Having the functioning laptop is going to tempt you to do what you could have done on your couch at home.
 
Buy an external hard drive. That way you can actually use it when the cruise is over at home with time machine.

Just get a smaller one for a hundred or so, then you wont be wasting money on a HD for an old laptop.
 
If your only purpose for bringing the laptop is to store pictures, I side with the "get a bigger memory stick" group. I use Sony sticks as well, and while I remember when they were expensive, they've fallen in price to the point where you might as well just pick up another one or two. This is coming from someone who typically takes hundreds of pictures on vacation, and video clips.

Laptops are wonderful, but for as portable as they are, it's still a lot to take with you if you don't have a purpose for it. The computer, charger, case, and even a few miscellanous cables or blank discs gets to be pretty bulky after a while... and one thing you don't have on a cruise ship is extra space!

Having said that... if you're hell-bent on getting a new laptop for other purposes, and don't want to spend a lot, yeah, the HDD sounds like a good idea. A PIII with WinXP will make for a great basic everyday laptop. But, as I said, that'd be my second choice.
 
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