Cutting myself off from cyberspace for a week didn’t mean renouncing technology.
What, you thought I’d just take sunblock and a pile of paperbacks? Get real. I assembled a small arsenal of high-tech gadgetry for my entertainment and edification during my exile in tropical Ludditeville:
DIGITAL CAMERA. I needed maximum portability and versatility in a vacation-friendly digital camera. I found it, for, the most part, in the Optio WPi (www.h20camera.com), one of the latest in Pentax’s series of aquatic digicams.
This pocket-sized device is waterproof to a depth of five feet, which allowed me to take nice shots of my snorkeling sister. The 6-megapixel Optio WPi improves on earlier Pentax splashcams, some of which are only water-resistant _ that is, not officially sanctioned for use underwater _ and all of which take lesser-resolution shots.
My WPi showed great versatility on terra firma, too. My relaxed vacation gave me hours to experiment with the camera’s various shooting modes, including “surf and snow,” “sport” and “night scene.” Flash, focus and shot-review controls are readily accessible, too.
But the WPi’s LCD preview screen is almost impossible to make out in bright sunlight, which made me yearn for a physical viewfinder. (Pentax has just released a new watercam, the Optio W10, with a larger LCD screen that will show up a bit better in the sunshine. There still is no physical viewfinder, however.)
I also wonder why the WPi doesn’t float. I got so worried about losing my cam that I bought a floater. Good thing: My WPi fell out of my kayak one day when I wasn’t looking. I had to frantically backtrack after paddling down the coast and was relieved to see the yellow floater bobbing alongside the boat dock.
Pentax recently released versions of the WPi in eye-grabbing navy blue and wine red. It also sells a silicone skin for WPi protection, which is a good investment; my camera showed a bit of wear and tear after only a few days.
FLASH-STORAGE CARDS. Anyone using a digicam far from home should be paranoid about losing photos stored on a flash-storage card _ this once happened to Dad, who could never figure how the pictures on his card just vanished _ or losing the actual card, with or without the camera.
So do what I did: Take multiple cards, and rotate them. I had four Secure Digital cards, which meant I used each only twice on my trip. Had something happened to one or two of the cards, I would have retained a decent selection of vacation shots on the remaining cards in my hotel-room safe.
This might seem like a pricey strategy, but it needn’t be. Instead of using a single 1-gigabyte SD card, for instance, carry four 256-megabyte cards.
DIGITAL-AUDIO PLAYERS. I couldn’t decide on one player among several I happened to have on loan, so I took all of them _ and mostly used only one, of course.
The superthin nano, one of Apple Computer’s iPods (www.apple.com/ipod), was ideal for taking in an Audible.com audiobook, Stephen King’s creepy “Cell,” along with National Public Radio programs in MP3 “podcast” form (I had to have my NPR).
The nano’s flash storage makes it nicely durable, unlike more delicate hard-drive-based players.
But it isn’t a good surf ‘n’ sand device because it has no water resistance and scratches easily. I shielded it with an XtremeMac Iconz slip-on cover (www.xtrememac.com), and that sleeve got scuffed up on the beach like you wouldn’t believe.
I had a beach-appropriate player in the rugged, screen-less iPod shuffle, with extra protection courtesy of Apple’s water-resistant Sports Case. But with the nano on hand, I had little patience for the shuffle’s limitations. Without a display, for instance, getting at particular NPR shows or “Cell” chapters would have been a hassle.
I didn’t get much use out of my Zen Microphoto (www.creative.com/mp3), a Creative Technology player with a hard drive and color screen. It’s a fine player with photo-display capabilities (hence the name), but it’s bulkier than a nano.
Mine contained only music because, strangely, Creative has yet to make this model Audible-ready (in contrast to my Audible-friendly iPods), and I really wanted to have at “Cell.”
Player accessories. Along with the aforementioned nano sleeve, I carried a couple of crucial iPod add-ons.
Apple’s FM-tuning Radio Remote, which links to the nano’s bottom, let me acquaint myself with the Latin-music genre known as reggaeton during my layovers in Puerto Rico.
The music craze was born on that island so, naturally, I found a station entirely devoted to the music. ¡Que chevere!
The Radio Remote worked well _ it doubles as an iPod remote, as its name implies _ but it’s more awkward than using the Microphoto’s built-in FM tuner.
For iPod juicing, I opted for Sonnet Technologies’ new, ultracompact wall charger (www.sonnettech.com). It’s less bulky than Apple’s wall charger, available in black as well as classic white, and packaged with a matching iPod cable. The device’s USB port let me charge any USB device, such as the shuffle (which plugged directly into the USB slot) and the Microphoto (via its own USB cable).
Another audiobook. I had another book, David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “1776,” in the form of a Playaway device (www.playawaydigital.com) _ a disposable audiobook smaller than a card deck, yet incorporating a small display and controls along with a lanyard and headphone port.
I never used it, having vastly overestimated the time I had to wade through all my digital content, but I’m keen on the concept. I noticed, though, that this 12-hour version of “1776” is an “abridged edition.” McCullough abridgement is a cardinal sin, given his stirring voice and writing skill.
