July 24th, 2008 at 03:21pm
Under Equipment and luggage+ Travel tips
You’ve sorted out tickets, passports and packed everything you’ll need while you’re away. You’re looking forward to arriving at your destination and getting out on the beach or indulging in your preferred vacation activity. Do you think you’ve forgotten something – maybe something important?
Of course, it all depends how far away your destination is, but for any journey above a few hours, it’s a good idea to be prepared with little extras to make the experience more comfortable. I’m not just talking about a book, pack of cards or whatever to while away the hours, but also accessories that help you stay comfortable even though you are restricted by a train or airplane seat.
Ready to Leave, the travel equipment specialists, have a range of useful products that can take the pain out of traveling, from a travel pillow, ear plugs and sleep mask to flight socks to help prevent DVT.
They also have a big selection of flasks – great if you have somebody with special diet needs, or just want to take your own food and drink – and even a picnic set (including flask) in a backpack. Of course, you won’t be able to use those for plane journeys to and from areas where there’s a restriction on carrying liquids, but for train journeys and trips by coach or bus they come out tops in my view.
By admin
March 20th, 2008 at 10:02pm
Under Equipment and luggage+ Overland travel+ Travel tips
Hewlett Packard have just brought out the latest incarnation of their range of GPS devices, with a neat and lightweight product with a big 4.3 inch screen weighing less than half a pound (0.41 lb or 180 grams). It’s called the iPAQ Travel Companion 310 – this is the US version – also available for European travelers as the 314 (apparently, the Europe maps have speed cameras highlighted, which may come in useful).
The dimensions are around 8½ x 11 x 1.7 centimetres and it comes with 128 megabytes of onboard memory, a flash memory slot, and everything you need, including in-car mount, car and home chargers, and USB cable.
But it’s not just a stand-alone GPS. What makes this one different is the ability to hook up to your PC, the Internet, and also your mobile phone. This is great news if you’re planning a long road trip and want to take in the sights along the way, because you can do your planning in Google Maps or HP’s online tools, and then download your itinerary straight to the 310.
As well as the GPS functions, you can also use the Companion to play movies, videos and mp3 files. It’s Bluetooth enabled, and will link to your mobile to provide hands-free calling. All in all, a pretty useful tool, which has a recommended retail price of $399, although I have seen them on Amazon at less than that: HP iPAQ 310 Travel Companion GPS (US)
or HP iPAQ 314 Travel Companion GPS (UK)
.
There’s a £30 cashback for UK orders made before 31st March.
By admin
