Taking your Ultra-Mobile PC on vacation
While Tablet PCs are lightweight and convenient, Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs) offer even more power in yet a smaller package. Designed to be lighter, more ergonomic, and easier to carry than other Tablet PCs, these UMPCs offer convenient features including on-demand high-speed Internet and the new Touch Pack Program Launcher.
In this article you'll learn how to get the most from a UMPC while on vacation. You'll learn how to find the UMPC that's right for you; what options are available for staying in touch with friends, family, and coworkers; how to use it to back up pictures and video; and what options you have for keeping a vacation journal or online blog. You'll even learn how you can use the UMPC to keep your kids occupied on the way to your destination.
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Why consider a UMPC?
All UMPCs feature full Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP functionality, with the added ability to touch, write, or type to input data. Having full Windows functionality means they include Microsoft Internet Explorer for Web surfing; Microsoft Outlook for sending e-mail; My Pictures, My Videos, and My Music for media; and Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker for viewing and editing video. There are several models available. One is shown below. Look at some UMPCs in action.
One of the new UMPCs that is available now.
Ultra-Mobile PCs have additional features, too. Each includes the Touch Pack and Program Launcher, and all come with a 7-inch or smaller screen. The Touch Pack contains five features, one of which is the Program Launcher. The Program Launcher offers you a launching and organizational point for your applications, and makes it easier to get to the programs that you need.
Program Launcher makes it easy to access the programs that you want.
How to equip your UMPC
To take advantage of your new UMPC for traveling and vacationing, you'll want to make sure that you have some specific hardware and software in place.
First, if you don't want to get lost walking around foreign cities or hiking in the Grand Canyon, you'll want to get some GPS software and hardware. A good place to start is with Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS Locator. This software and hardware lets you set up your GPS with Plug and Play.
Next, you'll likely need some synchronization software to keep your files at home synched with your files on the road. FolderShare Beta is a free resource that you may want to try. Having an easy way to sync files with your PC before you leave for vacation is quite important. You want to make sure that you have copies of important items like itineraries, e-tickets, and hotel reservation confirmations. Synching when you get home also helps you make sure you back up the photos, videos, music, and other items that you created while you were away.
Also, you'll need to make sure that you have a sturdy carrying case—one that's waterproof if you'll be at the beach. Finally, if you plan to get a little work done while you're away, you'll need a copy of Microsoft Office. You can purchase all of these things from Windows Marketplace.
Stay in touch using your UMPC
With a new UMPC you can keep in touch from anywhere. It's just as easy to read and send e-mail, pictures, and video as it is from your home computer. With the new Touch Pack's Program Launcher, you can use the large buttons and icons to more easily find and launch your favorite applications. There's nothing new to learn—just connect to the Internet and send, receive, save, and forward e-mail messages as you do at home, and surf the Web anytime you like.
Don't forget about Windows Live Messenger, either. It offers a quick and easy way to communicate with online contacts in real time.
There is also a Program Launcher link to MSN Hotmail, which makes checking your e-mail even faster than before. And, you can even extend your UMPC's Internet access beyond Wi-Fi hot spots by connecting a Bluetooth-enabled wireless phone (with a cellular charge from provider).
Entertain your family on the road or in the air
Whether you're driving or flying, pre-install a few DVDs, some computer games, and plenty of digital music files. Combine your UMPC, a set of headphones, and a game controller, and your family will never be bored. If you're flying, or lucky enough to be in the passenger seat, just bring up a movie, listen to some tunes, or play a few video games, and before you know it, you'll be at your destination. Don't forget to bring an external power supply. Most airplanes now have electrical outlets under the seats just for that purpose so you won't have to run your battery down.
Tip You can also access Movielink for direct download of movies from the Internet and MSN Music for downloads for music; you can access the link from the Program Launcher.
Back up pictures and videos
It's easy to take vacation pictures these days. Just a click of your digital camera and you're done. It's almost as easy to take vacation videos. However, you have to be pretty careful with the camera and data cards. There's no backup, and cards can be easily misplaced and cameras damaged. You don't have to worry about losing pictures or video if you have a UMPC, though. You can back up your pictures on the UMPC and have a handy backup with you at all times. And, once your pictures are on your UMPC, you can send them by e-mail to anyone. You can even edit your vacation pictures or create a movie in Windows Movie Maker on the plane ride home.
In addition to backing up your photos to your Ultra-Mobile PC, you can also use FolderShare Beta, mentioned earlier. With FolderShare Beta, your friends and family can view the photos at their convenience—even before you arrive home. You can share a lot of photos there, too; more than you could comfortably send in e-mail.
Keep a vacation journal or a blog
Another way to use your UMPC on vacation is to keep a vacation journal. Tony Northrup has an article, Vacation with your Tablet PC, where he discusses how to keep a journal using Microsoft Windows Journal. What's even better than that, though, is to create and publish your thoughts and experiences to an online blog. Because UMPCs have a wireless modem, you can connect wirelessly to your own Web or blog site, and write and publish your blog entries. You can choose who you want to view your blogs or publish them for the world to see, depending on what blog site you select for publishing. This makes it quite easy to keep your friends and family informed of your adventures!
One simple (and free) way to set up your blog is through Windows Live Spaces. You can set up and customize your own personal blog space quickly and easily, and at no cost. With Windows Live Spaces you can:
| • | Create a blog: Keep an online journal to describe your day, an event, a vacation, or any other subject. |
| • | Share photos: Create albums of your latest adventure. |
| • | Go mobile: Use any mobile device to post photos or blog entries. |
However you choose to use your UMPC on vacation, whether it's blogging, keeping a journal, staying in touch, using it for navigation by taking advantage of pre-installed or Internet mapping tools, entertaining the kids, or simply using it to back up pictures, remember, you're out to have fun! Try not to work too hard, and consider getting an alternate e-mail address for traveling. (That way, your boss can't find you!)
 | Joli Ballew
Joli Ballew is a technology trainer and writer in the Dallas area. She holds several certifications including MCSE, A+, and MCDST. In addition to writing, she teaches computer classes at the local junior college, and works as a network administrator and Web designer for North Texas Graphics. Joli has almost 20 books available, including Degunking Windows (voted best computer book of the year by the Independent Publishers Book Awards in 2005), Degunking Your PC, Degunking Your Mac, and Degunking Your Mac Tiger Edition (Paraglyph Press), Hardcore Windows XP (McGraw-Hill), and Windows XP: Do Amazing Things (Microsoft Press). Joli also writes for Microsoft's Windows XP Expert Zone, is a Microsoft blogger, and has written a textbook for Microsoft's MCDST certification. In her free time, Joli enjoys golfing, yard work, and teaching her cat, Nikko, new tricks. |
