Road Warrior Upgrade

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia Technology

Whewpf! I'm back from a whirlwind, fun, high-exposure speaking tour of the left-coast!

Thursday - Sunday => in Las Vegas at BlogWorld Expo and speaking at PostieCon.

Monday - Tuesday AM => in Denver speaking to an investor/public relations organization.

Tuesday PM - Thursday AM => in Seattle visting my sister and my nephew.

Thursday PM - Friday PM => in Pheonix, AZ speaking to another investor/public relations group.

Friday PM => home again, home again, jiggity, jig!

With all this traveling, I realized one thing: I need to step up my technology game, in a major way. Yes, me.

After I got over being supremely frustrated with the lack of wi-fi hot spots, my inability to get a signal in the "subway trams" at the Denver airport, I made a list of the technologies I need to upgrade myself to official Road Warrior status. I usually travel in the Fall and late Spring only - so I don't spend an inordinate amount of time away from the office, but when I do travel, I'm gone for days - and sometimes weeks - at a time.

Those who know me, know that I'm NOT a fan of gadgetry and don't like technology for technology's sake but, I realized that a text-less cellphone and a marginal laptop just ain't cuttin' it. So, this list not rooted in tech bling, but rather tech necessities.

Lena's Official Road Warrior List

1. New laptop that's more wi-fi friendly (this is critical for managing projects accessing files on the network and internet access in general)
2. Blackberry with GPS (yes, I'm taking the plunge - for the times when booting up your laptop is inconvenient, like when on an airplane that's just landed)
3. New glasses and contacts (OK, this isn't technology, but Mark Harty gave me the gentle reminder that I desperately need new ones)
4. Online scheduling ( I need to be able to keep up with my schedule better, get alerts and allow my assistant to update my schedule on the fly, etc.)
5. Live Writer software (there's nothing like trying to remember passwords to all your blogs when you are a guest blogger on two blogs and have two blogs of your own)
6. Online project management software (I've tried Basecamp and Unfuddle and am not happy with either - time for a new solution)
7. International cell phone with GPS (I don't need this often, but it's invaluable when I do need it)
8. List of the day-rates for various airport lounges (this isn't technology either, but you need it when faced with 3+ hours in an airport)

Over the coming weeks, I'm going to be investigating products and services that fit the bill for my needs. If you have a product that you've had success with, I'm all ears and eyes.

Bottomline: I love to be on-the-go but I, admittedly, need upgraded and enhanced systems to support my being away from the office.

Comments

[Lena West]

Beth:

Oh, I'm definitely the tech type - I'm just anti-gadget a bit :)

Thanks for the link to Wrike. I'll check it out.

Ciao,

Lena

[Beth]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is not of the tech kind. However I have to admit, that there are some things you just cannot do without any more. So, I've bought myself a Blackberry, a new MacBook and created a Wrike http://www.wrike.com/ account, which seems to be much better than Basecamp and the like. And know what? I've realized that my life became much easier and those tech things actually save hell of a time!

[Lena West]

Lee!

This is a kick-butt list.

Thanks so much!

Do you even know how hard I would have had to work to find this information?!? Thank you, thank you.

Wow, I'm so thankful for blog readers and commenters! Love IT!

One question: do you really prefer the HP laptop to the Dell series?

Thank you, you rock!

- Lena

[Lee Drake]

Here's my solutions to these, which I am happy with at the moment:

1) Laptop - HP offers a number of great laptops. Being the power user I am I require a large/wide screen and so I went with the HP 9420 - an excellent choice, light, but not small. If you want a smaller one I'd recommend ine of the HP's with the 15" WIDESCREEN option. You can't have too much memory in a Vista laptop :)

Note that HP makes a laptop with a BUILT IN VERIZON wireless modem, which uses Verizon's excellent EVDO network for data. About doube the speed of a regular modem from anywhere with Verizon data access (most anywhere these days). I went with VISTA for best wireless compatibility.

2) Samsung SCH-i760 phone. Blackberry like, but not Proprietary. The phone syncs flawlessly with Outlook 2007 and Vista using either a wired or bluetooth connection. Since the particular HP I got does NOT have the Verizon card, I can get full data coverage on the Samsung (email, browser, etc.) as well as use the phone as a tethered wireless modem for one price, with unlimited data download. I've had many phones (I notice you have one of the old-style MS CE based phones or PDAs) and this one is BY FAR the best I've ever had, long battery life, you can toss a teeny tiny (smaller than your fingertip) MicroSD card in there for up to 2gb of storage, decent speakerphone, camera, media player, bluetooth support etc. It does NOT have built in GPS but you can get a bluetooth linked one, or use the laptop with an inexpensive receiver.

New glasses - bifuggles rock. The new no-line ones are indistinguishable from regular glasses. BE SURE TO TELL YOUR OPTOMETRIST the focal length that you typically have from your eyes to the screen. Sit where you usually author and have someone physically measure with a tape measure. Then be sure when they test your eyes and set up your bifocals that you are set to have clear reading at that distance.

Online scheduleing - if you have Office 2007 (and your assistant does too) Microsoft offers a free service with Outlook 2007 that syncs to a web server online. You can invite as many people as you want to share your calendar - so it's like having an exchange server without the hassle. They can check through THEIR outlook 2007 or through the web. The service is free. They can also schedule appointments and send you the invite.

Livewriter - no input here, not familiar with the product.

Online project management - we use a product called Autotask (www.autotask.com) which handles all our billing, client project timekeeping, ticket timekeeping, and CRM in one handy online package - available from any web browser. You can even enter time from your phone. It's available in a "lite" version for small offices. The Pro version even lets your client see project status online.

The Samsung SCH-i760 I have is an international phone. For the GPS you would need an add-on unit.

If you use the tethered EVDO Verizon connection with your phone - you don't Necessarily NEED the day rates at the airport. Just find yourself somewhere with decent reception. Might want to carry a couple extra batteries or a charger with you - The batteries on the SCH i760 last about 1.5 days for the standard - 2.5 days for the extended with normal use, and neither are all that thick or heavy. Using it as a modem is not "normal use" however - you're pushing the envelope on battery consumption so I'd bring a couple extra. Fortunately they're inexpensive.

the data service is the most expensive part of this - but you'll want it, trust me :)