[Gocamino] walking with tablets

[Robert Spenger]

I see that a lot of folks are now carrying ipads on their walks, mostly on the VF. I had thought about carrying a tablet (on the VT), but the 10' devices seem to be to be much too bulky and fragile for lugging in a back pack - heavy as well, especially with a charger. I have a couple of 7" devices that are much more compact and less likely to be damaged when stored in a pack. They are both e-readers, but can be used for storing lots of preloaded maps, guide pages, and pictures. Both have smaller views than I would like, but I accept the trade-off of compactness for visibility, since sections can be selectively enlarged. Both have WiFi, but neither have G3 capability, which would be nice to have, but the potential costs are scary. Both have very large storage capacities, since they both have microchip slots. with additional microchips the storage potential is enormous, but physical storage of the chips on the road might present problems.
I am not sure how either of them fare on being charged from European power sources and I can't get information from the makers - the phone techs didn't seem to get the picture. They can be used for e-mail if a WiFi source is available, but not easily.

Nook Color: 

Heavy (for a 7")
Color is nice to have
Short battery life, but that is the trade off for having color
Nice relatively light weight padded cover available
Backlit screen which I like for reading in bed while sitting up during my 3 hour wait that I have to do between dinner and lying  horizontal (but it is another battery drainer, except that there is the possibility of keeping it plugged in at the time)
Very awkward to use for any online applications - except for book purchases which can't be done in Europe anyway - I don't regard it as a practical way to send e-mail.

Sony reader:

Very light weight - probably the lightest 7" around
Black and white only
Long battery life
Needs fairly strong light for me to read it
Bad reports on the covers available (I don't have a cover for mine, so I can only judge by the online reviews.)
Better than the Nook Color for e-mail, but not by much

Any comments would be appreciated.

Bob S.