I'm in for a quick 3-day stop over the weekend before I hit the road again. A lot has changed in my equipment loadout over the last couple of weeks, coupled with some, somewhat quirky, but in the end, good, consumer experiences.

My initial attempt to score a Samsung Q1b UMPC failed due to my account failing address verification. So that's what forced the previsouly blogged pickup of a MAcBook, which had been my backup plan. The following week, I found that the complany had charged me for the Q1b, despite the fact that we had talked and had both agreed to have the order cancelled. So, with some fanagling, arguing, beligerence, and compromise, the bank, PCUniverse, and myself, all scrambled to arrange to have the Q1b shipped to the hotel I stayed at the last couple of weeks, since I had already been charged for it.

So, on my most recent trip, my mobile loadout consisted of the following:

Macbook, Samsung Q1b, PSP (w/Daxter and MGS:PO), Portable DVD Player, DVDs (Blackhawk Down, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Buffy Seasons 1 and 2), Canon Sureshot S50 Digital Camera, iPod, iPod Shuffle, Blackberry 8700c, and Motorola Razr.

Sad to say, the following items went unused: Portable DVD Player (the Bram Stoker DVD would not play, and the MacBook was right there so...), Buffy Seasons 1 and 2 (not enough time to watch them), Canon Sureshot S50 (was not allowed to take photos where I was working), iPod Shuffle (didn't work out....shame), Motorola Razr (never went out, so I was on the Blackberry the whole time).

The other great consumer experience I had, after the Samsung arrived was calling Cingular (which I refuse to call the New AT&T) to see how much they would charge me to change-out my Option GT MAX 3.6 Wireless Card. Since neither the MacBook or Q1 have PCMCIA lots, I originally started looking for a PCMCIA-to-USB adapter. They were expensive and very stringent on what cards they claimed compatibility with, and full of disclaimers that the manufacturer and vendor would not assume any responsibility if your card was incompatible. A little further digging for a compatible adapter that firmaly stated accomodation for my card, revealed that Cingular had recently rolled out the Sierra 875u, which is a USB version of their aircard. I searched the Cingular site for the card, and finally found it in the business section. A call in to the customer service center confirmed that the card was available. The big surprise was that Cingular agreed to send me the card at no additional cost if I would just send my PCMCIA card back. OK, twist my arm. So the card was waiting on my doorstep when I got home. Some digging this morning revealed the Sierra WatcherLite application, which allows the card to work in OS X and connect to your Cingular account. Hence, this Saturday morning blog entry done on my MacBook from Barnes and Noble (which amazingly still does not offer free wireless access while all of their competitors do).

So, I picked up some new gear, and had a week-and-a-half for initial field tests. Next week, my loadout will be as follows:

Samsung Q1, MacBook, PSP, Memory Stick, JVC Headphones, Encoded Videos (MacBook), Digital Camera, iPod, iPod Shuffle, Blackberry

My main goals will be continuing to validate my ability to use the UMPC as my work laptop from here on. Tests were excellent over the last two weeks, including my one day optest in the office. I originaly planned on bringing a Memory Stick when I was planning this loadout a couple of weeks ago, but now that I have the Q1 and know it does not have a flash-memory card reader, it may be back to USB thumb-drives. I may also give some thought to picking up noise-cancelling headphones for this trip if I can get them in the next day or two. It will be my first dropping of encoded video to the MacBook to see how it handles various formats. I guess that means I actually better do the testing before I take off and then load it with appropriate files. I'll be able to take photos this time, and will probably need to take some pics of us executing the test sequence and the setup we run through next week. Maybe I'll get some workouts in and can use the Shuffle? It will not be an outdoor job next week, so maybe I'll have more energy. It is a week only trip, so no need to bring the RazR this time.

Reports on how the gear works out when I get back.