With the last arrival of my trip digital toys, I thought it was about time I finally posted about all the things I have been alluding to over the last few weeks. For the upcoming big trip I decided I would do some upgrading since I was already spending a fairly sizable chunk of $$$ what’s a little bit more gonna do to that budget.

So I set about looking at different options. For months I sat their pondering, looking at options, over and over again. Do I get this, do I get that, jeez what do I do!. I was looking at 2 different products though, going over and over the different options. So lets look at them separately.

The first of the toys is the my new Pretty Digital SLR:

My old digital SLR had nothing wrong with it, it was just way outdated. Its an old Pentax K10D. About 3 years old for me, maybe even older, but hell, I had used and abused that puppy during that time. I bought it 2nd hand so when I had it, it already had 5000 actuations on it. I put another 10-15,000 ontop of that in that time. She was showing her age. With the upcoming trip I had so many different options to get a new camera. I was looking at changing to a rival system (Canon or Nikon) but that would mean replacing essentially everything I own. Lenses, batteries, accessories, everything. Then there was upgrading to a new pentax, which would be cheaper in the long run but also have its disadvantages.

After much to and fro for weeks, looking at pricing, options, system specs, lens specs, different websites, in the end I ended up going with purchasing a new Pentax K7 from DWI. These guys are an Australian based “Grey” importer. Essentially they import cameras direct from Hong Kong where it is cheaper and that way, dodge GST and the stupid Aussie mark ups. This meant that since I was avoiding GST, I could buy it before the 30 day mark required for the TRS scheme. Awesome++ but then the camera got held in customs, then half the shipment was out of stock, then I had to go off to STARS and WA so the camera has laid dormant for weeks.

In the end the K7 was such a good choice, I love the thing. The shots are sharp and clear and the grip arrived today just in time for the trip. I was also looking at some batteries for the camera as extra’s as I never rely on just 1 battery. I could pick up batteries for $120 each locally. Or $20 each from New York and then about $60 in shipping. Well I wonder which way I went! Plus I conned dad into getting stuff in the same buy, so split my shipping in half. Throw in about 4 new memory cards and Mal is set!

2nd up is my new Tablet

I had been tossing up for a while what to do with this tablet. I had been to and fro looking at Kindles or Tablets and wondering just what to do. Then one day I was trolling one of the websites I frequent and they said that there was a release of a new Android Tablet, pretty basic for $135. This was pretty much the same price as the item I was leaning towards. I was leaning towards buying an Amazon Kindle. It’s just an Ebook Reader. But with the tablet, even with a pretty low spec one, would be able to do more than what the Kindle could, and hell I could get the same Ebooks as there is a Kindle App for android! WIN!!!

$135 spent. Then comes the wait of almost 2 months while it is manufactured (Kogan the company that makes it, manufactures once the whole batch is sold keeping costs lower etc). It’s a pretty sweet little tablet, it will come in handy well while travelling, as its light and I don’t need to carry a million books with me. So the tablet is set.

Last up is my new Point and Shoot

I ended up going for a bit of an impulse and purchased a new Canon Ixus 220HS. I love these little Ixus camera’s and it was an easy choice. Full HD video, good quality photos, small, compact, metal body, not to much bigger than the one I have now but with lots of little bits and pieces extra. This camera was purely an impulse buy. I was originally going to buy from Officeworks and add in a few extra bits and pieces to get the total price of the receipt over $300 but couldn’t get it to work due to them being out of stock of some parts.

Ended up going to Dick Smith and getting lots of QF points, plus a double dip for Everyday Rewards, plus Amex was running a $50 cash back if I spent over $250 at Dick Smith. Win, Win & Win. Plus I get my tax back on the way out of the country. Win again!! Gotta love it. They even managed to bring the price down lower than what they were selling it by about $70 while still keeping my receipt over $300. Gotta love negotiating.

So all up I will be carrying the following tech with me on my trip:

Smartphone, Netbook, Tablet, 3 Cameras (SLR, Canon P&S, Waterproof Panasonic), 2 ipods (my normal ipod and my shuffle for running) plus all the bits and pieces that go with it, chargers, cables, batteries, memory cards, hard drives. My Camera bag will be weighed down that’s for sure!