Smartphone will get you there. If you really want the keyboard and screen estate, get a laptop. If you're traveling for extended periods , battery life is your main feature. So probably no larger than 14.1 inch to save on screen consumption and low power parts.

Are you concerned with how much weight you're carrying? What about personal information security?

Consider what would be easier to lock down in a case your shit gets stolen. A lost computer is the fastest way to lose your identity.

I suggest a tablet because it's lighter and There's no HDD to take out that contains your data. A lot of tablets have a built-in cellular data connection you can use so that if your tablet does get lost you can locate it or remotely wipe it. Without it having access to the Internet it can't be remotely wiped.

>>1127440
>There's no HDD to take out that contains your data.
Where the fuck is your data then? Obviously they can get it if they steal the whole thing.

>>1127405
Look in to getting a transformer book or something. Laptops that turn in to tablets are great. I use an ASUS T100. It fits neatly in my bag, and if I'm on a train I can just pull the screen off and hang out doing some light reading. Once I'm in the hostel, keyboard goes back on and I can do email and whatever else.

I bring a Microsoft Surface. It's lightweight, portable, and does anything a computer does.

>>1127405
Just a smartphone. Most hostels and hotels have computers you can use if you really need one.

>>1127500
It's in flash memory that's soldered into a motherboard. That's not something that you can just remove and then put into another device. Your security stays.

Whereas with Windows or OSX you can get around the password for the OS and access the personal data really easy. Unless with OSX you decide to encrypt the data using Filevault or for Windows get a third party encryption.

The encryption and data security is for when they do steal the whole thing. Tablets are just more of a pain in the ass compared to laptop for getting around security. It'll buy you time for changing passwords and shit.

>>1127573
Don't they all have backdoors anyway? I'm sure it's trivial for anyone who knows what they're doing, and if they don't they wouldn't be stealing it in the first place.

>>1127573
Or you could get a proper enterprise laptop with an OPAL-compliant drive for transparent, full speed hardware-level encryption. For example, I have a Thinkpad X220 with a Samsung 840 Evo and it's completely inaccessible without the password. Even if you extract the drive and hook it up on a different computer, it's completely unusable and all you can do is initiate a secure erase to nuke absolutely everything on it. As a bonus, since the encryption is handled by the drive hardware it has absolutely zero impact on performance or battery life.

Chomoebooks I've seen really suck. They don't even have proper storage most of the time and are really slow.
just get a ultrabook(that's notebook without a dvd drive) if you need a full fledged computer. I usually trveval with just my iPad these days. It's great for reading on planes, and web searching for maps and sightseeing ideas, and watching movies,
> researching things to do, places to eat, and booking airbnb/hostels/hotels, and
iPad. A smart phone works well too, but a lot of travel sites are mood formatted for the screen size plus like looking at a big map.
Only bring a computer if there is a full sized app you need to use. Plus you will be less tempted to waste your trip on the computer in your room.

Get a used thinkpad, maybe in an electronic hub like hong kong or singapore.
13 inch, ultra durable, proper hard drive to safe stuff to watch.
Fully encrypt the hard drive, nobody will bother cracking that in case it gets stolen.

I'm going to do a 1- or 2- year RTW trip and plan to buy a laptop for it. I don't want Windows 10 so I'm thinking about buying a 12" Macbook. The screen is nice and it only weighs ~900 grams. I'm not an Apple fanboi, so can anyone convince me this is a bad idea? Thanks.

>>1128404
It's tablet-grade hardware in a small laptop chassis and has extremely limited connectivity. It only comes with one USB type C port, so you need adapters right off the bat to connect anything to it, and it also doubles as the DC input so you need an even more expensive splitter adapter if you want to charge and use devices at the same time. Sure, it's small and light, but it's so extremely limited unless you spend big $$$ on a shitload of dongles, and without them you might as well just get a tablet anyway since it's cheaper and no less limited in practical use.

If you want Apple, get a MBP or MBA instead, or if that's not important then look into the extensive collection of Windows devices.

>>1127513
How long have you had it? I switched from Mac to the Surface and loved it...until it crapped out on me a little after a year and wasn't covered by warranty (even though it was zapping me). I bought a used macbook Air and it still works great but I miss the touch screen and how much smaller/lighter the surface was.

People always say bring your smartphone and that's it, but the truth is that smartphones aren't good enough yet. So many sites don't load properly and try finding the cheapest routh with a million tabs open on your smartphone - it's just not the same.

Chromebooks are shit. So are any other slow-ass netbooks because then you might as well pop into an internet cafe and use that computer.

>>1128453
forgot to say that I'm not even a fanboy. Apple is outdated as fuck but at the end of the day their shit works for what I need it to (ie using the internet, checking emails, having lots of tabs open to multitask). My first macbook lasted 5 years and I sold it while it was still working. My macbook air now is 4 years old and still going strong. Any other laptop (including the surface) lasted less than a year and costs half as much. You do the math and the investment into a Mac still worth the premium. There's no way buying a new netbook every 1 or 2 years is cheaper than buying one mac over the span of 5 years.

Also, I tried traveling around with just a bluetooth keyboard and my android phone and it was shit. So much delay between the screen and keyboard so it sort of defeated the purpose.

>>1127440
>What is VeraCrypt?

>>1128453
I did a completely unplanned/unresearched 7 week trip through central Europe on a galaxy s3 in the summer of 2013. Smartphones of today are definitely capable, but it also helps to plan ahead and make sure your browser can fake a desktop useragent, get all the apps you need, etc.

I carry a Chromebook with me nowdays. It's pretty awesome and satisfies my needs while travelling perfectly and super lightweight and good battery life. Docs for writing etc.

>>1128571
This is what I was thinking. I like that it is very secure: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2475853/cybercrime-hacking/a-chromebook-offers-defensive-computing-when-traveling.html

With guest mode, if a fellow traveler or hosteler needs to borrow my computer I can feel safe letting them use it without keeping an eye on it

Also it's cheap and gets 14 hours battery life

In general terms:
Smartphones: Can do pretty much everything a laptop can but the screen is small as Asian penis and usability is not the best if you need agility. Plus side is that it's lightweight and fairly cheap.
Tablets: Same as smartphones but have bigger screens. If you're used to touch only, there shouldn't be much difference between this and a laptop. It's also fairly cheap and light.
Chromebooks: Usability is probably better than the other two, it's also fairly cheap and fairly light. You can stick with ChromeOS or install some linux distro to have access to a real OS. Better to pick one with i3 and 4gb if you're going this route.
Ultrabook: If money is not an issue.

>>1128430

Thanks for the input. I'm aware of the single port issue, but I guess I'll have to live with it. The only external devices I really need are all USB-based (and I don't need to use them simultaneously) so I think a single dongle will be enough. Tablets are an alternative, but I think they're too limited in their functions; Windows devices are another alternative, but I have zero desire to migrate to Windows 10. MBP and MBA are too heavy -- I'm trying to do the entire trip with a single bag so weight+size are really important.

>>1128585
If weight is a big issue look at the ASUS Chromebook Flip: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZS4HK0Q/?tag=cbchart-20

>$229
>1.96 lbs

>>1128571
Cosign, Chromebooks are great. I love having a full desktop computer since I travel alone so it lets me watch shows and shit when there's nothing else to do. More power to people who do without but I love mine. Bought pretty much the cheapest one so I knew I wouldn't mind losing it, is a 11.6 inch thing with only a SD screen but desu that's all you need if you're not working. Great for web browsing and all the media things you might need. That and the battery lasts fucking forever.

>>1128845
Obviously meant meant full laptop, not desktop, silly me.