Hi Mrs Molly,
The round point next to the plug is a 12 volt point.
So far we've had access to power most of the time, so we haven't bothered with other options, but many people using laptops on the road (who free-camp a lot) use inverters to power their computers.
We're free camping tonight, and I'll simply work on battery until I've finished or until it gives out. We'll be back on a powered site tomorrow night, so I can recharge.
Cheers
Marg

Marg et al ...

My daughter (the clever so and so variety), tells me that one can store photos and all manner of things 'on the internet' for free AND make the storage available for select family & friends.
That was some months ago now and 'typical senior moment', I cannot remember more about it.
Does that ring true ? Anybody widen the knowledge cycle out there????

Three sites that I have used for sometime are:
www.panoramio.com
www.flickr.com and
www.photobucket.com

Do a Google for 'free photo sharing' to reveal many more.

Hi TomCarm,

Ozmoto has already given you some good advice, so I'll leave it at that! I use PhotoBucket to store the photos that I post to the forum.

Let us know how you go, and what you ended up using... it helps everyone else that way! (Also when you see your daughter again, ask her what she had in mind... it would be interesting to know.)

Cheers
Marg

Hi Marg,
I too am the techno nut of the family, although self taught and slowly blundering through all the many wonderful "aids" available these days.

My hubby and I are heading off perminently in 12 months and I plan to buy it all!!! I want ofcourse the lap top, ipod, movie camera, digital Camera, hopefully one that has GPS so we can keep the kids on track on google maps or our own site with photos of where we are??? Yet to learn the ins & outs of these, do you know anything about it?
I know you can upload photos onto google earth for everyone to see, and that's another thing I need to learn.
Another definate want is an ebook reader of some discription.... being a lover of reading....some of the cheaper ones like the Kobo are supposed to be good, but with less functions??
I want one which is compatable with many ebook downloads formats not just restricted to one seller, like Amazon. I've already started buying/downloading ebooks onto my computer, so I hope I'm doing the right thing.

We'll have to do more research into all these things, our local Camera Supplies Store have short courses when we buy cameras from them, something Harvey Norman etc doesnt do.
The trouble is everything cant be bought until we sell the house and the hubby's Super doesn't cut in until then either........ so our transition from House Owners to Grey Nomads in October 2011 will be interesting to say the least.
We've both followed your journey in the Magazine and DVD's with HUGE interest. And a healthy supply of envy, so thank you for it. We absolutely love the stories of "real" people out there, it's our favourite bit.
We have about 20 DVD's and are presently working throught them all for the second time, this time with Camps5 in hand. We are busting to get going.
Cheers Wendy

Oh, in regards to storing photos on the web, I use Photobucket and have found it great. It's editing is a tad slow but it's great to upload pictures to other websites, ebay templates etc.
I wont keep going on......... Bye

Ive just bought myself a 6" Kindle 3 from Amazon.com for $180AUS all!!

Hi Wendy,

Sorry it took a while to get back to you... during filming weeks life tends to get pretty busy, and we don't have a lot of time to catch up on email or forum posts. I'm glad you're enjoying the mag and DVDs... we look forward to seeing you on the road when it's your turn to set off!

Re all your 'tech toys' (always nice to find someone else who loves them as much as I do!):

(1) No, I don't know anything about GPS functions on cameras.. I know this function exists, but that's about it! Sounds like a great idea for knowing where a photo was taken if you are looking at a huge bunch of them months later! (I keep a record of where we are and what we're doing in the calendar function on my iPad, and then I match the date the photo was taken with the calendar, and that gives me a fairly good idea of where it was!)

(2) e-book readers: the technology is moving faster all the time with these. The 'standard' appears to be ePub (Kobo, iPad and a few others) so it'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the next 12 months. I find I manage pretty well with the Kindle and iPad, because I could download plugins for Borders and Amazon for the iPad, so I can read either ePub or Kindle eBooks. All I can suggest is that you research this carefully when it's time to buy, and make a decision based on that. (You're sure to find that six months later you wish you'd waited because something else has come out!)

(3) Photobucket: yes, I use this too... I use it for photos for forum posts... not much for anything else so far, though. I decided to opt for the paid version because it still wasn't much and I can store much more.

Meanwhile... enjoy your buying/planning to get all these wonderful things!

OH... I came back to edit this because I just read your post about buying a Kindle! Let me know how you find it.

Cheers
Marg

Thank you for that Marg. Not a problem about timing of reply we all should know you'd be pretty busy.We watched the latest DVD tonight and really enjoyed it as usual, really keen to do the Balloon ride, although terrified of heights so I hope I am able?. That's going to be a promise I've made to myself when we head off next year is to step out of my comfort zone and try everything.

As for the Kindle.....oh Wow!! am I loving it!!! To be able to highlight text, make notes (I'm a make notes junky!!) bookmark etc etc etc not to mention the convenience of the size & space saving when we get on the road.
I'm sure technology will be even more advanced in 11 months time when we go....so I'm looking forward to that.

Like your apron too, LOL. The boss reckons mine should be "SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED" Cant see a problem with that???? heh heh heh!!
Cheers Wendy

Saw the Sony "Reader" today, two models, 5" Pocket edition and 6" Touch edition. The latter has an awesome array of features but retails at $299!!! Thought the wife might like one for Christmas and birthday (boxing day) but when I broached the subject got a firm no...Looks like I will have to wait for my next birthday, should be a bit cheaper by then.

Kevin

This seems to good to be true...do I just go to the Testra shop to get one and use it at home and away or can I use it just in the van and keep the other one I have at home? Thanks for any help or advice -

Gary & Sheree