Flying international

howie777

Question. I'm heading out to Cergy France (outskirts of Paris) for work and I have never flow international before. It's a long flight and I'm trying to figure out what to do. I was pretty close to buying an iPad but I just couldn't pull the trigger today at the store. I may bring a book as a backup plan but I'd really like to use my macbook. I'm thinking of getting a TV show season on itunes and just watching that.

So my question is, do they have power on International flights? I have an airline adapter for my macbook but I have never actually seen a power plug on a plan? Is this just a business class and up service? I think 3 hours is the most my laptop can last without juice, don't think I can get near apples 8 hours unless I turn it on and don't use it.

Howie

Sherardp

I fly international all the time. I have the Ipad and would suggest it as it should be fine for 8-10hrs at least. I would say go for the 16gb if not more. As for me, I usually play music on the Ipod. I would suggest you buy some noise cancelling headphones, bring some mags with you also. Most flights will offer entertainment, so you can watch your own movies, flip through games, etc. Also most flights will offer power to use for the toys at least the ones I've been on and I've flown all over the world. If your pressed against the Ipad then at least get yourself a Nintendo DS and enjoy some Mario in there.

Enjoy the flight, I'll be flying out of the USA on Monday heading back to Japan.

LessisNevermore

iPod + PSP = not so boring
edit: or $5 for a bottle of sleeping pills.... cheapest route by far
lol

bobman1235

Availability of power outlets vary by airline and even plane. Check with the airline you're flying with, they can probably tell you. Alternatively, just buy a spare battery.

cfrizz

Or you could get an Ereader & load a few books on it. I love my Sony PRS-600 it saves my sanity at the airport & on the plane.

Sherardp

cfrizz wrote: »

Or you could get an Ereader & load a few books on it. I love my Sony PRS-600 it saves my sanity at the airport & on the plane.

Seems like the Kimbles are cheaper in price also, but if your going to spend that much your close to Ipad territory which offers allot more. Sleeping pills are great too, I usually take "Sleep Time", if I'm going to go that route or Tylenol PMs. Tons of toys out there to help pass the time. It's just a matter of what you want to do. I've tried almost everything out there, and found DS, mags, books, Ipod/Ipad/Itouch (yes I've had all 3), and a mix of puzzle books all help pass the time quite well. Get a few hours of shut eye in between and you will be there in no time.

Have a safe trip bro.

cfrizz

Yes thanks to Apple's Ipad coming out, Amazon's Kindle and everyone else has FINALLY slashed the prices for their Ereaders.

Although, I'd much rather pay $169.00 for my Ereader, rather than the hefty price of $500 & up.

The Ipad is a mini computer which is great, but it also has too many distractions if all you want to do is read.

howie777

Well I passed up the iPad option. The only ones they had where 64 wifi and the 32 and 64 wifi + 3G and I just didn't want to spend that much. I probably would have bought a 32 wifi if they had one.

As for reading books, I actually use my iPhone for that. I've been reading almost exclusively ebooks for 8 years now, starting with palm PDAs. So I will have a couple books ready but I usually find it hard to read on a plane. I may try and download a season of a show to watch too. I just wish I could buy big bang theory season 3, stupid Warner Brothers! NCIS is nice too but its like 70 bucks for the season 7!

I'm still debating if I will bring my macbook. Its just more to lose or get stolen. Plus I will have my work laptop but I can't do much that that other than work!

I have some sennheiser (sp?) in ear headphones that I use for planes that work great. I like them due to their compact size and they drown out most of the noise.

Oh well. Hopefully the trip won't be too bad.

Thanks for the suggestions

Howie

Hawkeye

Book business class! My company allows flight to Europe at that level even for the noob mechanic. There is enough booze and food to take up the time!

Gordon

tentoze

Ambien is your friend.

jdhdiggs

I vote Ambien and/or booze... Your flight from the East coast will leave ~8PM and arrive ~4-5AM EST so it's best to get as much sleep as possible that way when you land at ~11AM local time, you can get your car/flight while still functional and stay up until a reasonable bed time. This is a MUST if you're in economy.

Also, things are different on each airline and by class of fair. I'd HIGHLY reccomend NOT flying on any US based carriers if you can avoid them.

On the way back, that's when you'll need the entertainment. If you fly on a non-US airline, I can pretty much promise you that you'll have booze and a TV with about 20 movies and another 20 TV shows on it. I'll typically only read/mess on a comp for maybe 2hrs heading back to the US.