Travel Tips

2009’s Hot or Not for Travel Vacations

Locations in this article:  Chicago, IL Honolulu, HI Moscow, Russia

TRAVEL GADGETS

HOT: Cool Cameras with GPS
Courtesy of NikonHow many times have you looked at an old vacation photo and had no idea where you were? No more! The Nikon Coolpix P6000 ($499.99, at left, photo courtesy of Nikon) has GPS capability that geo-tags every photo you take with the exact location of where the picture was shot. The Ricoh 500SE ($1100) captures your photo’s location data, and also features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

If buying a new camera isn’t in your budget, there are external GPS units that connect to your current camera. The Sony GPS-CS1 ($130) connects to almost any Sony camera and location marks your photo. With any of these devices, you will have the best scrapbook ever!

NOT: Netbooks
HP mini notebookOur pal and gadget guru Phil Baker tested out several netbooks, which are light, compact notebooks with Web connectivity.

Although they’re affordable, about $300 to $1,000 depending on the bells and whistles, they tend to be slow and lack some crucial applications … and hard drives. Shaving off a few pounds in your luggage probably isn’t worth the extra expense.

Interested in more gadgets? Check out our Travel Gadgets & Gear section.