Super Mobile Office Solution? Need some fellow geek insight...

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http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor Since: Nov 11, 2007

If you were a creative director at a music publishing company and needed a completely mobile office solution that can meet 100% efficiency on a picnic table or in the middle seat on a 747, what would you need? Here's what I've come up with so far, please share your gadget insight:

Printer (planon.com/products/printstik)
Printstik is battery operated, bluetooth capable and uses a 20 sheet roll of paper like an automatic weapon magazine...all in a 1"x2"x11" form factor weighing in at 1 lb. Sweet.

Scanner (planon.com/products/docupen/xseries)
Docupen looks like a pen, you swipe it over what you want to scan and bluetooth takes care of the transfer to your pc or blackberry for you. Or if you want, you can transmit the image directly to your Printstik for an immediate hard copy.

Netbook
I need something with an s/pdif output and 2 analog headphone outputs. I don't plan to purchase anything until 2013 so I'll let the market develop before I spend too much time hunting these features down in a specific product. I'm sure it's out there in some obscure corner of the world. HP Mini has dual headphone outs, s/pdif will be a specialty thing I think...I'll also get an external CD/DVD writer, nothing exciting there.

External Storage
Again since 2013 is the purchase date I won't bother spec'ing this out. I want solid state media in a sexier-than-typical flash drive packaging. 256 GB flash hdd's are available for just under $1000 at this time...who knows in 2013...

Portable Monitors
I'm very intrigued by Genelec's DSP monitoring technology. DSP monitors are active and include a D/A converter. Portable applications for this technology are very inspiring...but Genelec's smallest DSP monitors are 7 inches tall and 20 lbs. This won't do. Thoughts on which companies are smashing decent D/A converters into portable monitoring solutions? I'm thinking something that might look like the little Bose speakers you see in 5.1 home theater systems. I expect this item to require external power, which means I'll need something for times when an outlet is unavailable, hence...

2 pair of quality Headphones
This will fill the void when I can't bust out the real speakers. I like the idea of earbuds for isolation, quality, and pack-able form factor...but can you imagine someone handing you a pair of earbuds that countless other clients have shoved in their earwaxholes??? Ew. I like the form factor of some cheaply constructed headphones my girlfriend got from Urban Outfitters, but the quality is just not there. I'm looking for compact wire frames, collapsible is a plus, and accurate open back speaker quality. I'm assuming all closed back headphones will be prohibitively bulky. I love my ATH M50 and its collapsible design but it's still BIG in its storage pouch. This is what I'm thinking my ideal headpohnes might look like...(www.urbanoutfitters.com/u...edProductSize=)

Projector (www.microvision.com/store...ctor-p-30.html)
This is amazing technology. Laser projection allows for an image that is completely in focus at all times, it's battery powered and life is rated at around 2 hours...plenty of time to make an impromptu pitch from the middle seat of a 747. 848x480 resolution in 16:9...not so bad at all.

Field Recorder (www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrackII.html)
Phantom Power, S/PDIF out, realtime markup features allow for making notes on the fly, 4 hours battery life. Primarily meant for capturing client ideas but I'm sure countless applications are out there for keeping something like this on hand.

Smartphone
Most smartphones these days have fantastic software for advanced contact management, bluetooth connectivity, resource monitoring, and expense tracking...which are the only things I require on my phone. I can't imagine what the market will look like in 2013, but I'm sure it won't be hard to get what I need as I could just as easily get it today in Blackberry, Nokia, Iphone, HTC, etc.

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http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Jun 11, 2010 08:37 pm

Dude, you "WILL" make a million dollars one of these days.

That im sure of.

If you need a 2IC im up for the job.

I can travel.

The Czar of BS
Member
Since: Dec 31, 2007


Jun 11, 2010 09:15 pm

Just wanted to make a comment about the Notebook.

Have you looked at the Motion Computing Line?

They have all of the options that you are looking for. And the docking station has spdif. Also the video out. With the view anywhere screen, it should help with the outdoor situation.

For the field recordings, take a look at Sound Devices. They have many different products that fit the bill of what your looking for. Up to and including the SSD.

http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Jun 11, 2010 09:39 pm

@ Rob: Awesome suggestions! I was hoping you'd peek at this thread...sounds like that Motion Computing tablet you won is working out, good to hear.

@ Deon: I'm shooting for avoiding starvation whilst making music my day to day affair...but I do like to get my thinker tickin' on the details. We'll see.

www.cavvystudios.com
Member
Since: May 31, 2010


Jun 11, 2010 09:42 pm

For what it's worth, I'm posting this from an HP Mini 210 and I've never had any problems with it. They're nice netbooks. Chances are by 2013 they'll have something right up your alley.

The Czar of BS
Member
Since: Dec 31, 2007


Jun 11, 2010 11:08 pm

I was just looking over the Sound Device web site. It seems that they are moving away from S/PDIF.

But, this unit looks rather interesting.

www.sounddevices.com/products/788t.htm

http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Jun 13, 2010 01:29 pm

That unit looks like it would would be an incredible field recording tool. I'm not 100% married to the s/pdif out on the field recorder. I'm interested in s/pdif on the notebook so that I could potentially hook up a decent DA converter before my portable studio monitors.

I really like that Genelec built in some DA converters into their DSP line...but I would be cool with the combination of a compact DA converter and a compact monitoring solution. The s/pdif on the notebook would allow for that sort of thing. But if SD stopped providing S/pdif outs; is there another digital connection that's becoming prevalent?

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Jun 13, 2010 08:12 pm

Ha ha ha ha, No worries Quince.

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