media playback on an airplane - the best strategy
May 30, 2012 1:43 PM Subscribe
Long flight ahead - what's the best way to play media during the flight? (details/needs inside...)
I have a rather long flight ahead. What is the best strategy for media playback? (listing to audio/watching video during the flight).
I'd like to bring a personal media player on the airplane. But I have one main issue, and that is battery life. Ideally I'd like something that could give me many hours of video/audio playback on a single charge, or perhaps have some way of swapping out the battery with a spare.
The plane I will be taking does *not* have an electrical outlet in the cabin (if it did I could just plug in my laptop, which I'm taking, but it doesn't. OTOH would a spare laptop battery be a better idea than a separate media player?)
I have a rather long flight ahead. What is the best strategy for media playback? (listing to audio/watching video during the flight).
I'd like to bring a personal media player on the airplane. But I have one main issue, and that is battery life. Ideally I'd like something that could give me many hours of video/audio playback on a single charge, or perhaps have some way of swapping out the battery with a spare.
The plane I will be taking does *not* have an electrical outlet in the cabin (if it did I could just plug in my laptop, which I'm taking, but it doesn't. OTOH would a spare laptop battery be a better idea than a separate media player?)
On my last few flights I've just relied entirely on the plane's entertainment system, which was free and robust on both Virgin Atlantic and Emirates. Do you have this kind of option?
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:48 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:48 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
PortaPow? I've found similar discontinued devices sold by others by searching for "usb battery pack".
posted by mkb at 1:48 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by mkb at 1:48 PM on May 30, 2012
Check and see what options are available to you. On a transatlantic Delta flight we had private seat-back entertainment, with videos, movies and games. It wasn't the hugest selection in the world, but it was more than I needed.
I like books, but that's me. My eReaders was fine.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:49 PM on May 30, 2012
I like books, but that's me. My eReaders was fine.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:49 PM on May 30, 2012
Yep. iPad all the way. I recently watched 4+ hours of video and spent several more hours reading Kindle books on a flight, and hardly ran down the battery at all. The only thing you really have to be careful about is that certain apps (games especially) run the battery a lot more than others. I was shocked that 2 hours of video only consumed around 4% of the battery whereas 2 hours of Angry Birds would have drawn a lot more.
posted by slkinsey at 1:50 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by slkinsey at 1:50 PM on May 30, 2012
Whatever you decide to take, you can extend the battery life considerably by keeping screen brightness as low as you can tolerate, keeping volume low/medium, and avoid multitasking. This is especially important for an iPad. I have the ipad3 and working at full brightness will drain my battery a bit too quickly for my tastes. Also avoid demanding games which can also drain your battery.
There are also portable spare batteries that you can plug into your device to charge it, if you don't mind carrying extra gear.
posted by joyeuxamelie at 1:51 PM on May 30, 2012
There are also portable spare batteries that you can plug into your device to charge it, if you don't mind carrying extra gear.
posted by joyeuxamelie at 1:51 PM on May 30, 2012
The ASUS transformer is wonderful for this. I've had it on 25-hr international transits a couple of times now, and it's been fabulous. It get about 8hrs with the tablet alone, not quite double with the base, call it 14-15 hours.
posted by bonehead at 2:01 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bonehead at 2:01 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Just how long is your flight? Another recommendation for iPad. Lots of variety: top notch games, video on a beautiful screen, music (which, if memory serves, sips battery very slowly if you're not using the display). Reading is also terrific: web articles from Instapaper or the like, or books via iBooks or the Kindle app. It's thin and not very heavy and easy to set and use on the tray table in front of you, or on your lap, or tucked away into the seatback pocket while you listen to music or something. A Smart Cover is handy for the tray table. (As I'm sure you can tell) I love having it when I fly.
posted by jroybal at 2:14 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by jroybal at 2:14 PM on May 30, 2012
I really like the portable batteries offered by NewTrent. They are reasonably compact and lightweight and will keep almost anything running. Mine did a great job extending the life of my Ipad2 when we traveled to and in China.
posted by bearwife at 2:15 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 2:15 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I saw an impulse item in the check-out line at Wal-Mart that is made by Energizer. It is basically a recharge pack to refill the batteries on a portable device. It was spendy - $17 I think - but worth it for this type of trip.
I had a 5+ hour flight recently and brought a Playstation Vita (with a movie loaded up), a Kindle Fire, and a Nintendo 3DS. If the battery on one died, I switched to the next. I suggest noise-cancelling headphones if you want to be able to hear what you're watching/listening to.
posted by tacodave at 2:27 PM on May 30, 2012
I had a 5+ hour flight recently and brought a Playstation Vita (with a movie loaded up), a Kindle Fire, and a Nintendo 3DS. If the battery on one died, I switched to the next. I suggest noise-cancelling headphones if you want to be able to hear what you're watching/listening to.
posted by tacodave at 2:27 PM on May 30, 2012
Your laptop is enough. On a long flight, drop 2 hours flight time for take off, landing, meals taking up your tray space, etc. a bit more time for sleeping, general getting up and about. If you have movies on the plane, compromise and watch one of them. This leaves you with 5 hours at most. Don't buy an iPad or whatever just for this.
I travel longhaul often, there's so many disruptions that I rarely do more than a couple of hours work or watch more than one movie on my laptop or iPad. I tend to watch whatever is on the inflight system, helps with sleep sometimes at least. I think continental to Europe in 2008 was the last flight I took that did not have inseat movies.
posted by wingless_angel at 2:49 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I travel longhaul often, there's so many disruptions that I rarely do more than a couple of hours work or watch more than one movie on my laptop or iPad. I tend to watch whatever is on the inflight system, helps with sleep sometimes at least. I think continental to Europe in 2008 was the last flight I took that did not have inseat movies.
posted by wingless_angel at 2:49 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you're going to be using the media player instead of your laptop, you can keep the laptop powered on but closed (to kill the screen and minimize power usage) and plug in whatever you bring via USB, extending the battery life substantially. You come out of it with a drained laptop battery, of course.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:50 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:50 PM on May 30, 2012
"Very long," "many hours," ...what do these things mean?
posted by rhizome at 3:08 PM on May 30, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 3:08 PM on May 30, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also, noise cancelling headphones make a huge difference. Try them on before you buy them, to make sure they are comgy enough to wear for 14 hours, as you will not want to take them off!
posted by kjs4 at 4:28 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by kjs4 at 4:28 PM on May 30, 2012
My laptop has a special USB port that will deliver power even when the laptop is turned off. It's so useful for flights. Test your laptop to see if it has one. If so, you can charge an iPod for the flight and the laptop will only use a few % of its battery.
If you have to turn the laptop on like Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish suggests, it might die on the flight but it should still be enough to keep an iPod going.
posted by scose at 4:59 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you have to turn the laptop on like Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish suggests, it might die on the flight but it should still be enough to keep an iPod going.
posted by scose at 4:59 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
You can't rely on in-flight entertainment necessarily - my flight from Paris to New York this past March did not have back of the seat videos, and they were showing really, truly horrible stuff on the overhead screen.
I have the "old fashioned" kindle ... I get about a full week of battery power. I don't know if you're up for an expenditure of $139 plus books, but my kindle has paid for itself a gazillion times over in sanity-while-travelling. Between my very small netbook and my kindle, I'm occupied for a while and don't have to worry about batteries on both things dying. If you're worried, a second laptop battery would not be a bad thing.
posted by ChuraChura at 5:54 PM on May 30, 2012
I have the "old fashioned" kindle ... I get about a full week of battery power. I don't know if you're up for an expenditure of $139 plus books, but my kindle has paid for itself a gazillion times over in sanity-while-travelling. Between my very small netbook and my kindle, I'm occupied for a while and don't have to worry about batteries on both things dying. If you're worried, a second laptop battery would not be a bad thing.
posted by ChuraChura at 5:54 PM on May 30, 2012
I don't do the video stuff very often, but I listened to music pretty much nonstop from Seattle to London on my iphone in airplane mode and wasn't even out of batteries when I got in. In case that helps.
posted by Because at 6:33 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Because at 6:33 PM on May 30, 2012
Also, get active noise canceling earphones. Getting rid of some of the airplane noise is totally worth it. Sony and JVC sell some that don't break the bank like Bose.
posted by Yavsy at 7:22 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Yavsy at 7:22 PM on May 30, 2012
Even if your flight has "in seat" personal video, your player might not be working. On a 14 hr flight, that is a real bummer.
You can get external batteries for your iPad if the flight is really long. Noise cancelling headphones are a good idea too.
posted by elmay at 9:27 PM on May 30, 2012
You can get external batteries for your iPad if the flight is really long. Noise cancelling headphones are a good idea too.
posted by elmay at 9:27 PM on May 30, 2012
When using a device with a screen to listen to audio-only - be sure to turn off the display to save power. If you end up watching movies on your laptop - rip them to the hard drive - it uses less power than the DVD player.
posted by nightwood at 10:06 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by nightwood at 10:06 PM on May 30, 2012
Lots of good advice here :-)
People are correct to say don't rely on seatback entertainment. The last long flight I took the seatback entertainment was broken --- that probably happens about one flight in six or seven, for me. On two of my last four long flights (yes ChuraChura: also Paris) there was only overhead entertainment, which is totally pointless.
Your best bet for battery life is e-books, regardless of what device you're reading them on. Games and videos will draw by far the most power. And yes, you can extend the battery life of any tablet with something like the New Trent chargers: they are reasonably small and light, yet powerful. (And they will power your phone too.) I always bring a couple of good substantial magazines, in case everything else fails me.
posted by Susan PG at 12:31 AM on May 31, 2012
People are correct to say don't rely on seatback entertainment. The last long flight I took the seatback entertainment was broken --- that probably happens about one flight in six or seven, for me. On two of my last four long flights (yes ChuraChura: also Paris) there was only overhead entertainment, which is totally pointless.
Your best bet for battery life is e-books, regardless of what device you're reading them on. Games and videos will draw by far the most power. And yes, you can extend the battery life of any tablet with something like the New Trent chargers: they are reasonably small and light, yet powerful. (And they will power your phone too.) I always bring a couple of good substantial magazines, in case everything else fails me.
posted by Susan PG at 12:31 AM on May 31, 2012
I used to carry two extra laptop batteries for my thinkpad and MBP with me when I lived in New Zealand and flew back here twice monthly. When I first started doing this it was rare to have power outlets at your seat to charge your electronics, so you still ended up with 10 or so hours of reading a book. But once Business Class on the airlines I routinely flew started having these at each seat I was good to go. Of course the down side to all of the stupid thin electronics that are in fashion now is removable (and therefore swappable when away from power for a day or so) batteries are becoming increasingly rare. If you have an iPad with no external power source nearby (and not having an eternal battery pack) then even with 10 hours of battery you're still looking at 10 to 12 hours of staring at a dead tablet, at least on a flight to someplace like NZ or OZ. If you fly business class you'll probably have access to power, but YMMV flying coach.
Buy an efficient netbook with good battery life and buy a couple of extra batteries. Or if you would rather get a tablet, buy an ipad and a high capacity external battery and you should be good to go on all but the longest flights.
posted by chosemerveilleux at 9:09 AM on May 31, 2012
Buy an efficient netbook with good battery life and buy a couple of extra batteries. Or if you would rather get a tablet, buy an ipad and a high capacity external battery and you should be good to go on all but the longest flights.
posted by chosemerveilleux at 9:09 AM on May 31, 2012
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You can get ~10 hours of battery life easily. No laptop would come close.
posted by Oktober at 1:45 PM on May 30, 2012 [2 favorites]