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I’ve used an iPad for three days, and it’s the best content consumption device on the planet. It’s forced me to rethink what the ultimate Mac setup for a road warrior. Here’s my list:

• iPad. This is the ultimate content collection and consumption machine. However, if you have to type in more than a few hundred characters, compose HTML, print, or videoconference, the current iPad won’t cut it.

• MacBook. This is the ultimate content creation machine. With it and Word, MarsEdit, BBEdit, TextExpander, Lightroom, Tweetdeck, and PowerPoint, I can rule the world.

• Sprint OverDrive 3G/4G. This product enables you to create a small WiFI network using Sprint’s 3G and 4G networks. Admittedly, there are only a few dozen cities with 4G, but as long there’s Austin and Maui, where else matters? (Disclosure: Sprint gave me an OverDrive.)

• Verizon phone. I dread using my iPhone—I swear as many calls drop as go through. I’m constantly redialing people. It simply doesn’t work for voice communication in backwards places like Silicon Valley.

Here’s how this setup would work:

• The iPad is for reading books, scanning emails, tweeting with links, and looking cool. Check.

• The MacBook is for content creation (blogs, long emails, presentations, books, photo editing, and tweets without links), printing, and videoconferencing. Check.

• The Sprint OverDrive is to avoid AT&T for web access via my iPad or MacBook. An added bonus is that I don’t have to pay $15/day for crappy Internet access in expensive hotels. Check.

• The Verizon phone is for calls. Check.

To get from where I am to where I want to be, I only need to swap my iPhone for a Verizon phone. This means carrying an additional device—the Ipad—but it eliminates the hardcover novel that I carry on trips so the net effect on weight and bulk is minimal.

More Macintosh tips and tricks.