I like guide books, in book form. I had the Brazil Lonely Planet guide and while I liked it on my iPad, I much prefer all my hard copy others. Beyond those and their cursory maps, I'm all electronics. I plan some things in advance from home, namely how to get from the airport to the hotel/arena/wherever I'm starting, but after that, even without a data plan because they're often ridiculously expensive, it's so easy to find a coffee shop or somewhere that has free wifi. Enough to get a few things done and get back to whatever my next stop was. I have a map in my car of BC, just in the event it breaks down or my phone/gps aren't working.