It only took a little more than half-a-decade for some pastors to realize that the tech in their hands enables them to have an office that can be nearly anywhere. But, knowing that you can get away from the office and be productive isn’t the same as knowing what options you have out there.

Over at Church Tech Today, two articles have gone up talking about mobile tech options for pastors. The first edition talked options for those in the Apple camp, the second talked options for those in the Android camp. Here’s a snippet of the latter:

If you add up all of these items, along with the tablet, you come to a cost of only $341.07. First off, that is less than half the cost of the iPad solution from last week and while it is smaller, this may be the exact pitch you need for your church. That also leaves a great budget to pay for a couple of years of 3G service so that you can email, check Facebook, and get online anywhere you want as well as many different applications from Google Play.

Its a solid enough list, and well enough to get started (whether you use online services to find the recommended accessories or not). For a bit of an appendix, I’d like to throw out there some additional options to consider whether you are a pastor, student, or just interested:

• Carrying both a phone and a tablet might be a bit much, so the Galaxy Note 2 (or the first Galaxy Note if you can find one that’s not too well-used) would be a suitable option. Combine it with a prepaid MVNO (non-major phone carrier), and you score with a very versatile communications and productivity center; if the idea of a larger tablet is your thing, check out the Samsung Tab models and Asus FonePad and combine that SIM card with that
• I’m always a fan of having external storage that serves for backup and additional materials; in this light the AirStash is an excellent choice for that kind of additional storage (add your own microSD memory card), with an ability to share content with others too
• The Apple Wireless Bluetooth keyboard is impressive (am on my 2nd one), but I was also tipped to one from Microsoft, which turns on automatically when its pulled from its case (that’s also a tablet stand)
• I don’t prefer to put a case on my device, instead I like the idea of making a custom skin using the SkinIt service; on my mobile I’ve got a QR code of my contact card alongside a personal logo. Easy branding exercise for any pastor, school, or ministry to do something like this that protects the device, will offering some piece of personal style to it

Personally, I keep things very minimal, even to the point of the software that I keep near my devices in order to be productive. What about you? What do you look for in your OTG (on-the-go) or mobile office solution? Or, if you are already in a good groove, what’s missing?