Jaunted

Laptops

Travel Accessories: One Plug Is Never Enough

August 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 1 Comment

It's hard to believe that something like this hasn't come along before. The Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger is one of the most ideal travel accessories we've seen for people who travel with gizmos. If only it had a catchier name!

The charger is simple enough, turning one plug into three while protecting your devices with a built-in surge protector. (So while you're charging at the airport during that heavy lightning delay, there's no reason to worry!) It also offers two USB ports so you can charge your cell phone, iPod or anything else that uses a USB connection.

Best of all, the charger starts at only $25 and is available directly through the company's website.

Related Stories:
· Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger [Official Site]
· Travel Tech coverage [Jaunted]

WiFi

Whenever, Wherever With Verizon Broadband

November 29, 2006 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments

You can't always count on wifi when you're on the road. Sure, it's fun to scroll through network names and see what pops up on your radar (there's one called "Beerpong" floating through our apartment), but those signals aren't always strong enough to keep you connected. For business travelers, that's a serious problem, and it can be a nuisance for leisure travelers too. What if you whip out your laptop for emergency directions but "Beerpong" runs out and leaves you high and dry?

Verizon Wireless provides a good combination of speed and reliability when it comes to wireless broadband access. Their PC cards will connect you to the ever-expanding BroadbandAccess network for $80 a month plus the cost of your card (the basic model sells for $50 online with a 2-year contract). BroadbandAccess speeds average 400-700 Kbps and is currently available in "208 metropolitan areas covering over 180 million people," as per Verizon's website. Network expansion into Western Massachusetts was recently announced.

If you crave more technology and find the protruding bump of a PC card to be unsightly, there's another option. Lenovo offers laptops with integrated Verizon technology, including the sleek and ultraportable X Series machine.

[Photo: jimmythesuperstar]

Related Stories:
· Verizon Wireless Extends Wireless Broadband Network [Yahoo]

Travel Media

Sharkey Has Tips for Your Laptop

November 7, 2006 at 11:35 AM | 0 Comments

Leisure travelers carrying laptops may not have to fear their boss's wrath if they lose some data along the way. Nonetheless, it sure would suck for anyone, whether a business or leisure traveler, to have a beloved MacBook or other machine seized at the airport. That's why today's Joe Sharkey tips matter to you, whether you're headed to London for a convention or just to get crazy drunk.

Sharkey reports that though laptops are not being seized all over, a lot more are being opened and inspected some way by airport security. When machines are seized, their owners may get no explanation, and they simply disappear like the second sock of a pair, never to be seen again.

He relays the suggestion, as per a professor at the University of Oklahoma, that concerned techies store all their computer data on a flash drive "that goes in your checked luggage or is Fedexed back and forth." He also says that you may have "suspicious" data on your hard drive and not even know it: something as harmless as a file with "blueprint" in its name could set inspectors off. To that end, a Sharkey pal suggests that you swap some "suspicious" file names for innocuous counterparts. "Puppy pictures," "Cupcake recipes," and "Lullaby sheet music" all would work--"Terrorist notes," not so much.

[Photo: Josh Bancroft]

Related Stories:
· To Do List: Rename Laptop Files `Grandma's Favorite Recipes' [NYT]

TSA

Make My First Class Seat Extra-Crispy

September 21, 2006 at 11:46 AM | 0 Comments

Looks like road warriors will have yet another problem to face getting their laptops on board: battery fears. No, not the fear of running out of juice--although that's always an issue--but a few airlines (Quantas and Virgin, among them) are banning certain laptops. They're worried they might catch fire.

The two main targets are Dell and Apple, which recently recalled some laptops amid fire concerns. Somehow we doubt that the airlines know WHICH Dells and Apples are fire-prone--they won't be checking serial numbers. More worrisome is the fact that the jostling the laptops suffer when they are checked makes them morelikely to catch fire than when they are in the cabin.

Ultimately, we're sure this policy will change, just as soon as airlines figure out a way to charge for customers to plug in their laptops on board.

[Image via sizemporesr/Flickr]  

Related Stories:
·   Some Laptops Face Ban [WSJ]