Six Gadgets for Plenty of Peace of Mind
October 17th, 2007 (4:00pm) Samuel Dean 4 Comments
It may not quite be the holiday season yet, but it’s always good to review your options when it comes to cool gadgets. Sometimes a single little device can make you more efficient and change the way you work. In this post, I’ll round up six little engines that can.
Cell Phone Plus Notebook Charging Combo. The iGo everywhere 130 notebook power adapter, seen below, comes with two power cords, one for a standard wall outlet, and one that works with any airline power adapter or ones found in cars, boats and RVs. The real benefit, though, is that it can charge a second device, such as a cell phone or digital music player at the same time. It lists for $149.99 and saves lots of hassle, especially when traveling.
Cell Phone Signal Extender. Are you on a cell phone a lot during the day? A cell phone signal extender can give you much more range and keep your call quality as high as possible. The one seen below requires you to mount an included antenna near a window and run coax cable to the base unit. It can give you a very high-quality signal on two different floors. It’s about $250 at ThinkGeek.com.
USB Memory Watch. There are several watches on the market that build in USB memory stick functionality. This one below gives you 2GB of memory and is $49.99 at ThinkGeek.com. It has a built-in USB interface and you get a USB extension cord with it.
MagicJack. The magicJack device fits in your pocket, connects to a computer through a USB port and has a standard phone jack on the other side, so you can use any phone with it. It lets you place you free local and long-distance VoIP calls in the U.S. and Canada, and gives you a free phone number for receiving calls from around the world. You can also set up a voicemail box on your computer. You do have to pay $39.95 for the device and $19.95 per year after the first year.
Wi-Fi Camera. The Nikon CoolPix S50C camera is a super easy way to shoot your digital photos wirelessly to your computer or onto online photo services–anywhere you can get a Wi-Fi connection, including in hotspots. It lists for $349.95, is a 7.1-megapixel camera, and you send your photos wirelessly with one touch.
Extra Notebook Battery. If you fly a lot, frequently roam in public with a notebook computer, or even just roam a lot in your home or office with a notebook, APC’s line of mobile power packs is worth looking into. The one I use gives me about three hours of extra juice beyond what my notebook is capable of, so I can get a full day of computing done without plugging in or recharging. These cost $150 to $300 depending on how much power you need, come with USB power adapters, and they weigh well under a half a pound.
Do you have any tips on essential gear for web workers?
4 Comments Post your own comment
Zia says: October 18th, 2007 7:20am
Freeloader is a superb power-charging solution using solar energy or simple USB power:
http://zia.blogspot.com/2007/04/solar-technology.html
Top Posts « WordPress.com says: October 18th, 2007 8:58pm
[...] Six Gadgets for Plenty of Peace of Mind It may not quite be the holiday season yet, but it’s always good to review your options when it comes to cool […] [...]
Tim L. says: April 4th, 2008 10:12am
Over the last few months I’ve been closely following the blogs and growing media coverage on the magicJack, the coolest product to hit the marketplace in a very long time.
magicJack is a USB phone jack that allows users to make FREE local and long distance phone calls anywhere in the US and Canada. Users can bring their magicJack anywhere in the World and make FREE calls to the US and Canada, as well.
It’s easy to use. After plugging the magicJack into the USB port of your computer, the software that resides in the magicJack self-loads, a brief & standard registration process follows (during which time you get to choose a telephone number for your magicJack from a large inventory of area codes/numbers in most every major metro area in the US)and when done you simply plug any standard corded, cordless or portable phone (headset or Bluetooth also works) into the magicJack, pick-up the phone and dial-tone has been delivered! You’re free to make FREE phone calls anywhere in the US and Canada! So, much better than other IP telephony options since it can be used with ANY regular phone and you get your own telephone number for LIFE!
Initially, I was not sure how the call quality would measure up since its extremely inexpensive — man, was I wrong! A mere $40 buys you the magicJack plus the 1st year of local and long distance calls and then its only $20 per YEAR for additional years!! You can not be beat that price for all the FREE local and long distance calls you can ever make in a year!! I started making calls immediately and I was AMAZED at the clarity and quality of the phone calls! Everyone I called agreed with me that the call quality was just as you’d expect from any landline.
The magicJack proves you do not have to sacrifice phone call quality for cost!
But, let me take you back in time a bit since I did some research before I bought my magicJack. Being a techno-savvy guy, I always research a product, its roots and its history before I give it a shot. After hearing about the product on a few techblog sites,I happened to catch the companies TV commercial recently. So, I began my own research.
Overall, the magicJack has been hugely embraced by bloggers and the major press alike. When visiting the company’s website http://www.magicjack.com I was quickly impressed by the Tier 1 media coverage the product has received. Excellent reviews by NY Times, Boston Globe, LA Times, LAPTOP magazine, CNBC and video clips of consumer reporters raving about the magicJack on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox News. PC Magazine has awarded magicJack with its Editors Choice distinction!
Then I read about the founder of the company and inventor of the product, Dan Borislow. He has over 20 years experience in building successful long distance telephone companies. His previous company struck a deal with AOL and carried AOL long distance customers on their long distance network. He came up with his latest invention and has spent his own money on R&D of the magicJack — and, then constructed a nationwide telephone network that is one of the largest and newest telephone networks in the industry and is certified as a CLEC in 50 US states! The magicJack is backed by its own telephone network and is operated by executives who have extensive experience in the telecommunications and internet business. This is a HUGE differentiator between magicJack and any other company, including Skype, Vonage and others, in the space who are not telephone experts and are not certified in (even) a single state in the US!
From what I have seen, the company just expanded its online TechSupport platform, accessible from http://www.magicjack.com to a 24/7 online chat service. I think its intuitive (and smart business) for the company to rollout an online tech support system, via their website for the following reasons:
1) The super ease-of-use does not require a lot of support;
2) Users are already online; and,
3) The low product price point is a huge benefit to consumer but does not allow for a large & very expensive live phone CS center.
Also, from all accounts, Dan Borislow is an inventor that wants to stay in touch with the people who use his product. In fact, the magicJack website has a link to send Dan an email and its reported that he replies to every one!!
I’m a very happy magicJack customer and I can’t wait to watch this company soar, as it saves millions of people around the world thousands of dollars per year!!
Kristie Helm says: June 2nd, 2008 9:54am
My husband and I are looking to leave AT&T,wehave a land line and are bills are always different,and we get extra bills attached to the bill from we dont know who and AT&T is a SCAM!!!Please E-mail me at klh69@yahoo.com