Category: Road Warrior

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Shorter cables are better for travel

short usb

As a frequent traveler, one of the things I'm constantly trying to do is to reduce the amount of time it takes to get through airport security. One of those ways is to either reduce the amount of electronics I travel with (not likely to happen) or make them more TSA friendly.

If you have a cable mess in your bag it's going to be harder to xray therefore likely yield you a "bag check" so that they can take a closer look.

 

Three Cables I Can't Live Without
 

I've narrowed my cable usage down to 3-4 cables that I can't live without. One is a Firewire 800 cable and the other two are a USB Mini Cable and a USB Micro cable. There is actually a 4th cable and that's an iPhone/iPod sync cable, but I haven't found a short one that I really like yet. However, I was able to find all 3 shorter cables (in most cases 6 inches or less) at usbfirewire.com
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My recent trip to Europe: What worked and what didn’t?

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Nothing beats real-world testing and during my last international trip it was like having a mobile testing lab to actually put all of the things I've been writing about over the past year to the test. I visited Germany, London, and Paris over the course of two weeks. In many cases I was only in a given city for one night. So there were multiple trips to the airport, and multiple hotel stays as well as getting around on the ground in places that I've never been before. So I thought I'd spend a few moments highlighting the gear and gadgets that I depended on during this trip and talk about the ones that came up short.

 

What worked?

I would have to say that just about everything "worked". There weren't really any pieces of technology that totally failed me. Of course I took my MacBook Pro, my iPhone 3GS, my Nikon D5000 DSLR, my Kodak Zi8 HD Video camera,  a multitude of cables and accessories as well as the necessary luggage to carry it all.  So with the understanding that nothing really failed me miserably, let's talk about the devices that really made a difference:

The iPhone 3GS was the star of the trip

Now granted my MacBook Pro was really the tool that I depended on to get my work done, but the iPhone was actually the gadget that made the most impact on this trip. I can't believe how much I depended on it throughout the day. I used it for just about everything, including keeping my flights and schedule together. I used it as my GPS for getting around. I used it of course to make calls, but more importantly I used it to make very low cost VoIP calls. I used it to snap photos and of course instantly share those photos with friends and family. I even used it for language translations. While I'm sure other smartphones do a great job too, I just couldn't imagine travel without my iPhone, especially internationally. There is an App for just about everything! For a list of the Top 10 Travel Apps that I used and that totally rocked, go here. 

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GorillaMobile 3G/3GS holds your iPhone

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I remember when I first saw the GorillaMobile when it was announced and I kinda mentally dismissed it. Don't get me wrong, I love the GorillaPod line of products. It's just that this wasn't what I was looking for in terms of a "holder" for my iPhone to watch videos on the plane. I was looking for something smaller. I never really found the "right" solution. Most were either too bulky to travel with or didn't allow me to lean the iPhone back far enough for a comfortable viewing angle. 

 

I see the light now

I didn't look at the GorillaMobile again until Joby released their FREE Gorillacam App (which I've reviewed here today). I'm very excited about what the app offers in terms of features and of course many of the features can only be realized if you have a way of holding your iPhone still long enough. For example, doing time lapse photography isn't going to be very exciting holding it by hand. This is when I wanted to look at the GorillaMobile again. So I got one and had a ball using it to take pictures. Once I was done playing with the app for the day I started just playing with the positioning of the GorillaMobile itself and realized that THIS IS the holder I've been looking for! It ships with a case for your iPhone 3G/3GS that has a cutout on the back to place it right on the GorillaMobile. This way you don't have "stick" anything on the back of your iPhone.

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Best of 2009: Terry’s Top 10 Gadget Picks

Happy New Year! It's that time once again to take a quick look at my favorite gadgets of last year. The gadgets I've chosen were the ones that I used the most and that had the most positive impact on my day-to-day life. These gadgets were either introduced in 2009 or had significant updates in 2009. These are the gadgets that I would recommend to a friend without hesitation. So let's get to it…

 

iPhone 3GS

iPhone 3GS

Anyone that knows me knows that the iPhone 3GS is my communications device of choice. The 3GS made my life easier this year with more memory, a faster processor, and graphics to run apps that I never dreamed of right from the palm of my hand. I use my iPhone quite a bit in my day to day routine. I actually get a ton of work/communications done with this device.  I get both work and personal email, SMS and MMS messaging, productivity and business apps, and yes even the ability to make calls. This is the one gadget that I now couldn't imagine being without. See my original iPhone 3GS review here. Learn more about the iPhone 3GS here.

See my Must Have iPhone Apps here.

See my favorite iPhone and iPod touch accessories here.

 

Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote

When I am at home and not producing content, I enjoy my home entertainment systems and home theater. The one remote that has worked for me better than any other remote I've tried is the Logitech Harmony One. This remote is configured from your computer to do exactly what you want. Anyone with more than a couple of entertainment components should do themselves a favor and check out the Harmony One. See my original review here. Get the Harmony One Remote here.

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Last day to get the Navigon GPS iPhone app for $69.99

Attention Shoppers! I just wanted to remind you that today (August 31, 2009) is the last day to save $30 on the Navigon Turn-by-Turn GPS app for the iPhone. Today it’s $69.99. After today the price goes up to $99.99 (according to Navigon). The Navigon GPS App is available here from the App Store.

UPDATE: The Navigon app did go up, but only to $89.99. I guess they still want to be cheaper than TomTom.

You can see my Navigon App Review here. Also here is my Tom Tom App Review in case you missed it. Also the Vent Mount that I use to mount my iPhone 3GS is reviewed here.

 

A Nice Comparison of 4 GPS Apps for the iPhone

I thought Mike over at Insanely Great Mac did a nice job in telling you about his likes and dislikes comparing the 4 most popular GPS apps (AT&T, Navigon, Tom Tom and G-Map) for the iPhone. See his video comparison below:

 

 

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HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA Photo Backup Review

hyperdrive

If you’ve ever been the victim of a corrupted or damaged memory card that resulted in the loss of photos, you know how important it is to backup. I always travel with a notebook computer even when I go on vacation. However, if I’m out shooting on location, I don’t carry my notebook with me. It’s usually left behind in the hotel. That being said, I have been a fan of having a backup device on location with me.

I rely on my Epson P6000 Multimedia Device to backup my memory cards when I’m on the go. I really like the device and gave it a favorable review. The only thing that I don’t like about these Epson devices is the price. In my review I noted that you can bet a full blown notebook computer for what Epson charges for their backup devices. Today I’m reviewing a competitor in this important category.

 

The HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA Photo Backup Device

At the end of the day these devices combine 3 things: a hard drive and LCD display and a couple of memory card slots. Now of course there has to be an operating system and controls to be able to use the device for its intended function, but as far as hardware goes, there really isn’t that much there. That’s why I never understood why the Epson devices cost so much other than they probably felt that they could charge it if people are willing to pay it.

The HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA is a lot more "open minded". First off they use standard notebook 2.5" SATA hard drives. I’m sure Epson does too, but the difference is with the Colorspace you are free to swap out the drive yourself without voiding the warranty. As a matter of fact they even sell the base model without a hard drive so that you can put in one of the ones you may already have. Although I probably do have a hard drive that I could have used from a previous notebook upgrade, I decided to start fresh and order their next model up, which comes with a 120GB hard drive. This should be more than enough for my needs since I really don’t use these devices for long term storage. Also keep in mind that my Epson P6000 only has an 80GB drive so this is an upgrade in terms of storage.

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iPhone App of the Week – Navigon MobileNavigator North America

navigonlogo

When the iPhone OS 3.0 update was introduced, Apple opened the door to 3rd party turn-by-turn apps. They brought TomTom up on stage to show off the app that they were working on. I was impressed by what I saw and thought that this might be a chance to carry one less device when I travel. I'm very fond of my Garmin Nuvi 765T and the chances of a Garmin App for the iPhone are slim. It seems that Garmin would rather compete with a phone of their own (Garmin, look at the Palm Pre. You guys just don't stand a chance against iPhone and Blackberry). So an iPhone app would have to be really killer to make me give up my Nuvi. I'm also a fan of Navigon GPS units too. Actually it's not so much about their hardware that I'm impressed by as much as it is their software. I fell in love with the Navigon 3D Reality View, which pops up a photo realistic image of the road signs you're going to go under so that you're in the right lane. Not long after the TomTom announcement was made, Navigon announced that they would have an iPhone app too!

navigon-3d

It's a race!

In many cases first to market can definitely get you a leg up on your competition. If you have a really good app, then it makes it that much harder for your competitor. It's pretty clear that Navigon wanted to be first. Why you ask? Two reasons: for one they are offering their app for an introductory price of $69.99 until August 15th. Then the price goes up to $99.00. This of course creates a sense of urgency. The second reason is that they state right on their App Store page that a free update is coming with additional features. I would argue that a few of those features should have been in the first release. What was the hurry? Oh yeah, right. That whole get it out first thing. I remember now.

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My New Camera Travel Bag

ttint

I have a wide assortment of computer bags, suitcases and camera bags. Different sizes and used for different needs depending on how much gear I want to carry and how long I’m going to be gone. However, I wasn’t really happy with my large camera bag only because it always seemed like I could never fit everything I wanted to carry. If I wanted to carry two camera bodies, then that would mean leaving a lens or speedlight behind. 

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My favorite USB Flash Drive is back and better!

usbcard

Just about everyone in the computer field carries around some sort of USB thumb drive. They’re great for transferring files back and forth and sometimes more convenient or faster than setting up a network share or emailing attachments. Before getting my USBCard a few years back, I used to always run into a situation where I needed a USB thumb drive, but wouldn’t have one handy. It would be on my key chain and my keys wouldn’t be nearby. I’d have one in my computer bag, which would just so happen to be back in my hotel room. The one thing I almost always have with me is my wallet! So when I ran across the USBCard by Freecom.com. I knew that this was the one for me. I’ve had it in my wallet ever since.

usbcard2

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People are always amazed when I pull it out of my wallet

usbcard3

Whenever I go to use my USBCard people are always amazed by the size of it. I end up doing a 2 minute demo/show and tell every time. Of course being a gadget guy I’d want to recommend this solution to everyone that was interested. However, the problem was that they were out of stock for months. Well the good news is that not only are they back in stock, they also come in larger capacities. I have the 2GB model. Now they come in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models. They also now come in both Black and White. As you might have guessed, I’ve already ordered the 8GB model to replace my 2GB model (you can never have too much space). There is no telling how long these will be in stock this time around. So if you’re interested, I’d suggest ordering one today.

usbcard4

The USBCard starts at $16.90 for the 1GB card. The 2GB card is $22.50, the 4GB card is $29.00 and the 8GB card is $45.00.

Order them here.

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WD My Passport Studio Portable Hard Drive Review

Here’s another video review. This time I take a look at portable external hard drives. In particular I look at the NEW Western Digital My Passport Studio 500GB Portable Hard Drive and how much of an improvement it is over my older Passport Studio drive.

The WD My Passport Studio drives come preformatted for Mac but will work on Windows PCs too. You can use it as a bootable drive for either Power PC or Intel based Macs. It can also be used with Apple’s Time Machine for backups. This drive is bus powered over Firewire or USB 2 connections.

In this video I mentioned the Synchrotech Firewire 400 to 800 adapter.

The 500GB 5,400 RPM WD My Passport Studio Drive goes for $169.99 at B&H Photo and Video.

I’m starting to see more and more Western Digital drives around my office. So far no failures to date!

CORRECTION: In the video I stated that the OWC On-The-Go drives were not bus powered over USB. I was wrong (working off an old experience). They are!

CORRECTION/UPDATE #2: Blog reader Gary reminded me that this drive is not bootable over Firewire.My primary use for this drive is data transfer and storage, so while I could use it to boot over USB in a pinch, this would not be my drive of choice if I needed to boot over Firewire or needed to use it as a primary drive.