[NPMUG] David Pogue - "Want me to dump out MY bag?"

[Dave Sevick]

- From the Desk of David Pogue -
----------------------------------------

What's in Pogue's Travel Bag? Literally.
By DAVID POGUE

I'm always surprised at how many people seem to like reading
about what hardware and software I use. Last week's
"Pogue's Productivity Secrets
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/pogues-productivity-secrets-revealed/
" e-column, for example, got blogged and passed around far
more than I would have expected.

On a plane yesterday, I was flipping through an in-flight
magazine and saw one of those "What's in your bag?" photo
features, where they have some celebrity dump out her purse
and provide little descriptions (no doubt after careful
pruning and arranging by a PR person).

Want me to dump out MY bag?

I travel a ridiculous amount, so I've thought a lot about,
and spent a lot of time refining, what I carry and how I
carry it.

It starts with a Timbuk2 bike-messenger bag, which I sling
over my shoulder whenever I have to dash out. The inner
wall is padded on both sides for a laptop; since the bag's
flap flips right open, it's extremely easy for me to get to
the laptop when, for example, I need to look up my frequent
flyer number.

I keep this bag preloaded and ready to go. In the main
compartment, I carry:

* Laptop power adapter.

* A bag of trail mix. Can't tell you how many times that
protein has saved me from collapse when days got too crazy
to eat. (I have a fast metabolism.)

* A couple magazines for plane reading. My favorite is
Popular Photography, but I also get a bunch of computer
magazines and general-interest mags.

* Camera. I pack our Nikon D80 if I need the best photos, or
the Canon PowerShot 880 if I'd rather save the weight. (I
know, both of those have been replaced by better models.
But that's what we own.)

* Noise-canceling headphones (only if I'm heading out for a
flight). When I reviewed these a couple years ago, I found
that the Panasonic RP-HC500's sounded just about as good as
the famous $300 Bose pair for less than half the price. So
I bought a pair for myself.

* Car inverter. If you want to charge your laptop in the
car--and I always do before a flight, because the nearest
airport is a 75-minute drive away--you need something
called an inverter. It plugs into the cigarette lighter and
provides a 3-prong power outlet.

I'd had terrible results with super-cheap Radio Shack ones
(they kept blowing the car's fuse, frying themselves,
etc.). Finally, though, I stumbled on this awesome one from
Sears: http://bit.ly/RRvQe
http://bit.ly/RRvQe
It's tiny, it's got a USB jack for charging an
iPod/BlackBerry/iPhone simultaneously, it has its own
little fan, and it has the good sense to shut itself off if
it feels overloaded. (The Sears site lists it for $30,
which is already a bargain, but I've seen it as low as $18
in the stores.)

Some of the most interesting stuff, though, is what's in the
narrow compartment on the far side of my bag:

* USB PowerStick. It's a tiny universal gadget charger,
looks like a flash drive, that draws its power from my
laptop's USB jack. You equip it with the charging tip you
need--I use it for my cellphone.

Why? Because it's much smaller than my actual phone charger;
it lets me leave the real charger plugged it at home; and,
best of all, the PowerStick itself also stores a second
charge, so I can do another recharge in the field, without
the laptop. (A "fuel gauge" display on the side lets you
know how full it is.)

* My video dongle. Grrrr! I can't stand the way Apple
laptops require an external three-inch video-adapter cable
to connect a standard projector--and, worse, Apple changes
it with every new model!

Just ask the A/V guys who have to accommodate public
speakers around the country; every one of them can tell you
tales of keynote speakers who showed up without the dongle,
and couldn't show their slides. (The really good the A/V
guys actually own a complete set of Apple laptop dongles
just for this purpose.)

Anyway, I used to lose these overpriced adapters by leaving
them connected at the podium. Now I put my MacBook Air's
dongle right back into its bag compartment when I leave the
stage. Religiously.

* Ethernet adapter. Speaking of the Air: It doesn't come
with an Ethernet jack. Instead, if you need an Ethernet
connection (which I do about six times a year), you can
connect this little white USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

* iPod earbuds. I don't usually travel with an iPod, but a
set of earbuds comes in handy all the time. I might want to
listen to my laptop without disturbing anyone. Also, the
kids in the back seat are always asking for one.

* A $20 bill. Because you never know.




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/technology/personaltech/25pogue-email.html?8cir&emc=cir

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>> Visit David Pogue on the Web at DavidPogue.com
http://www.DavidPogue.com?8cir&emc=cir
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