Packing your Bag

Recently, we did a post on behalf of Infrequent Flier on the subject of packing a bag with your mobile electronics. We wanted to explore the idea further, as such a bag wouldn’t just apply to air travel…there are considerations for every time you go anywhere. Here are some things to consider when packing your mobile bag.

• Power
  • Chargers – Every day on the go we use several chargers. For our cell phone, our music players, our notebook. Try to unify these. Instead of four power bricks, use USB-based charging cables. Then you can only bring along a single USB to AC Adapter.
  • USB and Batteries – Several companies, including Duracell and Kensington, make USB portable battery packs, that can be charged via USB, and can charge mobile devices that have USB based cables. Sticking a small one of these in your bag can be critical in emergencies. You may also need to charge standard AA or AAA batteries. There are a variety of USB battery chargers, but we switched to USBcell, the battery has a built-in USB charger. We keep two of them for our AA-based digital camera.
  • Extension cords and Surge Protectors – There will be cases when you wish to share electricity with others. In this case, a cheap dollar store power splitter or multi-extension cord is useful to carry around. We recommend using the Belkin Mini Surge Protector, which has three outlets and two USB charging ports. Two useful add-ons to this would be an extension cord for hard to reach areas and/or a 3 to 2 prong converter in the event you find only two-prong outlets.
• Cables
  • Network – Wireless is wonderful, but don’t be caught without a small network cable in case you have to physically connect to a network.
  • Earphones – Keep a pair of earphones in your bag. Not only will the people around you appreciate it, but a pair of cheap earbuds cna double as earplugs, reducing background noise so you can relax.
  • Headphone Splitter – Allows you to share the audio output of a device with a friend.
  • USB Cable – A standard USB cable to hook into peripherals should always be in your bag.
  • Retractable Cables – A variety of companies produce retractable cables now of varying qualities that can increase the space saving qualities of your bag. Ultimately though, a regular cable may be cheaper and is certainly more durable in the long run. Do your homework though.
• Emergency Items
  • Blank CD/DVD – You never know when you might need to burn something or have it burned in a hurry.
  • Live CD/USB – With a bootable operating system on a CD or USB drive, you can turn any computer…for a time, into your personal system. Alternate options include a series of portable applications on your USB drive that would work with any Windows-based computer.
  • DropBox – Dropbox is a file syncing service that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux that syncs the contents of a folder to its servers and can be used for multiple systems. If your computer goes bust, you can ensure your data was synced during your last network connection.
• Portable Electronics
  • Cell Phone – We’re not going to tell you what sort of cell phone to get. There are a variety of options. Find the one that is good for you.
  • Portable Media Players – You can go with music, video, etc. You can even now use your cell phone. Again, scale this to your needs. We have two different ones, one small and one larger. The small, a Sansa Clip, is our ‘throwaway’ player. It is cheap, durable, and does what we want it to.
  • E-Book Readers – You can read information now on your cell phone or notebook, but there is a place in this world for dedicated devices. If you feel the cost is justified…otherwise, a good book is much cheaper and is even free at your local library.
• Goodies and Misc.
  • Refreshments – Sticking a granola bar or some other long-lasting reasonable healthy snack in your bag will pay off in the long run when you are starving and need something quick. Equally useful is something to drink.
  • Pen and Paper – For when all electronics fail…or when you simply want to give your contact info to a less tech enabled person, stick these into your bag.
  • Cleaning Cloth – A microfibre cloth is perfect for cleaning the dust off your screen.
  • Wipes or Hand Sanitizer – You get dirty too.

Now, we are assuming you are lugging around a notebook of some sort. If you are a frequent ‘mobile warrior’, consider downsizing. Don’t lug around a 17″ desktop replacement, go for a 12-14″ screen…or even a netbook with a 10″ screen. These netbooks are inexpensive, and becoming popular for their easy portability. Remember, you can always come home to your fully functional machine.

Go smaller with your laptop bag as well. Try to find the smallest bag that neatly fits all of your things and make the hard decisions about what to leave out. No one wants to carry around too much.

In order to avoid needing to carry a spare battery, consider the following tips:

• Dim the Brightness of your Screen – Many notebooks have a setting for dimming based on inactivity. Try to maximize your power saving options.
• Go with an Extended Battery – Many notebooks have multiple battery options. Go with the best one.
• Avoid using your Optical Drive -  Nothing drains power like the DVD/CD drive on your system. Try to copy the information to your drive before you leave, even if it is a movie or such you wish to watch on the road, you can rip it and delete it when you’re done.
• Consider an SSD drive – These drives are not quite 100% yet. Their price is starting to come down, and the higher quality drives will eventually be cost-effective for the individual. For now though, the inexpensive ones have some problems, but with proper use(there are many tutorials on this), they can improve your experience. We’re waiting on this one though.

Do you have any suggestions of your own?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Review: Kensington Rechargeable Pocket Booster for Mobile Phones (crunchgear.com)
• Going Green with a Solar Battery Charger (techburgh.com)
• 10 tips for the ultimate digital road warrior bag (thenextweb.com)