Posts Tagged airplane gear
Hands-On Review: Sony Reader Touch Edition
When the Kindle e-Reader became Amazon’s hottest item, other companies began to take notice. Among those companies—now competitors—is Sony, with the competitively-priced Reader Touch Edition that’s sized just right for travelers.
The Reader Touch Edition PRS-600 is one of Sony’s three entries in the fast-growing field of electronic books. With a 6″ grayscale screen made by E Ink, the standard for readers, the Sony slips into a jacket pocket and is only 0.4″ thick. It weighs in at just over 10 ounces.
One feature that gives Sony bragging rights over the similarly-sized Kindle is a touch screen. I found the screen responsive in changing or bookmarking pages with just a finger swipe. Pages can also be “turned” with hardware keys.
Adjusting the font size is easy and you can take notes with a virtual keyboard or stylus.
The controls are simple and intuitive. The built-in memory will hold up to 350 of your favorite books and even more can be stored on two expansion cards.
Books are available from Sony’s Reader Store. Also, more than one-million free titles are available from Google Books. A built-in dictionary is included.
But you’ll need to connect the Reader Touch Edition to a computer to add books, since it does not have wireless shopping capabilities like the Kindle Wireless Reading Device. On that feature, it’s advantage, Kindle.
The Reader Touch can also play MP3 and unprotected AAC audio files. And it can display pictures, though I’m not sure why you would want to look at your favorite photos on a grayscale screen.
One annoying thing about the Sony Reader Touch Edition is it cannot be used while it’s charging, which is done through a mini-USB port. Sure, a battery charge lasts a long time—about 7,500 continuous page turns, or up to two weeks of normal use. But when I’m around batteries, they always seem to run down at the worst possible times.
Overall, this Sony e-Reader performs well and boasts a solid set of features at an attractive price, $299.99 retail. Some discounts can be found at online merchants, including Amazon and Buy.com. Three color choices are available—black, red, or silver.
Of course, there are other ways to read e-books—on cell phones and other portable devices, including Apple’s upcoming iPad. Based on what I saw at the 2010 International CES, a lot more readers with new features are on the way in the coming months.
Who’s going to be the big winner? It’s too soon to say. So stay tuned.
Posted by JohnG in Kids and Family, Travel Light on February 23rd, 2010
idox Accessories for iPod nano, iPod touch & iPhone
Here’s a product that pulls double duty for Apple products: it’s a hard case that fully encloses your valuable electronic device that also flips open to serve as a stand so you can watch movies on your iPod nano, iPhone or iPod touch. I sampled the idox for the 4G nano and found that my iPod slides securely into the case. I like that the case snaps closed to keep it safe when I toss the iPod in my carry-on bag. (You do need to store earphones separately, otherwise they just hang loose if they’re plugged in while it’s in the case.)
As a stand, the angle is great for watching movies, say, when it’s perched on the tray table on an airplane; a rubber bottom helps it stay in place — even during mild turbulence. Not that I used the idox on my recent plane flight to Nevada: I don’t have any movies stored on mine. But my 7-year-old (who has now decided the idox belongs to him) has used the stand to watch the lone video on his playlist — Michael Jackson’s Thriller – over and over and over again. (Usually at the kitchen table before he needs to do his daily after-school math worksheets.)
At $24.95, the idox case for the iPod nano definitely isn’t the cheapest on the market. But it is sturdy and functional. And if you typically download new movies to watch while you travel, whether it’s on an iPod nano, iPod touch ($34.95) or iPhone ($34.95), you might get more use out of it than I have.
Related gear reviews:
Otterbox cases
iHome mini travel speakers
X-mini portable speakers
Posted by Kara in Kids and Family, Travel Light on January 29th, 2010
5 Things I Always Pack – Beth Whitman
This month’s guest post with “5 things I always pack” is from Beth Whitman. She is the author and publisher of the Wanderlust and Lipstick guides for women travelers, the editor of WanderlustAndLipstick.com, and leads tours to Bhutan, India, Vietnam and Cambodia. Here’s what she carries with her when she hits the road.
1. SteriPEN
In an effort to reduce my garbage footprint when I travel, I always carry a SteriPen Traveler water purifier. I’ve used this on numerous trips to India, drinking the tap water (hint: it still tastes yucky) and have never gotten Delhi Belly as a result.
2. eReader
I still buy the print versions of guidebooks because nothing beats lying in bed at night and highlighting all the places I want to visit. But for leisure reading, I upload books to an eReader, like Amazon’s Kindle, so that I’m not wasting space in my bag on a heavy tome.
3. Eyeshade
I’m never without an eyeshade that I wear on the plane or in my hotel room when there’s too much light coming through the window. It’s cheap and takes up little space, but is such a lifesaver when I really want/need to sleep.
4. Cable Lock
Nothing beats the added protection of a retractable cable lock. I can lock my backpack to my bed on an overnight train or to a stationary object in my hotel room if I’m staying someplace where I’m a little concerned about leaving my valuables behind.
5. Digital Photo Storage
Of course I always have a camera with me. But, I learned a hard lesson (I lost – but later recovered – about 300 images taken in India) about backing up my images nightly. These are generally small units that have the capacity to hold far more images or video than I’ll ever take on one trip. I use one from Digital Foci.
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Posted by Tim in General Gear, Travel Light on December 30th, 2009
Sansa Clip Plus MP3 Player – 4GB for $40
I’ll admit that I like my iPod and travel with it a lot, but I’m kind of ambivalent about it. I hate the fact that you can’t play a regular song purchased from iTunes on other players, while an MP3 can be played on pretty much anything. You can go the other way, however, importing anything into iTunes, which means that songs in the MP3 format are essentially more valuable than ones in Apples’ AAC format.
Just as Windows laptops give you far more for your money than Apple ones, MP3 players tend to be much cheaper and more flexible than Apple’s players. Take this Sansa Clip+, which holds 4GB of songs (the equivalent of two 4th-generation Shuffles) and also accepts the cool little SlotRadio cards preloaded with music. And it has an FM radio with 40 presets. Plus a mic for voice recording. All that for $50 list and only $40 at Amazon. Is that a deal or what?
I’ve been using one that SanDisk sent me to try out for a couple weeks now and this Clip+ is a screaming bargain. I loaded it up with all the MP3s I had on my computer and played the radio sometimes too, both through earbuds and through the iHome mini speakers I reviewed last week. As usual, the earbuds that came with it were crappy, but when I plugged in my own good ones the sound was indistinguishable from that of my iPod.
The navigation is pretty simple and easy to figure out, with songs arranged by album, artist, and playlist. A quick click of the home button on the front takes you to the main menu. Simple controls allow you to do all the usual—pause, go back or forward in the tracks, and raise/lower the volume. There’s a power button on the top, though with no “hold” button to keep it from starting up in your bag. Battery life is15 hours, so that’s probably not much of a worry. It has a standard mini USB plug (yea) and the included cord recharges it through any USB hub. A bright display on top tells you what song is on—the main drawback of the Shuffle in my opinion.
Besides MP3s, it supports WMA, secure WMA, Audible, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, and audio books/podcasts. Plus there’s a microSD card slot, which also doubles as a SlotRadio card player. If you get sick of your own 1,000-song collection this will hold, pop in one of those prerecorded cards and you’ve got 1,000 new songs instantly.
This is one tiny player too. See the photo below where I put it on top of my iPod. It barely even covers the video display area. And it has a clip on the back to keep it secured to your clothing when you are running or biking. No accessory needed. It comes in black, red, or blue, also in 2GB and 8GB versions.
Apple has become so dominant in music players that it is hard for anyone else to make a dent, but this is certainly a worthy competitor to the Shuffle or Nano, especially if you don’t care about watching video on a teeny screen or shooting video, like the new Nano does. If you’re getting a gift for a child or will be getting your music somewhere else besides iTunes—like eMusic, your own CD collection or Amazon’s better-priced MP3 store—then this player is a terrific value.
Get the Sansa Clip+ 4GB at Amazon
25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod or any MP3 player
Posted by Tim in Kids and Family, Travel Light on December 20th, 2009
Word-Lock Luggage Lock
I can’t think of one instance when I’ve used a combination lock to secure my checked luggage. Maybe when I was 20 and backpacking through Europe; I vaguely recall using a big ol’ school-locker lock to keep safe my backpack in various hostels. But, frankly, I figure that if someone really wants the stuff out of my suitcase, they’re going to get it whether the zippers are locked shut or not.
That said, you do hear some crazy tales about items being stolen out of checked baggage. So if you do feel like you’re checked valuables would be more secure with a lock, you might consider the easy-to-set combination lock from WordLock.
I like the idea behind this lock since four-letter words are so much easier to remember than four-number combinations. The instructions to set the combination are easy to follow. In fact, my 7-year-old (with the help of his 9-year-old sister) figured out how to change the combo I set (R-O-C-K) to D-O-R-K.
In case you can’t come up with your own clever four-letter combination, a list of different options comes with the lock instructions. Each dial has 10 different letters on it; not all 26 are available, so you are somewhat limited. (Even so, there are 10,000 possibilities.)
The lock is recognized by the TSA, and inspectors can use a universal key to open it if they need to inspect your luggage by hand — no bolt cutters necessary. (Note, however, that sometimes it’s the TSA inspectors doing the stealing.)
My advice: If an item is really valuable, put it in your carry-on luggage.
WordLocks are available at many big-box retailers; plug in your zip code here to find one near you. Or purchase online at Amazon.com for under $10. The lock makes a nice travel gift or stocking stuffer.
Posted by Kara in General Gear on December 18th, 2009
