Posts Tagged portable music
X-Mini HAPPY Speaker/Music Player: Pleasing Sounds on the Road
Earlier, I discovered the X-mini portable speakers that can give great sound to a music player or laptop, while taking up little room in the suitcase.
Now, X-mini has come up with another clever device for travelers—the HAPPY, a small capsule speaker that includes its own MP3 player.
That’s right. Just put some of your favorite tunes on an SD/SDHC memory card and the HAPPY will happily play them from its built-in speaker.
The HAPPY sounds every bit as good as the X-Mini Capsule Speaker. And it’s very easy to use.
My Windows computer recognized it as a mass-storage device when connected through a USB port. So I just copied some of my favorite tunes to an SDHC card. The HAPPY can also be used as a card reader.
One control turns the device on and off, controls play and pause, skips tracks forward or back and adjusts the volume.
There’s also a mute button, headphone jack and mini-USB plug for charging. A two-hour charge provides about 10 hours of playback time. And a cable with a standard stereo miniature plug is included to connect it to a laptop or external music player, or chain together a series of the X-Mini II Capsule Speakers for even bigger sound. The capsule expands with a twist for improved bass response.
The only drawback is there’s no way to see a menu of the songs on the card when the player is not connected to a computer. But it’s easy enough to just load the songs you want on the card, and the track control still lets you skip forward or repeat a song. It’s possible to store hundreds or even thousands of songs on a card, depending on the size and recorded bitrate.
The X-mini HAPPY retails for $79, with discounts available at Amazon.
It’s hard to find a device that does so much, sounds so good and still fits in the palm of your hand. When you’re packing light and still want to carry your favorite tunes, the X-mini HAPPY will make you just that.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on August 30th, 2010
SugarSync Program is a Life Saver for Frequent Travelers
If “your whole life” is on one laptop or smart phone, what happens if you lose it? If you use a desktop at home and a laptop or small netbook when you travel, how do you make sure you have all the files you need on both devices, in their most current form? What if you need to get one of those docs from a third device, like an iPhone or iPod Touch?
I used to sweat and worry about these questions before I discovered SugarSync a couple years ago (including when I had GoToMyPC, which was often a bust). Now I’m completely relaxed when I travel, knowing I can get to anything I need from any device anywhere. It’s a file sync program, an online back-up program, a file sharing program, and a photo upload program all rolled into one. At a price that starts at $50 a year for 30GB, it’s really cheap insurance and is cheaper than a sleeping pill prescription. If all my devices get wiped out in one day and the backup hard drive does too, I’ve still got my files and photos.
I seldom feel comfortable raving about a software program as there are always a few annoyances that keep it from being as useful as it should be and most of them let me down on a regular basis. I can honestly say this SugarSync one works like a dream though. You just tag the folders you want to share between devices and with “the cloud” and let ‘er rip. After the files, photos, songs, and videos are uploaded, each time you make a change to any of the folders on any device, behind the scenes this program makes the updates. It works in the background, seldom taking up much in the way of resources or slowing down your system.
Then you can access those files from either registered device or just log into your dashboard online and view or download what you need. You can also e-mail a file link to someone (like YouSendIt), attach a photo to send them, or share a whole folder of files/photos by invitation.
What’s really cool is, you can do all this from your mobile device as well. For the iPhone or Touch you just download the app, sign in once, then magically all your stuff is there. (You can even put files into a “Magic Briefcase” to get at them quickly without searching around.) If you take a photo with your iPhone, it’s automatically added to your “mobile photos” folder and it’s on every device you have registered—no cables required.
In case all that is not enough, the file syncs are done with SSL encryption so nobody snoops, plus they keep the last five versions of your files in case you make changes and then need the old version. And on top of that, you can show off photos from your home PC or stream music that’s on your laptop from your smartphone or Touch. How cool!
There’s almost nothing I wish this could do that it doesn’t and if you don’t believe me, you can take it for a 30-day trial run or test out a 2GB version indefinitely. To me that shows a lot of confidence in the product and it’s well-deserved.
Plans range from $50 a year (or $4.99 a month) to $250 a year for 250 GB. Here’s the pricing breakdown.
SugarSync Online Backup, Sync, Share – Try FREE for 30 days
Posted by Tim in Business Gear, General Gear on August 26th, 2010
Wrapsol Skins Protect Your Gadgets and Phones
Now that you’ve got that shiny and expensive new gadget in hand, how are you going to keep it from getting all scratched up and smudged? Do you really think your electronics are any match for the rigors of the road? A protective skin from Wrapsol can be a great investment in protection.
I haven’t jumped on the iPhone bandwagon for a lot of reasons. The main one is that in the U.S. the phone is sold locked into the AT&T monopoly, which is getting ready to drop its unlimited data plan (because it can) and they suck from your wallet like nobody’s business if you dare try to use it internationally. Another key reason is the truly sucky battery life. I do have an iPod Touch, however, which is almost an iPhone but without the phone part and the hefty ongoing charges every month after purchase. (Think of the iPhone as a timeshare with maintenance charges, the Touch as a condo.)
So when the Wrapsol people offered to send me one of their skins to review, I slapped one on my new iPod Touch and have been using it ever since.
I like these transparent skins a lot. They let you retain the sleekness of the original Apple design instead of mucking it up with something bulky, like a rubbery case. The screen touch functions work just as well as they did before the skin application, but with no fingerprints on the screen. I can wipe this on my shirt without any worries about scratches. And if I drop it, which is going to happen sooner or later, there’s added shock absorption built into these Wrapsol skins. If your kid drops food or juice on your expensive device, there’s extra protection. You can see a video of how they work here.
They don’t just make the skins for Apple products though. You can get one to fit a Droid, a Blackberry, a Nexus One, even netbooks, Kindles, and cameras. The skin comes pre-cut in the exact right dimensions, with all the necessary holes already in place. This template below shows what you get for the Droid Eris that Kara reviewed a while back.
As you’ve probably started to realize, the hard part of this is actually getting that skin perfectly aligned onto your device. I’ve tried this with three different brands now and I never seem to get it 100% right. This Wrapsol version is repositionable to an extent, so you can nudge it a bit one way or the other during the process, but it’s still hard to line it up perfectly, even on the sleek Touch.
That process involves wet fingers and a little squeegee too, so don’t think you can just pop this on as you’re walking out the door. (Unlike with the BodyGardz brand I reviewed before, there’ not a spare skin in the box with these, so you have to get it right the first time.)
If you’re patient though, you’ll get it close enough to be be able to get to all your buttons and then your fancy new device will stay scratch-free and protected. See the whole line at Wrapsol.com. If you buy direct they’re $25 to $30, but at online retailers the price drops significantly.
Get the iPod Touch version at Amazon.
Get the Wrapsol Kindle cover at Amazon.
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Posted by Tim in Business Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on June 3rd, 2010
5 Things I Always Pack – Corbett Barr
This month’s guest post of “5 things I always pack” is from Corbett Barr, editor and founder of Free Pursuits, a blog about living and working from anywhere in the world. Corbett has spent 11 out of the past 16 months traveling throughout Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Here’s what he packs to keep the income flowing.
1. A Wireless Router Running DD-WRT
Since I work on the road, Internet connectivity is an absolute priority. When you’re traveling to remote parts of the world, connections to the Internet are sometimes weak and hard to come by. Having a wireless router with DD-WRT repeater capability lets me extend the range of networks I can connect to and has turned otherwise dead spots into instant productivity zones.
2. A Compact Surge Protector
Having a few essential electronics with you definitely makes life easier, but it’s a real bummer when a power surge destroys your setup. I lost a set of speakers to a power surge just two weeks into a recent three-month stint abroad. Power in developing nations is just too unpredictable, so I’m planning to carry a compact surge protector along with me every time from now on.
3. A Backup Laptop
Yes, I know carrying two laptops might seem a bit extreme, but if you’ve ever had one die on the road, you know what a disaster it can be. Instead of living in fear of being stuck without, I simply carry a second lightweight pre-configured laptop (I have my eye on the MacBook Air for the future) as a backup.
4. One No-fee Debit Card and a Backup from a Different Bank
OK, you might be sensing a theme here. I like to have backup arrangements with me, so I’m never stuck in an awkward situation in a foreign country. Having a backup debit card from a completely different bank helps make sure I always have access to cash. Just make sure not to carry both of them in the same place at the same time. If you’re on the road for an extended period of time, paying foreign exchange and ATM fees can really add up. Save yourself hundreds of dollars by doing a little research and opening an account at a bank with a completely 
fee-free debit card. The card I use from E*Trade Bank doesn’t charge me any fees to use foreign ATMs, and actually reimburses me for any fees the ATM operator charges, worldwide. [Editor's note: the current E-trade terms and conditions say U.S. only, so call first to check on your destination(s) coverage. Or open an account with Schwab, which says in writing it does reimburse foreign fees.]
5. A Pair of Compact Speakers
Living in another country for an extended period of time without music just kills me. That’s why I pack a pair of compact speakers that can plug into an iPod or laptop with me. They’re also good for watching movies when you’re with someone else (laptop speakers just don’t cut it for me).
Read more about Corbett and working from the road at Free Pursuits, or check out his new blog about building a high-traffic websites called Think Traffic.
See other 5 Things I Always Pack guest posts
Posted by Tim in Business Gear, General Gear on May 6th, 2010
Brunton Restore Portable Solar Power Supply
If we’re not all charging up our music players and cell phones with solar power, it’s not for lack of trying on the part of device manufacturers. Some of these solar devices actually work quite well too, like this portable power supply from Brunton.
The first idea here is you can charge it up at home or in a car ahead of time, like the iGo Power Extender and CallPod Fueltank Charger we reviewed before. Then you take it with you on a trip, using it to charge up your devices when you can’t get near an outlet, like on a plane or bus.
This goes a big step further though. The second idea is to use it as a solar charger when you are on a long camping or mountaineering trip off the grid. With the Brunton Restore and ample sunlight, you can restore your devices to full power. If it’s fully charged, it’ll reload your iPod or regular cell phone two or three times. It’ll fully charge a smart phone or gaming device one or two times. It has enough juice to recharge four AA batteries and can recharge your Bluetooth headset seven to eight times. For an iPod, one hour of sun equals six or seven hours of music—that is far superior to what most other competitors promise.
I left the unit in the sun for seven hours and it was all charged up—I could tell from the handy 4-light LED system. I was then able to fully charge my iPod twice and a half-empty phone and still have juice left in it.
This Brunton version is a bit heavier than some others I’ve tried, at 7.2 ounces, but it’s rubberized and really solid. It feels like it could be dropped off a roof and survive. It’s water resistant too. It flips open too and exposes two rather large panels, making it easier to operate (especially with one hand) than the three-panel Solio charger I’ve tried before.
There’s a handy design to this whereby you can plug in a USB cord to charge up anything attached to that, or you can pull out the male USB plug and insert it into the device. Or pull out the other end of the cable instead and it goes into a mini-USB slot like you see on Google phones and the SlotPlayer for example. There’s an adapter for micro USB as well, which other devices use. So basically you’re okay charging up any music player, communication device or camera, provided it uses some version of USB.
“But Tim, my damned Nokia phone and my damned Samsung phone need different adapters than these!” Well, there’s the biggest drawback with this. Eventually we’ll get to a happy place where every device shares the same standard charger setup, but until that time you have to keep fooling with tips and adapters. Brunton doesn’t offer any help in that department, so if your device doesn’t come with some kind of USB charger, you’re SOL unless you can find some adapter on eBay that will do the trick. For Apple devices, you’ll have to bring along the USB cord to connect the device to a USB port on the charger.
The Restore retails for around $90, but the packaging says it’ll give you the output equivalent of 1,372 AA batteries. You can use this charger 500 times before the internal battery will wear out, which is probably plenty for a lifetime unless you’re a hermit moving to Death Valley. If you’ll be in the wilderness or you’re just a backpacker who will be in a place where sunshine is far more prevalent than reliable electricity, this is a solid solar charger that really works.
Get the Brunton Restore Portable Power Device at REI.com
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear on March 4th, 2010
