If you often travel without your own computer, and rely on the business center or Internet cafe to get some work done, then this might be of interest to you; winPenPack is a massive collection of open source programs that can all be installed on a flash drive (or other removable storage).

Applications are included for almost any task; web, email, p2p, video and audio, virus and spyware removal, PDF viewing, document editing/viewing and even file encryption.

All the included applications are free, and optimized for use on removable drives, so nothing is written to the host drive of the machine you are using. Anything you create or download is stored on the flash drive.

WinPenPack is free, and is available in several versions; essentials, school, games and web. If you prefer to pick the applications yourself, then check out the "personal" version of the program.

With the constantly dropping price of USB flash drives it makes sense to always carry a drive with applications like this, for that "just in case" event.

WinPenPack (via Download Squad)

I’m obsessed with chargers and products to help power my gadgets. In my quest to find the "perfect" charger, I came across the Chargepod.

It isn’t often that something as simple as a charger gets me excited, but when you read my (mini) review, you’ll see why I feel this product can really change what you travel with.

Read More…

Hilarious stuff, from the same improv group that brought us the blue shirt prank at Best Buy!

(Via Gizmodo)

1) Never enough outlets

It’s silly that you have to carry your own extension cord just because hotels think that one outlet should be enough for everyone. The worst offenders are hotels that hide the one spare outlet behind the TV cabinet, or require you to unplug Mr Coffee to get at some power.

2) Slow wireless connections

Sure, setting up a WiFi access point with a single DSL line was pretty cutting edge back in 1999. But times have changed, and so have speed demands. It annoys me when I turn on my notebook in a hotel, to find that downloading my email will take 20 minutes. In the end I usually just get online with my mobile broadband card (when I have coverage, see #7).

Read More…

I have both Sprint and AT&T wireless broadband service. While Sprint has quite a bit more nationwide footprint, AT&T’s speeds have always been consistently higher and I get reasonable performance even at lower signal levels whereas Sprint slows to a crawl in adverse conditions. AT&T also seems to be much more consistent but that could be due to less network loading. Either way, I never thought I’d see the day I’d be able to achieve results like this over a WWAN.

The one certainty is that Verizon is an also-ran to both. Unless they have coverage where you need it and the other’s don’t? Pass. Even now that they’ve lifted the 5GB cap from their ‘unlimited’ plan, their service is still slower and spottier than Sprint’s.

Portable nav devices are on the verge of becoming commodities. Even the bad ones aren’t awful and outperform early models (Garmin Streetpilot anyone?) by a mile. But what are you losing by going with the cheaper models?

Read More…

It’s been a couple of years since the first mention was made of micro projectors. Apparently there is some demand (according to Texas Instruments) for projectors built into your phone. I’m guessing it is so you can show off Youtube video clips on something larger than a 3" display.

But no matter how hard think of a practical solution, I can’t help conclude that it would never get past the gimmick stage.

It’s too dim for presentations (at just 7 lumens), it’s too small for decent entertainment (around 20" pictures) and mobile phone battery life is bad enough as it is. Now, don’t get me wrong; I usually love useless gadgets, especially if it involves more buttons and lights. But I don’t understand all the attention this technology is getting.

The Sony SZ. Groundbreaking in it’s day, still compelling and a great formfactor. Perhaps you bought one and it’s feeling a little sluggish? Or, maybe you got a great deal on the 1.66 but really wanted the 2.0Ghz or the 2.16. Or for some reason Core Duo isn’t doing it for you anymore and you really want a Core 2 Duo. Have no fear, you CAN upgrade your notebook without (much) fear.  (Warning: LOTS of images after the break)

Read More…

So you’re going to bite the bullet and buy or upgrade your wireless WAN card. Do you go USB for futureproofing and to allow use with notebooks that don’t have a card slot? ExpressCard, which works with new notebooks but leaves you high and dry on legacy hardware? PC Card, which has been the standard for ages but has been displaced by ExpressCard on almost every notebook sold?

Read More…

Fans of unnecessary and poorly functioning travel gadgets will have to start looking elsewhere for their fix. The Sharper Image, purveyor of useless junk, has filed for bankruptcy.

Apparently when the truth came out about their Ionic Breeze air "cleaners" people stopped spending money in their stores.

That means no more "all in one travel alarm clocks with flashlight", no more "travel soothers with nature sounds" but best of all, no more overpriced stuff you can get for 25% less through Amazon. The best thing that can come out of this, is a really good liquidation sale.

Sorry folks, but they had this one coming.

Source: Reuters