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Tech Savvy Travel Tips

Great video with great tips on what gadgets to bring on your travels:



In this video:
- Netbooks and Tablets
- TuneBug portable speakers
- Mobile phone that is unlocked to avoid huge charges overseas. Call your service provider for a special unlock code. Also a pre-paid sim card is a good idea.
- JuiceBar Portable Solar Charger
- Built Cargo Travel Organizer and Laptop case (both available at Amazon)
- TSA 311 rule (more info)

Ready to travel Back to School

It is almost that time. School is back in session in a few weeks. Time to pack up and go off or return to college. Do you have all the chuchkies, accessories, and most importantly gadgets?

This year, I think more than ever, students are getting back to their dorms and studying with a lot more technology in their packs. And it is way beyond the standard supply of pens, paper, folders, and USB flash drive. The 'new' student needs gear for backing up important work, printing out reports, keeping in touch and waking up in time for class.
Some of the gadgets that college students are getting equipped with are tablets, e-readers, smartphones, external hard drives with a lot of storage, and of course music media. Speaking of music, which can help you relax and study hardy, you would also need some decent noise-canceling earphones to tune out distractions and concentrate on task. We have discussed in previous posts, such as Noise canceling headphones - life saver for travelers?, the benefits and cool features of these type of headphones. There are some really nice light and small in-ear headphones that are also pretty good at canceling out the noise. You can find a list of some of these here: More on making travel fun with cool headphones. Tigerdirect.com offers a list of earphones that are bit less pricey: Earbuds

Students looking to save money and avoid lugging around heavy textbooks are now able to rent textbooks on their Kindle eReader devices through Amazon. This service recently launched and offers savings up to 80% off the list price of the print textbook: Kindle Textbook Rental

No smartphone can go without some apps on it and hopefully quite a few of these include apps that can actually help in studying and performing research.

Top 10 Student Apps:
Evernote - take notes and organize them on your phone
Wikipedia Mobile
Dictionary.com - The free app delivers trusted reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com
Facebook Mobile
Google Mobile
WHERE! - Get personalized recommendations for places around you
gFlashPro - flashcard app, create flashcards, share, tests, and trivia
Groupon - 50%-90% off deals on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy
Zoho Docs - online document management application for individuals and businesses

50 Free Android Apps Every College Student Needs

Moreover, cannot forget to pack other essentials such as the reusable BPA-free water bottle to re-hydrate the body and mind, rechargeable batteries and battery charger, Bedol Water Clock that does not need batteries, and a stainless-steel wallet

Another useful gadget is ZOMM Wireless Leash for Mobile Phones.This gadget wirelessly connects to your mobile phone via Bluetooth and alerts you when you are more than 30 feet away from your phone. It's a perfect device for those prone to leaving the dorm without their cell phones. ZOMM also has a built-in panic alarm that can be activated with a simple press of a button. Continue to hold that button, and ZOMM will automatically call any emergency number of your choice. It comes with fully functioning speakerphone with a noise-canceling microphone, belt/bag clip, instructions manual, wall charger, and USB cable.

Plug in and protect those gadgets

With all these USB devices mentioned in "USB everywhere and anywhere," you need somewhere to plug them in. There is of course the computer or the laptop, though as discussed in the previous post, there are a lot more gadgets these days that utilize USB connectivity. Hotel rooms and airport terminals never seem to have enough power outlets to charge all of the devices.

Outlets of the future might look like this - in-wall USB Charger, but until then there are gadgets that make it easy to charge your USB device. One such adapter that I recently acquired is the Belkin Mini Surge Protector. It transforms one wall outlet into three outlets just by plug it in. Not only that but it swindles in place so you can adjust to whatever way the outlet is facing to make room for any other devices to plug in. It also has 2 USB chargers built it so that you can easily charge your mobile gadgets without having to drag additional adapters.

Furthermore, as the name implies, this device also acts as a surge protector, protecting the electronics in your computer from surges in power. As you might already know, a surge in power can be pretty bad especially for a laptop.  It is filled with voltage-sensitive components that a power surge could damage very easily. At the least, this damage will shorten the life of your computer, and it could very easily wipe out all of your saved data or destroy your system. This little device has over 900 joules of surge protection. And it also comes with $75,000 connected equipment warranty. It is definitely coming along with me on the next business trip, even if I have only a couple of gadgets to plug in I would still rather the convenience and peace of mind of the mini surge protector.


Why good to have on a trip:
- 3 out of 1 outlets
- 360-degree rotating plug with 4 locking position
- provides surge protection through all outlets
- USB outlets for easy plug in and charging
- compact and lightweight
- Nice hotel room companion for plugging in the laptop, cell phone, iPod, and iPhone when you only have one  outlet