*emera – fashionable women’s camera totes
Awesome-looking camera bags for ladies. Most techie bags I’ve seen “for women” look like such a joke, clearly designed by men or by women who have awful, awful fashion sense. Pink is not the favorite color of all ladies, okay?
I’ve been searching for a bag that I can throw my camera gear into along with miscellaneous personal items like my Moleskine wallet and such. The only thing I don’t like about this bag is that it seems not to have a laptop compartment. However, most of the time I don’t bring my laptop with me on shoots, so this isn’t a dealbreaker. It just would’ve been nice to have one bag serve as my day bag, camera gear bag, and purse. 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.
I’m definitely going to get one of these sometime soon.
Mighty Bright XtraFlex 2 LED Light
Mighty Bright XtraFlex 2 LED Light
Hey, Kids! It’s been a while… Lots has happened, but I’ll get caught up with that later. 
Of importance for this post is that I got an Amazon Kindle from the hubby for my b-day last month, and I’m loving it! I’ll write up a more elaborate review later, but see this Jaiku thread if you want to see my first impressions of the Kindle. For right now though, this post is about the reading light I just bought today.
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I went searching for Kindle accessories and remembered I wanted to get a good reading light to use for reading in bed. I saw a recommendation on Mobileread for a couple Mighty Bright lights, one full-spectrum light, and another called the XtraFlex 2. Since the XtraFlex 2 was at my local Borders, I picked one up.
I just resized this picture. I didn’t tweak the contrast or anything so that you can see how bright and even the lighting is. The button at the top turns on both LEDs. Pressing it again turns off one of the LEDs. Pressing it a third time turns off the light.
Nice and simple, uses 3 AAA batteries, and apparently has an AC adapter. See here for more details.
*No, I don’t work for Mighty Bright, nor do I get anything for recommending their lights. I just like the product I bought.
Forgot something about the N810 case
Forgot something about the N810 case
I didn’t notice until this morning that this case actually has two pockets. I tried to take a picture of this, but I’m not sure if it’s illustrated clearly here (see notes on the pic). This is nice, because then any accessories I put in here can be separated from the N810, so it doesn’t get scratched up. Nice bonus, Case Logic.
Moshi Cardette: USB hub and Memory Card Reader
UPDATE: If you don’t see pictures with this post, it could be that your firewall blocks proxies like imgred.com, or imgred.com has gone down, or some other similar situation. I noticed that this entry didn’t have pictures when I looked at it at work, but then realized that the firewall was blocking imgred.com. So I’m not being hypocritical by ranting about websites not including product pictures when they post info about a new product!
Okay, I’m going to begin this little post with a rant. Why do websites post news about a product without a picture of it? (Yes, I may have been guilty of this in the past, but that’s not the point. *smirk*) I just got a newsletter from Macworld Weekly extolling the virtues of the Moshi Cardette USB hub/card reader, yet didn’t have a picture of it. Sometimes I understand because there aren’t any press photos available, but when the article specifically mentions something about its appearance or size, I sure would like a picture to illustrate that. And in this case, there wasn’t a dearth of pictures for the product online. What was even worse was that the newsletter didn’t even have a product link!
Google is my friend, so I looked it up, and clicked on a link for a story on MacNN about this product, and they didn’t have a picture, either! But they had a link to Moshi’s site, so I went there in search of the product.
It actually looks pretty nice. It’s a cute, designer card reader that adds an extra USB port for your disposal. It comes in black and white, but is a bit pricey at around $35 – $40. However, like for a lot of Apple products some people, including me, will pay a little more for something that looks a bit nicer.
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Latest mobile tech purchases
Nothing that interesting, just a couple small additions to my mobile tech kit:
1. 
Mogo Mouse: I posted about it before, when I was ranting about the trackstick on Pigio. I’ll be using this as much as possible so I won’t have to use the trackstick anymore. I charged it up (took about an hour) and tried it out for a little bit. It was simple to pair it with Pigio over Bluetooth. It’s not the most ergonomic mouse in the world, but in a pinch, this little mouse will help out a lot. And the less I actually have to keep track of when carrying Pigio with me, the better.
2. 
While I was browsing around the notebook accessories aisle at TigerDirect, I saw a retractable AC cord that plugs into the power brick for laptop AC adapters. At $8, it was a bargain to cut down on cord clutter. The last couple days I have been leaving Pigio’s AC cord at home because I haven’t been using Pigio at work for more than the battery life allows. Less junk to pack into my Badtz Maru messenger bag (which I pulled out of storage to use for a while, but now I want to replace it with a more structured bag). Hopefully the cord doesn’t fray and catch on fire or fry Pigio! I was interested in buying a second power cord for Pigio that I could leave at work (don’t need the full-on dock), but this is good enough for now. In the near future I should buy the extended battery for Pigio so that I can use it longer without tethering to AC.
For Road Warriors: Outlets to Go Power Strip
Well, it’s not just for road warriors, but a lot of them would probably find this travel power strip from Monster Cable really useful. It’s one of those “why didn’t I think of that??” products.
(picture from Monster Cable’s website)
When I do travel, I find myself wanting a power strip to plug in all of my electronics to charge overnight. Of course, the better option would be to get something like a portable battery pack with multiple device connectors so that you only plug in one thing to charge multiple devices at once. But for those with lesser mobile charger needs, this travel power strip would be handy. However, since the power strip is from Monster Cable, it’s unnecessarily expensive. 
Keep the concept in mind while watching out for cheaper knockoffs. 
New Toshiba Gigabeat S Case from Vaja Cases
Although I haven’t been using my Toshiba Gigabeat S in quite a while (I’m considering selling it…any interested buyers? ), I am still interested in watching its development in the marketplace, especially now that Toshiba is manufacturing the Zune for Microsoft.
I just got an e-mail today from Vaja Cases about their new case for the Gigabeat S, called Balance. The case starts at $60, with assorted customizations such as type of belt clip and type of inner lining that add to the final cost of the case. This may sound steep to some of you, but I can say without reservation that it will be money well-spent. I am not associated with Vaja Cases in any way. I just know of the company and have used their cases in the past for my Sony Clies, before I started buying aluminum cases for my newer mobile devices. Their quality and designs are top-notch, and each case is usually created from scratch as per the customer’s specification. There were some cases that were offered as “ready-to-wear”, as it were, but Vaja Cases is more well-known for their custom designs.
I recommend visiting their site yourself to see the full line of products they offer. You can also check out the customization options for the Gigabeat S case here. I really wish they had a custom case for the T-Mobile MDA, but unfortunately they only offer a universal pouch for the MDA. I’m going to inquire if they’re ever going to offer a specialized case for the MDA, though. I hope so!
Logitech USB Keyboard for Playstation 2 (another UMPC keyboard alternative)
I tried out the Logitech keyboard with the Q1 this evening while IMing back and forth with the hubby (who’s away on business, for those of you who aren’t regular readers ). This keyboard was much improved over the Solidtek ultra-mini keyboard I got yesterday. Since the keys are basically full-sized and in the same layout as a regular keyboard, it was no problem to regularly touch-type. I would have no reservations using this keyboard with the Q1 to type out an e-mail, blog entry, or even something longer, like a report. The keys felt solid and were easy to type on (didn’t require any more pressure than a regular keyboard), if a bit louder than a standard laptop keyboard. The keys are thicker (taller) and have a little longer distance to travel than the keys on my M200 keyboard, which accounts for the louder sound. But the keyboard is solid, well-made, and well laid out. Although it is thicker and larger than the Solidtek keyboard overall, I don’t think it would be hard to transport in a small bag along with the Q1. It’s still well within the range of the ultra-portable category. The Logitech keyboard seems like a very good contender against the official Samsung Q1 keyboard. Its price of $19.99 at Fry’s (you can also find this cheaper online) makes it hard to buy the Samsung keyboard over the Logitech (the Samsung keyboard is $99). The only thing I would really ding it for is the lack of a carrying case, but since it is meant to be used with a Playstation 2, I’m not surprised that it lacks a bundled slipcover.
Below are some pictures of the Logitech keyboard:
Where are the freaking accessories??!?!?
(Back blogging on my M200…man, did that extended DialKeys typing session do a number on my left wrist…ouch!)
GRRRR. I cannot understand why manufacturers cannot line up a decent set of accessories to be available at the same time that the main device — whether it’s an mp3 player, UMPC, or whatever — is available. It is such a PITA to get some device and not have simple accessories like a carrying case, screen protector, car charger, etc. available for purchase until weeks, or more likely months, later.
I was prompted to type this blog entry because I saw a mention of two different Samsung-branded carrying cases for the Q1 at the end of the review at TabletPC2.com. However, when I tried to look one of them up, I saw that it wasn’t out yet; the sites that carry it have it as a pre-order item. And there doesn’t seem to be an actual date of its availability. That is such a pet peeve of mine! What do these manufacturers think we new owners (or loaners as the case may be *smirk*) are going to do for the weeks or months that we have to wait to get a carrying case or some other accessory? Many of us would go and buy some cheap alternative as a stopgap for when the “real” accessories are available. Others will find an alternative that is good enough that they will no longer consider getting the “official” carrying cases or whatever, thus costing the device manufacturers sales of the newly-released accessories.
I believe I can say, with some certainty, that a good portion of iPod sales are due to the overwhelming availability of all sorts of different accessories for the iPods. Yes, Apple and their partners are still guilty of taking a while sometimes to release accessories for new iPods, but there’s almost always at least some basic case you can buy for the new models at the same time as product launch. Having a healthy accessory market can go a long way towards demonstrating to the consumer the strength and/or popularity of a device, IMO. When Buzz Out Loud was debating whether some consumers bought iPods solely or largely on the availability of different accessories, they got a lot of feedback corroborating that it was indeed a determining factor. I am still grumbling at the serious dearth of accessories (especially car chargers, a docking cradle, and more choice in carrying cases) for my Toshiba Gigabeat S. I really like the device, but the lack of accessories for it (even software “accessories” like different syncing software) kind of gives me the impression that Toshiba is not fully behind their product. At the very least it makes me irritated when I see the rows and rows and rows of iPod accessories (and a decent amount of Creative Zen accessories!) at Fry’s and absolutely zero accessories for my Gigabeat S. Even searching online shows quite a lack of Gigabeat S peripherals.
It just boggles my mind why manufacturers aren’t more into providing a variety of accessories for their devices. A lot of gadget freaks are also major accessory freaks. It’s just all extra money in the manufacturers’ pockets, for probably relatively little cost to them. I’ve even seen some products have lackluster features, but seem more appealing simply because they included certain peripherals that are usually optional, additional purchases — for example, this ho-hum mp3 player that Gizmodo reported on recently. Yeah, the dock is kind of ugly, and I’m sure lots of people (including the hubby) are thinking that the inclusion of such accessories are what jacks the price up, and logic says that you should judge a device on its features, not by its accessories, but sometimes it’s still a nice perk that consumers really consider. There was quite a bit of ragging on Apple when they claimed that they were dropping iPod prices, but it turned out that you weren’t getting a dock, basic carrying case, or AC adapter.
Well, whatever. I’ve had my rant. I’m sure there are some financial reasons that a company may not want to “waste” money on providing accessories for a device that may bomb, but hey, it’s a bit of a catch-22 situation that I think manufacturers should err on the side of providing more accessories, not less, in order to provide a bit more motivation for consumers to pick their products (besides having the right features for how the consumer would use the device, of course). I want my friggin’ accessories! >_<!!
