I frequently forget to bring my phone charger with me when I go on a trip. You’d think it’d be something I’d remember to pack, seeing as my phone needs to be charged daily. Oh no, I always end up rummaging through my bag at the end of the day, only to come up empty-handed. The problem with a charging cable is that you usually only have one of them, so transporting it from one place to another is usually a hassle. My charger is plugged in behind my bed – I am way too lazy to unplug it for a short trip.
I’d much rather invest in something like the Credit Card Sized Cell Phone Charger (Hammacher Schlemmer, $29.95) because then I’d never have to wonder if I remembered to pack the right cable. This phone charger is small enough to fit inside the credit card slot of a wallet, micro USB cord and all! Compatible with most Android and Blackberry smartphones (as well as traditional dinosaur-age cell phones), the charger is powered by a lithium-ion battery that can fully charge your device before requiring a power-up itself. Sure, a charging cable doesn’t take up that much room, but it’s way easier to forget in a time crunch. This baby never has to leave the comfort of your wallet, ensuring that your smartphone never has to go without power.
I am addicted to wallet-sized gadgets. Would it be wrong to start carrying two wallets, one for gadgets and the other for actual purchasing properties?
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 3.25″ x 2″ x .25″
-Weight: 1 oz
-Cordless cell phone power hub
-Fits inside wallet credit card pocket
-One cell phone charge per hub charge
-Micro USB cord
-Available in brown or black
-Compatible with most Android and Blackberry smartphones
-Recharges in 1 hour via USB adapter
Remember disposable cameras? You needed 27 (or if you were lucky, 29) exposures just to get one good picture. It’s not like now when you can repose over and over until your spastic friend finally has their eyes open (alright, that’s me). A friend of mine recently busted out the disposable camera at a party the other night and when I asked her about it, she said that she likes having actual photos where you can’t take a million just to get the perfect one. Hmmm…
For those who want to have their cake and eat it too, there’s the Portable Handheld Scanner (Hammacher Schlemmer, $99.95) – the cake in this scenario being the tangible photo and eating it being the digital copy. It doesn’t just stop at photos though; you can scan anything! Photos, magazines, documents…pretty much anything you can think of. Ok, well you are confined to the limits of the microSD card, but this scanner supports memory cards up to 32 gigabytes in capacity and you can get 180 scans per charge. Each scan is saved onto the memory card as a JPEG file, as either high or normal resolution, and the scanner is both PC and Mac compatible.
Not for retinas.
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 10″ x 1.25″ x 1″
-Weight: 7.5oz
-Cordless portable scanner
-Up to 180 scans per charge
-Color image sensor
-High (600 dpi) or standard (300 dpi) resolution
-JPEG images save on microSD card (not included)
-USB cable included
-Uses 2 AA batteries (included)
-Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Mac compatible
It might seem like I have a lot of gadgets, probably because I do. If you’re a technology addict like myself then you know that it doesn’t matter how many gadgets you have, it matters which ones you don’t. There are some electronics that I would love to own, but I’m not made of money (neither is my mother, just ask her) so I can’t afford to buy them. I’ve always wanted one of those bladeless fans. I don’t know why, it’s not like a bladed fan doesn’t do the trick. I just want one. But I can’t justify spending a couple hundred dollars on a fan when I could use it for things like food and electricity.
If your technological aspirations far outweigh your monetary value, sometimes you have to compromise. The USB Bladeless Cooling Fan (SkyMall, $19.99) utilizes the same awesome science as those big bladeless fans except it’s a fraction of the price. Oh, and also smaller. But other than that, the two are pretty much the same. Bladelessness still means ultra-quiet and easy to clean, not to mention incredibly safe for youngsters and klutzes alike. As an added bonus, this fan consumes half the energy of a conventional fan so you’re once again single-handedly saving the planet.
It’s almost like you’re part of the Avengers. Almost.
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 6.8″ x 5.1″ x 10.7″
-Portable electric bladeless desk fan
-USB cable included
-Smooth air
-Quiet
-Easy to clean
-Energy saving
I used to live a fairly gadget-free lifestyle. It’s not like I didn’t own any technological toys, I just wasn’t consumed by them. Now it seems like I can’t go five minutes without checking my phone, playing a game online, or responding to Facebook update (much like everyone else I know). What’s the worst part about being a slave to technology? Well, you’re pretty much guaranteed never to be satisfied, but more importantly the battery life on these gadgets blow!
I know someone who’s never without their iPad so I can only imagine how often it has to be charged – I’m thinking on the daily. The Solar Charging iPad Case (Hammacher Schlemmer, $199.95) will only encourage you to use your iPad more because you won’t even have to dig out that power cord anymore. Not only does the case protect your beloved Apple product, but it provides up to ten days of use without a standard charge. How’s that possible? Solar power, that’s how! This isn’t just any solar power though – the case uses organic photovoltaic ink to convert both indoor and outdoor light into electricity. I mean, who’s gonna leave their iPad outside all day so it could catch some rays? Now you can simply switch on a lamp and your techno-wonder will charge up in no time.
Angry Birds forever!
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 11″ x 8″ x 1″
-Weight: 1.5lbs
-Solar powered iPad case
-Provides up to 10 days use without charge
-Powered by organic photovoltaic ink
-Converts indoor and outdoor light into electricity
-Built in stainless steel stand
-Built in HDMI output and USB port
-Compatible with iPad2 and iPad3
I never have the right kind of batteries in the house. I’m too impatient/poor to go out and buy some so I have to make do with what I have. I usually end up stealing them from something else, then forget about it until I try to do something like change the channel when there aren’t any batteries in the remote. It’s incredibly frustrating!
So you can imagine how amazing I think anything is that doesn’t require batteries to be changed over and over, like the Rechargeable Flat Wireless EZ Mouse (Things You Never Knew Existed, $49.98). The batteries in my wireless mouse die about once a month and I never change them until absolutely necessary. Sure, I could use a wired mouse but that’s for losers. Instead I’d much rather use a mouse like this, with its rechargeable battery that lasts up to six weeks on one charge. Six weeks! And my absolute favorite part is that when it finally comes time to charge up that battery, you just take it out and plug it into your USB port. What about your mouse, you ask? It’s all good – your mouse will keep running for up to three days without the main power supply because it has a backup power source built in!
That’s totesally awesome.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 4″ x 2″ x 5″
-Rechargeable battery mouse
-Up to 6 weeks on one charge
-Backup battery lasts up to 3 days
-1000 dpi high precision
-Ergonomic design
-Rubberized scroll wheel
-3 buttons
-PC and Mac compatible
-Plug and play
