https://www.yahoo.com/tech/9-travel-gadgets-that-will-change-your-life-85245495689.html I typically subscribe to the belief that technology just makes most things better. Good technology, that is. I’ve road tested a lot of fad gadgets that have broken that second I got them, and I have had others that have traveled to six continents, no problem. Here are the nine devices that every traveler should have in their arsenal. 1. A Speaker the Size of Your Thumb: Most travel speakers are so unwieldy that we just conveniently leave them at home and then lament not being able to listen to Billy Ocean while we lounge by the pool. You’ll never complain about this little guy taking up too much space. Put it on your keychain and get up to six hours of playback with easy USB charging. 2. An In-Flight Entertainment Hack: I’m still surprised by the number of planes that haven’t moved into the 21st century when it comes to in-flight entertainment. Quit your whining. This device mounts your tablet/e-reader/smart phone on the back of the seat in front of you for easy viewing and reading. Read More: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/9-travel-gadgets-that-will-change-your-life-85245495689.html
A note regarding the shown travel plug adapter. There are two major travel areas for which this adapter does NOT work. Those are: 1. Southern Africa, which uses the old UK standard of three large round blades in most places including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The good news is that almost all hotels provide adapters, usually already in place in rooms, because these plugs are no longer in use almost nowhere else on earth, but the tourist infrastructure is well prepared so it is not necessary to even think about buying a specific adapter. 2. Brazil, which adopted an almost entirely unique three pin plug. European two-pin adapters will work in Brazil but three pin ones will not work. usually, and few hotels are equipped for non-Brazilian adapters. Most higher-level hotels, especially chains, do have adapters. Specific adapters are generally not available outside Brazil but any Multi Coisas, City Lar or hardware-like store will have fairly cheap adapters for the US-style plugs, since many Brazilians buy electric and electronic goods in the US so need those adapters. Any hotel front desk will know where to find them if they do not provide them for guests. Having used several adapters in my life I admit to preferring the ones that do not have an internal mechanical movement, but separate individual adapters packaged together. The latter are simpler and less prone to failure IME. Anyway, they're cheap so experimentation is a good idea anyway.
I'm a sucker for gadgets and when I saw the thread title, I couldn't wait to read the article. And then I did. And thought, "is it April 1st"? There was not a single gadget for which I'd have any use whatsoever (with the exception of the "universal plug adapter" for which it's easier, and much cheaper, to just carry a bunch of the appropriate plug adapters). An "electronics hammock"? Really? A "water sterilizer pen"? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like this could have been titled, "9 Gadgets You Really Don't Need."
No question about it, I agree. We don't need this stuff. OTOH sometime soon I'll probably buy one of those iPhone telephoto devices just to see how well they work. I'm certain they'll not soon threaten my Canon 6D, but they might work. I just want to know how they can get enough light to produce a decently fast shutter speed so the shake can be minimised. OTOH, Apple has just hired the camera maven from Nokia (I guess he did not care for Microsoft) so it might be more sensible to wait for the iPhone 7 or so. Obviously I am seeking an even more expensive gadget to solve a problem I do not really have.
Feels like an article that's really ad placements. The little speaker appeared to have decent reviews on Amazon for example, but the seatback clamp appears to be well stocked with fake reviews (reviewers that write short glowing reviews and who have never reviewed a single other product). Not feeling the love here.
This is the most important detail many people just ignore. Having moving parts in an electrical adapter, specially when in a 240V country, is fraught with peril. Also avoid plastic molded doodads, not all outlets give clean power. I have a set of ceramic molded, adapters; they protect from an occasional spark, or zapperoo which can start a small electrical short.
Sounds like a great recommendation. Care to share the brand/model? I just did a quick google and Amazon search for ceramic travel power adapters and didn't find anything.
It is not a brand name. I bought it in Mong Kok district in Kowloon, Hong Kong. In a shoddy screen print it lists one or two countries e.g UK, Caribbean or US Something similar used to be sold by Sharper Image stores till they went belly-up.
Many of the best ones I have used were branded giveaways by businesses in various parts of Asia. My favourite ones were corporate giveaways by Standard Chartered Bank in Malaysia. IME, travel oriented shops in Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere often have pretty decent ones. They're all cheap. If it is expensive it probably is not too good IME. All of them I have seen have some plastic parts but many have ceramic posts with the conductors fairly protected. I don't know about the ones anileze has. This one from Amazon is the closest I have seen but seems to accept only US-style plug as the demand side. http://www.amazon.com/Ceptics-Inter...00060201&sr=8-6&keywords=travel+plug+adapters Nothing I have found so far is like the very compact versions I have had as Corporate gifts.
In the interest of clarity. Here is the image The shoddy screen print indicating Europe and Asia has rubbed off due to constant use
So, I must reciprocate: This is the case in which the adapter comes, replete with corporate identification This is the adapter set, shown together as they are for storage in their nifty case shown above This is the separated adapters. The input pins can be old UK (the big round Southern Africa ones), new UK, European standard, US standard and a few others. Oddly they cannot plug into the Southern African round old UK style, but can do for nearly all others.
You might want to take a look at the SONY QX lens cameras. They're camera and chip combinations built into a lens unit that clips to your iPhone and communicates over bluetooth. There are two lines, one of which has the small point-and-shoot camera sensor but the other features the new 1 inch sensor from the very highly regarded SONY RX100.
By coincidence, noticed this device at Woot today. They often (but not always) have the best price. (Also sending a DM to you).
I have had flight attendants tell me to remove my device from a seat back on several occasions. They could not give me a valid safety reason why they were asking me to do this, but I complied anyway to avoid making a scene.
This device combines what the solar powered backpack and the universal adapter essentially do: getyouratom.com - it powers your electronics anywhere. 30,000mAh battery to power all electronics up to 150W - including phones, laptops, speakers, studio lights, projectors and personal medical devices.
