Travel Essentials
With the vacation season here once again, in this week’s “not exactly an editorial”; I look at some of the accessories, software, and services you won’t want to leave home without.
Whether you are traveling across town or across the country this summer vacation season, 1SRC will help keep you powered up and running with our list of essential travel accessories, software, and services.
Powering Up
There are a number of ways you can keep your Palm device powered up while traveling. The JAVOEdge portable battery charger is a great way to keep your Palm and other gadgets charged up and ready to roll. The JAVOEdge charger is a 3400mAh external Lithium-ion battery that can be charged from any standard US wall outlet. To get you started, JAVOEdge offers an inexpensive starter bundle that includes wall adapter, wall charge cable, external battery unit, retractable device charge cable, and a nylon carry case. The nice thing about the device charge cable is that you can purchase interchangeable tips so once you purchase the basic kit, you only need to purchase a new connector to charge your other mobile devices. This is the charger that I can with me all the time in my “PDA Crash Kit”. You can get a lot of charges out of the 3400mAh battery and the carry case is plenty roomy enough to hold all of the items that I will talk about in this article. The starter kit costs $49.99.
An alternative power option is a secondary battery and a Palm travel charger. When it comes to replacement batteries, you can get them directly from Palm, however, I have found that you can get better deals from reputable third-party manufacturers or online retailers. I have never purchased a Palm Treo or Centro battery directly from Palm or one of their wireless carrier locations. If you are in the market for a stock Palm battery for your device, you will want to check out TreoCentral’s Treo Store. For example, you can purchase a Palm Treo 680/750 stock battery from TreoCentral’s Treo Store for $14.95. The same battery from Palm will run you $29.99.
If you don’t need a spare battery, or use a Palm handheld PDA that has a fixed battery, a travel charger might be more your speed. Palm does offer batter chargers (Treo and Centro), travel chargers, and vehicle chargers at prices that are more in line with other vendors. I’m currently carrying the Palm Treo battery charger in my Palm goodie bag. If you want to travel lightly, you can take the Palm Treo battery charger and the power adapter with you. The spare battery, the charger, and the power adapter can easily fit in to your luggage, briefcase, or purse for those short overnight trips. If you have to travel with a work laptop, don’t forget to put your HotSync cable in the bag just in case.
Back It Up
If you are going to be away from home or out of the office for more than a day, it is a good idea to backup your device while you are traveling. Heck, it is a good idea to back up your device even when you aren’t traveling. Resco Backup (Palm OS & Windows Mobile), NVBackup (Palm OS), and Sprite Backup (Windows Mobile) are great applications that I use all the time to backup my Treo smartphones. Resco Backup is available for $19.95 for either Palm OS or Windows Mobile. I’ve used the Palm OS version for years and it has saved my bacon from burning on several occasions. Alex Pruss’ NVBackup is a fantastic freeware application, which a non-volatile Palm OS device owner (Treo 650, Tungsten T5 and later) should not be without. Sprite Backup comes bundled with Palm’s Windows Mobile devices. Windows Mobile Treo owners should install the software from their bundled Palm software CD.
You will need to use a SD, miniSD, or microSD card (depending on your device) to use these applications. You can purchase an SD expansion card at just about any office supply or big box retail store. A 1GB card will be plenty of space if you are just planning on running backups. If you are going to load up your Palm device with movies, music, pictures, or ebooks (just to name a few things), a 2GB or 4GB card might be a better choice. Before buying an expansion card, check your device’s documentation for the support card type and maximum supported card capacity. I have a SanDisk 2GB microSD card loaded in each of my Treo smartphones. The nice thing about the SanDisk microSD memory kit is that it includes a full size SD and miniSD card adapter, which enables you to keep using the card as you change devices. If you are traveling for business and pleasure, you might also want to consider a SanDisk MobileMate portable card reader. The MobileMate allows you to access the files from your Palm’s memory card on your computer.
Lastly, if you are traveling by land, you might also consider purchasing a Bluetooth hands free ear piece or a Palm GPS kit. Many states, including California and Connecticut, have enacted laws requiring drivers to use hands free kits while driving. If you plan on getting a Bluetooth GPS kit for your Palm, you will want to use an inexpensive wired headset since the Palm OS only supports a single Bluetooth connection at a time. Bluetooth headsets are fairly common these days and one can be picked up at at any electronics store that sells cell phones.
Palm’s GPS solutions, while relatively expensive when compared with similarly featured portable stand along devices from Garmin and TomTom, can be a lifesaver. If you favor integration of features over stand-alone solutions, you will probably like the Palm solution. I have traveled across four states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania) with my Palm GPS kit and have had very good results.
Getting There is Only Half the Fun
With gasoline costs climbing almost daily in the United States, many motorists are paying close attention to the miles being traveled each month. Your Palm OS or Windows Mobile device can help you keep track of all the driving you are doing and how many miles to the gallon you are getting. Mileage Calculator (Palm OS) and GasUpLogger (Windows Mobile) are both free applications that you can use to keep track of your miles and fuel use.
As fuel costs continue to rise, public transportation will become an attractive alternative for some commuters and travelers. Many major metropolitan centers offer mobile websites that you can access from your Palm to obtain fares, schedules, and routes. Not every city offers mobile solutions, however, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle do. (See the links below.) Alternatively you can use Metro, a public transportation guide for PDAs and smartphones. Metro is currently available for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and even the RIM BlackBerry. Metro is a free device native application that provides details on public transportation for over 400 cities worldwide.
Happy Trails
While traveling this summer and beyond, don’t forget to pack your Palm handheld or smartphone. There are a variety of accessories, software, and websites that will help you make the most of your trip.
Article Links
JavoEdge Portable Battery Charger
http://www.javoedge.com/reflexeshop/productCatalog/viewByCategory.do?catId=1006118
Stock Palm Treo 680/750 battery
http://store.treocentral.com/palm-1200mah-battery/8A37A1346.htm
Palm Chargers
http://us.store.gc.palm.com/?i=1&t1=Chargers%2C+Cables+%26+Cradles&u1=t1
Resco Backup
http://www.resco.net/default.asp
NVBackup
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=92189&package_id=186018
SanDisk 2GB microSD Memory Kit
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2327)-SDSDQ-2048-A11MK-SanDisk_microSD_Mobile_Memory_Kit_2GB.aspx
SanDisk MobileMate Reader
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1220)-SDDR-104-A11M-SanDisk_MobileMate_SD_Plus5in1_Reader.aspx
Palm GPS Kits
http://us.store.gc.palm.com/?i=1&t1=GPS+Units&u1=t1
Palm Bluetooth Compatibility Page
http://www.palm.com/us/support/bluetooth/bluetooth_compatibility.html
Metro Public Transportation Guide
http://www.surf.to/metro
San Francisco Public Transportation
http://www.nextmuni.com/wirelessConfig/PDAs.htm
http://www.bart.gov/stations/quickPlanner/pda.asp
New York City
http://tripplanner.mta.info/tripPlannerPDA.aspx
Seattle
http://tripplanner.metrokc.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U
Los Angeles
http://www.metro.net/mobile/mobile_welcome.htm
