Essential Mobile Accessories

While your Mac laptop and its included software will get you connected and online in most situations, there are some mobile accessories that make mobile computing, both domestic and foreign, easier and less stressful.

One small reality check: If you carry all this gear around with you, it means you're pretty much obsessed with this Road Warrior stuff. Your load can be lightened considerably if you eliminate the digital camera equipment from the list (which I personally consider more important than the convenience of traveling light).

Laptop Carrying Case

A nice carrying case helps protect your computer and gives you a place to keep most of your accessories together. I prefer a backpack-style computer bag because I usually also carry a camera bag that's large enough to hold a digital video camera and a digital still camera. When I wear the backpack, I still have one hand free to use my mobile phone, my PDA, my GPS, or my iPod. Or to show my ID to airport security agents.

Mini Mouse

A laptop provides a trackpad, so you don't have to use a mouse. But for some of us, a mouse is much easier to use and the trackpad feels awkward. A mini mouse is extra small, lightweight, and packs away nicely. The small footprint of a mini mouse gives more room to maneuver when you're working in a crowded space, such as a cafe table or an airline fold-down tray.

Search the Internet for "mini mouse" to find a wide selection of both wired and wireless (Bluetooth) models. Some of our favorites can be found at Targus.com and iogear.com. Don't forget to put a mouse pad in your bag.

Spare Cables and Cable Adapters

It's better to take cables with you and not use them than to need a simple little cable and have to spend hours in an unfamiliar city trying to find one.

• Telephone cord (RJ-11). This is an ordinary telephone cord to connect your laptop to a phone outlet so you can use your Mac's internal modem^[*]

  ^[*] The MacBook Pro does not come with a modem installed unless you specifically request and pay extra for it. to connect to the Internet. Sure, you hope your hotel has a broadband connection, but if it doesn't, you're prepared.

  

  

  Also consider taking along a duplex adapter (shown to the right). Plug the adapter into a phone outlet, then plug both the phone and your laptop modem into the duplex end of the adapter. You can only use one device at a time, but you won't have to plug and unplug a phone cord every time you switch between making a phone call and going online.

• Ethernet cable (RJ-45). This is a very handy item to have in your laptop bag. Sometimes an Internet access area (a hotel business office, a resort community room, or an Internet cafe) provides an Ethernet port so you can connect to their broadband connection, but they might not provide the Ethernet cable you need to connect your laptop. Hotels that provide broadband connections in their rooms will often have an Ethernet port close to the telephone (sometimes labled as a "data port") that you can plug your laptop into using an Ethernet cable.

  If you're at a client's office and need to transfer files between computers, you can use an Ethernet cable to connect two computers and share files. See Chapter 10 for more information about file sharing.

  If you plan to use an AirPort Express to make your hotel room wireless, you'll need an Ethernet cable (see page 17).

  

• FireWire cables. A FireWire cable will connect most digital video cameras to your laptop. With your videocam connected, you can import video from your camcorder, then use iMovie to create a movie while you're on the go. I often use iMovie because it's so easy; with the click of a button I can create a streaming QuickTime movie and upload it to a web page on my .Mac account (see Chapter 4).

  If you don't want to import video, you can connect the camcorder to your laptop and show your video on the laptop screen. We pack along two different FireWire cables so we can do thisa 4-pin to 6-pin cable that connects a videocam to a computer, and a 6-pin to 6-pin cable in case we want to connect to a FireWire portable storage device. Decide which cables you might need and take them with you.

  

• USB cables. Most devices that use a USB connection, such as iPod cradles, Palm device hot sync cradles, or digital media card readers, usually come with their own USB cables. Don't forget to pack them.

Power Supplies

• Battery chargers and batteries. Some of the devices you might want to carry with you, such as a digital video camera, use rechargeable batteries and have their own dedicated battery chargers. Other devices, such as a Palm PDA, have built-in rechargeable batteries and a recharging cradle. These items are bulky and heavy, but if you're going to be on the go for more than a few days, it's easier to pack them than it is to do without them. We usually carry an extra package or two of AA and AAA disposable batteries for things like a wireless mic setup for our video camera or a handheld GPS unit.

  Tip

  If you use an iPod, you can maximize its play time (up to 30+ hours) by getting one of the iPod battery packs that are available from third-party companies:

  Mypower from Tekkeon (www.Tekkeon.com)

  The iPod Battery by Battery Technology (www.BatteryTech.com)

  TunePower from Belkin (www.Belkin.com)

  Or search the web for "iPod battery pack."

  
  

• An extra battery. The online Apple Store sells batteries for Mac laptops. Traveling with an extra battery provides insurance that you can do what you need to do between battery charges or until you can connect to a power outlet. I also carry a couple of extra batteries for the video camera because they're harder to find than regular batteries (AA or AAA, etc.) that I may need. When I leave the hotel room, I usually leave one camcorder battery in the room, being charged, put one in the camcorder, and carry an extra, fully charged battery with me. Common sense, I know, but it's amazing how many times I've ignored my own advice and regretted it.

• Plug adapters. Electronic devices in North America use a 110/120V (volt) electric current; other countries use a 220/240V current. Mac laptops are dual-voltage, so you can plug them in anywhere, any countryif you have an adapter to make your power plug fit the shape of the power outlet in the wall because power outlets in other countries come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Before you leave home, buy a plug adapter that's compatible with the country you plan to visit. Electric adapter plugs for various countries are usually sold in travel and luggage stores or electronics stores.

  Or visit LaptopTravel.com, TeleAdapt.com, TravelOasis.com, or iGo.com to find adapter plugs for different countries. They also have global electric adapter and surge protectors that fit most socket styles around the world.

  

  You may also want to buy a combo AC/DC power adapter. It lets you not only power your laptop from a standard wall outlet, but also has adapters to fit a car, your yacht, or an airplane power outlet. You'll find this type of multi-use adapter online at www.Kensington.com, as well as at many other online stores.

  Tip

  Search the web to find "electric adapter plugs." Or use one of these shopping sites to find the best price among dozens of online stores:

  www.Shopper.cnet.com

  www.PriceGrabber.com

  www.BizRate.com

  
  

• Power transformers. As mentioned previously, your Mac laptop is designed to work with the power supply in other countries (once you can plug it in with a plug adapter). Make sure your other devices (such as battery chargers) are safe to plug into foreign wall sockets: Look on the back of the device to see if it's labeled for dual-voltage use.

  If it says "100240V," it is designed for dual-voltage use. You do not need a transformer.

  If it says "110V," it's designed for use only in North America and you'll need a power transformer to safely plug it in elsewhere.

  Many electronics stores, online and otherwise, sell power transformers. Transformers are bulky and heavy, but it's easier to pack one than to spend time trying to find one in an unfamiliar city.

Do NOT use an external transformer with a Mac laptop because your power cable has a built-in transformer. If you add another transformer, the laptop will ignore the external power supply completely and run on battery power. Thus if you leave your laptop on thinking the battery is being charged because it's plugged into a power supply, you'll discover it is actually draining the battery.

Note! A converter is not the same as a transformer. A converter is what you need for electrical (as opposed to electronic) devices that have motors, such as hair dryers, shavers, irons, etc. A converter is meant for short-term use. And it is really heavy to carry around (it can be just as cheap to buy a hair dryer or iron in the country in which you'll be traveling and it will weigh less).

Electronic devices like your computer, camera, etc., use transformers, not converters.

Don't forget to also pack a small surge protector! You can plug it into the wall with an adapter, and then have several outlets for your devices.

AirPort Extreme Base Station

The AirPort Extreme Base Station is not a portable device, but it does make you and your laptop more portable around the home or office."Extreme" means the device is using the 802.11 g wireless standard, which is five times faster than the 802.11 b standard used in the original AirPort Base Stations. The 802.11 g wireless networks are backward-compatible with 802.11 b wireless devices, such as the original AirPort wireless cards, meaning they will work just fine with older devices.

To create a wireless Internet connection in your home or office, buy an AirPort Extreme Base Station. Connect your phone line or broadband connection to it with an Ethernet cable. If your laptop has an AirPort Extreme Card installed, you'll be able to connect to the Internet wirelessly as long as you're in range, approximately 150 feet from the base station. If you have an older AirPort card installed in your laptop, it will still work but you'll be limited to transfer speeds of 11 Mbps.

AirPort Express Base Station

This device is not essential, but it can add a huge convenience to your mobile life. The AirPort Express is actually a small, portable base station that connects to an existing Internet connection and sends out a wireless signal. You can use it in two ways: to create a new wireless network, or to extend an existing wireless network. Both are explained on the following page.

To create a new wireless network: Plug the AirPort Express into a power outlet. Use an Ethernet cable to connect it to your broadband source (a cable or DSL modem) in your home or office or to the broadband data port (an Ethernet port) in your hotel room. Now your laptop can connect wirelessly to the Internet from anywhere in the room.

To extend the range of an existing wireless network: Plug the AirPort Express into a power outlet that's within range of the existing network.

Portable Speakers

This is certainly something you can leave behind if you want to travel light, but if you have a presentation to give that includes audio, a set of powerful, portable speakers can make a giant difference in the audio quality and impact of the presentation. If you just want to play some songs from your iTunes music collection for a group of friends or show iMovies to relatives, portable speakers enhance the show. Or if you'll be spending a lot of time in that hotel room, bring your speakers; add an AirPort Express (previous page) and stream your music from iTunes to the speakers across the room or have stereo sound for your DVD movie.

Just a few of the nifty portable speakers worth checking out are:

• Altec Lansing inMotion Portable Speakers

  (www.AltecLansing.com)

• Creative TravelSound Portable Speakers

  (www.Creative.com)

• JBL On Tour Speaker System

  (www.JBL.com)

• JVC Mini Speakers

  (www.JVC.com)

Also visit the online Apple Store (http://store.apple.com) to see some of the latest portable speakers: On the Apple Store web page, select "Speakers" from the "iPod Accessories" category, which is (at the moment) on the left side of the web page.

The same portable speakers for your laptop will usually connect to an iPod as well, so you can share your iPod music collection with a large group or a small crowd. Or entertain yourself.

Portable Storage Devices

If you plan to do a lot of work while on the go, or if you need to carry more files than your laptop will hold, external portable storage drives are the answer. They're available in all sizes and capacities from many brand-name suppliers. Although you can carry full-sized drives around with you, it's much easier to travel with a miniature drive that's designed for portability. The miniature drives are not only smaller and lighter, they usually don't require their own power supply.

Tip

Keep a small pack of blank CDs in your laptop case so you can burn backups of important new files. CDs make it easy to share files with someone else.

Search the web or one of the many online shopping sites, such as PriceGrabber.com, for "mini drives." You'll find:

Micro mini drive. This thumbnail-sized drive usually has a USB 2 connection (faster than USB 1.1). Plug it into your USB port.

Mini drives. This drive is about half the size of a stick of gum. It usually has a USB 2 connection (faster than USB 1.1) Mini-drive capacities range from less than 1gb (gigabyte) to 100 GB.

Pocket drive. The pocket-sized drives come in both USB 2 and FireWire versions. Sometimes one drive includes ports for both.

In the past we often avoided editing movies during travel simply because digital video requires so much storage space on our laptop. Now we carry a 100 GB pocket drive so we can store imported video externally. In addition, a pocket drive is a fast and convenient backup solution. And it's an easy way to transfer files to someone else's computer. Just connect it to a FireWire-enabled computer and its icon appears on the Desktop.

An iPod can also be used as an external hard disk to store and transport files. Connect your iPod. In the iPod preferences in iTunes, check the box to "Enable disk use." Double-click the iPod icon on the Desktop. Drag files or a folder of files from any location on your computer to the iPod window that opens.