Summer is here, so that means that many of us will be doing a little traveling. It could be a short jaunt over to the family college in the woods or it may be an epic backpacking adventure through Europe. Whatever the case, it’s not exactly practical to lug around your complete home office setup. You are not going to have access to the same kind of desk real estate, so how can you best prepare your computer for the road?
A series of notebook accessories found their way through the offices of Futurelooks, so we thought that we’d share a few of them with you today. As you get ready to hit the road, don’t forget to pack a few of these along. You can thank us later.
Lapworks Futura Laptop Desk
It may not provide anything in terms of active cooling (read our passive laptop cooling shootout for a more in-depth discussion), but the Lapworks Futura Laptop Desk is actually quite the versatile product. When in its closed position, you can use it as a stand on a desk or table, elevating the base of your notebook off the surface of the table. This will help to improve airflow and, hopefully, reduce the burning temperature inside of your laptop. There are several height settings as well, each of which can provide a more ergonomic typing angle.
Open the Lapworks Futura and you’ve got yourself a platform that can span across your thighs, effectively giving you a great place to put your laptop when you don’t have a desk. This is certainly more comfortable that having the notebook rest directly on your lap! The vented design ensures that your notebook gets a decent level of airflow as well.
There are two price points for the Lapworks Futura. The regular gray version retails for $29.95. Alternatively, you can look into the new Painted Futura Laptop Desks that come in your choice of at least 12 different designs. These include the American flag, jungle camouflage, and deep space. The one pictured here is Red Marble. The painted versions are $49.95. While the Futura is a decent product, I personally don’t think the painted editions are worth the $20 premium.
LapLogic G800 Aerogel Extreme and W800 Wide
Maybe you’re not as interested in active laptop cooling as you are in the comfort of your laptop and the protection of your, ahem, little soldiers. The LapDesks offered by LapLogic were primarily design to improve user comfort with passive laptop cooling coming in as a secondary concern. The two newest models are the LapLogic G800 Aerogel Extreme and the W800 Aerogel Extreme Wind.
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The two versions are fundamentally identical, coming in at quite a bit thicker than the LapWorks Futura described above. That’s because these LapDesks come with all sorts of heat insulation technology. In this way, the sky high temperatures of your notebook will not be translated over to your lap, ensuring that you can stay reasonably comfortable for hours at a time. These are the only LapDesks with Aspen Aerogels insulation. This is supposed to provide up to 99.9% reduction in heat transfer!
While the design of the LapLogic Aerogel Extreme led me to believe that it contains useful pockets for storing flash drives and other periphernalia, the only part that could be used with a small clear pocket on the underside. You can stuff a DVD in there if you’d like, but don’t expect any additional utility from these LapDesks. It’s also unfortunate that you can’t fold it up for easy storage and portability.
The Aerogel technology is going to cost you too. The standard G800 Aerogel Extreme retails for $69.95, whereas the W800 Aerogel Extreme Wide — which uses its extra width to provide a very usable mouse pad — rings in at $79.95.
Targus Travel Power Outlets with Surge Protection
You don’t plan on bringing your giant Monster Cable surge-protecting power bar with you on the road, do you? Targus is able to provide nearly the same utility in a much more compact package. The Targus Travel Power Outlets with Surge Protection is a smaller version of your regular power bar and, as its name implies, it offers full surge protection for all of your precious electronics.
Also known by its incredibly boring model number (APS03US), the Targus Travel Power Outlets comes with four usable power outlets. The nifty thing is that the plug that you will actually insert into a wall outlet stows away handily into the power outlet at the other end of the power bar. Coupled with a simple Velcro strap across the center, this makes the Targus creation very easy to pack up for travel.
The four provided outlets are well spaced out — two in the front, one in the back, one at the end — making sure that you will avoid any messy tangles. This spacing also means that if you have any chargers with beefy ends, they won’t block any additional outlets. It’s no power squid, but it could be just as good.
The Target Travel Power Outlets with Surge Protection retails for a reasonable $19.99.
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Targus USB 2.0 4-Port Bend-A-Hub with Mini-USB Adapter
If you have something like an Apple MacBook Air, you may have noticed that notebooks can oftentimes come with a shortage of USB ports. When you’re on the road, you may still want to have your iPod plugged into for iTunes synchronization, a Bluetooth dongle for pairing with a wireless mouse, a USB flash drive for off-loading documents, a webcam for lifecasting purposes, and all sorts of other stuff that can occupy a USB port.
The Targus USB 2.0 4-Port Bend-A-Hub with Mini USB Adapter takes a similar approach to USB hubs as the Travel Power Outlets mentioned above does with providing power. It’s a USB hub like any other, but the ports are well spaced out to avoid messy tangles and interference. It’s not a “bar” or “block” like so many other hubs, instead splitting that USB connection over a series of very short cables.
There is one port that pops up vertically from the central unit. This is great for USB receivers and the like for keyboards, mice, and so on. Three additional USB ports sprout out the end, one of which is a mini-USB connection. This built-in USB adapter makes it very easy to connect your smartphone, MP3 player, or anything else that does the mini-USB thing.
Despite its name, the cords on this device do not hold their bendy form when you manipulate them. They have a little more stiffness than regular cables, but not enough to hold their shape. The Targus USB 4-Port Bend-A-Hub with Mini USB Adapter sells for $19.99.
Mobile Edge ScanFast Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Backpack
One of the biggest hassles that you might have to go through during your travels is the security checkpoint at airports. You have to remove your shoes, empty your pockets, and expose your precious notebook computer to the elements. This is assuming that everything goes as planned.
While it won’t make you immune from a strip search, the new checkpoint-friendly laptop bags from Mobile Edge might make your flying experience just a touch more convenient. Shown here is the Mobile Edge ScanFast backpack. As you can probably surmise, this bag is designed to get you through luggage checks more quickly.
Normally, you’d need to take your laptop out of the bag. With the ScanFast, you can simply open up the bag and leave your notebook safely stowed inside. It is TSA approved. The ScanFast Collection will be available in three forms: backpack, briefcase, and messenger bag. They’re currently in production and should be ready for retail in the fall. Mobile Edge has promised a review unit, so I’ll withhold judgement until then.
The Never-Ending Supply of Laptop Accessories
Naturally, there is no shortage of cool laptop accessories and the items described in this article are just the tip of the iceberg. Do you have a killer notebook accessory that you want to share with the world? Let us know through the forum link below!
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