dtsm

Can either you or ScottC recommend a usb power meter? I see many on amazon for under $15.00. Thanks!

ScottC

http://www.amazon.com/AboveTEK%C2%AE...sb+power+meter

That one has proven to be the most accurate, plus it supports over 5V, so I can test my Quick Charge 2.0 chargers (which go up to 11V).

BangkokTraveler

I just got this today.

FosPower adapter
http://www.amazon.com/FosPower%C2%AE...Charging+Ports

I plugged the power meter into it, then plugged in a Lenovo tablet (that can draw 5V 2A). The power meter showed 5.1xV and 1.9xA. When I plugged in my Nexus 4, which draws 1A, the power meter on the port the Lenovo tablet was plugged into did not fluctuate from the 1.9A reading. I'm sorry that I do not have 2 power hungry devices. When my friend brings over his iPad, I can check that. But I guess this does prove that the ports support are least 2A. I've never got a single port on my Monoprice USB charger to output more than 1A.

cameronjpu

I'm no electrician, but from my understanding as long as it has enough amps to meet the minimum, the amperage only impacts the charging speed. And since I basically only charge overnight, that's not important to me. As long as the device can charge my ipad and my battery pack overnight, I'm good.

RobbieRunner

That FOSPOWER unit is nice. And having DUAL USB is handy. I purchased this DIGIPOWER Adapter about six years ago and it's been my companion since then;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's great but only has ONE USB port. If I need a 2nd, I can always pop in a 110/220 universal USB wall adapter into one of the plugs from this adapter, but there is an advantage to having TWO USB ports already built in.

RobbieRunner

Just remembered, this is not my FIRST choice, but this is VERY handy.

This remote charging battery from Anker is inexpensive, and very well built. No wonder it's a top seller at Amazon. I like mine very much. My BlackBerry 9780 lasted a full day on one charge no problem. The iPhone? Lucky if I get 3/4 of a day without having to recharge. This remote charger saves my bacon on many occasions;

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Astro-Ul...cm_cr-mr-title

DMSFCA

Glad to hear it guys, I just bought a pair without ever trying them, just based on reputation. About to start a round-the-world work bender this week and it's fun to get something new to take with me, they arrive the day I leave so I'm cutting it close.

I have my Shure in-ear noise isolating ones (with the yellow foam) that are pretty darn awesome as backups if the Bose thing doesn't work out.

DMSFCA

Someone mentioned the $20 cool little things that come after your usual iPad/iPhone needs:

Edimax N150 Wireless Personal Hotspot and Travel Router (BR-6258nL)

It's a ~$25 (amazon) little travel router that powers off a USB port and isn't much bigger than a memory stick. The cool thing it does is that you can join it to a wireless network and then connect to it (via wireless too) and share that single wireless connection.

So on planes that have a USB port for charging devices (or just your laptop), I plug this into that, fire up my laptop, connect to this USB access point and from that, connect to the GoGo inflight. Once I've done that I can then connect all of my iDevices to this USB access point and share a single paid connection. I suppose if you were traveling with work companions you could all share a single connection.

I have one of those tiny little iPhone power adapter cubes with the USB port and plug this tiny USB into it and since it has a RJ45 jack, plug the hotel internet into it and get wireless for all my devices in the room. For such a little device, you can throw it (lose it) in any bag and I find the thing is a swiss-army knife of uses and since it's so small, not a liability to keep with you. Love this little thing. I have an ASUS one too, they essentially do the same thing but they are so cheap I wasn't above impulse-buying another one.

nmenaker

So, when connecting to a GOGO or other WIFI inflight, I often find the issue of the upstream WIFI providor really only allow one MAC address to come across. Technically these mini AP/DHCP servers SHOULD be doing that but I often find the gogo's of the world (using my ASUS mini travel router at least) give me trouble and say "only one MAC etc, can access this single IP"

Is there a setting here to overcome this, is MAC spoofing required?

DMSFCA

You shouldn't have this issue - I've done it maybe a half dozen times in the last 90 days on the ASUS without a problem, the router seems to hide the IP and MAC of your devices behind it via NAT.

I did do the mac-cloning at one time so it was the same as my macbook but I'm still able to connect an iPad, iPhone and Macbook all behind that little USB router when it's in WISP mode. I just picked up the Edimax a few weeks back and ran it it in the house for a week (flawlessly) so i don't expect it to underperform the ASUS. Will report back in a week if it indeed works like the ASUS.

Letitride3c

For domestic trips, I won't go without the tiny TP-Link Nano Travel Router which served as a hotspot, and Google Chromecast (for others, Amazon Fire Stick) to cast from the laptop/netbook or tablet. Backup smartphone as XBMC remote and offline GPS/digital camera. Lastly, slim 5600 mah usb power bank as backup to wall/auto charger.



Footnote - consider the primary smartphone (N5, hotspot/tethering enabled) and tablet/BT mini-keyboard (N7) loaded with goodies to be "essential" tools and never leave home or travel without them, along with either charger/micro-usb cable, Jabra bluetooth headset & 5W LED flashlight.

Stars4SA

Where did you get the power bank?

Letitride3c

Got that as a small gift overseas @HKG recently, was available on Amazon but possibly discontinued, similar ones rated at 10,000 mah from Allpowers are on eBay & not pricey. Rated for 5V output @1amp, very slim @about 5 oz. - won't go (fly) anywhere without it these days, much nicer with the aluminum case vs. generic plastic ones

freecia

Very handy gadget, though not my essential, is a usb OTG flash drive which allows for easy offline transfer of a boarding pass sent to e-mail/docs to a hotel computer which has a printer.
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/flash-v...-storage-drive

My must have travel gadget has been a spare rooted android phone with tether workarounds to share the connection with a laptop. This enables tethering on local sims (with more data) which don't support tether or wifi-hotspot. My current model is the Sony Z Ultra phablet and is usually paired with a T-mobile sim.

The T-Mobile Simple Choice plans deserves an honorable mention. I greatly prefer spending the time to lock onto a good tmo roaming partner at my leisure over having to venture out to find a sim shop during business hours and hope the sim activates within a reasonable amount of time. With the right data plan.

CMK10

Good headsets. You never know when you'll need to drown other people out and it's nice knowing if you want to watch a movie or listen to music that you won't have to worry about engine noise ruining the sound quality. Very few airlines, even in premium cabins, hand out decent headsets to use with the IFE.