What's in my gadget bag revisited

One of the things I do from time to time is indicate what tools are in my gadget bag.  I revisit it occasionally because my kit changes all the time as I find new gear to enhance my mobile lifestyle and since it’s changed a bit it seems like a look idea to address it once again.  I’ll also touch on some of the software tools that I use daily since it’s a vital part of my mobile kit.  I’ll start you off with a couple of screenshots showing my current desktop setup in both portrait and landscape and then detail the kit after the jump.

 

The mobile toolkit starts with the bag and if you’ve followed this blog you have seen me try countless bags.  The one bag that I keep coming back to because it’s a real workhorse that does everything I need yet keeps a svelte profile is the Booq Boa XS bag.  I carry it most days when I am going to be out running around all day as it lets me carry everything I need without weighing me down.  For short jaunts to a coffee shop or other trips that are likely to only take a few hours I carry the Waterfield slip case.  It’s a small, no nonsense case that carries the Tablet PC and a small item or two and it works very well.

On to the gear that goes into Booq bag on a daily basis:

Fujitsu P1610 Tablet PC– my favorite Tablet PC (and mobile device) to date, the P1610 running Vista Ultimate is a sweet machine.  I can’t think how Fujitsu could improve it unless it would be to add memory on top of the 1 GB I have installed.  The Fujitsu (aptly named Miyagi) is a sterling performer and those who see me using it never fail to comment on its utility.

Batteries– I carried a BatteryGeek Portable Power Station for a good while but I do not carry it any longer.  It’s a solid external battery but is quite large, almost the size and weight of Miyagi.  I picked up a second extended battery and I now just carry the P1610 with extended battery plus the second battery.  Even under Vista, which provides slightly shorter battery life than Windows XP, with the two batteries I can go 10 hours easily.  It only adds slightly more than a pound to the kit and fits in a small pocket in the Booq bag.  The second battery was also a bargain at ~$120.

T-Mobile Dash– I test a lot of phones and picked up a T-Mobile account a couple of months ago.  I still have my main Verizon account, which I’ve had for years now, but I forward all my calls to the Dash.  The Dash is simply the best smartphone I have ever used on any platform.  I sync it over-the-air with my Exchange Server account and can access and change my PIM data on the fly with the Dash.  I do not tether Miyagi to the Dash because of my next item in the kit.

Verizon Sierra Wireless AC595 EV-DO PC Card– I keep the AC595 inserted into Miyagi all day every day and enjoy EV-DO Rev A speeds in almost all locations.  I do have some connectivity trouble in my office at Big Oil Company which seems to be related to being high in the skyscraper.  I can take it outside the building and get 1.5 MBps speeds so it’s something in the building.  I can’t overstate how important EV-DO Rev A is to my mobility with broadband speeds available nearly everywhere I go, especially in my car.  I often arrive for a meeting and connect in the parking lot to check email before heading in to the meeting.  While I can get my normal email on the Dash, I have to access my Big Oil Company email through Outlook Web Access so I do that on Miyagi.  EV-DO Rev A simply rocks.

Stowaway Bluetooth Travel Mouse– I still use this mouse when I set Miyagi up as a notebook and it works well for me.  It is the best Bluetooth mouse I have ever used and it’s small form factor lets me put it in a very small pocket in the Booq bag.  This was a great investment.

Zune player– I carry the Zune for those rare moments when I have some free time, usually when I am in a loud Starbuck’s and want to tune them out.  Coupled with the Ultimate Ears earphones the audio experience is extremely good for a portable system.

Lamy 4–in-1 stylus pen– this has become my mainstay pen and the inking experience on Miyagi is just like pen and paper with the Lamy.

TomTom One GPS– I use this every day and it has been a great addition to my arsenal.

That’s pretty much my main kit, I carry some little things that I won’t list because I rarely use them, like USB flash drives (2 GB) and laser pointers which contractors have given me.  This kit is my entire mobile office and I find no compromises whether I’m working in an office somewhere or out on the road.  The true testament to how well this works is that my clients can never tell where I am, they have commented on that numerous times.  They see no difference if they are dealing with me while I’m in my car or if I am down the hall.  That’s pretty powerful stuff in my book.

Now to look at my software tools, these haven’t changed that much but I have added a few things recently so I’ll touch on everything briefly.

Outlook 2007/ OneNote 2007– I live in both these programs all day and the seamless integration makes my life easier.

Internet Explorer 7– I do all my browsing with IE7 although this may have to change.  I am experiencing a big CPU hit every time I do something in IE7.  The CPU meter pegs at 100% every time I go to a new web site, or click on any button in the program (even the Tools button).  This causes Miyagi to basically freeze for 10 – 20 seconds until the CPU frees up again.  I have researched this online and I’m not alone with this.  Many people report that turning off the Phishing filer in IE7 resolves this but it doesn’t help me at all.  It may be time to get serious about FireFox.

OneNote Mobile– This resides on the Dash and I use it mainly to take quick photos of things I need to remember and to record voice memos to myself.  They all sync over to the desktop OneNote the next time I cable up.

PowerPoint 2007– I do a LOT of work in PP and especially like the ability to ink right on the slides to make a point to pass on to someone else.

PDF Annotator– I handle a lot of PDF documents and use this program to make ink notes on them for distribution.

BlogJet– my main blogging editor, I’m using it right now.

Google Reader– not really software rather a service but an important one for me.  Tracking over 200 feeds is easy with Google Reader and the mobile version lets me track them from the Dash when needed.  Works well and all my feeds are synced no matter where I check them since it’s all stored on the Google server side.

QuickBooks 2007– This is my accounting software and while it’s complete bloat-ware it is essential to the running of my business.  This version is the only one that works with Vista.

TimeTTracker MX– my time tracking software that I have been using for years.  Unfortunately while TT comes with both a desktop version and a Windows Mobile version the WM version doesn’t work with smartphones.  Not a killer for me but I wish there was a way to at least reference my time tracking from the Dash.

Windows Mail– The mail program included in Vista, I use this to track the newsgroups that I deal with regularly.  Seems like Outlook Express to me.

New York Times Reader– I love reading the Times on Miyagi with this program.  Great newspaper-like experience without the black fingertips.

Zinio– This works great on Miyagi in portrait for reading the few magazines I get monthly.

SnagIT!– the best screen capture program ever.

OpenPandora– I listen to Pandora often and OpenPandora is the best (free) way to do so.

MindManager– It’s no secret how much I like this program.  I use MM for planning sessions and for laying out big writing projects I am working on.  I tried to use MM in conjunction with ResultsManager for project tracking but gave up on that approach.  It was too time consuming for me to get all the project and task information into the system to get it working seamlessly.  Instead I am conducting a trial of the next program on the list.

Intuit QuickBase– QB is an online database program that is hard to describe.  It is browser-based which means I can access it from any PC and it offers the ability to use canned database templates like the Project Manager I am evaluating, yet lets the user customize all templates and data views very simply.  I am using it to track a lot of projects and milestones for each, and I can click and get an overview each day to see where all projects are at that moment.  The downside to QB is the cost.  I am on a 30 day free trial and I have to admit I didn’t see what the subscription fee was until after I set my stuff up in the program.  To keep using it after the trial period will cost me $249 per MONTH, something that I don’t know if I can afford to do.  It’s unfortunate since it does exactly what I want.

I hope you enjoy peeking into my toolkit and getting a feel for how I work and what I use to stay productive.  My philosophy has always been that working while mobile should not involve compromises, and I honestly feel that I am successful in that regard.

Comments

[Sumocat]

James, by all means, get serious about Firefox. Once you install and customize the Grab & Drag and All-In-One Gestures extensions, navigation in FF using the pen becomes amazingly simple and fluid. Couple the gestures with Vista Flicks and you might never use the button menus. And I swear the GeckoTIP extension makes the floating TIP work smarter in FF than it does in IE (at least in XP). These are the must-have three for FF on a tablet.

[jk]

Sumo, I just reinstalled Firefox and now remember why I removed it from the P1610. Under Vista, the content window of Firefox is jittery, it literally bounces up and down. It's probably a video driver issue with Vista but it's unusable on the P1610 the way it is.

[Sumocat]

That's a shame, but amusingly ironic: IE freezes, FF can't stop moving. Makes me wonder what Opera would do on your system.

[James M]

I don't have a tablet PC, but I'm curious as to how Opera behaves with the pen for surfing? It has the mouse gestures installed by default, and surfing by the keyboard as well. Not sure what else Opera is hiding but I do know Opera runs faster for me than Firefox.

[James Kendrick]

I just searched and the jittery screen is a known issue and has a workaround. I'm trying it now and will report here if it also pegs the CPU when loading pages.

[James Kendrick]

Uh oh, Firefox doesn't handle Outlook Web Access (OWA) well at all. Could be a problem for me.

[Sumocat]

The IE Tab extension lets you view IE-only pages in a tab (basically launches IE in the tab). Should render OWA fine, but it might suffer the CPU issue (that would be a really interesting test). Also, FF extensions, like gestures and Grab & Drag, won't work in an IE tab (extensions that appear in the bars will work normally).

[Bruce MacLean]

James,

I read JK On the Run every day and enjoy all of the information posted here about mobile gear. I find that the post above is the most informative of all of news posted on your site. How people use software and hardware to increase their productivity and mobility is the most interesting to me. Thanks for all of the great info.

[bobm]

Do you really use a GPS every day?

I'm on the fence about getting a dedicated one but it seems that I usually know where I'm going. I only manage to get away from home a couple times a year and it just seems to hard to justify.

Can you elaborate on what uses you use the gps for?

My Bag:

MacBook and charger (using Parallels when I have to run XP).
Ipod and Nike chip (for running)
Archos Av480 (old but works) for watching movies on the plane, battery is getting worse and worse but I'm holding out for the video ipod.
Siemen SX66 PDA/Phone, I don't use the phone anymore, got a cheap clamshell to replace it. I really only use it for contacts and stuff.
Nintendo DS -- the ultimate travel game machine (IMHO)) and Brain Age + Super Mario (the best of both worlds)
Imaged OS on 120G USB drive, in case the primary drive dies (built using SuperDuper about once a week).
Lots and lots of cables, chargers, adapters, etc...

[Stu Kim]

JK -

I had the same problem with the jitteriness of Firefox 2.0. You've probably already found it, but it is a simple fix. Add one or more of your favorite bookmarks to the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder - each one will appear as one-click buttons at the top of the browser. Evidently, Firefox is keeping that space available and, when not populated,it tries to compensate (is there something there or not?) which causes the jitteriness. It should solve the problem. Cheers!

[leem]

T-Mobile Dash for $49.99 at CompUSA
$300 instant savings –no rebate!!
Look in the Sunday's CompUSA ad (page 11) for this deal. I know this is going to make Kevin upset.
CompUSA is selling the Dash with a 2 year agreement new in-store activation for $49.99 thru Mar 10th.
I am going to get one today before they sell out.
Stores open at 11:00 a.m.
LM,
Kingwood, TX

[jg]

I love Gadget Bag posts! Thanks for a great site. Here's my humble contribution...

My gadget bag:
Q1 + 8-Cell battery + DVD Drive
Blackberry 7130
Samsung T9B
Nikon Coolpix S1 + Card reader
Logitech Logicool webcam
Lacie F.A. Porsche 80GB drive
iPod 80GB video
Nintendo DS Lite
8GB Compact Flash card with Portable Apps installed

Ableton Live 6
Outlook Express
Firefox
PDF Annotator
Music Notepad for Tablet
DVD Decrypter, Videora
+ the usual stuff...

This (give or take a few "leave-at-homes") either goes in a North Face hammerhead rucksack (minus the water bladder), or a Wise Walker shoulder bag.

[John]

James,

Thank you for sharing with us your gadget bag.

A quick question: what software is it that allows you to display the date, day of the week, month and year on you desktop? Where may I read more about it?

Thanks in advance,
John

[James Kendrick]

John, that's the Vista sidebar full of gadgets.

[ignar]

Give Maxthon a try. It's IE based, so all the pages will be rendered as in IE. Fast, reliable, and feature rich. I understand why people love firefox, and I sometimes use firefox for change, but I still prefer Maxthon to firefox, IE, avant, Opera, and Netscape.

[John]

James,
Thanks. Unfortunately, I only currently have XP. Is there any equivalent software for XP?

[Andy Roberts]

John,
Yahoo widgets for xp users:
http://widgets.yahoo.com/

Works great on my xplore C2 rugged tablet!

[David]

"I can’t think how Fujitsu could improve it unless it would be to add memory on top of the 1 GB I have installed"...

What about a SSD? and even a webcam? That's what I'd like... then it'd be definitely perfect (hope someone from Fujitsu could read this) ;)

Congratulations for the web, and regards from Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

[MathProfJohnson]

My gadget bag

Fujitsu p1510d + extended battery
Sony UX + extended battery
Targus bluetooth mouse
Stowaway bluetooth keyboard
Cingular 8125
Motorola e815
Verizon USB720 Modem
Olympus WS-300m audio recorder
USB transfer cable (from my Samsung Q1)
ipod 1st Gen Video 60 GB
Apple tranfer cable
Bluetooth dongle

All in a Penelope bag from Coach

Software
Office2007 home and student edition (includes OneNote2007)
Tablauncher (Thanks Kevin or was it JK???)
Pdf annotator (thanks JK)
Minitab
iTunes
SlingPlayer (finally got one this week from CompUSA at 20% off)
VZAccess and Cingular Communication Manager
SnagIT

[Dion Forster]

I also love gadget bag posts!

Firstly, I use a Lonsdale bag (nice build, very stylish, and it can carry all my goodies).

Here's what I carry with me:

- White Macbook (main machine, has parallels with XP and Ubuntu, however, I spend all my time in MacOS
- OQO 01+ (a GREAT portable little computer. It replaced my U50 a short while ago).
- Phones: main phone is a Treo 650, but I also carry an iMate Jasjar, Nokia 9500 and Nokia 6680.
- Camera: Sony 7 Megapixel point and shoot.
- Bluetooth keyboard for OQO and phones
- Bluetooth GPS receiver used with OQO and the iMate
- A Targus mini mouse (USB), sometimes I take along my Apple wireless bluetooth mouse.
- A 40gig Lacie small form factor USB / Firewire drive
- 30 Gig ipod video (podcasts etc.), and an older 40 Gig ipod (external hard drive).
- Moleskine notebook and Montblanc pen
- 2 Gig Sony USB flash disk
- Watch, either an Abacus (Fossil) Palm PDA watch, or my Casio digital Camera watch, or my Polar s625X heart rate monitor

I think that's about everything..... I know it's overkill, but gadgets are great!

Most used software:
Mac: Office suite, Mail, iPhoto, iTunes, Adobe Photoshop, Skype
OQO: Zinio reader, Libronix digital library (Greek, Hebrew, and lots of bibles and commentaries), Microsoft Access database with all student contacts, marks, personal details, photographs etc.

Firefox on the Macbook and OQO, and Opera on the Treo, Nokia and iMate Jasjar. I use my Treo as my standard phone. The 9500 serves as an easy connection to the internet for both the OQO and the Macbook (via GPRS or EDGE only). The Nokia 6680 does 3G video calls, and 3G connection to the internet for the OQO. The Jasjar does 3G video calls, 3G web browsing, and the great keyboard is often used to type longer emails and text messages. I also have a Samsung 320i Windows Mobile phone, but the battery life is terrible, so that most often stays with my wife (the QWERTY keyboard is great for typing text messages, and it has a great camera, and is ULTRA thin).

You can check out some of my gadgets on my flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaldion/

And, on my blog:
http://www.spirituality.org.za/blogger.html

[Rob]

The thing I don't understand is why we don't have slings for small tablets so we can write on them while standing. It would always be right there ready to go. That's ultra-mobile. The closest I've seen is http://www.itcase.net (dorky).

[John]

Andy,
Thanks. That's awesome stuffs.