Product review – PowerPax battery organizer

by Scott Carmichael on

In this short review I’m going to introduce a product I came across last week. The PowerPax battery clip organizer does exactly what the name implies; it organizes your batteries.

If you are like me when you travel, you’ll have several gadgets that still require regular (AA, AAA or 9V) cells to operate, and I’ve usually had to carry a small plastic case or Ziploc bag for them.

The PowerPax battery organizer is surprisingly simple, and the version I’m reviewing today (the A9 caddy) holds 4 AAA’s, 4 AA’s and 1 9 volt battery. The batteries are all held in place with small plastic clips, and can be removed by pushing them up out of the caddy.

It’s all very simple, but another of those “why didn’t I think of that” items. At just 6.95 it’s also a real bargain. The A9 caddy is one of 10 different versions available and each caddy comes in several colors, including “glow in the dark”.

The caddy is made of very hard plastic, and there are no rough or sharp edges to be found. The batteries lock in place quite well and the whole thing just feels well made.

Like many convenient travel products, the PowerPax battery caddies were developed by a pilot who was fed up with loose batteries in his cockpit, so he set out to find his own solution. The PowerPax battery organizers all comply with DOT regulations, so they can be carried in your bag onto the plane.

Photo of the Day (10.26.08)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Imagine drawing back the shutters in the morning and gazing out onto the rooftops of a picturesque medieval village like this one. Flickr user arex was fortunate enough to have just such a chance, taking this photo in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany. I particularly like the perspective – the A-frame rooftoop in the foreground offers some interesting architectural detail while also adding a little color from the flower box. Farther in the background is an eye-catching cluster of rooftop peaks and valleys, culminating in the spires of a cathedral off in the distance. Pretty neat.

Have you taken any photos of rooftop vistas in quaint Bavarian villages? Or maybe a cityscape in Birmingham, Alabama? Add them to our Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick it as our Photo of the Day.

Daily deal – SeV TEC Shirt $30 discount

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for this sunny but chilly Sunday is another top notch travel garment from SeV. Their TEC shirt has 8 pockets, including a secure pocket for your travel documents, pockets for your iPod and mobile phone and even a special pen pocket. Of course, all these pockets make this the perfect shirt for traveling in.

The shirt is made of breathable lightweight poly/rayon and is machine washable.

The TEC shirt usually retails for $80, but if you order between now and midnight tomorrow (Monday the 27th), you’ll get a nice $30 discount, making the shirt just $50. The deal is not valid on small and XXXL Khaki shirts, or XXXL Charcoal Gray shirts.

All products from SeV ship for just $5 and you’ll find more information about this fantastic shirt on the SeV site.

While you are browsing their collection, why not take a moment and watch this hilarious video clip featuring Steve Wozniak wearing an SeV jacket and holding a light saber… Steve is a member of the board of advisors of SeV, and someone I worshiped as a kid (Steve Wozniak is one of the founders of Apple, along with his friend Steve Jobs).

National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel grows up

by Grant Martin on

Over at National Geographic, the young Intelligent Travel blog is taking over the world — wandering around The Explorer Cruise Ship, hobknobbing with bands, winning awards and raising eyebrows. It seems like just a few months ago that they were getting on their feet, and now they’ve taken the step forward into fully integrating with National Geographic Traveler.

Now, instead of wandering over to the old typepad website, one can link into the IT blog straight from the Traveler homepage — just like all of the site’s other blogs. This is a big step for IT, their editors (who I hear are pretty rad) and everything that they have worked so hard on up until now — so congratulations, everyone.

Now. Can we talk about the color scheme a bit? What happened to the glorious, pretty background and styling? I know that you’re fitting into the template that Traveler has laid out for you, but this is pretty minimalist.

Needless to say, I see only fantastic things happening in the future for IT, one of the few travel blogs that have maintained a high standard, excellent writing and a focused editorial throughout their life. Good luck out there in DC.

List of things an airline can get rid of

by Jamie Rhein on

Christopher Elliot of The Travel Critic recently wrote a tongue in cheek and halfway serious post about other ways airlines might save money.

The tenor of the piece, I think, reflects the sad state several airlines have stooped to in their penny pinching ways. Consider the latest Continental Airlines’ venture that Jeffery posted about this past week. Personally, I think reducing the size of carry-on luggage is a crappy idea.

But, I’m one of those people who eyed with interest the cargo pants that Benny Lewis wore in his video on how to pack for a 5-day trip with only a carry-on bag. No, I’m not one of those people who take up more room than my fair share. Plus, I’m not that big, so why not let me have those 6-inches of carry-on space that Continental wants to take away?

But, back to Elliot’s ideas. Here’s what he suggests might be dumped.

  • The bathroom that doesn’t work. As he’s noticed, several planes that he has been on have at least one broken toilet. Get rid of that bathroom. Weight saved.
  • Duty free carts. Who needs to buy that stuff on board a flight anyway? But, as Elliot points out, the carts do make the airlines money.
  • Federal air marshals since they are not particularly cost effective at saving lives –and they fly for free
  • In-flight magazines. (No, no, no Elliot. I NEED in-flight magazines. I read them from cover to cover.)
  • A flight attendant. (Sorry, Heather)
  • A pilot. (Sorry, Ken)
  • XL passengers. Elliot is one of those. He points out that he’s tall and lanky so he poses a bit of a problem when it comes to getting him to fit in the space that he is allotted.

Elliot is not totally serious about this list, but he does have a point about how annoyed a person can feel when, yet again, there’s another change that may or may not make that much of a difference to airline economics. If people are disgruntled and unhappy consumers, that creates a problem, and he sees how flying is on its way to becoming a prison sentence.

For Elliot’s reasons about why a pilot and a flight attendant could be dumped, check out his post.

If you look at René Ehrhardt photo, surely you can find something else to add to Elliot’s list.

Here are some things the airlines probably WISH they’d gotten rid of!