Taking your gadgets on a trip? Document everything!

by Scott Carmichael on

If you plan to take any of your valuables with you on a trip, it might be a good idea to create a file with of all the serial numbers, dates of purchase and prices of the items you are carrying.

Once you finish packing, it’s not unlikely that you are carrying over $2000 worth of equipment. Even the lowest tech traveler can easily reach $1000 with just a mobile phone, digital camera and iPod.

In my case, I simply made an Excel sheet and documented the item name, place of purchase, date of purchase, method of payment and the purchase price. I then add a photo of the item including a photo of the receipt and serial number.

When you are entering your belongings into the file, don’t forget to include anything else of value, including your luggage, any expensive toiletries, jewelry and even clothes.

Once you are done creating the list, print it out and save it in a safe place. When I travel, I carry the file on a small USB memory key, as well as a printed version in my carry-on. If all else fails, I even have a version stored online.

If disaster strikes, and you need to make a claim for lost items, you’ll be able to access your nifty spreadsheet and won’t have to worry about forgetting anything. Keeping track of your payment method could also help file a claim if you made the purchase using a credit card with damage/loss protection (like some American Express cards).

Another, often overlooked advantage is that you’ll be able to provide evidence if you get stopped at the customs line when you arrive back home. Customs officials are often on the lookout for people bringing high priced items back into the country. Of course, with the current US exchange rate, buying expensive electronics overseas is no longer very appealing.

SkyMall: shopping for about anything is a fingertip away

by Jamie Rhein on

I admit, I took the SkyMall catalog with me when I left the Southwest Airlines plane after my last flight. I had grand plans to find something useful or something unusual to write about by pouring through its pages. I got busy.

Then, today, Grant tossed out this link to “The 5 Most Ridiculous SkyMall Products Money Can Buy” at Cracked.com, and after I finished laughing, I unpacked the catalog from my daypack. I looked through it before, but I became curious once again. Cracked.com found some winners. I could use the Hula Chair myself–maybe.

What has caught my attention with this page turning session is the Motion Sickness Relief Wrist Band found in the left-hand column on page 41. On Tuesday I went to Kings Island with my daughter, eight of her friends, my husband, son and another family. I took one too many roller coaster rides and felt woozy all day yesterday. Could this wrist band have helped?

There is a dizzying array of organizers and storage options as well. From the Closet Organizer Trouser Rack on page 45 to the Wicker and Wood Rack on page 55, I’m not sure what my family’s excuse would be for having a house where objects are out of place. The thing about the Sky Mall catalog is that almost any item can sound like a must have.

Here’s one that TSA might add to their gadget repertoire that already includes the body scan device. The Orbitor Electronic Listening Device on page 67 is “powerful enough to capture distant sounds from 300 feet away.” As the rest of the description states, “This secret surveillance device is perfect for when you really need to know what’s going on.” Of course, parents of teenagers might also find the device handy. It only costs $59.95.

Yet another new travel startup

by Jerry Guo on

I just came across this little website: flyhere.com. It’s a really simple tool that does just about one thing. Flyhere tells you, well, which flights you can take to get somewhere. You type in a destination, and it’ll tell you all the nonstop flights to that city. Likewise, you can type in a departure point, and it’ll tell you all the places you can fly to from there.

But perhaps most helpful is when you type in both your destination and departure airports, in which case, the site will visually display all the different routes between the two points as well as a list of itineraries for your particular day.

Yes, this is pretty much a single-trick startup. You can’t really hold it up to something like Kayak, but Flyhere could be useful if you’re interested in finding out where you can visit on a direct flight, or if you want to know how to get between two out-of-the-way places.

Noise Cancellation Headphone Review: Bose vs. Audio-Technica (And You’ll be Surprised Who Wins!)

by Neil Woodburn on

For a long time now, Bose has been the king of noise canceling headphones. Walk through any First Class cabin and 90% of the passengers have a Bose firmly attached to their ears, adding just one more layer of bliss to their already envious levels of comfort. For those of us stuck in Coach, this was just one more reason to hate them.

Of course, Bose headphones are the one slice of First Class comfort which those of us slumming in Coach can actually take advantage of. Ironically, they are so expensive ($299) that if one can afford a Bose, one can probably afford First Class.

This is no longer the case.

Whereas Bose was once the only headphones to consider, other manufacturers have finally caught up with the technology and now promise comparable products at cheaper prices.

But can they compete with the Bose legacy?

I was determined to find out. And so, I recently took to the air with $500 of noise canceling headphones in my carryon; a $299 Bose QuietComfort 2 and a $199 Audio-Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC7.

I had picked the Bose QuietComfort 2 instead of the more recently released QuietComfort 3 because of numerous reviews I had read stating that the QuietComfort 2 was actually a better product than its successor–a headphone which doesn’t completely cover the ears.

I had chosen the Audio-Technica based upon an article in Wired Magazine promising how they had outperformed the Bose QuietComfort 2–a practically sacrilegious statement in the world of noise canceling headphones!

A few weeks ago, I boarded a flight to Washington D.C. and tried them both out, quickly becoming the envy of my fellow Coach passengers as I proceeded to alternate wearing them throughout the flight.

At first glance, both headphones appear almost exactly alike. Both come with a sturdy carrying case, a gold-plated airline adapter, a gold-plated stereo adapter, a 1.6 m connector cable, and a mesh pocket Velcroed into the interior of the carrying case. It was actually very odd how remarkably similar both packages are. The only difference is that the Bose includes an extension cord and a strap for the carrying case. Otherwise, if I’m not careful I might accidentally take my girlfriend’s Bose on my next trip thinking it was my Audio-Technica.

The actual design of the headphones is very similar as well. Both cover the entire ear and both fold nice and flat for storage. The Bose is just slightly lighter at 6.9 oz. versus 7.1 oz. for the Audio-Technica. Although this is hardly enough to make a difference, the Bose does sit a little lighter on my head and is a little more comfortable than the Audio-Technica. The real difference, however, is the leather-covered ear cap cushions. The leather is soft and nice on the Audio-Technica, but somehow crosses into the realm of sublime and caressing with the Bose. I don’t know how they treat their leather over at the Bose factory, but baby is it smooth!

At this point, before actually flipping the switch on the headphones, the Bose had a slight edge over the Audio-Technica. Things started to change, however, once I turned on the headphones. While Bose has a great reputation for sound, the heritage of Audio-Technica is in professional recording studios where the world’s most talented musicians regularly use their products. This reputation for quality sound was quickly evident the moment I plugged the headphones into my stereo at home. I decided to test them out with Dave Brubeck’s seminal work, Time Out–the best selling jazz album of all time. The sound was amazing. The sax floated ever so gently through the headphones while the snare drums and percussion barreled in sharp and clear.

The Bose were just a slight step behind, not quite as tight, a little too much boom and bass, but still a rather good performance. There was, however, a much larger difference in sound quality when I plugged in something a little harder: Irish punk band, Flogging Molly. The Audio-Technica remained exceptional, capturing the swinging shifts between Irish instrumental and punk rock cacophony. The Bose, however, tended to mute the shifts and produced a booming irritance which overwhelmed the notes and made the CD sound like it was mixed in a garage somewhere.

With such extreme notes and more powerful music, the Audio-Technica clearly dominated the Bose. Much of this edge, however, nearly disappeared when I plugged into my iPod where MP3 music files are of lesser quality than CDs. The Audio-Technica was still superior interpreting the MP3 files, but the Bose wasn’t too far behind.

Well, this is all great, but the real reason most people buy noise cancellation headphones is to simply cancel noise. Before I get into this aspect of the headphones, however, let’s spend a moment discussing what, exactly, “noise cancellation” means.

Many people assume that such a device completely cancels all surrounding sound as though the headphone user has suddenly found himself in the vacuum of outer space. This is not the case. Noise cancellation is based upon the theory that sound can be cancelled by creating a sound wave exactly opposite of the one being heard. The new sound wave simply cancels out the existing one. This is exactly what noise cancellation headphones do. A small microphone picks up incoming noise and then cancels it out by generating an opposite sound wave.

The problem is that a pair of headphones, no matter how advanced, cannot predict the next sound wave coming its way. As a result, the canceling sound wave is always a fraction behind the actual noise itself. Constant noise that doesn’t change pitch, however, can be negated much easier since the wave remains the same for extended periods of time–like a plane engine, for example.

So what this means is that noise cancellation headphones do not remove all sounds, just constant ones like the humming of an airplane engine while in flight. You’ll still hear that crying baby and the flight attendant taking drink orders, but these sounds will be greatly muffled. Turn on some music (Flogging Molly!), however, and it all disappears.

And so, I spent most of my flight to Washington DC taking off one pair of headphones and putting on the other. It didn’t take me long, however, to determine which pair knocked out the most ambient noise. Yes folks, it was the Audio-Technica. Not only do these little wonders provide superior sound quality but they also kicked some Bose butt in the noise cancellation category. And as if this wasn’t enough, the Audio-Technicas are also $100 cheaper.

Sorry Bose, but you’ve been dethroned!

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 4

by Adrienne Wilson on

There was a tremendous out of activity going on here at Gadling this week. There were mentions of huge music festivals; silly hitchhiker’s auctioning off their names and enough Valentine’s suggestions to eliminate any and all excuses. We understand that you may have missed something in the frenzy and so now it is time to catch-up. Here are some picks hand plucked by me that are worth viewing once more.

5. How Was the NFL Experience?:
Those of use who were either snowed in or couldn’t get closer than our television sets to experience some of the NFL Superbowl action down in Miami for some reason or another, can now check out Willy’s play-by-play coverage for the NFL Experience. The event wasn’t exactly the big game, but sports lovers may find this one inspiring enough to experience it on their own next year.

4. How Environmentally Friendly Are You? Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz:
Afraid? Be very afraid. If you think you’re the environmentally friendly type take this quiz to find out just how happy or unhappy the planet is with your actions.

3. Army of Bjork:
Round of sound to Erik for giving Bjork some additional play with this video found on Travelistic. I never knew of this event until recently which looks to be held annually in Brooklyn so for all the other Bjork fans and people-watchers I hope that this one comes in handy.

2. How to Buy An Island:
C’mon, who doesn’t want their own little chunk of land off a beautiful turquoise ocean? If I had the dough I’d surely grab my own tropical island or two. If you’re a bit closer to making it a reality than I am check out this easy two step plan to get one.

1. Backing up your Travel Journal:
Always looking for a plan B, C, or Q to backing up your photos and precious travel works? Neil points worry-warts and smart-thinkers alike to a nice cheap gadget that can back up your goodies in addition to other back up methods. I’ve never heard of this one, but it sounds worth a try.