Gadling gear review – On Your Weigh luggage scales by Travelon

In this Gadling gear review, I’ll introduce you to a product that is becoming increasingly important for travelers. As more and more airlines start charging for (excess) baggage, you’ll run the risk of a nasty surprise at the airport.

With the Travelon “On Your Weigh” portable luggage scales, you’ll be able to weigh your luggage before arriving at the airport, giving you plenty of time to juggle things around a bit, or if you need a good excuse to leave some of those horrible souvenirs at your hotel.

The On Your Weigh scales are very lightweight (6.8 ounces) and are just 6″x3″.

To use the scales, you simply press the “open” button on the front, 2 rubber coated grips pop out, and a hook extends from the bottom. To weigh your luggage, you turn the scales on, and hang a bag from them.

After about 5 seconds (when your luggage stops swinging), the scales display the weight on a backlit LCD display mounted on the top. Once it has a reliable measurement, it stores the final weight on the display for 30 seconds.

Despite their simple appearance, the scales are pretty smart – the LCD display color changes from blue to red when the weight exceeds 50 pounds. You can also change that overweight warning to 40, 30 or even 20 pounds, for really stingy airlines.

In addition to the “open” button, the On Your Weigh scales have just 2 buttons – one to turn them on, and one to switch between pounds and kilos. Its maximum weight capacity is 110 pounds, or 50 kilos and it is accurate to just .22 kilos.

One additional reason for using these scales is to beat the airline scales – many airports are operating poorly calibrated scales, and if you come across an airport scale that reports something way out of line with your own measurement, it’ll give you a valid reason to ask for a re-weigh using different scales, or even ask to see the calibration sticker.

The On Your Weigh scales cost $29.99, and are available from many Travelon retailers. Follow this link for a list of their retailers.

I wish products like this were not necessary – but airlines have given us no choice. I’m especially impressed with the compactness of the On Your Weigh Scales, and the extra touches put into its design. The color changing LCD display is sheer brilliance. If you regularly push the limits of your baggage allowance, I highly recommend adding the On Your Weigh scales to your travel gadget arsenal.

Gadling’s Valentine’s day giveaway – day 3 – his and hers Travelon toiletry bags

Welcome back to day 3 of the Gadling Valentine’s day giveaway.

Today, you can enter for your chance to win his and hers Travelon toiletry bags and an assortment of Travelon toiletry sheets (which got 2 thumbs up in our review)

For a chance to win, all you need to do is answer the following question:

How many different checkpoint friendly bags does Travelon offer? (Hint: Check www.travelonbags.com).

Remember to enter our previous 2 giveaways here and here.

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below answering the question posted above.
  • The comment must be left before Friday February 20th 2009 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • One Prize Winner will be randomly selected to receive two Travelon Toiletry bags and 6 Travel toiletry sheet packs.
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • The total value of the prize is approximately $100.
  • Click here for the complete official rules of this giveaway.

Product review – Travelon 3-in-1 power converter/adapter

In today’s product review, I’ll show you an international power converter with three features in one.

The Travelon 3-in-1 power converter/adapter combines a regular international plug adapter with a power step down transformer and a USB charger.

With these three features in one charger, you can plug your regular US appliance into almost any outlet in the world. This includes Western Europe, the UK, Japan, China and Australia.

To accomplish this, the prongs on the rear of the device rotate to the V-shape required for Australia. For Western Europe you can attach the included round 2-prong adapter, and for the UK and Singapore you attach a 3-prong adapter onto the back of the device. I’ve included photos of each plug in the gallery at the bottom of this post.

The entire adapter fits together nicely. When you are not using it, you simply slide the European adapter into the top of the UK adapter, and connect them all together. The total weight of the unit, with all the plug adapters is just 5 ounces.

The build quality of the 3-in-1 converter/adapter is quite good, the adapters lock in place tightly, my only minor complaint is that the 2 locking clips on the top of the unit, (which hold the UK plug adapter) do not always stay in place, but this does not hinder the functionality of the device as the plug itself has a separate set of clips with a “release” button.

If you use the 3-in-1 adapter in a country with voltages higher than the 110 Volts used in the US, the device simply reduces the mains voltage. This “step-down” conversion can power up to 1875 watts. Unlike many step-down adapters, the Travelon 3-in-1 also features a built in overheat protection circuit which should prevent damage to your products, plus it should prevent tripping a breaker and plunging an entire floor of hotel rooms into darkness.

The third feature in the 3-in-1 adapter, is a USB power charger. This single USB port on the top of the device works on 100-240 Volts, and combined with the international plug adapter, you should be able to charge your USB devices (like the iPod or Blackberry) anywhere in the world.

The adapter even has a built in surge protector, which in my opinion is a “must have” if you plan to power any high-tech gadgets in a country with less than stellar public utilities.

The Travelon 3-in-1 power converter/adapter has a suggested retail price of $69.99, but a quick search shows several retailers selling the product for around $45.

The Travelon 3-in-1 converter/adapter is a great addition to your gadget arsenal, and as always, I am impressed with any gadget that can turn 3 products into one. The price is a little steep, but there really isn’t anything like it on the market. I’ve reviewed adapters with a built in USB charger before, but this is the first one I have seen that is compatible with all the various voltages and plugs in the world.

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Travelon announces a lineup of TSA friendly laptop bags

Now that the TSA has come to its senses, and has relaxed the rules for getting your laptop through security, we are seeing more and more bag manufacturers introduce a line of luggage to help ease the process.

Previously, I had reported on new TSA friendly bags from Mobile Edge, and the newest contender is Travelon Bags.

The Travelon checkpoint friendly bag lineup includes 6 bags; a laptop protector, a laptop sleeve (in three sizes), a briefcase, a wheeled case, a backpack and a ladies brief.

The laptop protector is a one-size-fits-all sling with a carrying handle, for placing your laptop in an existing bag. The sleeve is a neoprene case available from small (for laptops up to 10.5″) all the way up to a large (for laptops up to 17″). The computer briefcase looks like most average laptop bags, but has a pull-out laptop sling which brings your laptop out of the bag ready for inspection, a similar feature is found on the laptop backpack.

The bags start at just $24.99 for the laptop protector, up to $189.99 for the wheeled laptop bag. The first of these bags should be available in early September.

Product review – Travelon travel toiletry sheets

In today’s product review, I’m going to review the Travelon travel toiletry sheets.

The product consists of an assortment of dry travel toiletries in small plastic containers. Each container holds 50 sheets. Travelon has 6 different sheets; Hand soap, laundry soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream and body wash.

Since the sheets are dry, you can carry them on board without worrying about the TSA. To activate a sheet, you simply wet it, and rub a little.

I put the sheets through the only test possible; by actually using them.

Hand soap – the container recommends using 1-2 sheets, but I found that one sheet is more than enough for a decent lather. The sheet dissolves in a matter of seconds and has a pleasant, but fairly neutral smell. It certainly doesn’t smell as bad as the cheap generic soap in most public bathrooms. After a good scrubbing, my hands did feel noticeably softer than before washing.

Laundry Soap – the only way to test this, is on something stained. Thankfully with a young child in the house it isn’t too hard to find something filthy. The package recommends 1-4 sheets depending on the number of items.

In a sink filled with water I added 2 sheets and after about a minute of rubbing, the shirt appeared clean. It’s hard to tell whether the water did most of the cleaning, or the sheets. There is very little foaming from the sheets, but once I had let the shirt air dry, it did smell like it had been freshly laundered. The laundry soap sheets are fairly sticky, so you need to be careful to only remove the number of sheets you need, it’s pretty easy to grab 6 or 7 by mistake. The sticky sheets also took much longer to dissolve, with little pieces of green gel sticking to the sink, so you really do need to rub the sheet quite a bit to dissolve it.

Shampoo/conditioner – In the name of science, I even tried these sheets. The package recommends 1-6 sheets of shampoo and 1-4 sheets of conditioner. If you have a head full of hair, you’ll be leaning towards the maximum number. The sheets didn’t foam up as much as regular shampoo, but it did leave my hair feeling cleaner. Like with the laundry soap, you need to rub hard to dissolve the sheet, and I highly recommend keeping the soap out of your hair till it has all dissolved.

Shaving cream – The package recommends 1-4 sheets, but I found that 3 is about the bare minimum for a decent shave. It lathers up lightly and smells like most generic shaving cream products.

Body wash – The package recommends 1-8 sheets which clearly depends on how dirty you are. Of all the sheets I tested, I’d say that this one smells the nicest, but it’s also the stickiest. Once the sheet gets wet you really need to rub hard to dissolve it completely or you’ll be covered in green gunk.

Each Travel toiletry sheet package contains 50 sheets and costs $5.95 (MSRP). The packages weigh .6 ounces, for a total of just 3.2 ounces for all 6. Being able to carry 6 different toiletry products at just 3.2 ounces is fantastic for light travelers. The sheets are certainly not a product I’d use to replace “real” toiletries, but they are perfectly usable for those occasions where you don’t have access to anything else, or just need a quick cleaning or a shave on the plane.

Because the sheets are sensitive to water, I’d highly recommend carrying them in a sealed bag or other watertight container, once they get wet, you have to use them right away and I doubt water directly in the package would do them much good.

You can purchase the Travelon travel toiletry sheets from most major online travel product stores, including Magelllans (sold per 2 for $9.85), and Irv’s luggage (sold for $4.95)

In conclusion, I’m pretty impressed with most of the sheets. They clearly get “the job” done without adding too much weight to your luggage. At $5.95 each, they are not too expensive, especially considering you get up to 50 uses out of each package. I highly recommend them for anyone who has ever arrived at their destination feeling in desperate need of a shave or quick wash. A bottle of water and a couple of sheets are all you need to feel fresh again.