RECHARGE CELL PHONE WITH NOTEBOOK
There you are in an airport, in a cab, or somewhere where there's no AC power. Fortunately, your trusty notebook computer has a full charge. Unfortunately, your trusty cell phone is about to die. What to do? Too bad you couldn't somehow take the power from your notebook and channel it into your cell phone. Well this "shared power" concept is exactly the idea behind Keyspan's (www.keyspan.com) latest offering in their Zip-Linq Retractable Cables.
 Basically, the Zip-Linq is a USB phone charge cable that draws power from your notebook and lets you use as well as charge up your cell phone. Granted that if there's no AC outlet, only you can decide whether it's your PC or your cell phone that's more important at the moment. But at least with the Zip-Linq, you have the ability to act upon that decision. Of course when you do have access to an AC outlet, the Zip-Linq is still very useful since you may not be carrying around your phone's clunky charger base. With the Zip-Linq, you can use your cell as long as you like. In this scenario, your notebook acts like the charger as the cell phone draws its power from your plugged in laptop.
 The Zip-Linq line of cables is designed to accommodate the road warrior. The tiny 3.5 inch cable consists of a USB plug at one end and a cell phone adapter at the other. Depending on the make and model of your cell phone, Keyspan includes several adapters in each kit to work with your unit. Just select the proper charger plug that fits your cell phone and insert that into the Zip-Linq's adapter plug. The Zip-Linq's two plugs are joined by a tiny reel that unwinds a connection cable that spans up to 30 inches which is impressive for something that small, Just pull on both ends and the cable releases with a series of tiny mechanical clicks. Let go and the cable remains extended. A slight pull and the reel automatically retracts the cable via its spring-loaded mechanism. The Zip-Linq has a good quality feel to it which is important for anything that's portable. Hopefully that means it's going to hold up to the wear and tear of something that's being used over and over again. According to Keyspan, all of their phone model Zip-Linqs will fully charge a cell in around an hour.
Keyspan makes Zip-Linq versions for a wide variety of cell phones including Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Sanyo and Siemans. Check Keyspan's web site for supported phones.
All of them are fully compatible with both PC and Mac portables. Prices vary around the $20 mark and differ primarily because some of the supported manufacturer kits offer more physical adapters than others.
www.keyspan.com
Conquer disk damage
For those of you using Mac OS X, you more than likely know about the operating system's legendary stability. But even the stuff of legends can go bad once in a while. For those times, when your hard disk becomes floppy, be prepared with a really good disk repair utility like the one from Alsoft (www.alsoft.com). DiskWarrior is a hard drive repair utility that goes way beyond Apple's Disk Utility that comes with every copy of OS X.
DiskWarrior actually replaces a drives directory by rebuilding it from scratch. When the rebuild is completed, DiskWarrior reports what it found along with what it can repair. At that point you can elect to have the new directory written, or wait if you change your mind. In either case, DiskWarrior is a valuable disk repair utility that should be in the possession of anyone who uses Apple's OS X and is prepared to do battle with the corruption monster. $79.95
www.alsoft.com |
