Traveling With Mobile Devices

I haven't posted or shared anything for the last 2.5 days.  And for good reason.  A good friend's bachelor party and an annual event with friends from my UCLA days.  Go-cart racing.  Dinner with a bunch of hockey buddies.  Visited old haunts in Westwood.  Lots of video games.  Poker games.

I drove in all about 350 miles from Friday night till Sunday evening.  Slept over at friend's houses and kept watch on sick friends from alcohol.  In between, I had access to electrical outlets to charge my MacWind and G1.

I wasn't not concerned with the iPhone because there was no SIM in it to drain power.  I've turned it into an iPod Touch since switching over to using the G1.

With me was my trusty Hymini.  It's been a long while since I've talked about that.  Essentially, it's a wind and solar charger that lets you charge cell phones and lower power mobile devices.  What did I learn?

• 3G isn't ready for prime time.  It's fast.  I love it but I don't love the lack of day-long battery.
• Turn off 3G when there isn't a need for fast Internet access.
• Edge is good enough.  Even when using navigation, EDGE was fast enough to update Google Map to show me where I'm going.
• Need a secondary battery.  I will be picking up another G1 battery soon.  I'm not sure they even sell it.
• It's good to have a car charger with USB interface.  I don't carry one.  I had the Hymini with me.
• A solar charger is a very good investment.  Be it a portable charger or a messenger bag with a solar panel.  I think I will be picking one up this Christmas.  I had been holding out for one that can also charge a laptop as well.
• And in an emergency, your laptop can also serve as a charger for your smartphone or cell phone if your mobile device can be charged through an USB plug.

I had a blast.  But I'm also glad the weekend's over and we've got a short week coming up.  As far as mobility goes, this was walk in the part in terms of getting juice for my mobile devices.  It's really gotten me thinking about energy independence and trying to do it as green as possible.

I'm sure there are a lot of mobile warriors much more efficient and knowledgeable in this area than I am.  I hope you would be able to share with everyone your tips, gears, and how to increase energy efficiency for mobile gears.