iPod + iTunes = a winning combination

For a long time, I've been anti-Apple for MP3 players. I just was not impressed with the early versions of the iPods. That has changed... but not because of the iPod... but more-so because of iTunes.

I have a lot of music... and a lot of podcasts... and the beautiful thing about iTunes + iPod is that the combination does a pretty good job of keeping track of what I've listened to. Net - it's very easy to stay on top of the various podcasts that I listen to, and then to delete them when I am done. iTunes also lets you create "smart playlists" - these are generated on-the-fly based on criteria you select.

I carry the 60GB iPod video with me almost all the time. Given the size of storage, I can carry thousands and thousands of songs, many podcasts (I subscribe to about 20 of these), plus a few movies, some music videos, + our entire family picture collection (about 7000 photos and counting).

The only downside... iTunes only seems to handle about 32,000 songs at one time, and the indexing functionality of its database is downright atrocious. Our music collection is much greater then 32,000 songs, so we can't use iTunes to manage everything, but it's still pretty decent.

Vonage Telephone Service

When Sara and I moved to Russia, we were happy to find two different calling card services that which lowered the cost of calls dramatically for us and for friends and family who wanted to call us. The downside, though, is that placing a call using the calling cards is a bit complex (dial an access number, enter a lengthy passcode, dial a pin number, enter the phone number). Sometimes the quality of the call was not too good either...

We will continue to use calling cards to make international calls... but we found a better solution for staying in touch with people in the USA... it's a service called "Vonage" - it turns your high-speed internet connection into a regular voice phone service as well. Let me tell you more...

We have a moderately high-speed internet xDSL connection in our cottage... we pay per megabyte consumed, and we have no real way of telling how much we consume... but the service is fairly reliable - and while expensive compared to what we would pay in the USA (in Cincinnati, we had a very nice corporate discount with Time Warner and had unlimited consumption and averaged about 1MB bandwidth). Here - we get about 250K, and pay about $100 per month... expensive yes, but a service we need.

Anyways, on our last trip to the USA, we stopped in at a Best Buy and noticed the Linksys Vonage PAP2 equipment was selling for $60, and came with $110 in rebates. So we figured it was worth trying since the cost was basically nothing (other than a few minutes of time to complete and mail rebate forms).

So broadband telephone service is starting to pick up... for those that don't know, if you have a high-speed internet connection, you can add on this broadband phone equipment, and pay $25 per month for unlimited calls anywhere in the United States, including local calls. Better - you can take this device with you - and you maintain the same phone number anywhere in the world with a high-speed connection. So - we picked up the equipment, brought it back to Russia with us... set up a local Scranton phone number... and now have a better connection than the calling cards gave us...

Requirements:

• High-speed internet access - if you use a variant of xDSL - you probably cannot get out of paying a basic phone service bill. If you have cable high-speed - ditch your local telco and get Vonage. Vonage does not work over dial-up.

Recommended:

• I strongly recommend you have a home network developed. Basically - broadband modem to internal router (use wireless if you want, have extra ports), then connect your computer to one port, your Vonage to one port, and other computers if you have them, and you are done.

Postives:

• Equipment size is pretty small (like the size of two compact disc cases - maybe even a bit smaller than that)
• Equipment is cheap to purchase
• Service is priced very nicely - $25 for unlimited USA; $15 for lower tier service
• Quality is very good - you can adjust the call quality if you want, but overall, the service seems good in quality
• Equipment comes with an auto-switching power supply (so works in USA (110v) and Europe (220v)
• You can keep the same phone number anywhere in the world (i.e. we have a local scranton, pennsylvania number, and when you dial 7-digits from another phone in scranton, our phone in our cottage in Russia rings).
• Vonage provides robust services (caller ID, voicemail, *69, conferencing, etc. etc.)
• If you need new phone service when you get into a new house / apartment - you can be activated almost immediately vs. waiting days or weeks for the local telco.
• Works with your existing home telephones (i.e. the cordless / corded phones you already have purchased; you do not need to be tied to the computer).

Negatives

• Your broadband connection should always stay turned on (so be sure you have your local security set up properly)
• 911 emergency service not 100% ironed out - requires you to configure your location when you move the device
• You should probably keep a cell / mobile phone handy as a backup - this is fairly new technology so I would not expect 100% reliability

Overall - I love this service - good quality, great price! Highly recommended. People do not even realize that you are calling from an internet-based phone service - the quality is that good.

Portable power for your electronics - the iGo product line

So I like gadgets, and I believe they make my life easier... whenever I travel, I almost always take all of the following with me:

• PalmOne Treo 600 world phone - this is an unlocked GSM world phone... swap out SIM cards and you get a localized mobile phone anywhere in the world...
• Sony Playstation Portable - perfect for long flights and settling down before going to sleep in the hotel... beatiful video games in the palms of your hand (also plays music and video if you want). Thanks to Ken for the reco - I love this thing!
• Dell Jukebox - 4000 songs in one little package
• HP/Compaq laptop - normally my corporate issue NC4000, but sometimes our personal zt3000 as well.
• Digital camera - currently a Minolta DiMAGE xT - tiny and takes nice pictures

The problem with carrying all of these gadgets around is that everyone has a rechargable battery built in - and all requires their own power supply. The solution I use is the iGo power system. Let me tell you a bit about it...

iGo is distributed by a fairly small company called Mobility Electronics (sometimes products sold under "xtend micro products"). They have focused on the niche market of portable power supplies - and they do this with excellence. There products allow you to power your devices via AC (both 110v & 220v), via airplane in seat power, and in your car / cigarrette power adaptor.

The iGo product offering consists of a power brick with wall-to-brick to cord, and a wall-to-device cord. To make the device work, you connect a "power tip" at the end of the wall-to-device cord. Each notebook computer has a speciallized tip, and sometimes a notebook manufactur will have 2 or 3 different tips... so be sure you have the right one.

If you buy the iGo 7500 (I bought the iGo Juice - but these are pretty much the same products), you get the brick, wall-to-brick cords (both AC and airplane in-seat and car cigarrete lighters), brick-to-device cord, tips for common laptop models.

Here was my overall shopping list:

• PS0055-11 - the base Juice system - includes main power brick, US-standard wall-to-brick cord, auto/air connector, brick to device cord, standard notebook tips (make sure your notebook uses one of those, or buy the necessary one).
• AC0103-10 - bag of handheld tips - includes one for the Sony Playstation Portable (uses tip B07), the Dell Axim (which I no longer use very often, but uses tip B07), the PalmOne Treoo 600 (uses tip A26), and the Dell Jukebox (generation 1) (uses tip B07)
• PS0229-10 - DualPower Accessory for Portable Electronics - this lets you charge two devices (laptop + MP3 player simultaneously). Comes with a car cigareete adaptor - so you use just this device + a tip to charge an MP3 player, cell phone, etc. in your car (without the power brick)
• 6620012 - European power cord for the Juice system - use this instead of the US-standard 110V cord.
  

I have also purchased a Targus Universal Power Travel Adapter (Model # PA033U) to help me convert plug sizes for the United Kingdom (220v but different pin-out, Switzerland (European standard round pins but smaller in size)... so I am set for anywhere in the world.

All the iGo parts + the Targus adaptor fit into one fairly durable bag that iGo provides to you... I leave this bag packed all the time, and when I depart for a trip, I grab my "iGo" bag... and I know I have all the parts that I need to meet my power needs for all my devices anywhere in the world.

My advice - don't buy individual tips... get the packs of tips / cables / etc. whenever they are available. Much better value. Be careful not to lose the tips... they can come off the ends of the cables...

Before I buy any new portable electronic device, I check to see if it is compatible with my iGo... if it isn't, I don't buy it (my digital camera is not compatible - it was purchased before the iGo - so the camera will probably get replaced soon). I highly recommend this product.

MP3

One of the things that we have found as indispensable in heavy travels is a good MP3 player. Quite some time ago, we converted our entire CD collection to MP3 format (and our CDs are in storage collecting dust). A couple things that have become critical to this practice:

Need to bulk edit ID3 tags? I searched high and low for a decent ID3 tag editor... and really struggled to find one that was simple, reliable, and reasonably fast. I was happy to pay a few dollars for one that worked, but none were to be found. As I was about to give up, I found a great program that 100% meets my needs. It's called MP3Tag and is available as freeware. The interface is very simple and straightforward... it's not the fastest editor - but it is definitely the easiest.

Looking for an MP3 audio player for your computer? There are tons of players out there - both free and not-so-free. I've been through many of these players... and I always come back to Real Player. It's not the most feature rich player, but I like that it nicely ties into a couple of the paid services that I use (like NFL Field Pass). Real Player has a pretty quick start up time, and doesn't consumer lots of overhead while running.

Need a portable MP3 player? Seems like everyone's first choice is the Apple iPod. It's got a nice interface and a highly desireable form factor... but I always feel a need to be slightly different (and I always look for a better value). So, while the 20 gigabyte Apple iPod is about $299 (as of this writing), I've chosen a 20 gigabyte Dell Jukebox. The form factor isn't quite as nice as the iPod, but the Dell product is very durable, has a very long battery life, and interfaces very nicely into Windows Explorer (unlike earlier versions of the iPod). The Dell tends to be ~20% less than Apple.

We've outfitted our Dell Jukeboxes with a case from Belkin (it's a drawstring bag - which enable you to easily attach a neck strap and carry this brick around your neck)... so the Jukebox may not the lightest device outthere... but when you spend as much time in 4 hour taxi rides and long airline flights as we do - having your Jukebox around your neck ensure you don't drop it or forget it.