If you’ve noticed your iPhone’s battery just isn’t cutting it you might be considering a backup battery. These are compact devices, some cases too, that connect to your phone’s dock connector and charge it on-the-go.
There’s actually a surprisingly wide selection out there, and these are some details you should pay attention to when looking for a backup / external battery for your phone.
- Capacity: iPhone’s have about 1200 mAh capacity, so bear in mind how many times you mind want to charge your phone.
- Size/shape: For this to be useful you’ll have to carry it with you. Pick a battery that fits in your bag, case or purse.
- Price: Prices range from about $9-$60. More expensive batteries aren’t necessarily any better. Read on for my suggestion.
I chose the Monoprice iPhone Battery Pack (1900mAh). Its holds enough to charge my phone 1 and 1/2 times, its small enough to slip in my bag and it was super-cheap! $9 + $2 shipping to Canada got this to my door in just under two weeks.
Monoprice is an excellent company; in my experience their products are exceptionally high quality and very reasonably priced. The backup battery was no different-it does exactly waht its supposed to. You charge it with your iPhone cable or dock and pack it away for when its needed. Then when you’re running low on power just plug it in the bottom and the phone starts charging immediatley.
So if you’re thinking about getting the Monoprice device, or any backup battery, go for it. You won’t regret having the security.
Why must Apple build products that are easy on the eyes, but even easier to mar? Not even the aluminum of the MacBook Pro is immune to scuffs and scratches.
So when I got my 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro I decided to get a hardshell case along with it. I travelled to a few local Mac resellers, the Apple Store and various websites, considering what options were available along the way. I asked a couple questions that helped me make a decision:
- How well does this fit and will it make use difficult?
- How effective is it at actually protecting my Mac?
- What’s it going to cost me?
- Will it make my sleek computer look dorky?
Continue reading ‘Incase Hardshell for MacBook Pro’
Thanks to global warming, summers probably aren’t going to get any more bearable. Here in Vancouver home air conditioners aren’t all that popular, but I’d wager that’s about to change as heat waves start happening more often and lasting longer. That’s why I decided to order up a portable air conditioner for my home office.
My criteria was pretty simple: its gotta be cold, its gotta be cheap, and it had better not break one week in. So after considering about half a dozen different models, I settled on the Haier Commercial Cool 7000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner (CPRB07XC7).
Continue reading ‘Haier Portable Air Conditioner’
My on-contract mobile died the other week and I had to consider my options. I’ve been using a Nokia 6265i with Telus for the past two years. It was pretty good phone, if not way too bulky. Then it started doing strange things. The phone would reboot for no reason, drop calls for no reason and it would forget the theme it was supposed to use. Then it started to take longer to boot up. That problem grew exponentially worse until one day on a trip to the US the phone stopped working completely. Apparently this a common problem with the phone; it just decides to drop dead on a whim.
Telus told me that, because I was already on contract and out-of-warranty, I would have to pay $250 for a “software fix”. I was also welcomed to pay the unsubsidized price (about $350+ for anything from this century) for a new phone, plus a $10 new activation/transfer fee. I understand that Telus is a business and needs to make money, but since I’ve been a customer for several years, and have three lines on my account, I figure they could have offered me something a little nicer. Tough luck.
Continue reading ‘Replacement on Telus: KRZR k1m’
As some of you are painfully aware (due to my lack of progress on a few projects) I’m in the process of getting a new computer. I had been using a MacBook as a desktop replacement, but I was starting to feel the lousy integrated graphics, the slow 2.5″ HD and the overall irritation of running a notebook in clamshell mode.
So last Sunday I followed the advice of many veteran Mac users and pulled up the Apple refurbished section. Its stocked with nearly everything in the regular store at a great discount. For the savings you give up the gorgeous retail boxes (refurbs ship in a plain brown box). That’s it, really. The product may have been taken home by another customer, but has since been returned to Apple and reconditioned. This process involves replacement of any internal parts, if necessary, and a thorough cleaning or case replacement. Refurbs arrive in perfect cosmetic condition with no scratches, scuffs or imperfections with brand new keyboards, mice and accessories. They have same warranty as new Macs and are generally better inspected than new machines. Mine apparently fell through the cracks.
Continue reading ‘Refurbished 24″ iMac’