debcook

2008-07-22 20:42:01

Lately I have had a sort of restlessness as far as my mobile gadgets are concerned. I don’t know if I want new ones or if I just need more time to use the ones I have. Small, thinner and smarter gadgets are everywhere.

I wrote previously about the mobile electronic gadgets I carry in my purse. Just a little research has opened up a new combination that would mean less bulk and weight with even better performance. It is still not clear that I need new gadgets however.

A thinner digital camera would be nice. My Cannon Elph is not too thick but every ½ inch counts when its taking up valuable real estate inside my bag. The Casio Exilim EX-S500 looks like a good replacement. It is thinner with a 3” screen and is wide angle. I also really like that it has a 4X optical zoom and 8.1 mega pixels. I think that the Casio is longer than my Canon but space wise it would still fit better and it would be easier to protect the screen.

I know that I would like to replace my small – yet to big – portable hard drive. It is 40GB and has its own integrated USB connection. Very handy, yes, but it too takes up about a 3” X ½” square space that could be better used. Since there are 8GB, 16GB and 32GB USB Flash drives readily available it would not be out of the question to carry one or even two of them. Kanguru has several Flash Drives that would work well.

I can hear it now – why would anyone need so much storage space anyway. Once I had a 5GB PCMCIA Card (PC card) that I kept with my laptop. One day it became corrupted and I believe it was because I filled it up past the point that it could still operate correctly. I’d rather have too much storage than not enough.

My laptop is 11.1” and it fits nicely in my bag. Protected by its own leather zip pouch it weighs less than 3.5 lbs. I have a hard time thinking that about leaving it at home. I am always on the go and often have to do paperwork away from my office. If I found a UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) with the necessary features it could work out. Most UMPCs have a screen less than 5” and they usually weigh less than 2 lbs.

If I just had a lot more money and a lot more time I could buy all new gadgets and maybe even a smaller bag. You know what that would lead to though – smaller gadgets.