What’s in my gadget bag revisited

One of the things I do from time to time is indicate what tools are in my gadget bag.  I revisit it occasionally because my kit changes all the time as I find new gear to enhance my mobile lifestyle and since it’s changed a bit it seems like a look idea to address it once again.  I’ll also touch on some of the software tools that I use daily since it’s a vital part of my mobile kit.  I’ll start you off with a couple of screenshots showing my current desktop setup in both portrait and landscape and then detail the kit after the jump.

The mobile toolkit starts with the bag and if you’ve followed this blog you have seen me try countless bags.  The one bag that I keep coming back to because it’s a real workhorse that does everything I need yet keeps a svelte profile is the Booq Boa XS bag.  I carry it most days when I am going to be out running around all day as it lets me carry everything I need without weighing me down.  For short jaunts to a coffee shop or other trips that are likely to only take a few hours I carry the Waterfield slip case.  It’s a small, no nonsense case that carries the Tablet PC and a small item or two and it works very well.

On to the gear that goes into Booq bag on a daily basis:

Fujitsu P1610 Tablet PC– my favorite Tablet PC (and mobile device) to date, the P1610 running Vista Ultimate is a sweet machine.  I can’t think how Fujitsu could improve it unless it would be to add memory on top of the 1 GB I have installed.  The Fujitsu (aptly named Miyagi) is a sterling performer and those who see me using it never fail to comment on its utility.

Batteries– I carried a BatteryGeek Portable Power Station for a good while but I do not carry it any longer.  It’s a solid external battery but is quite large, almost the size and weight of Miyagi.  I picked up a second extended battery and I now just carry the P1610 with extended battery plus the second battery.  Even under Vista, which provides slightly shorter battery life than Windows XP, with the two batteries I can go 10 hours easily.  It only adds slightly more than a pound to the kit and fits in a small pocket in the Booq bag.  The second battery was also a bargain at ~$120.

T-Mobile Dash– I test a lot of phones and picked up a T-Mobile account a couple of months ago.  I still have my main Verizon account, which I’ve had for years now, but I forward all my calls to the Dash.  The Dash is simply the best smartphone I have ever used on any platform.  I sync it over-the-air with my Exchange Server account and can access and change my PIM data on the fly with the Dash.  I do not tether Miyagi to the Dash because of my next item in the kit.

Verizon Sierra Wireless AC595 EV-DO PC Card– I keep the AC595 inserted into Miyagi all day every day and enjoy EV-DO Rev A speeds in almost all locations.  I do have some connectivity trouble in my office at Big Oil Company which seems to be related to being high in the skyscraper.  I can take it outside the building and get 1.5 MBps speeds so it’s something in the building.  I can’t overstate how important EV-DO Rev A is to my mobility with broadband speeds available nearly everywhere I go, especially in my car.  I often arrive for a meeting and connect in the parking lot to check email before heading in to the meeting.  While I can get my normal email on the Dash, I have to access my Big Oil Company email through Outlook Web Access so I do that on Miyagi.  EV-DO Rev A simply rocks.

Stowaway Bluetooth Travel Mouse– I still use this mouse when I set Miyagi up as a notebook and it works well for me.  It is the best Bluetooth mouse I have ever used and it’s small form factor lets me put it in a very small pocket in the Booq bag.  This was a great investment.

Zune player– I carry the Zune for those rare moments when I have some free time, usually when I am in a loud Starbuck’s and want to tune them out.  Coupled with the Ultimate Ears earphones the audio experience is extremely good for a portable system.

Lamy 4–in-1 stylus pen– this has become my mainstay pen and the inking experience on Miyagi is just like pen and paper with the Lamy.

TomTom One GPS– I use this every day and it has been a great addition to my arsenal.

That’s pretty much my main kit, I carry some little things that I won’t list because I rarely use them, like USB flash drives (2 GB) and laser pointers which contractors have given me.  This kit is my entire mobile office and I find no compromises whether I’m working in an office somewhere or out on the road.  The true testament to how well this works is that my clients can never tell where I am, they have commented on that numerous times.  They see no difference if they are dealing with me while I’m in my car or if I am down the hall.  That’s pretty powerful stuff in my book.

Now to look at my software tools, these haven’t changed that much but I have added a few things recently so I’ll touch on everything briefly.

Outlook 2007/ OneNote 2007– I live in both these programs all day and the seamless integration makes my life easier.

Internet Explorer 7– I do all my browsing with IE7 although this may have to change.  I am experiencing a big CPU hit every time I do something in IE7.  The CPU meter pegs at 100% every time I go to a new web site, or click on any button in the program (even the Tools button).  This causes Miyagi to basically freeze for 10 – 20 seconds until the CPU frees up again.  I have researched this online and I’m not alone with this.  Many people report that turning off the Phishing filer in IE7 resolves this but it doesn’t help me at all.  It may be time to get serious about FireFox.

OneNote Mobile– This resides on the Dash and I use it mainly to take quick photos of things I need to remember and to record voice memos to myself.  They all sync over to the desktop OneNote the next time I cable up.

PowerPoint 2007– I do a LOT of work in PP and especially like the ability to ink right on the slides to make a point to pass on to someone else.

PDF Annotator– I handle a lot of PDF documents and use this program to make ink notes on them for distribution.

BlogJet– my main blogging editor, I’m using it right now.

Google Reader– not really software rather a service but an important one for me.  Tracking over 200 feeds is easy with Google Reader and the mobile version lets me track them from the Dash when needed.  Works well and all my feeds are synced no matter where I check them since it’s all stored on the Google server side.

QuickBooks 2007– This is my accounting software and while it’s complete bloat-ware it is essential to the running of my business.  This version is the only one that works with Vista.

TimeTTracker MX– my time tracking software that I have been using for years.  Unfortunately while TT comes with both a desktop version and a Windows Mobile version the WM version doesn’t work with smartphones.  Not a killer for me but I wish there was a way to at least reference my time tracking from the Dash.

Windows Mail– The mail program included in Vista, I use this to track the newsgroups that I deal with regularly.  Seems like Outlook Express to me.

New York Times Reader– I love reading the Times on Miyagi with this program.  Great newspaper-like experience without the black fingertips.

Zinio– This works great on Miyagi in portrait for reading the few magazines I get monthly.

SnagIT!– the best screen capture program ever.

OpenPandora– I listen to Pandora often and OpenPandora is the best (free) way to do so.

MindManager– It’s no secret how much I like this program.  I use MM for planning sessions and for laying out big writing projects I am working on.  I tried to use MM in conjunction with ResultsManager for project tracking but gave up on that approach.  It was too time consuming for me to get all the project and task information into the system to get it working seamlessly.  Instead I am conducting a trial of the next program on the list.

Intuit QuickBase– QB is an online database program that is hard to describe.  It is browser-based which means I can access it from any PC and it offers the ability to use canned database templates like the Project Manager I am evaluating, yet lets the user customize all templates and data views very simply.  I am using it to track a lot of projects and milestones for each, and I can click and get an overview each day to see where all projects are at that moment.  The downside to QB is the cost.  I am on a 30 day free trial and I have to admit I didn’t see what the subscription fee was until after I set my stuff up in the program.  To keep using it after the trial period will cost me $249 per MONTH, something that I don’t know if I can afford to do.  It’s unfortunate since it does exactly what I want.

I hope you enjoy peeking into my toolkit and getting a feel for how I work and what I use to stay productive.  My philosophy has always been that working while mobile should not involve compromises, and I honestly feel that I am successful in that regard.

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