Targus is back with a bang this new year by unveiling a new range of laptop chargers that were specially designed to be versatile as well as eco-friendly. When coupled with the Tips from Targus program, these chargers are able to be upgraded so that they can play nice with a range of other mobile devices within the household, as well as future laptops that you bring back at no additional charge (although shipping and handling fees do apply). Apart from that, Targus looks into the future with a next generation technology design that will dramatically reduce its size while providing a flexible, modular platform for a range of usage modes and charging needs. One strong point with their range would be doing away with the AC cord that further reduces bulk when traveling, while keeping the power adapter to be out of the way whenever you are using your machine at home or at the office. Requiring just 40% of the original materials to build and package current adapters, it also fits the eco friendly category quite nicely as well. Targus is touting the fact that one device replaces a half dozen, making them the lightest, most efficient and most compact device of their kind on the market. Without further ado, they are the Targus Premium Laptop Charger (AC/DC), the Targus Compact Laptop Charger, the Targus Netbook Charger and the Targus Mobile Laptop Charger. The Targus Premium Laptop Charger (AC/DC) is half the size and weight of typical AC/DC charger, while offering nine laptop tips to help you get started right out of the box. Apart from that, you get one mini-USB tip and one iPhone/iPod/iTouch tip. A separate DC charger is also thrown into the mix, where you can hook it up straight to a cigarette lighter while juicing a couple of devices simultaneously. You can pick this up for $149.99 a pop. As for the Targus Compact Laptop Charger (AC), it is suitable for majority of laptops out there as well as low-power devices, with the APA6911US playing nice with most HP, Compaq, Acer, Asus, Gateway and Fujitsu laptops. As for the APA6922US, this one caters more to Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, IBM and Panasonic laptops. Both models will include a mini-USB charger that caters for low-power devices including your BlackBerry or Apple products. Expect these Compact Laptop Chargers to retail for $89.99 The Targus Netbook Charger (AC) on the other hand is touted to be the “most versatile netbook charger on the market today”, where you can bring this $89.99 puppy home if you happen to own a netbook from the following leading manufacturers – Acer, Asus, Compaq, Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, MSI and Samsung. Each purchase will come with a 2-year limited warranty for added peace of mind. Guess regardless of what kind of user you are, there seems to be a laptop charger for everyone from Targus.

Buy it here – Targus Universal Notebook Charger

Is the world ready for another kind of PMP? Or, better yet, does the world even NEED another PMP? Hm, hard to say. One thing that is for certain though is that the world can never have too many environmentally friendly products, and the latest PMP launch is just that.

Shiro has just launched a new PMP that is solar powered, and includes a solar cell on the back of their new SQ-S model which allows users to charge their devices using sun power. And, because power to MP3’s, iPods, or PMP’s is always an issue when it comes to mobile music, it’s nice to see that the SQ-S doesn’t require wired charging with either an AC or USB cable. That is not to say you have to rely solely on solar power. The gadget does come with a USB cable if you’d like to charge it at home. If you are however relying on solar power to fully charge your gadget, it will take six hours of full sun to power it through solar means, and four hours if you go with the USB method. And, once you DO have the full charge, you can enjoy 38 hours of music playback or 10 hours of video.

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How many years in a row now have you found yourself in a sea of other men hanging out at the malls the day before the holiday arrives. Come on now, be honest, we ALL do it. We leave all of our holiday shopping to the very last possible minute and comb the stores desperately for what will pass off as the ‘perfect gift’ for the in-laws, the wife, the whoever on your list. This year, why not get all of your shopping done in one place, without even having to leave the house. Yes, it’s true. With the advent of the Internet holiday shopping has taken on an entirely new face. Now you have access to websites that offer you one stop shops for all of your shopping needs. Stores like Apple stores are ideal online locations because you can literally find the perfect gift for everyone on your list at these types of stores.

Today, technology is always the perfect gift for anyone, man, woman, or child. And stores like Apple will allow you to find everything for everyone on your list, whether they are the average consumer, or the high tech geek. Check out this cook EIKON to go gift for example. In today’s age of privacy and security, this gadget will give you a portable fingerprint reader that will connect to either a PC or a MAC. It will allow for log on by fingerprint identification, and will also remember and store all of your necessary computer passwords.

For less than $40 you can give your loved ones the gift of peace of mind and security this year. So give up your old ways, get thee to one of these one stop shops, and get all of your Christmas shopping done in one place, at one time. And you won’t even have to THINK about running around the mall crazed and dazed ever again…

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For those of you that use your PC for serious gaming or multi media applications, you will really appreciate this gadget. The USB Slide Controller is designed to ensure that you don’t have to change settings on your PC everytime you want to control the volume. If you need and want to get to your volume control with ease, you can do so with the USB Slide Controller in a much more user friendly manner than by conventional methods. The USB Slide Controller will plug into any USB port on your computer, and you can leave it at your side, or in your hand, and your fingertips control the volume through the slide mechanism when you need to adjust your sound. Pretty straightforward, slide it up to crank the volume, and down for the opposite effect.

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The gadget we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. You know, something that will make our online fun at work a little easier to conceal. How often have you attempted to turn on your messenger, throw up a few eBay bids, or surf the web for personal use at work? You’re probably doing it right now while you read this, aren’t you? Uh huh. Well, with the Stealth Switch, you won’t have to worry about people catching you in the act. With the click of a foot control, you can instantly hide absolutely everything on your desktop. When you do so, you will not just minimize the applications you aren’t supposed to be using on company time, you will make them totally and utterly invisible. No more cramps from dodgy ALT-TAB functions as your boss walks by your desk. With this, you can hide any application you want, all of them, some of them, or whatever you like. It even has a mute sound application so if you are wandering over some of those noisy MySpace pages, you can conceal that as well. And nobody will see you do it, because your covert opps are all done by foot.

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There seems to be a few noted trends in the gadget world today. The first one being any gadget that is made using recycled computer bits. The second being anything that involves a USB port. And of course watches are just pieces that are quintessentially timeless and never go out of style. So why not throw it all into one gadget? That’s what the folks at Design Brothers have done with their Timeless Watch that merges all of these trends into one of the most unique time pieces ever. This watch will store power from a USB port through its rechargeable battery. The real concept with this one though is that the watch clasp is a USB port in itself, with a uniquely designed hinge latch. The wrist band is one inspired from the innards of your computer tower cables and the display, digital….naturally. There is really nothing fancy about this one, other than the innovative concept behind it. While it is a unique concept, it may be purely conceptual, and thus, limited in its distribution, but if the folks at Design Brothers get a good response, you just never know about tech gadgets these days. They may want to reconsider its name however given the lightning speed at which technology evolves….with a design centered around computer parts of today, the design itself is unlikely to be ‘timeless’ from a fashion sense tomorrow….
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Yes, here you have a little bit of old world meets new world through the provision of this device where you manually power up your cell phone. This product solves the problem of needing emergency cell phone use with no battery. It’s happened to every one at least once, and it really doesn’t matter how good you provider is, or how far your range is, if you run out of juice you are SOL.
Keep this in your glove box or in your backpack when you are camping or hiking. It’s the Hand-Crank USB Power Charger and it charges your cell phone using a USB port. And yes, it works exactly how it sounds. Plug your phone in, and crank away. $39.95 for a tool you may never use might sound pricey, but for the one time you are stuck on the highway with no cell-juice, you will be grateful you dropped the coin. This tool also includes adapters that will fit most LG, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung devices. If yours is a brand not listed here, you could probably pick up a third-party USB charging device for your phone.
This one is designed for emergency use, so no, you aren’t going to get a whole lot of talk time here, but enough for the call that you need. You can pick it up at the online store for National Geographic.
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A 2 Gigabyte USB drive small enough to put on your keychain or fit in your wallet? We’re in! To get an idea of just how big 2GB is (for a device this small anyway) consider this. The average feature length non-HD movie stored digitally is 1.75 gigs. So you can store a full feature length movie on it with roughly 250 MB to spare. The OCZ 2GB Mini Kart USB Slim Drive costs a little more than your average portable USB stick of similar capacity but what you’re paying for is it’s ruggedness and size. Read more »

Cool linux distro that allows you to boot and run Linux from a USB flash drive. How cool is that? You’re traveling on your laptop and feel like switching over to Linux for command line fun or just because you miss your cool Linux desktop. You reach in your pocket and whip out your pre-loaded USB flashdrive with PenDriveLinux installed and boot from that drive. Or maybe you’re in a place far from home surrounded by strange PCs. No problem. Bust out your USB drive, plug into one of those PCs, and load Linux with all your settings favorites and tweaks all there waiting for you. Read more »

I bought the PQI U172 about a month ago so I’m a bit slow in getting this review out. My apologies. I originally picked one up just because running all the websites I do and doing all the traveling I do I need a truly portable backup for my site files. Servers crash and hard drives fail. So I need something that I can carry with me always in the event one of my sites goes down. That way I have an emergency backup right on my keychain or lanyard that I can use to plug into any computer with internet access and get my site(s) back up even if all data is lost. So with that being said, let’s get right to it. Read more »