I’m in the process of reconfiguring my EDC (Everyday Carry) and have been looking at ways to condense and simplify the various cables that I currently have stuffed in my gear bag. When AViiQ recently offered to send me their Ready Clips, my ears perked up because they looked like a perfect replacement for my current collection. I’ve been using them for a few days now and am ready to let you know if they will end up in my bag or in a drawer.
Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.
Here are a few of the cables that I keep in a zippered Waterfield pouch inside my Timbuk2 messenger bag. Even using twisty ties to keep the cables from unraveling, there really isn’t an elegant way to carry cables like these. They almost always just end up in a tangle in the bottom of my bag.
On the other hand, AViiQ’s Ready Clips look pretty nice in comparison. AViiQ offers a 30pin Apple cable, a Mini USB and a Micro USB cable. They are about 5.5 inches end to end and have a flexible but sturdy rubber covering.
They also feature a built in clip.
The clip makes it easy to organize the cables by sliding them into a pen or pencil pocket in your gear bag.
You’ll also notice that the cables are color coded, making it easy to choose the right one for the task at hand instead of having to look carefully at the Mini and Micro USB ends to make sure you’re grabbing the right one.
I first tried the cables with my Macbook Air and found them to work well with small items like this Apple iPod nano. I also tested the 30 pin cable with my new iPad and it charged / synced fine.
Then I tried the Ready Clips with my Lenovo laptop at work and realized they don’t work quite as well when the USB connector is vertical instead of horizontal.
Since the Ready Clip isn’t as flexible as a thin cable, changing the orientation of your gadgets while they are syncing/charging, isn’t easy to do.
The Ready Clip cables perform just as good as normal USB cables and I like the fact that they don’t get tangled and knotted in my gear bag. But, I don’t really like the fact that they are much more rigid than a typical thin cable and don’t allow me to position the connect gadget the way I would prefer. So when all is said and done, the AViiQ Ready Clips will most likely end up in a drawer instead of my gear bag.
Do you use a better alternative? If so, please share it in the comments.
Product Information
| Price: | $19.99 - $29.99 |
| Manufacturer: | AViiQ |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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I use Cable Jive’s iStubz cables they come in two shorter lengths 7cm (2.7″ and 22 cm (8.6″) They have the 30 pin to USB and a micro stubz not sure if they carry a mini to usb. They are easy to keep track of and no knotted tangles.
http://www.cablejive.com/categories/Brands/CableJive/
I use retractable cables. The micro USB ones go for about $2 a piece on ebay, and are pretty durable. I’ve been using them for almost 2 years without any issues.
When retracted, they are of course neat and tangle-free. They can be extended to about 30 inches, and since the cables are thin and flexible, they allow my phones to be used while being charged. Short cables don’t allow that.
@chriszzz: The offside of retractable cables is they charges your phone much slower than traditional cables. Data transfer rate is about the same for syncing purpose but definitely slower charge. If you’re on Android, there are apps in the market that you can test this out yourself.
I use the Innergie Charge and Sync 3-in-1 USB Cable and find it all plus-plus. Don’t you find that your reviews are a bit tainted since the items you’re commenting on are essentially all gifts by the companies you’re supposed to be impartially reviewing? Afterall, a company isn’t going to send you items if you say bad things about them.
I find the reviews here are extremely fair and unbiased. And the way almost all review sites work is that the company sends the products for free for review. But that doesn’t mean the reviewers have to say nice things.
@SJ The iStubz look pretty good. I’d probably get the longer ones.
@chriszzz I’ve used retractable cables in the past but have been annoyed by them because I would spend too much time trying to get them to reel back in after I was done using them.
@June Let me understand… You think this review, which was obviously not a positive one, was tainted because AViiQ sent me the sample? How does that make any sense?
I wouldn’t worry about @June, it doesn’t seem like she actually read the review.
To be fair, if the site got a reputation for having lots of very critical reviews companies would be less likely to send you things to review.
To save time, what I do is if the title sounds interesting I’ll click on the link and quickly scan down through the article looking at the pictures until I come to the price. If I think the price is fair I’ll then look at the Cons and then the Pros. Then if I’m interested I read the article and afterwards read the comments.
This article got all the way to the Cons when I stopped and didn’t read the rest but breezed through the Comments when I read June’s comment, so I thought I’d write something a little non sequitur 😛
Regarding the samples sent to Julie and the impact on her reviews. I think Julie’s reviews are some of the fairest and most rigorous available anywhere. I’ve read this site for years and she consistently sticks to her standards. The logic of her reviews is always apparent, even in those uncommon instances where I personally disagree with it. Read the reviews, that date back a decade. I think her integrity as a reviewer shines through. You might argue in fact she’s a bit tough to please, but I think that just helps her readers out. So, in short, I think Julie’s reviews are the most trustworthy I’ve found.
@Random Nerd Awww shucks, thanks! 🙂 I appreciate your comments.
@Jeff : true, and it’s quite logical since retractable cables are very very thin. I also have a short 5″ cable of regular thickness in case I need a quicker charge, but it turned out that I never actually used it.
@Julie : Wow, Julie, you are annoyed by having to retract a retractable cable ? You are hard to please 🙂 But I have to admit that the same thought crosses my mind once in a while (how can I have a cable that’s long, tangle-free and yet does not require an additional step before and after usage?), but have not found a better alternative than the retractables.
@chriszzz I just remember using a retractable Palm sync cable years ago and having to yank yank yank it each time before it would finally correctly retract.
Check this out guys… Here’s a cable that I just found in a new Cyberguys catalog that I received today. I’m going to order both sizes (7.5 and 1ft) and then decide which one works best for me.
http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=47978&core_cross=SEARCH_SKU
@Julie : hmmm… you’re right. Sometimes the retraction mechanism loses its mojo and you need to tug at it several times. I have some older cables with that problem. But the ones I’ve bought since the last year work just fine with just 1 tug. Maybe due to better QC or manufacturing processes/materials at the factories.
The cyberguys cable looks interesting, but it’s too short for me. I need it at least 2 ft long as I use my phone while it’s charging.
Scosche and iGo have keychain mini/micro USB to USB gadgets (the iGo one is named KeyJuice). I’ve got the iGo, it seemed to have much better reviews on Amazon than the Scosche models.
I think you’ll like Griffin’s USB Mini Cable Kit better.
http://store.griffintechnology.com/usb-mini-cable-kit
@Mark I don’t think I will like them… They look like the same type of short non-flexible cables as the AViiQ.