Laptops and Gear - The Gadgeteer

Grovemade debuts laptop stand and other wooden desktop accessories

By Julie Strietelmeier / April 12, 2015 / News / Desk, Laptop stand, Laptops and Gear, Stand / Leave a Comment

What is your design style when it comes to your workspace? Do you prefer modern? Shabby Chic? Steampunk? If you’re into warm woods that offer sleek beauty with ergonomic and storage benefits, check out Grovemade’s new desktop collection. Handcrafted from domestic hardwoods, these desk accessories are available in maple or walnut and include a monitor […]

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Cocoon makes their SLIM backpack available in leather

By Janet Cloninger / March 28, 2015 / News / Bags, Laptop backpack, Laptops and Gear, Leather case / 2 Comments

My husband has the Cocoon SLIM backpack, and he uses it daily. It’s become his favorite gear bag because it’s comfortable to wear on his back even when loaded down with his 15″ work MacBook, his iPad, and various papers, cables, chargers, and other gear. Now, Cocoon is making the SLIM backpack available in a

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Julie’s gadget diary – I’ve been cheating on my MacBook with a Dell XPS 13 (part 2)

By Julie Strietelmeier / March 26, 2015 / Articles / gadget diary, Laptop, Laptops and Gear, windows 8 / 26 Comments

Several weeks ago I posted the first part of this article where I talked about how I would be using a Dell XPS 13 laptop instead of my 13″ MacBook Pro with retina display and 13″ MacBook Air for a week. To remind folks, I only use Macs at home. There are no Windows PCs to be

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You’ll always know how much free space you have on these Lexar USB flash drives

By Janet Cloninger / March 24, 2015 / News / Computer Gear, Flash Memory, Laptops and Gear, USB 3.0 / Leave a Comment

These Lexar JumpDrive M10 Secure USB 3.0 flash drives have a little eInk screen on the front that constantly show you the amount of free space left in the drive. Because they are USB 3.0 drives, they are up to 4x faster (up to 100MB/s read and 55MB/s write) than USB 2.0 drives. Your data is

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ODiN is the world’s first projection mouse

By Janet Cloninger / March 17, 2015 / News / Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, Mouse / 2 Comments

After I recovered from the cool factor, I’ve always wondered why people would want to use a projection keyboard with their tablet or smartphone. Sure, the projected keyboard is likely bigger than the on-screen keyboard, but it still suffers from the same problems that the virtual keyboard does – flat, no tactile feedback to let

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Levenger’s compact laptop work station converts to a standing work station

By Janet Cloninger / February 25, 2015 / News / Computer furniture, Home and Kitchen, Laptops and Gear / 4 Comments

levenger sit to stand rolling workstation

If you’d like to have a convertible sit-to-stand desk for your home but don’t have a lot of room to dedicate to a work station, Levenger’s Sit-to-Stand Rolling Workstation should be considered. Like many of the laptop work desks I’ve seen at Levenger, this desk has a generous desktop (28″ wide X 18.75″ deep) that

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Julie’s gadget diary – I’ve been cheating on my MacBook with a Dell XPS 13 (part 1)

By Julie Strietelmeier / February 15, 2015 / Articles / gadget diary, Laptops and Gear, Macbook, windows 8 / 33 Comments

I’ve been a Mac fan for many years now, to the point where we’re an all Apple household with three MacBooks. Jeanne has a 2010 15″ MacBook Pro, while I have a 2014 13″ MacBook Pro with retina display and a 2011 13″ MacBook Air. The MBP has been my main workhorse for Gadgeteer reviews and Photoshop work, and the

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EDC bag for 13″ MacBook

By Janet Cloninger / February 6, 2015 / News / Bags, Laptop bag, Laptops and Gear, Macbook accessory / Leave a Comment

The 13″ MacBook EDC Kit is a sleek, minimal bag that’s big enough to carry a 13″ MacBook laptop, iPad, phone, mouse, cables, chargers, and other things you need to make it through your day in the internal pockets. The outside front of the bag is covered with Molle webbing, where you can stash everything

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The Waterfield Bolt Briefcase is at home in the board room or the coffee shop

By Janet Cloninger / January 15, 2015 / News / Bags, Laptop bag, Laptops and Gear / Leave a Comment

The Bolt Briefcase from Waterfield has a more traditional business case look, so it’s not quite as casual looking as a messenger bag can be. It will look equally at home in casual weekend use and in more formal business environments. It’s available in two sizes: small to fit up to a 13″ MacBook and large to

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Protect your files with the Hand of the King

By Janet Cloninger / December 31, 2014 / News / Computer Gear, Flash Memory, Laptops and Gear / Leave a Comment

Or you could protect them with a Direwolf, if you prefer. The 8GB USB flash drives concealed inside these Game of Thrones designs are ultra-thin, ultra-fast, and waterproof. The Hand is a functional pin, and the Direwolf has a ring for attaching to your keychain. Both are made of a zinc alloy; the wolf has

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Rapoo T120P Wireless Touch Mouse review

By Julie Strietelmeier / December 17, 2014 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, Wireless mouse / 2 Comments

I’ve been using a Logitech V470 Bluetooth Cordless Laser Mouse with my MacBook Pro for a few years now. I like the size and fact that is wireless, but lately it has started behaving strangely. The cursor moves erratically on the screen when I move the mouse, making it difficult to do detailed Photoshop edits to

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A yoga mouse or the Recon Wireless Folding Mouse?

By Larry Geisz / November 22, 2014 / News / Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, Travel Gear, Wireless mouse / 2 Comments

When traveling it’s all about getting the maximum amount of items into the minimum amount of space. When it comes to computer peripherals we see that with small external hard drives and keyboards. The mouse seems to be the one device that although has gotten smaller, is still a bit bulky. The Recon Wireless Folding

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Expand your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air’s file storage with a micro SD card

By Julie Strietelmeier / November 17, 2014 / News / Adapter, Laptops and Gear, Macbook, Macbook Air / 7 Comments

Adding more file storage to a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air usually means hanging an external hard drive off a USB port, plugging in a USB flash drive or inserting an SD card. All these ways will work just fine, but they aren’t the most elegant solutions. Dangling an external drive from your laptop when you’re

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Elevate your laptop at an ergonomic angle with the Kickflip

By Janet Cloninger / November 2, 2014 / News / Laptop stand, Laptops and Gear / 3 Comments

The Kickflip acts as a laptop stand for your laptop without requiring you to carry an extra item in your laptop bag. The Kickflip is a hinge that attaches to the bottom of your device with “a high-tech, German engineered gel adhesive. It forms a strong bond with your laptop to hold firm yet removes

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booq says their new Taipan shock backpack is shockingly good looking

By Janet Cloninger / September 18, 2014 / News / Bags, Laptop backpack, Laptops and Gear / Leave a Comment

booq has a new backpack that they think is perfect for professionals. The Taipan shock bag is made of 1680D tri-weave polyester exterior fabric with a water-repellent coating; the embossed red interior fabric makes it easier to find items stored inside. The bag is loaded with pockets and storage compartments: large main compartment with document storage; separate,

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Sit comfortably in front of your computer, even if you don’t have a desk

By Janet Cloninger / September 8, 2014 / News / Computer furniture, Computer Gear, ergonomics, Health and fitness, Laptops and Gear / 2 Comments

Sitting at a desk while working on a laptop or desktop computer can be very tiring. If your desk height and chair height aren’t right for you, you can get back and neck pain, and you can even develop carpal tunnel problems with your wrists. You can take the desk out of the equation with

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HEX Convertible Laptop Briefcase review

By Greg Carter / September 4, 2014 / Reviews / Bags, Laptop backpack, Laptop bag, Laptops and Gear / 1 Comment

I can work anywhere, as long as I have my laptop computer. Sure, with cloud access I can manage pretty well with just a smartphone – and even better with a tablet – but the laptop still makes it much easier to work and store or access everything I need. Therefore, I rarely travel very

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Venostech SideCar connects your phone or tablet to your laptop for multi-display productivity

By Julie Strietelmeier / August 25, 2014 / News / Laptops and Gear, monitor, Tablets, Ultra Portables / 6 Comments

Small laptops are great when you need something that is ultra portable, but the trade off is that they usually have smaller displays which ends up making you feel cramped and squinty. The Venostech SideCar is an interesting solution that doesn’t require any power and uses devices you already own to add additional screen space

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WaterField Designs introduces the new VertiGo 2.0 Laptop Bag

By Janet Cloninger / August 22, 2014 / News / Bags, Laptop bag, Laptops and Gear, Tablet accessory / Leave a Comment

Actually, it’s not just a laptop bag, because the VertiGo 2.0 is available in three sizes: small holds an iPad Air and similar tablets; medium holds a 13″ Mac laptop; and large holds a 15″ Mac laptop. The VertiGo 2.0 is the “ideal business and traveling companion that can hold a surprising amount of gear

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Cargo Works MacBook Air + iPad Sleeve has slim tactical style

By Andy Jacobs / July 30, 2014 / News / Cases and Covers, iOS, Laptops and Gear, Tablets, Ultra Portables / Leave a Comment

I like things that are simple and rugged. Add a few strips of MOLLE webbing and all the better. The Cargo Works MacBook Air + iPad Sleeves fits these criteria. As the name cleverly implies, it holds a MacBook Air in a neoprene zipper pocket as well as an iPad in a front flap pocket

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