Does it make a difference whether an electronic device has a user-replaceable battery or not? By “electronic device” I’m including everything from a Bluetooth headset to a Laptop.

When buying a Bluetooth headset, the fact that its battery will eventually go flat and cannot be replaced is no big deal. By the time that happens better ones will probably be available anyway.

How about the MacBook Air Notebook? Apple’s ultra-thin notebook is really impressive. However, it does not have a user-replaceable battery (See Engadget’s article “MacBook Air doesn’t have a user-replaceable battery“) After paying well over $1500 for a notebook, when the battery eventually goes in 2 to 3 years time you won’t be able to replace it yourself. Instead, according to Engadget’s article”MacBook Air battery replacements: $129, free install!“, you would have to send the MacBook Air into Apple, and for the price of $129 for a new battery, they will replace it for free.

So as not to only bash Apple, most Portable Media Players, including all iPods, do not have user-replaceable batteries. Even for manufacturers who used to make Portable Media Players with user-replaceable batteries, the trend also seems to be towards batteries which are not user-replaceable – SanDisk is one example.

Handheld computers seem to be split at the Palm/Windows Mobile line. Apart from their smartphones, none of Palm’s handhelds have user replaceable batteries. Windows Mobile devices generally do. Cellphones have user-replaceable batteries of course, except for the first Treos, and the iPhone.

The cost of replacing a new battery is not much when the device was designed to have the user replace it. Although you can buy a new battery for the Palm Tungsten C, it is tricky to replace it yourself. and you could damage it if you are not careful. I have an old Dell Axim X30, and I’ve replaced the battery once, simply by buying a replacement battery like the Lenmar Replacement battery For Dell Axim X30. Apart from proper disposal, it is not much of a problem when the Axim X30’s battery no longer charges.

First, what exactly is a smartphone? Well, just trying to define a smartphone is a bit of a challenge, as I found out while searching the web. Wikipedia’s definition of a smartphone is:
“…a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality.”
They also add “There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone. For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features.”

For my purposes I’ll choose the definition of a smartphone being a mobile phone with advanced capabilities and an Operating System.

The Motorola A1200 MING Cell Phone runs Linux and has PDA capabilities, so it definitely can be termed a smartphone. For input it has a touch screen phone and a stylus, along with a virtual keyboard. It also has an 312MHz Intel XScale processor, 64MB ROM and 64MB RAM, FM Radio, 2 Megapixel camera and Bluetooth. A microSD slot supports cards up to 2GB.

This is not bad for a phone released over two years ago. Unfortunately it wasn’t picked up by any U.S. carriers, as it may have done well. It is one of the coolest looking phones I’ve seen.

As I have reported before (see “How to Organize Those Cluttered Cords“), there’s a rat’s nest under my worktable made up of rubberized and plasticized spaghetti, otherwise known as cables and cords.

I just learned about a cable management system that for less than $20 may make visitors think I actually have it together. And if you think about it, that’s a whole lot cheaper than actually getting it together through therapy.

The system is called the Monster Cable•it Cable Management Kit. (Yes, that’s a bullet between “Cable” and “it”. Don’t you love those product names that make it impossible to find what you really want in search engines?) I’m showing it in a photo as it comes out of the package. The way it works is this:

1. You gather up your cables. (This could take me half a day, because it would require unsnarling them first, but let’s assume you’re tidier than I am…)

2. You open the “Monster Zipper” and insert your cables then close it again. The zipper is that lump on the end of the hose.

3. You slide the sleeve (the hose) into the zipper and pull the zipper backwards. When you’ve run out of hose, you remove the zipper.

Don’t get the idea that these photos show my desk. It’s much too neat to be my desk. (It must belong to my evil alter-ego Dan who always wears an apron when he’s in the kitchen.)

If the hose is too long, you figure out how long it should be and cut it with scissors. Since the company sells these in lengths from eight feet to 50 feet, length is a consideration. They also sell various hole sizes — small (for three to five cables), medium (for five to eight cables) and large (for eight to 12 cables).

The version sold through the sources on PriceGrabber are eight feet long and medium, which would be just about right for my cable maelstrom.

Also, if there’s one cable you need zigging where the rest need zagging, the hose part lets you yank out as much of that cable as necessary, kind of like some freaky magic trick where you can’t figure out how it works.

Could it really be this easy to look so good?

I was reading the latest catalog from Dell, which showed an image of the company’s color cover laptops. You’ll have to excuse my shock and awe, because I didn’t know Dell notebooks came in any colors other than silver and black.

So I meandered over to the Dell site to track down these machines — which the photo shows as being available in shades of lemon, lime, cherry and a kind of strawberry daiquiri. I plugged every tracking number from that page in the catalog into the address line of my browser and couldn’t come up with anything.

Eventually, persistence and the keywords, “color cover,” got me what I needed, links to “QuickSnap Color Kits.” No sign of those warmer colors I’d prefer, but the “Mediterranean Blue” isn’t unattractive.

And there’s a cool sounding “Charcoal Leather QuickSnap,” which, according to one Dell customer “feels and looks like leather.”

But the choices are still rather business-like (read: staid) compared to what’s possible for decorating your machine. If you plug “laptop skins” into your search engine of choice, you’ll be led to companies such as laptopskins, Schtickers and Skinit. These operations sell skins of your favorite sports teams, psychodelic designs, works of art and even pictures of the family dog.

The skins from these companies stick on like giant decals (except without the water). You clean your device first, and then carefully position the decal. You don’t want to do it wrong, because they don’t tend to stick as well the second time around. And if you’re headed back to work with that notebook after a wild weekend with the Black Hats in Vegas, your temporary skin will peel off with nary a crumb. Just like that, it’s back to black (or gray or silver).

Hopefully no-one has tried to pair the IOGear USB KVM and a USB to Dual PS/2 Keyboard Mouse Adapter that I mentioned in my Blog Entry “Wrong Connectors“, because it won’t work!

Right after opening the USB adapter, I realized that there was no way it was going to connect to the KVM. There was a really wrong connector. What I needed were two male PS2 adapters to a female USB adapter. Instead, the cable was the exact opposite. If I’d looked at the picture carefully I would have realized it. Reading the package label made it even clearer “Use your PS/2 compatible mouse and keyboard in a USB port“. That wasn’t what I wanted to do. Instead, I wanted to connect a USB KVM with USB connectors to a computer which had PS/2 compatible ports. An adapter like this just doesn’t seem to exist. I tried connecting up the the older PC to the USB KVM with a USB to PS2 adapter connected to the keyboard. This way the PS/2 mouse was connected directly to the PC, as the USB KVM only has a VGA and one USB male connector for each PC. This didn’t work. After a number of permutations I settled on one with the new PC connected to the KVM, and the older one just having the monitor connected to the KVM. This means I still have a mouse and a keyboard for each computer, but I freed up the two VGA cables I was using.

There are KVM boxes available which support PCs with both PS/2 and USB keyboard and mouse adapters, like the Belkin Omniview Soho 4 port KVM Switch, but I’ll continue to try to get my IOGear USB KVM to work.

One technology has gradually become more widespread, another is slowly disappearing.
It was around ten years ago that the “Bluetooth Special Interest Group” was formed. They were working on a new open technology called Bluetooth. Now it is familiar to many who have Bluetooth headsets for their cellphones. Bluetooth was made for short distance wireless transmission with low power consumption. This makes it ideal for cellphones, in which battery power needs to be conserved.

Various other applications for Bluetooth have been developed. I have a pair of third generation stereo headphones (Logitech FreePulse Wireless Headphones) which include a tiny transmitter which can be plugged into any audio output jack. My original intention when buying them was to use them as wireless headphones when playing on games on my Xbox 360 in the family room so I wouldn’t disturb my wife. The headphones are actually made with MP3 players in mind, and I have found them very useful. To listen to music while not worrying about wires is really great.

Bluetooth has been available on most Palm PDAs since around 2002. When it is available on devices which also have Wi-Fi, like the Palm TX, HP iPaq 110 Classic or Nokia N810 Internet tablet, it is intended for use with a Bluetooth enabled phone when Wi-Fi access points are not available. A number of high end Notebook PCs have Bluetooth for the same reason.

Although Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is largely replacing IrDA on laptops, it is still widely used in TV remote controls and PDAs. IrDA refers to an Infrared communications protocol. The “Infrared Data Association” (IrDA) defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short-range exchange of data over infrared light. IrDA requires line of sight, which is where Bluetooth has the upper hand. Palm PDAs have had infrared since the Palm III in 1998. The easiest way to get information from one PDA to another was to “Beam” it. Some Sony Clie PDAs came with stronger infrared transmitters than their Palm-branded brethren, along with a program to use the Clie as a remote control for a limited selection of TVs and VCRs.

If you could see under my workspace right now, you’d understand why I shudder to think my family has a house bunny. If you weren’t aware, rabbits are notorious for eating cords — as in power cords, cables, phone lines, electrical lines and shoe laces. She hasn’t gotten into my office, but that’s only because I work upstairs and she hasn’t learned how to climb stairs yet.

But the sad fact is that I have too many cords in my life. That’s why the Chargepod appeals to me.

This 6-way charging device allows you to charge multiple cell phones, PDAs, headsets, mp3 players, and other mobile devices with a single power cord. According to the company, the Chargepod uses voltage regulator technology and interchangeable power adapters to safely charge all of your mobile devices.

The bundle comes with an AC adapter and a car charger, as well as these device adapters: MUSB-0001 for universal mini-USB/Blackberry/Motorola/Callpod/Garmin/Other; CHUA-0011 for Apple iPod/iPhone/Touch/Shuffle female USB; CHUA-0016 for Sony PSP and Reader/Creative Labs/Kodak; SMSG-0003 for Samsung mobile phones; NDC2-0001 for Nokia mobile phones and Bluetooth headsets; and PTRA-0001 for Palm Treo mobile phones, LifeDrive, and Tungsten models.

Don’t see your devices on the list? The company sells other adapters direct.

Do you go through batteries like I go through batteries? There’s the Leapster my son uses. That takes AAs. I have a couple of digital recorders that I use for work. Those take two AAAs. My old Walkman, which my son listens to stories on tape with, takes two AAs. Alas, the list goes on.

It bugs me every time I buy a new pack of batteries, knowing that this is one area where we could go rechargeable, but we don’t. Why not? Because we’re confused by the variety of types of rechargeable batteries available, the batteries don’t have much staying power, you have to charge them before you can use them, and the recharging systems are so darned expensive.

Well, apparently, Sanyo has been listening into my thoughts, because they’ve come up with a product line that hits on every one of my complaints. The Eneloop brand is easy to remember. Every aspect of them comes in the same silver-white color — batteries and recharger packs. So they’re memorable. When I start shopping, I know exactly what I’m looking for. Plus, they work out of the package. Their endurance is laudable. And the pricing doesn’t make me gasp.

I’m not the only one who says so. Flaming_deal from Illinois reports on PriceGrabber.com, “These batteries are just great! The so called low self discharge technology helps a lot when you just use your camera once or twice every week. My Energizers will just die within a week, but the Sanyos are good for almost a month.”

Dhakaia writes, “These are absolutely worth all the hype that’s surrounding them and more! Just check online under ‘Eneloop’ and you’ll see how revolutionary and awesome they are when it comes to comparing with other batteries. They last a good 3-4 times longer than Alkalines on almost any digital devices… even after going countless charges.”

My only complaint: I’d like to see more competition for selling these through PriceGrabber. Sanyo, are you listening to my thoughts?

This is not a dilemma I shall face in my near lifetime, but perhaps it is one you already face: how to view the videos you’ve downloaded to your iPod, SansaView or Microsoft Zune in comfort. Face it, there’s something irretrievably uncool about squinting like the sun is in your face just to catch the final episode of last season’s 24 on a screen that’s too small for your eyeballs.

Myvu has the solution: They’re called personal media viewers, and they resemble hyper-techie, Bono-fashionable sunglasses with built-in earbuds.

The myvu viewer takes the output signal from a portable media player or other device and projects a floating image onto the lenses that the user can see around — providing an interesting viewing experience for “on-the-go” people. The viewer includes a rechargeable battery for up to four hours of viewing time.

New models include the myvu shades and myvu crystal.

The next time you see a well-outfitted teenager bumping into planter boxes in a shopping mall, don’t think to yourself, “Oh, that poor kid must be having horrendous growth spurts that leave him incapable of knowing where his legs end and his feet begin.” Think to yourself, “I wonder what he’s watching.”

The computer isn’t reading my son’s Arthur learning game disc. Of course, this isn’t the first time a compact disc in his collection has gone bad on us. Of course, without the grime and scratches on the surface of these CDs, how would I know if it belonged to him or me without my reading glasses on?

I’m accustomed to taking the discs down to our favorite video store and having them run through one of those repair machines. It only costs $2 a pop and the results have been admirable.

But maybe it’s time to take repair in-house. I was reminded of this when I received a press release from a company that makes disc repair machines for corporate use. It got me thinking: Are these things available for consumers too? PriceGrabber says they are. I found the Alera Technologies DVD/CD Disc Repair Kit here.

According to the description, you open the lid, put a few drops of magic repair solution on the repair wheel, insert the scratched disc and press “Repair.” It comes with three different wheels — one for repair, cleaning and buffering (I’m guessing this is akin to choosing a sheet of sandpaper.)

Anybody out there got experience with these devices? More vitally, do you think I could pawn it off — I mean, wrap it up — as a birthday present to my son?