Here are some accessories that may make your holidays more enjoyable:
USB flash drive
Leave the laptop at home.
For all your e-mail, photo storage and browsing needs during vacation, think U3.
Housed in a USB flash drive, this tiny device lets you launch applications such as your browser.
Simply find a cybercafe, stick the flash drive into a PC there and you are ready to copy photos onto it and call up your browser complete with bookmarks (you must store your surfing DNA on it first, of course).
As a backup for emergencies, take photos of your travel documents like passport, credit cards and itinerary and stuff them in the flash drive too.
Check out the 32GB SanDisk Cruzer ($145) with U3 brains, which can hold as much info as six DVDs.
Noise-reducing earphones
Hate cranking up the volume of the plane?s headphone in order to enjoy an in-flight movie?
Put on noise-cancelling earphones then.
They use electronics to produce sound waves that cancel the engine roar.
Check out the $213 Audio-Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC3. Call 6749-5686.
GPS receiver
Paper maps are passe.
GPS (global positioning system) receivers deliver maps on steroids.
They can plot the route to your destination and guide you by voice at every turn.
Miss a turn and the device will recalculate your route afresh.
Find the nearest hotel, restaurant or tourist attraction with a few taps on the touchscreen.
Prices start from $269.
Call Eastgear at 6837 1582 for details.
Additional maps, like one of the United States for Garmin receivers, cost $180.
Dual-time watch
Leave your swank dress watch at home.
Wear a cheap and cheerful digital sports watch to track different zones instead.
Light and rugged, you can strap it on your wrist and forget about it.
Check the time at home with a press of a button.
The large digital fonts make it easy to tell time.
Also use it as your night clock and alarm clock - one button will illuminate the display.
Forget about fiddling with the hotel alarm or wake-up calls.
Try the Timex Ironman Triathlon 30-Lap ($106), which keeps time for three time zones and is water-resistant down to 100m.
Camera stand
Rats, you are at a super scenic spot and want to get a shot of yourself in the photo.
However, either there is no one around or you do not want to ask a stranger with dubious photography skills for help.
Hate that feeling?
Try the Quik Pod - a handheld, extendable camera stand.
It lets you hold the camera about 1m away from you - far enough to get you and the scenery in the background in the shot.
Just set your camera on timer release and fire away.
When retracted to its 190mm length, the 100g stand can be stuffed in your back trouser pocket.
Browse to quikpod.com. The basic model costs US$24.95 (S$36.20).
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.
