Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
5 GADGETS YOU SHOULD PACK IN YOUR CARRY-ON
Traveling brings challenges both maddening and mundane: fees for overweight suitcases, tight fits in overhead bins, lost luggage and ever-shifting security policies. Fortunately, gadget makers have your back, inventing all kinds of new devices that may bail you out on a trip and still fit in a carry-on suitcase.
LUGGAGE SCALE $24.95
It’s no fun having to unpack your overweight luggage at the check-in counter so you can avoid additional fees.
The Balanzza Mini compact hand-held scale lets you weigh your luggage before you get to the airport.
Attach the USB-powered scale to your suitcase and lift the ergonomic handle. After a few seconds, the back-lit screen displays the weight in pounds or kilograms. The handy scale is about the size of a harmonica, weighs only a few ounces, and stows easily.
Travel & Leisure named the Balanzza Mini one of its Ultimate Travel Essentials picks, raving that the little luggage scale is “so functional you can use it on autopilot.”
DOOR ALARM $11.99
Sometimes you need a little extra peace of mind when you’re traveling to an unfamiliar place.
The Lewis N. Clark travel alarm is a reusable sensor that attaches to a door or window in seconds.
To set it up, just slide the motion-sensor blades into the crack between the door and the doorframe, loop the cord around the doorknob and set the alarm. When triggered, the alarm produces a high-pitched sound and flashing LED light that alerts you and, hopefully, deters intruders.
The alarm runs on two lithium button cell batteries and doubles as an LED flashlight. The pocketsized device weighs only a couple ounces. The Points Guy calls the Lewis N. Clark travel door alarm a “great little accessory.”
COMPRESSOR $69.99
Winter weather isn’t quite over yet, which means trying to find space in your suitcase for bulky items such as sweaters. It’s easy to use a vacuum cleaner with compression bags at home. But what do you do once you get to your destination and unpack?
The Vago vacuum compressor (above) solves the problem with a spice jar-sized device that CNET says “makes it easy to vacuum pack your luggage.” The process is simple. Put your bulky clothes inside the compression bag, attach the micro USB-charged compressor and press a button. In less than five minutes, your clothes will shrink to half their previous size. A pressure sensor automatically turns off the compressor once all the excess air is removed.
One con: The Vago comes with only one bag, and additional bags aren’t cheap at $18.99 to $20.99.
SMART WRITING SET $199.99
Sometimes nothing beats the feeling of putting pen to paper — even if you want the results to end up in digital form eventually. The Moleskine smart-writing set (above) lets you take notes and draw pictures as your work syncs in real time to a smartphone or tablet.
PC Magazine named the Moleskine smart notebook its Editors’ Choice for digital note-taking devices.
A dotted grid on the technology-embedded pages pairs the notebook with an infrared camera-enabled smart pen. The companion app lets you adjust stroke thickness or change the ink color on the fly. The micro USBpowered pen’s onboard memory can store up to 1,000 pages if you happen to be away from your phone or tablet.
The one knock: It’s expensive.
BLUETOOTH TRACKER $19.99
It’s easy to misplace things when you’re traveling. Fortunately, there’s a small solution to this big problem: Attach one of Tile’s smaller Tile Mate trackers (above) to anything you want to find if it should ever get lost: Your keys, wallet, suitcase or a wandering child.
The Tile Mate uses Bluetooth wireless to connect with an app on your phone. If it’s within range (100 to 200 feet, depending on the model), you can push a button on the app to make the Tile sound a ringing noise. Lost your phone? The Tile Mate can find that, too. Press the button in the middle of the tiny square fob twice, and your phone will ring, even in silent mode. The Tile Mate can even track possessions outside of your Bluetooth range. The Points Guy calls the Tile Mate the “best little travel companion.”