Office in a bag: Basic 'musts' for the digital nomad

Computerworld - In the past few months, the dream of the digital nomad lifestyle has really taken flight. You know when major newspapers pick up on a trend, it's reaching the mainstream -- something that Computerworld's own Mike Elgan has been predicting for some time.

Like humanity's original nomads, today's denizens of the open road must carry everything they need. In fact, if you use, say, a ten-inch netbook, it's tempting to think that maybe, just maybe, in addition to a computer, you can cram everything else that makes up a digital office into your shoulder bag or backpack.

And that's exactly what I did. I tracked down a selection of input devices, output devices and peripherals that can fit into a typical computer bag alongside a netbook or even a reasonably-sized (say, a 14.1-inch) laptop. Each device can run on its own power or use whatever it can draw from a USB port. And just in case your trusty laptop bag starts to pop its seams under the load, I also found some bags with the capacity to handle the strain.

Input devices

It is a truth universally acknowledged that mice are better than trackpads, and that's doubly true of the knuckle-crunching contraptions on today's netbooks. Enter the retractable-cord mouse, which uses a flat cord that winds up into a spring-loaded reel. For example, the $26 Targus Laptop Optical Mouse and the $15 Targus Ultra Mini Retractable Optical Mouse are USB 1.1 wheelie mice that look and work the same; the Ultra Mini i just much smaller -- only a whisker over 3 inches long.

Only slightly less widely accepted is the truth that the cord on a regular mouse can get in the way, especially when you're trying to maneuver on a coffee shop table. Consider Logitech's V320 Cordless Optical Mouse ($39) package, which uses a tiny USB transmitter on a 2.4Ghz network to communicate with the nicely designed cordless mouse. The transmitter tucks into the mouse when not in use, a process that turns the mouse's power off.

Logitech V550 Nano

An even more energy efficient approach comes from the Logitech's $49 V550 Nano, which clips onto your notebook for easy carriage -- and which turns off whenever it's clipped on. The rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries can, Logitech claims, go for six months or more without a charge.

If your work on the road involves entering a lot of numbers, you'll miss the numeric keypad on a proper keyboard. But you don't need to miss it: The Targus Numeric Keypad ($29.95) is a USB keypad complete with NumLock and an enlarged Enter key for your data entry pleasure. And it doesn't even take up a USB port to do it: It doubles as a two-port mini-hub.

LaCie Core4

Of course, not everyone who needs to bump up their USB port count also needs a numeric keypad. That's why there are hubs aplenty to fit a road warrior's pockets. One of the most elegant offerings I've seen is the matchbox-sized LaCie Core4, from the industrial design legend Sam Hecht. This is a cheap $10 device with three empty USB ports and a built-in miniB cable. The miniB cable has become standard for many digital cameras, Razr phones, TomTom GPSes and a welter of other peripherals; having it built in is very convenient.

If your portable computer is really short of USB ports -- and you have a digital photography jones that just won't quit -- it makes sense to get one unit with multiple USB ports and a multi-format card reader. IoGear's USB 2.0 Hub & Card Reader is just such an animal. This $50 device isn't specifically designed to be portable, but it's no larger than an airport-newsstand paperback book, so it fits the bill. It also draws only 5 volts and 2.6 amps to power its six USB ports and 12-format card reader, so it needs no external power to run.