Gifts for the Tech Lover / Con Goer
In Part 2 of Whitney’s first year doing gift guides, I thought I’d lay out some of my favorite gadgets for tech on the go.
I might not be a tech guru (I prefer the term aficionado), but I do carry my phone with me at all times, and find myself needing to keep my phone on at all times while being far away from outlet space.
And if I can make my phone last a full day at a comic con (while posting pictures), at least I can help you with that.
Power banks
Power banks make great stocking stuffers. What’s a power bank? It’s basically a portable battery. You charge it at home, then plug your USB device into it when you’re on the go. I usually take a couple of these to any conventions, and I always keep one in my purse.
A fun one for a techie who also applies makeup on the go? Hyper’s Pearl is neat. It’s a power bank that’s also a compact with a built in LED ring light. (While I don’t own that one, I do have their HyperJuice Micro which has been one of my most reliable power banks over the years)
HISY’s Reactivate Power bank is pretty small, and great for fitting in your pocket or purse. I got this in a subscription box, and I use it all the time because of how small it is.
Nomad’s charging cables
I first found them through a Kickstarter, but I use their ChargeKey plug all the time. It’s small, fits on a keychain and it’s flexible enough to bend any way you need it to. I’ve had mine for two years now and I use it ALL the time.
And I love the design of their Carbiner, though I haven’t used it personally. Comes in MicroUSB and Lightning! (You can get a Carbiner for GoPro, too!) While they’re currently having a sale on their website… you can also find them at Best Buy!
A year in the cloud
Of course, you can also gift a year of DropBox Pro. At $99, it isn’t cheap, but DropBox Pro has been one of the best investments I’ve made. I’ve set up my website to automatically backup to it, I sync my phone’s pictures to it – I even use it to back up my creative writing.
I back things up on a portable hard drive, too – but it definitely makes me feel a lot better about having data in a couple different places (and somewhere I can access from any device of mine)
Cocoon’s GRID-IT (Your best friend at a con) or Cordito
If you go to conventions a lot like me, you’ll find you wind up with a lot of tech. Phone, camera, powerbanks, cables, sharpies… and so many cables. A system like Grid-it makes it easy to carry it all – and find it all.
If you prefer leather, the Cordito and it’s bretheren are good solutions, too.
RuMe’s Baggie All is another useful gift for someone who has a lot of cords and smaller gadgets. I have one in my bag, and I use one pocket for cords & gadgets, another for pens, and the biggest for notebooks and receipts.
(None of these are affiliate links. I just happen to like the Grommet.)
So what are your favorite tech gifts?