The Ultimate Mobile Mac User's Survival Guide
TAKE CONTROL WIRELESSLY
Apple keeps advancing the functionality and versatility of MacBook’s data input, but not all of us are lucky enough to be rocking a brand-new ’Book with a gesture-enabled trackpad. And for some of us, a mouse is just easier to use anyway. (Call us old school. We don’t care.) But a wired mouse is a bit cumbersome when you’re on the move. Enter Bluetooth mice, which keep you productive and comfortable without adding wired gear to get tangled up in the bottom of your bag. Here are some essential wireless MacBook add-ons that keep you in control of your own mobile destiny.
These Bluetooth mice have no tails--making them harder for your cat to “catch” but much more road-worthy. Mice shown from left to right: Belkin, Apple, and Kensington.
When the Cat’s Away… If you prefer a two-button mouse to your MacBook’s trackpad, you have several solid Bluetooth options. Our go-to mouse is Apple’s Wireless Mighty Mouse ($69). Some people like to bag on the Mighty Mouse--wireless or wired--but it’s what we’re comfortable with and we don’t care what detractors say. If you--like certain Mac|Life editors--prefer to cast your lot with non-Apple mice, the Kensington SlimBlade Mouse with Nano Receiver ($39.99) is a compact, capable input device, with the tiniest Bluetooth receiver we’ve ever seen (which you only need if your older Mac doesn’t have Bluetooth built in). Belkin’s Wireless Travel Mouse ($24.99) doesn’t use Bluetooth, but comes in five colors and costs less than half of what Apple charges for its Wireless Mighty Mouse.
We recommend keeping this tiny, lightweight USB EV-DO modem in a designated pocket in your laptop bag--otherwise it’s liable to get lost.
Over-the-Air Internet. Your MacBook’s built-in AirPort is pretty smart--and clicking on the Wi-Fi icon in the menubar can generally give you the info you need to get online. But depending on where your travels take you, two wireless add-ons could come in handy in your quest for a wireless Internet connection on your MacBook or iPhone.
If you’re not finding all the details about the Wi-Fi hotspot you’re in--or if you don’t know if you’re even in one, the Kensington WiFi Finder Plus ($29.99) comes in incredibly handy. It sports five LEDs to indicate Wi-Fi network presence and signal strength. A separate indicator lights up when you’re within range of an active Bluetooth-enabled device or network, filtering out other 2.4GHz signals from cordless phones, cell phones, and microwave ovens.
Of course, none of this device’s know-how will help you if there’s no Wi-Fi present. That’s where a 3G wireless modem from Sierra Wireless comes in. We’ve relied on a Sierra Wireless modem for the last couple years to get online during Apple keynotes--which often take place in auditoriums where the Wi-Fi signal has been blocked--so that we can live-blog them on MacLife.com and bring you the latest Apple product news as it happens. Sierra Wireless’s smallest 3G wireless modem yet is the USB 598 Modem (prices vary), which weighs a mere .9 ounce.
ROCK OUT WITH YOUR ’BOOK OUT
It’s hard not to feel sorry for those poor suckers on the plane whose sole source of entertainment during a transatlantic voyage is the in-flight movie or the horrendous music programming piped into the armrest. You, on the other hand, are sitting pretty with your MacBook or iPhone by your side--especially if you’ve loaded your iTunes library with your favorite music and video selections. Here are some add-ons for keeping that smug smile plastered on your face throughout your road or plane trip.
Turn It Up to 11. You’re not always going to be listening to your music or videos using headphones or earbuds. On some occasions, a set of miniature speakers is just what you need to enjoy your iTunes selections in a hotel room, borrowed office, or other small enclosed space. For these occasions, the Chill Pill Mobile Speakers ($39.99) are as travel-friendly as speakers come, at only 2 by 4 inches when collapsed, offering the ability to separate the two capsule-shaped speakers by 17 inches (we gave the Chill Pill 4 out of 5 stars in our review).
Now Ear This. For the most part, you’ll probably come to regard a good set of headphones or earbuds as your trustiest travel buddies--and if you don’t have a pair you like, we’ve got lots of recommendations. To start, the Wi-Gear iMuffs MB220 ($149.99) stereo Bluetooth headphones can help you keep the wires to a minimum while rocking out.
Don’t judge Grado’s cans by their appearance. They’re the best-sounding sub-$100 ’phones we’ve tried.
In the world of wired cans, you could spend hundreds on a quality pair. That’s why we like Grado Labs’ SR60 ($69). They don’t look like high-end audiophile ’phones, but they offer bumpin’ sound that belies their slightly cheesy-looking construction. On the subject of value, we can’t overlook the Kensington Noise Canceling Headphones ($39.99), an affordable pair of noise-canceling cans that don’t cheap-out on sound quality, using a built-in microprocessor to analyze background noises and create an inverse sound wave that cancels the extraneous sound, so you can enjoy your own tunes without interference.
Bose trumpets its TriPort acoustic headphone structure, which features tiny vents in the ear cups to produce tonally balanced audio performance from portable--though certainly not affordable--headphones.
If you’ve got more scratch to spend, take a look at the Sennheiser PXC-350 ($299.95) headphones, which are priced high for retail but can be found online for less than half their list price (about $130). Big spenders and brand-conscious music consumers--do such people still exist in this economy?--can put the Bose Quiet Comfort 3 ($349) ’phones on their shortlists, too. We’ve always been partial to the M-Audio Studiophile Q40 headphones ($179.95), which offer an awesome blend of quality and affordability.
M-Audio’s excellent Studiophile Q40s can be yours for about half the price of the Bose cans. We like the sound of that!
When it comes to in-ear earphones, we can’t say enough about the Etymotic Research hf2 noise-isolating earbuds ($179), which are compatible with the iPhone and allow you to answer calls and control audio playback with the single-button inline remote.