Essential laptop accessories

Having finally gotten a laptop myself, I thought I'd start a thread where people can recommend laptop accessories they think everyone should have.

Here's a laptop sleeve (if you want to protect your laptop while carrying it in your backpack or messenger bag) that I can't recommend as I've never used it, but it's gotten a lot of good reviews:

http://www.booqbags.com/Detail.bok?no=98

Vyper L :

The ideal size* for many 15-inch laptops, Vyper L is a compact and durable sleeve with a slick, rugged exterior and a non-scratch interior designed to protect your laptop against scratches and excessive wear. Although Vyper does not have a handle, it can be used on its own, but it is designed to be used first and foremost as additional protection inside another bag, like our Boa, BP3, or Python backpacks.
We sandwiched durable, semi-rigid high density foam between a layer of 1682D cross-weave ballistic nylon on the exterior and a super non-scratch lining on the interior - an effective blend.

Interior dimensions: 14.2x10.9x1.6" (361x277x41mm)

a good laptop mouse.

no links.

:rolleyes:

A satellite for internet on-the-go.

A retractable ethernet cable and a laptop surge protector are top of my list.

I've been looking for a good laptop mouse; I don't want to have to keep buying batteries so wireless is out, anyone know of any good wired ones? Preferably one with a retractable cord that plugs into the USB port.

Does anyone make surge protectors specifically for laptops?

I have this tiny 2 plug surge protector. No brand name on it though.

Heres what I have for my laptop:
Full size Microsoft optical mouse. Before the "ergonomic" redesign. I believe this is the best mouse in the world.
M-Audio mobile Pre USB audio card. Because I'm a music nerd.
USB hard drive enclosure w/ SD, memory stick, and some other kind of card reader.
Laptop bag.
Mini surge protector.

I just picked up a really cool laptop sleeve at CompUSA for $20 after rebates: http://us.kensington.com/html/11199.html

It's got stiff neoprene padding, it's water resistant, it's built to be unzipped and carried by handle both horizontally and vertically, it's got an attatchable padded shoulder strap, and it's got a nice outside zip pocket for accessories. I haven't seen any other sleeves that do more than provide a similar neoprene padding, and none as cheap as 20 bucks.

The only real laptop accessories I have are a miniature wireless Microsoft mouse (sucks!) and a power inverter for the truck. Oh, and a bag to carry the laptop in. That's it. I'm needing to get a new Wacom Graphire tablet for the thing (the last one's stylus got smashed by family, and it'd pretty much be less expensive to just get a new, better tablet.)

Can anyone suggest a good MacBook sized laptop case? I like the simple sleeves, but all the 13"-range ones I've found that were meant for VAIOs don't fit correctly, so I'm using an oversized and loose 15.4" one I got cheap. I figured that since it's been out for a few months now, tailored cases will be available. Can't find much other than the prissy $50 ones on apple.com

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nomi

Can anyone suggest a good MacBook sized laptop case? I like the simple sleeves, but all the 13"-range ones I've found that were meant for VAIOs don't fit correctly, so I'm using an oversized and loose 15.4" one I got cheap. I figured that since it's been out for a few months now, tailored cases will be available. Can't find much other than the prissy $50 ones on apple.com

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I found this thread about sleeves for 13" macbooks: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=295885

Hope that helps, I see a couple sleeves there that might be good for my Acer Aspire

Update: Just picked up an amazing laptop bag called the SwissGear Jupiter, returned the Kensington bag. I can't seem to find the Jupiter online anywhere; maybe it's a discontinued item?

Kensington is shit. I just bought their optical wireless mouse and the pointer is very "loose" no matter how tight I program it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Kensington is shit. I just bought their optical wireless mouse and the pointer is very "loose" no matter how tight I program it.

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Thier track balls are the best

My free w/ rebates Microsoft USB optical mouse so far works flawlessly, I almost bought a $50 one instead...

Now I just need to find a good cooling pad so I can use the laptop in bed.

Any recommendations?

My optical wireless MicroSoft mouse was fan-fucking-tastic for almost two years and then instantly went to shitsville without warning. The scroll-wheel totally fucked up and would move the page up and down without even being triggered.

As for a good laptop cooling pad, try this one: http://bensbargains.net/deal/1832/ I've heard tons of good shit about it but I myself don't own one so I wouldn't know. A link to Amazon.com shows it on sale for $9.99 but they've since run out.

Last night I picked up a small mobile notebook cooling fan at Radio Shack for $20 (this one: http://coolbidnow.stores.yahoo.net/thmoiia1usbe.html ). It sits on the side of the laptop and blows into the side vent, I'm thinking about returning it for a real cooling pad. My reason for buying it was it doesn't use much power off the USB port and it blows 45 CFM (most cooling pads I've seen blow around 20 with 2 fans combined). My concern is that the side vent is where the interior fan blows hot air out, and from what I've read you want to keep all the air blowing one way.

That Nexus pad you linked to fascinates me; does it really cool down the laptop to the degree a fan would? If so I'd pay regular price for it.