Updated Geek Bag Profile

27 May 2007

Dawn and I both carry what we call our “Geek Bags.” These are the bags we never leave home without because they enable us with all of the gadgets we need day to day, and sometimes not often, but damn I hate not having something when I need it!

As quite a few pieces of gear have changed since the last one, I thought I would update and show what kinda gadgetry I carry on a given day. It is important to note that more often than not, I only carry one of the two laptops, one is personal, one is for work, I don’t do anything personal on the work computer and vice versa. If I am going out of town for a longer period than one night, I usually carry both.

The second camera bag is also for more than one nighters or if I want to take higher quality photos. Usually I only carry the Sony camera for blogging purposes, but if I am vacationing or just want to take something cool, I carry the Canon bag also.

The Computers
Both laptops are actually quite nice. Both are HP, both dual core…I will give the total specs below:

Work: HP-Compaq AMD Turion 64 x2 with 15″ UXGA+, 1GB Ram, 80GB Hard Disk, ATI on board video, DVD-RW, 802.11b wireless, media card reader and the rest of the usual gear you would find on a business class laptop. This machine runs Windows XP Pro SP2 and has Office 2003 Professional.
Personal: HP Pavilion dv8339 Intel Core Duo 1.73Ghz with 17″ UWXGA+, 2GB Ram, dual 100GB Hard Disks, 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7600, DVD-RW, 802.11b, media card reader, and the norm. This machine runs Windows Vista Ultimate Edition and has Office 2007 Enterprise.

Pretty nice machines for carrying around, both are quite fast, well equipped, and the personal one even runs games exceptionally well. I can manage near 60fps in World of Warcraft on it.

Gadgetry on the Left Side
You can’t be a true geek with having tons of gadgets. One of the vital things for me is music! I have to have plenty of music and entertainment. Besides carrying about 60GB of music in iTunes on my personal laptop, I also carry the following gadgets…

LaCie 50GB Porsche 2.5″ Portable USB 2.0 Hard Disk
2GB Apple iPod Nano with Belkin Sport Case
Nike+ Apple iPod Sport Kit
60GB Apple iPod 5G with Belkin Plastic Hard Shell Case
iPod Auto Adapter
Nano Lanyard Headphones
iPod Sync Cable
Spare iPod Headphones
USB Floppy Drive
SHARPIE!!
Blank CD and DVD Discs
Mini Tripod
Microsoft Wireless Mini Mouse
(2) 1GB Memory Stick Pro Memory Cards
Point and Shoot Camera Case
Sony Camera Battery Charger
Kensington Laptop Bag for 17″ Laptops

Gadgetry on the Right Side
I stay pretty mobile between work and home and communications is key. Here is where I lay out what I carry for phone, Internet, navigation, and of course a little more entertainment and photography.

IOGEAR Memory Stick Pro Card Reader
Sony DSC-W50 6.0 Megapixel Camera
Blackberry 8700g T-Mobile – Work Phone
Motorola Razr V3m Verizon – Personal Phone
Samsung WP200 Bluetooth Headset (Not Pictured)
Verizon PC5460 PCMCIA Cellular EVDO Modem
Kingston 1GB Thumb Drive
Microsoft Streets & Trips GPS Device
Sennheiser PX100 Collapsible Headphones
Nintendo DS Portable Gaming System & Soft Case
Small Blue Cable & Charger Carrying Case
Canon 350D Digital Rebel XT 8.2 Megapixel Digital Camera with Battery Grip & 18-55mm Lens
Canon 75-300mm USM Zoom Lens
Canon 50mm f1.8 Prime Lens
Canon 28-135mm IS USM Zoom Lens
(2) 1GB PNY Compact Flash Cards
2GB Sandisk Ultra Compact Flash Card
Tamarak SLR Camera Bag

And that’s it folks, that’s what makes me tick when I am mobile. I know it’s a lot, and it can be heavy as hell running through the airport. But I am totally set when I need to be. One last thing to note is my mobile podcasting kit, I throw two more devices in the bag and I am set: