As a geek, I find myself trying out new gadgets and accessories often. The ones I like stay in my gear bag and the ones I don’t usually find themselves in a drawer for an extended period of time and eventually get to a new home via eBay or Craigslist. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve been using lately…
iPhone cases
I have an iSkin Solo FX case that I tried out for a few weeks a while ago. I like the smooth texture of the outside of the case since this made it easy to slip it into my pocket. But the case isn’t all that flexible and I found that it stretched out a tiny bit after repeated insertions and removals of my iPhone. This probably wouldn’t be an issue for many, particularly those who don’t want or need to take the case off and put it on again frequently, but it is for me.
I have been using a Paul Frank iPhone case a lot lately (I reviewed one of these cases for the first-gen iPhone) and absolutely love it. It’s more flexible than the iSkin case and I don’t see it stretching despite how often I take my iPhone out of it. It has Julius, the trademark monkey, on the back and he has fangs (the name of the case is “Count Julius”). How could I resist a monkey with fangs?
I bought a Mophie Juice Pack Air (official site here, Amazon page here) for CES, thinking I would be roaming around so much that I wouldn’t be able to charge my iPhone as often as needed. I was right about that and found the Juice Pack to be invaluable at CES. However, I haven’t used it much at all since I got back from CES since I’m never too far from a power outlet most of the time (a benefit of working from home). I do plan on using it again, mostly when I’m going to spend the day out in the city working and when traveling, but it’s just not going to be a daily-use item for me, and I am almost tempted to sell it because of this.
I got the matte red color. While red isn’t usually a color I go for, the black and white ones were glossy plastic and this was the only one with a soft-touch finish and I liked it the best. So, red it was. It’s not a bright flashy red; it’s more like a burgundy with a metallic sheen to it and it’s not bad at all in my eyes.
Most of the time I go without a case, though, since it’s easier to fit my iPhone into my shallow girl-jeans pockets that way and there’s less to do to dock it in my car.
Bluetooth
I have a pair of Motorola S9 Bluetooth stereo headphones (thanks, Chris!) and I use these puppies every single day. I don’t always have a pocket to put my iPhone in as I putz around the house or work out that would make it possible to use wired headphones and the S9s make it easy to wash the dishes, clean the house, and exercise without any cords getting in the way. The audio quality with my iPhone 3GS isn’t the greatest, but they’re still very useable and I don’t even notice it when listening to podcasts. Battery life is decent and my only gripes are that they don’t grip my head tightly enough for my tastes and I have to put my ponytail in exactly the right place to make them totally comfortable.
Since I have a Bluetooth system in my car, I rarely use a stand-alone headset for calls. When I do, I have the first Aliph Jawbone headset. It’s a few years old now but it works like a charm still. I have been
Headphones
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