25 best travel gadgets of 2009 from Time.com

It’s not too early to start your holiday shopping. And we don’t mean limiting that purchasing power to plane tickets. Time.com’s technology editor, Peter Ha, has listed “the best travel gadgets of 2009.” Have a look. If you are an uber-geek, you’ve probably heard of some of these tech toys before (such as the Slingbox, MacBook, iPod touch and Live Luggage Hybrid PA). But it doesn’t matter because there are enough gadgets on the list that we’re confident you’ll find a few that are downright drool-worthy.

If Santa, or even my husband, is reading this post, I’d like the Optoma PK101 Pico Pocket Projector so I can be the most tech-savvy parent at the party, whipping out photos and videos of my 11-month-old daughter. I also liked the Energizer Xpal SP2000, a solar-powered device that can recharge your charge cell and smart phones, iPods, digital cameras and other small electronic devices. Great for long hikes and camping.

Tech gadgets can get expensive, so I appreciate the fact that Ha extended his list to some free and cheap items. Of all the travel-related apps there are out there, Ha recommends the Yelp App and the Zipcar App (both free). If you’re looking for a stocking stuffer, don’t miss the Kingston MobileLiteG2 ($11), a memory card reader with a USB connector so that you don’t have to bring your USB camera cable when traveling. Just snap in your memory card and insert into a computer to e-mail photos. The Eye-Fi Pro (also on the list but priced at $149.99) allows you to skip the memory card part of the process altogether and enables you to transfer photos and videos between camera and computer via Wi-Fi.

—Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

Photo: Screen shot of Time.com home page. Credit: Time.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 10:21 am by Jen Leo and is filed under News, Tips & Advice, Travel Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.