Archive for January, 2012

So I am headed to London next week for the inaugural Dell Storage Forum 2012: Europe.  I am very excited to be going to London to cover this event for Dell.  I am excited about visiting London and meeting the many friends I have made via social media from the UK and surrounding European countries.

Once I found out that I would be traveling overseas I started making a list of the things that I would need to make my trip enjoyable.  I mean I like to fly and all, but 14 hours in an airplane at my height is not that enjoyable, so I had to find some creative ways pass the time.  I have my android powered phone, which on a good day of moderate use will last me about 14 hours on a full charge.  Since I would be using the phone heavily during the flight to play games, etc. I doubt that I am going to get anywhere near the 14 hours.  But wait I have an android tablet that I can watch movies on, so that should last me for a while too right.  Well, to be honest I am not sure how long the battery lasts under heavy, so I had to get creative.

For VMworld 2011 I bought one of those rechargeable battery packs that you can use to recharge phones, mp3 players and even tablets.  It is a 5000mAh one with two charging ports and 2A of output, pretty good for something about the size of a pocket camera.

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You would think that would be enough, well not for me.  I thought if one was could two of these external battery packs would be twice as good.  So off I went to get a second one.  After arriving at the online store I noticed a larger capacity pack for about the same money as the 5000mAh.  Now this one is a whooping 9900mAh with dual ports just like the first one.  So I put on my EE hat and said, this is the one to buy and off it went to the shopping cart.

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Ok, I am all set right?  Wait, I have to charge all this stuff.  Battery packs, camera battery, phone, tablet, laptop, mp3 player, etc.  Ah, well just plug them in to a power strip and charge them all at the same time.  Opps, forgot about the difference in plugs, not to mention voltage.  Now I had to go out and get the voltage/converter plugs for UK to US.  What about a power strip?  Can I use one with the adapters/convertors?  Honestly, I have no idea if I can or not.  Since this will be my first trip to the UK, I really have no idea what to expect, so I have to plan for everything.  Off to one of my favorite online stores to get a USB charger with more than one port.   I found this little gem with 4 ports (phone, tablet, mp3 player, camera) all from on electrical outlet … Sweet!

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This is a 4 port USB charger, now it still has the US style plug, but given I live in the US this is okay and I have the UK to US adapters so I am all set.

Be sure to follow me on twitter at @iSCSIKing to follow my adventure in London for Dell Storage Forum 2012.