“I have to travel with a bag full of cables,” a friend admitted to me this week. When he explained what each of the cables were for, I felt immense and deep pity for him. To show my concern and compassion, I said to him: “You’re such a schmuck. You’re friends with me, and you still have all of those cables. I’m embarrassed for you.”
After we finished laughing, I solved my friend’s problems with only R200. Let’s call him Del.
In the age of USB-C, you only need one cable. Or several of one cable: the new universal standard, USB-C. Instead of extra cables for the legacy MicroUSB and Apple’s Lightning, just buy those adaptors, I counselled my camping-loving friend. And I sent him a few links.
“Read this first,” I suggested, and sent him a previous column for a friend who moved to the new USB-C Apple iPhone and needed some advice on what to buy.
I noticed this week that the 45W version of my favourite charger, made by Anker, was available for only R350. It’s an easy pick-up whether you’re an experienced USB-C hunter like me or a newbie who’s just now realising they don’t need to carry around a bag of cables everywhere. There’s also this 30W version—made by Anker—that’s packed with GaN 2 tech, making it more compact and gets your tech to 100% that little bit quicker.
Read More: Time for those USB-C upgrades
I love me a little GaN in the morning – for Gallium Nitrite – which supercharges the charger and allows it to charge devices and power banks faster. I admittedly spend too much time thinking about chargers and adapters – but that is my job after all. I also (used to) travel a lot (pre-Covid) and became adept at spotting good travel gear.
I always tell my friends about these three essential things: How to buy cheap data for overseas travel, Google Maps’ handy offline travel feature, and to try this safe, secure, and free VPN. There’s no catch.
If I haven’t spammed them enough with links to my own stories, I add these two odes to the end of Covid: Travel gear you should never leave home without, and More travel essentials not to leave home without.
Now, for about R100 each (or possibly cheaper), you can turn a USB-C cable into microUSB or Lightning. Goodbye, three dedicated cables for USB-C, MicroUSB and Lightning. Hello, one cable with two adapters – or two cables, to be precise. I was especially pleased (I’m a geek, okay) to find a charger for my Apple Watch 10 that also plugs into a USB-C cable.
Similarly, I have found a simple, low-tech solution to that all-important coffee in the morning.
If you’re a coffee lover (notice I didn’t say junkie) there’s nothing more disappointing than going away on holiday (especially and bizarrely to five-star game lodges) and getting sachets of a certain local dried coffee brand. I bought Wacoco’s Minipresso NS2 (R1,750 from Takealot), which is a clever upgrade of the first model, and we never leave home without it. It creates enough pressure to make an espresso – using, as the name implies – a Nespresso pod. You pour hot water into it and pump the side handle. Add more water for an Americano. It only weighs 290g.
