Review: Computing on the Move - Part 3, Belkin Retractable USB Lamp, F8E448ea Cable USB, F3U133eaRTC

In Part 3, Don Bradbury examines the Belkin Retractable USB Lamp and Retractable USB Cable.

Product	Retractable USB Lamp, F8E448ea Cable USB, F3U133eaRTC
Company	Belkin
Web	www.belkin.com
Price	Lamp £12.99 Cable £14.99
We like
We don't like
Rating	Lamp 8/10 Cable 9/10
Requirements

The hardware that a traveling computer user will have in his luggage for the day may extend to no more than his trusty laptop or PDA. That’s a risky strategy for any important work in hand. Batteries may go flat, the stylus for a touch-sensitive screen can easily go walkabout, and ambient lighting may be insufficient to work in, making keyboard work all but impossible. There may be other factors to consider, too, and many of these are already covered by accessory manufactures, so let’s take a look at a few more examples.

 

Belkin Retractable USB Lamp

Belkin's TraveLite caters for those occasions when there is inadequate ambient lighting and where the device you're using comes equipped with a USB port. This port offers a decent power output (usually 500mA), sufficient to throw a reasonable beam of light onto the working area (keyboard) of a laptop or other device when directed via its suitably focused LED.

 

A clip allows you to attach the lamp to any suitable device edge, or, if that edge it too thick, you might be able to drop the slender mount into, say, a PC Card socket - which is what we did on a Fujitsu Pocket PC. The sprung clip didn't appear unduly stressed, however, even when expanded up to about 1.25 inches.

 

 

The light output is not huge, but it's sufficient for the user to see his way around a keyboard, for example, or perhaps a notepad placed alongside. A 47cm retractable lead lets the user locate the nearest USB port to tap it's power, the lead automatically rewinding when a button on the side of the lamp is pressed.

 

 

An on/off switch completes the hardware, and the lamp itself can be swivelled to locate the beam appropriately. You have to take the extra current drain into consideration, of course, but otherwise the device works well enough.

 

Belkin Retractable USB cable

While we're on the subject of retractable leads, one of the most annoying facets of computing, and especially portable computing, is having leads dangling all over the place. This applies whatever the computer and whatever the wired peripheral.

 

 

Belkin have taken care of the problem for sundry types of lead, including 150cm RJ45, 300cm RJ11, and 300cm modem cables, but we looked at the 90cm USB 2.0 lead as an example.

 

 

Extending to bridge the distance between computer and USB device by simply pulling one of the leads, the other extracting itself automatically out of the body by the same amount, it has gold plated terminals and molded grey plastic body. The only thing you then need access to is the button on the side to rewind the extended cable. The whole assembly works nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Also:

Review: Belkin AC Anywhere

Review: Belkin Wireless PDA Keyboard

Review: Belkin Pens, styli and more

 

Don Bradbury