Skip to main content

Stuff to Buy for my iPhone 5!

I have my new iPhone 5 on order, but before I actually get it I want to make sure I have all the stuff I need to keep it healthy and happy.  Here are the items I have on order.

CaseCrown Case for the iPhone5

I want to keep my new iPhone5 looking like new.  But how?

I love my CaseCrown Slide-on case for my iPhone4.  It looks great, is slim, but is very strong.  It has kept my iPhone4 looking like new.  And so it only makes sense for me to get another CaseCrown for my iPhone5.  Happily, there is a CaseCrown for the iPhone5!  Find the CaseCrown Case Here.

CaseCrown Case for iPhone 5

A Lightning to Dock cable

Some are complaining that the Dock Connector is going away.  I say good riddance - the Dock connector was always an unwieldy hodgepodge, supporting about 20 analog and digital standards.  A standard very high speed connector will do much more in a compact and reliable package.

That said, I do have one key dock connector item that I love - my car FM transmitter.  My 12+ year old car doesn't have bluetooth or line-in, so my FM transmitter is a useful auto accessory.  With an inexpensive aftermarket Lightning to Dock cable, supporting power and analog audio, I'll be able to continue to use this old workhorse.  Aftermarket Apple Lightning to Dock Connector cables can be found at Amazon.

A two-port USB car charger

This just seems useful - when we're driving in our old cars, sometimes we want to plug in and charge more than one item.
A USB car charger that supports two devices simultaneously just seems like a good thing to keep in the glove box. This Griffin Powerjolt Dual USB item should do the trick!

Popular posts from this blog

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair.  Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator.  Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way.  Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver.  I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...

Repairing a Crate TX15 Taxi amplifier battery

A friend gave me a Crate battery guitar amp that he used for busking. It is a nice 15 watt amp with an internal battery. Sadly it died, and its custom power adapter was misplaced. After several years the battery will fail, and it requires a functioning battery to work at all. Happily, new batteries are inexpensive, readily available, and easy to install. Obtaining a replacement battery for the TX15 The original battery was a 4+ pound, sealed lead battery. Any replacement battery should closely follow the specs of the original. I bought this MightyMax Battery on Amazon , which is a perfect replacement. There are many batteries that conform to the needs of the TX15, and they can be found at local hardware stores as they are commonly used in lots of equipment. It pays to look locally if you need something faster than Amazon.  The battery specs are as follows: 12 Volt, 7.2 Ah lead battery (mine was marked 1272). Length: 5.94" (151 mm)  Width: 2.56" (65 mm) Height: 3.94" (100...

Macintosh: Upgrading an eMac

It's been a long time since I wrote this article, but the fact remains: The good old eMac can still be useful if you take the simple steps to keep it as good as it can be.  All can run Tiger, and most can run Leopard - great operating systems for their day with a bit of useful life.  This article describes the procedure I used to upgrade my old eMac, including: Replacing the internal hard disk with a large capacity drive. Increasing the memory for performance Upgrading the operating system Here I'm upgrading a 700 MHz eMac, but the procedure and tasks for upgrading other eMac models should be almost identical. Upgrading versus Replacing My sister's eMac is of the 700 mhz variety, with 256 MB of memory. The machine seemed to be getting "slower", and the original 40 GB disk was becoming jammed packed with photos and iTunes, and within a few months she'd be out of disk space. There were two options to address the problems: upgrade the eMac, or go o...

Keep That Old Printer, or, New Printers Stink

Old laser printers have some notable advantages over many newer printers. An old laser can be found for little money. You can easily find great working printers on Craig's List for under $40. My old-school HP LaserJet 5L - still works like a champ! The inexpensive toner cartridges for these printers can often be found on Amazon for under $20 each. And each cartridge, typically rated for several thousand pages, can last five times longer than many more expensive inkjet cartridges. And these old printers are solid. Many were designed last for years in high volume situations. And they were designed to be maintained, instead of thrown away. My laser is nearly 15 years old and it keeps on ticking. Keeping it Modern Buying a good old fashion laser jet for under $40 is easy. But it likely has an old-fashion Parallel interface on it - meaning that your computer can't even use it. What to do? My answer was to buy an Epson Net C823781 Print Server . It isn't the latest device...

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu...

Using Recovery Mode on my Lux Thermostat

I've had this Lux programmable thermostat for years, and it's worked perfectly great for me. But this week I just learned about enabling Recovery mode, and it both works great and should save me more money. What is recovery mode? Normally, a programmable thermostat is a device that is used to turn on the heat at a user-specified time in order to meet a user-specified temperature. In contrast, a recovery mode programmable thermostat is a device that ensures that a user-specified temperature is met at a user-specified time. The difference seems subtle, but in the real world, recovery mode makes a big positive difference in terms of living comfort and heating efficiency. When using a thermostat, it can take a variable amount of time for your heat to come up in the morning.  Let's say you want to be up and about a 7 AM with a house temperature of 68 °F.  When should the heating system come on? Well, that depends on your heating system, how cold it is outside, and...

Other Posts

Show more