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Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack review

My favorite type of gear bag is a backpack, especially if you need to carry your items around for long durations of time. My favorite type of backpack is a high-quality leather backpack and thus, I was eager to review the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack. While using this backpack over the last few weeks, I found that it is very well made using high-quality materials and holds all that I need to carry. It may not have many external pockets and getting things out of the backpack takes time, but the main compartment’s quick side access zippered slot is available to help alleviate some of those troubles (if the items are small enough to fit through the zippered access that is). This backpack has easily become my favorite bag!The Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack came with a “Welcome to the Family” card attached. This card states the following:

  • Welcome and contact information – if you have any questions about your item, contact Pad & Quill at SayHello@PadandQuill.com.
  • 100% satisfaction guaranteed – “For the first 30 days, if you are not 100% satisfied with you Pad & Quill item, no matter what it is or why send it back in like new condition for a refund.”
  • 25-year leather warranty – “If one of these [leather] items fails during the next two and a half decades due to a manufacturing defect, we failed – which is why we pledge to make it right with an exchange or repair.”
  • Leather and canvas care – “For cleaning, simply use a damp cloth to remove dirt or diminish scratches. Occasionally refreshing the leather with our Pad & Quill Leather Oil & Balm will help increase its lifespan as well.”

Design & Build Quality

When I received the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack, I eagerly opened the box and was greeted with the wonderful scent of leather. The Whiskey colored backpack is a beautiful dark brown color when viewed indoors (upper photo) and has a lighter brown color like that shown in the lower photo above when viewed outdoors (other available colors: Chestnut, Chocolate, Galloper Black). This backpack is made using full-grain, tumbled American bridle leather; parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching; hand-pounded copper rivets; and solid nickel hardware according to the Pad & Quill website. Its outer measurements are about 12″ wide x 16″ long x 4.7″ deep. The tumbled bridle leather of the backpack is soft and supple to allow for easy rolling and unrolling of the main compartment closure and yet it maintains its ruggedness. The roll-top closure is also weatherproof.

There is a quick side access zippered slot that allows you to insert or extract your smaller items without having to unbuckle and unroll the backpack. From this angle, you can see the zipper better.

This is a high-quality heavy-duty zipper and measures 8.75″ long. The other side of the backpack does not contain any pockets.The back of the backpack shows how the shoulder straps and the quick-grab handle are sewn into the top of the backpack and reinforced with hand-pounded copper rivets to help increase the strength of these stress points.The bottom of the backpack is about 12″ x 4.7″ (outer measurements) and 11.5″ x 4″ (internal measurements) as shown in the photo above. 

The lower front of the backpack sports the tasteful Pad & Quill logo. You’ll also notice that the leather loops used to hold the straps close to the backpack are attached using rivets.

All of the straps of the roll top backpack are very thick. Each strap is made by sewing together two strips of leather, each of which measures about 2mm in thickness and thus the straps are 4mm thick. You’ll also notice how all of the leather edges are raw edges (not burnished) as shown above. This is true throughout the backpack.

The shoulder straps consist of two leather sections connected by copper rivets. The length of the shoulder straps can be adjusted using the buckles located on the lower sides of the backpack. The buckles used to adjust the shoulder straps are attached with rivets and stitching to leather pieces which are sewn into the lower sides of the backpack.

The front of the backpack contains a small pocket which measures 6.75″ x 4.75″ (internal measurements) but will only hold materials that are about a couple of centimeters total in width. You’ll notice that the pocket is fastened using a leather strap and a metal ball stud fastener.
This pocket strap is easily unfastened by sliding the strap off the ball stud. There is a small thin strip of leather used to keep the pocket strap close to the backpack. That small strip is fastened to the front pocket using copper rivets.The inside of the pocket has raw leather on the front side and finished leather (from the front of the backpack) on the other. You can also see the rivets within this pocket and thus you might want to use caution when placing a small device in here as it might get scratched.The thread used to assemble the backpack is a heavy duty parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching. The above photo also shows how the buckles used to close the roll top opening are attached to the backpack using stitching and rivets as well. Roll top leather backpacks use a lot of leather making the backpack look rather long when opened (it’s about 24″ tall when opened).The roll top also makes the interior look rather cavernous/voluminous. You’ll also notice the rivets inside the backpack used to attach the loops and buckles on the outside. Again, you’ll want to be careful if you are placing any of your devices inside here because they could get scratched. Looking inside the backpack, you’ll notice that there is a nice internal leather pocket available to store a tablet or a small laptop (although it is not padded). This pocket is about 10.5″ wide x 12″ deep (internal measurements). The Pad & Quill website states that this pocket will hold up to a 15″ laptop (I do not have a 15″ laptop to test this).

The tablet/laptop pocket has attached to it a small pocket which is enclosed by a zipper. This pocket measures 6.5″ deep x 6.5″ wide (the zipper is 6.5″ long but the pocket is actually almost 8″ wide internally).

Use

I was able to pack two one-inch binders, two paper folders, my portable keyboard (in the tablet/laptop pocket), and my pencil case inside the backpack. When the backpack is this full, the quick side access zippered slot is difficult to use unless the items are small enough and placed right in front of the zipper (like a bottle of water or pencil case).
I was also able to store my small zippered pouch (which measures 6.25″ long x 4.5″ wide) and my Nexus 6 phone (6.375″ long x 3.375″ wide with the case on) in the front pocket. With just these two things, this pocket was full.

The backpack fits well and is comfortable to wear for short periods of time (I haven’t yet tested it over a long period of time). It fits all of my materials that I need to carry around with me in a compact way and feels like it will last a long time. It takes a bit of time to access my materials in the main compartment but I consider that a minor inconvenience. The quick access zipper closure on the side of the backpack is useful if I have to quickly extract a small item from inside, but I don’t usually have to do this. One of the benefits of the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack is that its roll-top closure allows it to easily adjust to tall or small items and still be closed using the adjustable buckles.

Final Thoughts

The Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack is a fantastic, beautiful, well-made, very high-quality leather backpack that sells for $319. I love using it. It is made using 2mm thick full-grain, tumbled American bridle leather; parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching; hand-pounded copper rivets; and solid nickel hardware. The Pad & Quill backpack fits well, allows me to carry all of my necessary materials, and has a 25-year warranty. It is important to note that it takes time to extract your materials from the backpack even with its quick side access zippered slot, but I found this to be a minor inconvenience. This backpack is now my favorite backpack and I highly recommend it.

Source: The sample used in this review was provided by Pad & Quill. Please visit their website for more information or to purchase one for yourself.

 

Product Information

Price: $319.00
Manufacturer: Pad & Quill
Pros:
  • Well-made, very high-quality
  • Carries all my necessary materials
  • Has 25-year warranty
  • Has an unpadded tablet/laptop internal pocket (for 15" laptops)
  • Has quick side access zippered slot
Cons:
  • Backpack alone weighs 4 pounds
  • You cannot access your materials quickly (although the quick side access zippered slot helps this if the items are small)

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Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 15, 2017 at 10:00 am.

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ROMOSS Longuard 2-Port 10000mAh Power Bank review

As someone who travels a lot I often find myself in situations where my phone or other device is low or out of power and a wall outlet is not readily available.  Before I travel, I meticulously charge my phones (I carry a personal and a work phone), my headphones, iPad, and computer.  Where these plans fall apart is when I get to the airport and begin draining my batteries while waiting to board my flight.  I don’t know how I made it this long without a supplementary power supply but now that I have the ROMOSS Longuard Power Bank, I will never travel without it.  (Picture is the Longuard next to an Apple iPhone 7 plus) 

The size (2.4 x 4.06 x 1.18 inches) is very manageable and easy to tuck away when not in use and the 0.69 pound weight is what you would expect from a battery that can deliver 10000 mAh.  Included with the battery is a USB to micro USB cord for charging and a padded mesh pouch with drawstring closure for storage and protection.

This power bank features dual 2.4A outputs allowing you to charge two devices at once.  Many other external battery packs only offer one output, putting this in the front of the pack.  ROMOSS’ proprietary Quick Charge technology automatically optimizes the power delivered to your device so you get the fastest safe charging rate.  It performs self-diagnostics to protect your electronics against overcharging, overheating, short circuits and excessive current.  If it detects a problem, the Longuard will turn itself off in order to protect anything you have connected to it.

From empty, the Longuard can be fully recharged in 4 hours and after testing, I found the recharge time to be slightly less than this.  The same battery technology that is found in today’s electric cars can be found in the Longuard.  According to ROMOSS, there are 26650 battery cells in the device and have been certified for over 1000 charging cycles, 60% more than other leading power banks on the market.  There is just one button on the Longuard on which the four LED power level indicator lights can be found.  10000 mAh will charge an iPhone or Galaxy 2 to 3.5 times depending on which device you own.  For my needs, the balance of size and power capacity makes this just right for me.

I was using this for the first time in the field on a flight with some coworkers.  I hadn’t planned on talking about it or asking my colleagues if they had an external power bank but as soon as we took our seats, 3 of the 5 people traveling with me had taken out their own batteries and were charging their devices.  This began a show and tell session that led to everyone explaining why theirs was the best, even though nobody knew anything about the other batteries.  This is what you come to expect when you work in an industry with a lot of alpha personalities and everyone, including myself, thinks that we are all electronics gurus despite our need to call IT in a panic whenever the slightest thing goes wrong with anything that has a power button.  After a brief show and tell I realized that not every power bank has 2 outputs and charge in 4 hours.  Without even trying, one person used his in-flight WiFi to head to Amazon to pick up a Longuard so it was waiting for him when he got home.

One of the things that amazed me was how the price of these power banks have come down from what I remember.  With a price of $23.99, this is an absolute no-brainer for me to recommend for people looking for a power bank that is reliable, versatile (2 power outputs) and small enough to bring with you anywhere.  If you plan on being away from a power outlet for an extended period of time, you will likely need something more than 10000 mAh.  For those times where you just need to get you through a day or two or have a backup in case you forgot to charge your device, the Longuard will not disappoint.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by ROMOSS.  For more information or to purchase please visit their website or ROMOSS.  For more information or to purchase please visit their website or Amazon.

 

Product Information

Price: $23.99
Manufacturer: ROMOSS
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Very affordable at $23.99 on Amazon; 2 power outputs; quick charging; long battery life (1000+ charge cycles); protects your devices from overcharging or other kinds of damage.
Cons:
  • I honestly don't have any criticism of this power bank. Should I come up with anything after more use I will provide an update.

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ROMOSS Longuard 2-Port 10000mAh Power Bank review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 14, 2017 at 8:37 am.

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V-Moda Remix Speaker review: V-Moda goes from inside your head to an out-of-body experience

One reason I enjoy reviewing portable Bluetooth speakers is that it’s fun to watch how companies try to one-up the competition with materials, innovative features or just plain ole’ audio quality. And sometimes, a company will come along and introduce all three elements into a single speaker. The V-Moda Remix Wireless Speaker contains more like two-and-a-half rather than all three elements. I’ll explain later.

V-Moda has been a pioneer in the headphone market because they don’t rest on their past success. The sound signature of their original Crossfade headphones was crowdsourced and the result was a warm, pleasing and fun headphone. Things only improved with subsequent Crossfade headphones. Soon, I will review the new Crossfade 2 Wireless headphone as V-Moda dips deeper into the Bluetooth market.

Speaking of Bluetooth, V-Moda has ventured into the portable speaker market in a big way. They didn’t just settle for a me-to speaker—they had to be different. The Remix is a rather petite, but weighty Bluetooth speaker. It’s solid build reeks of quality with aluminum housing (also available in vegan leather). The stock design is modern and understated—by V-Moda standards. It comes with black and red square silicone “bands” that provide a good base for the speaker and help keep it stationary if the volume gets too loud.

However, if the Remix’s out-of-box look doesn’t fit your style, you can opt for a 3D option and customize the grill, housing and sides—literally every surface of the speaker depending on taste and budget.

There are many 3D choices of parts and materials available, from affordable plastic on up to stainless steel, gold or even platinum costing thousands of dollars. However, regardless of how affordable or expensive these options can be, all Remix speakers operate and sound identical. V-Moda didn’t offer a platinum version for review—darn it!

Let’s discuss volume for a minute—both speaker volume as well as the volume of the audible prompts. When I review speakers, I take them to my office for tryouts because it’s a multi-person environment—important for real-world use. Unfortunately, I can’t test the Remix in my office because the prompts are too loud—as in LOUD. Everyone around me can hear when the Remix is turned on, paired or shut down. It’s both annoying and embarrassing.

Then there’s the volume of the speaker itself. Even the lowest settings are loud enough for people in nearby offices to hear unless my door is closed. When I’m listening to the Remix speaker in my backyard studio building, there’s no problem because I’m alone. However, the volume issues are something to consider if you plan to use the Remix in an environment with other people nearby.

Having said that, the Remix is almost a perfect companion around the house, bedroom—or in my case, my studio building.

From mid to loud volumes, the Remix offers sound quality that fits its price range. Bass is way more potent than most other speakers this size. It’s both beefy and deep, That’s a good thing except at max volume—which I’ll get into later in the review.

At the top of the speaker, you’ll find a status light along with an on/off, volume down, multifunction, volume up, and labeled PAIR button next to a built-in mic for hands-free calling. Bluetooth pairing is both easy and painless. The multifunction button performs a few tasks: It will pause, play and fast forward or repeat a tune as well as access Siri on an iPhone or Google Now on an Android phone.

The Remix has some tactile inconsistencies: When the multifunction button is pressed to pause a song, there’s a slight delay just long enough to make me wonder if I pressed it correctly. Also, turning on the Remix requires pressing and holding the on/off button for a couple of seconds, but to turn it off requires only a short button press.

Hands-free calling using the Remix’s built-in mic is passable at best. I could hear who I was talking to just fine and they could hear me—but although the sound quality was understandable, I was told it was rough sounding. I was also told I sounded better using just the iPhone by itself.

V-Moda has future-proofed the Remix speaker by utilizing the newer USB-C connection for charging. The back of the speaker has the usual AUX port (for wired connection). There’s also a built-in headphone amp (V-Moda calls it a VAMP) with lighted mini plug port. This amp is interesting because it will drive headphones that require more power than a smartphone can usually deliver. This simply means that power-hungry headphones will sound clearer and louder using the VAMP. Note that to get the benefit of better audio from the built-in amp, headphones must be hard-wired directly to the Remix via the VAMP port.

How does the V-Moda speaker sound? For its size, the Remix sounds great, with one caveat: If you like plenty of bass, this is the speaker to get. If you prefer a more accurate bass, you may be happier with a different speaker. How good it sounds to you depends on what music you prefer. Bassier hip-hop, alt-rock or trance help make the Remix sound bigger than its size. Older rock or jazz audio has a bit more clarity and punch in the middle and higher frequencies.

John Lennon’s excellent Plastic Ono Band debut album brims with biting lyrics (and primal screaming) laid over incessant beats that rachet up the tension as the album progresses. The result is an unleashing of raw emotion not often heard in music. The Remix speaker captures Lennon’s angst and pain almost perfectly, making you feel what Lennon feels.

England’s Joy Division is another example of the pain of living being laid bare in the music. “Isolation” from their “Closer” album has high frequency synth notes competing with a low beat that you can almost feel as well as hear when listening with the Remix speaker at louder volume. The song is both disconcerting and terrific.

The remix shines with vocal music. Jimmy Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty” is a bittersweet look at how our priorities change as we age. The tonal quality of acoustic guitar playing along with Buffett’s vocals are captured accurately on the Remix giving the song a timeless quality.

I decided to do a direct comparison between the Remix and the slightly more expensive Bowers & Wilkins T7 Bluetooth speaker. I prefer the B&W speaker’s more accurate bass. Plus, at full volume, bass on the Remix distorts. It doesn’t on the T7.

Note that I try not to do comparisons for many reasons, but I wanted a younger person’s take on the Remix.

I performed a blind listening test on my 24-year-old son who is a professional musician and worship leader. He much preferred the Remix, even if the bass did distort at full volume, which he acknowledged. He said the T7 speaker sounded anemic by comparison. While I don’t agree, this highly non-scientific test made me realize that younger people want more bass in their audio and that quantity will trump accuracy almost every time.

It also proves that reviewing audio is never an exact science. These are subjective observations of both my son and me. You shouldn’t ever let one review (even mine) influence a buying decision. Read many reviews and do your homework. If a speaker sounds good to you, then it sounds good … period.

The V-Moda Remix will please many listeners, even picky old me.

The V-Moda Remix Wireless Bluetooth speaker sells for $300 US and is available from Amazon.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by V-Moda. Please visit v-moda.com for more information and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $299.99 US
Manufacturer: V-Moda
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Solidly built
  • Lots of bass for a speaker this size
  • Fans of bass will love it
Cons:
  • Expensive
  • Distorts at full volume

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V-Moda Remix Speaker review: V-Moda goes from inside your head to an out-of-body experience originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 13, 2017 at 10:13 am.

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Even your car deserves an awesome gear bag

Keep all the miscellaneous gear in your car in one place with a Seat Organizer from Ketzel. These multi-compartment leather holders are designed to hang on the back of a car seat so you can keep everything neat and tidy for easy access. Ketzel makes their car seat organizers for a selection of Toyota, VW, Jeep, and other vehicles. They are constructed to hold a variety of items from flashlights, books, water bottles, and more. Each seat organizer is made from 100% Columbian leather with double-stitched waxed polyester thread and are priced at $150 – $199. You can read more about these rugged car gear bags at ketzalbags.com

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Even your car deserves an awesome gear bag originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 13, 2017 at 8:00 am.

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Belkin Pocket Power 5,000mAh charger review: A cute way to quickly charge your devices.

When it comes to day trips and travel days, I’ve been using the same portable battery pack for years to keep my phone topped off. During that time, battery packs have become not only smaller but pack more power into that smaller unit. Belkin offered their Pocket Power 5,000mAh portable charger to review and I thought, “Why not?” I just couldn’t say no to the portability and the lovely pink color.

In the package you’ll find the Pocket Power 5k power bank, instruction manual, and a 6 inch Micro-USB cable.

I was happy that they offered a rose gold colored pack, since it made it easy to find when tossed into a backpack. The color was really nice, and despite being thrown in my purse, backpack, and car, the outer casing held up very well. The pack is thin enough to fit inside even my smallest purse, which was nice. My previous pack was too thick to do so.

The side of the battery pack is where the charging indicator lights are, as well as the button to start and stop charging. Sometimes it would automatically start charging my phone when I plugged it in, while other times I had to press this button.

On the bottom side you’ll find the USB port for charging your devices and the Micro-USB port for charging the battery pack. Charging the pack from empty took a few hours to do. I just left it to charge overnight for the most part.

At 5000 mAh, this pack should have enough juice to charge your phone about 1.5 times, which is better than the previous one I was using.

I was very happy with how fast this little battery pack charged up my phone. The ultimate test was when I forgot to plug in my phone overnight right before a weekend trip. I got to the airport, pulled up my boarding pass, and realized I was very low on battery. I plugged in my phone and in an hour I was up to almost 90%. What a lifesaver! I also used it to keep my phone topped off, and it had plenty of juice to do everything I requested of it that day. I charged it up that night and it lasted the entire weekend.

Overall, I am very happy with the Pocket Power 5K power bank. It has enough juice to charge my iPhone 7 Plus and
then some, and not only that, it charges very quickly. The pack itself fits well in my hand, purse, or backpack, and seems sturdy enough to hold up to daily use. I would definitely recommend the Belkin Pocket Power 5K as it will be my go to pack for travel from now on.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Belkin. Please visit their website for more information and Amazon to order one.

 

Product Information

Price: $29.99
Manufacturer: Belkin
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • – Very fast charging
  • – Portable
Cons:
  • – None

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Belkin Pocket Power 5,000mAh charger review: A cute way to quickly charge your devices. originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 12, 2017 at 10:29 am.

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