Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Gifts for the Road Warrior

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Traveling for business is a burden among many, with the need to always stay connected and updated with co-workers and clients as well as being productive without technology roadblocks and delays. If you need to find a gift for the person in your life who’s always on the go and traveling cross-country or across the globe, we’ve got a few products that are perfect for them.

As most everyone will witness this holiday season, getting through airport security will be a mess and Timbuk2 is here to help. The new Commute 2.0 and Blogger 2.0 bags are the greatest laptop bags for a quick whisk through the TSA lines. They both offer a laptop compartment that unzips so you don’t have to go through the hassle of taking your laptop out. If that isn’t enough to convince you, both also have a waterproof front flap to keep your valuables dry in stormy weather. The Commute 2.0 and Blogger 2.0 bags from Timbuk2 sell for $100 each.

Laptops are getting smaller and smaller these days and 2009 could probably be declared as the year of the netbook. Weighing between 2-3 pounds, they’re perfect for sending emails and web browsing while traveling (they’re fairly cheap too). Our favorite is the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA, which packs in a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a 10.1” screen. While it may seem that 1.6GHz of processing power isn’t a whole lot, it can easily handle music and video playback as well. Buy it from Amazon today for $339.95 with free shipping.

If your road warrior happens to be a music lover, netbook speakers probably aren’t the best to rock out to, and Altec Lansing has created a perfect companion product called the Orbit USB. The Orbit USB is simply a single speaker that connects via USB. The speaker has decent sound for such a small speaker and conveniently folds up inside a carrying case to throw in your bag. You can find the Orbit USB speaker today for $49.95.

Of course, why get them a netbook if they don’t have a constant internet connection? That’s where the Sprint MiFi comes in. The MiFi is essentially a high-speed cell connection linked to a small wireless router. Finding yourself somewhere without a free wireless hotspot can be a pain, but they can simply turn on the MiFi and connect to it just like they would at their favorite coffee shop. In fact, they can connect up to five devices to it, including their iPhone or BlackBerry with WiFi. The EVDO Rev. A connection is just as fast as a typical DSL line you would find at home and like all cell phones, the MiFi does need a two-year contract and monthly service, but it’s well worth it.

Keeping these portable devices charged is a tough task when you’re always on the go, and that’s why we recommend the Energizer Energi To Go XP4000. The XP4000 is a portable rechargeable power pack which can charge anything with a USB connection, whether it be an iPod, iPhone, or a digital camera. The power pack comes with various tips including mini-USB, micro-USB, iPod dock connector, and others used for a slew of smartphone manufacturers such as Motorola and Nokia. The Energi To Go XP4000 can be purchased from Amazon.com for around $60 with free shipping.

Business travelers also tend to have a ton of documents, from PowerPoint presentations to Excel spreadsheets, and keeping those documents in a central storage spot can be overwhelming. One of my favorite devices this year is a series of products from Seagate. The FreeAgent Go is a portable USB hard drive with up to 1TB of storage, but without the next product, it’s just a storage device. However, pair the FreeAgent Go with the DockStar network adapter, and it becomes an internet sharing device. Using the Pogoplug technology, the DockStar allows anyone to access and share files over the internet. Revised files are updated almost instantly and you can even connect more than one USB hard drive to the DockStar for even more storage.

Whether you buy one or many of these gifts, the road warrior in your life will be connected this holiday season.