The Gear and Tactics from Lifehacker's Laptop Bags

We got crazy with the self-reflection last week, letting each Lifehacker editor show and tell what's in our laptop bags. If you're interested in the items or techniques listed below, you can get a closer look at how Kevin, Adam, Jason, the How-To Geek, and Gina put together their laptop bags. Dropbox: The How-To Geek's essential laptop item isn't really an item at all, but a $10/month subscription to file syncing service Dropbox. With 50 GB of constantly updated web storage and the ability to grab files as needed from Dropbox's web site, the Geek no longer worries about having, losing, or requesting thumb drives, or worrying about last-minute transfers before he heads out. Airplane rides for two: "When you're on a long plane ride with your significant other, this headphone jack splitter lets you enjoy some in-flight laptop entertainment without needing to share earbuds. (How-To Geek) Giveaway flash drives: "If (a lost-and-found) flash drive has no identifying information on it-the contact information on resumes is the most likely to reunite them with their owners-then I reformat it and turn it into one of my giveaway drives. (Jason) Extended life batteries: "I killed the stock battery by keeping it plugged into the system at all times. As Battery University explains, "The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries." So I hit up (third-party sites), found a 12-cell battery for my ThinkPad, and keep it in the bag, charged at about 80%." Thanks for reading, and more thanks if you share how you've upgraded your own laptop bag in the comments.