What’s in my bag: Jan’s not leaving the house without his mouse

My notebook may well have a touchpad, but whenever I can, I use my mouse. It enables me to move the cursor more comfortably and click more precisely. That’s why it always belongs in my backpack. Otherwise I have other things in my bag, depending on the situation. In the following photos, you can see what I took with me on my trip from Hamburg to the editorial department in Zürich.

Laptop and mouse

The Logitech Lift transported me into the world of vertical mice, and now it’s my constant companion. As long as I have enough space next to my notebook, I’ll get it out and enjoy the fact I can move my cursor easily.

Fellow editor Samuel Buchmann has photographed the lift in good light. The soft rubber back is actually already quite worn. I think it’s time for a new mouse soon.

My company provides the business laptop for work purposes. My HP Elitebook 840 G9 is already over two years old, but with its Core i7-1260P and 32 gigabytes of RAM it does the job. I can have several tabs open in the browser, use Teams and Outlook and edit images with Lightroom or Photoshop.

Headphones, but not massive ones please

Whether you’re on the train or on a video call in the office, headphones are a must. And since I don’t feel like carrying a bulky over-ear model around, I always have in-ear headphones in my bag. Currently, I use the Nothing Ear. The case is a small as a stone, the headphones sit comfortably, sound nice and have good active noise reduction. Soon they might be replaced by another model, but I can’t talk about it yet.

Test devices, test devices, test devices

The test devices I have in my backpack on the day of the photo shoot are the Pixel 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Smartphones are the devices I switch up most often. As I write this, I have the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G and the Xiaomi Mix Flip with me. I rarely pack larger items such as a notebook, and when it comes to other items – such as routers – it makes little sense to transport them in my everyday backpack.

Bits and bobs and extensions

If I’m not just going to the office, there’s more in my luggage. Whether it’s a press event in another city or a visit to a trade fair, the first thing I do is decide on my power supply. On this trip, I’m not taking the HP 65-watt model for the laptop. Instead, I’m taking the power supply unit from Huawei and a powerbank. The Uno model from Ugreen should be available on our shop in January. I particularly appreciated the integrated USB-C cable. The display is just a gimmick. It only shows funny faces and the charge level, no other information. When travelling to Switzerland, I also pack a travel adapter to be on the safe side. The model in the photo was a promotional gift and it’s done its job perfectly so far.

Depending on the meeting, I also add a camera and lens to my luggage. In the Hamburg part of the editorial office, we use a Canon EOS 90D with a Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. But I can’t ignore their size and weight when considering packing them.

This is where it all goes

I can’t fit more than 28 litres in my luggage – the maximum volume of my Deuter Giga. The backpack has a notebook pocket, a large compartment and various smaller compartments for bits and bobs. If the weight increases considerably due to the camera and other things, the wide shoulder straps provide extra comfort and, if necessary, I can distribute the weight on my hips with the waist strap.

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