I've been doing a lot more travel lately for my new job, and I'm getting pretty good at slimming down what I lug around in my laptop case. Every electronic gadget I bring adds a few ounces to my laptop case, and they each add up to a sore shoulder while rushing to catch connecting flights.

I do have a couple gadgets though that make it on the short list of "must haves", and a couple of them require AA batteries - a laser pointer/remote slide controller device that lets me advance to the next Powerpoint slide even if I'm on the opposite side of the room from my laptop, and a wireless optical mouse (the fewer the wires, the better).

I'd hate to be in front of a group of paying customers, only to discover that my batteries were dead, but I also don't want to carry around a battery charger or have extra batteries floating around my laptop case.

Enter the perfect solution: USB rechargeable batteries.

USBCell AA 1300mah NiMH Rechargable Batteries, Pack of Two

They're NiMH AA cells that can be used in normal battery applications and can be recharged simply by plugging into a USB port with the built in USB interface.

Traditional rechargeable batteries have never been truly portable as they are dependent on chargers or adapators, and so most people still prefer to use alkaline cells. According to the company that makes these USB Cells, 15 billion dead batteries are thrown away each year!

Clearly a much greener solution is needed.