Mobile Computing Tips: Gifts for Mobile Mavens
Notebooks, handhelds, portable gadgets, gizmos, and geegaws.James A. Martin
Gifts for the Gadget-Obsessed
In these uncertain times, do you truly need a wristwatch that retrieves e-mail? A PDA that shows movie clips? A camcorder not much bigger than a Pocket PC?
In a word, no. But why should that stop you? The holidays are upon us; New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says it's our civic duty to shop; and you have to give your beloved some ideas for a holiday gift. So to get you started, we've come up with a list of the gotta-have gizmos most likely to set the propeller on your hat to spinning. And just for the heck of it, we've thrown in a few practical items as well.
Glamorous Gadgets
Coolest notebook: Apple iBook. Way too hip to be a Windows notebook, the latest iBook is versatile, affordable, easily tote-able, and just plain fun. The top-of-the-line edition includes a DVD/CD-RW drive and a 15GB hard drive for about $1700. For the latest, greatest prices, go to the PCWorld.com Product Finder.
Sleekest PDA: Sony Clie. With its high-resolution color screen, built-in MP3 player, and the ability to view color photos and short videos, the $430 Sony Clie PEG-N710C brings high drama to the otherwise staid Palm OS stage. For the latest, greatest prices, go to the PCWorld.com Product Finder.
Most stylish cell phone: Siemens S40. Whether in Europe, Asia, or the U.S., you'll look fabulous chatting on this lightweight, silver-and-gray world phone (which costs about $380).
Most futuristic gadget: Timex Internet Messenger. Is it possible for the human wrist to be spammed? You bet it is. This $99 wristwatch receives and displays e-mail messages of less than 100 characters as well as customized alerts for news, weather, sports, and more.
Most jammin' MP3 player: Archos Jukebox 6000. You'll be singing the praises of this silver-and-blue tune tote. With its built-in 6GB hard drive, the portable Jukebox (about $250) can play hours of MP3-formatted music and back up computer files as well. For the latest, greatest prices, go to the PCWorld.com Product Finder.
Practical Stuff
Cutest portable storage: Pockey. Weighing 5 ounces and measuring 3 inches wide and 5 inches long, the $250 Pockey portable hard drive makes 20GB of backup storage look positively precious.
Most practical PDA accessory: Electric Fuel Instant Power Charge. In our experience, battery power on a PDA or cell phone lasts about as long as a Seinfeld spin-off. Here's a solution that's both cool and practical: disposable zinc-air battery packs to power your PDA. Charges are available at $20 a pop for most Palms, Handspring Visors, Pocket PCs, and many cell phones.
Notebooks
Dell, IBM Notebooks Most Reliable
Dell and IBM notebooks are tops in terms of reliability and tech support, according to the latest PC World reader survey. Both vendors rated four out of five stars.
Push-Button Playback
Speaking of cool, the Toshiba Satellite 2005-S403 notebook features dedicated multimedia buttons that let you start up a DVD movie or music CD without having to turn the computer on first. PC World ranks the Satellite as no. 2 among power notebooks in the Top 15 line-up; we tested a Pentium III-1000/700 model that sells for $2199.
Ix-Nay on the Late Fees
Come to think of it, watching a DVD on your computer during a cross-country flight is an excellent way to pass the time. If you don't want to buy DVDs or face late charges on Blockbuster rentals, go to Netflix.com. Just pick the flicks you want, and they're mailed to you. For a $20 monthly fee, check out up to three discs at a time and mail them back whenever you're done. For more information, see "Three Minutes With Netflix CEO Reed Hastings."
Handhelds
Handspring's Updated Browser
Handspring's updated Blazer Web browser ($20) for Palm OS devices now supports 16-bit color, 128-bit Secure Socket Layer encryption, improved bookmarking, and the ability to use a Web site for your home page.
Filling Out Forms in the Field
Do you ever need to fill out a form when you're away from the office? If so, consider carrying PDF forms on your Pocket PC. Ansyr Technology recently demonstrated its Mobile Office PDForms plug-in, which lets you add data to and save PDF forms on a handheld device. Additional plug-ins let you add your digital John Hancock.
Visor Neo Is Tops
In a review of new Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds, PC World's Harry McCracken picked the Handspring Visor Neo as his favorite. The Neo (list price $199) is "the best entry-level, Palm OS-based unit currently on the market," McCracken says. For the latest, greatest prices, go to PCWorld.com's Product Finder.
Mobile Services
Microsoft Goes Mobile
Microsoft has announced a two-way pager that lets subscribers of its free Hotmail e-mail service send and receive messages wirelessly and access content from Microsoft's MSN service. The pager is an MSN-branded version of Motorola's Talkabout T900, and costs $59 (after rebates) if you subscribe to a year of service from Arch Wireless at $19.95 per month.