The good thing about portable technology is that we're no longer chained to our desks. The bad thing about portable technology is that we're no longer chained to our desks. Go figure. In days of yore (yore being a dozen or so years ago) you did your work at your desk, and when you were away from your desk, you were away from your work. Not so today, and you can thank all the major technology companies for this dubious advancement. Used to be that if you were driving, or out for a walk, or shopping for groceries, you were out of touch, communications-wise. Today, however, thanks to cell phones and wireless PDAs and other such gizmos, you're never out of touch. You can conduct sensitive business negotiations (or be badgered by your spouse) while shopping for liverwurst or sipping on a latte, much to the annoyance of everyone around you. For better or for worse, you just can't get away from it all anymore; no matter where you are, you're still connected, probably wirelessly. So if the ubiquitous connection is now the rule rather than the exception, you might as well go with the flow and have a little fun with it. After all, this influx of portable technology is a great excuse to buy all sorts of portable gadgets. And gadgets are definitely fun! Choosing the Right Gadgets to Fit Your Road Warrior LifestyleThe big question is, exactly which portable gadgets you need? If you bought one of everything, you'd need Batman's utility belt to carry them all around which sort of negates the concept of portability. No, the savvy road warrior picks and chooses his gadgets, to maximize his portable computing and communicating efficiency. It's possible, after all, to have a single gadget perform multiple functions. So, which portable gadgets do you need? It all depends on your individual road warrior lifestyle. Here are some hints:
You get the idea. There's lots of gadgets you can carry, although you don't have to carry each and every one. Since many portable gadgets due double and triple duty, it's a matter of determining what types of tasks you'll need to do, and picking the right devices for those specific tasks. Do your planning, and you could end up with a single device in your briefcase. Don't, and you'll need an assistant to juggle all the different gadgets you carry along! Shopping for a Laptop PCFor most businesspeople, a laptop PC is an essential portable gadget. With the right laptop, you can do practically any work you would normally do in your office from just about anywhere on the road. Buying a laptop PC isn't all that simple, however, because there are so many different types on the market today. At the very least, you'll have to choose from these types of models:
Whichever type of laptop you decide on, you'll want to make sure it meets some minimal performance specs. Assuming you don't go the Apple route (which I prefer, but you probably don't), you should look for a laptop that uses a Pentium M processor (runs cooler and uses less power than standard desktop Pentium 4 processors), has at least 512MB memory, offers built-in 802.11b/g WiFi wireless connectivity, and has a combo CD burner/DVD player drive. By the way, machines billed as using Intel Centrino technology use Intel's Pentium M/WiFi chips, which is a sure-fire way to go but not the only way. Some manufacturers use non-Intel WiFi chips, and even though they use the Pentium M processor, can't use the official Centrino logo. No big deal, as long as you get some sort of Pentium M/WiFi combination. Looking forward, we're just about due for notebooks that use Intel's next-generation Centrino technology, dubbed Sonoma. These notebooks will have improved performance thanks to a 533Mhz bus, DDR2 RAM, PCI Express, and improved audio and video. Sonoma will also support something called stack execution disabling, which will improve security on next-generation notebooks. Look for it. Choosing the Right PDAEven though some experts say the traditional PDA is on the way out (to be replaced by smartphones and semi-smart cell phones), there's still a market for these little gizmos. No self-respectable gadget geek is without a clunky PDA clipped to his belt, after all. Now, you wouldn't expect the PDA market to be any less confusing than other high-tech markets, which is why you have your choice of units that use the Palm operating system (Palm OS) or Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. Palm OS devices tend to be a little lower-priced than Pocket PCs, although some of the high-end Palm models are every bit as expensive. Features tend to be comparable between the two types of devices, although you should go the Pocket PC route if you need to work with Word or Excel files; Pocket PCs incorporate "pocket" versions of both programs. The big player in the Palm OS market is palmOne, as the old Palm company now calls itself. (Well, actually, they're going to go back to calling themselves just Palm again, but we'll stick with the PalmOne name just to be stubborn.) PalmOne manufactures two different lines of devices (three, if you count the Treo smartphones), the Tungsten line for business users and the Zire line for general consumer use. The Pocket PC is Microsoft's answer to the Palm PDA. Pocket PCs tend to be a little more business-oriented and a little more powerful than Palm PDAs and little more expensive, as well. The major Pocket PC manufacturers are HP and Dell. Most users use their PDAs pretty much for managing contacts, scheduling appointments, and making to-do lists. (Oh, and playing games never forget the games!) Palm OS PDAs synch with the Palm Desktop software for all these functions; Pocket PCs synch your Pocket PC contact and appointment lists with Microsoft Outlook. (Most Palm PDAs also come with utility programs that let you synch with Microsoft Outlook, if that's your preference.) In addition, Pocket PCs are a little more oriented towards traditional office tasks; they come with Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket Money, so you can use your Pocket PC to edit the same files you use on your desktop PC. Which type of PDA should you buy Palm OS or Pocket PC? My general advice is that if all you need is basic calendar and address book functions, go with the lower-priced Palm OS. If you need to integrate with various Windows applications Outlook, especially then spring for a Pocket PC. Whichever type of PDA you choose, here are some of the things to look for when shopping:
Of Cell Phones and Smart PhonesChoosing a cell phone is a major lifestyle decision. Do you prefer a flip phone or a candy bar phone? Do you use it strictly for conversations, or do you do text messaging? Do you want to play games on your phone, or watch videos? How about taking pictures? And do you prefer a silver case or a blue one? More important well, equally important is the cell phone provider, and the network technology used. As you've no doubt discovered, phones that work with one provider don't work with another provider. That's because different providers use different cell phone technologies. In the pre-digital days, analog cell phones used a technology called FDMA (frequency division multiple access). Today's digital networks (in the U.S., anyway) use different technologies. Sprint and Verizon use 800MHz or 1900MHz CDMA (code division multiple access) technology; Cingular and T-Mobile use 1900MHz GSM (global system for mobile communications) technology. Naturally, they're all incompatible with each other. And that's just within the United States. Overseas (over any sea, actually), GSM technology is standard. However, since European and Asian providers use the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands, these systems are incompatible with the U.S. providers' 1900MHz GSM systems. Confused yet? It gets better, especially when you discover that different cell phone manufacturers produce different models for different systems. You might see a particular cell phone you like, but then find out it isn't available for your particular service provider. So you have to pick a model that works with your particular provider, and vice versa. Then we have the topic of smartphones. A smartphone is a combination PDA and cell phone; that is, it's device that makes cellular calls and stores contact and scheduling information. Most smartphones offer a larger display than a normal cell phone (more like a PDA display), as well as a mini-QWERTY keyboard (for data entry). Why would you want a smartphone? Well, if you carry both a PDA and a mobile phone, a smartphone lets you cut your number of portable gadgets by half that's if you don't mind the compromises inherent in such a combo device, of course. You see, the typical smartphone is somewhat larger than a typical cell phone, shaped and sized more like a PDA. This makes for a somewhat awkward phone, but if you think of it as a PDA plus, then you're okay. In any case, before you purchase any smartphone, you should give it a full try-out. Make sure it does everything you need it to do, in a way that's intuitive and comfortable to you. And definitely be sure you like the size and heft; whichever model you choose, you'll be using it a lot! And, no matter which type of phone (smart or otherwise) you choose, check out all the various accessories available especially headsets. If you use your cell phone for extended periods at a time, you know how uncomfortable it can get. That's why many people use some sort of headset, so they don't have to hold the handset to the side of their heads all the time. All cell phone headsets include an earphone for listening and a microphone for talking. They're very popular among people who work all day on the phone, such as call center professionals. They're also great for using a cell phone in the car, which you really shouldn't be doing anyway, although I know you do. Until recently, all headsets attached to the phone via a long cord easy to connect, if somewhat inconvenient. Today, many new headsets attach cordlessly, thanks to Bluetooth wireless technology. If your phone is already Bluetooth-enabled (and more and more are), just synch a Bluetooth headset with your phone and you're ready to go. If you don't have a Bluetooth phone, you'll have to attach a Bluetooth adapter to it to use a wireless headset. When you're shopping for a headset, whether wired or wireless, the main thing to look for is comfort. Do you like the way it hangs on your ear? You should also check the performance; those mini-mics don't always work that well, especially if you're a quiet speaker. You might have to evaluate several models to find one you really like. And then there's the style issue; some of these puppies are ultra-stylish, others look like giant plastic bugs growing out of your ear canal. Style is in the eye of the beholder (and the ear of the beholden), so choose accordingly. Portable Storage for the Portable LifestyleThen there's the gadget for every road warrior and even for those warriors who don't hit the road all that much. I'm talking about so-called USB memory devices, which are terrific gizmos for transferring data from one PC to another. These gadgets contain various amounts of flash memory and connect to any computer via a free USB port. When connected, your computer views the device just like another disk drive. You can then transfer files from your computer to the flash memory and back again. What's especially cool about these USB memory devices is that they pack so much storage into such a small form factor. Most of these gizmos are truly keychain-sized; you can slip them in your pocket and easily carry them from PC to PC, which makes for truly portable mass storage. And, because they're pretty much plug-and-play, transferring your files from one computer to another is easy, which is great if you use multiple PCs or travel to various locations. Some of the early USB memory devices didn't have much memory onboard 8MB and 16MB devices were common back then. But as the price of flash memory has come down, manufacturers have packed more and more memory into these little doodads. Some models today have 2GB or more capacity, which is big enough to store all but the biggest files. (Heck, that's big enough to hold a couple of CDs worth of music uncompressed!) Of course, the more storage offered, the higher the price. Today's lowest-priced USB memory devices give you 256MB of storage for $50 or less. Double that price and you'll get into the 1GB range; 2GB devices typically run over two bills. Choose the right size for your needs, as well as a form factor that you like, and you'll be a happy warrior. |