|
Pack lightly and wisely
|
 |
September 7, 2001: 6:35 a.m. ET
Travel tips that will help lighten the load of portable hi-tech gadgets
By Sarah Max
|
NEW YORK (MONEY.com) - Technology has squeezed computing power that once filled a room into the palm of a hand, but it has also given birth to an overwhelming number of portable gadgets. While business travelers no longer struggle to stow shoulder-straining portable PCs in planes' overhead compartments, they now worry about keeping track of all of their little beeping gadgets. It's become enough of a problem that Dockers has introduced the "Mobile Pant," a classic pant with hidden pockets for toting digital accessories.
Another company, SCOTT eVEST, has created the Personal Area Network (PAN). Described as "a vest as wired as you are," it's designed specifically to hold all that little electronic stuff. Available in khaki and black, it even has a cup holder to free up hands for dialing and mini-computing.
But for business travelers who would rather not have to strip to their underwear to get through a metal detector, it is still possible to pack less while staying in touch and being productive.
Do more on your handheld
Many frequent travelers say the easiest fix for an overloaded carryon is to simply leave the laptop at home. "I only carry a laptop if I'm going to be somewhere more than three days," says Dick Grove, CEO of the public relations firm Ink Incorporated. "Instead I carry a Hewlett-Packard Journada, which is a handheld with a built-in modem and a tiny keyboard." In fact, if you pair your handheld with a portable keyboard (and a good pair of reading glasses) you can work on documents with relative ease. Handheld makers have been racing to fit desktop functions onto their devices, and with some success. Palm, the most popular maker of personal data assistants, is now outfitting its newest devices with software that transfers Word and Excel files to its PDAs and updates the desktop versions upon synchronization.
Mooch off someone else's PC
Now that more hotels, airport clubs and even cafes list personal computers among their amenities, it is easier to get by without a laptop. If you carry a tiny, portable disk drive, you can transport large files from one computer to the next. Toshiba's 5-gigabyte PC card, for example, is the size of a credit card and stores the equivalent of 3,000 floppy disks. The DiskOnKey, a pen-like data storage device, plugs into the universal serial bus port of most machines and is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems.
Strap on an email pager
Although wireless email on PDAs and cell phones is still spotty, many executives swear by email pagers, such as Blackberry, to send and receive office email without having to plug in their laptops and log onto their companies' networks. This is still no substitute for a cell phone, though. That's the one item no business traveler can part with.
If you must pack your laptop, pass on the rest
If you do choose to take your laptop on business trips, try to avoid bringing other gadgets with similar functions. Rather than tote a portable DVD player or CD player, for example, play DVDs on your laptop and store your favorite tunes on MP3 files on your laptop. Synchronize your contact and calendar information into your laptop and leave your PDA behind.
Remember your power source
At the same time you eliminate certain devices, you'll want to consider the really essential accessories. "Leave the neurotic stuff at home but always, always bring spare batteries," says Bernard DiFore, CEO of Benefitmall. If you're flying overseas or cross-country, that means an extra battery for your laptop (if you're bringing it) or extra AA or AAA batteries for your smaller gadgets. Since batteries and chargers can add lots of unwanted pounds, executives who split time between different offices might consider keeping chargers and spare batteries at each location.
Save space for cords and creature comforts
Dougas Levin, an executive with Microsoft, frequently travels overseas with his 4.5-pound laptop. He always takes care to pack the appropriate power converter and telephone cord for each foreign destination. He also carries a list of access numbers, both international and domestic, for his Internet service provider and an extra-long Ethernet cord for high-speed Internet. "I've noticed that many of the first-rate hotels have Ethernet connections," he says. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
