NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The large portion of my lifetime spent on the JFK-LAX route -- six hours -- and JFK-HKG (Hong Kong) -- totaling nearly 18 hours of air time -- has given me time to meditate on how to best optimize the lengthy in-flight experience.

Regardless of whether you're lucky enough to travel business class (or maybe even first class!) or are stuck in coach, the right choice of carry-on technology can help you use your time in the air more effectively.

Like a claustrophobic microcosm of your daily routine, an airplane flight can find you working, playing or sleeping. A smartly-chosen collection of technology will make working and playing (and, yes, maybe even sleeping) easier, and help you forget the passenger in front of you leaning back into your kneecaps. Of course, you want to carry the minimal set of gadgets for work and play -- which means you'll want toys that do double duty as tools, and vice versa.

Unless you need a real desktop replacement laptop -- with a big 14-to-15 in. screen, fast 3D graphics and a full size keyboard -- there's no reason you shouldn't get an ultralight laptop (generally under 3 pounds). The obvious benefits on your back and shoulders -- to and from the terminal, in and out of cars -- make the difference between a 3-pound and a 7-pound laptop seem like the difference between carrying a change purse and a sack of rocks.

Recommended Products       • Fujitsu's Lifebook P has almost everything you want in a superlight laptop -- tremendous battery life and multiple battery options, integrated VGA, USB, 1394, modem and Ethernet ports, internal DVD/CDRW drive (swappable for another battery!) -- at a shade over 3 pounds. The widescreen display might take some getting used to -- but it is perfect for watching DVD movies. • Sony N760C Clie uses the Palm OS but its slick design is pure Sony; brilliant 16 bit, 320x320 color display and MP3 playback out of the box. 128MB Memory Sticks are nearly as cheap as their Compact Flash competition, but boast much more consumer friendly packaging. • Etymotic Research headphones are the audiophile's choice for high fidelity. While the ER4P model retails over $300 (a less expensive version is also available), the sound quality is obvious and immediate over lesser earbuds.

All the major laptop companies -- Toshiba, Sony, IBM, Sharp, Fujitsu -- make sleek "subnotebooks." But besides weight, there are several considerations to be made when gearing up for your cross-country travels. Any of these laptops can run Excel and Powerpoint without even breathing hard, but there are a few features you'll want to note.

Check out the keyboard. They are generally smaller than full-sized notebook keyboards (of your desktop PC's keyboard), but are likely still useable even for extended typing, unless you have Shaq-sized hands.

Your laptop must have a VGA port if you'll be giving presentations (or want to use a full size monitor) from the laptop. Some laptops relegate that function (and other ports) to an external expansion dock, but most have the feature built in.

Most ultralight laptops lack an internal floppy and CDROM/DVD drive. These days, floppy drives are nearly useless -- but a simple USB storage `key' device that fits on your keychain can shuttle files back and forth between systems. These range from 8 MB to 1 GB of memory. Targus sells one and Windows ME/XP/2000 users don't need a driver). But if you frequently use CDROMs or DVDs, it's preferable to have a laptop with an internal DVDROM drive (which can often be swapped out for that extra battery). Not many ultralight laptops have a slot for a DVDROM drive, but if you'll be using a drive frequently, it may pay to ferret out a suitable system.

CD-Recordable discs are another floppy substitute. You might want to opt for the more expensive (but more useful) DVDROM/CD-RW drives which can read DVDs, CDROMs and burn CDs.

Most ultralight laptops come with external drive options, which aren't as useful on the airplane. They mean more stuff to carry, which takes up more precious personal cabin space, and external devices generally draw more power than their internal counterparts. If you are strictly a worker bee during your airline travels, read no further. But the benefits of having a DVD drive on a long flight are simple -- pure entertainment. You can play a CD (or a CD full of MP3s).

Given the raw computing power of even the most economical laptop CPUs even DVD movie playback is light work for your new laptop. But DVD playback drains batteries at a breakneck pace.

The biggest issue for cross-country flights is battery life. The newest generation of ultra-thin laptops often are meager in this regard, barely topping two hours (if that) on an internal battery. External double-capacity batteries are almost always recommended -- in fact, one reason I shy away from the elegant and stylish Sony VAIO laptops is the exorbitant price of the additional batteries.

Many airlines have plans to add laptop power outlets in coach seats. Currently, my anecdotal experience finds American Airlines well ahead in this area -- I've flown first class on United without laptop power. Don't expect rapid progress in this area (or the touted high speed in-flight Internet connectivity) while our airlines struggle with their currently disastrous financial situations. But be prepared.

American laptop power outlets resemble the cigarette lighter plugs, while other airlines use another standard. Several companies (Lind Electronics, Targus) make laptop airline power adapters -- be sure to get the right one for your specific laptop model. Targus adapters have interchangeable plugs -- but make sure they support your laptop model. With an outlet, hours of movies or presentation tweaking can help you fritter away your travel time.

While the right laptop and peripherals can make your flight experience better, other work tools can be chosen to compliment your travel toolkit. MP3 players are great for music (especially MP3 players with removable flash memory), but why lug around an MP3 player when your PDA can do the work?

If you're in the market for a PDA, check out units that play back MP3s as part of their basic functionality -- no need to buy a separate module, just extra memory. Three 128MB memory modules -- whether they are Smart Media cards or Memory Sticks -- means six hours of music, enough to immerse you in music cross-country. And if you store your entire MP3 collection and bring travel cables for your PDA, you can swap out the music for your return flight.

And if you're really stuck on beating in-flight boredom, there's always the Nintendo Gameboy Advance. Just don't forget to bring a mini-lamp for its difficult-to-see color screen.