Wi-Fi Gifts Help Go Beyond Cell Phones To Stay Connected

If you communicate from the road, you know that staying in touch on the road can be a hassle. But some new hardware could make a great gift this year for helping people stay connected.

Sure, there are ubiquitous cell phones for making those, "We've just landed and I will be there in an hour," calls. But what if you have just landed and hailed a taxi to go to a business meeting before checking into your hotel? You may need to check e-mail or receive an important file for that meeting before there is an opportunity to plug a notebook computer into a hotel room phone or personal digital assistant into a synching cradle.

That's where the newest generation of wireless devices comes in. Laptop computers and PDAs preconfigured with wireless networking capability do not need to be tethered to land-based phone lines. Through a technology called "Wi-Fi" (short for "wireless fidelity"), some mobile devices can communicate through the air at speeds faster than your desktop computer can exchange data through a fast cable modem or digial subscriber line.

Almost all of today's notebook computers and a fair number of PDAs come with a built-in card that enables Wi-Fi access (or it can be added to many products). This type of access is generally possible within range of a wireless "hotspot." Such hotspots can blanket metro areas and small towns, or based in comfortable sit-down facilities at airports, hotel lobbies, coffee shops or bookstores.

I know what you are thinking. You're under the impression that Wi-Fi-enabled notebook computers are bound to be pricey. But you can find notebook computers preconfigured for wireless Internet access for $1,000 or less.

For notebook computers, the price is far more reflective of the size of the hard drive, display capabilities, the amount of memory and processor speed more than the type of wireless Internet access the computer is capable of.

Starting at around $1,000, you could not do better than the Dell Inspiron 5100. It comes with built-in Wi-Fi, a 40 gigabyte hard drive, a 2.66 gigahertz Pentium 4 processor, optional DVD drive, and a high-resolution 14- or 15-inch monitor. The weight starts at around 7.3 pounds.

When it comes to mobile computing, weight matters. You would think that heavier devices would be pricier, but it is actually more expensive to cram features into a smaller, lighter unit.

If you have the budget, go lighter. On the road, every lug-around pound saved is precious. Many Wi-Fi-enabled six-pound notebooks can be had for $2,000 to $2,500.

The highest-regarded notebook in that range is probably the Toshiba Tecra S1. Not only does this 6.2 pound, 40-gigabyte hard drive model come set up for Wi-Fi, but it has a 15-inch monitor (larger than most comparably priced models), and a DVD drive. If you like to watch movies on the plane, why lug around a stand-alone DVD player when you can get DVD and Wi-Fi in the same unit?

That combination of features represents potentially high power usage. We all know that computer batteries have historically tended to falter after just a couple of hours of continuous use. Bolstered by Intel's Centrino technology, the batteries inside the Tecra S1 will last a good bit longer -- five hours compared to two for less pricey notebooks.

While most new notebooks come equipped with Wi-Fi, only some PDAs do. Two models worth checking out are the keyboard-equipped Sony Clie PEG-UX50, and the HP iPaq H5550, both of which are priced around $650.

Along with Wi-Fi, both devices are set up for Bluetooth, a radio technology that lets PDAs, cell phones and even some notebook computers communicate with similarly enabled printers, scanners, and fax machines without the use of unsightly cables or often-balky synching cradles.

The Clie runs on the Palm operating system, while the iPaq works with Windows Mobile, a scaled-down version of Windows XP. Both operating systems have fans, but Windows Mobile PDAs are better suited to exchange Microsoft Word, Excel, or Outlook Express files with notebook or desktop PCs.

Not all mobile technology is work-related, though. Thank goodness for that fact of life. In next week's column, I will describe some ways that PDAs, cell phones, portable DVD players, and MP3 players can keep you entertained while on the go.

Russell Shaw is a consumer technology journalist and author based in Portland, Ore. His Web site is RussellShaw.net.