Travel Light

Sony VAIO C1 PictureBook

The littlest laptop on earth moves up to a 733MHz Transmeta Crusoe chip, designed to run for hours on end while still providing plenty of power. Too bad the PictureBook comes up short on both counts—its two- to five-hour battery life isn't much different from a regular laptop's, and you'll notice the performance hit as the unit groans when you open any application. Roughly $2,000 does, however, get you a 20GB hard drive, 256MB of RAM, and a nifty screen-mounted camera for quick snapshots or videos at the touch of a button. $1,900 to $2,100 / www.sonystyle.com

Harman Kardon Champagne SE

They're called "Champagne" because the subwoofer looks like an ice bucket and the satellite speakers look like champagne glasses. Harman Kardon's Special Edition computer speaker set is one of the most attractive you can put on your desk, and they don't sound too shabby either. Sure, you'll get far better sound out of a real surround sound system, but HK's impressive Virtual Theater system elevates the 6-watt satellites and 28-watt sub to the point where they're almost worth the price tag. $170 / www.harmanmultimedia.com

Motorola FreeCharge

When an emergency comes up, the batteries on your cell phone are invariably dead. Motorola's solution is a portable power generator: Crank its handle for 45 seconds to recharge your phone. Sure enough, after a few minutes of cranking we had enough juice for a four-minute call. But is the muscle ache really worth it? Call us heathens, but we recommend carrying a spare battery. $65 / www.motorola.com

Sony Micro Vault USB Storage Media

A pocketful of keychain-ready miniature storage devices have been on the market for months, but Sony's Micro Vault throws a little style into the mix. Inside, the device packs 64MB of fast flash memory (a 128MB version goes for $150); outside, it sports a silver case with a translucent blue center. We plugged it into various computers running different operating systems and the unit worked without a hitch. $100 / www.sonystyle.com

Copyright © 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Ziff Davis Smart Business.