Mobile Computing Tips: Cool Gadgets for a Hot Summer

Feature: Cool Gadgets for a Hot Summer

In the heat of July, a cool drink of water is good, but a cool gadget is even better. To help you through the long hot summer, I've put together a guide to the coolest, latest, and greatest must-have gizmos for mobile professionals.

Coolest Notebook: Toshiba's Satellite 5105-S607

Last year, kudos went to the Apple IBook, and in my humble opinion, that sleek white portable is still the number one cool cat. But the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S607 is no slouch, either, particularly for mobile professionals who like their music. Decked out in deep blue and featuring a silver-and-black audio panel with five colored lights and a status LCD, this notebook is all about style. Best of all, a built-in set of Harman/Kardon speakers, powered by a subwoofer, cranks out enough juice to blast the fillings right out of your teeth. You also get Secure Digital and SmartMedia card slots, so you can quickly transfer those digital camera photos of yourself--looking cool, of course--into the computer. In a perfect world, however, the battery would last more than 1.5 hours.

You can find the latest prices at the PCWorld.com Product Finder.

Coolest PDA: Clie PEG-NR70V

Sony upped the cool quotient with its earlier Palm OS-based Clie handhelds, and its newest model ($599) is no exception. The PDA's innovative clamshell design, which includes an attached keyboard, makes it look like the world's teensiest notebook. The color screen is gorgeous and brilliant (no surprise, given the Clie's track record), and it flips up and twists around 180 degrees. An embedded digital camera lets you snap pictures at a decent 320-by-240 resolution, and you can rock to your favorite MP3s.

The Clie earned our World Class Award for Best PDA. You can read more about it at "Handhelds: PDAs for Typists" and "PC World's 20th World Class Awards."

Check out the latest prices at our Product Finder.

Coolest PDA Accessory: Wrist PDA-FX2001

Fossil's $145 wristwatch syncs with your Palm OS device via infrared link, putting read-only Palm data (appointments, contacts, and so on) where your Rolex used to be--before you had to sell it on EBay during the dot-com crash, that is.

Coolest Mobile Phone: Motorola V70

With its rotating cover and circular display, this GSM/GPRS compatible, Web-enabled phone will call attention to how cool you are for using it. The downside? The phone's expensive (about $550) and available to Cingular Wireless subscribers only. You can see a photo and get more data at Cingular's Web site.

Coolest Gadget: Panasonic SV-AVI0 E-Wear SD A/V Recorder

It captures low-resolution digital photos and video clips. It plays music. It takes dictation. It weighs only 3.5 ounces (without a battery), and it's not much bigger than your typical mobile phone. You can store MPEG4 videos and JPEG photos on a Secure Digital memory card (up to 512MB). It's a bit pricey (about $450), but the Panasonic SV-AV10 is what cool is all about.