Mobile Computing: Notebook Bag Buyers' Guide

NOTEBOOKS & ACCESSORIES

Tip: Save on DVD Rentals

Online DVD rental services are ideal for those of us who travel with DVD-equipped notebooks. Instead of worrying about late fees, you pay one monthly membership fee, and you can keep a DVD out as long as you like. (For my review of online DVD rental services, read "Mobile Computing: Rent Movies for Your Notebook.")

For example, the standard Netflix plan is $20 a month, which allows you to have up to three discs out at any time. There are ways to cut that monthly fee, however. Netflix offers an even better low-cost monthly plan, called the Netflix Economy Program. For $14 per month, you can have two DVDs out at a time. You can only rent up to four DVDs per month, however. Also, this plan isn't presented as an option to new subscribers. You must first subscribe at the standard $20 monthly plan and downgrade your membership later.

Wal-Mart.com, the online arm of the giant retailer, currently offers a monthly DVD rental plan of $15.54, which allows you to have any two discs checked out at a time. (Previously, Wal-Mart's lowest-priced monthly plan was $18.86 for three titles.)

News: A Sequel From Bose

Bose's QuietComfort noise-canceling headphones have been a hit with airplane travelers who enjoy listening to music and watching DVDs on their notebook but don't want the experience degraded by a wailing infant in the next seat. The company recently introduced the QuietComfort 2 ($299), which promises enhanced sound quality, with noise-canceling circuitry built directly into the headphones (instead of in a box on the cord, as with the original headphones).

News: Iomega Unveils Multiformat DVD Burner

Iomega plans to ship an external version of its new multiformat Super DVD Drive in September. The drive combines all three rewritable DVD formats: DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM. The external drive connects to computers via USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 ports. As of this writing, pricing wasn't available.