the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

[::I:J2~~.~~~.~.~.~~~~~~~~~~:~.~.~~::=::==:~~:=~:=::J------------------- -- ------- - - - -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- THE MICRO PICTURE POWERHOUSE. This tiny wonder has almost everything in a package so small there's no reason not to drag it along to base camp. Easily the lightest model we tested at only 2.2 pounds, the Vaio also runs the longest on one charge, up to 5.5 hours, or an opus worthy 20 with an optional battery). That's because It uses the Transmeta Crusoe chip, which sips on power while delivering a whopping 733Mhz of processing power. With just an 8.g-inch screen, the Valo fits easily in a backpack or on an airline tray table, so there's no reason not to take it along. Sure, it's got built in speakers, microphone, and comes loaded with Windows XP Home and MS Word 2002, as well as a dozen other handy programs. The real head turner, though, is the bu ilt in stil l/video camera, mounted smack in the middle above the screen. One button turns it on, allowing you to capture regular, or panoramic shots, or video clips of up to 60 seconds. The camera swivels, allowing you to aim the camera at something while looking at the image on the screen, like a mini camcorder. With a 20mg hard drive there's plenty of room to stash snapshots, so instead of dashing off that description of the summit of Mount Rainier you can send home images instead. If you want something so light you'll take it anywhere, this is the one for you. Sony, www.sonY.com $1,999 .---------------------------------------.---------------------------------i------------ ._-------------------------------. I I I I I I I I I , I I I I I I I I I I I I .------ I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~~~~~-----------------------------: ~ I HOT LOOKS AND PERFORMANCE. It's OK to admit you only want the G4 for its body. The sleek, sexy, brushed titanium case not only protects the innards from life's little bumps, it also causes complete strangers to come up to you and want to just stroke the thing. Inside, however, is where it rea lly shows off. Macs run the crash proof OS X, which operates PC software like MS Word on a com- bination Mac/Unix platform, so unlike a PC it won't freeze just when you're sending off an email. It's also screaming fast, due to a 500-mgz processor and a fat 256Mg of RAM. Want to watch a movie in the backseat on that overnight road trip to New England? Slide a DVD in the slot loading drive, or just save them on the huge 30 gig hard drive, and then view them on 15.2-inch screen, the largest we tested. If you're in Mac friendly country, the built in Airport connectivity gets you online without unsightly wires, and you can share files and gossip about the local attractions with other G4s via wireless infrared beams, for five hours between battery fill ups. All that sex appeal doesn't come cheap, but if you're on the fence because of the cost, just try walking into your local coffee shop and setting up one, and see if the reaction isn't worth the price. Macintosh, www.apple.com $2,999 -----------------------------} THE DIGITAL 4X4 FOR LIFE'S TOUGHER CHALLENGES. The traveler's world isn't always a pleasant place. If muggy climates, freezing winds, and dust everywhere describe where you're headed, better take a Toughbook, the standard in heavy duty portable com- puting. You can tell just by looking at it that this Humvee disguised as a laptop is no ordinary notebook. A magne- sium carrying case with built in handle only opens up with a key. Once inside, notice the dust and water resistant keyboard. Don't worry about dropping it- the hard drive is shock mounted, and although it's not recommended you can actually stand on the thing and not hurt it. The Toughbook 28 can handle 100% humidity, and work in temps from minus 14 to 122 Fahrenheit. Integrated wire- less is built in , along with an extendable antenna. The screen is daylight readable, unlike the other models we tested, and it uses a hea lthy 600Mgz processor mounted on a 20Gb hard drive. All this toughness comes with a price: the batteries only last 3.5 hours, and the entire package weighs in at nine pounds. Still if you're travel itin- erary includes Alaskan Tundra or the deserts of Arizona, this is the one to take-if you can get your hands on one. The Toughbook is not sold to retail or consumers, only business to business. Then again, if you're headed off to the back of beyond, a simple problem like this will be no problem at all. Panasonic, www.panasonic.com 64

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