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Gadgets for Laptop Lovers
The Travel Critic · December 22, 1997

This has been the year of the laptop accessory, no doubt about it. You don't need to make a pilgrimage to the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas to know that. Just board any flight and wait until the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign clicks off.

High-tech add-ons are everywhere, and road warriors are using them for everything from guarding data to improving their posture and productivity.

Most of the latest innovations, such as the CheeseHeadphones, figure somewhere between pet rocks and lava lamps in terms of usefulness and overall appeal. But some, I admit, seem to be more than just marketing gimmicks-there are even a few you might want to consider when you're shopping for holiday gifts for your favorite business traveler.

Here's a rundown of the coolest peripherals and programs introduced in 1997:

Laptop thefts are reaching epidemic levels, according to a study conducted by Safeware Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, last year. It reports that 250,000 portables were stolen in 1996 in the United States, up 27 percent from the previous year.

There are two security systems that will go a long way toward making sure your computer doesn't turn into another statistic. The first is CyberAngel, offered by Franklin, Tenn.-based Computer Sentry Software Inc. If someone is messing with your laptop and enters the wrong password, it essentially turns itself into a homing beacon, alerting law enforcement officials to the exact location of the hot computer.

What's more, the software locks your whole system up and makes the screen seem permanently frozen. I can make my laptop do that for free, but CyberAngel will cost you $25, plus $60 for a year of monitoring service.

I also like the idea behind PC SnOOp, made by South Korean software developer Darim Vision Co. The $99 screensaver converts your computer into a budget security system, complete with a surveillance video camera that attaches to the laptop. The system features two levels of alert: "stealth surveillance" mode, which records to your hard drive any activity that occurs while you're gone, and motion-triggered "watchdog" mode, which sounds an alarm and activates the camera to capture an image of the thief.

This is a nifty concept for travelers who have to leave their portables in a hotel room, but it may require some fine-tuning. For one thing, it seems to me you'd be out of luck if a burglar steals both the camera and computer.

If you're thinking stocking stuffers, you might want to consider a couple gadgets from Memtek Products Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., that make it easier to work on the road. Memtek offers a fine laptop computer light and a handy notebook copy clip that holds up documents next to your screen so you don't have to crane to see them while you're typing. These sell under the Memorex brand name for $11.99 and $4.99, respectively.

Personally, I think the mini-lamp makes my computer look like a spaceship from War of the Worlds, but my optometrist will probably thank me one day for using it.

Finally, what ticks you off the most about your portable? Three years ago I put that question to business travelers, and they were particularly bitter about running out of battery power at 35,000 feet.

Help is here. The folks at 1-800-Batteries in Reno, Nev., sell a three-pound portable Power Pack that adds three to six hours of life to your laptop. And these are actual hours, not laboratory-simulated hours, which tend to be considerably shorter.

Just two drawbacks that I can think of: three extra pounds is still three pounds too much-the batteries could certainly stand to shrink a little. And the price, $229, is pretty steep.

Still, the Pack is very useful, which is more than I can say for a some of the other accessories that debuted this year.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.