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Take this Tech Tool
Power Trip · July 26, 2002

If you had to choose between taking a cell phone, a personal digital assistant or a laptop computer on your next business trip, which would you pick?

It's not a hypothetical question. Airlines now are strictly enforcing their "one-plus" rule for carry-ons, which limits you to a single bag plus a personal item like a briefcase or purse. If you're accustomed to hauling all of your technology on a flight — transformers, adapters and batteries included — chances are you've already been confronted by a crew member who asked you to make a hard choice.

If you've still managed to squeeze all of your gadgets into a carry-on, well, congratulations. But here's another reason you might consider slimming down your arsenal of tech toys: You'll get through the security checkpoints faster. The new federal screeners are trained to give your gadgets a once-over.

So what's it going to be? I asked three people who travel frequently about the choices they've made.

Leaning toward the laptop

"My laptop is my most productive tool," says Atlanta author Jessica Stockwell. "It doubles as my office. I don't travel with a phone and there are a number of services available to buy cell-phone service or rent it for my travel needs. And I use my voice mail, my only phone number and a phone card to my best advantage."

Stockwell told me she doesn't mind the stepped-up security checks for laptops. Her PC is light and small, so it takes up very little room. And it isn't a battery hog, so she doesn't mind powering it up for the security screeners. Plus, she says, the better-trained screeners know how to treat sensitive technology, so she isn't worried about her computer being damaged. "I live with it and go with the flow," she says.

Preferring the phone

"When the new screening requirements came out, I knew what I had to do," says Radnor, Pa., travel industry lobbyist Kevin Mitchell. "I got rid of everything except my cell phone. The more gadgets you carry, the more you get stopped. I knew that. It was an easy choice."

But Mitchell doesn't just carry an ordinary phone. His wireless device can receive and send e-mail and faxes and can surf the Internet. He can snap a full-size keyboard on to the phone and use a word-processing application to type e-mails or documents. The wireless device also stores all of his contact names and numbers.

What if he needs to do something that requires more computing power, like work on a presentation? "I don't," he says. "If there's a presentation to do, then I'll just e-mail it to someone at my destination and work on it from their computer."

Can't live without a PDA

"I don't want to carry a laptop around when I travel. It's too bulky," says J.P. Lincoln, a Los Angeles communications consultant. "Given a choice, I'd take a personal digital assistant. I can't live without mine."

Lincoln's PDA isn't just a helpful tool, but an indispensable accessory. It stores his business contacts in a database file — names, addresses and phone numbers of all his sources — and the detachable keyboard makes typing easy.

He says the only thing that would make the PDA better would be if it came with a phone, "but so far, there aren't any combinations that really work for me." Lincoln flies through security checkpoints with his PDA, too. "No one has ever asked me to power it up," he adds. "That saves me time."

The correct answer, and why

This remains a hotly debated issue, particularly after the heightening of airport security around North America. All of these folks make compelling arguments for their respective devices. But to borrow from John McLaughlin, the correct answer is: the cell phone.

Here's why.

The phone is the winning convergence device for travelers. I believe that when our office technology reaches its evolutionary endpoint, it will resemble more of a phone than, say, a laptop or a PDA. We can already see the evidence — laptops that are getting ever smaller, PDAs that are adding wireless capabilities. But I base my theory on more than a hunch: According to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), a trade group, the number of wireless subscribers has grown an average of 17.3% year over year since 1985. There are now an estimated 137 million cell phone users in the United States, according to CTIA. By comparison, the market growth for laptop computers and PDAs has been a bit more erratic, particularly lately.

The phone travels better. I prefer the cell phone not because I dislike portable computers or digital assistants, but because I think airport screeners and airlines are biased toward the lighter and less intrusive wireless devices. I've seen it dozens of times since Sept. 11 — the screener who corners the laptop user but lets the cell phone owner breeze by. Putting your notebook PC in a plastic tray and powering it up on the other end of an X-ray machine is often impractical for a business traveler. What's more, it's never a question of carrying just a PC on a plane. Computers come with all kinds of peripherals that have to make the trip with you as well. Next thing you know, you're getting stared down by a flight attendant who wants you to check in your $5,000 laptop.

The phone saves you money. This is perhaps the most compelling argument to travel with a cell phone. Even after you've factored in roaming charges, a portable phone will save you lots of money on the road. Take a look at your next hotel phone bill if you want proof. Most major hotel chains charge $1 or more for each outgoing call and long-distance calls are often billed the carrier's most expensive rate. Even properties that offer "free" local and 800-number calls sometimes start charging you 10 cents or more a minute after your call exceeds 20 minutes, in order to prevent hotel guests from dialing in to the Internet and staying connected for days at a time. With a cell phone, you can avoid all of those surprises.

If I had to ditch every device except one, I'd pick a cell phone with a few extras. Maybe an Internet account, Web access and a few applications that let me do some number-crunching and word processing. Proponents of the PDA may argue that I'm just describing a handheld computing device with wireless capabilities, but they miss the point. If I had to choose between these PDA capabilities and the phone, the phone would win.

I'll miss my laptop. But I know the airport screeners and airline crew members won't.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.