Stories by: Brian Nadel

You've done the hard work of optimizing your Wi-Fi network, and it reliably beams high-speed data to every nook and cranny of your home or office. Now, it's time to take it to the next level by connecting more than just computers.

Like a diamond, a digital media player or a rare coin, the latest mini-notebooks are good things in small packages. By squeezing a lot of computing power into a very mobile package at a hard-to-beat price, they are turning the established mobile pecking order on its head.

When you're on the road, you can't call upon the resources that officebound employees enjoy. But whether your temporary workspace is a table at Starbucks, a hotel lobby, an airport or a client's lunchroom, you've still got to get the work done.

Calling all digital nomads -- you may not be wearing a dark suit, a tie and shiny shoes, but you're out there with at least a full day of work to get done. Chances are that, more times than not, your workspace is a table at Starbucks, a hotel lobby couch or a client's lunchroom. In other words, you labor where and when you can, without the kind of resources that a more office-bound employee can call upon.

Buying a notebook computer can be an exercise in limitless possibilities, whether you're buying for yourself or for 250 users in your organization. That's because most laptop vendors offer a dizzying array of configurations.

Look around at people talking on their mobile phones and, almost without exception, they are chatting on familiar-looking small rectangular boxes with glowing screens. However, this cookie-cutter approach to mobile phones will change dramatically in the next few years as phone designers get more daring and more personal.

Anybody who has spent any amount of time working on the road has probably witnessed their share of notebook disasters: dropped from a hotel desk, shaken beyond repair in the trunk of a rental car or doused by a knocked-over cup of coffee. Too often, the result is a worthless chunk of plastic, glass and metal.

Check Point Software's ZoneAlarm ForceField provides an extra defensive layer by cloning your web browser to catch dangerous software before any damage can be done.

Its petite size, light weight and silvery skin made the Apple MacBook Air this year's must-have laptop. However, amid all the hoopla and hype, Lenovo has quietly introduced its ThinkPad X300, a travel-friendly notebook that may not be as seductively thin, but provides more of the creature comforts that travelers expect.