How To Satisfy An Audience - Every Time

Marketing rep or chip designer: we all need the right tools to create a winning presentation. Start with a solid notebook computer -- the presenter's equivalent of a digital Swiss Army knife. It's the presenter's toolbox -- storing slides, software, communication systems, and enabling you to play music, animation, even video clips.

The notebook computers recommended here run from $4,000 to $8,000 and add seven to nine pounds to your luggage. Yes, you can certainly get cheaper notebooks. But anything under $3,000 is just not rugged enough for the road. So if you're thinking of going the inexpensive route, don't.

Your Title: Road Warrior

Assignment:: Seven meetings, six states, five days.

Powertool: IBM ThinkPad 760CD

Features: A 12.1-inch color screen that's bigger and brighter than anything else on the road. Ergonomic touches like a full-sized, flip-up keyboard make it finger-friendly.

For putting multimedia touches on presentations, the 760CD has built-in stereo sound playback and recording capabilities. It can also directly record video from a camcorder or VCR onto its hard disk -- a unique feature. Standard equipment also includes your own voice-mail system.

Vital Stats: The machine tips the scales at 7.4 pounds. Inside there's a 90MHz Pentium processor with a 28.8 kilobyte-per-second (Kbps) fax/modem, wireless IrDA ports front and back, a 1.2 gigabyte (GB) hard drive, and 8 MB of RAM. There are two Type II card slots for expanding the 760CD's capabilities. A front drive bay handles either an internal quad-speed CD-ROM drive, a second hard drive, or an additional internal battery. Don't count on more than about 7 hours of steady work, even with both batteries.

Geek Factor: It's a cool, black techno-tool that'll generate more road-warrior envy than a Porsche.

Weak Factor: The price will blow your department's IS budget.

Coordinates: $6,000-$8,000. IBM PC Direct, (800) 426-2968; http://www.IBM.com

Your Title: Department Head

Assignment:: Deliver pep talks to the troops and weekly progress reports to the CEO.

Powertool: NEC Versa 4050H CD

Features: It comes with an internal double-speed CD-ROM drive that can be swapped out for a floppy drive, an extra hard drive, and a second lithium-ion battery. At 10.4 inches, Versa's new Super VGA color screen is smaller than the ThinkPad's; but it's still sharp and bright.

Versa 4050H is best for in-house presentations. It doesn't include voice mail, for example, or video-recording skills or a fax/modem. The last two are available as options: a 28.8 Kbps fax/modem PC Card is $342; an external TV-tuner device with a PC Card adapter for recording or displaying your presentation on a standard television monitor is $798.

Vital Stats: Standard package: 90MHz Pentium processor, IrDA wireless ports, an 810 MB hard drive, two Type II PC Card slots, and 8 MB of RAM. An additional 8 MB runs $475. It weighs 6.4 pounds with the floppy drive installed.

Geek Factor: Friendly underdog with the look and feel of an Apple Powerbook -- but faster.

Weak Factor: Lacks a fax/modem; adding other necessary options could place it in the ThinkPad price range.

Coordinates: $4,799 plus $349 for a CD-ROM upgrade. NEC Technologies Inc., (800) 632-4636; http://www.nec.com

Your Title: Red-Eye Flyer

Assignment:: Coast-to-coast sojourns seeking venture capital for your startup.

Powertool: Toshiba Portege 610CT.

Features: It squeezes a 90 Pentium CPU into a package that weighs just 4.8 pounds and is at least two inches narrower than the full-sized IBM and NEC notebooks.

No CD-ROM drive for multimedia demos; the Portege's smaller keyboard will make touch typists feel uptight. Its 9.5-inch Super VGA color screen is razor sharp. Also comes with a built-in microphone and stereo sound. A $499 PC Card option lets you display your electronic slides on standard TV projectors or monitors.

Vital Stats: Uses the same mouse substitute as IBM's ThinkPad, but Toshiba's version requires a little more practice. The lithium-ion battery is realistically rated at 2.5 to 5 hours on a single charge. Comes with a 686 MB hard drive, two Type II PC Card slots, and 8 MB of RAM.

Geek Factor: It's a bantamweight with Pentium power.

Weak Factor: Retains most of the drawbacks of subnotebook designs.

Coordinates: $4,649. Toshiba, Inc. (800) 334-3445; http://www.toshiba.com/tais/csd/products

Your Title: Iconoclast