But if you race through airports like me, the new crop of ultrathins are the way to go. Weighing four pounds or less and barely an inch thick, they have nearly as much computing punch as a low-end floortop. With 300 megahertz Pentium II's, ultrathins have caught up with the heavier notebooks in processor power. Peripherals like CD-ROM and floppy drives must still be attached externally, but since data are increasingly downloaded over networks and the Web nowadays, having these devices all the time is not crucial. Small means easier to take out of a knapsack or shoulder bag in a cramped airliner, and the screen is less likely to get scrunched when the guy in front of you fully reclines his seat.
Rule of thumb holds that notebooks cost twice as much as comparably equipped floortops.
But keep in mind the other potential benefits of a notebook that can't be measured in hertz and bytes. It allows people to work at home, surf the Internet or use with their kids or in school. The more employees get on the Internet, the more valuable they are to the company. We also get backup power with the batteries, and that's important since we're open 24 hours day. The leftover floortops will be offered to employees at rock-bottom prices, but Mr. Hawk doesn't expect many takers.