Feedback Upwardly mobile Mobile computers are not only getting lighter and slimmer but more power efficient as well. Perhaps most eye-catching is Apple's colourful iBooks. Surely not to be outdone, Wintel notebooks have become lighter and smaller. Even Dell Computer and Compaq Computer, known for their full-featured notebooks, are shipping ultralight portables.
Notebooks are also more power efficient now.
Toshiba's Tecra Portege 7200, for example, uses Intel Pentium III CPUs with SpeedStep technology. This means that the processor runs at different speeds depending on whether the notebook is powered by batteries or the mains. If you are on the move and do not need all that fast a processor for sending e-mail, it helps to save some power for longer life. Lithium batteries, which power the Palm IIIC and earlier Palm V series, will be the power source of choice in the future, replacing existing AAA-sized batteries. Palm is looking into streaming local content onto Palm VIIs in Asia when they finish their GSM trials on the Palm VII, said Ms Claudia Romanini, Palm's director of international and OEM product marketing.