Mike Haney packs the latest lilliputian laptops to see if traveling light means making sacrifices

I consider a laptop as essential a travel item as my three-ounce toothpaste. Unfortunately, that dependency has typically left me with a tough choice: break the bank or my back. Most laptops weigh a shoulder-crushing five to seven pounds, while waifs under four pounds come with hefty price tags. But in the last year, a number of new options promised to lighten my load. I carried three of the latest—the much hyped MacBook Air and lesser-known models from two Taiwanese companies—on various trips and tried common tasks on each, including Web surfing, editing a Word document sent to me as an e-mail attachment, watching a movie, posting a blog entry, and uploading photos. Each laptop had its strengths and weaknesses, but the takeaway was clear: There's never been a better time to be a laptop-toting traveler.

The Bargain

Eee PC | $300–$600; asus.com
Best for: Quick e-mail checks; basic Web surfing and work
Pros: Light and compact; super-simple interface
Cons: Small screen and keyboard; hard to add programs or troubleshoot It's not easy to turn heads at the Consumer Electronics Show, an annual gadget-industry gathering in Las Vegas, but I elicited envious glances every time I pulled out the hardcover-size Eee. I handled its shrunken keyboard clumsily at first, but within a couple of hours I was touch-typing comfortably. The screen, however, was a different story; I found myself constantly squinting and scrolling to read e-mails and Web pages on the seven-inch display.

Asus keeps the Eee affordable with two key money-savers. First, it replaced Windows with a custom version of Linux. This free operating system can be geeky and complex, but Eee's interface is the simplest I've seen: Big, easy-to-identify icons denote typical tasks such as Web browsing and e-mail. Second, the Eee swaps a traditional hard drive for just a few gigabytes of flash memory. Still, I never ran out of room on the road, even after down-loading a movie. Battery life was decent: I still had an hour left after watching the nearly two-hour movie.

Asus now has a model with Windows XP. It still won't replace your home computer, but at this price, you can buy one just to keep in your go bag.

The Trendsetter

MacBook Air | $1,799–$3,098; apple.com
Best for: Style mavens who want to get a lot done on the road
Pros: Slim and sexy; big bright screen; full-size keyboard; more durable than it looks
Cons: Short on ports; no optical drive; expensive