When you're packing to hit the road, don't forget the multimedia. The CTX EzBook 700 notebook series lets you augment your travels with a 12.1-inch active- or passive-matrix LCD screen, NeoMagic 2090 video software, 1MB of video memory, removable internal 6X CD-ROM, Creative ViBRA SoundBlaster-compatible 16-bit stereo, built-in speakers, and jacks for microphone and audio.

The notebooks ship with 100MHz, 120MHz, 133MHz or 150MHz Pentiums, from 8MB to 40MB of RAM, and either 810MB or 1.3GB hard drives. The CD-ROM can be replaced with a second lithium ion battery pack.

The 84-key keyboard includes a palm rest, extra-large Enter and Shift keys, an inverted-T cursor and a built-in TouchPad. You also get an infrared port as well as serial, parallel, SVGA, and PS/2-style keyboard or mouse ports. The display supports 256,000 colors at an 800x600-pixel resolution.

The EzBook 700 includes NTSC support for presentations or movie playback. The notebook's battery pack provides between 4 and 5 hours of power.

From $2,499
CTX International
800-888-9052, 909-595-6146

If you need high visibility from your notebook's screen, you'll like looking at the Sharp PC-9080. The notebook has a 12.1-inch XGA active-matrix display, plus S-Video and NTSC video outputs. The screen features Super High Aperture technology for extra brightness and low power consumption. The notebook also ships standard with a 6X CD-ROM, as well as a built-in 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible sound card and stereo speakers.

The PC-9080 includes a 133MHz Pentium chip (including 256KB of level 2 cache), a 1.3GB hard drive and 16MB of RAM. You can remove the 3.5-inch floppy drive or CD-ROM and insert a second lithium ion battery. It also has 4Mb-per-second infrared capabilities, external microphone and speaker jacks, and a GlidePad pointing device. The PC-9080 weighs 7.3 pounds.

Under $6,000
Sharp Electronics Corp.
800-BE-SHARP

Looking to chart a course to a productive day? The Dell Latitude LM notebook line features 12.1-inch displays, quad-speed CD-ROM drives and 128-bit graphics accelerators. The LM P-133ST comes with the 133MHz low-voltage Intel Pentium processor; the Latitude LM P-100SD is armed with the 100MHz processor. You can swap the CD-ROM drive, floppy drive or a second lithium ion battery in the same bay. The notebooks all have 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible sound.

From $2,399
Dell Computer Corp.
800-289-3355, 512-338-4400

The Gateway 2000 Solo 2100 comes with a 6X CD-ROM and your choice of an 11.3-inch dual-scan, 11.3-inch TFT or 12.1-inch TFT SVGA display. Like the original Solo released in August 1995, it ships with a 100MHz or 133MHz Pentium. The Solo 2100 has built-in speakers and comes with 16MB of RAM and a 540MB, 810MB or 1.3GB hard drive.

$2,600 to $5,200
Gateway 2000
800-846-2000, 605-232-2000

The NEC MultiSync MT600 LCD Projector weighs under 16 pounds and costs less than $9,000. It offers 640x480-pixel true resolution and 800x600-pixel compressed resolution. The projector's image is rated at 400 ANSI lumens, and it features a power zoom lens.

$8,495
NEC Technologies
800-NEC-INFO, 508-264-8000

The Polaroid Polaview 110 delivers images at 500 ANSI lumens, and its motorized 1.6-to-1 zoom lens gives it a focal distance from I meter to infinity. For presentations to small groups, the Polaroid Polaview 1700 and Polaroid Polaview 1900 active-matrix LCD panels project 2 million colors. The Polaview 1900 delivers video directly from the panel to the screen; the Polaview 1700 works with an external video adapter.

Polaview 1700, $2,595; Polaview 1900, $2,995; Polaview 110, $9,195
Polaroid Corp.
800-816-2611, 716-256-4436