The Anytime, Anywhere Techie
BY BILL SYKEN

Her high-powered job keeps her on the road--and her corporate account keeps her equipped with the latest gear designed for the mobile professional.

1 ThinkPad 600X 5eu, IBM, $4,099. This 5-lb. laptop packs the computing punch our road warrior needs. The ThinkPad's 500-MHz Pentium III processor and 12-GB hard drive will handle big applications. And its removable dvd-rom drive gives her flexibility. She can swap it for an extra battery, a floppy, cd-rom or Zip drive, or even a second hard drive.

2 Sprint PCS sch-3500 phone, Samsung, $149.99. This phone has voice-activated dialing, which, with a headset, makes for hands-free use. She can call and keep both hands on the wheel. The phone comes with a mini0-browser for access to limited versions of popular websites. Or she can hook her laptop to it with a Sprint Data cable and wirelessly access the full Web or get e-mail.

3 CoPilot 2000, TravRoute, $399. gps devices make driving to a strange place less of an adventure. This one hooks up to a laptop and talks her through trips with a voice prompt before each turn. With limited voice recognition, it answers such questions as "How far?" and "Where am I?" If she deviates from the preset travel path, CoPilot charts a new route. Not that she minds asking for directions ...

4 Palm VII, 3Com, $499. The premium edition of the Palm is wirelessly Web connected, so in addition to tracking appointments, she can use it in most cities to receive and send e-mail, check news, sports scores and stock quotes and do limited online shopping. The monthly service plan, which charges frequent users beyond the $9.99 base monthly rate, isn't a deterrent. She's expensing the whole thing.

5 Naturally Speaking Mobile Organizer, Dragon, $299. She's driving down the Interstate at 70 m.p.h. when she gets a huge idea, but she doesn't have time to stop and write it down. So she pulls out this voice translation device and dictates her manifesto. At the office, she uploads the recording as text onto her computer and corrects any transcription imperfections. The Dragon also creates appointment notes and e-mail.

6 MD Walkman mz-R55, Sony, $349. Sony's most compact MiniDisc device weighs only 5 oz. and isn't much bigger than the MiniDisc itself, so it can slip easily into a coat pocket. A techie can enter track titles as she makes mixes from CDs-which should give her stay-at-home husband something to do.

PHOTO FOR TIME DIGITAL BY JOSEPH ASTOR