I use a laptop a lot for work, i'm either out visiting clients or at tradeshows. However, it is such a waste of time and battery to boot up a pc if all i want to do is check email or look up a contact etc. However, a laptop is essential for writing up notes and generally working out of the office.

my question is this. palms, clies, and pocket pcs are similar in components, if not specs to laptops. does anyone know if there is such thing as palmtop for laptop software that will allow a laptop to open instantly and control certain parts of the machine (eg wlan, pcmcia card slot, et) without booting into windows or spinning the harddisk? this may sound like a strange solution (just buy a palm!) but why do that when i already have the hardware necessary?

apologies if i am being completely incoherant

palms, clies, and pocket pcs are similar in components, if not specs to laptops.

No, they're not.

Have you tried just putting your laptop in sleep mode instead of shutting it down or hybernating it? It still uses battery power, but not nearly as much as leaving it on, and it should start up much more quickly.

I got a 12" powerbook and i can get a few days out of it by puttng it to sleep when it is not in use

putting it in sleep mode is certainly the simple option. i guess i was trying to put a complex solution to a simple problem. i just thought it would be possible to squeeze some relatively feature rich apps and use a fraction of the battery life.

perhaps it is just a matter of being creative with the power mgmt settings.

thanks for the replys

I have my laptop (Vaio U101) set to go into sleep mode when I close the lid. I use quite a bit and the battery lasts the whole day going in and out of sleep mode.

I agree with the earlier comments about sleep mode. Furthermore, it sounds like you may want one of the tiny Japanese-market laptops. If portability and light weight is critical to you, and you're willing to put up with a smaller-than-normal keyboard, you've got some fantastic options. Here's one importer that will put English-language Windows on Japanese-market machines:

http://www.dynamism.com/index.shtml

Or, if you want to really solve your laptop problems...



The Hello Kitty laptop.

http://www.dynamism.com/kitty/

Hello Kitty fans take note: you can finally have that Hello Kitty-themed ultralight you've long sought. Whether you want to have the cutest laptop on campus, or just want to unsettle your business adversaries, the Hello Kitty laptop is hard to beat. To celebrate Hello Kitty's 30th anniversary, NEC will produce 300 units.

The 2.99 pound laptop features a Pentium M 1ghz processor, 40gb HDD, and 12.1" XGA TFT. The laptop features a 4.5 hour runtime that can be extended to an all-day 10 hours with the addition of a second battery pack (manufacture list times). The kit includes a Hello Kitty-themed DVD player, Hello Kitty soft case, and Hello Kitty DVD carrying case.

Now, that is just scary!!!!