Mini Computers:

Toshiba Portege R600 ($3,299)

HP Mini 1000 ($399)

Dell Mini 9 ($349)

Toshiba Netbook NB100 ($479)

The day of the monster laptop is ending, with the larger members of the species taking up permanent residence in homes as “desktop replacements,” while lighter, nimbler runabout models are taking advantage of the era of USB keys and net storage and losing their disc drives.

On the high end is Toshiba’s R600, a sort of AirBook for the PC world. A fully featured Vista machine, it slims down both weight and battery consumption thanks to a 128GB solid state hard drive, but still manages to include a DVD disc drive. There’s an eSATA port and two USB slots for outboard memory storage, and a fingerprint reader for paranoid types.

Dell’s Mini 9 is the chunkiest of the mini notebooks at 2.28 pounds, and runs XP on an Intel Atom chip on a 16GB solid state drive, though an Ubuntu Linux version is available with a 32GB SSD. It has an 8.9-inch widescreen LED screen, and the keyboard has shifted some peripheral key placement around to fit its tight dimensions (just 9.13 inches).

HP’s Mini 1000 is a bit wider than the Mini 9, and the keyboard is a bit more comfortable to use. It’s just 2.25 pounds and runs XP on an Atom chip, with a 10.2-inch LED display. It has an SD/MMC card slot like the Dell and a range of hard drive options, from SSD to a 60GB PATA drive. HP is also designing the Mini 1000 with Wireless-G network options to make it the most truly mobile of the small notebooks. It comes with a full suite of MS Office, unlike other minis, which will ship with MS Works (like the Dell above) or Open Office.

Finally, there’s Toshiba’s chunky NB100, the tiniest of the lot, though not the lightest thanks to the 120GB hard drive. With an 8.9-inch screen and an Atom chip running XP Home, it still includes a full version of Office. The keyboard is tiny, and the trackpad tinier, and though the latter didn’t prove too much of a problem, typing proved a truly cramped affair — at one point I actually wanted to pick the thing up and use my thumbs like I was texting.

Other Stuff:

Seagate Showcase ($199.99 for Rogers customers)

If you’re always deleting shows to make space on your PVR, this memory extender should do the trick. Available with either a USB or eSATA connection, it’ll add up to 300 hours to your Scientific Atlanta 8300 PVR and installs easily enough after a couple of pluggings and unpluggings. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to save entire hockey seasons.

Belkin Conserve surge protector ($49.99)

For the energy-conscious environmentalist — or merely the stingy —
Belkin’s Conserve surge protector lets you split your computer or home
electronics gear into two groups: Stuff that has to be on 24/7, and the
peripherals that draw phantom power even when they’re supposed to be
off. With a flick of the remote — designed like an oversized light
switch — you can cut the power off to the peripherals and start
whittling down your power bills.

Digital Readers:

Sony Reader PRS-505 ($299)

Sony Reader PRS-700 ($399)

The paperless library might be further in the future than the paperless office even, but the day will come when most of us do our reading on sheets of e-ink rather than pulped trees, and Sony has been in on the revolution from nearly the beginning — even before Amazon’s much-hyped Kindle.

The two current models of Sony’s Reader are actually very different; the PRS-505 is slightly more low-tech, with page turns and menu accessible through small but discrete buttons, while the PRS-700 has a slicker touchscreen interface with page turns made by a flick of the finger. Reading an e-book requires an adjustment of mere minutes, and it was easy to forget that you were reading a screen instead of a page.

The PRS-700 includes a ring of LEDs bordering the screen for reading in low light situations, which will drain the battery more rapidly, though insomniac frequent fliers might appreciate the option. Both models will accept a variety of document types, including PDFs and Word files, though it’s happiest with e-books bought from Sony’s store, which is impressive enough for readers who shop from mainstream book shops.