Essential Business Tools

An anlisis by Kirsten Cluthe from pcmac.com, She said in her analisis, forget the days of planning expensive, overblown meetings in hotel ballrooms and conference centers. These days, most business travelers rarely have the time or the budget to host customers on a three-day offsite in Hawaii. And, aside from the Hawaii part, there's no need to. Mobile devices, cloud-based services, and WiFi hotspots provide the means to have a great meeting anytime, anywhere. The trick is, figuring out what goes in your kit before you hit the road.
Whether you're headed out to meet with customers or you're attending a conference, we've assembled 10 essential tools to help you have a productive and successful trip. The best part? Everything fits in your carry on.

Presentations: Prezi.com
Forget Powerpoint. Show your potential clients that you think outside the box with Prezi, a web-based presentation application that allows you to create non-linear presentations. This means you can zoom in and out, creating a much more dynamic story with words, images, videos, etc. than you would with static slides. Prezi is simple enough to use that you can create a presentation on the go in no time (though viewing the brief tutorials is recommended). Prezi uses the "freemium" model—free to use with 100MB storage but you can't lose the Prezi logo and all presentations are essentially public. For $59 per year, you bump up to 500MB of storage and the option to have your presentation private. The Pro version is $159 per year and you get 2000MB of storage, a privacy option, and a desktop app that allows you to create presentations offline.

Space it takes up in your carry on? None.

Storage: Dropbox
It's inevitable—you arrive at your destination and realize you've left the flash drive with all your files at home. Dropbox, the cloud-based storage service, pre-empts your forgetfulness by allowing you to store and share essential files as you create them. It's built to keep things simple: download the utility, create an account, and go. Automatic synchronization ensures that files are updated regularly, so you never lose your latest version. Dropbox is free to use for up to 2GB of storage. Premium accounts are $9.99 per month for 50GB and $19.99 per month for 100GB.

Tablet: Apple iPad 2
You may ask yourself, if you already have a laptop, why would I use an iPad? The truth is that you can use an iPad in place of that laptop. It's the coolest gadget on the market, and it could be your most powerful business tool. With applications like iWork, Basecamp Mobile, Salesforce, Evernote, Webex, and more, you can get everything done that you would on your laptop. But the real power is revealed when you use it during a meeting. Scroll through slides, pull up a website or a video, demonstrate how your technology works, bring it onstage to read from during a presentation. Pricing starts at $499.

Space it takes up in your carry on? Less than the magazines you'll buy at the newsstand.

Laptop: Apple MacBook Air
There are several reasons why this is a great laptop for business travel: It's ultralight, ultraportable, fast, and—bonus—stylish. The MacBook Air can hold all the software you need to work on the plane and off, and it fits nicely on the tray table. On the ground, it performs just as well for running presentations as any other laptop in its class. The MacBook Air starts at $999 (11 inch) and $1,299 (13 inch).

Space it takes in your carry on? The 11-inch MacBook Air is 0.11 by 11.8 by 7.56 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.3 pounds while the 13-inch MacBook Air is 0.11 by 12.8 by 8.94 inches and weighs 2.9 pounds.

Mouse: Microsoft Arc Touch
A mouse is one of those gadgets that you could easily leave behind, but the Arc's genius ergonomic design may have you thinking twice. It's extremely packable, lying completely flat when not in use. When powered on, it transforms into an arc that is extremely comfortable in hand. This small device will make life much easier when you're working late in your hotel room on that early morning presentation. The Microsoft Arc Touch retails for $49.95.

Space it takes in your carry on? The Arc Touch measures 2.28 by 5.14.

Camera: Canon Powershot S95
A digital SLR might take better pictures, but let's face it, when you're traveling on business, you want something that fits in your bag or in your pocket. This 10 megapixel camera points and shoots in almost any lighting without a flash, which is an important feature when you're not sure exactly what the conditions will be. It also has video capabilities, critical for capturing presentations and speeches. The S95 retails for $399.99.

Space it takes in your carry on? The camera measures 3.93 by 2.30 by 1.16 inches and weighs about 6 ounces.

Power: Scosche goBAT II
This dual-USB and portable back-up battery can handle that dreaded moment when you realize you're minutes away from losing all that work. The goBAT II features a 5000mAh rechargeable lithium battery with two USB ports, a 2.1 amp port for larger devices, like the iPad, and a 1.0 amp port for iPhone, iPod, Blackberry, or Android. It retails for $79.99.

Space it takes in your carry on? Designed with travelers in mind, it's small enough to fit in your hand.

Connectivity: Network Access
These days, more people rely on wireless networks to pull up real-time data, websites, and media during client presentations and meetings. Counting on someone else's network can be a tricky thing, so it's best to establish your own connection. A powerful cellular USB modem or WiFi hotspot device is definitely your friend.

AT&T USBConnect Shockwave 4G
This cellular modem is tiny and connects to AT&T's 4G network. Just plug in and connect. It's free with a two-year contract. Space it takes in your carry on? The USBConnect measures 2.6 by 1.02 by 0.51 inches and weighs 1.06 ounces.

Printer: Brother PocketJet 6 Plus with Bluetooth
There's something so liberating about not being tied to a hotel business center to print documents. And, thanks to products like the PocketJet, it's much less expensive. You can use this Brother portable printer in a car and it will fit easily in your carry on. The 300-dpi PocketJet prints up to six pages per minute. It retails for $349.

Space it takes in your carry on? It measures 10.04 by 2.17 by 1.18 inches and weighs 1.3 pounds with battery.

Headset: Aliph Jawbone Era
Beyond enabling you to hear clearly on conference calls, this headset can actually run apps, giving it entirely new functionality—like sending messages to a contact or group by simply speaking your message directly into the device. It's great when you're running between meetings and need to update your colleagues. It's available for $129.

Space it takes in your carry on? The Jawbone Era measures 2.02 by 0.57 by 0.95 inches and weighs 0.35 ounces. Of course, you can always just wear it on your ear.