Quick Picks

January's downtime distractions include Toshiba's Portégé M205, Sierra Wireless's Voq, and a good book, The Anatomy of Hope.

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Gadgets

Shake It Up

Toshiba's Portégé M205 may bear a faint resemblance to the retro toy Etch a Sketch, but in all other ways this laptop is decidedly modern. It's the first tablet PC that features the highest-resolution display (known as SXGA+) and a dedicated button for OneNote, a digital notetaking application that includes a built-in voice recorder. An internal gyroscope lets you surf the Internet just by tilting the machine; a slight shake pulls up the start menu or opens apps. Powered by a 1.5-GHz Pentium M processor and NVIDIA graphics, the 4.4-pound Bluetooth-enabled M205 with 512MB memory is a mighty portable. But for the price, one would expect a built-in CD/DVD drive (available with the optional docking station) and a FireWire port. $2,299; www.toshiba.com -Mark Spoonauer

Type A

Billed as a professional phone, Sierra Wireless's Voq is a GSM/GPRS Windows mobile phone, PDA, e-mail communicator, and media player all in one. While features such as a 200-MHz XScale processor, 32MB of memory, and an SD slot for storing e-mail attachments or audio and video files are standard, the foldout keyboard makes the Voq a standout. Type in a name and the MyVoq feature not only looks it up in your contacts but in your calendar and notes as well. Send messages as e-mail, SMS, or IM with one click, instead of having to hunt for the right application first. The Voq communicates with a variety of corporate e-mail servers, like Outlook and Lotus Notes. The configuration of the keyboard can be disorienting at first, and the hourglass shape is a tad too long and bulky--but, at five ounces, the Voq is relatively light, weighing less than the latest Treo. Carriers to be announced. About $350; www.voq.com -Mark Spoonauer

CDs

1. Sound + Vision, David Bowie (Virgin)

This remastered and updated (through 1993) box set of alternate tracks and rarities, plus a full disc of new music, will intoxicate Bowie loyalists and win over at least some people who still think he made his last good record in 1983 (Let's Dance). And even if you don't buy Kurt Loder's claim in the liner notes that Tin Machine rocked, you can't call yourself a music fan without owning the early '70s tracks included here. -Rowan West

2. Talkie Walkie, Air (Astralwerks)

Sofia Coppola's favorite French ambient duo returns with its most intimate record to date, mixed by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. J.B. Dunckel and Nicolas Godin breathe new life into their synthesized style of pop, exhaling sonic clouds. -Rowan West

3. Folklore, Nelly Furtado (DreamWorks)

Following up her acclaimed 2000 debut, Whoa, Nelly, Grammy-winner Furtado pours her Portuguese-Canadian soul into an eclectic "post-folk" album that evokes past masters of ethnofusion from Peter Gabriel to Neneh Cherry. One highlight: the bilingual "Forca," in which Béla Fleck's banjo dances all over an exhilarating Latin rhythm. -Rowan West

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