The perfect notebook computer would be light as a feather, compact while in transit but with a full keyboard and huge, bright screen when in use. Never losing its charge, it would be able to run even the most power hungry applications without breaking a sweat, and would connect a user wirelessly to any network.

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Unfortunately, that notebook computer does not exist.

So if you plan to purchase a notebook computer for a gift, you're going to have to make trade-offs -- and to make them well, you'll want to keep in mind the way the person to whom you're giving the gift will use the notebook.

The users

Alan is a road warrior. As a salesman with a large territory, he spends his life running between hotels, and logs lots of hours on airplanes. Alan needs portability, flexibility, and a computer that won't make one arm longer than the other as he lugs it through busy airports. Since he spends lots of time away from home, but still wants to keep connected, he values wireless connectivity tremendously, so he can keep in touch with his family by e-mail and instant messenger, and log into his office computers while he's waiting for his connecting flights to get important files for his meetings.

Bev is a college student. Her notebook computer will spend most of the time on her desk in her dorm room, which is cramped for space. But she still wants to use it like all her friends -- to do her assignments, stream her favorite tunes from the Internet, and connect with her boyfriend at another college without burning lots of expensive cell phone minutes.

Carla is a middle manager for a large company. Her job doesn't require full time portable computing, so her company won't buy her one. But she does a lot of work from home, and goes on the road occasionally.

Your gift choice of notebook computer would likely be different depending on whether your recipient is more like Alan, Bev, or Carla.

The needs

Buying for Alan is all about making his computer work remotely. He'll appreciate a small, lightweight traveler, equipped with high-speed wireless networking and long battery life. People like Alan usually don't worry about the size of the screen as much as they value a computer that doesn't run out of power half-way through a long flight.

If you are buying for Bev, instead, you'll want a large, vivid screen and lots of disk memory to store videos and music files. She may take her computer to the library once in a while, but it's not going to be lugged 3,000 miles at a clip, so weight is not quite as important. Her college is likely to give her an Ethernet port with which she connects by wire to the Internet for all of her connected activities -- which will be numerous.

Carla requires a hybrid -- a system that is light enough to carry through the airport easily. But she probably doesn't want to give up the large screen (unless she has an external monitor).

The lineup

The ultra portable systems typically use computer chips that are made for portability and battery conservation, such as the Intel Centrino. These chips often have slower clock speeds -- that's the rating that you typically see labeled in Gigahertz -- because the slower central processing unit (CPU) doesn't drain a battery as quickly, and doesn't require as much cooling.

Therefore, the computer can be built lighter and without the battery drain of the more powerful fans. Centrino systems have a built-in Wi-Fi chip, aiding the road warrior to connect wirelessly wherever he can find Wi-Fi hot spots, which are increasingly becoming available at more restaurants, hotels, and airports. In some cases, even entire cities are getting wired.

College students and many adults simply want to use their notebook primarily as a desktop replacement. Even though the systems are portable, they'll usually be plugged into a wall power outlet instead of using batteries. So they can take advantage of the more powerful chips such as the faster Intel Pentium 4 systems or the high-end AMD Athelon based systems. Look for large monitors, faster chips, large disks, and a combination DVD drive/CR-R recorder.

For the person who spends some time on the road, but most of it as a home user, consider a system with a balance of portability and performance, often powered by Pentium M processors, which are not as powerful as their high speed Pentium cousins.