Laptops aren't that portable, are they? For serious computing, you have to carry something the size of a briefcase, and then you probably don't find it as usable as a regular PC, or - on the opposite scenario - you could well live with a simpler machine, as long as it allowed you to type some letters, and to compute basic spreadsheets...
Yes, you need a Pocket PC. A PC that fits your pocket.

Most Pocket PCs are the size of scientific calculators; a few are truly limited, but another few are quite superb. I recently bought a Pocket PC - the Compaq iPAQ 3660, which really is the best pocket computing machine money can buy. I bought the iPAQ because I am trying hard to cut paper out of my life. I dislike paper: the way it ages, the space it takes, and the trees it costs.

You might think that cutting away with paper wouldn't be easy to someone who loves reading books... unless those books could be read NOT on paper... and of course they can, because "books" aren't more than data. Electronic books (e-books) are everywhere these days, although half of the available files are not legit, being produced by people who have the original organic thing, and decide to digitize AND distribute it. So, finding what you want to read is usually easy, and you can always do the right thing and pay for it, via Amazon, Barnes, and the hundreds of other e-shops who now sell electronic reading.

But for those of you who aren't convinced about reading on a portable device - that retro illuminates the text, lets you bookmark it, search it, use a dictionary as you read, when you don't understand some word's meaning; and even listen to the text, thanks to digital speech - then, you might appreciate that using the iPAQ as an e-book reader is something very few people actually do, because the Compaq's gadget is actually powerful enough to run familiar software like Word (Pocket Word), Excel (Pocket Excel), Money (Pocket Money), Windows Media Player, Acrobat PDF reader, and a zillion other titles - as many as programmers decide to code and offer, because the software development tools are FREE.

Microsoft OFFERS the Embedded Visual Studio IDE, that allows you to build Windows CE / Pocket PC operating system software. In case you don't appreciate the (superb) Microsoft IDE, you can always learn machine language and, for example, program the iPAQ using INTEL's Strong ARM assembly mnemonics - Strong ARM is the processor that fits the best pocket devices, running at 204 MHz on the top end Compaq's proposals.
If you prefer, you can also install "Pocket Linux" on the iPAQ, and if you own an IBM microdrive or a 512 MB Compact Flash card, you could even do a "full" Linux install, as complete as the one that runs on the best PCs.

A word of warning here: only devices with FLASHABLE ROM can have their operating systems improved or replaced. Unfortunately, there are NOT many machines with flashable roms, and that is another reason for me buying the Compaq iPAQ 3660, which also offers 64 MB RAM, and features the best display you'll find on the market: you can read under all light circumstances, including daylight!

The one thing you SHOULD buy after buying the iPAQ is a "Compact Flash Cradle", which is a plastic bay that perfectly embraces / fits the device and allows you to use Compact Flash devices (types I and II) on it. This translates to memory devices up to 1 GB (by today's commercial limits), wireless network cards, PCMCIA adapters, modems, etc, etc.. Imagine yourself on bed, using a zero-noisy device, that truly fits your palm, weights nothing, and surfing the web...