Who says you can't take it with you? The folks at Wolverine Data and Digital Foci beg to differ and have actually produced portable devices that allow you to transport, save, listen and watch data on-the-fly.

The Wolverine MVP 900 Series portable multimedia storage viewer ($399.99 to $599.99 depending on the size of the hard drive) and the Picture Porter ($359 to $429) are designed primarily to display your favorite digital photos on their LCD screens, but they actually do a lot more than that.

They are both quite a bit larger than your common iPod, but easily fit in a briefcase, pocket or purse and can replace a bevy of devices, ranging from digital cameras (for playback of photos) to MP3 players and portable hard drives.

Both are also designed to read data from just about any memory card including memory sticks.

And both come with handy-dandy remote controls and can be connected to computers, TVs and other devices to retrieve and playback data.

So, you may ask, what makes them different? Simply put, the Wolverine gives you more bang for the buck. For $399 you get a device that can hold 60 gigabytes of data compared with laying out $429 for a 40-gigabyte Picture Porter. But it is a bit larger than its competitor and you should like the color red --- bright, flaming red.

The Wolverine also comes with an oversized, high-impact case that contains a speaker so you can listen to your tunes without using earphones or having to hook it up to a multimedia system. Of course there are also pockets to stow memory cards and other paraphernalia.

The Picture Porter's case actually resembles a woman's purse and features a zippered pocket to hold cash and your car keys and all sorts of places to stow memory cards, credit cards and anything else you carry with you. It's also a lot smaller than the Wolverine's speaker case.

Other features of these devices include:

Digital Foci Picture Porter:

• You can purchase a 20-gigabyte or 40-gigabyte unit.
• A 558x234 pixel, two-inch LCD screen.
• Bundled software includes Ulead Photo Explorer 8.5 SE and Ulead Video Toolbox 2.0.
• A built-in Li-Ion battery that gives you 3.5 hours of continuous video playback or 7.5 hours of audio on a single charge.
• It supports digital cameras --- but not all models --- from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Kodak, Minolta and Pentax.
• It transfers data from computers at a rate of 480 megabytes per second and it takes approximately two minutes to transfer all the data from a 256 megabyte memory card.
• It has a USB 2.0 interface for connection to a computer.
• It weighs 8.6 ounces.
• You can zoom, pan and rotate photos.
• Data can be transferred directly to any memory card without using a computer.
• It supports Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

Wolverine MVP 900:

• You have a choice of 60, 80, 100 or 120 gigabyte models.
• It has a built-in Digital Voice and in-line recorder.
• USB 2.0 interface.
• Hard drive and battery are upgradeable/replaceable.
• Up to 720x480 pixel resolution on its 2.5-inch LCD screen.
• Up to eight hours of audio or 3.5 hours of video playback on a single charge.
• Weighs 10 ounces.
• It supports digital cameras --- but not all models --- from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Kodak, Pentax, Minolta, Panasonic and Contax.
• You can zoom, flip and rotate photos and set up a slideshow with music.
• Windows, Mac or Linux compatible (Windows 2000 version must be SP3 or newer).

More information on these devices can be found at www.wolverinedata.com and www.digitalfoci.com.

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