I'm trying to decide how best to synchronize files between my two laptops. One is really a "desktop replacement Toshiba and one is a small, lightweight Acer Travelmate. I've got everything on the Toshiba, but it's too heavy to (a) carry to/from the office every day, and (b) carry on trips. At least, not enjoyably. I'd like to use the Acer at home and when I travel, even though it's a little slower, just to spare my neck and shoulder and spine.

Also, I'd rather not be carrying around the Toshiba so much, in case something does happen to it. I do a full backup and drive image to an external hard drive before I travel, but still ... if there's going to be a computer casualty somewhere down the road, I'd rather it be the old Acer.

I have all my project files in a Project Files directory, amounting to about 4 Gb, and I have big Outlook mailbox and contact files (about 100 Mb together). I just bought a Kensington 5 Gb PCMCIA hard drive that I could use to synchronize my work and Outlook files between the two computers.

One question: is this something I should be doing with Microsoft Briefcase, or would it be simpler using the sync feature in Power Desk?

And what about using Windows (xp) File and Settings Transfer Wizard to make sure my software's configured the same on both computers? Is there anything I *should* be doing with the Transfer Wizard?

I imagine a lot of you FlyerTalkers must have wrestled with this issue. A prize to the most creative, efficient solution!