"WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' CDs!"
Looks like Brad Feld had a happy experience with the Apple Airport Express portable WiFi access point over the holidays. He's put it on his "Toy of the Month" list.
Back in a post last September on the Apple device, I'd been pretty effusive in my praise:
"One of the coolest, most pioneering, and under-appreciated products from Apple in recent years
has been the Airport Express, introduced with relatively little fanfare a little over a year ago."
I'd even complained then about how long it had taken for something like this to be introduced on the non-Apple side, even though the Apple product works perfectly well with both Apple and Windows PCs.
The most promising alternative that I posted about a few days later, was the Linksys WTR54GS 
(don't you love these catchy product names?), which I'd promised to review as soon as I received my online order.
Well, like Brad, I had the opportunity to try it out over the New Year's holidays, at a hotel where both my wife and I needed to share the high-speed Ethernet connection.
Of concern to me when I took out the yet un-opened Linksys box (or so I thought at first), was that it would probably require me to install some software with the installation CD, JUST like the Apple product did.
The problem was that both my wife and I carry around compact laptops that don't have CD drives built in, but can be plugged in as an attachment. And of course, neither one of us had bothered to pack the portable CD drive, in our usual manic effort to optimize our packing and still not check any baggage.
So with the almost full expectation of the gizmo not working, I plugged in the Linksys to the power connection, and into the hotel's Ethernet port.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the Linksys show up almost instantaneously as an available wireless network on my Windows Laptop (in this case the excellent IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC)!
I fired up the browser, and voila, I was at the sign-up screen for the hotel's wireless service at $10 a day (yes, it was one of THOSE expensive hotels that thinks it's OK to nickel and dime their customers on Wife).
I eagerly agreed to pay the damages, and presto, I was on the web! My wife was also able to get on the web tirelessly with her laptop (Toshiba M200 Tablet PC) with minimum fuss.
The Linksys worked WITHOUT the CD software installation!
This is something that I know I couldn't do with the Apple product when I'd last attempted it a few months ago.
On that basis alone, I'd give the Linksys the nod over the Apple product, and it's cheaper to boot (you'll save at least $30 depending on where you shop). It has all the security bells and whistles.
It's not as nice to look at as the Apple product, but sans-CD installation wins major points in my book. Recommended as a "Thriller!" product, that's a "must-have" for anyone who travels through hotels with a laptop.
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