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PCExpo 2001 July 2, 2001 NEW YORK CITY: It’s been only a day since we left the tech-packed TECHXNY/PCExpo 2001 at the Jacob Javitts Convention Center, but our heads are still spinning with the "mobile, handheld, wireless and easy" of the now future of computing. Devices and programs to make life and work easier, more productive and fun, giving us access to capabilities we could only dream about a year or two ago. Here is an ever so brief peek at what we saw: Handheld computers such as the Palm, Handspring or Sony’s Clie’ were all introducing new and improved models sporting impressive color displays. The Clie’ multimedia model has a built-in MP3 player and, like the Palm’s new 500 series, has an SD (secure digital) memory card slot. With the card’s extra memory, you’ll be able to play music on the Clie’ or watch a slide show with the Palm, change cards and watch a different show. Expansion slot modules for the Handspring, who launched a sexy, super-slim sleek model, the Edge, were introduced for all sorts of uses as diverse as improved wireless Internet access, GPS locating, digital photos, VGA output for LCD projectors or monitors, bar-code readers and more. An exciting device for the Palm is a motion sensing card, the MoveIT!, that slips into the SD slot. Using this, a tilt of the Palm handheld moves the cursor. Great for gaming but equally useful for scrolling lists, selecting entries and many handicapped applications. And for the handhelds there is the line of add-on keyboards, portable printers and more. Laptop computers far outnumbered desktop computers with the marketing types at the show telling us they have happily replaced their bulky desktops with the new lines of slim lightweight laptops. Some of which will give you all the features of a desktop computer including large hard drive capacity, 30+GB, multifunction DVD/CD-ROM/CD-RW drives, multiple USB ports, built-in network adapter, firewire ports and more. Such a model is the new "C" series Fujitsu laptop. Complete with a DVD/CD-R drive it sells for less than $2,000 and weighs less than 3#. If you need longer battery life from your existing laptop, add the new PowerPad battery from Electrofuel which will give up to 12 hours laptop life. It’s external and $599 but if you need it, it’s available. Digital cameras and accessories were much in evidence with new very compact point-and-shoot models from Olympus and Fuji. Two new auto focus zoom cameras from Kodak and Nikon feature simple one-button camera to computer picture transfer. The Kodak DX3600 model does this using a docking station that also recharges the camera’s battery. Very convenient. The Visoneer PhotoPort 7700 scanner will not only scan your existing photos to get them into the computer but also features digital camera memory card reader slots for CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards. The included software is astoundingly easy to use. Plug in the card and thumbnails of the pictures appear, select one or more to crop or enhance, print, send via e-mail or incorporate into an e-mail greeting card. The new Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX printer ($249) hosts a built-in PC card slot used for adapters reading most digital camera cards including the Memory Stick and IBM Microdrive. This printer will print directly from the card. Select the pictures desired from a printed thumbnail "proof" or choose using the optional LCD display. The printer uses the new PRINT Image Matching technology and for compatible digital cameras such as the new Epson PhotoPC 3100Z, will automatically adjust the print for various lighting conditions, color balance, brightness and contrast. The printer includes a roll adapter for printing a series of 4 X 6 inch prints - borderless. The prints we saw were outstanding. Storage devices are being introduced in new, unique and useful forms. The DiskOnkey from M-Systems is a thumb-sized device (complete with key ring) with a USB connector on one end and inside contains 8, 16 or 32 MB storage. When connected to the computer it operates as a secure, removable hard drive - no drivers need to be loaded. Unplug, carry to another computer and your data, whether it’s a Power Point presentation, spreadsheets or text documents, is ready to use, $49.00. Iomega displayed the Peerless Drive System: removable pocket-sized discs that hold 10 or 20 GB of storage with transfer speeds up to 15MB/sec using Firewire (1MB/sec with USB). We watched three movies being displayed simultaneously, feed from one Peerless disc with narry a glitch. Very impressive. We’ve always preached backup and now CMS Peripherals has made it soooo easy you really don’t have an excuse not to backup. The ABplus is a pocket-sized device with a PCMCIA connector attached on a flexible arm. Install the software and after an initial full hard drive backup you only need to plug the device into your laptop or desktop with a PCMCIA card reader and it’s recognized by the computer and an automatic backup starts, in minutes you’re done. Easy, easy, easy. There’s no log or compression, you have a mirror of your hard drive and can quickly recover single files or folders, or in the event of a major hard drive melt-down, replace the laptop’s hard drive with the ABplus’s drive (which is bootable) and away you go. |
