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by Chuck Horowitz |
Be sure to read "Extreme Computing," by Marty Jerome, in the April issue of PC Computing.
The article describes their fifth annual notebook survival tests. What they do to sixteen notebook computers shouldn't happen to your worst enemy. Heat, ice, 29 inch drops and spilled liquid are the torture tests.
There were eight survivors at the end of the test, with varying degrees and types of damage. The Dell Latitude XpiCD, the Digital HiNote VP 535, the Ergo CD PowerBrick, NEC Versa 6050MX, Olivetti's Echos P120E, Panasonic's CF-25, Samsung's SENS Pro 500 and the Twinhead Slimnote 9133TZ were the survivors.
The AMS TravelPro 186, the Compaq Armada 4120T, the Acer AcerNote Nuovo, the Gateway 2000 Solo 2100-133, the Hewlett-Packard OmniBook 800CT, the IBM ThinkPad 36JXD, the Micron TransPort MRX and WinBook's WinBook LM did not make it for various different reasons.
WinBook Computer Corporation (Columbus, OH) now has the WinBook FX with a 150 MHz Pentium processor, 40 MB of EDO RAM, a 12.1 inch active matrix screen, a 2 Gigabyte removable hard drive, a 28.8 Kbps internal fax/modem, a 59W smart lithium-ion battery, 256K syncburst level 2 cache, an options bay that accepts a CD drive and a 3.5 inch floppy (both included), or an optional second battery, one Type II and one Type III PCMCIA slots, an integrated dual button pointing stick, an IrDA port, Windows 95 installed and Sound Blaster 16 compatible stereo audio. The cost for all of this is $3399. WinBook can be reached at 800-468-1496.
Pendragon Computer Systems (Washington, DC) makes the Excalibur with a 150 MHz Pentium processor, 256K synchronous pipeline burst cache, 48 MB of EDO RAM (upgradable to 80 MB), 2.2 Gigabyte removable hard drive, built-in 33.6 Kbps fax/modem with speakerphone and answering machine features, a 10X CD, a 12.1 inch active matrix screen with 800 X 600 resolution, Zoomed video with 2 MB of EDO RAM, a lithium-ion smart battery and a user friendly touchpad. Prices start at $3,999. Pendragon can be contacted at 800-720-6089.
Keydata International, Inc. (So. Plainfield, NJ) has the Keynote 8660 with a 200 MHz Pentium processor, 256K Level 2 pipeline burst cache synchronous memory, 2 MB of video RAM, 16 MB of RAM (upgradable to 80 MB), a removable 2.1 Gigabyte hard drive, accelerated 64-bit PCI bus, a 13.3 inch XGA TFT active LCD screen (1024 X 768), a removable 3.5 inch floppy drive, an 8X CD, 19mm pitch Windows 95 keyboard, touchpad pointing device, 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro compatibility, video capture/zoomed video port, 2 Type II or 1 Type III 16-bit PCMCIA cards or 32-bit CardBus cards, IrDA port, a smart bay that accepts a floppy drive or a CD and a Ni-MH battery. Keydata can be reached at 888-586-5800.
Sager Computer (City of Industry, CA) produces the NP8620 with a 100 to 200 MHz Pentium processor, a 10X CD, 256KB Level 2 pipeline burst synchronous cache, 2 MB of video RAM, 64-bit local bus video, 16 MB of EDO RAM (expandable to 40 MB), a removable 1 Gigabyte hard drive (optional 1.3 and 2.1 Gigabyte), a 12.1 inch Dual Scan or active matrix (800 X 600) SVGA screen, a 3.5 inch floppy drive, 16-bit stereo sound with 2 stereo speakers and a microphone, built-in TouchPad, 1 Type II and 1 Type III PCMCIA slots which support Zoom Video, NiMH battery, infrared port, serial port, parallel port, TV-out port, game/MIDI ports, keyboard port, monitor port and connector for docking station and telephone jacks. The price range for all of this is between $1995 and $2975. This does not appear to include a fax/modem. Sager can be reached at 800-669-1624.
Avatar Peripherals, Inc. (Milpitas, CA) makes the Shark 250, a portable hard drive with a 250 MB disk. The Shark is not a SCSI device and does not require a separate power supply. It's a parallel port device that draws power from the keyboard port (both AT or PS/2). Weighing less than one half of a pound, the drive is truly portable. You can use it on a plane or a train. The drive can withstand a free fall of up to 3 feet. Speed varies depending upon whether you are using an EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) or a non-EPP; however, portability is the main feature here. I should point out that the Iomega (Roy, UT) Zip drive also has a battery pack that is very light weight and costs only about $49. Avatar can be reached at 888-462-8282 and Iomega can be reached at 801-778-1000.
Here's an update on the most popular PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) on the market today. U.S. Robotics Palm Computing Division (Mountain View, CA) has an upgrade to the Pilot that gives you pocket e-mail, pocket expenses, 1 MB of memory, better linking between applications, different views in the date book area (by Day, Week and Month), easy details in the Week view, and games (Giraffe, HardBall, MineHunt, Puzzle and SubHunt) that are standard. You can now reassign different applications to the physical buttons and create an "Owners Preference" screen where you can put your name, company name, phone number, etc. The regular price of this upgrade is $129.
Along with the "PalmPilot" software mentioned above, you can also get the "PalmPilot Modem," a pocket-sized modem that snaps onto the bottom of the Pilot or PalmPilot Professional and connects to a telephone line through a standard RJ11 jack. Two AAA batteries allow you up to 5 hours of connect time and the modem automatically turns off after every HotSync. The modem is $129 and an AC adapter is an additional $19.95. I should mention that the latest version of the Pilot is the PalmPilot Professional and that this upgrade brings your Pilot 1000 or 5000 to this level. U.S. Robotics Palm Computing Division can be contacted at 800-881-7256.
Chuck Horowitz is a HAL-PC member.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
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