by Chuck Horowitz
It’s time to get your Christmas wish list organized. I was so good to myself this year that there’s very little left for me to wish for (as far as hardware is concerned). I still have to find the time to use all of the new gadgets that I’ve gotten this year. I received my dream machine, the Toshiba Libretto 100CT early this year and I need a good flatbed scanner and more disks for my Iomega Jaz (2 GB) portable drive. At about $169 each, you know that I’m not stocking up.
I have plenty of Zip disks (Iomega 100MB portable drive) to carry me through the rough times. I could find a use for one of those business card scanners so that I can enter the card when I receive it while on the road and then forget about losing it (I usually do lose it before I get home). I guess I need to take a look at software for the Road Warrior this Christmas.
Quantex Microsystems, Inc. (Somerset, NJ) makes the I-1411 notebook with Intel’s 300MHz Pentium II processor and MMA (mobile module architecture). This unit has 128MB of SDRAM with 512KB secondary cache, a 6 Gigabyte Ultra ATA hard drive, a 3.5 inch modular floppy drive, a 14.1 inch XGA active-matrix screen, a 56K V.90 fax/modem, a 2X DVD-ROM drive, an ATI 3D AGP graphics accelerator with 8MB, integrated 16-bit stereo sound and speakers, a Smart Lithium-Ion battery with a second Lithium-Ion battery, a mini docking station, USB and fast IR ports, an integrated personal Touchpad, Windows 98, Office 97 and a carrying case. All this for a mere $3,399 (I can remember when that much wouldn’t even get you a color screen). Quantex can be contacted at 800-346-6650 or www.quantex.com.
Fujitsu PC Corporation (Milpitas, CA) has developed a removable touchpad that pulls out of the notebook (the as yet unreleased Denali model). Using this touchpad you can control the cursor and use the laser pointer built into the pull-out unit. This will be a boon to frequent presenters. We’ll just have to wait to learn more about this notebook. Meanwhile, Fujitsu can be reached at 888-466-8434 or www.fujitsu-pc.com.
Philips Mobile Computing Group (Campbell, CA) has produced the Nino 300, a Windows CE based palm computer. The Nino comes in a $399 4MB version or a $495 8MB model. These are 75MHz models with a 3.9 inch monochrome touchscreen with backlighting option, Jot handwriting recognition, CompactFlash slot, external voice recording button, docking cradle and an AC power adapter. The unit runs on two AA batteries (not included) or an included rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery pack and has a 115Kbps IR port. Philips can be contacted at 888-367-8356 or www.nino.philips.com.
Stevens Creek Software (Cupertino, CA) has PalmPrint V 2.0 that allows Palm III or PalmPilot owners to print from the IR compatible port. If your printer has an IrDA port, this software will let you print from your Palm III or PalmPilot (with an IrDA port) to a variety of printers (some of which are the HP LaserJet 5P and 6P, HP DeskJet 340, Canon BJC-50, BJC-80 and the Citizen PN6). PalmPrint also supports Epson’s printer codes and Postscript. Sounds like a bargain at $30. Stevens can be reached at 408-725-0424 or www.stevenscreek.com.
Check-out Mobile Computing & Communications October issue for a comparison of 16 handhelds by Asa Somers. It’s a lengthy article with a chart showing the features and the prices side by side. The Palm III, Cassiopeia E-10, NEC MobilePro 750C and Psion Series 5 are given first class awards.
RDI Computer Corporation (Carlsbad, CA) has the PrecisionBook, a portable workstation with HP (Hewlett-Packard) PA-RISC processor (132MHz or 160MHz) delivering the power of the HP Visualize B-class desktop work station. It comes with a 14.1 inch color screen and up to a 12 GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM. This package is priced at $12,000 (no typo here, you read it right). RDI can be contacted at 760-929-0992 or www.rdi.com.
Hitachi PC Corporation (San Jose CA) makes the HPW-200PC, a handheld Windows CE device with a “Fast 100MHz CPU”, 16MB of RAM, 12MB of ROM, an 8.1 inch 256 color LCD screen, a large size keyboard, an 8 hour battery, built-in 33.6Kbps modem, voice recorder, serial IrDA port, Type II PC Card slot, Compact Flash slots and an RGB video out port. Also included is Pocket Internet Explorer, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket PowerPoint, AC adapter, serial cable and VGA cable. There are various accessories available including a Windows CE Ethernet card. Mobile Planet is selling this package for $799 but there are probably a few local outlets that you can check out. Hitachi can be reached at 800-448-2244 or www.hitachipc.com.
Qualcomm Corporation is developing the pdQ, a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) cellular phone that includes a PalmPilot type of display. It operates on the Palm OS that enables most PalmPilot users to synchronize with and run most of the PalmPilot applications. Qualcomm will offer two pdQ models, a full CDMA digital operating phone at 1900MHz and a dual CDMA analog phone. Using the address book capability of the Palm OS a user can initiate a call by tapping on an address book listing. Qualcomm has developed some applications of their own that will allow use of the CDMA support for e-mail and internet access. Pricing will be between $500 and $1,000. Qualcomm can be contacted at 800-544-4977 or www.qualcomm.com.
Chuck Horowitz is a HAL-PC member. He can be reached at 713-739-4893 or BrisAssoc@aol.com or chuckh@hal-pc.org.
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