by Chuck Horowitz
Well, Road Warriors finally have their own Don Q to tilt at windmills for them. The Mobile Advisory Council (MAC…do we really want to use this acronym? Just kidding!). This group will lobby for standards for mobile computers and their users. The group was founded by Compaq Computer Corporation and 3Com Corporation and then joined IBM Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Fujitsu PC Corporation, Hitachi PC Corporation, NEC Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Xircom Corporation, Sony Corporation, Systemsoft Corporation, Texas Instruments, Inc., Phoenix Technologies, Ltd., Philips Electronics America and TDK Corporation (a veritable who’s who of notebook computer producers).
The council will help to develop standards in several areas including power management, security, communications, hardware design and remote management. They will also look into Mobile IP, Device Bay, USB and IEEE 1394. Information regarding the council can be obtained from Compaq at 800-888-5925 or www.compaq.com and from 3Com at 800-638-3266 or www.3com.com,
Wedge Technology, Inc. makes the ShowBook P6CD-S notebook computer. This notebook has an upgradeable 200MHz MMX Pentium processor, 32MB of RAM (expandable to 128MB), two PCMCIA slots, a removable Toshiba 3.2 Gigabyte IDE hard drive, 2MB of EDO video memory, a 12.1 inch TFT active-matrix screen, 16-bit sound with built-in speakers and microphone, interchangeable battery and floppy drives and a 20X CD-ROM drive. All this weighs only 7.5 pounds. The unit has all of the standard ports including an infrared port and two serial ports (no USB port though). The price for this gem is $1,495. Wedge can be contacted at 800-872-9334 or www.wedgetech.com.
Micron Electronics, Inc. (Nampa, ID) has the Transport Trek, a 266MHz MMX Pentium processor notebook with 512KB cache, 64MB of RAM (expandable to 144MB), a 3.2 Gigabyte hard drive, a 13.3 inch XGA screen, a lithium-ion battery, two PCMCIA slots, built-in speakers and a 3Com 56Kbps modem PC Card with XJack (and a cellular jack). This system weighs less than 7 pounds and costs $2,797. Micron can be reached at 800-388-6334 or www.micronpc.com.
DynaFirm, Inc. (Los Alamos, NM) is shipping the JetTalker, a voice recorder for the PalmPilot and the Palm III. You dictate into the JetTalker, which attaches to your Palm III and it organizes the voice messages into customizable categories, which also have subcategories. You can play back an entire category or a single voice message. There are personalized voice alarms to remind you of events and the unit has a jack for a headphone or a microphone. You can store up to 34 minutes of recording and it organizes your voice messages in 15 categories and 15 subcategories. Your data is stored digitally and you can password protect it. DynaFirm wants $169 for this gadget and $24.95 for a microphone and Earbud. They can be contacted at 800-467-1459 or www.dynafirm.com.
Microtech International, Inc. makes the Mii Zip 100, a 100MB disk drive on a Type II PC Card, using the Iomega Zip drive technology. Small and lightweight (11 ounces) this drive is handy for toting around on your travels. You don’t need to carry a power supply because the Mii gets its power from your notebook. Of course, this cuts down on the computer’s battery life, but life is full of compromises. This unit costs $299, not counting the price of disks. Microtech can be reached at 800-340-0197 or www.microtech-pc.com.
I just found out that DVD (Digital Video Disk) can currently store up to 4.7 Gigabytes (seven CD-ROMs) and they expect to increase it to 8.5 Gigabytes when they add a second layer to the single-sided disks and 9.4 Gigabytes when they make double-sided, single-layer disks. It doesn’t stop here though, they expect to reach 17 Gigabytes on double-sided, double-layer disks in about a year. They also expect to see rewritable DVD disks about that time. I guess I’ll wait before I buy a new notebook with DVD.
NEC Computer Systems Division of Packard Bell NEC, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) makes the MobilePro 750C, a Windows CE computer with an NEC 80MHz MIPS processor with 24KB cache. This handheld has 16MB of RAM (upgradeable to 32MB), 16MB of ROM, a built-in 33.6 Kbps modem, 256 color 8 inch diagonal LCD screen, an 80 key QUERTY keyboard with 10 programmable function keys, built-in VGA, serial infrared ports, built-in microphone, one Type II PCMCIA slot, one Compact Flash PC Card slot, a rechargeable, 8-hour lithium-ion battery and weighs 1.88 pounds. The system comes with Windows CE 2.0, Microsoft’s Pocket Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, Excel and Paragraph Calligrapher. The retail price for this unit is $899. NEC can be contacted at 888-863-2669 or www.necnow.com.
WPI Husky Computers (Clearwater, FL) has the FC-PX5 Color, a rugged notebook computer. This unit can meet the BS2011 standard for all the punishment you can dish out to a computer. Weighing in at 4.8 pounds, this machine has a 133MHz Pentium processor, 16MB of RAM (expandable to 32MB), a 150 Type II PC Card flashdisk and a 7.8 inch touchscreen. You really need to have a rugged notebook to buy this one though, the retail price is $8,340. I think I’ll get a 266MHz, $1,800 unit and throw it away if it breaks (I can do this at least 4 times). WPI can be reached at 813-530-4141 or www.wpihusky.com.
The June 22, 1998 issue of Government Computer News has an item under Product Reviews, by John McCormick, with 21 tips to maximize Windows 95 on a notebook. He says that Windows 98 will not be so tempting if you follow these tips.
Curtis Computer Products (Muscatine, IA) makes the Curtis Flip-Top Leather Carrying Case for the PalmPilot (I guess the Palm III will also fit). You can use your PalmPilot without taking it out of the case by flipping it open. The case has a pocket for your business cards and your credit cards, and it fits into your shirt (or jacket) pocket. The cost for this case is $30. Curtis can be contacted at 319-263-8144 or www.curtiscp.com.
Hitachi Home Electronics America, Inc. (Norcross, GA) is selling the HPW-200EC, a color handheld computer with a 100MHz Hitachi SuperH SH3 RISC processor, 16MB of RAM (expandable to 48MB), 12MB of ROM, a 33.6Kbps software modem, a VGA-out port, an IrDA interface, a 74-key keyboard and a 8.1 inch color touchscreen, This unit is 1.3 by 10.0 by 5.2 inches and weighs 29 ounces. The price for this Windows CE handheld is $999. Hitachi can be reached at 777-279-5699 or www.hitachi.com.
EXP Computer, Inc. (Irvine, CA) has introduced the DVD Traveler. This portable PC CARD DVD-ROM drive measures 0.8 by 5.5 by 6.5 inches and weighs 1.3 pounds.
This device enables notebook users to use DVD software and watch DVD videos on the road. The drive draws power from the notebook and has no power supply of its own. For $499 you can be DVD ready. EXP can be contacted at 714-453-1020 or www.exp-net.com.
Chuck Horowitz is a HAL-PC member and can be reached at 713-739-4893 or BrisAssoc@aol.com or chuckh@hal-pc.org.
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