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| The wait is over |
March 17, 2008 |
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Touch this tablet
Dell Latitude XT
There are many convertible tablet computers on the market but Dell’s latest offering stands out for two reasons. First, the screen is both pen- and touch-enabled, meaning owners can use a finger to perform basic tasks and can even use more than one finger for processes like resizing photos. Second, the XT weighs less than four pounds and is the thinnest convertible tablet available.
The Dell Latitude XT starts at $2,499.
http://www.dell.ca/
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One laptop, two monitors
Kensington Notebook Docking Station with Video
If you spend a lot of time using a laptop consider spending $139.99 for this docking station. It allows you to hook a second monitor to your notebook, along with almost all your other peripherals by plugging in just one USB cable. With two monitors you get twice as much on-screen real estate. It’s so simple and useful that it won a CES Innovations Award.
www.kensington.com
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One remote to rule them all
Logitech Harmony One
We’ll start with the downside: the Harmony One is a little complex to configure. If you want to just grab a remote and channel up or down, this is too much remote for you. But if you want to control just about your entire house (TVs and stereos but also digital video recorders, many household appliances, etc.) and do it as easily as can be expected, this is for you. For example, to watch a DVD just hit “Watch a DVD” on the device’s touchscreen and it turns on the TV, the DVD player, and the A/V receiver. In order to perform its magic, the Harmony One must first be plugged into a computer so device codes can be downloaded from Logitech’s Web site.
The CES judges liked it enough to give it a Design and Engineering: Best of Innovations in Home-Entertainment Accessories Award. Get one for US$249.99.
www.logitech.com
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Scan anywhere
Fujitsu ScanSnap S300
Scanners don’t tend to go along on business trips because, as a rule, they’re simply too big. Fujitsu claims this new unit — which comes in at only three pounds — is the world’s smallest duplex automatic document feeder scanner.
The 10-document hopper automatically adjusts for different document sizes and the unit operates on USB power, converts scanned data into searchable PDF files and handles up to eight pages per minute. It retails for $295.
http://www.fujitsu.ca/
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Finally, credible iPod competition
Microsoft Zune
MP3 players are really two-part devices. Part one is the actual hardware: capacity, design, durability and looks. Part two is the computer software that loads and manages the device’s content. Many manufacturers are good with part one but fall flat on the all-important part two.
Enter the Zune. Long available in the U.S., Microsoft announced Canadian availability at CES. These second-generation Zunes come in a few colours, range in storage from 4GB to 80GB (the 80GB unit is significantly larger), sport FM radios (a significant advantage), and are attractive and well designed. But the real news is the accompanying software is almost as good as Apple’s iTunes. It’s a little over designed and doesn’t yet link to a large enough podcast directory, but it is well ahead of almost every other offering. Zune pricing was not set at press time.
www.zune.com
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Jawbones cross the border
Aliph Jawbone
Jawbone Bluetooth headsets were launched in 2006 but only in the U.S., leaving savvy Canadian cell users very annoyed. Why? Because Jawbones work so well that if you need a wireless headset don’t shop around: just buy this one. And if you don’t believe us the Jawbone has won a bunch of awards, including Popular Science’s Best of What’s New, BusinessWeek’s International Design Excellence Award and PC World’s Top 100 Products of 2007.
The Jawbone offers military-grade noise cancelling technology, a speech identification sensor which separates your voice from other noise, and dynamic adjustment of both the volume and frequency of incoming speech. The result is a small headset that simply performs. $135 from Rogers.
http://www.jawbone.com/
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One box, all your data
HP MediaSmart Server
If you work in even a medium-sized office your company maintains a central server where you can back up your work and collaborate with other employees. Setting up a similar system in a small business or even on a home network was possible before but it was a daunting prospect. And that’s what HP is looking to change.
The MediaSmart Server supports automatic backup of multiple PCs, offers user-level permission settings and can store and retrieve multimedia files including videos and iTunes libraries. The 500GB version lists for $599.99.
http://www.hp.ca/
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Now we get to TiVo too
TiVo Series2 DVR
TiVo, verb, informal, meaning to record, as in “I heard about a good show today. I am going to TiVo it.”
You know something is popular when it becomes a verb (think of Google) and in TiVo’s case the honourific is deserved. TiVos are very good digital video recorders and they are finally available in Canada (except for Quebec, but they’re coming there eventually). A Series2 DVR costs $199 plus $12.95 per month for the service. (Service discounts are available.) For that you get 80 hours of capacity, SeasonPass automatic series recording, WishList searches, online scheduling from any computer and dual tuners so you can record two different shows simultaneously. There is also TiVoToGo software which lets owners watch recorded content on a laptop. One tip: spend the extra $60 for the wireless network adapter: it hooks the box to a Wi-Fi network and delivers more functionality.
http://www.tivo.com/
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