Hard drive The external hard disk drive is another example of computer peripheral equipment given a makeover. Built in a silver casing that looks great on any desktop, Iomega's new External Hard Drive Silver Series is a high-speed Universal Serial Bus 2.0 device for the home or small office. It measures 128.9x74.4x12.7 millimetres and comes in capacities of 120 and 160 gigabytes. With 7,200 revolutions per minute performance and plug-and-play installation, it is touted as one of the simplest, most affordable ways to store digital music, photos, videos and other large files. The 160GB Silver Series drive ($1,430) can store up to 740,000 highly compressed, 3-megapixel resolution photos; 2,960 hours of 128-kilobits per second MP3 audio music; or 240 hours of 720x480 DVD MPEG-2 video. Iomega's built-in Automatic Backup Pro software provides professional-level 'set-it and forget it' backup and disaster recovery for data, which backs up on a scheduled or continuous basis.
Skin flicks The Trio Slim 32-inch LCD Television (TTH-32L), manufactured by Australia-based Trio Corp, is a television for those who want a high-definition picture quality but not the glitzy price tag. Trio says its $11,800, 32-inch Slim LCD TV brings you a 'step closer to achieving your ultimate home threatre dream'. The TV incorporates LG-Philips LCD technology and Trio's SkinTone system, which is supposed to give true, fleshy tones rather than the yellow-green found on other flat-panel monitors. The set also boasts 16:9 aspect ratio, high-definition TV resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, Nicam sound and a built-in multi-system tuner for PAL and NTSC systems. Users can also hook up the display to a personal computer and Xbox or PlayStation game consoles through a variety of interfaces.
Ultralight China's Lenovo Group could well have received a boost to the start of its global operations last week with the release of the ThinkPad X41 notebook. This ultraportable system is said to be the lightest and smallest laptop developed by IBM's former PC unit. Lenovo completed the acquisition of that business on May 1. The ThinkPad X41 weighs about 1.2kg, measures 2.1x21.1x26.7cm, and comes with a built-in fingerprint reader. It is equipped with the Intel Pentium M processor, Intel 915GM chipset with 533-megahertz front side bus, and robust graphics capabilities through the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. It also includes the ThinkPad Power Manager software, which gives users control over the thermal management of their notebook. That pertains to the processor speed and the speed of the fan that cools the processor, two devices that significantly impact battery life. ThinkPad X41 prices start at $13,988.
Laser beam Already a force to be reckoned with in the mobile phone market, Samsung Electronics is building up its credentials in the printer sector with its CLP-510 colour laser printer. Built for home users and small firms, the CLP-510 weighs 32kg, measures 510x470x405 millimetres and provides up to 1,200 x 1,200 dots per inch resolution. It is built with automatic duplexing, which churns out what Samsung calls error-free, two-sided printing. The device uses Samsung's NO-NOIS Static Engine for whisper-quiet operations. It incorporates a Samsung processor and standard memory of 64 megabytes, expandable to 192MB. With its 250-sheet cassette and 100-sheet multi-purpose trays, the CLP-510 can hold up to 850 sheets at a time with an optional 500-sheet tray. Priced at $3,380, the Samsung printer comes with a built-in liquid crystal display monitor. It is compatible with Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems.
Waterproof Like the various computers this essential peripheral equipment supports, the keyboard and mouse have evolved in design and finish over the years. The new Microsoft Wireless Desktop 1000 shows how far things have progressed. Priced at $349, this product features an intelligent, spill-resistant design. Neat built-in water channels for draining away liquids prevent the keyboard from malfunctioning or wearing out early due to spills. Microsoft Wireless Desktop 1000 delivers 27-megahertz wireless connection to give precision, speed and freedom of usage at a range of up to six feet. It is equipped with Windows hot keys and other commonly used keys - including My Pictures and My Document - for the user's convenience. It also offers built-in multimedia keys including play/pause, volume up/down and stop. The mouse incorporates a built-in scroll wheel for fast, accurate control. This design also thoughtfully caters to both left- and right-handed users.
Pavlovian In the first quarter, Hewlett-Packard trumped perennial market leader Lenovo to take the No 1 position in personal computer sales in Asia. HP hopes to duplicate that feat for the rest of this year, especially if demand for the latest desktop products, such as its Pavilion Home PC w5088hk, gathers pace. Priced at $13,998, this stylish Pavilion comes packed with features that would extend its use as a digital entertainment system in the living room. It has a 3.20-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor with 100-megabyte Layer 2 cache, 200-gigabyte hard disk drive, 1GB memory that is expandable to 4GB, nine-in-one digital media reader, five high-speed Universal Serial Bus 2.0 ports, television tuner card with FM radio, 19-inch liquid crystal display monitor and a Lightscribe-enabled optical disc drive, which allows users to copy text and photo images directly on to the face of a CD-Rom disc.