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compiled by Dave Raffo
See a complete listing of this month's new product categories.
Nobody ever said your department's paperless office would come cheap, but Sharp at least wants to make it easy. The Sharp EF-3500 electronic filing system consists of a 120MHz Pentium desktop PC, a 40-page-per-minute flatbed color scanner, a 17-inch color monitor, a 1.2GB Magneto Optical Disk drive and document management software.
The system's EF-3500 600dpi scanner reproduces 16.7 million colors or 256 gray scales, and has a 50-page automatic document feeder. The software includes full text indexing and retrieval features, additional security measures, and advanced OCR, OLE and DDE support. It helps you quickly index, retrieve, fax or print scanned documents.
Besides letting you scan documents into text files and databases, the software allows you to import documents from all popular word processors and spreadsheets, create documents up to 8,000 pages, automatically collate and reorder pages, view multiple documents or multiple pages of the same document simultaneously, and add sticky notes and sound, video and clip art through OLE. The software's cue cards help new users.
$17,995
Sharp Electronics Corp.
800-BE-SHARP, 201-529-8948
Compaq offers a personal document filing system in a single unit. The Compaq Presario 7200, 9200 and 9600 PC lines include models with Visioneer optical scanners built right into the keyboard. Compaq also sells the Scanner Keyboard as a standalone product ($349). The scanner supports an optical resolution of 200dpi horizontally and 400dpi vertically.
All three series include models with 6X CD-ROM drives. The best of the value-line 7200 series is the Presario 7234, with 16MB of RAM and a 1.6GB hard disk. The Presario 9240 features a rewriteable optical PD/CD-ROM drive; the unit also has a 133MHz Pentium, 16MB of RAM and a 1.2GB hard disk in a mini-tower design. The top of the line is the Presario 9660, which includes a 166MHz Pentium, 16MB of RAM and a 2GB hard disk in addition to the 6X CD-ROM drive. All three models include 28.8Kbps fax modems.
All models of the 9600 series include hardware-based MPEG video and wavetable synthesis, telephone-answering-machine functions, full duplex speakerphone and voice recognition software. The 7234 and 9240 models ship standard with software-based MPEG technology, telephone-answering-machine functions and full duplex speakerphone.
Presario 7234, $2,499;
Presario 9240, $2,799 (without monitor);
Presario 9660, $2,999 (without monitor)
Compaq Computer Corp.
800-345-1518
If you want to minimize your business' paper, you need an easy way to create, revise, distribute and keep track of forms electronically. FormFlow 2.0 lets you create forms with its FormBasic object-oriented programming language, then store them on ftp sites and in file systems, databases and Exchange folders. Through the program's Routing Designer, you can move information by e-mail and connected databases. FormFlow 2.0 has the look of Microsoft Office.
Starter Kit, $399;
Software Development Kit, $249
Symantec/Delrina Group
800-441-7234, 541-334-6054
After wrestling with other portable LCD projectors, you'll truly appreciate the In Focus Systems LitePro 210. The best thing about this unit is its easy setup. Its microprocessor-powered CableWizard connects computer, audio, mouse and monitor-and saves you from being strangled by cables. The 16-pound system has a 640x480-pixel resolution, built-in JBL 15-watt speaker system, a 270-watt metal halide lamp with a brightness of 200 ANSI lumens and an active-matrix display.
$5,999
In Focus Systems
800-294-6400, 503-685-8888
As a communications device, the tablet has come a long way since Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountaintop. The Fujitsu Stylistic 1000, for example, packs a 100MHz 486DX4-class chip and DSTN color screen into a 3.5-pound package. It is also the first hand-held PC to run Windows 95. The Stylistic 1000 ships with Microsoft's Pen Services 2.0 for digital pen use, 8MB of DRAM, a 260MB hard disk, a lithium ion battery pack for four to six hours of operation, two PCMCIA Type II slots and one PCMCIA-ATA Type III slot, infrared adapter, and industry-standard serial, parallel, keyboard and VGA ports. The tablet PC measures 1.6 by 11 by 7.3 inches. Options include flash memory, a 340MB hard disk and monochrome display.
$2,895
Fujitsu Personal Systems
800-831-3183, 408-982-9500
Flow Charting PDQ lets you draw business diagrams even if your artistic talent is limited to doodling stick figures. The 32-bit software takes advantage of Windows 95 features like OLE, context-sensitive menus and long filenames while remaining simple to use. Its features include templates for custom shapes, QuickConnect for automatically inserting connecting lines, Snapshot for setting defaults with one click, ToolShuffler to customize your toolbar and Spell Check for blowing away typos.
$125 (street)
Patton & Patton Software
800-525-0082, 408-778-6557
TranXit Pro infrared software lets you wirelessly synchronize files between your notebook and your colleague's, even if you're running Windows 95 and your technology-challenged co-worker is still using Win 3.1x. The program lets you update files between your desktop and notebook without hooking up cables. You can also cut and paste data directly between Windows apps on different PCs.
$99.95; TranXit Pro Connectivity Kit (with IR serial adapter for
desktop PCs), $129.95
Puma Technology
800-774-7862, 408-321-7650
You know about multifunction devices that print, scan, fax and copy. Well, the Amquest Commando is a multifunction card-a 28.8Kbps fax modem, wavetable sound card, full duplex speakerphone, and voice-mail answering/fax-on-demand system. It supports DSVD for simultaneous voice and data use, pager notification and Caller ID.
$250 (street)
Amquest Corp.
717-569-8039, fax 717-569-8530
Now that 166MHz Pentium systems have arrived, you can find 150MHz bargains. The latest entry in the ALR Optima series is a 150MHz Pentium available for under $2,000.
The ALR Optima DT and MT 5150 ship standard with 8MB of RAM, four expansion slots, seven drive bays, two serial ports, a bidirectional parallel port, an enhanced 104-key keyboard and flash BIOS. The ALR Optima 5150 1600CD-16 model includes 16MB of RAM, a 1.6GB hard disk, quad-speed CD-ROM and Windows 95 or 3.11.
All models come with a fast PCI/IDE interface that supports up to four PIO Mode 4 IDE mass storage peripherals, and 1MB of DRAM for graphics. The system is available in desktop or mini-tower configurations. The desktop configuration measures 6.25 by 16.25 by 17.25 inches and the minitower stands 17.25 by 8.75 by 16.75 inches. Each weighs about 30 pounds.
Optima 5150, $1,745;
5150 1600CD-16, $2,749
ALR
800-444-4ALR, 714-581-6770
Forget flimsy disc trays or easily misplaced cartridges. The Nakamichi MJ-4.4 CD-ROM changer eschews both, and instead uses a direct-loading mechanism that draws discs into one of four internal slots.
The trayless design allows the unit to function in both horizontal and vertical positions. The four-disc changer mechanism avoids contact with the disc surface, which ensures the data's integrity. Also, the front panel's loading slot and the load/eject buttons have special seals that prevent the computer's cooling fan from pulling in dust.
The new system doesn't require that all four discs be rescanned when a new one is loaded, eliminating the usual delay before the disc begins playing. The MJ-4.4 is Sound Blaster compatible and uses an IDE/ATAPI interface.
$259 (street)
Nakamichi America Corp.
310-538-8150, fax 310-324-7614
The EXP CD-420 consists of a quad-speed CD-ROM drive connected to a proprietary PC Card Type I interface card. This upgrade kit provides fast, reliable CD-ROM connection to any notebook equipped with a PC Card slot. The CD-420 is powered through the notebook's own battery, eight AA batteries or by AC power. Aimed primarily at notebooks with built-in stereo, the drive still works with most notebooks equipped with a PC Card Type I, II or III slot, regardless of their sound capabilities.
$445
EXP Computer
800-EXP-6922, 714-453-1020
The Cardinal MVP288 series combines speakerphones and full-featured 28.8Kbps fax modems with software for voice mail, fax management and other applications. The call-management software logs incoming and outgoing telephone calls with the number, date, time and duration. The speakerphone modem includes a built-in RJ-8 jack for telephone headsets. Both external (XS) and internal (IS) models are available.
External, $299; internal, $259
Cardinal Technologies
800-775-0899 x225, 717-293-3000
DigiPhone Deluxe provides full-duplex voice communication over the Internet. The software features conference-call capability, a voice messaging system, speed dialing, and conversation recording and playback. It comes bundled with an Internet tools suite that includes Netscape Navigator 2.0, an e-mail program, ftp program and telnet program.
2-license package, $149.95
Third Planet Publishing
800-950-3341, 214-733-3005
You're running out of excuses to avoid backing up your data. The TEAC Tape800 and Tape1600 internal tape drives give you plenty of data storage space that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. And the included Arcada backup software offers point-and-click scheduling of night or background mode backups, so backing up doesn't intrude on your work time. Using Travan minicartridges, the Tape800 can hold 800MB of compressed data; the Tape1600 holds 1.6GB. The drives back up data at 9.5MB per minute.
Tape800, $149 (street); Tape1600, $179 (street)
TEAC America
213-726-0303, fax 213-727-7672
No matter how cramped your office or how tight your budget, you can print business-quality documents right from your desktop.
The Lexmark Optra E laser printer works on transparencies, envelopes, index cards, heavy stock and labels. It prints at 600x600dpi, churning out 6 pages per minute. At 8.6 by 13.7 by 9.7 inches, it takes up little desktop space.
The Optra E is powered by a 16MHz RISC processor and has 1MB of memory and RAMSmart memory management software. Its standard configuration includes a 150-sheet front input tray, a 100-sheet front output bin, and a manual input tray for quick printing of transparencies and envelopes. An additional 250-sheet input drawer is optional.
Choose between two special printing modes: Quick Print+ speeds printing and reduces memory requirements by printing while data transfer is in progress; Print Accelerator uses a high-speed data-transfer protocol for faster printing.
You can hook up the Optra E to a network using Lexmark MarkNet XLe print servers. The Optra E is also available with 1MB flash memory to permanently store fonts, forms and macros.
$549 (street); $739 with 1MB flash memory
Lexmark International
800-358-5835, 606-232-2000
The proliferation of CD-ROM drives in notebook computers makes multimedia a portable function, so your speakers should be built to travel. The Nakamichi SP-3d speaker system includes two lightweight satellite speakers plus a subwoofer for bass frequencies.
Because your speakers can be placed on any surface, you can mount them on your PC monitor or hook them up to your notebook. All three components have power amplifiers and vibration-isolated circuitry to minimize distortion. The speakers measure 3.9 by 5.25 by 6.75 inches, and the subwoofer is 7.8 by 7.5 by 7.8 inches. The right speaker weighs 8 ounces, the left speaker is 7.75 ounces and the subwoofer is 2 pounds. The system uses SRS Labs' Sound Retrieval System.
$179 (street)
Nakamichi America Corp.
310-538-8150, fax 310-324-7614
Make your presentations up to eight times more accessible with ExpandView, a video broadcast box that lets you send video output from one PC to as many as eight monitors. The box simplifies setup for trade shows and conferences where you need multiple monitors. Monitors can be up to 200 feet away from the source PC. ExpandView reportedly amplifies weak signals to eliminate flicker and color variations.
$159 for 4 monitors; $239 for 8 monitors
Belkin Components
800-2-BELKIN, 310-898-1100
The CTX EzBook now comes equipped with a Pentium processor. Unlike earlier versions that use the Cyrix 5x86 chip, the CTX EzBook 655 includes a 90MHz Pentium. It also ships standard with 8MB of RAM,an 810MB hard disk, built-in dual-speed CD-ROM and 16-bit sound with stereo speakers. You can use its floppy drive concurrently with the CD-ROM drive, and you have your choice of a built-in StickPoint or TouchPad pointing device.
From $2,899 (street)
CTX International
800-888-9052, 909-595-6146
The ViewSonic PT770 17-inch monitor has a 16-inch-viewable SonicTron display for desktop publishers and other graphics professionals. The SonicTron screen is vertically flat and square-cornered with a 0.25mm aperture grille. It supports maximum noninterlaced resolutions of 1600x1280 pixels with a 77Hz refresh rate at 1280x1024 pixels.
$999 (street)
ViewSonic Corp.
800-888-8583, 909-869-7976
If you think you've seen everything when it comes to keyboards, think again. The Janesway Folding Keyboard folds in half to take up less than one-fifth the desk space of an ordinary keyboard. Folding the keyboard also lets you take it on the road with your notebook. The Janesway Spill Resistant Keyboard has a moisture-proof membrane under the keys to protect it from flying coffee and other liquids, as well as dust.
Folding Keyboard, $69.95 (street);
Spill Resistant Keyboard, $29.95 (street)
Janesway Electronics Corp.
800-431-1348, 914-699-6710
Contact manager Janna Contact 95 now comes in three additional flavors. Janna Remote 95 links you to a central database and your co-workers. It enables remote users to write to and access the company database from the road, so everyone works with the most up-to-date information.
Janna Contact 95 Personal Edition gives you the functions of the original Janna package without its networking capabilities. The Personal Edition is for users who don't need Janna's advanced features.
Janna Contact 95 Professional Edition is a heavy-duty contact manager. It lets sales pros keep searchable records of contacts, leads and customers. The Professional Edition includes JannaRemote 95, plus an Opportunity Management module for sales forecasting.
Personal Edition, $49; Remote, $99; Professional
Edition, $199 (street)
Janna Systems
800-268-6107, 408-356-6647
If Dr. Frankenstein had used Fractal Design Poser for Windows 95, who knows what might have emerged from his laboratory? The program allows for the graphic creation of lifelike models that can be shaped, shaded and posed. Parameter dials let users manipulate the male, female and stylized figures, and you can view them from any angle.
The program's libraries contain hundreds of predefined settings. Body parts can be adjusted in size and dimension, and you can grab any part and place it wherever you want. Bump and texture maps help you create a fully rendered model.
$199, $99 through May 31
Fractal Design Corp.
800-297-COOL, 408-688-5300
Whether you want to produce an impressive full-screen presentation or just make some really cool screen savers, Backdrop helps you put the pieces together. It lets you add slides, sounds, music and video to your files, and then display your work online if you wish. Backdrop functions in four modes: as a full-screen presentation, slide show, wallpaper or screen saver. It lets you add narration to photo or slide collections.
$59.95 (direct)
Automedia
800-428-2777, fax 800-582-8000
Even if you somehow achieve the paperless office, you may not be able to find electronic documents more quickly than those sheets scattered around your desk. Recollect can help. The program works with portable scanners and external storage devices to help keep your hard disks organized. Recollect lets you scan images by dragging and dropping them onto a Recollect icon, and it conducts fuzzy searches on files residing on Zip drives and other storage media.
$149
MindWorks Corp.
800-683-8005, 408-730-2100
It's hard to communicate your message clearly if your fax is smeared. CFax Pro 4.0, an add-on to the Delrina WinFax line, cleans up faxes by removing smears and image flaws. Its DeSkew feature improves OCR results by straightening images on a faxed document. CFax Pro also includes an encryption feature for faxing sensitive data.
$99 (direct), single license; $139 (direct), dual license
CFAX
800-201-0288, 210-366-8877
PhotoStudio 2.0 lets you create slide shows, modify scanned photos, create virtual scenes and combine parts of different photos into one image. The CD-ROM package is TWAIN-compatible and includes smoothing filters, sharpening filters, liquid effects and other features such as fish-eye, sphere and whirlpool.
$89 (street)
ArcSoft
800-762-8657, 510-440-9901
With EstimatorPlus, you don't have to wonder where your company's money goes. This project-estimating and expense-tracking program for service-oriented businesses or contractors tracks money, materials, taxes and labor through each project. It produces bids and invoices and lets you quickly build new project estimates. You can choose from and customize over 250 predefined bid types.
EstimatorPlus also prints invoices and more than 20 key reports, which reveal a project's profits, taxes owed and whether you've underbid a project. Other report types include active and completed Jobs/Projects, Job Review Analysis, Sorted Materials list and taxes paid.
Invoice customers at any stage of a project and produce statements on demand. The program will adjust estimates depending on country, tax rates and markup costs. It also shows how real costs compare to your estimates.
$139 (street)
SoftSys
905-619-8093, fax 905-619-3013
Don't you wish saying "abracadabra" could integrate your human resources and payroll management, and get them under control? It won't-but using Abra 3.0 can help you put things in order. Abra (previously named Envoy) is a customizable human resource management and payroll-processing program, with tools for recruiting and maintaining employee records and benefits. You can use it to track labor costs and calculate earnings, taxes and deductions.
New to version 3.0 are optional modules for attendance tracking, multisite consolidation and custom screen design. It also has a Guided Tour and Setup Interviews for new users. The redesigned Find dialog box allows speedier searches. Abra's enterprise solution lets you set up multiple organizations by copying an enterprise template for benefits and code tables.
From $695 (direct)
Best Programs, Abra Products Division
800-847-2272, fax-813-578-2178
The Quicken Financial Suite CD-ROM provides three programs to oversee your personal finances. New Quicken Deluxe tracks your accounts, loans and investments, creates budgets and reports, and predicts your cash flow. Designed for retirement planning, Quicken Financial Planner factors in your income and goals and develops a strategy for saving, investing and monitoring your economic progress. Quicken Family Lawyer gives you 61 legally binding, state-specific documents and worksheets.
$79.95 (street)
Parsons Technology, an Intuit Co.
800-624-8742, 415-944-6000
Originally a DOS-based program, Platinum now embraces a complete core financial accounting package for Windows. Platinum 4.3 provides Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable modules, and lets you enter data more quickly and preload historical data. It also lets you create templates for entering transaction documents. The Order Entry, Inventory and Purchase Order modules will be released later this year. This client/server software is aimed at small to midsize businesses. Platinum runs on Windows 95, NT and 3.1x.
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable modules, $1,595
each
Platinum Software Corp.
800-426-0469, 714-727-4005
Your medical office's patient scheduling and management will stay in good shape with MedSched 3.0. The program lets you schedule patient appointments by day, week or month, and determine the time intervals for appointments. MedSched can be used in medical practices with multiple offices and/or multiple providers, and allows a schedule for each office location. Version 3.0, which runs on Windows 95, features Leave Management, which lets you know when the physician is out of the office.
Single user, $275; network, $395; enterprise, $795
PDSI
800-850-PDSI, 714-474-7374
The Small Business Encyclopedia CD-ROM is a collection of more than an hour's worth of videos and slide shows covering 57 business categories. Topics include advertising, borrowing money, business planning and crime prevention. The CD-ROM also has more than 100 forms and a spreadsheet model for customizing business plans.
$59.95
Allegro New Media
800-424-1992, 201-808-1992
If you have Internet access, you can conference with up to 255 other Net surfers by using Internet Conference 1.1. The 32-bit program runs on all versions of Windows and features an easy log-on system and a virtual whiteboard that holds up to eight screens of information.
You don't have to know your IP address or the IP addresses of the people you want to conference with to get started. Log on to an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server listed in the software, and click on the names of up to 255 other users logged on to the IRC to send invitations. The shared whiteboard lets you cut and paste, and it supports JPEG images. Using the whiteboard, you can mark documents on screen without actually changing them.
The product, which is based on Insitu Conference Professional, is available only via download from Insitu's Web site (http://www.insitu.com).
$59.99
Insitu
617-720-0821, fax 617-279-4436
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) is getting real. With PhotoModeler 2.1, you can insert actual photographs into 3-D Internet sites. The program builds on previous versions of PhotoModeler, which turn photos into 3-D graphics; version 2.1 lets you export those graphics in VRML format. Most VRML programs create artificial images built from shapes and simple textures instead of real pictures.
If you have a house, car or other prized possession to show off on the Web, PhotoModeler lets you display the real thing. PhotoModeler works with shots taken by 35mm film cameras as well as digital and video cameras.
$795
Eos Systems
604-732-6658, fax 604-732-6642
WebBoard helps you master the art of being a Webmaster. The software adds Internet conferencing to any Windows Web server that supports the Windows Common Gateway Interface (Win-CGI). It provides public, private, moderated and read-only conferences; activity logs show the Webmaster system status reports and user listings and profiles. You can set up as many as 255 virtual whiteboards from a single site. WebBoard requires Windows 95 or NT, and works on intranets as well as the Internet.
$249
O'Reilly and Associates
800-998-9938, 707-829-0515
Internet In Brief
CyberSearch 2.0 saves you time and money by letting you search Internet information offline. The new version is optimized for 32-bit operation and works with most popular browsers. CyberSearch includes 500,000 Internet locations on CD-ROM, including the Lycos database. Monthly updates are available by subscription.
$29.95, subscriptions $9.95 per month
Frontier Technologies
800-879-0075, 414-241-4555
Plug NexPhone into the parallel port of your laptop or desktop PC, and you can talk over the Internet. NexPhone is bundled with Internet Phone software for cyberspace conversation. The external sound card weighs 12 ounces and includes two integrated speakers and an internal microphone for recording. It is compatible with Windows 95 and Sound Blaster.
From $299
InterNEX Technologies
408-727-6584, fax 408-727-5508
The Zenith Z-Server MX Internet Information Server is an easy-to-set-up Internet server that provides the security of Windows NT. The NT-based system packages Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) software with a 100MHz Z-Server, 32MB of ECC memory, a 2GB Fast-Wide SCSI-2 disk, quad-speed CD-ROM, keyboard, mouse and PCI Ethernet controller. You can expand the server to include up to four 166MHz Pentiums and 768MB of ECC memory. Microsoft IIS lets you monitor, log and give new users access to HTML pages, shared files and printers, corporate databases and legacy systems with one mouse click.
$9,399
Zenith Data Systems
800-533-0331, 847-808-5000
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