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12/06 Products: Notebooks/Systems

Laptops that Keep You on Top

For a notebook to be a true desktop replacement, it must do everything a desktop PC can do. That includes running Windows NT.

The IBM ThinkPad 760 EL ships with NT 4.0 preinstalled, as well as a 133MHz or 120MHz Pentium, an optional 6X CD-ROM, a hard disk with up to 2.1GB capacity, from 16MB to 104MB EDO RAM, and level 2 cache. An optional SelectaDock II includes two PCI slots, or one ISA and a shared PCI/ISA slot; a half-high ISA drive bay; SCSI, MIDI and joystick ports; a headphone jack and speaker ports; key-lock security; and an optional monitor stand.

$5,699
IBM Corp.
800-IBM-2968, 914-766-1900

Sharp WideNote

Is your notebook PC's small screen cramping Windows' multitasking style? You'll see more on your screen without straining your eyes with the wide-screen format of the Sharp WideNote notebook. The notebook has an LCD with the 16:9 aspect ratio used in movie-theater screens. The screen measures 11.3 inches diagonally, but is only 5.6-inches high and 9.6-inches wide. The wide screen can make for easier viewing, if you want, for example, to see two documents or Web sites at once or scroll across a spreadsheet. The WideNote ships with a 133MHz Pentium, 16- or 32MB EDO RAM, a 1.1GB hard disk, 64-bit PCI bus architecture, a 16-bit stereo sound card, one Type III or two Type II PC Card slots and 256KB level 2 cache. The W-100T model includes a TFT display. The W-100D features the Sharp Addressing dual-scan technology. Measuring 1.57 by 11.6 by 7.75 inches, the WideNote is no wider than the average notebook PC.

W-100T, $3,499; W-100D, $2,999
Sharp Electronics Corp.
800-BE-SHARP

Toshiba Satellite Pro 430

The Toshiba Satellite Pro 430 series helps mobilize your multimedia with its 10X CD-ROM drive, 11.3-inch display, Zoomed Video Port, MPEG support and 2MB of EDO DRAM video memory. The Satellite Pro 430 also supports 16-bit audio with .WAV, MIDI and Sound Blaster Pro compatibility.

The notebook ships with a 120MHz Pentium processor, a 1.26GB hard disk, from 16MB to 48MB of EDO RAM, and either TFT active-matrix LCD or dynamic dual-scan display with 800x600-pixel resolution.

With dual-scan display, $2,499; with TFT, $2,999Toshiba America
Information Systems
800-999-4273

Canon Innova Media MT 9800

It makes sense that a PC whose middle name is '"media" includes all the latest features for accessing computer media. The Canon Innova Media MT 9800 has a 12X CD-ROM, an internal 100MB Iomega Zip Drive and a 3.1GB hard disk to go with its 200MHz Pentium processor. The Innova Media MT line's flagship also includes 32MB of EDO RAM.

The entire line of notebooks also ships with Zip Drives and 33.6Kbps analog SVD modems. Other Innova Media MT models include 166MHz, 133MHz or 120MHz Pentiums; 16MB of EDO RAM; 1.6GB or 2.1GB hard disks; and 8X to 12X CD-ROM drives.

From $1,499 to $3,299
Canon Computer Systems
800-848-4123, 714-348-3000

Pen-Based PCS

When Nature Calls

Even if the great outdoors is your office, you can still take your Windows with you. The Kalidor K2500 pen-based PC is a 100MHz 486-based computer with from 8MB to 24MB of RAM, and a 170MB or 340MB hard disk. It runs Windows 95 or 3.x. The Open model has two PCMCIA Type II slots or one PCMCIA Type III slot, and 256KB flash memory for backup. The pen-based computer measures 6.4 by 9.7 by 1.8 inches, weighs 3.7 pounds and runs for approximately four hours with one NiMH battery. The 6-by-4.5-inch VGA pressure-sensitive LCD supports a 640x480-pixel resolution. Kalidor claims the K2500 withstands 122-degree heat. The Closed model has a wireless LAN adapter.

From $4,495 to $4,995
Kalidor, a div. of Alps Electric
408-432-6000, fax 408-432-6545

Notebook Projectors

Lighter Load, Better Image

The Proxima Lightbook stays out of your way. Weighing 11 pounds and measuring 13.5 by 5 by 9.25 inches, you can carry and store it on airplanes with no problem and station it in front of a conference room without blocking anyone's view. The notebook projector produces VGA resolutions up to 640x480 pixels and SVGA resolutions up to 800x600 pixels. It produces 250 ANSI lumens from a 400-watt lamp, and handles integrated video with direct connection of a VCR, LaserDisc player or any other video source. The Lightbook uses a Cyclops remote control for mouse-like operations, and it comes with a LightBoard drawing tool for highlighting and drawing on the projected image. Ideally, the projector is suited for an audience of from 5 to 15 people.

$4,999
Proxima Corp.
800-447-7692, 619-457-5500

Printers/Scanners

You no longer have to worry about a document's meaning changing before the ink dries. The Alps MD-2010 color printer and Alps MD-4000 color printer/scanner use Alps' new Micro Dry inks to create waterproof images that Alps claims will not smudge, smear, streak, fade or age with exposure. The printer and printer/scanner work at 600dpi resolution for color and 1200x600dpi for black and white. Along with the standard cyan, yellow, magenta and black cartridges, the new Alps machines offer metallic '"foil" cartridges in gold, silver, cyan and magenta. The MD-4000 is a 600dpi TWAIN single-pass 24-bit full-color scanner and printer.

MD-2010, $499; MD-4000, $699
Alps Electric
800-825-2577, 408-432-6000

Network printers are an established part of the workplace, so why not network scanners? The Kofax NetScan is a hardware-software combination that connects a Hewlett-Packard ScanJet with a Novell NetWare network. NetScan lets workgroups share a scanner and circulate scanned images across the network via e-mail. The NetScan scan server connects an HP ScanJet's SCSI port directly to an Ethernet 10BaseT network. To use the scanner, you enter a personal identification number and routing directions on the server's 22-key keypad.

$895
Kofax Image Products
888-GO-KOFAX, 714-727-1733,

The Plustek FBII color flatbed scanner connects to your PC's parallel port with no need for interface cards. The FBII supports a true optical resolution of 300x600dpi, and Plustek claims support of 4800dpi with software interpolation. The single-pass scanner also has a cold-cathode lamp and an action button.

$299
Plustek USA
800-685-8088, 408-745-7111

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