Sun
1) BenQ FP93G 19-inch LCD monitor, $500, available in January, 2006.
One of the reasons that gamers have tended to stick with the old dependable CRT monitors is that LCDs have lacked the speed to render game graphics quickly. Now BenQ is about to release what it says is the world’s fastest 19-inch LCD monitor, with performance “similar to that of the CRT.” It features an ultra-fast two millisecond grey-to-grey (GTG) response time, designed to offer clearer, sharper images with no lagging and image burning. This is produced through advanced motion accelerator technology, which increases the twisting speed of liquid crystal and shortens the GTG response time.
2) Memorex Mega Travel-Drive in four-, six- or eight-megabyte models, $120 to $200 US.
Tiny portable hard drives are simultaneously getting smaller and increasing in storage capacity, as evidenced by these new models from Memorex. Designed for the business traveller with a ton of data to back up, these drives are 4.5 x 5 x 1.4 centimetres, about 20-per-cent smaller than previous drives. The TravelDrive’s pivoting USB connector allows you to plug the drive into your laptop in tight spaces. At the same time, the drive does not need a separate power supply. Memorex estimates that the eight-gigabyte drive could store more than 100,000 text files.
3) Toshiba Qosmio G20-XG6 17-inch mobile AVPC and F20-XG1 15-inch model, $3,500 and $2,600 respectively.
Both these models are designed for those who want a combination of home entertainment possibilities along with solid computing power. They come with a TV tuner, DVD Super Multi double-layer drive functions, remote control, and Harmon Kardon speakers. Both also come with an Intel Pentium M 760 processor at 2.0 Ghz, one gigabyte of DDR2 and are loaded with Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005. The more expensive model has two 100-gigabyte hard drives, while the 15-inch model has a single 100-gig drive.
4) Xantrex XPower Pocket Powerpack 100, $120.
An annoyance for most road warriors is having to carry a number of different power adapters, and the cumbersome “bricks” that often come with them. Vancouver-based Xantrex eliminates all this by offering a device that can power up such essential equipment as laptops, cell phones and PDAs, as well as MP3 players and game consoles, doing that through a USB power outlet. It weighs less than 2.4 pounds and is capable of recharging a Blackberry 30 times, an iPod 20 times and provide as much as 2.5 hours of laptop run time, without having to be plugged in.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
