Sun
1) Dell Latitude D420 ultraportable notebook, starting at $1,700.
Featuring 12.1-inch-wide aspect display, a full keyboard and a dual pointing capability, the Latitude D420 weighs three pounds unless you start adding stuff like the optional MediaBase with a choice of optical drives to attach to the bottom of the system. Systems come with smart card readers and Trusted Mobile Platform security and — should you want to go whole hog in preventing others from using the notebook — you can add a biometric fingerprint reader as well. Battery life is said to be more than seven hours.
2) Netgear HDXB 101 Powerline 200 megabits per second HD Ethernet Adapter Kit, $250 U.S.
Say you have problems with WiFi connections in your house or simply want better broadband distribution for online gaming, audio and HD video. Well, the solution could be just to use the powerlines in your house, which is where this high-speed unit from Netgear comes in. All you do is plug one of the units into a router and the other to any Ethernet enabled device, and bam, you’ve got a connection through your home power lines. You can get additional adapters for $130 each.
3) Panasonic KY-H30A Induction Heat Cooktop, $2,500.
We know you’re an early adopter of technology, so in the summer, when you want to keep as much heat out of the kitchen as possible, it might be a good time to look at this item from Panasonic. The cooktop — with two burners that use a magnetic coil to generate a magnetic field through stainless steel cookware — generates heat while the element remains cool to the touch when in use. You could amaze your friends by putting a $100 bill between the cooktop and the pot and not have it catch on fire.
4) Toshiba Satellite R20 Tablet PC, $2,000.
This convertible notebook, designed especially for students who take handwritten notes or have a need to make diagrams, has a screen that can be either used as a Tablet PC or rotated into becoming the usual notebook computer. The R20 has Intel Core Duo T2300 processor and has a 14.4-inch monitor with WXGA-plus resolution of 1440 by 9000.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
