As most of my faithful readers know, I am somewhat bored with the PC industry lately. The business has hit a plateau, and there just isn't much that is new and interesting. Even some of the newer technology isn't really new - we did a lot of that stuff decades ago in the big mainframes. But I thought it would be interesting to peruse the latest magazines and ads and comment on a few of the latest goodies.
External hard drives are now very common. These are a great way to backup your PC - let me make a recommendation here, and suggest that everybody should have one. Go for it.
Wireless technology (Wi-Fi) is getting more stable and mature. Most of the products on the market these days work very well, especially now that you can mix devices from different manufacturers. There are some manufacturers that are attempting to differentiate their products by using non-standard speed-up techniques, or bringing out early (again, non-standard) versions of the next 802.11 protocol - 802.11n. You can also get external antennas, range extenders, and other performance enhancing tweaks. But if you are wiring a new building, I still suggest using CAT5 wiring, and use wireless only to augment your network where necessary.
Dual core processor PCs seem to be doing very well, performance wise. I did not think that would be the case for normal Windows users, but the reviews support it. On the other hand, the average home user will probably not see much difference.
Mini-chassis are becoming more popular, to rival the new smaller Apple. Dell is offering a new small chassis version (the 5100C), and has also introduced a new line of PCs - the 5100 replaces the 4700, and there is a new 9100 model. I don't see much technology difference, but the new units look a bit flashier.
A version of a hand-held PC with an internal hard drive has finally been announced by PalmOne. I don't understand why this took so long - very small and capable hard drives have been around in MP3 players for quite a while now. But I don't know of any Windows-based versions yet.
Lenovo has announced some new notebook models. If you recall, Lenovo is the Chinese company that bought IBM's PC business. Gosh, it's hard for me to believe that IBM has gotten out of the business - perhaps I will reminisce about this in a future column.
There is a lot of interest in telephony over the Internet - VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. I would like to comment about this, but I am still waiting for Time Warner to make its offering available at my house here on Oak Island. Come on guys!
I see a vendor, Newegg, whose new ads have gotten me a bit miffed. I have bought from them in the past, and they are a good source for parts at very good prices. But being on the West Coast, shipping takes longer. However, their ads now blatantly urge you to look at other ads or your local dealers, and then to call Newegg for a better price. Legal, yes. Ethical, perhaps not. You make your own decisions.
Using more than one monitor on your PC is getting more popular, primarily because the price of LCD panels keeps dropping. There are two ways to do this. One way is just to get a splitter type connector, so that the two displays show the same image. This is very popular in realtor's offices these days, so the realtor can show listings while the client sits across the desk and watches his own monitor. But you can also have two monitors making, in effect, a double wide desktop. You will need a display adapter than supports more than one monitor, but the software is built into Windows XP. I have one client who does this to do enhanced stock market tracking - its pretty cool, especially when dragging a window from one monitor to the other. If you need more "space" on your desktop, this is the way to go. With the right adapter, you can even do four monitors!
That's Bob's random sampling for this week - perhaps more later.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)