Small Business Computing Staff

By Michael Grebb The pitch that Bike Friday gives to its customers is simple: Buy our bike, ride it, then fold it up and put it in your suitcase. Recently Michael Calabrese, manager of information systems at the Eugene, Ore.-based manufacturer, had to argue a more complicated case. The company needed a new way of […]

By Liz Levy Not all of us know the comfort of working in a corporate office, knowing that everything we need is at our disposal. Some of us have to get out into the world and interact with our customers, partners, suppliers, and coworkers – face to face. Almost every business has a couple of […]

By Joey Latimer Protecting computers from viruses is just as important as locking doors and turning on your burglar alarm. If your company uses e-mail, shares files, and surfs the Internet, then you are engaging in activities that allow viruses to spread from one computer to the next. Since dangerous viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and […]

By Dave Johnson Firewire cards and digital video camcorders make it look easy to create professional training and promotional videos in-house. In reality, good video is deceptively hard to do. Ulead’s MediaStudio Pro 6.5’s five interrelated programs tackle every aspect of video production, including capture, editing, titling, audio enhancement, and output. Though the program supports […]

By Charles H. Gajeway Bluetooth-enabled devices have been a long time coming, so we were more than a bit curious to try out 3Com’s Bluetooth Wireless PC Card. This radio networking standard permits wireless communication over a short but useful 30-foot radius. Power consumption is low, so Bluetooth devices are easy on batteries, and non-critical […]

By Philip Albinus It’s a tricky balancing act to get great looking color documents without sending your accountant into cardiac arrest. The Lexmark Z53 Color Jetprinter meets the challenge. With a price of $139, this affordable inkjet won’t break your budget as you add color to your printouts. Setting up the Lexmark Z53 is a […]

By Matthew Klare Using a Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (DLP) chip, the 2.9-pound LX-8 projects an 800-lumen image at a native XGA resolution (1024 x 768). The LX-8 is a no-nonsense little box, roughly the size of a hardback novel. On the rear are inputs for audio, mouse, RGB video, S-video, and composite video. […]

By Jennifer Doran With many small offices working on both Mac and PC platforms, it is impractical to buy a different printer and different software for each operating system. The Brother HL-1440 combats this problem with its multi-platform support and a low price of $299. The HL-1440 printer is easy to set up, with both […]

By Stephen F. Carpi In an age of high-speed portability and rich multimedia presentations, WinBook packs power and versatility in an 11.63- by 9.42-inch package. The WinBook X1, tested with a 1GHz mobile Pentium III processor, 30GB hard drive, and standard 350MB of SDRAM, delivers robust business application performance and multi-site downloading with ease. The […]

By Michele Marrinan Things may seem a little slow in Elkhart, Indiana. Richard Horner, a partner in the two-person financial planning firm of Hill & Associates, says pcAnywhere is cutting edge and anyone with a Palm must be Bill Gates. But Horner himself is ahead of the curve, using a budget-forecasting tool to estimate the […]

By Jamie McAfee Total Recall Digital Voice RecorderThe Total Recall Digital Voice Recorder gives users 4MB of storage, which translates into 1.5 hours of recording time. The features include voice recording/filing, automated date and time stamp, dictation, and message editing. The included desktop utility allows users to move, attach, and send voice messages via e-mail.Targus; […]

By Amee Abel and Dan Costa At their best, Web hosting services ensure that your Web site has a rock solid presence. They provide servers, broad connections to the Internet, and promises that those machines and connections are well protected. At their worst, Web hosting services can put you out of business. Hosts that can’t […]