Small Business Computing Staff

by David G. Propson Watching the trends of the it industry has become a spectator sport in recent months. Stock market fluctuations have led to mass layoffs at tech firms, which have led, in turn, to more stock market fluctuations. To business people simply trying to take care of their own IT, it can all […]

by Amy H. Blankstein Writers grab a thesaurus when they’re stuck trying to come up with the perfect word. When food aficionados are stumped trying to find the perfect restaurant to suit a particular occasion, they turn to the Zagat Survey Restaurant Guide. If you live in any major metropolitan area in the U.S. and […]

by Dave Haskin E-mail has evolved from a novelty to an indispensable tool for communicating with customers and clients, colleagues and suppliers. “E-mail is one of our top-three mission-critical applications,” says Chris Caldwell, network and e-mail administrator for the 55-employee Home Savings Bank of Madison, Wis. “It would be hard to do business without it.” […]

by Michele Marrinan Small business owners are known to be control freaks. The work gets done right, even if they have to do it themselves. That attitude, however, can sometimes hinder the business. Tom Geller, CEO of Geller Communications Inc., a high-tech public relations firm in San Francisco, hosts his Web site in-house. He likes […]

by William C. Gillis Now that Netscape is part of America Online, and AOL has become one of the nation’s biggest media conglomerates with the Time Warner acquisition, the frequently visited Netscape portal is beefing up its small-business services. The Netscape Netbusiness Marketplace now supports “communities” of companies in the same industry to make procurement […]

by Monica Simms Van Horn Your company has grown from 10 employees to 100. You have more business, more customers, and more money than ever before. So how do you keep those customers happy while still devoting enough sales and marketing resources to continuing to build your customer base? Growth can be hard to manage, […]

Until recently, even confirmed gadget lovers have been able to resist personal digital assistants (PDAs or handheld PCs). After all, paper-based planners are cheap, easy to use, and always ready to collect contact information, organize your schedule, and take notes. None of the high-tech personal information products available came close to the simplicity and value […]

by Keith Kirkpatrick Gateway Solo 9500Rating 85 The 7.5-pound gateway solo 9500 features a massive, 15.7-inch display and is a true desktop replacement. Mated to a fast Pentium III Mobile Processor running at a swift 1GHz with 128MB of RAM and a DVD-ROM player, the Solo 9500 is a multimedia tour de force, ranking with […]

by Maria Medina Samsung 570VTFTRating 85 These days, not only are flat panel displays able to tilt, swivel, pivot, and shift in all different directions for the best possible view, but they are also coming down in price. Samsung’s model, a 15-inch flat panel, is priced at only $500. While the price is low, the […]

by Wayne Kawamoto Turbo Browser 2001Rating 89 In the old days of computing, many users relied on pre-Windows software utilities such as Xtree, PC Tools, and Mace to make sense of cryptic DOS. In the same way, FileStream’s Turbo Browser 2001 beefs up Windows file management. While Turbo Browser 2001 offers useful features, its capabilities […]

by David Schloss EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1280Rating 95 Epson’s latest offering, the Stylus Photo 1280, packs a lot of upgrade into a small change in model number. Most impressive is the doubling of resolution to 2880dpi, a change that makes already sharp prints even sharper. Epson uses a custom six-color ink set, adding a light-cyan […]

by Wayne Kawamoto KDS 2370PTRating 88 When it comes to notebook computers, small and light is the goal, and in that sense, the compact KDS ThinNote 2370PT is a sure winner. With its 1-inch-thick case, spacious and attractive 13.3-inch display, and 4.3-pound weight, the KDS ThinNote 2370PT is a sleek notebook. Unfortunately, the notebook’s portability […]