Hardware News: Tablets, Terabytes and Wi-Fi Printers

Gateway’s Thin-and-Light Convertible Hits the Road
Whether you take advantage of its digital pen for handwriting recognition, launch applications and pull down menus with a tap with your finger or type on its 83-key keyboard, Gateway’s Tablet PC convertible is ready for on-the-go productivity.


The Gateway E-155C, is a slim-line laptop that swivels between keyboard and pen-or-finger control with a twist of its 12.1-inch widescreen display. Weighing 4.9 pounds with an onboard DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, the $1,849 Gateway features Intel’s Core 2 Duo U7500 ultra-low-voltage processor (1.06GHz, 2MB Level 2 cache) and a sunlight-readable, 1,280 by 800-resolution LCD that responds to both the supplied Wacom digital pen and the swipe of a finger for fine or broad strokes, respectively.


A fingerprint reader for user authentication and data protection is standard equipment, as are 1GB of RAM, a 60GB hard disk, and Intel’s 802.11a/b/g WiFi adapter. The model C-120X, a consumer version of the convertible, will ship next month for $1,499.


Is That a Terabyte in Your Briefcase?
If your hard disk is overflowing with business files, digital music, photos and videos, I/Omagic offers a new USB 2.0 external drive that adds 1TB of storage in seconds for 40 cents a gigabyte.


The external hard drive is designed to give your PC max headroom: The TeraBank 1000GB puts 1TB of storage into a black-and-silver-cased peripheral package. Priced at $400, the dual-drive device comes with an AC power adapter and a USB 2.0 cable supporting transfer speeds of up to 480MB/sec (a USB 1.1 connection will also work but at slower speeds).


Cut the Cord, Cut the Price: Lexmark Wi-Fi Printers Start at $80
With notebook PCs elbowing desktops aside in more and more offices, Lexmark makes 802.11b/g wireless printing standard on a $130 printer/copier/scanner and an $80 single-purpose printer. Both are capable of borderless photo output, and both will soon be joined by more Wi-Fi inkjets in Lexmark’s lineup for 2007.


Consumer inkjet printers almost never come with a USB cable, but eight of the 12 new inkjets on Lexmark’s 2007 schedule won’t need one: The company will introduce two products with standard and one with optional Wi-Fi connectivity later in the second quarter of this year, with one more optional and four more integrated 802.11b/g printers to follow.


The first member of the laptop-friendly line is the Lexmark X4550 Wireless All-in-One ($130), a combination printer/copier/scanner with print speeds up to 26 black and 18 color pages per minute (and copy speeds up to 17 and 11 ppm, respectively). Memory-card slots and USB flash drive/PictBridge camera ports enable borderless photo printing with or without a PC. Another three-in-one, 48-bit flatbed scanner-equipped model, the X3350, prints at up to 24/17 ppm; it’s priced at $80 with optional wireless.


The single-function Lexmark Z1420 Wireless Color Printer ($80) combines Wi-Fi capability with borderless photo printing up to 8.5- by 11-inches using an optional photo ink cartridge. Its print speeds peak at 24 ppm in black and white and 18 ppm in color. For people who don’t care about wireless, the X2500 Color All-in-One ($60) and Z1300 printer ($25) are rated at 22/16 ppm with borderless 4-by-6-inch photo capability.

Adapted from hardwarecentral.com.

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