Word: pcs
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Executives in search of a thrill are buying "hot rod" gaming PCs that are about 20 times as fast as the average office machine and sport sleek cases and paint jobs that suggest racing cars. The PCs are made to optimize the wild 3-D graphics and surround sound of video games like Grand Theft Auto 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (and of course they can handle any spreadsheet or logo redesign). Made by private companies like Falcon Northwest, based in Ashland, Ore., and Alienware in Miami, gaming computers are custom assembled and can be personalized with...
...that innovation is: pen and virtual paper. At least, that's the new technology the industry is flogging, as embodied in a slew of tablet PCs hitting the market this month. More than 20 manufacturers, including Fujitsu, Compaq and Legend, have joined in a Microsoft-led initiative to produce laptop computers that double as legal pads. What distinguishes tablet PCs from conventional portables is their ability to capture a user's handwriting - either as an exact digital copy, complete with bad penmanship and doodles, or by converting notes into digital text...
...fairness, the software is right more often than it's wrong. Still, that isn't the point. Inputting data and operating the computer with a stylus instead of a keyboard and mouse only seems to make a simple task unnecessarily cumbersome, not to mention more expensive. Tablet PCs are selling for about $2,000, roughly a $400 premium over comparably equipped conventional laptops. For the extra cash, you do get the new Microsoft Journal program, which allows you to write and organize notes in a spiffy "digital-ink" format that replicates real writing. You can change colors, use a highlighter...
...Will the extra versatility offered by tablet PCs get people excited enough to start buying computers again? It's doubtful. Tablets are too heavy and unwieldy to be used comfortably as notepads all day long. Not that you could. The TravelNote has a four-hour battery. That's fine for the class of potential business users of tablet PCs that Microsoft calls corridor warriors, Dilberts schlepping their tablets from meeting to meeting. But those of us who go on the road need to know our notepad isn't going to conk out after less than half a day away from...
...SAMSUNG A500 For folks addicted to their cell phones, customization is key. With the A500, you can create icons for every caller and set the background using any JPEG you want--a great way to make use of the active-matrix LCD. Sprint's PCS Vision even lets you download Java games and other programs straight to the phone. www.sprintpcs.com...