December, 1996
Editors' Top Stocking Stuffers
PDAs Prevent Imaging, Stop Paper Before It Even Gets Started
Sharp Zaurus
by Lee Mantelman
This is a love story. A story of man and machine standing as one against impossible odds -- not enough time. Too much work. Too many deadlines, meetings and planes to catch (like my imminent 5:30 to Boston). Not enough access to electrical power. No Personal (Analog) Assistant. Thank heavens for PDAs.
I'm writing this in the back of a Newark-bound cab on the object of my affection -- a Sharp (Mahwah, NJ 201-529-8200) Zaurus ZR-5800 ($600). It has 2 MB of RAM. Plenty. Holds a ton of stuff. It has a backlit screen. Work in bed at
3 am while your mate sleeps. (In fact, it's getting pretty dark in this cab -- oh, that's better.) The original 1 MB version, the ZR-5000, has no backlight, but at $300-$350 street, it's a steal.
Okay, it's seat backs and tray tables time. What does ground control consider this -- a personal computer or a Game Boy? To me, it's both. A "Work Boy," they ought to call it. On long flights, Harry locks himself in the bathroom. (Or he did, until the airlines got wise and shut off the juice to the electric shaver outlets.) Compared to him, I travel in comfort. I just change AA batteries and keep cranking.
Mark's favorite travel companion, the US Robotics Pilot, already lost round one against the Zaurus -- he refused to write up his Holiday Shoppers Showcase review on his PDA. I wouldn't write mine any other way.
This is an unbelievably robust and powerful little machine. In a package smaller than a VHS cassette case, it fits:
With any of these gizmos that might be considered "toys," the proof is in the pudding. The Zaurus has become my favorite flavor. I threw out all my shirts that lacked a suitable pocket and carry the thing everywhere. Stop me at a trade show some time and I'll give you a quick demo.
I don't travel with a laptop anymore. This thing has everything I need -- articles I'm writing and editing, "flash cards" for speeches I have to give and, of course, all my appointments with (optional) reminder beeps.
It stores all my most frequently called contacts. One lack I feel sorely: I wish it would dial these people, in the style of my good-old DOS-based Sidekick. What I love about it is that it not only contains my to do list -- it IS my to do list. Just about all the work I need to do I can do on this machine. Many of the articles in this issue have passed through my Zaurus for editing.
The Zaurus is not for everyone. Harry hates it. Too small, he says. For me, it's ideal. I ten-finger type on it just about as fast as I can on a laptop. (I have small fingers.) I've gotten so used to it that a desktop keyboard reminds me of Tom Hanks dancing across the piano floor-boards in "Big."
And it's a godsend for paperless editing. With a fingernail or the cleverly housed stylus, I can swipe a word on the touchscreen, then copy or move it just by dragging it to the place on the actual electronic document where I want it to appear.
The ergonomics of the Zaurus have literally kept me on the staff of Imaging Magazine. Tons of text goes into all these articles. I edit every word. With this machine, I can edit and write with 10 fingers. One finger. All the fingers of my left hand. My right hand. Both thumbs. Pinky fingernail. Keeps me going long after I would have just given up. Recent 2 am delight: Editing this month's article by Jordahl on jukeboxes in a jacuzzi. (Don't try this with a plugged-in laptop. You might get more output than you want.)
Will Sharp get this review unit back? For some reason, the phrase "prying it from my cold, dead fingers" comes to mind. (Hopefully, they'll let me buy it. We're been through too much together to part now.)
I could go on forever about this machine. But I won't. Too much editing to do. Have I written enough? Can't tell. About the only other thing I wish the unit had is a word-count utility. (They did, however, thoughtfully include a spell checker.)
US Robotics Pilot
by Mark Young
I hate PDAs. Unlike Lee, who thinks the sun shines directly out of them and instantly organizes his life, I find them complex and hard to learn -- with keys designed for people with matchstick-thin fingers. To my way of thinking, PDAs cause more problems than they solve. Or they did, until US Robotics (Los Altos, CA 847-676-1441) released the Pilot.
This tiny unit (4.7"x3.2"x0.7") fits in your shirt or pants pocket (yes, you still look like a geek), but at only 5.7 ounces, it's easy to forget you're carrying it. The unit comes in two versions. The Pilot 1000 ($250) stores 500 addresses, 600 appointments, 100 to do items and 50 memos. The Pilot 5000 ($300) has room for 2,500 addresses, 2,400 appointments, 500 to do items and 500 memos. Since there's only $50 between them, go for the more expensive model. You can never have too much memory (128 KB vs. 512 KB).
Lee likes the Zaurus because it works like a PC. I like the Pilot because it's an electronic piece of paper. If you try to use it like a PC, you'll hate it. You can't link items together. If you try to write the great American novel on it, you'll get writers' cramp. But if paper is your life, the Pilot is for you. Why? The Pilot truly replaces those awful notes that fill up your pockets and clog up your washing machine. It also links to your PC.
My life is a mess. I carry business cards and the best "analog annotation device" in the world, the $17.50 Bullet Space Pen from Fisher (Boulder City, NV 702-293-3011) in my wallet for taking notes. (Lee and I agree on this.) When someone gives me their phone number, I write in on the back of my business card and put it in my pocket. I then throw it on my desk and forget about it until I need it. (Unless I forget. Then it runs through the washing machine.) Either way, the information is very difficult to find when I need it. Or it was, until I discovered the Pilot. Now I just write (yes, it recognizes my handwriting using Graffiti) names, addresses and notes directly into my PDA. This takes a little bit longer than writing on the back of my business card, but it's much easier to find when I need it. Take the holidays, for example. I have hundreds of people on my database who receive my annual newsletter. Now that I have the Pilot, I no longer manually update this list. I simply download the new names from my Pilot. Hours less work.
Yes, you can do this on a normal PDA, but you have to load and unload programs and link to your PC. The Pilot has four buttons on the front -- Schedule, Address, To Do and Notes. You simply press the button you want and the unit turns on.
Say I want to find Hazel Bradley. I simply push the address button and scroll down the "all" list until I find her name. I could also go to the specific category (in this case "personal"), or I could hit "find" and write in her name -- from any application. When I locate her information, I push "go to" and discover that Hazel lives in England and works for Eva Magazine. If she was a client, I could store personal or sales data on her "card" (or information to blackmail her with -- like that night we spent together in Hay).
The appointment scheduler is brilliant. You choose the time of day you start (10 am in my case) and when your day ends (11 pm). You can also view the entire week and see when you have appointments. There is a monthly calendar, but you can't see when you have appointments. (It would be nice if each day went dark when you scheduled an appointment.) If you're like me and forget to look at your schedule, the Pilot beeps you when you're supposed to be somewhere.
The "To Do" list is as useful. You can have up to 15 categories and as many "To Do" lists as you need in each category. I thought this was useless until I went to Australia. I had lists for New York, Sydney and Perth. When I got off the plane I knew what I had to do, where to pick up the car and the booking number.
The "Notes" section is fantastic. When I find a URL I want to visit, I write it on the "URL Page." I also have "pages" with the train timetable, phone card access numbers from different countries, frequent flier details and information that doesn't fit anywhere else. Unlike most PDA's, the privacy feature actually works. If you forget your password, you don't have to send the Pilot back to the manufacturer or wipe out all your information, you simply lose access to password-protected information.
Of course, the Pilot has calculator, battery indicator and memory gauge. Backing up is simple. All you do is put the unit in its cradle and push the "HotSync" button. It automatically uploads and downloads to your PC (they've been promising a Mac version for months and claim it will be out any day for a mere $20 more). Because it uploads and downloads at the same time, you can key information into your PC and write into your Pilot at the same time.
The unit could be more complex. If they added e-mail, let you to surf the Web, linked items together, it would be more useful. But it would be more complex. I'd give up on it.
There are lots of other third-party programs available that link the Pilot directly into your favorite PC application -- including a Space Invaders program. This alone may make it the best PDA on the market today!
Adaptive Information Systems' (714-587-9077) AdaptFile/VisiFLOW ($2,800/concurrent user) is an integrated imaging and workflow product that provides an elegant way of joining information, rules and people with its unique object-oriented methodology. This lets departments and enterprises streamline their processes with production-based, graphical workflow tools relying on standard SQL relational databases.
Their AdaptStor 6970 Optical Storage System ($34,000) features 4X ISO-standard 5¼" optical cartridges that store up to 2.6 GB each. The 6970 drive can be integrated into four jukebox types that store from 125 GB to more than 500 GB. With Hitachi Optical Control software, the AdaptStor 6970 can be integrated into almost any open system environment.
AIFP's (503-968-9600) HOST FAX ($11,000+) is a turnkey, production-oriented electronic commerce system with integrated tools for fax, data, voice and messaging. The high-volume HOST-FAX servers deliver up to 2,880 documents per hour -- purchase orders, invoices, etc. Features include: fax broadcast, activity monitor, forms overlay, document tracking, scheduled sending, Internet delivery, fax-on-demand and IVR, inbound fax routing, e-mail integration, faxing from your LAN and more.
Celerity's (423-539-5300) CD WorkWare is a fully integrated CD-ROM management system for companies that need to organize, index and access huge amounts of incoming data quickly and easily. CD WorkWare offers a straightforward CD-R approach to giving users access to this data through a Windows-based GUI on their desktop PCs.
Concord's (770-457-0630) MasterFILE EDMSreplaces paper-based systems and filing. It works with systems based around WANs and intranets, small LANs, even single users, boosting productivity and creating organization and order.
Concord's Charlotte Web master helps you manage, catalog and categorize important Web sites. Capitalize on Web activity without wasting time and money on fruitless browsing and remembering URLs. Char-lotte also adds Inter/intranet power to MasterFILE.
Data General's (508-366-8911) AV Image 2.0 is an open, client/server enterprise imaging solution. AV Image 2.0 boasts an extensive new feature set and enhanced ease of use. Its innovative image compression ensures instant access to image information wherever your business needs it.
Don't forget to check out Feith's (215-646-8000) Web site to see their new document management product. Look under Ambler and experience Feith's view of true document management.
Questys ($800) is an award-winning text and image management system from Decision Management (714-855-6885) that will let you input, process, store and also retrieve millions of pages on a PC. It manages business records and engineering drawings, BPR, transaction processing and desktop publishing. Questys finds a document in less than a second in any size database.
ThoughtForWord ($200) adds the power of Questys Text and Image Management System to the strengths of Microsoft Word.
Thought lets you perform a variety of imaging functions. Input text and images into Word automatically. It's easy to Store and retrieve Word files instantly.
DGI Multimedia (205-837-7710) offers more than the usual holiday greeting card. Their Antique Postcards Holiday Screen Saver is a collection of antique postcards highlighting Christmas themes. Vintage artwork displayed on a modern high-tech computer screen is the way to wish Happy Holidays in the '90s with a feel of simpler times. You pay 84 cents a disk for 1,000 disks. That includes personalizing it with your name, phone number and slogan.
Highland's (301-306-8200)HighView is a multi-user, Windows-based image management and workflow development environment. It lets organizations tailor solutions to fit their unique functional and organizational requirements. Deployed locally or on an enterprise-wide scale, you can extract information from paper-based media; to index, search, select, and retrieve data.
InterTech's (770-804-8080) DocuPACT is a true native multi-threaded 32-bit client/server application for Windows NT Server and Windows 95/NT Clients. It helps you mange your ever-increasing volume of information with intuitive ease. DocuPACT combines power with ease of use, putting important information right at your fingertips.
Lotus Notes:Document Imaging (LN:DI) Professional Edition from Lotus (617-577-8500) lets you manage paper-based documents within Notes and create image documents. LN:DI Pro supports scanning, desktop-based OCR and annotation creation and editing. Incorporate scanned images, image files on disk, or incoming facsimile documents into Notes databases. Gain increased flexibility and control storing image files.
Lotus Fax Server (LFS) is a fully integrated fax solution for Lotus Notes and Lotus cc:Mail. Send, receive, view and manipulate rich content faxes without leaving the familiar Notes and cc:Mail environments.
It combines both incoming and outgoing fax in one common product accessible through all Notes and cc:Mail client platforms.
MegaVision's (805-964-1400) new instant capture digital camera, the T3, opens a new range of uses for professional photographers.
You can easily combine high-end digital imaging with both location and action photography.
Use it tethered to a Mac or a PC or shoot untethered with the four-hour belt-mounted power pack and removable disk drive.
MicroSolutions' (815-756-3411) backpack 8000t is a plug-and-play high-performance 8 GB tape backup drive that has a transfer data speed of up to 30 MB per minute. The 8000t is one of the quickest yet most affordable tape drives available. The versatile tape unit can back up or restore a partial drive or an entire drive. It supports multiple backups per tape, multi-tape backups and unattended backups.
Their new backpack 8X CD-ROM drive offers users an easy and affordable way to add multimedia to a desktop or a portable computer. The backup 8X CD-ROM connects easily to a printer port, so users won't struggle with more costly SCSI or PCMCIA mass storage options.
A third drive, the backpack pd/cd, is an easy-to-install, rewritable optical cartridge drive that can serve as three drives in one -- a hard drive, backup device and CD-ROM drive. Unlike magnetic cartridges, the PD cartridges used by the backpack pd/cd cannot be erased by magnetic fields and static electricity.
Microtek's (310-297-5000) ScanMaker E3 ($330), a single-pass 24-bit color flatbed scanner, features 300 x 600 dpi resolution (2400 dpi interpolated) and legal-sized photo scanning area. It includes the following software: PhotoImpact SE for PC or Color It! for Mac, OmniPage Limited Edition and Microtek's Scan Wizard scanning software.
The Diamond Pro 91TXM ($1,700) 21" aperture grille monitor from Mitsubishi Electronics America (714-220-2500) offers a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 @ 76 kHz. The monitor features an advanced CRT design, improved P-NX DBF gun for enhanced CAD/CAM /CAE performance and a new tubular steel "pipeframe." The 91TXM has enhanced adjustment and heightened performance options.
NewSoft's (510-252-0267) Presto! PageManager Suite ($149) provides the first "Scanning Operating System" with integrated applications for scanning and personal document management. It includes seven applications: an electronic filing system, OCR software, color image editor, business card scanning software, forms, a color image transmission system and Kai's PowerGOOSE.
Nikon's (516-547-4355) Coolpix 300 multimedia digital camera stores up to 131 images, which can be viewed on the built-in color LCD display. With its AV output, you can immediately review pictures, notes and voice recordings using the built-in LCD and microphone/speaker. Connect the Coolpix 300 to a television and view your digital images on a big screen.
Optical Image Technology (814-238-0038) offers enterprise-wide to standalone solutions with their fully integrated product family. The line includes: OptiFICHE SQL (COLD), OptiIMAGE SQL (document imaging), WorkFlow SQL, ObjectSERVE SQL (HSM), ObjectPRINT SQL (print server), data mining module and AFP, Metacode and DJDE viewers.
Pioneer New Media's (310-952-2111) DRM-1004X jukebox offers both read and write and features a highly efficient disc load time of less than three seconds. Reading at 4.4X and recording at 4X, the DRM-1004X 100-disc CD-ROM jukebox can be configured with either four readers ($14,000) or two readers and one writer ($16,000).
Pioneer's new DRM-5004X ($16,000), a 500-disc CD-ROM jukebox, holds up to 330 GB of data in five trays of 100 discs each.
Designed to support large data archival and imaging apps in the corporate, government, defense and healthcare markets, the jukebox comes with up to four quad-speed readers and recorders. The drives and disc-changer robotics use a SCSI-2 interface.
Pioneer's lower-end model, a six-disc DRM-624X CD-ROM changer ($330), features 4.4X speed. It archives at a sustained data transfer rate of 676 KByte/s and a fast 150 ms access time. The DRM-624X improves the way you access full-motion video, sound and data from CD-ROM titles.
Ricoh's (201-882-2000) G1200S is the first tablet computer to offer true multimedia portability in a single package. It's ideal for sales force automation, field service, presentations and Web browsing. Pen-based, and weighing only four pounds, the G1200S features a large 9.5" liquid color display (LCD) for easy viewing.
The built-in CD-ROM, internal speaker and sound source enable the G1200S to act as a standalone unit or to be integrated into customer-specific solutions.
Ricoh's RDC-2 digital camera is built on the same technology as the RDC-1 model. Using a 410,000 pixel-class,¼" CCD (Charged Coupled Device), the RDC-2 offers the highest resolution images in 24-bit color. It can record and playback still images and sound for the lowest price in its class. Small enough to fit in the shirt pocket, its images can be viewed from a TV, PC, Mac or video printer.
Softscape's (508-266-1921) Explorer Plus ($130) is the first personal intranet desktop information management software that combines advanced search and retrieval, universal viewing and publishing with object-based file management. Users and webmasters alike can maintain individual desktop management systems using the information contained in personal files as well as corporate networked files. It can dynamically generate and publish a collection of over 70 different native file formats to HTML with the push of a button.
Sony Electronics (408-432-0190) has created two new rack-mountable Trinitron color monitors for CCTV applications.
They consist of different two models of fine-pitch color monitors in two different sizes to fit everybody's need and budget. Starting with the 14" SSM-14N1U which sells for $550) and the 20" SSM-20N1U which has an manufacturer's suggested retail price of only $1,000.
Both monitors offer over 500 lines of horizontal resolution for extra sharp pictures and auto beam current feedback for color stability.
Built-in speakers permit audio monitoring. Onscreen prompting provides easy, user-friendly operation.
Sony's new digital color printer outputs directly onto standard PVC cards. The UP-D6600 ($11,000), Sony's first color printer designed for ID badging and access control, prints high-quality photo IDs at high speed. It's versatile and can print and laminate in one easy step.
It comes complete with a SCSI interface for rapid data transfer from computer to printer.
