New PCs Improve Your Image

Thanks to new storage options, PCs can now satisfy the voracious memory appetites of the latest multimedia, graphics, and document-imaging applications

Jon Pepper

Prospective PC buyers can look forward to new PCs this spring and summer that offer a variety of new high-speed processors, input devices, telephony capabilities, and multimedia options. But the big news highlighting this spring's PC lineup is that new input systems and storage options make PCs better platforms for imaging applications. These new developments bolster the PC's ability to combine photos and other graphical images with standard documents and databases.

Expect the typical low-end, 75-MHz Pentium-based system with a 1-GB hard drive, a quad-speed CD-ROM drive, 8 MB of RAM, and other features to sell for less than $1500. Higher-end systems with the latest (166-MHz) Pentium or equivalent processor, a 6 or 8 CD-ROM drive, telephony options, near-line data storage, new scanner devices, and other features will cost $2500 or more.

One innovation from Hewlett-Packard ((800) 724-6631 or (415) 857-1501) that enhances the imaging capabilities of its new Pavilion line of consumer PCs is the PhotoDrive, a miniscanner that fits into a PC's drive bay. The 400-dot-per-inch PhotoDrive will accept 5- by 7-inch or smaller photos. For storing images, HP will include the Iomega Zip drive.

New systems from Compaq ((800) 345-1518; fax (713) 514-4583) also include an array of innovative storage and input options. The new LS (Laser Servo) 120 drive, which will also be available in other vendors' PCs, looks almost identical to a normal 1.44-MB disk but stores up to 120 MB. Unlike the Iomega Zip drive (100 MB) and the Syquest EZ135 drive (135 MB), the LS 120 also reads and writes 720-KB and 1.44-MB disks. The special LS 120 disks will cost about $15 each.

Another new storage option in Compaq PCs is the PD (PowerDrive)-CD drive. (For more information on the PD-CD drive and other remov-able-media mass-storage options, see "16 Drives for Fast Data Backup" .)

A different take on PCs comes from Gateway ((800) 846-2000; fax (605) 232-2023). Its 120-MHz Pentium-based Destination is designed to replace your TV.

Slated to ship this spring for less than $4000, the Gateway Destination comes with a large 31-inch monitor. The system also comes equipped with 16 MB of RAM, a 6 CD-ROM drive, a 28.8-Kbps modem, a wireless radio-frequency keyboard and pointing device, an integrated TV tuner, integrated stereo speakers, and several additional features.

The industry continues to evaluate how so-called Web PCs costing $500 or less will fit into the overall computing scenario. However, people willing to pay a little more money will find a wealth of new options at prices similar to those of last year's models.

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The New Dream PCs

SVGA monitors of 15- or 17-inch-diagonal screen sizes
 will be
standard, but some vendors such as Gateway, with its Destination PC,
will offer home-entertainment PCs with 31-inch viewable displays and
CATV-ready tuners.


Expect PCs that support the emerging universal serial bus
 (USB)
standard, which will gradually replace the slew of ports in the back
of PCs, to start shipping in the third or fourth quarter.


28.8-Kbps modems with integrated telephony software
 will be common.


Business computers like IBM's PC 700
 ((800) 772-2227) will let
network administrators turn on unattended systems over a LAN.


New input options will include Compaq's scanner keyboard
 (about
$349), which is essentially a Visioneer PaperPort scanner built into
the keyboard, and the PhotoDrive from Hewlett-Packard.


Storage options will abou
nd.
 Hard drive configurations ranging from
840 MB to 2 GB will be typical. Other alternatives will include
replaceable-cartridge drives like Iomega's Jaz drive, the PD-CD Drive
included in new Compaq PCs, and the SyJet, a 3 1/2-inch
removable-cartridge hard drive for Macs and PCs, slated to ship this
quarter. The SyJet (about $499) from Syquest ((510) 226-4000; fax
(510) 226-4100) uses cartridges that hold 650 MB or 1.3 GB (about $65
and $95, respectively).


Companies like Acer
 ((800) 733-2237; fax (408) 922-2953) and others
offer PCs with 6 or 8 CD-ROM drives.


The new LS (Laser Servo) 120 internal drive packs 120 MB
 of storage
into a 3 1/2-inch-format medium. Get it first in the Deskpro 5133 and
5166 LS PCs or as a separate $210 option from Compaq. Other vendors
will offer LS drives this summer.