Wireless Wonder

The Winterm 2930 uses a touchscreen and a radio link to free Windows users from their desktop PCs.

Barry Nance

Long before Oracle and Sun launched their network computer initiative, Wyse Technology was making Windows terminal devices that embody the spirit of the network computer. Wyse's latest product is a lightweight ( 3.4 pounds ) radio-linked terminal on which mobile Windows users can interact with applications. The software runs on a central multiuser NT Server-based network equipped with Citrix WinFrame and a 2.4-GHz spread-spectrum, frequency-hopping radio transceiver (such as a Proxim RangeLAN2 Access Point unit). Each sleek Winterm 2930 connects its user, via the Intelligent Console Architecture (ICA) and radio link, to WinFrame on the NT Server computer.

The Winterm 2930 sports a PS/2-style keyboard port, and Wyse says it will release an integrated-keyboard version later this year. (Though I must say that while testing the unit, I became quite accustomed to its virtual, on-screen keyboard.) The 8.5-inch 640 x 480 dual-scan LCD, capable of either 16 or 256 colors, is clear and sharp. In my tests, the lithium ion battery required recharging after slightly more than five hours of heavy, continuous use, and after about seven hours of moderate use. (Wyse claims you'll get five to eight hours on a single charge.) The delay intervals for sleep mode (instant wake-up) and hibernation (a 10-second wake-up after 60 minutes of sleep) are configurable.

Wyse put some special touches in the Winterm 2930 to make it easy to use. For example, to click an on-screen button, you simply touch it with the stylus. Wyse also allocated two left-side icons as hot keys so you can assign keyboard macros.

I exercised the Winterm 2930 in the barcode-based local public library. I used a three-column Microsoft Access database that had Catalog ID, Book Category, and Author Name columns. In addition, I used a battery-powered barcode scanner I had lying around to inventory a few shelves of books. The Winterm 2930 let me operate a small Visual Basic application, which I ran on a Windows NT Server PC I left powered on in my car outside the library. The Winterm 2930's coverage range let me roam throughout the library without losing the connection to the server. Wyse accurately says the unit works within 500 feet of the server in an office environment and 1000 feet in open spaces.

You won't use this device in an aircraft at 30,000 feet. But for mobile networking on a shop floor, or in an office, the Winterm 2930 makes a superb thin client, figuratively and literally.

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Where to Find

Winterm 2930................$3399

Wyse Technology
San Jose, CA
Phone:    800-438-9973
Phone:    408-473-1200
Fax:      408-922-5729
Internet: 
http://www.wyse.com

Enter 1012 on Inquiry Card.

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Ratings

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Implementation	*	*	*	*
KEY:   ***** Outstanding; **** Very Good; *** Good; ** Fair; * Poor

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Essence of Computer

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Wyse's Winterm 2930 captures the essence of a network computer and a hand-held PC in a 3.4-pound package.

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Barry Nance is a computer analyst, consultant, and author of numerous books on networking. You can reach him at barryn@bix.com .