Seven Superb Tools

By David Em

July 3, 2006

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Some days trying to do the simplest things with computers can be aggravating. But that's not the way it has to be. This week I'll take a look at seven products that transform computing pain to pleasure.

The tools I'm going to talk about combine functionality with ergonomics. We'll look at HP's new LP2465 24-inch LCD, two 3D controllers and a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo from Logitech, an ultraportable hard drive from RocStor, the latest version of TechSmith's Camtasia Studio screen capture software, and my personal favorite, a plastic laptop stand from Keynamics.

The Big Picture

Hewlett-Packard's new $869 24-inch LP2465 LCD is very big and very bright. HP's positioned the LP2465 as their flagship business display, but it's got other applications as well. Photographers and designers will love the impact the screen's size delivers. There's room to spare for double page spreads in programs like Adobe's In Design publishing software--no squinting required.

Video editors and gamers will appreciate the 6ms to 13ms refresh response time, fast enough to handle moving pictures without frame stutter, including DVD movie playback. Its 16:10 format makes it a good choice for HD video editing apps that require a16:9 aspect ratio plus a little extra screen real estate to accommodate a playback control bar. With 1900 x 1200 resolution and a 1000:1 contrast ratio, this screen's hard to beat in the price/performance department.

The LP 2465's detail is extremely sharp. Its color's lush, although less precise than some screens for extremely accurate color work. I still use a CRT for that purpose. The 2465 lives up to HP's claim of 178 degrees of viewability, helped in part by antiglare and antistatic coatings. I had to kick back the intense 500 nits of brightness to view the screen comfortably, a move that should extend the backlight's life considerably.

The display's thin silver bezel gives it a clean, simple look. The screen rotates 90 degrees for portrait mode viewing (HP includes Pivot Pro software for this).

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