Sun
Lexmark X3470 All-in-1 one printer, $130. As is
typical with printers these days, prices drop and features improve. This single-cartridge colour printer is the top-of-theline model of three new printers (which also include the X2470 at $99, and the X1270 at $80). Both the X3470 and the X2470 include the new Lexmark Web Toolbar that makes it easy to print from the Web. One of the best features is its ability to eliminate advertising and reproduce only the print sections of a Web page and do that only in black ink, so there’s a real saving in both paper and colour ink.
Microsoft Wireless
2 Laser Desktop set for
Mac, $130, available this summer. While Macs only have a small fraction of the market that Windows machines have, there must be something happening in that segment or Microsoft wouldn’t bother with a wireless keyboard and mouse specifically designed for Apple products. Not only is the layout consistent with previous Mac keyboards, but also features a zoom slider, customizable favourites keys, an eject key and hot keys for e-mail, chat, music, photos and the Web. The laser mouse has a tilt wheel for quick and easy navigation of documents and spreadsheets.
Sharp Aquos LC57D90U
3 57-inch LCD Television,
$17,000. One of the knocks on LCD television is that the low refresh rate of previously available models means that hockey games and fast-moving movies are not seen to their best advantage. However, the new 47-inch Aquos offers both a true contrast ratio of 1500:1 and a response time of four milliseconds. A new backlight system also provides deeper reds and more vibrant greens than were offered before. Of course, all of this comes at a price likely to lure only early adopters and leave the rest of us waiting a bit longer for this kind of LCD performance.
Toshiba HDA1 and
4 HDXA1 HD DVD players, $700 and $1,000, respectively. The fever for highdef inition television sets is expected to rise as a new generation of DVD players arrives. These ones come from the HDDVD camp with others on their way from the rival Sony-led Bluray group. If you thought movies looked good on HD sets before, well, the new players from Toshiba are capable of 720p or 1080i output that should make movie viewers extremely happy.