Two that caught my eye were ViewSonic and CTX. I own monitors by these companies. The first thing you should note is that a 19 inch flat-panel LCD display is about $1,000 give or take, probably beyond the price range of most of us. But the 15 inch ones are very affordable at around $400, while the 17 inch models can be had for between $600-$700. It is important to know that the flat-panel generally gives the same viewing real estate as its CRT counterpart that is two inches smaller; thus, a 15 inch flat-panel is equivalent to a 17 inch CRT and a 17 inch flat-panel equals a 19 inch CRT, etc. That takes a little of the bite out of those hefty prices. However, prices will decrease as sales volume increases. So why not go out and buy a flat-panel screen today so that prices will become affordable for the likes of me? All kidding aside, for the first time it looks as though the flat-panel displays will gain a strong market share. However, it is only fair to admit that I’m holding out for the CTX 36” flat screen HDTV-compatible display monitor. I saw it. I like it. I want it. But until its $3,000 price tag plummets to below $500 that probably won’t happen. I may have to hold out until the twelfth of never; and as Johnny Mathis says, “that’s a long, long time.”

What’s so good about the flat-panel viewing experience? Well, if you have a nice laptop, you already know the answer. Simply stated, it just looks better! Colors are brighter, images are clearer, and it is only going to get better! Some of the screens have photo-like image quality. I’m beginning to purchase electronic books since, in some cases they are much less expensive. The flat LCD offers almost the same viewing quality as a printed book. And the neat thing for those of us who are nearsighted is that we can enlarge the print and cast off those horrid reading glasses! What’s the downside to these flat panel LCDs? I’ve been told that they are irreparable when they go out. The 15 inch Viewsonic model has a life-expectancy of 50,000 hours and they include a three-year limited warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. I think that’s an industry standard. However, if you can get an extended warranty from, say CompUSA, Best Buy or one of the other local companies, you might be glad in the long-run.

To complement the flat screen monitor and flat screen panel is a video card that allows you to watch TV on your computer. These are nothing new as ATI and Hauppauge have offered them for several years. I, in fact, have an old Hauppauge board that I’ve used for four or five years. But, they do have new and exciting features. I stopped by the Hauppauge booth and talked to Hauppauge’s product manager, Peter Baur, who also gave an excellent presentation. Was I ever impressed! Although Hauppauge offers a lot of products (including WinTV-Primio-FM, WinTV-PCI-FM, WinTV-Theater, WinTV-USB, WinTV-USB-FM, WinTV-NOVA, WinTV-DVB-s, CI-Modul, DV-Wizard-PRO, MyTV, MyTV2Go-fm), Peter demonstrated WinTV-PVR, taking it through its paces in fine form. The first thing you should know is that WinTV-PVR comes as an internal version and an external one that plugs into your USB port. So what will it do for you? Well, of course it allows you to watch TV on your PC while working on other tasks, but it doesn’t stop there. Have you ever wanted to record a TV show or a video? Well, now you can, and in MPEG2 compression! Wait, there is more. You can even pause your TV shows, go get a beverage and popcorn from the kitchen, and not miss one frame! Why, the WINTV-PVR even enables you to burn your TV shows onto a CD (providing you have a CD-burner, of course) and play them on your PC, laptop, or home DVD player at will! It even comes with FM Stereo radio and remote control (yes, you read that correctly – remote control!). That’s not all. Peter Baur agreed to present the Hauppauge capabilities at one of our general meetings and he indicated that they would offer Alamo PC users a special price when they did so. If you want more information on this outstanding product, go to <www.hauppauge.com>. 

I was also quite impressed once again with the world of handheld computing. This is definitely the direction the PC industry is heading, which is apparent by Microsoft’s full-fledged attempt to corner the handheld market. Whether they will do so or not remains to be seen, but what we do know is that for the foreseeable future, they have stiff competition from Palm and Visor. Both work off the Palm operating system, which is compatible with Microsoft Outlook and, with 3rd party software, meshes well with Microsoft Word and Excel. Both offer many different models at affordable prices to meet consumer needs (and pocketbooks). Being a man, one issue I had not thought of is the “fashion statement” made by one’s handheld device. Apparently, this will continue to be an issue in driving the market, but it is not the only factor by a long shot. Display visibility and functionality, I think, are the more pressing issues. Regarding display visibility, as with the PCs, it just gets better and better. Color displays have now come into their own. For example, the Palm m505 handheld device supports 65,000 colors. With it you can not only view spreadsheets and documents in color, but color video clips and photos as well! Of course, Visor’s Prism does the same.

The future promises lots of innovations in the world of PDAs. For example, Fossil Inc., believes that people should wear their PDAs and actually be able to swim with one on. Threfore, in February it will launch its Wrist PDA which attaches to the wrist like a watch. The Wrist PDA is not actually a Palm device, but it does take data off the Palm and becomes, in effect, a smaller version of the Palm. It will sell for $145 and really will be waterproof up to 30 meters. That will come in handy for clandestine, underwater board meetings! Goggles sold separately.

What stole the show in the handheld world, however, is not a product, but the promise of a product that should be out next year. I remember at COMDEX 2000 thinking that someone would surely come out with a device that would combine the functions of a mobile phone, handheld organizer, wireless e-mail, SMS messaging, and Web browser in one device. Enter Handspring Treo (well, almost — look for it in 2002). The demonstration I witnessed was nothing short of spectacular. Since I hate looking at small things ever since I was taken captive by near-sightedness, I’ve been skeptical of any device that puts the worldwide web on a screen I can hold in my hand. However, it was formatted in such a way that you get the complete GUI interface in a format that is pleasantly visible. I’m sold – well, almost. I’m firmly convinced that the day is coming when stand alone cell phones will be passé. This will become a reality when two things occur: affordability of device and affordability of service. When the Handspring Treo hits the market next year, it will be reasonably priced at $399 when you sign up for phone service. Prices will only come down as competition heats up. However, where you’ll pay through the nose (in my humble opinion) is the cost of surfing the net or getting e-mail through the cell phone service. When the cost gets down to, say, two cents a minute, these devices will become ubiquitous. Until they become very affordable, however, too many people will be willing to wait until they get to their PC to do the things that Treo offers. Wouldn’t it be something if phone services one day offered unlimited usage for a flat fee to use these devices?

Well, that’s my take on COMDEX 2001. I’m sure there were many other products worth mentioning, but these are the ones that caught my eye and made my mouth water. My wife proofread this report before I turned it over to Clarke. Who knows? Maybe she’ll take the hint and surprise me on Christmas morning.