Product Roundup: Improving Your Image
Portable Projectors
With prices plummeting and power increasing, this is an exciting time to buy a projector. Ultraportable projectors with around 1500 ANSI lumens -- more than enough to present to a large group in a comfortably-lit conference room -- are now available at prices ranging from $1,200 to around $2,000. The new VT60 Series from NEC is a good example of this radically improved price performance ratio. The three models, VT460, VTz560, and VT660, all weigh in at only 6.6 lbs., and range in brightness from 1300 to 1700 lumens, with the rich, realistic color expected from high-quality 3-panel LCD projectors. Automatic keystone correction, color-coded connections, and other thoughtful features make these powerful machines easy to set up and use. Other leading manufacturers, including Epson and Mitsubishi have also recently introduced powerful, compact 3-panel LCD projectors.
Super Software
Mac users who want to get the most out of their presentations should check out Apple's Keynote. It's a powerful $99 application that delivers professional-level graphics control over the look and feel of presentations. Features include the flexible use of layered Adobe Photoshop files, adjustable opacity to control the blending of multiple text and image layers, and automated coordination of colors, fonts, and animated charts.
The challenge of keeping online presentations and other data up-to-date has been simplified with the introduction of Macromedia's Contribute. This $99 application makes it easy for any authorized contributor (hence the name) to quickly and safely modify info on a Web site -- or add new content or pages from PowerPoint, Word, Excel, or Flash files -- using simple drag-and-drop tools.
Another useful new product, EmailPRESENTER, allows you to send compact, easy-to-play presentations to remote recipients, and to know when (and if) they've viewed your message. It's just one of a batch of innovative tools available from PresentationPro.com.
Powerful Peripherals
By adding digital video and photos you can increase the impact and effectiveness of your presentations. Pinnacle's PCTV Deluxe is a small, stand-alone unit that connects your computer to a video camera, VCR, or even a cable TV source. Digitizing high-quality video and stereo audio, and feeding it to the PC via a USB cable, the $199 unit lets you view TV and video on your Windows computer, and add it to presentations. To optimize video clips for use with a presentation program, check out video editing programs, such as the powerful Pinnacle Studio 8, Ulead's easy to use VideoStudio 6, or the soon-to-be-released Free DV from Avid.
Digital cameras are becoming increasingly versatile. Toshiba's new PDR-T30 is a 3.2 megapixel (2048 x 1536) digital camera with a touch-screen LCD. The $449 unit lets you digitally annotate pictures using a stylus directly on the LCD -- shades of John Madden.
The sky seems to be the limit when it comes to the performance of affordable photo printers. The new i950 from Canon outputs photo-quality color prints with resolutions as high as 4800 x 1200 dpi. The high-speed, $299 unit delivers beautiful 8.5" x 11" prints in approximately 1 minute.
Sidebar: New Series of High-Performance Projectors
NEC's new models, VT460, VT560, and VT660, enhance NEC's intuitive projector line with color-coded inputs, automatic keystone correction, and direct-access keys for RGB, video, and S-Video, making these models the easiest-to-use projectors yet. The 1500-ANSI-lumen, SVGA resolution VT460 has an estimated street price of $1,199. The XGA resolution, 1300-ANSI-lumen VT560 is priced at $1,795; and the XGA resolution, model VT660, offering a brighter image of 1700 ANSI lumens, is priced at $1,995. All three projectors feature a 3,000-hour lamp life in Eco-Mode, and a $299 replacement lamp cost for a low total cost of ownership.
For more information on the new VT Series products and on a new promotion giving VT Series projector buyers a chance to submit a video demonstrating the projectors' ease of use with the most creative entrant winning $50,000, please visit www.necvisualsystems.com.
