Product Roundup: New Products For Higher Impact
Getting the Picture
The megapixel count keeps going up and up, with pocket-sized power-houses, such as the sub-$1,000 Nikon Coolpix 5000 leading the charge with 5.24 million pixels and powerful features for advanced photographers. On the high end, the 6.2-megapixel Canon D-60 is a professional digital SLR that accepts Canon EF lenses and accessories but will set you back about $3,000.
Compact, easy-to-use sub-$500 3-megapixel cameras, such as the new Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P71 or the PDR-3310 from Toshiba, are a very practical choice for most mobile presenters. The Toshiba PDR-3310's solid aluminum body, automatic lens cover, and Lithium Ion rechargeable battery make the 91mm x 57mm x 31.5mm unit a convenient companion for the road. Sony's DSC-P71 has such advanced features as TTL pre-flash metering for better-exposed flash pictures. The DSC-P71 comes equipped with two AA NiMH batteries and charger but can also use alkaline cells in a pinch. Both cameras are equipped with 3X optical zoom and offer 2,048 x 1,536-pixel maximum resolution -- more than enough picture power for most presentation needs.
Lasting Impressions
Though Epson and HP get most of the attention in the photo-quality printer field, Canon is also a strong competitor with its six-color S820. The unit retails for less than $300 and produces prints in the same class as those output by the popular Epson 785EX and the impressive HP 1315. Canon's S820 printer allows users to replace individual color "tanks" for greater economy and uses a four-motor system for faster, quieter operation. Features include borderless printing on 4" x 6" to 8" x 11" paper (in approximately 1 and 2 minutes, respectively) and a maximum resolution of 2,400 x 1,200 dpi. Canon's S820 ships with the latest version of Exif Print (v2.2) for improving the digital printing process.
Easy Interactions
The new Camfire whiteboard camera system from SMART Technologies mounts above an ordinary whiteboard and lets users instantly capture high-resolution images of notes and drawings. Utilizing patented software, the system joins the images from two built-in digital cameras, corrects color and keystone distortion, and creates jpeg images of notes written on a whiteboard up to 4' x 8' in size. Several models of the Camfire are available, with prices ranging from $1,599 to $2,999.
Brighter Presentations
If super-light portable projectors are the sports cars of the presentation world, the new 2,000- plus-lumen portables are the SUVs of slide shows. Weighing in at 5 to 8 lbs., these versatile machines are light and compact enough for easy air travel but can project a large and crisp easy-to-see image -- even in brightly lit conference rooms. Among the most noteworthy of these is NEC's new LT260. It's a DLP projector that weighs 6.5 lbs. and delivers 2,000 ANSI lumens of brightness. It features wireless and wired LAN options, and incorporates a built-in presentation viewer that lets users download presentations onto a CompactFlash card.
In our next Sourcebook on Presentation Technologies, we'll bring you up-to-date on the many exciting new products introduced last month at InfoComm 2002 in Las Vegas.
NEC 's New Microportable Projectors
NEC Solutions America's latest microportable projectors, the LT157 and LT158, give users the ultimate blend of power and portability with a brightness of 1500 ANSI lumens at a weight of only 4.9 lbs. Both projectors feature XGA native resolution and a built-in presentation viewer that allows users to download presentations onto a CompactFlash TM and leave the laptop at home. The LT157 and LT158 also offer a projector/PC remote and one-touch operation for ease of use and VORTEX Technology TM image enhancement for superior image quality. The two projectors are identical, except that the LT157 features an analog input while the LT158 has an analog to DVI-I input that enables the transmission of both analog and digital signals. For more information about these and other NEC Solutions America products, please visit our Web site at www.necvisualsystems.com or call 1-877-NEC-INFO.
