Living in a dorm room can be an exercise in sensory deprivation–no TV, no video game system and poor radio reception.
To the rescue comes the AM-FM Plus from Terk, an indoor radio antenna that lets you pick up more than just the college radio station. The stand-alone passive indoor radio antenna can improve AM and FM reception, stereo quality, and reduce reception noise and static. All for only $19.95. Terk promises the AM-FM Plus will improve stereo separation and make the music sound more like a concert and less like a radio.
– Get ready to perfect your air-kisses and other gestures of Hollywood insincerity, ’cause it’s show time, baby. Python turns your video tapes into MPEG-1 files just like that, so you can e-mail videos, add video to your Web site or wow ’em in your next presentation. You will be a star! At $349, Python is the first parallel-port plug-in MPEG encoder, capturing video from your camcorder or VCR and compressing it into MPEG-1 files with fast 200:1 compression ratio in real time. Unplug your printer, plug in a connector, then hook that connector to your printer and to your Python, and that’s it. You’re in the movie biz. You can operate the Python and your printer at the same time. Use the free PC-based video-editing software to create wild effects such as morphing and warping. The sky’s the limit. You also can freeze a frame and manipulate it any way you want, because it’s a regular JPEG image.
– Stay connected without feeling tied down by getting a Freeboard computer keyboard from Sejin America. This keyboard uses infrared light to tell your computer what you’re typing or where your mouse or track-ball is pointing. Getting rid of that unsightly and limiting cord that ties your keyboard to your CPU will cost you about $200 or less. FreeBoard comes with a small battery-powered receiver that plugs into the spot your current keyboard is connected and there is a connector that plugs into your mouse port. Put the receiver near your monitor and take your FreeBoard to a more comfortable spot nearby, then type away. As long as the receiver can pick up the infrared light from your FreeBoard, you’re in business. FreeBoard is a standard PC keyboard with full-size keys and has all 101 key functions. There are five models, with varying manufacturers suggested retail prices ranging from $139 to $199. The keyboard is available in the U.S. by mail order from Acecom in Santa Clara, Calif., at 800-548-8193, and from Key Source in Hayward, Calif., at 800-722-6066.
– Casio is making it easier to reach out and touch someone with the PhoneMate TP-340, a cordless speaker-phone and digital answering machine that can automatically summon you by pager every time you get a new message. It costs about $149. Pager Link gives family, friends and business associates one-number access to you any time, anywhere–without ever having to give out your pager number.
– Can’t fit your laptop into your shirt pocket? Then you don’t have REX PC, credit card-size PC companions by Rolodex Electronics that let you carry important names, phone numbers, memos and much more wherever you go. They cost less than $180. Slip a REX PC into the PCMCIA slot of your laptop (or into the available docking station if you have a desktop computer) and download your appointments, to-do lists and presentation outlines to your REX PC in seconds. The PC companion’s LCD screen and touch buttons let you flip through your information fast, though the small, nine-line display screen might be hard on some eyes. It comes with software that imports your existing contact data so you can start using your REX PC right away–no need to convert data from one program to another.
– In the old days, really bored kids amused themselves by using string to connect two tin cups and communicating with one another with the homemade walkie-talkie. Well, in the ’90s, we don’t need string or tin cans, and we don’t need to be kids. Motorola’s TalkAbouts are walkie-talkies for Baby Boomers and others who want to stay in touch via an invisible umbilical cord. The basic TalkAbouts cost about $149 apiece (of course you’d need at least two), and have a range of up to 2 miles, depending on terrain and weather; battery life of up to 30 hours; and come in four colors: blue, yellow, black and dark green. The TalkAbouts Plus cost $179 apiece and have the same features as the basic models but also have an easier-to-read, back-lighted LCD display and a battery meter. Options for both products include headphones, earpieces, holders and adapters. They offer 14 available channels, talking channel confirmation, 38 interference eliminator codes and an audible low-battery alert. And they are made to withstand the elements.
– If you really got your computer to play games but you don’t have the Stealth II Model S220 graphics accelerator from Diamond Multimedia Systems, you’re not getting the biggest bang for your buck. The Stealth II does 3D fast and two-dimensional processing faster. It features digital video playback and shows off its best features with an included CD that gives you a taste of new Direct3D and RRedline games, which feature application programming interfaces. And you also can take care of business. Multimedia presentations are brought to life with the faster accelerator, which enables fast data processing and refresh rates for crisp graphics and faster image display. Stealth II can handle resolutions up to 1,600 by 1,200 at 256 colors. It costs $119.95.
