What is new out there in the PC world?<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Competition in the upper market display monitor
\nindustry is really tight, with new and good monitor products such
\nas the ones from Nokia beginning to share the awards
\ntraditionally monopolized by Nanao and NEC. Competition in the
\nlower end is not easy, either.<\/p>\n
NEC, a maker of an award winning upper market display monitor,
\nhas just upgraded its budget SVGA 14\" monitor. Its new MultiSync
\n2V, with a list price of US$355, is capable of a 70 Hz vertical
\nrefresh rate at the resolution of 1024 by 768. At 800 by 600, it
\nis capable of displaying images with a 76 Hz vertical refresh
\nrate, which is very easy on the eyes.<\/p>\n
The new entry level monitor complies with the MPR-II elec
\ntromagnetic radiation specifications. It also complies with the
\nDisplay Power Management Signaling (DPMS) standard, as specified
\nby the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). This
\nfeature allows the monitor to power down itself to comply with
\nthe EPA's Energy Star specifications. Boy, isn't it interesting
\nto see how many specifications and standards that new computer
\nproducts must comply with today?<\/p>\n
Not to be beaten by NEC, Sony is also launching its new 15\"
\nTrinitron monitor, called MultiScan 15sf. Like NEC 2V, Sony 15sf
\nalso incorporates digital controls. It is also both VESA DPMS and
\nMPR-II compliant. But, unlike the 14\" NEC, Sony's 15\" maximum
\nrefresh rate at 1024 by 768 is 75 hz.<\/p>\n
A new feature to be found in Sony 15sf is the Color Tempera
\nture control, which the company claims will ensure color accuracy
\nin desktop publishing and graphics design applications. Well,
\ninteresting as this new feature may be, would you really consider
\nusing a 15\" for any serious DTP job?<\/p>\n
Movies on your PC<\/p>\n
Do you know that, for a little bit more than the price of a
\nvideo laser disc player, you can turn your 386 machine into a
\nmovie theater? Thanks to Sigma Designs, a Fremont-based company,
\nyou can now add ReelMagic MPEG Playback Controller and PC
\nMultimedia Upgrade Kit to our PC. The kit will enable your PC to
\ndisplay full screen, TV-quality video and produce CD-quality
\naudio from standard CD-ROM drives.<\/p>\n
The product basically consists of two components, a 16-bit
\nsound card (which is the standard for PC audio today) and an MPEG
\nplayback board. Using the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG)
\ncompression method, ReelMagic can play back up to 74 minutes of
\nfull-motion video from a single CD-ROM at the rate of 30 frame
\nper second (FPS) for NTSC, 24 FPS for PAL, or 25 FPS for films.
\nIf a movie runs longer than 74 minutes, it'll have to come in two
\nCDs. The software even supports OLE 2.0.<\/p>\n
I've had the chance to see ReelMagic in action, and it's
\namazing. The CDs containing full-featured films look just the
\nsame as the ones that contain my favorite Hetty Koes Endang's
\nKroncong songs. Undoubtedly, this will represent another moun
\ntainous challenge to Indonesia's Film Censor Board (BSF), which
\nhas been under a lot of criticisms lately. How can they exercise
\ncontrols over movies that are indistinguishable from an ordinary
\naudio CD?<\/p>\n
In fact, the CD-based software for ReelMagic is already
\navailable in Jakarta, with the price ranging from Rp 40,000 to Rp
\n200,000. Sounds like there will be another reason to get glued to
\nour PC, doesn't it?<\/p>\n
New MS DOS<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago I wrote about Version 6.21 of MS DOS, an upgrade
\nthat untraditionally gave you less that its predecessor as it no
\nlonger included the disk compression utility DoubleSpace. Micro
\nsoft has brought back a disk compression utility into the oldest
\noperating system that we know in the PC world. I guess the people
\nin Redmond understand how a disk compression utility is such a
\nnecessity, given such a large amount of disk space that today's
\napplications require.<\/p>\n
In addition to the disk compression utility, which is now
\ncalled DriveSpace, MS DOS 6.22 also features better integration
\nwith Windows and better memory management. DoubleGuard and Scan
\nDisk are still available to ensure the well being of your hard
\ndisk data. The upgrade price from Version 2.11 or later, through
\na U.S. software mail-order company, is $49. If you have Version
\n6.0 or later, the upgrade price is only $10.<\/p>\n
The funny thing is, Microsoft decided not to call it version
\nnumber 6.3 and used the weird sounding 6.22 instead. I guess we
\nall can understand this, as IBM gave its latest upgrade of PC DOS
\nversion number 6.3. It's obvious that the war still continues,
\nisn't it?<\/p>\n
New from Corel<\/p>\n
With such strong leadership in the PC based graphics world, it
\nstands to reason that Corel should start marketing spin offs from
\nits flagship CorelDRAW! graphics illustration package. A case in
\npoint is CorelFLOW, a program that enables you to create fancy
\nflowcharts, diagrams, schematics, etc.<\/p>\n
Like Visio, our favorite chart creator, CorelFLOW also
\nsupports drag and drop drawing, automatic shape connecting, and
\ndirect text and line editing. Like Visio, it also supports OLE
\n2.0 and has customizable, smart symbol libraries. And, oh, yes,
\nit comes with a spellcheck, too.<\/p>\n
Corel's habit of throwing in everything into the packages it
\nsells is carried onto this one as well. For a suggested retail
\nprice of $99, CorelFLOW comes with 2,000 symbols, 1,000 clipart
\nimages, 1,000 Corel Photos on CD-ROM and 100 TrueType Fonts. Oh
\ndear, how big should my hard disk be if software continues to
\ncome in large quantities like this?<\/p>",
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