Peripheral pleasures for your PC

From...

By Michael Lasky and Dennis O'Reilly

(IDG) -- There it sits on your desktop, day in and day out. Always ready to brighten on your command. (Well, almost always.)

Willing to do your bidding at the touch of a button. (Well, several buttons.)

And tirelessly spinning its disks and firing electrons to keep you informed and entertained.

How do you reward such faithfulness? By making your PC easier and more fun to use, of course. Give your system -- whether old and tired or new and peppy -- a little sparkle with one of these add-ons. From a $1,299 17-inch flat-panel display with TV tuner to a $30 gizmo for cleaning your CDs, these 15 products are sure to take some of the tedium and hassle out of your computing experience in the coming year. So as you compile your gift list this holiday season, don't forget your little beige buddy, quietly humming its one-note tune.

Flat-out beautiful

At just 2.5 inches thick, Samsung's attractively designed SyncMaster 171MP could win awards for its looks even before you power up its razor-sharp 17-inch screen. With an optional $99 TV tuner and built-in support for an array of external audio and video devices (including HDTV), this slim, flat-panel monitor is as versatile as it is comely. Conveniently, its controls are located on a recessed front panel and on a remote control (which proves easier to use than the panel). Two 5-watt speakers are integrated on the front of the monitor, and a side-panel headphone jack permits private listening. The SXGA screen supports resolutions up to a crisp 1280 by 1024 pixels.

Want to watch the Super Bowl while you work on your spreadsheet? With the SyncMaster's picture-in-picture feature, that's not a problem. And unlike most TVs with PIP, the monitor even lets you adjust the size of the PIP window and reposition it on the screen. Sure, it's pricey, but this two-in-one monitor is well worth the expense.

Hubba-hubba USB hub

About the length and width of a business card and the thickness of a matchbox, Keyspan's 4-Port Mini Hub is the perfect accessory for any notebook PC owner. Unobtrusive and featherlight, the device expands the add-on capabilities of any PC -- notebook or desktop -- by transforming a single USB port into four. Many USB mice, keyboards and other devices get adequate power from the PC, but appliances such as printers and scanners need a powered hub; to accommodate these electricity-hungry peripherals, Keyspan includes a lightweight AC adapter with the hub.

Numerous portable USB hubs are available, but none of them has the lithe profile of a Jenny Craig graduate as this one does.

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Unscratch the surface

A single scratch or smudge can turn a $15 CD, $40 DVD, or $100 Windows XP disc into a high-priced coaster. Unless you plan to throw a lot of cocktail parties and you want to really impress your friends, try this less-wasteful alternative: Digital Innovations' SkipDoctor. Most damage to optical discs is merely on the surface. SkipDoctor buffs and polishes the protective coating on any damaged CD-ROM, audio CD, DVD, or CD-RW disc, making the disc readable again.

Simply spray on the included polish, stick the damaged disc in the device's compartment, give it a couple of spins with a turn of the crank, buff it dry with the included cloth, and voilˆ: Your disc is no longer doomed to be a furniture protector.

Know-it-all DVD

Here's a no-brainer: Would you rather spend $750 for the printed 32-volume Encyclopedia Britannica, or $70 for a DVD-ROM disc that contains the text from all 32 books, a Merriam-Webster dictionary, and a world atlas? If the price differential doesn't persuade you to go for the DVD, think of the bookshelf space you can save, not to mention sparing your back the wear and tear of lifting more than 100 pounds of books. The most compelling reason to buy this bargain-priced reference set on a single DVD disc (instead of on multiple CDs) may be how quickly it responds to your queries. Enter your search term, and up pop links to all relevant articles. Flipping through the pages would take longer, even if you knew which volume held the information you were seeking. And the DVD searches are faster than those on the company's Web site.

Extra features close an easy sale: The Knowledge Navigator graphical browser helps you brainstorm projects by leading you to updated material on Britannica's Web site, as well as to other sites containing information relevant to your search -- all via a 30-day trial of the site's premium service. The addition of a dictionary and world atlas make this a one-stop, interactive reference cornucopia.

Label me 'convenient'

Do you print letters from your word processor and then put them into envelopes with handwritten addresses? No matter how smart the printer, printing labels is a drag. That's what makes the Dymo LabelWriter 330 Turbo so special. Whatever program you're printing from -- Microsoft Word, say, or the Palm Desktop or the Act contact manager or Dymo's own label-creation software -- the LabelWriter quickly and effortlessly spits out self-adhesive labels in sizes up to 2.3 inches wide. And printing a single address is just as easy as printing a database full of addresses.

You can also print labels for files, floppies, name badges, bar codes and myriad other items. Rolls of blank labels load in a snap, and because the device uses thermal printing, you needn't worry about messy ink refills. This petite desktop printer produces decent black-and-white photos on labels too. Now that's convenient.

A chair you wear

Steelcase is one office-chair maker that hasn't been sitting down on the job. The company joined with prestigious leather-goods maker Coach to develop an office chair that moves as you move. Steelcase's research indicated that a person's upper and lower back move independently, so the upper and lower sections of the Leap Chair's backrest move to match your individual "spineprint."

Reclining in a standard office chair changes your line of sight to the PC monitor and your keyboard reach, which can torpedo the best-laid ergonomic plans. The Leap Chair lets you lean back without altering your vision and reach zones, because the seat slides forward. The chair's armrests pivot as your arms move, and the front part of the seat adjusts up or down to keep the edge from cutting into the back of your thighs.

The Leap Chair is upholstered in luxurious ("like buttah") Coach leather in your choice of two stitching patterns and six colors, so you'll be sitting pretty -- and comfortably too.

Let your PC do the dialing

What if your PC and telephone worked as a team? The ArialPhone PC-connected wireless telephone headset doesn't entirely integrate phone and PC functions, but it comes close. The base station connects to the PC via a USB port and communicates wirelessly with the headset. The device uses a standard phone jack, is simple to install, and doesn't require any voice training.

Press the headset's Action button, and a voice asks, "How may I help you?" Say the word "call" to access the names and telephone numbers in your Outlook Express, Outlook, or Windows Address Book. Say "John Smith," and his number is dialed for you. Or say "dial" followed by the number you wish to call. Answering calls is just as straightforward. In fact, you can do anything with the ArialPhone that you can with a standard telephone, except that it's hands-free.

Priced for people who conduct much of their business from their PCs, the ArialPhone works only when the PC is powered on. People have been talking to their PCs since the machines first arrived on their desktops. Now with the ArialPhone, you may get the impression that your PC is talking back.

Your office on wheels

Sure, a lot of computer cases can transport your laptop safely. And cases with built-in rollers are particularly convenient for lugging your notebook, PC accessories, paperwork, and other items. But what if you could pack everything into a regulation-size carry-on rolling bag with a sturdy built-in table? It sounds like the perfect gift for an upscale three-card monte dealer, but don't laugh -- the Azpac Flightable is a versatile office on wheels.

The table, which can hold up to 55-pound loads, pops open from the back panel to create an on-the-fly computing stand or work surface that you can use at the airport, in a hotel lobby, or in some other locale. A padded laptop pocket and organizer sit in the front panel, and an expansion zipper adds a few inches to the main compartment. Why travel with just your notebook when you can take your desk along, too?

It's your bag, baby

Any airport security guard will tell you that most notebook computer bags practically cry out, "Yoo-hoo, thieves! Over here!" If you want your computer to travel incognito (a good idea) and still sport a durable, comfortable, stylish case, look no further than the Crumpler Very Busy Man. Stu Crumpler's whimsically named bag can handle any size notebook in its well-padded canvas and Dupont Cordura Plus compartment, just one of its many Velcro-fastened and zippered pockets. Ingenious escape holes for audio and communication-device cables, a comfortable padded shoulder strap with a loop-around waist cinch, and quick-release buckles make this computer case efficient as well. The bag does lack handles as an alternative to the shoulder strap, however.

Available in five color combinations, the Very Busy Man is capacious enough to hold all your travel accessories and personal gear. Don't be put off by the name -- this bag is for anyone with stuff to lug.

Mouse with your keyboard, key with your mouse

Tired of constantly switching between keyboard and mouse to browse the Web or work in one or more applications? Wouldn't it be more convenient to move your keyboard or mouse anywhere without being encumbered by their cables? Logitech's Cordless Freedom Optical keyboard and mouse are an appropriately named set of wireless input devices that eliminate two cables and put some of the functionality of each device into the other.

The keyboard has a row of ten buttons on the top: one to shut down or restart your PC, and nine that you can customize to open Web pages, start programs, or display a menu you create. A built-in scroll wheel on the left side of the keyboard offers additional navigation shortcuts for Web browsing or any application. You can customize the center wheel on the mouse to allow scrolling through five Web shortcuts of your choosing. The mouse has Favorites/Bookmarks, Reload, Back, Stop, and Help buttons, and it is comfortable in either your left or right hand.

Both the mouse and keyboard use radio signals rather than infrared, so you needn't worry about maintaining a line of sight with the receiver.

Michael S. Lasky is a senior editor and Dennis O'Reilly a senior associate editor at PC World.