Hewlett Packard's New Color Printers

The Age

Monday October 24, 1994

HEWLETT Packard has announced two new color inkjet printers aimed at the portable market.

The DeskJet 320 for notebook PCs and DeskWriter 320 for Macintosh PowerBooks weigh two kilograms each and are approximately half the size of a standard notebook PC.

Hewlett Packard claims both printers offer 600 by 300 dpi resolution and can print more than three pages per minute in black text or a color page in four minutes.

Recommended retail price is $527 for either model, plus a $91 for the color kit.

The company has also announced a new scanner, the greyscale ScanJet 3p which sells for $995. It can handle 1200dpi resolution and performs up to 30 per cent faster than its predecessor, the ScanJet IIp.

Telephone Hewlett Packard on 131347 for further information.

Animation tool.

DIGITAL sound, digital video and 24-bit Truecolor paint are just some of the features of the new Autodesk Animator Studio 2D animation software.

Animator Studio 2D enables users to open multiple animations simultaneously and paint on frames like a cell animator.

On the audio side, Animator Studio can record music from CDs, tapes or microphones and then allow editing of the sounds. Audio and video tracks can also be synchronised.

The product supports the Video for Windows format and will be available later this year for $995.

The company has also announced that the Windows and DOS versions of AutoCAD Release 13 will ship early in December.

For further information telephone Autodesk Australia on (02)8448000.

Easy VCR programming.

IMAGINE programming your VCR simply by saying ``Channel Ten, Tuesday 7.30pm, 8pm."

This seemingly impossible scenario is a reality now that Dick Smith Electronics has released the VCR/TV Voice Programmer, a device that allows you to program your VCR using your voice.

The VCR/TV Voice Programmer enables users to perform a number of functions including change channels, play, rewind and fast forward simply by speaking. A ``Zapit" function disposes of advertisments in recorded programs.

The device can recognise up to four different voices, thus allowing several members of the family to enjoy its functions. The VCR/TV Voice Programmer is priced at $199 and is available from all Dick Smith Electronics Stores.

Telephone Dick Smith Electronics on (02)8883200 for further information.

Mac Tools.

THE Central Point Division of Symantec has announced MacTools Pro 4.0, a new version of its disk utility software. Features of MacTools Pro 4.0 include QuickAssist and SmartTips, expert system based disk repair facilities.

The company says that AutoRepair facility can fix 99 per cent of disk problems automatically. Instead of relying on an emergency floppy disk, users can use RAMboot, a function that automatically creates a bootable recovery disk on the Macintosh's built-in RAM disk.

MacTools Pro 4.0 will be available in November priced at $230. The upgrade price from version 3.0 is $85.

Telephone Symantec Australia on (02)8796577 for further information.

Entry-level server.

ACER Computer's AcerAltos server range has been bolstered by the addition of the new AcerAltos 700. This new entry-level server is designed to operate either as a network server for small workgroups or as an advanced business workstation. It features 8MB RAM, 256KB write- back cache, two PCI slots and four EISA slots.

Users may choose between a 486DX2/66 model for $4115 or a Pentium/60 model for only another $115.

For further information telephone Acer Computer on (02)8701999.

Comms software.

DELRINA, of WinFax Pro fame, has released WinComm Pro 1.1, a Windows- based communications package. The new version includes an off-line electronic mail package called Internet Messenger. This is good news for subscribers to commercial providers, as they will now be able to send, receive, file and manage mail off-line, thereby saving on usage fees.

Other new features include an on-line GIF viewer and support for WAV file association.

WinComm Pro 1.1 is priced at $215. In an effort to lure users away from other commercial products, Delrina is offering a crossgrade price of $135.

Telephone Delrina on (03)5322274 for further information.

Budget video capture.

A VIDEO capture board with back-to-video capability for under $500? That'd be something. But it exists, thanks to Laser VTA and its new Sound Vision Video board.

The Video Vision supports real time, full motion video playback and enable users to capture a frame from their VCR or video camera. Other features include freeze-frame, zoom, multiple images display and three video inputs.

It is priced at $358 (inc tax) and is available from Laser VTA on (08)2324141.

RAM conservation.

THE ``insufficient memory" message is an all too familiar sight to owners of multimedia PCs when they try to run new applications. Stac Electronics is trying to change this with their Multimedia Stacker.

As well as providing users with more disk space, Stacker frees up much-needed RAM to enable multimedia software to run hassle-free. It does this by using Helix's Multimedia Cloaking, a technology that moves system drivers to a protected area of extended memory.

For information, availability and pricing telephone Tech Pacific on (02) 6978666.

WHAT'S ON.

THE next meeting of the Electronic Publishing on IBM's and Compatibles group will be held on 26 October at 6pm at Bells Hotel, corner Moray St and Coventry St, South Melbourne. Kevin Mack will speak about the Seybold Conference and the MacWorld exhibition. For more information telephone Mark Beale on 018560177.

The next monthly meeting of the Victorian Independent OS/2 Developers Group will be held at 5pm on 25 October in the seminar room, 27th floor, IBM Centre, Southgate, 60 City Road, South Melbourne. Telephone Brenda Moon on (03)8197425 for further information.

You can fax details of upcoming conferences and user group meetings to Computer Age on (03)8665486.

IBM simplifies its branding strategy.

IN AN effort to simplify the task of purchasing a new PC, IBM Australia has announced a new branding system that will lead to a reduction in the number of product lines.

There will now be four brands: IBM PC, IBM PC Server, ThinkPad and Aptiva. Other major PC vendors have almost 10 different product lines.

``The PC industry has done a brilliant job of innovation and technology," said Andrew Sotiropoulos, general manager of IBM PC Company. ``But in the process, many customers have been confused by the complex technology and the array of choices."

A new family of commercial desktops has been introduced to the IBM PC product line, the IBM PC 700 and IBM PC 300 series. The 700 series is aimed at users demanding a high-speed system, while the 300 series is aimed at price-conscious customers with general computing needs.

The PC Server brand was bolstered with the addition of the PC Server 500, an expandable 90MHz Pentium enterprise-based system.

IBM also introduced a number of new ThinkPad notebooks. The 755CD comes complete with full-sized CD-ROM drive, stereo speakers, and enhanced video and television integration features. The new products will be available around early November and will carry a three-year warranty. For further information, telephone IBM on 132426.