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Everybody knows somebody who's afraid of computers and doesn't have access to the Internet. Give an iPhone.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

5 last-minute tech gifts


Dec. 12, 1999

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, The Syracuse Newspapers

   Looking for last-minute ideas for the tech-lover on your gift list? Here are five that make sense.
   1. The iPhone from BigPlanet. It's a great telephone (with an answering machine and all that) that just happens to be the world's first successful Internet appliance. What's an Internet appliance? A small thing with a screen that does e-mail and Web browsing without the need for ANY computer knowledge. It doesn't even have a mouse. (You touch things on the screen.)
   The iPhone even comes with a great slide-out keyboard and can be hooked up to a printer. It supports two phone lines. Everybody knows somebody who's afraid of computers and doesn't have access to the Internet. Give an iPhone. Cost: Varies according to usage, but basically it's free if you pay a normal charge for Internet access. Call 682-7178 for information and ordering, or go to http://www.empireplanet.com/.
   2. Give the first modern computer mouse in years -- the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer. At last, Windows and Linux users can do their computing with a mouse that needs no mouse pad and has no mouse ball to gum up and give you grief. The Explorer has an extremely sensitive light beam that does all the work of knowing if the mouse has been nudged this way or that.
   It comes with all the software you need if you're a Windows user. Linux users should set it up as an IntelliMouse. (Linux drivers to handle the advanced features of the Explorer mouse such as the extra buttons aren't available yet.) There's no Mac version.
   The Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer costs about $80 and can be found in computer stores and at shopping sites all over the Internet.
   3. The Linux PC operating system. Go to http://cheapbytes.com/ and click "I want to buy something" and then click "Linux Operating System" at the left. My choice is the Linux Mandrake 6.1 PowerPack at $52.95. But you can also get Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 for $1.99. (No, that's not a misprint.) On the main page you'll even see an 11-CD set of Linux software for $17.50. (And that's not a typographical error, either. Linux is an Open Source operating system, so most software is free.)
   If the lucky recipient is a Mac user, check the Cheapbytes list for versions of Linux for PowerMacs (also called Power PCs or PPCs).
   4. An ATI All in Wonder 128 graphics card for PCs running Windows and Linux. Go to http://www.ati.com/, choose the U.S. link and navigate over to the "Products" site and look for the All in Wonder 128. The ATI card can display TV stations, cable movies and VCR tapings in a window (or full screen) and can record off the TV or cable signal, too. I use an All in Wonder card and love it. The price varies according to the amount of on-board memory; figure on $200 or more. (ATI is now helping develop Linux drivers for its cards, so don't worry if sales people at local stores give you blank stares when you mention Linux. They're just not up on the subject yet.)
   5. A USB scanner. If your gift recipient has a Windows PC made within the last three years or has an iMac, G3 or G4 Macintosh, find out if a USB scanner would look good under the tree. (Don't give away the gift idea, though!) USB makes connecting a scanner a simple matter and it doesn't get in the way of the printer.
   I use a Visioneer PaperPort USB scanner and find it a joy to use. It takes great scans of photos and has built-in character-reading software when I have to scan texts into my computers. (But don't expect a scanner to do a miracle. Scanning pictures is a perfect use of a scanner. Scanning texts is imperfect, and you'll spend a lot of extra time cleaning up errors in the conversion to text.)
   Go to http://www.visioneer.com/products/ for more information. A good PaperPort scanner costs less than $200, but check local stores for sales and rebates; you might find one for a net cost of $80 or less. Make sure you get a USB model.