By Issie Rabinovitch
Tech products seem to be appearing on the market faster than a 2.2-GHz Pentium 4 can compute data. Some are more for entertainment than for work, but many have features you might find useful. CAmagazine has asked technology writer Issie Rabinovitch to test new products and write regular assessments for this column. Issie has been working with CAs in the technology field for years and, in choosing the products, he has your needs in mind. Issie rates each on a scale of one to three stars.
 good product strong product exceptional product
 IBM APC Biometric Password Manager
Although its name makes it sound like software, this biometric device is actually a tiny USB fingerprint scanner. It improves security an convenience for users by identifying them via their fingerprint and logging them in to their windows computer, networks, password-protected applications and websites.
Users commonly choose easy passwords to simplify computer logins. Others may choose strong passwords (e.g., Rt5s6^W*$tX), which are harder to crack but compromise security when the same password is used everywhere. Hardly anyone changes passwords frequently enough.
The password manager stores virtually an unlimited number of passwords, regardless of how complex they are. It enters them after you swipe your registered finger. If you register only one finger, and one day can’t use it, your login attempt will fail. That’s why the system allows you to register any or all your 10 digits.
The unit worked well in my tests. I preferred to position it next to my mouse and to swipe my little finger.
My only concern is with the possible consequences of relying on the unit. I remember my many strong passwords because I enter them frequently. After using this product for a few months, how many passwords will I remember when I need to use a different computer?
Price: $79.99. 
 Samsung DVD-VR300
The DVD-VR300 has something to offer almost everyone interested in home entertainment. It plays and records DVD disks and video tapes and allows you to dub in both directions. And it handles DVD disks in all three popular formats.
With the VR300 you can transfer your valuable collection of VHS movies to DVDs, which last longer and require less room to store. Going in the other direction, you can copy a DVD movie to tape for viewing by a friend who doesn’t have a DVD player.
The VR300 will play MP3 and audio CDs through your TV speakers or sound system. If you have photographs on CD you can view them on your television.
The only thing I missed in the VR300 is the ability to pause live television, which personal video recorders with hard disks are able to do. That aside, this unit is easy to like and, with its remote control, easy to use.
A caveat worth mentioning is the lack of phone support for the product, compounded by a weak company website. But for these problems the VR300 would be rated higher.
Price: $599.99.
 The Canon PowerShot S70
With a remarkable 7.1 megapixels of resolution, the point-and-click Canon PowerShot S70 may be too much camera for its intended audience. Only photographers who use photo editing software to do extensive cropping will benefit from this much resolution. Otherwise, the less expensive 5.0-megapixel S60 is a better buy.
I crop most of the pictures I take and was able to extract a small part of a picture and still get a crisp image when I enlarged it. I couldn’t have done this using a camera with more modest resolution.
The S70, which has a 28mm-100mm wide-angle 3.6x optical zoom lens and an 8-oz. compact body, is a bit big for a pocket camera but not as bulky as most cameras in this class. The rechargeable lithium battery lasts about 150 pictures, or less with frequent use of the built-in flash. The included 32 MB compactFlash card fills up after just nine pictures when using the highest resolution setting.
This camera takes very good pictures in auto mode and allows experienced photographers to override virtually any setting. The default file format is JPEG but the S70 can write RAW files, which are more flexible for photo retouching.
Price: $600. |
