1998 04 canadian computer wholesaler

FGWiW .SEE RE S O U R C E F OR RE S E LLERS

T H E ' T E C hHN O L O G Y

APRIL COS Y,",4a'lf

Sill

lh

IcEbC" ", ~

CI OE C C"

I O

+> N CCI CD

4 C IE IE IE CE

CJ

CCI CCI

c.

fii c k

S AM S U N G ' S " e" S E R I E S M O N I T O R S D E L I V E R E X C E P T I O N A L ' + EX T RA O RD I NA R Y P R I C E s-;V "'=.-' ";..yj4~ Q~UAL IT Y ~ A T A N ~ ~ ~ e

'jets ~~,'

4~;g» j,s„... ~'"w"*

m~,

. Sr stir 'X ~

-, ."-'.",;s i~j'.i.:,, ''~g.,:,";:;~..".i

SANSUNGSa

=".a.".~~a

55 KHzhorizontal frequency

+Q »,

, t apq t

tg

f2

u

.Up : ~s„<~y15" display,.28datpitch, p'+:. ~R'i'~»-

.

~

g Ql

*

/I,

i~

'„'b

'tt

,

e-':"'r'CyroKH lm'tnt if q nry 8'„:","'4ii'i"co' '

'

~

" .

"

- '

a

,",P":rs

i1

' „<i' ~';:"".I,,

r

l

17" display,.28dot pitch,:..:. .I 280 X 1024 resolution/60Hz ' T~+~i@+5'.ep' ". $$y~ ~ "' <~/ 0 KHz horizontal frequency ~~ ' .'-.::~4"",„@ ;..~ '

~

:

:

•

•

•

•

•

••e •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

. „ "

•

•

•

•

•

; ,

'ltd &>'

-

~

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

,

""." ' ~„

'

•

;

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

ILMSUN

• •e•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

'' •

•

•

e

ie

•

'

:

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

MICRO

•

~ •

• •

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Dedicated Knowledgeable Sales Team - Prompt Customer Service

4g

N

,, Weekly

+Specials

Outstanding Technica I Support E. '--M

•

/VES'

•

•

•

• •

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

-

•

• •

Sales Personnel 9,,a.m.-6 p.m. '"Mon.-Fri.

•

•

•

•

•

Full Service @ .Facilities-iri',.4 Toronto, Montreal,

•

•

•

•

•Q •

•

•

•

•

•

•

Vancouver

• •

•

• •

•

•

' •

•

•

•

•

•

-

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

0

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Toll Free j

•

1-000-TO'-EIRPAC

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

.

.

• •

•

•

' •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-

•

•

•

•

•

•

•l

4 Award 'W'innin g lSystems

j

1 -800-TG-EMPA C

www.empac.c8 ';, .

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

•

•

.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

g =-'- Cost

•

'I

~'I

'I

~' I

• II • I'

'Ill

• I' • I'

•

'

I

Competi tive Solutio-is'4

alall aa yat.i aa.a'-' III. fl f))I.

Itffj)i)ill)i I In "SSV )V

'fl

I',)

': ~),

I~

THEINDUSTRY

TECHNOIOG Y

Cisco TakesToWebSalesI nABIGWAY ......18

Windows 98 AStepUp,ButModestly So ...,............52

Bv Nichele NrLean

NT AndUnix: On The SamePlayingField?

By Alan Zistnan

...22

Self-Study BookGivesNT4.0Education .

How To Get Media Attention! . „.,

By DouglasGray

PIIMTEIIS

i™' ...24

By Jeff Evans

I

"yjsf%vsl)v' ~ "'Cs

I

I

fufvfi,

WEBAUTHORING GetTheRight Tool ForTheJob

The Editor's Desk 6

...30

Bv SeanCarruthers

Letters to the Editor 7

THEHONEOFFICE ResellersHeadHome-wards!

40

Industry Rash

Bv Paul Lifna

LN TEST DVDDrives Take Care; They're NotAll CreatedEqual!,....44

Canada Watch

14

Asiascape

54

New Products

59

Calendar

61

People

61

Nifty Numbers

62

Bv SteveHalinda andJag Bhooi

THEPUNDIT NewVideoOptions ForWin98,NT5 ..

By GraetneBennett

.

BUSINES SBASICS

...23

By David Tanaka

PrinterMarketPrimed For BetterInk-Jets,CheaperLasers ..

.

By StephenIbaraki

EYEONTHEINDUSTRY HandheldsTarget OccasionallCo y nnected Users......

'.y

BOOKREVIEW

Bv Jeff Evans

50 I))" If'I„ffffit j,I )I" I

~4)fs, ' f

a ' yj„'sip

':,g$~".". ==,

IM

desl<saver l<ey

!II I F

: .

~

: -. . .

-

.I

I .

F

,b

I

Lg â&#x20AC;¢I

4. t?IJF .

~~~ Comtro ni c ' I.I

[ http: / / w w w . c o m t r o n i c.ca J

VANCOOVCO

604-273-7280

CAI CAII r

HAMILTON

TOIIONTO

OTT ALMA

IVION II?I AI

HALII IRX

403-250-8352

905-574-3744

905-881-3606

613-736-7513

514-731-1223

902-463-8777

E DIT O R ' S D E S K

Hewers of. • .chipsand code? if yna can recall high school history you may vaguely remember a certain quote from one of the fathers of C onfederation — S i r Samuel L. Tilley. He uttered the memorable:"The time has arrived when we are to decide whether we will simply be hewers of wood and drawers of water..." Indeed, those words are recited now and then by pundits wishing to emphasize the dangers of being a natural resource-based economy.

Yet, if one considers the resource of this country's populace, a whole new issue is emerging. Today, government and industry alike are recognizing the need to further develop a highly trained, competitive workforce on a national level. We' re seeing the transition to the "knowledge-worker" and that trend will only accelerate, as information technology — with its breakneck paceof advancement — becomes, to •

•

• • r

•

•

•

r

•

• •

r •

•

•

r •

r • r

•

•

•

•

• r

r

•

•

•

• • •

an ever-increasingdegree, the backbone of our commercial and social infrastructure.

There are, of course, numerous issues to be faced, including the need to better educate the youth for careers in technology; the challenge of motivating more women towards technical jobs; and ways to avoid the relentless brain-drain south of the border.

Of course, there's a lot of technological talent out there in this country. Ottawa's Branham Group (Ni fty Numbers, page 62), says the top Canadian software firm made $377.4 million in revenues in I997, and even the IOOth biggest firm made $2.5 million.

Companies like Hummingbird and ATI have experienced skyrocketing growth on the stock market — there's no doubt Canadian technology is being appreciated!

Meanwhile, Canadians are also making their mark abroad. Think of James Gosling, the Canadian inventor of Java! (He did his undergraduate science degree at the University of Calgary.) And Microsoft C orp. hasmade no secretof the fact that one of its favorite hiring grounds is the 6

•

University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ont. That's why Ca n adian C omputer 8'holesaler wants to recognize technically significant Canadians with a new Technical Excellence Award. The idea is to draw attention to Canadians who are making noteworthy technological contributions both here and abroad. They could be developingsoftwareor hardware; oreven implementing or i n tegrating technology in unique and innovative ways.

If you know of a Canadian who deserves recognition for a contribution to the beneficial advancement of technology; please let us know. You can fax us the nomination form found on page 43, or fill out the form on our Web site, at http: //ccwm ag.corn. Or, drop u s a n e -mail at ccw@tcp.ca. Nominations close May 15, and we' ll publish profiles of the winners in a special July issue of CCW. Meanwhile, this issue, we' re looking at some of the latest technologies to impact you and your customers. Our Lab Test, led this issue by Steve Halinda, reviews DVD • drives, highlighting the vast differences in capability and . capacityfrom one offering to the next. (Please see "DVD Drives — Take care; they' re not all created equal," page 44.) Don' t miss the feature on Web A u thoring Software, in w h ic h S ean Carruthers reviews seven leading Web development tools by feature and focus market. (Please see: "R/eb Authoring: Get the Right Tool for the Job," starting on p age 30.) And Associate Editor Jeff Evans updates us on the latest contenders in the printer market in "Printer Market Printed For Better InkJets, Cheaper Lasers," page 24.

Looking just around the corner, Alan Zisman and Graeme Bennett both offer previews o f Mic r osoft's i m pending Windows 98 operating system, (please see "If/indows 98/ A step up, but modestly so," page 52, and "New Video Options For IVin98, NT5," page 50).

Please note: because your businesses are based upon technology, we' re striving to provide CCIVs readers with more indepth technical information in many of the magazine's articles. We'd love to hear your i comments and suggestions. 'CCW •

Grace Casselman Editor

CA N A DIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 iy ttp!/wvvwccvvmag.corn

I Com tlr

ossa sr

Publisher David Ritter Associate Publishers Judy Prange Hari Singh Khalsa Editor Grace Casselmau (gracccOuetcom.ca) Associate Editor Jeff Evans (jeff@tcpon.corn) Lob Test Steve Halinda (stcve®tcpon.corn) Sean Carruthers (sean carruthers

(atcpon.corn) Contributing Writers Graeme Benuett Douglas Gray Stephen Ibaraki Paul Lima Michcle McLcan David Tanaka Alan Zisman Production Staff Sherly Ho Karjn Hartwig Jana Kolar Regional Sales Manager Jamie Leighton (jamie@tcp.ca) Account Managers Frank Houston (frank@tcpon.corn) Account Managers Weng Ng (weng@tcpon.corn) Controller Linda Lovegrove Accounting Farida Aini Circulation Scott Rice Kim Jewison Founders Kent Liqiu Chen Li Ding

Canadian Computer Wholesaler is published 12 times a year by Canada Computer Paper Inc. Toronto Office Suite 200 - 99 Atlantic Ave. Toronto, Ont. Canada M6K 3J8 Tet: (416) 535-8404 Fax: (416) 588-8574

Vancouver Office Suite 503-425 Curratl St. Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6B 6E3 Tel: (604) 608-2688 .«;'t;:ps~."

Fax: (604) 608-2686

Taipei Office ., =';.-",'Q~+" "'

PRISCO Tci: 886-2-27 11-4833 Fax: 886-2-2741-5tl'0 Internet E-mail address:ccw®tcp.ca Wcb Site: htrpr//wuostccwyytag.corn

Subscsiptiou spplicstious snd chsogc of address notices must be made in writing to one ofthe above addresses.

Free subscription to qualiTied individuals, $110 pes year for uouqualified subscribers.

Contents of CanadianC™peter Wholesaler subject to copyright.

Material sud advert(sing designed by Canadian Computer Wholesalerin this publication msy uot be reproduced in any form without permission. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed iu articles are oot necessarily those of the publisher.

Printed in Cunudn Postage paid in Vancouver BrC. 197322399

L ETT E R S

Don't count Netscape out!

Kudos toCCW and the Thinkpad!

In order to survive in the business world today, you have totake some chances that may seem obscure. Netscape is currently taking some chances (by making the browser free, and providing source code to developers) that I feel will benefit them in the long run.

Sometimes good ideas come in the Internet world from people who are "armchair" programmers. Don't count Netscape out yet! They haven' t reached their current position by making dumbguess moves. This current move will definitely pay off.

Tony Slattery Owner,DxfordComputer Consulting and Sales lillsonburg, Ont., tonyslatooxford.net

I receive half-a-dozen "computer magazines" a T here are people who are always recharging their month,butsincereadingyoursforthelastsixmonths, batteries and I also know people who want light I find myself reading the others less. In one thin, con- weight. cise and very well-written volume, ...(CCW)keeps the I knowthat personally I like screen sizeand qualreseller and the purchaser informed and current as to ity, but most of my customers want a fast processor. the latest products and trends in computertechnoloDerek Hodgson, sales manager gy. It has been a valuable tool in my hardware and The ComputerZone,Oshawa, Ont. software purchase decisions by giving me the latest rhodgson@interlinks.net information from a Canadian perspective.

C CW B U L L E T I N B O A R D I initiated...the purchase by myschoolboard of Looking for a product, service or partner? Write 20 IBM ThinkPad380Dnotebooks. After six months of use, I agree fully with your statement in (CCW to CCW Bulletin Board, at ccw@tcp.ca, or fax: February), that "various models of ThinkPad... are ( 403) 262-?892. still the standard for other notebook PCs to beat."

Letters ToThe Editor I have yet to see a better notebook for running We welcome yourlettersonindustryissuesand the wide array of educational applications being concerns, as wellas yourcomments on ourmagrun in today's Ontario schools. azine. We reserve the right to edit your contribuPeter Murphy tions for length and clarity.

Catholic curriculum coordinator — computers Please write to The Editor, via e-mail at Nipissing/Parry Sound Catholic District ccvv©tcp.ca, or fax: (604)606-2666.

SchoolBoard, murphyp@efni.corn

Timely information on newsletters I just wanted to congratulate Cathy Cowan for her article in CCW(February) about newsletters.

I was just thinking about doing one such publication for our business and your information was very appropriate. If you have other source of information, please let me know where I could find it.

Gino Gendron corporate sales representative, accounting solutions Micro Logic, Sainte-Foy, Queo ggendronomlogic.corn Editor' s Note:Cathy Cowan, of Shandwick Canada also recommends these books for more on newsletter writing: wCopywriters Handbook" by Richard Bly and"Guerilla Guide to PR" by M. Levine.

F, 'ne attt.: u

Many features crucial for notebooks

Na R L : :r

.

•

~

,

Xerox Corp. shunsWindows ls for NT operating system An insider at Xerox Corp. said employees are banned from installing Windows 95 oncorporate systems withoutspecial permission. Thedbmpanystandardized onWindows NTasa desktop operating systemlast spring.

An internal Xerox document explains that Windews 95 is not es robust as Windows NT in running multiple 16-bit applications. It goes on to read: "Ultimately, we believe that it is Microsoft's strategic w direction to converge+or>2-:bd operabng system solutions tb Wimlftvfts NT. R

•

•

GROUP Oruup Inc.

www.lonsonecom

e,

Qru H '% Qo

Unit 8-3571 Viking Way, Richmond, BC. Canada, V6V 1W1 Teh (604! 273-4668 Saxg l604! 273-7989 1-800-665-1858 Dalumk are Irademarks or regulered Irademarks of Xo Loosen Group Inc. Ae olher brand or producls namesare trademarks or regisilered Irademarks of Iheir respamrve owners.

rrtfrfvwww.ccwmag.corn April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 7

I NDU S T RY F L A S H

Apple discontinues development of Newton OS

Lower than expected demand to hit Intel's bottom line (NB) — Intel Corp. said first-quarter revenues would slip 10 per cent from its fourth-quarter 1997 figure of US$6.5 billion. Intel officials said first-quarter results would be impacted by weak near-term demand from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that use Intel processors.

Intel also said its recent acquisition of Chips and Technologies Inc. is expected to impact earnings in the form of a one-time nondeductible charge in the first quarter of approximately US$165 million, or US$0.09 per share. The write-off will include in-process research and development, officials said.

Intel's year-ago first-quarter saw net revenues of US$6.45 billion on net earnings of US$1.98 billion, or US$1.10 a share after a stock split.

Apple Computer Inc. says it will discontinue further development of the Newton operating system and Newton OS-based products, including the Messagepad 2100 and eMate 300.

"This decision is consistent with our strategy to focus all of our software development resources on extending the Macintosh operating system," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO, in a state( ment. ' To realize our ambitious plans we must focus all of our efforts in one direction." Apple says it will introduce Mac OS-based mobile products in 1999.

In Canada, EMJ Data Systems Ltd. has purchased Apple Canada's remaining Newton inventory. The company won't released the number of units, but expects supply to last just a couple of months.

e n. ar

One-fourth of on-line job seekers get offers, says Monster Board (NB) — According to a new survey billed as the first to provide statistical results on on-line job searches, The Monster Board(Jtrtp:/Iwww.monstencom)has found that 25 per cent of job seekers on its Web site gets at least one job offer, and those receiving offers get an average of three offers.

In addition, the numbers of job seekers and recruiters visiting the site has just about tripled over the past year, if the month of January is a good indication.

The Monster Board received 2.2 million visits during the month of January 1998. Sue Zaney, vice-president of product development and marketing, cited two factors as contributing to the high success rate of Monster Board-based job searches: the growing "diversity" of job seekers on the site, and the fact that 44 per cent of these job seekers are "passive job seekers who are not actively looking for a job."

I

I

I

~f dp, db

a Windows based program with graphic and numeric interface, it is designed and trademark byEPoX,provides EPoXmainboard user the important real-time information to monitor and diagnose your system. By virtue of the On-Line Alarm/Warning system, it will protect you from the damages due to the irregular voltages from power supply, and to update your system operating characteristics regularly, such as: Various Voltage supplies from power supply / CPU,Speedof the cooling fan and chassis temperature.

Equipped with all EPoX Pentium II mainboards (KP6-LA, KP6-LSand EP-61U(A), now you can enjoy the added security of knowing your system status from EPoX for FREE!

~/

lap

P' \(~

4+ ~CQQ ~

*

l~m

m~

Please visit http: //www.epox.corn for more information about USDM.

NOON(ON • Y • O

@ iNOV E

onnpnlo • poNY

L L

aemnls(n'I

WI'I(vtwlnl ('O'Olhflnll

Os)>Fc

(!<f(en'

All trademarksandregisteredtrademarks belongtv their respectivecempanies.

Canadian Sole Distributor

I 8

TorontoHeadquarters/Tel:(905)470-7301/Fax:(905)470-7304 Ottawa /Tel: (613) 746-8227/Fax: (613)746-6679 Montreal /Tel:(514)333-6538/Fax:(514)333-6549 Vancouver /Tel: (604) 303-0206/Fax: (604)303-0207

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http//wwwccwmag.cpm

=©~w Epcx EPox is amemberof AGPand Beta Site for VIATechnologies, Inc.

Please visit http J/www.elcosys.corn for moredetails.

apts

4

SN

o'

Your Reliable Partner

COhATEK

~1$:r-

20-24, APRIL, 1993 MOSCOW, RUSSIA Booth No.. 3435

Your Reliable Partner

ABITComputerCorporation

AuthorizedBistrihutors:

Tel: 886-2-2698-1 888 Fax:886-2-2698-1811 WebSite:hgp://www.abit.corn.tw. E-Mail:sales©abitcom.tw.

ihnax EngineeringCorporation

ABITComputer lUSA]Corporation Tel: 1-510-623-0500Fax:1-510-623-1092 WebSite:htlp://www.abit-usa.cornE-Mail:sales©abit-usa.mm

Tel: (888)228-2629 Fax:(604)276-1700

Rttnt-MicroSupply,inc.

Tel: (416) 321-8898/ (888)309-8898 Fax:(41 6)321-2303

Resonant Consulting Inc. Tel: (604)270-4455/ (800) 394-2233 Tel: (604)273-9600/(&88)338-9600 Fax: (604)270-4488 Fax: (604)273-9630 E-Mail:resonant©aicom.crno E-Mail:euroneca©smarit.corn

EuroneTechnology CCanada) Inc.

AHS • CPU SOFT MENU™ - Jumperless Technology • Supports 66, 75* and 83*MHz CPU external clock speeds • Supports Pentium~ II 233 - 300 MHz processor cartridge • Intel 440LX chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI, and AGP 66MHz/133MHz (Sideband) 3.3V device • Three 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules support SDRAM, EDO DRAM • Supports up to 384MB MAX. (8, 16, 32, 64, 128MB EDO or SDRAM) and ECC function • ATX form factor, One AGP slot, Three PCI slots and Two ISA slots

ITSA • Supports 50, 55, 60, 66, 75*, 83*, 100*MHz CPU external clock speeds • Supports Pentium® processors and Pentium® processors with MMX' technology, AMD- K5™ /K6™/ K6-3D, Cyrix 6x86™/6x86L™ /6x86MX~, IDT WinChip C6 processors • ALi Aladdin 5 chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI and AGP 66/133 MHz (Sideband) 3.3V devices • Two 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules support SDRAM, EDO DRAM up to 256MB • ATX form factor, Three PCI slots, Two ISA slots and One AGP slot • PC97 Compliant

AX 5 • CPU SOFT MENU~ - Jumperless Technology • Supports 50, 55, 60, 66, 75 *, 83*MHz CPU external clock speeds • Supports Pentium~ processors and Pentium~ processors with MMX™ technology, AMD-K5™ /K6™, Cyrix 6x86™/6x86L~ /6x86MX' , IDT WinChip C6 processors • Intel 430 TX chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI and Windows 95 soft off • Three 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules support SDRAM, EDO DRAM, and Four 72-pin SIMM sockets support EDO & FP modules, up to 256MB • ATX form factor, Four ISA slots, four PCI slots

TXS • CPU SOFT MENU~ - Jumperless Technology • CPU Monitoring Management (EISCA) • Supports 55, 60, 66, 75*, 83*MHz CPU external clock speeds • Supports Pentium processors and Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology, AMD-K5™ /K6~, Cyrix 6x86™/6x86L™ /6x86MX™, IDT WinChip C6 processors • Intel 430 TX chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI • Two 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules support SDRAM, EDO DRAM, and Four 72-pin SIMM sockets support EDO & FP modules, up to 256MB • Baby AT form factor, Three ISA slots, Four PCI slots

PXS • CPU SOFT MENU™ - Jumperless Technology • Supports 50, 55, 60, 66, 75*, 83*MHz CPU external clock speeds • Supports Pentium~ processors and Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology, AMD-KS™ /K6™, Cyt ix 6x86™/6x86L™ /6x86MX~, IDT WinChip C6 processors • Intel 430 TX chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI • Two 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules support SDRAM, EDO DRAM, and Four 72-pin SIMM sockets support EDO & FP modules, up to 256MB • Baby AT form factor, Four ISA slots, Four PCI slots

Q U O T E F RO M

D R . TH O M A S P A B S T

LX6 • CPU SOFT MENU™ - Jumperless Technology • Supports 66, 75 * and 83*MHz CPU externalclock speeds • Supports Pentium® II 233 - 333 MHz processor cartridge • Intel 440LX chipset supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol, ACPI and AGP 66MHz/133MHz (Sideband) 3.3V device

I

~l

f

I

I

Ikl III III II

• Four 168-pin DIMM sockets for 3.3V unbuffered DRAM modules

support SDRAM, EDO DRAM • Supports up to 512MB MAX. (8, 16, 32, 64, 128MB EDO or SDRAM) and ECC function • ATX Form factor, Four PCI slots, Three ISA slots and one AGP slot

L X6 Q u o t e s : PC S h o p p i n g

E d i t o r ' s C h o i c e ( 3 / 9 8 , P a ge 1 2 0 )

Are you ready to fly?

D r. Tho m a s P a b s t ' s P e r s o n a l C h o i c e " ... this LX board is my n u m be r on e c h o i ce , do n't go fo r l e s s ! " h ttp: //ww w . t o m s h a r d w a re.corn/ m o t h e r b o a rd-review4 4 0 lx.htm l A N A N D H ig h e s t S c o r e f o r a P l l b o a r d N ame a mot h e r board that is fast, stab le, and affo r d a b le .

I like to call it an A B IT . http: //ww w . a n andt e c h .corn/ Ix6. html Com p u t e r T o t a a l E d i t o r ' s C h o i c e ( 3 / 9 8 , P a ge 5 0) Fastest out 15 LX based Pe nt i um®ll mot h e r boards T wea k -IT T w e a k e d A w a r d !

The layout of the b o ard is near pe rfect. • . h ttp: //www . t w e a k it.corn/ b e n c h / p 2 / p 2 w b 9 7 a g . h t m l

~e eh I

)

'

I

I NDU S T R Y F L A S H

i'

3Com introduces Palm III connected organizer

<n

(510) 623-05ISW~ hap/WsFusa.corn

pvplc "q~85i29&505

hap t twww.comtronic.ca

5":n v~,gl:;

Kmpen43asnptttherCary. 'p9965 .3890:.' c"re 4I /twaevampac.ca

"Eptan'lect 6' :icd;..; @44 996v8858 i<' r'> dhvvvwie'oxaom ,

«rp,

'

.; e;~ tT'ge." i .~

8 Br 3 6560

e 'acorn'

h /

+

I'n9'si",

(514) @f+M9ygfgpr~ , Kt3S ' , . „'v r ~Kw. ,k"p~nyj~e'~~ n , $868-KD8-.8901 httpdwwwkdscenada.ca

Qpifo399adteting „(file) 2447768(~~

h gihevwlapro.corn

..a .P@y~ cltt fqfn v - @m a.corn ')'ggf4(((f.''„',:Q'""~

,-;I gyle IS jit 5theplbuhen «g j' f,gS) 4l5,:1@t ~ 'hiji i a~ream<~ Ialnspn ' '

1-800;685-.18 69vr<,'-,w,http /~gleason corn Mantrpin'C COtrp verI I(tiin, (905) 305BSSS. Ne(99ation Cominunicntiens Inc." „ (604ki88-8646

Two years after the initial introduction of its of-use, form factor, instant response, connectivPilot handheld device, 3Com Canada has ity and value that made the Palm Pilot products announced the third generation in its palm the best-selling handheld devices worldwide."

The Palm III is sold with a Bonus Pack computing line — the Palm III. The new product incorporates a host of incremental improve- CD-ROM, with business applications and ments large and small, plus some entirely new utilities including a Web channel manager, a features. Among the most significant: infrared drawing program, and games, valued at $79.

According to a Dataquest survey, the "beaming" capability with other Palm III orgaPalm Pilot dominates the nizers, the new Palm OS 3.0, global handheld computing largerstandard memory (2MB market with a 66 per cent RAM and 2MB flash), a'Star share, compared to 11 per Trek Communicator' style cent for the HP CE handheld, flip-up lid, a n i m proved and 5.1 per cent for the Apple ergonomicdesign to the case, MessagePad. In Canada, over improvedfontmanagement, a 143,000 Pilots had been sold new Applications Launcher, by the end of 1997, representfile linking, improved thirding 63.3per centofC anadian party applications installation, and enhanced HotSync techhandheld sales. And 100,000 nology. additional units may be sold in '98, according to Evans The Palm III will have a suggested retail price of $549 Research projections.

— the former price of the Palm Pilot 5000 In addition to the new features and softmodeL Prior versions of the Pilot line will ware included by 3Com, the Pilot platform's connnue to be offered,at reduced prices strongest features are more than 5,000 regis($429 for the PalmPilot Professional Edition, tered third-party developers, including over and $279 for the PalmPilot Personal Edition). 600 in Canada.

An upgrade offer of $105 off is available to From resellers' point of view, the combiCanadian Pilot owners who wish to move to nation of the Pilot's runaway popularity and a the new version. There is also a clip-on host of value-add opportunities enabled by modem available to allow for easy access to e- third-partyproducts has further skewed the mail and other telecom services. interest of the handheld computing channel As Nick Tidd, director, Canadian sales for towards the 3Com product, and away from its the Client Access Business Unit of 3Com competitors.

Canada stated: "With the Palm III organizer, 3Com acquired the Pilot technology by our goal was to deliver a product that would purchasing a small, pioneering company called delight our customers by building on the ease- Palm Computing a few years ago. IItfll k ~dt MKl' , +~ nr""4+'.-vv',t,"+,":n ':. ~t.".,'~~'+3P„'~+p~

+g

l~lgls'-277-0000 httpt/www.aetnation.corn

1)tfppgn Teelinology, inc (604) 2149828

type@ ate

lblr86$.-5873274~ .ht)p~

/

pr e +atacom

IIvjhPggpmp~agf Capsda)

W~:9M +~' Btqrgljevw,qdi.ca

d bio~iÃ,~ ~ q":f408)dr@2888'4'w>~@ad/rvvwaqtronix.corn

Samsnng.'9'-+xF Q:q~~+4, (905) 646d800 hit

SceptreTechnologies,inc.tvv' ~ 1-800-788-2878' httpt//wwwsceptretech.corn

TKP electronic (Canada)ft " .' g' (604) 270-0320 '

d

. ' The Editor; CanadianCompu@PWhofeshler "+ ..,-„'w „, "a. Ot ; 34'~4iw, ~ q tji g@~ l qr we(mmes your .

200 - 99 Atlantic Ave.,Toron@,"0q)eric M6K 3J8 pqpyienegj~ ~ ,la@ a,,market, plus your Fax: (416)588-8574 ~y 'p ,~ty • tfssdbQckend@pe@Cetetnf(3vt/.

E-mell: ccw@tcp.ce i.

.

.

' ".

.

'

.r.'~IggIv,:.@ r: r „': i i'i8% ..Pp

Editor: GraceCa33elmen Gall: (403) 2624890 ".' We "(90 '8:. rtd963ter)ardlngnewsendfeeture Fax (403)262-7892 E-mef);.~ n e t com.ce ''-' nfbp! ' ,)vfi® fir I/fthoteseler, "'"""" ,:,',::,'.:C0(I Associate Idl er: Jep F (4gffg@$40 "4F~ '" Fell .,:, ®e i@(ters directly wi%h.

1N : "ex: (44R.~' T ..' cpen,corn '

.

Wang Tsann Computer th19S-

)sosfgsc4816

"

White Knight Qistrihnttng

y'1.800vsss0188 f,. I404'-8524(@9"r) ttp~

. ni g k com

'W/

12

C

'~

lk e to 6 - '

; Sggessons mu,

.

.,eral;.';,

, '

' u , ,41rrv vF@.'."'q k and' o ' ws sedlcn0

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http//wwwccwmag.corn

*

'

"

&Stnli1llitvlhi,::~"' ': rtp"p " "Ar~ '

' ~ ~/ ; -

5,"„'/N RA gu+:

'

"

' -

'

'@p";"

. ~t.'

"

„

,

'

+-

,

~

i~

e'

'

'

,, s't ~ , ' i ' S

«

4

r ...„.; " ,

"

'

-, "

'

. , "

.

tf'"'I ' . @s

' j~lp.-.'~ SHIFT GEARSF-ORS"P ':EEDl 1t

t

'@''.::,Ss j

~ i sed';,< +!'',.,' , eiis,

4

"g DEALERS WANTED. 't

I„

I~i;3

I

%P t.

t'

t "tie

I

I

'-

I

•

f s s•

I 1

ltt

s ,„I

"H O N

:-

•

el'

si ll

ell

,

el '

e l

*

s t

t

"!tt.

G K O N G • S I N G A P O R E • T H A ILA N D • U S A ~ T A IW A N

• G E R MA N Y

• FRA N CE

C ANAD A W A T C H

Distributor Tenex Data signs four key manufacturers Tenex Data has signed distribution agreements with four key storage manufacturers to enhance its offerings in the areas of disk, tape, optical, CD/DVD, RAID, and storage management software. Meanwhile, the company has widened its scope to also include PC cards and memory upgrades.

The manufacturers signed on by Tenex are Legato Systems Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., for the NetWorker line of storage management software solutions; Storage Dimension of Milpitas, Calif., for the SuperFlexJ 3000 DGRJ Ultra and RAIDProJ products; Plasmon IDE of Eden Prairie, Minn., for the M Series magneto optical libraries and D Series compact disc libraries; and Simple Technology Canada Ltd. of Mississauga, Ont., for Simple's entire range of PC-based memory products.

Survey says nearly half of Canadians condone software piracy (NB) — A noteworthy 43 per cent of Canadians said that pirating software for personal use is an acceptable practice,according to a survey released by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

The telephone study, conducted among 604 randomly selected employed adult residents across Canada, found that only 20 per cent of respondents would report someone for unlawfully copying software. Yet, in contrast, 70 per cent of Canadians recognize software piracy has a negative impact on the country's economy and jobs.

Norm Dubois, Microsoft Canada's anti-piracy marketing manager, and a CAAST spokesperson, said Canada's rate of software piracy is much higher than that in the U.S. "The latest figures, from 1996, show thatthe piracy rate in Canada is 42 per cent,compared to 27 per cent in the U.S.," he said. a •

'

•

'

•

•

I ' I

'I I

'

I

'I

l» i

iI'

I

II

I '

4 l I

I

We are the casemen...

Our factory manufactures different types of computer cases, cooling fans, removable hard drives kits, speakers and other accessories.

Company logos on front panel available.

We also carry: • Keyboard and Mouses

MITS UNLl CR - ATIY .

• Power Supply and Cables

CAEATIVE LABS, LNC.

• Mainboard and Video Cards t~~„„~,„'„e Dealer

• CPU and Memory • Monitor and Printers

I%botlcs'

• Fax Modems and Sound Cards etc... Dealers Only 14 C A NADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998

"Canada's economy lost over $500 million to software piracy in 1996. Given this high cost to ou r s ociety's economy and job market, it is disturbing to find that stealing a chocolate bar, lying on a resume, and taking office supplies,are considered more serious crimes than copying software," said Michael Eisen, lead counsel for CAAST. Dubois suspects that the relative newness of computers in the general social climate is a factor in creating this attitude. He added thatsoftware pirates are mostly either new users or young users who did fully understand the potential consequences of piracy.

The survey results, said to be accurate to within plus or minus four per cent, also indicate that when Canadians are educated on the gravity of software piracy and the negative impact it has on our economy, 80 per cent are unlikely to copy software in the future. "CAAST views this survey as a call to action to further educate the public on theseriousnessof software piracy," said Eisen.

"I' ve got to get on a bigger box and talk louder to make sure users understand this," Dubois admitted. The study was conducted by Toronto-based Decima Research. Among the respondents, 70 per cent were computer users, either at work or at home.

Eisen added: "CAAST believes in the importance of reducing the level of software piracy in Canada and we will continue to encourage individuals to call and report suspected software piracy on CAAST's anti-piracy hotline, 1-800-263-9700. We will also continue to educate consumers and retailers about the risks associated with buying and selling pirated software.

Individuals or businesses caught with pirated software are exposed to civil and criminal proceedings. Criminal penalties for copyright infringement include fines up to $1 million and jail terms up to five years, or both.

Microsoft files copyright lawsuits against two Vancouver resellers Microsoft Corp. says it f iled lawsuits on Feb. 27 against two Vancouver-area companies, alleging copyright infringement from unlicensed software installation and distribution of infringing products.

Anovation Computer of Richmond, B.C., and United Computers Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C., were named in the suits.

Wynne Powell, chief operating officer for London Drugs ia Richmond, B.C., applauds Microsoft's efforts against piracy. "The software producers, other resellers including ourselves, and particularly consumers lose when resellers don't play by the rules," he said in a statement.

AIIA E//wwwccwmagcom

num

tttttttt

What are you looking at>

ststttBlstec

Aug. 1997

PI Monitor Warranty in Canada OI Rated 2 I" Korean Monitor by PC World Magazine 4I Rated l 7" Overall by NSTL When you buy a Visual Sensations™ monitor,

o

it's backed by the best support and warranty in Canada with the

KDS Advanced Replacement Express Service.

KARES eliminatesfactory returns and dealer swaps by letting customers call KDS directly if a Visual Sensations ever needs service.

KDS thenrushes them a replacement by Purolator Airdelivery, keeping their downtime to a minimum. KDS is theonly monitor company in Canada to do this.

Resellers like it because it eliminates them from the post sales cycle.

And customers love it because it gives them

a)'jl ..s saa..

gY..R DIGITAL CQlltrQIS

peace of mind.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons for choosing Visual Sensations. Including the fact that with a complete line of 14-, 15-, 17-, 19- and 21-inch monitors — plus LCD flat-panel display and touch-screen models — there's one that'sdesigned and priced right for every application.

Low Radiation

Take a closer look at Visual Sensations by calling 1-888-KDS-9001, or checking out the KDS Web Site at www.kdscanada.ca

Because if you' re looking for great servicewith a great monitor,

no one supports you lil<e KDS does with KARES.

1, „a ,

jaoa to~

qC~o fit~

o~

a+ "+~s ss~+

oo 19

Ingram Micro GB Micro Globelle

KDS Visual Sensations Distributors Daiwa (800) 688-3450 Merisel (800) 361-2568 (800) 465-1616

(888) 383-2492 (800) 637-4735

Visit our Web Site: www.kdscanada.ca

(IIII",''I'---I,'Il!)l • I -&PLAY Windows 95 Compatible

CANA D A W A T C H

Ingram preps for huge new facility

Compaq announces networking program

Ingram Micro will be the lead tenant of a 980,000-square-foot industrial complex in Mississauga, Ont.,said developer Orlando Corp.

Construction will begin in May, and the building is slated for occupancy by October, 1999.

To improve the availability of its Microcom communications products and Netelligent networking products in Canada, Compaq Canada Inc. has announced the creation of an authorized reseller and VAR program targeted at the professional communications and networking markets.

The new program will require qualified VARs or resellers to make specific commitments to technical and sales training, marketing support and sales volume targets. It further indicates a deliberate evolution of Compaq away from "PC box seller" to "enterprise IT solution provider," as it moves quickly into head to head competition with IBM for the enterprise market.

Netcom offers Internet service guarantees In an Internet Service Provider market often characterized by financial instability and technical problems, Netcom Canada has tended to be at the top end of the spectrum in terms of its ability to supply reliable Internetaccess for individual users and corporate customers.

Ingram Micro plans to move its existing operations and nearly 900 Unlike many other ISPs, Netcom Canada has deliberately built a Toronto-area employees to a 500,000-square-foot industrial facility, and technical infrastructure based on standardized, high-end networking more than half of the 480,000-square-foot, 12-storey office tower. products (overwhelmingly Sun, Cisco and 3Com components, which "Our Canadian operations have grown so rapidly in recent years are identical in its installations from coast to coast).

Accordingto Ron Close, president of Netcom Canada, the comthat we had become scattered over four different locations. The time had come to bring everyone together," said Kevin Murai, president of pany intends to back up its promise of high availability with a service Ingram Micro Canada. "This facility wiII be vitally important as a base level guarantee. Netcom now guarantees 99.5 per cent availability of its services for all business customers. According to Close: "Netcom for our continued growth and success in Canada."

Canada is willing to step up to the plate to provide a level of service that truly meets the customers' needs in every manner. We make customer satisfaction our number one priority and these guarantees are Bee us at Comdex just another way of proving it." booth O3669 The bottom line is that upon verifying that a customer's service has fallen below 99.5 per cent availability in a given month, Netcom will credit the customer 25 per cent of the monthly Internet service fee. For some companies, this can amount to a very large sum.

-,<~The

,e top ..; R.ep~ acement. ~ '4 = '

=-

-"-;;.,Model 8500' '-; 5rdef- Now! =

Discreet Logicacquires MGI

4 aurtocofs 7200

BEST BIN PC Portables Septetetrer 1907

(NB) — Discreet Logic Inc. and Richmond Hill, Ont.-based MGI Software Inc. have announced a merger that will turn MGI into a division of Discreet Logic. The deal will give Discreet Logic, (which built its business on software for high-powered workstations), a presence in the consumer market.

Both companies are in the video software business. Three-year-old MGI sells PhotoSuite photo-editing software and the VideoWave package for video publishing. Discreet Logic's imaging softwarr 's used to create visual effects and in video editing and production.

The deal is worth about $153 million.

1aoo

c~P

ATI's DVD software free until April 18 6~

rvtlaua'Ip yaIpsf 7sayeratfa~ W ith3Eurocommodelseriestochoosefromandhundredsof i IVI P A possible configurations, Impaq offers something for every need and budget. Eurocom - winner of many accolades including a PC Portables "Best Buy" and Computer Paper's "Editor's Choice" I

16

I

•

i' l l

r

r rr r

• I I ••

Q

Until April 18, ATI Technologies Inc. will ship free DVD software tc system integrators and VARs that order ATI's AGP 2X versions of board products that use ATI's Rage Pro Turbo chip, including XPERTOPlay AGP, XPERT@Work AGP, XPERT XL AGP and the All-In-Wonder Pro AGP. The companysaysthe software provides DVD acceleration, through technology called motion compensation. ~<

CA N A DIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 tt ttpl/wwwccwmag.corn

• Co mpetitive Prices • Br a nd Names

Broad Selection

SCEPTRE SOUNDX5500: • Pentium II • 233 MHz Intel Pentium® Processor with MMO™

hSN™

• 128 bit Accelerated Graphics

5 CGPTR6 '

(16.7 M Color) • 48 to 144 MB EDO RAM • 4 GB Hard Drive • 20x CD-ROM

Technology • 13.3" TFT XGA Display (1024x768)

SCEPTRE SOUNDX 4500: • 150 to 166 MHz MMX CPU • 16 to 80 MB RAM • 1.0 to 2.0 GB Hard Drive • 12X CD-ROM/FDD Module I I I

I I I I

T • •

• •

I

• 128 bit Accelerated Graphics • Advanced Modular Design

•

I I

"This system was a great performer on our tests, garnering the round ups highest

•

I I

graphics and processor scores.' Jan.21, 1997.

•

~ ~

• 12.1 o SVGA TFT Display

*

I I r

I

lll lllllll)IIIII Ultra IDE

Aaea ge ASUS Pentium 75-200 MHz Pentium MMX 8r Pro

Tekrkm

Quantum h4spgor I WESTERN DIGITAL TOSHIIA 2.5" 8E 3.5"; 540MS - 9GB •

I

D97A, Call

SCSPTRk=' The D97A, a winner of Canadian Computer Wholesalers Technical Excellence Award in the Pt ice/Performance Category.

•

I I •

•

K600/K600P 30 bit Color 600x600 DPI SCSI II Interface •

I

I

e

'

Space saving, high resolution, no radiation, flicker free, static free, no AC/DC adapter to interfere with signal, wall or desk mounted

I Ie I

I

I

!ill

) (t.i)

)

Non-wireless

Wx

Not exact as shown

GNT 5000

LITE[alki Tower or desktop cases with power supply ATX Cases available

fc f r /rc~L

Q.Key Tronlc' SK-2501 EasyTouch Keyboard

Ke-8001R+W/8002R+W Multiple language: Korean, Chinese, French

%o/rc~L

O LA PRO Marketing Corp.

Qealete Wanted

120 - 3771 JACOMBS ROAD, RICHMOND, B.C. V6V 2M5 TEL: (604) 231-1628 FAX: (604) 231-1626 Web Site: http//www.lapro.corn Ail brand tratnes are registered trademarks of their respective owners

tralee'.s Wanted

•

s

x

C

I•

c

h

1

?' h< 1"

?

h

x

r h

h

4.

t.

S

hh

<'

r

~Z

h

<

1so(?SysLCI'n'<(.ail«d>'I Co. p r ( (l i(.'Ls it w> I I l?csel i 1>?g

I

I

more tlian?0 per cent of' its proc!ucts over thc Internet by yea>-cnd. Th,it may bc < ood i>cv, s I'or this neiwork I?al'clwal('. '<»'»L, i?(<t so>T<e>'cse! I el s al'en I so sul'( . eg "We expect by lhe end of' Lhis vela (?vel l>ail< of'ou> husines>< wol'idvv>de~<,- 'u>d, so<Tie day'. L'h(. '<Tlat<>l >Ly of «L<i' h(lsi-

h

" ',h!',.<, h h

~p, .; .

,r

.

'

'

,~ Q ~i<=' ~" : ~e'~~,

"I

' '

•

"

' '

h~h.=L '

" ,

,

"

.

f ' ' <f'<»<,

1.

.

n"'"Iih»' l t ' I>>< .

,>N< 1<t

-:=::.

~~~~> w ~~~

' '' .

.".

-'

, ,hk;.

.';,-::

:

' grl<ii > L

"",::«

'

•

k h<?h ~y h?III ' g~".4lgJh<h<' '

"hb,.

I'

'", ~~g 4'.r e%„,, ~

:4gf' kt ,'?>h

h

-

'

'

'<>1 ",

<<pre "„<! s,

M~JL

. >

< -

'

.- <<l:,„'"-+~-„-

ness — will hc (l«nc elec<ionic<>lly over thc. 1»te>»ct,' s.<id '<Lp"-' Rob Lloyd, gener,;>I. inaua«ci «I' Cisco Systc>ns C(in id < C'<?

"We f c very locusb(l on rn<>kii>« this l1(<pp<'1'I l?«ca<iso iL is thd I~b<:"s~< ' bu~iness that vvc >e in an(l v,e think, by bein« « fc;<clei ii> ll>e are ; i< it sets "a go(?d exan>f?Ic 'of what c;in be do»<. «vci th(! lute> n('l l>1 <I s<.'ca le I;lshi on l3»t C.lsc« 1'cscllcl' D«vid I - i iii«, p resident o l C l><il'o>1 t! <ha,'; Systems in i..tohlcol<c< Ont.. sai(l lb<it ; i l l o w i n <h ei>(l usc>s Lo "« I»II h I « I h I I. <I ; ", I . » I don'i kiiow wl> it. ihcv <i c (ivin , t « d o ,'. hc i uiid of' C: isco. 'I l .,;,~,tg...": h I<< I < III ': Ih< ' I I » : ' < II <I ' I I- I ' 0 < I

3

('isco h.'isn <t t;<II(C(l with h i n > (<h«<ii »h I i>Le<i>cl s;iles hv0'.." h m o d e l „ l>i>i addc(l that hc h;is»'t bee>> «ffectc<f s(> fai "w>tl> oui

'

'

S

'

.

c u s L«<1'lcl's < il I<<is<> l bc< ()flic a>1 lsslic ycl , h c s ;>1(l. l ? u l I i'«ll> ll Io»~«-Lc>>n fici sf?ective. wll<<t s tl1ci c I<? slot? Cusl<)»>cis I <'«i»

Sceptre's Soundx Notebooks Are:

Rated 41 in PC Digest "The Sceptre Soundx 5500 Notebook is the fastest system . in the review. • •

.

"Sceptre takes top honors with theSceptre Soundx 5500, which leaves all the other notebooks in its tracks when running NSTL's gauntlet of performance benchmarks. This is a very fast desktop replacement with a 233-MHz Pentium® processor, a 13.3-inchXGA display, and a roomy 3GB hard disk drive for storing large multimedia files."

NSTL PC Digest, September 1997

Best Buy -PC Portables "The Sceptre Soundx 4500 is

an impressive machine. • •" "Sceptre is selling this computer [166 MHz Pentium® processor with MMX Technology, 12.1-inch TFT SVGA display, 2.1GB HDD] with 40 MB of RAM...for just under $3,400, which puts it well within the reach of many. This configuration ... deserves our "Best Buy" rating for the value represented."

PC Portables, November 1997 In head to head comparisons against the likes of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway 2000, Micron and Hitachi, to name a few, Sceptre's

lt6lde

Soundx notebooks have proven themselves the best. Call now for a distributor near you or check out our web-site for more information.

pentium

www.sceptre.corn The Intel inside LogoandPentium areregistered mulemarks and MMX is a trademark of Intel Corporation.

1-888-350-8989

THE FIRST, THE BEST, THE ONLY

T HE

I N D U S T RY

Sharon Reinhardt, customer service representative for Cisco Systems Canada Co. ,saidresellers have no cause for concern.

Since Cisco put its on-line Internet e-commerce site (httpt//www.cisco.corn) in place on August 1996, she claims to have heard only positive feedback from resellers. "Resellers don't have to worry," she said. "No one seems concerned in my opinion and I talk with resellers every day."

She explained Internet purchasing is mostly for resellers and distributors so they can see the company's pricing, lead times on their orders and invoices. Besides, not just anyone can buy from the Cisco Web site, she said.Before making a purchase, a company must be registered with Cisco and that means they must have previously bought a Cisco product. "End-users buy on our PVeb site], but not first-time [customers]," she said.

"There arecertain end-users that have a direct relationship with Cisco. These are customers who perhapshave enough technical people on board that they don't need to go through a reseller."

These customers would have come directly to Cisco anyway, Reinhardt added.

"Most customers that are going to buy direct are going to be the bigger-end customers and they' re going to demand the higher level of service...Resellers can provide (service) for the small to medium (-sized) end-users. And we very much want them to go that waythrough resellers. I don't know why resellers are concerned, because we' re pushing the business so much back through the channel now — the small/medium business especially. The large accounts wouldn't have bought from them in the first place. They always would have come direct."

Reinhardt added that if a customer calls her, she suggests they go through a reseller.

"We' re trying to focus the smalVmedium businesses through the resellers," Reinhardt said.

"That's better for them because they get the support. They are there to offer that support."

Lloyd and Reinhardtsay resellers are reaping benefits from Cisco's on-line Internet product sales site. "As soon asthe Web site was available, all the resellers and distributors were up on it right away because it's faster for them to place an order," said Reinhardt.

Resellers become more educated because they' re setting direct accounts with Cisco and b y passing th e d i stributor, Reinhardt said. And Lloyd claims Cisco has 100 per cent order accuracy for orders placed through the Internet. "When the order is configured using the configuration agent and priced using the pricing agent, you can be assured it'sbeen processed correctly and 20

priced correctly," he said. With these agents in place, the customer can't make a mistake, Lloyd added.

The status of an ordercan also be checkedover the Internet,he said.

And Cisco is saving money — $250 million in Canada last year. "By doing business over the Internet we are providing our employees with open access to information that otherwise would have resulted in having more people on call centres, more people in support roles and havinga greaternumber of people doing non-producnve work," said Lloyd. "It has improved productivity.

We' re focusing on higher value relationships with our customers; not on the Qjsppg gppLjpyd transaction relationship, but on the network design and the higher value issues. We' re not being dragged down into low return items. And checking on the status of an order is low return."

Lloyd said the savings are being put towards hiring people. The company went from 38 employees to 138 in three years. But, besides the company benefiting from doing business on the Internet, resellers are benefiting as well, he claims. "Resellers are taking a look at some of the ways at which we' ve developed these tools and have started to replicate them themselves," said Lloyd. "We don't feel the orders through the Internet are circumventing them."

But reseller Harvey Schilke, president of Protek Systems in London, Ont., said he, too, is worried about end-users buying Cisco and other products through the Internet. "They' re (vendors) walking a very, very fine line of going direct and trying to compete in the direct market and not disenfranchising the reseller," he said. "As the reseller community, we have the relationship with the clients."

He said that his company is a small integrator and added that he hasn't been impacted by Cisco's model, yet.

Other vendors are wary of electronic commerce over the Internet. "If you' re talking about selling directly to end-users over the Internet and allowing them to go in and place anorder for our product,that's not the strategic direction for our company," said Patrick Guay, general manager at 3Com Canada. "We have built up a tremendous and loyal reseller customer base that we rely on heavily to help integrate and support our solutions. You need to do more than just click on an icon on the Internet in order to properly integrate this equipment into the network."

However, he added that 3Com uses Internet technology "in a very big way" by

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http/twwwccwmagcom

allowing channel partners to place orders.

"We use an EDI system that runs on the Internet to allow us to monitor and track sales and orders being placed from our partners through the technology that we sell."

Cabletron Canada is currently in the midst of building its own electronic commerce site on the Internet, which it hopes to unveil it this summer. 'There'sa certain segment of customers that want to buy directly from us and are willing pay list price for that," said Mark Holleran, country and general manager of Cabletron Canada. "So, we' re really not competing against our partners in the sense that we' ll publish our prices etc. on there and our channelscan go out and move that.We' re just ramping up a channel model. Traditionally we' ve been a direct-selling organization."

He said by following this model, he's not eliminating the opportunities for resellers to earncommissions."If we sell products at list price then we' re not undercutting our partners," he said. "If we try to run things at discounted prices then we' re undercutting them. But, if we use the vehicle to go capture a segment of the market that's not as price-sensitive, then we' re not really competing against our partners."

In fact, Holleran said he sees his company's model as a real plus for his partners.

"We' re trying to build a much more friendly channel-friendly model by soliciting input from our partners."

Oliver Gnass, director of marketing for Bay Networks Canada, said they have no plans to sell their products over the Internet.

"If a customer can touch you directly via the Internet and you' ve traditionally been a channel-model company like ours is, then there couldbe a problem," he said.

He added that Bay Networks is taking its time to build a system that will allow customers to deal directly with the company. But at the same time will ensure resellers benefit as well. "A lot of companies are paying 'lip senrice' to this channel thing and then the next day they turn on this beautiful Web site where you plug your part number, your customer ID number — all given by the manufacturer to the client — and FedEx ships you out your product," he said. "That's pretty detrimental to the channel model."

Bay Networks isn't ready to take that plunge and possibly risk sacrificing reseller relationships, he said. "We' re thinking through the religious aspect and the commitment down to our partners," he said. "That' s foremost in our minds every day when we wake up around here." CCW 3 Michele McLean is a fr eelance journalist based in Toronto.

ere's o i n MMX'" •

intel.<e pentium

MX.

;;.BI es

Microsoff

l, go ~Qy

VVIOOOIYS So

VVI-( TE l(NIOI-IT S new ARMOUR Seriics oi compuiei sysiems is a waiiioi's dieam come Iruc' Wiih gfcal cicmailcls lo pcilol'ill. a coi1lpulel' nlus( b vvell equfppecl lo do bailie and io be v/re(pilous The RIRMOUR Seiies boasis a c eBI1, slcelc cigonoif lie case vviih Dilly ilie Iai si Bf)cl nlosi reliable

conlpoileflis 4 RRMOUR Series con)(auIef's iic (oaciccd wilh oui 3 Year' Pal'Is ariel Labor Weri ai)ly Br Ici a(e C Syx B (apl ovecl

Are you Feady for battle? We are!!

For more inlorn)aiion aboui While ICnfghi sysiems ancl con)ponents loe suie lo call one o( oui' lo lice I IufTI(oef's, oi vlsli ouf websiie BI wv'rrlvwhile-kni hl com

Western Canada:

Calgary Office:

Eastern Canada:

Halifax Office:

I05-37GO Jacomhs Rcl

rl 710 I rilh Sir eel hi I:,

2rIQW Beaver CreekRCI, Unff 3 R ichmoncl I-lill Oni

Unfl 'I, 200 Wiic uhi Ave

IRfchmonci BC VGV IYG

Tc (60ri) 279-9908 r-1x (GOn)279 9902 loll 'i 800 GGQO'I88

Calgary, RI3T2E617 Tel (r103) 29 I- IGO O Fax ('103) 29 I 0889 lo 1 I-800-668-338I

Te (905) QOG -3862 Fax ( 905) 886 3090 To I I - 800-852-5039

Darln)oulh Nl S 030 IRG

el (902) 168-98(JO I ax (902)CIGO-)188 TO I I 800-r3)-02)0

Tffa f,iicl fnsioc Lo(go m)o Pcniiom arc rcgisi rc(l iraucimai»s ann ivfMX is ) iraoan)ark oi iniol Col Ocrw alloli n fl Qlh i f)ran(i ilai'i'ic arc I . o i s rela(f ira(ial)lair'(s Ql il'liii r s o c(.iiv o l v llors

+V.C

T-"'-

I

T HE

I ND USTRY

C a/ u m n k â&#x20AC;˘Q

~ IN

an nix: On the Same playilg Field?

IA-64meansa whole newballgame for,compel; ndors

by Jeff Evans On March 9, SCO Canada sold its Alpha chip technology and fabrication Inc. announced UnixWare 7 plants to Intel. Digital embraced Microsoft â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an enterprise-strength and Windows so successfully that Compaq version of Unix developed was inspired to buy the company out and add to run on Intel-based com- Digital's mix of Unix and Windows products p uters. T hi s w a s y e t and customer base to Compaq's assets.

Hewlett-Packard chose a different route. another step in the journey Beginning secretly in June 1993, HP began to towards a new age of where Windows, when the develop a joint strategy with Intel to develop former "toy computer" operating system will a new, "next-generation" 64-bit processor compete directly with Unix, the enterprise architecture. In the spring of 1994, the HP/Intel alliance was publicly announced. strength operating system.

The new chip architecture was named 1A-64, The Creat Equalizer; and the first chip to be launched sometime in 1999 is code-named Merced. When it ships, it All Roads Lead To iierced As Windows NT became the operating sys- will open the way for both Unix and Windows tem ofchoice for a vast number of business NT software to run on a phenomenally powdesktop PCs and servers in the 1990s, it erful, inexpensive chip. This means that Unix became obvious to many high-end enterprise and NT will literally butt heads on the same computer vendors that the business comput- cheap, fast computers.

Over the last two-and-a-half years, most ing environment would increasingly become a mixed one, consisting of Unix and NT of the remaining Unix computer makers, servers connected to a blend of Unix, Windows including Sun and Silicon Graphics, have NT, and Windows 95 workstations and PCs. announced support for the IA-64 architecture.

However, it also became obvious to Unix Between todayand the launch of Merced, a vendors that unless something was done to host of Unix software vendors will move their counter Windows, almost all new growth and softwareoffofproprietary processorarchitecnew sales would eventually be confined to tures, and onto the new standard for enterprise Windows. Unix was in danger of becoming a computing: Intel. "legacy" operating system, waiting for Where is Microsoft in all this? Ironically, Windows NT to evolve in its strength and Bill Gates, by virtue of an earlier investment, reliability to the point where it could displace gets a royalty for every Unix licence sold by Unix entirely.

SCO, the company that sells about 40 per cent Different U ni x c o mputer v endors of all Unix licences worldwide. Microsoft has responded to the Windows/Intel challenge in just released a Unix version of Internet different ways. Digital Equipment Corp. had Explorer.

In practice,however, there hasbeen its own proprietary chip architecture, named a strong business case against Microsoft comAlpha, which was capable of running Unix, peting with itself by offering applications Windows NT and other operating systems. written in Unix as well as those written for Digital decided to survive by collaborating Windows. Gates owns Windows, and until with the Windows/Intel menace. Digital even now, his company has relentlessly pushed 22

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 httpl/www.ccwmag.corn

Windows as an all a t i v e to 'Unix. From 1999 on, customers will be able to assess the virtues of Windows and Unix running on the same hardware, in many cases sold by the same vendor, such as Compaq.

Though extremely popular and showing rapid improvement, Windows NT and applications written for it are still undeniably less reliable than their Unix equivalents. Merced is a double-edged sword for Unix vendors, and Microsoft and its partners. Undoubtedly, Microsoft will redouble its efforts to improve NT, and continue its growth in the enterprise market. Unix vendors will attempt to steal away new business that would have gone to Windows prior to the appearance of Merced.

SCO's announcement ofan Intel-compatible version of UnixWare 7 gives SCO and its allies and customers over a year to prepare for their real target: the rapid exploitation of the opportunity offered by Merced. Over the next 12 to 18 months, Microsoft and its Unix competitors will be preparing for the greatest struggle in computing's history.

And what of Intel? Well, Andy Grove, the CEO of Intel, must be smiling to see the other giants of the industry all scrambling to sell the largest possible number of Intel-based computers. As the author of the recent book "Only The Paranoid Survive," Groves must be aware that if his market share in computer CPU chips growsfrom it scurrentlevelofover80 percent to above 90 per cent, that success may bring action from the U.S. Department of Justice on anti-competition grounds. The Intel-Microsoft partnership may endure, if only as joint targets of anti-monopoly litigation. 'CCN I Jeff Evans is Associate Editor of Canadian Computer Wholesaler. He is based in Toronto and can be reached atjeff@tcpo.n.corn

Column

•

I

The future looks bright for handheld computers, not so much asitems of mass consumption, but as corporate capillaries, extending a company's life-blood to every nook and cranny of i ts d omain. A n d this metaphorical corporate life blood is none other than information — in the form of price lists, contacts, order information, and every other thing that workers need to know, whether they' re plugged directly into the LAN with an office computer, or at a remote customer site.

Recently, I received a white paper on "The Business Implications of' Mobile Computing," fr om Sybase, while 3Com Canada sent an evaluation unit of its justreleased third-generation PalmPilot (oddly, it is now called the Palm III, no more Pilot).

Both companies are defining a mobile vision that supports this idea.

The PalmPilot is the perfect device for 3Com to champion this corporate capillaries role. It's l i ght, r elatively i nexpensive, extremely portable, and easily connectablenot to mention very popular. The Pilot joined the one-million units sold club late last year (in record time, according to the company), and has more than 60 per cent share of the handheld market.

Last f a ll , 3 C o m p u b l ished the "PalmPi lot Enterprise Solutions Guide," a guide to third-party developers writing software for the PalmPilot. 3Com claims there are more than 5,000 software developers and 200 hardware vendors working on products for the Palm devices. Many of these extend the usefulness of the device by allowing synchronization with popular organizers, or to enterprise information systems like Lotus Notes. Hardware add-ins include anything from wireless modems to global positioning systems.

The Enterprise Guide also outlines 3Com's strategy for the Palm, and as the name implies, it is very much a tool to extend the reach of the enterprise. With the Palm III,

a

•

3Com has taken connectivity a step further by including a "File Linking" feature. This allows a user to import data such as updated price lists from a file located on a remote server. This dovetails n icely with t h e enhanced HotSync feature (previously available as a Network HotSync option). which allows users to synchronize their Palm III using a TCP/IP connection, either dial-in or on a network. The built-in e-mail client is compatible with MS Exchange and Outlook, Lotuscc:mailand Eudora Pro.And the basic memory has been increased to 2MB. In terms of ergonomics and aesthetics, the Palm III incorporates some modest design changes. Some of the square edges have been softened, giving the impression that the machine is thinner than it actually is. There are also some minor cosmetic changes to the buttons and a flip-up cover has been added to protect the screen. But few will mistake this new device for anything but a PalmPilot, even though it no longer goes by that name.

Sybase's white paper is interesting in that it presents a broader vision of "customercentric computing," by which it means the ability to provide the customer with immediate access to useful information. "Corporations are extending data to where business

transactions occur in order to provide extraordinarycustomer service," notes Sybase.

Theseinclude a range ofplatforms and applications, of which handheld devices are one part.

Handheld computing fits into Sybase's vision of customer-centric computing by allowing an o rganization's increasingly extended,occasionally connected workforce to have access to corporate information. The paper cites Gartner Group projections that by the year 2001, 60 million workers worldwide will "regularly work outside the boundaries of the enterprise and without continuous LAN or high-speed WAN connections." The paper further notes that over the next five years. 85 percent of IS departments will be supporting an extended workforce, and that the handheld market will be worth US$1.77 billion by 2002.

Being a software company, Sybase brings a software solution to this party under a set o f t e chnologies called Adaptive Component Architecture. A couple of interesting components are SQL Anywhere, a small-footprint mobile database; and SQL Remote, a replication program that updates only changed data. Sybase says SQL Remote uses "asynchronous, message-based replication." This means that databases can be replicated — through e-mail, for example, without the need for a direct connection between the databases.

Sybase says the City of Edmonton is using an SQL Anywhere-based application called POSSE along with handheld computers equipped with cellular modems. The tool allows planning department inspectors to capture data at inspection sites and send it back to the office, or download information they need in the field.

Contacts: iv

http: //www svbase.corn ht tp: //www palm. cont David Tanakais a Vancouver-basedjournalist attd Editor of Tlie Computer Paper. He can be reached at david@tcp.ca.

http: //wwwccwmag.cpm

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER

23

4

c 4

'~P'@~R4' " ~

4

I

JA+

h„

h'(44 „ ( I

'4$

fj(14

™ ((. „ ~

c

p .I"

(4

8 "44"

l'

'

'(

' 24:„CANADIAN COMPUTER WH

;lk$,"

(., ~@ / f Q p

(,4

„.4,p

OL ESALE R APh il l 998

• kgPQ< ( '.:>.ZZ I I (I" c . . (' lh h (.'c J(((

PRINTERS

H ar d w a r e

What's new in printers?

For starters, there*s a growing demand for color in the corporate market, and a truly amazing risein the level of performance of many categories of ink-jet printers. Prices continue to drop significantly in categories such as color lasers and tabloid-size photorealistic color print ers. Manufacturers and resel lers who getcaught on the wrong end of sudden changearesuffering:those who have betsuccessfully on leading-edge technologies are enjoying increased sales and market-share, although margins continue to be slim.

Meanwhile, some trends have connnued almost uninterrupted over this past year; color ink-jets are still far and away the printers of choiceforthe SOHO market, as are networked lasers in the medium to large business market.

And printer supplies and services are the main profit opportunity for resellers.

Segmenting The Market

I

)

Printers on the market fall into two main groups: ink-jet and monochrome laser, and four minor categories: impact printers, specialty printers (mainly large format), color lasers and portable printers.

The two main markets are SOHO and corporate. Essentially, the dividing line between SOHO and corporate is whether the printer is intended for efficient, centrally managed useon a network, orforstandalone use on a desktop or portable PC. In practice, this distinction can blur, but it is still a useful rule of thumb.

I

Ink-jets: SOHO And Corporate

re<,l-

e

h

4

The vast improvements in ink-jet printers between 1992 to 1994 allowed ink-jet technology to eliminate dot-matrix (impact) printers from the mass market. In 1995-1996 ink-jets decisively won the war for the SOHO market against the personal laser printer. In 1997, inkjets showed a rapid increase in their ability to create high-quality color and blackand-white output on plain paper, and 'nearphotographic' image t4ttp./rwww.ccwmag.cpm Ap 4'il 1998

output when using special photo-quality supplies. In late 1997 and early 1998, the three most innovative ink-jet market leaders â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and Epsonintroduced 'true' photo quality printers for the home and office. As well, HP and Epson brought out new networkable ink-jets aimed at offering color to the enterprise, in competition with traditional high-end, high-cost specialty color printers.

Follow The Money The big story for resellers in the ink-jet printer market continues to be the supplies market; with some entry-level SOHO printers retailing for less than $200, it is now common for customers to spend more on ink and paper in a year than the price of the printer.

This helped spur a search by those customersfor "off-brand" color ink cartridges.

Although ink-jet printer vendors continue to discourage the use of any but their own brand-name ink cartridges, they seem to have backed off earlier threats to cancel warranty coverage of printers that used unauthorized ink. In fact, although generic toner cartridges have become quite accepted by many laser printer users, the peculiar requirements of current ink-jets has kept off-brand color ink cartridges in the category of "use at your own risk."

Interestingly, it's not only legitimate resellers who have detected the business opportunities in the supplies market. A majorfraud problem hassurfaced in a bogus laser toner operation in various parts of Canada. High-powered telemarketers call companies with laser printers, pretending to represent, for example, Hewlett-Packard.

They browbeat the person on the phone into acceptingan order forone ormore toner cartridges, and then send substandard or unusable cartridges at vastly inflated prices.

Their victims are often end-users from small companies or schools (in one case, a church) ,who are easy to fool. Hewlett-Packard is trying to expose and shut down the fraudsters, but this situation points to an interesting wrinkle in the market, where supplies are the golden goose for profits.

In terms of technology directions, the big story in 1997 and 1998 was the increasing use of nano-technology to manufacture the incredibly tiny ink-jet nozzle mechanisms that give ink-jets their high price/performance value. A scanning electron microscope CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 25

PRIN7ERS with network hardware either pre-installed or available as a n option. W i t h i n k -et j speeds (forfive per cent ink coverage per page) approaching that of lasers, more businesses are getting used to the concept of having color output available in every office.

Ink-jets are also competing strongly in the large format (11-inch by 17-inch and up) market, and threaten to displace high-end dye sublimation and color laser printers.

I J• I •

•

•

' •

•

I•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

I

•

'

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

' •

•

'

' 'I

•

•

•

•

I

•

is needed to clearly see the printhead structures. Along with printhead manufacturing advances, great progress was also made in ink chemistry and printer control and driver software. Printer makers continued to bundle attractive software packages with their consumer models, hoping to snag the initial retail sale by offering an attractive value proposition, and make profit back by selling supplies over the lifetime of the printer's use.

One downside ofthe super cheap consumer printer is that below a certain price point, it is very difficult for manufacturers and resellers to to provide for low-priced product. Even one warranty service transaction is likely to more than wipe out the profit margin on the printer. Yet, the combination of low-cost plastic components, the mechanical wear andtear of the prinnng process, and the hazards of a rough family computing environment (think sub-10-year-old end-users) often leads to early failure of SOHO inkjets. This can lead to customer dissatisfaction (especially i f p r i nter f ailure occurs out of warranty), or costly replacement or repair of the defective unit. To some degree, low-end inkjet printers almost have to be regarded as disposable items, 'seed units' to develop ink and paper sales,

I • I

Lasers: Corporate And SOHO In the laser category, the situation is almost the reverse of that of ink-jets. By some measures, lasers in the SOHO market have shrunk to less than 10 per cent share, while in the medium to large business market, they have about 90 per cent share. The personal laser hangs on in SOHO installations where high volumes of fast, monochrome text output is needed, a profile that fits many home offices or small businesses.There isa possibility for at least a small revival of the

hhhh h

<I

hj:

made to be tossed out every • • II •

I

26

•

• •

I ll

couple of years.

For the corporate market, an increasing number of color ink-jets are offered

C A NADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http/twwwccwmagcom

• I •

•

)jjl, „ j j a L

A "'

a

a

•

a

•

a

•

• I >

1 -604- 82 1 - 996 6

•

•

• •

•

•

a

'

•

•

•

• •

a

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

0•

s

•

e

•

a •

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

a •

•

•

•

a

•

e

a • •

•

•

•

• r

•

•

•

•

•

•

• a

• •

•

•

•

a •

G o F urt h e r !

•

•

• I' •

i

•

~e • •

P RI N T E R S

•

• •

•

• •

•

SOHO printer market, as small home offices and businesses currently relying on ink-jets rethink the advantages of lasers.

Lasers are still cheaper than ink-jets to operate, and often have a reputation for greater reliability. As many small businesses become networked,the increased volume of printing justifies adding an office laser to the network, in addition to personal ink-jets.

On the corporate side, the emphasis is on greater productivity ( greater speed and expanded paper feed options), manageability (centralized control and monitoring of printer usage) and lower total cost of ownership (reliability, warranty coverage and ease of use).

The traditional leader is still HP, although Canon, Xerox, Apple and a number of other players have some presence in the laser market.

Impact Printers

'i l

I

I

28

The impact (dot-matrix) printer market went into decline as a result of improvements in inkjet technology, but still persists in an obscure but important part of enterprise computing: the creation o f m u l tipage forms. Here, vendors such as Lexmark, Epson, Genicom and Okidata still find a steady and reasonably lucrative customer base. Okidata, in particular, b oasts of i t s "tank-tough" printers, and has actually continued to develop faster and more reliable models. Current Okidata 24-pin printers include the ML395/395C, with a print speed of 192 cps (letter quality) to 607 cps (hgh speed draft quahty)

c

Laftj ,

'I

'

.I,

eral thousand dollars a year. In late 1 997, both Xerox and Lexmark announced new Color Lasers color laser lines that featured much lower The color laser market was formerly a tiny, h a r dware costs (under $6,000 in some ultra-expensive and specialized segment of c a ses), and radically improved supplies and the printer market. Adding to the upfront g e neral reliability, leading to much lower expense of color lasers (up to $30,000 per t o tal cost of ownership. QMS also introprinter as recently as a couple of years ago) d u ced some interesting color lasers more were horrendous operating costs. In addition t h a n a year ago. Tektronix's Phaser line i-. to expensive toner supplies, the printers s o metimes lumped into the color lasercateneeded regular servicing, adjustment, and g o r y (although it actually relies on liquid preventive maintenance and still malfuncw a x deposition technology, not laser), and tioned regularly. Service contracts cost sev- t h e company also has a sizable presence i~ CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 ij rrrcltwwwccwmag.corn

P RI N T E R S

Portable Printers ttl> t, ,

."",'"'t't ct tt> r,„„,

P

Although notebook computers account for around 17 to 20 percentofPC sales in Canada, sales of specialized printers for mobile use are only a tiny fraction of the printer market.

Most notebook PC users simply do without portable printing capability, opting to use whatever printers they can find in offices or copy shops in the course of their travels.

Companies such as Apple and Primax offer custom designed portable printers, with Primax perhaps the leader in true portability. The latest Primax model weighs little over a pound, and looks like a long, thin flashlight.

If a reseller is interested in providing arange of accessories for portable solutions, then it is worth considering having a source for portable printers.

Otherwise, the market is so limited that it can be disregarded.

I

I I

•

i •

•

•

•

•

•

s

*

•

I

• •

' •

•

•

•

•

•

Where To Go In 19987 It seems very likely that the ink-jet printer category will continue to expand in sales, both in terms of units and market-share. In particular at the high-endlarge-format segment (tabloid and larger), extremely h igh-quality p r i nters w i l l become much more common in business, as costs and complexity continue to drop.

Networking of both LAN and Web varieties will become m uch moreprevalentfor inkjets. Business lasers will add ever-improving network managementfeatures and a rangeof specialty options, such as 'security and privacy, duplex printing,and largerand more varied paper feed and document bindery capacities. And supplies will remain the principal profit opportunity, with increased competition between name-brand and off-brand alternatives. The "paperless office" looks even farther away than ever, which is very good news for resellers. LCSI )

the high-end specialty printer market. All of these playersare threatened, however, by competition from the latest high-speed, networkable color ink-jets.

199g will probably see a shakeout in this market segment, with color lasers filling the needs of the portion of the enterprise printer market where their virtues (high-volume capaI'ility, manageability, excellent monochrome Jeff Evans is Associate Editor of Canadian and coloroutput)make them a good buy.

Ink-jets will probably fill the color needs C omputer Wholesaler. He i s b a sed i n Toronto a n d can be reac h e d at of much of the business market, especially at the low to mid-range. j eff@tcpon. corn.

I

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

• •

•

• I

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

•

•

I i• •

•

•

•

•

httgjtwwwccwmag.corn April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 2 9

'I

V V E B A U T IH 0 R N G

Ii 22

e e

2

'9g/4b Pme'

I ll, ' I " '2IIjl42222222'~%'22

2

,$2,.2

0/

2

, ", I

'."":7, "*": '

I'I

I>2,'2e((» C'a»2»(lte2 s

'"".'

"

': ', I : " .'

..

'

.

" .."22 l 'i"" -

I

.I Ci. •

2 , *,2 ,

«

'P gI; 2

'2

•

'

h

It

C

~ ~i

"

'

"

, 2'",

® ~,'x&30

CANAD AN COMPUTER WHOLESALER APril 1998

0

n2I2ihvnv i i 22: I ~-oo:

N

'"

II,

W EB

veryonenow knows something about the World Wide Web. Evidence of it is everywhere; the ubiquitous "http: //wwwyourcompany.corn" shows up in advertising on everything from cola to high-performance automobiles. It is, undeniably, a phenomenon, and everyone wants to become a part of it. Fortunately, with the new generation of Web authoring software, putting together a site and getting it up onto the Web is now easier than ever.

In the past, Web authoring tools were very hit-and-miss. Although the tools could be used to create Web pages, they also tended to be a bit counter-intuitive to people who knew the HTML code already. Certain layouts achievable with a few keystrokes in the code itself were nearly impossible to create in these editors. The code produced was truly nightmarish, too — strings of indecipherable text intermingled with tags in bizarre configurations. Any editing required on a different software package could be a chore and a half. The tools, at that point, were for the truebeginner with a desire to puttogethera We b page — any Web page.

Most companies have come a long way with their Web authoring

E

A U T H O R IN G

Also, support for HTML exporting from other software packages has been on the increase. Word processors like Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect routinely feature conversion to HTML in the "save" options. Desktop publishing and graphic layout programs often feature the ability to save the graphics and text to HTML. Indeed, as the Web flourishes, many software companies are trying their best to tie in their existing products with the Web, wherever possible.

Thereare many packages that are designed specifically forWeb page designs. What's best for your customers depends on their specific needs.

Dreamweaver 1.0 1VIauufacturer: Macromedia Inc. Suggested Retail: US$499 (US$299 promotional) Web site: htlpt//www.macromedia.corn/softwareldreamweaver/ Better known for its Director multimedia authoring software, and for the Shockwave plug-in, Macromedia makes a strong entry into the Web authoring field with Dreamweaver 1.0. Dreamweaver easily has the best interface of all the products reviewed — providing the user has a large screen set at high resolution! Instead of an integrated interface, Dreamweaver splits the various components up into floating windows arrangedaround the screen. This arrangement isoptimal for bigger screens.Users with smaller screens may find windows going 'missing in action' while off in other areas of the program, or the overlap of win— Roberto Drnssirtower, Soft Quad dows confusing and cluttering. For larger display settings though, the set-up isa dream-come-true for many users, for one major reason: kits since that point, banking on the continued popularity and potential split-screen editing. Unlike most HTML editors. which force the user of the Web, from light-hearted entertainment all the way to serious to toggle between WYSIWYG editing and HTML source code editing, Dreamweaver's floating window setup allows the designer to use business applications.

"The futurefor the Web is very bright, through E-commerce, both simultaneously. Any changes in one window are instantly reflectinternational communications (and) corporate exposure," says Jill ed in the other, so the user can do minor tinkering in one window and monitor how it affects the other, without the hassle of toggling back Hiscock, spokesperson for Ottawa-based Corel Corp. and forth every time.

Roberto Drassinower,general manager of Toronto's SoftQuad All of the basics seem to be Inc. agrees, noting the functional covered.

The WYSIWYG editor '59 S«S p Q e ~ R «l « I ca l T~ «« «« 'N « o« l jHp shift of Web authoring software to O S P «g . ' ' f " ' ' ] 4 ' i " '« i ( 4 « @ 4li « JINN I~ r esizes and shuffl es elements nicely, reflect the uses of the Web, and the to simulate browsers of different future potential: "A great-looking sizes. ActiveX, Java and plug-ins are "e ~ . i i Web site is not enough. You' ve got ' ps'«"* insertable with a few clicks; tables to go beyond that, to functional are easy to resize and edit. Items can Web sites, that actually do some b e modified individually or i n work for you." blocks. The code produced is generTo that end, vendors have I; ,l' ally clean, and even comes with forbeen adding a number of truly matting for i ncreased legibility. powerful features to their author'««IC f a * « « « « h i sl ordyte«Pkw «govt ««D «« (Definitely handy if you have to sift ing software, which not only take hfia~sott FrontPage@ 98 through it manually at a later time!) full advantage of the existing lhasa b &e(4y.R««elk , clfahe «««««««««««« Built-in FTP gets the finished site ' h««««seam HTML standard, but also lend r .7' « ««%4 «PI4+4aDNCItlatel« information to the destination Web S « support to scripting and plug-ins.

4wchaes dk «baal ed ««'««'« server when the project is completed. wee This, in addition to keeping the «««« ' .

The only major gripe: It would tools relatively simple to use, Easel«~« « « « Wc@«« L~ x « ««)« ' / i j have beennice to see more image a4«««i%% '««« I ''I m eans powerful packages for endmanipulation capabilities (although users, whether they are beginners, FrontPage98'sPreviewwindowallows theuser to display apagewith active elements scaling can be done manually in the work "in action." to see how they developers, small companies or HTML window, and there is a nifty large ones. image-mapping tool included from the properties window).

'The Web can really equalize small companies with big businessNote the more advanced features in the package: In addition to supes," says Anne McKeon, product manager at Microsoft Canada Co. "If you go to their Web sites, you don't necessarily know that they' re one- porting dynamic HTML, Dreamweaver takes a page from Macromedia's man shops based on the quality of the information you can see on their Director software with the introduction of time-based event editing. The Web sites. What Front Page really does is de-mystify the Web and "Timelines" feature uses the layering and stacking capabilities of the make it easy for both new users and Web professionals to create and new HTML4.0 standard to create animation through changes in the size, stacking and positioning of objects on the page. manage Web sites."

'You'vegot a Web site, now engage your audience.

Targetyourcustomers. Have somevalue-added."

http/twwwccwmag.corn

Apl'll 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER

31

W E B A U T H O R ING As before, FrontPage 98 comes bundled with Personal Web Server software and site management software, to manage sites either remotely or run them right from a personal machine. Also included are pre-set page themes, which are customizable with the included Software Developer's Kit, Internet Explorer 3.0, Internet Mail and News, GIF Animator, Image Composer, and a Web Publishing Wizard to take the user through the whole process.

While not the slickest and most powerful of the packages, FrontPage is definitely the best value of the bunch, offering a lot of useful tools without costing a bundle.

Despite its hefty price tag, Dreamweaver is a powerful little package. This is just version 1.0; it will be interesting to see how the package evolves in the future.

Front Page 98 Manufacturer:Microsoft Corp.

SuggestedRetail: US$149 Web site: httpt//www.microsoft.coml jontpage/ The heavyweight champion, FrontPage has been the top-selling Web authoringpackage fora few years now. Previous versions have come jam-packed with features and applications at a Homesite 3.0 relatively low price, and this year's version is no Manufacturer: Allaire Corp. exception. ' i '. >z' S u g gested Retail: US$89 The WYSIWYG editor handles all the basics m ~ Web s i t e:http: //www.alktire.cotn/itomesite/ with ease, including image scaling and manipulation, .

Home site stands alone in this group as an HTML-only e asy table manipulation and editing (with obvious , .- @„~ ~ ~ *. ' support for the COLSPAN tag!), and browser resizing tool, providing no WYSIWYG editing capability. to simulate different screen resolutions. Most object „~~ ~ Inste a d of a tool for beginners, Homesite is aimed . more at raw HTML coders who would rather use a modifications are made easy, although some changes ' "I:i : ~ 'S ~ S": ah ~ Web authoring package as a supplement to their abiliinvolve a bit of hunting through menus. The code produced is cleaner than in previous versions, although a The tabletool in Homesiteallowsthe userlo ties, instead of a replacement. put together a complicated tablewith oddlybit of formatting would have been a nice touch.

Homesite's "Quickstart" oPtion stePs the user congguredcells — inseconds.

Support is included for Java, ActiveX and plugthrough the various parts of Web page construction ins, and certain active elements such as "marquee," hit counters, search and touches on both the required elements and things that are nice to and "hover" buttons can be added with a single click. In addition to the have, even if they' re not essential. The interface consists of a sourceWYSIWYG and HTML source editors, FrontPage also provides a pre- editing window, with editing tabs for adjusting fonts, inserting images, view window to see how the active elements on a page will work. tables, scripts, forms, Java and ActiveX. There is also built-in support

'j

-

'

.

'

.

'

.

;

-

. '

', .

.

.

„

- '

.

,

-

.

.

"

~

~

"

.

,

,

~

; . ' . :

: —:

,-

-

. .—.,-=,

.; =, '

—

.

vt

4

CW

3+v

•• I

I

•ee • I'

• I lo

•

~

I'

I I

I

•

• j

W EB A U T H O R I NG

.NNNI IrgiN' t4JPPINI IM

NIgal PNN~<~ t 0 u I ® /e a i r i/e'%ae u rN

Isa/trt

r'a tai~eee~ crt~' 'NPat' i 'N rtu Q~ ' @INN

«I I

IN PNN

l l JNN

NN

0 W

'

4

NNN

« I N.

'g 00 N

0~

N 00 I 40

INNN

fS

X,g

J

/

I "444~ I~ I

»I

I

focus of the tool. The program assumes that the user has a working knowledge of HTML. Essentially a high-powered tag-pasting tool, the program will drop the requested tags into a document exactly where requested, even right in the middle of other tags. For tags with incremental values, like the font size tag, hitting the font size increment button twice will generate two <FONT SIZE="+I "> ta gs instead of one <FONT SIZE="+2 "> tags. Since the product is aimed at people with a working knowledge of HTML, however, it' s easy enough for the user to edit the first tag by hand anyhow. The code produced is as clean as the user makes it.

Definitely not a beginner's tool, Homesite is more like having a third hand which types HTML at high 'speed. It will not help people who haven't coded in HTML, however.

+~h

I I • I lgl.lll" II Nl I INN "I/0000F" INN "0400004I "I" 0 l l N l g I /I 0/ /I I i ll & N 0"

./ 4.

4

4 / 4

/

4 «I ' 4 4 I I'

N NN~

N

HoTMetaL Pro 4.0 Manufacturer:SoftQuad Inc. SuggestedRetail: US$99 Web site: http:/Iwww.sq.comlproductslhouueral One of the originals, SoftQuad's HoTMetaL is continually more refined. Previously featuring a p seudo-WYSIWYG interface, Ho TMetaL Pro 4.0 now adds not only the ability to edit the source code directly, but also a tags-on view, which shows the tags hovering over a WYSIWYG view. The program comes with an adequate WYSIWYG interface (some users complain about its accuracy, but we saw no problems worth speaking of here), and also supports multiple browser previewing, in order to test HTML documents on a variety of browsers without leaving the program.

Homesite is abasic tagseditor: click onthetag, andit appearsin thedocument.

for sister product Cold Fusion. The program will also verify that included links are valid, and will validate the HTML against standards.

One of the most impressive things about the package is the table-creation tool, which allows the user to create a complicated table with odd column and row configurations. For users who need to create a lot of tables, this tool alone may be worth the price of admission.

The major disadvantages of Homesite are direct results of the

I

/

u/0 0',ii

,;g/,',:..I &-

/0'

'.ttg 0/ r

II a

lrPIN

eoj. C 4&irtr

/W C kliD(I'

r

•

•

•

•

•

W E B A U T H O R IN G

O VI..„ & l

ai" . ' :-'L::. -"i---

arrra

"

"

. -

: -

either with pull-down menus or by fill-in-the-blank, where appropriate. While some other editors won't even acknowledge ALT tags for image files, HoTMetaL supports a variety, including onMouseOver/onMouseOutJavascripting for links and images.

As for the basics, the program produces clean code, supports ActiveX and Java, features easy table creation and manipulation, and imagemap editing. The program will also find broken links, validate the HTML code, and publish the site to the Web server. The software comes bundled with a number of extras to help with the creation process, including Photolmpact SE, Ulead GIF Animator, and HoTMetaL Power Tools.

Better suited to the professional developer because of its power and interface, HoTMetaL 4.0 could benefit most users, if they have a bit of time to explore all of the program's options.

'

' 8 +~ w f @4%.r;,@'tv+'

vlWH 6 %™ '

r:r

+r

%8NI~

~t

caw

ettfwtw

~~

ol

HOTMetaL'sAttribute Inspector windowshowsall relevant informationandproperties about itemshighlighted in theediting window.

Getting a lot of attention, is the support for CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which takes full advantage of the HTML 4.0 standard.

As a whole, HoTMetaL is a little bit less intuitive than some of the other packages, but it makes up for it with pure power. For example, the Attribute Inspector hovers over the screen, and when an object is selected, this window shows virtually all the possible modifications and properties forthatparticular tag.These properties can be changed

NetObjects Fusion 3.0 Manufacturer: Net Objects Inc. Suggested Retail: US$295 Web site:http: //www,netobj ects.corn/products/hrml/nof3.html The problem with many WYSIWYG editors is that sometimes what you see in the browser isn't quite what you saw in the editor.

Although most do quite well nowadays, there are always variations from browser to browser, ranging from miniscule to outrageous.

Fusion's ability to solve that problem is both its saving grace and its biggest flaw.

Fusion, instead of treating HTML as the dynamic formatting language that it is, opts for a design perspective instead, so that what works

I Bit iN Web HietOgey by'Sean Carruthers Originally- started in the early '90s tty Tim Berners-Lee as a ne)-, worked information project at CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics), the World Wide Web has grown to the point where it is now cine of the primary uses for the Internet.

In fact, this little academic "tool" is probably the single most important factor in the explosion of the on-line community over the last few years, and has revolutionized the way we think about communication, networking, and parts of society in generak The power of the Web lies in its interactivity and powerful integration of both textual and visual media along with programming scripts and applications. At its inception, the Web was often jokingly referred to as the World Wide Wait; despite the promise of the technology in the early days of the Web, transfer speeds were too slow to gracefully handle pages with a lot of visual information.

In a relatively short time„both Internet backbone speeds and connection speeds between nodes increased dramatically, allowing users connected directly to the 'Net to take greater advantage of the Web, creating more sophisticated and bandwidth-intensive pages and applications.

Shortly afterwards, connection speeds for individuals connecting to the net via modem also shot upwards, from a paltry 14.4K to. a seemingly blistering speed of 33.6K, or even 56K. With this, the stage was set for the widespread use of the Web as an informational and entertainment tool. And now, with the wider introduction of cable modems into the personal connection market-place, and the potential far relatively inexpensive high-quality streaming audio and 34

vitleo for qll users, the Web stanids to becometeven Wore popular apd pervasive than ever.

Although it started out strictly as a method for academic informationalexchange, the Web soon ' outgrew:academia and became used for many different purposes: personal information, entertainment, software archiving and retrieval, and business, among other uses.Because of the anarchic nature of the Web, almost anyone who had the urge to create a Web page could do so. All that was required was a knowledge of HTML ( H yper-Text Markup Language, the system of tags used by World Wide Web browsers to indicate formatting) and the ability to get files to the Web server.

Sounds simple, right?

Most early Web pages were fairly solemn affairs, consisting of basic text on the standard browser background color. Getting complicated meant adding a picture or two te spice up the page, or changing the background color. The more advanced users (this generally meant programmers) could add in tables, forms, and simple scriptiitg to interact with other files on the server and perform miscellaneous maintenance tasks.

With the influx of users to the 'Net, so also came a growing interest in self-publishing of Web pages. And as the speeds of connections increase and Web pages become more complicated, both graphically and with other applications, personal users are looking for more sophisticated ways to present themselves to whoever may be. looking in on their Web sites. Sincre most, Web users are not programmers, they are demanding newer and better tools to create, edit and maintain their own personal and, business sites.

CA N A DIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 ht tpllvvwwccvvmag.corn

VISION-1 AOP 3D OraPhics Card „.-" . == = -

=

-

=-

==

Available for Pentium®/Pentium® II AOP Notherboards

Meet you ot

Video-out cir cuitry

Q~CeBIT

(optional)

S-Video out connector

• Flicker free video-out for recording to a VCR or for large screen gaming display on TV

Hall 9, H44

BIOS • Full VGA compatible • VESA BIOS Extension support • DPMS and DDC2B support • Using flash memory, easy to update

Composite video out connector

Composite video In

connector

S-Video in connector

m.mm

:: ';.:.: - LEGEN DODI

Video-in circuitry (optional) • Full motion video capture/recording from any video source and video conference application support

Rendition V2200 True Media Accelerator • Rendition high performance RISC processor embedded • Outstanding 3D acceleration • Excellent 2D graphics • Superior video quality • High resolution, color depth and refresh rate support • Supports Direct 3D • Supports "Open GLm

PowerEasy

LegendmQDI latest Intel 440LX Pentium' ll Processor Based Motherboard

4'yc Thermotas m I' G

em

lelloEasy

Legend I

Legend III

• for general desktop

Legend IV

• for multi-media

Legend V

• for high-end server

• for cost-effective desktop

and workstation

For full range produdspleasevisit ourwebsite: htrP7IIw~qdf ca NNHIIAHINIILHDINNPNTBIICNNAI, INC. 75 Shields Comt, Unit4, Narhham,anlado, Lm9T4 Tel: 1-9059403827 Fax: 1-9059409709 HDICHMPN TNIVANCHNN), INC. Unn4,15520CrectwaodPloce,Richmond,9 C.CanadaVSV282 Tet 1-6042786789 Fax:1-6042788918 HHINNPNTN(SIDN THNALI, INC. 2845 HalpemStreet, SLLenrenl, Gnehee, H4S1PS,Canada Tel; 14143356811 Fax:1414 3356822

~vsmmm

(( FC l a mm hmmlmmtmrrem mlrmrmm m rmtm tmeroOm rm emrmmm rm rm Immltmrm Omrnm 'amrrnmnmrm.

W EB

A U T H O R IN G

on one browser won't be shuffled around and reformatted on another.

The concept is simple: Fusion takes all of the items on the page that has been designed, breaks them all up into manageable graphic chunks, and then reassembles them on the page as a table.

The obvious advantage is that some of the conventional wisdoms of pre-4.0 HTML can be ignored, in that the user can layer things willy-nilly on the page in a precise design, without worrying how it will translate from one browser to the other. Text can run over top of graphic. Graphics can interlock. If it can be designed, it can be turned into HTML. Unfortunately, this set-up falls down in a few key areas.

Because it's meant as a design tool, the program is far from intuitive.

With other browsers, the user just starts typing to add text; Fusion requires special text boxes, like in desktop publishing. Because it breaks everything up into smaller chunks and then reassembles it, the code produced is a nightmare of incomprehensibility. Source code could only realistically be edited in Fusion because of this. Also, the fact that Fusion turns whole pages into one huge table slows down the page load-up time insofar as none of the objects appear on the target browser until that browser has received information on all of the table pieces.

NetObjects Fusion is a powerful tool for bringing non-standard layouts to life on the Web, but is definitely more a designer's tool than a beginner's tool. Those with a bent for wild graphics may find this program indispensable, but everyone else should run and hide.

PageMlll 3.0 Manufacturer: Adobe Systems Inc. Suggested Retail: US$99 Web site:httpr//www.adobe.corn/prodindexlpagemill/main. html More a word processing program with Web capabilities bolted on than a proper HTML editor, PageMill shows its history as a publishing program quite clearly. It does reshuffle items around the preview window quite admirablyand features O'Illgp FXXI easy table manipu«~ I WN« I Ch 4MI »«« ~ ~ m a » « w ee «» »»»»I » « ~ N ~ « ~ «I t' ll lation and importing, ~ « I SI S» but more basic prob'A lems emerge.

T W.~ ,• I , Formatting seems to be a problem for more complicated layo uts: items on t h e same line seem to be Fusion takes adesignperspective on HTML. •

•

©©4©©©

nS I

E4 I & w Si l t F o llkel Sllydl

«r e g 3 ~ ~+

a va e

. Jso gsf~

4elae~» • fleea~h

I==5 »' i»

W»

r«twas»«»»n

liiuiAI

PageMig is a fairly basicauthoring tool for creating simpleWebpagesin a speedymanner.

bound by the same justification regardless of object type. Some pretty basic modifications require a lot of searching through menus and but tons. In addition, the final code is quite messy.

On the up-side, PageMill 3.0 comes bundled with PhotoShop LE 3.05 image editing software, and the Acrobat 3.01 reader. If you want to easily create a pretty basic page without knowing too much about the HTML, PageMill does a good job. However, the price difference between PageMill and FrontPage may be minimal enough to justify stepping up to a full-featured package WebMaster Suite Manufacturer:Corel Corp Suggested Retail: US$299 Web site: httpr//www carel.corn/corelWeblWebtnasrerlindex.lilin Essentially a bundling of several of Corel's Web utilities, the WebMaster Suite offers a lot of useful (though not seamlessly inte grated) tools for creating and maintaining both local and remote sites and incorporatingdatabases The WEB.DESIGNER portion of the suite is a bit confusing at first. The user is able to toggle between the design window and the HTML source code, which use different menus. (The design window has a full window, and the HTML window has a basic "save" button but not much else beyond the ability to manually edit the code) In addition, the design window isn't precisely WYSIWYG, as it doesn't recognize all valid HTML tags. For example, the design win dow would not process a <TR ALIGN =RIGHT> tag, only <P ALIGN =RIGHT> tags within the table cell. However, one of the items in the Tools menu is a Browser Preview, which launches the document

Sun teams with VRML I I l oup Sun Microsystems Inc. has joined the Virtual Reality Modelling,. and VRML The' Java 3D API cubi: be used to'develop applications that Language (VRML) Con'sortium'as awoting member to promot" the ',> » compatibility and interoperability of Sun's Java 3D API technolo- m odel, animate, simulate and view 3D content. Virtual Reality Modelling Language can be used to encapsulate 3D content created gy and the VRML 97 standard, Sun and the VRML C onsortium have stated an intention to b y modellin g and animation authoring tools establish a working group to explore closer integration of Java 3D It i s a popular format on the Web

36

CA N A DIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 trttpttwwwccwmagcom

Quality Service.

Selection and Support..

TKP Delivers!

AceR ( 8

TosHIBA

Pan a s o r iic'

NETWORKINt HUB8 HUB.18

i n'

~ii3 ~

3Com

FAX MODEM fp~

From a full line oi components from leading manufacturers to custom-configured systems, look no further than to TKP for all your needs i et our reputation, large purchasing power and many years of experience in the computer industry work for you. Make TKP your one-stop solutions provider. For further information, please contact your TKP sales representative at I604) 279-0320.

jP'g Ilk'%8baii88'

~g~

HARD DRIVE

SOUND CARD

narc~'

c n= T i v e

Q

QUANTUM

MOTHER BOARD

QtQAayTp

Dpg rriii rxvlr/Ifi

B .C. V6 V 2 K 2

K I H H H r u r ai 8 = ( 8 H888a C I H H

) I

www.tkpcanada. corn

cW.l

ff118-13982 Cambie Road, Richmond, B.C. Tel: (604) 279-0320 Fax: (604) 279-0321

W EB

A U T H O R ING

fat sdl brem apemelsatt ItaAgms Imllae eels

f e Aa JJbd J~ JI • .egfugaleiifdtf Jaia

F Jdd Jsg

Je Jw'

htbt/hI . • • oembml Ipe • aambmt alp • tombed leg • aac ba • Ipg Semshd gt • tmd ab • ehmlpg • ~

t. Ih

o IA I

Amatol

• m mml Ipp

ttt la mmm acs

• me!NIINh' Ipg • «N chdt SI

• • • • • 0

emopo N g hoboes plea hml md\smpl time bobtm msm)md mmasmpltacmm bobaempmagts I

• b~ g • IN

NN

0bm

tmp I tt N

~1

I

e®

t

se Nm

~l

,I J

NN S

et

• m lltml

Ia

• hmllPg • hlmlbmtlmg • leds«heel

N

~

lob

N

• ' mhms

h

'•

AIPP

•

a mmlpg I

NN N

l tl

t mp m t Ia t .Iho t m • la SN

std

• phlelopht mml

• pelteph e tI Ims

• Amide • Seabees • tc btmmg

• a mh agt '~

image

Corel WebMaster'ssite managerinterfaceshowsall files andlinks associatedwith a certain pageonlhe World WideWeb.

in the default browser.

The WEB.DESIGNER portion does feature support for tables and forms, as well as lava and ActiveX. Templates, animation and imagemap support are also included. Images can be edited with the Corel WEB.Photo Paint program, which comes bundled in the suite.

The code generated is relatively clean, although some formatting would be a plus.

•

•

•

TOSH ISADVD II Kit • Toshiba M1102 DVD-Rom II • Sigma-Designs Real Magic MPEG-2 Card • DVD Movie Disk

33o.

39

tsuggested retail price)

Multimedia Specialist TOSHIBA NK K Pa nas o n i c < R , ,„,AT~ 12X CD-Rom 24X CD-Rom 32X CD-Rom IDE, SCSI, CD-RW

• AM JET modem 33.6k & 56k • TSOHIBA HDD for NOTEBOOK • INTELi740AGP VGA Card • Parrot 56tu2 DSVD modem

***Volume discounts available*** 38

CA N ADIANCOMPUTERWHOLESALER A ril 19

ER Aprtl 1998

The WEB.Site Manager section of the suite is probably the inost impressive, allowing for managing of multiple Web sites, both on the local machine and remotely over the Internet. For example, entering the location of the Web pages brings up a list of all files in that directory in the left-hand window. A link tree in the right-hand windowwhich can be expanded out as far as the user wishes — shows the extent of the site and what links to where. (Noting that the tree chops . off the link information before the end, making it hard to see the full link locations at a glance is probably nit-picking. It is otherwise a handy little tool.)

A major gripe: the installation changed the file extension associations on the test system for .gif, .jpg and .tif files to the Photo Paint editor, which didn't properly launch when one of those extensions was called. Although not a major problem, it was an annoyance nonetheless.

Also included in the package are WEB.DRAW, WEB.MOVE, WEB.WORLD, Netscape Navigator 3.0, thousands of clipart images, and 30 days of free Web site hosting for registered users. Though it comes off as a loose collection of Web tools, and not a fully integrated package, WebMaster Suite still contains a number of useful tools which make this a good collection to have.

So, which package is best? Picking one clear winner is impossible,because each ofthe packages has something to recommend it over the others, and each seems to have a slightly different focus.

For the truly novice user, Adobe's PageMill 3.0 does the job nicely, but Microsoft's Front Page 98 is the better value overall, featuring a lot of additional software and functionalit .

"If you think about the Web, just in terms of things like innovation, competition and even opportunity,we feel the Internet holds a lot of promise, more so than anything in the past 10 or 20 years."

— Anne McKeon, Microsoft Canada For more experienceddesigners, Macromedia t s Dreamweaver 1.0 walks away with the prize, due to its clean code, multi-mode editing ability and power. SoftQuad's HoTMetaL 4.0 also scores nicely in this area.

For site management, Corel's WebMaster Suite slightly outweighs Front Page 98, although both have their good and bad points, with a lot of useful features, and the tendency to be a bit overwhelming and confusing. Either way, the user will have to study up a bit and play with things to get a feel for the software.

For sheerpower in the graphic design field, NetObjects Fusion is the way to go, but don't expect it to do anything else with any ease or competence.

Lastly, for those who simply want a helping hand, Allaire's HomeSite 3.0 is the best bet. The table tool alone would be worth it for users who find themselves creating a number of tables.

All of the products have definitely come a long way since their early da s. With all f ' g ays. i t a o f t he companies committed to creating and sel-i in Web a e authoring tools for both beginners and professionals, look for urther significant improvements down the road. ttly

S ean Carratlrers is a Lab Test es El't c i t .o rf fo r C C anadian Coynputer Wtolesaler. He can be reached at (4/6) 535-8404.

rtrrp/twwwccwmag.corn

h I

I Ir y

Sagitta UltraScan provides professional scanned quality, is an ideal scanner for most desktop publishing, SOHO and Internet users. UltraScan utilizes a slim and compact mechanism that can save 40% of your desk space.

Bundled software including Presto' !,: Page Manager, Wordlinx OCR, iPhoto Pl a /magePaISGo! and Twain driver which can let you process document via ,~ .„,„,w~,<~ S C AN, FAX, OCR 8f E-MAIL e asily!, . "

*

p$'":gjjjy'g."~Hi <;p „<...,

<l~.< ~~ fr

696P

• 30-bit color CCD flatbed scanner • Easy Plug'N'play Enhanced Parallel Port Interface • 300 x 600Optical Resolution • Maximum 4800dpi Resolution • RGB Single Pass

'

~

j ~+~<tI.",i:

~v'. , ~g,".<I>r

12OCIP

• 30-bit color CCD flatbed scanner • Easy Plug'N'play Enhanced Parallel Port Interface • 600 x 1200 Optical Resolution • Maximum 9600dpi Resolution • RGB Single Pass

12QOS

• 30-bit color CCD flatbed scanner • SCSI interface for 5MB/sec transfer rate • 600 x 1200 Optical Resolution • Maximum 9600dpi Resolution • RGB Single Pass • For both IBM and Macintosh compatible

FCCCO C( Q® OCR

T HE

H OT

/) I / / / I l t

40

L / t//t/

: 't,i : R -

C) i U D l "iU ' Gi',ll LI ' E,' ' '' lOl '-

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;,-tl , 'ti19$

T IN E

I I O f ) )1E O F F I C E

s

)

>)

3

~4

0 I cc <s « < (ii » <'I I f) « t \ rc <>f)

II <c»(ls cc hc'». «s I<'r (f«c»tl)

h , <f)p r 'I'<s dirt'»1" s»el) the eo»<erst«<r)» ti»»e(i <0 u r)<l s, I 0< , > fc v i>oi»'s )cc lo<1I » » » s e o »<f)I<«»»>" ; <l3oi<t OL»' Iobs « 1(!. n l en»r se. OL» f)Accus

s)

T3<

»

'r'>f)e sess<or> e»(fe(f. (>»e ol tf)c er<>( sts»«<(ic , < I' < t he «, s I L » 0 0 I3 cs <c, <t <r)» . s f) c f3 0» < t 0if 0» t t h,'«c L c' < c 0» r' ,« I h 0

13

f3 « i(' u c« fse(l f 0<' tl)e "oc el'»»>0«' I ») so»<c e 1p><c<t 1 Tl>c< 0 )1 c' ua e >e 0 e f <'>s.0e c I <<e»t «3» 1)I '<(I »)»» s t < 0 t 0< . s c) 0 >,1 I u 0 < f«<'s«

s

,)t>rl;< s,>t>»,<tin» e»e»)ee> —;>li Itc»)L ic i;<tie(l) I »<rl) off tl>e f)L<bl>c I>r)r',<t>ri <.(«»f)l;>>»<>1 ' I)<ite> Ic;)f)0«i <i 0<>lc tcc 0 f)a )f)lc' <» lire I( 0»> c'rv. «r'cl eo»>f)L<lc'<c. uh<el1 <i)c c L»ecl lnr <,«»c' , »>rl,i f>t>le u(»(i f»oees.») ' I . I,<sl) Ir)> v,><(f;<I»<osl I s )c««s to ; > s»»<l,» s('e»e I u ; >s s

,it;> d»«>e< p,<r tc u rtf> sec«>> r)lf>e< s u f)e».,)s >re'(f«e»tlp I);<p f?c'»s cf«<»>" sL<c'h c') c'»>s. II<(' eo»c c<'sit <<1» «» t)ecf 1(1 u 0< Is cc I»ir.' I )el( cc 1s e(1»s<Cf<.«,11lc Cl<sr'»ss<o«' . II1e< ru,ls ,<h»nst »c)

"« f)«1" A< er)<'»f)l;»»»1'' I c'o«lrl »l)l

I<(If) l)L«of . c'< c 0 tf> 1< I'<ot

r)<>e AI «s u r)I fsc'Cl Ir)I I he " c)c c'<»1<)r.'l>l ()I I,<I "e er)I f1()I,<IIO<1. 1<1

<» c e;1'>f;«: <t c .

11>ac' uc ccac' .elf-c»>pfc)ce(I u<>te<.. l»<,»>c<,if pl,<»» etc. . » 1 '«'el)«c'et. lf)c'I';>f)>st'. e.)>a -'< .«>d 1 <(fco f)iocl«ee< u or Is<t1" I>,)<(f >r) c,»» t< I>) <»",<t1(I,1s h,<f)pc r<s f'» "s <»»'«>d 1 I! hi<i o»c' pc'r'sr>ri ») tl)e.' 0)r)») Au <1r'(I r ('r)») f)i« '>.;«)(f « f f

tl>e co»)piitc'> nu»e< • u etc I)r)r)f.e<I iif3 io the h>tet»e>

s'

fc'Ic hou' t<i»es I>)c c eh<» 'ed 0) ei t u n » ) <flin» C>))>d<»»s ,)<'e »occ .cll e»<plocecf.,<eon<(I<» «r St,<t<s t<cs Cu»;i(f;i T u ( » t ) 10(3.,)f »)osl I ') f)c< C'c»l AI C «1,<d«.»s u r1< lse(f I(3> Aus lec c Is ol O c ec»<»e»t. I I f ) a c e » < cc ei -cell c <»pl()c e(f I or'h<1. A) et I S ))el C'e»> AI «s , « e el f - e » ) p fOC ed. CC h>fe Oi>l)

!,L

f-f b pc< r.e»t «oil, loi ihc

n c a » <»e»t Seff-e»)piov»>e»t e<e-

L<tr.'Cl:.s f1('<' r'c»> Ol >hc' »c> ";«» >» r <»pin(»)c'»t L3clu ce» I 9 /ff ,1»cl Ic/()6.,)ceo<el»> «) >I<c' C,«),>(I<,») f.;)h»L«C(3»<ores. «'Cl 0» c'O»)pL«c< s IO<' rL I'»Ir.' »1,»11 c»i< r f1(e»('L»'s Cfcpc v r)< Cf p<'oees s < t> ~'.,<Cec)L»>> »1",1t1< f I t1ic'<»c'> L<ec c'ss. ll1c

s<'»><Il

Ls«s»<e s»>,« fsc'I I (»' c'0») f1»i('I's <s L«1(le<-f1c»c'I <;1ir cl.;1cc'0<'r f »1" LA >I1e .3»'< .Io e. C:<I< I Is<so(f »)<1>set I i c'sr««'eh I «'»>. D'u 1(fL<cst

:®C."

u < ll 1 f)e n< 0,»»)';rt >0» pic)ler'I s >I)u> t 11e r)) r'C )I I PC r» 1< se> l i t ou , ) i » >or(' t f);«) I s p e i c u r « t f ) is vc««. I3iil tl>.)t tl)c s»<off I1«s»>c'ss eo<'»f)«tc<»1 « ls-'1 u < II "< ou L1) 0) r'I .' 0 f3c'I ( e»1

li • » r ) u A >)cle> l f>,« s»),>il f )«s«)esses ; » >cf s i » (<I l c)I I <ee/I>O»>e Ol I <e(' L SOHO I L)'L)s 'Cl l3L<s»)c's cs I)r<) 0 l30CA»)c 0» t « '»f30< >,«'«»1 1< Isc t tr)< »««)c (.'O»)f1«tc'I »< «)L< I <(. >L»e< s «1(f

I3«t < use'lier • f1,<c e to ur)dc > st,i»cf tl>e dc»,»»>cs nl »» )fl L)«s>>>" es >>) (3«fc'r to pe>1et>,')te tl)e >>«r> I t It , <lot nt o»c' .»<(I >u o-<tc'»> s;<Ics u <lh I»11)te(f Opf30< >L»»>c Io< I,«'"c-se<)lc s<c,<liie,i('l(le(f. s.tcs P>L<l lr)iii>sor>..1 I ntr«)to-L);ised .»>»If bu

• II

» c"s co» <il»»>t I

c a ) s o . , i teee»t . i t i c ; 1 L)c IDC/Lfsr>fs.;<

s»)c' u ) O> Is-L1 )sr'Cl <'csr«it<:f) I»'<». »<if<c,<tes tl«, t s»10II bL<

c.'s .«0 sf)(1pfs<»" I A< »e u

S»)ce leu

's

I ~ C . L i p « 1,<des O»CI r.') c.'«»r'>u 0<'lss.

s»>,<ll i ) «s»)es.c" c ; i !> .)If« i d

, « ) <s,ffS p e sc)». >

,)IO<ic,») ~ f f S ( fef),««t»)e»t. ihe i »OC e t(1 E ),S>s tO< s»),<ff b«.<»c'ss <1'<r.' «1' "Ir««e< r)f<f1<)1»»»«c' lr) sell 1.<f«0-,1r l<lccl se< c <ees.

,<cc o< ci«) ' to I DC/Lfh lc.

GO>leg SQHO Deic'Is l<,«AL< 'I1,«1.,»>,<i<if)r»1/ecl l-l 'u fct<-P,<c'fs,>>cf (fc«iic'<,>i)rl,< ;ii>ci <,« 1;<f«e,<cf(fe(f c'A»)p«>e> <esella v(rt f" l i ( r » ) f>o»)c

I.

" "

Ar r i <Ert)8 C , <sfc«DI cfsf CQfc<PL> iw t u L/L/POLES'' I: n

41

T HE

HOM E OFFIC E

ness applications with the power of the Web, Home Essentials 98 consisting of Office and Money for financial management, Publisher 98 so entrepreneurs can create their own newsletters, fliers, brochures and Web sites, and the Microsoft Small Business Serverideal for enhancing customer service, managing growth, and using the Internet to project their image to the world.

Bay Networks introduced Nautica 4000 network access server, a multifunction platform that combines remote access and routing needs for small- to medium-sized enterprise networks. The modular platform design lets users purchase features they need while Manufact u rem's Think ensuring plenty of horsepower for easy . s migration to future network requirements. s SOHO ' • I Novell I nc.'s N etWare for S mall I I I 4 I i l ~' All the major computer players • 00 I I acknowledge the existence of the Business 4.11 small business networks solu•' I • •I• home and small business market tion now includes GroupWise 5.2 — a coland are producing software laboration product for messaging, calendarand/or hardware aimed at this ing and information management providing m arket. Just l ook a t I B M , small companies with a collaboration network environment, dial-up Internet access, Microsoft, Bay and HP. Web publishing and E-mail communications.

IBM Canada Ltd. offers a Like other multi-function products free Internet service to help Canadian small businesses (MFP) on the market, HP's OfficeJet 635 evaluate their information colour printer/fax/copier/scanner appeals to technology requirements. home andsmalloffice entrepreneurs because "Many small business own- it offers a number of business functions in ers want to i n corporate one space-saving, low-cost unit. human resources departments technology into their operaAccording to Evans Research Corp., a and IT departments. This can tions but often don't know Toronto-based market research firm, a new be overwhelmingfora person where to start or are unsure wave of color-capable MFP shipments in running a new business who of costs," said Heather Canada willexperience an average annual may lackadvanced computer skills.

Ross, national small busigrowth rate of 55 per cent for the 1995-1999 Instead of shopping at a superstore, ness executive, IBM Canada. period — much of that growth fuelled by the SOHO entrepreneurs are more likely to rely After completing a questionnaire at the SOHO and small business market. on companiessuch as Finnegan Software for IBM Web site (httpt/lwww.can. ibm.corn/ So where does all this leave resellers? a varietyof value-added computer services, smallbusiness),users receive a report on their Well, there's no place like home. ICN including building a c omputer system, technology requirements with suggested installing software, getting the company on- generic solutions. Since creating its small Paul Lima is a Toronto-basedjournalist who line, and troubleshooting hardware and softbusiness division last March, IBM Canada specializes in high technology reporting. He ware technical problems. has launched the Small Business Solutions can be reached at tiko@idirect. corn.

A recentsurvey of Canadian entrepre- Centre, the Small Business Web neurs published on the SOHO-CAN Internet site, and an on-line small business mailing list revealed that SOHOs are very advisor. open to working with independent retailers or Big Blue is also motivating its with resellers working from home. Of those reseller channels to boldly pursue surveyed, 78 per cent said they are "more the small and medium-sized busilikely to buy from" an independent retail out- ness market. To ensure vendors let or a reseller working from a home office provide this market with approprithan from a big box retailer (three per cent) or ate solutions, IBM is creating speon-line (10 per cent). cial hardware and software bundles The entrepreneurs cited "reputation, targeted at small and medium enterhonesty, value, customization and component prises. quality" as factors that influence their deciMicrosoftCorp. provides "one sion when shopping for a computer reseller. box solutions" for home office ' On a scale of 0 (not at all important) to 5 businesses. Solutions i n c lude (exceptionally important), other factors that Microsoft Office 97, which enables influenced their computer purchase decisions SOHOs to integrate typical busi-

included: price (3.9 average ranking), the the growing SOHO market. The owner of Scarborough, Ont.-based Finnegan Software salesperson's ability to help (2.6), delivery Inc., a three-year-old business, Keoughan has (1.6), services such as set-up and installation two employees, advertises in publications (2.5); after-sales service (4.0), and, training (1.2). like Toronto Computes, and is running a The survey also shows resellers where "booming" computer and networking sales, value added opportunities are in the SOHO service and support business.

People who run their own businesses are market. Those surveyed said they were willtheir own marketing, accounting, purchasing, ing to "pay a reasonable amount extra" for: delivery (34 per cent); services such as set up manufacturing, quality control, distribution, and installation (50 per cent); after sale service/troubleshooting It~ (75 per cent); and training (25 per cent).

'•

•

'

'

•

•

•

•

•

'

42

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 httprtwwwccwmag.corn

I• •

• • I

• I

•

• •

•

•

I •

•

•

• •

I•I

•

•

I •

• •

•

I • I •I•

•I I

I

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

' •

•

• '

I

•

•

I

'

•

I

I I

•

•

I

~

•

•

I

» CHgLC

•

I

p>CELLENC

NOMINATION FORM NAME OF NOMINEE:

COMPANY:

TELEPHONENUMBER:

E-MAIL (if available):

REASONFORNOMINATION:

YOUR NAME:

COMPANY:

TELEPHON:E

E-MAIL:

Thanks for your involvement! CCW Technical ExcellenceAwards.

•

' I

s

I '

•

k$ "'<~PP44,-':CANADIAN:.COMPUiER.g/I-IQI jjALER:-"'-'"' "'~j

c'

â&#x20AC;˘ s 'Je' ''d

. "r

pe

rl

4

VD, which shads for Digital Video Disc, Digital Versatile Disc, o nothing (depending on whom you ask!), is the next generation of optical disc storage technology It's essentially a bigger, faster CDs that can hold video as well as audio'and computer data. DVD aims to encompass horne entertainment and computers with a single digital format, eventually replacing audio CDs, videotape, laser discs, CD-ROMs, and perhaps even video game cartridges. DVD has widespread support from all majorelectronics corporations and significant computer hardware companies. plus about half of the major movie and music studios.

It's important to understand the difference between DVD-Video and ' DVD-ROM. DVD-Video (often simply called DVD) holds video programs and is played in a DVD player hooked up to a TV. DVD-ROM holds computerdata and isread by a D VD-ROM drive hooked up to a computer.The difference is similar to that between Audio CD and CD-ROM. DVD discs can be recorded one tune (DVD-R) or many times (DVDRAM). Most people expect DVD-ROM to be initially much more successful than DVD-Video. Most new'computers with.DVD-ROM drives: '-"3 can also play DYD-Video. httpPvwwccwmegccm April 1998 CANAKAbfCQMPUTER WHOLESALER

L AB

TE ST (such as areas of the picture that don't change) DVD is much more than just more space. and information that's not readily perceptible by the human eye. The resulting video, espeIncludedinthe standard are specs forMPEG2 cially when it is complex or changing quickly, video — which delivers crisp, studio-quality 740 by 480 pixel images (compared with 320 may sometimes contain "artifacts" such as noise by 240 from VHS tape), and Dolby AC3 blockiness, fuzziness, and video depending on the processing quality and audio, which delivers 5.l-channel, theatreamount of compression.

At average rates of quality»urround sound in six different dimen3.5Mbps, compression artifacts may be occasions (live speakers plus a subwoofer). To realize these benefits, DVD requires not only sionally noticeable. Higher data rates can a drive, but also a PCI audio-video decoder result in better quality, with almost no perceptible difference from the original master at card. If your customers are planning to upgrade their current PCs, make sure they rates above 6Mbp». As MPEG compression have a»lot to spare and that their systems can technology improves, better quality is being handle the demands ol DVD. Some PC mak- achieved at lower rates. ers are using software to decode data, which is cheaper than buying a card, but software Quality Queries Some early DVD demos weren't very good, decodingneeds as a minimum, a 233MHz but this is not an indication that DVD quality Pentium to handle the task. is bad. Many demo discs were rushed through the encoding process in order to be distributed Upgrade Or Replace?

You shouldreally offer DVD drives as stan- as quickly as possible. Contrary to common opinion, and as stupid as it may seem, these dard equipment on higher-end machines.

Your customers will ask if they need to demos are not carefully "tweaked" to show upgrade or replace their current systems to DVD at its best.

In-store demos should sometimes be add DVD. What they should be told is that they' ll need at least a l33MHz Pentium run- viewed with a grain of salt, because often the ning Windows 95. PCs upgraded from, for TV set isn'I properly adjusted. Most TVs have example, a IOOMHz Pentium to a l33MHz the sharpness set too high for the clarity of Pentium using a c h i p s uch a s I n tel's DVD. This exaggerates high-frequency video OverDrive processor are not suitable, since and causes distortion, just as the treble control the PCI bu» in earlier Pentium systems is like- when set too high for a CD causes it to sound ly to Iic loo slow. harsh. DVD video has exceptional c 0I oi fidelit i elity, so muddy or washed-out colors are DVD Video almost always a problem in the display, not in DVD ha» the capability to produce near-stu- the DVD player or disc. dio-quality video and better-than-CD-qualit - uai y DVD audio quality is excellent. One of audio. DVD is vastly superior to videotape DVD's 's audio formats is LPCM (linear pulse and generally better than laser disc. Note: code modulation) with sampling sizes and rates since large amounts of video have already higher than audio CD. Alternatively, audio for been encoded for Video CD using MPEG-I, a most movies is stored as discrete multi-channel few lovv-budget DVDs will use that I'ormat surround sound using Dolby Digital audio (which i» no better than VHS) instead of high- compression similar to the surround sound forer-quality MPEG-2. mats used in theatres. As with video, audio DVD video is compressed quality depends on how well the processing from digital studio master and encoding was done. In spite of comprestapes to MPEG-2 format. sion, Dolby Digital is close to CD quality.

This "lossy" compresOf 0 course — the finalassessment of sion removes redun- DVD's quality and benefits will be in the dant information hands of the consumers.

Decoder Card Required

The Big Deal It i» clear that DVD technology is evolutionary. It picks up right where CD technology leaves off: DVD drives will still play all your CD-ROMs, as well as audio and video CD».

In addition, these new drives will also read discscapable of carrying huge amounts o!' data. This vast space will alter and expand the way we think about digital data, information, and entertainment.

When putside by side,a DVD disclook» identical to a CD on the surface. They are both the same physical size but differ in density of

storage. A single-sided, single-layer disc can contain 4.7GB ol' information. That's more than»evini times the data a single CD can carry. A DVD disc ctui accommodate up to two layers of data on each side, »o a doublesided, double-layer disc call cilfry 17GB. That's enough for eight hour» ol movies or enough room to fi t W ing Commander IV, Phantasmagoria, The I I th Hour, and My»t on a single disc — with room to spare. This tremendous capacity will let software creators pack a lot more video, 3-D graphics, audio, interactivity, and quality onto a single disc and they'll be able to take entirely new approaches to creating entertainment titles geared for DVD's size.

Gearing Up For Speed!

DVD-ROM drive»peed» don't equate with CD-ROM drive»peed». The new IX DVDROM drives spinat the same speed as 3X CD-ROM drives, but because DVD data i» packed much more densely, the transfer rate» are much higher — equivalent to a 9X CD-ROM drive. Playing a CD on a DVDRO M drive, it' ll only perform at the speed at which thc disc i» physically spinning. To address this. drive» actually "shift oear»" to g up to 6X„SK or even IOX speed when you drop in a CD.

„,. 4l~

IS

I

AQIANCOMP

E

~t

ER Apnl 1 E

-ajy

csc s-

o-gX N + + m lu csp ess

5 Imtae eaa

Ias $

* appoox

'P ~4 cv

p++ as

• 5 N

scC em

8

$

i

uu uu uu

•

Ia cm ma

• aa cse m~e

Ba sce iae

aen ~ • * ma

uu

d- +

8

uu uu ml

uo uu

CO cca

uo

oat

'I I

CON

• uu • uu • I • uu • • s s • ou • E • am • uu • s • m w •

p

,, /moooth

•

• Canada's ¹1 Web Host • High performance 155 MB/sec fibreoptic internet connection (3 times faster than a T3)

e3mS 79I

SutllP

• Redundant network and backup systems provide

99.98% uptime • 50 MB disk space,1GB traffic'month (100,000 hits)

*iecae seolooim leinalionalhilinieyctem ,lheam ealpdce m aye arydependingnnlheC Did/U Sm changecele.

• Our "Gold Partnership"with InterNIC allows us to provide Domain registrations and modifications in as little as 10 minutes

8

• Latestfeatures include; Frontpage™ 198, Cybercash™, Storefront™, Truespeech™, SSL™,Java Chat™ and vVeb-based Control Panel

mo

• 30 daymoney back guarantee! ~

8

-=== = Idp I "=-8

•

Mror o aofe

~c AefstPage" Domain-Name Registration

uu

ma

A 8

co • eQ~

• GLOBALDomain-Name registration: .corn .net .org .edu .gov Free for the first domain, $19.9S each thereafter {does not include InterNIC fee) • REGIONALDomain-Name registration Asia-Pacific region, US domains, European region and .num<number) domains • COUNTRYDomain-Name registration: .au .be .br .ca .ch .cl hk .Ir .mx .my .nu .sg .th .uk .us • New popular domain-names available: .nu .to .cc • Personalized e-maili anything@your domain.corn

for domain-name registration phone(604) 688-8946 e-mail saees©domain-registry.corn www.domain-registry.corn web site C

I

I

I

ATTEN TiON~

%+ cai

g mg

4

Rersellero iiWeiom aoitors vi

*

Commu nications Inc. call Vancouver (604)688-8946 (toll free1-888-277-0000) e-mail sales@netnation.corn www.netnation.corn web site fax (604) 688-8934

Ilier web hostiutiseryices

to your customerseta HUGEDISCOUNT!

Air iisdsmsna are mo properly ol ihs rsspsolivs owners.

*U es t 00domain name mglstrarionfee ie required by Interhl o Ilhird party encty)

L AB

T E ST

Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore Dxr2

Hitachi GD-2000

The PC-DVD Encore Dxr2 is a complete DVD solution. It features the DVD-ROM drive as well as a Dolby Digital AC-3 decoder board. The drive itself is a second-generation drive, offering read speeds of 20X in CDROM mode or 2X in DVD-ROM mode.

Creative'snew Dxr2 picture enhancement technology uses a line-doubling technique that enhances the already high-quality DVD resolution, offering better picture quality, flicker-free images up to 60 frames per second, and dynamic zoom capabilities up to a resolution of 1,280 by 1,024. Bundled with the Encore package is Wing Commander IV f rom Electronic Arts, and Claw f r om Monolith Productions, each featuring Dolby Digital sound and MPEG-2 video.

The DVD-ROM drive is available on its own for an estimated $209, or the entire bundle can behad for around $399. Creative Labs' reputation just got a whole lot stronger with the addition of this impressive DVD kit to its line of multimedia products.

Hitachi's latest DVD drive is a second-generation model that can act like a 20X CD-ROM or a 2X DVD-ROM drive. This drive is sold as a single unit, unlike the kits offered by Creative Labs and Diamond Multimedia. The user must purchase a separate Dolby AC-3 decoder board if that'sdesired.

If your customers are looking for a DVD unit simply to play DVD-ROM discs, this driveoffers greatperformance and willhandle CD-R and CD-RW discs as well. The bare drive sells for close to $200 and comes with a one-year parts and labor warranty.

Diamond Multimedia Maximum DVD From the makers of the popular Monster 3D comes this new DVD-ROM ki t c alled Maximum DVD. It features a first-generation Toshiba DVD drive with a 256K buffer, and maximum read speeds of 8X in CD-ROM mode and 1X in DVD mode.

The kit includes the DVD-ROM drive, an AC-3 decoder card and free DVD-ROM software. Although similar in price to the Creative kit, this package leaves a lot to be desired. The DVD drive, being a first-generation product, will only read at 1X speeds, and will not handle CD-R or CD-RW media.

Toshibahas recently announced its secondgeneration DVD-ROM drive that will hopefully make its way into this Diamond package in the near future. The Maximum DVD kit from Diamond Multimedia sells for roughly $399.

Pioneer DVD-U01 When it comes to audio/video components, Pioneer needs no introduction. Its latest additions to an extensive line of products are two new DVD-ROM drives. Although the drives themselves are identical in every way, the difference lies in the interface. Pioneer is offering users a choice of going with either the popular EIDE version of the drive, or for the power user, there is a SCSI-2 version. The drives each have a 512K buffer, read CDROM media at 10X speeds and DVD-ROMs at 1X. The only real drawback to these drives is the fact that they cannot read CD-R or CDRW media. The EIDE version of this drive, which Pioneer believes will attract the most attention, sells for roughly $245, while the SCSI-2 version is sells for slightly more.

popular REALmagic MPEG-2 card from Sigma Designs. To get your customer started right out of the box, Sony will include three DVD titles with the package. The drive alone is available for roughly $200, while the entire DVD kit with AC-3 decoder is estimated at $425.

Tosbiba SD-M1102 From a leading developer of DVD technology comesapackage thatis very hard to resist.

Toshiba's new DVD kit includes its secondgeneration DVD-ROM drive, known as the model SD-M1102. It offers 24X speeds with CD-ROM media and 2X using DVD discs.

The drive has a 256K buffer and uses an EIDE interface. It also has some of the best access times in its class, as low as 105 ms for CD-ROM and 160 ms for DVD media. The drive is available on its own for roughly $179, while the complete kit with AC-3 decoderand software sellsfor $339.

E dito r s C hoic e

I

Son DDU-100E Sony's offering to the DVD-ROM market is this new drive known as the DDU-100E. The drive can be purchased either separately or in a kit. If the complete DVD kit is what you' re after, Sony has a well-balanced package that will suit any user from beginner to advanced.

The kit includes the DDU-100E drive which acts as an 8X CD-ROM or IX DVD-ROM drive with a 512K buffer. It can even read CD-R media to ensure wider compatibility. The AC-3 card i n cluded with the bundle is the

Creative Labs For a complete DVD multimedia

package, i t'shard to match Creative Labs' Encore Dxr2. It has everything

youneedto enjoy DVD technol ogy, from its high-performancedrive to its AC-3decoder,to itsbundled software

package. Thepresentation of the kit itself is also quite impressive, showing Creative Labs' attention to detail.

If you want the best DVD bundle out there, this isthe oneto get.'<ml Canadian Computer Wholesaler 's Lab Test Editors can be reached at (4I6) 535-8404.

t~s

ABtA CONPWE

'' E ' R April 1 Al:

I

•

I

I

•I

'•

«•

«

'i«

i

I•

I I '

EIDE No 512KB 17GB Yes Tra

•I

I • I • l

I

"

EIDE Yes '25NB

'

17G.B o Tra

20X 2X I • I

I

i"

I

I

I I

I

I '

I

I

I

I I

• I •

I

I

«

ll

I

I '

I

I

I

i:":

.

,

--"-. ='

,

.-

99

„,,9,1L I

No Tra

-

"

- ' - '

'

S4f 967-2450

I I

=:.":.='-: ' »-

'-'="-===-.

www.diamondmm.corn ' N'A

II

EIQE.or SCSI-2 Yes 51.2KB 176B'

'I30- s

-'.

..'c

I

I

• I

00 KB.sec

3 000 KB sec

' T 50 63 sec":-'-:::'-:"--'- ',".-'"='-'"'-".-"+ 2700 KS sec

905 826-4100 www.hitachi.corn $215 NA 1P, 1L

I

20X 2X

1X

130 ms 210 ms

' I

'l'

'

I

Tra

8X

3000 KB sec 2760 KB sec

I ' I I 'I

I

.!lI«

Yes

' ' I

I

I

EIDE Yes 512KB 17GB

-

'

-

:

.-

: :

, 100 ms 170 ms 416 626-2233 www.creativelabs.corn $209 399 1P, 1L I

I •

I

II

I

='. —:=.:i,-:- =....5 .~jElllf ; ,'i:-:;

.„';-';-:;:-:,:;"~ EIDE Yes 5'l2KS 17GB Yes Tra

Yes 266KB"

= « «

~

17GB

Yes Tr

.g« i,

I

I • I

10X 1X

8X

24X:" 2X

(v,'5~, „

lx

1500kB/sec "'

1 200 KB/sec 1 350 KB/sec

2 0 KB/sec 700 8/deci .

(;:«5',i<IiII Il'11'4

1380 KB/sec

iliifgfItla Ql

g , iP

l" w ,I %

150 ms

200 ms

I

I

I I

I

I

416 291-1628 www. Ioneer-eur.corn $245 1P, 1L

160 ms 220 ms

105 ms ', i",i«',"9"I".

416 499-7669 www.son .com $200 $425 1P, 1L

.05 470-3500, . www.tashiba.corn

$179 1P,' 1L 4~4g",i~~)lej„'cc

tirii Note: All prices shown are street prices, or estimated street prices. ' p+":-,,

c';=';i'<IIr.

",,

lirtpr vwwccwmag,ccm

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER

49

T HE

PUN DIT

I

MeW VideO OptiOnS Feil

Co l u m n

Wines, NT5

New graphics features in Windows 98 and Windows NT5 present unique opportunities.

by Graeme Bennett

new "Turbo" driver released on drive (handy for installing a One of the more unique M ar. 15 — doesn't compare in new features of Windows new OS!). When reading CDs, s ome of the areas many garners the Encore drive behaves like a 98 is its support for multideem most important: 3D ren20X CD-ROM. It was also able ple displays. dering, solid OpenGL support to read CD-RW, CD-R and, of As many resellers and games performance. If course, DVD discs.

We were, have discovered, high-pervideoinput and capture capaformance video cards are however, mildly disconcerted W ~ N &14 bilities are important, the ATI to see that the pass-through attractive to many types of Wuefffews II A ll-in-Wonder Pro o r th e PC buyers: the graphics enthusiasts, game- cable that routes the output Canopus Total 128V are good from a standard video card into players, CAD and DTP buffs and of course, a nd back out of t h e D V D l3uaf monitorsupport inWindowsBB the people capturing and displaying digital Indeed, an ATI card is a reseffersnewopportunities video. Hopefully, this article will give you a decoder card seemed to pro- offers PC inlargemonitorandhfgh-perfor- good pick if you wish to add a duce a small amount of interjumpstart on building a demo system that will mancevideocard sales.Bufbeware second video card and monitor, drive sales of secondary monitors and addi- ference in our video display. It the technocalpitfalls. to take advantage of Windows was barely visible, but definitetional high-performance graphics cards. ly present.

Moving the DVD con troller card 9 8 ' s multi-display support. (The Canopus Of course, high-performance video isn' t to a slot further away from our AG P graphics Total3D 128V card i s n' t supported as a secjust about 2D and/or 3D acceleration. You' ll o n d ary display.) Also note: you may not have card didn't seem to solve the pr oblem, but have to endure customer questions about luck mixing AGP and PCI cards. At least in whether AGP is worth having. happily, changing the video configuration options elimiWindows 98 beta 3, we could not get the All(For a dual-momtor system, the nated the interference. The in-Wonder PCI card and the AGP-based answer is very likely "no," but DNNN -@ NIOIINEMIWNOVOENIE unit was a breeze to set up and Winfast card to co-exist reliably. (We could for a system with a single video a&Do&&' , ~OENEIECIOE DW1VFBO ~O DIENCNEC RO~DIIK the movie playback perfor- get them to work together as dual displays by card,itfrees up a precious PCI OWDE&V~ & DIKW6ffll&ll ~ lll & ~ WWWNIQAVQXOIW~ mance was excellent. deleting the Leadtek driver and reinstalling it. slot and offers a modest perforI NOD fkw kk~ % D~ f4 W O & ~ mance boost.) Garners will want The Encore DVD drive However, after a reboot, it would stop work$@l4gdk~ ODIN&DECI&ED&& N~O E ~ S S ~ lllE ~ l~ lkd to know about the new Voodoo2 worked very well in our tests ing again, despite the fact that Microsoft's 41 ~ IDE~ I& WNI O+ of the discs bundled with it. A Windows 98 release notes claim that the (It is h ot ! See http:llwww. tcp.ca/gsblreviewsfor a review sci-fi action game called Wing Permedia2 and All-in-Wonder are okay as of the new Creative Labs Commander 4, stamng Mal primary and secondary graphics adapters, Graphics Blaster Voodoo2 board), OpenGL colm McDowall (Clockwork Orange, 0 respectively.) and Direct3Drendering issues and DVD. Lucky Man) and Mark Hamill (Star Wars) is We did, however, have much better sucincluded, as is a cartoon-style game of swash- cesswhen we configured two PCI adapters(a DVD Drives buckling pirate cats called "Claw." Both Permedia2-basedGraphics Blaster Exxtreme With the March release of an unbundled vermake good in-store demos. and an All-in-Wonder Pro, in this case) for sion of the DVD drive (previously sold as part For sheer price/performance, it's hard to our dual displays. As the Win98 release notes of Creative Labs Encore Dxr2 DVD kit), more beat a Permedia2-based video card such as state, not all video cards are supported as a customers are likely to skip CD-ROM drives the Leadtek L2300 or the Creative Labs secondary display. entirely and jump to DVD — especially if they Graphics Blaster Exxtreme (see the review at Clearly, customers who elect to exercise are clear on the fact that the drive looks just like http: /lwww. tcp.calgsblrevi ews).The Permedia2 Windows 98's multi-display option will have an IDE CD-ROM to Windows 98. Some deal- chip that powers these cards offers excellent questions and technical issues. Be sure you ers may find the lower cost of the Diamond overall performance and its hardware 3D understand the issues, so that you can help DVD kit ($299 versus $389 or so for the acceleration is a f ul l i m plementation of them put together a system that works.

Creative kit) offers a compelling alternative, OpenGL, not just a mini-driver, such as those For more information, see my Win98 with moresoftware and a Toshibamechanism supplied by many "GLIDE" drivers. report athttp: //www,tcp.ca/gsb/PC. ICCW for better Win98 compatibility.

If blazing 3D performance is not as We were delighted to see that the DVD important as overall functionality, you might Graeme Bennett is The Editorial Director for drive is recognized by Windows 98's boot find the ATI All-in-Wonder Pro a strong conCanada Computer Paper Inc. and a former floppy as a standard IDE device, which tender. But be aware that the Rage Pro chip computer retail er. He can be reached at allowed our boot floppy to access CDs in the that powers the ATI card — even with the graerne Ncp.ca.

I~

50

D

CA N A D fAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER AP ril 1998 hr rPllww

ffffccffffmag.corn

~ "~. ~~$>IP".=~~~:~ i~:>8'II%JIi i~ " qII~ r s 1

BEST

., BEST OVERALL RATING

Leadtek Research WinFast 3D L2300 The WinFast3D L2300 gets double honors for Best Overall and Best Value. At $US769, it bested every other board in the 8-MBand-less category, turning in top scores in both 3-D Viewperf tests. An oustanding value, it provides the most cost-effective performance of anyboard in this roundup.

'I.

c,i

BEST OVERALL .' BEST VALI/E

LeadaekResearch WlnFasa30 L23gg D ouble honors for ~ andd ku h Xehn go Io Ihs Leadiek Research WinFesl 3D 12370. The B-MB WinFass

3D L2300ouiperformedaveryother

board in iis class end came within a whisker of high end boanls costing over 10 times as much...

'll

a///sikh iisfrnr Lnrb JbpordArdsreb, dd96 / s

t

10 •

•

-

• •

II /t

I

(!:,

I

WmF asl1230D(A6P) AcceSar0(AGP) an Gl1000Pm(AG P) FneGlIODDPm(PG) GlyderuX(PG) Dymnnie3D /Gl (AGP)

I

I

gLIMg p(P(2) &80

128,132 132.127 132.228 133041 133.405 133.762 136.073 137105 1412445 171.1IS 326.084 331153 343.100 304.158 504.162 640.650 601.038

G lyderass-I (AG P) Dnamhs3D/Gl (PG) Aces@sr 0(PCD

At-ln-Wan dnpra(AGP) ViperV330(PO)

i'

8

128.076

Xpaimnadr(PG) xpemropla6yGi

l

•

118.758 127.142 127.865

WinFAsi3D11520 (PG) Innmss 30Pro22003(PGI GrsplicsDlnhr Fm rneme(PCI) 30eman uX16/16 (PG) 6laris-XL(PG)

5',*

•

IDiilie am nII (PCG

Vslachy128(AGP) Velachy128(PG) AdnmalinD eash3D(PCI)

„flint.'

'~% 8

600

600

' ' IIIPD)'. 's4 ul Rm- IQ,.

2 i

1 200

08

1500

i 500

12 0 0

WinFast SDL2300

WinFast 3DL2500

c

I)j i

300

600

0

WinFast 3DL2520 .„,, with 3D labs GLINT 500(VIX+Deita

with 3D labs

with 3D labs Permedia2 AGP or PCI

• gMB SGRAM,AGPor PCIInterface available • Entry level professionalgraphicsperformance with balancedarchitecture for OpenGL,HEIDI and Direct 3Dbasedapplications.

•Robust3Dl2D and MPEG-2 videoplayback acceleration

900

Estityunted street price

ms Pc Ie

4I.

fgn(AQP)

I 300

0

I,

500TX+ Delta

s

., mani

• 8MB VINM+ gMB EDO DRAM, 32-bit Z buffer • Affordahle workstation-class 3DGraphics accelerator forHigh-endOpenGLApplications • Bilinear hardwaretexture mapping

• BMB VRAM+ tgMBEDODINM, 32-bit Z buffer • Unparalleled workstation-class performance for complextexturing and renduring • Trllinear hardwaretexture mapping

http:Ilwww leadtek.comll2500.htm

http;/lwww.leadtek.comll2520, htm

http:/Iw ww.leadtek.comli2300.htm Distributed by Fastech in Vancouver caII: Tel: (604) 279-9686 Fax: (604) 279-9787 Email:fastechOcompucon.corn

in Calgary call: Tel: (403) 29)-335( Fax: (403) 29(-35(9 Email: faslech abCmcompucon.corn

Leadlek Research, Inc 46723 Fremont Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94538 5(0-490-8076 www.leadlek.corn Ieadtek@(eadlek.corn

g Leadtek

I

Q o/ u m n

T ECH N O L O G Y

S- R

Winaiows $8 A step up, but modestly so

by Alan Zisman weren't enough when the public Ready or n ot, here i t was really focused on the Internet. comes.

Windows 95 sales were Windows 98, that is. good, but two-and-a-half years When Microsoft announlater, an estimated 70 million users are still ced that the might-haveworking with 1992's Win 3.1. been Windows 4.0 was I'm writing this, running Win98 Beta 3. the t o c a r r y going It feels stable, fast, and ready for the general Windows 95 name, for public.

But i f W i ndows 95 was really many it seemed too reminiscent of the U.S. Windows 4.0, this isn't Windows 5.0 — think auto makers annual model changes. Some of of it as Windows 4.1. A real set of improvethe press promised exclusive coverage of ment over Win95, but still, a basically modest Windows 96 and Windows 97, products that upgrade, more like the Windows 3.0 to 3.1 never were. transition of the early 1990s than the more Since late 1996, for example, OEMs recent Win3.1 to Win95 transition. have been using OEM-Service Release2 While it installs happily over Win95 and (aka Win95b) which included the FAT32 and Internet Explorer. Even that was updated to Win3.1 systems, many current Win95 users really needn't bother upgrading. Purchasers of OEM-SR2.1 with Universal Serial Bus suprecent computers who already have OSR-SR2 with I n t ernet port, an d O W M -SR2.5 may already be using the upgraded FAT32 file Explorer 4.0. system forlarge hard disk support.If they've At the same time, Microsoft was developing its next-generation product behind the downloaded Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, scenes, and eventually came public enough to they have most of the user interface changes (and like me, may have promise a replacement t urned of f Ac t i v e for Windows 95. Early "I'm writing this, running Desktop, and returned in 1998, Microsoft felt Win98 Beta 3. It feels stable, to the 'classic' Win 95 c onfident enough t o double-click in t e roffer Win98 Beta 3 for fast, and ready for the face).Users of earlier wider distribution to general public. But if versionsofWi n95 may media and customers Windows95 was really want to upgrade if wanting to get a headthey' ve added newer, start on working with Windows4.0, this isn' t large hard drives the upcoming release.

Windows 5.OBy the end of February, just to get FAT32 along think Of it aS NndOWS4.1." the company sent out with the ability to conthe first of a series of vert to that file system potential Release Candidates to the 30,000 without destroying their current setup. "official" beta test sites. Initial reports are that Windows 98 isn't aimed at the existing baring unforeseen problems (either with the user base, however. Its real sales will be to software itself, or with the U.S. Justice Depart- purchasers of new hardware. ment), Win98 seems pretty much ready.

Along with FAT32 support for large hard An official release sometime in May is drives, Win98 includes built-in support for widely expected. the whole collection of new hardware — all The fabled Microsoft hype machine, those three-letter acronyms that have had however, is running at a much lower pitch often-disappointing sales over the past year. than in 1995. Partly, this is a response to the There is support for: 1995 Windows launch. Despite spending an • DVD drives, the next generation replaceestimated US$100 million, public response ment for today's CD-ROM; was only lukewarm. A Rolling Stones jingle • AGP video overcoming the performance and an athlete climbing Toronto's CN Tower bottleneck on the PCI bus; 52

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 httpvtep tntwccwmag.corn

Upggfe

~anenaam „ Oathete ea

ma.ceno«sr

.5,

twlnesmt«

et«cla n«a«a«at

n&pae tope~

ass~ sect„ocele«nowt

am«slee.ma mc,

a~

"« ~ pa n e am, <~ own tt tmm tom • ««mc~ mestsmaes~ epeFeeppaa s~t

ts

• U niversal Serial B u s (USB) — promising easy connection of cameras, scanners, modems and speakers; • Firewire (IEEE 1394) promising even higher performance than USB, aiming at video cameras; and.1.200 new driversform odems, printers, and otherhardware peripherals.

• Other improvements in areas like boot-up speed, On Now suspend mode, and power management require new system-level support. Expect best performance on systems with at least 22MB RAM — think of 32MB as thenew standard for new systems.

There was support for USB, DVD, and the like prior to Win98, but it has tended to be patchwork, after-the-fact add-ons, often with disappointingperformance. Having an operating system designed to support this generation of hardware will make it easier to bundle these devices into new computers, and should help with after-market sales and upgrades.

Some corporate sites are thinking of skipping Win98; they' re planning to wait for its big sibling, NT 5.0, due late in 1998 or early 1999, and offering much the same hardware support and interface, along with NT's security, stability, and network features. NT 5.0 will be able to use the same new drivers as Win98, and as a result, will benefit from a wider range of hardware support than earlier NT versions.

Unlike Win98, however, NT 5.0 systems will not be able to use existing Win95 drivers.

Win98 continues to offer better backward-compatibility to DOS and Win 3.1 software, and better support for game players.

Win98 will be the operating system choice for most home and small business users.

Expect the upcoming release of Windows 98 to help jump-start sales, both of new, consumer-oriented computer systems, and ofa wide range of hardware devices.'~tW' Ainu Zisman is a computer jounialisr and teacher,living in Vancouver. He can be reached at azisman@roger tts wave.ca.

.I .ijliijj

IJ%>

j I '" "

i sssj r>

+CIEg CEu-ENCE TECH

CCW LAB TE ST . ~'

lP

l +"I(4'Ijtl rI»"' :.-- W i m'-',Ss Id ' '

~<'s"8 @

The only Canadian test facility that generates monthly„reports abopt computerequipment forthe Canadian market-place.

.-'.;+ %& ' -~

.g'. Igs w<ih' If you want yourproduct lndependently reviewed andthe results IIeliveredto rzsellers . '

=; k."==:-';

'.

Stsji+ s cp''i f'.

across Canada, you haveone, and only one,hoice c —CC WLABTOAST;

gF \

• h~

"pp.

,„' 4

-o'4

s

•

s

"

,»Vji

s

•

•s

s •

s

' "

s

s

s

. s •

'Is

•

s

s s

•s

A S I AS CA P E

Matsushita says slowed chips sales delay plant opemng Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., bestb dd duct s

says its decision not to open a new building of the . is ecause o h U.S. b at the plant in the declining market for memory chips, and not .

Although the firm has shown a recent poor third-quarter, it has also shown increased activity in DVD, video, next-generation TV applications and, on the lighter side, a refrigerator that lets you know if you leave the door

open or load it with too much food.

The firm's Japanese headquarters said it has agreed to l i cense California-base R ambus Inc.'s high-bandwidth semiconductor-interface technology to speed data transfer between semiconductor chips.

The agreement with Rambuswill wi aallow ow Matsushita subsidiary MEI a n d it s Electronics Corp (MEC) to develop, produce and distribute chips using this interface technology.

from Newsbytes 0

Nong Kong firms are targeted for software piracy Acting on tip-offs to its hotline, Hong Kong's Business Software Alliance (BSA) has issued High Court writs against 20 small and medium-sized businesses suspected of using illegal software.

Tip-offs about suspected illegal software use have risen to more than 20 per month since Jan. 7, when the campaign was launched. With the expiration of the 45-day notice period given by the BSA, it said it was also monitoring another 150 companies and would thoroughly investigate firms using pirated software.

"The BSA fully understands the unique constraints faced by the small and medium companies, which is why we gave them 45 days' nonce to legalize their software," said Tom Robertson, BSA's vice-president. "The notice period is now up and those that have not taken the issue of software piracy seriously should have no illusion that the BSA will give them further time."

Among the companies served legal notices were Brentwood International Ltd., Uni Design Associates, IMG Far East Ltd. and Peninsular Freight Ltd. IN I 001

•

O Y S K • 0 0 I T • N S I N ST O C K

•

Nintendo to launch color Game Boy Nintendo Co. Ltd. says it will begin sales of its first Game Boy hand-held video system with a color LCD screen later this year.

The unit will be launched in Japan, Europe and North America.

Similar in size to existing units, Nintendo says the new Game Boys will include a new proprietary technology capable of displaying color graphics on a new type of color reflective screen.

The system will allows for simultaneous display of up to 56 colors,from a palette of 32,000.

An obstacle to production of color units in the past has been the demand on battery life — something the new system overcomes, saidthe maker. "As the first to surmount the technical obstacles, we' re able to introduce a whole new generation of color games to the millions of people who love Game Boy," said Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, in a statement.

Other new features include the ability to connect to a Nintendo 64 games system. Nintendo said the new Color Game Boy will be capable of playing cartridges from the existing monochrome unit. They will be displayed in one of ten color hues, selected by the user, the company said.

More details of the device will be announced later this year.

Nintendo previously forecasted 1998 Game Boy sales at 9.5 million units, with software selling 28 million units.

The news follows the disclosure, one month ago, by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) that it has developed a miniature-size "personal digital assistant" for use ' th t IlaayStation S video games console. The system is still under development and SCEI said it expects a commercial P«duct to be available at the end of the year.

gri •'

' •

;

•

0

CURRENT

SP E C IALS

• HPDESKJET 5N INKJETPRINTER RERIRB. SIIKP

' '• 0

' • •

a

0

I J

0

'

•

• MEBAHERTZSSBK OEM PCMCIAXJACK EAXMODEM$1IF

J

' • •

•

'

• •

'

•

•

• 255MB SCSI HARDDRIVEKIT INCL CONT ROLLERB CABLE$75"

I I

OR CALL

TOLL FREE

s <sss) 744-&I'l2 TELEPIIOIIE

( $0$) 40$ 1 $ 4 1 Email: UIsalas@loglciIO J.corn NNKISNS SOSTO OIOIOS '

54

3

11001NOS NOS ' NNNNTSS

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http//wwwc

cwmag. corn

ASIASCAPE

Thai PC market will drop this year, says IDC study

NEC and Thomson INultlmedla

The overall IT market for Thailand this year The s u rvey by product categories in 1998 agree to Jointly develop will drop by approximately 15 per cent, in s h ows that the market is comprised of 59 per plasma displays technology terms of unit shipments, and the PC market cent single-user systeins and 13 per cent data NEC Corp. and Thomson Multimedia have will decrease by 38 per cent, compared to fig- communications equipment, with packaged signed a long-term agreement covering the joint ures for last year, according to a study con- s o ftware at 12 per cent, service at nine per cent development of plasma display technology. ducted by the International Data Corp. (IDC). a n d multi-user systems at seven per cent.

Thomson alsoannounced plans to begin U.S. The market research company alsosaid T h e study predicts that over five years and Europeansales laterthisyearofaconsumer total PC market i n 1 997 amounted to ( 1 997 to 2002) there will be a 5.8 per cent plasma display TV manufactured by NEC. 308,000 units, valued at US$622.2 million. c o mpound average growth in the PC market, In a joint statement, the companies said the IDC predicts the PC market this year will be w i t h the multi-user market set to experience development will focus on enhancing the per190,000 units.

5.6 per cent compound growth, and the work- formance of the electronics and panel technoloIDC Asia/Pacific vice-president and s t ation market to decline by 13 per cent. gies, such as reduced power consumption, managing director Dennis Philbin said the The t o pf ive PC vendors, according to improved brightness and picture quality, while negative growth in th e I T i n dustry was t h e IDC study,accounting for53.2percentof accelerating the launch of new products and caused by the economic crisis in the region, the unit marketshare, and 52.8 per cent in lowering cost significantly. which was affecting not only Thailand, but s h ipment value, were Acer, Compaq, Digital, The two companies will continue their most ASEAN (Association of South East I B M and V-Tech. The PC market comprises separate development of PDP technology but Asian Nations) countries, including Korea, 9 1.27 per cent desktops, 6.36 per cent note- there will be some cooperation, under the books and 2.3 per cent PC servers. and particularly Indonesia. agreement.

The two also announced that Thomson Multimedia will begin sales later this year of Intel gets into Asian satellite services with new venture Intel has hopped onto the interactive digital service bandwagon in a joint venture with Hong a consumer PDP television set based on Kong-based Pacific Century Group (PCG). The new company, Pacific Convergence Corp. (PCC) NEC's 42-inch widescreen PDP panel.

The set will be available in Europe, plans to deliver broadband services throughout the region via satellite.

When asked if PCC would encounter any difficulties with regulatory bodies such as the under the Thomson brand, and in the United Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) in offering broadband services, Joseph States, under Thomson's RCA-Prose an Spitzer, senior vice-president with PCG said the company would follow all government reg- brand name. CCW ulations in each country.

"Our services are somewhat of a unique formula for Asia. Part of it is based on delivery at high speeds, but we may also offer enhanced / I S Internet, education, information, entertainment, or even electronic comm erce," Spitzersaid.He also added thatthe company would notbe focus' ' I I I I ing on providing voice or video services.

PCC holds 60 per cent interest in the company, with Intel holding the other 40 per cent. The company declined to reveal the initial capital investment.

Annie Lau, a spokesperson for Intel, said that, although the company was exploring multimedia possibilities, PCC will not be competing with HongKong Telecom IMS or any other companies that would be offeringbroadband interactive services.

IMS offers broadband services via 200,000 km of fiber-optic cable. PCC, in comparison, will be offering broadband capabilities over a future satellite network.

•••

SOFWARE DISTRIBUTORS

Sega Enterprises halts Saturn development Sega Enterpri ses has announced a revised financialforecast for the currentfiscalyear on the back of heavy losses in the North American market. It also announced it would concentrate development work on a nextgeneration replacement for the Saturn console, effectively conceding defeat to Nintendo and Sony in this round of the video games war.

At its parent level. Sega said sales are likely to be US$2.11 billion,down 24.7 per cent from the previous year.Last year's netprofit of US$43.4 million is expected to become a net loss of US$303.7 million. Sega had previously forecast a net profit of US$116.8 million for the current year.

Fierce competition in the U.S. 32-bit game console market, where Sega's Saturn trails the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation resulted in the loss. Sega said it will spend US$81.8 billion in disposing of and devaluating current inventories.

The company said it will restructure its U.S. businesses to lay the groundwork for the launch of a next-generation console machine in 1999 and the start-up of the "Heat" network business.

Business Productivity, Educational and Games.

I.SOO.I I0-0011 Monday to Friday 9AM to SPM Eastern Time I

I i

attp//wwwccwmag.corn

i I I

i

i

II

t l l i

i

I i

'

i Il l

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 55

B OO K

REV I EW

by Stephen Ibaraki

a

•

i

•

•

'

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

Do you want to save time, money, and effort?

Do your employees, or customers need to have a sound knowledge of NT in just four days but can't justify the cost of $1,000 to $1800 forcommercial courses?

Or, perhaps you are an experienced computing professional who wants to start on the certification track but are undecided where to begin? "Microsoft Windows NT4.0 Network Administration Training" could be the answer.

Consider this problem: • There are 50 rint p jobsalready submitted to an HP5 printer on the NT print server but the printing device is down. How do you permit users tr> print without resubmitti>ig their printjobs?

A chapter on printing describes how you can redirect the documents to another print device on the same or different server. Just go into the HP5 Printer Properties, clear the existing port and change to local port LPT2 that has another HP printer attached. Or, add a new local port in the Ports page, but type in the name of another print server and the share name of a print device. For example, in the Port Name dialog box enter: iV'rintServer2VIPSAdmin. Print jobs originally spooled for printing to the local HPS printer will now be redirected to the printer named HPSAdmin, located on NT PrintServer2.

• What if your print server hard disk is thrashing and printing is slowing down to a crawl?

Try going into the Printers folder and choose (Printer, Server Properties, Advanced tab] and change the location of the print spooler folder from its default of D:Nwinntisystem324poohprinters. Or, if documents will not print and cannot be deleted from the printing window, then go into Control Panel, choose the Services icon, stop and restart the Spooler service.

• You' ve given users Full Control permissions over the D:V'ublic folder but there is a critical file that must not be deleted. You provide 56

windows N T

•

Network Admin

Oll

lit>I>tl!l-I J», SI'I/-/tll'lhl T>'>Ill>Ill" /ttl Itl»>It>>s>v>'lll," I ('>alt»t 4. >l

No Access permissions to the file. File permissions always override directory orfolder permissions right? Unfortunately, you discover that the file is still being accidentally deleted.

The book describes how NT Posix (Unix) compliance allows users with Full Control permissions on the folder to override No Access permissions on the file. To overcome this feature, assign to the folder the individual permissions that make up Full Control, such as Read, Write, Execute, and Delete. In this case, file permissions will override folder permissions.

• Your Primary Domain controllergoes down. How can you use the Server Manager utility to promote a Backup Domain controller to takes its place?

You' re sharing a directory over the network with specific NTFS (NT file system) permissions but user access is not as expected. When combining Share permissions with NTFS permissions, the most restrictive option is the end result. How can you forecast the results and what are all the implications?

PC users want to keep their desktop settings no matter which computer they use. You can implement "Roa>ning Profiles" to help them and keep your administrative work to a minimum. With the utility, User Manager for Domains, set up the profile: iuerver name'V>rofilesi%username%. From the Control Panel, choose System icon, User Profiles tab to delete, copy, and modify these profiles. It's easy to implement with this book.

CA N ADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 http/twwwccwmagcom

B OO K

REV I EW

Want to lock out some Start menu choices, the Control Panel, and NT can also co-exist on the hard drive with DOS, Win3.11, and the Network Neighborhood? You can use the system policy editor to Windows 95. Just install DOS first, Win3.11 next, followed by Win95 resolve these issues. and then WinNT. Remember to keep each in its own directory. NT With its modular design, each lesson can stand on its own so installs its own boot manager, which allows you to boot from one of sevyou can complete them in any order, skip or repeat them. There are eral installations of NT or from Win95. At startup time from Win95, plenty of hands-on labs that demonstrate every concept and numerpress F4 to start DOS and Win3. 11. To complete the sections on setting ous illustrations. Plus, there are setup and cleanup batch files for up access to resources through permissions, you need an NTFS formatevery chapter to create and remove the users and groups necessary to ted drive letter. However, once you allocate a part of your hard drive to complete the chapter lessons.

NTFS, nothing other than NT will be able to use it.

The suggested minimum computer configuration is a 486/33 with Complete set-up instructions are provided, but if you are new to 16MB RAM, 125MB free hard disk space, 256-color SVGA, CD-ROM, NT, should expect to spend at least a weekend. NT can be picky sound card and speakers or headphones. Two networked computers are about hardware, so check the Microsoft hardware compatibility list required to complete some of the exercises but this is considered option- (HCL) before purchasing additional gear or at least do some thoral. In my opinion, the minimum configuration is two 10Base-T net- ough testing. worked Pentium 100MHz computers with at least 32MB RAM, a dediThe included simulations are excellent — the best I' ve seen yet in cated hard drive with 1GB of fee hard disk space, and an 8X CD-ROM. comparison to other self-study guides. For example if you want to pracTii: After full installation, your drive should have a FAT16 and tise backing up a server but don't have a tape drive, you can run the NTFS file system. Watch out! The NT 4 supplied with the book doesn' t included, "Backup Simulation." If you want to gain experience synuse FAT32. Many Win95 installations use FAT32, so you have to reset chronizing multiple servers — then you can use the "Server Manager the system for FAT16.

Simulation."

Initially, use FDISK to create one MS-DOS FAT16 primary partiThe disk-based videos provide only a basic foundation but they are tion of about 400MB. The remainder of your disk can be an MS-DOS very well done. Topics covered include Local and Global Groups, FAT16 extended partition. Format your primary partition or C: drive for Overview ofDirectory Services and Permissions.

MS-DOS. The extended partition can be further subdivided into logical Just like the commercial course, the book is divided into 11 chapdrives and individually formatted. terscovering topicssuch as: When installing NT, you are given a disk format choice of MS• the differences between NT workstation and server, workDOS FAT-based or NTFS. Leave your primary partition (C: drive) as groups and domains, FAT-based. This makes it easier to correct boot up problems since all • setting up and administering users and groups, the NT startup files such as NTI DR, BOOT.INI, NTDETECT.COM, • securingresources using Share and N TFS permissions, BOOTSECTDOSare accessible from DOS. In fact, I recommend you • setting up and administering a network print server, create an NT startup floppy in case you have startup problems with • auditing and monitoring resources and events, and, • backing up and restoring files. your hard drive. Just format a floppy under NT so that it contains an NT boot record. Copy the four NT startup files from the C: drive to the Are you planning to write the NT server and workstation certifloppy. You can use this floppy to start up your NT server. Also, remem- fication exams? Then you will need to study additional courses. ber to run RDISK /S periodically to update your registry repair files and Microsoft Press publishes self-study guides that correspond to many to createan updated Emergency Repairdisk.The combination ofan N T of their commercial course offerings. boot floppy plus Emergency Repair disk will allow you to get out of Is this book enough for managing an NT system on a day-to-day most problems.

Install NT into your C: drive, leaving the file system intact as i • • • DOS-based. Install another copy of ~ • Sl NT into your extended partition (D: drive) but convert the file system to • e• NTFS. You will be given this option e • • • i • at installation time or you can perform the step afterwards without losing data using the commandline, CONVERT D: /FS:NTFS /V. However, you can't go backwards without losing data — you can't format for NTFS and then convert to basis? For most operations, yes, since it does lay a solid foundation and it is a great tutorial. However, when administering an NT system, FAT. You must reformat the NTFS drive as FAT. NT allows multiple OS installations. This will be reflected in the you want to know what's happening behind the scenes. For this, I editable boot manager, read-only system file — Cahoot.ini. When you recommend additional reference books such as the excellent Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Resource Kit. The NT start up NT, the system will display the contents of the boot.ini text file on the screen. You will be given the choices of two different NT instal- Server 4.0 Resource kit is also recommended but the Workstation lations and an MS-DOS selection. When you install NT, an NT boot reference is a better value and contains more useful information. ICL'lW record is placed into the partition boot sector. This boot record looks for the CiWTLDR file to begin the NT startup process. The former DOS Stephen Ibaraki, ISP, is co-convenor of the computing program at boot record becomes the newC iBOOTSECTDOS file. When you make Capilano College, which is CIPS, Novell and Microsoft certified. He the MS-DOS selection from the boot menu, the bootsect.dos file is can bereached atsibarakiCNcapcollege.bc.ca. loaded, which in turn loads the DOS system files.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

4

4

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

http/twwwccwmag.corn

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 57

Column

by Douglas Gray News releases can be an extremely effective and inexpensive means of obtaining publicity that is, if you do them correctly.

The secret is to create a media release that is newsworthy, interesting and topicaL Keep in mind thatreporters and newscasters are constantly searching for material that could be of interest to their readers, listeners or viewers.

Some days they may have little material, while other days may be packed with latebreaking news. If your timing is right, your release could be used as a "filler" on an otherwise light news day. When submitting releases, be certain to allow sufficient leadtime in order to enhance the likelihood of your release being used.

The term "media" refers to the communication vehicles of print such as newspapers and magazines, as well as radio and television. When deciding where to send a media release, do your research to target the correct persons within the medium in questionwhether publishers, general editors, section editors, journalists, reporters, freelance writers, syndicated columnists, book reviewers, news broadcasters,program directors, talk show hosts or researchers.

Here is an overview of the process of writing a news release.

reporters, writers or columnists who write about subjects that could encompass your business area. And be aware of TV or radio news stories that you could "piggyback" on.

You may want to send the release to several key people within the same newspaper, radio, television or magazine organization.

For example, you may believe the subject matter of your media release would be relevant not only to a newspaper's business section, but also its lifestyle section and its seniors' section. Usually each section has a separate editor — though a community newspaper that is published once or twice a week, for example, may just have a general editor.

Before you startpreparing a release, there are a number of initial steps you have to take. You have to ask yourself what benefit you hope to get from the exercise. Do you want local, regional, provincial or national publicity? It will obviously make a difference in terms of your media contacts and the content of the release. Do you want to generate a telephone, letter, fax or e-mail response from prospective clients or customers? Your objective could be to stimulate direct sales orders orwalk-in traffic, for example. Or maybe you just want to make the public aware of your product so they will look for it in specialty or general retail stores.

Initial Steps To Take

The Pertinent Features OfA Cood Media Release

The following resources may help you to locate the various media and best person in each category to send the release to: • Look in the YellowPages under the headings "Radio," "Television," "Newspapers" and "Magazines." Also look at newsstands to become aware of publications in your area of business interest.

• Check with y o ur p u blic l i b rary f o r Canadian Advertising and Rates Data (CARD), a directory listing all the media in Canada.

• Contact the media concerned and enquire about the name of the editor, talk show host,program director,ornews director,as well as address, postal code, fax or e-mail.

• Check the print media and gather names of

To prepare a good release you should follow thesegeneralrecommendations: • Make it clear and easily readable.

• Use short sentences and simple English.

• Make sure it is grammatically correct with accurate spelling.

• Avoid flowery phrases, exaggerated or superlative statements and other hype.

Remember, this is a news release and not a sales letter.

• Use 1.5-inch margins all around and have it typed on white paper on your business letterhead, or on specially designed news release letterhead.

• Have it photocopied or printed; quality of reproduction is paramount to portraying a "professional" image.

58 C A NADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER Apiil 1998 httpllwwwccwmag.corn

• If referring to yourself in the release, which is a common technique, always use the third person: "she" or "he" rather than "I." This will make it sound like someone else has written about you, which is a desirable impression to create, and makes it easier to quote yourself. Readers tend to believe what they read as being credible and accurate because it appeared in print, and publicity legitimizes information, but this is undermined if the first person is used.

• Keep the release to one page ideally, and not more than two pages, or it might not be read. Keep in mind that the reader of the release is time-pressured and has to select from many releases received every day. If the release goes onto a second page, print "more" in the lower right-hand corner of the first page and attach a second page.

Never print your release on both sides of the same sheet.

• You may wish to attach a separate biographical media release to your general release. The biography should read like an article and show why "the person being quoted" and your business are interesting.

The more finished the appearance of your media release and/or biography, the more likely a busy reporter or editor will use it — in some cases verbatim or with very little editing.

• You may also wish to consider attaching a photograph' (ideally, professionally taken) to your release, depicting either yourself or the item being profiled. It should be black and white and have good resolution. If it does go into the newspaper or magazine, it will add a graphic impact and more human interest to the article.

If you don't want to do a release yourself, you can hire a freelance publicist who will help you design a media program that is right for you. You can locate names in the YellowPages of your phone book. Itai Douglas Gray, LL.B., formerly a practising lawyer, is a Vancouver-based consultant, speaker and author of l6 best-selling books, including The Conipleie Canadian Small Business Guide, published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

P RO D U C T S

Ilj ViewSonic announces 15-inch multimedia ViewPanel ViewSonichas announced a new flatpanel display model â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the VPA150, which can pivot from landscape (horizontal) mode to portrait (vertical) mode for the most effective display of data.

For example, when pivoted into it s v ertical mode, theVPA150 offersa display height equivalent to a 21-inch monitor. The V PA150 w e i gh s 1 2 . 8 pounds, has a slim 6.7-inch vpg50 depth, and low power consumption, electromagnetic emissions, and heat emission. The suggested retail price is $3,349.Contact httpt//www viewsonic.cornor 1-800-888-8583.

Motorola announces hoards for computer telephony Motorola Computer Group of Canada has announced the PPX820 and PV5000, aimed at computer telephony system developers.

Accordingtothe company, the PPX820 chassis combines reliability, fault resilience and system capacity essential for missioncritical applications such as call centres, interactive voice response and voice messag-

Xerox Canada launches SOHO laser, DocuPrint P12 On March 9, Xerox Canada's Channels G roup a n nounced t h e Xer o x DocuPrint P12, a 12 ppm monochrome personal laser aimed at the small office/home office (SOHO) market.

According to Matthew Bailey, general manager ofCanadian retailfor Xerox Channels Group: "The DocuPrint P12 brings the high performance and firstrate print quality typically found in high-end production printers to the retail market at an affordable price.

These benefits along with a three-year worry-free warranty make the DocuPrint P12 an outstanding value for the cost-conscious small/home office customer."

The DocuPrint P12 features 600 by 600 dpi resolution and Adobe PrintGear technology, which allows fast printing of large and graphics-intensive documents. The P12 offers a host of special features, including quick return to application, watermarking, high quality halftone options, booklet, poster and envelope printing, and bi-directional status monitoring with audio prompts to inform the

Kodak adds hi-res USB digital video camera ing. The PV5000, an integrated passive backplane PCI single board computer, delivers performance and high-capacity data throughput, says Motorola.

Single-unit pricing starts at US$3,695 for the PPX820 and US$1,295 for the PV5000 singleboard computer.

Seehttp: /Iwww.mat.corn/com puter.

Logitech Cordless Desktop offers freedom from cord clutter Logitech has begun to ship i t s l atest Senseware Peripheral â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Cordless Desktop. This keyboard and mouse bundle allows users to connect with a PC via a radio frequency link, rather than traditional cables.

The elimination of keyboard and mouse cablesallows the user freedom to move both input devices to the most comfortable loca-

user of printer status. In addition to a standard 250-sheet paper tray and 80-sheet bypass feeder,there is an optional500-sheet feeder, and an optional envelope cassette and face-up output tray.

The basic DocuPrint P12 also comes with an introductory promotion PowerPak software bundle which includes McAfee V irusScan, L otus O r ganizer 9 7 an d Broderbund ClickArt. The suggested list price is $1,199. For more information, see http: /Iwww. teamxrx. corn.

tion, and also reduces desktop clutter.

According to Denis Pavillard, Logitech product manager: "By removing cable clutter, the Cordless Desktop offers consumers total freedom to customize their workspace.

Unlike infrared alternatives, RF (radio frequency) means that both keyboard and mouse can address the receiver without requiring line-of-sight. This gives tremendous flexibility for moving desktop items around to suit individual needs." The Cordless Desktop is offered as an affordable alternative to traditional PC keyboards and mice, priced at around $130. According to Pavillard, many PC makers and resellers will be offering it as a value-add alternative to traditional keyboards and mice.

For m o r e inf o r mation, contact http:I/www.logitech.cornor (510) 795-8500. htrp/twww ccwmag.corn

Kodak Canada Inc. has announced its second digital video camera, which supports the high speed Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

The Kodak Digital Science DVC323 camera is able to capture both still images and full motion digital video sequences, enabling it to be used for both digital photography and desktop video/videoconferencing applications. The DVC323 comes with special compression software that allows it to offer full 30-frame-per-second video digitizing twice the frame rate of the earlier DVC300 camera. The camera boasts a "Star Trek Phaser"-type design and,using the same image sensor technology as the NASA Mars Rover, can capture the highest quality images up to 640 by 480 pixels in 24-bit color. The USB connection allows high speed transmission of images to the user's PC. The price of the DVC323, including MS N etMeeting videoconferencing software, MetaCreations PowerGoo, and many othersoftware programs and utilities, is $249. For further information, contact (416) 766-8233 or visit http:/Iwww. kodak. ca.

KodakDigital ScienceDVC323

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 59

P RO D U C T S

Network Associates launches CyberCop detection NetworkAssociates,formed by the merger of McAfee Associates and Network General, has announced the release of CyberCop, a network intrusion detection system that stops hackers before they steal or damage sensitive corporate information.

CyberCop provides a real-time "high tech burglar alarm" capable of alerting companies when the security of their computer

networks is breached.

The company says network administrators can install CyberCop and start detecting u nauthorized activity i n a s l i t tle as 20 minutes.

The product sells for a list price of $11,695 per sensor.

Contact the company at (905) 479-4189 or seehttpr//www networkassaci ate. conn

Compaq Canada introduces 14.5-inch flat-panel monitor Compaq Canada Inc. has introduced the TFT450 Flat Panel Monitor, priced at $2,932, along with two 17-inch CRT monitors — the Compaq P75 Color Monitor and the Compaq V75 Color Monitor, priced at $972 and $825, respectively. Compaq says it expects to accelerate the transition of the standard size of business monitors from 15 inches to 17 inches.

Seehttp:/lwww compaq.ca.

HP adds remotely-managed Vectra VL computers

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-ence

•

e/

~~~ i~~~~j~~~~~~ c «~~ ~~

+

~~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ i~

'.5". Re

;+el'gj:;gu'

•

/

• Well benderl edges oper l00% safety ussnrunce • Eusqitsnap on-off slot metal plate ~S-'",; / Atotberboard»tetal plate, slide-in design : 10/ ryy/FCC "B" and CE approuerl + g09N2" quality assurance

;,F:::M

"ji' n,;",.@ ) ;:..„;!'c:w-: c:,,:...,.,:.",.k;+,"

IIatEs

WE" OME

© cB .%4® (6

OsOD SON

• • • • •

Detacbable side doors Washable front fttter No screw 0 iuirefront panel Speciul designed senti!ation system Slide-in/out motherboard tmy and buck bezel • l00% FCC "B" and CE approued • Compatible with any brand

of Redundant Pouer Supply and PS ll Pouer Supply (model789N) 7890A

6890A "'' '""' 3890A

WQM(R VQQMM ComputerCanadaLtd. 25 West Beaver Creek Road, Unit 7 Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1K2 Tel: (905) 764-0916 Fax: (905) 764-2934

Toll Free: 1-888-338-1137 60

CA N A DIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 Artcc//wwwccwm

/g.corn

Hewlett-Packard ( Canada) L t d . ha s announced a new line of HP Vectra VL PCs that let multiple Vectra PCs to be turned on and off remotely using LAN cards from major suppliers. HP says this allows customers to build manageable, networked HP Vectra PC environments using industry-standard networking components from vendors of their choice, including 3Com Intel and IBM. The new PC family is currently available and starts at $2,042. The company is at hltp: llwww. hp.corn.

Franklin's REX PC Companion lands in Canadian market Franklin Electronic Publishers Ltd. has announced the REX PC Companion in Canada. A unique portable information tool, the REX PC Companion is a credit-card sized device weighing about 40 grams (around 1.5 ounces), and equipped with a touch-sensitive LED display and built-in flash memory. It is designed to allow the user to --~ ~ gl store, view and modify vital business information, such as appointments, addresses, notes, phone numbers and 'to-do' lists.

The software included with the REX allows for 'download and go' transfer of files from a PC to the REX device. Formats supported include Symantec ACT!, Lotus Organizer 97, ASCII, MS Schedulet. MS Outlook 97, and Starfish Sidekick. The REX communicates with a PC by being plugged into a notebook's PC Card slot, or via an optional REX docking station that hooks up to a desktop PC's serial port.

Suggested retail price is $219.95 for the standard card, and $289.95 for the card with the serial port docking station.

For more information, contact (705) 721-1582 or haprllwww Ji anklin.ctnn/nar. aW'

~®~

P EO P L E

Novell expands management Markham, Ont.-based Novell Canada Ltd. has named Wally Hogan as director of major markets. He will direct business development and major enterprise sales initiatives, says the company, including those in the areas of corporate, government and vertical markets programs, according to the company.

Beam scope Hogan had 17 years ofmanagement Canada names experience at IBM in sales, marketing, syspresident tems engineering, product management and Beamscope Canada Inc. industry business develhas appointed Thomas Reeves as president. opment. Most recently, He was previously he was vice-president of ., IIOI Time Mirror Training Thomas Reeves p r e s ident o f Mer i s el C anada Inc. f o r 3 . 5 Canada and g e neral years. Earlier positions included managing f manager of Canadian Wally Hogan director of Merisel Europe, and consultant operations for Learning for the Boston Consulting Group.

International.

Reeves has an undergraduate degree in Ron Chevalier has Economics from Harvard University and a joined Novell Canada as Masters of International Relations from the director of technology.

Australian National University.

He has more than IS Morey Chaplick takes the role of coyears of experience and chairman atBeamscope, and Larry Wasser was most recently vicecontinuesas chairman and CEO. president, professional Beamscope carriesmore than 6,500 services at Brains II, a systems integrator. products from manufacturers including Ron Chevalier IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Canon, Sony, Nintendo, 3-Com, Lexmark, Disney, Okidata Kodak and EchoStar.

'Ca Sitrll 17-1$ Miesissauga, Ont. Gall: (416) 925-4533.

Fax: (416)925-PGi e E-mail: dcerterOcompfestcom v

'

I

Siatl 5-SS- CalSary

Contac tPinkElephant http: //www.pinkelephent.corn.

1S-1S

1C SS

Mississauga,Ont.-based Apple Computer Inc. has appointed Timothy Okidatahas named Lon rl Cook as senior vice-president of worldwide Campbell as Canadian S.lloperations. general manager.

Cook will be responsible for leading He is responsible Apple's global operations organization, which for establishing and Lorr Campbell handles worldwide procurement, supply chain executing the compamanagement, manufacturing and distribution. ny's strategic mandate in Canada, including He joins Apple from Compaq, where he developing marketing, sales, service and was vice-president of corporate materials, support strategies, says Okidata.

JallrCn10 responsible for procuring and managing all Previously, he spent five years as presiof Compaq's product inventory. Cook also dent of Toronto-based AM International Inc. spent l2 years with IBM, most recently as and three years as president of Nashua director of North American Fulfillment, Canada Inc. where he led manufacturing and distribution Mississauga, Ont.-based Okidata sup- ' Set. Hl for IBM's Personal Computer Company in plies PC peripheral equipment, including North and Latin America. serial impact dot-matrix printers, ink-jet C ook earned an MB A f r o m D u ke printers, LED page printers, and plain-paper University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in multi-function products and f a csimile Industrial Engineering from Auburn University. machines. ltre

r

A

g 4

•

aawMatlhtSS Toronto TradeShowAdmission: $15 beforeApril 24 Conference;Variousratespackages.

Contact: MultimediaTradeShows Inc. http: //www.newmedia.ca

Nl NN

Toronto

appoints GM

Apple adds vice-president

4

IIL SerethettaaaSeataat SeeeathNe,

lh r aata

iTL hatileta

ISaaagotaoat hatNIener Contact: PinkElejhahtg http: //www.plnkelephant.corn '

-

, ='>SI'

:,~

.C.'4

I

Cetatlaaeaatah

Toronto http: //www.oomdexeornn

CIIMSAaaaat liafle Show

aati Coatoraaee Toronto 905-338-9030 http: //www.interdoc,ce http: //www,cilms.ca

4

Bu youharaanupaaming

Oe

ilaladin CCI/I/raCalandait-

•

)

http: //www.newmedie.ca

cent you' dleek/ aaa.

E-nrall: clrrOI@.ca

o

i

e

•

rrttp//wwwccwmag.corn

April 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 61

Canada's Software Industry Still Strong, Despite Shifh Report from Branham

by Leslie Arrand and Margery Leach Canada's software industry showed strong growth in 1997, in spite of disappointing results for some industry players.

Branham Group Inc. recently published the Branham200 profile of the Canadian software industry, which annually summarizes the performance of the top 100 independent

s oftware Canadian companies i n t h e Financial Post Magazine. The top 100 companies are ranked based on their annual revenues. This year's listing shows some significant shifts within the sector, but continues to demonstrate the l asting overall strength, to date, of our indigenous software industry.

Canada's i n d ustry managed t o wi t h stand some high-profile beatings, and showed impressive growth nonetheless in 1997. For example, the top 100 software companies combined employ roughly 17,000 people worldwide.

The industry shows a solid 35 percentjump over the previous year's revenues, with the top 100 companies reporting combined revenues of more than $2.5 billion.

The sector continues to be dominated by a few key players. According to this year's ranking, the top 10 companies are responsible for

62 per cent of the aggregate revenues generated by the top 100 companies. Furthermore, the top five companies alone account for almost half the total revenues! This has been a consistent and growing trend over the years.

To put these figures into some perspective, this year's top performer — Geac Computer Corp. Ltd.— generated almost $380 million, while the company in 11th positionHyprotech Ltd. — generated $40 million, and t he company in 100th position — ZI M Technologies International Inc. — generated $2.5 million. These statistics seem to characterize a young industry with a lot of growth ahead ofit,but there are no guarantees. We will no doubt continue to see major shifts, and 1998 may indeed test the Canadian software industry's ability to stand the test of time. ICC W I Leslie Arrand and Margery Leach are consultants arThe Branham Group Inc. in O ttawa (httpillwww.branham.ca) — a n international marketing and management consulting firm with a stated commitment toi "Delivering Competitive Advantage to the IT Industry." Phone: (613) 745-2282; or fax: (613) 745-4990.

R ea d e r P o l l

Last issue, we asked:

Netscape Communications Corp. announced Communicator 4.04 is now available to users free of charge. Moreover, the source code for the next version of the software — Netscape Communicator Developer Edition 5.0 — will be made available to the Internet community.

What impact will this have on Netscape's eventual position in the market-place?

You said: 6/ Netscape's strategy should help the company keep its position as a solid leader in gO/ IU In ternet browsers and Web technology.

I '

I

sI'

I

II •

•

i •

This helps Netscape's positioning against Microsoft's free Internet Explorer, but it SO/ 0/o IO remains to be seen what long-term effect the move will have.

Netscape is in significant danger of losing its leading role in Web technology to p3O/ OL Ie Mi crosoft, regardless of this action.

This issue: There's a lot of activity these days in the handheld space. Apple revealed it stopped development on the Newton OS. 3Com has announced the next evolution of its handheld — the Palm III; and meanwhile Windows CE manufacturers have been busy rolling out the next generation of their products, often featuring color screens and bigger keyboards.

Our question to you: What do you see as the most likely scenario a year from now?

3Com's Palm device will be by far the leader in the category, in terms of revenue and unit share.

Windows CE handhelds will come into their own in the next year, and market acceptance will happen in a big way.

Some other next-generation handheld product will emerge and will be on its way to capturing the market.

Handhelds will be a fairly insignificant market category.

62

CA N A D IAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER April 1998 ht tpt/wean.ccwmagcom

Log into our Web site:

http://www.ccwmag.corn, E-mail:ccw@tcp.ca, orsend yourresponses, and comments,by fax,to:

(604) 608-2686

PrintPartner Laser Printers w ww .f uj i t s u . c a

• 1st Year FREE Warranty Plus

exchange program • 3 models to choose from

10V/14V/14ADV • F ujitsu Mark Vision'™ Software • 18 month warranty parts A labour

• 10 ppm-10V/14 ppm-14V R 14 ADV • T rue 600 dpi, 1200 dpi class

• 3 MB RAM 10V/14V 11 MB RAM 14 ADV

I

Rl :

• LCD panel display Fujitsu PrintPartner laser printers are packed with extra value — inside and out. We' re so confident of these printers, they carry one of the best

warranties in the business; with a long 18-month limited warranty and F REE first y ear W a r r a nt y P lu s on-site replacement program .

Also

included is Fujitsu MarkVision™ administration software, that enables remote monitoring and control of networked or stand-alone printers.

On the outside, you' ll appreciate features like our easy-to-use front panel LCD display.

For more information, call Pro-Data today.

S erving Western C a n a d a Visit Pro-Data on the World Wide Web www.pro-data.corn MAN./SABK.

ALBERTA

C 0 N T A C T: B .C. VANCOUVER

PHDNE:(604) 913-1588

FAX;(604)925.305 7

CALGARY

EDMONTON

PHDNE:(403) 250-8881

PHDNE:(403) 413-8210

FAX:(403)250-7706

FAL(403) 413-8212

WINNIPEG

PHDIIE(204) 2314590

FAx: (204) 231-0480

Out of Town Dealers call 1-800-567-3274

L I?i,) 'r» 1 a •

•

) Xrl r , t i ) L ' Ll )LL ) ) •

~

•

) rid»

•

IL i)t, it)() ti ,i )

C r »t ii

'X)<)CC '" •

•

•

1 11 )L)r,i » C L( I r » 1

C ti r ) »

rli „ rt,i) i u iit i r ) I u » I),ir) L' L I) u i)i» I L c, « 1 1'11L 1(i ( ri

X L' it)i)I c ) it) ) i t ) i I'u l l ( i i i

))i»

, ») L I r .i u ))i i i "

Nr) ' j,

/

) ) ) iL

I

'cd:

/ S (L I ) i i L

I?1,1 uii ). uu

»ii)tl i l u i

C , l il

u'»1) ~ L C ) » l u

L

' ' )) » I I L' I L ) 1 .1 LI

r»i(it)i ) ' "

. f ' r . , t t( i i c

a" 111('iirl r ) I L

, j" .

~,lr)it, ii , )I u » I I ) 3 i , i I I i i ( i i i ' I 1 ) '? i i i C I 1 i , 1 t ) ))

c iii)l t ' » t L'(I u » Ii , i i i ( )) )ti, i i ) ,i l

l i r L )i )i i ) i 5 13 I)ti h

lLL ',(.

u L . ) ) t i « 1 L , it 1 I S ( ? ') I )) ) I

rl C (Il L ilr.'Ll

»

.1 I I , I 1 1 i I L 1 L 1 I L L: L

I

•

hA) c ');I. I C .))tl ) I ) ' u

L

u) » 1 1 ) » r'c 4 Lc)» 1r

111111(i I 1(. I ill »1

) it I)L L L

,ii)LI ))ic( i • i( iii u l i

( IL1 6 ' r Llr » I I) u I I I).it (I c r))L:)I i())i

.')LL I ») L

11.1 u r » 1 i ) L'u i

C Liu)il ' i l i ,t t rl ' r)tu.il)r») » ) i ) t ) it) u,i r C It)i ' '

N L '))tr('

L , ) i i i ) )) i t ) t ) r ' i i l I ) t u l , i l ( I i i . i l i l L L ) i » I ( l l

it ru i » i it ) LIL' 1 . 1 ,) i i(I I i( ) ir 'i( r' ) ) It

*L

»i r ) IIC1

u'.)it,) » I r'

•

•

L

•

•

•

•

•II

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

I I

•

•

•

•

•

•

a

•

0

.~

O »

I

• •

a

0

0

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

EXCELLENCE FC)R ALL THE WOnLD TO SEE