Selling peripherals does not mean throwing in a flash loss leader, although that's not a bad trick in some circumstances. The days of free surge strips impressing customers are long gone, but a free upgrade to Windows MCE with a premium remote might go a long way. This would be a smart loss leader because MCE opens the door to lots of other upsells, from external storage to upgraded speakers, and chances are good that a multimedia-savvy salesperson will recoup that loss leader expense almost instantly. Peripherals are also another great way to distinguish yourself from the big OEMs and come up with fuller end-user solutions in the process. And it's not like the OEMs are offering any huge discounts on these items. For example, in looking at the customization page on an HP m7360y PC right now, Logitech's Harmony 680 media center remote is a $139.99 option. (Dell is still asking the full retail $199 price.) Even if you couldn't score one more aggressively through distribution, you could pick the 680 up at Newegg for $115.99, sell it for HP's price, and still make 17 points.

Not to pick unduly on HP, but let's keep going. The best upgraded speaker set offered on the m7360y is Altec Lansing's VS3151, and in comparative reviews, we've almost always found that Altec SKUs are built for cosmetic appeal and undiscerning ears. All mouse and keyboard upgrades are HP house brand, and these are nothing to get excited about. Only one UPS is offered (a 500VA model), and if you want coax line protection, you need a separate $40 surge protector. Only one cheap webcam is offered, the same goes for headphones, and so on. It's like looking down a McDonald's menu in search of good steak. And this is on a media center machine, for cryin' out loud.

Obviously, an exhaustive overview of PC peripherals here is impossible. But we want to get you thinking. This is the low-hanging fruit you should pluck with every system sale, yet most resellers don't. If you're worried that you'll get undercut by online shops, realize that you can sell under retail, still retain great margin, and your customer will let you keep that margin in return for one-stop shopping plus perhaps a few minutes of your expertise in how to setup and/or use the device.

The cross-sampling below spans most major peripheral categories and vendors ranging from major channel titans to little groups you may have never seen before. All of them have unique value and exemplify the types of products you should be considering to make your PCs not just valuable but value-rich.

External Storage

Apricorn AMK-8 8G MicroKey
$199
www.apricorn.com

Without question, the gap between flash and hard disk storage in small capacities is closing, but for price per gigabyte, hard disks still win by a factor of about 2:1. And in the tiny hard drive category, our best bang for the buck pick goes to Apricorn and its 8GB MicroKey. Thanks to using a 1.0" hard drive, the MicroKey measures only 3.4" x 2.0" x 0.5" and weighs a feathery 2.5 ounces. The problem with many USB devices in this category is the size, and, sure, if you look at the MicroKey's picture, you'll wonder how on earth you're supposed to fit other USB plugs next to this unit. Solution: The MicroKey's USB plug swivels 90 degrees, so you just turn the drive while it's plugged into a PC and suddenly the thickest part of the device is the USB plug itself. Slick.

Fashioned within an aluminum alloy shell and accompanied by a tough nylon belt pouch, the MicroKey takes a formidable amount of banging and abuse. The unit is also designed to thwart interlopers courtesy of the included Cryptainer software, based on the 128-bit Blowfish algorithm. Apricorn even throws in Second Copy 2000, a data synchronization tool, just for good measure.

Targus 40GB Ultra Slim Pocket
Hard Drive
$219.99
www.targus.com/us

While hard to believe, this Targus drive packs 40GB of capacity into nearly the same footprint (3.4" x 3.0" x 0.6") and weight (3.2 ounces) as Apricorn's MicroKey—and for only $20 more! Targus uses a 1.8", 4200 RPM drive compared to Apricorn's 3600 RPM 1.0", so expect a little better performance from the Targus unit, too. In comparison, the Targus seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, its one downfall is that the USB plug stores in the drive enclosure and swivels out to a 90-degree angle perpendicular to the case. If you want to use another USB device near the Ultra Slim, you'll need to tote along the bundled USB cable.

That's the only downside. Unlike many other 40GB external drives, the Ultra Slim is 100% bus powered, so there's no need for an AC adapter. Targus also includes a copy of Retrospect Backup for easy data storage and encryption.

Seagate 500GB eSATA Pushbutton Backup Hard Drive
$TBA
www.seagate.com

We generally try to avoid discussing unreleased products, but a few we came across seemed so pertinent and persuasive that we had to include them here. Foremost among these is Seagate's eSATA Pushbutton drive, due out in April. We've written before about the Pushbutton units, about their rugged and stackable design, quiet running, and dual (USB 2.0 and 1394a) interfaces. Along with Maxtor's OneTouch series, they're our favorite external SOHO-level storage choice.

The industry-first move to an eSATA interface takes external storage to a whole new level. We've found that even the OneTouch III, Turbo Edition configured in a striped RAID 0 chokes in the bottleneck of its 1394b interface. The migration to eSATA, which runs at the same 3 Gbps speeds as today's internal SATA, is essential if external storage is to meet the performance needs of high-end users and businesses. We're happy to see Seagate filling this need first, because the Pushbutton series remains one of the friendliest and hardiest of the mainstream external options. From here on out, you might do well to advise customers to postpone their USB drive orders and pre-order the Seagate eSATA. Doing so would also let you upsell the client on an eSATA controller today.

Addonics ST4ESA Storage Tower
$135
www.addonics.com

Talk about retro. Addonics found the chassis used in FIC's old VL67 SFF barebones (the cool one with the hourglass-shaped top handle), transplanted the guts, installed new panels, changed the backplane, and turned it into a multi-bay RAID storage mini-tower. This is an ingenious arrangement that starts with four 5.25" external drive bays. Bring your own mounting brackets and you can install any combination of 3.5" hard drives and/or 5.25" optical drives. Two USB 2.0 and five eSATA ports adorn the backplane. With Addonics' appropriate USIB cable, you can convert any IDE drive into USB 2.0 at the backplane; SATA drives simply extend into eSATA ports. Install an eSATA RAID controller in the host PC, such as Addonics' ADSA3GPX1-2E ($49.95), a two-port eSATA PCI Express card that is port multiplier compatible, and suddenly you've got an easily transportable RAID tower.

But that's just the start. You might configure two SATA II drives in a RAID 0 along with two optical drives to create a high-end multimedia peripheral for video editing and burning. Options increase with more robust controllers and port multipliers. Addonics sells locking hot swap enclosures for the Storage Tower that can mount four 3.5" drives into a three-bay shell (part number 4SA) or three 3.5" drives into a two-bay shell (3SA). You could stock two 3SA enclosures and thus have six drives in the tower configured into two RAID 5s. This is the first product we've seen that really capitalizes on the promise of eSATA for small businesses and larger organization workgroups and is the best storage opportunity we've seen this side of SAS.

External Audio/Video

Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
$99.99
us.creative.com

Even if you end up never selling a Napa-based Centrino notebook—and we sure hope that's not the case—the new mobile platform may have one unanticipated side-effect. Sonoma's 915 chipset may have been the first to support HD Audio, but virtually no one took the effort or expense to take advantage of the capability, not even in higher-end multimedia notebooks meant more for desktop replacement than mobility. But when Viiv-ready, Napa notebooks start appearing soon, expect mobile HD Audio to rise in profile. And once people realize that notebooks don't have to sound like garbage, two things will happen with audiophiles: 1) Either they'll upgrade to a Napa notebook or 2) they'll want to upgrade their current notebook to rich 5.1/7.1 audio...with Creative's Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA card.

Yes, the X-Fi is a serious step up from the Audigy 2 ZS, but the prior generation technology is still a quantum leap above any other notebook audio available today. Consider that the PC Card supports 24-bit DVD-Audio as well as decoding for Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES. This turns the user's notebook into an unparalled music and movie playback powerhouse. For those who travel with headphones, the card's extended sound range can coordinate with Creative's CMSS 3D virtual surround technology as well as various noise reduction and EQ tools. Musicians will appreciate the ability to record sterling 24-bit/96 kHz audio with nothing more to carry than a laptop bag and their instruments. Between the increasing prevalence of notebook sales, the dropped price point on this card, and the sheer number of users valuing a quality sound experience, this is one peripheral that shouldn't be overlooked.

Digital Tigers SideCar Express
$1,299
www.digitaltigers.com

Many workers now need dual-monitor output, and some are even moving to triple-head output—and that's just for basic productivity, not the financial day trading so often publicized in multiple-monitor circles. But if so many people benefit from dual- and triple-monitor output at the office, wouldn't they also benefit at client sites or on the road, especially when it comes to mobile workstation applications?

Enter Digital Tigers, a company that specializes in multi-monitor systems, and the SideCar product family enables multi-head output from a single notebook. For example, the SideCar Express, the entry-level unit in the series, yields four displays under Windows XP: the notebook's own LCD, the display from the notebook's external monitor port, plus two additional screens from the SideCar's twin VGA ports. So you essentially get triple-head output to full-size analog monitors up to 2048 x 1536 each with a cloned image to the notebook's integrated display. The SideCar Express uses NVIDIA Quadro NVS graphics and interfaces to the notebook via a PC Card. Higher-end SideCars support more monitors, digital interfacing, and extended resolutions, as well as beefed-up Quadro graphics.

Logitech Wireless Music System
$149.99
www.logitech.com

Wireless digital media adapters are nothing new. Wireless digital media adapters that are brainless to set up, sound excellent, and let you keep on using your PC music jukebox software of choice are quite new. Mull through the fine print and you'll see that this device uses a Bluetooth Class 1 radio with A2DP support to achieve its rated 330-foot reception range and frequency-hopping signal clarity. The set includes a USB Bluetooth transmitter dongle (a desktop stand for the dongle is bundled), a credit card-sized remote control, and a receiver box with left and right RCA ports that run to your stereo receiver as well as a second set of player controls on the top in case the remote is out of reach...or lost in the couch. Simply install Logitech's software, plug everything in, and press Play. Your default jukebox (most major ones are supported) acts as the client UI.

It's curious that Logitech shuns using the word “Bluetooth," but there it is. If you have experience with Bluetooth and audio, then you'll understand how the Wireless Music System is able to switch between local PC playback and streaming to the Logitech receiver. Windows just changes the sound output driver selection in Control Panel's Sounds and Audio Devices settings. It's all fairly bulletproof—and that says a lot when it comes to Bluetooth. Even the pairing is done at the factory. To expand the playback network, simply add on another receiver to the piconet. For those who enjoy activities such as playing their iPod over their car stereos, the Logitech Wireless Music System should be a logical next step.

Plextor ConvertX PX-TV402U
$199
www.plextor.com

TV tuners for PCs are seemingly a dime a dozen these days. Even PVR functionality is no big deal, not with TitanTV's electronic programming guide being free and compatible with just about every sub-$50 tuner you can shake a remote control at. But an external tuner you can move from PC to PC? (RF coax, S-Video, or composite go in, USB comes out.) One that performs MPEG-1/2/4 and DivX encoding in hardware? One that supports Dolby Digital, direct-to-disc burning, and editing in MPEG-4 and DivX? Ah, well, that would be Plextor's flagship ConvertX box.

Plextor omits a DVD player application (come on, anyone who wants to do DivX work already has one), the supported DivX version is 5 not 6 (not that we could see much difference visually), and there's no provision for a 10-foot user interface. Otherwise, this is about as full-featured of a decoder/encoder appliance as you could ask short of digital cable compatibility, which only ATI has thus far announced with its new OCCUR product. Plextor's tuner isn't as cutting edge as ATI's Theater 550 Pro chip, but we were hard pressed to tell the difference between live TV and the higher bit rate MPEG-4 or DivX recordings. Until Vista comes along and opens up a new set of opportunities in the PC PVR world, this is about as enjoyable of a TV experience as you'll find anywhere on the desktop.

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