Kingston
U3 DataTraveler: $74.99
www.kingston.com

Believe it or not, the differences between USB flash drives are
more than just skin deep. Having a five-year warranty helps. Having real-world performance numbers that consistently outpace the advertised 3 MB/sec write times by at least 20% is even better. But the best thing about this new, deceptively plain-looking Kingston model is the utility of its integrated U3 software.

U3 is essentially an application platform on a stick. When you plug in the Kingston U3 DataTraveler, a system tray icon appears that can launch the U3 Launchpad and any installed U3-compatible applications. These range from photo editors to office apps to games. U3 works under any Windows 2000 or XP system, so all the user needs to do is whip out his DataTraveler and instantly all of his regular mobile software and files are available. Adding more U3 applications through U3's site (www.u3.com) is a cinch, and Kingston gets buyers started with a password manager, photo manager, and digital magazine viewer.

Those who tote a laptop around everywhere won't likely see the value of this DataTraveler, but anyone who regularly hops between PCs, such as students flitting between computer labs, will find this product quick, spacious, well-priced, and immensely convenient.

Wintec Industries
Pegasus ADD2 Card: $24
www.wintecind.com

Motherboards with integrated graphics give resellers an inexpensive option for building capable white boxes without the added cost of a discrete 3D accelerator. Unfortunately, while many integrated graphics solutions have the logic needed to enable extra connectivity, there isn't enough real estate on a motherboard's backplane to expose VGA, DVI, and TV outputs. Consequently, most platforms just give you VGA—a definite disappointment to image quality buffs.

Wintec's Pegasus ADD2 card helps put built-in controllers on par with discrete alternatives for a fraction of the price. Just over $20 buys a PCI Express x16 board with two DVI outputs that drive independent video signals. For the sake of compatibility, you'll want to use the card on Intel 915G/945G/965G-based motherboards.

NEC
19" LCD1990SXi: $849.99
www.necdisplay.com

I can recognize good music when I hear it, but that doesn't mean I
can perform it. Similarly, I may know how to make LCD screen property adjustments, but that doesn't mean I can optimize them. NEC's new and remarkable 90 series of LCD monitors remove much of the guesswork from panel configuration, using color and brightness measurements taken at the factory from hundreds of points across the screen to assemble a profile unique to each screen. This creates a profile unique to each panel that is burned into the device's hardware and coordinated against gray levels to deliver the most perfect output possible. I'd never been aware of these regional LCD variances before, but when I set the LCD1990SXi up against my Samsung SyncMaster 930B, the benefits of NEC's "ColorComp" in delivering color and luminance uniformity was noticeable.

NEC even throws in the kitchen sink here. The "i" models within the 90 series use in-plane switching for superior color reproduction and minimal tone shifting as you move your viewing perspective away from center. True blacks and whites are hard to achieve with LCD, but you can usually do it by sacrificing color performance through the mid ranges. The LCD1990SXi simply looks stunning from black to white and all points in between, and the ambient light monitoring does an excellent job of dynamically adjusting the backlight levels according to day/night conditions. Typical specs include 270 cd/m2 brightness, 600:1 contrast ratio, 1280 x 1024 resolution (the 20" steps into 1600 x 1280), and an 18 ms refresh time. This last point may sound slow in an age where 8 ms and less is considered cutting edge for gaming and video. However, since this is a business panel, not a gamer's display, I didn't bother to test gaming performance, but NEC's RapidMotion technology, which side-steps the frame buffer for video playback, delivered impeccably sharp results across several DVD, DivX, and AVI tests.

There are so many more benefits with the 90 series, but two of my favorites are the dual-orientation on-screen control buttons (the panel automatically switches the active buttons along with the on-screen text orientation according to gravitational direction as the panel pivots from portrait to landscape) and the quick-release capability from the height-adjustable stand for easy moving between desktop and wall-mount arms. NEC backs all of this with a remarkable four-year parts and labor warranty, including on the backlight.

Adaptec
GameBridge TV: $99
www.adaptec.com

College dorms aren't known for their spacious layouts.
Neither are apartments. If you're looking to sell the ideas of consolidation and saving money, check out Adaptec's GameBridge TV product, which lets you ditch the television entirely to play game consoles and watch TV programming on a PC.

Connecting the GameBridge is a piece of cake. It interfaces with your customer's computer through a USB 2.0 link, while standard A/V links facilitate communication with a console and an external interface attaches to a cable or antenna output. Understanding that many of today's most popular games involve lots of fast action, Adaptec optimized the GameBridge for the best possible response time. The display pipeline is also augmented by means of a 1024x768 native output resolution. Adaptec claims that'll help clean up image quality on a monitor versus lower-res televisions.

An on-screen control panel enables PVR functionality, even when your customer is playing a PS2, Xbox 360, or GameCube. He's able to record complete videos of a difficult level or just take screenshots as proof of a high score. Of course, the integrated TV tuner can also be used to save a favorite show.

The diminutive device is only 2.6" long, 1.7" wide, and less than an inch thick. It's able to run off of the power from a USB port and includes a remote control for the 10-foot user experience. Moreover, at $99, Adaptec's GameBridge can be a real money-saver for the space-strapped customer who would otherwise be buying a PC and TV.