MICROSOFT
Office Professional 2007: $499
www.microsoft.com

SOMETIMES, IT'S EASY TO MISS UPGRADE CYCLES. THE SHIFT from Windows 98 SE to Windows ME, for example, was forgettable at best. Skipping Office 2003 after owning 2000 didn’t seem to bother many customers either. But now the latest iteration of Office is out, and it has some features that shouldn’t be skipped over.

To begin, the entire Office user interface is redesigned to help users better accomplish the authoring tasks on which they’re working. Among some of the other new features, the Office button, the Ribbon panel, contextual tabs, live formatting previews, mini toolbars, and easy-to-tweak SmartArt are most notable.

Office 2007 also saves files to a new format called OfficeXML by default. According to Microsoft, the new format is able to achieve much better compression, yielding smaller files. Unfortunately, older versions of Office don’t recognize the new extensions, so customers sticking with Office 2003 will need to download a compatibility pack and live without some new formatting features.

A bevy of collaborative tools makes this version of Office more attractive to SMBs than past solutions. Word does blogging by default. Outlook drops Exchange 5.5 support. Excel supports over a million rows in a document. The list of new features just goes on and on.

MOGO
MoGo Mouse BT: $159
www.newtonperipherals.com

HERE'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF stashing peripherals away in places nobody would expect to find them. MoGo’s Bluetooth-enabled mouse is the size of a business card. It tucks away in an available PC Card slot, where it recharges in minutes. And yet, the mouse is able to deliver two-button functionality, patent-pending optics for fluid movement, and intelligent power management to stretch battery life out as long as possible.

Obviously, ergonomics go out the window when you’re talking about such a narrow, flat peripheral. But MoGo does its best by integrating a kick-stand into the slim mouse’s base, which elevates the back end for a more natural orientation. MoGo says the mouse will work up to 30 feet away, delivering 500 dpi of resolution.

ASUS
C90 Barebones Notebook: $999
www.asus.com

HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH WITH WHITEBOOKS THAT LOOK the same? We’re all for interchangeable components to make service quick and easy, but your customers want to see some differentiation as well. ASUS’s C90 takes whitebook shells a step beyond mainstream by leveraging some heavy hitting desktop hardware.

The notebook isn’t designed around Intel’s mobile Core 2 Duo. Rather, it supports processors right up to the desktop Core 2 Extreme X6800 running at 2.93 GHz on a 1066 MHz front side bus. Two SO-DIMM memory slots accommodate 3GB of DDR2 memory running at 800 MHz. And a mobile PCI Express module from NVIDIA with an onboard GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GPU helps make up for the graphics core used in Intel’s 945G chipset.

Although the 945G is a couple of generations behind, ASUS has little trouble getting the C90 loaded down with modern functionality. Support for SATA hard drives up to 160GB, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, an eSATA storage connector, VGA output, and HD Audio are but a few of the laptop’s integrated extras. There’s also USB 2.0, TV-out through S-Video, ExpressCard 34/54, an integrated modem, 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless networking, a 2.0 megapixel camera, and memory card reader.

ASUS put a lot of engineering into the C90. Finessing all of that desktop hardware in a mobile chassis is quite the accomplishment. The company also leverages dynamic fan control and a heat pipe thermal module, which helps dissipate heat quickly. Choice of operating system is left up to the reseller, but ASUS recommends Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate, or Vista Business, since the C90’s specs are top-notch and its graphics processor is faster than you’d find in any business desktop. A gorgeous 1680x1050 15.4” WSXGA+ LCD panel enables detailed visuals, and an attractive chassis represents ASUS’s finest work yet in the channel.

BELKIN
N52te Gaming Keypad: $69
www.belkin.com

WHETHER YOU'RE TALKING about Contra on the original Nintendo or Far Cry for PCs, having the right controller layout makes a huge difference. If your customer is gaming on one of your whiteboxes, there’s a fair chance he’s using the A, S, D, and W keys on a QWERTY keyboard to move around—-hardly the purpose-built solution.

Belkin’s N52te takes PC gaming to the next level by leveraging a keypad interface without the bulk of a keyboard. The N52te is designed by Razor, and ergonomics are top priority. A curved palm rest prevents wrist strain during long periods of use, and the onboard keys are angled to more naturally accommodate your customer’s fingers.

Each key on the pad can be mapped, so that it performs whichever job is deemed most important. Moreover, portable profiles facilitate easy transitions from the latest shooter to a favorite flight simulator. The pad’s 15 keys are backlit for easier late-night gaming. A programmable eight-way thumb pad and removable joystick bridge the gap somewhat between blasé PC peripherals and fancy console hardware. Tagged with an MSRP just under $70, the N52te is premium gear. When winning is everything though, that’s a small price to pay.