IOGEAR
Wireless USB Hub And Adapter GUWH104KIT: $199
www.iogear.com

WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY IS BIG BUSINESS. OF COURSE, THE buzz started with WiFi, which helped unify systems on a LAN by delivering up to 11 Mb/s of throughput with a max range in the hundreds of feet. Then came talk of WiMAX, officially the 802.16e standard. With a throughput of 70 Mb/s and a max range in the tens of kilometers, you’ll find an entirely different group of folks interested in WiMAX’s last-mile broadband access. Then there’s UWB, or Ultra-Wideband. Whereas WiMAX services large MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks), UWB handles the PAN, or Personal Area Network.

IOGEAR uses UWB technology as the foundation for its Wireless USB Hub and Adapter. Boasting performance numbers as high as 480 Mb/s (similar to the wired USB specification) and ranges that max out at 10 meters, you can offer a nice blend of speed and wireless freedom while connecting to devices that’d normally require a physical hookup.

Attaching devices to the hub is easy. You connect a USB dongle to a laptop or workstation. The dongle transmits to the included hub a few feet away. Plug scanners, printers, hard drives, or video equipment into the hub’s four ports. Mobile users are most likely to dig the wireless connectivity since it’s a neat alternative to docking. However, the unique ability to share peripherals through multiple host association means it also comes in handy in small offices.

Although IOGEAR compares the hub’s performance to 802.11g, don’t confuse Wireless USB and WiFi. Customers happily running wireless networks will still use Wireless USB for connecting to USB peripherals the same as anyone else. Simply, they’ll have more freedom to move beyond the imposed limits of bundled wires.

VIEWSONIC
VX1940w 19” LCD Display: $249
www.viewsonic.com

NOW THAT LCDS ARE RELATIVELY MAINSTREAM AND their prices more competitive than ever, how do you differentiate one screen from another? A lot of spec sheet bullet points are difficult to compare since vendors rate their products differently. Screen size and resolution are two attributes that you can bank on when putting LCDs side by side. Viewsonic’s VX1940w combines a very popular 19” form factor with 1680x1050 widescreen resolution. You’ll find that most other 19” displays sport 1280x1024 screens. Though 1280x1024 isn’t a shabby resolution, upping the output to 1680x1050 gives your customer an even sharper picture.

Viewsonic rates the VX1940w’s video response time at an incredibly fast 2ms. Gamers looking for a display that can keep up with CRTs of old want the lowest response times possible, and it’s hard to get much faster. Viewsonic is also particularly proud of its 4000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 300 nit brightness ratings, which the company says enhance the image quality of the brightest and darkest pictures.

Work past all of the fancy marketing and you’ll find the VX1940w to be an attractive display with a slim bezel. Support for DVI and VGA extend compatibility to digital and analog connections while the addition of Mac support addresses a growing contingent of Apple users. With an MSRP under $250, you’ll have plenty of interest in the value performer.

MSI
K9AGM2-FIH Socket AM2 Motherboard: $89
www.msicomputer.com

STABILITY MIGHT NOT BE FLASHY OR EXCITING, BUT FOR the reseller offering whiteboxes, stability means the world. When a company like AMD can guarantee you that one of its partners’ boards is stable—-and they’ll go so far as to offer advance replacement should you run into trouble with it-—you have to smile.

MSI’s K9AGM2-FIH is on AMD’s short list of AVS (AMD Validated Solutions) motherboards. In other words, buying the MSI board is a guarantee that you’re acquiring tested technology full of functionality and designed to last. Beyond MSI’s own test suite, AMD validates electrical subsystems, the BIOS, memory compatibility, I/O, and a burn-in process to test handling of heavy loads.

AMD also promises that its Validated Solutions have a baseline specification sheet that includes Windows Vista Premium readiness, a Trusted Platform Module, support for dual displays, DVI and HDMI output, an integrated 3D core, HD Audio, disk image management. The MSI board comes with all of those standard AVS features plus more. Optional Gigabit Ethernet, a software utility that takes the stress out of BIOS updating, and plenty of PCI/PCI Express connectivity spruce up the microATX platform.

Despite copious integration and a DirectX 9 engine, MSI is able to cool its K9AGM2-FIH passively using two tiny aluminum heatsinks. That’s all part of AMD’s Cool’n’Quiet initiative, which sets forth to help VARs build quieter machines. Match MSI’s K9AGM2-FIH with an AMD Athlon X2 dual-core chip sipping 45W, add a passively-cooling Radeon HD 2400 XT video card, and you’re looking at high-impact computing in near silence.

LINKSYS
ProConnect Integrated KVM 2-Port Switch: $39
www.linksys.com

I RUN TWO PCS IN MY OFFICE. One is strictly for work. It handles word processing, email, and the instant messenger apps that keep me in contact with co-workers throughout the day. The other PC stretches its legs after hours with video editing software, the DVD player, and an odd game or two. By keeping these different types of software separate, my business system rarely has any trouble with stability or security. The only inconvenience is swapping keyboards, mice, headsets, and monitors every time I switch from one machine to the other.

The obvious solution is a simple KVM. There’s no need for a complex eight-port setup, which your customer might already know from working in a rack. Rather, Linksys’ ProConnect Integrated KVM makes consolidating I/O a piece of cake. The switch consists of a compact dongle that takes a PS/2 mouse, keyboard, and analog display input. (My setup doesn’t need DVI or USB switching.) Two matching sets of connectors plug right in to the corresponding computer systems. Switching between the boxes is as easy as pressing a hot key combination or letting the automatic scan feature choose the powered-up machine.

Setup is particularly easy. There’s no software to install, and the KVM supports any plug-and-play monitor at resolutions as high as 1920x1440. The devices your customers connect are hot swappable-—even those PS/2 keyboards and mice. Linksys guarantees the KVM for a year, offering free tech support around the clock.