These chips represent a shrinking in size of the circuits that conduct electricity from 90 nanometers to 62. This new technology “stretches electron grid patterns, letting them flow faster and with less resistance, allowing the silicon atoms to switch faster.” The 65 nanometer chips will allow the chip size of existing designs to be cut in half. This will reduce cost and power usage. Intel expects to further reduce the size of the circuits in its chips from 65 nanometers to 45 nanometers by 2007 and from 45 nanometers to 32 nanometers by 2009. Hopefully these technology advances will enable your notebook to do a great deal more without increasing the size (or price). I haven’t heard of any specific improvements from this technology as yet, however, when I do hear of some I will pass the information on.

Speaking of Intel, the company is now leaning toward 802.11 for your WLAN with a tri-mode version of their Centrino mobile chip set. Called the Intel Pro/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection, the module supports 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g (I wonder what happened to c, d, e and f?). Both IBM and Hewlett-Packard plan to offer the tri-mode Centrino in future notebooks. Intel has also made a compatibility partnership with Linksys and Centrino notebooks will be able to “locate an unconfigured Linksys access point and guide users through configuration.

Micro Solutions is now shipping the LockBox external drive. This device comes in 80 Gigabyte, 120 Gigabyte, and 200 Gigabyte models at $199, $249 and $299 respectively. Besides the sizes, the distinctive feature of this drive is that it needs your fingerprint to be accessed.

Check out the Targus Rewriteable DVD±RW Slim External Drive (I hope that it’s smaller than its name) at www.targus.com. This USB 2.0 high-speed drive connects to your USB port and draws power from the port. No additional drivers are needed and you can connect and disconnect without rebooting your system. Check their web site for more information.

Computer Shoppers’ August 2004 issue has their Editors pocks for the top 5 desktop replacement notebooks. In this category they have the ABS Mayhem G1 (www.abspc.com) at $1,936, with: a 3.06 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4; 1 Gigabyte of DDR RAM; an 80 Gigabyte hard drive; a DVD+RW drive; a 15.4 inch TFT screen and a weight of 7.8 pounds. The Acer Aspire 2000 (www.acer.com/us) selling for $1,799 with: a 1.66 Gigahertz Intel Pentium M processor; 512 MB of DDR RAM; a 60 Gigabyte hard drive; a DVD-RW drive; a 15.4 inch TFT screen and weighing 6.6 pounds. The HP Pavilion ZV5000z (www.hp.com) selling for $1,577 with: a 2.0 Gigahertz Athlon 64 3200 processor; 512 MB of DDR RAM; an 80 Gigabyte hard drive; a DVD/CD-RW drive; a 15.4 inch TFT screen and weighing 8.7 pounds. The Toshiba Satellite A45-S250 (www.toshiba.com) selling for $1,549 with: a 2.8 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor; 512 MB of DDR RAM; a 60 Gigabyte hard drive; a DVD±RW drive; a 15 inch TFT screen and weighing 7.7 pounds. The Hypersonic Aviator AX6 (www.hypersonic-pc.com) selling for $2,572 with: a 2.0 Gigahertz Athlon 64 3200 processor; 512 MB of DDR RAM; a 60 Gigabyte hard drive; a DVD-RW drive; a 15 inch TFT screen and weighing 8.4 pounds. The Editors’ choice is a tie between the ABS Mayhem G1 and the Acer Aspire 2000. The Hypersonic Aviator AX6 came in last.

Also in the August issue of Computer Shopper is an evaluation (rating) of computer stores. Rated by the magazine were The Apple Store, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry’s Electronics, Office Depot and Staples. Evaluations were based on the selection of computers available and the knowledge and helpfulness of the sales staff. Rated best (A) was The Apple Store and rated lowest was CompUSA (C). Circuit City and Fry’s Electronics both received a B while Office Depot received a B-. Both Best Buy and Staples received a B+. CompUSA received the C. What I find interesting is that I have never found a sales person in the two times that I have been to Fry’s and I don’t even know where there is a Staples store in Houston. Curiously, Micro Center wasn’t included in this comparison. I’ll bet it wasn’t done in the Houston area.

Chuck Horowitz, a HAL-PC member, can be reached at chuckh@hal-pc.org for questions or comments.