Posted on: Monday, October 1, 2001
Tech Tips
USB 2.0 new, better to connect
Advertiser Staff and Wire Services
USB 2.0 is a new and better way to plug devices into a personal computer — one of those dry technical improvements that's worth understanding because it will make life just a little bit easier.
PCs by themselves aren't especially useful. Almost all their value comes from things we connect to them, such as phone lines or network cables for reaching the Internet, printers, speakers, digital cameras and much more.
The original version of the Universal Serial Bus, known as USB 1.1, started appearing about four years ago. USB ports are now universal on new Windows and Macintosh computers.
USB was a huge improvement from what came before, especially the slow and unreliable serial and parallel ports on Windows PCs. All kinds of devices — from printers and keyboards to digital cameras and MP3 players — are easier to install and run faster with USB.
USB 1.1 moves data back and forth as fast as 12 megabits per second (Mbps). That's more than enough for many devices, but some — such as scanners, camcorders, external hard drives and external CD drives — benefit greatly from more speed.
So an industry group called the USB Implementers Forum (www.usb.org) has created USB 2.0 as a second-generation standard. USB 2.0 is 40 times faster than its predecessor and is capable of moving data at a blinding 480 Mbps.
The first new PCs equipped with USB 2.0 will probably arrive late this year, although USB 2.0 won't be common on new machines until the middle of next year. USB 2.0 add-in cards — a circuit board with USB 2.0 ports that users install in an existing PC — are now available from several vendors for about $50.
Mac OS X 10.1 fast, elegant
Apple Computer's just-released new operating system, Mac OS X 10.1, aims to turn your computer into a digital hub that makes downloading, editing, displaying and sharing digital pictures, video and music as simple as plugging a device into the computer.
Not just any computer, of course, but a Macintosh.
The company says OS X 10.1 is its most sweeping upgrade yet, a claim also being made by Microsoft over its much-hyped Windows XP upgrade set to officially go on sale Oct. 25.
The Apple upgrade will cost $129.
What Mac users get with the upgrade is an elegant and very fast operating system that takes Apple's famed intuitiveness and uncluttered plug-and-play reliability to new heights. OS X 10.1 uses a new interface dubbed Aqua, which uses color, transparency and animation to control the way screen windows open and close.
Apple says most applications will open two to three times faster with OS X 10.1.
Samsung thinks thin screen
If you've ever considered clearing your desktop of that clunky CRT monitor, Samsung beckons with one of the lowest-priced thin screens to hit the market.
At $899 ($849 with a $50 rebate), Samsung emphasizes that model 760vTFT is "entry level." In product speak, that usually means "expect less-than-perfect performance." But we found no sign of dead pixel zones.
In fact, at its optimal resolution setting of 1280 X 1024, images are sharp and colors seem vibrant. The eye-straining flicker of many CRT monitors is nonexistent. And the screen remains remarkably free of distortion when viewed at an angle. But using the 760vTFT alongside an upper-end CRT reveals some lack of depth in the Samsung's color.
