Verdicts on the Latest and Greatest Technology

What's hot these days in personal computing technology? What's merely hyped? With the caveat that this is at least somewhat subjective, here's a rundown of some of the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos and gewgaws, along with a recommendation of which items are worth you opening your wallet.

•  CPUs
A superfast central processing unit can speed up processor-intensive tasks such as digitizing music or video. The latest chips from Intel, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and Motorola that I've tested deliver smaller improvements in such common activities as word processing and surfing the Web.
When buying a new computer, it's most cost-effective to opt for the "sweet spot" — a CPU one to three notches down from the top of the line — unless you absolutely need the slightly increased performance of the very fastest chips.
Verdict: Qualified thumbs up.

•  Rewritable DVD drive
Rewritable optical drives are replacing other auxiliary storage media, including Zip and Jaz drives and in some cases tape backup drives.
CD-RW drives have dropped in price lately, the cost of the discs on a per-megabyte basis is less than other storage media, and unlike with tape backup drives, your data is quickly accessible. Those I've looked at are terrific for backing up data and burning audio CDs.
The just released DVD+RW drives have seven to eight times the capacity as CD-RW drives and are faster than their predecessors, DVD-RW drives. They can do everything CD-RW drives do plus store business videos or home movies. I'm now testing a Hewlett-Packard DVD100i.
Verdict: Thumbs up.

•  Flat monitor
There are two different types of flat monitors: flat-panel displays (also called LCDs or liquid-crystal displays), and flat-screen monitors (also called flat-screen CRTs or cathode-ray tubes).
Flat-panel displays are thin screens commonly used with portable computers but lately available for desktop PCs as well. They take up less space and use less energy than their clunkier counterparts.
Flat-screen monitors, on the other hand, are the same TV-like screens that have traditionally come with desktop PCs, only their screens are flat and produce less glare and distortion than traditional curved screens.
Apple Computer once again pushed the technology envelope by recently announcing new iMacs that resemble desk lamps, with a flat-panel display attached to a small round base. The attractive futuristic-looking devices, which should be available shortly, are as much fashion statements as computing devices.
I was impressed with the flat panels from NEC and ViewSonic I've evaluated, though color fidelity wasn't as precise as with CRT monitors, which is typical. I've also been impressed with the flat-screen CRTs I've looked at, including one I'm testing now from HP, though as with LCDs you pay a premium for them.
Verdict: Qualified thumbs up.