Pings & Packets from eWEEK Labs

Talk all you want about the new features packed in Lenovos ThinkPad Z60t, but the first thing everyone wants to know is: How does a ThinkPad look in silver?

Released last month, the Z60t is the first ThinkPad to offer users a choice of a black or special-edition titanium cover. ThinkPad purists will probably find the titanium cover to be unnatural, but I found that color isnt the only thing that makes the Z60t stand out. Priced starting at $1,099, the 14-inch Z60t is the first ThinkPad with a wide-screen display and the first notebook from Lenovo equipped with an integrated WAN.

Powered by an Intel Pentium M processor, the Z60t can support as much as 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 100GB hard drive. At 1.1 inches thick and 4.2 pounds, the notebook is also armed with a slew of wireless technologies, including Lenovos 802.11 a/b/g chip set and Bluetooth capabilities. However, IT managers should keep in mind that the Z60t, unlike all previous ThinkPads, cannot be powered using an existing ThinkPad adapter.

The Z60t and its sibling, the Z60m, are also the first ThinkPad notebooks to offer a built-in EvDO (Evolution Data Optimized) wireless WAN antenna, which provides broadbandlike speeds over the Verizon Wireless network. Subscription to the service is $80 per month for data-only customers or $60 for current Verizon Wireless voice customers.

Lenovo plans to support additional carriers in the future, company officials said.

Although Lenovo has replaced the blue Access IBM button with a blue ThinkVantage button, the Z60t has several IBM features, including Rescue and Recovery, Active Protection System and Access Connections. Lenovo has also added handy new functions such as the ability to schedule disk defrags when youre away from your laptop and to restore your system without losing system settings.

More information can be found at www.lenovo.com.

--Anne Chen

Simple Glance Has Its Advantages

Web conferencing service provider Glance Networks takes a different approach to Web conferencing than do typical applications: Glance offers a very limited feature set.

I liked the simplicity of Glance, although some people may not be entirely comfortable with the dearth of features. All Glance does is share the presenters screen—I didnt have to worry about uploading slides in advance of a presentation or manage which applications I shared when in a session.

Version 2.0 of Glance, which launched last month, is comparatively inexpensive. It costs $50 per named user per month or $500 per year for the personal edition. Corporate accounts cost $119 per month and $1,199 per year for the ability to host a session, with additional concurrent sessions costing $99 per month. Each session supports as many as 15 attendees.

Glance sessions occur in real time—that is, I wasnt able to schedule one. However, starting a session is far easier than with any other Web conferencing application Ive tested. I just provided a URL and a four-digit code for users to join a meeting.

The one thing I missed was integration with a voice conferencing provider, because having the ability to send dialing instructions to participants would be nice. The Java-based application does have a tool for managing some basic settings that sits in the notification area of the task bar. That tool allowed me to start, suspend and stop screen sharing, as well as manage some server-based account settings.

For more information, take a look at www.glance.net.

Lenovos recently released ThinkPad Z60t comes in titanium.

--Michael Caton

Rocstor Locks Down Data—Twice

With data theft and privacy concerns on the rise, data encryption is a necessity for all businesses, not just the big guys.

Products like Rocstors Rocbit 2 family of encrypted external hard drives can ensure that business travelers data is secure, even if the drive is stolen.

Prices for the Rocbit 2 drives, which are available now, start at $129. The drives work with Windows- and Mac OS X-based computers.

The Rocbit 2A, which I tested, is a lightweight, 2.5-inch external hard drive that can support 128-bit Triple DES encryption or 192-bit hardware encryption, both of which should be enough to deter most common thieves from gaining access to data stored on those drives.

All Rocbit 2 drives come with two hardware keys (one of which must be inserted into the drive) that control access to the drives contents. The Rocbit 2 devices real-time encryption ensures that data is constantly protected as it is written to the drive.

The Rocbit 2A drive comes with both USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 ports, as well as 40GB or 100GB capacity. The Rocbit 2A was easy to use, but unlike the LaCie Safe drive I recently tested, when using the Rocbit 2As USB 2.0 port, I had to use an additional power supply to power the drive.

For more information, go to www.rocstor.com.

--Henry Baltazar