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WINNER
IBMs ThinkPad T Series
With the ThinkPad T Series, IBM reminded Excellence judges why the company is a leader in portable technology. Armed with the Active Protection System—an integrated motion sensor that monitors the systems hard drive to prevent some hard drive crashes when a fall occurs—the ThinkPad can lower support and help desk costs while keeping data safe.
“While other vendors look for physical means to shock-protect their hard disks, IBM uses a combination of drives, firmware and software to accomplish a higher level of disk protection,” said one eWEEK Corporate Partner and Excellence Awards judge.
The T41 weighs 4.5 pounds and is a mere 1 inch thick, but there is nothing lightweight about this notebook. The T41 can carry as much as 2GB of synchronous dynamic RAM, and enterprises can choose a 20GB, 40GB or 60GB hard drive.
IBM won additional praise from judges with its innovation in other technologies included in the T41. For example, Intel Corp.s Centrino mobile technology is easily managed with IBMs proprietary Access Connections, a single interface that easily shifts with connectivity in home, office and remote locations.
IBMs Rapid Restore Ultra recovery technology also impressed judges with its ability to recover and restore previously saved versions of lost data, applications and operating systems.
FINALISTS
PalmOne Inc.s Treo 600 Smart Phone
PalmOnes Treo 600 wowed judges with its winning combination of PDA, cell phone and e-mail in one device. In fact, the Treo 600 was so impressive that judges had a hard time denying the handheld the Excellence Award in this category.
“The Treo 600 is nearly perfect in combining the features of a PDA and a cell phone into one ergonomic device that is usable in real life,” said one eWEEK Corporate Partner and Excellence Awards judge.
With included software such as remote Outlook Sync and Documents To Go for viewing Microsoft Corp. Office files, and hardware additions such as an SD/MMC slot, the Treo 600 is powerful enough to persuade even the most die-hard road warriors to leave their laptops behind.
Acer America Corp.s TravelMate C300
The TravelMate C300s combination of a large screen and fast processor at a competitive price made Acers Tablet PC a finalist in this years Excellence Awards. The C300 continues Acers top-flight Excellence presence: Last year, the companys C100 was the category winner.
With a 14-inch screen, this convertible Tablet PC can serve as a mobile solution and a desktop replacement system.
Judges were most impressed with the C300s integrated light sensor, which automatically adjusts screen brightness based on available ambient light and remembers those settings for the next time a similar lighting condition occurs.
Excellence Awards Winners and Finalists:
- Analytics & Reporting
- Application & Web Services Development
- Customer Relationship Management
- Portals & Knowledge Management
- Desktop & Handheld Hardware
- e-Business Foundations
- Enterprise Collaboration & Messaging
- Enterprise Storage
- IT Quality Assurance Tools
- Personal Productivity
- Server Hardware
- Networking & Management Tools
- Networking Infrastructure
- Authentication & User Management
- Enterprise Resource Protection