Digital Just Out - March 2003

EDIT, MANAGE, PRINT - WITH ONE PACKAGE

If you're overwhelmed by scads of unorganized digital photos on your PC and you're not sure how to organize, print, and share them, here's an all-in-one solution ($40, street price). Photolightning 1.0 is designed to let you easily import your image files from your digital camera, memory card, or hard drive, then preview them and choose which ones to deep six and which ones to keep. The program also features some basic editing tools that let you reduce redeye, rotate, crop photos freehand, or set frame sizes (3¼x5, 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10), correct for backlight, and more. Photolightning also lets you e-mail photos directly from the program and print them out to standard sizes using templates. For a free trial or to learn more, visit www.photolightning.com.

FASTER, LONGER ZIP BURNS

If you're doing a slow burn about your CD burner's sluggish data transfer or file archiving, take a look at Iomega's new 750MB Zip drives. Available in three varieties-USB 2.0 ($180, street), FireWire ($200, street price), and ATAPI ($150, street price)-they not only offer more storage space than a 700MB CD-R/RW but also faster speeds all around. Iomega claims the 750 Zip drive can read, write, and rewrite all at the same speeds with a maximum transfer rate of 7.5 MBps. The new 750 drive will read all Zip disks, and can write to the 250MB disks as well as the new 750MB disks. (Old Zip disks will work too, albeit at slower speeds.) The 750 Zip also features password protection for each disk to keep your files safe from prying eyes. To find out more, visit www.iomega.com.

MULTILINGUAL SLIDESHOW PROJECTOR

By now you've probably pored over a few of the new "digital slide show" units that have hit the market, but so far none have been compatible with all of your memory cards. Enter Delkin's new eFilm Picturevision ($80, street price), which lets you use CompactFlash, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Secure Digital, Multi Media, and IBM MicroDrive cards. (Only the new xD card is a no-go.) Hook it up to your TV quickly with the included AV cable and power adapter, and you're ready to play digital stills, mini MPEG movies, and MP3 files. (For better playback of MP3 files, the Picturevision can also be plugged directly into a stereo.) The included remote lets you flip through your images as well as rotate, zoom, and run an auto slide show. For a full list of features or to buy, go to www.delkin.com.