Owners appreciate convenience of laptops

Owners appreciate convenience of laptops

Latest PC Card expands power of smaller computers

By Tatiana Botton

Good things really do come in small packages.

Or that’s what computer experts at Comdex, the biggest computer
convention in the world held late last month in Las Vegas,
confirmed when they said present technology is ready to make laptop
computers just as powerful as desktop machines.

The convention attracted 2,000 attendees, including computer
technicians from UCLA and specialists from around the world. One of
the things almost everyone agreed upon is that the new Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association ­ or PC Card
­ is the key behind the laptop computer’s growing power. The
association has developed the standards for personal computer
cards.

The PC Card is a small form-factor adapter for personal
computers or other electronic devices, such as speech synthesizers,
hard disks and fax modems.

"Everything is getting smaller and more powerful. We are talking
about 32 Megabytes of RAM (random access memory), in this little
box," said Guido Grimaldi, the assistant coordinator of the
disabilities and computing program in the university microcomputer
support office.

"There is no reason for anyone to purchase a desktop computer
anymore. It’s a big mistake to buy a desktop," Grimaldi said.

PC Cards, which used to measure anywhere from four to 12 inches,
are now the size of business cards. Their price varies from $100 to
$500, while the cost of new laptops varies from $3,000 to $7,000,
Grimaldi said.

Despite their increasing popularity, laptops are pricey ­
about two or more times the cost of a desktop computer.

"We are talking about leading-edge type equipment, and the price
is still very high. Students will (pay) $250 for laptop equipment
when they can pay $50 for the (same) desktop equipment," said David
Chien, a computer technician from the Student Affairs Office.

Even if the prices are high, many people are willing to pay
because they need the leading-edge technology shown at Comdex.

"For the disabled community, personal computers are the solution
to all their problems" Grimaldi said.

About a year ago, if a disabled person wanted a voice
recognition program, they needed to have a desktop computer or a
big machine to use things like speech synthesizers. They could also
have a laptop that was fixed up to work with an internal speech
synthesizer, but then the speech synthesizer occupied the space for
a modem, Grimaldi explained.

And only special laptops were fit to handle the extra equipment,
Grimaldi added.

But today, the PC Card allows people to plug all the same
electronic devices into their small laptop.

Larry Pierce, a staff member at the Americans with Disabilities
Act and 504 Compliance office ­ the campus agency that
prevents discrimination against disabled persons ­ said he is
now going to buy one of the powerful laptops.

Pierce lives with a gradual degeneration of muscle strength and
he is bound to a motorized wheel chair with a head rest and layback
system. He uses a voice recognition program that allows him to
speak into a microphone linked to his computer instead of
typing.

"For myself, when it’s raining, it’s impossible to come to work
at UCLA. Now I will be able to do the same work at home," he
said.

Laptop computers allow users the freedom to move and do their
work anywhere.

"The individual bound to a wheelchair, who needs to use a voice
recognition program, now can have a laptop mounted on their
wheel-chair," Grimaldi said.

And disabled people can now do voice recognition on a laptop
that was not available three weeks ago, Grimaldi explained.

Students also agree that laptop computers are helpful because
they can bring their computers on campus, to the library or coffee
houses without having to go back home and type all the work on
their desktop computers.

Nadia Maria Davis, a 1993 law school graduate, said she borrows
her father’s laptop because she’s always working and consistently
needs a computer.

"I like to use it at coffee houses," Davis said.

Convenience was one of the major factors that encouraged
students to buy laptops, they said.

"It is a lot easier to take it to the library and do the
research or work there" said undeclared sophomore Lisa Garcia,
adding that she already has a desktop computer but just bought a
new laptop.

"The capabilities of a desktop and laptop are pretty much the
same, the only thing is that the laptop is much more versatile,"
Garcia said.

Students that commute also need to have a work instrument that
they can take home and then take back to school, they said.

Henry Chang, a third-year biology student, has a desktop
computer at his family home, but he owns a laptop computer,
too.

"Laptop computers are very convenient. I can go home on weekends
and use my family desktop and then use my notebook when I come to
UCLA," Chang said.

But even if laptops seem to be the most useful type of
computers, engineers, scientists, architects and designers work on
desktop computers because they need the big screen that comes with
it.

Technology is progressing so fast, Chien explained, that in six
months, people will be able to buy a laptop computer twice as fast
as the one they already have for the same price.

All the new laptops come with at least one PC Card socket. The
more expensive laptops may have as many as three sockets. However,
current Macintosh computer laptops in the 500 series don’t have a
PC card socket, though they come with an option to use them through
external devices.

Before this progress, members of the UCLA disabled community had
to come to school and do their work in the computer lab. Now they
can check out laptops, speech synthesizers and any other computer
equipment and take it away from campus.

"All this is still in an experimental stage," Grimaldi said.