By David Ponce

Having meetings, I’m told, is kind of important. So I’m all for having them, but I’m also against a few vestiges from the old world, like paper. It just doesn’t make much sense to have a couple of people meeting and be passing sheets of paper to one another. Or turning your laptop around to show your point. Or even to unplug your laptop from the projector so the guy next to you can use it. It’s an archaic way of doing things and there is a better solution. The Media:Scape from Steelcase is a fancy KVM-type switch. The white box contains four AC plugs, and four cables that attach to laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc. Each cable features a touch sensitive pod (which they call a Puck) and the idea is that by touching your pod, you take control of the connected screen. This way the meeting can proceed smoothly with everyone being able to demonstrate on a common screen whatever it is they want. It’s quick, convenient and greatly improves workflow. But it’s not cheap.

The 4 plug version, which will be available in February, costs $6k to $7k. There is a larger 8 plug version that comes integrated into its own table, but that’s somewhere around $12k to $14k. But heym if your company has the cheddar, it’s definitely a cool way to conduct meetings.

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By David Ponce

WWe;ve been running the DOTD column for seeveral months now and it’s starting to look like a pattern is appearing, one where mostly laptops and desktops are featured with a few HDTVs thrown in for good measure. But today it’s a small exception, as you’re looking at the Dell 2150cn, a color laser printer. It’s normally $350 but today it’s $235. The 2150cn prints up to 24 pages per minute at 600 X 600dp and has a 40,000 monthly duty cycle, 400 MHz processor, 256MB RAM and… well, it’s a good printer and it’s pretty cheap now. Free shipping as usual, so grab it while it’s hot.

[ Save $115 On Dell 2150cn Color Printer ]

By David Ponce

Kids get bored, and when they get bored they like to play with whatever is within their reach. That’s often going to be your electronics, and you know there’s nothing quite like starting the day by discovering a drool covered iPad with a cracked screen. Better to keep the little ones entertained with a decoy device, one that actually does something cool, like the Kid-Tough Portable DVR from Fisher Price. It’s a bit more than a DVR, since it’s capable of playing back whatever it records through its 3.5inch screen and stereo speakers (or headphones jack if you value your ears). And the recording is done by connecting it to your TV via composite connection. We’re not talking high quality stuff here, but I doubt your 3 year old will complain that he can’t see all of Katie Couric’s wrinkles. Parents can set the device to record up to 24h in advance and even manually sort the recorded shows so they can be easily found and played back later. Onboard storage gives you 2h of recording time,but this can easily be expanded with a MicroSD card.

Available in May for $150.

By David Ponce

Emergency radios aren’t the most exciting products, but when you end up needing them, you wish you’d paid attention. The more sensible of you will appreciate Eton’s FRX series of safety radios. Pictured is the FRX3, the top of the line model which comes with a couple neat features, like an LED flashlight and a USB out for recharging your cell phone. Its internal battery itself is recharged either via the top solar panel (the outline of which also glows in the dark to help you find the unit) or with some elbow grease via the crank. I played with it and it feels very rugged. Aside from AM/FM tuning, it also receives NOAA warnings, so you can know when it’s safe to stick your head out the shelter again.

Again, this is not the sort of thing you’re going to try to impress your friends with, but at $60 iin black or red, it might just be the one item you were glad you bought next time a Katrina comes around.

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By David Ponce

Normally selling for $889, the Dell Vostro 3750 is now going for a very reasonable $579 after a chunky $310 rebate. For that price you get a 17.3 inch laptop with a 2nd generation Core i5 processor, 6GBB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, fingerprint reader, Intel HD 3000 graphics, USB 3.0 ports, Windows 7 and more. As is usual with these deals, shipping is free.

[ $310 Off On Dell Vostro 3750 ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By David Ponce

Ok so this is going to sound like it’s terribly boring. E-Signatures… Ugh! Right? But hear me out, because this is actually interesting. So this is the thing, the dead tree business is really going to die. Like the VHS: it’s going the way of the dodo. This is a fact. But it’s a painful transition and some of us still suffer from the ongoing stretch marks. Take contracts. If for some reason you’re sent a contract over email, you’re likely going to be asked to print it, sign it and FAX it back. Fax? Even if you don’t fax, and you just print, sign, scan and email… that’s still archaic! Who prints? The printing business is a racket anyway, so DocuSign is really onto something with their new DocuSign Ink product. It’s an application on the Apple app store that lets you take any document sent to you and sign it digitally. This is how. It downloads your document (any format), converts it to a PDF and lets you affix your previously created signature and date anywhere on it. You can then email it right back and you’re done. The best part is that it’s completely free to the end user and works even if the company sending you a document doesn’t have it.

Brilliant.

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