Samsung participated in Microsoft’s Handheld PC Professional Edition (Jupiter) launch by announcing their oddly named eGo-note. It is Samsung’s first keyboard-based Windows CE device. It looks similar to other mini-notebooks in its standard clamshell design. The eGo-note is the lightest of the H/PC Pros that have been announced so far at 2.18 pounds. The display is a 8.2" diagonal VGA (640 x 480 DSTN) and supports 256 colors. The 65 keys keyboard is nearly full size with a pitch of 16.5mm for relatively easy typing. Next to the display are application quick-launch buttons. The pointing device is a touchpad which deviates from prior Windows CE designs. The unit includes a VGA port for PowerPoint presentations, fast Infrared (IrDA 1.1) for H/PC Pro to PC and H/PC Pro to network communications, a 56K modem, and USB and serial ports. It also has a voice recorder with external buttons so you can record and play messages without opening the case. Also, there are headphone and microphone jacks. The unit has a standard type II PC Card and a CompactFlash slot. On the included docking cradle, you can attach a PS-2 keyboard and mouse, as well as a parallel port. The eGo-note uses two different battery types, lithium ion and alkaline. The battery life with the lithium ion battery pack is approximately ten hours. Alkaline batteries only provide approximately two hours of battery life, but can be handy when you are out in the field. Under the hood the system is using a Toshiba TX-3922 Mips CPU at a speedy 148mhz. The unit includes 16 MB of RAM and is expandable to 48 MB. There are 16 MB of ROM, expandable to 32 MB. ROM is easily replaceable for future upgrades. The Samsung eGo-note includes the standard applications for the H/PC Pro—Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Outlook (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Inbox), Pocket PowerPoint, Pocket Access, Pocket Internet Explorer, InkWriter, Accessories (Calculator, World Clock, Terminal, Solitaire, Voice Recorder. In addition, Samsung is including bSquare’s bFax Pro, bmobile Chat, and bMobile News. Like all new Windows CE PC Companions, it uses Windows CE Services 2.2 to synchronized to the desktop. For more information visit Samsung’s eGo-note's website at www.egonote.com. - Chris DeHerrera