Computerworld's big guide to USB peripherals

If your notebook doesn't include an optical drive, or you need a DVD burner, I'd look at Plextor LLC's new PX-608CU Super Multi Portable DVD drive (MSRP $169). Note, the power demands call for a second USB port or AC power.

USB video -- now you see it

Want to add a flat panel display, but don't have the video port or room/money for another video card? USB to the rescue!

Would you believe -- a USB flat-screen?

If you want a done-in-one-piece application, there's Samsung's new SyncMaster 940UX LCD, which has a built-in USB video card, in addition to its DVI and VGA interfaces. (Check reviews first, though, if you've got performance-heavy needs.)

The USB SyncMaster isn't cheap, though. The only price I could find was on somebody's write-up; it was $678. Unless you've got a specific reason, like needing a whole bunch of daisy-chained displays for a trade show, you'd be better off buying a good LCD -- if you don't have an extra display on hand -- and getting an external USB video card.

Choices here abound, including IoGear Inc.'s USB 2.0 External VGA Video Card (MSRP $99.95), USBGear's USB 2.0 Hi-Speed USB Video Card Adapter SVGA ($MSRP 89.98), Matrox's DualHead2Go (analog version approximately $150, digital version around $250) or Tritton Technologies Inc.'s SEE2 USB 2.0 VGA Adapter ($79.99).

USB rabbit ears

Optical drives and streaming video have already turned our computers into video players; USB add-ons let you go one or more steps further.

"I've been pleasantly surprised by the reliability and quality of the very inexpensive PVR, plus video capture device, from Kworld Multimedia," reports Ken Greenberg, owner of New York-based Krypton Neon, which creates neon effects and designs for Broadway theater, film and TV. "While I am by no means a video professional, I've used it to convert older VHS recordings to DVD and Web flash presentations. I have spent up to $500 in the past on capture cards and none have ever performed as well as this $35 toy."

If you demand the highest quality, "The PVR Plus is not the way to go," Greenberg concedes. "But if you want to, say, convert a fading family VHS to DVD and maintain basic VHS playback quality on a standard TV, it will definitely do the trick."

If you want to watch broadcast TV on your notebook, add an antenna and tuner, and get a remote plus PVR recording software, with something like the finger-size Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick ($99.99).

Networking with USB

Even though most new notebook computers have Wi-Fi built in, USB adapters can still have uses. Tom Henderson, president of Extremelabs.com (and a technology tester/reviewer for Computerworld sister publication Network World) is fond of his Linksys USB 802.11b/g adapter. "Some notebooks have the antenna facing down into my lap, this one lets me aim it in different directions."