ELECTRIC STAPLER A GREAT GADGET GIFT FOR THOSE WITH HAND IMPAIRMENTS

Date: November 26, 2000 Section: BUSINESS Page: 3

Over the past two weeks, readers have been encouraged to send tips for great gadget gifts. Carol Willoughby of Roanoke wins - and not only for her reminder about assistive technology for people with body motor difficulties.

Willoughby enjoys "furry technology" in the form of Blake, a service dog from St. Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation in Roanoke.

Here is her tip: "For someone with severe arthritis, running an efficient home or office requires ingenuity. Next to my service dog, my all-time greatest gadgetry discovery is my electric stapler. Every click of my ever loyal, desktop stapling machine brings sheer ecstasy at the effortless ability to staple, sometimes hundreds of times a day.

"Finding this gadget under the tree will be a dream come true for many people with hand mobility impairments. While there are many models available, I am partial to my Swingline model No. 520-e that staples a 30-page business plan with ease. (My service dog retrieves any pages that accidentally fall to the floor!)"

What a great tip. You can find out more about Swingline products at (800) 989-4923. Ask for Angela Borden. The company has a Web site, www.swingline.com, but doesn't yet post products there.

Check out www.atia.org, home of the Assistive Technology Industry Association, for more information on products.

A CD burner or MP3 player?

"If I could have a new electronic gadget, I guess it would have to be an MP3 player. I have stored over 200 favorite songs on my hard drive. The player could take some of these files from my disk. Or maybe a CD-burner would be OK. Do you have connects with Santa?" - Jay Abercrombie, no hometown given

Find reviews of players at http://portables.about.com/gadgets/portables/cs

mp3playerreviews and you can also click on CD-Burners at the site for information about those products. Don't forget www.mp3.com and www.ecoustics.com and www.macreviewzone.com. And PC World's December issue is a high-tech buyers' guide (www.pcworld.com).

Tim's digital camera

"I had this birthday money and it was burning a hole in my pocket," Tim Johnson alleged as the excuse for the $299 Hewlett-Packard 315 digital camera he showed off at the recent meeting of the Roanoke Valley Personal Computer Club (www.rvpcc.org).

Search on camera reviews before you decide, but this little number took some good pictures, zoomed well and got good detail. Johnson has found there's little difference in quality between best and lowest settings, so use lowest because it's easier on the battery.

Other ideas

Wacom $99 Graphire Power Suite has a USB connection and a cordless, no-ball mouse, cordless pad and software including Photoshop LE and Corel Painter Classic. Read about it at www.wacom.com.

Kid's stuff for the 3- to 8-year-old group abounds at www.humongous.com, where new games include Backyard Soccer MLS Edition, Backyard Football and Blue's Reading Time where you make your own newspaper.

Headset for cell phone; you'll need one by law soon; DVD external drive (because that's what I want and I know, yes, they make internal ones); make sure you get one with a decoder card.

Web site directory?

Q: Is there a Web site that offers a directory of Web sites? I'm relatively new to the Internet (about two years) and am often frustrated in trying to get information. I know it's out there, I just can't always get to it. Dog Pile, Lycos, & Yahoo! do help, but not always. - Tom Jones, Roanoke Valley

A: This address appears to offer some hope for your needs: www.dmoz.org, the Open Directory Project. Also, try searching for a directory in the particular subject matter you seek. Use a mega search engine such as the following site: www.infopeople.

org/src/srctools.html or review advice fromBerkeleyUniversityatwww.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet /ToolsTables.html.

Gauging value of old computer

Q: I enjoy reading your column and have frequently found it quite informative. I am requesting your help on finding a Web address. My daughter is considering selling her 2-year-old Gateway Pentium II computer and buying a laptop. Do you know a reference that gives an estimated value on used computers? - James Neill, no hometown given

A: First, read here for fun: www.ce.cmu.edu/GreenDesign/comprec/nytimes98/12die.html. Next, contact www.gateway.com and ask about its trade-in program, Your Ware. It's always good, too, to ask some of the local resellers what they would get for a system like the one you want to sell. A bit of advice from someone who bought a notebook as her main computer: unless you have another desktop, keep the desktop when you buy the laptop.

If you are willing to consider donating the machine for a tax write-off, call Community School in Roanoke and inquire if it still accepts used machines.

Finally, view how they're selling at www.ebay.com.

Question for readers

Q: I'd like to know why some of my incoming e-mails print only two-thirds of the page wide, so that the letter ends up being very long but not the full page width. I never had that problem before. - M. D. MacPherson, Moneta

Freelance writer Sandra Brown Kelly coordinates this column. Send comments or questions to her at sbk@rev.net or to P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010-2491.Please include your hometown.