Technology buyers' guide: peripherals & accessories

Storage devices and media

Whether you have your own computer or not, you will need some way to transfer and back up your files.

• USB Flash Memory devices plug into the USB ports of both Mac and Windows computers. Small enough to clip on a keychain, with no moving parts, these work great for copying documents and transferring files to or from a computer. Don't save files directly to these, though, or you will run into problems. Different capacities are available, such as 512 MB, or 1 to 8 GB or more.
• External Hard Drives are the fastest, most reliable option for saving and transporting your files. You can work directly from these drives or copy files for transport. Available with either USB or Firewire connectors (some drives include both interfaces).
  Portable drives are pocket-sized, often require no external power supply, and are available in 40 GB up to 120 GB capacities starting around $120.
  Desktop drives offer better performance and larger capacities, but are not as small and do require use of an external power supply.
• CD-R, DVD+/-R and RW discs
  Although you cannot save files directly to optical discs, they do work very well for making backups of your important data. CD-R (write once) and CD-RW (re-writable) discs can store up to 650 MB. If your optical drive can write DVD-R or DVD+R discs, you can store up to 4.2 GB of data on each disc. The newer dual-layer DVD drives can save up to 8.5 GB of data on DVD+R DL media.
• Recordable optical drive
  Optical discs offer a very good way to back up and share your work. A 'combo' drive plays CDs and DVDs, and allows you to write CDs - up to 650 MB. A 'Superdrive' or DVD-RW drive plays all discs and records DVD discs - up to 4.2 GB (dual-layer drives can record up to 8.5 GB on special DVD-R DL media).

Pressure-sensitive graphic tablets

One of the best ways to translate your hand skills into digital artwork is to use a pressure-sensitive graphic tablet. Our experience with Wacom tablets has been so good we won't even consider any other brand.

The low-cost, versatile Wacom Graphire 4 tablet is available for under $100; the Wacom Intuos 3 tablet offers twice the sensitivity and is available in a variety of sizes from about $200.

Scanners

The college has flatbed and slide scanners available in many locations on campus, so you may not need to purchase your own scanner. If you have an ongoing need, though, you can purchase a good-quality letter-size flatbed scanner for scanning reflective artwork for under $100. For about twice that amount, you can get a flatbed scanner with a transparency adapter that will also scan slides or film negatives. Dedicated slide scanners run into hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Most scanners connect either through USB or Firewire connectionsheck to make sure the scanner you are considering provides software that runs on your computer.

Printers

An inexpensive color inkjet printer may be a useful addition to your system. Three brands stand out for color output and support for both Macintosh and Windows computers: Canon, Epson, and HP. Each offers:

• Standard color inkjet printers which use 4 ink colors
• Photo color printers which deliver higher quality with 6 or more ink colors.

Most of these printers do not include the USB cable you will need to connect the printer to your computer.