Purchasing IR-Capable Devices

Current infrared devices designed to be IrDA-compliant operate over a minimum range of one meter between transmitter and receiver, and within a 30-degree angled cone. The current IrDA specification is optimized for point-to-point links between two or more devices. Keeping the cone angle narrow minimizes problems associated with interference and "hidden transmitters." The first revision of the IrDA specification provides for serial infrared links operating at speeds up to 115.2 Kbps. Several notebook computers already include built-in IR ports with these characteristics. These machines include the

Digital HiNote Ultra CT475; Gateway 2000 Liberty and Gateway Solo; HP Omnibook 600CT and HP Omnibook 4000C; IBM ThinkPad 701C, which is known as the Butterfly; most configurations of the IBM ThinkPad 755; Midwest Micro Elite and Midwest Micro Elite p90; Sharp PC 3050; TI TravelMate 5000; and the Toshiba Satellite Pro 400 CDT.

IR adapters that add IR capability to Windows computers by plugging into a serial port are available for as little as US$35 from numerous peripheral manufacturers. For the names and addresses of the manufacturers of IR adapters that have been tested using the Windows 95 IR communications driver, see IR Adapter Manufacturers.

Printer manufacturers are also supporting IR communications. New printer models such as the Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 5MP feature an IR port in addition to the usual serial and parallel interfaces. These printers can communicate wirelessly with portable PCs and other infrared devices.