When I was in school, we didn’t have projectors in the classes. If we needed to see something projected on a screen we had a filmstrip device or one of those transparency things that showed a clear piece of paper on the screen and put out about a billion BTUs of heat. We also had to walk to school up hill (both ways) in the snow with 75 pounds of books in our backpacks without a cell phone or MP3 player, life was hard.

My son’s second grade class has a projector connected to a computer that is used for showing things to the entire class at once. Epson has announced a new projector aimed at classroom use called the 410W, which is the follow-up to its 400W projector. The 410W is a short throw projector for smaller rooms.

Epson isn’t just about printers, though we tend to associate the name with printers. They make lots of other stuff too. Epson Japan has announced it’s latest Business to Business laptop dubbed the Endeavor NA802.

The 13.3 inch WXGA notebook comes packed with a Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, an nVidia GeForce 9600M GT with 256MB of VRAM, 1GB to 4GB of RAM, and a wide range of 5400 or 7200rpm HDDs or a 128GB (MLC) SSD drive. The new Endeavor NA802 also features a WiFiLink 5300AGN module with Windows Vista or XP Pro OS. No word on pricing or availability.

Peanuts fans have something new to buy. If you bought the Peanuts laptop, plan on buying the Snoopy video game and just can’t get enough of Snoopy and his little bird buddy, you may want to consider this mouse and usb hub.

Kokuyo has just unveiled the Snoopy USB hub and Mouse. The four port hub is available in two colors featuring Snoopy and his pal Woodstock having fun. The 800 dpi optical mouse comes in blue with Snoopy sleeping. The Japan only product will hit stores December 22 just in time for Christmas.

Just days after the announcement of this Hello Kitty laptop, Epson Japan has rolled out their own Hello kitty netbook. You’ll only be able to get them in Japan, where they will be exclusively sold online starting December 10.

This HK notebook is based on Epson’s Endeavor NJ2150. Buyers can choose between a combo model at $1,200 and a “super-multi version” at $1,500. Both versions are available in two different designs. Those who for some reason don’t have enough Hello Kitty in their life will want to move to Japan immediately no doubt, just to get their hands on one.

If you’re looking to fill your living room wall with HD video, here’s some good news. Epson just launched the PowerLite Cinema 700, a 720p home theater projector that retails for $799. It’s a decent deal, with 2,000 lumens and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. It’s all ready to gift to yourself this holiday season via Epson’s online store, but at the moment it appears to be sold out. Hopefully they’ll have some more in stock soon. In this economy, that’s a great price to fill your wall with HD video.

Those who tote around a portable projector for presentations will appreciate this one. Connecting to your computer with a VGA or DVI cable is very clumsy. The great advantage of the Epson EX70 is that you can connect via a USB cable. There are maybe one or two other projectors that can do this. If you want that convenience, check out the Epson EX70 for $799. You’ll like the fact that a USB cable is pretty easy to carry with you rather then a DVI or VGA cable. It makes setting things up a breeze.

The WXGA 1,280 by 800 resolution will go good with widescreen notebooks and the EX70 is easy to carry around. You can even show presentations without a computer, using an SD card or a USB drive. All of the ports are easily identified. Even a monkey could do it.

We had the opportunity to check out the Epson MovieMate 55 all-in-one projector, which offers a high-quality projector, a CD/DVD player and stereo speakers in a portable unit. Epson’s goal with the MovieMate 55 seems to be to offer consumers an affordable, easy and convenient home entertainment console that goes anywhere. Did they succeed? Read on.

We recently got a chance to go hands on with Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer. Just like the Epson WorkForce 600 All-in-One, it didn’t disappoint. The Artisan 800 is geared toward the more creative type of office. Designed to combine sleek styling with high performance. It has many of the same features, but with a creative slant. The Artisan 800 features built in wired and wireless networking, ultra fast print speeds (38 ppm), 6-color ink, a 7.8” touch panel, a 3.5” LCD screen, standalone photo capabilities, faded photo restorations, and a smart ink system. The Artisan 800 is smaller then the Epson WorkForce 600, which is nice as it can be tucked away a bit more conveniently.

Out of the box you get an ethernet cable, power cable, driver/software disc, user manuals, some sample paper, a small bit of phone cable and the necessary printer cartridges. No USB cable, but if you plan on using it wirelessly, that’s no big deal.

Printers can go either way. I’ve found that they are generally terrible due to high expectations, or in some cases they actually live up to the hype. I can tell you straight away, the Epson WorkForce 600 All-in-One Printer lives up to and even exceeds the hype. First, it looks great and it’s not much bigger then your standard printer, so you don’t need a lot of extra desk real estate. That’s a good thing for anybody, but being designed for small and home businesses, it’s a huge plus to have a work horse that looks good and goes just about anywhere. Some of the features on the 600 include WiFi capabilities, laser quality printing, fast printing speeds, built-in memory card reader, and a super handy LCD to preview your pictures and operate the whole thing effortlessly.

Right out of the box you get an ethernet cable, power cable, driver/software disc, user manuals, even sample paper, a small bit of phone cable and the necessary printer cartridges. No USB cable, which is common and with the Wi-Fi capabilities you really don’t need one.

Epson seems to feel adding some style to its new Artisan all-in-one inkjets will convince you to lay down cash to make one part of your home office. The new Artisan 800 and Artisan 700 are priced around $300 and $200, respectively.

The Artisan 800 and 700, both available in September, do look nice with their stylish piano black finishes. What is really interesting though is the mix of features. This is particularly true of the 800, which includes both Wi-Fi and faxing capabilities, in addition to being able to print, copy and scan at 4800 …

Epson announced their latest addition to the MovieMate line up, the MovieMate 55. The 55 model will have the same WVGA (854 x 480) resolution as the 50 model, but with a brighter 1200 ANSI lumens. The MovieMate 55 will also have a built-in DVD player inside the projector, which will play standard DVDs and CDs. If you want HD quality you can connect an external player.

It’s able to display an image up to 150 inches, diagonally, from a projection distance of less than 15 feet, making it an ideal portable to take movie night with you wherever you go. It also sports 8 watt stereo speakers with Dolby 5.1 Digital DTS technology for the best sound possible. The MovieMate 55 is already available for purchase on the Epson website and will retail for $699.

Epson’s got a new consumer scanner out which will cost you around $100 and offers 4,800 dpi optical resolution. It’s called the Perfection V300 Photo and you should find it available now.

Epson’s Perfection V300 Photo scanner sports a high-rise, 180 degree lid for better accessibility to items you want to scan. It offers your typical one-touch scanning with four buttons and comes with LED technology that “enables fast scan speeds and eliminates warm-up both when starting a scan or when switching between reflective and film scanning.” Also built-in are four scan modes to accommodate …

Epson just announced two LCD photo viewers. The P-6000 and P-7000. They look pretty decent with 80GB and 160GB respectively, with RAW support, a 35% faster image download speed, 640×480 resolution, and 94% reproduction of the Adobe RB color range.

The price is where they lose you, at $599 and $799. I’m not sure who they are targeting with these other then professional photographers and the like who need to peruse massive amounts of images. Seems pretty expensive for the rest of us ordinary folk.

Epson’s got a new fully-integrated, high-end home entertainment system ready for the marketplace just in time for the upcoming Olympics. It is called the Ensemble HD Cinema System and you’ll find it pricing around $7,000 for a 1080p system and $5,000 for a 720p version.

The Epson Ensemble HD Home Cinema System consists of a number of components. These include a PowerLite 3LCD HD multimedia projector, a 100-inch motorized screen which expands from the front channel, ceiling mounted speaker system, an A/V controller with built-in DVD player, speaker system, 150 watt subwoofer and a universial remote.

Epson unveiled today a flagship model for a self-described “new generation of all-in-one printers.” This model is called the Stylus NX400 and you’ll find it pricing around $100.

The Epson Stylus NX400, as an all-in-one model, offers printing, scanning and copying for the household scene. Operating speeds are said to be up to 34 ppm for black and color text documents, 4″ x 6″ borderless photos in 26 seconds and up to 30 cpm for both black and color copies.