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OWNERS’ GUIDE
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this is the ultimate guide for students, professionals and road
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Apple iWork ’09

Your documents will never look
boring again.  88
BUDGET LAPTOPS
Canon EOS 1000D
FOR EVERYONE
24 models under Rs 60,000 compared.  50
Can an entry-level DSLR strike
the perfect balance between
price and features?  68

 5 touchscreen
TEST

 Asus GTX
285 TOP cellphones
 38  62

220+ PORTABLE APPLICATIONS

Autodesk Softimage 7.5, Knoppix 6.0,
Internet Explorer 8.0 RC1, Cellphone PC suites

USE PORTABLE APPS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

 EDITORIAL

The current global economic situation has hit tech especially hard, and these days it's
almost impossible to find anyone in the industry who isn't affected in one way or another.
Businesses are cutting costs, startups are finding it tough to stay afloat, PR budgets are
heavily downsized, freebies and junkets have all but ceased to exist, and offices are
circulating memos warning employees to cut down on travel expenses and stationary
usage. In a climate where jobs are being cut and increments abolished, one can hardly
expect any organization to spend money on indulgences such as non-essential hardware
and software upgrades. The effects of such belt-tightening measures cascade through
the industry, affecting manufacturers, distributors, contractors, transporters and plenty of
other businesses that might not seem related at all.

But all is not doom and gloom. In every situation of adversity, there are opportunities for
individuals and groups to stay afloat by being unique or valuable enough to convince
others to invest in them, monetarily or otherwise. An IDC report published late last year
predicted that hardware would be hardest hit by budget reductions, except for storage
devices. The reason is simply that no one is going to generate any less data or store any
less digital content. This illustrates the fact that no matter what the economic situation is,
there will always be products and services that are simply too important to not have
money spent on them. Apart from storage, it would be highly unwise for anyone, whether

In every situation of adversity, there are opportunities.

an individual or a corporation, to spend any less on data security and malware protection.
The good news is there are plenty of enterprising individuals and companies who are
doing quite well for themselves in this day and age. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
since international travel is pretty much taboo, companies are spending more money on
VoIP, videoconferencing and telepresence solutions. In another example, budget cuts are
making laptops lose favor to netbooks and as pretty much the only category of PC
hardware that will register decent sales growth figures this year, its no wonder that every
manufacturer suddenly has a dozen or so models on offer. Finally, in a time when VC
funding is drying up and startups are dying or being bought out, people are still willing to
pay attention to any Web 2.0 service that promises to help people do more work, save
more time, or spend less money.

Anyone who has something worthwhile to offer should be able to scrape through this
slowdown, and maybe even thrive. That's also a good reason for everyone to introspect a
bit and see how they can upgrade their skills, tweak and repackage their offerings,
present themselves as indispensable, and convince others that they're worthy enough to
be kept alive.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 3

 CONTENTS 04 / 2009
COVER STORY
28 THE ULTIMATE LAPTOP
OWNERS' GUIDE
CHIP tells you how to use your laptop
in the most efficient way.

NEWSWIRE The
16 CHIP TIMELINE: MOBILE STORAGE Ultimate
Learn about the history of mobile
storage from the punch card to the
Blu-ray disc.
Laptop
22 GADGET WATCH
Owners’ Guide
The latest and most droolworthy new
gadgets released this month.
28 COVERSTORY
HARDWARE THE ULTIMATE LAPTOP OWNERS' GUIDE
Your laptop is an expensive and extremely personal investment. Get the most out of it with
38 TOP GEAR our comprehensive guide.
We had loads of powerful and stylish
portable devices to test this month,
including the Cowon S9 Curve and the
Spice N-940.

50 AFFORDABLE POWER
24 models jostle for the top spot.
Find your ideal match in our roundup
of laptops that cost under Rs 60,000!

62 THE TOUCHABLES
Everybody wants to get their hands
on a touchscreen phone these days.
CHIP looks at the five top phones
which cost less than Rs 20,000.

68 BEGINNERS' DSLR
The Canon EOS 1000D is one
24 NEWSWIRE
impressive DSLR at a fantastic price. NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
See which new products are going to be setting the Indian markets on fire this month.
70 CORE i7: THE NEW SUPER CPU
The latest in extreme CPU technology
makes sliced and diced for your
reading pleasure.

72 CHIP CPU-GPU GUIDE

CHIP tracks the latest CPUs and GPUs
and presents a comprehensive guide
to choosing the best of each world.

80 LIKES TO BE TOUCHED
Surface computing is an extraordinary
new dimension of interaction. Learn
more about this emerging technology.

REGULARS
03 Editorial, 08 DVD Contents 10 Colophon
12 Letters 18 In the News... 50 HARDWARE
24 New Products Launched 26 Personal
Technology 76 PC Configs 108 Dr. Chip AFFORDABLE POWER
120 Tips & Tricks 136 Townsquare Budget laptops aren't necessarily underpowered or weak. We found the best bargains under
138 Market Watch 154 Last Word Rs 60,000. At least one of them is sure to be within reach.

4 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 CONTENTS 04 / 2009
APPLICATIONS
82 SOFTWARE TESTED
Kompozer Portable, EvilLyrics and
Beyond Compare were some of the
gems we found this month. And don't
miss out on the Apple iWork '09.

90 THE 10 BEST TUNING TOOLS

CHIP picks the best tuning tools in
each category to create a complete
collection of utilities for you.

96 NO NEED TO UPGRADE
Software upgrades can leave you
stuck with of a lot of bloatware. CHIP
guides you through the mess.

100 PORTABLE APPS ON NETBOOKS

Portable apps will help your netbook
82 AAPPLICATIONS
PPLICATIONS
run smoothly. SOFTWARE TESTED
104 WEB WATCH This month, we took a look at some cool tools for fun and productivity. Work smarter and play
Great websites to cure boredom and harder with the selection we found.
entertain friends with.

HANDS ON
113 WINDOWS ON WINDOWS
Learn how to install Windows XP
alongside Windows Vista.

116 BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE

With BeTwin, you can use one
machine and have two people use it
simultaneously.
118 HANDS ON
118 SUPER-QUICK VIDEOS
Save tons of time and utilize the
SUPER-QUICK VIDEOS
power of your GPU by using it to Why not harness your graphics card's latent power for more than just pushing pixels in games?
encode and transcode videos. Both Nvidia and ATI let you transcode videos a lot faster using a GPU.

UNWIND
128 RESIDENT EVIL 5
In the newest Resident Evil, you get
to enjoy an awesome zombie safari in
the heart of Africa.

130 TOM CLANCY'S ENDWAR

Bark orders to your troops over your
headset and watch them follow your
orders in battle!

132 WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF

WAR II
The RPG-style RTS that could conquer
a galaxy with its unique gameplay
and unique style.

134 HALO WARS 132 UNWIND

Halo is back, this time in a bird's eye
view, and a whole new control
WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR II
scheme. Don't worry, it sure didn't Worlds collide and genres crash together with a truly unique and engaging game. Desipte its
disappoint us. long-winded title, this one will have you enthralled.
DVD CONTENTS 
6 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
 DVD CONTENTS 04 / 2009
DVD CONTENTS
RED HOT TOOLS
Autodesk Softimage 7.5 MULTIMEDIA
Autodesk Crosswalk 3.2 ABC Amber Flash Converter 1.03
Softimage Behavior 2.13 Alcohol 120% 1.9.8.7421
SOFTIMAGE|CAT Ares Tube
Artweaver Portable 0.5.6
VIDEOS Audacity Portable 1.2.6 Revision 3
BonkEnc Portable
CamStudio Portable 2.5 Beta 1
Tech Toyz Episodes 31-34 CleanSkinFX
Colour Analysis Tool 1.0
TOYS CoolPlayer+ Portable
Cornice Portable
DAEMON Tools Lite 4.30.3
FULL GAMES SuperDVD Video Editor 1.8.5
DFX Audio Enhancer
Classic Night
Digital Camera Enhancer 1.3
DOSBox Portable
DVDStyler Portable
Frets on Fire Portable
Dynamic Photo HDR 4.1
Gal-EX - Spatial Delivery
Encyclopodia
Jooleem Portable
Flash Wallpaper 1.01
LBreakout2 Portable
Free Video Converter 1.0.1.4
Mines-Perfect Portable
GIMP Portable
NagaSkaki Portable
Haihaisoft Universal Player 1.2.3.0
Patience v1.01
ImagePlay 0.3
PokerTH Portable
Samorost 1
InfraRecorder Portable
Inkscape Portable
Sudoku Portable
iSproggler
iTunes 8.0.2.20
GAME DEMOS
iTunes Folder Watch 1.0.41
Ceville K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 4.70
Men of War KompoZer Portable
Monsters vs. Aliens Last.fm 1.5.2.38918
LEGO Digital Designer
GAME TRAILERS MediaMonkey 3.1.0.1224 Beta
Halo Wars Minilyrics 6.4.212
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II MobaLiveCD Portable
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop MobaPhoto Portable
Star Ocean: The Last Hope Mojo
Empire: Total War MPlayer Portable
Dante’s Inferno Novelty 0.7.13 Alpha
Mass Effect 2 Nvu Portable
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. Picasa 3.1 Build 70.73
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Portable PhotoFiltre Free 6.3.2
Wanted: Weapons of Fate Portable PhotoScape 3.3
PowerDVD 9.0.1501.0
GAME ADD ONS PowerLaser Express Portable
Jedi Knight II: Rocket Train Map Quick Media Converter V 3.6.5
Patch: Gears of War Certification, ScreenSwift 3.0
Need for Speed Undercover, Shape Collage
Supreme Ruler 2020 v6.5.8 Songbird 1.1.1 Beta 2
Wallpaper Pack: Puzzle Quest, SUPER 2009 Build 35
Resident Evil 5, Myth War II UltraISO PE 9.3.3 Build 2685
VirtualDub Portable
VLC Media Player 0.9.8a & Portable
LINUX Winamp Portable 5.35
WinSnap 3.0.4
LINUX DISTRIBUTION X-Avidemux Portable 2.4.3
XBlender Portable
CDlinux 0.9.1
ZPaint Portable 1.4
Knoppix 6.0
Whitix 0.2a
INTERNET
LINUX TOOLS BetaWebzz 2.0.0.44
Core FTP LE 2.1 (Build 1586)
Allegro 4.2.2
CrossLoop 2.43
DotGNU Portable.NET 0.7.4
CurrPorts 1.56
FreeJ 0.10
Feedreader 3.14 Beta
LiVES 0.9.9.6
FlashGet 1.9.6.1073
Mr. Random 1.3
Google Chrome 2.0.159.0 & Portable
PlayStation Video Converter 0.3
Google Earth 5.0.11337 Beta
Portable OpenSSH 5.1p1
Shoreline Firewall 4.2.5
Transmission 1.42
Google Talk 1.0.0.104 Beta
GreedyTorrent
GreenBrowser 4.9.0111
wzdftpd 0.8.3
Internet Explorer 8 RC 1
LeechGet 2007 Release 2000
8 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
LogMeIn Pro 4.0.774
Netscape 9.0.0.6
NetWorx Portable 4.6.2
PHP for Windows 5.2.6
PHP SMTP Server for Windows 1.0
Portable LAN Search Pro 8.1
SpeedBit Video Accelerator 2.3.4.4
Station Free 1.0
StrongDC++ 2.21
Thunderbird 2.0.0.19
TightVNC 1.3.9
uTorrent 1.8.2 Build 14153
Windows Live Messenger 2009
WinWSD WebSite Downloader 1.1
XChat 2.8.7e
Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.0.2112
MOBILE
Avast! PDA Edition
BullGuard Mobile Antivirus
Cell Phone Wallpaper Maker 2.5
iPhone PC Suite 1.0.7.2
Kaspersky Mobile Security
mBook 1.0
Mobile Games Pack
FULL SOFTWARE
OpenOffice.org Portable
WinInizio PenSuite Platinum 2.1
Mobile Phone Inspector 2.0.1.5
MobileVideo For 3GP
Nokia PC Suite 7.1
Samsung PC Studio 3.2.1 GL6
Sony Ericsson PC Suite 2.10.46
Valhalla Chat 0.2.2b
Xilisoft Mobile Phone Manager
SECURITY
1-2-3 Spyware Free Mobile 4.5
Ansav +EA 2.0.17 Beta
AntiCopy Personal Edition 2.0
AVG Free Edition 8.0.237
Avira AntiVir Personal 8.2.0.337
BullGuard Gamer’s Edition
Dr Web LiveCD
Folder Guard 8.0
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.34
Norton AntiVirus 16.1.0.33
Portable avast! Virus Cleaner
Portable ClamWin 0.94.1 Revision 2
Portable Data Recovery
Portable FileASSASSIN 1.06
Portable Hotspot Shield
Portable Multi Virus Cleaner 2008
Portable PC Inspector File Recovery
Portable PeerGuardian 2.0 Beta 6b
Portable TrustPort Antivirus 2009
Recuva - Portable
RemoveAny 2.5.21
Spyware Terminator 2.5.5.166
TrueCrypt 6.1a
Undelete Plus - Portable
SYSTEM
7-Zip Portable 4.64
AbiWord Portable
Adobe Reader 9.0.0 & Portable
AppCompactor Portable
BeTwin VS & 2000/XP
Beyond Compare Pro v3.0.15.9758
BPBible Portable
Chandler 1.0.2
Command Prompt Portable
Comodo System Cleaner
Dev-C++ Portable 4.9.9.2
DoubleKiller 1.6.2.82
Driver Magician 3.4
EASEUS Partition Manager Home
Easy Resume Creator Pro 4.22.2
EasyBCD 1.7.2
EasyCleaner Portable
eBoostr 3.0 Build 491
Eraser Portable
eXtended Task Manager (XTM)
Free PDF to Word Doc Converter
GnuCash Portable
GoodSync 7.6.7
Haihaisoft PDF Reader 1.0.1.1
iConcertCal 1.0
Inno Setup Portable Edition 5.1.8.0
iWork ’09
JV16 PowerTools 2009 1.9.0.531
Lavasoft Ad-Aware-Integrated
RegHance 2.1
Lingoes Portable Dictionary
Mojopac
Notebook Hardware Control (NHC)
Notepad++ Portable 5.2
NSIS 2.44
PC Chrono Portable Alarm Clock
PDFCreator 0.9.7
PeaZip 2.5.1 & Portable
PNotes Portable 4.5.106
Portabilizer Portable 1.0
Portable CCleaner
Portable Defraggler 1.07.124
Portable Foxit Reader 3.0 Build
Portable Glary Utilities 2.10.0.622
Portable JauntePE 0.3.0 Build 18
Portable On-Screen Keyboard 1.1
Portable PDF2EXE 1.0.0.64
Portable Qemu Manager
Portable Scratch 1.3.1
Portable Start Menu
Portable Universal Extractor 1.6
Portable WinMerge 2.10.4
Portable WordWeb 5.52
PStart
Resume Builder 4.8.1
RivaTuner 2.24
SetFSB 2.1.97.0
Sumatra PDF Portable
Sysinternals Suite 1.0
TeraCopy 2.0 Beta 4a
TuneUp Utilities 2009 8.0.2000
Tweak UI 2.1
TweakNow PowerPack Professional
TweakVI
Tweak-XP Pro v4
VirtuaWin Portable
VistaBootPRO 3.2.0
Windows in a Box
WinRAR Unplugged 3.8.0.1
XtraTools 2009 1.0
MUST HAVES
Adobe Air 1.5
ATI Catalyst Drivers 9.2 XP / Vista
DirectX 9.0c (Nov 08)
Flash Player 10.0.22.87 (IE / non-IE)
Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0.12
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP1
Nvidia Forceware 182.06 XP / Vista
Realtek AC’97 Driver A4.06
Shockwave Player 11.0.3.472
E-BOOKS
CHIP ARCHIVES
November 2008 to January 2009

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MAILBOX

Fair review
The review of the Sony Vaio P was superb and
unlike some other reviews was bold enough to
talk about its many limitations. I was almost
charmed into buying it after being influenced
by online reviews and a couple of YouTube
videos. Sure enough, on examination of the
product at a showroom, I dropped the idea of
possessing this overpriced toy.
– VARUN THAKUR

INFO No magic performance boost
CONTACT INFO Hello to CHIP's “team of extraordinary gentlemen”.
You guys really rock! Recently I came across a
Please send your letters to:
editor@chip.in blog which had a peculiar post claiming software
or feedback@chip.in that can run high-def games on any computer
with a low configuration. I downloaded the 1 MB
file. On extracting it, I found two files with DLL
extensions and instructions on how to use them.
But the files didn't work, and now I’m suspecting
that they might have been malware. Can you
please check out the blog and the file? [Link
removed].
- SAGAR DAS
Dear Sagar,
We checked out the link you sent us. It was
difficult to take the contents of this blog seriously.
With only two posts written in extremely poor
English, and without any kind of information about
the credentials of the author or even screenshots
offered to back up their claims, we were quite
skeptical ourselves, but downloaded the archive to
examine it anyway. DLL files, or Dynamic Link
Libraries, are Windows system files that contain
code and instructions that can be shared and
accessed by multiple resources. The two files in the
downloaded archive are DLLs related to Direct3D,
the component of DirectX which allows any
software, especially games, to draw graphics on
the screen. These particular files are usually found
in your ‘Windows\System32’ folder.
Since it is highly unlikely that placing copies of
these files in your game’s folder as instructed will
make any difference (the game won't even know
they're there), we immediately suspected they were
some kind of malware too. However even that
wasn't a satisfactory conclusion since DLL files
aren’t executable, making it difficult for them to
spread any kind of infection. Finally, we located
functioning copies of these DLL files on our own
computers, performed CRC checks against the
downloaded ones, and found them to be identical.
The good news is this means the files are
unmodified by malware. The bad news? You aren’t
going to see any improvement in your games. The
claims on the blog were either a prank or simply
wishful thinking.
– TEAM CHIP

Thanks and suggestions

Dear CHIP,
Hi, this is Arul Murugan from Trichy, Tamil Nadu. I
am a regular reader of CHIP but this is the first
time I am writing to you. You guys are doing a
great job. Your magazine is the best among the
tech magazines. All of your issues are really
superb and they look fantastic and fully loaded.
Your CHIP Plus content is really helpful. I request
you guys to publish a CHIP Plus for MS Office
2007 as it is totally different from MS Office
2003. Keep up the good work. All the best,
– ARUL MURUGAN
MAILBOX
Wanted: Mac software
Dear CHIP,
I am a subscriber to CHIP and love to read
about the latest products in your user-friendly
reviews. While I am a long-time PC user, I have
been using a Mac for one year now and really
like its interface and sturdy OS. What I miss on
the Mac is the variety of utilities that I can get
for a PC. I have noted that you do occasionally
cover Macs but I have not found any OS X
software or utilities in your DVD. Can I expect
INFO some in the near future, or at least a part of
the DVD covering Mac software? Hope you will
SMS US!
accede to my request. Thanks,
Since we like knowing what’s on – JAYANT
your mind and what you think
about our magazine, we bring you
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Hello all of you. I'm feeling very grateful to
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computers, but the problem was that my
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ICCO <Your comments here>
Example: ICCO The cover story was much better knowledge of computers and
very useful electronics now. CHIP helps to update us about
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base of each article and use it as Something I want to say is that if CHIP adds
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job advertisements from the IT field every
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ur messages to
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007 SMS REPLIES TO OUR STORIES
Cheers!
From: Aircel, Chennai
Sent: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009
SMS: hi chip the self-healing pc story
worked 4 me thanks & as l m a s2dent i also
look 4 math /science tutorial s/w please
add in every edition
From: BSNL, Assam
7 Sent: Tuesday, 10 March, 2009
5700 ry
sto
a fun
cover SMS: hi m raj. outstnding covr story. i liked
Th at was
ICCO reading the torture test part mst
interesting. kip it up chip!
From: BSNL, Madhya Pradesh
Sent: Monday, 09 March, 2009
SMS: the story 'frames for less' was great
but what for those who are on mid budget
From: Vodafone, Delhi
Sent: Friday, 06 March, 2009
SMS: hi rishi here. ur mag is realy helpful. i
liked the asus eee top review. can u please
14 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Crazy about hardware
Hey CHIP!
I'm a 12th standard student and have been
reading CHIP for the past three years. You guys
there are truly overclocked! The March issue
and DVD were fantastic. I was waiting for
Windows 7, so thanks a lot. I used to read other
magazines but I've got to tell you, CHIP is the
best. One of my favorite articles was the God
Rig, it made me drool for weeks! Even with my
board exams on, I haven’t missed any of your
issues. Keep up the good work!
I recently assembled a hardcore PC with
your help and it’s my extreme gaming rig now.
Thanks to you guys, I'm a hardcore gamer now.
I'm planning to buy a Zotac GTX295 soon, but
since I'm in Kerala, Zotac's availability is low.
What should I do? I'm also planning to become
an animator and your Pixel Architects story
was just the one I wanted at the right time.
Thanks again!
– PRAVEEN G PRAKASH
Hi Praveen,
Thanks for your feedback. We’re all glad you like
the magazine so much. It’s always great to hear
positive responses to our work!
The distributor for Zotac graphics cards is
Aditya Infotech - sales@adityagroup.com or
phone number 011-46665666. You can ask
them about availability in your area. However,
don’t get your hopes up about the GTX295,
there are barely any available in retail channels.
You might have to place a special order for one.
– TEAM CHIP
review the sony walkman x1000 when it
releases in india? Thanks
From: Airtel, Assam
Sent: Wednesday, 04 March, 2009
SMS: chip, hi m moniman ur newswire
newlaunch n gadjets secton wer very
impresive it helped me much abot d prices.
u shoud also add branded desktop prices
From: Airtel, Kolkatta
Sent: Airtel,Kolkatta
SMS: please can you make a comparison
between the top of the line cabinets and
graphics cards. also use da gtx295 for da
godrig. thanks.
From: Idea, Kerala
Sent: Sunday, 01 March, 2009
SMS: my name is abhijith. i like your dvd.
can you pleas put the full game 'grand thif
auto 4' in your chip dvd itis also called gta 4
 NEWSWIRE FEATURE

CHIP timeline: Mobile storage

Today, people can carry several gigabytes of data in their pockets. However, pen drives are
still a relatively new medium, and their forefathers have been around for a while.
BY GUNNAR TROITSCH AND JAMSHED AVARI

M
ethods of transporting data
have been in existence
right from the beginning of
civilization; important information was
scribbled on clay tablets or papyrus for
preservation or transmission. But the
first real digital storage medium was the
punch card: Herman Hollerith (1860–
1929), the son of a German immigrant,
worked as a statistician for the American
government and designed a system that
could process punch card system. It was
used for storing the census data of the
year 1890–91.
In 1896, Hollerith founded the
Tabulating Machine Company,
which after merging with two other
companies, became what we now
know as International Business
Machines—IBM. The punch card further
developed into the punch tape: even
Konrad Zuse, inventor of the modern
programmable computer, used these
to feed his pioneering Z1 with data. But
subsequently, the development of data
storage and media stagnated for as long
as 30 years.
Then, magnetic media started
dominating the storage world. These
were originally meant for audio

5.25-inch

IMAGES COURTESY: HEINZ-NIXDORF MUSEUM; IOMEGA; TESA GMBH; WIKIMEDIA

floppy
The 5.25-inch floppy
has a capacity of 720
KB and is the only Iomega Zip
mobile storage option With Zip, Iomega brings
for private users, till a 100 MB medium
it is replaced by the to the market—real
3.5-inch standard. competition for the
3.5-inch floppy disk.
Poor marketing and
other failures prevent
Compact Disk its breakthrough.
Finally, everyone
can burn CDs. Blanks
Hollerith punch card are initially very
The punch card is used as a
expensive, but
digital data storage device for
eventually the price of
the first time, during the US
the media will fall to
population census in 1890–91.
less than Rs 10.

1890 1937 1969 1976 1983 1989 1991 1994

Punch tape SyQuest Drive MO Disk

Computer pioneer Removable hard disks Magneto-optical media is
Konrad Zuse uses punch are expensive, but considerably more secure than CDs or
tape to feed his Z1 with offer quicker data floppy disks. However, these drives
data. Punch tape is used transfer and relatively and blanks are expensive, and there
for data storage as late larger capacities. is no mass market for them. Sony
as the 80s, mainly in SyQuest succeeds in tries to establish the Minidisk as a
administrative agencies. designing a 100 mm medium, but fails
disk with 5 MB of
8-inch floppy storage space.
The invention of floppy disks is
a milestone in the development
of storage media. In 1969, an
IBM research group lead by
Alan Shugart introduces the
first 8-inch floppy disk with 80
KB of storage space.

16 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NTM to 57007
recordings, but an IBM research group
lead by Alan Shugart designed the first
floppy disk in 1969. It was impressively
large at eight inches, and also enormous
in storage capacity for the time: it could
store 80 KB of data—as much as 1,000
punch cards.
Over the years, floppy disks continued
to decrease in size and increase in data
capacity. Then, in 1983, SyQuest brought
the first removable hard disk into the
market. You could save a sensational
5 MB on it and simply store it on a
shelf. Later, Japanese firm Taiyo Yuden
achieved great success in 1989 by
introducing the recordable CD. Magneto-
optical technology—a combination of
magnetic discs and lasers—offered
considerably better data security at the
time, but could not compete with CD-Rs.
The storage revolution of
1996: Dov Moran invents
the USB stick
American manufacturer Iomega began
to sell Zip disks and drives in 1994. The
100 MB units were poised to become
the dominant removable storage format
of the time, superseding even the
universally accepted 3.5 inch floppy disk
after 13 years, but Iomega missed the
chance because of reliability problems.
In 1996, somebody else grabbed this
opportunity: Dov Moran, the founder of
the firm M-Systems, came upon the idea
of designing a Flash component with
a USB connection. He called his new
8 MB memory device DiskOnKey—the
first USB pen drive—which was sold by
IBM in America. But research continued,
and the SD card that was introduced
in 1999 revolutionized the digital world
once again. Iomega tried to bring another
innovative product to the market in
2003 with its Rev removable hard disk
standard—but once again failed to gain
enough traction. Only CD-R, DVD-R (plus
or minus) and the USB stick are still
present in the consumer world today.
Blu-ray wants to penetrate the market,
but is not exactly affordable just yet.
The only other contender is the external
hard disk, usually a USB-enabled version
of the hard disk we are all familiar with.
These are available in multiple capacities
and with newer connectivity options, and
demand is growing thanks to ever-falling
prices. The Flash and hard drives will be
around for a while, but USB might make
way for faster connection options.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in

SmartMedia
Toshiba presents Future
the Smart Media
Card as a rival DVD-R Bacteria as biostorage
to the recently Recordable discs with The bacterium Deinococcus
introduced more than 4 GB of data radiodurans is one possible future
CompactFlash capacity are introduced storage medium: data sequences
memory card and are soon affordable can be coded and implanted
standard by for every computer user. into the bacterium. The data will
SanDisk. By 1999, be safe even after hundreds of
the standard for generations—and will have been
the coming years duplicated billions of times.
is more or less
settled to be the
SD card.
Adhesive Tape
While preparing for their CeBIT
visit in 1998, physicians Steffen
Noethe and Matthias Gerspach
discover that adhesive tape can be
coded with data using lasers. Today
there is a whole line of storage devices
based on these clever adhesive strips.

1995 1996 1998 2001 2002 2003 2005 2008 2009

Dov Moran
The inventor of the USB pen
drive is first scoffed at. But
his new NAND Flash storage
device soon proves to be
ideal and finally replaces the
3.5-inch floppy after 15 years.
Blu-ray HAMR
A blue laser allows A combination of laser
considerably finer data and magnet heads
structures on optical media. allows considerably
After an intense war of U3 higher data densities on
formats years later, Blu-ray Applications hard disks and is on the
comes out on top against the directly run from a brink of going from the
HD-DVD and becomes the HD USB stick without lab into production.
video medium. being installed on
the host system.
Iomega
The Rev is a 2.5-inch removable
hard disk system with a capacity
of 35 GB, in which the motor
and disk are part of each unit.
Only the electronics and reading
heads are found in the drive.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 17

 NEWSWIRE NEWS SNIPPETS

DANGER BAROMETER IN THE NEWS...

HIGH RISK COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

A wave of
phishing attacks WEB
is currently
in progress,
specifically
MEDIUM RISK
Facebook returns data ownership to angry users
targeting users of
social networking Faced with mass outrage at a change to its
communities. terms of service, Facebook quickly reversed
LOW RISK
its stand and even introduced new ways for
users to participate in discussions about their
own privacy and privileges on the site.
The main bone of contention was a
change to the official terms of service
which seemed to imply that Facebook
SECURITY SURVEY would assume ownership of anything and
everything a user posted and be able to use was to reverse the changes and clarify
1.
96%Canadian Pharmacy (USA)
that content (or license it to others) as it that users' own privacy settings would
Have antivirus software
pleased even if the user were to shut down override the publishing of any content, thus
21%
his or her account in the future. Groups making it impossible to leave their control.
Update the definitions
were formed in protest and the message A few days later, Facebook announced
29%
spread virally, leading to thousands of community-driven projects to review
Are aware of the risks of surfing
comments and posts around the Internet. its official Statement of Principles and
54%
Eventually, Facebook's official response Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
Find spam harmless
Many Germans use security software but
don’t install any updates
Source: F-Secure SCITECH

WAR AGAINST ADVERTISING Computational knowledge to make Google obsolete?

Spam percentage Physicist and software architect Stephen
Wolfram, best known for creating the math
80% visualization program Mathematica, has
75% annouced an ambitious project to change the
way we search for information on the Internet.
70%
According to Wolfram, while computers
65%
today can only look up any information
60% that's been generated and stored, we can't
55% currently ask anything new and have an
50% answer computed or inferred for us. His of algorithms", the site should be able to
07/08 08/08 09/08 10/08 11/08 12/08 current project, dubbed Wolfram|Alpha, is answer simple fact-based questions, even if
Disconnection is ineffective a "computational knowledge engine" to they are written in non-standard variations
In November 2008, authorities shut down be first represented as a single website of English such as slang and shorthand.
one of the largest spam servers on the with a text field into which users will be The website, www.wolframalpha.com, is
Internet. Just four months later, it has
able to type questions. Using "trillions of currently non functional but says the service
been replaced by another one.
Source: Symantec pieces of curated data and millions of lines will launch this May.

FIGURE OF THE MONTH

CHIP.in poll result Mobile phone

$182,500
PC Games 5.62%
What kind of games 75.22%

do you play?
The amount it costs a company All of the above
11.22%
with 1,000 employees to deal with
spam per year due to productivity Console Online/Casual games
losses. 4.81% 3.13%
Source: McAfee

18 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NPL to 57007
INFRASTRUCTURE
Tata Tele announces 100 Mbps plans for Mumbai,
Tata and Reliance both launch 3.1 Mbps mobile access
Broadband plans in India have been well
below international standards for years,
but Tata Teleservices has shaken things
up by announcing a new network that will
offer customers 100 Mbps speeds. Details
are still sketchy, but what we know is that
the service will be called
Power Launcher and will
use Tata's wireline
network and Ethernet
rather than the
DSL lines currently
running to most homes. The
100 Mbps service is priced at Rs 10,500
per month for retail customers (with a 10
percent discount for students) with 30 GB
of downloads free and Rs 0.30 charged
per extra MB. No other speed tiers and no
unlimited usage plans have been annouced
yet. Power Launcher will first roll out in
Mumbai as part of Tata's Digital Mumbai
vision plan, and in other cities afterwards.
HARDWARE
Nvidia rethinks
rebranding spree
Meanwhile, both Tata and Reliance
are shaking things up on the mobile front,
announcing new dongles that support
speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps. Relaince's device, Nvidia seems to have rethought
dubbed Netconnect Broadband+ is priced its strategy of slapping fresh
at Rs 3,500 and plans start at Rs 299 per labels on old products after
month for pay-as-you-go usage billing (Rs reviews of its "new" GTS250
2 per MB downloaded). Unlimited downlad around the world unanimously
plans are also on offer, priced at Rs slammed the company for
1099 for coverage in one city misleading consumers. While
and Rs 1750 for nationwide reviewers acknowledged the
roaming, but are subject card as a good performer for its
to a 10 GB per month "fair price, the GTS250 is only a very
use" download cap. Tata's slightly modified 9800GTX+,
competing service is called itself a modified 8800GTS
Photon+ and will be offered 512MB. The company has now
with plans for individuals, businesses, SoHo dropped plans to rebadge its
and students. The device costs Rs 3,600 9800GT (previously 8800GT) to
and plans begin from Rs 299 per month. GTS240. The lower 9-series
Photon+ will also be offered with a Wi-Fi cards are being rebadged to
router, allowing users to set up a personal G100, GT120, GT130 and GT150,
hotspot for their homes or offices. but these will be OEM-only.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 19
 NEWSWIRE NEWS SNIPPETS
SECURITY
NEW SECURITY
HOLES DETECTED
AND PATCHED
MOZILLA FIREFOX AND
THUNDERBIRD
Attackers can execute malicious code
on remote computers using two
security loopholes and gain complete
administrator rights. The open source
browser and its closely-related email
client are both vulnerable.
SOLUTION: Download the latest versions
of both programs from their
respective websites.
TWITTER
A worm spreading through the Twitter
universe continuously displays a
message that says “Don’t Click”. If
anyone clicks on the message, the
worm is forwarded from his account.
SOLUTION: Twitter is currently working
on a patch.
YOUTUBE
Videos on the site purporting to teach
users how to illegally obtain free
Nintendo Wii points and iTunes gift
cards display a link to a file called
"Generator.exe" hosted on Rapidshare,
which contains the backdoor Bifrose.
Some videos also tell users they need
to turn off their antivirus software.
SOLUTION: Standard antispyware
procedures and common sense apply.
FACEBOOK
Users are receiving fake messages
claiming to lead them to videos of
drunk girls dancing or performing
stripteases, at which point they are
redirected to a Facebook lookalike
page and asked to install a fake Flash
update called "Adobe_Player11.exe".
SOLUTION: Users should be careful about
what they click on.
20 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SECURITY
Fake Reuters terror alerts Windows 7's app control
Web surfers around
the world have, in
the last month,
woken up to fake
Reuters newswire
alerts claiming
that terrorists have
attacked their
cities. The emails
of course lead to
spoofed pages that
look exactly like Reuters alerts, complete
with embedded videos that will refuse
to play but instead offer you something
purported to be the latest version of Flash.
The threat is most notable because it uses
IP address and browser header information
to geolocate the user and then slip the
name of his or her city into the fake news
alert. Subject lines include "I hope you are
not in the city now", "Why did it happen in
your city?", and "At least 18 killed in your
city". The spam mails have been traced to
the Waledac/Storm botnet.
SECURITY
New Conficker variant to wreak havoc on April 1
A new strain of the Conficker worm will
spring to life on April 1. Security vendors
warn that computers around the world have
been infected for weeks, but the worm has
been dormant. The new variant, Conficker.C,
has already been analyzed and is now
known to be far more dangerous than its
predecessors. The worm not only blocks
security-related websites and network
protection tools, but also creates a system
process that continuously checks for
running security products and shuts them
down (or punches holes in them so that
users have a false sense of security) , in
addition to blocking all software updates.
It also disables Windows' Safe Mode as a
bootup option, prevents Windows Update
from running, and erases all prior system
restore points.
While the earlier variants checked
250 pseudo-randomly generated domain
names per day in order to receive new
instructions from its authors, Conficker.C
will raise this number to 50,000. The URLs
SOFTWARE
Windows 7 will offer
users more control
than ever before over
what parts of the
OS can be removed.
Potentially because of
numerous allegations
of monopolistic
practices around the
world, components
including Internet
Explorer, Media Player, Media Center,
Windows Search, Tablet PC functionality
and several other system components
can be added or removed by simply
clearing a checkbox. Components can't
be chosen during installation, but can be
tweaked at any point after the first boot.
Once unchecked, an application will be
completely removed, not just have its
shortcuts disappear. Dependencies will
be managed so that no other application
encounters an error when it needs a shared
resource that might need to be removed.
will be random strings between 4 and 10
characters long, using any of 116 possible
suffixes. Apart from generating massive
amounts of Web traffic, security vendors
have admitted how difficult it will be to
keep up with the worm in pre-registering
these domain names to prevent it from
updating itself.
To improve its chances of infecting
new computers, Conficker.C uses a whole
new peer-to-peer mechanism to establish
communication, the logic behind which is
obfuscated. The P2P network then serves to
distribute data such as updated instructions
and attack vectors.
It would seem that the authors are
tracking efforts to shut down or at least
suffocate the worm, and are responding
with an arsenal of new tricks. They are also
using the latest cryptographic techniques as
well as digital signatures to thwart not only
security agencies trying to shut them down,
but also any attempt by rival malware
authors to hijack their botnets.
MOBILE
iPhone OS 3.0 brings new and overdue features
Users who have been complaining since day
one that the iPhone doesn't support basic
features such as copying and pasting text or
forwarding text messages, should be happy
now that Apple has annouced what's going to
be included in the third major release of its
operating system.
Amongst the 300-
plus additions and
improvements annouced
were the implementation
of copy/paste
functionality, the ability to
send and receive MMSes
and standard business
cards, audio recording and
voice memos, Bluetooth A2DP for stereo
audio accessories, and more options while
syncing with iTunes.
The iPhone OS now also comes with
Spotlight, a system-wide search utility.
Spotlight can be used as an app launcher
and can find text inside any contact, note,
map, and iPod track information.
HARDWARE
Fourth Phenom X3 core unlockable in rare cases
Reports around the Internet have
suggested that it is possible to unlock
the dormant fourth core on certain
batches of triple-core Phenom
II X3 720 CPUs when used
with certain motherboards
that support AMD's Advanced
Clock Calibration overclocking
technique. The workaround makes them
equivalent to Phenom II X4 920s, which
MEDIA
Libraries can only rent out crippled DVDs
In yet another bizarre move to restrict
movie piracy, movie studio Fox has started
distributing seperate versions of DVDs and
Blu-ray discs for libraries which have most of
the title's special features removed.
Two of the studio's recent releases
are being used to test the concept. Retail
copies of Slumdog Millionaire contain all the
regular commentary tracks, bonus features
and deleted scenes, but anyone who wants
EVENTS
E3 to rise from
Games and social apps will benefit from the ashes in 2009
being able to search for and establish a
peer-to-peer connection with any other After a few years
iPhone via Bluetooth. Applications can now of downscaling
use the iPhone's vibrator for rumble effects, and trying newer
and access maps and media stored formats, the
on it. This is achieved through the industry's
100 or more APIs that have been premier gaming
opened up for developers. and
Push notification has been entertainment event E3 looks
implemented after many set to return to its roots as an
delays, finally allowing apps expo in 2009. After turning
such as instant messengers away casual members of the
to alert users to events and public last year and ditching
notifications even when they aren't exhibition stalls in favor of
running. smaller seminars and private
Finally, the iTunes store mechanism has meetings, organizers have
been totally revamped to allow individual annouced that the show will be
apps to sell add-ons to users, for example open to all again, 90 percent of
games could offer additional levels, and the exhibition space has already
ebook readers could sell content. been booked, and over 40,000
But despite all the new features, people relevant to the industry
there's still no sign of Flash support, video are expected to attend. E3 will
recording, wireless iTunes syncing. be held in early June.
EDUCATION
Brazil schools get
sell for considerably more money. The 356,800 virtual
reports started out as rumors on tech
websites, and the process was
Linux desktops
quickly replicated by users
around the world. Phenom
X3s are often complete X4s
with one core disabled because
of instability, so even the spare core
can be unlocked, there's no guarantee Over 2.7 million school children
the CPU will run smoothly. in Brazil will soon have access
to computers using shared
virtual Linux desktops to
reduce costs. The project is
being billed as the world's
largest ever desktop Linux
to rent it from a library will deployment. Savings are
get only the movie and a estimated at 60 percent in
few promotional trailers. upfront costs in addition to 80
Rental copies of Marley percent in power required and
& Me have limited bonus 170,000 tons in CO2 emissions
content, while the retail per year compared to
Blu-ray package inlcudes individual desktop PCs. Similar
a pre-ripped digital copy. The scheme is projects are being evaluated by
surprising since extra features often tempt a number of Indian states to
casual piraters to buy legal copies. spread computer literacy.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 21
 NEWSWIRE FEATURE

GADGET WATCH
COMPILED BY TEAM CHIP

We take a look at the coolest, most desirable gadgets to make their debut around the world.

Dell Adamo 
It's super sleek, super thin, and made of precision-crafted
aluminum. Dell says it's the new thinnest laptop in the world, and
that its name is derived from a Latin word that means "to fall in
love". Attention to detail can be found in the design of the lid, vents,
and scalloped keyboard. Expect a raft of matching accessories to
be launched alongside it in April. But you'd really have to fall in love
to pay $2,000 for the base configuration.

Elecom Scope
Node 
Billed as an extremely high-precision mouse, the
Scope Node is designed to be gripped as if you're
holding a pen, with the laser roughly where a nib
should be. It's sculpted like it's straight out of a
science-fiction movie too, which should make
geeks around the world quite happy.

Lenovo
Pocket Yoga 
This Sony Vaio P lookalie is only a concept
design, but shows off some nice ideas like a
fully foldable screen that allows the device
to be used as a tablet, and a sleeve that acts
as a mouse when the device is in use.

Apple iPod shuffle 

The third generation iPod shuffle is a study in
minimalism—apart from dispensing with the
screen, it's gotten rid of its buttons as well! You
control the thing with a single button on the inline
remote, and it can use your PC or Mac's voice synthesis
capabilities to read out the names of playlists and
songs to you. It might be OK for a gym, but the
whole concept seems to require just a bit too much
fiddling for our tastes.

22 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NCE to 57007
iRiver
E50 
This one is a simple, sleek
media player without a
lot of pretensions, but
the gorgeous brushed
metal look and discreetly
hidden controls still
make it worthy of being
desired. The E50 weighs
just 40 grams and will
last for about 52 hours of
audio playback on a
single charge.

Nokia 5730 
A QWERTY keyboard, XpressMusic features, nice big screen,
and trademark Nokia styling should make this phone a force
to be reckoned with. It's part of the Finnish company's Comes
with Music lineup, so you can't blame us for getting excited.
For those who like music, web surfing and power messaging
but don't want a staid business phone or the ultra-high-end
Nseries devices, this looks like a superb allrounder.

Dell Studio One 19 

Dell's design teams seem to be going all out these days.
This one's more for a stylish bedroom or kitchen, but it
packs all the punch of a full-blown media center PC.
Aluminum, glass, fabric and loads of bright colors
certainly make it stand out.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 23

 NEWSWIRE NEW LAUNCHES

NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

WIPRO function features at a reduced cost. SONY

Epson’s Micro Piezo print head delivers
Stylish new laptops perfectly spherical dots with high Affordable noise-
Wipro has launched the e.go range of
precision for laser-quality image
resolutions of up to 5,760 by 1,440 dpi. cancelling headphones
premium and stylish notebooks designed Prints dry instantly and are water and
for the “new India on the go”. E.go is smudge resistant, ensuring superior Sony has introduced the MDR-NC7
sculpted for functionality and design, and archivability. Wireless network affordable, noise-cancelng headphones.
blends high style with purpose. This connectivity optimizes space and You can enhance your listening
range is targeted at globetrotting, eliminates messy wiring. Another cost experience and reduce unwanted ambient
trendsetting Indians who believe in saving appeal of the Epson Stylus Office noise by 90 percent. The new MDR-NC7
making a difference and who embody the is its low power consumption. headphones have 30mm Neodymium
spirit of bold new India. The new range magnet drivers, a convenient, foldable
comes with Hard Disk User Password PRICE: Rs 14,999 design, and battery life of
Protection (HUPP) and Interface Security WEBSITE: www.epson.co.in approximately 50 hours, making
Lock (ISL) which can help prevent data them good for long flights. A
theft by securing the USB ports, card D-LINK convenient dual-use capability
reader, and Wi-Fi. The gives you the option to listen to
range has three models: Internet-enabled music with or without the
the 10-inch 7F3800
netbook available in Photo Frame noise cancellation feature,
allowing you to use the
Ocean Blue and headphones even if the
Racer Yellow; the D-Link has announced the Internet Photo battery runs dry. The
14-inch EM471X Frame (DSM-210) that enables users headphones weigh
widescreen to quickly and easily manage approximately 134g (including AAA
powerhouse model content using a convenient battery) and have a 30—20,000Hz range
available in Autumn website or with a drag and with a maximum output of 100mW and a
Red and Coral Blue; and the drop desktop widget. Unlike sensitivity of 102dB/mW when on.
stylish 12-inch BM2700 traditional digital photo
performer in Chrome Red. frames, this next- PRICE: Rs 4,490
generation photo WEBSITE: www.sony.co.in
PRICE: Rs 40,000 with Windows frame allows users to
Vista Home Basic view their favorite ASUS
WEBSITE: www.wipro.in photos virtually
anywhere in the home Powerful gaming
EPSON or over the Internet over a wired or
wireless home network. The DSM-210 is notebook
Business- easily managed using an intuitive website

optimized where users can organize

photos online for display
ASUS has announced the G50Vgaming
laptop in India. The G50V has an Nvidia

laser printer as well as remotely stream

content such as weather,
GeForce 9700M GT graphics processor
with 512MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory
Epson has launched the news, trivia and more to provide a complete gaming experience
new TX600FW in India using popular RSS feeds. for the Indian enthusiast. With a 15.6-inch
as part of its Stylus The DSM-210 features a LCD and fast screen response time,
Office range of business 10-inch 16:9 screen and graphical effects are sharp with no
printers engineered includes interchangeable ghosting and shadows. A secondary
specifically to meet the black and white frames. It has screen will keep you posted about emails
needs of small and slots for USB and common memory cards. and even tell you how much your CPU is
medium enterprises. loaded. The G50V can have dual hard
The range offers laser-like speed and PRICE: Rs 39,900 drives for up to 640GB of storage. When
print quality with innovative multi- WEBSITE: www.dlink.co.in you buy a G-series notebook, you also get

24 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NPL to 57007
 The products and services listed here have not been reviewed by IC-CHIP.
These are not endorsements or recommendations. All prices, specifications and
claims are as stated by the respective manufacturers and publicists.

a Republic of Gamers backpack, a speakers. Pure-Fi Express Plus provides

1600dpi gaming mouse with realtime
sensitivity adjustment, and a Siberia
Steelseries Gaming Headset.
PRICE: Rs 1,15,000
WEBSITE: in.asus.com
more than just great sound. For
portability, it can run on AC or battery
power and includes a handle, making it
easy to take your music from room to

COREL

Powerful illustration PRICE: Home series: Rs 32,999;

program Entertainment series: Rs 42,999

WEBSITE: www.infinitiretail.com

Corel has introduced Painter 11, the 3G POLYMERS

newest edition of its painting and
illustration software. With more than 40
new and enhanced features, Painter 11
provides the most inventive drawing and
painting tools available. Unique tools
including artistic media,
hard media brushes,
and selection tools
enable users to create
art that would not be
possible with
traditional media. New
color management
improves color recognition when
importing files from other applications
and individual color profiles per
document create greater color accuracy.
Painter 11 allows experimentation with
color theory and composition. The option
to undo brushstrokes and other effects
lets students and new users explore a
wide variety of techniques.
PRICE: Full: US$ 399 (approx Rs
20,740); Upgrade: US$ 199 (approx
Rs 10,345)
WEBSITE: www.corel.com
LOGITECH
Convenient iPod
room. The new dock also features a
wireless remote. With a range of up to 30
feet (10 meters), the remote lets you
instantly adjust volume, play, pause, fast
forward, rewind, as well as offering
Shuffle and Repeat buttons—all from the
comfort of your couch or favorite chair.
PRICE: Rs 5,995
WEBSITE: www.logitech.com
CROMA
Affordable feature-rich
laptops
Croma has launched its own private
labeled Croma laptops. These are feature
packed machines at a surprisingly
affordable price. To start with, the Home
Series laptop is suitable for home users
since it is packed with features, and is
midsized and budget-friendly, while the
Entertainment Series laptop suits ones
needs if he designs websites, edits home
movies or plays games since it comes with
a powerful processor, lots of memory,
Nvidia graphics card, and a healthy hard
drive. Both laptops are preloaded with
Unique laptop
accessory
3G Polymers has launched Laptop Skinz
for laptops, the first such product
available officially in India. The
innovative Skinz give any laptop a
designer look and also protect the lid of
the laptop from scratches. They are
available in sizes ranging from 10 inches
to 17 inches. Laptop Skinz are made of
high quality imported self-adhesive
plastic. The special adhesive can be
removed from any surface without
leaving stains, and can be reused twice.
Skinz are available in 18 themes and 150-
plus high resolution designs. A user can
use his or her own favorite photo to
create a skin customized to the size

speaker dock operating systems and have a trendy

Logitech has added the Pure-Fi Express
Plus omnidirectional speaker for iPod or
iPhone to its range of Pure-Fi iPod/ mp3
imprint design. The Croma Advantage
Program will help customers get 2 years’
extended warranty at the cost of one
year, one year’s antivirus free, and Tata
Indicom modem at a special price.
required. The company also offers
corporate branding options..
PRICE: Rs. 549
WEBSITE: www.laptopskinz.in
– jamshed.avari@chip.in-

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 25

 COLUMN PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR US
W
ith all the fuss over the Pirate Bay’s trial
and the march of self-appointed media
protection squads around the world, it’s
Jamshed Avari
Assistant Editor - Technical, easy to lose sight of why it keeps happening. While
CHIP we know that piracy is illegal and are increasingly
being told how it’s philosophically wrong as well,
most people aren’t bothered because there’s no
viable alternative. People pirate because piracy is
the easiest, cheapest and most immediate access to
software or media, and because sometimes the
only other choice is to go without. Several factors
come together to create an environment that
encourages piracy.
It’s probably true that the cost of software is
too high. Had it not been for piracy, who knows
how many Indians would never have been exposed
to computers? I’ve come across plenty of people
who have no idea that Windows and Office need to
be purchased separately and aren't fundamental
parts of every computer, simply because they've
always been included for free.
We just want to listen to good music and watch good movies without
jumping through hoops and spending too much money.
Then there’s the question of alternatives. On the
software front, Linux is free, but unfamiliar enough
that very few people are motivated to use it rather
than pirating Windows. Independent music is
plentiful, but people still want copies of songs
they’ve heard and liked. And pokey little Flash
games online will never satisfy a gamer who wants
the latest and greatest 3D PC or console titles,
even if they cost 2,500 rupees each.
And of course the issue of distribution. There
just aren’t as many avenues for obtaining non-
pirated software and media, and the ones we have
are often more limiting, frustrating, and time
consuming than piracy. In the past, studios have
released crippled discs that refuse to work on car
stereos or older players and even loaded them
with Trojans that sneak onto your PC and disrupt
normal functions when you try to play them. Music
purchased from one online service can't be played
on a competitor's portable player. Movie DVDs
can't be legally backed up or ripped for any other
reason. Even display and audio devices now cut
26 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
you off if they suspect you to be a pirate or if
you’re using older, supposedly insecure hardware.
All this makes life quite unpredictable for anyone
who just wants to buy a CD or DVD and enjoy its
contents—and pirated versions of the same movies
and music don’t cause any of these headaches.
In countries like India, even if someone wanted
to buy a genuine copy of a movie or even a video
game, chances are it wouldn’t be easy. We don’t
have an iTunes store or any other online retailer.
We don’t even have online subscription services,
which are quite popular abroad. The situation has
improved a lot in recent years, but non-
mainstream movies, music and even video games
sometimes take ages to release here.
Not only do we want our content quickly, but
we want it intact. That means no meddling by the
censor board. When faced with a choice of
watching a new, highly anticipated movie in an
expensive cinema or a tiny computer screen,
chances are people would choose the cinema. But
if they're spending a few hundred rupees, they
don’t expect have chunks of the narrative sliced
out, dialog erased, and someone else’s sense of
moral propriety imposed on them. Movies, music
and games are sometimes supposed to inspire
thought and shake us up. If that’s reason enough to
censor or ban them and if we're made to feel like
idiots who need to be told what is and isn’t safe to
watch, we might just fire up a Torrent search
engine instead.
Very few people who pirate anything do so with
criminal intent. Barely anyone deliberately pirates
their media to create a loss of revenue for a studio
or software company. They just want to listen to
good music and watch good movies without
jumping through hoops, and preferably, without
spending too much money. Things are getting
better on the pricing and distribution fronts, but
until we’re at parity with the rest of the world,
those P2P communities and Torrent sites are the
only things that satisfy a lot of people.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: NJC to 57007
COVER STORY

The
Ultimate
Laptop
Owners’ Guide

Sachin Pandit

28 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCS to 57007
Your life is now mobile, with
affordable laptops and netbooks
now easily available. Here's
how to get the most out of your
portable digital life.
BY TEAM CHIP

A
laptop is an incredibly personal device.
Once you own one, you'll find yourself
using it for all your regular computing
tasks but untethered from a desk and multiple
restrictive cables. Something as simple as
checking your email while lying in bed, or
finishing off some homework while you ride to
a class, can completely change the way you
think about and interact with your computer.
Such a shift in usage patterns is more
and more evident with prices tumbling every
few months, and more powerful hardware
eroding all the compromises that used to be a
necessary part of owning a laptop. Students
can now have their own computers and don't
need to worry about lab timings or distant
cybercafes, while office workers on the move
can keep themselves entertained as well
as get more work done. Even in the home,
laptops and netbooks are replacing desktops
not only because of space constraints and
better looks, but because they can be used in
multiple locations and free their owners to be
more creative and more productive.
Whether you're just about to buy your
first laptop or have owned one for years, this
guide should help answer questions and open
new avenues of possibility for getting the
maximum value out of your purchase. There
are some things here that everybody should
already know, and some things that might be
a little more obscure. Whatever the case may
be, all the information you need is right here in
one spot. We hope these tips help you live a
rich and fulfilling digital life!

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 29

 COVER STORY

THE NETBOOK ABCs

They are small, smart and cost less
than Rs 20,000. But what does one get
after buying a netbook? CHIP answers
the 10 most important questions that
should come to the mind of every
person before taking home a netbook.

1 Are netbooks
notebooks as well?
What is the difference?
By looks alone, there is little to
distinguish netbooks from small
notebooks, i.e. the so-called sub-
notebooks. However, the price tags are a
proof of the huge difference between the
two. While netbooks are available from
Rs 16,000 onwards, it is normal for a
mid-range sub-notebook to cost around
Rs 1,30,000 or more.
This is because the sub-notebooks
are high-tech notebooks in mini sizes.
The manufacturers are always trying to
minimize the weight and the dimensions
of the notebooks without affecting
their performance and equipment.
As opposed to this, netbooks are a
leaner combination of inexpensive and
low performance components. They
therefore have small displays with poor
resolutions, fewer ports for connections,
and low computing power.

3 Which accessories are useful? Can I compensate for

all the limitations of a netbook using accessories?
You can easily compensate for most of to buy a USB data card. With this you
the inherent limitations of a netbook get decent speeds while surfing and
by using accessories. For instance, an so you do not have to compromise
external USB hard disk helps in case at least in that regard. However, the
of limited memory. A USB DVD writer accessories cannot compensate for
replaces the missing optical drive. If you basic restrictions like poor computing
want to use your notebook outdoors power or a small screen, which is

2 Who requires a
netbook?
Netbooks are used essentially to write
along with the Internet, it is advisable why netbooks are so cheap.

emails and letters, maintain blogs,

bid live in online auctions or just to
check Wikipedia real quick. If you
have to do much more than this and
want a certain desktop size, memory
and hard disk speed or a significantly
higher computing power, forget
buying a netbook.
4 So what can a netbook do? What are the
limitations of its performance?
Netbooks are not power machines. If
you think you can process photos or
even videos using a netbook, you are
mistaken. Their working RAM amounts
and processors are normally quite weak.
Thus, if you load a huge image file or a
complex animation, even unproblematic
office applications like
PowerPoint begin to falter. So
generally speaking, a netbook is not
advisable for those who have to work
everyday with a notebook. On the
contrary, it is ideal to have a netbook as
a spare computer.

30 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

5 Do netbooks always
have Internet access? 7 Which is the ideal
processor for my
netbook?
The word “netbook” is misleading
because it does not mean automatic
internet access. The name originates
from Intel and indicates only a small
machine with low specifications
that manage very well with Internet
applications like mailing, surfing
and chatting as opposed to desktop
multimedia tasks. Computation and
graphics performance is not at all
important and the user hardly notices
the drawbacks of the puny hardware.
Yet, normally, netbooks do not innately
have any feature that will help you to be
online all the time—like Apple’s iPhone
or a BlackBerry. If you want to access
the Internet with your netbook, you must
invest in a mobile Web surfing dongle as
provided by most telecom companies.
6 Can netbooks display videos? Is it fun watching
movies on a netbook?
It is hard to get a movie theatre feeling
on a screen size of seven to ten inches.
But there are some people who watch
full-length movies on their cellphone
displays, so compared to that, watching
the movies on a seven inch screen is
actually like watching them in a cinema.
In most cases, the discussion over the
display format or even the screen size
is superfluous because the processor
and GPU of a netbook are not at all
There are a few different options:
Intel’s Celeron and Atom and Via’s C7
and Nano. Stay away from netbooks
with Celeron CPUs which slow but still
consume lots of power. The battery life
of the C7 is also low, resulting in a poor
consumption-performance ratio. Now we
are left only with Atom and Nano. The
Atom manages with less power, but is
weak in terms of performance while the
Nano consumes lot of power but offers
very good performance.
8 What is the life of a
netbook battery?
The battery life of a netbook depends on
the type of battery used and therefore
a generalised answer is not possible.
However, we can give you a rough idea
based on readings taken in the CHIP Test
Center. Depending on the model and
manufacturer, you can get between 1.5
hours and 3.5 hours for regular usage
with Wi-Fi enabled, or maybe even up
to 5 hours with a special high-capacity
battery and bare minimum usage like
typing out or reading text documents.
You should be able to buy spare
batteries, or charge on the go.
capable of decoding the video stream.
Still, all the devices should actually
support MPEG 2 videos (DVD format)
from USB drives. Things get a little
difficult in case of MPEG 4, i.e. DivX and
XviD. Some notebooks can play these
movies, while some cannot, depending
on their resolutions and CPU strength.
H.264 encoded movies appear quite
clearly. It does not matter if they are
in HD format or normal PAL format.
The codec is so demanding that every
netbook is inevitably brought to its
knees. However, it is not just the films
that are problematic. Recently, Flash
animations have been compressed
with computation-intensive codecs.
Even here, netbooks fall way behind.
They cannot play this type of Flash
animation. So it would be better to
avoid netbooks for watching videos.
9 What is better:
Windows or Linux?
Even if you have a new version of
Windows, you will have to admit in
all fairness that a tweaked Linux
manages better with significantly less
resources as compared to Windows
XP. Add to this that there is no
tangible Windows application that
does not have a Linux counterpart
that is as alike in terms of look and
feel for Windows original.
If you have a slow system, you are
always better equipped with Linux
rather than Windows, because its
installation via USB stick or external
hard disk is often particularly tricky.
Another reason to support the Linux
system is that they are cheaper than
their Windows counterparts. The
argument that Linux systems are
difficult to operate is not applicable in
case of netbooks. This is because the
Linux configurations in our test center
came along with a graphical interface
that was self-explanatory. However,
you need to know the commands well
to use Linux properly.
10Displays
options
and storage
Netbook buyers are frugal. Why else
would they come up with the idea of
buying mini notebooks for less than Rs
20,000? However, it is not just the price.
A certain screen size is indispensable
to actually enjoy a netbook. We found
a seven inch display way too small and
advise you to buy netbooks with screens
that measure 10 inches and offer a
resolution of at least 1024 x 600 pixels.
That is still not much and many netbook
users will need to learn functions like
the [F11] key that activates a fullscreen
display while browsing.
The answer for storage is not so
easy. Flash drives in netbooks have little
to do with the exorbitantly expensive
SSDs offered by Intel or Samsung. They
are so slow that the even a Windows
installation causes problems. The picture
changes completely with Linux, which
needs fewer hard disk accesses. Thus,
Linux SSD netbooks leave a smooth or
even a zippy impression. So if the system
runs Linux, an SSD is fine but in the case
of a Windows system, an actual hard
disk is a better option.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 31
 COVER STORY
APPLICATIONS
These simple yet versatile tools not only prevent others from accessing your PC but also allow you to get that extra juice
out of your laptop or netbook CPU, making them must-haves for your mobile PC.
Daemon Tools
Imagine carrying all your movie and
music CDs with you on a vacation. Apart
from the extra baggage you will be
carrying, you might just misplace them
on your trip. A more viable option would
be to create images of your favorite
CDs or DVDs and mount them as virtual
discs on demand. Daemon tools is by far
one of the best image mounting apps.
The free version though allows you to
create a total of four virtual disk drives.
Netbook users would definitely save on
the cost of an external drive.
Notebook Hardware
Control
Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) is
a system monitoring tool that shows
you exactly what lies under the hood.
NHC allows you to take control of your
CPU speed and temperature as well as
tweak CPU voltages. CPU Speed Control
allows you to automatically switch
between various power plans depending
on whether your laptop is connected to
an external power source or running on
battery. You can also see exactly how
much charging capacity is left.
32 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
USB Locking
Ever been scared of losing
your data to anyone who has
access to your laptop without
your knowledge? Well, there
are various ways of keeping
strangers from reading your
documents and messages.
Stop them dead in their
tracks by locking your working
environment with a USB drive using the the laptop. This is particularly useful if
application ID USB Lock. This program you leave it unattended for long periods.
generates a unique key on the specified You can also double your protection
USB stick. You can even have the choice by password locking your disks and
of using the protection when Windows partitions. Disk password protection
starts. Once locked, only the specified gives you that extra layer of protection if
USB drive with the key file can unlock you are paranoid about data theft.
NetSetMan
Changing from one network to another
can be quite a pain especially when
you need to remember a list of network
settings. But wouldn’t that require
you to manually change the settings
every time you move from one place to
another? That shouldn’t be a problem
with NetSetMan installed. You only
need to manually enter each set of
IP addresses once and you’re done. settings which gives you the flexibility of
Thereafter all changes are done at setting up multiple machines quickly. To
the click of a button—no more digging make things easier you have the choice
through network properties. You even of renaming each preset according to its
have the choice of exporting your location or purpose.
Network Stumbler
If you want to test your Wi-Fi router's
reach and signal strength or discover
how many other networks there are
in range, Network Stumbler is the tool
for you. It can detect networks with
SSID broadcast disabled and show
you whether they're encrypted. It's an
indispensable tool for making sure your
router is in the perfect location, and
even for auditing your own Wi-Fi network
security. But remember, even if the
program shows you open hotspots, it
might not be legal to connect to them.
 ERGONOMICS
In addition to utility and portability, laptops bring with them some very serious hazards to our health. A lack of attenti-
on can turn things really ugly. CHIP shows you ways to prevent bad things from happening to you.
It’s usually surprising to hear healthy
young professionals complaining about
physical discomfort due to overwork,
but it’s an increasingly common
phenomenon these days. In this day
and age where computers have become
literally mandatory in a work space,
working long hours without physical
movement is almost inevitable. In this
section, we talk about the harmful
effects of improper laptop usage
and how to prevent and cure them.
Lounging
As a rule of thumb, one should avoid
using a laptop on a sofa, a couch or
inside a car. They aren’t the best places
as far as you body posture while usage
goes. If such scenarios are unavoidable,
make ensure that you take precautionary
measures.
PROBLEM: Neck, back and lower back
Sitting in your comfort zones is different
from when working on a desktop PC.
When using the latter, you tend to sit
upright and the top of your screen
(monitor) fairly matches your eye level.
Therefore, you look at the screen with
an upright neck and back. It’s even so
50-60cm/20-24’’
40-45
46-55cm/18-22”
90
66-71cm/26-28’’
because the height of your
chair may be adjustable.
This is an ideal position,
but a laptop’s screen can’t
be adjusted independently
except an occasional
swivel. Furthermore, when
on the lap, the height of the
screen obviously doesn’t
match with your eye level.
This forces you to tilt your neck forward
and hunch your back a little to view the
screen properly.
SOLUTION: In such cases, keep a foot
rest underneath your feet to raise your
legs higher. There’s a plethora of laptop
accessories available for this and many
other purposes. One of the places you
can look at is http://laptopstands.in
(Rife Technologies). It’s a good one-stop-
shop for accessories for laptops and for
desktop PCs. The stand elevates the
laptop, and hence its screen matches
the eye level giving your neck and back
a comfortable posture. Alternatively,
you can keep something underneath the
laptop to get the same result.
PROBLEM: Wrists, elbows and arms
When using a laptop improperly, elbows,
wrists, and fingers are also affected
drastically. A laptop on the lap causes
your arms to extend downwards causing
the hands move upwards, which is
very harmful for the wrist. Similarly,
if you haven’t been positioning your
wrist properly while using a laptop or a
desktop keyboard or mouse, chances are
that you will hurt your wrist in more than
one way. There’s a medical condition
called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, where
the wrists are affected. It is when the
median nerve inside the wrist gets
pinched causing acute discomfort and
pain. Other symptoms include pain and
weakness in the thumb and fingers.
These symptoms are intensified with
strenuous physical and laborious tasks.
It can be treated medically and in worse
cases, surgically. Always remember that
prevention is way much better than cure.
before after
SOLUTION: Wrists should be kept
straight or in a neutral position so
that they don’t bend in any of the four
directions. For elbows, maintaining an
obtuse angle (more than 90 degrees)
between the forearms and biceps gives
an open angle to the elbows which
ensures comfort. Finally, learn touch
typing, it will help you to use a split
keyboard and to also type much faster.
Visit http://www.typingmaster.com.
All in all, the best way to use your
laptop is to keep it on the desk and
maintain an upright posture while you
use it. Avoid a chair which doesn’t have
a back rest.
TIPS
 Avoid carrying accessories in your
laptop bag to reduce its weight.
 When carrying your laptop, swap it
from one shoulder to another.
 When feeling discomfort in any of
your joints, stop, find out why it’s
happening, change your sitting
position re-position your laptop.
 Don’t sit continuously for long. Change
your posture and take short breaks.
 Avoid holding a mouse with pressure.
Use it as if pushing it, not carrying it.
 Try to maintain a straight posture (neck
and spine) as far as possible.
 Try using a split keyboard.
 Finally, for any sort of medical
condition or disorder caused by
computing, consult you doctor or a
specialist if need be.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 33
 COVER STORY
LAPTOP CARE
Taking good care of the physical components your laptop can significantly increase the lifespan of you device. Be regular
and thorough and you will be rewarded with long-lasting companion.
One of the worst nightmares that
anyone could face is something going
wrong with the laptop (especially at
critical moments). Software related
problems aren’t very serious as they
can be rectified, but a problem with the
hardware can be as simple as a loose
contact to as terrible as replacing an
internal component. Being an electronic
device you cannot say when your laptop
will let you down. But as they say,
prevention is better than cure, you can
do a lot to keep your laptop healthy. Here
are some tips for cleaning your laptop,
maximizing the battery life, and more.
Getting more from your
battery
 Battery care begins right from the day
you unpack your brand new laptop. New
battry packs have some charge in them,
so drain it completely by using it all and
then charge the battery for 12 to 14 hours
to fully top up the battery. Do this for the
first three or four times. After that you
can charge the battery normally—plug in
the adapter and let the battery charge
for around two hours until it is full.
 If you want your battery to last longer,
avoid unplugging the adapter when
the battery is not charged completely.
Also, don’t put the laptop to charge
until the battery level has reached less
than 20 percent. Keep an eye on the
battery indicator in the notification area
to monitor the battery level when the
Microfiber cloth removes stains from glossy
surfaces without leaving behind lint.
34 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The Power saver plan lowers the LCD brightness
and CPU speed to deliver good battery life.
laptop is running on battery.
 Many users don’t bother to adjust
the display brightness and keep it set
to full at all times. Lowering the display
brightness to a lower level (depending
on the lighting condition) will make a
difference. Also switch off the Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi adapters when not in use.
 Optical drives and 2.5-inch external
hard drives consume a lot of power. If
you need to access a particular CD/DVD
very frequently, copy the entire contents
to the laptop’s hard drive. Remember to
disconnect any external storage devices
when you don’t need to access them.
 Windows Vista has an option to
switch between power plans (Balanced,
Power saver and High performance).
Choose the Power saver plan for best
battery life if you’re just surfing the web
or using office suite. Remove the battery
and clean the contact points with a
cotton swab dampened with alcohol
once every three months.
 If you will not be using your laptop
for more than a week’s time, detach the
battery and keep it separately.
Keep your laptop clean
 Laptops with glossy screen and
surfaces attract stains and fingerprints.
Use a microfiber cloth to clean such
stains. Synthetic cloth or denim can
scratch glossy surfaces. If the stain is
stubborn use a damp cloth and then use
a microfiber cloth to clean the moisture.
 Keep food and drinks away from
your laptop. You never know when an
accident will take place.
 Always clean your hands before using
your laptop.
Warranty
 Most laptops come with a warranty
period of one year. If anything goes
wrong with the laptop (except physical
damage) within the warranty period, the
manufacturer will rectify the problem
free of cost. Some brands offer extended
warranty period for the price of a few
thousand rupees.
 If you’re buying a laptop from abroad,
make sure that the laptop is backed by
international warranty.
 Make sure that the bill mentions the
correct date of purchase and the serial
number of the laptop you’re buying.
Remember to get the warranty card
stamped by the dealer.
OTHER TIPS
 Open and close the lid gently by
holding it from the middle or both the
sides. Holding the lid from one side
stresses the hinge of that side. The
hinge can bend or snap over a period
of time.
 Avoid using your laptop on soft
surfaces such as bed or sofa, as it will
sink in causing the exhaust vents on
the sides and base to get blocked. The
hot air will get trapped within and your
laptop will heat up.
 Don’t keep the adapter on the floor.
You might roll your chair over the wire
or someone might stumble upon it and
fall.
 Don’t slip the laptop in the bag
immediately after switching it off. Let
it cool down for 15 minutes and then
pack it up.
 If you use your laptop as a desktop
replacement and leave it on the table,
cover it with a piece of cloth to protect
it from dust.
 INTERNET OPTIONS
Mobility is not just about carrying a device around. Your laptop isn't totally complete without some kind of Internet
access. You can take your laptop online from anywhere with Wi-Fi, data cards, and other options.
WiMAX
The next big thing for high speed
wireless Internet access is WiMAX. This
technology can provide broadband
speeds of around 72 Mbps without
the need for wires. Opting for a
WiMAX in India involves installing CPE
(Customer Premises Equipment) and
then connecting that to another wired
or wireless network. A small directional
antenna needs to be mounted on a
roof or exterior wall and connected to
an indoor unit (the CPE) which is then
connected to the computer’s Ethernet
or USB port. So for a while at least,
we're unlikely to be able to get a WiMAX
Mobile phones
A mobile phone is always considered
to be the best companion when on the
move. Smartphones are compact, small,
light and portable. You can do a lot
on these little gadgets—from Internet
browsing to checking mail,
watching movies, etc.
But hooking onto the Internet
on such a small screen is irritating
when you have a full-sized laptop
in your bag. So most telecom
operators allow mobile phones to
be tethered to PCs or laptops via
USB or Bluetooth so that users
Wi-Fi hotspots
The most commonly available wireless
Internet connection today is generally
found in cafés, airports and certain
hotels. These hotspots provide free or
paid Internet
usage, with a
few rules and
regulations. Free
connection for use on the move. Plans
are afoot to use WiMAX as a feeder for
smaller individual Wi-Fi hotspots that
would cover entire cities, which would
then allow laptop users to connect from
anywhere.
Currently, WiMAX is available only in
certain cities and are presently provided
by companies such as Bharti Airtel,
Reliance, Tata and others. While WiMAX
is in its teething stages in India, it is
one of the fastest modes of Internet
connectivity and could be a viable
option in the near future. The speed you
get will of course be dependant on the
subscription plan you choose.
can hook up to the cellular network for
Internet access and use your full-sized
computer for actual browsing. Since
you'll always have your phone with you
anyway, it's a neat solution for hooking
up to the Internet anytime. All you need
to do is subscribe to the required
Internet connection plan with
your cellphone provider, and
set up your phone and laptop
with the settings provided.
Speeds over GPRS, EGDE and 3G
should be around 30–50 Kbps,
126–160 Kbps and 300–450 Kbps
respectively.
connections usually just let you connect
without a password, but you might
need to contact a helpdesk for access
to paid hotspots. Since most laptops,
smartphones and handhelds today come
with Wi-Fi, more and more businesses
attract customers by offering access.
Wireless networking in laptops is
currently available in two types—802.11
b/g and 802.11 Draft-N. Wi-Fi hotspots
using the latest Draft-N standard
can reach speeds of up to 54
Mbps. If you're lucky, you might
even find a hotspot within range of
your home or office.
Data cards
Almost all major cellphone operators
and telecom companies offer Internet
access through a small hardware
device known as a data card.
These are either USB dongles or
PCMCIA/ExpressCard devices
which fit into your laptop's
expansion slot. These devices
are actually miniature
mobile phones 2G/3G
SIM cards or equivalent
connection mechanisms,
and connect to the service provider just
like a GPRS/EDGE-enabled cellphone.
The providers offer special plans for data
transfer rather than voice/SMS and other
types of usage. Reliance, Airtel, Tata,
Idea and many others offer coverage
across the country. Speeds are usually in
the range of 115 Kbps–3.1 Mbps.
GET SMART
Figuring out which Internet connection
is best for you can be tricky. ISPs offer a
variety of schemes to attract consumers
to expensive options. For example,
telecom companies offering data services
via GPRS using a mobile phone have
tariff plans which are costlier in the long
run. You get a free downloads of around
500 MB or 1 GB for and thereafter you
are charged around five paisa per 10
KB of data download. This amounts to a
high cost of approximately Rs 5 per MB.
Moreover, the speed is hardly around
115 Kbps and you are charged for both
downloading and uploading data.
Wi-Fi is currently the most convenient
way to get on the Internet, but the
availability of hotspots has actually
decreased due to security concerns in
recent times. WiMax is currently not
available as a truly mobile option, so one
will have to wait for the market to mature
a little before services that offer better
speeds and prices become available.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 35
 COVER STORY

LAPTOP ACCESSORIES
You've spent a lot of money on your laptop, but you can get a whole lot more out of it with a few simple and inexpensive
add-ons. Check out these ideas to help you stay safe, connected, and productive.

Carry gear
The most common type of bag is the black rectangular
shoulder bag that comes free with many laptops. Most
laptop owners prefer using it throughout the lifetime of the
laptop and not buying a new one because it pinches the
pocket. No doubt the bundled bag does its job well, but a
different type of bag might suit your purpose better. Sling
bags and backpacks with padded compartments are ideal
for students and are ergonomically designed to reduce
neck and back strain. Simpler sleeves are good for netbooks
and ultra-portable laptops but not recommended for carrying larger
laptops. If you want something that looks professional, check out leather
bags and laptop briefcases. Do make sure that the bag you buy has enough
compartments for the accessories you carry along.

USB data transfer device
There are many ways in which you can
transfer data from one PC to another,
the simplest being using an external
storage device. However it would
be very impractical to transfer huge
volumes of data that way. A better
way would be transferring data over a
wired or wireless network. Configuring
the network settings in Windows has
become easier with newer versions, but
a layman would prefer something that's
even easier to use. A USB data transfer
device connects two PCs over USB and
makes data transfer as easy as copying
and pasting in a Windows Explorer-like
interface. The device doesn’t require
any drivers and the file browsing /
transferring software runs directly from
its built-in memory—no need to configure
the device manually.
The ATEN CS661 (above) has a
USB port for sharing a printer between
two PCs. Keep this device handy if
you frequently need to transfer data
between two PCs or laptops.
USB hub
You might never fall short of USB ports on a
desktop PC, but you won’t be able to connect
many devices simultaneously to a laptop. On
an average, laptops have around three USB
ports and netbooks have two. Only a few high-
end laptops have more. These suffice for connecting
external storage devices and other accessories
simultaneously. But you’ll wish your laptop had a few
more ports if you also want to use a webcam and an
external TV tuner. At times 2.5-inch external hard drives need an
additional USB port to draw extra power. Then you’re left with only one. A 4-port
USB hub comes handy in such situations—connect it to a USB port and you’ll have
four at your disposal. You can buy one for Rs 150 at any stationery store.
Portable speakers
It’s very rare to come across laptops that have very good speakers. The
diminutive speakers that most laptops have, are not very loud and don’t
produce good quality sound. In some laptops, speakers are barely
audible. Therefore it’s not much fun watching movies or
listening to music on a laptop unless you’re using
external speakers or earphones. A set of portable
laptop speakers is a good addition to your
laptop bag if you want better quality sound
at any point of time. Good sound makes a
big difference while watching movies and
making presentations. Portable speakers come
in a variety of shapes in sizes. Some have built-in audio codec and lithium-ion
battery and connect to a USB port instead of the 3.5 mm jack. Such speakers
can also be used with mobile phones and portable media players.

36 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 Laptop cooler
It’s not unusual for the base of a laptop to heat up after using it for
an hour or so. This heat is dissipated by the core components such
as the CPU, graphics processor and chipset. Laptops are equipped
with cooling systems comprising heat pipes and fans, but they aren’t
successful in lowering the temperature beyond a certain point. This is
because there’s hardly any breathing space inside the laptop and not
much air can be pushed out through the vents on the side and rear of
the chassis.
Laptop coolers are very effective in lowering the temperature of the
base and in turn keeping the components within cool. They usually
come in the form of a ventilated aluminum plate with one or more
USB-powered fans. Laptop coolers are available in various sizes, so
pick the one that matches your laptop.

Laptop mouse and webcam

Using the touchpad for a prolonged period can be quite frustrating even
for advanced users—nothing is as comfortable as a mouse. Although desktop
mice can be used with a laptop, they are bulky to be carried in a laptop bag.
Laptop mice are more compact and yet are very comfortable on the hand.
Wired as well as wireless variants of such mice are available
in plenty of designs.
Webcams are common features in most entry-level
and mainstream laptops. But if your laptop doesn’t have
one, there are several models available that clip on to
the laptop’s lid. The resolution
of the webcam should be at
least 1.3 megapixels, which
translates into 1280x1024 Kensington lock
pixels. The best brands It’s not a good idea to leave your laptop
to consider are Microsoft, unattended on your desk while you’re
Logitech and Creative. away for a break or a meeting. However
for times when you really can’t do
anything to avoid it, you need to keep a
Kensington lock handy.
Wireless presentation kit These locks are designed specially for
A wireless presentation kit enables you to control slideshows and the mouse laptops and portable electronic devices
pointer wirelessly so you don’t need to reach out to your laptop each time such as projectors. A Kensington lock is
you want to change a slide. The kit consists of a wireless receiver and the a sleeved metal cable that has a loop at
presentation device. To start using the device all you have to do is pair it with one end and a lock at the other. The lock
the receiver. The device usually has a 4-way latches into the Kensington slot or K-lock
d-pad for controlling the mouse cursor, hole that is found on the side or the rear
buttons to go to the previous and next corner of almost every laptop.
slides, left and right mouse buttons, and a You can wind the cable around
laser pointer. The receiver of the Gigabyte immovable objects such as a table leg
Wireless Presentation kit comes equipped or a cabinet handle and then lock it so
with 128 or 256 MB of flash memory for that no one can just walk away with your
carrying presentations on it. The Microsoft laptop. Remember to lock your Windows
Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse is desktop before you leave it unattended,
even more interesting. It has controls for so that no one can mess around or steal
presentation and media player on its base. your data with a pen drive.
– feedback@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 37

 HARDWARE TESTED
Top Gear
We got our hands on some great gadgets and PC components for you this month.
BY THE CHIP TEST CENTER
I
t is starting to heat up at the
Test Center these days with new
technology and products bringing in
the summer months. We here at CHIP
beat the heat by staying indoors and
playing with some truly cutting edge
devices. One of these is a personal
media player by Cowon called the S9
Curve. A beauty of media player, this
one looks elegant and purposeful,
delivers great performance, and has
won quite a few hearts as well! J&W
enters Indian markets this month with
their motherboard, the 790GX-Extreme.
Steady performance coupled with a
reasonable price tag make it a good
combination according to us.
38 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Budding photographers need to
take a look the Canon SX 10IS, which
is quite an interesting new prosumer
model. This camera boasts 10x optical
zoom enabling you to take pictures
from a good distance away and still get
great results. What's more, it has all the
features that people desire. A mammoth
2 TB hard drive has been launched in
India, giving Western Digital the capacity
lead for now. On the other end of the
spectrum, Kingston launched the DT Mini
Slim USB drive. This tiny little drive can
store up to 4 GB of data and still fit in
your wallet! In addition, there is a laptop
from Lenovo, a netbook from Samsung,
and many more great gizmos this month!
RATINGS EXPLAINED
The products in the individual and
comparison tests share exactly the same
test procedures.
Each product in Top Gear is rated on a
scale of 5 for different key parameters:
Performance, Build Quality, Features,
Ergonomics, and Warranty. These vary
according to the characteristics of the
hardware. For instance, ergonomics (ease of
use) is not important in a graphics card and
therefore, it will not be evaluated for this.
A product’s Overall Rating is calculated
by assigning weightage to each evaluation
parameter—the more important a parameter,
the higher is the weightage allotted to it. In
addition, there is a Value for Money rating,
which is calculated from the performance
and the features of the product in relation
to the price. High performance and lots of
features at a low price translates into a
better Value for Money rating. This rating is
calculated using current prices of the
products.
NOTE: The prices mentioned here do not
include taxes. Hence, they will vary
according to the taxes applicable in the city
or state where you buy the product from.
SMS us!  Story code: HHT to 57007
PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER
Cowon S9 Curve
VERDICT: The portable audio experience was brilliant with
excellent battery life and very few kinks, but with an 8 GB iPod
Touch available for close to Rs 12,000, does it make sense?
FOR: Excellent sound and video quality, great battery life.
AGAINST: All menus don't change orientation, no TV cable.
O
ne of the main selling points
that Cowon has managed to
establish for itself is the ability
to simply copy and paste media files to
its devices, meaning users don't need
to waste time converting videos for
playback. While that is a huge plus point,
their players also share another common
attribute—even with brilliantly large
displays, they're all rather heavy and
generically designed.
Features and Performance
The main menu is designed with extreme
simplicity. The player offers two themes
to break the monotony. The internal
menus provide small but still accessible
options for settings, scanning and so
on. To save space, the main menu
bar usually located at the bottom of
the display is dual sided with a small
‘Flip’ option at the end to reveal more
settings. While the accelerometer is
smooth it has no transition effect, the
touch sensitivity is a bit erratic in some
conditions. When it comes to scanning
files, the status bar was not very easy to
use, so the buttons on the top will work
out very well here. There were dedicated
menus that worked with screen rotation
only. So if you’re watching a video and
but come back to the ‘List’ menu you’ll
have to flip your hand to portrait and
back again when resuming the file. A
quick menu option to select files is
available on both the audio and video
playback screens. First off, the bundled
earphones were a disappointment.
When X-Bass or any of the other bass
options are selected they jar enough
to convince you without a shadow of a size of the video to full screen in case
doubt that they are in agony. The decibel it’s in a wider screen format than 16:9.
level is insanely high, and we do not Large images in JPEG format may take
recommend playing anything with the a little longer to open than scaled
volume at the highest level as you could images of course, but that’s something
cause some serious damage to your you'll probably be able to live with. It
ears. However, with a set of Sennheiser also features an alarm clock, calculator
reference headphones, we were thrilled and Flash player for games and other
with the kind of audio quality the device supported applications. Ebooks in TXT
generated. The resounding thump in format can very easily be read, and a
bass lines and clear tones all around zoom control slider is present through
make for an excellent audio experience. most of the menus to make reading files
There are plenty of EQ presets to and documents a whole lot easier.
choose from in the JetAuido section of The battery life clocked in at 7.5 hours
the player’s settings—30 to be exact. for video and over 45 hours of audio.
Those include 26 pre-configured and four That didn’t quite match the 55 hours the
customizable presets. BBE is the name company claims.
of Cowon's sound engine, which really
does manage to bring richer and fuller
sound to audio in the portable device INFO
category. When they claimed that the S9
PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER
would deliver great audio, they weren’t
kidding. What will make the player even Cowon S9 Curve
more appealing to an audiophile are the SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 57x105x12 mm; Display: 3.3-inch
customizable options and amount of
Touchscreen, 16 M colors; Storage:16 GB; File formats: Video -
effort the company has put into making AVI, WMV, XVID, Audio - MP3/2/1, WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV, APE.
sure that those who know their audio PRICE Rs 15,500
will get the absolute best out of it. CONTACT Lipap Systems
The S9’s integrated FM radio has PHONE 022-40032653
decent pickup even while commuting EMAIL iaudio@lipap.com
through the city, although it doesn’t WEBSITE www.lipap.com
have a recording feature. The player WARRANTY 1 year
does however have a standalone voice
recorder. The mic has really good range,
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
but stay within four feet for dictation if
FEATURES
you really want clear vocals as it tends
PERFORMANCE
to pick up a lot of ambient sound. Video
ERGONOMICS
playback looks really good but scanning OVERALL RATING
via the display is a bit of an issue. The VALUE FOR MONEY
player also allows you to increase the
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 39
 HARDWARE TESTED
DIGITAL CAMERA
Canon SX10 IS
VERDICT: The excellent image quality, good performance, and features
that give you a major advantage in your photography are good enough
reasons to buy this camera.
FOR: Excellent image quality, great video mode, stereo audio recording.
AGAINST: Heavy with four AA batteries, lots of noise after ISO 400.
Z
oom levels are getting
ridiculously high these days
in consumer cameras and we
couldn't be happier. While anything
that supports 10x optical zoom and
above can be technically classified as
a superzoom camera, manufacturers
are pushing the envelope with 15X, 18x,
and now with the new SX10 IS, 20x
(28-560mm) optical zoom!
Build Quality
Even though the SX10 IS has a
completely plastic body, it feels quite
sturdy and is also a bit on the heavier
side at 600g (with 4 AA batteries). The
body's almost as big as an entry-level
DSLR camera at 128 x 88 x 87 mm.
The tilt-and-swivel screen is always
an appreciated feature in a camera, and
as Canon's prosumer tradition goes, this
one has it too. Compared to some of the
consumer-friendly cameras out there,
the 2.5-inch screen might not sound
impressive, but considering its excellent
outdoor performance and the fact that it
can be adjusted to shoot subjects from
any tricky angle, we'll give the display a
big thumbs up.
Navigation on the SX10 IS is very
convenient with perfectly marked
buttons and a jog dial that works like a
charm. With all the buttons placed on
the right, the camera design is optimized
for single-handed operation.
Features
As we stated earlier, the camera
features 20x optical zoom, which is an
industry first. Of course, this high zoom
40 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
would be useless without excellent should try shooting with the natural color
image stabilization, and luckily the preset present in the camera.
SX10 IS has just that. Considering thatt For some weird reason, the Night
you are shooting under normal lighting
g Snapshot preset used the lowest ISO
conditions, the camera will manage to sensitivity (ISO 80) and used a slow
prevent quite a bit of image blurring shutter speed to compensate. While
from hand-held shots taken at the using a lower ISO might eliminate noise
highest zoom level. to a large extent, it's just not suitable for
10 megapixels seems to be the bare dark environments.
minimum resolution these days, and The camera is quite a quick performer
that's exactly what the SX10 IS offers. with just a little over a second in start-up
Considering the high zoom level and time and a little under 2 seconds to
other features, we don't think this is a shut-down. Shot-to-shot time was close
negative point for this camera. to an impressive 2 fps. The picture clarity
Video shooting may not be of primary in video mode was very impressive as
importance when purchasing a digital well. Though the camera takes a while to
superzoom, but Canon decided to keep focus in low-light conditions, it performs
that as one of the selling points in the admirably in normal light.
SX10 IS. Video is recorded at a modest
resolution of 640x480 (30 fps), but
thanks to Canon's intuitive dual-mic
INFO
placement, it records sound in true DIGITAL CAMERA
stereo. Of course being able to use the Canon SX10 IS
20x optical zoom adds quite a lot to your
SPECIFICATIONS
video shooting experience. Dimensions (WxHxD): 128x88x87 mm; Weight: 600 g;
Resolution: 10 MP; Focal length (35 mm equiv): 28-560 mm, 20x
Performance zoom; ISO: 80 to 1600; Storage: SD/SDHC.
PRICE Rs 26,995
The SX10 IS managed to capture all
CONTACT Canon India
the finer details in our test shots. This
PHONE 1800-1803-366
is a perfect example of how we'd much
EMAIL info@canon.co.in
rather have a lower megapixel camera
WEBSITE www.canon.co.in
giving us better detail than a high
WARRANTY 2 years
megapixel camera giving us smudges at
its full resolution. RATINGS
The colors seemed a notch brighter BUILD QUALITY
than natural, but that didn't result in FEATURES
any loss in image quality. Saturation PERFORMANCE
of colors is a normal practice in ERGONOMICS
OVERALL RATING
consumer cameras, so if you're looking
VALUE FOR MONEY
at extremely natural color tones, you
MOBILE PHONE

Spice S-940
VERDICT: While it does have its plus points it also has a lot of negatives.
It’s just a great looking handset with multimedia features that don’t really
function too well.
FOR: Great design, plenty of extras from Spice, decent battery life.
AGAINST: Normal 3GP videos didn't play, music player is too soft, camera
quality is not good, few odd quirks in UI.

W
hat one looks for in a mobile
handset, aside from the
obvious features, is perhaps
a bit of style and class as well. The
Spice’s S-940 tries to provide these, but
does so at the cost of utility.
Features and Performance
Spice has gone with a Java based
OS exactly like you’d find in cheap,
unbranded handsets. It’s quick, colorful
and easy to navigate. From a Melody
Composer to an image editor with
plenty of settings, there are quite a few
media options available with the S-940.
The music player has a flashy interface
with EQ presets for audio adjustments.
The audio quality was not great and the
decibel level is too low. The earphones
attached to the hands-free kit were
comfortable either. The FM radio, on
the other hand was not. It took 16
seconds to locate and store five out the
seven available stations. You can easily
manually adjust any others. Reception
was not bad but if you’re not near the
window while commuting, it’ll be rather
difficult to get a clear signal. The radio
has a manual recording option as well as
a scheduler for the same.
Using most of our regular test videos
in the most common 3GP and mobile
MP4 formats, we kept receiving "non-
compatible file" errors. So that feature
struck out, although videos captured by
the camera played just fine.
tones seemed to be lengthy arias. You
can however use your own music files as
ring tones and create message tones via
the built-in composer.
The S-940 also comes with all the
regular features including a calendar,
tasks, calculator, world clock, a to-do
list, a flashlight option that activates the
LED on the camera, and even an ebook
reader. Spice has also included a section
with a whole lot of its own freebies,
including a mobile tracker for security,
contacts backup app for emergencies,
links to Spice Gang, which is an online
community for Spice users, Ibibo Friend
Finder, and even a quick link to Reuters.
Another feature included is “Private
Menu”, which allows a user to protect
particular sections of the handset such
as call history, messages, camera and so
on using a password.
The S-940 supports GPRS and WAP.
We especially liked the fact that BPL
GPRS settings were preloaded and
offered in the menu. Other connectivity
options include Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
support and USB 2.0 for data transfer.
Part of Spice’s additional preloaded
feature package is “Email-to-SMS” that
will allow users to get all his email from
designated accounts as SMSes. You’ll
also be able to send, forward and reply
to mail via the same system. There is the
regular POP and IMAP mail downloading
option as well. Aside from the native
browser, Spice has also included Opera
competitive exams such as the CAT,
MAT, IIT-JEE or CBSE and so on.
The onboard 2-megapixel camera
with LED flash is quite average. There
are however plenty of settings to select
that include White Balance, Night Mode,
Multi-Shot (up to 6 images) and a few
“Effects and Frames” you can add to
portraits. Keypad shortcuts can be used
to activate each setting but you’ll have
to figure out which key does what and
memorize it all on your own as there are
no indicators for the same.
When it came to the battery, the
S-940 really excelled. On a single charge
it ran for a little over two full days with
normal usage. Talk time was around 3
hours in normal conditions.
INFO
MOBILE PHONE
Spice S-940
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 99.9x48.1x17.2 mm; Weight: 86 g;
Display: 2.4-inch TFT, 65K colors; Memory: 70 MB internal,
Micro SD/MMC (expandable); Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.0+A2DP
PRICE Rs 5,999
CONTACT Spice Mobiles Ltd
PHONE 0120-4363600
EMAIL swapnil@spicemobile.in
WEBSITE www.spice-mobile.com
WARRANTY 1 year
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES

What we disliked the most were the Mini. Both browsers are easy to use and PERFORMANCE

really strange preloaded ring tones. We
couldn’t find a simple, sensible message
tone that simply beeped. All message
set up. A link called MGurujee is also on ERGONOMICS
OVERALL RATING
board. This feature connects to a service
VALUE FOR MONEY
that will help young users prepare for

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 41

 HARDWARE TESTED

NETBOOK

Samsung NP-NC10
VERDICT: Buy this netbook if your priorities are battery life, build
quality and a no-nonsense color scheme.
FOR: Outstanding battery life and very good build quality.
AGAINST: None.

S
amsung is a late entrant in GHz. This package and 1 GB RAM,
M, a 160 is comfortable and has a scroll zone. So
the netbook arena, but has GB hard drive and an onboard Intel
tel GMA overall,
overall we’d say this one scores well on
introduced something solid. 950 GPU make this netbook worthwhile build quality.
Although hardware in most netbooks is for business on the go. Its decently
courtesy Intel’s Atom processor, let’s find sized 10.2-inch screen which houses a Performance
out what is different about the NC10. 1.3-megapixel webcam is a nice touch for As far as performance goes, there isn’t
video calls and messages. The screen’s much to differentiate the NC10 from
Features resolution of 1024 x 600 is good enough other standard netbooks. When stacked
The Samsung NP-NC10 features for office work, an occasional in-flight up against the Asus 1000H, the NC10
hardware that is common to most movie or even light gaming. Connectivity matches it in performance in most
netbooks. It is built around the Intel is offered via 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-Fi b/g cases. The memory bandwidth is the
945GSE chipset and is powered by the and Bluetooth. Samsung could have same, and even the processing power
Intel Atom N270 which is clocked at 1.60 provided Wi-Fi n. Since the hard drive is doesn’t falter in comparison. It performs
roomy enough, why shouldn't users be as well as any Atom N270-based
able to download faster? netbook. Sound quality is good and even
TEST RESULTS Other features include one VGA and 3 the battery life is tremendous with nearly
USB ports, audio ports and a Kensington a whopping 5 hours when using regular
SCORES
lock slot. There’s an SD card reader applications.
SYNTHETIC SCORES
housed in the front of the device. Along
SiSoft Sandra 2009
Processor Arithmetic
Dhrystone 3.82 GIPS
with the preinstalled Microsoft Windows
XP Home edition, you get McAfee Virus
INFO
Scan as well. The inclusion of the NETBOOK
Whetston 3.31 GFLOPS
Hard drive
Samsung Recovery Solution for XP in
Samsung NP-NC10
the bundle adds value to the product.
Sequential read 50.60 MB/s SPECIFICATIONS
However, using the disc will need an Dimensions (WxHxD): 261 x 30.3 x 185.5 mm; Weight: 1.30 Kg;
Sequential write 50.85 MB/s
external optical drive, which netbooks Processor: Intel Atom 270, 1.60 GHz; Chipset: Intel 945GSE;
Random read 32.43 MB/s Memory: 1 GB; Hard disk: 160 GB; Screen size: 10.2-inch..
don’t come with.
Random write 32.35 MB/s PRICE Rs 28,477
Memory Bandwidth 2.53 GB/s (float)
REAL WORLD SCORES
Build quality CONTACT Samsung India Electronics
PHONE 011-41511234
When it comes to build quality, the
CineBench R10 (Multicore 835 CB-CPU EMAIL r.venkata@samsung.com
mode) Samsung NP-NC10 is a cut above other
WEBSITE www.samsung.com
Video Encoding: 1 min MPEG 5 min 15 sec netbooks. It is chunky, robust and
WARRANTY 1 year
to x264 flaunts a solid design. Even the color
File compression: 200 3 min 19 sec used is all-solid, the one we tested was RATINGS
MB files to RAR using best an elegant metallic violet. The overall BUILD QUALITY
compression impressive build quality also includes the FEATURES
Audio conversion: 400 MB 10 min 13 sec sturdy lid and bezel. With aptly arranged PERFORMANCE
FLAC files to 192 kbps MP3 OVERALL RATING
keys, the keyboard is one of the better
Ray Tracing: POVRay 532.41 sec VALUE FOR MONEY
800x600 AA0.3 ones we’ve seen so far. The touch pad is
smaller than that of other netbooks but

42 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

MOTHERBOARD
J&W 790GX-
Extreme
VERDICT: If you are looking out for a board that is an all-round
performer and also has excellent value for money then the JW
790GX-Extreme is a good choice to consider.
FOR: Excellent layout, eSATA, HDMI.
AGAINST: Annoying crossfire jumpers.
W
e hadn't seen much of J&W
before this motherboard
arrived for review, but we
do know it's a fairly well-known brand
in other parts of Asia and is generally
regarded well. The 790GX-Extreme, in
particular, uses one of the fastest and
most flexible IGP chipsets around. The
790GX supports almost every known
AMD processor, be it an AM2, AM2+ or
even the newly released AM3 type.
Features
The J&W 790GX-Extreme supports
AMD’s quad-core Phenom and Phenom
II processors. The chipset uses Radeon
HD 3300 integrated graphics and to
further accelerate 3D performance,
the company has integrated 128 MB
of DDR3 "SidePort" memory humming
away at 1333 MHz, dedicated for the
graphics subsystem. Just like any other
790GX based board the 790GX-Extreme
supports Hybrid CrossFire, which allows
you to combine the performance of the
IGP with a supported graphics card. The
board has an additional PCIe x8 slot
that gives you the option of combining
two discrete graphics cards in CrossFire.
Apart from these features, the board
supports up to 8 GB of DDR2 memory.
The SB750 southbridge supports a total
of 6 SATA ports, 2 eSATA ports, Gigabit
LAN, 7.1 channel audio, 10 USB ports (4
rear, 6 via headers), 1 D-sub/DVI output
and an HDMI port. The board also sports
a 6-phase power design that provides
steady power to the CPU for better
efficiency and stability. Since the 790GX
is powered by the Radeon HD 3300
graphics processor, it can decode as well see how it would fare when paired with
as play full 1080p high definition content the best high-end hardware. We ran
without a discrete graphics card. our benchmarks using AMD’s Phenom II
X4 940 CPU, a 500 GB WD Caviar hard
Design drive, 4GB of Kingston KHX 8500 RAM
The board is laid out well with all-solid and a GeForce GTX 280 graphics card.
capacitors that generate less heat The board gave an overall score of 115
which increases the board’s lifespan. fps in Crysis at low settings, which is
The northbridge and southbridge are only 10 fps lower than the MSI DKA-
passively cooled, with a heatpipe 790GX Platinum. With the resolution
system for the northbridge and voltage bumped to 1600x1200 and mode set
regulators. A thoughtful design touch is to Enthusiast, the J&W 790GX-Extreme
that the IDE and SATA ports are placed matched MSI’s score with a frame rate
flat on the motherboard edge, thus of 28 fps. Not bad for a board priced
negating obstructions created by long below Rs 7,000! It goes to show that
graphics cards. A diagnostic tool allows the board can handle games at higher
you to effortlessly diagnose BIOS POST resolutions provided you fit it with the
errors. As a precaution for flashing the right components.
BIOS, the board comes with dual BIOS
chips that automatically make a backup
of the current settings before flashing
INFO
takes place. MOTHERBOARD
While the board might seem flawless
J&W 790GX-Extreme
in design, the CrossFire jumpers are a
SPECIFICATIONS
major drawback. Even though jumper CPU socket: AMD AM2+; Chipset: AMD 790GX; FSB: 2600 MHz;
switching is usually a one-time task, Memory support: DDR2-1066 (8 GB max); SATA/IDE: 6/1; USB
the whole process of enabling it is quite ports: 10 (six via headers); HD audio: 7.1 channel; LAN: Gigabit;
Expansion slots: 2 PCIe x16, 1 PCIe x4, 2 PCI and 1 PCIe x1.
frustrating. This is mainly because each
PRICE Rs 6,999
jumper has a flat head and no protruding
CONTACT J&W Technology Ltd
area to grip. The jumpers are impossible
PHONE 852-31703128
to change without tools; you will actually
EMAIL nelsonfung@jwele.com
need a pair of tweezers to pull them out
WEBSITE www.jwele.com
and reinsert them.
WARRANTY 2 years
Performance RATINGS
While we could easily guess that PERFORMANCE
FEATURES
the 790GX with its onboard Radeon
OVERALL RATING
graphics would be able to deliver
VALUE FOR MONEY
playable framerates in Crysis at bare
minimum detail settings, we wanted to
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 43
 HARDWARE TESTED

MOTHERBOARD

Gigabyte GA-
MA790FXT-UD5P
VERDICT: The Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P is a great board if
you want to hop on the AM3 bandwagon right away.
FOR: eSATA bracket, loads of SATA and USB ports, dual x16
CrossFire support.
AGAINST: None.

A
MD’s Phenom II lineup is a good
upgrade path for both existing
and new users. While Phenom II
processors that come in AM3 packages
are backwards compatible with older
socket AM2+ motherboards, new socket
AM3 motherboards with DDR3 support
are meant for new users who want
more power. The situation is confusing,
but allows users to upgrade without
a performance penalty. Gigabyte and
Asus are the first to hit the market with
socket AM3 motherboards. We tested
TEST RESULTS
SCORES
SYNTHETIC SCORES
PCMark Vantage
Overall | Memory
Gaming | Productivity 9443 | 10396
3DMark Vantage
Overall
GPU | CPU 11633 | 35807
REAL WORLD
CineBench R10 (multi-core) 8461 CB-CPU
File compression: 200 MB multiple
files to RAR (best compression)
Video encoding: 1 min MPEG to
x.264 (2nd pass)
Ray tracing: POV-Ray 3.7 beta
800x600 AA 0.3
GAMING
Crysis Warhead
1024x768 - Performance
1680x1050 - Gamer 2xAA
Left 4 Dead
1024x768 - Low
1680x1050 - High 8xAA
the Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P to find the CPU voltage depending on the power
out how well a Phenom II fares when state of the CPU, and can be configured
clubbed with DDR3 memory. using a proprietary Gigabyte utility found
on the driver disc.
Features
At the time that the Phenom II lineup Performance
was launched, the most powerful We loaded the board with a Phenom II
chipsets for these processors were X4 810 (2.6 GHz) CPU, 4 GB of DDR3-
the AMD 790GX and 790FX. But all 1066 RAM and a Zotac GTX 280 Amp
motherboards with these chipsets used graphics card! The rig cruised through
socket AM2+ and supported only DDR2 all our tests and posted very good
memory. Now, the Gigabyte MA790FXT- scores. With Cool ‘n’ Quiet and Easy
UD5P is built specifically for socket AM3 Energy Saver enabled, power savings
Phenom II processors and supports are definitely noticeable. Overclocking
DDR3-1333 memory. the processor was very easy from the
Going by Gigabyte’s naming BIOS with 1 MHz FSB increments, voltage
convention, the suffix UD5P speaks of tweaks and multipliers for CPU, bus
the key features of the motherboard: speed and memory.
These include the new Ultra Durable 3
8237 | 6474
design featuring 2 oz copper layer layers
in the PCB, DDR3 memory support,
INFO
all-solid capacitors, dual gigabit LAN, MOTHERBOARD
13995
dual-BIOS, dual RAID controllers and
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
Easy Energy Saver. Apart from these,
SPECIFICATIONS
the board has two PCIe x16 slots which CPU socket: AM3; Chipset: AMD 790FX+SB750; Bus speed: HT3
support CrossFireX in dual x16 mode, 12 5200 MT/s; Memory: DDR3-1333 (max 16 GB); Expansion slots: 2
PCIe x16, 3 PCIe x1 and 2 PCI; USB | SATA ports: 12 | 10.
USB ports (four via onboard headers),
48 sec PRICE Rs 14,990
and three FireWire ports (one via an
CONTACT Gigabyte United Inc
onboard header). Of all the features
35 sec PHONE 022-40633222
that the MA790FXT-UD5P boasts, the
EMAIL vivek@gigabyte.in
49.41 sec most interesting ones are the dual RAID
WEBSITE www.gigabyte.in
controllers and Easy Energy Saver.
WARRANTY 3 years
In addition to the four SATA ports
provided by the SB750 southbridge, RATINGS
111.4 fps there are four additional ports provided FEATURES
25.81 fps the by the two RAID controllers. PERFORMANCE
Gigabyte has bundled a utility called OVERALL RATING
Smart Backup to easily configure and VALUE FOR MONEY
67.46 fps
51.87 fps manage hard drives connected to the
additional ports. EES works by throttling

44 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

GRAPHICS CARD

Asus ENGTX285 Top

VERDICT: The ENGTX285 TOP is a stellar performer,
but it isn’t special when compared to the stock GTX 285.
FOR: Useful bundled utilities, mouse pad.
AGAINST: The package should have had more value additions.

W
hen it comes to high-end
graphics cards such as the
GeForce GTX 285, the brand
doesn’t make much difference because
most manufacturers follow Nvidia's
reference design. This means that you’ll
get the same PCB and cooler and only
the packaging and stickers on the card
will differ. Since we have already gotten
a taste of the GTX 285 running at stock
speed, we wanted to see how good a
factory-overclocked GTX 285 would be.
We tested the Asus ENGTX285 TOP to
find out whether it’s worth the premium
it commands.
Features
The ENGTX285 TOP (Top Overclocking
Performance) belongs to Asus’ factory-
overclocked range of graphics cards
and is clocked 3.5 percent higher than
regular GTX 285 cards. Our tests of
stock GeForce GTX 285 cards indicated
that it doesn’t have much headroom for
overclocking and can run only around
50 MHz faster than the stock speed.
Asus has played it safe and cranked the
core and memory speeds by 22 MHz and
58 MHz respectively.
Even though the card is overclocked,
it features Nvidia’s reference cooler and
looks exactly like any other GTX 285.
The rear panel sports two dual-link DVI
outputs and a common port for S-video
and component out. The package
contents include a DVI to HDMI adapter,
component video dongle, and a regular
DVI to D-sub adapter. The only freebie
that comes with the card is a mouse
pad with a leather-finish surface and
rubberized base so that it doesn’t slip
while you’re presumably gaming.
Asus has also bundled two utilities,
Performance
The GTX 285 defeats the GTX 280, by
merely a few frames per second because
of its slightly faster core and memory
speeds. However, it has an upper hand
because it is manufactured using a
55 nm process.
We tested ENGTX285 TOP on a rig
powered by the Intel Core i7-965, 4 GB
of DDR3 memory and a 500 GB Western
Digital Caviar GP hard drive. The card is
just a little faster than a regular GTX 285
and generates a measly 3 to 5 fps more,
which doesn't really justify its price
premium. PCMark Vantage reported a
performance bump of 4 percent, which
we found to be totally imperceptible in
any of our real-world gaming tests.
INFO
GRAPHICS CARD

TEST RESULTS
SmartDoctor and GamerOSD, on the
Asus ENGTX285 TOP
driver disc. SmartDoctor is a handy
SPECIFICATIONS
SCORES tool for monitoring the temperatures GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 285; Stream processors: 240; Process:
STOCK ASUS and manually overclocking the card. 55 nm; Memory: 1 GB DDR3, 512-bit; Core | Memory speed: 670
GTX ENGTX285 The main interface of SmartDoctor is MHz | 1300 MHz; Video output: Dual-link DVI.
285 TOP PRICE Rs 29,650
tabbed and displays the temperatures
3DMark Vantage 11847 12376 CONTACT Asus Technology
of the core and memory in Centigrade
(GPU) PHONE 1800-2090-365
or Fahrenheit. There are sliders for
Crysis Warhead EMAIL media_india@asus.com
adjusting the core, shader and memory
1680x1050 Gamer 40.55 42.94 WEBSITE www.asus.in
2xAA speeds at the bottom of the window. A
WARRANTY 1 year
1920x1200 Enthusiast 24.51 25.67 few more tweaks can be accessed from
Race Driver: Grid the Settings dialog box. You can set the RATINGS
1680x1050 Max 8xAA 82.35 82.86 alarm threshold temperature for GPU BUILD QUALITY
and memory, control the fan speed, and PERFORMANCE
1920x1200 Max 8xAA 74.32 75.20
even let SmartDoctor overclock the card FEATURES
Left 4 Dead
automatically. Using the GamerOSD OVERALL RATING
1680x1050 High 8xAA 61.82 68.24
VALUE FOR MONEY
1920x1200 High 8xAA 55.98 59.17 utility you can capture or broadcast
gameplay videos over the Internet.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 45

 HARDWARE TESTED
LAPTOP
Lenovo T400 6473 -THQ
VERDICT: Taking into consideration the price, the features
offered and the build quality, we’d say it’s a very good buy
for people who want a powerful machine in a tough body.
FOR: Good build quality, provision for 3G connectivity.
AGAINST: No eSATA port.
T
here is a newcomer in the
ThinkPad family and it is based
on Intel’s current platform called
Montevina (officially Centrino 2). With
a few design tweaks and hardware
upgrades, the T400 has much to offer to
serious ThinkPad fans.
Features
The ThinkPad T400 has numerous
variants that feature different
configurations and editions of Microsoft
Windows. The one we reviewed is called
the T400 6473. It's built around the Intel
GM45 chipset and is powered by the
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, which
TEST RESULTS
SCORES
SYNTHETIC SCORES
SiSoft Sandra 2009
Processor arithmetic
Dhrystone
Whetstones
Drive Index
Memory Bandwidth (float)
PCMark Vantage Professional
REAL WORLD
CineBench R10 (multi-core)
Video encoding: 1 min MPEG to x.264
(2nd pass)
File compression: 200 MB multiple
files to RAR (best compression)
Audio conversion:
50 MB MP3 @160 kbps to 70 kbps WMA
Ray tracing: POVRay
800x600 AA0.3
Battery Eater Pro (readers test)
46 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
is clocked at 2.26 GHz. This combination keyboard, touch pad, pointing stick and
and 1 GB DDR3-1066 RAM and a 160 the two sets of trackpad buttons are all
GB hard drive make for an excellent quite robust. We’re being a bit picky here,
business laptop. The laptop features but the battery wiggling at the back
Windows Vista in its Business edition. is something we don’t expect from a
Common to many mainstream ThinkPad. Nonetheless, the overall build
laptops is the onboard graphics, which quality is superb.
are courtesy the Intel GMA X4500. The
14-inch TFT screen is LED backlit and has Performance
a native resolution of 1280 x 800, which Be it in mainstream or demanding tasks,
suffices for almost all office applications. the overall performance of the T400 is
Connectivity is offered via the expected commendable. It will suffice for almost
Wi-Fi n standard and a SIM card slot for all applications, except maybe gaming
3G connectivity, even if nobody is quite and heavy multimedia like encoding full
sure about whether that can be used in HD video. This variant features onboard
India yet. Gigabit Ethernet and a 56 Kbps graphics and is mainly intended for office
modem are accessible through the RJ45 applications and light entertainment
and RJ11 ports respectively. Other ports such as watching movies.
include FireWire and VGA, audio ports
in the front, and 3 USB ports in all. The
T400 offers expandability through an
INFO
ExpressCard 34/54 slot. Other features LAPTOP
19.38 GIPS
include Bluetooth connectivity, a DVD
Lenovo T400 6473 -THQ
writer (SATA), a Kensington Lock slot,
SPECIFICATIONS
16.63 GFLOPS fingerprint access control, an SD card Dimensions (WxHxD): 335 x 35 x 263 mm; Weight: 2.38 kg;
50.45 MB/s reader and a white LED which effectively Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400; Chipset: Intel GM 45;
5.24 GB/s illuminates the keyboard. All in all, the Memory: 1 GB DDR3; Hard disk: 160 GB; Screen size: 14-inch.
3561 T400 has pretty much everything that PRICE Rs 68,000
one expects from a ThinkPad. CONTACT Lenovo India Pvt. Ltd
4546 CB-CPU PHONE 1800-425-2666, 080-22108490
buy@in.lenovo.com
63 sec Build quality EMAIL
WEBSITE www.lenovo.com/in
While the design of the T400 follows
WARRANTY 1 year
1 min 24 the ThinkPad legacy of toughness, a few
sec tweaks shoehorn it into the realm of RATINGS
119 secs tough yet modern portables. This model BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
is less chunky and boxy thanks to its
99.87 sec PERFORMANCE
slim and beveled design. The exterior is
still solid and a rubberized coating on FEATURES
3 hrs 7 OVERALL RATING
mins the lid gives it a stylish touch, while the
VALUE FOR MONEY
rugged hinges hold the screen firmly. The
INTERNAL STORAGE

Western Digital WD20EADS, 2 TB

VERDICT: The Caviar Green WD20EADS 2 TB is best suited for servers and
workstations where high storage capacity is the primary concern.
FOR: High storage capacity, energy efficient, low noise emissions.
AGAINST: Costs nearly as much as three 1 TB drives.
INFO
INTERNAL STORAGE

T his new Hulk from Western Digital,

the Caviar Green, is roomy enough
to swallow your entire collection of
music, video and office documents
and still be hungry for more. This is
currently the largest single internal hard
drive (a massive 2 TB) available in the
market, with other manufacturers yet
to follow. Western Digital has adapted
a four-platter design for this 2 TB hard
drive which means its has managed to
squeeze an enormous 500 GB on to
platter, the highest density so far. This
allows the Caviar Green drive to utilize
less power, and run quieter and cooler.
To measure the actual performance
of the WD Caviar Green 2 TB, we put it
to test in two scenarios—synthetic and
real world. To begin with, the drive was
analyzed using SiSoft Sandra 2009’s
file System benchmark. It returned
Western Digital WD20EADS, 2 TB
SPECIFICATIONS
read/write speeds of 94.38 MB/s and Capacity: 2 TB; Cache: 32 MB; Interface: SATA 3 Gb/s; Spindle
speed: 7,200 rpm; Operating Shock: 65G, 2 ms; Non-operating
93.91 MB/s respectively in sequential
Shock: 300G, 2 ms. Acoustics: 29 dBA average.
mode, and 53.30 MB/s and 70.29 MB/s
PRICE Rs 14,950
respectively in random mode. The tests
CONTACT Western Digital
revealed a drive index of 79.25 MB/s
PHONE 9321029204
with a random access time of 8 ms. It
EMAIL NA
was then subjected to the real world WEBSITE www.wdc.com
test, where files were transferred to it WARRANTY 5 years
directly from a superfast RAM drive.
The calculations showed read/write RATINGS
FEATURES
speeds of 80 MB/s and 100 MB/s for
PERFORMANCE
a single file and 87 MB/s and 47 MB/s
OVERALL RATING
for multiple files. It was found to be 15
VALUE FOR MONEY
percent slower than the 1.5 TB Seagate
Barracuda 7200.11.

SPEAKERS

Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II

VERDICT: These speakers are just too average, and don't justify their high price.
Audiophiles should stay away.
FOR: Very loud sound with no distortion, clear high frequencies.
AGAINST: Price is a bit high, bass is not tight enough.

INFO
C reative usually does well with its
speakers, so we could not wait
to get our hands on the high-end
which is something unusual. The line-in
and headphone jacks are below the
knobs on the front panel. The maximum
SPEAKERS
Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II
Gigaworks T40 Series II set. power output is 16 watts per channel SPECIFICATIONS
and the frequency response is rated at Dimensions (WxHxD): 880x313x143mm; Total power: 16 Watts
RMS; Frequency response: 50Hz to 20kHz
Design and Features 50 Hz to 20 KHz.
PRICE Rs 14,999
This 2.0 system comes wrapped in an
CONTACT Compuage Infocom Ltd
attractive rectangular case containing Performance PHONE 022-64510751
the two speakers, power adapter, EP We wanted to see how this unit
EMAIL india_getcreativek@ctl.creative.com
wire, Dual RCA-to-stereo Adapter (TV performed in music, movies and games.
WEBSITE www.asia.creative.com
adapter) and instructions in multiple The frequency response trailed off
WARRANTY 1 year
languages. The front panels of the at around 50 Hz, and highs were a
speakers are covered with detachable bit uneven near the treble end of the RATINGS
cloth grilles, the build quality of which frequency spectrum. The bass is not the FEATURES
ERGONOMICS
aren't up to the mark for such a high- best and could be tighter. The overall
PERFORMANCE
end set. The speakers themselves are loudness is impressive, we played the
OVERALL RATING
well made with a black matte finish and speakers at the maximum level, and
VALUE FOR MONEY
a mild lustre. Each one is ported on top, they didn't succumb to any distortion.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 47

 HARDWARE TESTED

USB FLASH DRIVE

Kingston DataTraveler Mini Slim

VERDICT: Though light, small and cute, this flash drive can be a pain when it
comes to actually transferring data. If you need speedy transfers, our advice
would be to consider another one.
FOR: Relatively diminutive size for its capacity.
AGAINST: Unreasonably slow, no lanyard bundled.
INFO
K ingston has always been excellent
as far as memory and flash storage
products are concerned. This time
amounting to around 500 MB each
in single and multiple bundles. Write
speeds of 1.8 MB/s and 1.1 MB/s were
USB FLASH DRIVE
Kingston DataTraveler Mini Slim
around they have introduced a new noted for single and multiple files SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 16.4 x 38.8 x 6.4 mm; Weight: 1.5 g;
product known as the DataTraveler Mini respectively, while read speeds were
Capacity: 4 GB.
Slim. As the name points out, this flash measured at 12 MB/s and 11 MB/s
PRICE Rs 799
drive is quite slim and almost looks like respectively. The DT Mini Slim is not CONTACT Kingston Technology
a MicroSD card with a USB interface. advisable for those who need high data PHONE 022-26592927
Weighing just around 1.5 grams, this little transfer speeds, anyone looking for a EMAIL vishal_parekh@kingston.com
drive can actually get lost in your pocket. small storage device which can slip into WEBSITE www.kingston.com
The DataTraveller Mini Slim series is any corner of your bag or pocket will WARRANTY 2 years
available in black, pink and blue colors probably quite like it. The 4 GB capacity
and variants of 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 is enough for an average of 1,000 MP3
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
GB storage capacities. The flash drive songs or five DivX movie files. Sharing
FEATURES
has a two year warranty. data is not a problem as the read speeds
PERFORMANCE
The Mini Slim was surprisingly are above average, but filling the drive
OVERALL RATING
sluggish when it came to real-world to full capacity gives you enough time to VALUE FOR MONEY
file transfer tests. We transferred files take a lunch break.

WEBCAM

Microsoft LifeCam Show

VERDICT: If you do buy this camera, it will only be owing to its sexy looks
and not its performance.
FOR: A good style statement, ultra-portable.
AGAINST: The stand should have been either completely adjustable or
completely stiff, installation is a bit annoying.

INFO
M ost webcams from the Microsoft
LiveCam series are stylish and built
well, but the LifeCam Show exceeds
especially while mounted on the bundled
one-foot-tall stand. A magnetic ball-and-
socket mechanism keeps it mounted
WEBCAM
Microsoft LifeCam Show
even that reputation. Mounted on the to the stand (or a bundled clip for thin SPECIFICATIONS
bundled plastic stand, it seems poised to laptop lids) and also lets you point it in Dimensions (WxHxD): 33x62x12 mm; Interface: USB 2.0;
Resolution: 2 megapixels; Video Capture: up to 800x600.
take on any other webcam. Let’s find out different directions, but makes easy to
PRICE Rs 4,847
if its performance lives up to its attitude. inadvertently yank it out of position.
CONTACT Microsoft Corporation
The LifeCam Show comes with a With 5x digital zoom and a pan-and-
PHONE 0124-4158999
driver and software disc. However, tilt feature in the bundled software,
EMAIL edd-ind@microsoft.com
the installation requires a live Internet much can be captured with this
WEBSITE www.microsoft.com
connection to download even more matchbox-sized camera. The sound
WARRANTY 3 years
software or updates. capture quality is also quite good. One
The device itself features a 2.0 MP fairly uncommn feature is the Windows RATINGS
CCD sensor and a wide angle lens, Live Call button, which allows users BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
as Microsoft puts it. We think they’re to make calls with Windows Live
PERFORMANCE
referring to the 71 degree viewing angle Messenger 8.1, create instant video mail
OVERALL RATING
that the camera offers. In any case, the messages using Windows Live Mail, or
VALUE FOR MONEY
camera does cover a good viewing area, simply start a video chat.

48 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

Affordable power
A budget laptop can still be

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BY CHIP TEST CENTER

Jagdish Limbachiya

E
ven though the mobile computing
platform is progressing at
lightning speed, it’s not very
apparent to the end users. They are
more concerned about what their budget
would fetch them. But a lot goes on
behind the scenes because of which
laptops today are much affordable,
powerful and feature rich than they used
to be a year ago. There are many factors
that drive the prices of laptops such as
the introduction of newer platforms, and
advancements in display, flash memory
and storage technologies. Since the
existing platform is refreshed once a
year and a new platform is introduced
every two years, the prices of laptops
undergo revision every few months.
The changes in platform include new
chipsets, support for newer generation
of CPUs and faster memory, support for
new wireless standards, better GPUs,
and so on. So, unless you’re waiting for
a new platform to release, it’s always
a good time to buy a new laptop.
There’s no point in waiting for months in
anticipation for a price drop, because it
will further drop in the next few months.
Today, entry-level and mainstream
laptops look far more interesting that
what they were a year ago. Some of the
features such as HDMI output and eSATA
port that were only found in high-end
laptops are now found in entry-level
laptops that cost less than Rs 35,000.
The minimum configuration that you
will now get in a budget laptop is a 2
GHz dual-core processor, 2 GB RAM,
160 GB hard disk, 14.1-inch LCD and a
DVD-writer. Single core processors are
passé. A dual-core processor in a budget
laptop has become a regular feature
because Intel and AMD have introduced
a raft of budget dual-core CPUs with
scaled-down specs (FSB speed and L2
cache) and the older generation dual-
core CPUs have become a lot cheaper.
With a good choice of hard drive
capacities RAM sizes, discrete GPUs,
and LCD panels, there are numerous
configurations available for all budgets.
Whether your preference is a larger hard
drive, more processing power or good
battery life, you will surely find the one
that suits your budget and application
area. These are bigger differences. Some
manufacturers offer minor additional
features such as biometric security
(fingerprint reader) and webcam for a
slightly higher price.
In this roundup we compared 24
budget and mainstream laptops
priced under Rs 60,000 by all popular
brands. This time we targeted the
broader segment of users that include
first-timers, students, and home users.
We will be out with something for
gamers and power users very soon.
Ready to take your pick? Head on!

50 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HLC to 57007
Test Process
We first segregated the laptops into
two categories based on the price
and feature set: Entry level (priced
under Rs 45,000) and Mainstream
(priced between Rs 45,000 and Rs
60,000). The laptops were evaluated
on the basis of features, build quality,
ergonomics and performance as well as
warranty and support.
Features: The performance of a laptop
depends on its hardware configuration.
We logged all specifications, including
the processor, memory, hard drive,
graphics processor, display, and so on.
So if a laptop had a powerful processor,
discrete GPU, capacious hard drive
and large screen, it scored very well.
Integrated features such as Bluetooth,
a webcam, a memory card reader, an
eSATA port and an HDMI output are
added bonuses. Finally, we used a
digital weighing scale to note the weight
of each laptop. This section was given
as much weightage as performance,
and contributed to 30 percent of the
overall score.
Performance: We ran a full
complement of synthetic and real-world
tests to evaluate the performance of
the various subsystems. The synthetic
tests involved using Sisoft Sandra
2009, PCMark Vantage and 3DMark
Vantage to assess the performance of
the processor, memory, hard drive and
graphics subsystem. These applications
stress the core components to their
maximum limits by simulating real-
world scenarios.
Real-world tests reflect actual
usage scenarios, and were given more
importance. Our objective was to stress
the CPU, memory and hard drive by
running tasks such as file compression,
audio and video encoding and gaming.
The time taken to complete each task
was measured using a stopwatch.
DETAILS OF REAL WORLD TESTS
BENCHMARK APPLICATION USED
File compression WinRAR 3.80
Audio encoding ImTOO MPEG Encoder Time taken to encode 400 MB of multiple FLAC files to 192 kbps MP3
format.
Video encoding Avidemux 2.4.1
Ray tracing POV-Ray 3.7 Beta
Gaming Crysis Warhead
Gaming Left 4 Dead
The game benchmarks
were only run on laptops
that feature discrete
graphics processors. The
battery life was evaluated
using Battery Eater Pro.
This application reports
the total run time in idle
mode and under load. The
idle mode score is closer
to rating specified by the
manufacturer, while the
load test is more realistic.
We gave a higher weightage to the latter.
Build quality: A laptop should be able
to withstand any occasional bumps that
come its way. In this section we logged
the attributes that make a laptop
robust. These included the quality of
chassis, screen frame, hinges, keyboard,
and battery retention mechanism. We
subjectively assessed the quality of
materials used in the construction of the
chassis and keyboard, and removable
parts such as the battery. Laptops with
glossy shells look stylish but attract
stains and scratches very easily. We
awarded more points to laptops with
full-matte finishes. Aesthetic appeal
was also rated subjectively on a five
point scale.
A swiveling webcam lets you adjust the view
without moving the laptop's entire lid.
DESCRIPTION
Time taken to compress 200 MB of multiple files using the 'Best
compression' mode.
Time taken to encode a 1 minute MPEG video to x.264 format.
Time taken to ray trace an 800x600-pixel image with AA set to 0.3
1024x768 Performance
1024x768 Medium
WEIGHTAGES USED FOR EVALUATING LAPTOPS
30 % FEATURES
10 % WARRANTY
30 % PERFORMANCE
10 % BUILD QUALITY
20 % ERGONOMICS
Use the HDMI output to connect your laptop to an
HDTV and the eSATA port for faster data transfers.
Ergonomics: User comfort is a very
important factor when it comes to
portable devices such as laptops. We
paid close attention to the quality of the
keyboard and pointing device. Details
such as the size, spacing and tactility
of keys, the locations of ports and card
readers, and the presence of status
indicators and hotkeys were logged and
points were given accordingly. Having a
keyboard with big keys and a good layout
is important for comfort and productivity,
while ports are more easily accessible if
they are on the sides instead of the rear.
We allotted 20 percent of the overall
score to these parameters.
Warranty and support: Laptops are
highly complex electronic devices with
several subsystems and are very prone
to malfunctioning. Should anything go
wrong with your valuable investment,
an authorized service center should
be easily reachable. We considered
the warranty period offered on each
laptop, the number of service centers
each manufacturer has in India, and the
number of cities in which these
are present.
Value for Money: The Value for
Money index is calculated by stacking
up the features and performance scores
against the price of the laptop. We
awarded prizes to the best performer
in both the entry-level and mainstream
category, and the highest VFM scorer
only in the entry-level category.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 51
 HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

BEST PERFORMANCE - ENTRY LEVEL BEST VALUE - ENTRY LEVEL BEST PERFORMANCE - MAINSTREAM

MSI VR602X-028IN HPP COMPAQ PRESARIO DELL STUDIO 1555

CQ45-206AU
Q45-206AU

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS

Weight: 2.18 Kg; Config: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 - 2.4 GHz, 2 GB Weight: 2.39 Kg; Config: AMD Turion X2 RM-72 - 2.1 GHz, 2 GB Weight: 2.62 Kg; Config: Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 - 2.53 GHz, 2 GB
RAM, 120 GB HDD, DVD-RW, 1.3 MP Webcam, 802.11 n Wi-Fi. RAM, 250 GB HDD, Radeon HD 3200 graphics; DVD-RW. RAM, 160 GB HDD, Radeon HD 4570 graphics; DVD-RW.
PRICE Rs 43,000 PRICE Rs 31,790 PRICE Rs 55,980
CONTACT Micro Star International CONTACT HP Compaq CONTACT Dell India
PHONE 011-41758808 PHONE 9899600239 PHONE 080-25068026
EMAIL sanyam@msi-in.com EMAIL diptesh.ghosh@hp.com EMAIL NA
WARRANTY 1 year WARRANTY 2 years WARRANTY 1 year

RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS

BUILD QUALITY BUILD QUALITY BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES FEATURES FEATURES
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
ERGONOMICS ERGONOMICS ERGONOMICS
WARRANTY WARRANTY WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY

T he MSI VR602X-028IN might not

turn heads with its looks, but
when it comes to performance it surely
leads the pack. Built around the Intel
GM45 chipset, it is powered by a Core
2 Duo P8600 CPU clocked at 2.4 GHz
with 3 MB of L2 cache. The 2 GB of
DDR2 800 RAM will take care of most
memory-hogging applications. The 120
GB might not suffice for some, but MSI
compensates with an eSATA port for
faster transfer speeds with external hard
drives. A few other eye-catching features
on this entry-level laptop are Wi-Fi n, an
HDMI port, a fingerprint scanner and a
1.3-megpixel webcam.
As always, MSI needs to look into the
build quality of their laptops. Although
the chassis and lid are of average
quality, the hinges disappointed us.
With file compression and video
encoding taking just 83 seconds and 58
seconds respectively, the VR602X-028IN
performs as well as some mainstream
laptops. Sadly, when you’re watching a
movie, you won’t get to see the climax,
unless it’s less than 80 minutes long.
FOR: Good overall performance.
AGAINST: Below average build quality, OS
not included in the price.
T he HP Compaq Presario CQ45 is
built using AMD’s RS780M chipset
and features an AMD Turion X2 RM-72
processor running at 2.1 GHz, 2 GB of
DDR2-800 RAM and a 250 GB hard
drive. The 14.1-inch glossy TFT display
screen supports a native resolution of
1280x800 pixels. Do not expect much
gaming capability as this laptop is
powered using a low-end ATI Radeon
HD3200 graphics processor. However, as
the laptop features an HDMI port, music
and movie buffs can enjoy multi-channel
audio and high definition video content.
Other than two USB ports, there is also
an eSATA port which is a great value
addition for those who have eSATA-
based external storage devices. Compaq
has also thrown in a biometric fingerprint
sensor for security from data theft.
The scores show that this laptop
performs above average. It weighs 3.1
Kg and the battery lasts for around 2.5
hours. Build quality and ergonomics are
also just about average, but Windows
Vista Home Basic is pre-installed, and
you get a two year warranty.
FOR: HDMI and eSATA interfaces, large
storage capacity
AGAINST: Slightly heavy, low battery life
D ell's Studio 1555 is fine example of
a no-nonsense performance laptop.
It's built around Intel’s performance
chipset, the PM45, and is powered by a
Core 2 Duo T9400 clocked at 2.53 GHz
with a whopping 6 MB L2 cache. Also,
it features 2 GB of DDR2 RAM clocked
at 800 MHz and a 160 GB 7200 RPM
hard drive—a huge plus point. A discrete
Radeon HD 4570 GPU complements
the glossy 16-inch 16:9 screen which
has a native resolution of 1366 x 768
pixels. The ports on offer include
eSATA, HDMI, VGA, 2x USB, FireWire
and audio. Connectivity is offered
via Wi-Fi n, Bluetooth, infrared and
gigabit Ethernet. A fingerprint scanner,
2-megapixelwebcam, DVD writer and
memory card reader are also standard.
One would expect very good
performance with such powerful
hardware, and the Studio 1555 exceeded
our expectations. Its components all
complement each other, but one of the
highlights was its drive index which
trounced every other laptops thanks to
the 7200 RPM hard drive. This one was
truly the cream of the crop.
FOR: Superb features and power.
AGAINST: None.

52 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 BUYING GUIDE

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ENTRY LEVEL
Zenith Admirale Rs 25,200 30 62 55 60 47.3 4.5 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
HP Compaq Presario CQ45-206AU Rs 31,790 54 69 65 55 61 5 AMD Turion X2 RM-72, 2.16 GHz AMD RS780M | DDR2-800, 2 GB Radeon HD 3200 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 2 years
Croma Home Series Rs 32,999 43 65 62 66 54.8 4 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3400, 2.16 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 15.4-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 1 year
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-327TU Rs 35,040 47 69 56 68 61 4.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 2 years
BenQ Joybook R58-LE07 Rs 35,500 41 85 67 68 58.1 4 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 15.4-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
Intex B154X-E2210 Rs 36,900 46 52 65 64 54.7 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA X3100 15.4-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
Acer Aspire 4730z-322G16Mn Rs 37,293 48 71 59 62 55.7 3.5 Intel Pentium Dual-Core P3200, 2 GHz Intel GL40 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA 4500M 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 1 year
Wipro E.go EM4700 Rs 40,000 48 59 64 65 56.1 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 1 year
Asus F5SL-AP197C Rs 40,990 56 80 67 59 62.5 4 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz SiS M671DX | DDR2-667, 2 GB Radeon HD 3470 15.4-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Premium 2 years
Acer TravelMate 5730-
Rs 41,813 59 73 70 64 62 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5870, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB GMA 4500MHD 15.4-inch (1280x800) Vista Business 1 year
6B2G32Mn
HCL Infiniti Powerlite 9100 BT Rs 41,990 52 62 57 64 59.4 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Business 1 year
Zenith Director Plus Ultra Rs 42,300 40 65 62 72 55.6 3 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3400, 2.16 GHz Intel PM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB GeForce 9600M GS 15.4-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
MSI VR602X-028IN Rs 43,000 49 43 63 75 57.3 3 Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
HP Pavilion dv5-1203AX Rs 43,490 61 73 70 58 65.4 4 AMD Turion X2 RM-72, 2.1 GHz AMD RS780M | DDR2-800, 3 GB Radeon HD 3470 15.4-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 2 years
MSI VR440X-002IN Rs 43,500 37 65 60 54 49 3 Intel Celeron Dual-Core T1600, 1.66 GHz SiS M672FX | DDR2-667, 1 GB SiS Mirage 3 15.4-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
Acer TravelMate 6292-602G16Mi Rs 43,500 46 84 67 67 59.5 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2 GHz Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA X3100 12.1-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
Acer Aspire 6930-582G16Mn Rs 44,356 54 76 78 63 62.1 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA 4500MHD 16-inch (1366x768) Vista Home Premium 1 year
MAIN STREAM
MSI EX400X-040IN Rs 46,000 48 51 64 63 54.4 4 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz SiS 671 | DDR2-667, 1 GB Radeon HD 3450 14.1-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year
Asus F80S Rs 46,500 57 68 52 65 60.4 5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz SiS 671 | DDR2-667, 3 GB Radeon HD 3470 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Premium 2 years
Intex TN120R Rs 47,900 48 51 56 48 48.6 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB GMA X3100 12-inch (1280x800) Free DOS 1 year

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Sony Vaio VGN-CS24GH Rs 49,990 50 77 80 70 64.1 4.5 Intel Core 2 Duo 6400, 2 GHz Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 3 GB GMA 4500MHD 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Basic 1 year
HP Pavilion DV4-1242TX Rs 52,990 66 87 64 67 69.8 5 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2 GHz Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 4 GB GeForce 9200M GS 14.1-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Premium 2 years
Dell Studio 1555 Rs 55,980 69 90 60 92 76.3 5 Intel Core 2 Duo T9400, 2.53 GHz Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB Radeon HD 4570 16-inch (1366x768) Vista Home Premium 1 year

04/2009
Samsung NP-R610 Rs 57,900 59 77 60 70 61.8 3.5 Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, 2 GHz Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB GeForce 9200M GS 15.4-inch (1280x800) Vista Home Premium 1 year

53
*Out of 100 **Out of 5
HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

PERSONAL TAKE
SpecScan
OVERALL RANK 1 2
CATEGORY ENTRY LEVEL
NAME HP PAVILION DV5-1203AX ASUS F5SL-AP197C
FRANCIS D'SA Contact HP Compaq Asus Technology
francis.dsa@chip.in
Phone 9899600239 080-40708728
E-mail diptesh.ghosh@hp.com media_india@asus.com
The pile of laptops we had in the Test Center
Price* Rs 43,490 Rs 40,990
this month looked good indeed! We got to see
OVERALL 48 66
all types of laptops—bulky, small, elegant and
Features (30%) 61
61 96
56
58 87
unattractive. Between the Samsung and the
Build quality (10%) 45
73
87 40
80
75
Dell Studio, both awesome looking laptops, Ergonomics (20%) 70 67
0 50 86 100 0 50 90100
there seemed to be neck to neck competition, Performance (30%) 58 59
88 88
especially when the features, build quality, Warranty (10%) 84 66
0 50 100 0 50 100
ergonomics and performance were compared. 0 50 100 0 50 100

But the final scores revealed that the Dell Overall 65 63

Studio ranked well above the others. I would Value For Money
recommend it as a good choice over the FEATURES
Samsung (even though I think the Samsung Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 36 x 4.5 x 25 cm | 2.68 Kg 37 x 4 x 26.5 cm | 2.7 Kg
has the most elegant looks) because of its CPU AMD Turion X2 RM-72, 2.1 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2
superior performance, tons of features, and Chipset | Memory AMD RS780M | DDR2-800, 3 GB SiS M671DX | DDR2-667, 2 GB
great value for money. It has an excellent Graphics | HDD Radeon HD 3470 | 250 GB, 5400 rpm Radeon HD 3470 | 250 GB, 5400 rpm
battery life and a scratch-resistant chassis. A
Display | Audio 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 15.4-inch (1280x800) | Stereo
Optical drive | Webcam DVD-RW LightScribe | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP
large 16-inch display, HDMI and eSATA ports,
Ethernet | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint Sensor Gigabit | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖
and a slot DVD writer are just too cool for the
No of ports: USB | eSATA | Firewire | HDMI 3|1|1|1 4|0|0|0
highly reasonable price of Rs 55,980.
Memory card reader | Bluetooth | IR | Modem ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k
Bundled: Recovery disc | OS disc | Drivers | Mouse ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✔|✖|✔|✖
Operating System Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Average
Keyboard | Buttons and switches | Optical drive tray Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Average
Battery retention mechanism | Use of metal in construction Good | ✖ Good | ✖
Resistant to scratches | Aesthetic appeal ✖ | Good looking ✔ | Good looking
ERGONOMICS
DUSHYANT KHILNANI
dushyant.khilnani@chip.in Keyboard: Size | Spacing | Tactility Very good | Very good | Excellent Very good | Very good | Very good
Touchpad buttons: Size | Placement | Tactility Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good
Separating the good from the bad is not easy, Location of: Memory card reader | Audio | USB Side | Front | side Front | Side | Side and rear
especially when it comes to portable devices. Status indicators: Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | On battery ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖
Personally as a rule of thumb, I prioritize Switch for Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Media player controls ✔|✔ ✔|✖
performance and features over looks. But PERFORMANCE
nobody likes staring at something dull, so
Synthetic:
Sisoft Sandra 2009:
having both in one device would be the best.
CPU arithmetic: Dhrystones | Whetstones 12.64 GIPS | 12.64 GFLOPS 17.01 GIPS | 12.84 GFLOPS
Let’s say you need a laptop as a second
Memory bandwidth: 6.8 GB/s 3.04 GB/s
computer for office applications, email and
Hard drive: Drive index | Random access time 50.69 MB/s | 11 ms 51.49 MB/s | 10 ms
Web surfing. You can easily avoid spending a
Read | Write (random) 36.97 MB/s | 33.01 MB/s 37.89 MB/s | 37.38 MB/s
lot of money, because an entry-level laptop
PCMark Vantage: Overall | Memory | HDD | Productivity 2683 | 1550 | 2230 | 1905 2803 | 1697 | 2493 | 2459
like the HP Compaq Presario CQ45-206 AU 3DMark Vantage: Overall 1643 1299
will be more than enough. But for an all-in- Real World:
one solution which offers portability, power, File compression 110 sec 126 sec
performance and rich features, my choice is Encoding: Audio | Video 155 sec | 103 sec 146 sec | 78 sec
the Dell Studio 1555. The PM45 chipset, Core POV-Ray | CineBench R10 143.91 sec | 3240 CB-CPU 118.31 sec | 3739 CB-CPU
2 Duo T9400 CPU and huge list of features all Gaming: Left 4 Dead | Crysis Warhead 18.51 fps | 14.18 fps 19.68 fps | 15.16 fps
got me hooked. Alternatively, for a blend of Battery Eater Pro: Classic | Reader 56 min | 1 hr 54 min 51 min | 1 hr 21 min
beauty and brains at a really good price, the WARRANTY
Asus F80 S is another great option. Warranty period 2 years 2 years
Number of service centers in India 300 71
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

54 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

3 4 5 6 7
ACER ASPIRE 6930-582G16MN ACER TRAVELMATE 5730-6B2G32MN HP COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ40-327TU HP COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ45-206AU ACER TRAVELMATE 6292-602G16MI
Acer India Acer India HP Compaq HP Compaq Acer India
080-40708728 080-40708728 9899600239 9899600239 080-40708728
dinesh_nair@acer.co.in dinesh_nair@acer.co.in diptesh.ghosh@hp.com diptesh.ghosh@hp.com dinesh_nair@acer.co.in
Rs 44,356 Rs 41,813 Rs 35,040 Rs 31,790 Rs 43,500

54 59 47 54 46
76 73 69 69 84
78 70 56 65 67
63 64 68 55 67
38 38 84 84 38
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

62 62 61 61 60

38.5 x 4.4 x 27.5 cm | 3.1 Kg 36 x 4.3 x 26.7 cm | 2.78 Kg 34 x 4 x 24 cm | 2.35 Kg 34 x 4 x 24 cm | 2.39 Kg 31 x 3.5 x 23 cm | 2 Kg
Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T5870, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 AMD Turion X2 RM-72, 2.1 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2 GHz, 4 MB L2
Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB AMD RS780M | DDR2-800, 2 GB Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB
GMA 4500MHD | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 320 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 250 GB, 5400 rpm Radeon HD 3200 | 250 GB, 5400 rpm GMA X3100 | 160 GB, 5400 rpm
16-inch (1366x768) | 5.1 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 12.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1
DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 0.6 MP DVD-RW LightScribe | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 0.6 MP
Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖ Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖ 10/100 | b/g | ✖ 10/100 | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖
3|0|0|1 3|1|0|1 3|0|0|1 2|1|0|1 3|0|1|0
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔|✔|✔|✔
✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✔|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖
Vista Home Premium Vista Business Vista Home Basic Vista Home Basic Free DOS

Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Good Excellent | Very good | Good Excellent | Very good | Very good
Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Average | Very good | Very good Average | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good
Good | ✖ Good | ✖ Very good | ✖ Very good | ✖ Average | ✖
✖ | Downright sexy! ✖ | Good looking ✖ | Good looking ✖ | Good looking ✔ | Good looking

Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Excellent Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Average | Average | Very good
Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good
Front | Side | Side Front | Front | Side and rear Side | Side | Side Side | Side | Side Side | Front | Side
✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖
✔|✔ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖

17.02 GIPS | 12.86 GFLOPS 17.03 GIPS | 12.9 GFLOPS 17.08 GIPS | 14.64 GFLOPS 11.89 GIPS | 7 GFLOPS 18.73 GIPS | 14.11 GFLOPS
3.68 GB/s 3.65 GB/s 4.53 GB/s 4.83 GB/s 4.19 GB/s
46.21 MB/s | 13 ms 52.25 MB/s | 9 ms 43.71 MB/s | 9 ms 48.47 MB/s | 12 ms 41.76 MB/s | 7 ms
32.51 MB/s | 34.75 MB/s 40.2 MB/s | 39.04 MB/s 34.73 MB/s | 32.99 MB/s 35.12 MB/s | 31.68 MB/s 34.59 MB/s | 31.63 MB/s
2477 | 1554 | 2287 | 2612 2613 | 1326 | 2479 | 2738 3059 | 1764 | 2392 | 2445 2512 | 1345 | 2398 | 2388 2754 | 1474 | 2005 | 2673
NA NA NA 96 NA

82 sec 111 sec 84 sec 122 sec 82 sec

138 sec | 76 sec 141 sec | 76 sec 132 sec | 71 sec 155 sec | 94 sec 147 sec | 67 sec
121.76 sec | 3763 CB-CPU 120.03 sec | 3805 CB-CPU 118.31 sec | 4081 CB-CPU 148.12 sec | 3205 CB-CPU 109.42 sec | 4293 CB-CPU
NA NA NA 15.31 fps | 14.3 fps NA
1 hr | 2 hr 23 min 1 hr 10 min | 2 hr 41 min 1 hr 15 min | 2 hr 46 min 1 hr | 2 hr 15 min 1 hr 3 min | 3 hr 26 min

1 year 1 year 2 years 2 years 1 year

103 103 300 300 103

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 55

 HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

SpecScan
OVERALL RANK 8 9 10
CATEGORY ENTRY LEVEL
NAME HCL INFINITI POWERLITE 9100 BT BENQ JOYBOOK R58-LE07 MSI VR602X-028IN
Contact HCL Infosystems Ltd BenQ India Micro Star International
Phone 0120-2520977 9350323242 011-41758808
E-mail webhost@hcl.in varun.singh@benq.com sanyam@msi-in.com
Price* Rs 41,990 Rs 35,500 Rs 43,000
61 70 49
Features (30%) 52
54
57
41
44 60
49
55 66
Build quality (10%) 48 55
62 85
80 87
43
67 87
Ergonomics (20%) 57 67 63
0 50 86 100 0 50 95
100 0 50 88 100
Performance (30%) 64 68 75
80 88 88
Warranty (10%) 0 50
70
100 0
35
50 100 0
32
50 100
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall 59 58 57
Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 34 x 4 x 24.5 cm | 2.35 Kg 36 x 4.5 x 26 cm | 2.5 Kg 36.6 x 4 x 27.4 cm | 2.18 Kg
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200, 2 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4 GHz, 3 MB L2
Chipset | Memory Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB
Graphics | HDD GMA 4500MHD | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 250 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 120 GB, 5400 rpm
Display | Audio 14.1-inch (1280x800) | Stereo 15.4-inch (1280x800) | Stereo 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1
Optical drive | Webcam DVD-RW | 2 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP
Ethernet | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint Sensor 10/100 | Draft-n | ✖ 10/100 | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖
No of ports: USB | eSATA | Firewire | HDMI 2|1|0|0 3|0|0|0 2|1|0|1
Memory card reader | Bluetooth | IR | Modem ✔|✔|✖| ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | None ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k
Bundled: Recovery disc | OS disc | Drivers | Mouse ✖|✔|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖
Operating System Vista Business Free DOS Free DOS
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges Good | Good | Very good Excellent | Good | Very good Average | Average | Poor
Keyboard | Buttons and switches | Optical drive tray Excellent | Very good | Average Very good | Very good | Very good Above average | Average | Average
Battery retention mechanism | Use of metal in construction Average | ✖ Very good | ✖ Average | ✖
Resistant to scratches | Aesthetic appeal ✖ | Average looking ✔ | Good looking ✖ | Passable looks
ERGONOMICS
Keyboard: Size | Spacing | Tactility Very good | Very good | Very good Good | Very good | Very good Good | Good | Good
Touchpad buttons: Size | Placement | Tactility Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Average
Location of: Memory card reader | Audio | USB Side | Side | Side Side | Side | Side and rear Side | Front | Side and rear
Status indicators: Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | On battery ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖
Switch for Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Media player controls ✖|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖
PERFORMANCE
Synthetic:
Sisoft Sandra 2009:
CPU arithmetic: Dhrystones | Whetstones 17.01 GIPS | 12.87 GFLOPS 16.78 GIPS | 14.67 GFLOPS 18.76 GIPS | 17.25 GFLOPS
Memory bandwidth: 3.53 GB/s 4.32 GB/s 5.14 GB/s
Hard drive: Drive index | Random access time 35.13 MB/s | 8 ms 46.67 MB/s | 11 ms 42.25 MB/s | 11 ms
Read | Write (random) 29.32 MB/s | 30.4 MB/s 34.53 MB/s | 33.61 MB/s 32.22 MB/s | 32.34 MB/s
PCMark Vantage: Overall | Memory | HDD | Productivity 2593 | 1047 | 2278 | 2770 2608 | 1472 | 2256 | 2525 Failed | 2022 | 2593 | 3212
3DMark Vantage: Overall NA NA NA
Real World:
File compression 94 sec 96 sec 83 sec
Encoding: Audio | Video 137 sec | 76 sec 133 sec | 73 sec 105 sec | 58 sec
POV-Ray | CineBench R10 121.85 sec | 3777 CB-CPU 118.58 sec | 3890 CB-CPU 93.3 sec | 4943 CB-CPU
Gaming: Left 4 Dead | Crysis Warhead NA NA NA
Battery Eater Pro: Classic | Reader 1 hr 12 min | 3 hr 31 min 1 hr 37 min | 3 hr 9 min 1 hr 19 min | 3 hr 11 min
WARRANTY
Warranty period 1 year 1 year 1 year
Number of service centers in India 505 62 27
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

56 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

11 12 13 14
WIPRO E.GO EM4700 ACER ASPIRE 4730Z-322G16MN ZENITH DIRECTOR PLUS ULTRA CROMA HOME SERIES
Wipro Infotech Acer India Zenith Computers Croma
080-2844 0011 080-40708728 022-28377300 022-67613600
sales.enquiry@wipro.com dinesh_nair@acer.co.in info@zenith-india.com feedback@cromaretail.com
Rs 40,000 Rs 37,293 Rs 42,300 Rs 32,999

48 48 40 43
59 71 65 65
64 59 62 62
65 62 72 66
35 38 31 32
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

56 56 56 55

33.5 x 3.5 x 24.5 cm | 2.16 Kg 34 x 4.3 x 24.7 cm | 2.45 Kg 36 x 4 x 26.5 cm | 2.66 Kg 36 x 4 x 26.5 cm | 2.62 Kg
Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Pentium Dual-Core P3200, 2 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3400, 2.16 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3400, 2.16 GHz, 1 MB L2
Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB Intel GL40 | DDR2-667, 2 GB Intel PM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 2 GB
GMA 4500MHD | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500M | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GeForce 9600M GS | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 160 GB, 5400 rpm
14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1
DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 0.6 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP
Gigabit | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖
2|1|0|1 2|0|0|0 2|1|0|1 2|1|0|1
✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✖ | ✖ | 56k
✔|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✔|✖|✔|✖
Vista Home Basic Vista Home Basic Free DOS Vista Home Basic

Good | Average | Average Excellent | Very good | Very good Very good | Good | Good Very good | Good | Good
Good | Very good | Average Good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Average Very good | Very good | Average
Average | ✖ Good | ✖ Good | ✖ Good | ✖
✖ | Good looking ✖ | Good looking ✖ | Good looking ✖ | Good looking

Good | Good | Very good Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Good
Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Good
Side | Front | Side and rear Side | Side | Side Side | Side | Side Side | Side | Side
✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖
✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖

17.03 GIPS | 12.87 GFLOPS 17.03 GIPS | 12.9 GFLOPS 18.37 GIPS | 1359 GFLOPS 18.38 GIPS | 13.82 GFLOPS
3.74 GB/s 3.54 GB/s 3.84 GB/s 3.66 GB/s
41.19 MB/s | 10 ms 53.04 MB/s | 10 ms 52.52 MB/s | 9 ms 52.83 MB/s | 10 ms
32.01 MB/s | 31.6 MB/s 39.22 MB/s | 28.98 MB/s 39.17 MB/s | 38.45 MB/s 38.43 MB/s | 37.76 MB/s
2897 | 1708 | 2427 | 2403 2689 | 1569 | 2510 | 2282 3009 | 1837 | 2374 | 2747 2845 | 1738 | 2618 | 2871
NA NA 6022 NA

90 sec 105 sec 98 sec 88 sec

138 sec | 75 sec 150 sec | 79 sec 290 sec | 73 sec 134 sec | 72 sec
118.9 sec | 3817 CB-CPU 123.08 sec | 3552 CB-CPU 114.44 sec | 3885 CB-CPU 112.6 sec | 3905 CB-CPU
NA NA 39.33 fps | 33.21 fps NA
1 hr 7 min | 2 hr 49 min 1 hr 2 min | 2 hr 29 min 1 hr 9 min | 2 hr 13 min 53 min | 2 hr 19 min

1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year

58 103 14 NA

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 57

 HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

SpecScan
OVERALL RANK 15 16 17
CATEGORY ENTRY LEVEL
NAME INTEX B154X-E2210 MSI VR440X-002IN ZENITH ADMIRALE
Contact Intex Technologies Micro Star International Zenith Computers
Phone 011-41610224 011-41758808 022-28377300
E-mail info@intextechnologies.com sanyam@msi-in.com info@zenith-india.com
Price* Rs 36,900 Rs 43,500 Rs 25,200
61 70 49
Features (30%) 46
54
57
37
44 60
30
55 66
Build quality (10%) 52
48 55
65
80 87
62
67 87
Ergonomics (20%) 65 60 55
0 50 86 100 0 50 95
100 0 50 88 100
Performance (30%) 64 54 60
80 88 88
Warranty (10%) 0
35
50 100 0
32
50 100 0
31
50 100
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall 55 49 47
Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 35.5 x 4.5 x 25.5 cm | 2.76 Kg 31 x 3.7 x 23 cm | 2.49 Kg 34 x 4.5 x 24.5 cm | 2.31 Kg
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Celeron Dual-Core T1600, 1.67 GHz, 1 MB L2 Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2 GHz, 1 MB L2
Chipset | Memory Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB SiS M672FX | DDR2-667, 1 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-667, 1 GB
Graphics | HDD GMA X3100 | 250 GB, 5400 rpm SiS Mirage 3 | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 160 GB, 5400 rpm
Display | Audio 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | Stereo
Optical drive | Webcam DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | NA
Ethernet | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint Sensor 10/100 | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖ 10/100 | b/g | ✖
No of ports: USB | eSATA | Firewire | HDMI 3|0|0|1 4|0|0|0 2|1|0|0
Memory card reader | Bluetooth | IR | Modem ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✖ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✖ | ✖ | 56k
Bundled: Recovery disc | OS disc | Drivers | Mouse ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖
Operating System Free DOS Free DOS Free DOS
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges Above average | Good | Good Above average | Good | Average Good | Good | Very good
Keyboard | Buttons and switches | Optical drive tray Very good | Very good | Below average Above average | Average | Average Excellent | Very good | Good
Battery retention mechanism | Use of metal in construction Below average | ✖ Average | ✖ Below average | ✖
Resistant to scratches | Aesthetic appeal ✖ | Passable looks ✔ | Average looking ✖ | Average looking
ERGONOMICS
Keyboard: Size | Spacing | Tactility Very good | Very good | Good Good | Average | Average Good | Good | Very good
Touchpad buttons: Size | Placement | Tactility Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Very good
Location of: Memory card reader | Audio | USB Side | Front | Side Front | Front | Side Side | Side | Side
Status indicators: Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | On battery ✔|✔|✖ NA | ✔ | ✖ ✔|✔|✖
Switch for Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Media player controls ✖|✔ ✔|✖ ✖|✖
PERFORMANCE
Synthetic:
Sisoft Sandra 2009:
CPU arithmetic: Dhrystones | Whetstones 17.02 GIPS | 12.82 GFLOPS 14.28 GIPS | 10.81 GFLOPS 17.03 GIPS | 12.85 GFLOPS
Memory bandwidth: 3.38 GB/s 2.88 GB/s 3.35 GB/s
Hard drive: Drive index | Random access time 53.29 MB/s | 9 ms 51.78 MB/s | 10 ms 54.88 MB/s | 9 ms
Read | Write (random) 40.51 MB/s | 38.23 MB/s 37.46 MB/s | 36.51 MB/s 40.92 MB/s | 40.33 MB/s
PCMark Vantage: Overall | Memory | HDD | Productivity 2462 | 1439 | 2253 | 2792 2006 | 452 | 2485 | 2149 2453 | 1273 | 2505 | 2545
3DMark Vantage: Overall NA NA NA
Real World:
File compression 96 sec 156 sec 107 sec
Encoding: Audio | Video 137 sec | 75 sec 168 sec | 97 sec 146 sec | 79 sec
POV-Ray | CineBench R10 119.31 SEC | 3804 CB-CPU 143.93 SEC | 2970 CB-CPU 123.27 SEC | 3607 CB-CPU
Gaming: Left 4 Dead | Crysis Warhead NA NA NA
Battery Eater Pro: Classic | Reader 1 hr 4 min | 2 hr 40 min Failed | 1 hr 39 min 48 min | 1 hr 56 min
WARRANTY
Warranty period 1 year 1 year 1 year
Number of service centers in India 62 27 14
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

58 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

18 19 20 21
MAINSTREAM
DELL STUDIO 1555 HP PAVILION DV4-1242TX SONY VAIO VGN-CS24GH SAMSUNG NP-R610
Dell India HP Compaq Sony India Samsung India Electronics
080-25068026 9899600239 1800-111-188 011-41511234
NA diptesh.ghosh@hp.com sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com r.venkata@samsung.com
Rs 55,980 Rs 52,990 Rs 49,990 Rs 57,900

69 66 50 59
90 87 77 77
60 64 80 60
92 67 70 70
70 84 44 34
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

76 70 64 62

37.5 x 4 x 25 cm | 2.62 Kg 33.4 x 3.4 x 24 cm | 2.42 Kg 34 x 3.5 x 25 cm | 2.6 Kg 38 x 4 x 26.5 cm | 2.77 Kg

Intel Core 2 Duo T9400, 2.53 GHz, 6 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo 6400, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, 2 GHz, 3 MB L2
Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 4 GB Intel GM45 | DDR2-800, 3 GB Intel PM45 | DDR2-800, 2 GB
Radeon HD 4570 | 160 GB, 7200 rpm GeForce 9200M GS | 320 GB, 5400 rpm GMA 4500MHD | 250 GB, 5400 rpm GeForce 9200M GS | 320 GB, 5400 rpm
16-inch (1366x768) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | Stereo 15.4-inch (1280x800) | 5.1
DVD-RW | 2 MP DVD-RW LightScribe | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP
Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖ 10/100 | Draft-n | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖
2|1|1|1 2|1|0|1 3|0|1|0 4|0|0|1
✔ | ✔ | ✖ | None ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | None
✖|✔|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✔|✖|✔|✖
Vista Home Premium Vista Home Premium Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium

Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good
Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good Excellent | Very good | Very good
Very good | ✖ Very good | ✔ Very good | ✖ Very good | ✖
✔ | Downright sexy! ✖ | Downright sexy! ✖ | Downright sexy! ✖ | Downright sexy!

Very good | Very good | Excellent Very good | Very good | Excellent Very good | Very good | Excellent Very good | Very good | Excellent
Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good Very good | Very good | Very good
Side | Side | Side Side | Front | Side Front | Side | Side Front | Side | Side and rear
✖|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✔
✖|✔ ✔|✖ ✔|✔ ✖|✖

21.68 GIPS | 18.61 GFLOPS 17.1 GIPS | 14.63 GFLOPS 17.09 GIPS | 14.64 GFLOPS 17.08 GIPS | 14.29 GFLOPS
5.53 GB/s 4.58 GB/s 4.38 GB/s 5.38 GB/s
65.96 MB/s | 8 ms 49.95 MB/s | 10 ms 42.32 MB/s | 14 ms 50.61 MB/s | 15 ms
48.58 MB/s | 48.06 MB/s 37.7 MB/s | 35.38 MB/s 29.82 MB/s | 33.4 MB/s 32.09 MB/s | 36.29 MB/s
3715 | 2573 | 2564 | 3436 3105 | 1694 | 2518 | 2548 2599 | 1646 | 2221 | 2519 3546 | 1988 | 2841 | 2499
5762 2024 NA 2104

64 sec 84 sec 85 sec 83 sec

103 sec | 55 sec 136 sec | 69 sec 131 sec | 70 sec 130 sec | 69 sec
90.75 SEC | 5370 CB-CPU 111.35 SEC | 4102 CB-CPU 110.73 SEC | 4079 CB-CPU 111.56 SEC | 4154 CB-CPU
46.18 fps | 44.77 fps 17.85 fps | 15.82 fps NA 17.63 fps | 16.43 fps
1 hr 17 min | 3 hr 44 min 1 hr | 2 hr 26 min 1 hr 33 min | 3 hr 49 min 1 hr 15 min | 2 hr 16 min

1 year 2 years 1 year 1 year

NA 300 172 56

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 59

 HARDWARE LAPTOP COMPARISON

SpecScan
OVERALL RANK 22 23 24
CATEGORY MAINSTREAM
NAME ASUS F80S MSI EX400X-040IN INTEX TN120R
Contact Asus Technology Micro Star International Intex Technologies
Phone 080-40708728 011-41758808 011-41610224
E-mail media_india@asus.com sanyam@msi-in.com info@intextechnologies.com
Price* Rs 46,500 Rs 46,000 Rs 47,900
61 70 49
Features (30%) 57
54
57
48
44 60
48
55 66
Build quality (10%) 48 55
68 51
80 87
51
67 87
Ergonomics (20%) 52 64 56
0 50 86 100 0 50 95
100 0 50 88 100
Performance (30%) 65 63 48
80 88 88
Warranty (10%) 0 50
66
100 0
32
50 100 0
35
50 100
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall 60 54 49
Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 34 x 4 x 24.5 cm | 2.37 Kg 33 x 3.6 x 23 cm | 2.22 Kg 31 x 4 x 22 cm | 2.21 Kg
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2 GHz, 2 MB L2
Chipset | Memory SiS 671 | DDR2-667, 3 GB SiS 671 | DDR2-667, 1 GB Intel GM965 | DDR2-667, 2 GB
Graphics | HDD Radeon HD 3470 | 320 GB, 5400 rpm Radeon HD 3450 | 160 GB, 5400 rpm GMA X3100 | 160 GB, 5400 rpm
Display | Audio 14.1-inch (1280x800) | 5.1 14.1-inch (1280x800) | Stereo 12-inch touchscreen (1280x800) | 5.1
Optical drive | Webcam DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 1.3 MP DVD-RW | 2 MP
Ethernet | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint Sensor Gigabit | b/g | ✖ Gigabit | Draft-n | ✖ Gigabit | b/g | ✖
No of ports: USB | eSATA | Firewire | HDMI 2|0|0|1 3|0|0|0 4|0|1|0
Memory card reader | Bluetooth | IR | Modem ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | None ✔ | ✔ | ✖ | 56k
Bundled: Recovery disc | OS disc | Drivers | Mouse ✔|✖|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖
Operating System Vista Home Premium Free DOS Free DOS
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges Very good | Average | Very good Average | Good | Average Above average | Average | Very good
Keyboard | Buttons and switches | Optical drive tray Excellent | Very good | Very good Above average | Average | Average Above average | Below average | Average
Battery retention mechanism | Use of metal in construction Good | ✖ Average | ✖ Poor | ✖
Resistant to scratches | Aesthetic appeal ✖ | Good looking ✖ | Average looking ✖ | Average looking
ERGONOMICS
Keyboard: Size | Spacing | Tactility Very good | Very good | Good Good | Good | Good Good | Good | Good
Touchpad buttons: Size | Placement | Tactility Very good | Very good | Good Very good | Very good | Very good Good | Very good | Good
Location of: Memory card reader | Audio | USB Front | Side | Side and rear Side | Front | Side and rear Front | Front | Side and rear
Status indicators: Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | On battery ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✖
Switch for Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Media player controls ✖|✖ ✔|✖ ✖|✖
PERFORMANCE
Synthetic:
Sisoft Sandra 2009:
CPU arithmetic: Dhrystones | Whetstones 17.09 GIPS | 12.89 GFLOPS 17.07 GIPS | 12.9 GFLOPS 11.61 GIPS | 9.54 GFLOPS
Memory bandwidth: 3.2 GB/s 3.61 GB/s 3.59 GB/s
Hard drive: Drive index | Random access time 53 MB/s | 10 ms 51 MB/s | 10 ms 50.37 MB/s | 9 ms
Read | Write (random) 38.42 MB/s | 38.48 MB/s 37.29 MB/s | 37.93 MB/s 38.71 MB/s | 33.23 MB/s
PCMark Vantage: Overall | Memory | HDD | Productivity 2917 | 1715 | 2507 | 2379 2919 | 1487 | 2389 | 2873 2075 | 1270 | 2398 | 1686
3DMark Vantage: Overall 1585 1758 NA
Real World:
File compression 110 sec 111 sec 131 sec
Encoding: Audio | Video 75 sec | 75 sec 140 sec | 81 sec 264 sec | 148 sec
POV-Ray | CineBench R10 119.01 SEC | 3748 CB-CPU 121.23 SEC | 3744 CB-CPU 227.32 SEC | 1985 CB-CPU
Gaming: Left 4 Dead | Crysis Warhead 21.91 fps | 17.51 fps 20.23 fps | 19.99 fps NA
Battery Eater Pro: Classic | Reader 51 min | 1 hr 37 min Failed | 38 min 1 hr | 1 hr 50 min
WARRANTY
Warranty period 2 years 1 year 1 year
Number of service centers in India 71 27 62
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

60 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 HARDWARE TOUCHSCREEN PHONES COMPARISON
The Touchables
Touchscreen phones have been all the rage for quite a while now, but with different operating
systems and input methods, choosing the right one can be quite a task. Our guide brings you
the best value-oriented touchscreen phones.
BY CHIP TEST CENTER
M
obile handsets are getting
more sophisticated these
days. The race to be the best
and most futuristic while remaining
user-friendly handset is going quite
bonkers. We’re literally spoiled for choice
in today’s growing mobile market. The
latest trend in mobile technology that
is capturing the consumer’s attention is
to have phones with huge touchscreens
and no regular keypads. Why are these
so popular? Because appeal to users on
a level that makes them feel they can
quite easily integrate with technology
on a very personal level. The mobile
phone is becoming an extension of each
person, and this means customization
and interactivity are becoming much
more entertaining, engaging and
seamless for users.
Although touchscreen handsets have
been around for a few years now, the
level of interactivity in the technology
itself is getting better and better, and we
can all see some definite improvements
in the field. From the use of a stylus to
completely negating the need for one
62 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
altogether, touchscreen technology
has come a long way. It can still be
clearly noted—and we’re not all Apple
fans here—that the iPhone is perhaps
the definitive handset to discuss when
talking about touchscreen technology in
mobile phones. The device has exerted
a significant amount of influence on
competing companies since its launch.
So far, at least considering the Indian
market and handsets that we can
realistically get our hands on, there
haven’t been any that can defeat or even
sustain a decent battle with the iPhone,
at least in terms of its technology. (It
is true that the device has been lacking
some seemingly basic and commonplace
features like copy/paste, MMS, and
business card support.)
In today’s fast-paced multimedia
world, a touchscreen mobile phone
should be that perfect example of
futuristic technology, and just to sound
a little clichéd, it should also offer a
more ‘hands-on’ experience to data
access. The phone is only as good as
its UI which in turn is only as good
Jagdish Limbachiya
as the technology that supports it.
It’s the UI that makes the handset
appealing, and when it comes to the
touchscreen market, there have been
some tremendously innovative user
interfaces that look attractive enough to
get your attention and also manage to
aesthetically appeal to both tech-savvy
and uninitiated users.
Since there has been so much that
has come out of the mobile phone
industry in the last year especially with
regards to touchscreen technology,
we’ve put together a little comparison
test for you on budget touchscreen
phones in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs
20,000. These handsets cater to the
variety of needs that even users with
lower budgets have. This guide is aimed
at those who are looking to stay up to
date with touch technology and features
that range form work to play with a
little style thrown in. Not everyone has
pockets deep enough for the top-end
iPhone and BlackBerry Storm, but there
are quite a few value-oriented choices
available in the Indian market.
SMS us!  Story code: HSC to 57007
Test Process
We selected five models that cost less
than Rs 20,000. Each one was tested
with the following parameters.
Features: When screening these
handsets we took into account all
the relevant features that one would
look for in a mobile handset when it
comes to purchase. When testing the
features we had to observe and register
all the capabilities that the handset
could manage and every aspect of the
Operating System and User Interface
that was available to a user. From
aspects like the camera’s megapixel
count and provisioned settings, to rating
the touchscreen display’s sensitivity,
the kind of display quality the handset
A stand is an unusual accessory, but lets users
comfortably watch videos on the large screen.
BUYING GUIDE
T
here are a few things one should
keep in mind while deciding on
the purchase of a touchscreen
mobile handset in particular. Consider
what exactly you’d require this handset
for, which will essentially help determine
what kind of operating system best
suites that requirement. So aside from
the ‘budget’ factor take a look at these
tips that should help make things a little
easier for you to choose the right mobile
that best fits your requirements and
won’t make your wallet screams.
Display Size and Input
Method
One of the most important features that
one needs to take into consideration
is the display size of a touchscreen
handset. This will determine how easy
the device’s OS and UI function when
it comes to activating and accessing
features and even the package WEIGHTAGES USED FOR EVALUATING
contents. We’ve also rated how TOUCHSCREEN PHONES
user-friendly the handset’s UI
was when it came to navigating
menus and the kind of audio,
video and camera quality the
handset offers.
Build quality: We found it
quite necessary to also talk
about the kind of build quality
the handset embodied. Being
careful with a handset is one
thing, but accidents do happen
so we also included a few test scores of
how a particular handset in this group
fared with regards to the sturdiness of
the shell, whether or not the handsfree
was worth changing and even if the
battery and back panel managed to stay
put in case of a non-fatal drop. We also
took into account the quality of the flaps
that conceal various ports on the body.
Ergonomics: The ergonomics of a
mobile handset is a crucial factor that
we considered vital to our testing. We
rated the handsets based on the various
features that each one incorporated
under this segment like the placement
of keys and shortcut buttons for quick
access to features and the navigation
system the handset uses as well as the
overall grip the phone provides.
features. It will also tell you how
user-friendly ‘data input’ is going to
be with regards to email or simple
SMS. In most handsets of this kind,
data entry is through onscreen virtual
keyboards that usually offer a variety
of options from your average mobile
phone alphanumeric keypad to a full
QWERTY onscreen keyboard and even
handwriting recognition.
Your personal preference is the main
factor to consider. Most of the entry-
level handsets in this range do allow
you to enter information sans stylus
and simply use your fingers. Some will
require you to use one as the primary
option for the same activity though.
The options should include at least one
keypad that allows the use of one-hand
typing for when circumstances force the
situation, like commuting in crowded
public transportation for instance. In
30 % FEATURES
10 % WARRANTY
25 % PERFORMANCE
15 % BUILD QUALITY
20 % ERGONOMICS
Performance: Overall performance
of the handset is what sums up all the
facets of the phone’s capabilities and
features. We’ve split this up into scoring
for various aspects like—voice clarity, for
both incoming and outgoing calls, speed
of navigation and even the battery life.
Our tests also included ratings for
the music and sound quality through the
hands-free and built-in loudspeaker.
Value for money: Taking everything
into account it is important to justify
that your earnings are, of course, well
spent. This parameter was used to help
you decide on where that money is
spent on a handset that fits your every
need for a particular price and that
you derive optimum satisfaction for
the same.
these cases, the larger the display, the
easier it is to clearly view for reading,
watching videos, surfing the web and
selecting options, but of course the UI
should also be conducive for the same.
One should also keep in mind how
sensitive the interface is for activating
said features and settings that the
handset incorporates. If it employs
finger-swipe technology for flicking
through pages, menus or images in
the gallery, the flow of images should
be smooth and lack any sort of lag
while changing screens. The level
of sensitivity should also be evident
when it comes to entering data via the
onscreen keyboards—is there a delay
after pressing an on-screen key from
the letter appearing on the screen is an
example of what you should look for
when it comes to sensitivity, since this
will greatly affect your usage experience.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 63
 HARDWARE TOUCHSCREEN PHONES COMPARISON
The presence of a working
accelerometer for screen rotation is also
a feature to take into account. If present,
the rotation should be fluid or at least
change orientation with without lag in
the system.
Connectivity
Does the phone employ the use of
proprietary technology when it comes
to using a handsfree kit for listening
to audio or even hooking it up a PC
via USB. If a handset comes with a
standard 3.5mm earphone socket
you’ll have the freedom to use a set of
earphones of your choice without the
use of converters. For USB connectivity
standard micro USB or mini USB ports
would make things a whole lot simpler
for data transfer. This will also enable
users to use common cables for multiple
devices rather than having to use a
specifically designed cable that can only
be used with the handset and nothing
else. A hot swap slot for a memory card
is also very handy. Having to remove
the rear panel may not be as painful
as having to shut down the handset
and remove the battery to access the
memory card but having an easily
accessible slot on the outside is the
obvious way to go.
Other modes of connectivity that a
handset should or could come equipped
with would be features like Bluetooth
2.0 with A2DP so not only will you able
to transfer files but use stereo Bluetooth
headsets for listening to audio. EDGE
and GPRS support are a must with a
decent browser that should support
basic HTML and make optimum use
of the display. Having 3G is not really
a prerequisite that one should look for
since it’s going to be a while before we
see it here in action, but having it for the
More points were awarded to phones with
multimedia features such as powerful cameras.
64 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
long run is just something to consider.
Wi-Fi is not very necessary to consider
either as once again we don’t really have
too many free Wi-Fi spots available.
Office Usage
If you’re looking at using the device as
an office on the go or an alternative to
carting a laptop around, the handset
you’re looking for should be loaded with
applications that help facilitate this end.
First off, you should be able to easily
access and download emails while
traveling, so Push Mail is a must via
EDGE. Secondly, you should be equipped
to view, edit and create Word and Excel
documents on the fly as well as open
PDF and PowerPoint presentations. If
you’re an average user who’s not looking
to do so much work, the at least a
document viewer would be handy to
have. You might want to make sure the
handset also has support for a voice
recorder for voice memos.
Multimedia
When it comes to this particular
segment for choosing a handset,
personal preference is everything. If
you’re a camera buff, the handset’s
on-board camera should be equipped
with the basic settings that should
include Exposure settings, White Balance
and at the very least, a Night Mode
scene selection.
Other scene modes will only enhance
the appeal of course. An LED flash is
also helpful for low light areas and can
double up as a torch if necessary. A
Xenon flash is much better for low light
conditions but can’t be used as torch.
We’d also like to recommend having
a dedicated camera key instead of an
onscreen shutter release. Any other
settings the handset could have are just
a bonus.
Audio quality through the bundled
hands-free or personal earphones should
be loud and clear enough to drown the
city’s ambient sounds. These should not
hamper your listening experience… too
much. What’s very important to take into
account is that the bundled handsfree
is not only comfortable to use but also
negates the buying of another set of
earphones altogether. Video support
should include MPEG4 and 3GP file
support the FM radio should have decent
reception, especially while commuting.
Touchscreen phones have the advantage of being
able to offer different keyboard layouts.
Battery
Many touchscreen handsets may not
have really high battery life, but that
doesn’t mean they’re simply mediocre.
What one should consider in this case
is a minimum of 3.5 hours and above of
talk time. It’s not necessary to concern
yourself with standby time. You should
be able to derive at least two days of
usage on a single charge with average
use of calls, messages, music, a few
pictures and a little music.
Additional Accessories
The last bit to take into account is the
contents of the package. Considering
we’re dealing with devices that are
primarily designed with a display in
mind, keeping that display as clean and
unscathed as possible is a priority.
A case to protect the display while
carrying around is always a great
accessory to have with any touchscreen
handset. This will prevent the display
from rubbing against the surface of your
pocket and possibly getting scratched
by any of the contents in your pockets
like keys, coins etc. While you can’t do
much about the fingerprint situation, this
is something you can avoid as much as
possible.
Memory is also important. In case the
handset doesn’t come with too much of
on-board memory a memory card should
be part of the package content. With a
large screen handset, watching videos is
an important reason to buy touchscreen
phones, so you’ll need more memory for
storing videos and of course, audio. If
the handset uses a stylus an extra stylus
can also be handy as they could get
easily misplaced or slip out of their slot.
Anything else is again a bonus.

N okia’s answer to the iPhone craze
was to create a suitable rival
for their loyal fan base and the 5800
XpressMusic was what made the cut.
Stirring up hype before the official launch
and making an appearance in the latest
Batman movie, The Dark Knight, made it
all the more appealing.
This is not Nokia’s first attempt at
a touchscreen device or an operating
system for the same. However popular
the others were, the 5800 is in a class
by itself and has managed to keep
users entertained since its launch. It
may not be as sleek as the iPhone or
as well designed but it does have that
certain magical factor about it. It allows
for a good grip and even comes with a
funky case to protect the display. Nokia
has also upped the handset’s value a
little more by including a lot of relevant
goodies with the packaging—an 8GB
memory card, Audio/Video RCA cables
VERDICT: It doesn’t revolutionize touchscreen technology like the iPhone did, but with a price tag of
just Rs 19,990, it’s still a worthy competitor.
FOR: Well designed and responsive touchscreen, great music player, lots of accessories included.
AGAINST: Accelerometer is too sensitive, camera is just OK, battery could have been better.
T he Cookie manages to beat out the
S-930, which is the lowest priced
model in our comparison, when it comes
to overall features and functionality.
The reason the KP500 is a great value
for money is that it’s a well designed
handset that provides users with plenty
of basic as well as customized features
and settings. The Flash UI is well
thought out, simplified and categorized
to such an extent that any user would
find it easy to navigate.
LG has also employed dual desktops
that users can access by flicking their
fingers over the display. Not only does
it make it easy to customize the phone,
but each desktop has been designed to
offer users specific utilities. One offers
quick access to features and settings
while the other has a quick dial menu
where users can designate specific
contacts to appear on screen. What is
also very appealing about the handset is
VERDICT: Even with all its oddities and quirks, it’s a pretty decent handset, and it's loaded with
multimedia features for editing videos and images.
FOR: Great design, well priced, plenty of multimedia editing features, good battery life.
AGAINST: Touch sensitivity and accelerometer are erratic.
BEST PERFORMANCE
for hooking it up to a television, a small
stand so you can easily set up the
handset for watching videos and even a
NOKIA 5800 XPRESSMUSIC
strap with a plectrum-like stylus..
Bearing a much lower price tag than
most other handsets of it’s caliber, the
5800’s appeal is further extended. With
the kind of features that the handset
employs coupled with it being part of
Nokia’s XpressMusic range of handsets
that are specifically designed for
multimedia, the 5800 is also quite a well
rounded handset. Nokia has also thrown SPECIFICATIONS
in GPS capabilities with Nokia Maps as Weight: 109 g; Memory: 81 MB (onboard, 8 GB MicroSD
bundled); Display: 3.2-inch, 16M colors; Camera: 3.2 MP; Battery
the primary application for navigation. Life: 4 hrs 20 min (Talk)
The handset also offers a decent PRICE Rs 19,000
amount of other functionality in terms of CONTACT Nokia India
downloadable content, access to social PHONE 0124-4199193
networking arenas, Mail for Exchange EMAIL ext-manoj.goel@nokia.com
capability, and normal Push support too. WARRANTY 1 year
The 5800 is a great phone for its price
RATINGS
although it has a few bugs that need to
BUILD QUALITY
be ironed out with a firmware update.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
BEST VALUE
that it’s slimmer than most others. For
the multimedia user, it offers a level of
comfort to the eyes because of its large
LG KP500 COOKIE
display. What would have made it better
for audio purposes would have been a
standard 3.5mm earphone socket. But
it’s not that big a deal. The built-in FM
radio works well enough with decent
reception in most areas.
For those who download and check
email with attachments, the LG Cookie
comes equipped with an application for
reading document files in Word, Excel, SPECIFICATIONS
PowerPoint and PDF formats. It also Weight: 89 g; Memory: 48 MB (onboard, 1 GB MicroSD bundled);
Display: 3-inch, 256k colors; Camera: 3 MP; Battery Life: 3 hrs
has multiple modes of data entry in the 40 min (Talk)
form of various onscreen keyboards—Full PRICE Rs 13,500
QWERTY in landscape, half QWERTY, CONTACT LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd
handwriting recognition using the stylus PHONE 0120-2560900
and even a regular alphanumeric keypad EMAIL viveksingh@lgindia.com
like you’d find on most normal handsets. WARRANTY 1 year
All this for Rs 13,990 makes it definite
RATINGS
value for your money, so give it a little
BUILD QUALITY
time to grow on you.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 65
HARDWARE TOUCHSCREEN PHONES COMPARISON

PERSONAL TAKE
SpecScan
OVERALL RANK 1 2
CATEGORY
NAME NOKIA 5800 XPRESSMUSIC LG KP500 COOKIE
SHAYNE RANA Contact Nokia India LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd
feedback@chip.in
Phone 0124-4199193 0120-2560900
E-mail ext-manoj.goel@nokia.com viveksingh@lgindia.com
Personally I’m not a fan of the whole
Price* Rs 19,000 Rs 13,500
touchscreen trend. Not that I believe there to
OVERALL
be anything remotely wrong with these
Features (30%) 78 52
devices, but I just prefer the tactile feel of a
Build quality (15%) 69 67
keypad. Being able to interact with a device
Ergonomics (20%) 75 76
on a more direct level also has its appeal, and
Performance (25%) 71 68
keypad or not, I do believe that this is the
Warranty (10%) 98 100
direction technology will be heading in for 0 50 100 0 50 100

years to come. Overall 76 68

Interfacing with a device of any kind in Value For Money
this fashion is exactly what you’d expect FEATURES
these days of hi-tech electronics and of Dimensions (W x H x D) | Weight 111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm | 109 g 106.5 x 55.4 x 11.9 mm | 89 g
course from watching all those Sci-Fi movies. Operating System Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5 Flash based
But when it comes to touch-based Memory: Onboard | Expandable type | Bundled 81 MB | MicroSD | 8 GB 48 MB | MicroSD | 1 GB
interactivity, mobile technology has come a PC Interface | Accelerometer Micro USB | ✔ Proprietary | ✔
really long way just in last few years, even if Display type 3.2-inch, TFT , 360x640 pixels, 16M colors 3-inch, TFT , 240x400 pixels, 256k colors
there are still companies that manufacture Input: Stylus | Keypad type ✔ | Virtual keyboard ✔ | Virtual keyboard
handsets that require a stylus. Network support | Built-in GPS Quad-band | ✔ Quad-band | ✖
My take is that it’s the user interface that Connectivity
truly makes a handset come alive for the 3G | Wi-Fi | GPRS | HSCSD ✔|✔|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔|✖
user. Having a good-looking handset with EDGE | Bluetooth | A2DP | IR ✔|✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✔|✖
extreme capabilities is one thing, but if I don’t Messaging options Instant Messaging, MMS, Email MMS, Email
like the way things are laid out for me for Browsing modes: WAP | HTML ✔|✔ ✔|✔
accessing those capabilities, I’m not going to Camera: Image resolution | Video resolution 3.2 MP | 640 x 480 pixels 3 MP | 320 x 240 pixels
be too happy. The buying guide we’ve Exposure controls Auto-focus, white balance, EV, ISO White balance, EV
included with this comparison is exactly what
Secondary camera | Flash type ✔ | Dual LED ✖ | NA
AV-out | Handsfree connectivity type ✔ | 3.5mm stereo audio jack ✖ | Proprietary
you should look at when you’re buying a
Phonebook size Unlimited 1,000
handset that uses a touchscreen. From the
Battery type | Additional battery bundled Lithium-ion 1320 mAh | ✖ Lithium-ion 900 mAh | ✖
overall style and ergonomics to the
Aesthetic appeal | Resistant to scratches Good looking | ✖ Good looking | ✔
functionality of the handset in terms of a user
BUILD QUALITY
friendly UI and the kind of features it
Sturdiness: Shell | Battery retention clamp Good | Excellent Good | Good
employs for both work and fun, there are
Quality: Buttons | Handsfree | Portflaps Good | Average | Good Excellent | Above average | NA
many things I need to take into account
Back panel removal | Use of metal in construction Excellent | ✖ Good | ✖
before purchasing a cellphone.
ERGONOMICS
The variety of UIs from the various Buttons: Size | Spacing | Tactility Excellent | Excellent | Excellent Excellent | Excellent | Excellent
manufactures at least give mobile users a Touchscreen sensitivity Good Good
wide range to choose from, so "spoiled for Shortcut keys: Music player | Camera | Messaging | Web browser ✖|✔|✖|✖ ✖|✔|✖|✖
choice" is the operative term here! Each UI is Navigation: Type | Ease of use touch | Above average touch | Very good
unique and brings a different, dynamic flavor Grip | Hot-swappable memory Excellent | ✔ Good | ✔
to the table. It’s just a matter of finding one PERFORMANCE
that you’re comfortable with. Since most Call voice clarity Good Good
users won’t get the chance to see first hand Audio Clarity: Loudspeaker | Handsfree Very good | Average Good | Good
which one works best for them, this is where Navigation speed Sluggish Satisfactory
we, the reviewers, come in. Hopefully we will Display screen quality Good Good
be able to make the selection process a little Capture quality: Image | Video Good | Above average Above average | Average
simpler and clearer for you. Ultimately it’s Battery life (Rated): Stand-by time | Talk time 380 hrs | 4 hrs 20 min 350 hrs | 3 hrs 40 min
your decision and we’re just here to lend a WARRANTY
helping hand, so happy shopping! Warranty period 1 year 1 year
No. of service centers in India 638 652
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change. Taxes extra.

66 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TERMINATOR
3G
Third Generation mobile technology will allow
3 4 5 users to get a host of services and
connectivity from their service providers,
SAMSUNG F480 TOUCHWIZ HTC TOUCH VIVA SPICE S930 which will be much better than earlier
Samsung India Electronics Jaina Marketing Spice Mobiles generations. That means download speeds for
1800-11-0011 011-46604660 0120-4363600 Web surfing as well as media streaming on
support.india@samsung.com deepak@jainaindia.com customercare@spicemobile.in
mobile devices will be faster.
Rs 20,355 Rs 15,990 Rs 7,999

EDGE
57 46 50
Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution can
75 60 72
also be called EGPRS or Enhanced GPRS and
73 55 40
means exactly what it sounds like. It’s one
63 74 55
step above GPRS and facilitates faster
51 51 51
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 browsing and data transfer speeds.

64 57 53
HOT SWAP SLOT
A memory card slot that’s accessible without
98.4 x 55 x 11.6 mm | 100.6 g 104.5 x 59 x 15.8 mm | 110 g 99.9 x 48.1 x 17.2 mm | 86 g having to remove the battery or the rear
TouchWiz Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Proprietary panel. Some handsets do have a memory card
232 GB | MicroSD | None 28 GB | MicroSD | 1 GB 70 GB | MicroSD | 1 GB slot just under the rear panel that but you
Proprietary | ✖ Mini USB | ✖ Mini USB | ✖ won’t need to touch the battery. This could
2.8-inch, TFT , 240x320 pixels, 256k colors 2.8-inch, TFT , 240x320 pixels, 65k colors 2.5-inch, TFT , 176x220 pixels, 256k colors also be called a hot swap slot.
✖ | Virtual keyboard ✔ | Virtual keyboard ✔ | Virtual keyboard
Quad-band | ✖ Quad-band | ✖ Quad-band | ✖ HSDPA
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is often
✔|✖|✔|✖ ✖|✔|✔|✖ ✖|✖|✔|✖ associated with 3G. It allows networks to
✔|✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✔|✖ ✔|✔|✔|✖ provide higher data transfer speeds and
MMS, Email Instant Messaging, MMS, Email Instant Messaging, MMS, Email capacities. Current HSDPA deployments
✔|✔ ✔|✔ ✔|✔ support downlink speeds of 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and
5 MP | 320 x 240 pixels 2 MP | 320 x 240 pixels 2 MP | 320 x 240 pixels 14.4 Mbit/s.
Auto-focus, white balance, EV White balance, EV White balance, EV
✔ | LED ✖ | NA ✖ | NA PUSH MAIL
✖ | Proprietary NA | Proprietary, Mini USB ✔ | 2.5mm stereo audio jack
This service allows a handset with an active
1,000 Unlimited 1,000
Internet connection to always check for new
Lithium-ion 1000 mAh | ✖ Lithium-ion 1100 mAh | ✖ Lithium-ion 750 mAh | ✔
messages from a designated server linked to
Good looking | ✖ Good looking | ✖ Passable looks | ✖
your personal or work email address. This
allows for realtime downloading of all
Above average | Above average Above average | Above average Average | Good
incoming email, which you can access from
Good | Average | Average Average | Above average | Good Average | Good | Below average
your mobile as well as your PC.
Above average | ✔ Above average | ✖ Good | ✔

Excellent | Excellent | Excellent Good | Excellent | Excellent Good | Good | Average UMTS
Above average Average Below average Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

✖|✔|✖|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ ✖|✖|✖|✖ is one of the 3G technologies. Also kwown as

touch | Good Touch and 5-way d-pad | Average Touch and 4-way d-pad | Below average 3GSM, it essentially implies a sort of hybrid
Good | ✔ Above average | ✖ Below average | ✖ combination of 3G with its speed combined
with GSM, a more globalized standard.
Good Good Good
Good | Above average Above average | Good Average | Good CMOS SENSOR
Sluggish Sluggish Sluggish Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors
Good Good Below average are most widely used in mobile phone
Good | Average Above average | Average Average | Below average cameras. The reason for this is that these
250 hrs | 3 hrs 270 hrs | 8 hrs 250 hrs | 3 hrs 30 min sensors require fewer components (perfect
for space constraints) and less power, so they
1 year 1 year 1 year also help reduce costs.
250 NA NA

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 67

 HARDWARE PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Beginner's DSLR
You can now buy an entry-level digital SLR camera for
the price of a prosumer digital camera.
BY GAGAN GUPTA

T
hough Canon does have a very
strong foothold in the DSLR
market in India, there has been
a gap that Canon hadn't catered to
yet—the ultra-budget DSLR segment.
Build quality
The EOS seems more than a cut-short
budget camera. For one its build is just
about the same as its big brother, the
EOS 450D at 126 x 98 x 62 mm. With
its weight of merely 502 g, it's definitely
the lightest DSLR camera body we've
tested till date. Lighter DSLRs may not
be a big deal for hardcore enthusiasts,
but for a beginner or a casual user who
doesn't own a giant camera bag, it's a
great asset.
Unfortunately the light weight comes
at a slight cost. The camera's body is
completely built of bland, matt-finished
plastic, which gives it a pretty dull
look. Moreover, even the handgrip lacks
that high-friction rubber coating, which
makes the camera easy to use for hours
at a stretch. Now that too wouldn't be
just a big issue if the grip
had the right contours on it
for easy finger placement or
even a slightly bigger, more
comfortable size. We might
sound overtly harsh here, but
camera users with particularly
large hands might feel
uncomfortable during prolonged use.
The button layout at the back is
exactly the same as the EOS 450D,
which would make a Canon user feel images up to 10 megapixel in resolution
right at home. The 2.5-inch screen with (3888 x 2592 pixels), making it more
230,000 colors supports Live-view, than sufficient for high quality A3 sized
which seems to have become a norm photos even after a bit of cropping. The
in DSLR cameras these days. Casual Li-Ion LP-E5 battery bundled with the
users, however may need to up their camera is the same one seen in the EOS
game to be able to use this feature as it 450D, and gives an impressive 700 shots
works only in manual modes. Still we’re (mixed with and without flash) on a
pleasantly surprised that Canon added single full charge.
this nifty feature in their lowest-end The EOS 1000D is bundled with an
DSLR model. EF-S 18-55 mm lens without IS (image
stabilization), but some vendors will
Features and performance gives you the IS lens as an option. It is
While the EOS 1000D seemed fully a good idea to take that option. The
equipped at first, on closer look we did slightly higher price will save a lot of your
notice a few traditional features missing precious compositions from that dreaded

INFO in the camera. There is no light sensor

over the camera display to automatically
hand jitter. The camera we got for review
came with a standard non-IS lens.
turn off the screen when you got close
DIGITAL SLR CAMERA
Canon EOS 1000D to the camera's viewfinder. It may not
be an essential feature, but it is a good
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PRICE Rs 29,990 one nonetheless—something you learn
CONTACT Canon India Pvt Ltd to appreciate, once you miss it.
PHONE 1800-180-33-66 Gone is the IR receiver from the
EMAIL info@canon.co.in front of the camera, so using a
WEBSITE www.canon.co.in remote control (sold separately)
WARRANTY 2 years for shutter release is out of the
question here.
RATINGS Spot metering has been taken
BUILD QUALITY
away from this model, which
ERGONOMICS
may or may not be relevant to
FEATURES
you depending on your usage.
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING But on the other hand, the 1000D
VALUE FOR MONEY does offer a very useful 7-point
autofocus. The camera shoots

68 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HPM to 57007
 SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD) : 126 x 98 x 62 mm
Weight (including battery): 502 g
Sensor type : CMOS
Sensor size : 22.2 x 14.8 mm
Aspect ratio : 3:2
Effective resolution : 10.1 million
Image sizes : Large: 3888 x 2592
Medium: 2816 x 1880
Small: 1936 x 1288
Image processor : DIGIC III
Viewfinder : Pentamirror
LCD display : 2.5-inch TFT, 230,000 pixels
Live view : 100 % frame coverage,
real-time evaluative metering
and grid options.
Lens support : Canon EF and EF-S
Field of view crop : 1.6x
This scene was shot late at night using the manual mode with an 8 second shutter and ISO 1600. File formats : JPEG and RAW (CR2)
Number of focus points : 7
The color reproduction on the EOS were able to achieve the required levels Auto focus illumination : Flash
1000D is very natural, just the way we of detail without noise or artefacts. Auto focus modes : AI focus, One shot and AI Servo
Metering modes : Evaluative, Partial and
like it. There's no over-saturation of The EOS 1000D shoots at a maximum Center Weighted Avg
colors to please the casual users, but sensitivity of ISO 1600, and does a Shooting modes : Auto, program, shutter
it doesn't give you dull lifeless images pretty good job. Shooting at night, priority, aperture priority,
manual, auto depth of field,
either. You get the perfectly natural color without the flash and at the maximum portrait, landscape, close-up,
gradients without the 'happy colors'. ISO setting, resulting in images with sport, night and flash off.
That said, we did notice the auto minimal noise, usable for large prints. ISO speed : 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Auto ISO adjust : Yes
white balance being a bit warmish by Noise at different ISO levels can be
Shutter speed range : 30 to 1/4000 sec
default. This wasn't true for every kind best determined from out lab test. Click
Drive modes : Single, burst and self-timer
of image, but in most cases we did feel on the image above to see the camera's
Burst mode : 3 fps JPEG and 1.5 fps RAW
that the images seemed a bit warmer noise ratio on different ISO levels. White balance : Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy,
than usual. Of course, this can be fixed The shooting speed in burst mode tungsten, fluorescent, flash
and custom
by selecting the right white balance was 3 fps using the JPEG format and
Playback mode : Single image, single image
preset or setting it manually. around 1.5 fps for RAW. After a full with info, magnified view,
Though not the sharpest kit lens, charge, the battery lasted for around image index and auto play
the Canon EOS 1000D uses it to great 660 shots (with and without flash), Imaging parameters : 6 presets and 3 user defined
Custom imaging parameters : Sharpness, contrast,
advantage, displaying a lot of minute which is a little more than expected. saturation, color tone,
detail by default. From the results we Overall the EOS 1000D is a fine DSLR B&W filter and B&W tone
got, a little Photoshop sharpening was for the casual user or enthusiast. The Color space : Adobe RGB and sRGB
well handled by the images and we lack of spot metering is a pretty major Built-in flash : Electronic pop-up
Storage : SD and SDHC
drawback, but only for those who use it
Connectivity : USB 2.0, video-out and
a lot. Photography students may want remote control
to consider other options if they take Battery : 7.4 V, 1080 mAh
light metering that seriously. But if you Bundled software : Zoom Browser EX,
Photostitch, EOS utility and
have never paid that much attention to
Digital Photo Professional
metering, chances are you won't even (Windows and Mac)
notice the missing spot meter here.
That aside, the camera does offer an KIT LENS
impressive spec sheet and a pretty good Model : Canon EF-S 18-55 mm F3.5-5.6
Dimensions (WxHxD) : 68 x 68 x 66 mm
overall performance. For it's street price
Weight : 190 g
of Rs. 29,990 (with kit lens), this one's
Lens mount : EF-S
definitely a bang for the buck.
Construction : 11 elements in 9 groups
For: Great overall image quality, Live No. of diaphragm blades :6
View in a budget DSLR, 7-point auto Focal length : 18-55 mm
focus, 3 FPS shooting speed (JPEG) 1.6x FOV equivalent : 29-88 mm
Against: Body feels tacky, no spot Maximum aperture : F3.5 - F5.6
metering, a bit of a warm tone with the Minimum aperture : F22 - F38
white balance set to Auto. Minimum focus distance : 0.25 m
Filter diameter : 58 mm
– feedback@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 69

 HARDWARE FEATURE
Core i7: The new super CPU
Chip czar Intel has once again set new benchmark records with its latest CPUs, the Core i7
series. CHIP reveals the technical innovations inside them.
BY THOMAS LITT SCHWAGER AND JAMSHED AVARI
I
ntel's development model for
processors is known as the “Tick
Tock” cycle. Every alternate year, they
focus is on miniaturizing the existing
production technology for CPUs (known
as a process shrink—“Tick”), while
in the next year a new architecture
will be introduced, based on this
process (“Tock”). The system has been
functioning well for four years now. The
Core i7 architecture, formerly known by
its codename “Nehalem”, was introduced
in November 2008, after the original
Core architecture was shrunk to 45
nm around the end of 2007 (products
codenamed “Penryn”). The new design
brings a series of changes with it, all
aimed at optimizing performance, power
consumption and reliability.
New package
The last time Intel changed its processor
package was in 2004, when it went from
478 contact pins to 775 pads. Since then,
the package and matching socket has
remained the same despite many CPU
refreshes, but now Nehalem requires a
radical turnabout. The new CPU requires
about 600 more pins for all its new
functions. Core i7 CPUs won’t fit into
older motherboards since they now have
1,366 contact pads instead of 775. Even
The new die contains four cores with individual L1
and L2 caches but a huge shared L3 cache.
70 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
if they did fit physically, nothing would
work since there are many new elements
on the CPU which need to be connected
to the motherboard and the rest of the
computer’s components. The transition
is understandable since it’s been a long
time and there are genuine needs and
advantages, but anyone who wants to
use the new Intel technology must buy a
new motherboard.
Goodbye FSB
The most significant innovation with
the Nehalem architecture is the
obsolescence of the Front Side Bus
(FSB), which has been responsible for
all communication between CPU and
chipset so far. Its successor is known as
the QuickPath Interconnect (QPI). The
FSB was replaced mainly because its
bandwidth was found to be inadequate:
QPI provides 20-bit wide, bidirectional
links resulting in a maximum data rate
of 25.6 GB/s. This is immediately twice
the speed of what an FSB at its highest
possible rating of 1,600 MHz could offer.
QPI is very similar to the HyperTransport
technology used by AMD since 2001,
which is now at version 3.1 and achieves
similar transfer rates.
Intel has chosen to adopt another
technique very successfully applied by
The new CPU socket is larger than before, with
around 600 more contact pads.
AMD: a memory controller integrated in
the processor package. Intel’s desktop
architectures until now have placed the
memory controller in the chipset. The
specialty of current high end Core i7s is
their triple-channel memory controller.
Three memory modules can now be
ganged up to achieve data transfer
rates fast enough to keep the CPU fed
with fresh data so that its potential is
used optimally. The result is that PCs
which make use of this will have 3, 6 or
12 GB of RAM, which is unconventional
compared to the progression we’re used
to. However, lower-cost Nehalem CPUs
which are yet to be launched will feature
more traditional dual-channel memory
controllers and a different, smaller
socket with only 1156 contact pads.
HyperThreading makes a
comeback
Since the end of the Pentium 4
generation, HyperThreading disappeared
almost completely, but it is now making
a comeback. Intel refers to a processor’s
ability to process two program threads
at the same time as Simultaneous Multi-
Threading (SMT). So in addition to the
impressive figure of eight CPU cores on a
chip in the Windows task manager—four
virtual and four real—SMT allows the
cores to be utilized more efficiently, with
a promised increase in performance of
up to 30 percent.
New clock speed tricks
Core i7 processors can run with each
individual core at a different clock
speed. Turbo mode is especially
interesting, because it allows some
cores to be overclocked when a non-
multithreaded task taxes one or two
cores while the others are left idle. Such
a situation allows the application to run
more efficiently and utilize resources
more effectively—and can result in
a performance increase of up to 10
SMS us!  Story code: HC7 to 57007
 COMPARING CPU ARCHITECTURES
There are fewer differences between current AMD and Intel CPUs than between the AMD PHENOM X4
Core I7 and its predecessor, the Core 2 Quad. SMT and triple-channel memory
The Phenom, with its integrated memory controller
connections ensure new records for data throughput.
and common L3 cache, provides potential similar
to the Core i7, except for the simultaneous
multithreading.
INTEL CORE I7
The long list of innovations allows for
much greater memory bandwidth, and the 2 x DDR2
return of HyperThreading allows for (17.0 GB/s)

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percent. On the other hand, a new power Bus. In Core i7 CPUs, each core now has the introduction of the QPI, two, four
saving mode switches idle cores to the its own L2 cache, which is considerably or eight cores can now be integrated
C6 state (deep powerdown). In this downsized to 256 KB, but with its speed in a single processor die. Furthermore,
state, the core is simply disconnected increased by 50 percent. Like in AMD’s the high speed of the QPI enables quick
from the power supply. This is taken Athlon CPUs, a common 8 MB L3 cache communication between several CPUs
care of by microcontroller logic which (for the current quad-core models) is on one motherboard for high-end and
monitors the temperature and power added to enable data exchange between server configurations. When 8-core
consumption of each core. the cores. This cache receives all data Nehalem chips are available, power
from the cores’ L1 and L2 caches, which users should be able to gang two of
New design: Small L2 cache in turn considerably accelerates data them up for a grand total of 16 cores and
and large common L3 cache processing. This allows each core to be 32 virtual CPUs!
One of the weak points of the cache shut down without any risk of losing At present, three Core i7 models
design on Intel’s previous CPUs was that data that's in transit between caches. are available in the market, with
on a quad-core CPU, each pair of two more to come soon. By the end of
cores shared a 6 MB L2 cache which was A CPU design for all the year 2009, lower cost versions of
exclusive to them. This was great for applications Nehalem (codenamed Lynnfield and
fast data exchanges between those two The scalability of the Core i7 architecture Havendale) will hit the market, with
cores, but bad for exchanges between is quite unique. Nehalem is suitable for many more innovations and performance
all four, which required the data to travel desktops, servers and notebooks as well. advantages in store for users.
through the much slower Front Side Thanks to the new cache design and – jamshed.avari@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 71

 HARDWARE CPU GPU GUIDE
CHIP CPU-GPU Guide
Are you planning to buy a new desktop PC or a laptop? Do
you want to upgrade your system? This guide will give you
an overview of the processor and graphics chip market.
BY ANDREAS VOGELSANG AND ANAND TULIANI
T
he second innovation is also the
purchase recommendation of
the month: at approximately Rs
8,500, the ATI Radeon HD 4830 offers
an extremely affordable entry into
the powerful 48XX series, with all the
features of the HD 4850 and HD 4870.
Also, the 4830 comes with a 256-bit
memory bus, 8-channel audio over
HDMI, and DirectX 10.1
The launch of Phenom II in January
ultimately turned out to be a winner:
AMD fans with high performance
requirements have finally found a
substitute for Intel’s quad-core and
at the same time Intel followers are
excited about the drastic slumps in
prices of certain quad-core models. For
example Core 2 Quad Q9550, which
ranks fifth in our list of top CPUs, is
now available for Rs 14,500 and the
Core 2 Quad Q9400 priced at Rs 12,500,
which is the best buy, is ranked eighth.
AMD is back: Even more
Phenom II CPUs and a new
dual-core Athlon
Three more Phenom II CPUs have made
their way to the CHIP Test Center and
queued up in the top half of the table.
The Phenom II X4 920 (rank 14) with
TIP: Purchase recommendations of the month
DESKTOP CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2
7750 BE
Based on AMD Phenom, this dual-core
CPU is easy to overclock and
affordable too.
PRICE: Rs 3,600 approx.
WEBSITE: www.amd.com
72 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
120 Watt TDP has power requirements
similar to that of the top model X4 940.
Whereas the X4 810 (rank 20) is more
energy efficient with 95 Watt TDP.
First quad-core, then tri-core, and
now dual core? That’s right. With the
Athlon 64 X2 7750 BE, AMD now has
a much affordable and speedy dual-
core processor based on the former
Phenom chips. This is a move by AMD
to sell the surplus Phenom quad-
cores as lower end dual-core CPUs.
Thus, budget gamers and multimedia
fans can get good performance for
just Rs 3,600. Furthermore, thanks to
unlocked multiplier, even overclocking
options are available, which make it
a clear purchase recommendation.
AMD has also become a center of
attraction in the mobile GPU arena.
There is an increasing demand to
establish a laptop category which
combines the characteristics of
both entry-level laptops as well as
netbooks. The single core Athlon Neo
MV-40 ensures long battery life with
a maximum power consumption of
just 15 Watts. 1.6 GHz clock speed
and 512 KB L2 cache are more than
sufficient for office applications,
Internet and HD video playback.
GPU
ATI Radeon
HD 2600 XT
This affordable GPU is ideal for image
editing, light gaming and HD videos.
PRICE: Rs 4,500 approx.
WEBSITE: www.amd.com
Nvidia sets a new
benchmark with the
GeForce GTX 295
The economic crisis has extended
its claws to the GPU market as well.
According to the latest figures from
Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the sales of
graphics processors in the fourth quarter
of 2008 nose dived by 35 percent in
comparison to the preceding quarter.
AMD was hit hard with a negative
growth of 38.9 percent. It was
obvious because Nvidia’s new top
model, the GeForce GTX 295, moved
to the top position in our list of top
50 GPUs, pushing the Radeon HD
4870 X2 to the second position.
Anyone who is willing to shell
out Rs 35,000 for a graphics card
will get two GPUs and 1792 MB
GDDR3 memory with a 2 x 448-bit
bus width. The stellar performance
of the card is quite apparent with
absolutely smooth frame rates even
at HD resolution with antialiasing
enabled in all the latest games.
Another new entrant, the GeForce
GTX 285, is the top performer in the
single-GPU segment. With 1 GB of
GDDR memory running at 2592 MHz,
it has overtaken the Radeon HD 4870.
But all said and done our purchase
recommendations are still two AMD
products, although in the budget
segment. Over the last few months, the
price of the Radeon HD 2600 XT has
reduced by more than half. Thus, those
who are more interested in HD video
playback rather than graphics-intensive
games can buy one for Rs 4,500. To
conclude, there is more good news:
Market analysts at JPR are anticipating
growth in the GPU market as early
as midyear—meaning more choices
and better prices for consumers.
- anand.tuliani@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: HCG to 57007
 INDEX
Overview of desktop CPUs
This table reflects the overall desktop budget. While entry-level CPUs are
Price-performance index
CPU market. You can find the 50 ideal for home and office applications, CPU prices often increase
most important CPUs available in the high-end ones are suited for demanding with increase in performance
market spanning all application areas audio and video editing, 3D modeling, levels. The longer the green
and budgets. The buying decision for and powerful work stations. Grab one bar in this table, the better the
a processor depends on the area of of the top ten processors if you are a price-performance ratio of the
application, power requirements, and power user or a gamer. respective desktop processor.

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1 Intel Core i7 965 XE Bloomfield 1366 4 3.20 1 QPI6400 45 731 130 8897 123.8 206 11.1 100.0 30.1
2 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Yorkfield 775 4 3.20 12 FSB1600 45 820 130 10307 128.5 243 14.6 92.3 18.2
3 Intel Core i7 940 Bloomfield 1366 4 2.93 1 QPI4800 45 731 130 8362 122.2 231 13.1 90.8 40.2
4 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 775 4 3.00 12 FSB1333 45 820 130 9699 128.1 249 15.2 89.4 21.9
5 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 775 4 2.83 12 FSB1333 45 820 95 9167 123.8 269 15.1 86.0 70.9
6 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Kentsfield 775 4 3.00 8 FSB1333 65 582 130 9697 123.5 275 15.6 85.9 19.3
7 Intel Core i7 920 Bloomfield 1366 4 2.66 1 QPI4800 45 731 130 7614 116.2 248 14.5 83.9 61.3
8 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield 775 4 2.66 6 FSB1333 45 840 95 8562 121.9 258 16.1 83.7 80.2
9 Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 775 2 3.33 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 8538 124.0 199 22.7 83.7 65.4
10 AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE Deneb AM2+ 4 3.00 2 HT3600 45 758 125 9131 122.5 269 17.5 82.4 73.2
11 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Kentsfield 775 4 2.666 8 FSB1066 65 582 95 8450 120.0 303 17.9 77.8 70.9
12 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 775 4 2.500 6 FSB1333 45 820 95 8066 120.0 301 17.3 77.8 59.0
13 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 775 2 3.166 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 8120 128.9 248 23.7 77.7 74.3
NEW  14 AMD Phenom II X4 920 Deneb AM2+ 4 2.800 2 HT3600 45 758 120 8443 121.5 291 19.2 77.4 69.8
15 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 775 2 3.000 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 7674 127.3 260 25.1 74.6 73.5
16 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 775 4 2.400 8 FSB1066 65 582 95 7727 116.8 331 19.0 73.0 61.6
17 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 Yorkfield 775 4 2.333 4 FSB1333 45 820 95 7522 116.0 340 18.5 72.5 67.5
18 AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE Agena AM2+ 4 2.600 2 HT4000 65 463 140 7597 117.2 315 20.4 72.3 66.9
19 AMD Phenom X4 9850 BE Agena AM2+ 4 2.500 2 HT4000 65 463 125 7388 116.0 327 21.5 70.1 64.8
NEW  20 AMD Phenom II X4 810 Deneb AM3 4 2.600 2 HT4000 45 758 95 7554 113.5 327 21.5 70.0 57.3
21 Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Wolfdale 775 2 2.666 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 6849 124.1 290 28.2 68.5 60.5
NEW  22 AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE Deneb AM3 3 2.800 1 HT4000 45 758 95 7121 120.8 309 26.3 68.3 63.9
23 AMD Phenom X4 9750 Agena AM2+ 4 2.400 2 HT3600 65 463 95 7096 115.2 339 22.4 68.1 59.4
24 Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 775 2 2.666 3 FSB1066 45 410 65 6770 120.7 302 28.3 66.9 75.1
25 AMD Phenom X4 9650 Agena AM2+ 4 2.300 2 HT3600 65 463 95 6874 110.8 365 23.8 64.7 62.7
26 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ BE Windsor AM2 2 3.200 2 HT2000 90 227 125 6235 119.9 307 30.1 64.5 80.8
27 AMD Phenom X4 9550 Agena AM2+ 4 2.200 2 HT3600 65 463 95 6519 112.1 365 24.3 63.8 65.1
28 Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 775 2 2.533 3 FSB1066 45 410 65 6175 119.5 322 30.1 63.5 70.0
29 Intel Core 2 Duo E4700 Allendale 775 2 2.600 2 FSB800 65 167 65 6463 117.7 330 31.0 63.1 58.2
30 AMD Phenom X3 8750 Toliman AM2+ 3 2.400 1 HT3600 65 463 95 6452 113.3 342 28.3 62.8 62.1
31 AMD Athlon X2 7750 BE Kuma AM2+ 2 2.700 1 HT3600 65 463 95 6307 115.6 319 35.1 61.6 93.8
32 Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 775 2 2.500 2 FSB800 45 410 65 6248 113.7 341 30.6 61.5 100.0
33 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor AM2 2 3.000 2 HT2000 90 227 89 6146 115.2 333 33.3 61.0 80.4
34 AMD Phenom X3 8650 Toliman AM2+ 3 2.300 1 HT3600 65 463 95 6179 111.4 356 30.0 60.5 66.6
35 Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 775 2 2.400 2 FSB800 65 167 65 6041 114.1 357 33.7 59.4 52.6
36 AMD Phenom X4 9350e Agena AM2+ 4 2.000 2 HT3600 65 463 65 5911 106.7 401 26.7 58.9 36.2
37 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Windsor AM2 2 2.800 2 HT2000 90 227 89 5732 113.3 343 35.5 58.6 80.7
38 Intel Pentium E2220 Conroe-L 775 2 2.400 1 FSB800 65 167 65 6123 103.7 354 34.5 57.6 82.2
39 AMD Phenom X3 8450 Toliman AM2+ 3 2.100 1 HT3600 65 463 95 5639 108.3 385 32.3 56.8 61.3
40 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane AM2 2 2.600 1 HT2000 65 221 65 5480 105.2 374 37.9 54.7 82.1
41 Intel Pentium E2200 Conroe-L 775 2 2.200 1 FSB800 65 167 65 5589 105.6 387 37.6 54.6 70.0
42 AMD Athlon X2 5050e Brisbane AM2 2 2.600 1 HT2000 65 154 45 5298 107.7 377 40.1 54.1 73.3
43 AMD Athlon X2 4850e Brisbane AM2 2 2.500 1 HT2000 65 221 45 5121 103.2 385 39.6 52.7 73.4
44 AMD Athlon 64 X2 EE 4600+ Windsor AM2 2 2.400 1 HT2000 90 154 65 4932 100.9 404 41.0 50.9 88.22
88
45 AMD Athlon X2 4450e Brisbane AM2 2 2.300 1 HT2000 65 221 45 4723 99.1 423 42.8 49.2 59.7
46 Intel Celeron E1400 Conroe-L 775 2 2.000 512 FSB800 65 167 65 5094 92.2 440 43.4 48.2 67.4
47 AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 Orleans AM2 1 2.600 1 HT2000 65 81,1 45 3819 106.3 547 71.1 42.3 56.9
48 Intel Celeron E1200 Conroe-L 775 2 1.600 512 FSB800 65 167 65 4063 83.6 540 53.2 40.6 44.8
49 AMD Sempron 64 LE-1300 Sparta AM2 1 2.300 512 HT1600 65 81,1 45 3411 96.6 660 81.2 37.3 39.0
50 AMD Sempron 64 LE-1250 Sparta AM2 1 2.200 512 HT1600 65 81,1 45 3299 92.7 697 84.8 35.8 46.0
FOR COMPARISON: THE TOP PROCESSORS OF 2005 AND THEIR THEORETICAL RANKINGS
40 AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Toledo 939 2 2.600 2 HT2000 90 233 110 5810 107.2 387 38.0 55.3 46.3
46 Intel Pentium EE 955 Presler 775 2 3.467 4 FSB1066 65 376 130 5818 91.0 464 40.0 49.6 45.9

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 73

 HARDWARE CPU GPU GUIDE

INDEX
Overview of mobile CPUs
It is difficult to find mobile processors in tasks and are easy on the battery.
PPrice-performance
r index
the market.. You can use this table as a Mainstream laptops that can handle CPU prices often increase with
CP
buying guide for laptops with the CPUs most applications use processors from increases in performance levels.
pre-configured. the third section. A laptop for gaming or The longer the green bar in
You will find CPUs between the a replacement for your desktop PC will this table, the better the price-
ranks 31 and 50 in entry-level laptops. need a CPU from the top 10. These are performance ratio of the respective
These are ideal for basic office very powerful, but shorten battery life. mobile processor.

Ge Ge
Fo Fo
Cin Cin rce rce
Ma Av eb eb Go7 Go
x e P e e 3 3 D 4 3 76 3
Nu
mb Cl Sy po
we 6 ba ge r Mar
ra C n ch n ch DM Ch Ma 00/G DMa 00/G DMa Pe
s tte un k0 2 0 2 0 a r ip r
se 05 Fo rk05 eFo rk05
k e rfo
Co
re er ock
of sp L2 C
tem r lo ry tim 5 C 03 1 03 2
k0
5C t fo ( rce ( rce ( rm PRICE/PERFORMANCE
Co C co ss cel e PU x x P r g defa 84 def 86 def an
de P e
U c ed ac n ne (T ls ( wi (p C C U rap ul 00 aul 00 aul ce STANDARDIZED TO 100
na
me ores (GHz
he
(M cti DP
) ( m i th oin PU (f PU (f (po
in hic t) M G t) M G t) i nd
) B) on W) n) 2 ts) ps) ps) ts) s T T ex
Rank Processor

1 Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 Penryn 2 2.800 6 FSB800 44 123 6993 504 855 10812 1050 4200 6200 100.0 42.1
2 Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 Penryn 2 2.800 6 FSB1066 35 154 6564 481 873 10756 1600 4150 6150 97.7 55.5
3 Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 Merom 2 2.800 4 FSB800 44 123 7054 466 837 10213 1020 4100 6100 96.4 40.4
4 Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 Penryn 2 2.533 6 FSB1066 25 216 6514 467 854 10631 1550 4000 6000 96.0 79.8
5 Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 Penryn 2 2.600 6 FSB800 35 154 6867 472 840 9812 930 3900 5900 95.2 90.7
6 Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 Penryn 2 2.533 6 FSB1066 35 154 6435 454 834 10623 1500 4000 5950 94.4 83.0
7 Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 Penryn 2 2.500 6 FSB800 35 154 6455 451 827 9355 960 4000 6000 91.2 74.8
8 Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 Merom 2 2.600 4 FSB800 44 123 6487 424 768 9238 910 3800 5800 88.0 39.1
9 Intel Core 2 Duo T7800 Merom 2 2.600 4 FSB800 35 154 6455 423 767 9223 910 3800 5800 87.7 49.5
10 Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 Penryn 2 2.400 3 FSB1066 25 216 5793 423 755 10006 1400 3900 5900 86.8 98.3

11 Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 Penryn 2 2.266 3 FSB1066 25 216 5745 405 735 10360 1350 3900 5900 85.9 100.0
12 Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 Penryn 2 2.400 3 FSB800 35 154 5805 437 810 8533 960 4000 6000 85.6 79.2
13 Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 Merom 2 2.400 4 FSB800 35 154 5942 415 744 8136 890 3500 5500 82.3 55.0
14 Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Penryn 2 2.100 3 FSB800 35 154 5433 402 753 8261 960 4000 6000 80.4 78.1
15 Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 Merom 2 2.200 4 FSB800 35 154 5420 377 670 7464 870 3200 5200 74.8 55.0
16 Intel Core 2 Duo T7350 Penryn 2 2.000 3 FSB1066 35 154 5372 358 664 7203 850 3000 5000 72.9 55.6
17 Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 Merom 2 2.000 4 FSB800 35 154 5325 354 622 6992 850 3000 5000 70.8 44.8
18 AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-86 Griffin 2 2.400 2 HT1800 35 154 4300 342 609 8750 920 3200 5200 70.0 54.1
19 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 Merom 2 2.000 2 FSB800 35 154 5307 334 613 6600 700 — — 68.5 92.2
20 Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 Merom 2 2.333 4 FSB667 34 159 5382 373 676 5203 550 2300 4100 68.2 17.9

21 AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 Griffin 2 2.200 2 HT1800 35 154 4200 322 581 8500 900 3000 5000 67.3 64.1
22 Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 Merom 2 2.000 2 FSB800 35 154 5070 328 603 6366 830 2800 4800 66.5 46.4
23 AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 Griffin 2 2.100 2 HT1800 32 169 4100 303 570 8171 880 2800 4800 64.9 71.9
24 Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 Merom 2 1.800 2 FSB800 35 154 4673 315 558 6420 830 2800 4800 63.4 67.0
25 Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 Merom 2 2.166 4 FSB667 34 159 5231 332 605 4833 540 2200 4000 62.8 26.1
26 Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Merom 2 2.000 4 FSB667 34 159 4755 309 566 4621 530 2100 3900 58.6 42.3
27 Intel Core 2 Duo T5670 Merom 2 1.800 2 FSB800 35 154 4533 315 555 4512 520 — — 57.6 35.5
28 Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 Merom 2 1.833 2 FSB667 34 159 4337 287 521 4305 520 — — 54.1 22.7
29 Intel Core 2 Duo T3200 Merom 2 2.000 2 FSB800 35 154 3815 294 462 5350 510 — — 54.0 33.1
30 Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 Merom 2 1.666 2 FSB667 34 159 4274 274 501 4125 510 — — 52.2 21.4

31 Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 (LV) Merom 2 1.600 4 FSB667 17 318 3682 261 431 5352 780 — — 51.1 13.0
32 Intel Core 2 Duo L7300 (LV) Merom 2 1.400 4 FSB800 17 318 3581 247 418 5189 770 — — 49.3 13.5
33 AMD Athlon X2 RM-72 Griffin 2 2.100 1 HT1800 31 174 2008 302 556 5002 500 — — 47.7 22.8
34 Intel Core Duo L2400 (LV) Yonah 2 1.666 2 FSB667 15 360 3708 246 450 4085 410 — — 47.6 13.6
35 AMD Athlon X2 RM-70 Griffin 2 2.000 1 HT1800 31 174 1918 292 527 4822 480 — — 45.7 25.1
36 Intel Core Duo L2300 (LV) Yonah 2 1.500 2 FSB667 15 360 3551 231 422 3789 400 — — 44.8 12.9
37 Intel Celeron M 560 Merom 1 2.133 1 FSB533 30 180 3525 342 342 2825 420 — — 43.5 34.6
38 Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 (ULV) Penryn 2 1.200 3 FSB800 10 540 3322 229 399 3566 395 — — 42.7 8.2
39 Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 (ULV) Merom 2 1.333 4 FSB533 10 540 3309 223 409 3512 395 — — 42.5 6.9
40 AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Griffin 2 2.000 1 HT1800 35 154 1600 240 531 4912 450 — — 41.9 38.7

41 Intel Celeron M 550 Merom 1 2.000 1 FSB533 30 180 3411 315 315 2712 420 — — 41.0 25.6
42 AMD Athlon X2 QL-60 Griffin 2 1.900 1 HT1800 35 154 1550 230 511 4802 430 — — 40.5 29.9
43 Intel Core 2 Duo SL7500 Merom 2 1.600 2 FSB667 17 318 3309 232 393 2715 876 — — 39.8 5.0
44 Intel Celeron M 540 Merom 1 1.866 1 FSB533 30 180 3308 300 300 2634 420 — — 39.4 25.7
45 Intel Celeron M 530 Merom 1 1.733 1 FSB533 30 180 3166 274 274 2599 420 — — 37.1 17.9
46 Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100 Merom 2 1.200 2 FSB667 17 318 3049 216 373 2486 704 — — 37.0 4.6
NEW  47 AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 Lima 1 1.600 512 HT1800 15 360 2150 231 231 4951 386 — — 36.3 18.9
48 Intel Atom N270 Diamondville 1 1.600 512 FSB533 2,5 1.080 1491 90 135 1071 174 — — 15.6 3.0
49 Intel A110 Dothan 1 800 512 FSB400 3 900 1264 106 106 1361 200 — — 15.6 2.4
50 Intel Atom Z520 Silverthorne 1 1.333 512 FSB533 2 1.350 1018 69 102 693 150 — — 11.1 1.4
FOR COMPARISON: THE TOP MOBILE PROCESSORS OF 2005 AND THEIR THEORETICAL RANKINGS
45 AMD Turion ML-37 Lancaster 1 2.000 1 HT1600 35 160 2628 291 291 3008 480 1300 2450 37.9 34.4
46 Intel Pentium M 750 Dothan 1 1.866 2 FSB533 27 211 2787 263 263 3323 220 1240 2340 37.4 33.0
1
Mobile CPUs are usually available only with a laptop 2
Estimated runtime with integrated graphics, discrete graphics chips reduce the runtime by up to 40 percent.

74 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 INDEX
Overview of graphics chips
Though graphics cards are mainly high budget and you still want power,
PPrice-performance
ri index
intended to accelerate graphics in the Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT is the The green bar reveals at a glance
games, they also play an important role sweetest spot. If you are interested which graphics card delivers
in decoding video. Entry level graphics in pure 3D power, you should opt for the best 3D performance. The
cards such as the Nvidia GeForce 8400 nothing less than the GeForce 8800 GT longer the bar, the better the
GS or ATI Radeon HD 3450 are good priced at around Rs 13,000 which is the price-performance ratio, i.e. more
enough for this. If you don’t have a very starting point in the high-end section. performance at the same price.

En
Ma em
xim yT
Me Pr u err Co
od m ito
S ha Me ry
m o u c T r
po
w ry Wor mpa Pe
Me Clo de Un t i a n e :Q ld ny rfo
(M m ck ( n m co on s i r l u a in o rm PRICE/PERFORMANCE
rs o n ifie sto os
B) or
an y s
sp
ee pe omin ry s nec d
pr
oc rs s( Cry ke W Conf f Her an
d t ize d( e d( p
al) e ion
e
t S ha ess (m TDP s i s ars lic oe ce STANDARDIZED TO 100
yp MH MH (M d
Hz (Bi de
rs
(nm illi
on ) (W (fp (fp t (fp s (fp i nd
ex
Rank Processor e z) z) ) t) ) ) ) s) s) s) s)

NEW  1 nVidia GeForce GTX 295 2 x 896/GDDR3 576 1242 1998 2 x 448 240 55 2800 289 86 88 88 56 100.0 37.4
NEW  2 ATi Radeon HD 4870 X2 2 x 1024/GDDR5 800 — 4000 2 x 256 800 55 1912 314 71 116 86 56 96.7 28.1
3 ATi Radeon HD 4870 X2 2 x 1024/GDDR5 750 — 3600 2 x 256 800 55 1912 314 66 97 84 57 90.7 35.3
NEW  4 nVidia GeForce GTX 285 1024/GDDR3 702 1512 2592 512 240 55 1400 183 62 76 91 54 86.0 40.4
5 nVidia GeForce GTX 280 1024/GDDR3 700 1400 2300 512 240 65 1400 236 50 96 92 55 83.9 39.4
6 nVidia GeForce GTX 280 1024/GDDR3 602 1296 2214 512 240 65 1400 236 53 92 91 50 82.7 42.1
7 nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2 2 x 512/GDDR3 670 1675 2130 2 x 256 256 65 1508 250 48 88 91 56 81.6 31.1
8 nVidia GeForce GTX 260 896/GDDR3 655 1404 2250 448 216 65 1400 182 52 64 86 49 75.8 53.4
9 ATi Radeon HD 4870 512/GDDR5 800 — 4400 256 800 55 965 157 50 79 78 50 75.7 63.0
10 nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2 2 x 512/GDDR3 600 1500 2000 2 x 256 256 65 1508 250 38 87 92 53 75.5 32.9
11 nVidia GeForce GTX 260 896/GDDR3 575 1242 1998 448 216 65 1400 182 46 57 84 45 69.7 55.5
12 ATi Radeon HD 4870 512/GDDR5 750 — 3600 256 800 55 965 157 37 76 82 47 68.6 57.1
13 ATi Radeon HD 4850 512/GDDR3 675 — 2300 256 800 55 956 114 38 67 78 44 65.3 70.4
14 ATi Radeon HD 3870 X2 2 x 512/GDDR3 825 — 1800 2 x 256 640 55 1332 200 28 69 85 52 65.1 42.6
15 nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512/GDDR3 756 1889 2300 256 128 55 754 141 35 65 83 35 61.9 66.8
16 ATi Radeon HD 4850 1.024/GDDR3 625 — 1986 256 800 55 956 114 34 62 73 43 61.0 58.8
17 ATi Radeon HD 4850 512/GDDR3 625 — 1986 256 800 55 956 114 33 62 74 41 60.0 64.7
18 nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512/GDDR3 738 1836 2200 256 128 55 754 141 32 60 81 33 58.3 59.3
19 nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512/GDDR3 755 1840 2350 256 128 65 754 156 32 41 82 33 55.3 59.6
20 nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512/GDDR3 675 1688 2200 256 128 65 754 156 27 56 78 34 54.5 55.5
21 nVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512/GDDR3 700 1700 2000 256 112 65 754 110 30 57 74 31 54.3 76.6
22 ATi Radeon HD 4830 512/GDDR3 575 — 1800 256 640 55 956 80 31 52 67 37 54.2 99.3
23 nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512/GDDR3 720 1782 2000 256 112 65 754 110 27 56 76 33 53.6 31.7
24 nVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512/GDDR3 600 1500 1800 256 112 65 754 110 27 37 69 28 47.1 61.7
25 ATi Radeon HD 3870 1.024/GDDR4 775 — 2250 256 320 55 666 106 21 40 67 27 43.7 80.1
26 ATi Radeon HD 3870 512/GDDR3 775 — 1800 256 320 55 666 106 20 39 65 28 42.7 82.4
27 nVidia GeForce 9600 GT 512/GDDR3 650 1625 1800 256 64 65 505 95 21 44 58 26 41.8 51.0
28 ATi Radeon HD 3850 512/GDDR3 730 — 1900 256 320 55 666 100 18 33 65 25 39.8 60.7
29 nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320/GDDR3 575 1350 1700 320 96 90 681 143 17 46 59 22 39.1 44.8
30 ATi Radeon HD 3850 512/GDDR3 669 — 1658 256 320 55 666 100 18 34 60 23 38.1 77.5
31 ATi Radeon HD 4670 512/GDDR3 780 — 2000 128 320 55 514 59 20 32 51 23 36.3 73.9
32 ATi Radeon HD 4670 512/GDDR3 750 — 2000 128 320 55 514 59 20 32 51 22 36.1 88.2
33 ATi Radeon HD 3850 256/GDDR3 690 — 1680 256 320 55 666 100 17 35 60 17 35.5 100.0
34 ATi Radeon HD 4650 512/DDR2 600 — 1000 128 320 55 514 48 11 17 30 16 21.5 60.5
35 ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT 512/GDDR3 830 — 1860 128 120 65 390 60 10 13 23 9 16.1 39.4
36 nVidia GeForce 9500 GT 512/GDDR3 550 1375 1600 128 32 65 314 50 8 9 27 10 16.0 41.9
37 nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256/GDDR3 745 1620 2290 128 32 80 289 71 8 15 29 4 15.5 47.3
38 ATi Radeon HD 3650 256/GDDR3 800 — 1800 128 120 55 378 75 6 14 22 8 13.7 35.7
39 ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT 256/GDDR3 800 — 1400 128 120 65 390 60 8 8 20 8 13.1 96.0
40 ATi Radeon HD 4550 512/GDDR3 600 — 1800 64 80 55 242 25 7 11 19 8 13.1 43.5
41 nVidia GeForce 9400 GT 512/DDR2 550 1350 800 128 16 55 314 50 4 9 13 5 8.7 32.0
42 nVidia GeForce 8500 GT 256/DDR3 450 900 400 128 16 55 754 230 4 9 11 5 8.0 41.7
43 nVidia GeForce 7300 GT 256/DDR2 400 800 375 128 4 55 754 230 3 3 10 5 6.1 28.0
44 ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT 256/DDR3 700 — 750 64 40 55 754 230 2 3 8 4 4.9 30.0
45 ATi Radeon HD 3450 256/DDR2 600 — 800 64 40 55 181 50 3 3 6 2 4.2 22.0
46 ATi Radeon X1550 256/DDR2 550 — 400 128 2 90 105 33 1 2 6 1 2.7 24.9
47 ATi Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256/DDR2 525 — 400 64 40 65 180 33 1 1 6 1 2.5 15.1
48 ATi Radeon X1300 Pro 256/DDR2 600 — 400 128 2 90 105 30 1 1 5 1 2.2 13.2
49 nVidia GeForce 8400 GS 256/DDR2 450 900 800 64 16 65 210 50 0 4 6 0 2.2 11.6
50 nVidia GeForce 7300 GS 256/DDR2 550 550 270 64 3 90 112 40 1 1 4 0 1.7 9.1
FOR COMPARISON: THE TOP GRAPHICS CARDS OF 2005 AND THEIR THEORETICAL RANKINGS
46 ATi X1900 XT 256/DDR3 625 — 725 256 8 90 384 109 2 3 6 2 3.7 22.8
47 nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 256/DDR3 600 — 900 256 8 110 302 81 2 3 6 1 3.4 12.4

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 75

 HARDWARE PC CONFIGS

PC Configs
COMPILED BY ANAND TULIANI

GAMING (ENTRY LEVEL)

Processor Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200, 2.50 GHz 3,500

Rs
Motherboard Asus P5K-PL AM/PS, Intel G31 2,700

31,200
RAM 2x 1 GB Zion DDR2-800 MHz 1,800

Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Blue - 320 GB SATA 2,350

Graphics card Palit 9600 GT - 512 MB 5,700

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor Dell 1909W - 19-inch TFT 7,300

Keyboard Microsoft Desktop 500 850

Mouse Included in Combo -

Speakers Umax PowerBeatsUPB 3200 1,300

Sound card Onboard high-definition audio -

PC Case Cooler Master Elite 340 2,000

Power supply unit Cooler Master Extreme Power 460W 2,500

TOTAL 31,200

GAMING (MID-RANGE)
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E7300, 2.53 GHz 5,700
Rs
54,500
Motherboard Gigabyte EP43-DS3L, Intel P43 5,500

RAM 2x 2 GB Kingston DDR2-800 MHz 2,500

Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - 500 GB SATA 3,050

Graphics card Zotac GeForce GTS 250 - 512 MB 10,000

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor ViewSonic VX2245wm 11,800

Keyboard Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 950

Mouse Logitech MX518 1,400

Speakers Altec Lansing MX5021E 6,700

Sound card Onboard high-definition audio -

PC Case Thermaltake Matrix VD2000BNS 2,800

Power supply unit Cooler Master Extreme Power 500 W 2,900

TOTAL 54,500

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

76 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCF to 57007
 GAMING (HIGH-END)
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo Q9400, 2.66 GHz 12,800

Motherboard Asus Striker II Formula, nForce 780i SLI 19,000

Rs
RAM G.Skill F2-6400CL4D - 4 GB DDR2-800 4,500

1,42,500
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - 1 TB SATA 5,600

Graphics card Zotac GeForce GTX 295 - 1792 MB 32,000

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor Dell E248WFP - 24-inch TFT 22,000

Keyboard Microsoft Sidewinder X6 4,200

Mouse Logitech G9 Laser 5,400

Speakers Razer Mako - 2.1 23,000

Sound card Bundled Creative X-Fi soundcard -

PC Case Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS 4,500

Power supply unit Tagan BZ800 8,300

TOTAL 142,500

WORKSTATION
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo Q9400, 2.66 GHz 12,800
Rs
1,55,000
Motherboard Zotac nForce 780i Supreme, nForce 780i SLI 14,500

RAM G.Skill F2-6400CL4D - 4 GB DDR2-800 4,500

Hard disk 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - 1 TB in RAID 0 11,200

Graphics card Leadtek Quadro FX 560 - 128 MB 11,500

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor Dell 2408WFP UltraSharp - 24-inch TFT 37,000

Keyboard Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 950

Mouse Logitech MX518 1,400

Speakers Razer Mako - 2.1 23,000

Sound card Creative X-Fi Elite Pro 25,500

PC Case Cooler Master Centurion 590 3,800

Power supply unit Tagan BZ 700 7,650

Input Device (optional) Wacom Graphire 4 Tablet 6x8 (optional) 9,000

TOTAL 1,55,000

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 77

 HARDWARE PC CONFIGS

HOME BASIC
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+, 2.6 GHz 3,300

Motherboard Asus M2N MX-SE+, GeForce 6150 2,500 Rs

RAM

Hard disk
2x 1 GB Zion DDR2-800 MHz

Western Digital Caviar Blue - 320 GB

1,800

2,350
22,000
SATA

Graphics card Onboard graphics -

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor Dell 1909W - 19-inch TFT 7,300

Keyboard and
Microsoft Desktop 500 850
mouse combo

Speakers Umax PowerBeatsUPB 3200 1,300

Sound card Onboard high-definition audio -

PC Case iBall EngineX with 400 watts power supply 1,400

Power supply unit Included with the PC Case -

TOTAL 22,000

HOME THEATRE PC
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750+ BE, 2.90 GHz 3,900

Motherboard Asus M3N78-EM, GeForce 8300 4,400

Rs RAM 2x 2 GB Kingston DDR2-800 MHz 2,500

84,000
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - 1 TB SATA 5,600

Graphics card Zotac GeForce 9400 GT Zone, 512 MB 2,800

Optical drive LG GSA-H55N 1,200

Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE -

Monitor Dell E248WFP - 24-inch TFT 22,000

Keyboard and mouse

Logitech Cordless Desktop EX100 1,600
combo

Speakers Logitech Z-5500 Digital 21,000

Sound card Onboard high-definition audio -

PC Case Glacialtech Altair A381 12,100

Power supply unit Cooler Master Extreme Power 460W 2,500

TV tuner card Leadtek WinFast PVR3000 Deluxe 4,400

TOTAL 84,000

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

78 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009
 HARDWARE INFOGRAPHIC

Likes to be touched
Here’s what we call innovative technology. It’s a multi-touch screen that allows multiple users
to work on it simultaneously.
BY DUSHYANT KHILNANI

I
n the field of technology, one of
the clichéd topics of discussion is
how quickly everything advances.
Whileit never ceases to amaze us, the
fact is further made clear by Microsoft’s
Surface computing concept. Here, we
talk about how the technology works
and about its implementation in real-
world scenarios.
Surface computing largely involves
an amalgamation of the multi-touch
and the near Infrared (IR) technology.
The former being its key feature, it
makes the product far more utilitarian
than what other technologies can
do. There are various touch-based
technologies, for instance some are
heat or pressure sensitive and some
use even more advanced technologies,
even touch pads and touch screens have
been around for a fairly long time. But
Surface computing, with its abilities,
gets shoehorned into a different league
altogether. It’s a fine example of the
use of near IR light in combination with
high capture rate cameras. Used in
the Microsoft’s Surface Coffee Table
(www.surface.com), it recognizes and
interfaces with a human touch as well
as inanimate objects. Not via cables,
external input devices or USB ports, but
by simply placing an object on the multi-
touch surface.

A Cameras
Underneath the surface and inside the cabinet, the vision system is based
on near infrared light (almost invisible to humans) originating from the
base of the computer towards the inner surface of the screen. So when A
this light is reflected by an object placed on top, the light is captured by
multiple IR cameras inside the computer. When there’s a single-point
touch, that point is recognized and the images are transferred up to the
diffuser by a projector in the system. The vision system then senses
changes in the infrared light on the surface of the diffuser.

MULTI-TOUCH ON SURFACE COMPUTING

As opposed to standard touch interfaces such as the ones used in cell phones and other touch
screen devices, multi-touch devices allow using multiple and simultaneous contact points to
interface with the hardware. For instance, Apple’s iPhone and the iPod Touch allow pinching
using two finger tips simultaneously. But on Surface, multiple users can work simultaneously.

80 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HSC to 57007
Application
In an interview, Marc Bolger, Director of
Marketing—Surface Computing spoke
about interfacing with the device.
When buying a cell phone, instead
of reading a brochure, you can compare
specifications and choose value-added
services by simply placing the tagged
instrument on the surface and by doing
some dragging and dropping. While
there is no need for a mouse and a
keyboard to operate it, hotels, retailers,
restaurants and resorts can make good
use of it. For instance, in restaurants,
browse through the menus and drag
items to your cart and order. You can
even read into the history and details
of the food or drink you just ordered.
You can also split the bill by placing
C Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules.
D
D Projector
The projector used inside is a DLP
(Digital Light Processing) rear-
projection projector.
multiple credit cards and drag specific
items to respective cards. Finally, the
feature that we found most striking
INANIMATE OBJECTS
is transferring images from a Wi-Fi Before being placed on the Surface for
enabled digital camera to the Surface interfacing, objects are labeled. These pre-
computer by keeping it on top. Yes, the programmed labels are specifically
patterned and they resemble dominoes or
moment you keep the camera on the
bar code patterns. They are fixed below
surface, the pictures just pop out on the
objects and face down when an object is
screen as if physically oozing out. placed on the Surface. The cameras inside
This is just the tip of the iceberg, the Surface then recognize the object by its
there are a plethora of application shape or by reading into its tag. The surface
areas one can think of. So it seems that also brings up specific information or an
Microsoft’s endeavor of putting together image which is pre-mapped to the specific
tag (pattern).
a computer that’s more approachable,
convenient and collaborative has been
fulfilled, and that, Surface just might
be the next household name after the
Windows operating system and we
wouldn't have it any other way.
B
B Surface of the table
The tabletop’s acrylic surface is
actually a multi-touch screen owing
to the diffuser it houses underneath
it. This surface not only allows
multi-touch interfacing but it allows
multiple users—up to four or five—to
use the screen simultaneously.
C Processing
While the operating system used is Microsoft
Windows Vista, with the exception of a few
modifications, the core hardware components
are fairly similar to mainstream desktop PCs. For
instance, there is an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2
GB RAM and a discrete graphics card. Since wireless
communication with objects is vital, there are built-in
SECOND LIGHT
We have recently learnt that the second generation of Microsoft’s
Surface Computing is under development and is two to three years
away. This one—dubbed second light—will use the same technology but
an additional projector inside the unit will project secondary images
onto a layer above the surface of the screen. This means that the
former will be an overlay on the existing on-screen images. Other
highlights include the potential use of high definition cameras, and to
top everything off, the machine will have IR sensors which will allow
interactivity even without having to touch the screen.
– dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 81
 APPLICATIONS TESTED
Software Tested
Our monthly selection of the finest new software releases.
BY TEAM CHIP
T
his time around most of the
action in this month's testing
is focused on audio, video, and
image editing programs. One of the
coolest programs we checked out was
Mediachance Dynamic Photo HDR.
Using HDR (High Dynamic Range) image
processing, it blends the exposures
of multiple shots of the same scene
to create a single image. Unlike some
other painfully complex image editing
software, this one has a very simple user
interface. It’s a magical application that
will blow them away—really.
Another interesting and feature-rich
application we tested was Quick Media
Converter. It’s versatile, completely free
and an excellent tool for converting
various media formats. Be it audio or
video, it's quite common to take your
media on the go these days, and if
you have files that need to be made
compatible with your personal media
player or cell phone, this is a tool which
will catch your attention.
There was a very interesting add-on
for media players too. It’s called
EvilLyrics, and is a minuscule free
82 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
application which taps the ID3 tag of
any music file which is playing and
sends it out to its servers in search
of the lyrics of that particular song.
Once it finds a match, it pulls down the
information to display the lyrics. It also
stores this information for future offline
use and so that you can learn the lyrics
while you’re listening to your favorite
karaoke hits.
Apart from audio and video,
KompoZer Portable 0.7.10 is an excellent
Web editor. It’s free to download, it’s
light and portable, and it suffices for
creating basic static websites. So there’s
no need to pay ridiculous amounts of
money to create a good looking basic
website, just unpack this utility onto
your flash drive and carry it around. To
top that off, if you’re the techie amongst
your friends, make quick web pages to
impress them in no time.
It’s a good idea to always have the
hardware drivers handy when formatting
your computer. But how easy is it to
find each driver disc in your enormous
collection? Here, Driver Magician can
work its magic even if you’ve lost the
driver discs you carefully hoarded. This
application backs up drivers and you
can save them on another partition or a
portable drive. Once you’re done simple
install them back again, voila!
This is just the tip of the iceberg,
there’s a lot more for you to explore.
Other exciting applications that we
tested include Webcam XP Pro 5,
UltraISO Premium 9.3.3 and iWork '09.
RATINGS EXPLAINED
The parameters used for evaluating
software are assigned a graphical rating out
of a scale of 5. These measures include
performance, features and ease of use. The
overall rating shown in the reviews is based
on all these factors.
In addition, there is a value for money
rating for each application. This rating is
obtained by compiling the features and the
utility of the application against its price. In
case of freeware and shareware tools
available for downloading from the Internet,
we replace the price with the download size
(and therefore, the time taken to download
the application) for arriving at the value for
money rating.
SMS us!  Story code: HST to 57007
WEB DESIGNING TOOL
KompoZer
Portable 0.7.10
VERDICT: We recommend this application to people who want the basics
done quickly, seamlessly and for free.
FOR: Easy to use, built-in basic CSS editor and publisher.
AGAINST: None.
T
oday, creating and maintaining a
website or specifically a blog is
common and using free templates
for these purposes is a common
phenomenon. However, KompoZer
helps you make websites from scratch
in no time even if you have little or no
knowledge of website development.
Features
There’s a plethora of web designing
applications that offer endless features
to work with. Some offer advanced
features and some are simple. Some let
you edit the code, so HTML gurus don't
need to depend on a graphical interface.
However, most advanced webpage
editors aren't free and very few good
ones are for free. A fine example of
the latter is the Portable KompoZer.
Although scantily featured, it is free (on
CHIP DVD), easy to use, very small and
suffices for making a decent looking
basic website. While it doesn’t require
installation you can it carry it around
in a flash drive, load it in a computer,
do your work and leave without having
Enter the URL of any website you want to create a
quick link to.
to uninstall the program from a PC. On
execution, you’ll notice how intuitive and
user-friendly the interface is. While the
left hand side frame helps manage the
site, the right hand side frame displays
your ongoing work. There are four
options to view the latter, Normal, HTML
tags, Source and Preview.
The layout of the program slightly
resembles that of the Internet Explorer
browser and a word processor
collectively. The big buttons and menus
let you add images, forms, tables and
format elements. Web pages can be
saved in both standards, the HTML
and the XHTML. The two most striking
built-in features are the CSS (Cascading
Style Sheet) editor and the publisher.
While the former will give a good head
start to novice website developers, the
latter will allow uploading a completed
website from within the program.
For developing static websites, it's
an excellent option, but for sites that
need regular content updates, you’ll
need more than just the KompoZer.
For instance, options such as a CMS
Resize images in an image editor before placing
them in your web pages.
(Content
Content Management System) on your
hosting
osting server or online services such
as WordPress or Blogger are ideal for
advanced to ultra-complex websites.
Performance
To see the actual efficiency of the
Portable KompoZer, we asked a novice
computer user to try and replicate the
www.chip.in front page. He was not
able to create a clone because some
technical features on our site cannot
be created or replicated with this
application alone. Nonetheless, with
the least knowledge of web designing
he was able to make—from scratch—an
almost identical page in a matter of two
hours. With the features and options
available in the Potable KompoZer, you
can easily make your own basic website
quickly and for free. Here’s a tip, working
on a single page and using it as a
template to create the rest of the pages
saves time, and with a few tweaks you
can even get the exact desired output.
INFO
WEB DESIGNING TOOL
KompoZer Portable 0.7.10
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows (All); Disk space: 10 MB; RAM: 64 MB
PRICE Free
CONTACT NA
WEBSITE www.kompozer.net
RATINGS
EASE OF USE
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 83
 APPLICATIONS TESTED

HDR IMAGING SOFTWARE

Mediachance Dynamic
Photo HDR
VERDICT: The best HDR imaging software we have come across so far.
Try it once and you’ll get hooked on to it.
FOR: Pseudo HDR mode, loads of tone mapping options.
AGAINST: None.

S
hoot a scene with a digital
camera and the result will not
be as lifelike as the human eye
sees it. This is because the eye is far
more sensitive to light and colors than
the image sensor in digital cameras.
For example, it’s difficult for a camera
to capture scenes with a strong light
source in the background. A technique
called High Dynamic Range Imaging
helps overcoming this weakness by
blending the exposures of multiple
photos of the same scene in a single
image. Dynamic Photo HDR is a
workflow suite that offers a complete
set of tools right from merging the
exposures of multiple images to post-
processing the output.
Features
Dynamic Photo HDR has a simple user
interface with two panels on either
side of the workspace. The process
of creating an HDR image starts with
loading a single image or images of the
same scene with different exposures.
The option to create an HDR image from
a single file using the pseudo HDR mode
is a good option if your camera doesn’t
have the manual mode. After adding the
images, the HDR preview of the image
is shown in the same dialog box. You
can also preview the HDR results of all
the images in a folder by using the JPG
quick browser. The browser displays the
thumbnails of the HDR preview and has
an option to switch to the original image.
After selecting an image or images taken
with different exposures you can create
an HDR image right away at the click of
a button. As you keep progressing, the
Quick Help panel displays the help topics
related to the section in which you’re
working. Detailed help is also available in
the PDF file that can be accessed from
the Help menu.
The quality of result depends on the
tone-mapping algorithm that the HDR
imaging
magin
gingg software
softwar
soft e uses.
ware uses. You
uses You can either
ei
eith
ther
choose
h tto save th
the HDR fil
file and
d th
then
tone-map it in some other application
such as Adobe Photoshop or use the
application’s built-in tone mapping
tool. The Tone Mapping dialog box has
six tone mapping presets along with
sliders for adjusting the brightness,
color saturation, details, lighting and
color temperature. In addition to these
settings, there are other filters to add
effects such as black and white, sepia,
vignette and water color to the final
output. As you change the value of
the parameters, the preview box in the
center displays the result in real time.
After getting the result, you can
choose to export the final image in
the application’s built-in photo editing
utility called Photo-Bee. This utility has
a pretty large set of tools and filters to
crop, resize, and further enhance the
image. There are more than 50 filters
similar to those present in Photoshop.

INFO
HDR IMAGING SOFTWARE
Mediachance Dynamic Photo HDR
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows 98 / XP / 2000 / Vista; RAM: 256 MB; Disk space:
22 MB

PRICE Rs 2,750 approx.

CONTACT MediaChance
WEBSITE www.mediachance.com

RATINGS
EASE OF USE
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
The right thumbnail is an HDR preview of three exposures of the same scene—under-exposed, correctly
exposed and over-exposed. VALUE FOR MONEY

84 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

FILE AND FOLDER COMPARISON
Beyond Compare
VERDICT: An application that is loaded with features and does more
than just compare.
FOR: Three-way merge, folder synchronization, powerful comparison tools..
AGAINST: None.
A s the name suggests this little
utility does more than just compare
files or folders but also has the ability
to locate differences in source codes,
folders, data and even images. It can
also trace dissimilarities within zip
archives or files either on your drive or
on FTP sites. There are a total of nine
different sessions with comparisons
taking up seven, as well as synchronize
and merge options taking one each.
The application saves automatically for
each open session while you also have
the choice of saving sessions manually.
Every task can be further edited to
suit your needs. To simplify matters,
the difference found in assessment is
highlighted by color combinations where
DRIVER BACKUP
Driver Magician
VERDICT: An amazing tool that will save you a lot of time from
reinstalling device drivers.
FOR: Ease of use, one click backup/restore.
AGAINST: None.
R einstalling system drivers can be a
real pain especially after a system
crash that forces you to reformat. Driver
Magician allows you back up all your
system drivers with just a few clicks.
The user interface is pretty
straightforward—basically a list of
drivers that are currently installed.
Here you can choose to back up all or
manually select a few. The search option
allows you to list all drivers or just non-
Microsoft ones.
You have the option of backing up
the drivers to a folder, a compressed
file, or a self-extracting archive. The
first three options will need you to have
Driver Magician installed, but there is a
fourth option that creates an auto-setup
black specifies an exact match, red
d
denotes a newer file or a mismatch, gray
indicates an older file and blue displays a
missing file on the opposite side. Folder
INFO
Sync on the other hand allows you to FILE AND FOLDER COMPARISON
synchronize files and folders by either Beyond Compare
mirroring or updating contents. This SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
helps in comparing files or folders that OS: Windows 98 or higher; RAM: 32 MB; Disk space: 15 MB
are backed up on a separate drive. PRICE US$30 (approx Rs 1,500)
Furthermore, filters can also be added CONTACT Scooter Software
to control the scope of comparison WEBSITE www.scootersoftware.com
when using folder compare or the
folder sync option. The application can
RATINGS
EASE OF USE
also do a CRC, binary as well as a rule
FEATURES
based comparison. Great for organizing
PERFORMANCE
and maintaining your files in an orderly
OVERALL RATING
fashion, Beyond Compare can be very VALUE FOR MONEY
useful for any power user.
EXE package that allows you to restore
t
the drivers without actually having the
application installed. You can also set
the compression level either to high,
INFO
medium, low, or none. The restore DRIVER BACKUP
operation will vary depending on the way Driver Magician
the user chooses to back up the selected
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
set of drivers. OS: Windows 98 and above; RAM: 64 MB; Drive space: 5 MB
Driver Magician comes preloaded with
PRICE US$29.95 (approx Rs 1,498)
a database of the latest drivers and can
CONTACT Goldsolution Software
also search for and download newer
WEBSITE www.drivermagician.com
drivers from its online database though
these options are only available in the RATINGS
paid version. The free version only allows EASE OF USE
FEATURES
you to restore display and LAN drivers.
PERFORMANCE
Ease of use and the ability to back up all
OVERALL RATING
drivers are what make it a must-have for
VALUE FOR MONEY
those who regularly format their drives.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 85
 APPLICATIONS TESTED
MEDIA CONVERSION UTILITY
Quick Media Converter
VERDICT: Incredibly versatile, totally free.
FOR: A superb tool for quick file format conversions and editing jobs.
AGAINST: Awkward and non-intuitive user interface.
I f you’ve ever needed to zap an audio
or video file onto a portable device
but discovered that it needs to be in
a different format or use a different
codec, Cocoon Software’s Quick Media
Converter might be just the right tool for
you. The download isn’t light, at 22 MB,
but the functionality you get in a free
program more than makes up for it.
After installing QMC and choosing
the language you need (everything is in
French by default), you’ll see a rather
ugly interface before you. None of the
buttons or menus follow any standards
of design or usability, but you can figure
out what does what, you’ll be on your
way pretty quickly. You start out in
Easy mode, which presents you with a
CD / DVD IMAGE TOOL
UltraISO Premium 9.3.3
VERDICT: A must-have for creating and converting CD/DVD images.
FOR: Supports almost all CD/DVD image formats, converts
images between formats.
AGAINST: Can save a new image only in six formats.
B acking up a CD or DVD should be
as simple as simply copying its
contents to a hard drive or an external
storage device. But this method fails
when it comes to bootable discs or
those written in mixed mode (audio and
data). The best way to back up optical
discs is to turn them into image files,
which retain all the properties of the
disc including audio tracks and boot
sector. An image file, when burnt to an
empty disc, creates an exact copy of the
original. Image files can also be mounted
as virtual drives, and then accessed as if
they were actual CDs or DVDs.
UltraISO Premium is a suite for
creating and editing CD/DVD images,
and converting images between various
86 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
row of buttons for each major audio/
io/
/
video format including presets for game
consoles, portable devices, and Flash
formats for the Web. Just drag and drop
INFO
files into the queue, select an output MEDIA CONVERSION UTILITY
folder and hit the ‘Start Conversion’ Quick Media Converter
button. Expert mode offers more SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
granular control; you can choose your OS: Windows 98 and above; CPU: Pentium II; RAM: 256 MB; HDD:
codec and container formats, custom 25 MB free space
output resolution, add subtitles, add PRICE Free
metadata, and use two-pass encoding. CONTACT Cocoon Software
Impressively, Quick Media Converter WEBSITE www.cocoonsoftware.com
can also capture video from a webcam
RATINGS
or DV camera, which could come in EASE OF USE
very handy. Last but not least, its FEATURES
website has an active forum where PERFORMANCE
users post video tutorials and share OVERALL RATING
troubleshooting tips with each other.
formats. The package also includes
d
a utility for creating virtual drives for
mounting images. UltraISO features a
simple Windows Explorer-like interface
INFO
and can handle over 30 image formats CD / DVD IMAGE TOOL
including the most popular ones such UltraISO Premium 9.3.3
as Nero (NRG), Alcohol (MDF), CloneCD
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(CCD) and so on. The software supports OS: Windows (All); RAM:64 MB; Disk space: 10 MB
extracting as well as modifying the
PRICE Rs 1,500 approx.
contents of image files. You can also
CONTACT EZB Systems
create an image out of the contents of
WEBSITE www.ezbsystems.com
your hard drive. UltraISO can extract
the boot sector from a disc or an image, RATINGS
and then use it to create a bootable EASE OF USE
FEATURES
disc or slipstream it into another image.
PERFORMANCE
UltraISO has a small memory footprint
OVERALL RATING
considering its large number of features
VALUE FOR MONEY
(less than 15 MB) and works wonders.
WEBCAM MANAGEMENT SUITE

WebcamXP Pro 5
VERDICT: A superb webcam management and streaming suite which can
also be used as a video surveillance option for home and small business.
FOR: Multiple video feeds, remote monitoring and administration.
AGAINST: None.

W ebcamXP is a video management

and streaming suite, best used for
video streaming and video surveillance.
It supports any Windows-compatible
webcam or IP camera. Very easy to
configure and use, it allows monitoring
and broadcasting video from your
webcam to the Internet using its built-in
web server. One can easily control
and monitor the video feeds by simply
accessing the computer's IP address
from any Web browser. Pan, tilt, zoom,
and record controls are available via
the web interface. The web server
includes features such as live chat, HTTP
broadcasting and uploads to other FTP/
HTTP websites. User accounts as well
as IP filtering can be configured on the
server end to allow/restrict access to
camera feeds. Server administration is
also possible from a remote area.
The software also features security
INFO
options such as motion and audio WEBCAM MANAGEMENT SUITE
detection, email alerts, automated video WebcamXP Pro 5
recording and scheduled monitoring/ SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
recording. It can generate HTML code OS: Windows (All); CPU: Pentium III and above; RAM: 256 MB
which can be inserted into your web PRICE Free, (Pro: 80 Euros)
pages to display live video feeds. CONTACT Darkwet Network
WebcamXP is available for download WEBSITE www.webcamxp.com
in three versions—Free, Private and
RATINGS
PRO—which support one, five and
EASE OF USE
unlimited video sources respectively. The FEATURES
Free edition is available for private use PERFORMANCE
only. The PRO version can be tried for 60 OVERALL RATING
days, after which it will fall back to the VALUE FOR MONEY
functionality of the free mode.

LYRICS SEARCH TOOL

EvilLyrics
VERDICT: A wonderful co-application for all media players to
download and learn lyrics and enjoy and create karaoke.
FOR: Instant search results, karaoke mode stores lyrics for offline use.
AGAINST: The bland window could do with a few skins.

H ave you ever wondered what on

earth those rappers are actually
saying? Don’t strain your ears over it
anymore. Download EvilLyrics, from
www.evillabs.sk for free and learn the
lyrics of all your MP3 music. EvilLyrics
is a small yet powerful lyrics search
utility. Just install the application, start
playing your songs on any media player,
and EvilLyrics immediately launches
itself to load information about the
song being played. The information
needed is picked up from the MP3’s ID3
tag, and if the ID3 tag is not stored, it
considers the name of the file. This is
then sent out to numerous servers listed
lyrics, once displayed, are also stored
d
for later offline use. At times, incorrect
lyrics get downloaded because of
confusion due to incorrect names or
INFO
spelling mistakes in ID3 tags. This can be LYRICS SEARCH TOOL
resolved by requesting another search EvilLyrics
result by simply pressing the [F5] key.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
EvilLyrics also features options for you OS: Windows (All); Disk space: 2 MB; RAM: 64 MB
to upload your own lyrics and karaoke
PRICE Free
to its servers. Other features you can
CONTACT NA
quickly access are the lyrics of other
WEBSITE www.evillabs.sk
songs on the same album, a list of all
songs by the same artist, album art, RATINGS
posters, lyrics translations, guitar chords EASE OF USE
and many other extras. The interface is FEATURES
quite simple and easy to operate. The PERFORMANCE

in its database, requesting the lyrics for developer should incorporate skins so OVERALL RATING

the song currently being played. The that it matches various media players.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 87

 APPLICATIONS TESTED
OFFICE SUITE
Apple iWork '09
VERDICT: There aren't any revolutionary new features or capabilities, but
iWork continues to be a solid collection of productivity applications.
FOR: Brilliant graphical effects and templates for home users and students.
AGAINST: Not that many new features.
L
ess than two years after its
previous update, iWork now
receives a bump that incrementally
improves upon each program and adds
an interesting online component, but
there’s no new major addition.
As always, the emphasis is on creating
slick-looking documents with little or
no fuss. As opposed to Microsoft Office
2008 for the Mac, you don’t get a suite
overflowing with functions aimed mainly
at business users, but a collection of
tools that can be used at work as well as
at home. Documents are meant to come
out looking great, whether they are junior
school projects, corporate presentations,
or home finance and budget calculations.
Visual updates can be found in the
themes, animations and object styles.
There’s a new theme chooser, which
is by default the first thing you see on
launching any of the apps. Thumbnails
of themes are sorted into categories
such as Reports and Brochures in Pages,
and Personal and Education in Numbers.
Thumbnails can be resized with a slider,
and swiping with the cursor changes their
contents to show off themed elements
such as tables, graphs and covering
pages. Once you’ve chosen a template
or a blank document, you’ll be working
inside the application you launched.
The programs also benefit from a
lot of effort to integrate them. It’s a lot
easier to place Numbers charts and
tables in Pages and Keynote. They now
retain their values even if you change the
formatting, and can be updated any time.
You can create form letters in Pages and
use the OS X Address Book or a Numbers
database for mail merge functionality.
Each app now lets you email documents
through Mail with a new ‘Share’ menu
entry. Files can be sent in their native
formats, in equivalent MS Office formats,
or as PDF files. And one of the most
88 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
talked-about features is iWork.com, a
subscription-based service (currently free
to use while it’s in Beta) for sharing and
collaborating on documents online.
Pages
The iWork word processor is now at
version 4.0. Its most important tweaks
come in the area of usability, rather
than all-new features. The classic split
between word processing and page
layout modes is quite deemphasized, and
you won’t know that there’s a difference
unless you switch between templates.
A new full-screen mode lets you
focus on the document at hand against
a sheer black background (with a
suitably Applesque fade-and-slide
transition), without a single button or
toolbar in view. This is especially neat if
you're not used to floating toolbars and
Inspector palettes, not to mention OS
X’s unwillingness to maximize windows.
In fact this should be an OS-level
option for any program, to drown out
background noise and let you focus on
your document. It’s a bit too sparse, and
isn’t immediately apparent that moving
your cursor to the top edge of the screen
brings up Pages’ main toolbar so you can
still get to the formatting controls. You
can have the Inspector float alongside
your document, but it won’t be on by
default even if it was in the regular
view—you can get to it only through the
‘View’ menu. You can view two pages
side by side to maximize the real estate
on a widescreen monitor.
The only other big change is the
addition of an outline view. The function
is much like Word’s Document Map,
but instead of a sidebar, your entire
document is replaced by an outline with
each paragraph represented as a level in
the hierarchy, and photos and other inline
media thumbnailed for quick navigation.
You can browse through your document
and create or reorganize entire sections
and paragraphs by their header weight,
but it works better for creating headers
to plan out a document in advance than
it does for flipping through completed
documents with long flowing paragraphs
of text, since all page formatting is
disconcertingly overridden.
Numbers
Considering this is version 2.0, the large
number of changes and improvements
comes as no surprise. Most of them help
the program get over its initial stumbles,
and deal with improved formula handling
and data visualization. A new Formula
browser offers some 250 neatly sorted
choices complete with explanatory notes,
up from 100 in the previous version. A
Formula List panel on the bottom of the
window can also be toggled, to show
all formulae in the currently selected
document and what exactly they do.
Double-clicking a formula brings up a
bar showing you all operators in plain
text and with color codes—extremely
user friendly. Large tables can now
INFO
OFFICE SUITE
Apple iWork '09
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later; CPU: Intel, PowerPC G5, or
PowerPC G4 (500MHz or faster); RAM: 512 MB; HDD: 1.2 GB free
PRICE Rs 4,320
CONTACT Apple
WEBSITE www.apple.com/iwork
RATINGS
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FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
Graphs and charts with the new 3D textures and animation effects make your It's easier to identify cells affected by a formula, and color coding shows you
presentation look especially slick. exactly which calculations are applied to which numbers.

contain collapsible sections for easier
viewing. There are of course loads of new
graphical styles for tables and charts,
including 3D textures and hybrid line-
column-area graphs and even charts with
multiple scales on the same axis.
Keynote
As always, Keynote allows you to create
unbelievably slick presentations that are
sure to grab attention even in a room
full of people who’ve just sat through a
thousand PowerPoint slides. The most
fun new addition is Magic Move, which
applies a transition to an individual
element that recurs across slides. You
can move a logo or visual device around
the slide area, or shuffle a photo out
of a pile of overlapping images on one
slide and animate it into the center stage
position on the next slide. The other
impressive tricks you can try out are 3D
animations for charts and graphs, much
like the ones used on TV news channels.
Segments in pie charts can pivot in and
out of existence, columns in bar graphs
can grow out of the floor and collapse
back into it, and entire charts can swoosh
in or out like you’re watching them
through a camera mounted on a crane.
3D textures such as wood and marble,
bevels, shadows and custom lighting add
that extra touch of pizzaz. Even text is
more playful, with anagram effects that
make words rearrange themselves letter-
by-letter between slides.
Photos on slides can be given frames,
which allow you to play with cropping,
sizing and placement. You can turn any
shape into a frame, edit it or its contents,
and of course animate it in and out when
it appears on screen.
iWork.com
Even with Google and Microsoft getting
into the online document editing
space, Apple has taken a conservative
approach for now. iWork.com isn’t an
online office suite, but rather a staging
area for documents to be viewed and
reviewed. Once you create an account
(an existing iTunes account will do), the
iWork.com button in each of the three
apps lets you upload documents in
native, MS Office and PDF formats. For
some reason, you also need to be using
Mail as your email client, which really
shouldn’t be necessary. If you select all
possible file formats, the upload can be
quite large—we found a 2MB increase for
each slide added to a Keynote file. The
service is interesting, but nowhere near a
full-blown online suite for now.
- feedback@chip.in

After setting up your account, this dialog box will give you all the options you The fullscreen mode in Pages lets you concentrate on the document at hand, but
need to share a document online through iWork.com. controls are still accessible if you dig deep.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 89

APPLICATIONS FEATURE
The 10 Best
Tuning Tools
Only one will make it to the top position. CHIP presents
top tools in ten categories that can help you speed up your
dull Windows.
BY MARKUS HERMANNSDORFER AND ANAND TULIANI
A
good tuning tool eliminates
existing problems, frees storage
space for you and provides extra
utilities that make working with Windows
easier. Hundreds of free programs and
commercial tools claim just that but
very few do a good job. We mercilessly
sifted through many such tools using
an extensive test procedure and in the
end only the ones that were actually
worthy remained. We picked out the best
performer in each of the ten categories
since many of the programs were not up
to the mark. While some were lacking
in features, the others hogged system
resources. You will find all the tools
that we have featured here on the CHIP
DVD. Now proceed to the race track and
find out which programs can boost your
Windows from zero to a hundred in the
least time.
TuneUp Utilities 2009: The
all-rounder
Tuneup Utilities has been right at the top
of the popularity scale for a couple of
years now. This suite covers all types of
tuning utilities and offers a useful feature
for restoring your system settings called
the ‘Rescue Center’. It offers tools for
both beginners and advanced users. If
you don’t wish to carry out individual
maintenance tasks manually, it takes
only a single click with the ‘1-click
Maintenance’ feature. Although Tuneup
Utilities performs maintenance tasks
90 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
automatically every week, you can
schedule the task manually as per your
convenience.
The developer claims that the tools
included in the suite are tried-and-tested
and will not put Windows at risk. 1-click
Maintenance did a fair job and solved
the existing registry problems on our test
computer in the scheduled mode. If the
registry needs immediate attention, you
can use the TuneUp Registry Defrag and
Registry Cleaner modules for cleaning
and optimizing the registry. However,
advanced users will prefer the TuneUp
Registry Editor which is a Regedit
alternative for editing the registry
entries manually. The changes made
to the registry by TuneUp Utilities can
be tracked easily. If tuning also means
upgrading the look and feel of Windows
for you, it can be done using the TuneUp
Styler which offers numerous options for
customizing the appearance of the visual
elements including the icons and boot
and login screens. You can get new boot
screens and icons free of cost on www.
tune-up.com.
CCleaner: More disk space
guaranteed
The best tool for recovering disk space
is CCleaner, which is free of cost. The
tool removes temporary files as well as
unwanted data in a quick and reliable
manner. It can clean up components
such as temporary internet files, browser
SMS us!  Story code: APA to 57007
history (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera,
Google Chrome and Apple Safari),
clipboard, recent documents, run
history, memory dumps, and so on. It
also repairs the registry and smoothly
uninstalls the applications that are not
needed any more. However, CCleaner
does a thorough job with basic settings.
Thus before cleaning, it’s advisable to
exclude the cookies that are required
for logging on to the frequently visited
website using “Settings | Cookies”. Also
exclude the “Windows\Prefetch” folder
since cleaning this folder only makes
Windows start slower. Before you initiate
the clean up process, click the Analyse
button in order to find out how much
storage space will be freed up. At any
point of time, CCleaner analysed at least
150 MB of disk space that could be freed
up on our test computer.
RSW: Fine tune the registry
It makes sense to make the registry
lighter by eliminating invalid items or
entries that are no longer required, and
that’s exactly what Registry System
Wizard (RSW) does. That does not
actually have anything to do with
tuning Windows, but it does make a
difference indirectly. On starting RSW, it
displays a whole lot of Windows tweaks
suggested by WinFAQ on their website
www.winfaq.de. You first have to select
the version of your Windows and then
change the parameters you wish to.
A detailed description of the selected
tweak is shown in the Information
window. Using RSW you can view and
edit registry keys, modify the registry
The best hard disk cleaner
CCLEANER
Performance improvement:
Storage space retrieval:
Finding and solving problems:
Available extras:
Price/Performance:
Free
Also takes less known programs into consideration
The best allrounder
TUNEUP UTILITIES 2009
Performance improvement:
Storage space retrieval:
Finding and solving problems:
Available extras:
Price/Performance:
Easy-to-use
Registry Editor with bookmark
Integrated data recovery tool
Defragmenting tool
over the network, backup and restore
the registry and search the registry
using keywords. The only drawback with
this software is that it doesn’t have an
English user interface. So you will have
to translate the description from German
to English using online translation
tools before trying them out—a bit
cumbersome but worth trying out.
SG TCP Optimizer:
Supercharge your Internet
connection.
Even tuning the Internet connection
requires tweaking the registry. Although
you can do it manually or using RSW,
SG TCP Optimizer is better suited.
Moreover, it’s free and offers an intuitive
user interface for tuning and optimizing
your Internet connection. The easiest
and fastest method is to use the optimal
it also cleans the Prefetch
folder, which is used for
faster Windows startup
Expensive
settings suggested by the software. But
if you want to fine tune the connection,
you can use the Custom Settings option
to tweak the related TCP/IP parameters
such as MTU, RWIN, QoS and so on.
There are tools for determining the
optimum values for these parameters.
Once you have entered the values, test
how many data packets are lost using
the Latency tab. You can also find
out the modifications TCP Optimizer
makes to the registry by clicking on the
Registry tab. After you have applied
the settings and restarted your PC, you
can immediately test the settings by
using the online speed test at www.
speedguide.net/speedtest.
Note: If you aren’t familiar with the
basics of Internet tuning, visit www.
home-network-help.com/tcp-optimizer-
to-improve-internet-speed.html. You will
find an illustrated step-by-step guide for
tweaking your Internet connection using
SG TCP Optimizer.
SetFSB: Overclock your
CPU from Windows
Most mainstream and high-end
motherboards come bundled with
a utility to overclock the CPU. But if
you have an entry-level or an older
motherboard, then you can use the
freeware tool called SetFSB. It works
with most motherboards and even
the Asus EeePC. SetFSB starts up as
a dialog box with a tabbed interface.
Before you proceed overclocking the bus
speed of your motherboard you have
to know the clock generator that your
motherboard’s chipset. Visit the site
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 91
 APPLICATIONS FEATURE
www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb and search for
the model of your motherboard in the
list called ‘SetFSB/Chipset’ and note the
name of the timer or PLL compatible
with your board. Download the version
of SetFSB that is compatible with your
motherboard.
Once you have extracted the contents
of the archive to a folder, the rest is
quite simple. Click on GetFSB in order to
determine the current FSB speed of your
motherboard. Then gradually increase
the FSB value using the slider. To be on
the safe side and prevent your machine
from hanging, increase the FSB value by
increments of 20 MHz. Overclocking the
FSB increases the speed of the CPU and
memory. Thus, successful overclocking
also depends on the model of your CPU,
memory and PCI Express. Also take care
not to overclock the FSB too much or
else the CPU and memory will overheat.
RivaTuner: Blazing frame
rates
GPUs can also be overclocked but it can
be risky. Therefore Nvidia and ATI have
hidden the overclocking options deep in
their drivers. However you can access
the settings for core and memory speed
using RivaTuner. The software offers two
modes for overclocking your GPU. The
list of settings under the Power user tab
is meant for beginners who want to play
safe. This mode only makes changes to
the registry and the drivers.
To overclock your GPU expand the
section called “RivaTuner\NVIDIA\
Overclocking\Current device” and
choose a preset. You can also tweak
the fan speed from the section called
The best Internet accelerator
SG TCP OPTIMIZER
Performance improvement:
Finding and solving problems:
Available extras:
Price/Performance:
Built-in Registry Editor
Tool for finding the MTU value
Integrated bandwidth calculator
92 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The best registry tool
REGISTRY SYSTEM WIZARD
Performance improvement:
Storage space retrieval:
Finding and solving problems:
Available extras:
Price/Performance:
Easy-to-use Does not remove any inva-
Network support lid entries
Ideal for beginners No English interface
“RivaTuner\NVIDIA\Fan\Current device”. was last running without any problems.
If you are familiar with overclocking Use the same method to determine
GPUs click on the “Customize” drop the maximum memory speed. On our
down list in the “Driver setting” field test computer we managed to get the
and select “System settings”. This will GeForce 8800 GTS running at 570 MHz
bring up the System tweaks dialog from 515 MHz.
box which has settings for adjusting
the core, shader and memory speeds. DFX: Perfect sound
Check the “Enable driver-level hardware guaranteed
overclocking” box and click on the Unlike a graphics card or CPU, a
“Detect now” button in the dialog box soundcard or on-board sound chip
that pops up. Select “Performance 3D” cannot be boosted. You can only
from the drop down list and then drag optimize the sound quality of the
the sliders to adjust the speeds. Start media player you are using by adding
with increasing the core speed by 50 features such as stereo widening or 3D
MHz. Apply the settings and use 3DMark surround sound. DFX is the best media
or a game benchmark to ensure that player add-on for enhancing audio
the system is stable. If everything goes playback. The software is available
fine, then increase the core speed in for most of the popular media players
increments of 5 MHz until the system including Winamp, Windows Media
becomes unstable during benchmark. At Player, Musicmatch Jukebox and Real
the next reboot, set the core speed to Player. We have included the version for
the maximum value at which the system Winamp on the CHIP DVD. If you use
some other media player, download the
appropriate version from www.fxsound.
com. DFX automatically integrates into
the media player as a plug-in during the
installation. The method of activating
the plug-in depends on the media player
you are using. In Winamp, DFX
launches at start up. Play a
song and choose a preset
that you like. You can also
configure the effect manually.
Unfortunately the free version
Too difficult for beginners
The “qospackage planner" is
not very effective
displays annoying advertisements. DFX,
which costs around Rs 1,500 is definitely
a purchase recommendation because of The best overclocking tool
the excellent sound quality and intuitive
user interface.
SETFSB
Performance improvement:
TeraCopy: Jet speed Finding and solving problems:
copying Available extras:
Copying huge chunks of data such as
Price/Performance:
movies or entire partitions with Windows
Explorer is painful. TeraCopy can transfer
voluminous data between locations
at a super-fast speed. If the software
Supports many motherboards The timer must be known
encounters any files that are corrupt Freely available source code Not suitable for beginners
or in use, it does not stop the copying Limits itself to what is most important
process, but simply skips them and logs Updated regularly
the instance. The reduced latency is a
result of using dynamic memory buffers
and asynchronous copy process if two
different drives are used.
TeraCopy adds a new entry to the The best GPU tweaker
context menu after the installation. To
copy a file, right-click on it and select RIVATUNER
“TeraCopy | Copy to” for copying it. Then Performance improvement:
specify a target folder using the browser
Finding and solving problems:
and the file will get copied. Similarly you
can also move files using the “Move to” Available extras:
option. If you want to copy files from Price/Performance:
different folders to a single location, first
add these to TeraCopy’s list using the
“Add” function. You can further add to
this list by dragging the files and folders
Also tweaks undocumented features Risky for beginners
onto the list. Suitable for Nvidia and ATI models
You can also override Windows itself Integrated scheduler and Registry Editor
and set TeraCopy as the default copy
handler for Explorer and even alternative
file managers such as Total Commander
and Directory Opus. Simply select the
option “Use TeraCopy as default copy
handler” from the “Options” menu in
The best audio enhancer
TeraCopy’s main window. DFX
Performance improvement:
XTM: No more hiccups
Running unnecessary processes or Finding and solving problems:
tasks that hog system resources can Available extras:
excessively slow down Windows. You Price/Performance:
can do away with these hiccups with
the eXtended Task Manager (XTM).
A shareware version of the same is
included on the CHIP DVD.
As soon as you start the program Supports all the popular audio players More expensive than an
Loads of presets external soundcard
you will see all the currently running
Intuitive controls
processes including its ID number (PID),

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 93

 APPLICATIONS FEATURE

the user running it, and the CPU and

memory utilization in the upper panel. If
you want to find out details about the
The best file transfer utility
process, simply mark it and the modules,
threads, and the related registry entries
TERACOPY
Performance improvement:
will get displayed in the lower panel.
If you suspect a process, select it Storage space retrieval:
and go to the “Network” tab. You will Finding and solving problems:
immediately see the source from where Available extras:
the data is being sent. This feature is
Price/Performance:
very useful for detecting trojans that
unknowingly creep into the system. If
you cannot determine the nature of the Context menu integration Free version has restrictions
process, a Google search should deliver It is possible to pause while copying
sufficient information. If the process is Integration in Total Commander and Directory Opus
harmful, right-click on it and terminate it.

eBoostr: Launch programs

in a jiffy
You can load data considerably faster The best task manager
from the RAM than the hard disk.
eBoostr takes advantage of this fact XTM
and decreases the start up time of Performance improvement:
applications to absolute minimum by Storage space retrieval:
caching system files and commonly used
Finding and solving problems:
applications. The software installs as
a Windows service so that it is running Available extras:
in the background at all times. To start Price/Performance:
using eBoostr you first have to set the
RAM or external storage devices as
cache memory and specify the cache Monitors every module Too unclear for beginners
Filtering of processes No graphs
size by dragging the slider. The amount
Helpful user prompts
of available cache memory depends
on the amount of RAM installed or the
capacity of the storage device. This
feature is similar to the ReadyBoost
feature in Vista, but you can only use
a USB flash drive for accelerating The best speed booster
applications and Windows start up. You
can select up to four connected USB
EBOOSTR
Performance improvement:
flash drives in eBoostr. The main window
of eBoostr can be accessed by double Storage space retrieval:
clicking its icon in the notification area. Finding and solving problems:
You will have to wait for sometime until Available extras:
the software builds up the cache. When
Price/Performance:
the status changes to Active, you can
find out the difference in access speed
as a result of using the RAM for caching.
Vista’s SuperFetch and ReadyBoost equivalents for Free version runs for only
On our test computer the access speed Windows XP two hours
boosted from 27 MB/s to 863 MB/s. Increases the battery life of laptops
eBoostr also simulates Vista’s
SuperFetch feature in Windows XP. It
makes a note of frequently accessed
programs and startup items and
optimizes the boot process in such a way
that these are given priority. Vista users
can use eBoostr to optimize the existing
ReadyBoost feature.
– anand.tuliani@chip.in

94 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 APPLICATIONS FEATURE
No need to upgrade
Does new mean better? Not always! The latest software is often complicated, wastes space, and
causes problems on your computer. Bloatware and other upgrade traps can easily be avoided.
BY MANUEL SCHREIBER AND JAMSHED AVARI
E
very year or so, software
manufacturers release new
versions of their programs, which
should be more efficient and user-friendly
than their predecessors. But this cycle
also has its dark side, and there are a
few companies which throw tools out
onto the market that are crammed with
innumerable unnecessary functions,
simply to create a fuss about upgrading.
When no one requires these features
and they actually reduce the quality of
a user’s experience, they can be called
“Bloatware”. Bloated software often
becomes confusing, unclear and slow.
Such programs need a huge amount of
storage space and regularly tax even
powerful hardware.
Pure wastage of space
Many programs unnecessarily need a
lot of space on the hard disk. Modern
drives offer space plenty of space for
files, but before you know it, even 500
GB is quickly occupied as soon as the
user starts amassing photos, videos and
music. Hence, it’s all the more important
that the tools are space-conscious.
Software programmers seem to have
a different perspective: While the very
small Acrobat Reader 2 occupied only
1.4 MB as a zipped file, the setup file of
the current version of Adobe Reader is
bigger than 26 MB. This does not initially
sound like much, but the actual size of
the program is revealed only after the
installation: Adobe Reader occupies a
shocking 230 MB! Although the number
of functions offered in the current version
has grown a lot since version 2, who
uses the “Multilingual User Interface”,
for instance, with which one can switch
between languages? And how many
people need to display Flash contents
in PDF files? These are functions which
in reality are only used by a handful of
people. But Adobe does not leave the
users any choice. The software is totally
oversized for home users who need the
96 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Reader only to view and print PDFs.
A simple and space-saving alternative
is Foxit Reader. The 3.2 MB tool is not
only well suited to reading PDFs but
also supports multimedia content, which
can be edited and deleted as well. In
addition, Foxit Reader also offers a
Firefox plugin to open PDF documents
directly in the browser. Thus, the program
is well-equipped and yet extremely small.
Numerous media players are also far
too wasteful. DivX, for instance, normally
offers its codec as a bundle with a
player application, a Web player, and
a demo version of the DivX converter.
Altogether, the combination occupies
Some manufacturers try to force users intoa full
upgrade when a simple update patch would do.
about 50 MB of space. But most people
who download it only find the codec
useful—which is a mere 1.4 MB in size and
can be used through every other player
once it is installed.
iTunes is one of the most outrageous
cases: the program takes up an appalling
100 MB on the hard disk and forces the
user to install QuickTime, which again,
occupies 75 MB. If you are not dependent
on the iTunes Store, you can easily do
without this bloatware. Songbird can
be used as an alternative. This tool
looks like iTunes, but is actually based
on the same open source architecture
at the heart of Firefox. Songbird can be
customized just the way you like with any
of the plugins available for it.
Unnecessary functions
There are programs that are crammed
with unnecessary functions, which might
or might not increase the disk space
requirements. There is almost always
only one reason for this—to give the
manufacturers reasons to sell newer
versions. Such programs are said to be
suffering from “creeping featuritis”.
Nero is a classic example: While
version 3 is still perfectly fine for the
essential task of burning CDs, many
unnecessary functions such as a video
editor, media player, TV streamer, DJ
mixing app, photo manager, and many
other standalone programs come
Even the simplfied launcher application is too
complicated to understand.
bundled with later versions. These
functions multiply the size of the installer
you need to download by at least 30
times, and you don’t have any choice.
While the many components of the
Nero suite might be useful to some
users, there’s hardly anyone who needs
or wants all of them together. Nero’s
applications aren’t really the best choices
when you need a simple program to play
your music and movies. The RSS Reader
in the StartSmart launcher program
wastes screen space and only provides
information about the manufacturer by
default. Why a burning program needs all
these features remains a mystery. And
what has become of the burning tool
that was once so sleek? It has become
SMS us!  Story code: ANU to 57007
a bloated suite that occupies 1.5 GB on
the hard disk and is sometimes more of
a headache than any help to the user. If
you want to only burn data CDs, then you
can absolutely do it without the extra
software. Windows XP and Vista perform
the task with just a right click in the
context menu. For more extensive tasks,
the free CDBurnerXP is perfectly suitable,
and manages all the standard features
of a burning program. It supports Blu-ray
disks as well as HD DVDs and is just 3
MB to download.
Even media playback programs are
trying to lure customers with more new
functions. PowerDVD and WinDVD are
easy to operate, but still include many
unnecessary functions. Using ‘Movie
Remix’ with PowerDVD, you can edit,
recompose and upload movie scenes.
These gimmicks are fun for some users,
but why can’t these side attractions
be offered as optional addons?
Nevertheless, an upgrade can also add
some necessary features: the latest
versions support Blu-ray disks—though
only the more expensive editions, not the
standard ones.
If you do not need a fancy-looking
interface for your software, it is worth
taking a look at VLC Media Player. This
lightweight all-rounder can easily replace
most other media playback programs—
only Blu-ray and HD DVD support are
missing from the current version.
Even instant messengers are
crammed with superfluous knick-
knacks. Be it Skype, ICQ or Windows
INFO
IT ALSO WORKS THE OTHER WAY
ROUND
Certain manufacturers resist the urge to
overload their programs with new
features and suck up more and more
hardware. Even antivirus and security
vendors are now making attempts to
fight their own bloat. For example, the
latest Norton security products are
highly optimized for speed and resource
usage. While older versions are
notorious for slowing things down and
consuming resources, the developers
have optimized their most recent
releases in an attempt to make them
totally unnoticeable on a computer.
Since these programs load at startup
and need to run all the time, the move is
certainly welcome.
Older version
Current version
Live Messenger, they get on your nerves Paint.NET and The Gimp are good
with extraneous functions such as free options that include all standard
mini games, animated backgrounds, features.
advertisements for other services, etc.
Pidgin is far more space-saving and The customer is the tester
user-friendly. The tool supports all the Every program update has new code
latest protocols for Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ that could make it unstable and create
and IRC networks. With Pidgin, you save security loopholes. The susceptibility
yourself the effort of installing several to errors has been aggravated by the
bloated tools for each service, and have regular yearly rhythm with which a
your contacts within reach.
v9.0
370.5 MB
Unreasonable v3.0
requirements 1.8 MB
It’s not unusual for new programs to
expect a lot from a computer. Games, Nero
above all, strain PCs and need the
latest hardware. However, office tools
and other common programs also take
up more and more space with each new
version. Adobe’s Photoshop CS4 for
instance, claims to run on a computer
with at least a 1.8 GHz processor and 512
MB of RAM. However, it is way too slow
with this minimal configuration. To work Bloated software
well, Photoshop needs at least 1 GB Some of the sleekest tools of the past
of RAM. On the contrary, version CS2 have grown into software monsters
today. The sizes displayed here are
which is only about three years old is
all to scale, and are applicable to the
content with 320 MB RAM and hardly packed setup files that a user typi-
has any demands from the CPU. The cally downloads from the internet—
older version is still equipped with the space taken up on the disk after
almost all the professional features installation is much more.
of its successors. Especially
considering that photos taken by
digital cameras are growing in
megapixel count and file size as
well, the editing software should v8.2
be as lightweight as possible. v1.5 76 MB
Thus, alternatives which don’t 2.6 MB
confuse users with numerous
functions and are easy on the v8.0
hardware are good for casual hobby v4.1 65.6 MB
photographers or those who still 19.1 MB
work with older computers. Power
DVD
v9.0
v2.0 26.3 MB
1.4 MB
v6.8
v4.0 19.8 MB
0.7 MB
DivX Acrobat iTunes Power
Reader DVD
 APPLICATIONS FEATURE
USEFUL UPDATES
Not all new versions and upgrades have
disadvantages. You should pay attention
to the following legitimate reasons to
upgrade, most of which are related to
improved software that helps protect
your system and keep it up to date.
RECTIFYING ERRORS
Every program contains bugs, which
pose potential threats to the computer.
Thus, it is important that you regularly
check for patches and install them.
Many programs offer automatic update
mechanisms that you must use in order
to eliminate loopholes, especially for
Web browsers, which are constantly
being probed for new vulnerabilities
that criminals can exploit. The free tool
UpdateStar is an excellent way to
monitor all programs easily, so that you
do not miss out on any update.
few manufacturers release updates. If
development requires a lot of effort,
there is hardly any time left to test the
software and eliminate bugs. Thus,
programs that are still in their Beta
forms arrive in the market. This is not
only annoying but also dangerous, if
malicious code infiltrates through poorly
programmed tools. Windows Vista, for
instance, is widely cited as having been
released prematurely despite its long
development cycle. Criticism spread
that it had too many errors and was
incompatible with too many devices
Photoshop CS4 offers an incredible number of features, but everyone isn't going to need all of them.
Cheaper and lighter alternatives can often help you work smarter.
98 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SECURITY SOFTWARE
Antivirus and antispyware scanners
must be updated on a daily basis so that
they serve their purpose. New malware
is always on the prowl on the Internet;
it’s child’s play for them to cheat their
way through using old virus signatures.
Antivirus programs normally offer
automatic signature updates which you
should allow to run without fail.
Upgrades are good when manufacturers
develop newer and better scan engines.
CHANGING THE OPERATING
SYSTEM
A new operating system also requires
program upgrades most of the time;
when switching from XP to Vista for
instance. Old software is not compatible
with more recent OS cores or file
when it was launched, and moreover
that security was greatly lacking until its
first service pack arrived. When SP1 was
released in 2008, it was even hailed as
“the Vista that should have been”. The
beleaguered OS, however, was a smooth
ride compared to some other tools that
have come in the market. Acronis, for
example, released a bug-ridden version
of its TrueImage home backup solution,
which constantly crashed.
Customers were also unwitting Beta
testers for Pinnacle when it released its
Studio 10 video editing suite in 2005.
systems in order to reduce the scope for
malware to creep in.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Blu-ray disks or HD DVDs need new
hardware such as drives, graphics cards
and monitors, since the interfaces and
capabilities required are just not there
on older equipment. The same is
applicable for software as well. Since
new codecs can’t always be slipped into
old tools, you cannot avoid updating
your software if you want to use them.
COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE
Process control and accounting
programs must be updated yearly or
even more often than that if possible, to
keep them relevant with changed laws
or administrative procedures.
At the time, it overlooked the fact that
a few functions were faulty, and the
tool could crash and freeze the system.
Its successor had many bugs as well—
developers rectified many problems
only by the time it reached version 12.
Updates are recommended for Pinnacle
Studio, since bugs are still being fixed.
Expensive rip-offs that no
one needs
If the user wants to update his software,
he might have to pay a lot. For instance,
the Quicken 2009 finance package costs
approximately €50 (Rs 3,250). Users of
older versions are tempted to upgrade
with a discount of €10, which seems like
a good deal. The problem is that the new
version has hardly any new features.
Multimedia encyclopedias and
antivirus/PC security suites are other
well-known culprits. Users pay upgrade
fees for only slightly updated articles or
detection rules, along with a redesigned
interface. Large ads often promise
discounts for loyal longtime users, but
there’s nothing to gain by upgrading.
So think twice about upgrading,
and don’t just follow the crowd or get
tempted by glossy ads! If updates are
not mandatory for the program to run,
and if you are happy with the features
of your applications, then you can safely
ignore the buzz that surrounds new
launches.
– jamshed.avari@chip.in
 APPLICATIONS FEATURE
Portable
apps on
netbooks
Installing multiple or demanding applications can make
netbooks and entry-level notebooks sluggish. Portable
applications open up avenues to get much more out of
your basic machine. CHIP shows you how this is done.
BY DUSHYANT KHILNANI
U
nlike usual applications, portable
ones do not need to undergo
an installation procedure. They
can be executed to run from portable
storage devices such as external hard
drives and flash drives. They are smaller
in size and usually not as feature rich
when compared to their installable
counterparts. The most distinct feature
of portable applications is that unlike
other applications, they don’t store
any information on the system. All the
configuration settings, data and registry
entries are stored on the removable
media, unless you specify otherwise.
Also they don’t create any shortcuts on
the system such as Start Menu items or
Desktop icons.
Why should you use them?
Let’s say that you want to use particular
software on your netbook and at the
same time you’re a bit tight on the
money front. No problem, there are loads
of free substitutes available which can
serve your purpose. You can download
portable applications (on CHIP DVD)
and use them on your netbook and/
or notebook for free. They save space,
spare you the registry issues, and they
don’t clutter your Desktop with icons or
your Start Menu with shortcuts.
Depending on your needs, there’s a
plethora of applications designed for
specific purposes. For instance, there’s
OpenOffice Portable, which is free and
portable. A similar example is of the
GnuCash Portable which is a financial
100 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
management application. Then there’s
KompoZer Portable that helps in
developing a basic static website from
start to finish in no time. This is just
the tip of the iceberg, there’s a lot more
for you to explore. But in the mean time,
let’s look at some of the applications
in detail.
Here’s a quick question, what
software do basic office computers
need? Lets say an office suite,
image editor, webpage editor, PDF
reader, instant messenger and a few
entertainment applications. Here are
some portable applications that you can
use to replace installble software.
Office applications
OpenOffice Portable (239 MB)
A portable version of the OpenOffice
suite, this comprehensive suite
comprises of office applications which
are similar to that of Microsoft Office.
The buttons with green plus signs let you add more
templates and features to the suite.
Sachin Pandit
On execution, the main interface lets
you choose which document you wish
to create, documents, spreadsheets,
presentations, drawings and so on.
For people who prefer to use them
seperately can do so by executing
the individual files. Free of charge
and miniscule in size, all applications
collectively suffice for almost all tasks
that are expected from an office suite.
You don't need plugins for making PDF files. Just
click on this button to save the file in PDF format.
The Writer closely resembles
Microsoft Word in looks as well as in
features. It’s good at almost all tasks
that are expected from a decent word
processor. It also features some utilities
that many word processors don’t. For
instance, it has a built-in media player
and a save-as-PDF option. You can
also type a letter and export that
document as an attachment to your
default email client.
Then there is OpenOffice Draw, which
lets you do everything that Paintbrush
SMS us!  Story code: APA to 57007
in Windows can do. In addition, Draw
lets you add effects to your work such
as gradients, transparencies, 3D shapes
and work with layers. Overall, it’s a good
option for basic clipart work.
Another useful application is the
Excel look-alike, the OpenOffice Calc.
Even though it resembles Microsoft
Excel, its features and layout are not as
intimidating; however it is as effective as
Excel. Nonetheless, the Calc will suffice
for advanced calculations, formulae and
macros. Some functions may require
a Java environment for OpenOffice to
work. Some built-in features such as
the media player and save-as-PDF are
common to this application too. Overall,
it’s a good option for regular office work.
There’s something for presentations
Unlike Microsoft Excel 2003, Calc features the
built-in save-as-PDF option.
too, it’s the OpenOffice Impress. It does
impress us with its easy to use interface
and quick and intuitive steps. It’s a good
substitute for Microsoft Powerpoint.
The predefined master pages can give
you a good head start for making super
quick presentations. The various layout
templates and table designs give you
an array of options to choose from.
Also you can add various effects to your
presentation such as slide transitions
and numerous customizable animations.
In the unlikely event that you run out of
design options, you can choose colorful
patterns from the gallery.
Up next is a portable database, called
Base, which lets you create tables,
queries, forms and reports. Creating
databases and tables, using wizards and
so on, require a Java environment when
using OpenOffice. You can acquire it
from a Sun Java 1.5 or higher installation
and place it into the ‘CommonFiles’
folder. If your work involves multitasking,
this database is a very good option.
TIPS
PENNY SAVED = PENNY EARNED
If you’re out to buy a new notebook,
netbook or a desktop PC and if you
already own a Microsoft Windows disc,
it’s a good idea to opt for Free DOS
because you’ll have lots of room for
customization. Plus, this saves you a
considerable amount of money. For
instance, if you’re running a little low on
money, you can buy a notebook with the
most basic configuration, let’s say, an
entry-level dual core processor, 1 GB
RAM and a mere 80 GB hard drive. Here,
if the option is available, go for DOS,
this will save you approximately Rs
4,000 (if you have Vista) and Rs 1,900
(if you have XP). Then you can either
install Linux or the Windows XP which
you already own.
VLC MEDIA PLAYER
For VLC (Video LAN) fans, use the
portable version of the program from
the CHIP DVD.
THE GUTMANN METHOD
The Gutmann method of erasure
securely deletes the contents of a hard
drive by performing 35 patterns of re-
writing. Here, the multiple overwriting
data makes recovery impossible.
GIMP portable (20.2 MB)
The GNU Image Manipulation Program
(GIMP) is a powerful image editing
application which delivers professional
results. It closely resembles Adobe
Photoshop in more than one way. The
initial screen displays three disconnected
windows, a canvas area, the toolbox and
the third window is for channels, layers,
brushes and such. GIMP is feature rich
and it lets you work with layers, filters,
Choose a specific type of brush from the panel to
suit your editing requirements.
various innovative brushes and much
more. Similar to Photoshop, GIMP also
has different tools for selection, applying
perspective effects, dodging, cloning
(stamping) and more. Although the
interface is not the most user-friendly
one, its features make it a powerful
image editing program. Considering the
fact that it is as light as 20MB, and to
top that off it is free, this one’s a great
option for a portable image editor.
Eraser portable (1.40 MB)
This decent looking and user-friendly
application is primarily intended for
secure deletion of specific files, folders
and for wiping unused disk space. You
can opt to use the Gutmann method
(see tips) for the process. It even offers
to deliver reports for all scenarios.
A lower number of passes speeds up the process,
but reduces the chances of data retrieval
While being a portable application it
doesn’t modify or create new entries
in the local machine, but can be added
to the context menus for convenience
and quick operation. Finally, the Eraser
Portable features a scheduler, which
allows automation at users’ convenience.
So all in all, it’s a fairly useful
application. If someone needs your help
to securely delete data from his hard
drive, just plug your flash drive in and put
the Eraser Portable to the task.
GnuCash Portable (100 MB)
Now, this is an application which unlike
most portable applications is packed
with features. Although the initial launch
takes a few seconds, the application
offers a series of choices which help
configure your account settings that are
specific to your needs. For instance, it
offers choices for the currency of the
account and the types of accounts to be
maintained such as a simple check book,
business account, car loans, child care
expense, common accounts, fixed assets
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 101
 APPLICATIONS FEATURE
Though generic accounts suffice for basic use,
application-specific ones are also available.
and a few more. Each account type has
subcategories. For instance, the common
account has entries that include Books,
Education and Laundry etc. And the
most elaborate ones such as a Business
account involves categories such as
Assets, Equity, Liabilities and each
category forms a tree structure to further
elaborate that specific account. To top
it all, there’s a feature of online banking
within the application. So it’s safe to say
that the program’s size on disk is largely
owed to the numerous features it offers.
So overall, the GnuCash Portable with its
elaborate feature set is certainly worth
a shot.
AbiWord Portable (9.84 MB)
Other than a few features, AbiWord
Portable mimics the Microsoft Word
beautifully. Even the interface, the layout
and the look of the application isn’t very
different. If you’re looking
at basic word processing, such as
typing documents, formatting, tables,
headers and footers, date and time,
page breaks and so on, this is a good
standalone option. This application
does all of this and more and it is also
compatible to the Microsoft Word
file format. So we’d say it’s a good
application for a simple word processing
scenario.
SumatraPDF Portable (1.51 MB)
This one is your average PDF document
reader which offers all the standard
features such as various page viewing
styles, printing, zooming in and out,
rotating and book marking pages and so
on. However, one feature that deserves
attention is the various language
interfaces, two of which include Indian
languages too.
Portable WordWeb (13.6 MB)
A portable version of the WordWeb, this
102 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Clicking on this icon gives an audible description of
the definition or of the selected word.
is a fairly comprehensive program which
is intended for Microsoft Windows. It
can be used to find the meaning of
words from any program in a single
click. The default settings let you right-
click on a particular word to display its
definition, pronunciation, synonyms and
related words. So if you need a one-click
portable dictionary and thesaurus, using
WordWeb on your portable flash drive is
an excellent option.
TIP: There’s another portable dictionary
called the Lingoes which is included in
the DVD.
Multimedia and chat
Audacity Portable 1.2.6 (4.33 MB)
Audacity is a basic audio editing
program which lets you work with
almost all standard audio formats such
as WAV, MP3, AUP, AIF and so on. It
allows recording at various sample rates
in mono or stereo mode. In addition to
these features, the program lets you
add audio effects to a track such as
amplification, bass boost, changing the
pitch, speed and tempo, and do a lot
more with a track. So, at a modest 4.33
MB, it’s quite utilitarian.
In addition to selecting sample rates, the other tabs
allow making various changes for required output.
Be it a standard or a widescreen format video, this
option allows viewing in either of the modes.
MPlayer Portable (7.41 MB)
The MPlayer Portable looks and works
like any other standard media player.
However, it plays a variety of media files
for which many other players either need
plug-ins or they can’t play them at all.
For instance, the MPlayer is compatible
with DivX (AVI), MP3, FLV, music CDs and
DVDs. You can also set the aspect ratios
automatically or manually.
This may not look all that good but it still works
just fine as a substitute.
aMSN Portable (23 MB)
This application has almost everything
that the installable version of MSN
messenger features. The default skin
looks quite plain but you can get some
more skins by going to Account | Select
Skin. Not bad at all.
All the applications mentioned above
need less than 500 MB on a portable
drive or a hard drive. Even though these
applications reside in the memory when
executed, they do not affect registry or
modify system files. Ideally 300 to 400
MB of space should be sufficient for
installing standard applications which
are needed in desktop PCs, netbooks
and notebooks. For more applications,
look at this month's CHIP DVD
– dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
APPLICATIONS INTERNET
Web Watch
MUSIC
L C
aziness is blamed for a
lot of humanity’s problems. If you
think about it though laziness
has inspired us to invent some great
things such as the recliner chair, twist
cap beer bottles and Last.fm (www.
last.fm). Gone are the days, when
you have to open your huge music
library that has collected for decades
and sift through it to then manually
create a playlist. Replace this
with Last.fm, which manages your
favorites and even notes which songs
you play the most and which artists
you listen to the most as well. This
is because the Last.fm has a concept
called “scrobbling” which sends the
name of the artist and the song to
the Last.fm database, which keeps
a track of it on your Last.fm page
and they can automatically update
your iPod or PC with this data. With
this information, Last.fm actually
recommneds music to you based on
your library. The site is very neat
and well organized and keeps a track
of your most recent visits as well
as a huge selection of artists which
can rival almost any music database.
Even the rarest bands get a mention
here and a lot of Indian artists are
prominently featured here. Last.
fm catalogues each artist and has a
variety of music, videos, biography,
tour dates and events as well as
other similar artists. Last.fm is what
brings the music you want to you
and it is all just a few clicks away.
104 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SYSTEM
omputers can scare even
the smartest people.
Sometimes you might not know
what’s wrong and you immediately
decide to call for help. This can be
time-consuming and costly and may not
even be necessary. Before calling the
professionals, try giving www.bleeping
computer.com a shot. All you have to
do is follow the instructions that greet
you on the homepage and you are
on your way to better PC experience.
The Bleeping Computer forums are
not always easy for novices but they
have a vast array of brilliant members
contributing knowledge ranging from
system performance to browser issues.
The other guides are also very helpful
and can really boost your performance
and help you with improving your
startup time and so on. The Startup
programs database is especially useful
to figuring out why the computer
MOBILE
T
here are many sites that
offer mass messaging and
free messaging but few compare
to the well rounded Indyarocks (www.
indyarocks.com). There is absolutely
nothing to the website; all you have
to do is sign up and everything you
need is pretty easy to figure out. If you
want to send bulk SMSes, all you have
to do is click on the Mobile tab and
type in your text. The only drawback
with this is that it allows you to send
only 90 characters as opposed to 140
characters with most other sites. This
50 character shortfall is taken up by an
advertisement and although this might
be annoying, all these SMS websites
send ads anyway, so it cannot be
escaped at all.
In addition to this Indyarocks also
has a decent collection of games as well
as wallpapers. You can even browse
the site for music, book movie tickets
and read movie news. Cricket fans can
seems so slow. It is good to go ahead
and register on the site and familiarize
yourself with the various sections so
that in the future when you really are
stuck in a mess you can locate solutions
for the problem easily. It is very rare to
find a website that has such a rich pool
of talented contributors.
The members of this website
actively share all kinds of information
and you can even have a unique
problem answered by uploading your
specifications and your problem details
on the forum. If all else fails, you always
have Bleeping Computer to turn to.
take heart from the admirable cricket
section which has news, rankings and
match timings. This website wades into
social networking territory as you can
add friends to your list and even chat in
the chat rooms provided. Other features
include horoscopes, classified ads,
photo printing options and even various
contests which can net you some really
huge prizes!
Indyarocks has many features which
can really come in handy and there is
scope for it to be used as a possible
social networking site. Aside from bulk
messaging, there is a lot to gain from
this nifty website.
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This month, we have ways to help you make money through blogging, a cool Internet radio site and a great site
to help you solve your computer troubles. – COMPILED BY SIDDHANT MEHTA
NEWS
I D
n this day and age of instant
information dissemination
and worldwide networks, news travels
so fast that it gets old within minutes.
The time that news takes to reach you
from the news event is almost minimal
but you want more than just one source
that you can trust.
This problem is solved by the
innovative people at Newsnow. The
site itself resembles an index (www.
newsnow.co.uk) which contains many
topics that cover world events. You
can check out the latest world news
or what is the latest in the business
world. Sports fans have a comprehensive
number of options for their favorite
sports and sports teams.
This site is so special because it has
hyperlinks to all the stories which are
relevant to the topic. This news indexing
feature essentially brings all the news
to the reader, saving a lot of time and
FUN
L
ife can get really boring
but don’t worry the
Internet saves the day yet again with
Bored.com (www.bored.com). Bored.
com is set up to entertain you with a
generous selection of games, videos,
jokes, quizzes, how-to videos and so on.
These applications are fantastic because
they tend to cover a vast array of
activities, so if you don’t feel like playing
any games you can still visit the site and
look up a few new jokes or perhaps read
a comic or two.
While other sites have more content
than Bored.com, they tend to be
specialized towards categories such as
games, but Bored.com has a unique
balance that can entertain even the
pickiest visitor. You can solve crossword
puzzles, play browser MMOs or even
pour through the various links which
claim to give you opportunities to earn
some easy money (we doubt that, but
it’s an option). The browser MMOs are
dead ends for people to deal with. Many
of the world's most trusted sources of
news are used by simply accessing their
websites and providing links to them in
the topics pages throughout Newsnow.
You merely have to leave the topic
page which you are interested in, open
and the page refreshes itself in order
to constantly provide stories from the
list of select sites, which it looks into.
So you can now view The Guardian's
view on a cricket match without looking
through their site! This new and unique
approach to online journalism is a step
in the right direction for all concerned.
quite interesting and seem to be more
than your standard fare of fantasy
games, there is even a mobster MMO!
One really unique section is the the
"Funny Pranks" section, which lists
thousands of pranks for you to have a
go at. There is a "Music" section which
has song lyrics and virtual instruments
for you to try your hand at the drums
for instance. There are guides to music,
funny song titles and parodies as well
as music facts. The how-to videos are
interesting as well and you do a lot
things you've always wondered about.
Whatever it is that tickles your fancy,
you ought to find it at Bored.com.
BLOGS
o you love blogging so
much that you want to
just blog for the rest of your
life? It might seem far-fetched but
this is a reality now. Blogging has
grown so much that a really popular
blog can get more hits than many
large commercial websites. This is
why advertisers seriously consider
sponsoring blogs and who knows? It
could even be yours.
If you want to know more you
can check out www.problogger.com
and learn how to set up your blog
to earn some money. The website
is run by Darren Rowse, who has
been a professional blogger for
many years and he wants to share
his expertise and experience. Many
of his posts dominate the site with
articles that start from the most
fundamental and simple blog creation
topics such as the “About Me” space
to more complex lessons in the use
of Adsense and other advertising
programs as well as other important
revenue streams.
A lot of people visit this site
trying to learn more about blogging
much like you and interacting with
them is also enriching. There is also
a large number of guest bloggers,
who contribute to the blog and add a
lot of perspective to the goals of the
blog. This smart and open approach
to blogging can really benefit your
blogging skills, even if you don’t want
to use your blog to make money.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 105
 HANDS ON DR CHIP
Sachin Pandit
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP, I upgraded my
computer last year to an Intel Q6600
2.4 GHz processor, an Intel DG35
motherboard, 2 GB RAM, a 160 GB
hard disk, Windows XP 2002 SP3
(completely updated) and I am
using McAfee Antivirus v13.0. But
my computer is still very slow and it
takes a lot of time to open programs.
Please tell me how I can increase my
computer's speed. Also tell me if my
configuration is not good enough, if I
Ensure that the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ option
is checked before disabling unwanted services.
should overclock my CPU and if there
is any harm in doing it.
– Eshan Sharma
[A] Hi Eshan. The configuration of
your machine is good enough and it
shouldn't be slow unless you have
lots of programs that are launched
during startup and keep running in
the background. Go to 'Start | Run...',
type 'msconfig' and press [Enter]. Try
removing unnecessary items from
108 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Dr CHIP SEND YOUR QUERIES TO: drchip@chip.in
the 'Startup' section. Also go to the
'Services' tab, check the 'Hide All
Microsoft Services', and disable the
ones that you don't need running in
the background. Make sure that you
don't disable any item required by the
antivirus software. This should solve
your problem.
Overclocking the CPU is possible, but
not advisable unless you can measure
minute improvements such as in games.
Applications will not benefit from the
processor being overclocked.
[Q] Sir, I want to upgrade my system
(AMD or Intel CPU + motherboard +
HDD). My budget is up to Rs 5,500.
Please guide me.
– Shreedhar
[A] Hi Shreedhar, for a tight budget of
Rs 5,500 for a motherboard, processor
and hard drive we recommend the
following entry-level components:
 Asus P5KPL-VM/CM (Intel G31
chipset)
 Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180
 160 GB SATA hard drive (Seagate/
Hitachi/Western Digital)
[Q] Hello, I am planning to purchase
a non-IGP AMD motherboard, and my
budget is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500.
I am also planning to buy an AMD CPU
and my budget for that is around Rs
4,000. Which would be the best in
this range? I like the AMD Athlon 64
X2 5200+. What would you say about
Athlon 64 CPUs? Also, would a Sony or
LG DVD writer be better?
–Abid Rahim
[A] Hi Abid, apart from AMD 790X and
790 FX chipset based motherboards,
there are no other chipsets that are
The Phenom II triples its predecessor's L3 cache to
6MB for upto 30 percent better performance.
purely non-IGP. With a budget of Rs
5,000 to Rs 5,500, a motherboard
based on the 780G or GeForce 8200
chipsets would be the best option. The
AMD Athlon 64 X2 range of processors
is good value for money, but we suggest
you wait for some time and go for the
Phenom II triple-core processor.
The LG GSA-H55N DVD writer is a
good buy.
[Q] Hello CHIP. I need a good gaming
computer (to play games like Bioshock,
Call of Duty, Top Spin and so on).
Please suggest the best configuration.
My budget is Rs 45,000 to 50,000.
- Nikhil Natu
[A] Hello Nikhil. A configuration you can
opt for is as follows: AMD Athlon 64 X2
5600+ CPU (2.90 GHz), Abit AN-78HD
motherboard, 2x 1 GB Zion DDR2-800
MHz RAM, Western Digital Caviar Blue
320 GB SATA hard drive, Sparkle 9600
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GSO - 384 MB graphics card, LG GSA-
H55N DVD writer, ViewSonic VA1716w
17-inch TFT monitor, Microsoft Desktop
500 keyboard and mouse combo,
Logitech X-240 2.1 stereo speakers,
Cooler Master Elite 340 cabinet and
Cooler Master Extreme Power 460W
power supply unit. The total cost would
be around Rs 35,000.
Or, you could go for an Intel Core 2
Duo E7300 (2.53 GHz) CPU, Gigabyte
EP43-DS3L motherboad, 2x 2 GB
Kingston DDR2-800 MHz RAM, Seagate
Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB SATA hard
drive, Zotac 9600 GT Amp 512 MB
graphics card, LG GSA-H55N DVD
writer, Dell 1909W 19-inch TFT monitor,
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard,
Logitech MX518 mouse, Logitech X-540
5.1 speakers, NZXT Alpha Black x3Px32
cabinet and Cooler Master Extreme
Power 500W power supply for a total of
around Rs 52,000.
Note: The prices above are approximate
and will differ from city to city. Check
with the dealer in your area for
availability and the latest prices. You can
find recommended PC configurations
for different machines in CHIP, updated
every month. You can also refer to the
Market Watch section and create your
own configuration.
[Q] I am a regular reader of CHIP.
Recently I bought a Linksys WRT54G
router to configure my own home
Wi-Fi network with one desktop and
two laptops. I have successfully
configured the router and connected
it to my desktop. I able to connect to
the Internet through my BSNL DSL
modem. However, I get connected to
Internet as soon as I boot my desktop
computer. This is consuming my BSNL
subscription even though I do not
want to browse the Internet. Is there a
method by which I can get connected
to the Internet through the router only
when I need it?
– Chirag Mehta
[A] Hello Chirag. The only options
you have are to physically disconnect
the cable from the modem to the
router or switch off the modem when
you don't want to use the Internet.
Contact your ISP and ask if there is a
way to use the PPPoE option from your
computer instead of DSL. PPPoE is a
Not configuring a gateway or DNS for the network
card will block the computer from the Internet.
protocol which requires a username and
password (which is usually stored in the
DSL modem) to log on to the Internet
the moment it is switched on. This can
also be used from the computer instead
of the router. In such a case, you use
a dialer (dial-up connection) from the
computer and connect to the Internet
only when you require it.
Another way is to use the software
NetSetMan or Network Settings
Manager (refer to the workshop in the
February 2009 issue of CHIP) and define
two different profiles for the network
card. Set the IP address, subnet mask
and DNS IP address in both profiles,
but in one profile, do not include the
gateway address. Name this profile
‘No Internet’ or anything else you wish.
When you switch to this profile, the
computer will not be able to connect to
the Internet though the local network
would still work as usual. When you
switch to the regular profile where
the Internet gateway is defined, the
computer will be able to connect as it
usually does. You could do this on all
computers in the network on which you
do not wish to use the Internet.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP, I bought my
computer nearly two and a half years
ago. My present configuration is a 2.8
GHz processor, 160 GB hard drive, 2 GB
of DDR2 RAM, and a DVD writer (16x). I
have burned media using the DVD drive
many times, but a year after buying it,
my drive burns CDs and DVDs at nearly
four times slower than the normal rate
even if I set the software to burn at
16x. For writing 3.5 GB of data to a DVD
at 16x it took an hour and 20 minutes.
Sometimes after burning the DVD, the
drive doesn’t read it and it can't be
read on anyone else’s computer either.
Even if it is readable, then there is error
when I copy the data from it back to
the hard disk.
When installing something or
while copying something (from a CD/
DVD which I have not burned using
my drive) it gets installed or copied
properly. But it takes four times longer
than the normal time to copy anything
from the CD/DVD to my system. For
example, I installed NFS Undercover
and it took one hour 25 minutes to be
installed, while it took only 20 minutes
to install the same game from the
same DVD on my friend’s computer
which has only 512 MB of RAM. Please
help me solve my problem. Lens
cleaning has not worked.
– Sujeet Raj
Cleaning the optical drive’s lens with an ear bud
and isopropyl alcohol will remove stubborn dirt.
[A] The problem seems to be with
the optical drive’s lens. The lens might
have become weak or misaligned in
the time since you bought the drive.
If possible, try using the drive on your
friend’s computer to confirm this.
Whether or not this is the case, I would
not recommend repairing the drive. Just
replace it, since the cost of a new drive
should be lower than having it repaired.
You would waste blank DVD/CD discs
and also waste a lot of time installing
and writing data if the drive were to fail
again. The minimum cost of repairing
the drive would be around Rs 400, while
a new drive would cost you around Rs
1,200 only. Secondly, you get a brand
new warranty with a new drive.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP, I use Windows
Vista on my desktop computer.
Recently I discovered that my Internet
was being consumed even when
the computer was idle. On using
certain utilities I realized that a
service called ‘Background Intelligent
Transfer Service’ (BITS) was using the
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 109
 HANDS ON DR CHIP
bandwidth (the full bandwidth, instead
of the 20 percent or so it is claimed
to be using). On manually killing the
process the problem was resolved.
But the service resumes on restarting
the system. Also I suspect my ISP
has a hand in this extra bandwidth
usage. The reason being that the
process ID of the service shows five to
six established connections with the
respective ISP’s gateway. So basically
I need to know how to check which
programs are associated with BITS
and how to permanently disable them.
Please help me. Thanks in advance,
– Racy Bhavik
[A] Hello Bhavik. The Background
Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is
an internal component of Microsoft’s
Windows operating system. It prioritizes,
throttles, and manages asynchronous
data transfer of files between machines
when the network is detected to be
idle. It is used commonly by the latest
versions of Windows Update, Windows
Server Update Services, and Systems
Management Servers to deliver software
updates to the respective components in
the background without the knowledge
of the user. It is also used by Microsoft's
instant messaging programs to transfer
files from one user to another.
BITS is executed through the
‘Component Object Model’ or ‘COM’,
which makes it possible to use with most
any programming languages. Usually,
BITS does all these data transfers
For example, when applications use
around 80 percent of your bandwidth,
BITS will use only the 20 percent which
is available. BITS regularly monitors
network traffic for any fluctuations and
accordingly throttles its transfers. This
is done to ensure that other foreground
applications (web browsers etc) get the
bandwidth they actually need.
If the service is manually stopped,
various features of the OS such as
Windows Update or MSN Explorer
will be not be able to download
anything automatically. If this service is
permanently disabled, any such services
that depend on BITS will fail. In theory
this is a very useful service, especially
as it can continue an interrupted data
download whenever you log off or shut
down the system. Hence I would not
advise disabling the service.
110 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
To disable the service, choose the
‘Classic view’ in ‘Control Panel’, go to
‘Administrative tools’ and double-click
on the ‘Services’ icon. Select the ‘BITS’
option and double click on it. Set the
startup type to ‘Disabled’. Do this at your
own risk
[Q] Dear CHIP, I am regular reader
of your magazine. I have a problem
with my computer. I installed Tuneup
Utilities 2008 (trial version), but due to
some accident, its folder was deleted
from my system. Now I have tried to
install the full version of it from the
DVD which you provided. It is giving me
an error: "INTERNAL SYSTEM ERROR
2753". Please help me. My laptop has
a dual core processor with 512 MB RAM
Make sure you know exactly which services you
want to disable.
and Windows XP Professional as the
operating system. How can I remove
the leftover files of the demo version
from my system and install the full
version?
–Anshuman Tripathi
[A] Hello Anshuman. The problem here
is that the TuneUp installer detects that
it is already installed, but is then not
able to find the files on your computer
as you have accidentally deleted the
program's folder. To rectify the problem,
you can use another computer or a
friend’s computer. Install the same
version of TuneUp on the other computer
and then copy the entire TuneUP folder
from the ‘C:\Program Files’ folder on to
a pen drive or CD/DVD. Then copy this
folder to your computer in the same
location. Now install the new version of
TuneUp and it will find the necessary
uninstallers to remove the older version.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP, I have a problem
booting into Windows. My computer’s
configuration is as follows: Intel Core
2 Duo E8400 processor; Abit IP35
Pro motherboard; 500 GB & 160 GB
Seagate hard drives; Corsair 450W
power supply, Nvidia GeForce 8400
and Palit Radeon ATI 4670 Super
graphics cards.
The problem started when I tried
to remove the Nvidia Graphics card
and tried to put in the Radeon 4670.
I removed the old card from the PCIe
slot and put in the new card. When
I rebooted the system, I received an
error: "Verifying DMI Pool Data: Update
Success GRUB Loading Stage1.5...
GRUB Loading, please wait...ERROR 5".
Assuming that it was a problem
with my newly installed graphics card,
I removed it and put the old one back.
But the same message kept on coming.
I was told by a friend to remove the
old card's drivers and then install the
new one. Repeated rebooting of the
system didn’t help either. Only the
error message changed to "ERROR 21".
I then proceeded to reinstall Windows
XP. I put in my Windows CD, formatted
my C drive and tried to reinstall
Windows. The files got copied, but
when the system restarted, the whole
process of errors began all over again.
I then tried installing Windows
on another drive (Drive E which was
empty). But the installation did not
complete successfully. Then I tried
OpenSuse Linux. But Linux does not
show either of my installed graphics
cards. I can’t boot Windows at all now,
not even with my original Windows
XP CD. What do I do now? All my
important files are on this computer. I
desperately need access to them.
–D Tshering
[A] Hello Tshering. In your case, dust
might have settled inside the PCIe
slot when changing the graphics card.
First, inspect the PCIe slot to see if
there is any clogging or damage to
it. I also suggest that you check your
system hardware thoroughly for any
loose connections. Remove the CPU,
memory modules, graphics card and
other expansion cards if any. Disconnect
all the power connectors and IDE/SATA
cables attached to the motherboard. Use
a good 1-1.5 inch paintbrush and clean
all the visible dust from the computer
parts. Also pay attention to the slots
(memory, PCI and PCIe slots) and ensure
that there are no dust or dirt particles
blocking inside the slots.
After that, carefully clean the
contact terminals of the graphics
card and the memory modules with
isopropyl alcohol. You can get it at most
computer hardware stores. Clean the
dust from the CPU and power supply
fans. Finally, if you have a blower or a
vacuum cleaner, carefully blow away
all the remaining dust from the cabinet
and power supply. Once all this is done,
apply a fresh coat of CPU coolant paste
Using a live edition of Knoppix or Ubuntu can help
you rescue data when the OS crashes.
between the processor and CPU fan.
Reassemble all the parts carefully and
start the computer. Check if the problem
is solved. If not, attach a USB hard
drive or external storage to the USB
port and use a Ubuntu or Knoppix live
Linux distribution to boot the computer
and back up all your data from the
hard drive. Then reformat the entire
drive and install the operating system.
If the problem still persists, then it is
time to have the computer inspected
by a professional. He would be able to
rectify the problem by changing parts to
pinpoint the faulty component.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP, I have two problems
with my computer:
 Last week AVG detected three
viruses in my 'C' drive which I managed
to remove. Ever since then when I try to
open Windows Media Player, an error
message appears saying "An internal
error has occurred" and I am not able
to play any music files.
 I would like to install Vista Home
Premium on my computer. Please
instruct me as to whether the following
configuration is sufficient for Windows
Vista: I use an AMD Athlon 64 X2
5600+ 2.9 GHz processor, 2 GB of
RAM and a 160 GB hard disk. Is it safe
to have two operating systems on
the same computer? I don't want to
uninstall Windows XP SP2.
– Srikkanth Sridhar
[A] Hello Srikkanth. The files infected
with viruses that were detected by AVG
were either deleted or moved to the virus
vault. You need to get clean versions of
these files. Use the command ‘SFC /
SCANNOW ’ from ‘Start | Run...’ dialog box
to repair or restore them. Also you can
try repairing these files by downloading
and installing Windows Media Player 11.
As per your system configuration,
you can run Windows Vista without any
problem. Installing a graphics card would
increase the performance and enable
the Aero interface too. Ensure that you
install the two operating systems on
different partitions and you will have no
problem using Windows XP and Vista on
the same computer.
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP. I am using
a computer with Windows XP
Professional SP3. The system has
an AMD Athlon 64 4600+ processor
with 2 GB of system RAM. I had AVG
8 Free installed on my PC. Since I
wanted better antivirus and Internet
security programs, I purchased the full
version of Kaspersky Internet Security
2009. During Installation it asked me
to remove AVG 8, and I uninstalled it
using CCleaner. When I tried to install
Kaspersky again, the same message
popped up instructing me to remove
AVG 8, which I had already uninstalled.
I tried it several times, but it still
displayed the same message. Please
help me. Thank you.
– Arjun Ramanathan
[A] Hello Arjun. To get rid of AVG
completely from your machine, you will
need to remove certain entries which
are still present in the registry. Click on
‘Start | Run...’ type ‘ Regedit’, and press
[Enter]. Browse to the following keys and
delete them:
 ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
AVG’
 ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Uninstall\AVG8Uninstall’
Also use CCleaner once again to remove
additional entries from the registry.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP. Thanks for your
valuable suggestions in every matter
I have asked you about earlier. I have
a rather unusual query this time. It’s
about DVD players. After writing a CD/
VCD/DVD using Nero Burning ROM,
that particular disk works on some
computers while others show a "no
disc" or "unknown disc" error message
after some time. The same happens
with DVD players; some play all DVDs
fine while others can't recognize the
discs. What could the problem be?
– Sayantan.
Commercial CD drive lens cleaners can help fix
problems related to dust and dirt.
[A] Hello Sayantan. The lens of your
DVD writer could be dirty or misaligned.
Clean the lens using a good lens cleaning
disc or open the writer and clean it
carefully using an ear bud dipped in
isopropyl alcohol if you are comfortable
doing that. Do not open the writer if it
is under warranty. If the problem still
persists, you might need to replace it.
[Q] Dear Sir, I recently assembled
a new gaming rig with a Creative 5.1
sound card. I need to buy a good 5.1
speakers which give me 200 Watts
PMPO, so that I can play games and
watch movies too. My budget is up to
Rs 10,000. Hope you will help me in
selecting a good speaker set.
–Aditya
[A] Hi Aditya, There aren't many good
5.1 speaker sets for your budget, but
there are some really good 2.1 sets such
as the Altec Lansing MX5021 and Klipsch
GMX A 2.1. If you want only 5.1 speakers,
then check out the Artis x10 Mini. It's
very loud, but the sound quality isn't that
great. Also, PMPO is a very misleading
system of rating speakers. For the true
output power, check the RMS rating.
— Send your queries to Francis D'Sa
at drchip@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 111
Windows on Windows
Making Vista and Windows XP dual boot can be quite a pain, but not if you make use of the
right tools. Here’s how you go about it.
BY SANDEEP BALACHANDRAN

W
ith the majority of laptop
and desktop manufacturers
preloading their systems with
Vista today, we are witnessing the end
of the Windows XP era. Just like the
extinction of previous operating systems,
Windows XP has offically been laid to
rest. The same will apply to Vista in
the near future, but the march of time
shouldn’t stop us from running whatever
OS we want (as long as we own a legal
licensed copy).
The problem here, as always, has
been with the installation of an older
operating system over a new one.
In doing so, the existing bootloader
is overwritten (in this case Vista's is
overwritten by the older XP bootloader),
making it impossible to boot into
the newer OS. To further complicate
matters, editing the boot file isn’t the
same as it used to be with XP, since
Vista relies on multiple resources to
boot, including Bcdedit and Bootmgr
to name a few, rather than the simple
'boot.ini' file. This makes editing the
bootloader a pretty complex task, since
adding or removing entries can only be
done via the command prompt.
So if you have Vista preinstalled and
you really want to dual boot it with XP,
one tool you can use is VistaBootPro,
which can be found on this month's DVD
or downloaded from www.vistabootpro.
org. Back up your files before starting,
and follow these simple steps.

RESIZING THE PARTITON(S) TO MAKE WAY FOR WINDOWS XP

STEP 1: Resizing the partition STEP 2: Allocating space for Windows XP

Right-click on My Computer, select 'Manage', and then click 'Disk Management' Enter the am
Enter amoun
amount
ountt o
off spac
sspace
pace
e that
that is re
requi
required
quired
red for
for installing
install
inst alling
ing Windows
Windo
Wi ndows
ws XP.
XP An
in the left pane. Now select the drive that you want to resize. Right-click on it average of 10 GB should suffice. By default Vista allocates a fixed amount of
and select 'Shrink Volume' from the context menu. space depending on your drive's total capacity.

STEP 3: Creating a new volume STEP 4: Renaming and formatting the volume

Once you
Once you have
have shrunk
shrunk
shru nk or resized
resize
res ized
d the
the partition,
partit
par tition
ion, an
an unallocated
unalloc
unal locate
atedd area
area will
will be You wo
would
uld th
then
en nee
needd tto
o format
format
form at the ne
neww volu
v
volume
olume
me using
using the NTFS
NTFS file
file system
ssyst
ystem
em
h d d iin grey. Right-click
seen, shaded Ri ht li k on this
thi area, select
l t 'New
'N Si l Volume',
Simple V l ' and
d d rename it to
and t “Windows
“Wi d XP” Check
XP”. Ch k the
th 'Quick
'Q i k format'
f t' option
ti and d click
li k on
follow the steps thereafter. 'Next'. Then install XP on this partition by booting from the XP CD.

SMS us!  Story code: HDB to 57007 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 113
 HANDS ON WORKSHOP

DUAL BOOTING TWO OPERATING SYSTEMS

STEP 1: Backing up Vista's BCD profile STEP 2: Viewing the current BCD profile

Installl V
Install
Instal Vist
VistaBootPro
istaBo
aBootP
otPro
ro (.NET
( NET v2
v2.0
0 Fram
F
Framework
ramewo
ework
rk req
requir
required).
uired)
ed). On
On starting
startin
star ting
g the
the This is
This is what
what your
your BCD registry
regis
re gistry
try should
shoul
shouldd look
look like
like on the first
first run.
run
ru n. You can
can either
either
eith er
li i you will
application ill be
b redirected
di d to the
h Backup/Restore
k / C
Center. Cli k on
Click get a d il d report off the
detailed h settings
i or jjust a generall overview.
i di i can
No editing
'Browse' and create a backup of your current BCD profiles. be done on this page.

STEP 3: Re-installing the Vista bootloader STEP 4: Scanning for previous version of Windows

Click on the 'System

Click 'S
Syst
ystem
em Bootloader'
Bootlo
Boo tloade
ader'
r option,
option
opt ion, select
ssele
elect
ct 'Windows
'Wi
Windo
ndows
ws Vista
Vista Bootloader'
Bootlo
Boo tloade
ader'
r You can
can choose
choose
choo se to manually
manual
man ually
ly add the
the OS
OS entries
entries
entr ies or si
simpl
simply
mply
y run
run the diagnostic
diagn
diagnost
ostic
ic
and under 'System Bootloader Install Options', select 'All Drives'. Click 'Install tool by selecting 'Diagnostics' and then clicking on 'Run Diagnostics'. The tool
Bootloader' to activate Vista. will automatically add the required entries.

STEP 5: Managing multiple OSs The final boot screen

Click on 'Ma
Click 'Manage
Manag
nage
e BCD
BCD OS Ent
Entrie
Entries'.
ries'
s . Re
Renam
Rename
namee the
the OS by che
checki
checking
cking
ng 'Re
'Rename
Renam
namee OS
OS If everything
everyt
eve rythin
hing
g works
w
work
orkss as
as planned,
p
plan
lanned
ned, tthe
he Win
Window
Windows
dowss Boot
Boot Manager
Ma
Manag
nager
er menu
menu will
will show
show
E t ' Y
Entry'. l change
You can also h th
the bboott d i ((nott recommended)
drive d d) as well
ll as add
dd ti
options ffor b ti iinto
booting t Vista
Vi t and d XP.
XP Y h ld gett a di
You should l with
display ith a menu
new OS entries manually. Finally, click 'Apply Updates' and restart. screen similar to the one shown here.

Your new dual boot PC
It would be advisable to create a
separate partition for storing your
important documents, email, music,
movies and so on, rather than storing
them on the drive where the operating
system resides. This eliminates the
threat of accidentally deleting important
system files and also prevents
fragmentation of the boot partition.
While Vista can resize your hard drive
partitions, it still has limitations. EASEUS
Partition Manager is a free partitioning
utility which allows you to resize your
partitions as per your requirements.
Download it from www.partition-tool.
com or find it on the CHIP DVD.
– sandeep.balachandran@chip.in

114 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 HANDS ON WORKSHOP

Buy One, Get One Free

There are many solutions to enable multiple simultaneous users to access one single computer.
Here's how you can create a similar setup using a simple application.
BY FRANCIS D’SA

Note: A single graphics card with two

M
ost computers are efficient supports hybrid graphics. If it does,
enough to multi-task two you would need to install an additional D-Sub/DVI headers will not work for this
or more applications. But graphics card to have BeTwin running. setup. You would require two physical
we don’t actually use these resources If your motherboard does not support cards. Those of you who already have
completely. Networking computers hybrid graphics, then you would need two display cards and want to try out
together to utilize the multi-user two graphics cards for this workshop. the software can do so with a single user
environment created the server and The onboard graphics card won't work account for a trial period of 30 days.
client solutions, and domains were put because the moment you install a PCIe Additional users will need a license at
into action. But what does a domain card, the onboard graphics gets disabled. $100 (approx Rs 5,000) each.
actually do? They are just regular You can also use PCI VGA cards A live edition of this very same utility
servers with multiple user accounts and which have been outdated. Each is available for trial and it is based on
the client are complete PCs which the graphics card would create an additional a Ubuntu platform but can only be
user uses to log into the server. Here, terminal. Depending on the number of used for testing. You can download the
on the user's end there needs to be a PCI slots available on your motherboard, ISO image of this version from ‘http://
full fledged computer, and it is still not you can create that many terminals for www.download25.com/userful-live-cd-
cost-effective. Novel Netware is a good your system. The best use for this setup download.html’.
example to reduce the cost of hardware is in small offices, homes and cybercafe. – francis.dsa@chip.in
involved in a multi-user environment. But
the only cost that could be saved is that
of the hard drive. you would still need a HARDWARE SETUP
complete computer without a hard disk. USER 1 USER 2 USER 3
The system boots using the Ethernet
card's boot ROM.
Thin clients can be deployed in
places where the cost up to 50 percent
or more can be saved on hardware.
The Thinclient involves a simple and
basic hardware on the client end, which
boots and makes use of the complete
processing power and resources from
the server's hardware. It is a small piece
of electronics that connects the monitor,
keyboard and mouse using the local
area network via the Ethernet card. The
Ncomputing solution is an example HOST PC
which utilizes the resources of the server
(host computer) and runs multiple
simultaneous users. These users connect
VGA CARD
to one single computer by connecting
proprietary hardware to the computer
called 'MuStations'.
In this workshop, we make use of
simple software which does pretty
much the same thing. All you would
additionally need (for each terminal)
is a USB keyboard, a USB mouse, a
monitor and a PCI/PCIe graphics card. USB HUB
If you have built a fairly new desktop
computer, check if your motherboard

116 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HBT to 57007
 CONFIGURE AND USE BETWIN
STEP 1: Download and install BeTwin STEP 2: Getting ready to configure BeTwin

Install the additional graphics card in your system. Connect the USB keyboard Once the installation is done, the setup will pop a message box to confirm
and mouse to the USB ports of the computer. If you have insufficient USB that all the keyboards, mice and monitor are connected and ready to be
ports, a USB hub would suffice. Install the software ‘BeTwin VS or XP’ configured. Press OK to continue the connection wizard.

STEP 3: Assign the mouse and keyboard for each monitor STEP 4: Create user accounts in Windows

Each of the monitors connected will display a message one by one to select Once Windows restarts, double-click on ‘BeTwin Control Panel’ on your
the keyboard/mouse you would want to use with that particular monitor. desktop and click on ‘Users | Users Configuration’. You will need to add one
Complete the necessary steps on each screen and Windows will restart. user for each terminal. Ensure that each user has been assigned a password.

STEP 5: Add the users and assign passwords STEP 6: A live Ubuntu demo pack of the similar type

The option will bring up the Windows ‘User Accounts’ from the control panel. A live edition of the similar utility is available for trial which is based on
Add the number of user accounts required. Ensure that you have equal an Ubuntu platform. You can download the ISO image from ‘http://www.
number of user accounts depending on the number of terminals you create. download25.com/userful-live-cd-download.html’ for trying it out.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 117

 HANDS ON WORKSHOP
Super-quick videos
Exploit the power of your GPU to transcode videos in half the time.
BY ANAND TULIANI
W
e all know that the main
role of graphics processors
is to accelerate graphics in
games and 3D modeling applications.
The tremendous compute power of the
graphics processor was only known in
figures until Nvidia and AMD introduced
application programming interfaces (API)
which allow code written in standard C
language to be executed on the GPU. As
a result there are several non-graphics
applications which utilize its power.
Video encoding is one of the most
CPU intensive tasks and it can take
anywhere for a couple of minutes to a
few hours to convert videos from one
format to the other. The time taken
for conversion depends on the length
of the video, type of codec used, size
and quality of output, and last but
not the least, the hardware. CPUs
BADABOOM MEDIA STUDIO
STEP 1
Specify the video you wish to transcode and select
an output format from the right panel.
AVIVO VIDEO CONVERTER
STEP 1
AVC can be accessed from Catalyst Control Center
only when the mode is set to Basic.
118 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
with more cores are ideal for this task
because they can process multiple
threads simultaneously. But GPUs can
complete the task in less than half the
time if a suitable transcoder is used.
The architecture of GPUs allows them
to handle hundreds to thousands of
parallel operations in one clock cycle
as compared to CPUs that can handle
very few per clock cycle. So if your PC
or laptop has a compatible integrated
or discrete graphics processor, you can
utilize its power to encode videos faster.
Nvidia users
CUDA (Compute Unified Device
Architecture) is Nvidia’s parallel
computing architecture and is supported
by all Nvidia GPUs from the GeForce 8
series onwards (desktop and mobile).
These also include onboard GPUs
STEP 2
The Advanced view allows you to specify the
output resolution, audio and video bitrate.
STEP 2
Click the 'Select Source' button and specify the
video you wish to transcode.
such as the GeForce 8100. Currently,
Badaboom Media Converter is the only
CUDA-compatible video transcoding
utility and can be downloaded from
www.badaboomit.com. Supported input
video formats include MPEG 1 and 2,
H.264, WMV, DivX and XviD, but it can
output video only in H.264 format.
AMD users
AMD calls their parallel computing
architecture AMD Stream, and it is
supported by all GPUs from the Radeon
HD 4000 series. If you own a compatible
card, you can use AMD’s Avivo Video
Converter (AVC) which is freely available
on AMD’s website (drivers section) as an
optional component. AVC is similar to
Badaboom Media Converter, except that
it outputs additional video formats.
– anand.tuliani@chip.in
STEP 3
Specify the output destination and hit the Start
button at the bottom of the window.
STEP 3
Choose the output video format from the drop
down list, set the video bitrate and then click Next.
SMS us!  Story code: HSQ to 57007
HANDS ON TIPS & TRICKS

Tips &
Tricks APRIL 2009

SHARE YOUR TIPS. Write to: tnt@chip.in

Sachin Pandit

WINDOWS
TIP OF THE MONTH 1. Windows XP
Internet Explorer, Firefox 2. Windows XP
3. Windows 2000, XP
ACCESSING FLV VIDEOS 4. Windows XP
Since third party apps could come with
adware, is there an alternative way of 5. Windows XP, Vista
saving videos from popular sites like 6. Windows XP, Vista
YouTube, Google video and the likes?
7. Windows XP, 2003, Vista
121
Using multiple instances of the registry editor
Accelerating the system by moving the page file
Deleting blocked files in Windows Explorer
Getting the deactivated Task Manager back to work
Checking pen drives and memory cards for errors
Re-accessing network shares
Extending log entries for faster error detection

Go to you preferred video site and

play a video. Make sure that you play it APPLICATIONS 123
from beginning to end. After it has been 8. Word XP, 2003, 2007 Preventing automatic table formatting
played, close the browser. Now go to the
9. Excel XP, 2003, 2007 Aligning the contents of a cell to the right and left simultaneously
following address – ‘C:\Documents and
Settings\*\Local Settings\Application Data\ 10. Excel XP, 2003, 2007 Using formulae on a fixed data area every time
Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*.default\Cache’, 11. Outlook 2003, 2007 Automatic classification of email recipients as safe in
where ‘*’ is the user name and ‘*.default’ can the junk filter
be any random number or alphabet followed 12. iTunes 7, 8 Examining folders for new music files automatically
by ‘.default’. For IE go to ‘C:\Documents and
Settings\*\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
13. Adobe DNG Converter Archiving proprietary RAW photos so that they can be stored
for future use
Files’. Right click on a blank space and select
‘View | Details’ and arrange the icons by 14. Digital photography Photographing antiques from extraordinary angles
their size. Now search for the largest files 15. Photoshop Enhancing black & white pictures creatively with color effects
and also check the dates on which they were
16. Internet Using a free web service as FTP client
created. Copy and paste the files to another
folder and rename them with the ‘.flv’ 17. Firefox 2.x, 3.x Calling up your favorite websites instantaneously using
extension. You can now play them file using the keyboard
an appropriate player. 18. Word 2007 Creating Quick Part content
Note: You will need to show hidden files
and folders. To do this double click on ‘My
Computer’, go to ‘Tools | Folder Options |
HARDWARE 127
View’ and select ‘Show hidden files and 19. Digital Camera Increased battery life
folders’. You will also need to uncheck ‘Clear 20. File systems Convert FAT32 partitions to NTFS even after a Windows upgrade
private data’ in Firefox by clicking ‘Tools | is done
Options | Privacy’ and deselect ‘Always clear 21. Monitor Making on-screen text clear and readable
my private data when I close Firefox’.
22. Buffalo Terastation Windows Vista does not memorize usernames and passwords

120 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HTT to 57007
WINDOWS
Windows XP
1 Using multiple instances of
the registry editor
Usually, the registry editor can only
be opened in one instance. If you try
to start it a second time, only the
currently opened program window
is focused. You would prefer two
editors to be open simultaneously, for
instance, to compare key values in a
more effective way.
Make use of the Start menu as
usual and click ‘Run...’ to open a second
registry editor parallel to an instance
that is already open. In this dialog, enter
the ‘regedit.exe’ command in the
‘Open’ field. But this time add the ‘-m’
parameter to it with a space. Windows
will now start another registry editor as
an independent instance. In Windows
Vista, this can be done by entering the
command directly in the search field in
the Start menu.
1 tool named HD Tune from ‘www.hdtune.
Open several registry editor instances by using the
'-m' parameter after 'regedit'.
Note: Changes that are made in one
editor are not automatically detected
by other open editors. Thus, you need
to click [F5] to refresh the display. With
every opened registry editor instance,
you directly access the same database.
Windows XP
2 Accelerating the system by
moving the page file
Windows continues to get on your
nerves because of its snail’s pace. You
suspect the paging file to be the culprit
here. As you have several hard disks on
your computer, you want to know the
2 computer for the changes to take effect.
Determine your fastest drive using HD Tach and
shift you page file to it for faster access.
best way to configure the paging file
for quicker access.
The page file is supposed to be
on the disk that has the highest transfer
rate in the PC. For example, if Windows
has to move larger graphics and an older
disk transfers data at only 10 MB per
second, the computer comes de facto to
a standstill.
Determining Transfer Rates: To
start with, download and install a free
com’. Select the desired hard disk in the
upper part of the window and activate
the ‘Benchmark’ tab in it. Click ‘Start’
and wait for the analysis to complete
without using the computer during this
period. Now note down the ‘Average’
values in the ‘Transfer Rate’ and ‘Access
Time’ areas. Repeat this procedure for
other internal drives.
Moving the page file: For the page
file, select the disk with the highest
transfer rate and defragment it. After
you have finished defragmenting
the selected drive right click on ‘My
Computer’ and click on properties. Click
‘Settings’ under ‘Performance’ in the
‘Advanced’ tab. Switch to the ‘Advanced’
tab here and click ‘Change’ under ‘Virtual
Memory’. Select the drive you just
determined to be the fastest and enable
the ‘Custom Size’ option. Enter the same
value in the ‘Initial Size’ and ‘Maximum
Size’ fields in MB and click on 'Set'.
Note: The page file should be double
the size of the installed RAM, and if you
have space to spare, keep a fixed size
for the page file. Now select the slower
drive on which the paging file is currently
saved. Select the ‘No Paging File’ option
and click on ‘Set’. Finally, confirm all the
open dialogs with ‘OK’ and restart the
Windows 2000, XP
3 Deleting blocked files in
Windows Explorer
Sometimes it is just not possible
to delete a file. Windows Explorer
refuses access to the file with an error
message which says, for instance, that
other programs are currently using the
file. The same happens even after you
restart the computer.
This demands some manual work:
close all running programs as well as
the icons in the system tray. Now open
the prompt using ‘Start | Run’, type ‘cmd’
and click on ‘OK’. Subsequently open
the Task Manager with the keyboard
shortcut [CTRL] + [ALT] + [DEL]. Now
select the ‘explorer.exe’ entry from the
list in the ‘Processes’ tab and click ‘End
Process’. Use the command prompt
and navigate to the directory where the
file is located using DOS commands.
For example, if the stubborn document
‘Resume.doc’ is in ‘D:\Data\Documents’,
switch to this path by entering ‘d:’ in the
command prompt and type the following
‘cd data\documents’. It might now
be possible to delete the file using the
command ‘del resume.doc’. If it still
does not work, you will need to reset the
‘Write Protection’, ‘Hidden’ and ‘System’
file attributes before using the ‘del’
command.
Type the following command in
the command prompt to reset the
attributes of the file: ‘attrib –r –h
–s resume.doc’. You can now use the
‘del’ command to delete the stubborn
3
Delete stubborn files by removing their attributes
via the command prompt.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 121
 HANDS ON TIPS & TRICKS
file. After you are done, bring up the
task manager and click on ‘File | New
task’ and enter ‘explorer.exe’. You can
now close the task manager and begin
working as usual.
Windows XP
4 Getting the deactivated Task
Manager back to work
You have logged into a user account
with administrator rights. However,
if you try to open the Task Manager
using [CTRL]+[ALT]+[Del], you get the
message "The Task Manager has been
disabled by the Administrator".
4 start the network diagnosis.
Reactivating the Task Manager via the Group
Policy Editor.
If you are using Windows XP
Professional, open the Group Policy
Editor with ‘Start | Run’, type ‘gpedit.
msc’ and click ‘OK’. Open ‘Administrative
Templates | System | Ctrl + Alt + Del
Options’ under ‘User Configuration’ on
the left side of the window. Now double-
click ‘Remove Task Manager’ in the right
hand side of the window and adjust the
setting to ‘Disabled’.
With Windows XP Home, you will
need to open the registry editor and
navigate to the ‘HKEY _CURRENT_USER\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\System’ key.
Now open the ‘DisableTaskMgr’ entry by
double-clicking in the right side of the
window. Change its ‘Value’ to ‘0’ and
confirm the same with ‘OK’.
Note: After this action, run an up-to-
date virus scanner and antispyware
tool to scan your system for malicious
software without fail, because the Task
Manager can also be deactivated for
the administrator due to viruses or other
pests trying to hide themselves.
122 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
QUICK TIPS
READING BIOS INFO IN WINDOWS
The BIOS as well as the system information
can be viewed within the Windows registry
under ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ HARDWARE\
DESCRIPTION\System’.
LOCKING YOUR TERMINAL
INSTANTLY
If you have allocated a password for your
user account, you can lock your terminal
faster using the key combination [Windows]
+ [L] instead of logging out.
FINDING NETWORK ERRORS
Open ‘Start | Run...’ and type ‘ hcp://
system/netdiag/dglogs.htm’ to
STARTING UP WITHOUT A LOGO
To boot without the Windows logo, enter the
‘/noguiboot ’ option in the hidden file ‘C:\
boot.ini’ at the end of ‘multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)
partition(1)\WINDOWS’. Alternatively you
can go to ‘Start | Run...’, type ‘msconfig’
followed by [Enter]. Select the ‘BOOT.INI’
tab, check the ‘/NOGUIBOOT’ option, and
click on ‘OK’ to confirm.
SHOWING NETWORK LOGIN DATA
To show ot delete saved network login data,
open ‘Start | Run...’ and type ‘rundll32
keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr’.
Windows XP, Vista
5 Checking pen drives and
memory cards for errors
After your last vacation, you found that
the SD card you used in your camera
was defective. It’s just not possible
to read some of the photos any more.
You certainly don’t want this to happen
ever again.
You can conduct a thorough test
of diverse flash memory devices using
‘Check Flash’, a free utility that can be
downloaded from ‘www.softpedia.com/
get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Check-
Flash.shtml’. The tool can be used
immediately without installation once
you unpack the ZIP archive.
Note: Before starting the check, take
a backup of the photos that are on the
card, since the writing/reading tests
overwrite all data. For this purpose,
first select ‘As logical drive’ from the
‘Access type’ options. You will be able
to perform actions such as ‘Save image’,
which tests for read errors and saves
5
You can check for USB sticks and memory cards for
errors by using the Check Flash tool.
the entire test process as an image file.
‘Load image’ on the other hand checks
for write errors.
Conducting the Test: To commence
testing, connect the flash device to the
system and run the tool. Select the drive
concerned in the ‘Drive’ combination
field. Retain the ‘Use temporary file’ as
the ‘Access type’ settings. Only the ‘Write
and read test’ action is available for
this type. Also leave the ‘Small pattern
set’ option as it is. Thus configured, a
complete test cycle consists of two test
runs with different data. This is sufficient
for a flash device. If you want to do a
thorough check, select ‘Full pattern set’.
The tool then conducts 18 test runs for
every single bit to check its functioning—
but this takes quite some time. To start
the same, click ‘Start’ and wait for the
analysis to complete.
Moreover, the test will let you have
a good look at the actual writing and
reading speeds for practical use. You
will know immediately whether the
manufacturer's specifications are
realistic or not.
Windows XP, Vista
6 Re-accessing network shares
For a while now you haven't been able
to access your server and network
drives from your PC. Everything
was working smoothly till Windows
displayed the warning "Insufficient
memory for this command".
It is likely that the server
configuration has been changed.
However, this Windows message is
misleading, since there is no problem
with the memory at all. On the

6 8
Re-access network shares by increasing the
IRPStackSize value within the registry.
contrary, there is a bottleneck in the
Microsoft Lanman server: The value for
‘IRPStackSize’ is too small. Increase this
value in the registry to get rid of this
problem for good.
Open ‘Run...’ in the Start menu, enter
‘regedit’, and click ‘OK’. In the registry
editor, navigate to the key ‘HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\ SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\LanmanServer\Parameters’.
Now look for the ‘IRPStackSize’ D-WORD
value in the right part of the window.
Double click to open it. If the value does
not exist, create it with ‘Edit | New |
DWORD value’.
Important: be careful with the upper
and lower cases in names. Change the
base to ‘Decimal’ in the dialog box and
enter ‘15’ as the value. Now close the
registry and restart the PC. You will
now be able to access the server and
network drives. If the problem persists,
you can increase the value further up to
a maximum of ‘50’.
Windows XP, 2003, Vista
7 Extending log entries for faster
error detection
The system has started giving trouble
after a new program was installed.
Windows records all events in a log file.
However, the details in it are not clear
enough to diagnose the problem.
In the registry, you can specify
whether Windows should record detailed
log entries in the event log.
For this, open ‘Start | Run...’, enter
‘regedit’ and confirm the same with
‘OK’. In Vista, this can be done by
entering the command directly in the
search field in the start menu. Now
navigate to the registry key ‘HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics’.
If the key does not exist, create a new
one with ‘Edit | New | Key’. Here, create
a new value of the type ‘REG_DWORD’
and give it one of the following names,
which facilitates various functions:
 ‘RunDiagnosticsLoggingGlobal’
collects information about users
 ‘RunDiagnosticsLoggingGroupPolicy’
logs all events with relation to group
policies
 ‘RunDiagnosticsLoggingAppDeploy’
records the settings for software
allocations
 ‘RunDiagnosticsLoggingIntelliMrror’
records the settings of RIS policies
(Remote Installation Services).
Once you have named the new key,
double-click to open it and set its ‘Value’
to ‘1’. Entering ‘0’ would deactivate the
7 fit contents’ in the next dialog box, i.e.,
Detect specific errors by making Windows record
detailed events in a log file.
extended log entries again. On restarting
the system, you will find the extended
information in the ‘Event Viewer’. To
start the program, select ‘Run’ in the
start menu, type ‘eventvwr’, and
press [Enter]. The event categories are
arranged in the tree structure on the
left. Select one and search for entries
that begin with ‘Error’ or ‘Warning’ in the
list to the right. Double-clicking opens a
window containing more information.
APPLICATIONS
Word XP, 2003, 2007
8 Preventing automatic table
formatting
Word at times automatically changes
the column width of a table at its own
discretion. This jumbles up the entire
page layout.
You can avoid automatic size adjustments of tables
by deactivating this option.
Right-click any one cell of the
table in the document and select the
‘Table Properties’ context command.
Go to the ‘Options’ button in the ‘Table’
tab and remove the check mark in front
of the option ‘Automatically resize to
‘Table Options’. Then close all opened
dialogs with ‘OK’. After this, Word will
not adjust the column width of this table
on its own.
Note: The changed option works for the
current table only. If required, you will
have to configure the setting for every
table separately.
Excel XP, 2003, 2007
9 Aligning the contents of a
table cell to the right and left
simultaneously
Cell contents can be aligned to the left
or right—however, only one of the two
is possible at a time. But for currency
values, it makes more sense to align
the currency to the left and the amount
to the right.
This task can be completed with
a special number format. First enter the
desired data in the cell. Then execute
the ‘Format | Cells’ command in the
selected cell and activate the ‘Number’
tab. Select the ‘Custom’ category on the
left side of the dialog box and then click
the entry towards the right in ‘Type’ field.
Now enter a format code such as ‘ $ *
###.##’ for instance. Confirm with ‘OK’
to apply the formatting.
The trick here is the star ‘*’ that
separates the left-justified and right-
justified part of the format. See to it that
you leave a space after the star. Excel
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 123
 HANDS ON TIPS & TRICKS
9 10
The star in the format code allows you to divide
cell content in left and right-justified portions.
uses the immediate following character
to fill the resulting gap in the cell. In this
way, you can even create specific effects
as per your wish. For example, the empty
space would be filled with an underscore
is you use the string ‘ $ *_###.##’.
The star as a format code can also be
combined with any other option. In this
format, the default alignment applied
to the cell becomes irrelevant, since
the new rule creates a pseudo-justified
appearance in each case.
Excel XP, 2003, 2007
10 Using formulae on a fixed data
area every time
Variable average values or sums are to
be calculated for a specified data area
in a table. The evaluation always refers
to the same area—it should not change
even if new data columns are inserted.
Fixed cell references, defined
by a prefixed dollar sign, do not work
here since their values increase with
every additional cell. However, all
formula references are customized
when inserting new columns. This
behavior is acceptable in most cases.
The ‘INDIRECT’ function provides an
approach for this special case.
This functional argument refers to a
cell that contains a reference in the text
form, for example ‘B3’. However, the
argument can also directly specify the
desired reference in the text form. Excel
does not directly consider this textually
defined reference as a reference and
hence does not modify it when making
changes in the table. You can apply any
possible reference and use this function
for other calculations.
124 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The 'Indirect' function allows you to lock cells in a
row irrespective of the columns added.
Example: Enter "=SUM (INDIRECT
(“A2:C2”))" as the formula to add up
the values from the first three columns.
The usual reference is thus more or less
covered with the ‘INDIRECT (‘‘)’ function.
Outlook 2003, 2007
11 Automatic classification of
email recipients as safe in the
junk filter
The integrated spam filter is working
perfectly. However, you can configure
it to automatically add all email
addresses to the safe senders list.
Outlook offers an option for
this task with Service Pack 1 for Office
2003 onwards. However, it still needs
to be activated. For this, open ‘Tools |
Options’ and switch to the ‘Preferences’
tab. Click ‘Junk E-mail’ in the ‘E-mail’
section and subsequently activate the
‘Safe Senders’ tab. Here, you will find
a list of all senders who have already
been included. Now activate the
‘Automatically add people I e-mail to
11
Make Outlook's spam filter automatically classify
email addresses as safe senders.
the Secure Senders list’ option. Confirm
the setting by clicking ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’ in
succession and close the dialog box that
is still open.
Note: Use this function only if you
have an antivirus program installed and
actively scanning your email.
iTunes 7, 8
12 Examining folders for new
music files automatically
iTunes runs as a standard media player
on many machines. The program
automatically imports entire albums
from CDs. However, you need to
manually add songs to the library from
other media, such as a USB pen drive,
which can be quite a pain.
A simple tool known as iTunes
Folder Watch spares you the effort
of rescanning your folders while
maintaining the iTunes library. You
can download the program from
12
Automatically add contents to your iTunes library
by using this free tool.
‘albumbrowser.klarita.net/itfw.html’. The
program requires the .NET Framework 2
to work, which can be downloaded from
www.filehippo.com/download_dotnet_
framework_2.
First, run iTunes and then install
the tool. Click the folder icon next to
‘Add Folder’ in the ‘Watch Folders’ tab.
Navigate to the desired music folder.
Click the plus sign to add the selected
folder that needs to be monitored. Check
whether the ‘Include Subfolders’ option
has been activated. If you have included
all required folders, click ‘Check Now’
for analysis. In addition, you can exclude
certain folders from getting monitored in
the ‘Exclusions’ tab. Thus, you can first
test new downloads or files received
from friends, without adding these to the
library. You will now find the test result
and a list of all the tracks in the ‘New
Tracks’ tab. You can even deactivate
individual tracks using a checkbox.
Subsequently, click ‘Add Checked Tracks
to iTunes’ to add all the selected tracks
to the library.
In addition, you can also use the
‘iTunes Folder Watch (Background
Monitoring)’ version. The tool uses the
Windows notification area to alert you
as soon as it discovers new tracks in
the monitored folders. The paid version
integrates seamlessly into iTunes.
Adobe DNG Converter
13 Archiving proprietary RAW
photos so that they can be
stored for future use
More and more digital cameras are
saving photos in the lossless RAW
format. The problem here is that
there is no one RAW format, but
many different manufacturer-specific
versions. It is possible that no program
will be able to read any of your files in
a few years using them. Which is the
best way to archive your RAW photos?
In reality, there are number of
examples of digital data formats in
the history of computers which started
promisingly, failed badly, and then finally
disappeared from the scene. Now,
attempts to open documents in such
formats with current programs either fail
or result in illegible junk. This is a risk in
the case of RAW photos as well. Hence,
it makes sense to convert your pictures
into a format that has a good chance for
survival next year: DNG, short for Digital
Negative.
This file format for camera RAW data,
initiated by Photoshop manufacturer
Adobe in 2004, was introduced to
replace the multiple proprietary RAW
formats used by manufacturers. It has
not worked well so far, but there is still
a good chance that DNG will establish
itself as a standard just like the PDF
format. The reason is that Adobe has
disclosed all the format specifications,
unlike other camera manufacturers,
making it easy to adopt and standardize.
Flexible processing options are an
advantage of DNG files. There is no need
to use specific software bundled with a
camera by its manufacturer; plus there
is no danger of possible incompatibility
between older cameras and newer RAW
software versions. Users have the option
to choose the software they want to use
for processing DNG files further. A variety
of applications can already process
the DNG format. Since the end 2005,
more and more camera manufacturers
including Leica, Samsung and Ricoh,
are directly supporting DNG. Adobe has
provided a free DNG converter at www.
adobe.com/products/dng to convert
your RAW files. You can get started after
downloading the 35 MB program and
subsequently installing it.
Start Adobe DNG Converter and
select the source folder that contains
your pictures. Then specify the directory
in which the program should store the
completed files. Name the photos and, if
required, adjust parameters such as the
size of the preview pictures using ‘Pre-
settings’. If you want to play it safe, you
can not only convert the RAW files but
also embed the originals into the digital
negative as a backup. The drawback of
doing this is of course that each file's
size increases by almost double.
On clicking ‘Convert’, the program
converts all the selected pictures to the
DNG format in one go.
Digital photography
14 Photographing antiques from
extraordinary angles
As a connoisseur of vintage cars,
you like taking photos at meets and
events. You have a store of pictures by
now—and all look somewhat similar:
impressive cars, sometimes angled
from the front, side or back. Even
though they're all good pictures, slide
shows of them get quite boring.
Forget the subject as a whole
and concentrate on details when you
get your next opportunity to photograph
vintage cars. Capturing interesting and
constructive treasures and curved forms
add that extra something to your shots.
Besides, it is fun to concentrate on the
detailing at times. It could be wheel
hubs, hood ornaments, instruments,
gearshifts, headlights, chrome detailing—
the list is neverending.
Reduced focal lengths of about 50
mm are well suited for closeups since
14
A closely cropped section has more meaning than
the whole image when it comes to showing details.
they result in an impression similar to
the way the human eye sees. There is no
risk of picking up the distortions that are
typical of wide-angle lenses.
Try to play with the depth of field.
With that, you can specifically draw
the attention of the viewer to the
desired detail. Striking subjects are
also worth capturing: if you take a
closer look, grooves and door edges or
mudguards and tires can combine to
form breathtaking subjects. Thus, the car
itself is deemphasized.
Photoshop
15 Enhancing black & white
pictures creatively with color
effects
Interesting black & white photos can
be generated from many color photos
and that too without much effort.
However, they still lack the oomph you
desire to see in them.
Coloring black and white photos
can be best done in Photoshop using
separate color filter layers. These are
normally created on the whole photo
and have the same effect all over—we
know this from sepia shades. But that
should not happen. If the filter layer
takes the luminance of the picture into
account, it stands out better in dark
areas. It offers creative leeway. And just
like all layers, you can also restrict them
to certain areas by using masks.
Inserting Filter Layers: Open the
picture and then bring up the Layers
palette with [F7]. Click the icon for ‘New
Adjustment Layer’ and select ‘Photo
filter’. Photoshop offers a warm filter by
default. Set its ‘Thickness’ to ‘100’—this
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 125
 HANDS ON TIPS & TRICKS
is how you will get a bright shade. Then
double-click ‘Photo filter 1’ in the Layers
palette; it is best if you name the layer
based on the color used. This way you
know what is what at a glance.
Applying More Colors: Now click the
automatically created layer mask and
press [Ctrl] + [I], whereupon Photoshop
masks the photo filter layer in black. You
can now apply more color layers just
like in the last step. The program offers
many templates, which correspond
to the lens filters used in traditional
photography. In addition you can also
create your own filters by clicking the
color field and defining a color in the
following ‘Color Picker’ dialog box.
Modelling Layer Masks: You now
selectively bring the colors into play:
click the layer mask of a photo filter
layer, take a white brush with little
‘Hardness’ or ‘Contrast’ and paint the
selected area. Gradually go to other
photo filter layers and deal with them
the same way. What’s important:
Overlapping colors have a tendency
to blend. You can tone down the color
application using the opacity regulator.
Intensifying Colors: Bright areas have
not been dyed so far. If you want to tone
them, remove the check mark in front
of ‘Luminosity’ in the photo filter layers.
In addition, you can pep up the picture
by placing a layer set in such a manner
as the uppermost layer and by setting
your layer mode to ‘Color Burn’ thereby
making the colors much more noticeable.
Internet
16 Using a free web service as
FTP client
You occasionally need FTP access to
the Internet on an unknown computer.
You need a tool that is quick and easy
to install or an alternative, in case the
former cannot be installed.
If there are no FTP clients
installed on the computer, you can easily
make do with a web service. For this,
you need to open www.anyclient.com/
applet.html. The website requires Java
to be installed.
After you enter the site, allow the
installation of the Java application by
clicking on ‘Execute’ in the warning that
is displayed. You must enter or store
the necessary access data every time
126 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
16
The AnyClient service allows you to copy files the
same way as any other FTP software would.
a connection is established. For this,
click the ‘Connect’ button below. Now
select the desired connection in the
Site Manager or click ‘New’ to create a
new connection. Then enter a name and
enter all the required access data such
as ‘Host’, ‘Username’ and ‘Password’ on
the right. First click ‘Save’ to save this
configuration for future use on the local
computer. Then confirm with ‘Connect’.
You can now navigate through the
folder of the local as well as the remote
computer in the main window of the Java
application and create, delete, or rename
files and folders using the buttons. You
can data from one computer to the other
but you cannot edit the files directly on
the server. For that, you have to first
download the files in which you want to
make the changes, and reupload them
after editing.
Firefox 2.x, 3.x
17 Calling up you favorite
websites instantaneously
using the keyboard
You open a few frequently visited
websites using the bookmarks toolbar
or menu. You want to know whether
you can do the same using a quick
keyboard shortcut.
You can call up the site faster by
using the bookmark toolbar. However,
no browser offers the option for directly
calling up websites using a keyboard
shortcut. Site Launcher, a free add-on,
retrofits this function. You can download
the add-on from ‘https://addons.mozilla.
org/en/firefox/addon/10127’. Click the
‘Add to Firefox’ button. Complete the
installation by clicking ‘Install now’ and
17
Bring up websites at the click of a button by adding
an extension called SiteLauncher to Firefox.
then ‘Restart Firefox’. The add-on is very
easy to use and immediately available
with a few sample sites.
Press the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl]
+ [Spacebar] to call up a selection.
A window at the center of the screen
displays the defined shortcuts in the
form of recognizable icons, which you
can instantly open in a new tab by
pressing the assigned key.
Open the new command ‘Site
Launcher | Manage Shortcuts’ to
customize the site allocation. You can
define a new shortcut below in the
dialog box using the ‘Key’, ‘Title’ as well
as ‘URL’ fields; you can add this new
shortcut by clicking ‘Add Shortcut’. If you
want to delete a link that is not used,
select it and click the cross symbol to
its right. If you have already memorized
the keyboard key associated with a given
site, you can launch it immediately with
a single keyboard combination: [Alt] +
[Shift] + [Defined Key].
Word 2007
18 Creating Quick Part content
Creating a Quick Part allows you to
make a block of text easily accessible
and reusable. This will make your
document appear uniform, apart from
saving your time.
Word 2007 helps you capture
content from one document and reuse it
over and over again in other documents
as a building block. Building blocks are
parts of a document you can save using
the Quick Parts tool and later insert into
other documents. For example, you may
want to save your company's logo and
contact information, a design layout of
a report or any other style that you may
use in other documents. To create a
Quick Part building block in Word 2007
follow these steps.
 Select the content you want to save
as a building block.
 Click the ‘Insert’ tab.
 Click the ‘Quick Parts’ button from
the ribbon that appears.
Note: The content you select can
include text, images and special
formatting. Even drawings and hyperlinks
can be saved.
 Select the ‘Save selection to quick
part gallery’ option. The ‘Create New
Building Block’ dialog box appears.
 Type in a name for the building block
in the ‘Name’ text box. Enter the other
details in the appropriate boxes and click
‘OK’ to save the entry.
Now that you have saved your building
blocks inserting them into your
documents is even simpler.
Here is how you go about it:
 Open a new document.
 Place the cursor where you want to
add your previously saved building block.
 Click the ‘Quick Part’ button from the
‘Insert’ toolbar.
 Select the building block you want to
add from the choices in the dropdown
menu that appears.
HARDWARE
Digital Camera
19 Increased battery life
Increase the battery life of your digital
camera on outdoor shoots, so you can
capture every spontaneous moment.
There are bound to be times when
you could be in a place that doesn’t
allow you to charge your batteries (say
trekking or while sailing) and you notice
the rapidly declining battery indicator.
Here are some tips that can help you
maximize your batteries remaining life.
 Turn off the LCD, since it eats into
your camera’s battery. It is better to
keep it turned off and use the viewfinder
instead.
 Plan your shots before turning on the
camera. Turning the camera on and off
after every shot will use up more battery
power than turning the camera on,
taking a few shots and then turning it off.
 Most of us have the tendency to
repeatedly view clicked images. It is best
to avoid playback of the pictures and
videos you just clicked. This will help in
conserving battery life.
Follow these tips to squeeze a few
more shots out of your digital camera
with the same old batteries. Of course,
the best thing to do to avoid situations
where you are stranded with dying
batteries would be to carry an extra
battery pack for your camera.
File Systems
20 Convert FAT32 partitions to
NTFS even after a Windows
upgrade is done
While trying to upgrade Windows from
a previous version, if at all you skipped
the file system conversion process, you
can convert a FAT volume to NTFS at
any point after installation.
Windows has a built in command
line tool called ‘convert.exe’. To convert
a partition from FAT32 to NTFS make
sure you first create a backup of your
data before you start. Now, click ‘Start
| Programs | Accessories | Command
Prompt’. At the command prompt type
‘Convert’ followed by the drive letter
and then the file system type that
you want to convert to. For instance,
if partition ‘D’ (FAT32) needs to be
changed to an NTFS file system, the
command used would be ‘convert d:\
/fs:ntfs’. The duration of this process
will depend on the size of your hard drive
or partition. Please note, drives once
converted to NTFS cannot be converted
back to FAT32.
Monitor
21 Making on-screen text clear
and readable
Increasing the resolution of the screen
results in smaller fonts making the
screen blurry. You can increase the font
size by tweaking the monitor settings.
You can change the display
settings to make viewing text and
graphics on the monitor easier or you
can do the following without changing
the resolution. Right-click on the screen,
click on ‘Properties’ and select the
‘Settings’ tab. Click on the ‘Advanced’
button and make sure that the ‘General’
20
Increase the DPI setting for your monitor to make
text more readable.
tab is selected. In the ‘Display’ box, click
on the DPI combination field. By default,
Windows applies the ‘Normal’ settings.
Choose ‘Large’ or customize the value to
select the exact percentage.
Buffalo Terastation
22 Windows Vista does not
memorize usernames and
passwords
Accessing a Buffalo TeraStation
external storage device was never a
problem till the change from Windows
XP to Vista. Since Vista was installed
on the PC, the username and password
must be entered during each access.
The security settings in Windows
Vista are at fault here. They determine
which request/acknowledgement
authentication protocol is used for the
network registration. By default, it is set
to NTLMv2 (NT LAN Manager Version 2)
in Windows Vista. However, the Buffalo
TeraStation still uses NTLM. To change
the settings, click on the Start button,
enter ‘secpol.msc’ in the search field,
and press [Enter]. Confirm the launch of
the console with ‘Continue’.
Finally, double click and open the
‘Security options’ in the ‘Local Policies’
tree. Select ‘Network security: LAN
Manager Authentication level’ in
the list that is displayed next. A double-
click on it opens a dialog box. Here,
change the ‘Local security settings’
default option from ‘Send NTLMv2
response only’ to ‘Send LM & NTLM use
NTLMv2 session security if negotiated’.
Click ‘OK’.
– Compiled by Team CHIP
send your tips to tnt@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 127
 UNWIND REVIEW
A
n hour in of playing Resident Evil
5 and it's obvious that the game
is more action than survival
horror. Gone are the days where you’re
wandering desolate locales avoiding
being ambushed by hungry zombies.
Instead you’re exploring the gorgeously
detailed continent of Africa with your
beautiful partner while killing some
zombies amidst great production values
and epic set pieces.
You’re Chris Redfield, a BSAA
(Bioterrorism Security Assessment
Alliance) operative who’s been sent to
Africa to investigate reports of the Las
More zombies,
more guns, more
awesomeness! Resident
Evil is still one of the
best horror games
around.
BY AVINASH BALI
Plagas virus. Your beautiful new partner be dangerous adversaries, the details of
goes by the name of Sheva Alomar, a which you’d rather find out on your own.
BSAA agent who was orphaned at an Monster design in this game is amazing
early age by the infamous Umbrella and you’ll genuinely be creeped out with
Corporation. Chris also has a personal some of the disgusting creatures you’ll
stake in this mission since his old encounter during the course of the game.
partner, Jill Valentine (who he and The addition of an AI controlled
the rest of the world presumed dead) partner (Sheva) is a boon no doubt, but
has magically turned up in this messy friendly AI isn’t as impressive as we’d
equation. Then there's the welcoming hoped. No matter what weapon we
party of hyper-violent, mutated locals handed Sheva, she still felt the need to
waiting to rip you to shreds. Good luck use her pistol even against 20 foot-tall
with that. bosses. Also, once she ran out of ammo
In true Capcom style, Resident Evil 5 with one weapon she didn’t feel the
is full of over the top, hammy villains need to remove another weapon from
and protagonists who I’m sure have her inventory and you know, use it.
been schooled by Captain Obvious.
Making matters worse are the god
awful accents associated with these
RATINGS
diabolical characters. Still the story itself FPS—SURVIVAL/HORROR
is pretty interesting and the game does
a great job of initiating newcomers to
Resident Evil 5
the Resident Evil lore. In fact the game PRICE Rs 3,499
PUBLISHER Capcom
actually educates players on the history
DEVELOPER Capcom
of the Umbrella Corporation via text
DISTRIBUTOR Milestone Interactive
messages that pop up during the loading
PHONE 022-28203319
screen. Very cool!
EMAIL info@milestoneinteractive.com
Gameplay is pretty similar to RE4
PLATFORM PS 3, Xbox 360
which means you’ll explore a certain
area, indulge in a bit of zombie slaughter RATINGS
and end the chapter with a humongous GAMEPLAY
boss fight. It’s predictable and linear ENVIRONMENT
but the game’s production values are OVERALL RATING
ridiculously awesome enough to keep FOR
you hooked till the very end. Besides Co-operative gameplay, an intense experience, one of the most
bosses, you’ll encounter a multitude of good looking games on the block.
grunts and mini-bosses, all of which
AGAINST
are anything but slow and dumb. Even
Annoying control scheme, offers limited replyayability.
once you blow some of their heads off
with a shotgun, they can still prove to
Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: URE to 57007

She has been annoying people and dogs on the ground with that laser for days now! Someone confiscate it!
The commands you can issue to your
partner are limited as well and you can
only order her to cover you or attack a
target, but she does save you from dying
sometimes. Not that dying is a problem
because the game’s not too tough or
anything; in fact, Capcom has made the
game terribly accessible to newcomers.
You now have an awesome checkpoint
system that kicks in ever so often
reducing much of the backtracking and
frustration associated with this series.
What will get you killed are the game’s
annoying controls and painful inventory
system. Allow us to elaborate.
For starters, you get stuck with just
one inventory bag and a limited amount
of slots. You can’t buy a bigger bag nor
can you buy more slots. Weapons and
ammunition require separate slots so
this means that you are cutting down
your carrying capacity by a half. Finally,
if you purchase armor, why on earth do
you have to keep it in the bag and waste
an entire slot on it? Aren't you wearing it
in order to protect your body?
While playing solo, you’ll have access
to Sheva’s bag as well, so you can pretty
much stock it with whatever you feel
like and then ask her for that particular
commodity during the game. Oh and
unlike most action games on the block
you can’t switch weapons on the fly so
you’ll have to open your inventory, equip
the weapon and then use it. This is done
in real time which means you better be
careful or changing weapons could cost
you your life.
Another game mechanic you should
be careful about is reloading because it
causes your character to stop moving
completely. Same goes with shooting,
that cannot be done while walking.
You have to stand still just like in RE4.
Now this is an unnecessary and highly
archaic gameplay mechanic in our
opinion. If Capcom is going the action
way with this franchise, why keep the
control scheme this rigid? A simple quick
switch key would have solved matters
here. Seriously, even if you want to
melee attack you have to press LB to
draw your weapon and then press RT.
Capcom seems to think a rigid control
scheme heightens the tension but all
it really does is tick people off (Dead
Rising anyone?) and the last thing that
Capcom would want to do is to frustrate
newcomers to the franchise, who might
just get turned off by these controls.
As far as visuals are concerned,
Resident Evil 5 is a technical marvel.
Major props should be handed out to
Capcom who’ve maintained a constant
30 FPS even with gigantic bosses on
screen and no matter how intense
things got, the framerate never skipped
a beat. They’ve paid a ridiculous
amount of attention to character, level
and creature design. Some of those
monsters were truly disturbing to look at.
Weapons sound authentic enough while
dialogues—as mentioned earlier—are
cheesy and annoying to a certain extent.
The musical score is pretty atmospheric,
picking up appropriately as the tension
heightens further.
So is Resident Evil 5 worth three
and a half grand? Well yes and no. It’s
a very linear game and apart from a
co-operative mode that may warrant
a second playthrough, it offers no
replayability. Sure there’s the Mercenary
mode that gets unlocked after you
complete the game where you and a
friend can take on wave after wave of
the Majhini during a stipulated time
period but it’s still not full fledged
multiplayer we’re talking about. Plus the
game’s also plagued by an annoying
inventory system and anal controls. A lot
of the tension and dread associated with
this series has been toned down with
the addition of co-operative gameplay,
so players who’re looking at being
scared out of their wits may get a bit
disappointed by this game.
But at the same time it’s one of the
most technically proficient games on the
block and offers an intense gameplay
experience if you can look past the above
mentioned flaws. Even if you are new to
the series, don’t sweat it since the game
does a bang up job of easing you into the
whole Resident Evil Lore. If you have the
dough, we recommend shelling out the
big bucks on this game.
– feedback@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 129
UNWIND REVIEW

This RTS game is an

innovative experience but
is it a good game? Get your
headset out cause you'll
need it for Tom Clancy's
Endwar.
BY NIKHIL SINGH
Y
ou've got to admit it—no matter
how silly asserting battle
commands into a microphone
might feel, the idea of controlling an
entire army using just your voice sounds
really cool. That's exactly what Tom
Clancy's EndWar (Ubisoft's latest
RTS) offers—the ability to dish out
instructions through your microphone,
in order to do everything from making
your tanks retreat from a sour battle, to
commanding your infantry to capture
an objective in order to win a game. In
fact, the game was designed ground-up
to be played this way, and for what it's
worth, it controls quite well. The system
works in quite a simple way—right at the
beginning of your singleplayer campaign,
you indulge in a small voice configuration
tutorial that shows you how to give
orders to your units. All you have to do is
call out the unit number, followed by the
action you wish it to perform (out of a
preset drop-down list) and that's exactly
what it does. For instance, if you want
your tanks (assigned to Unit 1) attack the
enemy's infantry (denoted by 'Hostile 5'),
all you have to do is say "Unit 1 attack
hostile 5" and they do your bidding! To
guide you through it, after every part
of the phrase a drop-down displaying
available commands follows, to show
you the basic guidelines. So when you
say "Unit 5", a drop down appears
showing you all the different actions that
particular unit can perform, simplifying
things to a large extent.
That's the basis of all combat
in EndWar and the game seems to
understand what you're saying most
of the time, as long as you say it a bit
slowly. However, every now and then
(about 20% of the time) the game
refuses to cooperate and no matter how
clearly you speak, it refuses to take the
hint. This can be quite painful while in
the heat of battle, but luckily, the game
allows you to control your army using
your mouse and keyboard too, just like
any other RTS. It controls quite well
with the mouse and keyboard too, and
it's much faster to assign actions using
this control scheme. So that means that
controlling units using your mouse and
keyboard can effectively be better than
using your voice—makes you wonder
why they haven’t bothered basing the
gameplay around voice commands,
doesn't it? The reason behind it is that
EndWar is primarily a console RTS. The
voice recognition fills in for the physical
limits of using a controller to command
an entire army. While it does allow for
a great bit of freedom to the console
RTS fan, this transition onto the PC isn't
the best since most PC strategy gamers

130 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: UEW to 57007
are accustomed to easy controls and
the kind of depth a console-RTS cannot
emulate.
While using voice commands to
give your units basic commands works
brilliantly, deeper mechanics such as
setting up control groups, sending your
infantry units behind cover, or fine-tuning
your units' location on the map for the
maximized output, are either painful or
impossible to do using voice commands.
On the other hand, using a mouse and
keyboard to do the same is all too easy,
making you wonder why you shouldn't
play EndWar in the traditional way. In
fact, it even makes the voice command
feature seem like a complete fad at
times. In the game's defense, the need
for complex maneuvers are barely felt,
and voice commands are really quite
adequate to work your way through
the singleplayer campaign. Speaking of
which, the game's story's based on a
fictional war in the near future, between
the world's three super-powers—the
US, Europe and Russia. Each side
back-stabs the other, leading to a 3-way
struggle that doesn't really add much
to the game, other than letting you pick
your side. After this what follows is a
series of similar playing missions that
either involve defending an objective or
destroying one.
Jagdish Limbachiya
If you're a fan of deep combat or
base-building though, let us warn you RATINGS
that there are neither in the game. The
combat is rock-paper-scissor like where REAL-TIME STRATEGY
tanks devastate APCs, APCs devastate Tom Clancy's EndWar
choppers, and choppers devastate tanks.
PRICE Rs 999
In fact, it's so rigid that it takes ages to PUBLISHER Ubisoft
take down enemy units, without using DEVELOPER Ubisoft Shanghai
units that are a direct counter to them; DISTRIBUTOR E-xpress Interactive Software
this can get quite cumbersome since PHONE 022-28203319
you'll spend most of the time relocating EMAIL info@expressgames.in
your units so that only the ones that can PLATFORM PS 3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, DS
counter the enemy the best should stay
on the front lines. There is no form of
RATINGS
GAMEPLAY
base-building, and the amount of units
ENVIRONMENT
you get access to, depends on how many
OVERALL RATING
points you've captured on a map. These
points allow access to more squads of FOR
units, and you can pick what type you Co-operative gameplay, an intense experience, one of the most
good looking games on the block.
need. This also means that there's no
form or resource gathering, leaving you AGAINST
with nothing other than combat to keep Annoying control scheme, offers limited replyayability.
you entertained. That's a problem again,
since the combat isn't too entertaining to
begin with! The pretty visuals and semi- props to Ubisoft Shanghai for creating
optimized engine do impress though. such a detailed RTS world. Beyond the
The game ran at around 30 frames per commendable presentation though,
second (dipped down to 18 or so on a there isn't too much to be offered here
few occasions) on a Core2Duo E8400, to the seasoned RTS veteran. If you're
4 GB DDR2 (800 MHz) RAM, NVidia looking for a light-weight RTS that isn't
9800 GTX+ rig, which isn't all that bad, too hot on depth, Tom Clancy's EndWar
but it isn't close to great either. The isn't a bad buy at all.
game did however look really good, and – feedback@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 131
 UNWIND REVIEW
RTS meets RPG in an extremely innovative manner in Relic Entertainment's newest venture.
BY NIKHIL SINGH
I
f you've played Relic Entertainment's
Company of Heroes, you'd know that
they're not the type to conform to
norms set by other developers. Their
urge to experiment has bred Warhammer
40,000: Dawn of War II, which reinvents
and re-engineers the real-time strategy
genre to deliver an experience that's
entirely unique, refreshing, and so
much more. To accommodate this
metamorphosis, Dawn of War II (DoW
II) has shed a few things that many
RTS fans might crave, out of which
base-building is the most prominent
absentee—you don't have to lay down
a single structure in the entire game, be
it single player or multiplayer. Instead,
the focus is entirely on combat, to the
point that even your unit upgrades
and technology tier-ups are purchased
through your headquarters. How does
the absence of such an integral part of
traditional strategy games factor into
its gameplay? It actually works really
132 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
well for DoW II, since your game pivots
more around controlling your army rather
than setting up base defenses, securing
resource collection routes, and building
expansions every time your resource
nodes runs out. Instead, you find yourself
locked in a constant tug-of-war against
the enemy from the moment the game
(single or multiplayer) starts. Your
goal in most single player missions is
one of these four scenarios: secure an
objective, destroy an objective, defend
an objective, or kill a boss.
The campaign puts you in the boots
of a newly promoted Commander in the
Space Marine's army, that's part of the
elite 'Blood Ravens'. Your job as a Blood
Raven is to safeguard a cluster of four
planets from alien attacks. The campaign
shows you the ropes with a handful of
easy missions that act as a tutorial. Once
you get a hang of the way the game is
played though, the experience doesn't
change too much. There isn't too much
variety where missions are concerned,
and almost all play out in a somewhat
similar fashion. DoW II incorporates a
massive chunk of RPG elements—your
units in the singleplayer campaign aren't
the disposable fodder you're used to.
Instead, you're given control of just four
squads of units in every mission, where
each squad leader has a unique specialty
to go along with his personality. Each
squad leader voices out his opinion
or gives his own input during mission
briefings, giving them all a well-defined
personality as opposed to the lifeless
grunts you're used to controlling in most
other RTS games. To give them more
individuality, each squad can level up,
allowing you to distribute skill points
that give you access to different 'traits',
such as the ability to absorb more
damage or deal special attacks every
now and then. To add to it, a few units
and bosses in the game, drop 'wargear'
when killed, which allows you to deck
your character out in different equipment
to help customize him to play any way
you want. This equipment could range
SMS us!  Story code: UKZ to 57007

Intimidation is useful in any difficult situation. Which is why you would want this guy on your side.
from high quality battle armor, to a flame
thrower, or a battle standard that allows
your units to charge through even the
heaviest of enemy fire. You can even
convert all the equipment you don't need
into experience points, ensuring that your
inventory's never cluttered up.
When all these little RPG elements
are factored in, DoW II seems more
like a squad-based RPG rather than an
RTS! It's not all RPG though, and Relic
makes it quite clear by incorporating the
best of Company of Heroes into DoW
II—namely, the cover system. The first
thing you learn is to get your ranged units
behind cover, so that they stay protected
from enemy fire, and at the same time
dish out more damage. 'Suppression'
is a major part of DoW II—if you catch
the enemy in the open (i.e. without
cover), your ranged units suppress them
when they fire at them, reducing their
movement speed and their ability to dish
out loads of damage tremendously. This
applies to you too, so taking cover forms
an integral part of the combat system.
It's not too hard to get into the groove of
it though, and before you know it you'll
Jagdish Limbachiya
begin taking cover at every opportunity.
Cover can be taken behind almost
anything, be it a destroyed wall, sand
bags, a fallen tree, rocks.
To balance things out a bit, almost
all cover can be destroyed using
grenades or heavy fire. Alternately, units
with flamethrowers can surpass most
obstacles too, making them a valuable
addition to your army, and adding an
interesting variation to the mix. Besides
the cover system, DoW II borrows its
engine from Company of Heroes too.
The upgraded Essence Engine—Essence
Engine 2.0—allows for great physics
and a highly destructible environment.
At high settings, everything from the
environment to the character models
looks extremely detailed, and the game
doesn't hiccup even once. A mid-ranged
gaming rig—Core2Duo E8400, 4GB DDR2
RAM, Nvidia 9800 GTX—handled the
game with ease and ran at a constant
60 FPS at 1680x1050 with all settings
maxed out. Relic's left no stone unturned
when it comes to polish, making DoW
II a finished product that's been tried,
tested and tweaked vigorously, which is
reflected in the smooth gameplay.
RATINGS
REAL-TIME STRATEGY
Warhammer 40,000:
Dawn of War II
PRICE Rs 699
PUBLISHER THQ
DEVELOPER Relic Entertainment
DISTRIBUTOR Express Interactive Ltd
PHONE 022-29661017
EMAIL info@expressgames.in
PLATFORM PC
RATINGS
GAMEPLAY
ENVIRONMENT
OVERALL RATING
FOR
Great visuals, RPG elements work brilliantly, awesome
multiplayer, engaging singleplayer campaign,
AGAINST
Singleplayer campaign can get repetitive towards the end.
Even the multiplayer mode works
flawlessly! While the game uses the
Games for Windows Live series, finding
games doesn't take more than a few
minutes. Your multiplayer avatar levels
up as you play more games, and you're
always pitted against players that are
around your level. You can only play 1v1
and 3v3 rated games; in 3v3s you can
either pick your allies or the service does
it for you, which again, doesn't take too
long. There are two multiplayer modes—
Annihilation and Control Point Victory.
Both modes require you to capture
resource or 'Victory' nodes, which is the
only way to collect additional resources.
The difference between the two is that
Annihilation mode doesn't get over till
you've destroyed every enemy unit and
structure, while Control Point Victory
requires you to capture Victory nodes
and hold them until your enemy runs
out of victory points. Both modes are
a lot more fun than most RTS games
out there, but lack the tactical depth of
StarCraft or WarCraft. It's a fair trade off,
since its action-focused gameplay and
the fact that there's no base-building
involved will attract lots of new players.
To sum up, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of
War II is the best RTS we've played for a
while now. If you're an RTS fan, you owe
it to yourself to play its singleplayer and
multiplayer offerings.
– feedback@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 133
 UNWIND REVIEW
Who ever thought that they'd make Halo an
RTS game? How can it possibly be fun killing
The Covenant from a bird's eye view? As we
find out, it does seem to work some how.
BY NIKHIL SINGH
A
mongst the torrent of real-time
strategy games that have surged
through recently (Warhammer
40,000: Dawn of War II, Tom Clancy's
EndWar, World in Conflict: Soviet
Assault), Halo Wars seems like the most
straight-forward and traditional of the
lot. In this case that's in no way a bad
thing, considering that its developers—
Ensemble Studios—have re-engineered
a franchise to accommodate an entirely
different genre. The transition from first
person shooter to real-time strategy
happens rather smoothly as Halo Wars
captures the Halo universe and all the
alien-on-marine action you've craved,
while keeping things as true to the
series as humanly (or even Forerunnerly)
possible. The game takes place roughly
20 years before the events of the
franchise's first game—Halo: Combat
Evolved, in the year 2531. The game
starts off with a conflict between the
United Nations Space Command and
the Covenant (for those of you who are
slacking off—the Covenant's a military
alliance of alien races with misled
religious zeal) on a colonized human
134 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Now he looks he knows exactly what he wants to do what that hammer!
world—Harvest—that's seen almost
six years of bitter conflict between
both sides. It's your job in the game, to
help the UNSC discover why on earth
these are aliens so interested in this
unassuming world?
The game starts off with an easy-
to-understand and short tutorial that
shows you the ropes where controls are
concerned; which brings us to the most
relevant question concerning console
RTS games—do the controls suck?
Simply put,no, they do not. The controls
are simple and intuitively designed; the
A button handles all your unit selection
needs—hover over a unit using your fixed
reticule and tap A to select it, or double
tap to select all units of the same time
on the screen. Alternately, you can press
and hold the A button to drag-select
units. To help select all units across the
screen, you can tap the left bumper
button. Alternatively, the right shoulder
button lets you select units across
the map. A word of warning: pressing
either one of these buttons plays an
unenthused voice recording that says
either "All units" or "Local units". Keep
spamming the keys and you're sure to
drive yourself and those around you
insane! Getting back to the controls,
the X button controls all actions such
as move or attack, while the Y button
controls special attacks/functions—such
as flinging grenades at enemy buildings/
vehicles with your infantry, or running
over enemy grunts with your Warthog.
That's basically all there is to the
controls in Halo Wars—no flashy game
mechanics to get a hang of, no eccentric
ways to control your army, just straight-
forward, intuitive controls that work as a
solid base for a good RTS experience.
Base building is pretty straight
forward too—there are predefined places
where you can place your headquarters.
Placing one gives you access to three
building slots around it, each of which
can house a barracks, a power plant or a
supply depot. To place these structures,
simply press and hold the action button
with your reticule over the slot to conjure
an easy-to-use radial menu with all the
options. You can queue up unit creation
or upgrades in the same manner—which
is by hovering your reticule over the
SMS us!  Story code: UHW to 57007
 RATINGS
REAL-TIME STRATEGY

Halo Wars
PRICE Rs 2,275
PUBLISHER Microsoft Game Studios
DEVELOPER Ensemble Studios
DISTRIBUTOR Redington India
PHONE 080-40103000
EMAIL N/A
PLATFORM Xbox 360

RATINGS
GAMEPLAY
ENVIRONMENT
We were wondering if we could get one of these to destroy a Britney Spears show, sadly it is not possible. OVERALL RATING

building that researches/builds the unit
in question, hold the action button and
pick what you want out of the radial
menu. To gain more slots to lay down
FOR
both the single and multiplayer modes.
Looks great, controls brilliantly, well balanced multiplayer
The person with the most resources
and the most units generally wins. Unit AGAINST
upgrades are a little underwhelming Uninspiring upgrade system.

buildings, you can either upgrade your
headquarters or capture expansions.
This allows you to lay down another
headquarter, to which you can add more
structures such as power-nodes and
supply depots. Scrolling through the
screen repeatedly can be a real pain
using the controller, especially while
switching between bases. Thankfully
though, Ensemble has given you the
ability to cycle between bases using the
down arrow on the D-pad, which can be
a real time saver.
Just like the controls, the resource
structure is quite straight forward. The
way to collect resources in the game
is either finding the scattered supplies
sitting around the map, or building
more supply depots, which are
your only steady source
of income. So where
economy is concerned,
the game boils down
to territorial control in
though. Most of them usually focus on
one aspect of one kind of unit, making
it rather tiresome and time consuming
to upgrade each and every unit you wish
to bolster your forces with. Strategically,
there are a few upgrades that are
useful—such as the grenade launcher
upgrade for the Warthogs—which tie
in pretty well when you wish to build a
force for hit and run tactics. Other than
that though, the upgrade system doesn't
do much for the gameplay and feels
tacked on, since most of them are either
pointless or far too weak to make an
impact on battle.
In multiplayer bouts too, quantity
takes precedent over quality, at least
when it comes to upgraded units versus
more units. The stronger units though,
such as the Covenants Scarabs or the
UNSC's Spartans can be a significant
part of an army when used strategically.
For instance, the Spartan's special ability
is to capture an enemy vehicle, making
them really lethal against the Covenant's
expensive tanks. As an added
disadvantage, most Covenant players
usually suffer quite a bit initially, since
they lack the experience UNSC players
have. Blame this on the fact that you
can only play as the UNSC throughout
the campaign; so if you wish to give the
Covenant a shot in multiplayer, expect
to get slaughtered the first few times.
Halo Wars is pretty much a well-rounded
package with enough to satiate most
RTS fans. It's well balanced, has an
engaging single player campaign (albeit,
with its share of frustrating moments),
competitive multiplayer, and to top it off,
has really good visuals (no framerate
issues) and boasts of pretty high
production values. If you're looking for a
good RTS on the Xbox 360, Halo Wars
certainly fits the bill.
– feedback@chip.in

Jagdish Limbachiya INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 135

 FORUM www.chip.in

CHIP FORUMS
Home Reviews Features Workshop Buying Guide Interviews Columns Forum Register Log in

Will defragmentation post Buying MP3 player post

lead to hard disk failure?
I am using Windows XP with sp3, I am using Smart Defrag
utility to defrag my hard disks; I have two hard disks now. I am
defargmenting these two hard disks in every week or once in
10 days. Will this lead to hard disk failure? Or will these reduce
hard disk life time?
– id_866
reply
It’s just another read and write operation
on on the
HDD. Nothing happens to the HDD. Defragmenting
so frequently is of no use though. Still if you want
to defrag so frequently, analyse the partition first and defrag
only if fragmentation is substantial.
– Mig_27
reply
If you do major installation and un-installation
allation in
a few days then defrag regularly. Otherwise once
in a month or two works for me. Defragmentation
tools just help to keep relevant files physically continuous on
HDD. Reduction of life of HDD is negligible. However it is not
recommended to defragment solid state devices.
– niki86
I want an MP3 player with good sound quality
with the provided headphones. Others extras
such as video, fm, voice recording etc are optional
and not needed. The sound quality needs to be
good though (for the budget at least). I can spend at max Rs 6K.
6.5 K would be my outer outer limit. Also I need 2 GB+ space
preferably 4 GB but more than that is not necessary. Could you
guys suggest one please?
– rapier07
reply
Options are:
1) The Samsung YP T10 with 4 GB mem. FM, FM
recorder, Voice Recorder, video player and the best
Bluetooth priced @ Rs 6300
2) The Cowon iAUDIO U5 with great sound as usual and gr8
features like 4GB mem, voice recorder, FM with recorder priced
@ Rs 5500
3) The Sony-NWZ-E436F with no need for voice certification with
4 GB, and FM priced @ Rs 6300
4) The Apple-iPod nano (4 GB) with the great sound @ Rs 6200
5) The Creative ZEN V PLUS with 4 GB mem. FM with rec. n much
more priced @ Rs 6300(approx)
– The Blueaddiction

Rather than getting the old iPod Nano, add a few bux and go for
the newer nano. It has a nice widescreen, has a genius playlist
Airtel Mobile Office post feature and it shuffles songs when you shake it. If needed, get
I am planning to activate "Airtel Mobile Office" on my prepaid Creative's EP-630. The prices are at an all time low.
– mihirpradhan2004
Airtel card. If anyone of you are using the same pls share your
experience. I wud like to know abt the service b4 I take it. It
wud be nice if u can tell me abt the speed and connectivity.
– jjk_charles
A Component of Ignorance post
reply well, I think ups is the most overlooked product when one is
It depends on where u reside... The plans
ns differ, buying a new PC. So in the very few days away from buying
and also the user experience...For instance I live a new rig , I am quite confused about the ups. My PC will be a
in Mumbai, n I pay 30ps/50KB for Mobile Office gamin one and will host 750 watt smps and an ATI 4870. Can
while getting a speed of 46 KBps. My bro in Pune used to pay you guys suggest me one.
15 Rs for per day use of Mobile Office, and he got a speed of 32 – mikigamer
KBps...unlimited downloads along with PC connectivity...So user
reply
experience varies according to where u reside and stuff
apc 650va or 750va
like that...
– The Blueaddiction
– udu_4u

The views expressed on the forum are entirely those of its members. Though CHIP moderates its
itts forum, it does not validate the claims made here.

136 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Home Reviews Features Workshop Buying Guide Interviews Columns Forum Register Log in

Pendrive problem post Earphones within 1.5K post

I have a 4 GB Kingston Pendrive. I am not able to access

ss the pen Hey guys..
drive. The system is not able to detect the pen drive. What is the My friend wants to buy a pair of earphones for his iPod Nano.
problem? And solution for this? His budget is 1.5K. I would have suggested the Creative EP-630,
– manojspam which I use with my iPod, he wants earbuds, which rest at the
edge of the ear. This is because he uses his iPod when walking
reply
around and he doesn't want any outside noise canceled. He
The device might have been disabled. Go to device manager
nager and listens to Rock music, so the headphones should have excellent
double-click on USB serial controller and check if all of them are bass without drowning the mids and highs. The following are
enabled. If all are enabled there might be something wrong with the models which I've decided: Sony MDR-ED12LP / Sony
your pen drive. Have it checked. MDR-E828LP / Sennheiser MX 500 / Sennheiser MX 560. Please
– abshake recommend which would be the best within his budget. Also feel
reply free to recommend other brands and models too if their quality
is comparable to the ones above, comfort is a priority
If it is a virus problem then following steps
eps will – vinaysshenoy
work
1. Open ur pen drive in linux & delete all unwanted reply

files like autorun.inf and gphone.exe, aaa.exe, avsp.exe these are y not SENNHEISER HD 202..........is in the same
highly spreaded viruses which attack on pen drive and copy as category n u will just will have to spend 0.1k more
soon as you insert your pen drive in affected system and affect to own tat. IT IS GREAT.
a system as well. If u delete autorun.inf it will work normally. – The Blueaddiction
2. Insert your pen drive but do not open it or cancel the autorun.
Go to command prompt and type : <driveletter>dir/ah What I weird co-incidence—I've used both of these !!! MDR
example : f:\>dir/ah ED12LP beat da E828LP hands down !!! No idea about those
It shows all hidden files if autorn.inf and any other hidden file Sennheisers !!!
found delete it by changing attributes. it will not simply deleted – Sauron
remember.f:\>attrib autorun.inf -s -h -r (to remove attribute of
system file, hidden and read only if these attribute remain it will
not give access to you) Buying a Netbook? need help? post
f:\>del autorun.inf I am looking into purchasing an Acer or Dell netbook. I'm
Like this u can delete all hidden files and use ur pen drive happily. looking for a light, thin, easy to use netbook. I don't care about
– arun
gaming at all, what's most important is sound and other cool
features that netbooks have these days. I am interested in the
Acer Aspire One. However, I don't know much about the other
Ubuntu 8.04 problem!! post
models. What is your opinion? I am open to suggestions.
I have a Nvidia 7600GS graphics card. I cannot select a – Deepika Nair
resolution beyond 1024x768 in Ubuntu. How to install the
reply
drivers?? :?:
– prongs2 Avoid the Dell netbook.(lacking in features)
res)
You can also take a look at Asus EeePC & MSI
open the terminal. type reply
Wind. http://eeepc.in/index.php
gksu nvidia-settings – erif
Click on X-Server configuration. Change resolution.
click on 'Save' to X Configuration file button.  Jayeshm
logout, login Site Admin
– coolpcguy Posted: March 20, 2009 2:30 pm
Joined: Feb 11, 2009 • Posts: 69
jayesh.mansukhani@infomedia18.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 137

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

PROCESSORS: Intel
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS.) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED L2 CACHE
CORES
Intel Celeron 420 1,826 LGA 775 1 1.6 GHz 65 nm 800 MHz 512 KB
Intel Dual Core E2140 2,669 LGA 775 2 1.6 GHz 65 nm 800 MHz 1 MB
Intel Dual Core E2180 3,541 LGA 775 2 2.0 GHz 65 nm 800 MHz 1 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 5,887 LGA 775 2 2.4 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 2 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 6,334 LGA 775 2 2.53 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 3 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 9,576 LGA 775 2 3.0 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 9,794 LGA 775 2 3.16 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 11,299 LGA 775 4 2.4 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 8 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 13,030 LGA 775 4 2.5 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core i7-920 15,999 LGA1366 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 8 MB L3
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 16,478 LGA 775 4 2.83 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 12 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 16,490 LGA 775 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 6 MB

PROCESSORS: AMD
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED L2 CACHE
CORES
AMD Sempron X2 3200+ 2,194 AM2 2 1.8 GHz 65 nm HT 1800 MHz 512 KB
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 3,522 AM2 2 2.6 GHz 90 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 4,144 AM2 2 2.8 GHz 90 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 4,480 AM2 2 3.0 GHz 90 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB
AMD Phenom X3 8450 5,264 AM2+ 3 2.1 GHz 65 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB L3
AMD Phenom X4 9550 7,168 AM2+ 4 2.2 GHz 65 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB L3
AMD Phenom X4 9650 7,279 AM2+ 4 2.3 GHz 65 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Ed. 8,849 AM3 3 2.8 GHz 45 nm HT 1800 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Ed. 9,519 AM2+ 4 2.6 GHz 65 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X4 810 10,645 AM3 4 2.6 GHz 45 nm HT 1800 MHz 4 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X4 920 11,304 AM2+ 4 2.8 GHz 45 nm HT 1800 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Ed. 13,659 AM2+ 4 3.0 GHz 45 nm HT 1800 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Athlon 64 FX-74 18,422 AM2 4 3.0 GHz 90 nm HT 2000 MHz 2 MB

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS.) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
Zotac GF8200-A-E 3,933 AM2+ GeForce 8200 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
MSI K9A2GM-FIH 4,480 AM2+ AMD 780G DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Zotac GF8300-A-E 5,050 AM2+ GeForce 8300 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Biostar TA790GX 128M 5,488 AM2+ AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H 5,799 AM2+ AMD 780G DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 12
Asus M3N-H/HDMI 7,282 AM2+ GeForce 8300 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1 | 3 | 6 | 12
Asus M3A-H/HDMI 7,952 AM2+ AMD 780G DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1 | 3 | 6 | 12
Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H 9,576 AM2+ AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 6 | 12
MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum 9,801 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✖|✔|✖ 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
MSI DKA790GX Platinum 10,025 AM2+ AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
MSI K9N2 Diamond 15,233 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✖|✔|✖ 3 | 2 | 6 | 10
Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe 15,319 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 3 | 2 | 6 | 10
Asus Crosshair II Formula 20,230 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 3 | 2 | 6 | 12
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

138 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - Non-IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT MULTI-GPU MODE
SOCKET SATA | USB
MSI K9N Ultra-2F 5,152 AM2 Nvidia nForce 570 Ultra DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 3 | 6 | 10
MSI K9A2 CF-F 5,936 AM2+ AMD 790X + SB 600 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 4 | 10
MSI K9A2 Platinum v2 9,297 AM2+ AMD 790FX DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 4 | 2 | 6 | 10
Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 9,999 AM2+ AMD 790FX + SB 600 DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P 13,373 AM3 AMD 790X + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
Asus M3A79-T Deluxe 13,980 AM2+ AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x16 4 | 2 | 6 | 12
Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe 15,548 AM2+ AMD 790FX + SB 600 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 4 | 2 | 6 | 10

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
Palit N73PV 2,792 LGA 775 Nvidia GeForce 7100 / nForce 630i DDR2-800 (Max 2 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1|2|4|8
EVGA 112-CK-NF72-K1 3,152 LGA 775 GeForce 7050 / nForce 610i DDR2-667 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Gigabyte GA-EG31MF-S2 3,474 LGA 775 Intel G31 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Intel BOXDG31GL 3,598 LGA 775 Intel G31 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|2|8
XFX MG-630i-7109 3,821 LGA 775 GeForce 7100 / nForce 630i DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Abit I-N73HD 4,256 LGA 775 Nvidia GeForce 7100 / nForce 630i DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H 4,785 LGA 775 GeForce 7100 / nForce 630i DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 3 | 10
EVGA 112-CK-NF77-A1 4,827 LGA 775 GeForce 7150 / nForce 630i DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2L 5,344 LGA 775 Intel G33 + ICH9 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1 | 2 | 4 | 12
Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H 6,998 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10R DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 12
Zotac GF9300-A-E 7,001 LGA 775 Nvidia GeForce 9300 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
MSI P7NGM-Digital 7,281 LGA 775 Nvidia GeForce 9300 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 10
Intel BOXDG45FC 7,282 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 0 | 0 | 4 | 10
Asus P5E-V HDMI 13,226 LGA 775 Intel G35 + ICH9R DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 2 | 3 | 6 | 12

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - Non-IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT MULTI-GPU MODE
SOCKET SATA | USB
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G 4,768 LGA 775 Intel P35+ICH9 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 5 | 4 | 12
Abit IP35-E 5,320 LGA 775 Intel P35+ICH9 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) NA 1|3|4|8
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L 5,494 LGA 775 Intel P43+ICH10 DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) NA 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R 7,153 LGA 775 Intel P35+ICH9 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 3 | 8 | 12
MSI P45 Neo3-FR 7,281 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 4 | 8 | 12
Biostar TPower I45 8,591 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Asus P5Q Pro 10,626 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
MSI P45 Zilent 11,761 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 13,105 LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 750i SLI DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) SLI dual x16 2 | 3 | 4 | 10
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R 14,000 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1333 (Max 16 GB) NA 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 15,625 LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 780i SLI DDR2-1200 (Max 8 GB) SLI 3-way x8 3 | 2 | 6 | 10
Intel BOXDX58SO 16,800 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 8 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 1 | 6 | 12
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 21,170 LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) SLI 3-way x8 3 | 2 | 7 | 10
MSI Eclipse SLI 21,170 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 24 GB) CrossFireX + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 12
Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme 21,499 LGA 775 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 24 GB) CrossFireX + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 12
Asus Maximus II Formula 24,440 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1200 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 139

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

GRAPHICS CARDS: Nvidia

STREAM
NAME PRICE (RS) GPU PCIE DIRECTX MEMORY | BUS WIDTH CORE | MEMORY SPEED VIDEO OUTPUT
PROCESSORS
Point of View GeForce 8400 GS 1,952 GeForce 8400 GS x16 DX 10 256 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 460 MHz | 300 MHz D-sub + DVI
Palit GeForce 8400 GS 2,056 GeForce 8400 GS x16 DX 10 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 450 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
XFX GeForce 8400 GS 2,208 GeForce 8400 GS x16 DX 10 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 500 MHz | 300 MHz D-sub + DVI
Asus EN8400GS 2,348 GeForce 8400 GS x16 DX 10 256 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 459 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
Gigabyte GeForce 8400GS 2,418 GeForce 8400 GS x16 DX 10 256 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 450 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 3,752 GeForce 9500 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 32 550 MHz | 500 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9500 GT 4,368 GeForce 9500 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 256 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 32 550 MHz | 800 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9600 GSO Sonic 6,000 GeForce 9600 GS0 x16 2.0 DX 10 768 MB DDR3 | 192-bit 48 600 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce 9600 GT 6,160 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 675 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce 9600 GT Amp Ed 7,393 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 725 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9800 GT 7,561 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 650 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce 9600GT KO Ed 7,784 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 675 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce 9800 GT 8,680 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 700 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI NX9600GT-T2D512-OC 8,840 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 700 MHz | 950 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9600 GT Sonic 9,230 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 700 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce 9800 GT SC 9,968 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 650 MHz | 950 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9800 GTX+ 10,753 GeForce 9800 GTX+ x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 750 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTS 250 11,089 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
XFX GeForce 9600 GT XXX 12,319 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 740 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTS 250 12,881 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI N9800GTX-Plus-T2D512-OC 13,440 GeForce 9800 GTX+ x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 760 MHz | 1150 MHz Dual-link DVI
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ 14,998 GeForce 9800 GTX+ x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 765 MHz | 1100 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ SC 15,960 GeForce 9800 GTX+ x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 756 MHz | 1123 MHz Dual-link DVI
Point of View GTX 260 20,106 GeForce GTX 260 x16 2.0 DX 10 896 MB DDR3 | 512-bit 216 602 MHz | 1107 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OC 20,385 GeForce GTX 260 x16 2.0 DX 10 896 MB DDR3 | 512-bit 216 620 MHz | 1080 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SC 23,999 GeForce GTX 260 x16 2.0 DX 10 896 MB DDR3 | 512-bit 216 626 MHz | 1350 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GTX 280 Superclocked 23,999 GeForce GTX 280 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 621 MHz | 1134 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTX 285 26,882 GeForce GTX 285 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 648 MHz | 1242 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce GTX 285 28,079 GeForce GTX 285 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 648 MHz | 1242 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition 30,159 GeForce GTX 285 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 702 MHz | 1296 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTX 295 33,042 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI
XFX GTX 285 35,320 GeForce GTX 285 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 648 MHz | 1242 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI N295GTX-M2D 35,843 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce GTX 295 36,977 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI
XFX GTX 295 39,875 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

140 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

GRAPHICS CARDS: AMD

STREAM
NAME PRICE (RS) GPU PCIE DIRECTX MEMORY | BUS WIDTH CORE | MEMORY SPEED VIDEO OUTPUT
PROCESSORS
Sapphire Radeon HD 4350 3,120 Radeon HD 4350 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 80 600 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 4,704 Radeon HD 4650 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 600 MHz | 500 MHz Dual-link DVI
Asus EAH4550/DI/512MD3 4,834 Radeon HD 4550 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 64-bit 80 600 MHz | 800 MHz D-sub + DVI
Asus EAH4650/DI/512MD2 5,277 Radeon HD 4650 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 128-bit 320 600 MHz | 400 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit Radeon HD 4670 Super Ed. 5,488 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 400 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 5,936 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R4670-2D512/D3 5,936 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
GeCube GC-XHD3850PG3-E3 7,278 Radeon HD 3850 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 320 700 MHz | 850 MHz Dual-link DVI
Asus EAH4670/DI/1GD3 7,292 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 1004 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4830 8,177 Radeon HD 4830 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 640 575 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit Radeon HD 4830 Sonic 8,288 Radeon HD 4830 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 640 575 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R4830-T2D512 8,960 Radeon HD 4830 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 640 575 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R4850-T2D512 11,307 Radeon HD 4850 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 800 625 MHz | 993 MHz Dual-link DVI
GeCube GC-HD485PG3-E3 11,628 Radeon HD 4850 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 800 625 MHz | 993 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit HD 4870 Sonic Dual Ed 15,121 Radeon HD 4870 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR5 | 256-bit 800 750 MHz | 950 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R4870-T2D512-OC 17,999 Radeon HD 4870 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR5 | 256-bit 800 780 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R4870X2-T2D2G-OC 33,399 Radeon HD 4870 X2 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 2 GB DDR5 | 512-bit 1600 780 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI

LAPTOPS
PRICE WEIGHT MEMORY DISPLAY OPTICAL
NAME PROCESSOR CHIPSET HDD BLUETOOTH
(RS) (KG.) (DDR2) (INCHES) DRIVE
Acer Aspire One (Linux) 21,943 1 Kg Intel Atom N270, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel 945G 8.9 120 GB NA ✖
Acer Aspire One (Windows XP) 25,234 1 Kg Intel Atom N270, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel 945G 8.9 120 GB NA ✖
Dell Vostro A860 R521076IN9 32,118 2.4 Kg Intel Celeron Dual-Core T1400, 1.73 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 15.6 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Acer Aspire 4530 34,343 2.25 Kg AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-60, 1.9 GHz 1 GB Nvidia GeForce 9100M G 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Toshiba Satellite L300-P5010 36,248 2.7 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GML 15.4 250 GB DVD writer ✖
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-108TU 36,650 2.26 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel GL40 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
HP 540 FS301AA 37,253 2.3 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5470, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 14.1 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Acer Aspire 4730Z 37,858 2.25 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
HP Compaq Presario CQ60-104TU 38,210 2.75 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 16 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Toshiba Satellite L310-D4011 42,990 2.29 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GML 14.1 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Acer Aspire 4930 43,867 2.25 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
HP Compaq 6720S FJ094PA 44,433 2.49 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5670, 1.8 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 15.4 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio CS12GH/B 44,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel GM45 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio VGN-NS15G/S 44,990 2.9 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5800, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel GM45 15.4 250 GB DVD writer ✖
HP Compaq 6730S FW140PA 49,062 2.5 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5670, 1.8 GHz 1 GB Intel PM45 15.4 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Toshiba Satellite M300-D4310 49,313 2.34 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 , 1.83 GHz 2 GB Intel 965GML 14.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio CS15GN/B 54,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.26 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Toshiba Portege M800-D3310 55,947 2.1 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 , 1.83 GHz 2 GB Intel 965GML 13.3 250 GB DVD writer ✔
HP Compaq 2230S FY130PA 56,000 1.85 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5870, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel GM45 12.1 160 GB DVD writer ✔
Toshiba Satellite A300-D5310 56,505 2.72 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2.0 GHz 2 GB ATI Radeon HD 3470 15.4 200 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio CS17G/Q/P/R/W 59,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.26 GHz 3 GB Intel PM45 14.1 250 GB DVD writer ✔
HP Compaq 6710B KU927PA 61,412 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.0 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 15.4 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio CS18GN/B 69,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4 GHz 3 GB Intel PM45 14.1 320 GB DVD writer ✔
Sony Vaio VGN-SR13GN/B/S/P 74,990 1.92 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.26 GHz 2 GB Intel PM45 13.3 250 GB DVD writer ✔
Acer Ferrari 1100 WTMi 86,879 1.95 Kg AMD Turion 64 X2 TL60, 2.0 GHz 2 GB AMD M690T 12.1 250 GB DVD writer ✔

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 141

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

MEMORY
NAME PRICE (RS) CAPACITY SPEED TIMING HEAT SPREADER

OCZ Value Series DDR2-667 776 1 GB DDR2-667 4-5-5-15 ✖

OCZ Value Series DDR2-800 1,052 1 GB DDR2-800 4-5-5-15 ✖
Corsair Value Select VS2GB667D2 1,445 1 x 2 GB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 ✖
Corsair Value Select VS512MB400 1,836 1 x 512 MB DDR-400 2.5-3-3-8 ✖
OCZ Value Series DDR2-800 1,948 2 GB DDR2-800 4-5-5-15 ✖
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 2,060 2 x 1 GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 ✔
OCZ Platinum Revision 2P800R22GK 3,068 2 x 1 GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-15 ✔
Corsair Value Select VS1GB400C3 3,360 1 x 1 GB DDR-400 3-3-3-8 ✖
OCZ SLI-ready 2N1066SR2GK 3,744 2 x 1 GB DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 ✖
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX 3,865 2 x 1 GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 ✔
Corsair XMS3 TWIN3X2048-1333C9 4,268 2 x 1 GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 ✔
OCZ Gold Edition 3G13332GK 4,368 2 x 1 GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-26 ✔
Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-8500C5D 4,368 2 x 1 GB DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 ✔
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 4,929 2 x 2 GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 ✔
Corsair XMS3 Classic TR3X3G1333C9 7,729 3 x 1 GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 ✔
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G-1333C9DHX 9,969 2 x 2 GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 ✔

TFT MONITORS
SCREEN OPTIMAL ASPECT RESPONSE CONTRAST
NAME PRICE (RS) COLOR BRIGHTNESS VIDEO INPUT
SIZE RESOLUTION RATIO TIME RATIO
Asus VW161D 7,112 Black 16-inch 1366x768 16:9 8 ms 250 cd/m2 2000:1 D-sub
ViewSonic VA503M 7,514 Black 15-inch 1024x768 4:3 16 ms 250 cd/m2 500:1 D-sub
AOC LM525 7,961 Black 15-inch 1024x768 4:3 16 ms 250 cd/m2 450:1 D-sub
ViewSonic VA1716W 8,743 Black & Silver 17-inch 1440x900 16:10 8 ms 250 cd/m2 500:1 D-sub
AOC 177Sa 9,134 Black 17-inch 1280x1024 4:3 8 ms 300 cd/m2 800:1 D-sub
Samsung 732NW 9,697 Black 17-inch 1440x900 16:10 8 ms 250 cd/m2 600:1 D-sub
ViewSonic VA1912WB 9,967 Black 19-inch 1440x900 16:10 5 ms 300 cd/m2 500:1 D-sub
ViewSonic VA1926W 10,402 Black & Silver 19-inch 1440x900 16:10 5 ms 300 cd/m2 700:1 D-sub + DVI
ViewSonic VX1940W 10,960 Black & Silver 19-inch 1680x1050 16:10 2 ms 300 cd/m2 1000:1 D-sub + DVI
AOC 197Va 10,978 Black 19-inch 1280x1024 4:3 5 ms 300 cd/m2 700:1 DVI
ViewSonic VA2026W 11,872 Black & Silver 20-inch 1680x1050 16:10 5 ms 300 cd/m2 1000:1 D-sub + DVI
AOC 197P+ 13,436 Black 19-inch 1280x1024 4:3 2 ms 300 cd/m2 700:1 DVI
ViewSonic VA2226W 15,336 Black & Silver 22-inch 1680x1050 16:10 5 ms 300 cd/m2 1000:1 D-sub + DVI
ViewSonic VX2245WM 17,012 Black & Silver 22-inch 1680x1050 16:10 5 ms 280 cd/m2 700:1 D-sub + DVI
Dell E248WFP 22,999 Black 24-inch 1920x1200 16:10 5 ms 400 cd/m2 1000:1 D-sub + DVI
AOC 416V 25,728 Black 24-inch 1920x1200 16:10 5 ms 300 cd/m2 3000:1 DVI
ViewSonic VP2030B 30,198 Black 20-inch 1600x1200 4:3 8 ms 300 cd/m2 1000:1 D-sub + DVI
Asus PG221H 33,208 Black 22-inch 1680x1050 16:10 2 ms 350 cd/m2 2000:1 D-sub + DVI + HDMI
Asus MK241H 36,848 Black 24-inch 1920x1200 16:10 2 ms 450 cd/m2 3000:1 D-sub + DVI + HDMI
Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 39,999 Black 24-inch 1920x1200 16:10 6 ms 400 cd/m2 3000:1 D-sub + DVI

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

142 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

2.5 INCH EXTERNAL DRIVES

NAME PRICE (RS) CAPACITY USB FIREWIRE ESATA
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 3,029 80 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Buffalo MiniStation Turbo USB 3,276 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Buffalo MiniStation 3,309 80 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 3,369 120 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Transcend StoreJet Mobile 3,560 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 3,598 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Buffalo MiniStation Turbo USB 3,808 250 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive Pink 4,010 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive 4,010 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
LaCie Mobile Disk Mini 4,160 120 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Buffalo MiniStation Turbo USB 4,256 320 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Seagate FreeAgent Go 4,551 160 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive Pro 4,660 160 GB ✔ ✔ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive Pink 5,299 250 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive 5,304 250 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 5,784 250 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
Freecom ToughDrive Pro 5,942 250 GB ✔ ✔ ✖
LaCie Rugged Disk 6,800 120 GB ✔ ✔ ✖
Buffalo MiniStation Turbo USB 7,169 500 GB ✔ ✖ ✖
LaCie Rugged Disk 8,008 160 GB ✔ ✔ ✖
LaCie Rugged Disk 10,360 250 GB ✔ ✔ ✖
LaCie Rugged Disk 12,320 320 GB ✔ ✔ ✖

3.5 INCH EXTERNAL DRIVES

NAME PRICE (RS) CAPACITY USB 2.0 FW 400 FW 800 ESATA
Maxtor OneTouch 4 5,626 500 GB ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
Western Digital MyBook Home 6,599 500 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Western Digital MyBook Essential 6,799 1 TB ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
Seagate FreeAgent Pro 8,530 500 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Maxtor OneTouch 4 8,969 750 GB ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 9,189 750 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖
LaCie D2 Quadra 9,284 320 GB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Western Digital MyBook Studio 10,179 500 GB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Western Digital MyBook Home 10,307 750 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Seagate FreeAgent Pro 10,878 750 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
LaCie D2 Quadra 11,768 500 GB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Western Digital MyBook Studio 12,319 750 GB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
LaCie D2 Quadra 16,735 750 GB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Western Digital MyBook Studio 19,859 1 TB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
LaCie Big Disk Quadra 19,868 500 GB ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Western Digital MyBook World II Ethernet 21,999 1.5 TBG ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
Western Digital MyBook World II Ethernet 27,999 2 TB ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2009 143

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
DIGITAL CAMERAS
FOCAL LENGTH SHUTTER APERTURE
NAME PRICE (RS) RESOLUTION OPTICAL ZOOM ISO STORAGE MEDIA
(35 MM EQ.) SPEED (SEC) RANGE
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S730 6,800 7.2 MP 3x 35-105 mm 1 - 1/2000 f2.8 - f4.8 100-1250 Memory Stick Pro
Canon PowerShot A470 6,994 7.1 MP 3.4x 38-132 mm 15 - 1/2000 f3.0 - f5.8 80-1600 SD card
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W110 7,800 7.2 MP 3x 38-114 mm 1 - 1/2000 f2.8 - f5.35 100-1000 Memory Stick Pro
Nikon Coolpix L11 8,250 6.0 MP 3x 38-114 mm NA f2.8 - f5.2 64-800 SD card
Nikon Coolpix L18 8,950 8.0 MP 3x 35-105 mm NA f2.8 - f4.7 64-1600 SD card
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150 9,800 8.1 MP 5x 30-150 mm 1 - 1/6000 f3.3 - f5.0 80-3200 Memory Stick Pro
Canon PowerShot A570 IS 9,995 7.1 MP 4x 34-140 mm 15 - 1/2000 f2.6 - f5.5 80-1600 SD card
Kodak EasyShare M893 IS 9,999 8.1 MP 3x 34-102 mm 4/1/2000 f2.9 - f5.2 80-1600 SD card
Kodak EasyShare M1063 10,998 10.3 MP 3x 32-96 mm 4 - 1/1400 f2.8 - f5.1 50-1000 SD card
Nikon Coolpix S200 11,950 7.1 MP 3x 38-114 mm NA f3.1 - f5.9 50-1000 SD card
Canon PowerShot A1000 IS 11,994 10.0 MP 4x 35-140 mm 15 - 1/1600 f2.7 - f5.6 80-1600 SD card
Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS 12,994 7.0 MP 3x 38-114 mm 15 - 1/1500 f2.8 - f4.9 80-1600 SD card
Canon Digital IXUS 70 12,995 7.1 MP 3x 35-105 mm 15 - 1/1500 f2.8 - f4.9 80-1600 SD card
Canon PowerShot A2000 IS 13,994 10.0 MP 6x 36-216 mm 15 - 1/1600 f2.7 - f5.6 80-1600 SD card
Kodak EasyShare V1073 13,999 11.1 MP 3x 37-111 mm 8 - 1/1164 f3.1 - f5.7 64-6400 SD card
Nikon Coolpix S520 14,950 8.0 MP 3x 35-105 mm NA f2.8 - f4.7 64-2000 SD card
Canon PowerShot A720 IS 14,995 8.0 MP 6x 35-210 mm 15 - 1/2000 f2.8 - f4.8 80-1600 SD card
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 15,641 10.1 MP 4x 35-140 mm 1 - 1/1000 f3.5 - f10.0 80-3200 Memory Stick Pro
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10 15,661 8.1 MP 10x 38-380 mm 30 - 1/2000 f3.5 - f6.3 100-3200 Memory Stick Pro
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 16,990 12.0 MP 3x 35-105 mm 30 - 1/2000 f2.8 - f5.2 100-3200 Memory Stick Pro
Canon PowerShot SX 100 IS 16,994 8.3 MP 10x 36-360 mm 15 - 1/2500 f2.8 - f4.8 80-1600 SD card
Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS 18,994 8.0 MP 4x 35-140 mm 15 - 1/1600 f2.8 - f5.5 80-1600 SD card
Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS 19,999 7.1 MP 12x 36-432 mm 1/2 - 1/1000 f2.8 - f4.8 80-1600 SD card
Canon PowerShot S5 IS 20,994 8.0 MP 12x 36-432 mm 15 - 1/3200 f2.7 - f3.5 80-1600 SD card
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 21,590 9.1 MP 15x 31-465 mm 30 - 1/4000 f2.7 - f4.5 80-3200 Memory Stick Pro

MP3 PLAYERS AND PMPS

NAME PRICE (RS) CAPACITY SIZE (CM) STORAGE TYPE DISPLAY

Apple iPod Shuffle 2,699 1 GB 4.12 x 2.73 x 1.05 Flash NA

Apple iPod Shuffle 3,799 2 GB 4.12 x 2.73 x 1.05 Flash NA
Cowon Iaudio U5 5,000 4 GB 4.1 x 85 x 93 Flash 1.8-inch color LCD
Cowon Iaudio 7 5,749 4 GB 3.5 x 7.6 x 1.9 Flash 1.3-inch color LCD
Cowon Iaudio 7 7,499 8 GB 3.5 x 7.6 x 1.9 Flash 1.3-inch color LCD
Cowon D2 8,499 4 GB 7.8 x 5.54 x 1.66 Flash 2.5-inch color LCD
Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen 9,698 8 GB 5.23 x 6.98 x 0.65 Flash 2-inch color LCD
Cowon D2 9,999 8 GB 7.8 x 5.54 x 1.66 Flash 2.5-inch color LCD
Cowon Iaudio 7 10,749 16 GB 3.5 x 7.6 x 1.9 Flash 1.3-inch color LCD
Cowon D2 12,999 16 GB 7.8 x 5.54 x 1.66 Flash 2.5-inch color LCD
Apple iPod Touch 15,096 8 GB 6.18 x 11.0 x 0.8 Flash 3.5-inch color LCD
Cowon S9 15,749 16 GB 5.7 x 10.6 x 1.28 Flash 3.3-inch color LCD
Apple iPod Touch 19,088 16 GB 6.18 x 11.0 x 0.8 Flash 3.5-inch color LCD
Cowon A3 20,999 80 GB 13.3 x 7.85 x 2.20 Hard drive 4-inch color LCD

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

144 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
PC CASES
POWER 5.25-INCH NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) TYPE DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 3.5-INCH BAYS
SUPPLY BAYS FANS
iBall Engine-X 1,619 Micro-ATX 14.1 x 7.1 x 16.1 400 W 2 3 1
iBall Net-X 1,619 ATX 7 x 16 x 16.9 400 W 4 7 1
iBall Bulls-i 1,622 Micro-ATX 7 x 14.25 x 14.75 400 W 2 3 1
iBall Big Engine-X 1,641 ATX 7 x 16.5 x 16.6 400 W 4 7 1
iBall Gamer 1,770 ATX 7 x 16.5 x 17.7 400 W 4 7 2
iBall Baby 306 1,776 Micro-ATX 5.3 x 14 x 14.8 400 W 1 1 2
Gigabyte GZ-X1 2,099 ATX 7.3 x 16.1 x 18.9 350 W 4 7 2
Cooler Master Elite 335 2,250 ATX 7.28 x 16.25 x 19.1 ✖ 4 7 1
Thermaltake Matrix VD2000BNS 2,848 ATX 7.48 x 16.53 x 18.9 ✖ 4 6 2
Gigabyte GZ-X4 2,999 ATX 7.3 x 16.1 x 18.9 350 W 4 7 1
Thermaltake Strike MX VI6001BNS 3,921 ATX 7.9 x 17.7 x 19.7 ✖ 4 6 1
Cooler Master Centurion 534 4,172 ATX 79.5 x 17.1 x 18.9 ✖ 5 5 2
Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS 4,490 ATX 7.9 x 17.3 x 19.5 ✖ Upto 9 3 2
Cooler Master Centurion 590 4,648 ATX 8.26 x 17.32 x 20 ✖ 9 5 2
Cooler Master Ammo 533 4,938 ATX 8.5 x 18.1 x 19 ✖ 5 5 1
Cooler Master CM 690 4,956 ATX 8.3 x 18.9 x 20.6 ✖ 5 5 2
Gigabyte iSolo 210 5,900 ATX 7.87 x 17.3 x 19 ✖ 5 5 2
Thermaltake M9D VI4000BWS 6,162 ATX 7.9 x 17.4 x 19.8 ✖ Upto 9 3 2
Thermaltake Xaser VI MX VH9000BWS 6,832 ATX 8.66 x 20.74 x 20.74 ✖ 5 5 2
Gigabyte iSolo 230 6,900 ATX 8.7 x 17.3 x 19.5 ✖ 5 5 2
Thermaltake Armour+MX VH8000BWS 7,278 ATX 8.4 x 21.1 x 19.3 ✖ 5 5 3
Gigabyte Poseidon 310 7,700 ATX 7.9 x 17.3 x 19.9 ✖ 5 5 2
Cooler Master HAF 932 9,880 ATX 9 x 21.5 x 22.7 ✖ 6 5 3 x 30 mm
Thermaltake Armour+ VH6000BWS 12,881 ATX 9.6 x 23.6 x 24.6 ✖ 7 7 3
Thermaltake Kandalf VA9003BWS 13,441 ATX 8.66 x 20.87 x 22.05 ✖ Upto 10 6 4
Cooler Master Stacker 830 Nvidia 14,000 ATX 9.8 x 21.1 x 25.1 ✖ 9 4 2
Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 14,000 ATX 10.47 x 23.54 x 24.72 ✖ 5 7 3

PRINTERS
SHEET BLACK
NAME PRICE (RS) TYPE SIZE (INCHES) BUFFER BLACK (RES) COLOR (RES) COLOR (PPM)
CAPACITY (PPM)
HP Photosmart C3188 5,934 Color Inkjet 17 x 11.4 x 6.37 32 MB 100 sheets 1200 dpi NA 22 20
HP LaserJet 1018 6,589 Mono Laser 14.6 x 9.5 x 8.2 64 MB 150 sheets 600 dpi NA 20 NA
HP LaserJet 1020 7,301 Mono Laser 14.6 x 14.2 x 8.2 NA 150 sheets 600 dpi NA 20 NA
Brother HL-2040 7,350 Mono Laser 14.6 x 14.2 x 6.5 8 MB 250 sheets 600 dpi NA 20 NA
HP LaserJet 1022 11,109 Mono Laser 14.6 x 14.3 x 9.5 8 MB 260 sheets 1200 dpi NA 19 NA
Brother HL-5240 15,750 Mono Laser 14.6 x 15.1 x 9.7 16 MB 250 sheets 1200 dpi NA 30 NA
HP Color LaserJet 1600 16,174 Color Laser 16.1 x 17.8 x 14.6 16 MB 250 sheets 600 dpi NA 8 8
Samsung ML-3051ND 17,037 Mono Laser 15.7 x 17 x 11.2 64 MB 250 sheets 1200 dpi NA 28 NA
HP Color LaserJet 2600N 20,197 Color Laser 16.02 x 17.83 x 14.6 16 MB 250 sheets 600 dpi 600 dpi 8 8
HP Color LaserJet 2605DN 27,883 Color Laser 16.02 x 17.83 x 14.6 64 MB 250 sheets 1200 dpi 600 dpi 12 10

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2009.

146 04/2009 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 LAST WORD
Freaky Photos
BY FRANCIS D'SA
S
cience has fascinated me since
I was a child. I was always the
type of kid who needed to find
out what was in a toy rather than what it
was or what it did. What drove me crazy
were the mechanics and electronics that
powered any gadget. So I always ended
up breaking open everything from the
cheapest plastic toy car or the most
expensive battery operated ones trying
to decipher the secrets behind them,
even though I knew it would mean being
punished for days. Each and every toy
in my house would be opened part by
part and inspected to see how it worked.
Often, I would try replicating them or
creating new toys with my collection of
salvaged parts.
As I grew up, I began lusting after
electronics, and finally ended up studying
that very subject. And then computers
became the new "in" things, and
everyone I knew wanted to get their
hands on one. And so I stumbled upon
a computer hardware course, became
a computer hardware engineer, and
even became pretty well-known in the
154 04/2009
09
09 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING
COMPUTING CHIP
area I used to live in. And one day, after
passionately following CHIP magazine, I
found myself with the opportunity to join
the CHIP Test Center.
Even today, with more than a decade
of experience tinkering with gadgets
behind me, I am still fascinated by
what I can do differently with all my
knowledge. As a result, I am even called
“Doctor D’Sa” by my colleagues in the
Test Center. The reason—my constant
experiments and workshops that amuse
and horrify them out almost every day of
our work life!
A few months ago I shifted my
residence to Mira Road, a suburb right on
the outskirts of Mumbai, and had to do
some renovation. Noticing that the main
door needed to be replaced and seeing it
being ripped apart in order to make way
for a new one, I saw potential for a new
project. Instantly, a light bulb switched
on in my head. I grabbed the carpenter's
screwdriver and carefully extracted the
peephole from the rotten wood.
The very next day I brought it to the
Test Center and ripped it apart to get
at the lenses. Some of you Chippers
might remember a workshop around a
year ago, where we had attached the
eyepiece of a pair of binoculars to a
simple digital camera and managed to
take stunning macro photographs of
insects. The lens from the peephole
gave me the idea of taking macro
photographs with any mobile phone
camera. All I had to do was find a
way to mount the tiny lens onto the
mobile's camera.
To start with, I just used
some regular transparent
sticky tape. Once that was
Sachin Pandit
done, I started jumping around every
corner of the office, the local chaiwalla,
the garden downstairs, and any place I
could think to find unique subjects such
as small insects and the surfaces of
different leaves and petals.
To the great amusement of all my
colleagues, I got even more crazy. After
my increasingly successful tastes of
macro photography, I needed to find
different types of lenses to get even
more fascinating images! Going crazy
with impatience, I began searching
through the piles of outdated or
damaged hardware and other scrap lying
around the office just to find something
with a lens in it to rip apart. My Test
Center colleagues Anand, Dushyant,
Siddhant, Sandeep and Jamshed decided
I had finally gone completely nuts when
I finally found a dead DVD writer and
started ripping it apart with such ferocity
that I was barely even pausing to catch
a breath. Everyone thought they'd had
enough of my antics, but when I showed
them the collection of pictures I later
managed to take with that lens, they
found it hard to believe they had been
taken with my 2-megapixel cellphone
camera. Everyone got excited about
macro shots all over again, and we
scrambled to find cool insects and other
subjects once again.
Basically, any camera is capable of
taking macro photos. All you need is an
add-on lens that can tweak the focal
length of the camera’s tiny built-in lens,
which we all know is not likely to be
of very high quality. The superb photo
of a spider that you see alongside was
taken with a cellphone camera and the
peephole lens.
Today I am trying to hack a webcam
into a night-vision camera by making it
extra sensitive to infrared light. If this
little project is successful, I'm going to try
tweaking a cellphone camera for taking
better pictures in low light. Hopefully, all
of these experiments will turn into simple
step-by-step workshops in CHIP in the
near future. Wish me luck!
- francis.dsa@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: BLW to 57007
 LAST WORD
Freaky Photos
BY FRANCIS D'SA
S
cience has fascinated me since
I was a child. I was always the
type of kid who needed to find
out what was in a toy rather than what it
was or what it did. What drove me crazy
were the mechanics and electronics that
powered any gadget. So I always ended
up breaking open everything from the
cheapest plastic toy car or the most
expensive battery operated ones trying
to decipher the secrets behind them,
even though I knew it would mean being
punished for days. Each and every toy
in my house would be opened part by
part and inspected to see how it worked.
Often, I would try replicating them or
creating new toys with my collection of
salvaged parts.
As I grew up, I began lusting after
electronics, and finally ended up studying
that very subject. And then computers
became the new "in" things, and
everyone I knew wanted to get their
hands on one. And so I stumbled upon
a computer hardware course, became
a computer hardware engineer, and
even became pretty well-known in the
154 04/2009
09
09 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING
COMPUTING CHIP
area I used to live in. And one day, after
passionately following CHIP magazine, I
found myself with the opportunity to join
the CHIP Test Center.
Even today, with more than a decade
of experience tinkering with gadgets
behind me, I am still fascinated by
what I can do differently with all my
knowledge. As a result, I am even called
“Doctor D’Sa” by my colleagues in the
Test Center. The reason—my constant
experiments and workshops that amuse
and horrify them out almost every day of
our work life!
A few months ago I shifted my
residence to Mira Road, a suburb right on
the outskirts of Mumbai, and had to do
some renovation. Noticing that the main
door needed to be replaced and seeing it
being ripped apart in order to make way
for a new one, I saw potential for a new
project. Instantly, a light bulb switched
on in my head. I grabbed the carpenter's
screwdriver and carefully extracted the
peephole from the rotten wood.
The very next day I brought it to the
Test Center and ripped it apart to get
at the lenses. Some of you Chippers
might remember a workshop around a
year ago, where we had attached the
eyepiece of a pair of binoculars to a
simple digital camera and managed to
take stunning macro photographs of
insects. The lens from the peephole
gave me the idea of taking macro
photographs with any mobile phone
camera. All I had to do was find a
way to mount the tiny lens onto the
mobile's camera.
To start with, I just used
some regular transparent
sticky tape. Once that was
Sachin Pandit
done, I started jumping around every
corner of the office, the local chaiwalla,
the garden downstairs, and any place I
could think to find unique subjects such
as small insects and the surfaces of
different leaves and petals.
To the great amusement of all my
colleagues, I got even more crazy. After
my increasingly successful tastes of
macro photography, I needed to find
different types of lenses to get even
more fascinating images! Going crazy
with impatience, I began searching
through the piles of outdated or
damaged hardware and other scrap lying
around the office just to find something
with a lens in it to rip apart. My Test
Center colleagues Anand, Dushyant,
Siddhant, Sandeep and Jamshed decided
I had finally gone completely nuts when
I finally found a dead DVD writer and
started ripping it apart with such ferocity
that I was barely even pausing to catch
a breath. Everyone thought they'd had
enough of my antics, but when I showed
them the collection of pictures I later
managed to take with that lens, they
found it hard to believe they had been
taken with my 2-megapixel cellphone
camera. Everyone got excited about
macro shots all over again, and we
scrambled to find cool insects and other
subjects once again.
Basically, any camera is capable of
taking macro photos. All you need is an
add-on lens that can tweak the focal
length of the camera’s tiny built-in lens,
which we all know is not likely to be
of very high quality. The superb photo
of a spider that you see alongside was
taken with a cellphone camera and the
peephole lens.
Today I am trying to hack a webcam
into a night-vision camera by making it
extra sensitive to infrared light. If this
little project is successful, I'm going to try
tweaking a cellphone camera for taking
better pictures in low light. Hopefully, all
of these experiments will turn into simple
step-by-step workshops in CHIP in the
near future. Wish me luck!
- francis.dsa@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: BLW to 57007