221-hp V6* Up to 32 hwy mpg** Class-exclusive 6-speed automatic transmission More innovation from Ford

*Optional on SE and SEL. **EPA estimated 24 city/32 hwy mpg (I4/automatic transmission). Class is midsize sedan.

WINDOWS VISTA DITCH MA BELL? APPLE + INTEL WE SHOW YOU SURPRISING START GOES HOW TEST RESULTS AWOL

www.pcmag.com
March 7, 2006

Build Your Perfect PC

Faster than Dell, Cooler than Apple, Cheaper than Sony

WIN OUR CUSTOM! PC , LEGoO ils M re Deta

For 99 See Page

We turned our TV into a photo album with Yahoo! Photos.

Now with Intel Viiv technology, theres a whole new kind of PC that
* Upload all of your digital brings your digital content together where it belongs.

photos to Yahoo! Photos** and watch them on the big screen, in your living room. To nd out how this leap in home entertainment can change your world, go to www.intel.com/viiv
M ov i es Music Gamin g P h oto s

Remote may be sold separately.

*Many Intel ViivTM technology-based usage models will require additional hardware devices, software or services. System and component performance and functionality will vary depending on your specific hardware and software configurations. See www.intel.com/go/viiv_info for more information. 2006 Intel Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Viiv, Intel. Leap ahead., and the Intel. Leap ahead. logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. **Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Toshiba recommends Windows XP Professional.

Satellite
Smart notebooks for every budget. Starting at $699

Tecra
The reliability business demands. Starting at $999

Portg
Thin, light and powerful. Starting at $1,599

Qosmio
4-in-1 personal entertainment center. Starting at $1,699

libretto
Power of a desktop in the palm of your hand. Starting at $1,799

Portg R200 Notebook PC

Style and performance come together in an elegant ultraportable.
Intel Pentium M Processor Ultra Low Voltage 753 for faster execution of instructions at lower power Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Professional Toshiba EasyGuard enhancements1 for increased mobile security, system integrity, network connectivity and overall ease of use Starting at $1,999

ToshibaByDesign.com/R200 1.800.TOSHIBA

1. Toshiba EasyGuard technology comprises a number of features some of which may or may not be available on a particular Toshiba notebook depending on the model selected. See www.easyguard.toshiba.com for detailed information. 2. Weight may vary. See Weight Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com. 3. Battery life may vary. See Battery Life Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com. 4. Hard drive capacity may vary. 1 Gigabyte (GB) means 109 = 1,000,000,000 bytes using powers of 10. See Hard Disk Drive Capacity Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com. 5. Toshibas shock absorption technology provides higher impact protection for your system as compared to Toshiba systems without similar shock protection features based on Toshibas drop tests. Toshibas standard limited warranty terms and limitations apply. Visit www.warranty.toshiba.com for details. libretto, Portg, Satellite and Tecra are registered trademarks and EasyGuard and Qosmio are trademarks of Toshiba

Magnesium Alloy Chassis

Exterior casework material used in aerospace manufacturing maximizes durability without adding unnecessary weight.

60GB Hard Drive4

Toshiba micro-engineering fits 60GB of data in a tiny 1.8-inch drive.

Thin. Light. Goes for hours.

Toshiba is always striving to make notebooks smaller, thinner, lighter without compromising functionality. The Portg R200 is the latest result of that philosophy. Its sleek chassis is built from materials similar to those used in fighter jets. And starting at 2.68 lbs.2 and just over half an inch thin, it still has enough battery life to last up to five hours.3 Portability plus performance. Size plus stamina. Thats 360 innovation. Thats Toshiba.

Hard Drive Drive Hard 4 5 4 Protection4 Protection

3D accelerometer detects free falls and quickly prepares the hard drive for impact to help protect your data.

Where can innovation take you? ToshibaByDesign.com/R200

Fingerprint Reader
Embedded biometric sensor helps prevent unauthorized access for better security.

Up to Five Hours of Battery Life3

Proprietary battery design and low-voltage processor optimize battery efficiency.

Innovation by design.
America Information Systems, Inc. and/or Toshiba Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Inside, the Intel Inside logo, Celeron, Intel Centrino, the Intel Centrino logo and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. While Toshiba has made every effort at the time of publication to ensure the accuracy of the information provided herein, product specifications, configurations, prices, system/component/options availability are all subject to change without notice. Toshiba is not liable for pricing, typographical or photography errors. Prices listed are based on products listed at ToshibaDirect.com at time of publication printing. Reseller/Retailer pricing/products may vary. 2006 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.pcmag.com First Looks

28
Online Mapping Services A9.com Maps (beta) AOL Local Google Local Windows Live Local (beta) Yahoo! Local Maps (beta) Desktop PCs Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo) Apple Power Mac G5 Quad K Digital Cameras Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 Canon PowerShot SD30 Digital Elph K Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital Elph Kodak EasyShare V570 Mobile Devices Palm Treo 700w HDTVs Philips 42PF9830A/37 HP Pavilion LC3700N K Mobile Devices Philips GoGear HDD6330 M Speakers Creative TravelDock Zen Micro Logitech Z-5450 Digital Notebook PCs Dell Inspiron E1705 M Sony VAIO VGN-AX570G Photo Printers Canon Selphy CP510 Compact Samsung SPP-2040 Digital Software eTrust Internet Security Suite BullGuard Internet Security Suite 6 DivX Create Bundle muvee autoProducer 5 Xara Xtreme Ovation for PowerPoint

CONTENTS
M A RC H 7, 2 0 0 6 VOL . 2 5 NO. 4 COVER STORY

32 34

YOU CAN DO IT!

Putting together a PC is far easier than many home projects: You need only a small workspace, a weekend or so to spare, some simple tools, and standard parts. Intel or AMD? nVidia or ATI? Single hard drive or RAID? As chief designer, you get to choose the components to t your needs.

97

44 46 48 50 52 55 58

Small Business

80

COVER: LEGO SCULPTURE BY NATHAN SAWAYA

81 82

Desktop PCs Gateway E-4500S HP Compaq DC7600 CMT Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small John Dickinson on Small Business Hard Drives ABSmini (40GB) Maxtor OneTouch II SBE The best products in one place.

ON THE COVER

Windows Vista: Start Goes AWOL page 136 Ditch Ma Bell? page 118 Intel iMac page 32

Build Your Perfect PC page 97

83 What to Buy

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

About the Cover:

>
BUILD IT

Our Lego PC

111 A Homemade Media Center PC

The project weve devised has something for the whole family. HDTV. Music. Playing and making DVDs. Gaming. Working with photos and video. We step you through picking the parts and piecing them together.

VOIP

118 Ditch Your Phone Company?

Switching to Voice over IP phone service can save you a ton of money, but is it worth the hassle? One of our editors made the switch, with mixed results.

The greatest ideas often originate in the smallest places. Take our Lego PC (please!). When we rst contacted the stupendous Lego artist Nathan Sawaya (shown), we had one request. We asked him to build a PC for the cover of this special issue dedicated to the ne art of do-it-yourself PCs. When we saw the work of art Nathan had constructed (using more than 2,500 bricks in a variety of colorsand one Bob the Builder for effect), a new idea germinated: Could we build a working PC into a shell like this? Youre darn right we could. And we could give it away, too, to one lucky reader. Could it be you? Hit our Web site for the contest entry form, tons of photos of the working LEGO PC, and an interview with Master Builder Nathan himself.

Pipeline Cars
84 Mercury Mariner hybrid Harman-Kardon Drive+Play Delphis blind-spot detector 85 Bill Howard 25 Ultra wideband is nearly here.

Future Watch
26 A high-tech cockpit tour.

Solutions
132 Better Ways to Label Your Discs: Paper disc labels are out. We explore three methods of printing labels and art directly onto CDs and DVDs. 136 Vista Revealed: The Start button is dead. Long live the Start button! 137 SMB Boot Camp: Without a good rewall, your business may be defenseless. But which one is right for you? 138 Security Watch: Phishing is a fast-growing sport and you are the prey. Protect yourself from this scourge. 139 Ask Loyd: How to choose the right RAID level; run multiple video cards on the same machine. 141 Ask Neil: How to schedule a task for idle time, format Excel dates within text, and more.
8
PC MAGAZINE

Opinions
13 Jim Louderback 21 Michael J. Miller: Forward Thinking 91 John C. Dvorak 93 John C. Dvoraks Inside Track 95 Bill Machrone

Gaming + Culture
152 Rated V for Violence: Some video games are facing signicant opposition from legislators. Gearlog: Take a space gander with SkyScout Personal Planetarium.

155

Also in This Issue

87 Feedback 156 Backspace

>go.pcmag.com/legopc

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

Panasonic recommends Microsoft Windows XP Professional for Business

executive sweet
Durable, ultra-lightweight Toughbooks from Panasonic. More features. More powerful. Sweet.
TOUGHBOOK T4:
Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Intel Pentium M Processor ULV 753 (2MB L2 cache, Processor speed 1.2GHz, 400MHz FSB) Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG network connection 802.11a/b/g 3.4 lbs. ultra-thin design with hand strap Touchscreen LCD Long-lasting 9.5-hour battery life

Theyre light and theyre loaded. The Toughbook T4 and Toughbook W4 with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology offer the freedom and flexibility to be productive anywhere and a long battery life to keep up with your business. Theres even a mini port replicator so you dont spend time re-connecting your peripherals. With magnesium alloy cases and shock-mounted hard drives, theyre compact computing at its toughest. Get upwardly mobile today with new thin and light Toughbooksonly from Panasonic.

TOUGHBOOK W4:
Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Intel Pentium M Processor ULV 753 (2MB L2 cache, Processor speed 1.2GHz, 400MHz FSB) Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG network connection 802.11a/b/g 2.8 lbs. ultra-lightweight design Integrated combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) 6-hour battery life

800-662-3537 panasonic.com/toughbook

Intel, Intel logo, Intel Centrino, Intel Centrino logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Toughbook notebook PCs are covered by a 3-year limited warranty, parts and labor. To view the full text of the warranty, log on to www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/professional_services.asp. Please consult your Panasonic representative prior to purchase. 2006 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All rights reserved. Executive_Sweet_H_FY05-2

CAN IT REDUCE COSTS

DECREASE TIME TO MARKET

AND SHOW AN EARLY RETURN

IS IT LINUX

OR WINDOWS SERVER

2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, the Windows logo, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

GET THE FACTS.

SWITCHING FROM RED HAT LINUX TO WINDOWS SERVER WILL SAVE TOMMY HILFIGER AN ESTIMATED 2530% IN IT COSTS.
Our migration to Windows ServerTM will reduce our IT costs by an estimated 2530 percent, but thats only the start. Our efforts are improving our competitive advantage. We developed a full e-commerce site within six months, in time for the 2005 holidays, and well continue to benet from compressed product design times and an optimized supply chain. Eric Singleton, CIO

For these and other third-party ndings, go to microsoft.com/getthefacts

Bring Dead Spots Back to Life!

Wireless
Further & faster than Standard 802.11g. Further than MIMO Solutions.*1

Tired of hitting "dead spots" in your wireless network? Buffalo Technologys

Turbo G High Power Wireless Solutions bring those dead spots back to life!
Now you can go places you never could with standard 802.11g devices. With an effective

outdoor range of up to 2000ft., connecting in the bedroom or office

down the hall should be no problem.*2 Whether youre upgrading your wireless LAN or just getting started, the Turbo G High Power Wireless Solutions provide the perfect answer for those who need

Speed, Performance and Value. Bring dead

spots to life while enjoying faster connections and extended range.

45

40

35

High Power Solution (Turbo G)

30

WHR-HP-G54 Wireless Smart Router

Mbps*

25

20

MIMO Solution

15

WLI-CB-G54HP Wireless Notebook Adapter

outdoor testing results

10

Standard 802.11g
10 164 328 492 656 820 984 1148 1312 1476 1640 1804
1969

Feet

WLI-TX4-G54HP Wireless Ethernet Converter

Great for Wireless Online Gaming!

Learn more www.buffalotech.com/pcmag1

2005 Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc. Buffalo Technology, Buffalo Technology logo and AOSS logo are registered trademarks of Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc. The names and logos of other companies mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. Products tested: High Power solution (WHR-HP-G54, WLI-CB-G54HP), MIMO Solution (WZR-G108, WLI-CB-G108), Standard 802.11g (WBR2-G54, WLI-CB-G54S).*1 Based on Buffalo Technology internal testing results. Products tested: High Power solution (WHR-HP-G54, WLI-CB-G54HP), MIMO Solution (WZR-G108, WLI-CB-G108), Standard 802.11g (WBR2-G54, WLI-CB-G54S). *2 Wireless networking speed and distance will vary depending on environment.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jim Louderback

EDITOR, REVIEWS Lance Ulanoff EDITOR, TECHNOLOGY Ben Z. Gottesman EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (ONLINE) Robyn Peterson EXECUTIVE EDITORS Stephanie Chang, Carol L. Gonsher,

JIM LOUDERBACK

Vicki B. Jacobson (Online), Jeremy A. Kaplan

ART DIRECTOR Richard J. Demler MANAGING EDITOR Paul B. Ross REVIEWS

www.pcmag.com

Go Ahead, Build Your Own PC

I N 1 9 8 9, I H E L P E D AU TOM AT E National Semiconductors chip marketing group. Instead of buying expensive PCs from the approved suppliers, IBM and Compaq, I built an entire department of computers from parts I got at Silicon Valleys secret weaponFrys Computers. You could get anything at Frys, from capacitors to candy bars to PC Magazine. Setting up the workstations wasnt easy: More than a few motherboards were DOA, and the 640KB barrier had yet to be convincingly broken. But despite the hassles, per-PC savings were substantial. Today, with basic PCs selling for less than $500, saving money isnt the primary reason to build your ownbut the case for DIY has never been more compelling. In 1989 I had few choices for motherboards and CPUs, and case colors were limited to beige. Today you can choose from an old-style 32-bit PC, a 64-bit AMD screamer, or even a VIA Technologies solution that ts in a coffee tin. A world of color has replaced beige. Some cases are empty canvases, ready for you to airbrush. Breadbox-sized brushed aluminum, hulking black monoliths, red with racing stripesthe variety of cases is mind-boggling. Even the lowly CPU coolers are now available as undulating creations of copper and steel. Some CPUs are even water-cooled! Nothing sets the mood for your new PC like multicolored lights. LEDs of all colors now grace fans and cables, and showcase fancy add-in boardsall visible via see-through panels that celebrate the PCs insides. Sound difcult? Its not. Even if you barely know your way around a screwdriver, you can build your next computer. This issue, we present a superguide, including tips on selecting key components and directions to help you put it together. Weve enlisted our compatriots at ExtremeTech.com to provide step-by-step instructions for building a Media Center PC. Creating your own customized PC might not cost less, but itll be a one-of-a-kind work of art. Back in 1989, you had to be a real hobbyist to build a good PC. Today, the advice in this issue is all you need. Starts and Stops: This issue sees the start of another regular feature, Vista Revealed. Every two weeks well bring you a nifty overlooked capability of the next Windows OS. Today we look at whats replacing the late, lamented Start button. Weve also added two new columnistssort of. Neil Rubenking has been doling out answers for what feels like forever in our Solutions section. Now we formalize it, with a picture and a new name, Ask Neil. Send him your vexing software questions. And as the yang to Neils yin, please welcome ExtremeTech.com editor Loyd Case. Ask Loyd answers your toughest hardware questions. Go ahead, try to stump our experts!
MORE ON THE WEB: You can contact Jim Louderback at

SENIOR EDITORS Dan Costa (Consumer Electronics), Jennifer DeFeo (Hardware),

Carol Mangis (Cars), Sebastian Rupley (West Coast, Pipeline), Sharon Terdeman (Software/Web/Security)
LEAD ANALYSTS Cisco Cheng, Robert Heron, Davis D. Janowski, Oliver Kaven, Mike Kobrin,

Neil J. Rubenking, Joel Santo Domingo, Sascha Segan, M. David Stone, Terry Sullivan
REVIEWS EDITORS Kyle Monson (Software/Web/Security), Laarni Almendrala Ragaza

(Consumer Electronics), Eric Rhey (Hardware)

WEB PRODUCER Molly K. McLaughlin PRODUCT DATABASE MANAGER Gina Suk COMMERCE PRODUCER Arielle Rochette INVENTORY CONTROL COORDINATOR Nicole Graham FEATURES FEATURES EDITORS Sean Carroll, Dan Evans, Sarah Pike SENIOR WRITER Cade Metz STAFF EDITOR Tony Hoffman ART SENIOR ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Michael St. George ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Liana Zamora ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Aaron Able GRAPHICS DIRECTOR David Foster STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Scott Schedivy PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR Michal Dluginski COPY CHIEF Elizabeth A. Parry COPY EDITORS Gary Berline, Ann Ovodow, Steven Wishnia ONLINE SENIOR PRODUCER Yun-San Tsai PRODUCER Mark Lamorgese ASSISTANT PRODUCER Whitney A. Reynolds ASSISTANT EDITOR Jennifer L. DeLeo UTILITY PROGRAM MANAGER Tim Smith PRODUCTION ARTIST Erin Simon COMMUNITY MANAGER Jim Lynch EDITORIAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Anita Anthony CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Helen Bradley, John Clyman, Richard V. Dragan, Craig Ellison, John R. Delaney, John C. Dvorak, Galen Fott, Bill Howard, Don Labriola, Bill Machrone, Ed Mendelson, Jan Ozer, Larry Seltzer, Don Willmott INTERNS Veronica DeLeon, Nathan Edwards CORPORATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ivis Fundichely PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Chizmadia TRAFFIC MANAGER Amanda Allensworth

CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Michael J. Miller

THE INDEPENDENT GUIDE PC Magazine is the Independent Guide to Technology. Our mission is to test and review computer- and Internet-related products and services and report fairly and objectively on the results. Our editors do not invest in rms whose products or services we review, nor do we accept travel tickets or other gifts of value from such rms. Except where noted, PC Magazine reviews are of products and services that are currently available. Our reviews are written without regard to advertising or business relationships with any vendor. HOW TO CONTACT THE EDITORS We welcome comments from readers. Send your comments to Internet address pcmag@ ziffdavis.com or to PC Magazine, 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940. Please include a daytime telephone number. PC Magazines general number is 212-503-3500. The West Coast Operations number is 415-547-8000. We cannot look up stories from past issues, recommend products, or diagnose problems with your PC by phone. An index of past issues is at www.pcmag.com/previous_issues. For a list of upcoming stories, browse www.pcmag.com. For a full description of who on staff covers what, go to www.pcmag.com/whocoverswhat.
If you are dissatised with a product advertised in PC Magazine and cannot resolve the problem with the vendor, write (do not call) Anne King, Advertising Department, at the above address. Please include copies of your correspondence with the vendor.

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Jim_Louderback@ziffdavis.com. For more of his columns, go to go.pcmag.com/louderback.

www.pcmag.com

MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

13

www.pcmagconnect.com
Visit PC Magazine Connect for tips, tools, and special offers from PC Magazine and our select partners. Its your resource for sweepstakes, downloads, announcements and updates to keep you connected! WIN YOUR OWN LAST GADGET STANDING
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NURTURE YOUR INNER SPIELBERG!

Submit your own independent films and view the latest works at ClickFlicks.net. Also, find out more about the Gotham City International Film & Video Festival, October 29th through November 5th, in NYC.

RPM Associates 248-557-7490

Ginger Serifovic

ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA INC.

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FOR TECH FANS BY TECH FANS

For all this and more, visit

www.pcmagconnect.com

14

PC MAGAZINE

MARCH 7, 2006

www.pcmag.com

my movies. my mixes. my candids. my cant-live-withouts. all on one hot little device.

Sure, it looks cool on the outside but what makes the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium so great is whats on the inside. Your music, your pic tures, your work, your play. Its any thing and ever y thing you choose to keep safe, sound and ready to go where you go. And considering its made of a space-age metal casing, that can be just about any where.
W W W.SANDISK.COM

Cruzer Titanium

SanDisk, the SanDisk logo and Cruzer are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the US and other countries. Store Your World in Ours is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identication purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective holder/s. 2005 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes; 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions, and thus is not available for data storage.

EASY ACCESS FOR YOU.

A DEAD END FOR ANYONE ELSE.

Smart Advice Smart Technology Smart Services

I N T R O D U C I N G T H E H P C O M P A Q n x 6 1 1 0 B U S I N E S S N O T E B O O K.
You arent always thinking about protecting your company information. But HP is. Our HP Compaq nx6110 business notebook with Intel CentrinoTM Mobile Technology2 features exclusive HP ProtectTools, built-in security software and hardware that works together to keep your data safe. Combine that with the HP Mobile Data Protection System, which helps protect your hard drive from shocks and bumps, and you have data security every road warrior will love. All at a price you cant resist, just $999.1

HP COMPAQ nx6110 SPECIAL PRICE $9991 WITH INSTANT SAVINGS AND FREE SHIPPING
CALL 888-291-7998 CLICK hp.com/go/secure4 CONTACT an HP reseller
1. Instant savings and free shipping good on purchases made through 3/31/06. Free shipping available only within the United States. 2. Wireless access point required and is not included. Wireless Internet use requires separately purchased Internet service contract. Availability of public wireless access points limited. All offers available from HP Direct and participating resellers. Prices shown are HP Direct prices, are subject to change and do not include applicable state and local sales tax or shipping to recipients destination. Reseller prices may vary. Other fees and restrictions may apply. All images simulated. Intel, Intel Inside, the Intel Inside Logo, the Intel Centrino Logo and Intel Centrino are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Special Advertising Section

MOBILIZE YOUR BUSINESS

W W W.SM A RTBUSI N E SSCE N TE R . BIZ

Mobile and wireless technology can transform your company and create exciting new business benets and opportunities. The challenges associated with mobility are real, but may be overcome with research, good planning and smart product selection.

Todays mobile devices like notebook PCs, tablet computers and phones are portable, wirelessly connected and run without being plugged in. But these powerful benets come with issues unique to mobile devices. For example, portability makes mobile devicesand the data that resides on themvulnerable to theft. Mobile devices these days hold sensitive company information such as business plans, customer lists and contracts. Nearly half of respondents to a CSI/FBI survey had been victimized by laptop or other mobile device theft.1 Although the value of the hardware was estimated at $720 million, the value of the data residing on those laptops topped $5.4 billion.2 Wireless hotspots where your mobile workers can connect are becoming increasingly common, though it still can be a struggle to nd them. And once they are located, it can be a challenge for some mobile workers to deal with varying and unpredictable standards and connection processes. Mobile devices enable productivity in places where time would otherwise be wasted. But the productivity stops when batteries run out. As devices grow more powerful and capable, the challenge to keep those devices powered up between recharging sessions becomes ever greater. These and other challenges associated with the portability, wireless connectivity and battery operation of mobile devices are

real, but the business benets are enormous. You can dramatically increase employee productivity and collaboration, improve customer service, and work better with suppliers by equipping your workforce with tools to help them stay connected.

TIPS AND BEST PRACTICES

Here are some tips and best practices to help your company with its mobility efforts.

How to Minimize Mobile Support Costs

Keep mobile devices up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates Take advantage of self-support services available from the devices manufacturer Make sure all available troubleshooting wizards and help les are installed on devices Create and evolve your own frequently asked questions les with common support questions and answers Embrace a local recovery solution that automates backup and enables employees to do their own incremental recovery
1

2005 CSI/FBI Computer Crime Security Survey

Safeware Insurance, 2004

Special Advertising Section Implement a secure, available VPN. Without VPN connectivity, your companys data may be exposed whenever any employee outside the main ofce connects. VPNs require a VPN router on your central network, and VPN client software on employee PCs. Its a good idea to combine networking security functionality such as a VPN, rewall, and even cache server in an integrated package, because it will save you time and money. These combination devices will provide secure, encrypted connectivity to mobile and remote workerswith the ease of single-product installation and management. Maximize data and application access. A good approach to providing secure and reliable remote access may be to deploy some applications and data over the Internet as secure Web services or through a VPN, instead of loading everything on laptops. If a notebook is lost, stolen or has technical difculties, you wont lose the data and put the company at risk from the exposure of private customer information, for example. Its also a good idea to insist on mobile solutions, including notebook PCs, that emphasize security built into the software and hardwarefor example, security features embedded into the systems microprocessor, integrated ngerprint security or smart card readers. Improve the user experience. Research has shown that the larger the display available to a user, the more productive and relaxed he or she will beand the better able to focus on the tasks at hand. In general, duplicating the desktop experience when mobile is the key to a great user experience. Make sure notebooks have powerful processors and wireless capabilities, as well as large, high-quality screens, good sound systems, and plenty of peripheral ports. Its also important to rightsize the notebook for the job and the user. Power users who can take full advantage of a high-end notebook may have a poor experience on a minimalist system designed above all for small size and low weight, while a person who needs only e-mail and Web browsing capabilities may not enjoy carrying a heavier and larger full-featured notebook. Make your workforce more productive. Mobile technology is no longer just for business trips. It can help employees boost productivity in the ofce, at home or in meetings by giving them access to data in real time. This, in turn, can help your business stay up-to-date and competitive. A tablet PC, for example, can be used just like a paper notebook, but the notes can be digitized, backed up, and shared with others. Wireless notebooks can help workers stay productive while moving from meeting to meeting, especially if they support seamless roaming, so connections arent lost between wireless access points. Mobile solutions from Intel and HP can help your business become more productive today. For more information, visit www.smartbusinesscenter.biz.

Mobile Solutions from HP and Intel

Notebook PCs. Intel Centrino mobile technologybased notebooks from HP support the latest wireless security standards, which helps to improve overall safety, security and reliability. HP offers a complete range of notebooks powered by Intel processorsfrom sub-fourpound ultralights to models with up to 17-inch displays. Many security features are built-in, making it easier to protect your companys assets. Tablet PCs. HPs powerful Intel-based tablet PCs are perfect for eld work, as well as for note-taking during meetings. HP tablets feature HP Fast Charge Technology1 and over ve-hour battery life.2 And like all HP mobile business offerings, they offer robust security features, wireless3 and wired connectivity. Integrated security makes protecting your mobile assets and data easy and cost-effective. HP ProtectTools builds state-of-the-art protection into hardware, and enhances the security of software. HP ProtectTools plug-in modules further enhance security. The Credential Manager for HP ProtectTools plug-in features Multifactor Windows Authentication and single sign-on capability.
1

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Veried Hotspot Program

Finding, then connecting through, a random hotspot can be a frustrating trial-and-error process. Thats why Intel has created the Intel Centrino mobile technology veried hotspot program (http://intel.jiwire.com). With more than 32,000 locations in the United States and many thousands more around the world, youll be able to nd a place to get online just about anywhere.1 All the sites have been fully tested and veried for Intel Centrino mobile technology-based notebooks, so you know theyre compatible hotspots.
1

HP Fast Charge Technology recharges the battery up to 90% within 90 minutes. Battery life will vary depending on the product: model, conguration, loaded applications, features, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and usage. Wireless access point required and is not included. Wireless Internet use requires separately purchased Internet service contract. Availability of public wireless access points limited.

Wireless access point required and is not included. Wireless Internet use requires separately purchased Internet service contract. Availability of public wireless access points limited.

Copyright 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., and Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Centrino are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

W W W. S M A RT B U S I N E S S C E N T E R . B I Z

HP PROLIANT ML110 G3 SERVER

SAVE $200

$668
Intel Pentium 4 Processor (3GHz, 800MHz) for outstanding performance Optimized for SMBs running small business applications 80GB SATA Hard Drive for maximum capacity1 Remote management option for greater efciency and control2 1GB ECC memory: Advanced ECC memory helps protect against memory failures 1-year parts, labor and next-business-day on-site support GET EVEN MORE 1-year Care Pack: 24 x 7 4-hour on-site response, add $63

OUTGROW YOUR OFFICE BEFORE YOU OUTGROW YOUR SERVER.

The HP ProLiant ML110 G3 server, powered by the Intel Pentium 4 Processor. Reliable. Affordable. Expandable. The future may be hard to predict, but with the ProLiant ML110, its easy to be prepared. Designed to easily expand, this server will keep your employees connected and productive even as your business grows. Every ProLiant server undergoes rigorous testing to help insure dependability and a long life. And since its an HP Smart Buy, its not only affordable, it also comes ready to run with just what you need to get started. For simple backup, add the HP StorageWorks DAT 40 USB internal tape drive, offering plug-and-play functionality. The HP ProLiant ML110 and DAT 40 USB drive. Two more reliable products from the HP Smart Office Portfolio.

SMART ADVICE > SMART TECHNOLOGY > SMART SERVICES

$599

HP STORAGEWORKS DAT 40 USB INTERNAL TAPE DRIVE

Easily connects to the ML110 internal USB port No more SCSI interface costs or complications Same performance, capacity and reliability as DAT 40 SCSI Includes HPs exclusive One-Button Disaster Recovery for quick restores

Call 1-800-888-5922 Click hp.com/go/ML1 10mag3 Contact your local reseller

Prices shown are HP Direct prices; reseller and retail prices may vary.Prices shown are subject to change and do not include applicable state and local taxes or shipping to recipients address. Offers cannot be combined with any other offer or discount, are good while supplies last and are available from HP Direct and participating HP resellers. All featured offers available in U.S. only. Savings based on HP published list price of congure-to-order equivalent ($868 - $200 instant savings = SmartBuy price $668) . Certain warranty restrictions and exclusions may apply. For complete warranty details, call 1-800-345-1518 (U.S. ) 1. For hard drives, GB=1 B illion Bytes. 2. Optional Remote Insight Lights-Out Edition II (RILOE II) . Intel, the Intel Logo, Pentium and Pentium Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Brilliant color, most cost-effective, and very well connected.

Now theres a color printer youll want on your team for the long run.
For vivid color and outstanding value theres nothing like the new Kyocera FS-C5030N, 600 dpi color printer. It boasts 26 dazzling prints per minute and the Lowest Total Cost of Ownership in its class* . It saves you money over time, so now, you can afford to add color to any text document, or presentations with charts and images. Whats more, IT people love this printer because of its advanced print driver technology one driver, one install. No wonder Kyocera printers have won numerous industry awards for technology and overall reliability. So get connected today and start saving.

Visit our web site today: www.kyoceramita.com/newproducts

A whole new reason to smile.

KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION KYOCERA MITA AMERICA, INC., a group company of Kyocera Corporation 2005 Kyocera Mita Corporation and Kyocera Mita America, Inc., People Friendly, the Kyocera smile and the Kyocera logo are trademarks of Kyocera * Source: Current Analysis, Inc.

MICHAEL J. MILLER

Forward Thinking
Apples Big Debut on Intel
Get ready for lots of changes this year in platforms for all kinds of devices. The rst one showed up in early January when Apple debuted its Intel-based Macintoshes earlier than expected. The new iMac (see review on page 32) and the new MacBook Pro are based on the Intel Core Duo, a low-power dual-core processor. The iMac looks exactly like the iMac G5, and the MacBook strongly resembles the last PowerBook. But inside youll find Intel chips, which Apple says deliver better performance than PowerPC chips. Theres no doubt that these systems are incredibly well designed. As usual, Apple has a great sense for good-looking machines. The iMac is a very thin and stylish all-in-one. The only Windows maker who comes close to this level of desktop design is Sony. The MacBook is very thin and light for a machine with a 15.4-inch widescreen design: Its only 1 inch thick and 5.6 pounds, which is signicantly slimmer than most Windows machines with similar screens. In all of its new systems, Apple has nicely integrated both decent speakers and a small webcam. But the biggest triumph is the software. Apple had to rewrite its operating system and all of its consumer applications for the Intel processors, and it did a good job. Thats not surprising, since Apple leads the industry in integrating hardware, software, and services. Im most impressed with Apples Rosetta software, which runs programs written for the older PowerPC versions of the Mac . M icrosof t Off ice a nd Adobe Photo shop work w it hout a ny significant changea huge achievement. Photoshop under Rosetta, however, is conspicuously slower than the native PowerPC version on a PowerMac or the Windows version on a Windows PC. And forget about running higher-end page layout or video-editing software until Intel versions come out. On the other hand, the Mac OS continues to have a great design, with graphics and features such as integrated search that Windows users wont see before this summer. To get the superb design of an Apple, youll pay a premium over a comparably equipped Windows machine. The cheapest MacBook will start at $1,999; the faster Windows machine with the same screen size is around $1,600. And theres a speed trade-off as well: None of these machines yet supports the fastest Core Duo processor. Bottom line: Apples strategy still positions the Mac as a niche machine.

Apples biggest triumph is the software. It had to rewrite its OS and all its apps for Intel chips.

Wanted: Better Choices in Ofce Software

The hottest trend in software today is online applications, but theyve been limited mostly to enterprise apps like Salesforce.com and NetSuite. Lately, though, the number of Web-based personal productivity tools has been growing. Ive used Rallypoint, Writely, and Zoho Writer for word processing, and JotSpot Tracker for working with Excel, and nd that they do a better job of sharing information than traditional desktop apps. While Google is rumored to be working on an online competitor to Microsoft Office, a number of online office productivity tools are already available. Writely (www .writely.com) is a surprisingly good online word processor that offers basic editing tools and a decent selection of fonts and formatting options. Although it doesnt do onZOHO WRITER the-y spell-checking, mail merge, or grammar checking, and the formatting and printing options are rudimentary, it does have revision tracking and lets you easily K

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Forward Thinking
MICHAEL J. MILLER

invite others to share or edit documents. Its also good for making a quick blog post. Zoho Writer (www.zohowriter.com) offers all the basic word processing features, plus better graphics handling and the ability to export a document as a Word or PDF le. Rallypoint (www .rallypointhq.com) offers even more collaboration tools. All three of these tools are still in beta, and pricing is still unclear. I dont recommend them for professional use, but they do point to a new direction for software. Conventional desktop applications will continue to be mainstream for the foreseeable future. Theyre more feature-rich than online apps and dont require an Internet connection. Despite its quirks and hefty price tag, most people will still use Microsoft Ofce to get their work done. Even with the new version, Ofce 12, expected late this year, you can still nd competitors such as ThinkFree Ofce and Suns StarOfce; both are full-featured suites that go far beyond current online offerings. Often overlooked, Corel has done a nice job with its recently shipped WordPerfect Office X3 ( go.pcmag.com/wordperfectof cex3). Special menus make the switch from Microsoft Office

easy, and the suite continues to have great features like Reveal Codes and the new ability both to export and to import PDF files. Its new mail client can index your messages, although thats primarily useful if you use POP and IMAP mail. Neither the spreadsheet nor the presentation modules measure up to those in Microsoft Ofce, but they do the job. One other nice benet: WordPerfect Ofce costs considerably less than Microsoft Ofce. Despite these advances, none of the ofce suite developers are really taking advantage of connections to the Web for research and publishing. Indexing mail is a good start, but we need much better ways to nd information and much easier ways to collaborate on documents. And most presentation software is still too quirky and produces boring slide shows. (One standout presentation package is Serious Magics Ovation.) I predict that in the future well have a combination of online and desktop applications. Im glad to see developers rethinking software design. Its about time.
MORE ON THE WEB: Join us online and make your voice heard. Talk back to Michael J. Miller in our opinions section, go.pcmag.com/miller.

Halo: Video Conferencing Done Right

One of the most impressive technology demonstrations Ive ever seen is HPs Halo Collaboration Studio. Recently, I walked into a meeting room in New York City where HP Imaging and Printing EVP Vyomesh Joshi, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, and AMD CEO Hector Ruiz were seated. Several other HP folks were seated in what appeared to be another part of the room, except they were really in California. Ive seen a lot of video-conferencing solutions over the years, but Ive never felt as if I was sitting at the same table with people in another city. Katzenberg explained that the concept came out of the inability to move people around the world quickly in the months after 9/11. The travel time for people between DreamWorks Northern and Southern California ofces went from under three hours door-to-door to most of the day. Katzenberg said that none of the existing conference systems could deal with body language or support multiple simultaneous conversations, so DreamWorks came up with a customized room outtted with microphones, screens, and specialized lighting. DreamWorks went to HP Labs for help, and together they created the system. Since then, Halo has grown into a business. DreamWorks has 10 rooms, HP has 15, Pepsico has 5, and AMD has a couple. Katzenberg used to travel to the ofces in Bristol, England, once every three weeks. Now he goes there once every four months. And Halo made it possible for DreamWorks to set up a deal so New York based Jerry Seinfeld can work on a movie with the California team. Halo doesnt come cheap. The rooms cost about $550,000 each, with a monthly fee of $18,000. But if you want to experience what technology can do on the high end, Halo is it.

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ITS A NOTEBOOK. ITS A TABLET. ITS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

LifeBook T4000 Tablet PC Configurable to only 4.3 lbs. A versatile, built-in modular bay Up to 8.5 hours maximum battery life XGA wide-view display with optional indoor/outdoor XGA wide-view and standard SXGA+ high-resolution displays

Fujitsu recommends Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Its a notebook

that converts

into a tablet.

Why limit yourself to an ordinary tablet or notebook? The Fujitsu LifeBook T4000 Tablet PC with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology instantly changes from one to the other with just a twist and flip of its brilliant, 12.1" screen. From the field to the back office, this no-compromise solution is the only mobile computing platform you need. With its built-in modular bay, you have the flexibility to burn CDs and DVDs, work up to 8.5 hours between charges, or trim down to a nimble 4.3 lbs. It also features the exclusive Fujitsu BayLock utility, which keeps the media drive and its contents safe should you accidentally hit the release button while in Tablet PC mode.To find out why the LifeBook T4000 Tablet PC gives mobile professionals the best of both worlds, visit www.shopfujitsu.com/LifeBookT4000 or call 1.800.FUJITSU.

2006 Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation. All rights reserved. Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo and LifeBook are registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited. BayLock is a trademark of Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation. Intel, Intel logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Intel Centrino, and Intel Centrino logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Now tax time is relax time. Get money back and enjoy the freedom to relax.
That feeling youre experiencing? Its called relaxation. You get it knowing your taxes are done right and your personal information is secure with Norton Internet Security 2006 from Symantec. The company that protects over 370 million computers or email accounts worldwide.

Get $40 back when you buy Norton Internet Security with your tax software* .
With relentless computer protection, youre free to be yourself. www.symantec.com/taxtime

*Purchase Norton Internet Security 2006 for Windows and any version of TurboTax from Intuit or TaxCut from H&R Block between 11/12/05-4/15/2006, and receive $40 USD via mail-in rebate. Mail-in rebate must be postmarked within 30 days of Symantec software purchase. Limit one rebate per customer. See www.symantec.com/taxtime for other terms and conditions. Valid only in the US and void where prohibited. 2006 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec and the Symantec Logo are registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation.

go.pcmag.com/pipeline

PI PE LI N E
T E C H N O L O G Y T R E N D S & N E W S A N A LY S I S

HyperMegaSuper Wireless?
Slick UWB products have arrived, but the jurys out on interoperability.
IS ULTRA WIDEBAND (UWB) the next big thing in wireless technology? After years of nothing but talk, it looks as if were nally going to get an answer. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and at Macworld, several companies unveiled the rst working UWB products. Like Wi-Fi, UWB is radio technology, but its proponents promise much faster speedsmore t h a n 4 8 0 M bps , compared with 54 Mbps for current 802.11g wireless solutions. And 54 Mbps is only a quoted rate: Actual 802.11g speeds are half that or slower, depending on t he dista nce bet ween devices. If UWB lives up to its hype, many slick shortrange applications, such as pointing a digital still or video camera at a PC and wirelessly transferring imagesplus many video applications for car entertainment systemscould become commonplace. The magic camera application was on display at Macworld: Gefen showed its Wireless USB Extender (Wireless USB is a subset of UWB), which you can plug into a device such as a camera to establish a wireless link with a PC. Also at Macworld, Belkin showed its CableFree USB Hub (see the photo), which offers four ports for creating high-speed wireless connections with peripherals. The hub connects to devices such as printers, and it communicates with a dongle in a PC or handheld gadget. Gefens and Belkins offerings use a chipset from Freesca le Semiconductor. Releasing wireless products before ofcial certification has become the order of the day. The WiMedia Alliance held its rst formal interoperability test for UWB on January 25. Meanwhile, a competing group, the UWB Forum, is pursuing its own standard, and the IEEE UWB working group has disbanded. WiMedia plans to certify UWB products for interoperability in the second half of the year. Stay tuned. Sebastian Rupley

High Five
Did you know that the ow of subcutaneous deoxidized hemoglobin in the veins of your hands is completely unique? In English, this means a device that can spot the route blood takes through your hands veins can identify you with nearly perfect accuracy. Fujitsus new PalmSecure biometric solution (shown) does just that, and it was one of the hits of Januarys Consumer Electronics Show. The PalmSecure attaches to any USB port, and Fujitsu claims that it has a false acceptance rate of less than 0.00008 percentoutdoing other biometric technologies like face recognition. Moreover, palm vein patterns are extremely difcult to forge, notes a Fujitsu white paper. Pricing wasnt set at press time, but Fujitsu will target vertical markets such as banks in the rst half of this year.SR

TRUE OR FALSE It knows when youre lying. The U.S. Department of Defense has unveiled plans to develop a lie detector, called Remote Personnel Assessment, that can detect falsehoods or signs of stress without the person being evaluated knowing about the test.

Net to the Rescue

HOW CRITICAL has the Internet become in helping people make key decisions? Very much so, according to a survey of 2,200 adults conducted by the Pew Internet Project. Forty-ve percent of Web users said that the Internet played a crucial role in helping them making a major life decision in the last two yearsup from 33 percent in a similar survey three years ago. When you need help these days, you dont need a bugle to call the cavalry, you need a big buddy list, says John Horrigan, who directed the Pew study.SR

ILLUSTRATION BY AARON LEIGHTON

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MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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go.pcmag.com/futurewatch

F U T U R E W AT C H

Thats No Plain Plane

NOPE, DESPITE THE JOYSTICKS, thats not the latest concept in immersive gaming environments. Its the cockpit of the Airbus A380the largest passenger jet in the world. The rst of these truly jumbo jets, which seat more than 500 passengers, should be delivered to Qantas in October of this year. The Australian airline plans to bring A380 service to the U.S., with service from Los Angeles to Melbourne and Sydney. The A380s cockpit is loaded with displays for sophisticated mapping applications, broadband Internet (available throughout the plane), and more. Several passenger lounges feature cool business technologies such as e-fax stations, PCs, and Internet access, for when the captain turns off the fasten seat belts sign. Our question is, with all those dials and ashing lights, will the pilots be able to concentrate on where theyre going?Sebastian Rupley

Fits You Like a Glove

Now your PC can know when youre about to throw a temper tantrum during a Quake session. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics have developed a glove that can clue in software applications to your emotional state. The glove measures heartbeat, breathing rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, and the skins electrical resistance. It has numerous uses, from helping drivers and pilots make fewer errors to enhancing game play.SR

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F I R S T
H A N D S - O N T E S T I N G O F N E W P R O D U C T S go.pcmag.com/firstlooks
Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo) Apple Power Mac G5 Quad Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 Canon PowerShot SD30 Digital Elph
43 Canon PowerShot SD550 32 33 34 34

Digital Elph 43 Kodak EasyShare V570 44 Palm Treo 700w 46 Philips 42PF9830A/37

46 48 50 50 52

HP Pavilion LC3700N Philips GoGear HDD6330 Creative TravelDock Zen Micro Logitech Z-5450 Digital Dell Inspiron E1705

Mapping Goes Local

THE MAGAZINE WORLDS LARGEST COMPUTER-TESTING FACILITY

BY DAVIS D. JANOWSKI

When youre on the prowl for a new pizza joint, where do you go to nd one? Until recently, you probably checked the Yellow Pages (online or otherwise) for a list of pizzerias, and then whittled that list down by proximity. Now a relatively new breed of Web services can help you nd the pizza place

Yellow Pages database (updated monthly) for the entire country. A9.com Maps is quite useful for those who live within its coverage areas. As images are added and the list of cities expands, we fully expect A9.com Maps to be all the more impressive.
A9.com Maps (beta)
Free. A9.com Inc. (a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc.), maps.a9.com.
lllmm

(or deli, or mechanic, or museum) of your dreams. These local search services combine the search functionality of yellow-page sites, the cartographic
abilities of the best mapping services, and a healthy dose of business and restaurant rev iews prov ided by t he locals themselves. T he m a r r i age of loc a l search, mapping services, and creative imagery is fairly new, and the sites are still trying to, well, find themselves. Some of the services we tested are still in beta, and there are definite improvements to be made. But all the services are free. So try them all and see which has the best coverage of your neighborhood. The pizza pie youve been searching for could be right around the corner.

AOL Local
AOL Local doesnt have all the features of the other services. Instead, AOL has opted to use the tried-and-true MapQuest and integrate AOL Local for detailed local searches. If all you want is driving directions between two locations, go to AOLs MapQuest .com and make use of the exquisitely simple interface, just as youve probably done for years. MapQuest offers only two choices: maps and directions. If you like, you can save your home and work addresses to use as a starting place. AOL Local isnt quite as intuitive as MapQuest, but once you get used to the somewhat clunky interface, its easy enough to get around. When confronted with a search eld, most of us intuitively enter a term and hit Enter. Here, theres an additional step you have to select from the categories along the left to tell AOL Local where to search. Thats because local search on AOL is just a subset of the much larger AOL Search. Once you get used to the interface, youll nd that AOL Local has lots of information

BLOCK VIEW images are highlighted in blue on the main map.

A9.com Maps (beta)

Combine traditional maps with street-level photographs of 24 major American cities (and portions of a dozen others) and youve got A9.com Maps. There arent a lot of cities on the coverage list yet, but its innovative photos make it easier to nd your way.

The company refers to its along-the-street images as Block Views. A9, a subsidiary of Amazon, employs SUVs equipped with mounted digital cameras and GPS equipment to record street images and document the locations where they are taken. Using this application, you can get driving directions and create a route map, then click on the route map to see Block Views of a street along the way. You can also easily find the

address for a spot on the map by clicking on it. To see Block View images, you just enter an address or intersection into the search bar or click somewhere on the map. After a period of time, youll receive a scrollable lmstrip view of either side of the street. A9.com Maps seemed to work best in conjunction with A9s Yellow Pages database. Click on the link and you can access a complete

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USEFUL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS for navigating digital magazines

PAGE DOWN
.................................

flip to next page

PAGE UP....................................... flip to prior page ENTER ................................... zoom in on left page SHIFT + ENTER
.....................

zoom in on right page

ENTER .................. zoom back out to full-page view C ....................................... flip to Table of Contents HOME ......................................... flip to front cover END............................................. flip to back page

USEFUL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS for navigating digital magazines

PAGE DOWN
.................................

flip to next page

PAGE UP....................................... flip to prior page ENTER ................................... zoom in on left page SHIFT + ENTER
.....................

zoom in on right page

ENTER .................. zoom back out to full-page view C ....................................... flip to Table of Contents HOME ......................................... flip to front cover END............................................. flip to back page

L O O K S
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN: LLLLL EXCELLENT l LLLLM VERY GOOD l LLLMM GOOD l LLMMM FAIR l LMMMM POOR

52 Sony VAIO VGN-AX570G 55 Canon Selphy CP510 Compact

Photo Printer
55 Samsung SPP-2040 Digital Photo

Printer

58 58 75 75 78

eTrust Internet Security Suite BullGuard Internet Security Suite 6 DivX Create Bundle muvee autoProducer 5 Xara Xtreme

78 80 81 81

Ovation for PowerPoint Gateway E-4500S HP Compaq DC7600 CMT Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small (8105-26U)

82 ABSmini (40GB) 82 Maxtor OneTouch II Small Business

Edition (SBE)
RED denotes Editors Choice.

about local sites and goingson, along with the ability to generate simple, straightforward maps and directions.
AOL Local
Free. America Online Inc., localsearch.aol.com, www.mapquest.com. lllmm

Google Local
Todays Google Local is the result of last Octobers merger between the original Google Local and Google Maps. Combined, they are even more intriguing. Google Locals interface is a model of simplicity, with but three search choices, Sea rch t he m ap, Fi nd businesses, and Get directions. Search the map does just that. If youre looking for something in a limited area, perhaps around your home, the quickest way is probably to enter what youre searching for and your ZIP code.

CLICK BETWEEN Google Locals Map, Satellite, and Hybrid views to see different perspectives of an area. Many of the satellite maps youll see are the same that Google Earth offers.

For example, pizza 11232 resulted in a list of ten pizza restaurants in the Gowanus and Sunset Park sections of Brook lyn, each indicated with a red tab. Find businesses presents dual search bars: a what bar for the type of business and a where bar for the location.

YOU CAN EASILY generate a map or directions from your AOL Local Search results.

Get directions also presents two search windows, for your starting and destination addresses. If Google Local recognizes your address, this works very well and returns a very straightforward set of printable driving directions. All three choices return a list of results along the left and little red tabs over each location on the map. Clicking a tab pulls up a small window showing the businesss address, phone number, and other information. We like that you can drag the map rather than relying on scroll buttons. The speed and responsiveness with which the map moves are very impressive, as is the speed with which you can zoom in or out. G o o g le M ap s le t s you toggle between three views: Map, Satellite, and Hybrid. T he Satellite a nd Hybrid views show the same area as the map at the same scale. Toggling to the Satellite view reveals that much of the imagery in Google Local is the

same as that found in Google Earth (though in some instances we noted that Google Earth imagery for certain locations had been more recently updated and had a higher resolution). We especially like the Hybrid view, which combines satellite imagery and map information. Roads, road names, and other map data are highlighted and overlaid on top of the satellite imagery. With this view you can very easily visualize a given route against the reality of the actual terrain. We really like Google Locals simplicity, imagery, and its responsive interface.
Google Local
Free. Google Inc., local.google.com.
llllm

Windows Live Local (beta)

Windows Live Local has to be one of the most addictive Web search tools out there. Were most excited about the birds-eye images of major U.S. cities, including Boston,

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

29

FIRST LOOKS
Software: Online Mapping Services
We arent too thrilled with Yahoo! Locals integration with Ya hoo! Loca l Maps, though. The two services are linked but act like two separate sites. Yahoo! has a new version of Local Maps currently in beta testing, though its not yet integrated with Yahoo! Local. The new version is Flash-based and is far more interactive than the earlier, non-beta, non-Flash version. T he overa ll layout a nd functioning are good, though not always intuitive. Enter your searches or addresses on the left to plot your search results or get directions. Browse through preset categories, search on a specific term, or enter an address to get directions. Once youve got the map and route you want, you can print it, e-mail it, or even send it to your phone. In using the service, we fell in love with the inset zoom window on the main page. An easy-to-adjust slider lets you quickly zoom in and out, from images shown on a scale of 0.1 mile: 1 inch to a view of the entire continental U.S. We also appreciated the ability to plot multiple points and generate a route to connect them. You wont nd the multiple types of map views or fancy images offered by Google or Windows Live Local. But as with Googles maps, you can easily click and drag the maps in Yahoo! Local Maps (beta), though they are a bit slower and less responsive. Wed a lso have li ked a pushpin-type feature and a scratch pad like Windows Live Locals. Despite these issues, Yahoo! Local gives broader, deeper, and more precisely tailored results than the other services and provides a great way to explore your neighborhood .
Yahoo! Local and Yahoo! Local Maps (beta)
THE INSET ZOOM WINDOW of Yahoo! Local Maps (beta) lets

BIRDS-EYE VIEWS of many major cities are the unique attraction of Windows Live Local.

Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle (with others coming). Live Local matches the images, taken from photographs made by Pictometry International Corp. on low-altitude ights, with satellite imagery and road maps. After searching, you can switch among three views: birds eye (if available), aerial (satellite again, if available), or road. Want to know what a block looks like from the south? No problemthe birds-eye perspective lets you see from all four directions. You can also zoom in for a high-resolution look at a given location. At its most basic, Windows Live Local works by crossreferencing two things: what youre looking for and where you want to look for it. As with any beta app, there are small glitches to x and holes to fill. We tested this and other mapping apps using Revolutionary War sites, and though Windows Live Local wasnt able to locate every one by name, we easily found their locations using just the addresses. We were then able to create our own little tourist itinerary using the customizable pushpins. If your PC is Wi-Fienabled, a tool called Location Finder helps you set your current

location as a starting point for searches. The company claims accuracy to within a few hundred feet. If the system cant locate your access point, it will use your ISPs IP address to make an estimate within a mile or so. Getting directions is very easy once youve found a location. Click on the locations icon on the results map and a small window will open that contains additional details such as address and phone number. If you have some idea of where something is but dont have the address, you can just click your cursor in the general area and generate your di rections from that. Even without the loca l search, maps, and wealth of

extra features, the cool birdseye views make Windows Live Local worth a try. With the great feature set, weve deemed it worthy of our Editors Choice award.
Windows Live Local (beta)
Free. Microsoft Corp., local.live.com.
llllm

Yahoo! Local and Yahoo! Local Maps (beta)

The Yahoo! Local site is a good place to search for just about anything. Its rich in local detail, aggregating all sorts of content, such as your neighborhoods upcoming events, weather, businesses, RSS feeds, users favorite restaurants, and hot spots. Results are plotted automatically on a map with colorcoded and numbered tags.

you quickly home in on an area.

Free. Yahoo! Inc., maps.yahoo.com/ beta, www.yahoo.local.com. lllhm

30

PC MAGAZINE

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

Introducing Internet phone service from the Internet experts.

1
GHI

ABC

2 5 8

DEF

3 6 9

4 7

JKL

MNO

PQ RS

TUV

WX YZ

TONE

With EarthLinks new trueVoice, you get more from your phone service and pay less.

For only $24.95 a month* , you get:

- Unlimited local and long-distance calling in the continental U.S. and Canada. - Premium calling features like voicemail, caller ID and call waiting no extra charge. - First month of service FREE!

All you need is a high-speed Internet connection and your regular phone handset. Then well provide the rest, including award-winning service and support.

Call 1-866-ELNKVoice to sign up or go to www.earthlink.net/voice.

2006 EarthLink, Inc. *Offer and rates subject to change. Service not available in all areas. trueVoice Basic plan is billed at a rate of $.04/minute after first 500 minutes each month. Per minute international rates vary by country and are always billed in addition to monthly fees. Equipment Recovery Fee of $50.00 may apply to unreturned or non-working equipment upon cancellation. Activation fee may apply. Service is for fixed residential use only. Certain taxes, shipping, handling and other fees may apply. E911 service may be limited or not available before service is activated or in the case of power or broadband service failure. Directory or operator assistance charges will apply. See www.earthlink.net for all charges and rates. Cancellation must be by phone, U.S. mail, or FAX before the next billing period begins to prevent further charges. Other restrictions may apply.

FIRST LOOKS
Hardware: Desktop PCs

The Intel-Based iMac Tested

JOEL SANTO DOMINGO On the outside, the new Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo) ($1,699 direct, $1,799 as tested) looks no different from the previous PowerPCbased iMac G5 (iSight). The differences are all under the hood. The 20-inch new iMac combines a dual-core Intel Core Duo processor with the Mac OS X experience. Casual Mac users, switchers from Microsoft Windows, and iPod acionados will love the new iMac; however, professionals and people who use graphics apps such as Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro should hold off until such critical apps are updated to work smoothly with the Intel processor. On the outside, the new iMac with Intel Core Duo is physically the same as the iMac G5 (iSight). Apple installed a 2.0-GHz Core Duo T2500 processor with a version of the Intel 945GM chipset. Like the previous iMac G5, it comes standard with A i rPor t E x t reme 8 02 . 1 1g wireless networking, Bluetooth 2 .0+EDR , a n iSight camera, a dual-layer DVDburning SuperDrive, and a 250GB SATA hard drive. The iMacs bright and brilliant 20inch widescreen LCD is the same panel we raved about on the iMac G5 (iSight). Ports on the back panel are also the same (USB, FireWire, audio in/out, Ethernet) with one exception: Now that the iMac has a mini-DVI port, you can take advantage of true dual-monitor usean improvement over the video

mirroring setting in previous iMacs. The mini DVI port is compatible with a VGA adapter, and there is an optional S-Video adapter. Front Row and the Apple Remote were introduced in the last version of the iMac G5 (iSight), and both were kind of sluggish. Thanks to the iMacs Core Duo processor, however, Front Row is now a totally natural user interface and has fewer of the irksome pauses we saw in the la st i Mac G5. Programs such a s t he Q u ickTime player showed a

both PowerPC and Intel platforms) need Apples translation technologycalled Rosettato run on the Intel platform. Some vital programs for Apple users, such

THE NEW IMAC

is much like the previous iMac, but with an Intel processor and better graphics.

marked improvement. On the new iMac, 1080p QuickTime 7 HD videos play smoothly without a hiccup. The Superman Returns and King Kong movie trailers looked phenomenal on the new iMac. Now that Apple is moving from PowerPC (G4, G5) to the Intel x 86 platform with the Core Duo processor, programs that arent in universal binary (apps optimized for

as Aperture, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Quark Xpress, have not yet been recoded. As a result, running those programs can cause performance slowdowns. The software that has been converted so far includes several thirdparty shareware programs, the Mac OS X operating system, and the new iLife 06 (included with the new iMac) and iWork 06 suites.

Because of the necessary Rosetta translation, Photoshop CS2 performance on the new iMac (2 minutes 43 seconds), though adequate for c a s u a l u s e , i s m uc h slower than on the 2.7- GHz PowerMac G5 Dual (1:14) and mainstrea m PCs li ke the Velocity Micro Vision GX (1:50). Doom 3 is doubly doomed: The game is not optimized for Mac OS X on PowerPC systems, a nd Roset t a slowed it dow n e ven m ore . The new iMac Core Duo mustered only 17 frames per second versus the previous iMacs 20 fps on our Doom 3 tests. Wel l revisit gaming performance once Doom 3 goes to universal binary. Though the iMac still lacks a TV tuner, video podcasts and the TV content on iTunes make the iMac more of a dig ita l media hub. For casual users, the new iMac has much to offer. But for professionals, the lack of essential universal binary programs means they should hold on to their PowerPCbased Macs for a while.
Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo)
With 2.0-GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 1GB 667-MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card, dual-layer DVDRW drive, Mac OS X 10.4.4, $1,699 direct; $1,799 as tested. Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.com. llllh

ANALYST'S TIP
JOEL SANTO DOMINGO, Lead Analyst

For the most part, Mac OS X is still virus and malware free. Apple is good at plugging security holes in the OS, mostly through Software Update in OS X. But there are Unix- and Linux-based threats out there that bad guys could use. So-called phishing attacks can still work on unsuspecting Mac users to get personal info. You dont necessarily need to run security software on your Mac, just be careful on the Wild Wild Web.

32

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MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

FIRST LOOKS
Desktop PCs

The Hummer of Desktops: Apple Power Mac

BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO pple profession a ls expect a speed bump w it h e ach s ucce s sive Power Mac model that comes out, and the 2.5-GHz Apple Power Mac G5 Quad ($9,522 direct, $7,023 without monitor, as tested) delivers a doozy of one. With the rst Intel-powered consumer Macs available, it is interesting that Apple would release the G5 Quad as the probable last hurrah for the PowerPC processorbut at least its going out on top. The G5 Quad will give graphics professionals the power they need to produce large-scale output on increasingly short deadlines. For anyone other than graphics or video professionals, this system is overkillnot to mention a bank-account obliterator. (The basic conguration of the 2.5-GHz model comes in at a more reasonable $3,299 without monitor). In terms of case design, not much has changed. But as youve probably guessed by now, the real story is inside. In addition to the dual-core G5, the appearance of DDR2 memory and PCIe card slots on the Power Mac G5 line is a major change, probably made because the entire Macintosh platform will move to Intel-based hardware over the next 12 to 18 months. The inclusion of DDR2 and PCIe means that IT departments can start stockpiling DDR2 and PCIe replacement parts and upgrades. You can configure the system with two 500GB hard drives (as on our

THE G5 QUAD has plenty of power for graphics and video professionals.

test system), bringing the total storage up to a whopping 1TB (but the hard drives will not be congured in a RAID array). Although our test system came with 4GB of RAM, you can upgrade to a stunning 16GB of ECC RAM for an extra $11,900no, neither of those numbers is a typo. Thats all well and good, but is it worth upgrading to the new G5 Quad? The answer

is a resounding yes for those who need the power (and can justify the expense). The G5 Quad powered through our Adobe Photoshop CS2 tests at a speedy 57 seconds. The previous Power Mac Dual (2.7 GHz) took 1 minute 14 seconds to do the same ten tasks, and the Dell XPS 600 took 1:03. Though this difference doesnt seem like much, it can really add up over the course of a week. The Quad G5 got the highest score weve ever seen on

the CineBench rendering test: 1,104. The Pentium EE 840, overclocked to 3.6 GHz, recently got a 667, and an Athlon 64 4800+, overclocked to 2.7 GHz, scored 775. CineBench is a multithreaded app, so the more threads your system can handle, the more efficiently your workload gets done. We recommend that professional businesses such as design and engineering rms continue to buy PowerPC-based Power Macs. Intelnative and universal binary software (software that contains both PowerPC- and Intel-optimized code) are likely to lag behind the introduction of the Intel Macs by several months to a year. Since non-Intel- optimized programs are likely to rema i n cu r rent for severa l years after the introduction of Intel Macs in 2006 and 2007, it behooves current Mac houses to buy the latest PowerPC Macs as their last pre-Intel upgrade. For the Mac-centric professionals, the G5 Quad offers the necessary speed. Since universal binary and Intelnative code is still in development, if you need the power now, it would be best to get a few G5 Quads for your most productive users and bring the Intel Macs in for testing when they are available.
Apple Power Mac G5 Quad
With two dual-core 2.5-GHz PowerPC G5 processors, 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, two 500GB SATA hard drives, 512MB nVidia Quadro FX 4500 graphics card, duallayer DVDRW drive, 30-inch Cinema Display, Mac OS X 10.4, $9,522 direct, $7,023 without monitor. Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.com. llllh

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHT: CINEBENCH EXPLAINED

The Power Mac G5 Quad blew away all our previously reviewed desktops on our CineBench tests. This translates to faster rendering times on big graphics les. Our CineBench test uses Maxons Cinema 4D software to create 3D renderings like those used in movies and TV shows. Here is the Power Mac G5 Quads CineBench score compared with the best-performing Pentium-based system to date, the Dell XPS 600.

CINEBENCH 2003
TEST COMPARISON
Previous highest score

DELL XPS 600: APPLE POWER MAC G5 QUAD:

667 1,104
33

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

FIRST LOOKS
Consumer Electronics: Digital Cameras

The Slim, Sleek Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9

BY TERRY SULLIVAN lthough some have claimed that the super-waif is no longer the catwalk ideal, thin is still in when it comes to digital cameras. Thats why the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 ($499.95 list) ultracompact is sure to attract attention. This 6-megapixel ultracompact is an update of Sonys Cyber-shot DSC-T7 but is just slightly thicker than that 5MP camera, at 0.8 inch. The DSCT9 is about as wide and tall as the Canon PowerShot SD550 but is two-thirds as thick and weighs four-fifths as much. All this makes for a very portable camera. The T9 comes with a 3X optical, nontelescoping zoom with a 6.3mm to 19mm range (a 35mm equivalent of 38mm to 114mm) and corresponding maximum f-stops of f/3.5 to f/4.3.

THE DSC-T9 REFLECTS SONY s signature combination of elegant design and functional features.

Our simulated-daylight shots revealed little noise, very good color saturation and fidelity, and almost no fringing. We found excellent exposure, about as good as that on the T7. Our ash test shots revealed adequate ash coverage, although the image was slightly underexposed.

There was almost no fringing in the imageincluding in our real-world test shots. The T9s dynamic range was very good overall. On our resolution test, the camera averaged 1,475 lines, which is a bit above average for a 6MP camera. But our test shots appeared sharp and

clear, better than this score indicated. The T9 was quick to boot up, taking just 1.9 seconds. The 2.7-second recycle time is very good, though not exceptional, and there was a bit more shutter lag than we like to see. There was also a little pincushion distortion and a bit of barrel distortion. The video capabilities are a bit limited, although you still get VGA quality (or 640by-480) for your video clips. The T9, in our view, does a better job than either the FinePix Z1 or the Nikon Coolpix S1, but the Canon SD550 is one of the few cameras that does a better job than the T9. We think the T7 might be a slightly better value than the T9, but if youre looking for a 6MP camera, the T9 is an allaround good buy.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9
$499.95 list. Sony Electronics Inc., www.sonystyle.com. lllhm

An Average Camera in Sexy Clothing

BY TERRY SULLIVAN mall, sleek, and stylish, the Canon PowerShot SD30 Digital Elph ($399.95 list) comes in four bold colorsgold, red, purple, and black. But the slick packaging doesnt quite make up for this ultracompacts mediocre performance. The SD30 is a 5-megapixel camera with a 2.4X optical zoomless than the 3X most ultracompacts have. Maximum apertures on its 6.3mm to 14.9mm zoom (the 35mm equivalent of 38mm to 90mm) range from f/3.2 to f/5.4. We were disappointed in the 1.8inch LCD; Casio, Kodak, and Sony offer much larger displays. Our simulated-daylight shots revealed an image with

some noise, though it wasnt color noise and wasnt that noticeable. We found excellent color matching and saturation for both the ash and the daylight shots. These shots also showed very little fringing, less than on the Kodak V530. We got a very good, solid exposure for the daylight shots,

though we noticed a slight softness to the images. Flash coverage on our ash test shots was weak, with slight vignetting in the corners. The shots were also too contrasty, with details getting lost in the shadows. Compared with the

V530s images, the SD30s were lackluster and had more noise than wed like to see. At 3.3 seconds, the SD30s boot-up time was average. Its 4.6-second recycle time was slow, and we found noticeable shutter lag. The lens had just the usual amount of barrel distortion and no pincushion distortion. Resolution measured 1,350 lines, average for a 5MP camera. For an ultrasmall ultracompact, the SD30 doesnt stand out. Wed suggest the Kodak EasyShare V530 or the V550. Or, for better performance and picture quality, you might try the very stylish Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7.
Canon PowerShot SD30 Digital Elph
$399.95 list. Canon U.S.A. Inc., www.usa.canon.com. lllmm

A SLICK BODY

makes it easy to slip the SD30 into a shirt pocket.

34

PC MAGAZINE

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

J U M P T O N E X T PA G E >>

Acer recommends Windows XP Professional.

March/April 2006

www.pleasing.it - ADV

Acer TravelMate 4200 Dual-Core Powerhouse

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

The Acer TravelMate 4200 allows you to experience all the benefits of dual-core performance_and more_at a price you can live with. Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology includes a processor optimized for the multitasking you do every day plus full 802.11a/b/g wireless capability. Images are stunning on the 15.4 wide-screen display that delivers razor-sharp 1280 x 800 resolution. Abundant memory boosts the performance of application programs, while ample storage space is provided by the hard drive and integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW).
Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology - Intel Core Duo Processor - Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset - Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection Genuine Windows XP Professional 1GB DDR2 667 SDRAM 100GB1 hard drive Integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW) 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 802.11a/b/g WLAN, gigabit LAN, V.92 modem One-year limited warranty2

MULTITASKING MADE EASY

Acer TravelMate 4202WLMi

$ 1,299
INTEL CORE DUO PROCESSOR T2300 (2MB L2 CACHE, 1.66GHZ, 667MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL (LX.TAV06.040)

For the name of a reseller near you or further information, please call Acer or visit our Web site:

800-571-2237

www.acer.com/us

Acer TravelMate 2410

Maximum Mobility, Affordable Price
The Acer TravelMate 2410 is designed to deliver high performance in a portable package that's both appealing and affordable. This all-in-one notebook with integrated wireless connectivity and 15.0" viewing area has the comprehensive feature set and flexibility needed for a busy lifestyle like yours.

Intel Celeron M Processor Genuine Windows XP Professional 512MB DDR2 400 SDRAM 60GB1 hard drive Integrated CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive 15.0 XGA (1024 x 768) TFT display Mobile Intel 910GML Express chipset with integrated graphics 802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem One-year limited warranty2

WORK & PLAY UNWIRED

Acer TravelMate 2413LCi

$ 799
INTEL CELERON M PROCESSOR 370 (1MB L2 CACHE, 1.50GHZ, 400MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
(LX.TAC06.022)

Acer Flat Panels: Displaying Quality & Value

Acer AL2416Wd
VGA, DVI-D signal 24" wide-screen connectors TFT LCD Acer AL2416Wd 500 cd/m2 brightness 1920 x 1200 native resolution 6ms gray-to-gray 1000:1 contrast ratio response time Internal power (ET.L6102.018) 178 horizontal adapter viewing angle Silver color 178 vertical 24" WIDE-SCREEN viewing angle

Ferrari F-20
20" wide-screen TFT LCD, Acer CrystalBrite Technology 1680 x 1050 native resolution 800:1 contrast ratio 176 horizontal viewing angle 176 vertical viewing angle Two 5.0W integrated speakers VGA, DVI-D signal connectors 300 cd/m2 brightness 8ms gray-to-gray response time External power adapter Gloss black/red color

$ 919

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer recommends Windows XP Professional.

Acer TravelMate 4060 Enjoy the Freedom of Mobility

The Acer TravelMate 4060 strikes just the right balance between performance and affordability. Along with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, you get a panoramic 15.4 wide-screen display for side-by-side document viewing plus integrated wireless with Acers exclusive SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency. An excellent choice for office or home computing, this notebook lets you enjoy the freedom of mobility to work faster and smarter without sacrificing features.

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology - Intel Pentium M Processor - Mobile Intel 915GM Express chipset - Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection Genuine Windows XP Professional 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM 80GB1 hard drive Integrated CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem One-year limited warranty2

15.4 WIDE-SCREEN
Acer TravelMate 4062WLCi

$ 849
INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR 740 (2MB L2 CACHE, 1.73GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
(LX.TAK06.075)

Ferrari F-20

Acer AL1951C
VGA, DVI-D signal 19" TFT LCD, connectors Acer CrystalBrite Technology 2 1280 x 1024 native resolution 400 cd/m brightness 700:1 contrast ratio 150 horizontal viewing angle 135 vertical viewing angle Two 1.5W integrated speakers 4ms gray-to-gray response time External power adapter Silver/black color

$ 599
(ET.L380B.063)

4MS RESPONSE TIME

Acer AL1951C

HI-TECH PASSION

$ 359
(ET.L4108.068)

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer TravelMate 4060

Your Essential Business Tool
Count on the Acer TravelMate 4060 for growing your business. Powered by Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, this stylish notebook boasts high-end features at a price that wont break your budget. The wide-screen 15.4 display is perfect for viewing documents side by side. The integrated optical drive offers flexibility and conveniece, and the wireless LAN will keep you connected and productive wherever your work takes you.

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology - Intel Pentium M Processor - Mobile Intel 915GM Express chipset - Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection Genuine Windows XP Professional 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM 100GB1 hard drive Integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW) 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem One-year limited warranty2

Acer ezDock
15.4" WIDE-SCREEN
Acer TravelMate 4062WLMi
The one-plug Acer ezDock manages and organizes peripheral connections with ease, allowing you to add or remove devices instantly, without turning off your notebook computer. This compact docking solution features 21 interface ports and two card slots for desktop-like expansion possibilities, as well as PCI Express technology and a Kensington lock slot.

$ 999
INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR 740 (2MB L2 CACHE, 1.73GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL
(LX.TAK06.079)

Acer ezDock Docking Station

$ 299
COMPATIBLE WITH THE TRAVELMATE 8200, 8100, 4650, 4400 3000, C310, C200; FERRARI 4000
(LC.D0103.004)

Compare LCD Prices/Features & You'll Choose Acer

Acer AL1923 r
19" TFT LCD with height adjustment and rotation VGA, DVI-D signal connectors

Acer AL1717 Bbmd

ADJUST HEIGHT & ROTATE
Acer AL1923 r

2 1280 x 1024 native resolution 280 cd/m brightness 8m s re s pon se time 1000:1 contrast ratio

178 horizontal viewing angle Internal power adapter Titanium color 178 vertical viewing angle Two 1.0W integrated speakers

$ 339
(ET.L660B.048)

VGA, DVI-D signal 17" TFT LCD connectors 1280 x 1024 300 cd/m2 brightness native resolution 8ms response time 700:1 contrast ratio Internal power adapter 150 horizontal viewing angle Black color 135 vertical viewing angle Two 1.0W integrated speakers

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer recommends Windows XP Professional.

Acer TravelMate C310

Tablet & Full-Featured Notebook in One
The Acer TravelMate C310 is the convertible tablet that you'll want to use as your primary computer. With a big 14.1" XGA display, full-size keyboard, modular optical drive and optional ezDock Docking Station, it's similar to a standard notebook but offers much more. The screen becomes a writing surface when you rotate it and fold it back over the keyboard, perfect for taking notes, annotating documents and completing online forms.

XT CONVERTS HANDWRITING TO TE

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology - Intel Pentium M Processor - Mobile Intel 915PM Express chipset - Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection Genuine Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 4-in-1 card reader for optional MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick or Memory Stick PRO 14.1" XGA (1024 x 768) TFT display NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 graphics 802.11b/g WLAN, Bluetooth, gigabit LAN, V.92 modem Full-size EMR pen with eraser One-year limited warranty2

Acer TravelMate C314XMi

Acer TravelMate C312XCi

$ 1,999
INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR 760 (2MB L2 CACHE, 2GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP TABLET PC EDITION 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM, 100GB1 HARD DRIVE AND MODULAR DVD-DUAL DRIVE (DVD+/-RW)

$ 1,699
INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR 740 (2MB L2 CACHE, 1.73GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP TABLET PC EDITION 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM, 80GB1 HARD DRIVE AND MODULAR CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO DRIVE
(LX.T270E.029)

(LX.T870E.032)

700:1 CONTRAST RATIO

Acer AL1717 Bbmd

Acer AL1716 Bbd

17" TFT LCD 700:1 contrast ratio 150 horizontal viewing angle 135 vertical viewing angle VGA, DVI-D signal connectors 300 cd/m2 brightness Internal power adapter Black color 1280 x 1024 native resolution 8ms response time

$10 PRICE CUT!

$ 249
(ET.1717B.MD8)

Acer AL1716 Bbd

$ 229
(ET.1716B.0D8)

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer Veriton 2800

Powerful but Compact
Even if youre short on space, you dont need to sacrifice performance. The compact Acer Veriton 2800 business desktop gives you an Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology, dual-channel memory and eight USB ports for connecting to a printer and other office peripherals.
Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology Genuine Windows XP Professional 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM 80GB1 hard drive, 7200RPM CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Gigabit LAN Three-year limited warranty2

Acer Veriton 2800

$ 689
Display sold separately.

Acer AcerPower S280

Affordable Computing at its Best

INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR 521 WITH HT TECHNOLOGY (1MB L2 CACHE, 2.80GHZ, 800MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL (VT2800-U-P5210)

The AcerPower S280 boasts an impressive feature set in a stylish chassis at an affordable price. Ample power means you can efficiently perform everyday tasks. Multiple expansion slots make the system easy to upgrade, while the eight USB 2.0 ports give you the ability to connect to the latest peripherals. All in all, an excellent choice for home, school or office computing.
Intel Celeron D Processor Genuine Windows XP Professional 80GB1 hard drive 10/100 LAN Integrated SiS Mirage graphics One-year limited warranty2

AcerPower S280

AcerPower S280

$ 459
INTEL CELERON D PROCSSOR 346 (256KB L2 CACHE, 3.06GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 512MB DDR SDRAM AND CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO DRIVE (APS280-U-C4600)

$ 399
INTEL CELERON D PROCESSOR 336 (256KB L2 CACHE, 2.80GHZ, 533MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 256MB DDR SDRAM AND CD-ROM DRIVE (APS280-U-C3600)
Display sold separately.

Acer Projectors with DLP Technology

Digital Light Processing from Texas Instruments is an all-digital display technology for projectors and other products that delivers the best picture in terms of clarity, brilliance and color.

Acer PD100
2000 ANSI lumens SVGA (800 x 600) native resolution 2000:1 contrast ratio 16.7 million displayable colors PC and Mac compatible
Acer PD100

Acer PD120D
2000 ANSI lumens XGA (1024 x 768) native resolution 2000:1 contrast ratio 16.7 million displayable colors PC and Mac compatible

Acer PD120D

$ 999
(EY.J2201.012)

$ 669
(EY.J2101.006)

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer recommends Windows XP Professional.

Acer Veriton 6800

Optimized for Business
Stability, ease-of-deployment and comprehensive management tools are the hallmarks of Veriton, Acer's premier business desktop series. Each of these features has been enhanced in the Acer Veriton 6800, with an improved tool-less chassis design, fortified security tools, more powerful Intel processors and Acer eManager software.

Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology or Intel Pentium D Processor Genuine Windows XP Professional Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Gigabit LAN Three-year limited warranty2

DUAL-CORE PROCESSOR
Acer Veriton 6800

160GB HARD DRIVE

Acer Veriton 6800

$ 999
INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSOR 830 (2X1MB L2 CACHE, 3GHZ, 800MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM; 160GB1 SATA HARD DRIVE, 7200RPM; AND DVD-DUAL DRIVE (DVD+/-RW) (VT6800-U-S8301)

$ 879
INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR 650 WITH HT TECHNOLOGY (2MB L2 CACHE, 3.40GHZ, 800MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM; 160GB1 SATA HARD DRIVE, 7200RPM; AND CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO DRIVE (VT6800-U-P6501)

$50 PRICE CUT!

Acer Veriton 6800 Acer Veriton 6800

$ 799
INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR 640 WITH HT TECHNOLOGY (2MB L2 CACHE, 3.20GHZ, 800MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM; 80GB1 SATA HARD DRIVE, 7200RPM; AND CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO DRIVE (VT6800-U-P6400)
For permanent placement of an Acer PD525, PD120D, PD116P or PD100 projector in a conference room or classroom, youll want an easy-to-install Ceiling Mount.
Replacement Lamp for PD525, PD116

$ 699
INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSOR 630 WITH HT TECHNOLOGY (2MB L2 CACHE, 3GHZ, 800MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 512MB DDR2 533 SDRAM; 80GB1 SATA HARD DRIVE, 7200RPM; AND CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO DRIVE (VT6800-U-P6301)
Keep a Replacement Lamp on hand for the Acer PD525, PD120D, PD116P or PD100 projector. Expected life in hours is 2,000 standard mode, 3,000 economy mode.

Ceiling Mount

Replacement Lamp for PD120D, PD100

$ 79
(EZ.PCM03.007)

$ 299
(EC.J1001.001)

$ 199
(EC.J2101.001)

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

Acer TravelMate 8200 The Visible Power of Mobile Leadership

The Acer TravelMate 8200 includes all the new and high-end features you could want in a notebook and earned the prestigious PC Magazine Editors Choice Award in January 2006. Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology delivers superb dual-core mobile performance, allowing you to easily run demanding applications simultaneously. Supercharged ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics turn this notebook into a mobile entertainment system and make the most of the wide-screen 15.4" WSXGA+ display. You also get the Acer OrbiCam, an 1.3-megapixel adjustable webcam built into the black carbon-fiber chassis.
Have a video conference almost anywhere

Acer recommends Windows XP Professional.

Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology - Intel Core Duo Processor - Mobile Intel 945PM Express chipset - Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection Genuine Windows XP Professional 2GB DDR2 667 SDRAM 120GB1 hard drive, 5400RPM Modular Super-Multi drive (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM) 5-in-1 card reader for optional MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO or xD-Picture Card 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) TFT display ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics Integrated, adjustable webcam 802.11a/b/g WLAN, Bluetooth, gigabit LAN, V.92 modem One-year limited warranty2

Integrated Webcam

DUAL-CORE PROCESSOR
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi

$ 2,499
INTEL CORE DUO PROCESSOR T2500 (2MB L2 CACHE, 2GHZ, 667MHZ FSB) GENUINE WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL (LX.TAX06.034)

Acer Notebook/Tablet Service Upgrades Protect Your Valuable Investment

Quality is built into every notebook and tablet PC Acer makes, and each comes with a one-year standard limited warranty.2 It includes hardware technical support via toll-free phone plus a concurrent International Travelers Warranty for travel outside the U.S. and Canada. Extra protection is available with one of these upgrades: Its a tough world out there, and accidents do happensticky spills, dangerous drops, nasty knockswhich is why you should consider the Total Protection Upgrade. It runs concurrently with the limited warranty2 and limited warranty extension and covers the cost of a replacement unit if your covered notebook cannot be repaired.

2-Year Extension of Limited Warranty (146.AB820.EX2)

2-Year Extension of Limited Warranty + 3-Year Total Protection Upgrade (146.AD077.002)

$99
Prepays freight to and from Acer repair depot. Excludes extension of International Traveler's Warranty.

$199
Prepays freight to and from Acer repair depot. Excludes extension of International Traveler's Warranty.

When referring to storage capacity, GB stands for one billion bytes and MB stands for one million bytes. Some utilities may indicate varying storage capacities. Total user-accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environments. For a free copy of the standard limited warranty end-users should see a reseller where Acer products are sold or write to Acer America Corporation, Warranty Department, P.O. Box 6137, Temple, TX 76503.
For the name of a reseller near you or further information, please call Acer or visit our Web site:

800-571-2237
www.acer.com/us

2006 Acer America Corporation. Information and prices are subject to change without notice. Pricing is effective from January 25, 2006 through March 15, 2006. Product images are representations of some of the models available and may vary from the model you purchase. Acer, TravelMate and Veriton are registered trademarks and AcerPower a trademark of Acer Inc. Aspire is a trademark of Acer America Corporation. Celeron, Celeron Inside, Centrino, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel SpeedStep, Intel Viiv, Intel Xeon, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, the Centrino logo, the Intel logo and the Intel Inside logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Prices shown are estimated street prices and do not include tax or shipping. Retailer or reseller prices may vary.

FIRST LOOKS
Consumer Electronics: Digital Cameras

Canons New Ultracompact Sharpshooter

BY TERRY SULLIVAN T he Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital Elph ($449.95 list) is the refreshed version of the very popular PowerShot SD500 Digital Elphand in this case, new really does mean improved. Not only does it take great shots in a variety of situations, but its performance on our tests was better than that of the SD500, making it our Editors Choice. The SD550 is a 7.1-megapixel camera with a 3X optical, 7.7mm to 23.1mm zoom (a 35mm equivalent of 37mm to 111mm) and corresponding maximum f-stops of f/2.8 to f/4.9. It shares its predecessors excellent quality and design, with a slightly larger LCD, at 2.5 inches. We would prefer more manual functions; this was also our complaint about the SD500.

Canon spent some time on the design: there are well-positioned controls, a metallic surface, and no sharp edges. Our simulated-daylight shots revealed hardly any noticeable noise. T hey showed exceptional color saturation and very good color accuracy, and we saw no noticeable aberrations, fringing, or artifacts. Exposure was very good, with excellent dynamic range, and the colors really popped off the page. Our f lash shots showed that flash coverage was excellent. There was just a bit of underexposure, though color saturation and matching were quite good. On our resolution test, the SD550 had an average of 1,675 lines, which compares well with the SD500s 1,625 lines. Boot-up time was more than a second quicker than that of last years model, at 1.6 sec-

THE SD550s user-friendly

design has no sharp edges.

onds. We found virtually no shutter lag. The lens revealed no pincushion distortion and only some barrel distortion. The camera saves video as motion JPEG les at 30 frames per second to the capacity of the card. The SD550s video quality was slightly better than that of the SD500.

Whether youre a pro who doesnt want to lug your gear around or a novice whos not sure what an f-stop is, youre going to enjoy shooting with this ultracompact.
Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital Elph
$449.95 list. Canon U.S.A. Inc., www.cusa.canon.com llllm

Kodak Offers Double Vision

BY TERRY SULLIVAN ou ca n easily see what makes the new Kodak EasyShare V570 ($339.95 list) different: The camera has two Schneider K r e u z n a c h C -Va r i o g o n lenses. This is an ultracompact digital camera that gives you the benet of both a wideangle and a 5X zoom lens in one device. The combination is very compelling, but Kodak had to make some compromises to offer this exibility. T h e V5 70 h o u s e s t wo lenses in one 5MP camera: a 23mm f/2.8 fixed lens and a 39mm to 117mm zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.9 on the wide-angle end of the zoom and f/4.4 on the telephoto end. For us, the rea l appea l of this camera is the 23mm

wide-angle view. Its great for capturing landscapes and interior settings. The V570 lets you shoot as much as 80 minutes of VGA video at 30 frames per second. The video was a little jumpy, but the image looked pretty good. In our testing, simulateddaylight images

revea led some noise a nd slight artifacts. The images were pretty sharp and displayed good color saturation and matching. On our ash test shots, the ash just didnt seem strong enough. Color saturation was pretty good, but an increase in noise affected the color

accuracy and saturation to a degree. On our resolution test, the image registered 1,375 lines, about average for a 5MP camera. Boot-up time was speedy, taking 1.8 seconds, and the recycle time was excellent: The V570 takes just 1.2 seconds to reset between shots; however, we did find some shutter lag. Even with the distortion compensation feature turned on, we found obvious, strong barrel distortion with the 23mm fixed lens. With the zoom lens, we found only a bit of barrel distortion in the wide-angle end and just a slight bit of pincushion distortion at the zoom end. At this point, the V570 rates as a very good camera for an ultracompact.
Kodak EasyShare V570
$399.95 list. Eastman Kodak Co., www.kodak.com. lllhm

GET WIDE ANGLE

and 5X zoom in one device.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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FIRST LOOKS
Mobile Devices

Palm Does Windows with Treo 700w

BY SASCHA SEGAN he most usable onehanded Pocket PC, the Palm Treo 700w, will be welcome in Microsoftdominated workplaces looking for an e-mailoriented phone that works with the latest Exchange servers. Unfortunately, it isnt quite as easy to use as the Treo 650 and doesnt take advantage of all the power the Windows Mobile platform has to offer. The new Treo looks exactly like its Editors Choice predecessor, the much-loved Treo 650. Its exactly the same size (2.3 by 4.4 by 0.9 inches) and weighs just a touch more, 6.4 ounces to the Treo 650s 6.3. A few physical differences are apparent. Most notably, the 650s super-bright 320by-320 screen has been replaced by the 700ws slightly dimmer 240-by-240 model. T he i mprovements a re inside. The Treo 650s VGA camera has been replaced by a 1.3-megapixel model, which is dim but quite sharp and takes high-res 352-by-288 videos. And the Treo 650s CDMA 1X modem has been pumped up to EV-DO, which runs at about five to seven times the speed of the old technology. Palm has done a heroic job of making the Treo a good one-handed phone. Type the first letters of any name in your address book and that address book entr y pops up, with all of its associated numbers. Press the Dial button once and up pops a list of your most recently called

numbers. You can assign a speed dial to any key of the 37 keys on the QWERTY keyboard and attach speed dials to photo icons on your home screen. When someone calls you, you can ignore the voice call and immediately send a text message back. T he phone i n the Treo 700w seems to be the same as the one found in the Veri-

e -m a i l , W i ndow s Med i a Player 10, and Pocket Internet Explorer. Palm adds the excellent Picsel PDF viewer and a full version of Microsoft Voice Command, and Ve r i z o n a d d s t h e clu n k y I ntel l i s y nc e-mail redirector for Microsoft Exchange

THE TREO 650s 320-

Push e-mail is another feature thats expected to arrive later this year. We hope that better Bluetooth connectivity will also come soon. T he 65 M B of ava i lable storage memor y of fers enough room for programs, but the 11MB of available program memory is much too small. We got frequent out of memory errors and had to go an extra step to close programs. Battery life, at 6 hours 15 minutes of continuous video playback, was good for a Pocket PC phone. The 240-by-240 screen is just a bad idea. T he screen has 25 percent less space than standard 320by-240 Pocket PCs and 44 percent less than the 320by-320 Treo 650. Theres no upside to that. AGAINST THE COMPETITION The Palm OS used in the Treo 650 still requires fewer taps and clicks than Windows Mobile, uses less battery power in PDA mode, and feels zippier with the 312MHz processor. No perfect smartphone solution is available right now, in our eyes. For power, wed recommend the Sprint PPC- 670 0 or its Ver i zon cousin. For e-mail and phone use, we like the BlackBerry 7130e. And if high-speed networking isnt important to you, well, the Treo 650 is still out there.
Palm Treo 700w
$619.99; $399.99 with 2-year contract. Palm Inc., www.palm.com. lllmm

by-320 screen (above) is brighter, sharper, and shows more of our test image than the 240-by240 display on the 700w, shown at right.

zon Treo 650, right down to the same talk time: 5 hours, 17 minutes. Reception was good, ranking on our tests between that of our baseline LG VX8000 and the excellent Motorola RAZR V3c. THE TREO 700W AS POCKET PC The Treo 700w comes with t he sta nda rd Wi ndows Mobile Pocket PC software suite, including Microsoft Ofce reader/editors, Pocket O ut look POP 3 I M A P4

a nd Lotus Notes desktop PCs. Surng the Web with Microsofts Pocket Explorer was zippy on Verizons EV-DO network. We charted download speeds ranging from 492 to 841 Kbps, with most speeds (ttingly) in the 700s. Right now, youre not allowed to use the Treo 700w as a PC modem, though Verizon told us that this feature will be available in the future.

ANALYST'S TIP
Sasha Segan, Lead Analyst

If your PDA/phone is your lifeline, make a habit of throwing an emergency battery into your travel bag. A pair of Cellboosts disposable batteries cost $10 on Amazon.com and can keep a Treo, BlackBerry, or a variety of phones alive for at least an hour. Theyre cheap enough that you can keep one in your bag, one in your glove compartment, and one in a desk drawer, and forget about them until you need them.

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FIRST LOOKS
Consumer Electronics: HDTVs

Philips 42-Inch LCD FlatTV Falls Flat

BY ROBERT HERON he 42-inch Philips 42 P F 9 8 3 0A / 3 7 ($3,999 list) is an LCD HDTV that offers useful multimedia capabilities and unusual features. But image quality is the primary criterion for all HDTVs we review, and in that regard, the 42PF9830A/37 (also known as the FlatTV) was a disappointment. If theres one feature that instantly impresses people, its the ability to swivel a display via remote control, which the FlatTV offers. The FlatTV features an integrated bias-lighting system dubbed A mbilight 2 . Bias-lighting systems can reduce eyestrain when youre viewing bright imagery in a dimly lit environment and can improve perceived picture quality. By default, Am-

TUCKED AWAY ON THE RIGHT SIDE of the Philips FlatTV are two USB ports and a media card reader.

bilight 2 analyzes on-screen i m ager y a nd adju st s t he lights color to match. The system even adds a stereo mode that adjusts the lights on each side of the screen independently. We found the effect pleasing.

In the lab, using ColorFacts test software and a Konica Minolta color analyzer, we were disappointed to find that the FlatTVs default color temperature was very inaccurate. The result was an image with an obvious bluish tint.

Our video processor tests with the challengi n g HQV B e n c h m a rk DVD earned the FlatTV the dubious honor of being the worst-performing display to enter our labs. Specically, jagged-edge suppression and noise reduction with content containing motion were particularly ineffective. Were it not for its inability to suppress noise, jagged edges, and other common artifacts, the FlatTV would be a good multimedia-friendly HDTV. Ambilight 2 and the motorized swivel base certainly add to the appeal, but image quality is the bottom line, and, unfortunately, this one gave us a glimpse of how bad it can be.
Philips 42PF9830A/37
$3,999 list. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., www.consumer.philips .com. llhmm

A Fully Loaded HDTV

BY ROBERT HERON he HP Pavilion LC3700N ($2,699.99 list) is a 37-inch LCD TV that offers native high-de nition resolution and a stylish design. Weve seen similarly sized LCDs that cost less, but they lack the features and consistent performance that earn the LC3700N its premium price tag. T he LC 3 70 0N of fers a comprehensive selection of A/V inputs, including a pair of component video inputs, a DVI input, and an HDMI input with a digital audio passthrough (optical). Integrated TV tuners include analog and digital and a CableCARD slot. Using a Sharp LCD panel with a native resolution of 1,366-by-768, the LC3700Ns backlight controls are good

for matching the displays brightness with ambient lighting conditions. In our testing, we found the LC3700Ns primary and secondary color accuracy to be exceptional. But, color uniformity across the displays dynamic range (black to white) revealed increasing inaccuracies as the video signa l ap proached black. Full-screen examinations with a white test pattern ranked it among the most uniform flat-panel displays we have seen. Our tests using the challengi ng HQV Bench ma rk DVD revealed the LC3700Ns video-processing abilities to be average. Jagged-edge artifacts were poorly suppressed, and the LC3700Ns digital

FIRST IMPRESSIONS are important, and the HP LC3700Ns

glossy, piano-black bezel is certainly eye-catching.

noise reduction (DNR) feature was ineffective at the default low setting. The HP Pavilion LC3700N offers the quality of a Sharp LCD in an attractive black f ra me . T he va lue -pr iced Westinghouse LV M-37w1

provides twice the native resolution, but it lacks automatic backlight adjustment and CableCARD support.
HP Pavilion LC3700N
$2,699.99 direct. Hewlett-Packard Development Co., www.hp.com.
lllhm

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DEFEND YOUR EMPIRE FROM VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE.

Sony recommends Windows XP Professional. WIRELESS BEYOND HOTSPOTS. AT LAST.

Takeovers foiled. Competitors denied. The new Sony VAIO TX is your mobile edge against the unknown. Its integrated wireless Wide Area Network (WAN) technology* lets you go on-line virtually anywhere the Cingular Wireless national EDGE network is available. So should the unexpected strike, its nice to know the ultra-portable VAIO TX lets you defend your empire from just about anywhere. 877-339-7669 sony.com/vaio-tx1

Carbon ber shell

WAN antenna

2.8 lbs

*Available in select models. Subscription with Cingular Wireless required. See www.sonystyle.com/cingular for complete offer details, price plans, service terms and conditions and coverage map. Call 1-888-739-VAIO (8246) for service activation. Non-metric weights and measures are approximate. 2005 Sony Electronics Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. Sony and VAIO are registered trademarks of Sony. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Cingular Wireless is a registered trademark of Cingular Wireless LLC 2005.

FIRST LOOKS
Mobile Devices

The Ultra-Stylish GoGear HDD6330

BY MIKE KOBRIN pples dominance of MP3 players is forcing others to concentrate on design, and thats producing some sleek, elegant competitors, like the 30GB Philips GoGear HDD6330 ($299 list). It may not be perfect the interface often respond s slowly a nd bat ter y l i fe wont wow you but the combination of good sound, ultra-stylish looks, a nd a broad fea ture set makes this a solid alternative to the iPod, especially for those who prefer Windows Media Player 10 to iTunes. At 5. 3 ounces, the HDD6330 has a fairly solid feel. Its slightly bigger4.1 by 2.5 by 0.7 inches (HWD) than a fourth-generation, 20GB iPod and much thicker tha n Apples current 30GB version. Powered off, the HDD6330 looks like a miniature version of the blank black monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Power the player up and the controls suddenly appear, backlit by blue LEDs in the shiny black polycarbonate front. The backsilver-colored brushed aluminumis rounded on the top and bottom. T h e c ontex t- s e n sit i ve touch interface illuminates controls for available functions. A vertical touch strip with LEDs that follow the motion of your finger looks

somewhat like the display on the front of K.I.T.T., the sentient Knight Rider car. Menu navigation can be painfully slow. If youre listening to a song a nd you go back into the menus to choose another, for example,

works right out of the box. You can load photos, also, but viewing them requires a plug-in application from the included CD. The player supports MP3, WAV, WMA, and protected W M A formats, including content from online download and subscription services. You can tag tracks you want to purchase by selecting the Buy Now option in the contextual menu. The FM tuner works well, is easy to use, and supports up to 20 station presets. GOOD BUDS This is one of those rare times when we wont bug you to upgrade the included earbuds, which are in-ear style and sound better than most stock sets. We listened to a variety of music, including rock folk, hip-hop, funk, jazz, classical, and ambient, all of which sounded very good on t h e H DD 6 3 3 0 , with plenty of cla rit y a nd presence in the bass and highs. Our lab tests using SIA Softwares SmaartLive confirmed that the players frequency response is admirably at, with a very slow rolloff in the bass. Boosting the bass with the custom five-band equalizer adds significant harmonic distortion at any volume. The SRS WOW feature expands the soundstage and boosts the bass but isnt adjustable, makes the music sound a bit

THE HDD6330s

features rival those of the iPod.

youll experience a lag of up to 5 seconds until the next tune starts. The HDD6330 is tied to W i n d o w s M e d i a P l a ye r (W M P) 10, so Mac users are out of luck, but syncing music in WMP is easy and

harsh, and causes the midrange to seem distant. One of t he best t h i ngs about this player is its recording capability. The built-in mic is impressive, though it doesnt have adjustable gain control. Despite the xed input volume, it handles a wide dynamic range with aplomb. We were hoping for a bit more battery life than the 15.5 hours we got on our battery rundown test, which uses a real-world mix of MP3s encoded at 128 to 320 Kbps. But we do like the quick-charge feat ure, wh ich g ives you about 70 percent battery capacity after just 1 hour. Photos look reasonably sharp on the 2-inch, 220- by 176-pixel display. We like that you can scroll through images quickly using the touch strip, much as you can on an iPod. Slide show settings are exible and include a couple of basic transitions. From the menu, you can choose a music playlist to accompany the show. If you ne ed to t ra n sfer i m a ge s directly from a digital camera, you can purchase an optional digicam cable. The HDD6330 is a sharplo ok i n g , ver s at i le 3 0 G B player at a reasonable price. Our quibbles are mainly with the slow interface and hohum battery life, though a slightly bigger screen would be nice. The Philips GoGear HDD6330 may not be our top choice, but its definitely a solid contender.
Philips GoGear HDD6330
$299 list. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., www.philips.com. llllm

ANALYSTS TIP
Mike Kobrin, Lead Analyst

You wouldnt drive a sports car with imsy, bald tires on it, so why listen to your MP3 player with headphones that simply dont cut it? Most digital audio players I test have very good bass frequency response, but most of the earbuds that come with them cant handle very much low end. By spending just a little extra to upgrade your headphones, youll actually be able to hear how good your MP3 player truly is.

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FIRST LOOKS
Consumer Electronics: Speakers

Small Speakers, Big Sound

BY MIKE KOBRIN or a Creative Zen Micro user, the Creative TravelDock Zen Micro ($129.99 list) is a very good choice among travel speakers because it ts that player like a glove. The sound quality is very good, though like nearly all travel speakers, this one suffers from anemic bass. Still, its versatile features including a subwoofer output and an FM antennaand compact design give it an edge. T he spe a kers are housed in a white plastic body with a hinged plastic cover that

folds back and clips into place to form a stand. Between the two pairs of 1.5-inch drivers, theres a dock for a Zen Micro. On the back of the TravelDock, there are ports for the AC adapter, a mini-USB cable, and an auxiliary line-in port. Were also pleased that theres a subwoofer output that doubles as a headphone jack, as well as a 2.5mm input for the

THE ZEN MICRO

player docks into the middle of the TravelDock.

included FM antenna. The battery compartment holds four double-A batteries. T he power but ton a nd volume wheel are located on the top of the unit, as well as a wide stereo button foryou guessed itwidening the stereo image a bit, and a soft volume button that instantly takes the speakers output down to a very low level so that you wont miss a beat if you have to take a phone call. Creative included a handy IR remote c o n t r ol , w h i c h gives you access to power, FM/ MP3 mode toggle, volume, and playback controls. T he four built-in 1. 5-inch titanium drivers are quite small, so dont expect thump-

ing bass. Nonetheless, the TravelDock Zen Micro puts out 4 watts per cha n nel, so it can certainly fill up a small hotel room. The overall sound is quite lively, with vocals almost a bit too prominent and plenty of highs, so nothing sounds too distant. The TravelDock Zen Micro is compact and very portable in its soft travel bag, and it provides plenty of power for a hotel room. At $129.99, this speaker is perhaps a bit more expensive than it need be, but at least it includes cables, a remote, and an AC adapter. Overall, this is a very good choice for travelers who have a Creative Zen Micro player, although the speakers will work with any audio source via the line-in port.
Creative TravelDock Zen Micro
$129.99 list. Creative Technology Ltd., www.creative.com. llllm

Almost Perfect Wireless 5.1 Audio

BY DON LABRIOLA he pioneering Logitech Z-5450 Digital ($500 list) is pricier than most in its class, but its the first well-implemented w i reless desk top system weve found. It combines room-filling sound with a wide selection of 5.1-channel interfaces and decoders. But its two wireless rear surround satellites are what make this 31 5 -wat t T H X- compl ia nt speaker system stand out from the crowd. The test setup blasted out our noise sample at 97 dBabout as loud as a subway train and a mere 7 dB under what Logitechs top-ofthe-line Z5500 Digital manages. The AC-powered surround satellites were son-

ically identical to the front speakers, ensuring seamless 3D imaging and panning. The systems overall frequency response was marred, however, by exaggerated high and

THE Z-5450S WIRELESS rear

surround satellites stand out.

low ends that towered almost 20 dB above the midrange. The bass unit is downright bombastic from 45 through 140 Hz, where youll f ind most bass and drum sounds, but drops quickly outside that range. The result is a punchy low end that lacks some detail but reproduces most bass and percussion instruments without muddiness. The satellites mount on walls easily, but attaching the speakers inconveniently angled bases to f loor stands was difficult. Worse, the systems w i reless tra nsm itter interferes with 2 .4 - GH z cord less phones at distances up to 18 feet. A terrific desktop control pod connects the system to

computers, CD a nd DV D players, and PS2 and Xbox game consoles via one coaxial and two optical 96-kHz/24bit digital interfaces. Its three stereo line-in jacks can merge into a 5.1-channel analog input. The control pod includes hardware Dolby Digital, DTS, and DTS 96/24 multichannel decoders, and a software Dolby Pro Logic II decoder that can upmix stereo to 5.1. A cordless handheld remote rounds out the package. The Logitech Z-5450 is a trailblazing product with enough power to satisfy most gamers and movie fans. But if you dont need wireless connectivity or a second optical input, the brawny Z-5500D will deliver a bit more volume and an extra half-octave of bass for less money.
Logitech Z-5450 Digital
$500 list. Logitech, www.logitech .com. llllm

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FIRST LOOKS
Hardware: Notebook PCs

The New Dell Dual-Core Laptop

BY CISCO CHENG el l , once a g a i n , i s ahead of the curve in integrating new technology at a reasonable price. The Dell Inspiron E1705 multimedia laptop ($2,307 direct) upgrades the Inspiron 9300 with a new Intel Centrino Duo Mobile processor and a lot of other ne features. The E1705 is the perfect addition to the digital home. This new model retains the arctic-silver chassis of its predecessor, and it has a comfortable keyboard and palm rests and quiet mouse buttons. Be careful of your lap, though: The base can get surprisingly hot. At a hefty 8.2 pounds, the E1705 isnt designed for the roadbut part of that weight is the systems excellent 17-inch widescreen monitor with Dells Truelife image- brightening technology.

D el ls i nclude d Med i a Direct, an instant-on application that launches with the touch of a button, is outstandingthe most comprehensive feature of this type weve seen. The Media Centerlike interface gives you the power to navigate the entire hard drive, not just certain folders (as with HPs QuickPlay). Connectivity options are plentiful, with six USB ports and one FireWire, a DVI-D port, and a 5-in-1 card reader. But the 80GB hard drive installed in our test machine is probably not big enough for an avid video editor. P e r fo r m a n c e h a s t wo sides. The good news is that this dual-core system outperformed top-of-the-line single-core systems. We saw no lag when we simultaneously converted a Microsoft

PERFECT for

your digital home.

a s we l l a s s o m e other new dual-core notebooks, such as the Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi and HP Pav i l ion dv10 0 0. Also, battery life did not improve as much as we anticipated; the E 1705 la sted just 2 hours 34 minutes. Overall, however, the Dell Inspiron E1705 shows off just the right combination of performance, high-end components, and reasonable price. It gives multimedia mavens a worthy reason to invest in the future.
Dell Inspiron E1705
With 2.0-GHz Intel Duo Core T2500, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 80GB hard drive, nVidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX graphics, 17-inch widescreen LCD display, dual-layer DVDR dual-layer drive, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, $2,307 direct. Dell Inc., www.dell.com. llllm

PowerPoint slide to a PDF le, transcoded a file with Windows Media Encoder 9, and rendered a photo with Adobe Photoshop CS2. Unfortunately, on many tests, the E1705 did not score

Sony Brings Its A Game

BY CISCO CHENG hough it weighs 8.7 pounds, the Sony VAIO VGN-AX570G is part of Sonys sleeker AX notebook series. It comes complete with enhanced components and took some design cues from products in Sonys new BX line of business laptops. A modular TV tuner with RCA connectors is the biggest feature upgrade. The tuner slides into the laptop instead of into the docking station as before, and a dongle connects your cable line to the tuner. We like that the tuner is also hot-swappable with the optional DVD R drive ($400), but most multimedia notebooks include a DVDRW drive standard. The 17-inch XBrite screen produces superb image qual-

ity and brightness, and Sony is also starting to bring back integrated webcams with the 0.3-megapixel camera, which is ideal for video chats via IM, but the image quality isnt great. We also like the addition of dua l pointing devices and a built-in, easyto-use fingerprint sensor. And now that Sony i s letting formats ot her t h a n M e m -

ory Stick get in the game, youll find an SD card slot. Sony is also phasing out its acclaimed Sony VAIO Zone suite in favor of the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition OS.

Regrettably, Sony builds in only three USB 2.0 ports versus four on the Toshiba Qosm io G 25 -AV5 1 3. A nd the G25-AV513 has several more A/V ports, including SVideo-in and component-out. The AX570G showed very good performance, despite a less-than-ideal processor, the 1.86-GHz Pentium M 750. Game play is decent on the AX570G. Last, but certainly not least, battery life lasted just 1 hour 55 minutes. Even w it h t he s e l i m i t a t i on s , t h e S ony VA IO VGN-AX570G is a nice improvement over models in the Sony AX series.
Sony VAIO VGN-AX570G
With 1.86-GHz Pentium M 750, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, two 80GB hard drives, 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X700 graphics, 17-inch widescreen display, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, $2,299 direct. Sony Electronics Inc., www.sonystyle.com.
llllm

A MORE STYLISH

AX-series laptop.

52

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MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

Data can be lost in any number of ways.

(Unfortunately, theres no good way for it to happen.)

2006 CDW Inc.

FIRST LOOKS
Hardware: Printers

Photo-Quality Prints for Less than You Think

BY M. DAVID STONE T he Canon Selphy CP510 Compact Photo Printer ($99.99 direct) is essentially t he Selphy CP 7 10 ($150) without memory card slots or an LCD to preview photos. What makes it interesting is the unusually low price. When we first heard about this printer, we wondered whether it was really the bargain it seems to be. Happily, it is. Like the CP710, the CP510 prints on a variety of paper sizes up to 4 by 8 inches and prints 4-by-6 photos for just 28 cents per print. It also has the same size and weight2.5 by 7.0 by 5.2 inches (HWD) a nd 2 . 2 poundsas the CP710. Setup, which is typical for a thermal-dye printer,

is simple. Other similarities include the same battery option ($79.99 direct) and the sa me 10 -i nch retractable cable for connecting to a PictBridge camera. The most pressing question we had: For $50 less, does the CP510 offer the same high-qua lity output and speed as

the CP710? It does, point for point. Most photos were true photo quality, suitable for framing. The one problem we had with the image quality was the same one we saw with the CP710: In a photo we printed of a bicycle wheel, the spokes look like ragged lines.

Oddly, this problem showed up only when we were printing from a computer; it did not occur when we printed directly from a digital camera. On our standard test suite for dedicated photo printers, we timed the CP510 at 1 minute 9 seconds to 1:10 for 4-by-6 outputa tie with the CP710. This score is faster than many dedicated photo printers that cost $150. If youve been looking for a dedicated photo printer to pair with your digital camera but have been discouraged by high prices, the CP510 should be your choice. For less than $100, youll get high quality and high speed.
Canon Selphy CP510 Compact Photo Printer
$99.99 direct. Canon U.S.A. Inc., www.usa.canon.com. llllm

FOR LESS THAN $100

youll get great prints, quickly and easily.

Fast Thermal-Dye Photo Printer

BY M. DAVID STONE h e S a m s u n g S P P2040 Digital Photo Printer ($150 street) offers many features that are becoming standard for the price: a 2-inch LCD and the ability to output from computers, PictBridge cameras, and memory cards. Youll get excellent speed and highquality photos, but the cost per print is higher than wed like, and youre limited to 4- by 6-inch paper. At just 2.4 by 7.1 by 5.4 inches (HWD) and 2.4 pounds, the SPP2040 is typical for this class. It takes up relatively little space and is highly portable. Theres no battery option, though, so it has to be within reach of a power outlet. On our tests, the output quality was very good, which means that most prints were

true photo quality with a few minor aws. When we tested in Normal mode (the default), the color in some photos was oversaturated, and images tended to lose a bit of detail in light areas (clouds in a light-blue sky, for example). The printers Best mode actually

exaggerated those problems, so in fact Normal is the best modeeasily good enough for snapshots, photo albums, and even framing. The SPP-2040 is one of the faster thermal-dye photo printers today. When printing from a computer, it t u r ne d i n times of just 1 minute 3 sec-

onds to 1:04 on our standard test suite. Unlike most printers, it didnt slow signicantly while printing from CompactFlash, taking 1:03 to 1:07. Even when the source was a camera, speeds were just a little slower1:13 to 1:16. Printing cost is the SPP2040s Achilles heel. Depending on which paper and ink-roll pack you choose, youll pay 42 to 62 cents per photo. Thats not unusual for thermal-dye printers, but the Canon CP710 manages to keep costs as low as 28 cents per photoa difference of 14 cents at the low end. The cost per print makes the SPP-2040 hard to recommend over other printers, such as the Canon Selphy CP710, that have the same price, similar features, and lower running costs.
Samsung SPP-2040 Digital Photo Printer
$150 street. Samsung Electronics America Inc., www.samsung.com.
llllm

A VERY GOOD PHOTO

printer with slightly high per-print costs.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 6, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

55

You cant anticipate what will happen to your data.

(But you can make sure you back it up.)
We dont have to tell you that data loss can be a financial blow to any company. And with more data being stored, more assets are at stake. CDW has a full line of top-name storage solutions that can help you increase capacity and reduce risk. And our account managers have the expertise to ensure you get the right solution for your needs. So you dont just get secure storage, you get peace of mind.

Sony StorStation AIT-3 Tape Library LIB-81/A3

Slim, high-density rack-mount library 1U high with a unique 8-slot internal carousel Storage capacity: up to 2TB compressed1 10-second cartridge access time Wide Ultra SCSI interface, 68-pin

316862
CDW 387494

Sony SDLT Tape Cartridge

Storage capacity: 160GB native/320GB compressed1 Widely used for backup of network server and workstation data

$54.45 CDW 465285

Assumes 2:1 compression. 2Download a FREE trial version at CDW.com/tryca. 3Includes 1-year Enterprise Maintenance (24 x 7 technical phone support and upgrade protection). Offer subject to CDWs standard terms and conditions of sale, available at CDW.com. 2006 CDW Corporation

Quantum Internal DLT-V4 Tape Drive Kit

Storage capacity: 160GB native/320GB compressed1 Data transfer rate: 36GB per hour native/72GB per hour compressed1 Equipped with DLTSageTM, a suite of management tools and DLTIceTM easy-to-use WORM archival functionality Includes VERITAS Backup Exec QuickStartTM Edition software

99657
CDW 850972

TDK LTO Ultrium-3 Tape Cartridge

400/800GB, single cartidge TDKs exclusive Finavinx coating formula has proven long-term durability Custom bar code labeling available

$117.86 CDW 716020

Overland ARCvault 12 LTO-3 Autoloader

Storage capacity: up to 4.8TB to 9.6TB for backup and archiving LTO-3 tape drive technology; also available with LTO-2 Compact 2U form factor for cost-effective use of valuable rack space Removable 12 cartridge magazine for easy off-site storage

Call

CDW 892731

CATM BrightStor ARCserve Backup r11.5 for Windows

Protects your business critical data Disk-to-disk to tape backup (disk staging) 64-bit platform support FREE trial download2

Full Version3 $586 CDW 837987

Exabyte VXA-320 PacketLoader 1x10 1U

Storage capacity: 3.2TB compressed1 Data transfer rate: up to 86GB per hour compressed1 Standard bar code reader Remote management standard allows monitoring from anywhere in the world 10-cartridge capacity

298045
CDW 830263

Exabyte X23 80/160GB Data Cartridge

Enabled by Exabytes VXA Packet Technology Offers the scalability of 3 different cartridge capacities, compatibility with the next generation drive and the ability to reliably restore data even under the most extreme conditions

$79.99 CDW 705846

The Storage Solutions You Need When You Need Them.

FIRST LOOKS
Software

Powerful Protection in an Easy-to-Use Suite

BY NEIL J. RUBENKING omputer Associates eTrust Internet Security Suite presents a unified security center that stacks up very well against our Editors Choice, ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.0. The antivirus module is the same used by ZA6, and it automatically checks for updates, cleans infected les on access, and scans e-mail for viruses. Scheduling options are limitedall you can do is set the interval (in hours and days) between scheduled scans. On the plus side, there are next to no conguration settings to confuse the user. T he wel l-k now n Pe stPatrol forms the suites spywa re protection . On ou r tests, it detected all but one of 15 installed spyware products and successfully removed 10. When we tested its ability to block installation of spyware

on a clean system, the Choice for whitelistproduct allowed a third based spam protection. of the threats to install. Now part of the suite, Standalone products the module integrates like Spy Sweeper and with Microsoft Outlook Spyware Doctor offer or Outlook Express and better protection. protects any POP3 or The eTrust Personal Excha nge e-ma il acFirewall is a licensed count. To supplement its version of ZoneAlarm list-based approach, the Pro 5.5. It doesnt have module learns automatithe high-end features cally from the messages added in ZA6, but its you approve. You can still quite effective. We also train it using folders verified that it puts all containing only spam significant ports into and only valid mail. stealth mode, making THE TOP-NOTCH eTrust suite provides The antivirus, antithe protected computer broad protection against Internet dangers. spam, and rewall proeffectively invisible to tections are top-notch, attack from outside. At the we attempted to disable the and overall, the eTrust suite highest level, its program f irewall using techniques is a very good choice for wellcontrol can detect malware- t h at m a l ic iou s sof t wa re rounded security protection. type techniques, like inject- could apply. As expected, we eTrust Internet Security Suite ing code into another process couldnt kill its process, turn $69.99 direct. Computer Associates to gain network access. We off its service, or disable it International Inc., www.ca.com. OVERALL llllm Antivirus checked this capability using using Registry tweaks. llllm Antispam llllh AntiIn July CA acquired Qurb, spyware lllmm Firewall llllh a dozen leak-test utilities, and it blocked them all. Finally, P C Ma g a z i n e s E d i to r s Privacy/parental control lllhm

Get Online Backup with Your Security Suite

We tried the live-chat supa system that three of five BY NEIL J. RUBENKING products found to be clean port line, which was intelliullGuard Internet and one believed to harbor gent and helpful. But we were Security Suite 6 offers antivirus and firewall a low-risk Trojan. But Bull- concerned about the apparprotection as well as a spam Guard reported dozens of ently false positive and have lter, but what sets it apart is problems, most in a single not yet gotten an explanation a different kind of security file, then crashed halfway from the company. The rewall controls which online backup. It also offers through xing them. progra ms ca n 24/7 live chat. access the InterBullGuard innet, but doesnt teg rates BitDe protect aga i nst fenders antivirus malware that cirtechnology, which cumvents normal has received full program control. certication from The online backthe major antiviup is convenient. rus testing labs. You ca n dow nIt checks all acload a backedcessed les in real up file from any time, even those computer, with no on network drives, software installaand also monitors tion required. e-mail. After starting We r a n i n t o BULLGUARDS SUITE isnt for everyone, but if you want t he back up, we trouble scanning to try online backup, it may be worth a look.

deliberately interrupted the connection to the Internet. On restarting, Bullguard continued smoothly and uploaded the backup set in a bit over 12 hours. We restored the les successfully on another computer in about the same amount of time. After the initial backup, only the changed les are uploaded, so the process goes much faster. BullGuards suite isnt for everyone. But if you already have a best-of-breed standalone antispyware product and want to try online backup, it may be worth a look.
BullGuard Internet Security Suite 6
$59.99 per year direct. BullGuard Ltd., www.bullguard.com. OVERALL lllmm Antivirus llllm Antispam llmmm Antispyware: N/A Firewall lllmm Privacy/parental control: N/A

58

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MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

J U M P T O N E X T PA G E >>

FIRST LOOKS
Software

DivXNot Just for Illegal Downloads Anymore

BY JAN OZER he DivX Create Bundle ($19.99 direct) produces and plays highquality, interactive videos for sharing via e-mail, download, or CD. We tested a beta of Version 6.1 that consists of Converter, which debuts customizable encoding parameters, and Player, the first with media management and CD-burning capabilities. DivX Creates menu creation capability is unique you dont find this feature outside the DVD realmand adds signif icant value for those sending multiple clips. The range of platforms that can play back the les is also unique and includes everything from Mac and Microsoft Windows computers to a growing number of home electronic devices (though people you send les to must download the free player).

On our tests, Converter proved compatible with DV, HDV, WMV, and MPEG-2 input les (with the $9.95 plugin). At 225 Kbpsthe rate used for the lowest- quality s e t t i n g , Por t a ble Tem plateoutput was slightly inferior to that from competing Real and Microsoft products. At Home Theatre rates (1,125 Kbps), Converter did better than Microsofts utility but still not as well as Reals. In all instances, Converter worked faster than either RealProducer Plus 10 or the Windows Media Encoder. Audiovisual synchronization was perfect, and the software handled both 16:9 and 4:3 formats, though with the oddity that the templates used arbitrary resolutions, such as 640-by-464 (rather than the more standard 640-by-480), which distorted the display resolution slightly.

DIVX CREATE lets you produce and distribute high-quality video.

Workf low could also be improved. Converter insists on rst analyzing each input file, which can take hours. Thats frustrating when you a re set ti ng up over n ig ht batch encodes. The Player is evolving nicely. You can set display aspect ratios, brightness, contrast, and saturation, and controls

for burning CDs are extraordinarily easy to use. Friends you send Converter content to can even watch it with Windows Media Player and RealPlayer if they change the le extension to .AVI and download the free DivX codec.
DivX Create Bundle
$19.99 direct. DivX Inc., www.divx.com. llllm

Produce Home Videos in Style

BY JAN OZER uvee autoProducer ($99.95 direct) has a lways been ou r favorite way to convert home movies or digital images into music-video-like productions. New in Version 5.0 are the ability to replace scenes in the f inished video and manual pan and zoom capabilities for still images. Operation is simple. You select or capture the videos and input the slides, choose the background music, and set options such as total movie duration, whether scenes should remain in sequence, and whether to mix video and slides or keep them separate. Then you choose one of 24 styles and click the make muvee button. AutoProducer begins by

analyzing the video file and produces a low-resolution preview file. Then it synchronizes the video with the background music and inserts transitions and special effects according to the selected style. If you like the

results, you can burn them to DVD or save them to a compressed le. If you dont, you can choose another style and preview instantaneously. Styles are autoProducers secret sauce, providing variety and inventiveness that

other products cant match. For example, the Sepia style inserted classy slow dissolves to a 50th birthday celebration, and the Kiddie Frames style added fast-paced cuts, whimsical frames, and fireworks effects to a kindergarten party. Tests with digital pictures were equally compelling, and all were accurately timed to the music beat. AutoProducer isnt perfect. The scene-replacement feature is awkward, video previews appear degraded, and DVD-authoring capabilities are primitive. It also doesnt work well with video that contains audio you want to keep. In many cases, though, autoProducer can help you produce more compelling videos in much less time, an irresistible scenario.
muvee autoProducer 5
$99.95 direct. muvee Technologies Pte. Ltd., www.muvee.com. llllm

MUVEE AUTOPRODUCER 5 isnt perfect, but it can help you

produce slicker videos in less time.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

75

Lenovo recommends Windows XP Professional.

THINKPAD. NOW IN WIDESCREEN.

WIDESCREEN THINKPAD. NOW IN TITANIUM.

Availability: All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time, without notice. Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors. *Pricing: Prices do not include tax or shipping and handling, or recycling fees and are subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary. Warranty: For a copy of applicable product warranties, write to: Warranty Information, P.O. Box 12195, RTP, NC 27709, Attn: Dept ZPYA/B676. Lenovo makes no representation or warranty regarding third-party products or services. Footnotes: (1) Mobile Processors: Power management reduces processor speed when in battery mode. (2) Wireless: based on IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g respectively. An adapter with 11a/b, 11b/g or 11a/b/g can communicate on either/any of these listed formats respectively; the actual connection will be based on the access point to which it connects. (3) Included software: may differ from its retail version (if available), and may not include user manuals or all program functionality. License agreements may apply. (4) Memory: For PCs without a separate video card, memory supports both system and video. Accessible system memory is up to 64MB less than the amount stated, depending on video mode. (5) Hard drive: GB = billion bytes. Accessible capacity is less; up to 4GB is service partition. (7) Thinness: may vary at certain points on the system. (8) Travel Weight: includes battery and optional travel bezel instead of standard optical drive in Ultrabay bay, if applicable; weight may vary due to vendor components, manufacturing process and options. (9) Internet access required; not included. (10) Client Security Solution: preloaded on selected models; requires software download. (11) Limited warranty: Support unrelated to a warranty issue may be subject to additional charges. (12) Certain IBM and ThinkPad logo products: are not manufactured, warranted or supported by IBM or Lenovo; IBM and Lenovo logos and trademarks used under license. Contact Lenovo for details. (13) Activating Verizon Wireless Service: Lenovo customers will be contacted

INTRODUCING THE WIDESCREEN TITANIUM THINKPAD Z60.

The worlds first widescreen ThinkPad notebook is also the worlds first titanium ThinkPad. Whether you choose titanium or classic black ThinkPad Z60t, you get a screen that lets you view 25% more data than a standard 14" XGA screen, security features youd expect from ThinkPad and the wireless power of Intel Centrino with mobile technology (select models). And select 14" and 15.4" models come with 13 integrated Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess, so youll be
ThinkPad Z60m
DISTINCTIVE INNOVATIONS ThinkVantage Productivity Center ThinkPad help at your fingertips16 SYSTEM FEATURES Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73GHz)1 Intel PRO/Wireless 9215ABG (802.11a/b/g) 2

able to go online anywhere within the Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess Coverage Area.15 Yet our 14" Z60t is still the thinnest7 and lightest8 widescreen notebook offered by the top 10 notebook vendors. .14 The Z60 ThinkPad notebooks, like all ThinkPad notebooks, are now a product of Lenovo, a new global company uniting Lenovo and the former IBM PC Division under the Lenovo name. ThinkPad service and support continues to be available from IBM in many countries.
ThinkPad R51e
DISTINCTIVE INNOVATIONS ThinkVantage Productivity Center ThinkPad help at your fingertips SYSTEM FEATURES Intel Celeron M Processor 360 (1.40GHz)
ThinkPad BG WiFi Wireless

ThinkPad Z60t with Fingerprint Reader

DISTINCTIVE INNOVATIONS ThinkVantage Client Security Solution 6.010 Strong security as a standard feature SYSTEM FEATURES Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) Microsoft Windows XP Professional ThinkPad ABG WiFi wireless 14.1" WXGA TFT Display 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB Hard Drive Ultrabay Slim DVD Recordable Drive 4.1 lbs travel weight7 1.1" thin8 Integrated BT and Verizon WWAN13 THINK EXPRESS MODEL
12

ThinkCentre E50 Tower

SYSTEM FEATURES Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630 (3GHz) Microsoft Windows XP Professional 512MB memory 120GB 7200 rpm Hard Disk Drive, DVD Burner 6 USB 2.0 Ports (2 frontside) 1-yr limited warranty with onsite service11 THINK EXPRESS MODEL
$

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 15" WXGA TFT Display Integrated Radeon X300 256MB DDR2 SDRAM4, 40GB Hard Drive CD-RW/DVD Combination Drive ThinkLight keyboard light Dual integrated antennas 1-yr limited warranty11 THINK EXPRESS MODEL
$

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 15.4" WSXGA TFT Display

512MB DDR2 SDRAM4, 40GB Hard Drive5 Ultrabay Enhanced CD-RW/DVD Drive THINK EXPRESS MODEL
$

799 319

(P/N 9215D3U)

1149 99

(P/N 252903U)

ThinkVision L171 Monitor

$
(P/N 9417AB1)

ThinkPad Leather Carrying Case

$
(P/N 10K0209)

1899 119 219

(P/N 2511FEU)

ThinkPad 90W AC/DC Combo Adapter

$
(P/N 40Y7630)

829* 87 99

(P/N 184469U)

Lexmark Z735 InkJet Printer

USB 2.0 w/Cable offers 4800 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi) print resolution.

ThinkPad Womens Executive Red Leather Tote12

$

ThinkPad Convertible Monitor Stand

$
(P/N 40Y7620)

134

ThinkPad Advanced MiniDock

(P/N 22P8858)

49.99

(P/N 40Y8446)

(P/N 250410U)

ThinkPad 72W Slim AC/DC Combo Adaptor

$
(P/N 73P4485)

With the Think Express Program, ThinkPad notebooks are preconfigured with your business, and your budget, in mind.

To shop or locate your local reseller

Call 1 866-426-2054 Go to lenovo.com/wide/m414

after purchase to activate service, requires separate agreement with Verizon Wireless and is subject to the Customer Agreement, Calling Plan and credit approval; service and airtime charges will apply. Activation fee/line: $35. $175 early termination fee. Verizon Wireless, not Lenovo, is solely responsible for service. Service not available in all areas; purchaser is responsible for verifying that service is available for the intended location before purchasing a computer equipped with Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess. For complete details, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/broadband/serviceavailability.jsp?opener=b2b (14) Based on manufacturers published figures or CNET.com and results for the top 10 vendors in second quarter 2005 sales for all notebooks including standard and widescreen as reported by IDC. (15) Verizon Wireless Service Speed: BroadbandAccess speed averages 400-700 Kbps based on Verizon Wireless network tests with 5 MB FTP data files, without compression. Speed declines with distance from cell site and is limited to 1.54 Mbps at certain cell sites with backhaul limitations. Number of users on the Verizon Wireless data network may also affect maximum possible speed. Average upload speeds expected to be between 60-80 Kbps. Actual speeds and coverage may vary. (16) Internet access required; not included. Trademarks: The following are trademarks of Lenovo: ThinkPad, ThinkCentre and UltraConnect. IBM and the IBM logo are registered trademarks of IBM and are used under license. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, Intel logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Intel Centrino, Intel Centrino logo, Celeron, Intel Xeon, Intel SpeedStep, Itanium, and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of other companies. 2005 Lenovo. All rights reserved. Visit www.lenovo.com/safecomputing periodically for the latest information on safe and effective computing.

FIRST LOOKS
Software

Xtremely Easy Graphics

BY GALEN FOTT ara Xtreme ($79 direct) is a fast, polished, and easy-to-use application thats a great choice for those interested in creating graphics for print or the Web. Unlike traditional pixelbased image-editing programs, Xara Xtreme is based on vectors, so the graphics are innitely scalable with no loss in sharpness or quality. Graphic designers depend on the exibility and editability of vector drawing. But professional vector programs such as Adobe Illustrator are notoriously hard to master. Xara goes a long way toward easing the learning curve. The program has an intuitive, customizable interface with the usual toolbar on the left of the screen, but it almost entirely forgoes dialog boxes, relying instead on an incredibly responsive

XARA XTREME IS A POLISHED, easy-to-use application that

will satisfy your graphics needs for both print and the Web.

option bar that updates on the fly as you drag the controls for the active tool. Youll find a Bezier drawing tool, a freehand tool, shape tools, a text tool, and a layers palette. A blend tool creates a series that lets one object gradually transition

to another. Strong color tools let you link related colors within a drawing to facilitate global changes in design. The excellent bevel and shadow features let you easily apply the illusion of depth to otherwise at graphics. The robust implementation of trans-

parency, which allows for graduated fades and sophisticated blending-mode effects, is especially noteworthy. Xara Xtreme deals so handily with imported photos that you may want to use it for certain image-editing chores. You can import JPEGs, crop them, add text, and export the resulting images as JPEGs with control over compression settings. Xara Picture Editor is very basic. It cleverly saves edited images as copies with a link back to the original, letting you undo edits even after an image has been saved. Even though its tools are rather simplistic, Picture Editor is a nice bonus, making the package even more adept at handling graphics.
Xara Xtreme
$79 direct; $89 with PDF manual. Xara Group Ltd., www.xara.com.
llllm

Ovation Adds Power to PowerPoint

BY JAN OZER erious Magics Ovation for PowerPoint ($99.95 direct) can help improve your PowerPoint presentations. But signicant feature decits may limit its appeal. Once you import a PowerPoint le, you can embellish it with one of 100 configurable templates. The stunning designs combine subtle motion backgrounds with enhanced fonts and text effects to create a professional look far beyond what PowerPoint provides. You can also insert an intermission slide that displays a countdown timer, and add Deeper slides that let you give more information. Ovation can even help you refine your delivery with its Present mode. This works best with a dual-monitor sys-

IF YOU CAN WORK AROUND the few drawbacks, Ovation is an invaluable presentation tool.

tem. During a presentation, the audience sees the slides, but you see a special informational view with a scrolling teleprompter that displays all the text in PowerPoints Notes eld. You can input the target duration for the presentation and see the time remaining,

or insert the target duration of each slide and track your progress through the presentation. Ovation even records the time spent on each slide, so you can see where you bogged down. These features will have most PowerPoint jockeys

salivatingbut beware the limitations. Most critical is the inability to play audio or video les embedded in your presentation, though Serious Magic promises to fix this with a soon-to-be- released free update. Also, the software had problems making our bullet points appear correctly when using certain entry-animation schemes, and it doesnt currently support custom Emphasis, Exit, or Motion Path animations. In addition, Ovation proved to be a CPU hog. And you need to have your graphics set at 96 dpi, which gave impossibly small images on our laptop. If you can work around these issues, youll nd Ovation an invaluable presentation tool.
Ovation for PowerPoint
$99.95 direct. Serious Magic Inc., www.seriousmagic.com. lllhm

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FIRST LOOKS
Small Business: Desktop PCs

A New Era in Business Desktops

BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO ampered by todays penny-pinching economic times, many businesses may be hesitant to upgrade employees desktops, opting instead to keep repa i r i ng a nd upg rad i ng systems that are two to three years old. But think about all the extra time and money you spend in IT support for old systemsplus lost productivity from units that crash frequently or slow to a crawl. Not to mention that youre putting precious business data at risk if you dont have computers that use advanced security schemes, such as TPM, ngerprint readers, or proprietary technology. We review three business desktopstwo dual-core and one single-core unitso that you can decide which is right for your company.

Gateway E-4500S
The Gateway E-4500S ($1,492 direct, $1,163 without monitor) is the small version of the companys mainstream business desktop. Its suitable for most office environments, and with the latest technolo-

gies, the E-4500S is ready for todays applications as well as tomorrows. The E- 4500Ss slimline design isnt as compact as the ultra-small chassis found on t he Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small, but it takes up less space than a mid-tower desktop. An interesting design feature is the kickstand, which swivels out of one side of the case to prop up the chassis vertically. The downside of this is that the hard drive oats on a bracket that spans the case; when we opened the case, the hard drive bracket (with the hard drive bolted to it) fell out. So make sure that you lay the chassis down horizontally before opening it. This desktop comes with for wa rd-look i ng compo nents, such as a dual-core Pentium D 820 processor, Intel 945G chipset, an 80GB SATA II/300 hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, and a

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS is a breeze with these safe, secure, Vista-ready desktops.

BTX cooling solution, which helps t he u n it r u n more quietly. The dual-core processor helps with ofce multitaskingsuch as updating a database, checking news, listening to music, and answering e-mail all at once. The E-4500S is a solid busi-

ness PC that can serve both small and large businesses. With its for ward-looking technologies, it should be ready for Microsoft Windows Vista and whatever lies ahead in the next few years.
Gateway E-4500S
$1,492 direct; without monitor, $1,163. Gateway Inc., www.gateway.com.
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Business Desktops Compared

High scores are best. Bold type denotes rst place.

HP Compaq DC7600 CMT

The HP Compaq DC7600 CMT ($1,378 direct, $1,029 without monitor) represents HPs top-of-the-line business desktop. With a dual-core Pentium D processor and a Convertible Mini-Tower (CMT) design with plenty of room for expansion, the DC7600 ca n adapt to the ever-changing technology landscape. The DC7600 CMT represents an old-school design, with a lot of space inside the case for upgrades. Although this kind of roominess necessitates a larger footprint, the

Gateway E-4500S
$1,492 Slimline desktop Dual-core Pentium D 820 (2.8 GHz) TPM 1.2

HP Compaq DC7600 CMT

$1,378 Mini tower Dual-core Pentium D 820 (2.8 GHz) TPM 1.2

Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small

$1,299 Ultra-small Single-core Pentium 4 531 (3.0 GHz) Finger reader, IBM Emmbedded Security Subsystem, TPM 1.2 N/A Optional*

Direct price (with monitor) Form factor Processor Security feature

Software image stability Parts and labor warranty/ on-site support SYSmark 2004 SE Ofce Productivity Internet Content Creation Overall

1 year 3 years

15 months 3 years

154 224 186

165 235 197

155 195 174

N/ANot applicable: Lenovo offers 18 months of image stability in its M and S series ThinkCentres but not on its A and E series.

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FIRST LOOKS
Small Business: Desktop PCs
system can be laid on its side, with the monitor on top and the optical drives right-side up. In addition to the CMT minitower, the DC7600 is available as a small desktop and an ultra-small desktop, though the ultra-small model is incompatible (so far) with t he dua l- core Pentium D because of cooling issues. Like most enterprise-class business desktops, the HP Compaq DC7600 series supports image stability. HP bumps up the coverage to 15 months (most offer 9 to 12 months). The DC7600 series also supports the TPM 1.2 security platform. Components such as the Pen tium D processor, 1GB of 667-MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, and a fast SATA hard drive drove the DC7600 to winning SYSmark 2004 SE scores. Wit h Vista- compatible components, TPM 1.2 security, and image stability, the DC 76 0 0 i s a n at t rac t ive addition to your business computing environment.
HP Compaq DC7600 CMT
$1,378; without monitor, $1,029. Hewlett-Packard Development Co., www.hp.com. llllm

Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small (8105-26U)

The Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small ($1,299 direct, $899 without monitor) is a secure business desktop suited for both small offices and enterprises. Space efficiency, optical drives that are compatible with ThinkPad notebooks, and built-in security make the A51 a solid hit. Unlike older small systems with external power bricks,

this ThinkCentre has an internal power supply, greatly reducing clutter. Theres also an Ultrabay expansion slot that lets you share peripherals, such as optical drives, with other ThinkPad and ThinkCentre users. The A 5 1s security features are ideal for an office environment. For example, the (unfortunately) nonremovable palm rest of the Preferred Pro keyboard integrates a ngerprint reader, which worked well in testing. A chip on the motherboard, along with software, implements the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem to protect passwords, encryption keys, and certicates. System components are on a par with or slightly better than those of competing business desktops. Unlike the pro-

cessors in the other two units here, the EM64T-compatible Pentium 4 531 is single-core, but its compatible with the 64-bit version of Vista. The A51s SYSmark 2004 SE performance was above average for a single-core Pentium 4 531 desktop with Hyper-Threading. Users with more processor-intensive tasks, though, may want to look into a dual-core system. The Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small fits equally well in a home ofce, a small business, or a larger corporation. Security, space efficiency, and familiarity are all attributes of this solid system.
Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Ultra Small (8105-26U)
$1,299 direct; without monitor, $899. Lenovo Group Ltd., www.lenovo.com.
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John Dickinson
The Easier Way to Business Success
With this issue we begin presenting the unique perspective of John Dickinson, editor of Ziff Daviss SmartCompany.com, on areas of interest to small-to-medium businesses. To paraphrase John, there are no small businesses, only businesses of your size, and this column is dedicated to helping you meet the challenges that face such businesses. Enjoy! But what about all of the information your company deals withinformation related to customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, inventory, and so on? Where is it? How is it managed, organized, accessed? According to the study, too many of you use manual systems, with valuable, often sensitive information stored in les in the lower left-hand drawer of your desk! When pressed, you probably say you do this because database At rst glance, the claim that more than half of all businesses systems are too hard to use, customer relationship and inventory of your size use manual systems for organizing their data management systems are too complex, too expensive, and too seems absurd (see Survey Says Half of Smaller Businesses difcult, and so on. Moreover, youre far too busy running your Not Using Technology for Nonnancial Data at go.pcmag.com/ business to get involved with anything new and complicated. Youre right of course, but youre also wrong. Nothing is easy to lemaker survey.) But if you take a second, closer look, youll nd learn or do if youre not motivated. If you look around, youll nd that it does make sense. Your use of technology is substantialbut only to a degree. A programs that are accessible and easy to install and use that can good many of the workers in your company have access to a com- serve the business needs in almost every business prole. Well puter and use it to communicate via e-mail and instant messag- help on that front. For a lot of you, buying new software, ing, and, of course, to create documents. installing it, and using it sounds costly Theres an excellent chance that a fair numboth in dollars and time. But its far riskber of your employees also surf the Web For reviews, tips, and advice, ier to leave opportunities for growth and on a daily basis, looking for resources that all with a focus on small and profits aside by taking the easy way can help them do their jobs. Programs that out. Trust me, good technology, well carry out these chores are easy to master, medium businesses, visit used, is the easier way to build a successand today are part of nearly everyones genwww.smartcompany.com ful business. eral knowledge.

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FIRST LOOKS
Small Business: Hard Drives

Small Size, Big Capacity: Backup on the Go

BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO hether youre part of a large ofce or a small business or youre f lying solothe ABSmini ($259 direct) from CMS Products is just right for backing up your notebook or desktop. About the size of an iPod, the ABSmini can be a lifesaver for those who depend on their data. The silver ABSmini looks a lot like a stylish 1960s metal cigarette case. We a re a ma zed t hat 40GB of storage can fit on a 1.8inch hard drive in an 0.6- by 2.7- by 3.4 inch case. The downside to a 1.8-inch hard drive is that its not compatible with most notebooks 2.5-inch hard drive bays; that means you cant swap in the ABSmini if

your laptops hard drive goes kaput. We also dont like that the ABSminis leatherette case leaves no room for the included USB cable. We did like, however, that the ABSmini works off USB power (so you dont have to

THE ABSMINI IS about the size

of a standard iPod.

carry around an AC adapter), and that the Y-shaped drive cable has two USB plugs on it (a data plug and a USB power plug) in case the USB ports on your notebook are lowpower. But the cable is too short to reach around notebooks or desktops where the USB ports are far apart. The ABSmini comes w it h CMS Products BounceBack Express software and Copy2Go backup software. BounceBack Express is the usua l lite version of backup software that comes with these drives: good for complete backups of the hard drive, but with a limited feature set. You must upgrade to CMS Products BounceBack Pro to activate advanced

features, such as backup with compare (which improves the speed of backup), version control, or password protection. CMSs Copy2Go is a specialized application that nds and backs up the photo, music, and video les on your system. Usi ng Bou nceBack E xpress and testing with USB 2.0, we were able to back up our standard 1.2GB test file in 3 minutes 21 seconds. Not bad, especially considering that BounceBack also veried the backup. Using Microsoft Windows alone, a drag-anddrop of the same file only took 1:06. Overall, the ABSmini is a convenient, easy-to-use product that can help you keep a backup of your important data and your digital life.
ABSmini (40GB)
$259 direct. CMS Products Inc., www.cmsproducts.com. lllmm

This Maxtor Drive Will Back Up Your Biz

BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO If your business is big enough to have a dedicated Microsoft Windows 2003 Serveras opposed to an old Windows PC tower acting as a file serverthen you should be backing up your data daily. The Maxtor OneTouch II Small Business Edition (SBE) is for the business that wants to get serious about backup. Weve seen Maxtors OneTouch II external drives before, and though those drives work fine for backing up a single desktop, you need a more powerful solution for an environment in which several people are accessing shared data on a server. The OneTouch II SBE uses E MC Da ntzs Ret rospect

Server HD software, which can do incremental and full backups of your server. One big advantage of Retrospect Server HD is that it can back up files that are in use; other desktop backup software skips open f i le s . M a x tor a l so enables backup monitori ng a nd scheduling, which it does well, but you ca nt back up individual clientsonly the server. (E nter pr i se -level backup software can perform this task.) We like that you can set the backups for comprehensive incremental backups saved in Retrospects file format, or for Duplicate backups that result

in folders and files that can be dragged off the OneTouch drive using Windows. Document recovery is done with the Retrospect softwa re. We wish this drive

were able to boot the system using the backup drive and had an easy way to do a Ghost-style total recovery, but you can do both with other software. T he O neTouc h I I SBE showed speedy performance on our tests. A 1.2GB backup and verify took 2 minutes 38 seconds over USB 2.0 (it also supports USB 1.1); dragging and dropping the same le in Windows took 58 seconds. The Maxtor OneTouch II SBE is designed to work best in a small office with one server and limited or no IT support. Coupled with Windows 2000/2003 Server, its an effective solution.
Maxtor OneTouch II Small Business Edition (SBE)

ITS EASY TO back up and safeguard your critical data.

200GB, $599.95 direct. Maxtor Corp., www.maxtor.com. llllm

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go.pcmag.com/whattobuy F I R S T L O O K S

WHAT TO BUY
Consumer Electronics
MP3 PLAYER (HARD DRIVE)

Hardware
DEDICATED PHOTO PRINTER

Server and Small Business Server; unattended backups.

go.pcmag.com/MaxtorOneTouchIISBE

Apple iPod 30GB

Apple Computer Inc.; $299 direct (30GB); $399 (60GB)

Canon Selphy CP510

Canon U.S.A. Inc.; $99.99 direct

Great audio quality; intuitive interface; works well with iTunes; plays videos.
go.pcmag.com/ipod30GB

Fast performance and low running cost; very good photo quality for the price; battery option.
go.pcmag.com/CanonCP510

Software
SECURITY SUITE

ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6.0

Zone Labs Inc.; $69.95 direct

LAPTOP LCD HDTV

Aquos LC-45GX6U
Sharp Electronics Corp.; $3,300 street

Dell Inspiron 6000 (Media Center)

Dell Inc.; $968.80 direct (E-Value Code 1111-i6004pc)

Flexible control allows for adjustable levels of trust; new OS-level rewall layer blocks leak tests and spyware; excellent spyware blocking and good removal.
go.pcmag.com/zass

Detailed imagery; responsive remote control; comprehensive menu system; integrated analog and digital tuners.
go.pcmag.com/ aquosLC45GX6U

Media Center OS; 15.4-inch widescreen; very good performance.

go.pcmag.com/ DellInspiron6000MCE

DESKTOP (APPLE OS)

Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo) Motorola RAZR V3c

Apple Computer Inc.; $1,699 direct, $1,799 as tested

MOBILE PHONE

Motorola RAZR V3c

Motorola Inc.; $349.99 direct

Dual-core processor; Front Row; mini-DVI port for true dual-monitor usage.
go.pcmag.com/AppleiMacIntel

Gorgeous; great voice quality; good reception, supports EV-DO.

go.pcmag.com/razrv3c

DESKTOP (WINDOWS OS)

DIGITAL CAMERA (PROSUMER)

HP Media Center 7160n Photosmart PC

Hewlett-Packard Development Co.; $1,529 direct (including 19-inch LCD monitor)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

Panasonic Corp. of America; $699.99 list

12X zoom lens; 8MP resolution; fast startup; shoots video.

go.pcmag.com/DMC_FZ30

Unlimited storage; dual-core processor; plenty of connectors.

go.pcmag.com/HPMediaCenter7160n

HEADPHONES

Etymotic ER6i
Etymotic Research Inc.; $130 street

ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER

Canon Pixma MP500

Canon U.S.A.; $200 street

Apple iMac (Intel Core Duo)

TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE

Great sound quality; good bass performance; comfortable; blocks outside noise.
go.pcmag.com/er6i

Prints, scans, and copies; fast performance.

go.pcmag.com/CanonPixmaMP500

TurboTax Premier 2005

Intuit Inc.; $14.95$69.95 direct

LCD MONITOR (21-INCH)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

Gateway FPD2185W
Gateway Inc.; $599.99 direct

Excellent image quality; lots of video connections; highly adjustable.

go.pcmag.com/GatewayFPD2185W

Excellent coverage of personal tax topics; multiple help systems; simplied language; top-notch interface and navigational tools.
go.pcmag.com/turbotax

PHOTO EDITING (NOVICE) HARD DRIVE

Adobe Photoshop Elements 4

Adobe Systems; $99.99 direct

Maxtor OneTouch II Small Business Edition

Maxtor Corp.; $599.95 direct

Works with Microsoft Windows 2000/2003

Top-notch organizing and editing features; unrivaled integration; greatly improved slide-show creation; automatic face tagging of images.
go.pcmag.com/photoshopelements

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MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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CARS

The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is a premium compact SUV with a hybrid engine, continuously variable transmission, all-wheel drive, and a cruising range of more than 400 miles. It helps if you overlook some rough edges; notably, the tiny navigation system and unavailable stability control. Options are few; the exterior can be light silver, medium silver, black, charcoal beige, or vivid red. Just 2,000 of these cars will be available in 2006 (plus 20,000 Ford Escapes) as Ford moves toward building 250,000 hybrids by 2010.

Blind Spots? No More!

A blind-spot detector from Delphi Corp. could cut out many fender-benders (or worse). The prototype uses a pair of infrared thermal sensors; if the temperature to the side of your vehicle is warmer than the temperature behind, that may mean a car that you cant see is traveling just behind you. Delphi built one such prototype on a motorcycle, because motorcyclists are especially at risk.

Harman Kardon Drive+Play

The Harman Kardon Drive+Play represents the best current way to integrate an Apple iPod into most car audio systems, and the controls work the same way Apples do. But youd better be an iPod music lover: Youre looking at a total cost of $300-plus if someone else installs it.
$200 street. Harman International Industries, www.harmankardon.com. llllm

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www.technoride.com

Bill Howard
CES and NAIAS: Lessons Learned
The North American International Auto cars. Lexus says it gets more complaints Show in Detroit and the Consumer Elec- about faulty Bluetooth phones than anytronics Show in Las Vegas have become thing else. Why do consumers complain more closely linked, as automakers look to the automaker if a phone or carrier is to CES for emerging trends across a at fault? Well, whom would you rather call broad swath of auto electronics, and with a complaint? Case closed. Then the consumer electronics companies look automakers whine about how hard it is to to move inside more dashboards. At CES choose technology that endures for the 2006, Microsoft announced that 61 car 15-year life of the typical car. If technology models now have Windows Automotive stays functional during the first owners software inside. If Jay Leno delivered that possession, thats enough, Id say. line in his monologue, the pause before The themes CES offers Detroit are the punch line alone would be good for lower cost, openness, and modularlaughs. But its really happening. ity. Audio company Alpine Electronics In Detroit, the theme was hybrid lives comfortably in both worlds. A star engines and alternative-fuel vehicles: at CES was Alpines in-dash head unit Toyota will bring out a hybrid (a fancy term for radio) model of its best-selling with a 7-inch display that The themes Camry in 2007, Mercedeseither integrates with or CES offers Benz will put an ultraclean lets you plug in whatever Detroit are diesel engine called Blusuits your fancy: Bluetooth, eTec in the midsize E-Class HD radio, Sirius, XM with lower cost, sedan, and Chevy will put or without real-time traffic openness, and displacement on demand overlays, a navigation modmodularity. in the Tahoe SUV. The 400ule called the Blackbird that hp Camaro concept car has undocks for use in other displacement on demand too, meaning vehicles, a high-speed iPod connector, if its built it could get 30 mpg (10 mpg and, best of all, a USB port. With USB, virwhen you have to push it). The hero tually any device you plug ina memory behind the scenes is the microprocessor, key, a Windows music player, an iPod which makes possible high gas mileage, can be seen, and music can be controlled low emissions, and airbags that go bang by the built-in radios display and buttons, when theyre supposed to. particularly if the music player supports The day before CES, a group called the Windows PlaysForSure standard. Telematics Update sponsors a major Whats aftermarket now could well be forum in Las Vegas. With its few hundred built into 2010 cars. The Alpine product attendees, this forum stands in con- is just the rst of the ood. trast to the ever-porkier CES. Telematics The most important lesson the CE and means communications, navigation, and PC people could teach the auto industry? safety (think OnStar), but many attend- Take more risks. Dare to be great. Or in ees agreed that the money appears to be the words of Myles Kitchen, an industry in entertainment. Consumers will not analyst: Ive yet to see anyone in Detroit always see value in a $2,000-to-$3,000 who maxed out his credit cards or took a integrated navigation system, warned second mortgage on his house to bring Gartner Group automotive analyst Thilo out a new car. Koslowski. Not when companies such as Fine Digital are selling good (not great) dashtop nav systems for $400, and your Want the full story on these cell-phone provider offers turn-by-turn routing for $10 a month. reviews, plus news and opinions? Detroit had a strong message for the Go to www.technoride CE people: Dont blame us when your .com, the car site for tech fans. half-baked technology messes up our

MERCURY MARINER
PROS: Good urban fuel economy, continuously variable transmission, high seating position, back deck room. CONS: CD-based nav system with tiny 4-inch display, limited audio offerings, modest acceleration. BOTTOM LINE: This medium-small SUV hybrid does reasonably well with a 2.3-liter, 3-cylinder engine and electric motors. It's held back by a sorry-ass nav system, no stability control, and a lackluster interior. Ford Motor Co., lincolnmercury.com.
lllmm

$29,840 TO $34,200.

>
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go.pcmag.com/feedback

FEEDBACK

Google and Yahoo!. With these monsters of data collection, who needs the NSA any longer?

W E R E A LL E A R S Your February 7 cover illustration should win an industry awardthe TV rabbit ears antennae as iPod is simply brilliant (all that other stuff between the covers is pretty good, too)! Colin Rogers WHERES THE PC? So I get my February 7 issue of PC Magazine and what do I see on the cover in big type? TV! I see nothing to indicate that this is a PC (I think that stands for Personal Computer) magazine. You guys dont get it, do you? Howard Whitehorne Theres more to the world of computing than a beige (or multicolored) box. Its not only about the PC; its about what you connect to it, and what you do with it. PC Magazine will continue to focus on both the boxes and the great stuff you can do with themand these days, replacing your TV with a PC is one of them.Jim Louderback A N I M P R OV E D O U T LO O K One item not mentioned in your early review of Ofce 12 is the great, never-mentioned problem in all previous versions of Ofce, namely that Outlooks personal folders le cannot grow past 1.9GB. If it does, Outlook shuts down until you archive or delete a bunch of your letters. In an era of increasingly massive amounts of communication and with drive space being dirt cheap, it makes no sense whatsoever to impose any arbitrary limit on the total size of ones mail folders. Do you know if Outlook in Ofce 12 allows personal folders that can be at least ten times their old maximum size? When big drives were 2GB, as when older versions of Outlook came out, 1.9GB might have been a reasonable limit, but with people mailing pictures around and with drives normally being 200GB, a 1.9GB limit is extremely antiquated. Steve Rhodes There will be an increase in the size limit of Outlooks personal folders file in Office 12, but Microsoft will say only that the

new limit is somewhere between 10GB and 20GB. Probably the nal number will depend on how the software develops during the next few months. Ed Mendelson, contributing editor B I G B R OT H E R , H E R E A N D N OW Who isnt invading our privacy? I decided some years ago that once a computer is plugged into a phone jack or Ethernet port, it becomes the property of anyone and everyone. That is what networking is all about, isnt it giving up privacy for the good of the company, the nation, or the community? I dont think your readers are so naive or stupid as to be surprised by your revelation of Apples eavesdropping (see Is Apple Invading Your Privacy?, go.pcmag.com/ itunesprivacy). Some people know that Big Brother is already here and now, tracking every breath our CPUs and keystrokes exhale as they add to the technocratic Akashic Records. If Apple is stealing information for the purpose of marketing, lets also go after everyone else who has been doing it all along. We all knowdont we? that the Internet is built around economic gain and target marketing. Lets go after those who track personal information for more than economic gain. Lets go after the most questionable information architects who remain unscathed behind a gloss of popularity: Google and Yahoo!. With these monsters of data collection, who needs the NSA any longer? Lets investigate these archivists of the digital stream to see how much personal information is stored whenever we install and use their toolbars, retain their cookies, or use their free e-mail. Lets determine if there are any cozy relationships between them and our Intelligence Community. Shame, shame, shame! Our lust for money and sales keeps our democracy and Bill of Rights always on the back burner as an afterthought. If this tendency remains unchecked, we might soon realize that we have surrendered our freedoms for a Home Networking package from Rite-Aid. Michael Thomas Bucci X B OX 3 6 0 CO M PATI B I LIT Y PR O B LE M S To comment on your article, Xbox 360: Wow! (First Looks, January 2006, page 28): In the beginning of the article Matthew D. Sarrel writes that youll be happy to know you can play most existing Xbox titles, including Halo. I own

How to Contact Us
We welcome your comments and suggestions. When sending e-mail to Feedback, please state in the subject line of your message which article or column prompted your response. E-MAIL pcmag@ziffdavis.com All letters become the property of PC Magazine and are subject to editing. We regret that we cannot answer letters individually.

Corrections and Amplications

In the Our Top Desktop PCs table (First Looks, page 33) in our issue of February 7, we incorrectly cited the score and Editors Choice logo for the Cisnet NASCAR PC. This system received a score of 3.5 and did not receive an Editors Choice award. We also incorrectly applied the Editors Choice logo to the HP dx5150.

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HP recommends Windows XP Professional.

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All offers available from HP Direct and participating resellers. Prices shown are HP Direct prices, are subject to change and do not include applicable state and local sales tax or shipping to recipients destination. Reseller prices may vary. Photography may not accurately represent exact configurations priced. Associated values represent HP published list price. 1. Lease products are available through Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Company (HPFSC) or one of its affiliates to qualified commercial customers in the U.S. and are subject to credit approval and execution of standard HPFSC documentation. Offer valid on all transactions greater than $349 through 3/31/06. Other fees and restrictions may apply; please visit www.hp.com/go/HPfinancialservices. HPFSC reserves the right to change or cancel this program at any time without notice. 2. Instant savings and mail-in-rebate offers are valid through 3/31/06 on qualifying HP Compaq nc6140 and nx6110 Notebooks, HP Compaq dc7600 Desktops, HP ProLiant ml110 G3 Servers, HP Compaq tc4200 Tablet PCs, HP Deskjet 6980dt Printers and HP xw4300 Workstations from HP Direct and participating HP resellers. 4. Intels numbering is not a measurement of higher performance. 6. Wireless access point is required and is not included. Wireless Internet use requires separately purchased Internet service contract. Availability of public wireless access points limited. 7. For hard drives, GB=Billion bytes. Actual available capacity is less. 9. 24X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive data transfer rates may vary as follows: for recording to CD-R media, for writing to CD-RW media, for reading CD media, max transfer rate may be up to 3600 Kbps; for reading DVD media, may be up to 10,800 Kbps. Actual transfer rates may vary depending on media quality. 10. 24X Max CD-ROM Drive data transfer rates up to 3600 Kbps. 11. 48X, 32X CD-RW Drive data transfer rates may vary as follows: for recording to CD-R media, the max transfer rate may be up to 7200 Kbps (use 48X discs for best performance); for writing to CD-RW media, the max transfer rate may be up to 4800 Kbps (use 32X high-speed media discs for best performance); for reading CD media, the max transfer rate may be up to 7200 Kbps. Actual transfer rates may vary depending on media quality. 12. One-year limited warranty for parts, labor and next-business-day support. 13. Three-year limited warranty for parts, labor and next-business-day support. 14. Four-year limited warranty for parts, labor and next-business-day support. 15. Service levels and response times for HP Care Packs may vary depending on your geographic location. Restrictions and limitations apply. For details, visit www.hp.com/go/carepack. 16. Wireless use requires separately purchased service contract.BroadbandAccess is available to more than 140 million people in 171 major metropolitan areas and 68 primary airports. Access limited to coverage area of Verizon Wireless. Check with Verizon Wireless for availability and coverage in your area. Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess offers download speeds of 400 to 700 Kbps. NationalAccess provides download speeds of 60 to 80 Kbps. BroadbandAccess speeds are based on Verizon Wireless network tests with 5MB FTP data files without compression; NationalAccess speeds are based on Verizon Wireless network tests with 101KB FTP data files. 17. The hyperthreading feature is a new technology designed to improve performance of multi-threaded software products; please contact your software provider to determine software compatibility. Not all customers or software applications will benefit from the use of hyperthreading. Go to http://www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading for more information, including which processors support HT Technology. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Celeron, Celeron Inside, Centrino, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel SpeedStep, Intel Viiv, Intel Xeon, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, the Centrino Logo, the Intel Logo and the Intel Inside Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

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Lease for as low as $159 Instant Savings2 $21 per month for ($998 - $159 Instant Savings = $839) 48 months 4 Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630 with 17 HT Technology (2MB L2 Cache, 3GHz, 800MHz FSB) Microsoft Windows XP Professional 512MB 533MHz DDR2 80GB SATA S.M.A.R.T. III Hard Drive7 Multi-bay 24X CD-ROM10 Integrated Broadcom NIC ADD 2DVI adapter for Dual Displays Three-year next-business-day on-site limited warranty13, 15 GET EVEN MORE: HP CarePack: Four-year 9 x 5 next-business-day on-site coverage, add $9914,15 L1506 15" TFT Flat Panel Display, add $219

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go.pcmag.com/feedback

FEEDBACK

The Xbox 360 does not support most existing Xbox titles at the moment.

around 20 Xbox titles, and when I found out that only my copy of Halo 2 was compatible with the new Xbox 360, I went to Microsofts ofcial Xbox Web site to investigate. It turns out that the Xbox 360 is backward-compatible only with Halo and Halo 2 so far, and even with them it cannot activate many of the online play features. To get support for more of the original Xbox games for the Xbox 360 you have to download emulators for each game in a package that you can either download from Xbox Live or burn on a CD; then you have to install it as an update in the system. This package is offered on the Xbox site and is under 5MB. The current package supports around 200 Xbox titles, but the entire Xbox library has about 500 games, so actually the Xbox 360 does not support most existing Xbox titles at the moment. Neal Trotter I too was less than excited when our Xbox 360 failed to play Fable. So I bundled up the new console and sent it back to the labs. Even if I had downloaded the emulator, I couldnt have imported my saved gamesand Ill be darned if Ill start life over as Chicken Chaser again. Until a handful of amazing games

are released, Im happy with my old Xbox. Great graphics are no substitute for great game play.JL

T H O S E M I S S I N G PAG E S I am a PC Magazine subscriber and I recently received my February 7, 2006, issue of the magazine. I noticed that pages 50 to 57 are missing. I was curious about whether this was a numbering error or the pages were inadvertently omitted. Bradley Coppella Pages 50 to 57 were missing? A strange warping of the spacetime continuum sucked those pages off to Shermans Planet where they were gobbled up by ravenous tribbles. No, wait, they were reduced to confetti by a rabid pack of enraged English bulldogs that lurk near our printing plant. Actually the answer is much more mundanean advertiser pulled out at the last minute, leaving our highly evolved page-numbering system in a (I swear this was ITs exact wording) higgledy-piggledy state. Tribbles, support staff, bull mastiffsall have been red or neutered. Our apologies, and we sincerely hope this does not happen again.Management

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John C. Dvorak
Will Apple Adopt Windows?

he idea that Apple would ditch its own OS for Microsoft Windows came to me from Yakov Epstein, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, who wrote to me convinced that the process had already begun. I was amused, but after mulling over various coincidences, Im convinced he may be right. This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing. Epstein made four observations. The rst was that the Apple Switch ad campaign was over, and nobody switched. The second was that the iPod lost its FireWire connector because the PC world was the new target audience. Also, although the iPod was designed to get people to move to the Mac, this didnt happen. And, of course, that Apple had switched to the Intel microprocessor. Though these points arent a slam-dunk for Epsteins thesis, other observations support it. The theory explains several odd occurrences, including Apples freak-out and lawsuits over Macintosh gossip sites that ran stories about a musicians breakout box that has yet to be shipped. Like, who cares? But if Apples saber-rattling was done to scare the community into backing off so it wouldnt discover the Windows stratagem, then the incident makes more sense. As does Bill Gatess onscreen appearance during Apples turnaround when Jobs was taking a pot of money from Microsoft. The Windows stratagem may have been a done deal by then. This may also explain the odd comment at the Macworld Expo by a Microsoft spokesperson that Microsoft Ofce will continue to be developed for the Mac for ve years. What happens after that? This switch to Windows may have originally been planned for this year and may partly explain why Adobe and other high-end apps were not ported to the Apple x86 platform when it was announced in January. At Macworld, most observers said that these new Macs could indeed run Windows now. Bigger companies than Apple have dropped their proprietary OSs in favor of Windowsthink IBM and OS/2. IBM also jumped on the Linux bandwagon over its own AIX version of Unix. Business eventually trumps sentimentality in any large company. Another issue for Apple is that the Intel platform is wide open, unlike the closed proprietary system Apple once had full control over. With a proprietary architecture, Apple could tweak the OS for a con-

trolled environment without worrying about the demands of a multitude of hardware add-ons and software subsystems. Windows, as crappy as many believe it to be, actually thrives in this mishmash architecture. Products, old and new, have drivers for Windows above all else. By maintaining its own OS, Apple would have to suffer endless complaints about peripherals that dont work. As someone who believed that the Apple OS x86 could gravitate toward the PC rather than Windows toward the Mac, I have to be realistic. It boils down to the add-ons. Linux on the desktop never caught on because too many devices dont run on that OS. It takes only one favorite gizmo or program to stop a user from changing. Chat rooms are filled with the likes of How do I get my DVD burner to run on Linux? This would get old fast at Apple. Apple has always said it was a hardware company, not a software company. Now with the cash cow iPod line, it can afford to drop expensive OS development and just make jazzy, high-margin Windows computers to finally get beyond that five-percent market share and compete directly with Dell, HP, and the stodgy Chinese makers. To preserve the Macs slick cachet, there is no reason an executive software layer couldnt be tted onto Windows to keep the Mac look and feel. Various tweaks could even improve the OS itself. From the Mac to the iPod, its the GUI that makes Apple software distinctive. Apple popularized the modern GUI. Why not specialize in it and leave the grunt work to Microsoft? It would help the bottom line and put Apple on the fast track to real growth. The only y in the ointment will be the strategic difculty of breaking the news to the fanatical users. Most were not initially pleased by the switch to Intels architecture, and this will make them crazy. Luckily, Apple has a master showman, Steve Jobs. Hell announce that now everything can run on a Mac. Hell say that the switch to Windows gives Apple the best of both worlds. Hell say this is not your daddys Windows. Hell cajole and cajole, and still hear a few boos. But those will be the last boos hell hear, for then the Mac will be mainstream. We will welcome the once-isolated Apple mavens, nally.
MORE ON THE WEB: Read John C. Dvoraks column

This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing. Theres just one y in the ointment.

every Monday at go.pcmag.com/dvorak. You can reach him directly at pcmag@dvorak.org.

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MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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Visual Systems is a division of NEC Solutions (America), Inc. 2005. NEC 090533

Discover a new world of potential with the first automatic projectors. As the worlds first truly automatic projectors, the LT30 and LT35 are bright, powerful and packed with cool technology innovations. Even with a footprint smaller than a sheet of paper, these little powerhouses do everything automatically, including start-up, focus, keystone correction and even cool down. The advances of the LT30 and LT35 are so revolutionary, dont be surprised if they make everything else look a little flat. Please visit www.necvisualsystems.com to explore NECs automatic projectors!

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JOHN C. DVORAK

Inside Track
C
ould AMD be thinking about a tri-core chip?

I thought so when I read between the lines of David Lammerss interview with Phil Hester, AMDs new CTO, at EETimes. com. Hester hinted at the possibility that there may someday be a tri-core chip as a high-performance cache-laden superchip. Exactly where this would t into the road map is unclear, since he mentioned that quad-core chips will be hitting the street in late 2007. Its hard to imagine many apps actually taking advantage of quad-core power, since software is barely keeping pace with dual-core. What seems to be missing from the equation is some sort of meta-compiler that can recompile code and optimize it for dual-, quad-, octa-, or whatever-core. Even some sort of delegation layer within the OS that could assign and split chores to the CPU in some new way might give us huge performance increases for everything, rather than for just a few hand-optimized programs. The easiest process, of course, would be to multitask whole programs on different cores. Eight cores, no waiting! If multicore chips become standard and in common use, you can be sure some new software developments will take advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, Ive Gone Performance-Crazy Dept.: I put together a dual-SLI system running off an AMD dual-core chip and into an HP 2025 1,600by-1,200 LCD monitor. All this just to run Half Life 2 and to experience the future of real-time rendering and hi-def gaming. Half Life 2 is the game that most exploits this architecture. This is the way to go! First of all, with updated apps such as Adobe Photoshop that actually use the capabilities of the dual-core chip, you can really rip through projects. And the combination of the nVidia SLT boards with the remarkable HP 2025 monitor produces pure eye candy. The 2025 has been around for a while, and, at $1,000, is a luxurious 20-inch monitor. But I have a number of at-panel displays, and I can assure you that this is the best one I have ever seen . It looks good even with an analog signal, but in that mode its a waste of money. You need a real highend 1,600-by-1,200 video card with digital I/O to make this monitor perform. Highly recommended. Its the perfect monitor for those ritzy multiplemonitor lash-ups. With the dual SLI cards (another $450 each), you can drive four of these monitors at 1,600-by-1,200 and full 32-bit color. Probably a little extravagant even for me, but wow! I completely switched my home-machine building philosophy and am back on the high-end track after fooling around with Shuttles and Mini-ITX

With terabyte drives, FireWire 800, and other seriously hot products, its impossible to resist going for the high end.

and Mini-ATX boards in small containers. With terabyte drives, FireWire 800, and other seriously hot products, its impossible to resist going for the high end and spending the extra money. The way I see it, these are my tools. Good tools are not something you should get on the cheap, especially if you are earning money with these tools. If you are going to do nothing more than surf the Web, then get a cheap machine and browse. But if you are using the machine for business or as a serious hobby machine, then why go cheap? While on the subject of high quality, a few of the other items I have in this SLT screamer are a fast 500GB Seagate drive and the latest Plextor SATA DVD RW multi drive, which reads and writes everything imaginable, including dual-layer (8.5GB) DVDs. The hot model is the PX716-SA, which retails for around $115 street. Nobody has ever argued against the assertion that Plextor makes the best CD/DVD optical drives, and this is its best yet. Everyone in the business knows this, although the competition will squawk about people like myself beating the drum too much about it. After all, most drives work pretty well. But this latest drive, like other Plextors I have used, can read some old discs burned during the SCSI 1X CD-R era that no other drive (except perhaps the original clunker that wrote the disc) can. This is a big deal to me. The Plextor drive doesnt spend any time on the waggle track trying to gure out how to read it. It just reads it instantly. Consider this the 2006 testimonial for these drives. Highly recommended. Genuinely Interesting Hardware Dept.: Now heres an ultracool device that you have to own! If youre well organized, youll want one. If youre not well organized, you need one. Its the DYMO RhinoPRO industrial printer. Though DYMO has long since gone into the jazzy and versatile computerized roll-label printers favored by eBay mavens and SMB operations, it still has a heritage going back to the handheld label maker. That old, crude label maker has evolved into these spectacular RhinoPRO handheld industrial printers. These devices can print elegant labels for cables, including the kind that goes over the cable itself and is then shrunk onto the cable with a hair dryer. This is a dream-come-true product for your networking or stereo wires. No more guessing where they are coming from or going. And with this thing, you can make thin label strips to put on racks or on the back of gear. DYMO makes a number of these devices; look for them starting at around $99. Check out the DYMO Web site at www.dymo.com.

www.pcmag.com

MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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Copyright 2006. Visioneer, Inc. All rights reserved. The Visioneer brand name, logo and Visioneer Strobe are registered trademarks of Visioneer, Inc. Visioneer, Inc. 5673 Gibraltar Drive, Suite 150, Pleasanton, CA 94588. *The NPD Group/NPD TechWorld (JanuaryMay 2003), 200 dpi black and white mode.

Bill Machrone
Promising Tech Delivers

he a n nua l excesses of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are behind us. The news media were there in force, the analysts have analyzed, the bloggers have blogged, the pundits have punded. And now its my turn to weigh in. HDTV was the visual focal point. Some new screens can be measured in square yards, and everybody is doing 1080p, not that theres yet any content for that resolution. Although consumers are expected to buy $1.4 billion worth of HDTVs this year, the manufacturers would probably sell 50 percent more if they werent embroiled in the stupid format war between Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD-DVD. Both sides were loudly claiming victorydespite the complete lack of content, with nothing more than promises from studios to produce titles for the camp to which theyd sworn allegiance. The solution neednt be complex: One camp swallows its pride and allows the other to win, but rst they cross-license their technologies and incorporate some portion of the losing technology into the winners. They modify the name of the winning technology (say, to BDVD or HD-Ray) and share the royalties. The former combatants produce identical-functioning drives and compatible content. Both sides declare victory. Legions of PR people stream forth to explain that the antagonism of the past several years was a necessary part of the creative process to ensure the best possible product, and that consumers are the real winners. As enjoyable as those main-f loor, multiacre booths are, I enjoy prowling around the margins, visiting the smaller companies, where you find good ideas and wishful thinking in equal measure. Theres nothing wishful about home-level IP telephony, however. Its a healthy, growing market. You can get IP telephony independent of your computer from your cable company or with a cable or DSL connection with Vonage or a similar service. When it comes to computer-based IP telephony, however, Skype is the brand to beat. Several companies introduced Skype phones, and some were dual-mode devices that connect to your POTS line as well as your computer. You can dial from a standard-looking wireless phone, and even see which of your Skype buddies are online. When youre talking Skype-to-Skype, its free. When you dial a non-Skype phone through the Skype long-

distance network, you pay around $.02 per minute, right between Vonages $.03 per minute and Gizmos $.01 per minute. If you do any appreciable amount of long-distance calling, this is the way to go. Cree and Luxeon have dened the future of atpanel displays: LEDs will replace uorescent backlights as prices drop and intensity continues to rise. Not only do LEDs cost less and consume less power, they have a broader color gamut, for real reds and truer colors across the spectrum. The newest white LEDs are available as true white or incandescent white, and Crees RGB-combining LEDs have tunable color temperature. Samsung showed a stunning 56-inch HDTV with DLP technology and an LED light source that eliminates the color wheel and lasts 20,000 hours. LEDs are destined to take over many other tasks, too, from low-intensity shelf lighting to high-intensity task lighting. As I walked through the fuel-cell ghetto in the Sands Exposition Center, three different salesmen told me, This is the very rst one on the market, or words to that effect. I heard the same thing last year. These low-temperature generators run on butane, methanol, or hydrogen, and might be just the ticket for a journalist covering a war zone by satellite phone or a biologist living in a rain forest, keeping digital cameras and laptops running. But for the rest of us, current battery technology is ne. Businesses still crank out millions of recordable CDs and DVDs each year. Desktop color CD printers have been out there for years, but the small ones have always been a separate device. Last years LightScribe drives brought convenience to a new, but monochromatic, level. This year, I saw several CD/DVD desktop burner/printers that print a full-color image or label on one side while burning the data to the other. Rimage is probably the leader in this market, but I like the new Duet (www.buyduet.com), which is available as a desktop unit or as a 2.5-inch-high drive that will t into a tower PC. Its sub-$1,000 price is inviting, too. (See Don Labriolas article on page 132 for more on disc-labeling methods.) As for other promising technologies, such as ZigBee and IPTV, well have to wait another year.
MORE ON THE WEB: You can contact Bill Machrone at

I enjoy prowling around the margins, visiting the smaller companies, where you nd good ideas and wishful thinking in equal measure.

Bill_Machrone@ziffdavis.com. For more of his columns, go to go.pcmag.com/machrone.

www.pcmag.com

MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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THE

WERE ALL ON A DIFFE RE NT PAGE

E R A I S OVE R.

Microsoft Office has evolved. Have you? After all, the way we work has changed. These days, the bigger the team, the harder it is to work together. Thats why the latest version of Microsoft Office allows easy access to Team Workspaces. Step up to a world where shared locations hold documents, schedules, tasks, and announcements. Its time to evolve the way you work. Discover how at microsoft.com/office/evolve

Its time to upgrade our Ofce 97. Brilliant.

2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, the Office logo, and Your potential. Our passion. are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

>

COVER STORY

YOU CAN DO IT!

A friend of mine, whom wel l ca l l Warren, lives in the Ad i rondack Mou ntains in upstate New York. He literally built his own house. He designed a floor plan, cut down trees with a chainsaw, made them into boards with a little milling machine, built the frame, laid ooring, wired electricity, ran plumbing, and so on. Its a beautiful house. Warren, however, will not build or upgrade his own computer. He insists on buying a Gateway, HP, Dell, or some other system every few years. Tech-savvy do-ityourselfer friends have tried for years to convince him that putting together a PC is much easier than building a house or replacing a car engine, or even crafting a custom dining-room set, all of which hes accomplished. But Warrenjust like millions of perfectly capable peoplecant wrap his mind around whats inside that beige box.

Build your own PC with our easy-to-follow guide

By Joel Durham, Jr.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

97

>

How can I be sure to buy parts that work together?

That can be tricky. Youll have to learn a bit about case designs, expansion slots, and drive interfaces. Dont worry, though; if you can get a TV to work with your cable system, your DVR, and your DVD player, you can learn the ins and outs of PC components.

Is it cheaper to build or buy?

To technologically timid folks,

theres something mysterious or even scary about the inner workings of a computer: Press the w rong button and your e-mail goes away. Delete the wrong icon and suddenly Microsoft Word appears to have vanished from your world. And all of this happens within that mysterious box to which your keyboard is con nected. The fact is, a PC is just an electronic device, and it conforms to the same laws of physics that govern microwave ovens and automobile alternators. Building a PC is a fantastic way to learn all about computers, regardless of whether you have an innate fear of technology (and believe us when we say that constructing a computer will probably dispel that sensation) or if youre a brave DIYer ready to explode out of the gate. All it takes is a few tools, a budget, and an afternoon or two. Dont expect to save a lot of money, though. If you insist upon the newest and fastest components, youll probably spend more than you would if you chose to buy a system. Major manufacturers buy components in bulk at big discounts,

and they can therefore sell those parts more cheaply in their systems than you can buy them individually. But if you dont need tomorrows power today, you can buy previous-generation parts at bargain prices. As new CPUs, motherboards, and graphics cards come out, prices drop on older models. Building a computer out of parts that arent hands-down the fastest available might seem silly. Is this a new PC or an outdated one? Dont fall for the myth that a computer is outdated the minute something newer comes out. With the exception of some performance-demanding games and graphics programs, most software is designed for a wide range of performance levels; in other words, you can run e-mail programs, word processors, spreadsheets, Web browsers, media players, and other common software tools on gear thats several generations old. If you choose to rack a 2-GHz processor instead of a 3.4-GHz monster, what you lose in performance youll save in money. The choice is yours. And even if you dont save money, building your own PC has plenty of solid benetsand a few limitations.

Its cheaper to build . . . some-

times. It really depends on how shrewd a shopper you are and which parts you choose for your system. Hot, bleeding-edge parts tend to be pricey, and buying a full system with them is ultimately cheaper than buying them yourself. But by building a PC yourself you can choose your own parts, which can save a bundle.

A
Q
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PC MAGAZINE

Not very! You need only a small workspace and a few simple tools to build your rst system. PC parts of various types are designed to t and function together. Components are manufactured for specic slots,

sockets, and ports, so its actually more of a challenge to misconnect something than it is to hook it up properly!

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN WEINSTEIN

How difcult is it to build a computer?

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL Whether you know a lot about using a computer or very little, by fashioning your own machine you stand to learn tons of information about a PCs parts and how they work together. As Head Designer you will discover cool new looks and options for PCs that you cant order from Dell or Gateway. Intel versus AMD and ATI versus nVidia will no longer be headlines you gloss over while hunting for the crossword in the paper. Youll come to understand physical sockets, slots, and their capabilities as you choose your masterworks CPU, graphics card, sound card, and memory. The intricacies of buses and point-topoint connections will quickly become old hat as you install various storage devices. Pretty soon youll be discussing water-cooled CPUs just as you would new Hemi engines. All that learning will arm you with knowledge for the inevitable upgrades in the future, and by building your own PC youll ensure that its composed of industry-standard parts that can be upgraded. Some manufacturers (were looking at you, Dell) like to use proprietary partsoddball motherboards, peculia r case desig ns, specia lized power supplies and motherboard power circuitry, and so on. Such computers

B U I LD YO U R OWN P C

are pretty much disposable; when the time comes to swap out older parts and upgrade them, you realize you have to start mostly from scratchor buy a new computer. The downside to building your own includes a pair of whoppers. First, theres the learning curve: Its up to you to make sure that the CPU you buy ts the socket of the motherboard you choose, that you select the right memory, and that the graphics card is compatible with its slot, and so on. Secondand this is often the deal breakeryou dont get technical support and a blanket warranty on a PC you construct. Each part will have its own warranty and tech support, but if something goes wrong, youll have to gure out which part is to blame before you start making phone calls. You can alleviate this somewhat by shopping with a computer store that provides technical support to builders (many online stores, who cater to PC enthusiasts, do this), but when it comes down to it, you are your own tech support department.

WE BUILT IT.
We challenged master LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya to build us a PC. He took our request seriously, and built this mind-blowingly cool LEGO system, keyboard, mouse, and all. Which got us thinking: Could we make a working LEGO computer, with optical drives, an LCD monitor, and all the bells and whistles? You bet we could. We made a crazy LEGO PC lled with working PC parts, pressed power, and sat back in awe. And while we love the working PC, we simply cant keep all this goodness to ourselves: One lucky PC Magazine reader will win our custom LEGO creation! Simply visit our Web site at the address below and enter your name for the chance of a lifetime. Just do us one favor: Dont break it. Because Nathan may be fantastic with LEGOs, but he didnt bother to write us a reassembly manual.

YOU WIN IT!

GO.PCMAG.COM/LEGOPC
LIFT UP YOUR PHILLIPS HEAD! The difference between building your own PC and buying one is much like that between owning a home and renting one. When something goes wrong in your own home, you have to fix itbut at the same time, you can do it any way you like. That could be the very best thing about constructing your own computer: You have complete control. You can read gear reviews and select exactly what goes into your creation. If you buy a PC, youre stuck with a limited choice of brands and models (even if the manufacturer lets you customize it). If you build one, when people ask what type of computer you have, you dont have to mutter, Dude, I got a Dell under your breath. Instead, you can stick out your chin and proudly proclaim, Its a custom rig that I built myself! and then wow them with your intimate knowledge of the specs. A FEW WORDS ON MODS The customized-case community (who call themselves modders) is full of newbie-friendly people who are happy to welcome you into the fold. Scores of sites exist at which modders share their creations, complete with detailed descriptions of how they were done, and many such sites feature contests for the best mods. LAN parties have been and are also popular places to show off mods to like-minded enthusiasts. Today you can buy many mods that are easy to use and install, ranging from cases with windows to lights with standard power connectors and sticky-backed Velcro stripskits to light up your PCs guts. And companies such as Thermaltake market prelit, prewindowed cases with amazing styles. You can buy lights of any color, LED kits, motherboards built to be seen rather than taken for granted, lit power supplies, stylized fan grates, and a whole lot more. Building a PC may not be right for everybody, and styling it can take time, but the only way to know if it works for you is to try it. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process from start to finish and should answer any questions that might arise. Clear off a table or a workbench and grab your Phillips-head screwdriver: Youre about to create a masterpiece! Weve got more to share with you, but weve run out of space. Youre in luck, however! Our sister Web site ExtremeTech.com has a wealth of information for you. For more info on building, parts and plans, and more technical information than the user manual for a nuclear power plant (well, maybe not that much), check out go.extremetech.com/bootcamp.

What are the main benets to building my own PC?

You have complete control over the parts that go into your system, so you can build specically for your needs and taste. After all, you cant get a neon light kit with most new Dell systems! Building it yourself also guarantees that your system will be composed of standard componentswhich will be a big deal when its time to upgrade.

DIY 101

Get to know your PC! In the next few pages, well walk you through the main components of your computer, explaining what each piece is and how to choose one for your project. Well also give you pointers on how install the partand how upgrading your current system will prepare you to build your own. Turn the page and jump in!

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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>HARD DRIVE
Every day is a great day to buy a new hard drive. Storage capacities are rising every month, and prices are falling drasticallythats bad for manufacturers and good for us. You can easily add a few more gigs to your PC for pennies on the megabyte. Heres what to know.

Too Much? Its Never Enough!

A picture is worth 1,000 bytes? As millions of consumers have embraced digital photography, many have forgotten about storing these often massive les. What good is your new digital camera if you cant store all of the pictures you took? A larger hard drive is going to be a lot cheaper than a new ash memory card and harder to lose.

Inside Out Works Too

Will it fit? A s simple as it seems, people often forget to check exactly how much space they have in their case for a new or extra hard drive. Count up your free drive bays beforehand and save yourself an extra trip to CompUSA for a larger case.

IDE Rather Have SATA

Before you go out and pick up a new hard drive, make sure you know what type of internal connection you are dealing with. Many newer, fancier PCs on the market have made the switch from internal IDE to SATA. SATA allows for faster data transfer, but the at red cables are denitely not backward-compatible with IDEs wide white ribbons.

STATS
Rotational speed: Most drives spin

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INSTALL GUIDE

at 7,200 rpm today. 5,400 feels noticeably slower. Capacity: These days, 200GB is a good starting point. Any smaller, throw it back. Interface: ATA133 is only a little faster than ATA100. But SATA 3.0 Gbps is much faster than SATA 150. Find out what your motherboard supports before you buy.

+
TO WATCH

Adding a hard drive to your system is easy as pie, particularly if your PC uses Serial ATA (look for thin, at cables like the red one pictured above). Start by attaching the wider data cable to the motherboard. Use any free SATA port.
PC MAGAZINE

Then attach the data cable to your drive. Next, locate a free SATA power cable from your computers power supply, and attach it to the drive. Thats all there is to it! Find a free drive bay and screw your new hard drive into place.

If your system uses IDE, dont forget to set the drives jumpers correctly. The boot drive should be set to master and should plug into the end of the IDE cable. When you add a new drive, set it to slave and attach it to the cables middle connector.

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

>MEMORY
Discover Balance
Avoid a common mistake: Buying the fastest graphics card and CPU without upgrading the memory. If the CPU and GPU have to wait for the memory, youve built an imbalanced systemand wasted your money.

STATS
Manufacturer:

With obscure settings and numbers, unbuffered modules, error correction on some types of RAM, and several different naming conventions, purchasing memory can seem like the most confusing part of building a computer (although as you can see below, installing it is a snap). Most of that info isnt crucial to know; just match the specs provided by your motherboard manufacturer. Here are some other tips to keep in mind.

Match the maker and type of your current RAM if youre adding extra memory.

Registered/unbuffered: Most PCs use

+
TO WATCH
Effective clock rate (MHz) 200 266 333 400 500 400 533 666 800

unbuffered, but doublecheck before you buy. Dual-channel: If your motherboard supports it, two matching slabs of memory can perform around 10 percent faster. This is, needless to say, a very good thing.

Things to Remember About Memory

In todays double-data-rate (DDR) RAM chips, the modules names refer to their total bandwidth; higher numbers mean more data can be moved at once.
Type Bandwidth (GBps) 1.6 2.1 2.7 3.2 4.0 3.2 4.2 5.3 6.4 Front-side bus (MHz) 100 133 166 200 250 200 266 333 400

Find Your Speed

A good rule of thumb to remember is that the speed of your RAM should be equal to or greater than the speed of your processors front-side bus. RAM will always slow down to run with your system, but overclocking it, or making it run faster than its intended to (to keep up with a much faster processor, for example), will lead to an unstable system.

DDR Memory
PC1600 (DDR200) PC2100 (DDR266) PC2700 (DDR333) PC3200 (DDR400) PC4000 (DDR500)

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1

DDR2 Memory
PC2 3200 (DDR2-400) PC2 4200 (DDR2-533) PC2 5300 (DDR2-667) PC2-6400 (DDR2-800)

INSTALL GUIDE

Installing RAM is, literally, a snap. The key is the alignment notch along the modules contact edge, which mates to a key in the memory socket. The key ensures that the module ts in only one way. Once youve mated them, slide the module straight down.

As you gently press down on the module, the side clips snap into place. If they dont, doublecheck that you really have the notch aligned correctly. Its easy to get it backwards. And of course, DDR2 hardware wont t into a DDR slot.

The process is the same for upgrades as it is for a new system install, of course. Try updating an old system before building a new one; extra memory is a huge performance boost, and the process will familiarize you with the interior of your PC.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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The Xerox Phaser 8500 network color featherweight price. Which means it can take

To make the tough Xerox Phaser 8500 even tougher to resist, we reduced it to $699 after a $200 rebate. It still delivers up to 24 color pages a minute and an industry-leading first-page-out

time that delivers stunning 600 dpi color in just 6 seconds. It has Driver Color Controls to match output color to the color on your computer screen. And talk about endurance! With one of

*For rebate details visit the website below. Call, click or contact: 888 - 247-5107 xerox.com/office/1989 Your local reseller
Limited time offer. Offer is valid for end users who purchase any new Xerox Phaser 8500N or Phaser 8500DN between 1/1/06 and 3/31/06. Xerox must receive completed refund request and copy of the dated invoice by 4/30/06. Cannot be combined with any other Xerox incentive. Xerox will mail the eligible rebate check directly to end user. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. Open to U.S. customers with a valid U.S.

$
Aft er

699
$20 0 re bat e*

899
NO W

WA S

printer delivers heavyweight specs at a on anybody. Xerox Color. It makes business sense.
the largest paper capacities in its class, the Phaser 8500 just keeps going. Its easy to install and maintain. Solid Ink technology makes it environmentally green. Naturally, its from a winning line of color printers and multifunction systems. To learn more, contact us. Were sure our little champ will knock you out.

mailing address. Xerox resellers, agents, dealers, distributors and retailers are not eligible. Not responsible for late, lost or postage-due mail. Void where prohibited. Applicable tax, if any, is the sole responsibility of end user. 2006 XEROX CORPORATION. All rights reserved. XEROX, Phaser and Xerox Color. It makes business sense are trademarks of XEROX CORPORATION in the United States and/or other countries.

>GRAPHICS
To play the hottest new games, you need one of the newest, most powerful graphics cards. Its that simple. Sure, you can try to play these new pixelpushing processing hogs on your old GPUbut whyd you drop 60 bucks on a new game if it looks and plays just like an old one?

STATS
Graphics memory: More memory

helps. Look for at least 128MB.

Processor (GPU): ATI and nVidia

Which Bus to Catch

Graphics cards connect to motherboards through AGP or PCI Express slotsinterfaces called buses. Its very important to check which your PC has before you buy. PCIe is newer and faster; if youre upgrading an old machine, youre probably stuck with AGP. Dont feel bad. Nearly all cards come in versions for both buses.

both make tremendously fast chips. You wont go wrong with a card based on either companys chips. Graphics RAM: Only the geekiest geeks care how fast the graphics RAM is.

+
TO WATCH

Whats on the PC-TV?

Some graphics cards, such as the ATI All-InWonder X800 XT pictured below, come equipped with TV tuner modules. This lets you tune in to your favorite television program directly on your desktop. ATIs card gives you DVR functionality too, depending on how much free hard drive space you have to hold the recorded programs.

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INSTALL GUIDE

+
Locate your graphics slot. In general, its an offset brown slot for AGP cards (PCI Express slots vary in color; most are black or blue like the one were using above). Line up the card properly and slide it in.

The excitement of opening up a new graphics card can override common sense. Before you even think about installing one, youll want to do two things: download the latest drivers for your new card (but dont install them) and completely uninstall your old ones.
MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

Note the safety tab at the back of the slot, which keeps the card seated. You may need to lift it to insert the card correctly. Some cards require a power connection. If yours does, locate a free cable from your power supply and plug it in before booting up.

B U I LD YO U R OWN P C

>CPU
Speed Thrills

The CPU is the centerpiece and nerve center of your system. When building a PC, you start by choosing a processor and work your way out from there. What chip you buy dictates the maximum speed of your RAM and what type of motherboard you can use. Your motherboard purchase then dictates what sort of graphics card you can buy, and so on.

STATS
Speed: From 1.0 to 3.8 GHz,

fasters always better.

Socket: Match the CPUs inter-

face to your motherboard. Front-side bus: Determines the maximum memory speed.

+
TO WATCH

Sure, it sounds sexy to tell all your friends that you have the fastest chip on the market in your custom machine, but do you need it? The AMD FX-60 (pictured here) is a blazing dual-core 64-bit workhorse; it would be complete overkill to use this chip to run Microsoft Excel and publish the canasta-club newsletter.

Pick Your Poison

Intel and AMD make a huge variety of CPUs that run at a multitude of different speeds. One of the coolest things about building a PC is being able to select the exact chip to t your needs. If you are going to run several large multimedia applications at the same time, you might want to pick up one of the new dualcore chips. If youre trying to save a few bucks, try a lower-priced Sempron or Celeron.

+
1

Socket Something or Other

Hundreds of pins and holes make up the the socket the interface between a CPU and a motherboard. Intel and AMD use different sockets, and since the sockets have evolved with the chips, newer CPUs wont t older interfaces. Double-check yours.

INSTALL GUIDE

For AMD processors, note the tiny triangle on one corner of the CPUs top. It acts as a key to help you align the CPU. Match it to the triangle on the motherboard socket. Todays Intel CPUs are pinless, but the process is the same, and theyre also keyed.

A CPU will t properly only one waywithout any signicant force. To install, simply lift up the lever, align the CPU correctly, and ever so gently push the lever down. The CPU should slip into the socket, letting you lock the lever in place.

Todays CPU coolers come in a variety of sizes and attach in many different ways. Read the coolers manual for details. But before installing it, squeeze a small drop of thermal paste onto the CPU, then spread it thinly with a craft knife. Use very little pressure.

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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B U I LD YO U R OWN P C

PC Magazines go-to geek picks the best parts for a variety of do-it-yourself PC projects.

>LOYDS PICKS
Low-Price Gaming Video Editing

After building your hundredth PC, you start to get a good feel for what works and what doesnt. And since Loyds built more systems than an Intel CPU has transistors, hes all over picking parts like syrup on pancakes. Find your goal and buy the following parts.

No-Holds-Barred Gaming!

Gaming for around $1,200? We couldnt buy the fastest graphics, but in most games the 6600GT wont bat a digital eye. Add a 64-bit CPU and 1GB of RAM, and youll be ready to handle most gaming situations.
CPU

Content creation seems expensive at rst. But considering the pair of 19inch LCDs, the hot Intel CPU, and the giant RAID 1 storage setup here, your money will be well spent. This system will still feel great two years from now.
CPU

Looking to destroy at the newest, hottest games? This bad boy uses the new dual-core FX-60 chip, SLI graphics (and the 850-watt power supply it demands), and enough repower to kill a small army.
CPU

Athlon 64 3200+
CPU COOLER

$160 $0 $85 $130 $120 $0 $130 $55 $60 $43 $30 $30 $80 $299 $60

Intel Pentium 4 660

CPU COOLER

$340 $60 $225 $180 $169 $150 $300 $375 $460 $150 $50 $100 $500 $650 $75

Athlon 64 FX-60
CPU COOLER

$1,100 $60 $200 $315 $149 $449 $1,200 $280 $600 $150 $80 $70 $500 $880 $110

Stock AMD
MOTHERBOARD

Zalman CNPS9500
MOTHERBOARD

Zalman CNPS9500
MOTHERBOARD

MSI K8N-Neo4
MEMORY

Intel D955XBK
MEMORY

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe

MEMORY

2 x Kingston 512MB DDR400 ValueRAM

CASE

2 x Corsair DDR2/667
CASE

2GB Corsair TwinX2048-3500LLPro

CASE

Antec Performance TX-640B

POWER SUPPLY

Antec P180
POWER SUPPLY

Silverstone TJ06
POWER SUPPLY

400W (included with case)

GRAPHICS

Antec NeoHE 550W

GRAPHICS

PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 850SSI

GRAPHICS

XFX GeForce 6600GT

AUDIO

XFX GeForce 7800GT

AUDIO

2 x BFG GeForce 7800GTX OC

AUDIO

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value

HARD DRIVE

Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

HARD DRIVE

Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty

HARD DRIVE

Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 80GB SATA

OPTICAL DRIVE

2 x Western Digital WD4000YR 400GB

OPTICAL DRIVE

2 x WD Raptor 150 (RAID 0)

OPTICAL DRIVE

Sony DW-Q30ABK DVD+/-RW

KEYBOARD

Plextor PX-716AL slot drive

KEYBOARD

Plextor PX-716AL slot drive

KEYBOARD

Black Logitech Elite

MOUSE

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard

MOUSE

Logitech G15
MOUSE

Logitech MX-310
SPEAKERS

Logitech G7
SPEAKERS

Logitech G5
SPEAKERS

Logitech Z-3
DISPLAY

Creative Labs GigaWorks S750

DISPLAY

Creative Labs GigaWorks S750

DISPLAY

Viewsonic VA902B
O/S

2 x Viewsonic VA912B
O/S

Dell 2405FPW
O/S

Microsoft Windows XP Home

Windows XP Professional, SP2

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

TOTAL COST

$1,282

TOTAL

$3,784

TOTAL

$6,143

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PC MAGAZINE

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

B U I LD YO U R OWN P C

>THE ART OF DIY

The average modder wont take his case mod farther than a window and some running lights. But a few dedicated souls have taken the craft to a new level, with wood shops, metal work, and a lot of vision . . . and turned their computers into real art. Here are just a few of our favorites.

HP Resurrection II Evolution
This water-cooled case mod comes to us all the way from the Czech Republic. The builder took an old stock HP PC case, made some serious modications to build in a water cooling system, and then dipped the whole thing in chrome!

The PainMaster 5000

The PainMaster 5000 is a dedicated Unreal Tournament server built by a tremendously dedicated player. This mod took 84 hours to build, not to mention countless planning hours. The 5000 was made completely from scratch using wood and PVC. The inspiration came from the Unreal Tournament rocket launcher.

The R2-D2 Case

This ode to Lukes number-one droid is a true work of art and took its creator, Ken TGS Kirby, several intensive weeks to construct. The mod ended up weighing nearly 100 pounds and contains a custom-cooled 3.2-GHz P4 running at 3.7 GHz and cooled to -38 degrees Celsius.

>
DIY 201

DIY 201: The previous pages parts lists should give you plenty to think about next time you hit the Internet on a shopping spree. And were hoping the case mods here have whetted your appetite. So if youre ready to get going now, turn the page for our step-by-step guide toward building the sweetest Windows Media Center system youve ever seen!

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

109

COVER STORY

CASE

What Youll Need

$120 $75 $322 $35 $115 $168 $109 $30 $315 $78 $50 $16 $116 $99 $110 $85 $89 $109 $75 $35

SilverStone LaScala LC17 Antec NeoHE 430

POWER SUPPLY

CPU
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu ABIT AN8 Ultra

CPU COOLER

MOTHERBOARD

MEMORY

Join us on a tour of the winding data pathways inside a computer. Well explain how to join the DIY crowd and nally build an MCE PC of your ownand how to choose the parts for a custom project thats uniquely yours.

2GB Kingston ValueRAM ASUS Extreme N6600 Silencer nVidia PureVideo Decoder Seagate NL35 400GB HP dvd740i DVD Writer NEC ND-3520A DVDR DL Mitsumi FA-405M

GRAPHICS HARDWARE

DVD DECODER SOFTWARE

HARD DRIVE

OPTICAL DRIVES

MEMORY CARD READER

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Creative DTS-610 ATI TV Wonder Elite (PCI ) PowerColor T55E-P03 (PCI e x1) Vbox Cat's Eye DTA-150 Vbox Cat's Eye USB-A 3560 Microsoft ZV1 MCE keyboard Microsoft Media Center Remo te Windows XP Media Center Edition

AUDIO HARDWARE

ANALOG TV TUNERS

HDTV TUNERS

KEYBOARD/MOUSE

A HOMEMADE MEDIA CENTER PC

By Loyd Case

REMOTE CONTROL

OPERATING SYSTEM

TOTAL COST

............................ ......

$125

$2,276

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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>

Designing skyscrapers? Way over our head. Nuclear science? Spin states make us dizzy. Open-heart surgery? The very thought causes the
old ticker to skip a beat. (And where do you get all of those tiny little knives? Crate and Barrel?) Now building a PChey, thats easy. Well show you how. PICTURE THE BIG PICTURE Wel l sta r t by wa l k i ng through the decisions we made when building our system, explaining why we chose each particular component, and the effect the part has on the entire system. When were done,

cates the projectbut as youll see, its still not hard. This system requires a few other traits besides ease of use. It must effectively multitask, since we plan to record multiple video streams simultaneously. The graphics hardware should focus on video playback rather than 3D performance, because well be watching more TV on this system (and be playing less Quake). We need plenty of hard drive space for storing and streaming large

these little wonders were whisper quiet, so we didnt need replacements. Converting from AC wall power to the DC that computer components need is very inefcient in many power supplies. That generates excess heat, requiring a more robustand therefore louder cooling fan, so we opted for the Antec NeoHE line. HE is short for high efficiencythe NeoHEs efciency is rated at better than 80 percent. FILL ER UP With a case picked out, we had to f i l l it. We started with the CPU, the general that marshals your computing troops. A lot of a homet heater PCs work is ofoaded to other hardware: TV tuner cards and an audio card with a DSP chip do most of the work. Still, the processor can get pretty busy just managing system chores when youre trying to capture multiple video streams in DVR mode. That calls for a dual-core chip, and the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ seemed like an ideal solution. Its fast enough to get the job done, but draws far less power than comparable Intel parts, running cooler as a result. A good processor deserves a good motherboard, which must meet certain requirements. For example, the 3800+ needs a Socket 939 connector. We also want the best core logicthe heart of a motherboardcompatible with the CPU. Currently, thats the nVidia nForce4. The ABIT AN8 Ultra board uses it, and cools it passively (with a metal heat sink rather than a fan), keeping things nice and quiet. Another major source of noise in most systemsand the prime method of pulling heat from the processoris the CPU cooler. For that, we turned to Zalman Tech, which has built its reputation on delivering silent yet powerful devices. The CNPS7700-Cu looked appealing, but its massive 120mm fan can get a little cumbersome, so we chose the CNPS7000A-Cu, a pure copper cooler with a 92mm fan. Running the 7700 in low-noise mode produced a tiny 20 dB of sound, but at the same time kept our Athlon 64 3800+ well under 50 degrees centigrade when stresseda very reasonable heat level. The end result of hours spent picking out parts was a rig so quiet that it sounded like a normal PCthats switched off.

The end result of hours spent picking out parts was a rig so quiet
that it sounded like a normal PCone thats switched off.

ABIT AN8 ULTRA MOTHERBOARD

youll know why the PC worksand youll be ready to build one of your own. The rst step in a DIY project is choosing what to make. There are a million reasons to own a PC, but youre not going to meet every need with one machine, so you have to decide on the tasks you want to accomplish. We wanted a system that could be the hub of a home entertainment system. That meant whatever we designed would need to be easy enough for the whole family to use, so the solution was a Windows Media Center PC. A media center is a hub for storing, organizing, and distributing digital multimedia content. Its a recorder for over-the-air HDTV, a music manager, a repository for photos, a DVD player, and even a casual gaming system that outputs to the big-screen TV. Design considerations go beyond those for slapping together a vanilla PC, and that compli112
PC MAGAZINE

multimedia files, and a DVD recorder for creating our own DVDs. Finally, we want to minimize noisefan racket distracts from movies! A CASE FOR QUIET What about the noise thing? PC makers often dont concern themselves with it. We had to. While we chose all our components carefully, we took particular care choosing the case, power supply, and cooling fanthe combination has the largest impact on the whine factor. The LaScala LC17 is the latest evolution in SilverStones line of full-size home-theater PC cases. At rst we were concerned about the fans in the back of the casetheyre 80mm, and these days, when heat and noise are both concerns, that aint big. The smaller vanes must turn faster to move enough air to cool the system, causing more noise. Fortunately,

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

BUILD IT

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: THE HEART OF MCE Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 supportes multiple analog TV tuners. One of the new features of Rollup 2, the most recent MCE update from Microsoft, is support for multiple digital TV tuners. So why not use the full capability of the OS? We decided to build in two of each. For analog, the best picture quality we had seen came from the ATI TV Wonder Elite, which makes use of the ATI Theater 550 encode/decode chip. Unfortunately, the company ships only singletuner cards, and our motherboard had just three PCI slots (32-bit). With two analog cards, a pair for HDTV, and a sound card, wed need ve slots, which looked to be a serious problem.

CREATIVE HOME THEATER CONNECT DTS-610

Then we came across the PowerColor T55E-P03, which also uses the Theater 550, but comes in PCI and PCI Express x1 versionsand the ABIT AN8 Ultra had three PCI Express slots (two x1 and one x16). Since the image quality from the T55E-P03 cards looked as sharp as that produced by the TV Wonder Elite, we put one PCIe x1 version in the shopping cart. Next we tackled HDTV. In the past, weve used the ATI HDTV Wonder card.

Windows Vista, CableCARD, and the Future

Its a fact: People nally care about video, music, and TV on their PCs. Managing all these things through a simple, intuitive interface from across the room has become a top priority at Gates HQ in Redmond. So with the upcoming Windows Vista OS, Microsoft will no longer segregate MCE in its own box destined for PCs masquerading as VISTAS MUSIC LIBRARY set-top boxes. The Media Center functionality will be built into the Home Premium and Ultimate editions. We took a look at some of these changes in Vista beta build 5231. The OS is still a year from release, but we can already see signicant changes. We all know the new OS will bring about a huge transformation in the desktop look and feel. MCE is getting a similar facelift. The main menu is structured a bit differently, for example. Youll notice a new menu item, Tasks, which lets you sync with remote devices (media players and the like) and add Media Center Extenders. The toplevel priority this has in the new interface hints that Microsoft envisions entire households sharing in the media stored on a single Vista system. Pictures and Videos now occupy the same top-level menu item. This approach may be a little more dubious than the combination of Movies and DVDs. Will we want to watch stored videos and view our pictures in the same session? Vista isnt the only change in store for MCE PCs. At present, you can record high-denition video only if it arrives over the air; todays MCE PCs simply cant decode HD feeds from your cable company. Fortunately, at CES, ATI announced the worlds rst HDTV tuner that supports CableCARDthe smart card that (supposedly) every cable company will use in the near future to grant access to all that luscious high-def content. About time! Looks like there are some great new media features just on the horizon.Jason Cross and Jeremy A. Kaplan

But this time we turned to Vbox, a small Israeli company that made the reference platforms Microsoft used while developing MCE 2005. The Vbox hardware is pretty darn sensitiveit can pick up weak signals and deal with multipath reectionsbut the products are a little hard to track down. Luckily, we did the sleuthing, so all you have to do is go to shop.pcmag.com. With one PCI slot occupied by an analog tuner and another reserved for a sound card, we could install only one PCI card, the Cats Eye DTA-150. Vbox came to our rescue with the Cats Eye USB-A 3560, a compact, external box that uses the same hardware as the PCI version and draws power from a USB 2.0 port, so you dont even need an external power module. Success! Two HDTV tuners! We also needed good graphics hardware. In this case, since we were more concerned with the look of entertainment content than with gaming, 3D performance took a backseat to video performance. We were intrigued by ATIs latest series of graphics hardware, but the company has no passively cooled version commercially available, so we decided on the ASUS Extreme N6600 Silencer, which is based on the nVidia N6600 GPU. We like the N6600GT Silencer, which uses the faster 6600GT, but the larger cooler blocks a precious PCI slot, so we settled for the more compact option to ll our one PCIe x16 slot. No home theater PC is complete without good audio; we opted for the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusica great value (despite the dumb name) and a premium PCI card. More importantly, you can set up the card by downloading and installing the Sound Blaster Plug-In for Windows XP Media Center Edition. That way, you can reconfigure your audio settings while remaining inside MCEs 10-foot interface. But beware. Theres an issue with the X-Fi (and other sound hardware compatible with Media Center Edition) and digital audio output. Protected contentincluding rights-managed music downloaded
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+
STEPXSTEP

from pay music sites and DVD-Audio playbackisnt allowed through the digital audio port. Annoying, eh? Creative does have a solution that, although not elegant, works: the Home Theater Connect DTS-610. On the surface, the device seems silly. Its an external box that either accepts a digital PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) signal and passes it through unaltered, or takes the analog multichannel outputwhich started as our protected digital contentfrom our Creative sound card and encodes it back into DTS (Digital Theatre Sound) digital audio. Now you can pipe the signal to an A/V receiver thats DTScapable (most are) for output to speakers. Thats the long way round, but it succeeds in bypassing the output problem. If you plan on playing back protected content from DVD-Audio discs or have purchased downloaded music thats protected, youll need to pipe analog audio from the PC sound card to the DTS-610. Thats how you can use a PC as a DVDAudio player in an A/V system. Creatives decision to let you use or not use DTS gives you a cool capability. The DTS-610 doesnt understand Dolby Digital, which is put out by sources like DVD players. Turn DTS off, though, and signals go straight through the box, so you can still send the signal to your A/V receiver, which can decode it. But some people think DTS, which has a lower compres-

+
ZALMAN CNPS7000A-CU CPU COOLER

sion ratio than Dolby Digital, sounds better. The DTS-610 lets you choose. PARTS, PARTS, PARTS! RAM was next on our list. MCE likes to have a lot of quality memory, so we went with a Kingston ValueRAM dualchannel kit, which costs about $210 for 2GB of DDR400. Any system focused on digital media needs storageand lots of it. We debated adding a RAID 1 array for redundancy, but decided to go with a single hard drive designed for high availability (accessible 24/7, in other words) in a

low-usage environment, since it will be running but idle most of the time. The Seagate NL35 400GB drive filled the bill. Its designed for enterprise nearline backup systems. Its combination of large capacity for storing big multimedia les, 24/7 reliability, and relatively quiet operation makes it a good choice for a home-theater PC. Of course, a media PC also needs a DVD drivepreferably one that can burn discs. HPs LightScribe, which allows you to burn monochrome bitmap images onto special discs, is intriguing, so we popped an HP dvd740i DVD Writer

MOTHERBOARD TIPS

ATX I/O SHIELD All motherboards ship with an ATX I/O shield specic to that particular board. Before snapping it into the case opening, check to make sure the shield really aligns properly with the I/O connectors on the motherboard back panel. If you install the wrong one in the case, and then try to force the motherboard to t, you may end up with a broken I/O connector.

ATTACHING THE MOTHERBOARD

Aligning a motherboard on the mounting hardware can be tricky. Your best bet is to install the center screw loosely at rst, then install the other screws in a zigzag pattern. Dont tighten any screws until all of them are in. You may have to wiggle the board a bit to get some of the screw holes to align with the underlying mounting hardware.

FRONT-PANEL CONNECTORS

The wires that make the cases buttons and lights work are a real pain to connect. Note that you neednt worry about polarity when you install the power switch, reset switch, and speaker connectors. The LED jumpers must be installed with the correct polarity, however. This usually means that the (+) pin is connected to the non-black connector.

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STEPXSTEP

BUILD IT

FINAL STEPS

components that remain to be installed are our graphics cards and our two HDTV tuners. As installations go, this is one of the easier steps.

ABOVE YOU CAN SEE THE NEARLY COMPLETE PC. The only

WE MANAGED TO SQUEEZE all the cards into the case. On top is the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi. Below that are the Vbox Cats Eye DTA-150, the ASUS N6600, and nally the ATI TV Wonder Elite card.

FEAST YOUR EYES ON YOUR NEWLY completed PC. All thats

left to do is close the case, load up the latest version of Microsoft Windows MCE, and make this baby the centerpiece of your entertainment center.

though a bit nicky. The keyboard is also backlit, so you can use it in low light. COUCH POTATOES, UNITE! You can buy some well-designed and some not-so-well-designed Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs, rather than building your own. But wheres the fun in that? Our system offers a lot of unique capabilities in a very attractive package. For roughly $2,300, we got capacious storage, four tuners, very quiet operation, and good performance. We even got the ability to record four video streams simultaneously, although once that started, we really couldnt do much else. We could record two simultaneous video streams while playing music and browsing pictures, though. Responsiveness while recording two streams was pretty good, too. Of course, having a dual-core CPU helpsnot to mention the 2GB of RAM. The cost-conscious can reduce the price by scaling down the number of tuners and storage, removing one of the DVD burners, and using 1GB of RAM instead of 2. You could even go with a motherboard, such as the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 or the nVidia GeForce 6150, that has integrated graphics. Youll still have a very capable media hub that will mate well with your home theater system. Now couch potatoes everywhere can get all their media in one location! E

ASUS EXTREME N6600 SILENCER

into our system as the primary optical drive. Its not the quietest drive when burning DVDs, but its quiet enough when playing movies. We added an NEC ND-3520A, allowing us to duplicate discs easily for producing backup copies of non- copyrighted content. Both burn DVDs and handle dual-layer media. We also wanted to make good use of a handy MCE feature: the ability to store, manipulate, and display digital photos. To do so, we tore out the SilverStones 3.5-inch front-panel box (which has FireWire, USB 2.0, and audio ports) and

installed a Mitsumi FA-405M 13-in-1 card reader. This can actually read those pesky xD format cards used by some Olympus and Fuji digital cameras. Once you get the system up and running, you need some way to communicate with it from your couch. A remote control is good, because its compact and familiar to most non-PC users. But Microsoft also makes a nifty, MCE- centric keyboard. It works with the remote controls IR receiver and integrates all of the remotes capabilitiesit even offers a pointing stick, which is distinctive,

OUR CONTRIBUTORS: Joel Durham, Jr., writes the biweekly Mod Mania column for ExtremeTech.com and is author of the book Build It Yourself Visually: The Ultimate Game PC for Under $999. Loyd Case is the editor of ExtremeTech.com. Jason Cross is a technology analyst for ExtremeTech. Jeremy A. Kaplan is an executive editor of PC Magazine. Features editor extraordinaire Dan Evans was in charge of this story.
www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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outreach. outrun.
Dell recommends Windows XP Media Center Edition
The Strong, Silent Type
Intel Pentium D Processor 920 with Dual-Core Processing Technology (2.80GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition* 2005 19" Flat Panel Display (E196) 1GB Dual-Channel* DDR2 SDRAM 160GB* Hard Drive 16x DVD-ROM Drive; 16x Max CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW*) Drive (2nd Bay)

XPS 400 Desktop

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XPS 600: Raw Power Unleashed
Available with a new powerful dual-core processor and optional NVIDIA SLI x16 dual graphics, this powerhouse gets all your jobs done at once. And when your multimedia work is done, get ready for a truly explosive gaming experience.
starting at
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XPS 200: Small, But Mighty

This sleek, compact model is an elegant addition to any room. It comes with a BTX QuietCase chassis to keep it cool and quiet, but it roars with the power of Intel Dual-Core Processors! The perfect union of strength and beauty.
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XPS M170: Mobilize and Conquer

With Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, you can travel effortlessly and wirelessly. Whether you power through intense multimedia projects on the go or demand a deadly weapon for gaming parties, NVIDIA GeForce graphics and the 17" widescreen deliver stunning graphics.
starting at
$

1799

999

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*PRICING/AVAILABILITY: Prices, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, fees, shipping, handling and any applicable restocking charges are extra and vary. Offers may be combined with other select offers or discounts. Valid for U.S. Dell Home Systems Co. new purchases only. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors. SHARED SDRAM: Up to 128MB of system memory may be allocated to support graphics, depending on system memory size and other factors. DUAL-CHANNEL MEMORY: Dual-channel memory requires 2 each of the same capacity memory DIMMs. HARD DRIVES: GB means 1 billion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment, and will be less. On Dimension, XPS, and Inspiron systems, for Norton Ghost 10 and Dell DataSafe users, up to 25% of the stated hard drive capacity may be utilized by your system as dedicated backup space.

outperform.
Among Dell PCs, XPS has the brawn to get the job done without any strain whatsoever. When youre faced with a heavy project load, serious multitasking and advanced media applications, you need a PC that delivers exceptional performance at a rapid-fire pace. So whether youre editing high-end video, manipulating digital photos or dominating in gaming, you can rely on the dual-core strength of the XPS desktops, powered by Intel Pentium D Processors. Plus, with robust 24x7 support from our team of specially trained XPS technicians, system downtime could be a thing of the past. So go ahead, throw your projects this way XPS does the work for you.

Packs a Punch
Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73GHz, 2MB Cache, 533MHz FSB) Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g) Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition* 2005 14.1" Widescreen XGA Display with TrueLife 1GB Shared* DDR2 SDRAM 100GB* Hard Drive 8x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW*)

XPS M140 Notebook

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XPS M140 Notebooks start at $949.

Satisfy your need for power. Visit dell.com/pcm.

Call our trained XPS specialists at 1-800-433-2757 For hearing/speech impaired: 1-877-DELL-TTY (toll-free)

ITS A
0209

DVD+RW, DVD+RW/+R AND DVD+/-RW DRIVES: Disks burned with this drive may not be compatible with some existing drives and players. Using DVD+R media provides maximum compatibility. MICROSOFT NOTICE: Microsoft software products may use technological measures for copy protection. You will not be able to use the product if you do not comply with the product activation or reactivation procedures, which may be completed by Internet or telephone (toll charges may apply). TRADEMARKS/COPYRIGHT NOTICES: Intel, Intel logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Centrino, the Centrino logo, Intel Core, Core Inside, Intel SpeedStep, Intel Viiv, Intel Xeon, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, and Pentium Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.

D
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THE Last

R ES

Ditch Your Phone Compan y

Illustr ation by Da niel C hang

LL H IM T t HE C e c h to cu n o HE A l ogy e t h is p P GE ditor li ne, hone EK . B a fa x e bill. A n G ottes li ne, total m a a n o n d thr dece f $85 was nt ra ee ph a mo te y nth fo one n e r u s a voic , t h at m b er this i e s ma inclu s a gu y s ou des l y wh ongn d o wr l abou i ke a d i st a ite s a t h is nce s re g u relen e r v ic l a t r l e e colu m ss sea bu the s t treng rch fo n for th of P r C t h M e a rec l a a g t bor, B . e c st tec omm om en sig hnoenda ned u barga tion f p r i om h n . On Rock for V is nex oice o et, cu tting t-doo ver IP h is b r neig (VoIP ill by h) serv a who By Ca ice fr pping o m de Sun60 pe rcent . looki ng gazin e

fall, P

A RE

C Ma

A SO NW

E CA

Metz

a e b o t P I o V t c e p x e t n o D
by-step instructions on how they set this up, see The Techie Way, our diagram on page 122.) You can believe the television ads. And the radio spots. And the newspaper yers. Switching to VoIP can significantly reduce your telephone bill. Bypassing standard phone lines, VoIP services route calls over the Internet instead. Some, like Bens SunRocket service, use a specialized hardware device that sits between your phones and your broadband connection, while others, including Gizmo Project and Skype, operate as PC-based software apps. In each case, the government regulates these services as information networks rather voice networks, so they dont incur heavy taxes. And since they leverage the Internets very public bandwidth, they require relatively little underlying infrastructure. There are more than a thousand VoIP providers in North America alone, and although few match SunRockets $199-ayear standard rate, most are in the same ballpark. Vonage, the residential market leader with over one million subscribers, offers unlimited calls anywhere in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico for $24.99 a month. AOL TotalTalk, which integrates with your PCs IM client, is nearly as cheap. And Skype, the worldwide VoIP phenomenon that eBay recently

With SunRocket, our Cheap Geek pays only $199 a yearjust under $17 a monthfor unlimited local and longdistance service. He still has his old phone numbers, including a main home number and his wifes business number, which uses a different ring on the same line. And thanks to his brother-in-law, Eric Fellen, who did a little rewiring in Bens basement, he still uses the same five telephones, each in its original room, plugged into its original wall jack. (For step-

r d n a t n e i n e v n o c s

purchased, offers unlimited PC-to-PC calls for free. Over 5 million homes will use subscription VoIP services by the end of the year, according to Jon Arnold, the longtime VoIP analyst at independent research firm Frost & Sullivan. Arnold, who now runs his ow n resea rch

a d n a t s s a e l b a i el

move his old phone numbers to his new service. Then, just as he nally began to use his new service, SunRocket undertook a signicant

organization, J. Arnold & Associates, estimates that by the end of the decade that number will jump to around 20 million. LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP Yet theres another side to VoIP, a side the ads ignore: Its still a maturing technology. Though Ben loves the cost savings, his switch to VoIP hasnt been as smooth as he expected. SunRocket and Verizon took a month and a half to

network upgrade, causing all sorts of performance hiccups. Sometimes, the phone wouldnt ring when calls came in. Sometimes, he couldnt call out. There were even times when the service abruptly shut off in mid-conversation. This went on for days. It was incredibly painful, he says. Anything that could go wrong did. The problems eventually cleared up, but sound quality is still variable. If you make the switch, dont expect VoIP to be as convenient and reliable as standard phone service. And you have to do your homework. VoIP comes in many different avorsfrom free PC-based services

. e c i v r e s e n o h p d r

Making a VoIP Call

Vonage-style services begin with a phone; Skype users connect via PC. Either way, calls travel via Internet to the callers ISP and VoIP provider. Skype sends calls to local telcos via Internet; Vonage-style services route them via WAN. Telcos route calls to recipients via PSTN (public switched telephone network) lines.
Telephone #1 Headset

Router

ATA

Skype-equipped laptop Cable/DSL modem

INTERNET

More on the Web

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ISP

For more news, reviews, and articles on Voice over IP services and products, visit us on the Web at

VoIP provider

go.www.pcmag.com/voip
MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

D I T C H YO U R P H O N E C O M PA N Y ?

to polished residential offerings by traditional telecom companies like AT&T and cable giants like Comcast and Time Warnerand each can be used in many different ways. You can chose the ridiculously low rates of a service like SunRocket, but you might be better off with a more seasoned offering at slightly higher prices. You can keep your old phone number and continue using your homes existing phones and wiring, as Ben did, but you may be better off with a simpler installation, with a new number and a new set of wireless phones. Its vitally important not only to choose the right service but also to use it correctly. If you dont, the hassle may outweigh the savings. THE TECHIE WAY Not surprisingly, our Cheap Geek chose the most difcult and challenging means of installation and, in hindsight, one of the less reliable services. SunRocket has had serious network problems of late, Jon Arnold con rms. Installation didnt cause too many headaches, but Ben was lucky, and he had help from his brother-in-law, who as an IT manager knows the ins and outs of the wiring to be found in old basements. And although SunRocket saves the Cheap Geek more than $50 a month, the ongoing performance hiccups have him rethinking his decision. Ben has ve phones in his house: two in the home office, two in the kitchen, and one in the master bedroom. He likes the phones and he likes the way hes got his jacks arranged, so when he switched to SunRocket, he decided to run the service through his homes existing phone wiring. Sometimes this is a simple

LINKSYS CIT200 INTERNET TELEPHONY KIT

SKYPE IS HANDY, BUT IT TETHERS YOU TO YOUR COMPUTER. The new Linksys CIT200 Internet Telephony Kit cuts the cordfor a price. A small base station plugs into a USB port on the computer running Skype. One handset is included, but the kit can support four. It has a speakerphone and uses NiMH triple-A rechargeable batteries for 120 hours of standby time and 10 hours of talk time. The CIT200 has a range of 50 meters indoors and 300 meters outdoors. Pressing the sets Skype button links to the client and displays your contact list. Online Skype contacts are displayed first, followed by SkypeOut, then off-line contacts. The CIT200 supports all three types. When we made calls using each service, sound quality ranged from sounds like a cordless phone to excellent.Sean Carroll

process, but it may require some expertise, and there are many things that can go wrong. Residential VoIP services like SunRocket or Vonage require a specialized device known as an analog telephone adapter, or ATA. You connect your broadband Internet cable to the ATA, and the ATA makes the bridge to your traditional phones. If you li ke, you can plug phones straight into your adapter, which SunRocket refers to as the gizmo. But this means either moving your old phones or chucking them out and buying new ones. Ben liked his phones where they were, so he ran a cable from the gizmo to the nearest wall jack instead. This sent his VoIP signal streaming throughout his homes existing wiring to all the other wall jacks and those ve telephones he likes so much.

PSTN lines Private WAN

INTERNET

Local telephone company

Unfortunately, it doesnt always work that way, accordi ng to Yaron Raps, the leading VoIP expert at BusinessEdge Solutions, an international technology consultancy. Often, the signal reaches only part of the house. Either your phone jacks arent connected in parallelnot all jacks are connected to all the other jacksor the ATA doesnt have enough power to push a dial tone as far as it needs to go. If your home doesnt use parallel wiring, you have to connect your ATA at the point where your analog phone line comes into the housea task beyond the average homeowner, who probably isnt comfortable playing with loose cables. You might even damage your equipment. It gets particularly dicey when youve got an alarm system, which uses the high-end of the current level allowed on an analog phone line, says Raps. In many cases, you can easily start a re. Even when the wall-jack method works, you still have to find out where your old analog phone line enters the house and disconnect it. Otherwise it might interfere with your VoIP service. This is where Ben needed help from his brother-in-law, who spent an hour sorting out the tangled mess of phone wires in the basement. (For the gripping details, see page 122 .)
OUR CONTRIBUTORS: Cade Metz is a senior writer at PC Magazine. Eric Fellen is an IT manager. Features editor Sean Carroll was in charge of this story.
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THE TECHIE WAY

If you want to use VoIP via your homes existing phone wires, jacks, and phonesas Ben didyou must first determine whether you need to replace your analog line, add VoIP as a second line, or just start fresh. Obstacles abound, but if executed properly, the process can be rewarding. Bens experience was a worst-case scenario.

Getting
999-999-9900

?
1
Decide whether you want your VoIP line to coexist with an analog line so that you can access VoIP via your existing two-line phone. You may want to keep a secondary no-frills analog line for faxes, alarm systems, or emergencies. Ben opted to go this route.

2
If you plan to transfer your current number to your new line (known as local-number portability), nows the time to prepare for this month-long (or longer) process. Have your current carrier forward incoming calls to your mobile phone or the temporary number assigned to your VoIP ATA device.

4
Your entrance point, located near your electrical panel, is where the telco phone service enters your home. Phone wiring terminates at a small phone block and may have a DC power supply. Remove the power supply and disconnect the telcos input wires. Cap each exposed wire end with a red gel-filled phone splice connector. Insert each wire into its own connector and crimp closed.

5
Straighten up the wires leading in from the wall jacks. (If what you have is a twisted mess, invest $40+ in a multiline punch block and tool available at any hardware store.) This is a simple procedure done by punching the wires of each phone cable onto the block to form parallel columns with color-coded connections.

6
To keep your existing analog line, punch down the active wire pair from the telco to the corresponding pair of input connections on the punch block. The analog line will be the secondary line, so make sure this pair of wires links to the yellow/black wiring. Youre reserving the green/red pairs for the VoIP line.

Cap off exposed phone wires with the red gel-filled phone splice connectors. This includes the telcos wires from the entrance point.

9
Follow the instructions your VoIP provider gave you for installing and adding the VoIP ATA device to your broadband network. Plug a standard (not cordless) phone into the line-out phone port of the ATA device and test for a dial tone.

10
Run a single-line phone connection cable from the line-out phone port on your ATA to the nearest phone jack. Connect a phone to another wall jack and test for a dial tone, call receiving, and call sending.

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D I T C H YO U R P H O N E C O M PA N Y ?

Connected
by Eric Fellen

THE EASY WAY

Moving to VoIP doesnt have to be painful. If you live in an apartment, the fastest way to go VoIP is to connect a cordless phone directly to your VoIP ATA device. The upside is that you avoid wiring hassles and minimize line noise. The downside is the cost of new cordless phones and the inability to connect alarm systems to your VoIP line.

1
999-999-9900

3
Remove a few wall jacks and study how the wiring is laid out. The green/red pair of wires is the primary line, and the yellow/black pair is the secondary. Inspect the main cables to the jacks and make sure theyre not daisy-chained; each jack should have its own cable going directly to your homes entrance point. If you want to transfer your existing phone number to your VoIP line, follow Step 2 in The Techie Way so that you dont miss any calls.

Connect and configure your ATA device to your broadband modem. Once your service is activated, connect a standard phone to the line-out port on the ATA device and see if you can make and receive calls.

3
QoS Upstream Bandwidth Device Priority Device name Low Device name Low 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 : 00 Enable Auto 0 Disable Kbps

Priority

MAC Address

Tweak your routers quality of service (QoS). The biggest inherent problem with VoIP is the deterioration of line quality while data is downloaded and uploaded. Adjusting the QoS on your router prioritizes bandwidth for phone calls.

4 8

Test your analog phone line by plugging a two-line phone into your wall jacks and selecting Line 2. You should hear a dial tone and be able to make a phone call.

Attach a multi-handset cordless phone system to your ATA device. Make sure to choose a frequency that doesnt interfere with the frequency of your Wi-Fi router. Look for phone systems that have VoIP-enabled features such as voice mail indicators. We like Unidens two-line model, the TRU-8866.

5 11
You should now be able to connect a phone to any jack in the house and make calls over your new VoIP line. If you cant, then double-check all your wiring. If all else fails, call Ben.

+ 911
Now that your VoIP installation is completed, talk all you want. Dont forget to cancel your old phone service once your phone number has been transferred. Last but not least, register your location for 911 emergency services through your VoIP provider.
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DITCH YOU R PH O N E CO M PAN Y?

Calling George Jetson

Heres how you can make video VoIP calls, too.
If you really want to impress your friends, use your broadband connection to make video calls, George Jetsonstyle. Most of the big instantmessaging clients offer PC-to-PC video calling: America Onlines AIM, Microsofts MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger offer it, as do start-ups SightSpeed and Skype. You can even buy a video phone appliance, available from D-Link, 8x8, Motorola, and Viseon, to handle all your video VoIP needs without using your PC. With the leading IM clients, you can make unlimited video calls for free, but youll need your own microphone, speakers, and webcam. Believe it or not, sound and video quality is quite good, though weve found that the voice and image are rarely in sync. Another limitation: You can phone only people who use the same client youre using. SightSpeed goes a step further, letting you send and receive video voice mail and make multiparty calls. The basic service offers free, unlimited one-toone video calls. Meanwhile, Skype and Logitech have teamed up to offer $100 webcams that send video calls over Skypes VoIP network. For a few dollars more, you can go whole hog and buy a videophone for your kitchen counter. VoIP provider 8x8 offers the Packet8 Broadband VideoPhone (shown below) for around $150. If youre not an 8x8 VoIP subscriber, youll have to pay $19.95 a month for service, which includes unlimited video calls and as many voice calls as you like within the U.S. and Canada. Video quality is a decent 30 frames a second, and the screen is about 5 inches diagonal. Motorolas Ojo appliance (shown here on the left) sells for a hefty $600 (though rebates are available), and its $15-a-month service doesnt cover voice calls, though it does include video voice mail and caller ID. Viseon sells its VisiFone through VoIP providers. Vonage plans to offer VisiFone early this year. CM

But the real problem was SunRocket. Initially, our Cheap Geek was so impressed with his $17-a-month bargain that he recommended the service to his father. But then the company took 45 days to move his old phone numbers over. This delayed the entire setup. Because he had to wait for a month and a half before he could connect his new voice service to his existing telephones, he had to maintain his old telephony service all that time. This was probably just as well. Within the week, SunRockets network went down. Bens neighbor, who had recommended SunRocket in the first place, was without phone service for three days. Then, the day after Bens phone numbers were nally switched over and he canceled his analog line, SunRocket began upgrading its network, and the service started to misbehave. Even when the phones were ringing properly and Ben could readily make and receive calls, the sound quality dipped periodically. Typically, this happened when his home PCs were being used for surfing. After doing some research, he found a way into his ATAs management console and with a few tweaks eased the
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THE NO-HASSLE METHOD If you decide to switch, your experience neednt be as painful as Bens. Eric Fellen also made the switch to VoIP. Despite his technical skills, he took the

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

VIDEO PHONE SCREENS SIMULATED.

problembut only slightly. (This can really make a difference in quality of service for those who can gure it out, but since it involves getting under the hood and tweaking the settings on your own particular ATA, and perhaps your router, too, youll need to do some research on this one.) Bens troubles mounted so quickly, he called his father and told him not to make the switch, but the warning came too late. His fathers service, however, has been almost trouble free. Bens father even left his old analog line attached, because he was unable to nd where it entered the house, and hes relatively pleased with the sound quality. SunRocket may work swimmingly for some, but at this point its a greater risk than other services. Founded in early 2004, its a small company dealing with growing pains. Still, it offers one of the cheapest rates on the market. When it works, as in the case of Bens father, it can be a terric deal.

easy route with Vonage, the company that started the VoIP craze back in 2002. Having just bought a house in a new area code, he wasnt able to keep his old numbers anyhow, so he simply went directly to Vonage for a new phone number. And he chose not to use the homes existing wiring. He just bought a phone with multiple cordless handsets and plugged it straight into his ATA. By distributing the handsets, he can cover the house without using even a single wall jack. The entire installation took less than an afternoon. I went to Best Buy, bought a Vonage adapter, signed up online for service, plugged everything in, and half an hour later, I was ready to rock, he says. And he hasnt encountered the sort of service interruptions Ben did. Of course, Vonage has a different pricing structure$15 a month for 500 minutes of outbound calls and unlimited inbound serviceand the handsets are extra (some other services, including SunRocket, offer them for free).

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DITCH YOU R PH O N E CO M PAN Y?

YAPPERNUT YAPPERMOUSE
REMEMBER THE SCENE IN STAR TREK IV where a time-traveling Mr. Scott picks up a mouse and tries to talk to a circa-1986 MacIntosh? YapperNut has made that nerdy dream a reality. Well, you cant actually talk to your computer, but if you have the YapperMouse ($29.95 direct) and the Skype client, you can talk to your friends. YapperMouse is a ne 800-dpi optical mouse and a phone as well. When it rings (you can set it to vibrate if you want to keep a low profile), simply pick it up and talk. Its already connected to your computer and its Skype client via USB, so as long as the computer is set up, youre ready to go, without having to pack a handset. If youre self-conscious about talking into a mouse, its got a speakerphone, too.SC

Eric does notice occasional hiccups in sound quality, even after tweaks in his ATAs management console. This is all but unavoidable with services like Vonage and SunRocket, which make heavy use of the public Internet. Vonage cant ensure that voice trafc always gets priority over data trafc, says Jon Arnold. Believe it or not, as we spoke to Arnold about this phenomenon, his words began to jitter. He, too, uses Vonage. There are going to be times when service isnt that great. It often depends on how heavily your PCs are using your broadband connections, how many kids you have at home downloading large les. For some, installing a new VoIP service is a walk in the parkeven if you tap into your homes old phone wiring, as Ben did. Some dont mind the echo and jitter that occasionally interrupts services like SunRocket and Vonage. Some will even put up with the sort of serious service interruptions that plagued SunRocket last year. But not everyone is willing to do so; those who make their living on the telephone may not be able to afford it. Worried about service interruptions and spotty line quality? Opt for service from one of the cable behemoths or traditional telephone companies, such as AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner. T hese compa n ies employ va st armies of technicians who can help with installation. They also typically provide more reliable service. Cable companies and RBOCs own their own IP networks, explains Arnold. They have more control over their VoIP services, and their sound quality is generally higher. WHAT THE ADS DONT ADVERTISE But even these services have drawbacks. Often, you cant sign up without pur128
PC MAGAZINE

chasing your basic broadband Internet connection from the same company. And, as with offerings from so-called pure plays like SunRocket and Vonage, these cable and telecom VoIP services introduce problems that werent an issue with standard phone lines. While we have long admired the service provided by cable broadband companies (Optimum Online, for instance, is a perennial Readers Choice winner), the one area where these local monopolies are most often worthy of criticism is cost. Youre unlikely to save quite as much money by going this route. In any case, with all VoIP services, if you lose power, you lose your phone. Unlike standard telephone lines, VoIP service wont work in a blackout. To sidestep this problem, both Ben and Eric attached their cables, modems, and ATAs to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Unfortunately, the battery in Erics UPS died. A few weeks later, while Ben was at work, the house cleaner accidentally pulled the power cord from his ATA. Neither home could receive calls for most of a day. A l so, not a l l VoI P lines provide reliable emergenc y ser v ice.

When you dial 911 on a standard phone line, youre automatically routed to a live operator who can instantly check your address. Last year, the FCC demanded that all VoIP lines offer similar emergency service by November 30, but this date has come and gone, and many VoIP providers have yet to comply. This service is referred to as E911 (E for enhanced); check with prospective providers to see if its offered. When Ben switched to SunRocket, he kept the analog line he was using for faxes and attached a cheap phone for use in emergencies. This doubles his monthly costs (to $34). Another service to look for: Many VoIP providers can, in the event of a network outage, forward calls to another line. SunRocket didnt offer this service when Ben signed up, but it does now. VOIP ON THE CHEAP If youre having second thoughts about replacing your phone service, you can still benefit from VoIPs cost savings without moving to a full-blown residential service by keeping your old home line and making your long-distance calls over a free service such as Skype. Using peer-to-peer networking technology, Skype routes calls to and from your

NETGEAR SKYPE WI-FI PHONE

NETGEAR PLANS TO GO LINKSYS ONE BETTER with the Netgear Skype Wi-Fi Phone (price not announced). You wont even have to have your PC with you to use Netgears phone, as long as youre near a wireless hot spot. All youll have to do is turn on the phone and enter a username and password; then the phone will pull down your contact list. While units hadnt begun to ship yet when we went to press, Netgear tells us that its phone will also work with SkypeOut for calling non-Skype customers and SkypeIn for receiving calls. If your phone is off or youre out of range of a wireless network when a call comes in, Skype voice mail will pick it up. Look for a review on www.pcmag.com as soon as the phone becomes available, later this year.SC

MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

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DITCH YOU R PH O N E CO M PAN Y?

. e n o h p a g n i y r r a c o s l a e r u o y , p o t p a l a y r r a c u o y f i , e p y k S e k i l s e c i v r e s h t i W
cluding handsets by both Linksys and Netgear and the funky speaker- and microphone-equipped YapperMouse, a clever offering from a little-known company called YapperNut. The sound quality for Skype and similar services is a step below even services like SunRocket and Vonage. And unless you pay for separate servicesSkypeIn and SkypeOutthat route calls to and from ordinary telephones, you can talk only to other Skype users. bilities, including Gizmo Project from Internet pioneer Michael Robertson. Whats more, all the leading IM clients, including America Onlines AIM, Google Talk, Microsofts MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger, tie into some sort of free software-based VoIP service. Most handle only PC-to-PC calls, but the AIM clientTritonlets you dial out to ordinary telephones as well, integrating a full-edged new VoIP service known as AOL TotalTalk. Not to be outdone, Microsoft and Yahoo! have thing about any of these PC-based services is that, if you carry a laptop, youre also carrying a phone. With VoIP, your options are myriad. Theres SunRocket, and theres Skype. Theres quick-and-dirty home installation, and theres the more complicated wall-jack method chosen by our own Ben Gottesman. Even if you do our homework and choose the path thats right for you, chances are youll still experience a problem or two. But in the end, as the Cheap Geek will tell you, youll cut a hefty chunk from your monthly phone bill. E

PC by means of a downloadable software application. Skype works just fine with basic PC speakers and microphones, but you can also buy traditional telephone handsets compatible with the service. Elsewhere in this piece we single out three offerings of Skype-specific hardware, in-

The Skype network is already 60 million strong. Now that eBay owns Skype (for which it famously paid over $4 billion), its inuence is likely to grow. And Skype alternatives have begun to crop up, adding additional features and capa-

recently purchased dedicated VoIP companiesTeleo and Dialpad Communications, respectivelyand both plan on integrating similar VoIP services soon. The great

VOICE OVER IP
y YES o NO

AOL

AT&T At retail, free; direct from AT&T, $29.99 $19.99/ month $19.99/ month $29.99/ month 4/7/5 Free y y 2 oo $4.99/ month o 10 y y y y y y y

Comcast

Nero

NetZero

Optimum Online

Packet8 $29.99/ month $9.99/ month $9.99/ month $19.99/ month 2.93.9/ 510/328 Free y y Unlimited oo $4.99/ month y 3 y y y y y y y

Skype

SunRocket

Verizon

Vonage

Setup fee

$25 $18.99/ month $18.99/ month $29.99/ month N/A1/ 510/2 $5.00 o y 1 oo N/A1 y 3 y y y o y y y

Free $39.95/ month $39.95/ month $39.95/ month 5/9/8 Free o y 2 oo N/A1 y N/A1 y y y o o y y

Free

Free

$20

Free

Free

$39.95 $19.95/ month $19.95/ month $29.95/ month N/A1/ 611/3 Free y y 1 oo $7.95/ month y 3 y y y o y y y

$29.99 $14.99/ month $14.99/ month $24.99/ month 3.9/79/4 Free y y Unlimited yo $4.99/ month y 3 y o y y y y y

Local service

N/A1 $9.95 for 200 minutes of U.S. calls $19.95/ month 2.9/36/2 N/A2 y y 2** yo $2.95/ month y 3 y y y y y y y

N/A1 $3.95/ month $14.95/ month 2/2/2 N/A2 y y 1 oo N/A1 y 3 o y y y o y o

N/A1 $34.95/ month $34.95/ month Free/8/7 Free y y 1 oo N/A1 o 3 y y y y o y y

N/A1 Free or 2.3 cents/ minute* N/A1 2/2/2 N/A2 y y 10 yy 1 year, 30; 3 months, 10 y 5 o y y o y y o

N/A1

Basic plan

$199/year

Unlimited plan Rates to Canada/Mexico/UK (cents/minute) Adapter cost Free in-network calls International calling User lines supported Supports Canada/ Mexico area codes Fee for virtual phone number Accepts 800-number calls Teleconferencing lines Transfers current number Offers Do not disturb feature Can block international calls Offers call hunting Can forward calls during network outage Supports name/ number caller ID E911 service

$199/year Free/36/3 Free y y 2 oo Varies*** o 3 y y y y o y y

* Skype-to-Skype calls are free; calls to other phone numbers are 2.3 cents per minute. ** Two lines if you purchase an adapter with two FXS ports (SIPTalk supports multiple lines). *** Free for unlimited and monthly plan members. N/A1Not applicable: The service doesnt offer this feature. N/A2Not applicable: The service doesnt require an adapter.

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MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

Phone service, $199 a year. Phone service, $199 a year. Phone service, $199 a year.
(Just wanted to be sure you knew it wasnt a typo.)

$ 199 a year includes unlimited local and

long distance calling to the U.S. and to Canada, plus great features and rock bottom international rates. Sign up at SunRocket.com. Questions? Call 1-888-THATSTHAT.

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High speed Internet access required. While quantities last. Service not available in all areas. 2006 SunRocket.com

SOLUTIONS
MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU

Better Ways to Label Your Discs

Stop using adhesive labels. There are safer techniques for making great-looking CDs and DVDs. BY DON LABRIOLA

t is easier than ever to record your music, movies, and data on CD or DVD, but burning a awless disc is only half the battle. Figuring out the best way to label your creation with slick-looking artwork can prove to be just as much of a challenge. Digital-media suites such as Nero 7 Ultra Edition and Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 have solved part of the problem by providing easy-tomaster label-creation tools that can import backg round images, create curved text, and generate track listings and album/artist information. In the past, you may have then printed your design to a crack-and-peel adhesive label, but we cant recommend this method any longer. These labels look fine, but they are tricky to work with and can cause playback problems or ruin discs and drives entirely. (Not to mention that they tend to consume a lot of expensive ink if you create them with an ink jet printer.) Instead of using adhesive labels, youd be better off just pulling out a Sharpie and labeling the discs by hand. But there are also several newer and easier methods that produce pleasing results and are relatively problem-free. Each of these technologies has its unique blend of strengths and weaknesses, which we will discuss here.

THIS DISC was labeled using an ink jet

printer (Epson Stylus Photo R220).

INK JETPRINTABLE DISCS Ink jet disc printers that spray images directly onto the surface of a disc have existed for most of the decade, but it took Epsons recent R-series line of general-purpose printers with discprinting capabilities to make the technology affordable for the mass market. These devices require special printable CD and DVD media, but they eliminate

the tedious alignment chores and imbalance problems caused by crack-and-peel labels. If you buy a home ink jet disc printer today, its almost certain to be one of these Epson units. Printing directly onto a disc is much easier than applying a paper label, but even with the relatively straightforward Epson design, its not always a one-step procedure. Since these devices are typically used to print on paper, you will usually need to configure your unit manually for disc media by opening the chassis, folding out a tray receptacle, attaching a at plastic disc holder, and then inserting the disc. You will also need to move the printer at least 6 inches away from the back wall in order to give the disc holder the room to protrude from the rear of the chassis as it slides under the printhead. T h i s procedu re takes only a minute when e ver y t h i n g works right, but the tray-position i ng mechanism on earlier Epson units w a s v e r y f i n i c k y. Newer models, such a s t h e E p s on St ylu s Photo R 220 ( go.pcmag .com/epsonr220) that we used for this article, have a similar mechanism, but they incorporate subtle tweaks that make job setup easier and more reliable. CD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R, and even duallayer DVD+R DL ink jetprintable blanks are available in most speeds from vendors such as Verbatim; they can be purchased with either at white or metallic silver print surfaces. Media prices have dropped dramatically over the past year, and although ink jetprintable blanks are still costlier than conventional blanks, its not hard to nd spindles of such discs that cost only about 10 percent more than similar nonprintable discs. Ink jet disc printers produce stunning, photorealistic color output in

132

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MARCH 7, 2006 www.pcmag.com

MOUTAIN BIKING IMAGE COURTESY OF WWW.10FIFTY.COM

go.pcmag.com/solutions

136 VISTA REVEALED Adios, Start button?

137 SMB BOOT CAMP Choose the right rewall for your business

138 SECURITY WATCH Dont let phishing catch you

139 ASK LOYD Your hardware questions answered

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just a few minutes and cost little more than equivalent paper-only printers. You will need to factor in the price of ink when calculating your total printing costs, and you should remember that, like any ink jet image, these discs require a short drying time and are vulnerable to fading and water damage. Nonetheless, if you are already in the market for a new color printer, this solution ca n be a n a ffordable and hassle-free way to create high-quality color custom printing on discs. If you prefer another brand of printer for your general-purpose printing and have the space, you may still want to get the R220 (which goes for $100 street) just for printing on disc media. THERMAL PRINTERS FOR THIS VERSION, we used a thermal If you can get away with labeling that printer (Primera Signature Z1). consists of simple monochrome line art and text, a thermal printer will do mal ink is difficult because the ink is the job just as well as any ink jet. These virtually opaque. You will need to align devices lay pigment onto a disc by heat- each color carefully to avoid overlaping a ribbon of plastic thermal-transfer ping areas, since more than two layers material. The process takes only a few of thermal pigment dont adhere well to seconds per imprint, and the output the surface of the disc. Casio and Primera make thermallooks like professionally typeset text. The image is waterproof, dries instant- transfer printers that range from about $90 to $140. All include easy-to-use ly, and is fairly scratch-resistant. The downside of thermal printers is disc-printing utilities that let you crethat their typewriter-like ribbons cover only a small recta ng ula r a rea on the disc surface and are limited to one color at a time. Most manufacturers sell different color ribbons, so that Ink jet Thermal theoretically you can print printers printers a simple multicolor image in several passes by swapLow Low Blank media cost pi ng ribbons a fter each High High Hardware cost run. The process is tedious, High Moderate Printing cost h owe ve r, a nd re q u i re s High Moderate Output quality careful preparation of your artwork. Unlike with semiVaries Fast Speed transparent printing dyes, Moderate Moderate Ease of use blending colors with ther-

Direct CDLabeling Methods

ate text labels and import artwork created in other applications. To run a print job, you load a disc into the printer by pressing it onto the hub of what looks like an oversized CD player, close the printers lid, and click the bundled softwares Print but ton . T he pr i nt head moves quickly across the surface of the disc in a single pass, and your disc is done. Ribbons slide out easily when you want to change colors and, unlike ink jet cartridges, can be stored and reinserted at a later date without danger of drying out. Most thermal printers can lay pigment in only one or two quadrants of a disc, but you can print images along the entire perimeter by turning the platter with your hand between multiple print runs. This procedure works as long as alignment isnt critical, although it is cumbersome. An alternative is the Primera Signature Z1 ( go.pcmag.com/primeraz1), which can print images in four areas of the disc in a single job, automatically rotating the media 90 degrees between each impression. The Z1 can also print both text and graphicsunlike some competitors, which output only text. Thermal printers work with any type of disc that has a glossy surface, but the best way to ensure consistently solid coverage is to use blanks specifically designed for thermal transfer. Prices continue to drop; as we go to press, $40 will buy you a 100-disc spindle of 48X CD-R or a 50-disc lot of 4X Laser DVD-R thermal-printable printers media with glossy white, silver, or gold surfaces. Low to moderate Ribbons are an additional, Low t houg h rea sonable, exNone pense. Primera charges Moderate $20 direct for black, red, green, and blue Signature Slow Z1 cartridges that print Easy exactly 200 impressions

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

133

S O L U T I O N S go.pcmag.com/solutions

DISC-LABELING TIPS
Disc-labeling utilities provide a basic set of text and graphics tools, but youll get better results if you prepare your artwork with an application like CorelDraw or Adobe Photoshop Elements, then copy it to the labeling software for nal layout and printing. Just keep all your artwork within the perimeter of a 116mm circle and allow room in the center for the hub hole. Media does matter, and you may need to try different types of surfaces and brands to nd the one best suited to your printer. Silver ink jet media gives you a metallic, translucent effect that is nothing like the satiny-smooth surface of white blanks, and even a discs background color can make a difference with laser labeling. Dont expect colors to match if you switch printer brands or labeling technology partway through a run of several discs. Not only do ink jet and thermal inks have entirely different color characteristics, but even with different vendors formulations of the same ink type, color balance and saturation can vary. Dont label discs before recording them if youre using a thermal or ink jet printer. Doing so means that with failed recordings youve lost the cost of the ink as well as the media. Take the time to calibrate your disc printer the rst time you use it. You may be content with its color balance, print density, and image alignment right out of the box, but why not spend 2 minutes one time to ensure that you get the best possible results?

Despite its clever use of existing media, DiscT@2 never took off. It required an inordinate amount of time to create even a small image; it labeled the wrong side of the disc; andbecause it recorded the labels onto a CD-Rs data layerit reduced the discs storage capacity. Worse, its small, hologram-like images were visibleand just barely soonly on highercontrast dark-blue media.

THE GRAPHICS in this version were in-

scribed by laser, using LightScribe.

each. (Remember, you may end up using up to four impressions per disc.) LASER LABELING The latest wrinkle in disc printing is the use of an optical drives laser beam to burn images onto the surface of disc media. The first such technology was Yamaha Corp.s DiscT@2 (pronounced disc tattoo) process, which was introduced four years ago with the companys CRW-F1 CD rewriter. DiscT@2 used the drives laser to inscribe text and simple graphics onto those areas of a conventional CD-R discs dye-recording layer that werent being used to store data.

A far superior laser-labeling process was introduced last year by HewlettPackard under the name of LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling. Unlike DiscT@2, LightScribe allows you to burn images anywhere on the label side of compatible media simply by inserting the disc upside down into a supported drive. LightScribe boasts print densities as high as 1,200 dpi. That is easily sufficient to reproduce high-resolution photographs. But LightScribe can take more than 20 minutes to label a disc, and it produces low-contrast grayish monochrome output that lacks true blacks and tends to fade over time. (Hewlett-Packard estimates that LightScribe labels can last up to ve years, but they may begin fading in as little as nine months if exposed to constant light.) Some of these problems may be addressed early this year with the introduction of faster-burning secondgeneration media with brightly colored surfaces that provide greater contrast

than todays gray-gold discs. Media vendors such as Verbatim sell LightScribe media in most write-once single-layer formats, and spindles of 100 52X CDs or 50 8X DVDs can be found for about $50. Compatible rewriters are available from a variety of manufacturers, including LaCie and BenQ. Adding LightScribe support to a drive adds little to its price (it primarily entails rmware modications). LightScribe is currently the only game in town for laser disc labeling, and its a cost-effective choice if youre already shopping for a rewriter and can live with low-contrast monoch rome labels. But Yamaha and Fuji Photo Film Co. are expected to introduce a new version of Disc T@2, called Label flash, that will also burn LightScribe-class graphics onto the label side of a disc. Labelflash-compatible NEC DVD rewriters, Nero software, and Fuji DVD+R and DVD-R media (CD recording is not supported) have already been announced for overseas markets, and although no domestic release date has been set, analysts expect the technology to appear here this year. Its too soon to tell if Labelash will offer signicant advantages over LightScribe in output quality, performance, or price, but initial reports hint that the two will be comparable in many ways. WHEN ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH If you routinely print batches of several dozen discs and are willing to shell out well over a grand to automate the process, consider one of Primeras Bravo line of disc-printing workstations. These devices integrate a CD or DVD rewriter with a high-resolution ink jet disc printer by using a robotic arm to transfer blanks from a hopper to the recorder, carry the recorded discs to the printer, and then stack them in an output tray. The result is a mini assembly line that can burn and label up to 25 discs with a single click. (Bill Machrone checked out the latest disc-labeling technologies at CES; for his observations, see his column on page 95.) Don Labriola is a contributing editor of PC Magazine.

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2005 MPC Computers, LLC (MPC or Seller). MPC is not responsible for omissions or errors in typography or photography. All offers are subject to availability. Prices and specifications may change without notice; prices do not include shipping, handling or applicable taxes, unless specifically required under contract. Seller's return policy does not include return freight and original shipping/handling charges, and a restocking fee may be charged. All return and warranty periods begin from date product is shipped. All sales are controlled by Seller's current terms and conditions of sale and limited warranty, copies of which are available on Seller's website or from its sales representatives. On-site service is provided at sole discretion of MPC. A qualifying diagnostic determination must be made by MPC prior to on-site service (if any). On-site service is provided by a third-party service provider under a separate contract between you and the service provider. Advertised configurations may differ from award-winning configurations. Intel, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Intel Centrino, Intel Centrino logo, Celeron, Intel Xeon, Intel Speedstep, Itanium, Pentium and Pentium III Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other product names herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies. 1. All hard drive sizes calculated with 1GB equal to 1 billion bytes. 2. MPC 56K modems capable of receiving downloads at up to 56Kbps and sending at up to 31.2Kbps. Due to FCC regulations on power output, receiving speeds are limited to 53Kbps. Actual speeds may vary. 3. 52X = 52X max./17X min. 48X=48X max./17X min. 24X = 24X max./10X min. 8X DVD = 8X max./1X min.

S O L U T I O N S go.pcmag.com/vista go.pcmag.com/solutions

VISTA REVEALED
J CLICK ON All Programs and youll nd a major organizational change: Instead of appearing in cascading menus, programs are collected in a scrolling hierarchical view that we think is much easier to navigate.

K LOG-OFF and shutdown options are reorganized as well. Pressing the orange power button immediately invokes a suspend mode in which the PC uses little power but can still resume almost immediately. The system state also gets saved to disk, and after a user-denable period of time, full hibernation powers the machine down. L THE

START MENU, like other components of the Windows shell, takes advantage of graphics capabilities available in Vistas Aero Glass mode (which requires high-performance 3-D graphics hardware). These capabilities include transparencynotice how the desktop is partially visible through the gray portion of the menuand subtle shading and animation effects.

K THE START SEARCH BOX at the bottom gives you another way to nd programs or documents quickly. Start typing a search term and Vista will replace the list of programs with a list of matching applications and documents that gets further rened as you continue typing. Microsoft says that search will ultimately cover documents full text and metadata.

A New Start for Windows Vista

Farewell, Start button. Its about time!
BY JOHN CLYMAN

I
136

f theres one change thats bound to strike you when you first see Windows Vista, its the absence of the familiar Start buttonthe most emblematic representation of Microsoft Windows after the Windows logo itself. In the past, Microsoft went all out to raise the buttons prole: Who can forget how

the company used the Rolling Stones Start Me Up to promote Windows 95, where the Start button debuted? (Well refrain from speculating on the wisdom of choosing a tune whose lyrics include the line You make a grown man cry.) The Start button hasnt actually disappeared in Vista, its just been changed

into an unlabeled graphical button with a Windows logo on it. Click on the buttonor press the Windows key on a keyboardand the Start menu expands. But this menu, too, has changed in striking ways from Windows XP. Heres what the Start button and menu looked like in build 5270 of Windows Vista, a late2005 release with an interface thats not yet final, but which certainly hints at Microsofts intentions.

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go.pcmag.com/smbbootcamp S O L U T I O N S

SMB BOOT CAMP

Business Body Armor
All sorts of enemy combatants want to penetrate your network, but you can turn attacks aside with the right combo of hardware and tactics. BY MATTHEW D. SARREL
and options bring complications. Its important to understand what youre trying to protect, and from whom. First list all services your users need to access. Examples include Web sites, e-mail servers, FTP servers, IM, and remote access. A rewall can lter each service based on the port number (a method of addressing services on a specific PC) it uses and the IP address of the source and/or destination. Common port numbers are 80 for HTTP, 23 for Telnet, 21 for FTP, and 25 for SMTP. Web The safest way to build an server access control list is to start by denying all traffic, then permit services port by port. For example, allow trafc on port 25 to leave your network Mail only if its headed for your server e-mail servers IP address. If you provide internal services that are accessed by the outside world, such as a Web page or e-mail server, rules Trash become more complicated. If your firewall has a DMZ (demilitarized zone) port, then connect these services to it. This will isolate the exposed services from the internal network. If the firewall lacks a DMZ port, then it should allow port forwarding, a process by which all trafc for a particular service is forced to a single internal IP address. Writing rewall rules is less complicated than it sounds; once you have a few under your belt, youll get the hang of it. If you dont, or if the whole process sounds too intimidating, call in the marinesprofessional tech support.

very day your network is subjected to a barrage of threats. You need protection. Web page The most common threat request 80 is the virus, a program that in ltrates your network and computer camouaged as an e-mail attachment that you open, which then self-repliE-mail 25 cates inside your computer. Trojans enter through seemingly innocuous applications or data les, then, when activated by a remote program, seize command of your system. Worms replicate and Hacker 139 spread themselves, finding vulnerable machines and in ltrating their defensesoften lying in main lters, letting you block trafc to wait to launch a distributed denial-of- specific sites. More sophisticated firewalls let you create complex rules. service (DDoS) attack. A step up from the SPI rewall is the Each of these puts your corporate and personal information at risk, and no ma- deep packet inspection (DPI) firewall. rine wants his network to be the launch- DPI examines a packets contents in addiing point for a DDoS. Every machine in tion to the header inspection performed your business needs to be protected; the by SPI firewalls. By examining packet contents, DPI can detect and prevent rst line of defense is the rewall. But how much rewall do you need many types of attack: denial-of-service a hundred dollars worth, or several (DoS), buffer overflow, IP masking atthousand? At a bare minimum, a rewall tacks, and some worms. As cost increasmust contain a stateful packet inspec- es, rewalls become more like security tion (SPI) engine, which examines the appliances, with built-in antivirus, antiMatthew D. Sarrel is a consultant and content of packets and grants access to spyware, and virtual private networks. The less expensive the firewall, the former PC Magazine Labs technical your network only if the trafc appears easier it is to set up; money buys options, director. legitimate. Firewalls can also block inappropriate inbound and outbound trafc based on rules or lters. Internet Protocol (IP) Cost Employees Features Examples ltering, for example, can block employ$50$150 110 Network address translation (NAT), SPI, D-Link DI-604, Linksys Wireless-G ees behind the firewall from accesssingle WAN port, wireless options WRT54G ing or receiv ing mail from specific IP $500$1,500 2050 As above plus VPN, DPI, antivirus, antispyEmergeCore IT-100, ServGate Edgeaddresses. Also, trafc can be blocked ware, intrusion detection, intrusion prevenForce M30, SonicWall SOHO3, Symantec based on your network cards unique tion, content ltering, multiple WAN ports Gateway Security 300 Series identier, called a MAC (media access $2,000$4,000 50 + As above plus higher throughput, increased Astaro Security Gateway 220, Fortinet scalability, redundancy, application proxies FortiGate 200A, ServGate EdgeForce control) address. Many firewalls can M100 control traffic using keyword and do-

How a Firewall Works

Know Your Firewalls

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S O L U T I O N S go.pcmag.com/securitywatch

SECURITY WATCH
Caught by Phish
Falling prey to online identity theft takes only a few minutes, but the cost can be high. BY ROBERT LEMOS
ll it takes to lose your identity is to lower your guard online for a few minutes. Jack did just that. A self-described Internet user of middling knowledge, Jackwho asked that we not use his real namereceived an e-mail message claiming that a new e-mail address had been added to his familys PayPal account. Believing that someone had gained unauthorized access, Jack followed the link in the e-mail and answered a slew of questions about his identity for verication. The site mimicked PayPals Web pages so closely that Jack even gave up his checking account's routing number. However, that question bothered him. I kept thinking, Why would they ask

DONT GET HOOKED

Four steps to help protect yourself from phishing attacks.
1) Dont click on a link in an e-mail to get to a Web site that asks for personal information. Enter the name of the Web site into your browser yourself. 2) Check the URL in the browsers address bar when youre prompted for personal information. While some phishing attacks can display validlooking addresses for sites, most cant. 3) Look for the padlock icon in the browsers lower right corner. This usually means its authentic. A padlock on the Web page itself means nothing, however. 4) Never give out your Social Security number to verify your identity. SSNs should be used only for tax identication. No one should ask for the full number to check your identity. er and see that address displayed while being directed to a spoof controlled by the attacker. In such a case, only intercepting the original Trojan horse with your antivirus software or recognizing that the fraudulent site lacks verication (something that might be beyond the average user) can save you.

70 percent of the recipients believe the e-mail is from a legitimate company. While online theft still accounts for only a small percentage of the overall identity-theft problem, the numbers are rising quickly as more people buy, sell, or bank online. The most common technique involves hiding the linked address of the Web site behind ofcial-looking text. The attackslike the one Jack encountered rely mainly on social engineering and stolen graphics to fool users. Using techniques borrowed from malicious hackers, phishers are becoming harder to detect. Some use aws in the official Web site of a bank or financial institution to redirect a user to a mali-

MOUSING OVER a link reveals a phishing attack's hookan ofcial-looking button that leads to a fraudulent site.

for my checking account? Jack said. An hour later, he called PayPal and learned hed fallen for a phishing attack. Jack had joined the millions of people whove fallen prey to online fraudsters. In the past year, the number of phishing attacks has nearly doubled, according to data collected by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, an industry coalition. The annual Online Safety Study (www .staysafeonline.org) found that almost 25 percent of Americans online receive a phishing scam every month and about
KEEP YOURSELF SAFE! Subscribe to our Security Watch newsletter and get up-to-date info on the latest threats delivered to your inbox automatically: go.pcmag.com/securitywatchletter.

cious Web page run by online fraudsters. The phishing e-mail recipient sees an ofcial-looking URL in the message. The only way to detect this sort of attack is to recognize that the address contains a redirector to look in the address bar of the browser at the nal site. Other attacks, however, are eliminating even these telltale signs. In one version, the victims local directory of Web site addresses is corrupted by a Trojan horse that the attacker has somehow gotten the victim to run. The local directory, also known as a HOSTS le, can then associate specific Web sites with the IP addresses of servers run by the attacker. The end result: A victim may enter bankofamerica.com into the brows-

Software tools made to protect users do exist. Many antispam providers make antiphishing software part of their solutions. Future Mozilla browsers and Microsofts Internet Explorer 7 will display a green OK status for legitimate sites and a red status for phishing sites. The best solution today is to remain vigilant. Be suspicious of any e-mail that warns you of unauthorized activity or purports to be from a bank or nancial institution. Credit reports should be checked annually, if not more often. Be alert. Don't be Jack. Robert Lemos is a freelance technology journalist and the editor-at-large for SecurityFocus.

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go.pcmag.com/askloyd S O L U T I O N S

A S K L OY D
Multiple Drives: RAID 0 or 1?
Im planning on replacing my single drive with two identical drives, and plan on using RAID. Ive heard that RAID 0 is faster, but RAID 1 is safer. Which should I use?

Many modern PC systems and motherboards can now support RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks). For example, new Intel-based systems which use the ICH7-R I/O controller hub can have drives set up as single drives, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10. RAID 0 really isnt RAIDtheres no redundancy at all. RAID 0 stripes data across two (or more) drives to maximize read and write performance. The different drives split up the read or write portions of the data in order to improve throughput. So two identical drives200GB, sayare combined to look like a single 400GB drive. If one drive fails, you lose all your data from both drives. RAID 0 requires at least two drives. RAID 1 is purely redundant drives. In our example above, a pair of 200GB drives would look like a single 200GB drive. The data is mirrored on both drives. Write performance is a little slower, because youre duplicating every disk write across two separate drives. Read performance can actually be a little faster, because the reads can be split up so that one drive reads one part of a le, while the other drive reads another part. RAID 1 requires two drives. RAID 5 needs three drives at a minimum. The data is striped across the drive, as with RAID 0, but additional parity data is also striped across the drive. This parity stripe contains checksum information on the data written. If a single drive fails, the data on the failed drive can be reconstructed from the parity stripe. A RAID 5 device can survive the failure of one drive at a time, as long as time is taken to rebuild the data fully from the failed drive with a replacement. RAID 5 read and write performance is much faster than RAID 1, but a little slower than RAID 0. Three 200GB drives would appear as 400GB (200GB is used for the parity stripe). RAID 10 takes a set of RAID 1 volumes and stripes those for increased perfor-

mance. But you need a minimum of four drives. Using our hypothetical 200GB hard drive, four 200GB drives would look like one 400GB drive. What you choose to use depends on your needs. If youre at all nervous about losing data, then RAID 1 may be a better bet. RAID 5 is a good combination of speed plus data security, but does require three hard drives. If all you care about is raw performance, then RAID 0 may be ne.

Multiple Video Cards

How do SLI and CrossFire work?

These are technologies that enable two graphics cards to work in concert to render a single scene. Since 3D graphics is a highly parallelizable

ATI has recently started shipping its CrossFire dual-graphics-card technology. Unlike SLI, CrossFire communicates via the DVI port; you daisy-chain two cards via a DVI pass-through cable. Also, CrossFire requires that one of the cards be a special CrossFire Edition card, which has an extra chip on board that acts as a compositing engine to combine the different parts of the scene being rendered by each card. Both nVidias technology and ATIs can synchronize the two cards data in one of two ways. One method, known as scissoring or split-frame rendering, divides the frame into two parts; one card

IN QUADSLI, FOUR

nVidia graphics cards are yoked together to support ultrafast gaming. SLI and CrossFire are also used by 3D artists for faster rendering of their work. computing problem, adding more GPUs can increase performance substantially. The old 3dfx was actually the rst company to support multiple graphics cards. 3dfx invented SLIscan line interleave which allowed two Voodoo2 cards to work together. nVidia was the rst company out of the chute to support dual PCI Express graphics cards. nVidias version of SLIwhich the company spelled out scalable link interfacerequired you to install two cards with identical GPUs. Currently, SLI works only in motherboards using nVidia chipsets. The two cards must synchronize the data in the scene being rendered. Most nVidia cards add an additional connector between the two cards to help facilitate the data synchronization.

renders the top part, the other the bottom. In the other AFR, or alternate frame renderingone card renders the current frame while the other renders the next frame. ATI can also use a method, called supertiling, which splits the scene into many small chunks and divides them between the cards. Dell recently announced it will ship a system, the XPS Renegade gaming PC, that supports quadSLIfour nVidia GPUs working together. (See the story at go.pcmag.com/quadsli.) By the way, dual graphics cards can also be used without SLI or CrossFire to drive multiple displays. Also, SLI or CrossFire can be used by professional 3D artists to help speed up previews of work in progressthese technologies are not just for gamers.
ExtremeTech.coms editor Loyd Case tackles your toughest hardware problems each issue. Send him yours at askloyd@ziffdavis.com.

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S O L U T I O N S go.pcmag.com/solutionsgo.pcmag.com/askneil S O L U T I O N S

ASK NEIL
Schedule a Task for Idle Time
For years Ive sought a way to schedule a task to run whenever my computer is idle. Ive asked several people at Microsoft, but nobody had a good answer. I thought Id be forced to write a screen saver or at least hook into that API. But no, this functionality has been built into Windows since at least Windows 98! The secret: Double-click on My Computer. Double-click on Scheduled Tasks. Double-click on Add Scheduled Task. Use the wizard to schedule your task (defrag, antivirus scan, or whatever) to run daily. Check the box titled Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish. Click Finish. Click the Schedule tab near the top of the dialog that pops up. Pull down Schedule Task list. Choose When idle. Click OK. Thats it. Now the task will run when the computer is idle. BRUCE BLODGETT

at once: By observation, the task scheduler wont do that, even if the computer remains idle. But do realize that this task may run several times a day, depending on how much the computer is idle.

Formatted Excel Date Within Text

I want to calculate a date from some cells and then combine it with literal text in another cell. If I enter something like =Totals thru & MAX(C21:C100), the result doesnt display correctly. I get something like Totals thru 38463, when what I really want is something like Totals thru April 21, 2005. How can I do this? JARHTMD (VIA PCMAG.COM)

How to Give Away a Computer

How many home computers can I use with any single purchased and licensed Microsoft Windows operating system thats registered to an individual? What if I resell, trade, or give away the old computer? I know it would be prudent to delete any personal les, but do I need to uninstall the operating system? What if I want to give a PC to a school or charity? How does that t into the picture? K. TIPPER

If you dont already have some tasks scheduled, you can start by clicking the Start button and selecting Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks. When you choose the When idle scheduling option, you have to specify just how long the computer must be idle before the task kicks into action. Dont worry about launching multiple instances

USING WINDOWS, you can schedule

tasks to run when your computer has been idle for a specied length of time.

Microsoft has always licensed the Windows operating TO DISPLAY a date combined with literal text, convert it using system for exactly the TEXT() function, specifying the format mask you prefer. one PC. Starting with Windows XP, the company has put teeth First, youll need to determine the format into that policy. An activation process links mask corresponding to the date format the licensed copy of the OS to the specic you want. The easiest way is to start with PC, and if you dont activate it within a a cell that contains a date thats formatmonth or so, it stops working. Installing ted that way. Right-click the cell, choose the same OS and license on a different PC Format Cells, click the Number tab, and and activating it there will deactivate it on select Custom in the Category list at left. the original PC. Now highlight the text in the box titled If you want to give away a computer Type and copy it to the clipboard. It will and still keep your copy of the operating look something like mmmm d, yyyy. system, that should not be a problem. But Now go back to the cell where you want you can do both yourself and the people to display a date combined with literal you are giving the machine to a favor by text. The TEXT() function will convert that wiping all data from the hard drive before date into text using whatever format mask donating it. Youll avoid giving away you specify. In the example shown above, personal information that may be buried it might look like this: =Totals thru & in different places on the computer. And TEXT(MAX(C21:C100), mmmm d, yyyy). the recipients will be spared the disapOf course, you can use this technique to pointment of thinking they have a working format any type of data in combination with operating system only to lose it when you literal text. activate the OS on your new machine. For more information on what to keep in mind Each issue, PC Magazines software when youre planning to give away a comexpert Neil J. Rubenking answers your puter, see Before You Give Away Your Old toughest software and Internet problems. PC at go.pcmag.com/oldpc. Send yours to askneil@ziffdavis.com.

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All the features that made you choose Linux driving the highest performing, most competitively priced Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliance in the marketplace today. Best fit for Unix/Sun Micro/Linux environments or mix of Windows and non-Windows environments Browser based GUI management Substantially faster NFS and CIFS perfomance compared to Windows Storage Server Extremely virus resistantDisc-On-Module (DOM) operating system provides integrity, avoids corruption and allows for easy upgrade Embedded iSCSI target with unlimited initiators Schedulable volume snapshots PCBackup Utility included allows multiple file versions and instant backup of any modified file NAS-2-NAS Replicator included Available with 500GB 8.5ms 7200rpm hot-swap SATA II 3Gb/s hard drives with 16MB cache featuring Rotational Vibration Safeguard and staggered (delayed) spin-up SATA II 3Gb/s enables the highest level of performance at low cost of ownership 300MBytes/sec per drive data transfer ratestwice as fast as regular SATA and three times as fast as Ultra ATA/100 Single controller for up to 24 drivesup to single 16TB partion Intel RAID 6 Engine to support extreme performance RAID 6can protect mission-critical data from two concurrent disk drive failures Status indication via HDD activity/fault LEDs and audible alarm Management port/firmware supports browser-based RAID manager, SMTP email notification, SNMP agent Native Command Queuing (NCQ) for extreme performance Smooth Stream technology for enhanced video streaming Apple support including AFP 3.0 1TB AberNAS solutions starting at $2,345.
"powerful enough to tackle the most cutting-edge applications"
CRN Test Center Recommended August 22, 2005Aberdeen Stonehaven A381

Finalist: Best Servers

LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards August 8-11, 2005Aberdeen Stonehaven A261

"solid redundancy for data drives, OS, and power"

ABERDEEN ABERNAS 170 SERIES

1U NAS with Hardware RAID
Up to 2TB of Network Attached Storage in a 1U format Intel Pentium 4 processor 531 supporting Hyper-Threading Technology, 3.0E GHz with 800MHz FSB and 1MB Cache 1GB Dual Channel DDR400 SDRAM (Low Latency) Single controller for all drives with RAID level 0, 1 (10), 3 and 5 4 x Hot-Swap Hard Drives with single partition capability Slim DVD Drive 300W Power Supply Linux based proprietary NAS software (see above for features and benefits) Disc-On-Module (DOM) operating system provides integrity and avoids corruption 5-Year Limited Warranty AberNAS 170

ABERDEEN ABERNAS 270 SERIES 2U 1U

2U NAS with Hardware RAID
Up to 4TB of Network Attached Storage in a 2U format Intel Pentium 4 processor 531 supporting Hyper-Threading Technology, 3.0E GHz with 800MHz FSB and 1MB Cache 1GB Dual Channel DDR400 SDRAM (Low Latency) Single controller for all drives with RAID level 0, 1 (10), 3, 5 and 6 8 x Hot-Swap Hard Drives with single partition capability Slim DVD Drive 460W Redundant Power Supply Linux based proprietary NAS software (see above for features and benefits) Disc-On-Module (DOM) operating system provides integrity and avoids corruption 5-Year Limited Warranty AberNAS 271

PC Magazine April 26, 2005Aberdeen AberNAS 211

"staggering eye-opening the highest WebBench numbers to date"

PC Magazine February 8, 2005 Aberdeen Stonehaven A261S

"extremely approachable and easy to use at a very affordable price."

CRN Test Center Recommended January 10, 2005 Aberdeen AberSAN i100

"terrific for video serving or other storage-intensive tasks"

PC Magazine October 5, 2004Aberdeen XDAS

3,195 3,895 4,495

4,995 6,995 7,995

888-453-0707

1TB of Network Attached Storage 4 x 250GB Hot-Swap SATA Hard Drives with 8MB cache AberNAS 176

2TB of Network Attached Storage 8 x 250GB Hot-Swap SATA Hard Drives with 8MB cache AberNAS 272

1.6TB of Network Attached Storage 4 x 400GB Hot-Swap SATA Hard Drives with 8MB cache AberNAS 178

3.2TB of Network Attached Storage 8 x 400GB Hot-Swap SATA Hard Drives with 8MB cache AberNAS 273

2TB of Network Attached Storage 4 x 500GB Hot-Swap SATA II 3Gb/s Hard Drives with 16MB cache

4TB of Network Attached Storage 8 x 500GB Hot-Swap SATA II 3Gb/s Hard Drives with 16MB cache

Intel, Intel logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Celeron, Intel Xeon, Itanium, Pentium and Pentium III Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. pc041

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The new Granite 3.2 Terabyte Hot-Swap RAID System is fast and affordable. This system incorporates ultra fast SATA drive technology while supporting hardware RAID 0,1, 5, and 0+1 for guaranteed data security. SATA RAID 5 Inexpensive, removable drive trays provide low incremental cost per drive using standard IDE/ATA or SATA drives. Convenient swapping of drives is perfect for backing up and for managing large DV or AV projects. Fast 150MB/s Data Transfer Rate. Hot-Swap SATA Easy plug and play installation. Backup $149 Macintosh, Windows, Linux, compatible.
The new Granite 3.2 Terabyte Hot-Swap RAID System is fast and affordable. This system incorporates ultra fast SATA drive technology while supporting hardware RAID 0,1, 5, and 0+1 for guaranteed data security. SATA RAID 5 Inexpensive, removable drive trays provide low incremental cost per drive using standard IDE/ATA or SATA drives. Convenient swapping of drives is perfect for backing up and for managing large DV or AV projects. Fast 150MB/s Data Transfer Rate. Hot-Swap SATA Easy plug and play installation. Backup $149 Macintosh, Windows, Linux, compatible.

Hot-Swap $4995

Hot-Swap $4995

Removable Drive Tray

Our RAID / JBOD Systems can be configured with any size drives and are truly Hot-Swappable. Now no matter what your storage or backup needs entail Granite Digital has the affordable solution that fits the bill.

Removable Drive Tray

Our RAID / JBOD Systems can be configured with any size drives and are truly Hot-Swappable. Now no matter what your storage or backup needs entail Granite Digital has the affordable solution that fits the bill.

Get our catalog at granitedigital.com

Providing Data Storage Integrity 3101 Whipple Rd., Union City, CA 94587 510-471-6442-tel 510-471-6267-fax
Providing Data Storage Integrity

Get our catalog at granitedigital.com

3101 Whipple Rd., Union City, CA 94587 510-471-6442-tel 510-471-6267-fax

dtSearch Terabyte Terabyte Indexer Indexer dtSearch

Bottomline: line:dtSearch dtSearchmanages managesa aterabyte terabyteof oftext textin ina asingle single Bottom index and returns results in less than a second InfoWorld index and returns results in less than a second InfoWorld
converts convertsother otherfile filetypes types(word (wordprocessor, processor,database, database,spreadsheet, spreadsheet,email emailand and attachments,ZIP, ZIP,Unicode, Unicode,etc.) etc.)to toHTML HTMLfor fordisplay displaywith withhighlighted highlightedhits hits attachments, Spider Spidersupports supportsstatic staticand anddynamic dynamicWeb Webcontent, content,with withWYSWYG WYSWYGhit-highlighting hit-highlighting optional optionalAPI APIfor forC++, C++,.NET, .NET,Java, Java,SQL, SQL,etc. etc. Ask Askabout aboutnew new.NET .NETSpider SpiderAPI API over overtwo twodozen dozenindexed, indexed,unindexed, unindexed,fielded fieldeddata dataand andfull-text full-textsearch searchoptions options highlights hits in HTML, XML and PDF, while displaying links, formatting andimages images highlights hits in HTML, XML and PDF, while displaying links, formatting and

Developer Quotes Quotes and and Reviews Reviews Developer

dtSearchvs. vs.the thecompetition: competition: dtSearch dtSearcheasily easilyoverpowered overpoweredthe the dtSearch documentindexing indexingand andsearching searching document abilitiesof ofother othersolutions, solutions,especially especially abilities againstlarge largevolumes volumesof ofdocuments documents against
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Forcombing combingthrough throughlarge largeamounts amountsof of For data,dtSearch dtSearch... ...leads leadsthe themarket market data, Network NetworkComputing Computing Blindinglyfast fast Computer ComputerForensics: Forensics: Blindingly IncidentResponse ResponseEssentials Essentials Incident Superfast, fast,super-reliable super-reliable Super The TheWall WallStreet StreetJournal Journal A Apowerful powerfularsenal arsenalof ofsearch searchtools tools The TheNew NewYork YorkTimes Times Powerful PowerfulWeb-based Web-basedengines engines eWeek eWeek Blazing speeds Blazing speeds Computer ComputerReseller ResellerNews NewsTest TestCenter Center The Themost mostpowerful powerfuldocument documentsearch searchtool tool on Wired WiredMagazine Magazine onthe themarket market

Reliability:dtSearch dtSearchgot gotthe thehighest highest Reliability: marks marksfrom fromour oursystems systemsengineering engineering folks folksthat thatI've I'veever everheard heardof of
Results: Results:customer customerresponse responsehas hasbeen been phenomenal phenomenal

For Forhundreds hundredsmore morereviews reviewsand anddeveloper developer case casestudies, studies,see seewww.dtsearch.com www.dtsearch.com

Contact ContactdtSearch dtSearchfor forfully-functional fully-functional evaluations evaluations The TheSmart SmartChoice Choicefor forText TextRetrieval Retrievalsince since1991 1991

1-800-IT-FINDS 1-800-IT-FINDS www.dtsearch.com www.dtsearch.com

www.pcmag.com MARCH 7, 2006
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go.pcmag.com/gaming-culture

GAMING + CULTURE

Rated V for Violence

Legislation against video games is ramping up.
BY MARY JANE IRWIN, 1UP.COM

STOMP AT YOUR LEISURE The Warriors game has brutal hand-to-hand combat.

he former runt of the entertainment industry has grown into a multibillion-dollar giant. But the ght to have video games regarded as acceptable entertainment is continually threatened. Video games cause reclusiveness, parents taunt. And politicians chant, Video games are why kids are learning how to kill. Hot Coffeethe oft-talked-about sex minigame buried within the code for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreashas

emerged as an especially volatile issue for two reasons: the possibility that children may play it, and the suggestion that the Entertainment Software Rating Boards rating system is not reliable. The Hot Coffee Easter egg, unlockable only by a downloadable user- created patch or a game-hacking device, lets gamers direct main character Carl Johnson through sex acts. Criticism of violence and explicit content in games is on the rise. In 2002,

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman introduced a bill, the Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act, that would have made the sale of violent video games to children under the age of 18 a federal crime. And as recorded by the Child-Responsible Media Campaign, more than 28 states have attempted to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors. Hot Coffee sparked a very public denouncement by New York senator Hillary Clinton, who claimed that Gra nd Theft Auto: Sa n A ndreas is stealing the innocence of children. In the aftermath of all this press, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich signed the Safe Games Illinois Act; it fines retailers up to $1,000 for selling sexually explicit or violent video games to minors. The act also requires explicitcontent warnings. Last October, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a similar video-game bill. Taken in total, all the legislation against video games questions the very legitimacy of ESRB ratings. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, video games are in dire need of ratings enforcement. Although the Entertainment Software Alliance (ESA) maintains on its Web site that parents are involved in 83 percent of all game rentals and purchases, NIMF found that only 40 percent of parents understand what ESRB ratings mean, and only 53 percent use them as buying guides. Coinciding with NIMFs findings was the announcement of Clinton and Liebermans proposed Family Entertainment Protection Act, which would have the federal government regulate game ratings. It would ensure that children cant buy games the videogame industry itself has determined inappropriate for them, says a statement from Clinton. Meanwhile, there is an Alabama civil suit that charges video-game makers and sellers with abetting the murder

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TOP 10 l MOST POPULAR GAMES

IS HE JUST PLAYING DEAD? Shooter games have increasingly lled with gore.

of two police officers and a police dispatcher in Fayette, Alabama, in 2003. 20-year-old Devin Moore, convicted of the triple homicide, was sentenced to death in Octoberafter Fayette County Circuit Judge James Moore disallowed the cornerstone of his defense, which claimed that Devin Moores addiction to Grand Theft Auto inspired the killings. Despite the courts decision, victims families are suing Sony, Take-Two and Rockstar Games (the games publisher and developer), the retailers GameStop and Wal-Mart, and Devin Moore, claiming that each had a role in the deaths. In a recent interview on video-game violence, Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack declared that the industry has already started being careful about how things are done. It always wants to create responsible content. Meanwhile, nobody has conclusively determined if there is a link between v iole nt v ide o g a m e s a nd v iolent behavior. Trying times await the video-game industr y. Desperate to mature and be taken seriously, it overlooked the pains of growth. The issues of ESRB legitimacy and the potential federal regulation proposed by the Family Entertainment Protection Act loom large. The outcome of the current litigation and pending legislation will dictate, at least short-term, the future of explicit gaming content. And the videogame industrys reaction and evolution will determine whether it can finally ignore the names that its opposition labels it with.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

ELECTROPLANKTON
Art and music collide in a water-based world.

GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS

Los Santos, San Andreas. Who would want to return there?

BIG BIZ TYCOON 2

Design and build an entire ofce. Or . . . youre red!

GRAND THEFT AUTO NEXT

It launches when the PS3 does, but theres already a buzz.

PQ: PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT

Graphical puzzles in a virtual world. See if youre a dope!

ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD

Chat with wacky villagers, catch sh, invite your friends.

DEAD OR ALIVE 4
Carve out the cutting edge in ghting experiences.

WIPEOUT PURE
Its the year 2197. Race to survive. Dont blink.

CASTLEVANIA DOUBLE PACK

Solve mysteries and escape disasterwithin Draculas world.

MYTHIC BLADES
3D ghting game. Are you Legendary Hero or Terrifying Monster?
Source: Gametab.com, ranked by Gametabs online buzz meter.

MOD WORLD
FROM THE LOOKS of

this thing, youd think 19-year-old Nicholas Falzone was a pro at case modding. Well, not only is this his rst computer mod, its also the rst computer hes built from scratch. Whats the rig inside, you ask? Its an AMD Athlon 64 system, of course. Theres a complete slide show at Extremetech.com, PC Magazines do-ityourself sister site: go.extremetech.com/ zenmod. ITEM: Thats an original Star Wars light saberred by R2-D2, no less. EBAY PRICE: $5,200 ITEM: Speaking of light sabers, thats a Yoda PSP skin. No wrinkles! EBAY PRICE: $10.99
153

ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

You never know what kind of booty is on the block.

ITEM: How bout a Fernandes Storm Trooper guitar? EBAY PRICE: $999

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MARCH 7, 2006 PC MAGAZINE

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A F T E R H O U R S go.pcmag.com/afterhours

gearlog.com G E A R L O G

GEARLOG

EYE ON THE SKY

Feel frustrated with your personal attempts at space exploration? Take Celestrons $399 SkyScout Personal Planetarium for a spacewalk. It was one of the award-winners at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. SkyScout instantly identies over 6,000 objects in the night skyfrom planets to constellations. Built-in GPS sensors know precisely where you are and what youre pointing at, be it comet or constellation. Aim it toward Mars and hit the Target button, and you can get scientic information about Mars via text or audio. Select Mars from the menu and move the device around, and it will tell you when youre on target. You can update the database to add comets or spacecraftor even E.T. if you spot him.Sebastian Rupley

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BACKSPACE
MAYBE YOU HAVENT MADE A LIP-SYNC VIDEO YETBUT YOU WILL
Edited by Don Willmott

<< Oswego Hospitals

memory lane error message. Can anyone ID that system?

<< Well, if youve got to

do Multi-Physics Finite Element Analysis, we agree that the easy way is probably best! (PDE
Solutions ad)

>> High-level verbiage? Hey, just like PC Magazine!

(Lenovo.com)

<< Yes, that computer

denes sexy . . . circa 1995. (DeVry
University)

<< Somebody
get that donkey a laptop!
(donkeyrescue.org)

>> Arrr! Protect yer network, me hearties!!

(ZipZoomFly.com)

<< Time waster alert! Visit

ilm.coms Viral Video section to feast your eyes on an endless array of wacky shorts, including this one of two talented Chinese teens who enthusiastically lipsync to The Backstreet Boys I Want It That Way.

<< Backspace
on the Road: Dublin, Ireland

If your entry is used, well send you a PC Magazine T-shirt. Submit your entries via e-mail to backspace@ziffdavis.com (attachments are welcome) or to Backspace, PC Magazine, 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940. Ziff Davis Media Inc. shall own all property rights in the entries. Winners this issue: Ken Bevan, Keith Brooks, Woody Feffer, Dave Franek, Peter Mossel, David Shan, and Nathaniel Wood-Cohan.
PC Magazine, ISSN 0888-8507, is published semi-monthly except monthly in January and July at $44.97 for one year. Ziff Davis Media Inc, 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10016-7940 and at additional mailing ofces. POSTMASTER: Address changes to PC Magazine, P.O. Box 54070, Boulder, CO 80328-4070. The Canadian GST registration number is 865286033. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40009221. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, R.P.O. West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4R6, Canada. Printed in the U.S.A.

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