THE HOTTEST NEW GAMING PCs

FIRST LOOKS
• The iPod
Does Video
• The Best THE BEST
Home Media DESKTOPS
Center Ever! & NOTEBOOKS
www.pcmag.com THE INDEPENDENT GUIDE TO TECHNOLOGY DECEMBER 6, 2005

Holiday
Gifts
94
Great
Gadgets and Games
PLUS: How to Get the Best Price!
 MICHAEL J. MILLER
Forward Thinking
This Year’s Holiday Trends
What’s the number one American pastime? Some-
times I think it’s holiday shopping. Halloween
hasn’t even arrived yet as I write this, and already
we’re seeing holiday sales.
Technology products remain top gift items, so
our editors have gathered a list of our favorites
(page 131). And we’ve looked at top desktops and
notebooks at just about every price point—from
entry-level machines (page 146) to high-end gam-
er desktops (page 36). We’ve also evaluated great
ways to compare prices online (page 32).
This holiday season, the biggest category may
be HDTVs. In particular, the sports fans I know
find HDTV to be a huge improvement over regular
TV, making the games much more lifelike.
As for computers, most projections say that about
half the consumer desktops sold this holiday season
will have the Media Center Edition of Windows.
But it won’t matter much unless the PC also has a
TV tuner and is hooked up to a decent display—
either an HDTV or a nice desktop LCD. I’m amazed
at how inexpensive 19-inch LCDs are; a 21- to 24-inch
wide screen or a pair of smaller LCDs can change
the way you use your computer. And the new dual-
core machines make a huge difference in your com-
puting experience, particularly when you’re doing
something in the background, such as recording a
TV show or running an antivirus scan.
More people will be looking at notebooks as
desktop replacements. Some of the new machines
run nearly as fast as desktops. But wireless capa-
Taking Video with You
I’ve been surprised by the hype around the new
video-playing iPod (see our review, page 64). It’s a
terrific music player, a worthy successor in a line of
top-notch players. It has a 2.5-inch screen,
which is surprisingly satisfactory for one
person watching a short video. And like all
iPods, it has a wonderful design.
Although the video features are cool,
what’s on the device itself isn’t all that
new. Archos has been selling portable
media players for years. The new Creative
In a year that has
been defined by trag-
bilities are what have made notebooks useful and
practical. In fact, they are on track to sell more
edies, I hope you’ll
units than desktops—if not this year, then soon. take a moment to
As for music, I love some of the new players.
And I’m intrigued by their latest capabilities. I’m
think about helping
not totally sold on video yet, but I have found that people whose needs
the subscription-music services have given me
new choices in how I listen to music. are far more basic.
Naturally, we have to mention cameras in any
holiday gift discussion. The folks I know who have
moved to digital SLRs say they are taking a lot more
pictures, then keeping only ones they really like.
Every way you turn, you’ll see great gift possi-
bilities. But in a year that has been defined by trag-
edies—from the tsunami in Asia, to the hurricanes
in the Gulf, to the problems in Darfur—I hope
you’ll also take a moment to think about helping
people whose needs are far more basic.
Zen Vision has a much larger screen (3.7 inches)
than the new iPod. And last fall, we heard a lot of
hype about Windows Portable Media Centers from
companies including Creative, iriver, and
Samsung.
Some devices even act as digital video
recorders. The Archos AV series has line-
in recording. And Microsoft streamlined
this process three years ago with Media
Center software. You can pretty easily re-
cord TV and take it with you on a laptop, K
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 7
 Forward Thinking
MICHAEL J. MILLER
or transfer it to one of the Portable Media Centers,
or to another video player. And for now, you can
do this without paying for individual television
episodes. Still, not a lot of people have chosen a
Windows Portable solution.
Why not? I don’t think people really want TV or
movies on such a small screen—fi rst, because bat-
tery life is a lot shorter for video
viewing than for listening to mu-
sic. (Apple does say its new iPod
will be used primarily for listen-
ing to music.) More important,
moving large video f iles and
coding them in the right format
for your device is often complex.
I think video works better on a
laptop, for now.
Where Apple has made a big
difference is, as usual, in the
software and services around the product.
The best thing about the iPod is how well it
works with the iTunes software and service, and
the same is likely to be true in the video world.
The big news is Apple’s ability to offer 2,000 mu-
sic videos, a number of Pixar shorts, and ABC TV
episodes, including the shows Lost and Desperate
Why the U.S. Should Still Run the Internet
Much discussion has taken
place recently about the
United Nations taking the
control of the Internet away
from the United States. Cur-
rently the U.S. does have a
veto through its control of
ICANN—a nonprofit compa-
ny created by the Commerce
Department to manage root-
level domains. In the World
Summit on the Information Society this November,
though, a number of countries will argue that the
U.S. shouldn’t control something as important and
global as the Internet.
Proponents of U.N. control state, rightly, that
people from every country should be able to par-
ticipate on the Internet equally. The problem is
that internationalization is likely to make equal
participation more difficult. It may be a prescrip-
tion for bureaucracy, censorship, and chaos.
Right now, though each country controls its
own top-level domains and can decide what it will
or will not allow, the Internet has few restrictions
on content. But while our government hasn’t had
a perfect record on freedom of speech, most oth-
er countries are much less open. One can easily
imagine a U.N. group deciding that the Internet
8 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
Housewives, for $1.99 each. This solution can end
up being a lot more expensive than what the Porta-
ble Media Centers or the Archos AV series offer—
but it is relatively simple and elegant. (Though if
you want to view content in other formats on the
iPod, you have to use extra software and convert
the fi les, and you’re back to the complexity of the
other solutions.)
My guess is that a lot of buyers of new iPods will
try out video, but it will be mostly a curiosity for
now. Watch this space, though: Apple has down-
played the Media Center concept in the past, but
along with the new iPod, it introduced the relative-
ly unheralded Front Row, a new “10-foot” interface
and remote for the iMac.
Still, the basic concept of downloading a TV
episode and then playing it on your PC or iPod is
a harbinger of things to come. The iPod is posi-
tioned to be the fi rst popular handheld device for
playing video, but we all want to see TV and es-
pecially movies available for easy downloading.
With faster Internet connections and even faster
transfers between devices and PCs, I expect video
downloaded to PCs and portable devices will be
very popular in the future—and will impact a lot
more devices than just the iPod.
shouldn’t carry political
information.
A not her a rg u ment is
that one set of laws would
be easier. But I worry that
would lead to a lot more
restrictions. ICANN really
doesn’t control content at
all, but I don’t know how
you guarantee that for a
new international body.
For instance, I’m sure many organizations want to
stop the Internet from carrying unlicensed intel-
lectual property. I agree with many of their aims,
but a lot of important, legitimate uses would be
stopped as well.
There’s also the historical argument, that the U.S.
(through its DARPA agency within the Department
of Defense) created the Internet. To me, that’s less
salient than keeping the Internet open. The current
system may seem more biased than an international
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK PETERSON/CORBIS
one, but it’s as open as we’re likely to get. Making
information accessible to everyone is too important
a goal to be left to an international commission.
MORE ON THE WEB: Join us online and make your
voice heard. Talk back to Michael J. Miller in our
opinions section, www.pcmag.com/miller.
 CONTENTS


www.pcmag.com
DE C E M B E R 6 , 2 0 0 5 • VOL . 2 4 NO. 2 2
First Looks
32
131
Web Services COVER STORY
• Become.com

Holiday Gifts:
• MySimon
• PriceGrabber.com
• Shopping.com

2005
• Smarter.com
• Shopzilla
36 Desktop PCs

Wish
• Alienware Aurora
7500 SLI
• Dell Dimension
XPS 600

List
• Falcon Northwest
X2-4800 SLI
• iBuyPower Aeon
• Overdrive
Torque.SLI
• Polywell Poly
939N4-SLI2
• Velocity Micro Gamers’
Edge DualX
• Voodoo Omen a121 L
61 Media Center PCs
• Sony VAIO XL1 Digital
Living System L
64 Entertainment Build up your gift list and put a smile on
Technology
• Apple iPod 30GB K your favorite people’s faces with these
• Archos choice technology goodies. We’ve brought
Gmini 402
together an amazing assortment of products:
70 Mobile Devices
some of our favorites from earlier in the year
• Palm Z22
and some coming out just in time for this
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN WILKES; CAMERA PHONE PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD BERENHOLTZ/CORBIS

• Palm TX
77 Printers holiday season.
• Ricoh Aficio G700
132 Phones/PDAs/Messaging 137 Gamer Gear
80 Displays 133 Audio Gadgets 138 Kids’ Stuff
• ViewSonic PJ256D K 136 Cameras/Camcorders 140 Gifts for Everyone
• Sharp lL-193A

Our Top Products ON T HE COVER Gaming PCs page 36

iPod Does Video

44 Desktop PCs page 64
68 Entertainment/Storage Devices Best Home Media
72 PDAs/Phones Holiday Gifts Center page 61
page 131
78 Printers Best Desktops and
Notebooks page 144
84 Displays

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 15


PCs
144 Desktops
and Notebooks
for Every Budget
There’s never been a better time
to buy a PC—whether you’re
looking for a desktop or note-
book—thanks to great prices and
plenty of choices. We review
32 entry-level, mainstream, and
high-end systems to help you find
the one that’s right for you.
Pipeline
25 Broadband over power line arrives.
25 Read license agreements—automatically.
25 The MPAA cracks down on fi lm copyrights.
26 GPS: Most wanted cell-phone feature.
26 Meet the world’s smallest robot.
26 Oregon: Home of America’s largest hot spot.
Online
www.pcmag.com
SPECIAL REPORT
Holiday Gift Guide: PCMag.com
will simplify your tech shopping,
with links to our top-rated products
in key categories and suggestions
for those of you on (or off) a budget.
We’ve also got 60 days of daily gift
ideas, from stocking stuffers to
big-ticket items.
(go.pcmag.com/holidaygiftguide)
Start shopping for the best prices
now. We’re here to help, along with
our shopping partner, Shopping.com.
Visit shop.pcmag.com and get go-
ing on those gift lists.
F I R S T LO O K S
New reviews every week!
Coming soon:
• Nokia 9500
Communicator
• Pioneer XW-HT1
Digital Wireless
Speaker System
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W7 L
(go.pcmag.com/firstlooks)
T O O L S YO U C A N U S E

28 COMING ATTRACTIONS: Apple Power Mac G5 and new PowerBooks; NEC Discussions: Log on and participate!
(discuss.pcmag.com/pcmag)
Showcase Series: 42XR4, 50XR5, and 61XR4; Logitech QuickCam Fusion;
Downloads: Check out our indexed
ProStores 6.0; PassAlong Networks’ OnTour; RxWise. list of utilities from A to Z.
(go.pcmag.com/utilities)

Solutions Opinions E XC LU S I V E C O LU M N S

108 Before You Give Away Your 7 Michael J. Miller: DVORAK ONLINE
Forward Thinking K Each Monday,
Old PC: Here’s what to do in
97 John C. Dvorak John C. Dvorak
order to prepare an aging com-
gives you his take on
puter for a new home. 99 John C. Dvorak’s Inside Track
what’s happening in
112 Hardware: Make your photo- 101 Jim Louderback
high tech today. Visit
graphs even more compelling by 103 Bill Howard
go.pcmag.com/dvorak.
adding information about where
ULANOFF ONLINE
you’ve been.
117 DIY Internet: Improve your After Hours K And each Wednesday,
Lance Ulanoff puts his
favorite Web sites in Firefox with 184 Holiday Software: Games
own unique spin on
Greasemonkey user scripts. make great gifts, and there’s
technology. Visit
120 Security Watch: Though promis- no dearth of fun offerings go.pcmag.com/ulanoff.
ing, SMTP authentication is still coming out for the holidays;
a work in progress. we also include some non-
124 Business: How one far-flung game titles to consider.
small business centralized its
Coming up:
telephone system.
127 User to User: How to watch for Also in This Issue • Radeon X1800 XT and X800 XL
• Silverstone SG01B Micro ATX case
unwanted Registry changes, 93 Feedback • NAS Roundup
and more. 190 Backspace (www.extremetech.com)

16 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 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

The Net Over Power Lines

After a series of false starts, a new approach to networking is taking shape.
MAKING INTERNET ACCESS AS ubiqui- PLC is designed to take the network to a room,
tous as, say, electricity has long been a dream and then within a room you can go wireless.”
of technologists. Now it seems that goal Panasonic will introduce HD -PLC adapters
is about to take a couple of steps closer to in the U.S. early next year, then embed pow-
becoming a reality.
While networking over
er-line chips in video cameras and laptops
by 2007. Eventually, the company
Film Fracas
power lines using adapters hopes to incorporate The Motion Picture Associa-
in standard wall sock- HD -PLC i n home tion of America (MPAA) is
ets has had several appliances. getting more serious about
fitful starts, Pana- The goal is Internet trading of copy-
sonic has over- ultimately to righted films. Its latest round
come some of the extend the power- of lawsuits targets Web sites
i n it i a l hu rd le s line connection by that may have made users
within the home by devel- offering consumers unwitting accomplices.
oping what promises to be one of the high-speed Internet The sites named—www
fastest power-line networking technologies access over the power .downloadshield.com, www
so far. Dubbed HD - PLC , for high-definition grid of public utilities. .full-movie-downloads.com,
power-line communication, the technology The first such municipal system recently www.mp3eternity.com,
was recently demonstrated in Japan using launched in Manassas, Virginia. Implemented www.moviesadvance.com,
networked devices sharing a high-defi nition by COMTek, the broadband-over-power-line www.thedownloadplace
movie transmitted over a power-line connec- (BPL) service costs $28.95 a month for 300- .com, and www
tion. According to Panasonic, to accomplish Kbps to 800-Kbps connections. While there .easydownloadcenter
this, HD - PLC uses wavelet algorithms for are still some distance limitations with BPL , .com—billed themselves
speeds in excess of 170 Mbps. Walter Adams, COMTek’s VP of new tech- as legal downloading
“Wireless networks will not always pass nology, says, “It’s a good distribution tech- services. The sites’ major
through walls without dropping the bit rate,” nology,” and he expects next-generation BPL misstep, says the MPAA ,
says Kazuhiro Tsuga, executive officer of dig- services to reach 100 Mbps. Now if they could was connecting users to
ital network and software at Panasonic parent just figure out a way to reduce our electric peer-to-peer networks that
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., “so HD - bills.—John R. Quain provided illegally obtained
films, some still in theaters.
STAND-IN PC VMware Player software can re-create another PC’s desk- Site subscribers had the po-
top by plugging a portable storage device with a mirror of the configura- tential to commit copyright
tion into a second PC. You must create a software version of the desktop infringement without know-
first. The player’s free at www.vmware.com/download/player. ing it.—Nicole Price Fasig

License Agreement Watchdog >GJ1DfjkNXek\[G_fe\=\Xkli\

EVER BEEN STUNG BY a clause in the fine
print of a user licensing agreement? Most
people don’t read them, so it can happen
easily. Javacool Software’s freely down-
loadable program, EULAlyzer, can analyze
license agreements in seconds, and pro-
vide a detailed list of words and phrases to
pay attention to. The software can alert you to whether a program
ILLUSTRATION BY AARON PILAND
:eoek^Wl[=FIedoekhY[bbf^ed[5DejWbeje\
f[efb[Ze"XkjcWdo^Wl[j^[_hi_]^jii[jed_j$
9Wc[hWf^ed[iWh[WbiefefkbWh$
:\ccG_fe\=\Xkli\jK_XkL%J%8[lckj
:lii\ekcpLj\Dfjk#fiNXek
:lii\ekcp E`Z\kf
Lj\Dfjk ?Xm\
K\okd\jjX^`e^ -) *.

9l`ck$`eZXd\iX ,( +0

or online application might display pop-up ads, transmit personally @ek\ie\kXZZ\jj +( +)
identifiable information, use unique identifiers to track you, and <$dX`c )0 *.
more. A free download is available at www.javacoolsoftware D\dfipZXi[ )) +(
>GJEXm`^Xk`fe 0 ,'
.com/eulalyzer.html.—Sebastian Rupley
Source: Ipsos Insight, Sept. 2005; from a survey of 171 users.

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 25

 P I P E L I N E • go.pcmag.com/pipeline

Robot Dust
Less is more at the Dart-
mouth College Thayer School
Microengineering Lab, where
researchers have built the
world’s smallest untethered
mobile robots. Thinner than
a human hair, these micro-
robots are too tiny for a bat-
tery, but can be remotely con-
trolled on a special insulated
surface, says Christopher
Levey, director of the micro-
engineering lab. “It is remark-
able to make something that
small and send it controls.”
As microelectromechani-
cal systems, or MEMS, the
microrobots aren’t pre-
programmed to move, but
FOR SHUTTERBUGS
Intel’s Portable Prototypes On the heels of its
iMac and video iPod
GIVEN THE RISE OF MOBILE technology, portability,
power, and cost savings are big themes in Intel’s labs. Those
announcements,
were the drivers for several innovations at the recent Inside
Apple Computer has
Intel’s Labs event in New York. unveiled its $499
Researchers unveiled a tiny, Windows XP PC called Ruby, high-end photogra-
about 5 inches by 3 inches in size, which runs on approxi- phy software, Aper-
mately 5 watts of system power. The unit was designed with ture. The software
a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and light de- is designed to offer
tector for battery-life optimization. If the unit senses that it advanced and faster
is stationary in a dark space, it hibernates. When it feels mo- ways to work with
tion and light, background systems turn on and the display RAW images, which
comes up with face recognition. are much larger and
Intel’s Personal Wireless Media Server seeks to make
content available for multiple devices. Developers installed
more detailed than
a Web server on a hard-disc-based cell phone and were
JPEG images, and
able to instantly sync the phone, a PC , and a television. No new ways for
software installation was required on the computer. Using photographers to
a Bluetooth connection, the PC was able to access the phone’s sort and navigate
hard drive and browse its contents. photo collections.
Intel also has a prototype candy-bar cell phone that in- A Loupe magnify-
cludes Wi-Fi, VoIP, cell, and Bluetooth wireless technologies. ing tool lets you
The phone can switch to the most reliable and cheapest wire- examine portions of
less options available as you move. images in granular
“We want to fi nd out what people are doing in their lives
and inform technology,” says Brooke Foucault, a design
detail without hav-
researcher at Intel. All these technologies are prototypes for
ing to zoom and pan
now, but could move out of the labs soon.—NPF across large files.

The Biggest Wi-Fi Cloud of All

are sent power and control
signals through the surface
they are on. Levey sees them
working together in the fu-
ture; his plans include having
them construct a robot-built
and operated microfactory.
Applications for the micro-
robots might include making
repairs to an integrated
circuit, biotechnology, or
exploration of hazardous
environments, but security
is a key focus. The Depart-
ment of Homeland Security
is cofunding the project, says
Levey, who offers this sce-
nario: “Imagine we are meet-
ing, don’t know each other,
and want to verify identity
so we can tell each other
secrets. We each bring a vial
of robot dust to sprinkle on
a special surface and we
each know a coded PIN num-
ber that makes the robots
move properly.” Who needs
QUICK, WHERE IS THE largest
wireless hot spot in the United
States? You would think
it’s in a major urban area,
but you’d be wrong. It’s
centered in rural Oregon,
a 700-square-mile Wi-Fi
cloud surrounding the city
of Hermiston, extending
across four counties
and into the state of
Washington.
While many cities,
including San Fran-
cisco, have announced
plans to make Wi-Fi access
available everywhere, several
have run into opposition from
large wireless providers that
foresee revenue streams
from their own wireless
broadband networks. The
providers are aware that
armies of users in big cities
a wireless signal anyplace,
anytime. The irony about the
Oregon installation: It’s so big
precisely because it’s not in
a densely populated area.
Oregon’s huge wireless
cloud is the brainchild of Fred
Ziari, CEO of EZ Wireless, and
is supported by many local
and businesses. Farmers use
it, as well as small businesses.
The network makes use of
meshed wireless repeat-
ers, so if a component
fails, the whole network
doesn’t. “The big differ-
ence with our broadband
wireless is we can cover
a whole city or an entire
region,” says Ziari. “That
means one can stay
connected while walking
or driving.”
The hot spot serves a va-
riety of purposes. For example,
a network of wireless cameras
is in place for surveillance
that serves local emergency
personnel. Also, a number of
local small businesses use it
to connect devices and access
the Internet. You never know
where you might find a wire-
ILLUSTRATIONS BY AARON PILAND

smart cards? —Karen Jones will pay to be able to get government organizations less signal. —SR

NET MOVIES Representing a big endorsement of grassroots Internet video, MTV has acquired
iFilm.com—the Net provider of short films, amateur movies, and news clips—for $49 million.
MTV hopes to build iFilm’s audience up to 10 million viewers per month.

26 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 P I P E L I N E • go.pcmag.com/pipeline

COMING ATTRACTIONS

New Macs Are

Beautiful on the A Better Webcam
Inside, Too he Logitech QuickCam Fusion

T
he Apple Power Mac G5
desktop line has made its
long-awaited debut with the
T webcam includes a true 1.3-
megapixel sensor, improved
image quality even in challenging
Quad and Dual models, alongside lighting situations, an integrated
three new PowerBook notebooks. microphone, and Logitech’s Right-
The new desktops include faster Sound technology to eliminate echo.
processors, more RAM, and updated The camera also comes with Logitech
graphic capabilities. The G5 Quad Video Effects software, which allows
offers quad-core processing with users to transform themselves into 3D
two 2.5-GHz dual-core PowerPC animated characters or don cartoon-
G5 processors, 512MB of 533-MHz style accessories.— MKM
DDR2 SDRAM expandable up to 16GB, $99.99 list. Logitech, www.logitech.com.
a 250GB Serial ATA hard drive, and
an nVidia GeForce 6600 graphics card. The PowerBook’s new lineup—12-inch,
15-inch and 17-inch models—promises improved screen resolution and longer-life
batteries, as well as the DVD-burning SuperDrive.—Molly K. McLaughlin
Quad: $3,299 direct; Dual (2.0 GHz): $1,999; Dual (2.3 GHz): $2,499; 12-inch PowerBook G4: $1,499;
15-inch: $1,999; 17-inch: $2,499. Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.com.

A Clearer Picture Sell Online Easily

EC has added completely redesigned

N 42-, 50-, and 61-inch XGA plasma

displays to its NEC Showcase Series
Without the Auction
Bay Inc. isn’t just about auctions.
home theater family, with added features
such as day/night viewing settings,
increased input connectivity, and enhanced
E The company’s ProStores 6.0
offering lets small and even mid-
sized businesses maintain an online
video processing. With crystal-clear images store easily and affordably. You get
and a superslim profile, the HDTV-capable your own URL, a full-featured shopping
displays fit seamlessly into your home and allow cart, integration with shopping search
viewing from just about any angle. Superior image quality engines, and more. And, of course, the
is achieved with Gamma 12, which provides high-color processing integration with PayPal and eBay (if you
and adds increased detail in dark areas.— MKM so choose) can’t hurt.—Jamie M. Bsales
NEC 42XR4: $6,000 street; NEC 50XR5: $8,000; NEC 61XR4: $14,000. NEC Solutions $6.95 per month and up. ProStores Inc., an eBay
(America) Inc., www.necvisualsystems.com. company, www.prostores.com.

Stalk Your Favorite Artists Track Your Meds

PassAlong Networks’ OnTour software Anyone who regularly takes
makes it easy to find out when your several prescription and over-the-
favorite artists are performing live counter medications could find the
in your area. Once installed, OnTour RxWise tool to be a lifesaver—literally.
looks for digital music files on your Once you set up a profile, including cur-
computer and then searches for local rent medications and medical conditions
concerts based on artists and your and history, RxWise (available via the Web
location. Users can also search by venue. You can then or on a USB flash drive) cross-references this
click to get the venue address, map it, and even buy tick- information and sends you alerts about adverse
ets. You can also set up an account with PassAlong’s online reactions or possible drug interactions that can then
music store.—MKM be forwarded to your pharmacist or physician.— MKM
Free. PassAlong Networks, ontour.passalong.com. $39.95 direct; Web version: $24. Iatrogen LLC, www.rxwise.com.

For more new products see go.pcmag.com/productbulletin

28 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

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/first looks
36 Alienware Aurora 7500 SLI 40 Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2 64 Apple iPod 30GB
36 Dell Dimension XPS 600 42 Velocity Micro Gamers’ Edge DualX 66 Archos Gmini 402
38 Falcon Northwest X2-4800 SLI 42 Voodoo Omen a121 66 eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT
38 iBuyPower Aeon 44 Our Top Desktops 66 Pioneer XW-HT1 Digital Wireless
40 Overdrive Torque.SLI 61 Sony VAIO XL1 Digital Living System Speaker System

search results aren’t always

Find It for Less intuitive: The page for Harry

Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince included at least five
THE MAGAZINE seemingly identical entries,
WORLD’S LARGEST
COMPUTER-TESTING
BY RICK BROIDA each with its own Compare
FACILITY
Feeling the urge to splurge? Savvy shoppers know that the P r ice s l i n k . Me a nwh i le ,
there are few (and some-
best deals on iPods, DVD movies, LCD monitors, and just times no) options for narrow-
ing searches and sorting the
about everything else can usually be found online. They results. At least you can add
items to a Favorites list for
also know better than to plod from one e-tailer to the next
later perusal.
in search of the lowest price. Instead, they turn to price- Become also stumbles a bit
with product names. No sug-
comparison sites, also known as aggregators. Type in Arrested Development: gestions appeared for “Exilim
EX-S500” unless we removed
Season Two and the sites will quickly show you the prices from any number of the hyphen from the name,
but then it failed to find any
online merchants that list of links. Most of the prices until we restored it.
carry the DVD collec- search-result pages in- The same curiosity occurred
tion. Presto, you’ve just clude a sponsored-match w it h “ Sony Cyber-shot.”
saved a boatload of time sidebar where you can Such annoyances aside, if you
and scored the best deal, see at least some of Be- want to research, then shop,
all with a few clicks of come’s shopping options. Become is worth a shot.
the mouse. Our search for an HDTV, Become.com
But these sites are not for instance, produced Become Inc., www.become.com.
all created equal. To put a decidedly Google-like lllmm
them to the test, we went set of lin ks and news
shoppi ng for a Ca sio head l i nes . A longside mySimon
Exilim EX- S500 camera, BECOME.COM LETS you choose whether that, the page displayed In Web years, mySimon is
the latest Harry Potter to research an item, or shop for it. t hu m bn a i l photo s of downright ancient, having
hardcover, Kelly Clark- various TVs and corre- spla shed onto t he pr ice -
son’s Breakaway CD, and an tranquility of Become. The sponding links for research c o m p a r i s o n s c e n e b a c k
HDTV. We came away know- site consists of little more and price comparisons. in 1998. The service (now
ing two things: It helps if you than a calming yellow search Nice as it is to shop on such owned by CNET Networks)
know what you’re after, and field atop a pair of buttons: a n u n c l u t t e r e d
not every aggregator links to Research and Shop. The site site, we probably
every merchant on the Web. started as a product-research wouldn’t choose
Thus, the lowest price you center and has more recently Become over an-
fi nd on one site might not be added the price-comparison other portal. For
the lowest price there is. So features, and its roots show. sta r ters , it con-
a little shopping around may So while it’s not the best nects to a fairly
still be necessary. place to compare prices, the l i m ited nu mber
overall package makes it a o f m e r c h a n t s :
Become.com good destination. j u s t ei g ht for a
If you find busy shopping Become’s search engine popular Samsung
portals as overwhelming as works dynamically: As you HDTV and two for
busy shopping malls, you type your query, suggestions Kelly Clarkson’s THE LIVELY INTERFACE of MySimon leads
might appreciate the relative appear below in a bulleted CD. What’s more, to handy price-comparison charts.

32 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 L O O K S
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN: LLLLL EXCELLENT l LLLLM VERY GOOD l LLLMM GOOD l LLMMM FAIR l LMMMM POOR
66 X-OOM Movies on PSP 77 Ricoh Aficio G700 80 ViewSonic PJ256D
68 Our Top Entertainment/Storage 77 Canon imageClass MF5770 80 Sharp lL-193A, HP mp3135
Products 77 OKI Printing Solutions ES1624n MFP 80 NEC LT20, Sony SDM-S75A
70 Palm Z22, Palm TX 77 Lexmark T640n 84 Our Top Displays
72 Our Top PDAs/Phones 78 Our Top Printers RED denotes Editors’ Choice.

provides price com- ports multiple lists, ments or search for a specific
pa r ison s for ever y- thus letting you cat- item, you’ll have an easy time
thing from auto parts egorize items as you navigating the site. Handy
to mortgages to video see fit. You could put comparison grids include
games, all wrapped in digital cameras in one merchant ratings, product
an attractive, lively in- list, big-ticket wish availability, and bottom-line
terface. items in another, and pricing. PriceGrabber also
The main entryway so on. Complementing incorporates user reviews
lists over two dozen that, Price Alerts will and, for some products, “ex-
departments, each with notify you via e-mail pert” reviews (usually links
a ha nd f u l of ha ndy when the price for a to outside content). There’s
q u ic k-l i n k s . Under given item dips below even a mobile version of the
Books, for instance, a specified amount. site accessible from any WAP
we found a Harry Pot- THE BREADTH OF CATEGORIES covered by PriceGrabber caters browser-equipped phone.
ter link, which took PriceGrabber’s search results is impressive. to sellers a lmost as What’s missing? Shopping
us straight to a price- well as it does to buy- guides, buying advice, and
comparison page for the Half- PriceGrabber.com ers. All you need is a credit other research tools. But even
Blood Prince hardcover. Alas, A not her Web vet- card to create a StoreFront, without them, PriceGrabber.
the site linked us to only four eran, PriceGrabber where you can sell just about com remains our first desti-
vendors for it, and to just five . c o m s h a r e s m y - anything PriceGrabber lists. nation for buying online.
for Kelly Clarkson’s latest CD. Si mon’s 20t h- cen- For instance, if you want PriceGrabber.com
We expected more. tury heritage. It also to sell your Kelly Clarkson PriceGrabber.com LLC, www.price-
Once you scroll past my- shares an admirable breadth CD , just do a search for it, grabber.com. llllm
Simon’s departments and of product and service cat- then click Sell Yours. When
featured items (which in- egories, the latest being cell other users search for that Shopping.com
clude seasona l picks a nd phones and travel. CD, they’ll see yours along- If your online shopping trips
noteworthy gear), you’ll find One exclusive feature is side the merchant listings. frequently include visits to
CNET ’s buying guides for t he coupon s l i n k , auction sites, you’ll
things like PCs, digital cam- wh ich di rects you want to stop by eBay-
eras, and MP3 players. The site to hundreds of mer- owned Shopping.com
also serves up several dozen c h a n t a n d m a n u - (which is the service
product guides from Con- facturer discounts. PCM ag.com uses for
sumer Reports (though it’s the B row s e yo u r way its shopping links). In
same free content available at into the Computers, addition to standard-
the magazine’s own site). Photo, or Electron- issue price compari-
But the site’s real strength ics categories a nd sons, the site links
is price comparison. When you’ll f ind another you to the auction
browsing for, say, digital cam- link listing rebates. giant’s listings. Thus
eras, you can narrow your Better still, when you SHOPPING.COM LINKS to not only merchant you get one -stop
search by price, resolution, search for a product sites, but also items available via eBay auctions. shopping, though not
manufacturer, or even some- that has an available necessarily the best
thing as obscure as zoom rebate, PriceGrabber dis- When you make a sale, Price- of both worlds.
range. Price comparisons plays the link prominently Grabber skims off a fl at rate The site’s 16 browsable cat-
appear in a thorough, well- within the results—no need of $1 plus 4.75 percent of the egories include Books, Cars,
organized grid, complete with to go looking for it. purchase price. Mortgages, and Hotels. The
out-the-door pricing (includ- Custom i zation options As PriceGrabber has so latter is a weak entry; it’s
ing sales tax and shipping). abound. Though many price- many unique features, it’s limited to major cities and
mySimon comparison sites let you add easy to overlook its powerful doesn’t accurately sort hotels
CNET Networks Inc., items to a personal shopping price-grabbing capabilities. by price. Also prominent on
www.mysimon.com. lllhm list, only PriceGrabber sup- Whether you browse depart- the home page: Shopping

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 33

 FIRST LOOKS
Web Services

.com’s Top 5, a rating- and Shopzilla (including tax and shipping), found when searching for
popularity-driven roundup of Shopzilla doesn’t ma ke a provides merchant ratings, Kelly Clarkson and Harry
monitors, blenders, car seats, fabulous first impression. It and shows whether a store Potter ; Sma r ter.com wa s
and other seemingly dispa- has a cutesy name and a clut- has an item in stock (with the only price-comparison
rate product categories. tered, generally unappealing quantities, in some cases). site that didn’t factor in tax
M o s t p r o d u c t s e a r c h home page. We also found its Product ratings and reviews and shipping rates for those
results include reviews of the pages slow to load. But once come mostly from Biz Rate, items. Consequently, the low-
product, the store, or a separate but simi- est price it displays for any
both. These come pri- la r price-compa ri- given product may not be the
marily from Epinions. son site ow ned by lowest out-the-door price.
com, though for some Shopzilla. What ’s more, while most
products (mostly in You can bookmark grids can be sorted by price
t he computer c at- or e-mail any product or merchant, a few didn’t
egory), Shopping.com page, though printer- even have that option.
also links to profes- friendly listings aren’t Smarter.com acts a little
sional reviews. We an option. Shopzilla smarter with big-ticket com-
wish the site offered also lets you add items puter and electronics items,
buying advice; as it to a shopping list for adding conveniences like
stands, you’ll have to BEHIND SHOPZILLA’S cluttered UI hides some later review, but the product deta i ls a nd user
do your research else- of the most exhaustive price-comparison lists. option appears only reviews (though not prod-
where. The site offers when you’re browsing uct availability). Even bet-
no product tracking or other you start browsing its endless (and then only with certain ter, it gives you bottom-line
personalized tools. departments and searching items). When viewing the pricing, taxes and shipping
Although some other sites for specific items, you may actual price comparison, the i ncluded. Un for t u nately,
include links to eBay listings, find reason to stick around. “add to list” link is nowhere these numbers aren’t broken
Shopping.com breaks them The site offers useful tools to be found. out separately as on other
out in a separate box (which for shoppers and some of the Still, Shopzilla does an comparison sites; all you see
resides at the bottom of the most exhaustive price com- effective job of pricing CD s, is t he tota l pr ice. If you
page). Here you get some- parisons in the group. books, and all the rest. mouse over it, tax and ship-
thing akin to an eBay mini- We started off shopping for Shopzilla ping rates appear in a little
portal. But for some reason, the Casio camera. Shopzilla Shopzilla Inc., www.shopzilla.com. pop-up, but we’d much rather
some products bear no eBay connected us with a whop- lllhm see the data within the grid.
links at all, even when there ping 66 stores that carry it, far Worse than that, all shipping
are listings for them on the more than any other site. It Smarter.com costs are estimated, meaning
auction site. also came up with the lowest Smarter.com has relatively most of these out-the-door
We also have a gripe with price for that model, though few departments to browse, prices aren’t accurate.
the price-comparison grids: it turned out to be inaccurate: and it does a poor job spot- The service does have a
Shopping.com often lists only The merchant’s price was l ig ht i ng products w it h i n few bright spots, including
“featured stores” (those that actually $100 higher. What’s those departments. But its phone-based price lookups
have paid for more prominent more, we found no way of real problem lies in its prod- via SMS . Like Become, it has
placement), requiring you to choosing between the a dynamic search en-
click another link to see the camera’s three differ- gine that attempts to
complete grid. On the other ent colors; other sites guess the product name
hand, the search engine did let us pick one before as you type. The site
a great job differentiating the comparing prices. looks attractive a nd
various Harry Potter editions O n t he plu s side , enables targeted, filtered
(hardcover, deluxe, and so Shopzilla directed us to browsing in a dozen
on), thus making it easier to a brief but informative main categories, includ-
select the right comparison. digital-camera buying ing phone services. And
But while it managed to fi nd guide, complete with it connects with a decent
one of the lowest prices in three spotlight mod- number of merchants,
the group for Book Six (cour- els targeted at begin- eBay among them. But
tesy of Wal-Mart), that mer- ning, intermediate, and SMARTER.COM NEEDS to do its homework because it lacks buy-
chant’s price wasn’t included advanced users. That’s before it can move to the head of the class. i ng g uides a nd does
in the search results for Kelly currently the only buy- a generally poor job
Clarkson’s CD —and it was ing guide the site has to offer, uct listings, which vary in with product listings, we
the lowest. So while the site but we did fi nd glossaries for value from one product cat- think most shoppers should
is good, it could do better. things like MP3 players, TVs, egory to another and often aggregate elsewhere.
Shopping.com and notebook PCs. include nothing more than Smarter.com
eBay Inc., www.shopping.com. Like all good aggregators, price, merchant, and mer- Smarter.com, www.smarter.com.
lllmm Shopzilla itemizes its prices chant rating. That’s what we llmmm

34 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


Gaming Systems Gone Wild
BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO
L
ater in this issue you’ll
find our reviews of 32 of
the latest desktop and
notebook PCs (see “Desktops
and Notebooks for Ever y
Budget,” page 144). Those
systems are fi ne for the vast
majority of home and busi-
ness PC buyers. But if your
passion is gaming, this is the
roundup to read. We’ve gath-
ered eight screaming high-
end systems from the leading
boutique makers to see which
of these high-powered, high-
priced beauties is worthy of
your 3D gaming abilities.
Alienware Aurora 7500 SLI
Alienware is one of the more
visible players in the gaming
PC arena, and its Aurora 7500
SLI is nothing if not conspic-
uous. With its retro-inspired
black ex terior a nd g reen
backlighting, the Aurora is
as flashy as the atmospheric
phenomenon that shares its
name. Although it is at the
pinnacle of Alienware’s gam-
ing PC lineup, there are bet-
ter choices out there at this
price level (namely the Fal-
con Northwest and Voodoo
entries here).
Inside the unmistakably
Alienware chassis, you’ll find
plenty of space for additional
hard drives. The Audigy 4
sound card, single TV tuner
card, and twin GeForce 7800
GTX KO cards use the avail-
able PCI and PCIe slots—but
with all that, you really don’t
need anything else. The
Gatorade-colored liquid
cooling the CPU and the
sound-deadening mate-
rial in the Aurora keeps
it quieter than some of
its purely air-cooled
competitors. Neatly
tied and routed cables
help keep airf low ef-
ficient. The Aurora has
500GB of hard drive space,
thanks to twin 250GB Serial
36 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Gaming PCs
ATA hard drives in a RAID 0
array. The 500GB certainly
come in handy for the
DVR features of the
Media Center op-
erating system.
T he Au ror a
delivered a
smooth 95
frames per
s e cond or
better on
ou r D o om
3 tests. That’s great, but the
Falcon Northwest X2-4800
SLI bests it. The Aurora also
lags the Voodoo entry here
on the Splinter Cell tests, if
only by a few fps.
Alienware Aurora 7500 SLI
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
processor (overclocked to 3.02 GHz),
1GB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM, two
250GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard drives
in a RAID 0 array, two nVidia GeForce
7800 GTX graphics cards, dual-layer
DVD ±RW drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW
combo drive, Creative Sound Blaster
Audigy 4 Pro sound card, Alienware
ALX 5.1 surround speakers by Klipsch,
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. $5,668 direct. Alienware
Corp., www.alienware.com. llllm
Dell Dimension XPS 600
When we last reviewed the
Dell XPS 600, it had a single-
core Pentium 4 EE processor.
The latest incarnation has a
dual-core Pentium Extreme
Edition 840 processor in-
stead, pumped up to the max-
imum 3.6 GHz. While the fast
EE 840 processor and dual
GeForce 7800 GT X ca rds
resu lt i n ver y good
UNMISTAKABLY ALIENWARE, the Aurora is a liquid-
cooled, green-glowing gaming rig worthy of the name.
YOU GET A LOT
for the money with the Dell
XPS 600.
performance, there are less
expensive alternatives with
even better performance.
The XPS 600 packs a multi-
media-friendly 660GB of
hard drive space (two speedy
10,000-rpm hard drives in a
RAID 0 array, plus a 500GB
drive for storage). It a lso
comes with the Microsoft
Windows XP Media Center
Edition operating system and
two standard-definition TV
tuners. So it’s both a gaming
machine and a multimedia
powerhouse.
The XPS 600’s case is plas-
tic, so you don’t get the solid
feel of some all-metal cases
from boutique vendors, but it
helps keep the price down (if
just a little). The case itself is
tool-less and easy to work in,
so in case you do eventually
want to upgrade the compo-
nents, it’s a snap.
A lt houg h t he X P S 6 0 0
has a multitude of PCIe and
PCI slots, they’re all fi lled
w it h g r aph ic s c a rd s ,
TV tuners, and the Creative
Sound Blaster X-Fi sound
boa rd. T he X-
Fi sound is
immersive, and
c a n i m pr ove
bot h ga m i ng
and music
playback.
The XPS
600 is sur-
prisingly
quiet. Even
with its six
cooling fans, it won’t drive
you up the wall even during
high-CPU-use scenarios.
The X PS 600 should be
able to m a ke m i ncemeat
out of any day-to-day tasks,
even while recording TV in
the background. The X PS
600’s Doom 3 scores were
between 78 fps (in Ultra-
quality mode) and 102 fps (in
Medium-quality mode). This
means that the game is play-
able no matter what settings
you turn on. Heavily over-
clocked and liquid-cooled
systems, like the Voodoo
Omen and Falcon Northwest
X2-4800 SLI , will get higher
scores on the gaming tests,
but such results are more
about bragging rights than
playability: During ga me
play at 1,600-by-1,200 reso-
lution, 74 fps looks just as
smooth as 95 fps.
So while not the 3D game
leader, the Dell XPS 600 makes
a case for itself as a gaming
PC for the multitasking multi-
media hound.
Dell Dimension XPS 600
With 3.2-GHz Intel Pentium Extreme
Edition 840 (overclocked to 3.6
GHz), 1GB 667-MHz DDR2 SDRAM,
two 80GB 10,000-rpm SATA hard
drives in a RAID 0 array, 500GB
7,200-rpm SATA hard drive, two
256MB nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
graphics cards (SLI), dual-layer DVD
± RW drive, DVD-ROM drive, Creative
Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card, Logi-
tech Z5500 5.1 speakers, Windows XP
Media Center Edition 2005. $4,699
direct (E-Value code 6V411-X600PC).
Dell Inc., www.dell.com.
lllhm

Falcon Northwest
X2-4800 SLI
Fa lcon Nor t hwest
has certainly deliv-
ered w it h t he X 2-
4800 SLI. If you have
the roughly
$6,000 for a system,
you’ll be getting a well-
made unit with a kick
like a mule.
T he automotive -
quality paint job has the
“6-foot-deep reflection”
that you see in a brand new
car. The only thing to be care-
ful about is that it is car
paint, and you can nick
it fairly easily.
Keep your keys
and other sharp
metal items
away from the
c a s e , a nd b e
sure to keep a buffing cloth
handy for fingerprints.
The X2-4800’s Athlon 64
X2 processor is liquid-cooled,
using a sealed system that
won’t require maintenance.
However, the sealed system
means that the dual nVidia
GeForce 7800 GTX graph-
ics cards must be air-cooled.
Sound-deadening matting
helps keep internal noises
from escaping the case.
The dual-core CPU is over-
clocked to 2.7 GH z (from
the 2.4 GH z standard). This
tweaking results in one of
the highest SYS mark 2004
SE Internet Content Creation
scores we’ve seen (335). No
doubt this system will be
blazing in multimedia tasks
like video editing, photo ed-
iting, and Web-page build-
ing. Additionally, the system
should be able to handle run-
ning a long multimedia task
in the background (such as
rendering a video project)
while you continue to work
(or play) in the foreground.
You’ll also be ready for multi-
threaded games when they
appear next year.
The two graphics cards
help the Falcon system deliver
a great 3D gaming experience.
38 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Gaming PCs
The X2-4800’s Doom 3 scores
at 1,600-by-1,200 resolution
(both High and Ultra quality)
are top-notch. The Falcon’s
Splinter Cell frame rates
are also excellent, ensur-
ing you’ll see
ro ck- ste ady
game play.
With 600GB
of drive space,
THE FALCON entry delivered
top scores on many 3D tests.
there is plenty of room for
videos, photos, games, and
the like. And there is more
than enough space in the
X2’s case for additional hard
drives. The Creative Sound
Blaster X-Fi sound card and
Klipsch 5.1 speakers deliver
an immersive soundstage for
gaming and music.
It’s pricey, but the Falcon
Northwest X2-4800 SLI
gives you the rich gam-
ing experience you crave,
w it h t he for wa rd-
looking technology
you need to keep
up w it h ga m-
ing releases for
years to come.
Falcon Northwest
X2-4800 SLI
With 2.4-GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2
4800+ processor overclocked to
2.7GHz, 1GB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM,
two 300GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard
drives in a RAID 0 array, two 256MB
nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX graph-
ics cards (SLI), dual-layer DVD ± RW
drive, DVD-ROM drive, Creative Sound
Blaster X-Fi sound card, Klipsch 5.1
Ultra surround speakers, Windows
XP Professional. $5,671 direct. Falcon
Northwest, www.falcon-nw.com.
llllh
iBuyPower Aeon
T h a n k s to it s fou r h a rd
drives, the iBuyPower Aeon
system is a gaming rig that
can hold a whole lot of stuff.
It doesn’t have quite the same
performance as its peers here,
but it’s still competitive.
The Aeon came to us in a
simple, mostly silver case.
W h i l e r e l a t i ve l y c l e a n -
looking, it appears no
different from a really
good home-built PC ,
especially without a
windowed side panel
or custom paint job.
Inside, ever y nook
a nd cra n ny is
filled with compo-
nents and wiring.
T h e re a re t wo
g raphics ca rds,
four hard drives,
2GB of RAM , and
a power-hungry FX- 57 CPU.
Though iBuyPower did use
round cables that would nor-
mally help airflow, the cables
themselves are not routed
well. The resulting airflow is
anemic, so the system ends
up running
IBUYPOWER’S AEON may be
too loaded for its own good.
on the ragged edge. And we
worry that the 680W power
supply is overloaded: We had
trouble running our bench-
mark tests until we found
that an errant power cable
was stopping one of the cool-
ing fans from turning. Once
we cleared the blockage, the
tests ran fine. Another conse-
quence of all these fans and
spinning drives is noise: The
Aeon is loud.
Two of the hard drives are
10,000-rpm drives in a RAID
0 array, and this does help
the Aeon get near-top scores
in the SYSmark 2004 SE tests.
But those drives consume a
lot of power and provide less
drive space overall than the
two 300GB 7,200-rpm drives
also housed in the case. We
think the two 300GB drives
would have been enough.
Having two R AID 0 arrays
gives a gaming user limited
performance benefit, while
doubling the points of failure
(if one drive in a RAID 0 array
fails, data on both drives is
lost). We would have either
used only the 300GB drives,
or kept the two 300GB drives
as separate entities.
The Aeon’s gaming per-
formance was very good,
thanks to the two GeForce
7800 GTX KO cards. With
93 fps on Doom 3 at 1,600-
by-1,200 (Ultra quality) and
82 fps on Splinter Cell (at
1,600-by-1,200), you should
have a stutter-free gaming
experience. However, the
Aeon placed below systems
in the same price range
(such as the Overdrive
PC Torque.SLI) as well
as gaming systems in a
lower price range (the Ve-
locity Micro entry).
With the iBuyPower
Aeon, you’ll have a rich
gaming experience and
scads of hard drive space.
But we thin k that the
Aeon may be a bit too over-
loaded with components.
iBuypower Aeon
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
processor, 2GB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM,
two 74GB 10,000-rpm SATA hard
drives in a RAID 0 array, two 300GB
7,200-rpm SATA hard drives in a RAID
0 array, two 256MB nVidia GeForce
7800 GTX KO graphics cards (SLI),
dual-layer DVD ±RW drive, DVD-ROM
drive, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
sound card, Logitech z5500 5.1 speak-
ers, Windows XP Professional. $4,999
direct. iBuyPower Computer,
www.ibuypower.com. lllhm
 FIRST LOOKS
Gaming PCs

Overdrive Torque.SLI internal cabling (important The intense performance

With its red auto-grade paint for proper airf low in this
job and lit cooling fans on the air-cooled PC), the latest and
side, you know the Overdrive greatest components, and
Torque.SLI means business. the mini flashlight under the
As configured, it is a system hood for when you want to
for those with the where- show off the inside of your
withal to afford a $5,000 uni- new toy. There’s plenty
tasking gaming rig with no of room for additional
airs of being anything else PCI and PCI e cards as
but a 3D performer. well as a couple extra
With an overclocked AMD hard drives.
Athlon 64 FX- 57 processor, Since virtually every
two overclocked GeForce screw and nut is isolated with
7800 GTX graphics cards, rubber washers, the Torque
and a speedy RAID 0 array .SLI is quiet for an air-cooled
with 10,000-rpm hard drives, system, though not quite
the Torque.SLI was built to as quiet as some of the liq-
perform. uid-cooled systems. We do
Indeed, it think that the 148GB of hard
placed at or drive space is a little spare
for a system that retails for
over $5,000, but we under-
stand that if you are using
this system as your dedi-
cated ga ming platform,
you likely have another
system for your videos and
downloads.
One thing that
proved that the
Torque . SL I i s
a true gaming
PC was the ad-
THIS POLYWELL ENTRY is a dition of a removable 20GB
relative bargain for this class. hard drive with the factory
image on it. Once you tire of
near the top on our 3D gaming a game, you can use Ghost
tests, with frame rates that en- 9.0 to image the system back
sure stutter-free game play. to its pristine state, which, as
The Torque. SLI has all most hardcore gamers know,
the hallmarks we’ve come to is the best point to start with
expect from Overdrive PC : when playing a new game.
a speedy machine optimized This way there are no con-
for the hardware installed, fl icts between drivers, DLL s,
neatly routed and shortened or the like. Sure, the other
IF YOU CAN afford a PC just
for gaming, think Overdrive.
gaming rigs come with a re-
covery DVD, but this method
is faster.
The Overdrive PC Torque
. SL I i s a ga m i ng s ystem
without pretension. If you
are among the few who can
afford a $5,000 system just
for gaming, the Torque.SLI
will fulfi ll your wishes.
Overdrive PC Torque.SLI
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
processor (overclocked to 3.0GHz),
1GB 550-MHz DDR SDRAM, two 74GB
10,000-rpm hard drives (RAID Level 0),
two 256MB nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
graphics cards (SLI), dual-layer DVD
±RW drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo
drive, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
sound card, Windows XP Professional.
$5,299 direct. Overdrive PC,
www.overdrivepc.com. llllm
Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2
The Polywell Poly 939N4-
SLI2 can be considered the
“bargain” of this roundup,
since it produces gaming
numbers close to the other
systems but for a price $2,700
less than that of the class-
leading Voodoo Omen.
numbers come from twin
top - of- t he -l i ne G eForce
7800 GTX graphics cards and
an AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 pro-
cessor. The Poly garnered 91
fps on the Doom 3 1,600-by-
1,200 (Ultra) test, and 85 fps
on Splinter Cell at 1,600-by-
1,200. Gaming performance
is smooth and blemish-free.
The Poly’s SYSmark 2004
SE performance is right in
line with the rest of the pack.
The red and black case is
one we’ve seen before, with
a large window on the side
showing off the graphics
cards you’ve paid so dearly
for. While we enjoy cases with
“show-off” windows, we wish
that the techs at Polywell had
spent a little more time rout-
ing the cables to spots where
they would be less visible and
also would help internal air-
flow. Also, expandability is
limited by the cables and pre-
installed components.
Still, this is a quick gam-
ing system that is more than
capable of keeping a hard-core
gamer in pixel heaven. If you
don’t mind trading some flash
for cash, this system might be
right for you.
Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57,
2GB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM, two
250GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard drives,
two 256MB nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
graphics cards (SLI), dual-layer DVD
±RW drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo
drive, internal integrated sound card,
Creative P7800 7.1 surround speakers,
Windows XP Professional. $3,259
direct. Polywell Computers Inc.,
www.polywell.com. llllm

SYSMARK 2004 SE 3D BENCHMARK TESTS GAMING TESTS

Internet Splinter Splinter

Office Doom 3 Doom 3 Doom 3
High scores are best. Content (Medium quality, (High quality, (Ultra quality, Cell: Chaos Cell: Chaos
Bold type denotes first place. Productivity Creation OVERALL 3DMark05 fps) fps) fps) Theory (fps) Theory (fps)
Resolution K 1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,200 1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,200 1,600 x 1,200 1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,200
Anti-aliasing/anisotropic filtering K Default 4X/8X Off/Off 4X/8X 4X/8X Off/Off HDR/8X

Alienware Aurora 7500 SLI 218 267 241 12,836 8,689 138 100 95 148 89
Dell XPS 600 167 250 204 9,348 7,998 102 83 78 127 74
Falcon Northwest X2-4800 SLI 230 335 278 12,294 8,192 165 109 101 142 78
iBuyPower Aeon 236 270 252 12,671 9,154 136 97 93 135 82
Overdrive Torque.SLI 253 282 267 11,889 9,564 155 109 99 150 88
Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2 229 262 245 13,019 9,653 127 96 91 138 85
Velocity Micro Gamers’ Edge DualX 221 263 241 13,119 9,974 137 98 93 147 92
Voodoo Omen a121 220 263 241 13,371 10,152 138 100 95 150 94
RED denotes Editors’ Choice.

40 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


Velocity Micro Gamers’
Edge DualX
The Velocity Micro Gam-
ers’ Edge DualX is a blazing
gaming system for those who
don’t want to go beyond the
$4,000 price point, and can
forego some of the frills (such
as the automotive paint jobs,
TV tuners, and liquid cooling
systems) found in the $6,000
gaming monsters.
THE GAMERS’ EDGE gives
great performance, for less.
Using a windowed version
of Velocity Micro’s Signature
case, the latest Gamers’ Edge
is well put together, with neat-
ly tie-wrapped and routed
cables. Good thing, since the
FX- 57 and its graphics cards
are air-cooled and displayed
for all the world to see. Cool
interior lighting completes
the effect, bathing the interi-
or of the chassis with a clini-
cal blue glow. Expandability
is limited by the plethora of
components already in the
case (three hard drives, four
PCI /PCIe cards, and an inter-
nal fan that takes up another
card slot).
Thanks to the twin nVidia
GeForce 7800GTX graphics
cards, the Gamers’ Edge was
a solid performer. It trailed
the more expensive Voodoo
Omen in the Splinter Cell
1,600-by-1,200 test by only
2 f ps. T he Ga mers’ Edge
got mid-pack (though still
impres sive) scores on the
Doom 3 tests. While it may
not have bragging rights to
the top scores here, we find
that you will be hard-pressed
42 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Gaming PCs
to tell the difference during
game play. Playing 3D games
on the Gamers’ Edge, even
with the eye candy turned on
at 1,600-by-1,200 resolution,
will be smooth and detailed.
So if your priorities lie
with excellent performance,
and you can do without the
extras a $6,000 system de-
livers, save yourself a couple
thousand bucks and look at
the Gamers’ Edge.
Velocity Micro Gamers’
Edge DualX
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-
57 (overclocked to 2.94 GHz), 1GB
400-MHz DDR SDRAM, two 74GB
10,000-rpm SATA hard drives
in a RAID 0 array,
250GB 7,200-rpm
SATA hard drives,
two nVidia GeForce
7800 GTX graph-
ics cards (SLI),
dual-layer DVD ±RW drive, DVD-ROM
drive, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
sound card, Creative GigaWorks Pro
G500 5.1 surround speakers, Windows
XP Home, $3,570 direct. Velocity
Micro Inc., www.velocitymicro.com.
llllm
Voodoo Omen a121
The Voodoo Omen
a121 excels as a gam-
ing system and is one
of the best-looking
PC s we’ve ever
seen. If you have $6,000
to spend on a new PC , it
will have your friends
drooling and your gam-
ing enemies trembling.
The Omen is a Media Cen-
ter Edition PC with one tera-
byte of drive space. You can
use the DVR features of the
OS to watch and record your
favorite shows. The nVidia
graphics cards are meant for
gaming, so our Omen came
with an external Hauppauge
tuner to handle TV chores.
Of cou rse, t he Omen’s
MCE features are secondary
to its gaming prowess—and
its attention-grabbing case.
The Omen’s clear case re-
veals a highly detailed inte-
rior, with a chromed mirror
divider running through the
center. This divider has two
purposes: to separate the air-
flow between the two heat-
generating sections (CPU and
hard drives), while show-
ing off the intricate beauty
of the technology. No doubt
some of the money Voodoo
charges goes to the detail in
the case: it looks as though
someone has spent hours
cutting, crimping, and rout-
ing every wire, then polish-
ing the interior until it glows.
Again, this is the best-look-
ing machine (at least on the
inside) that we’ve seen.
The cooling tubes are filled
with blue Slurpee-colored liq-
uid, keeping the overclocked
CPU and graphics cards out
of the meltdown range. While
not a quiet PC by any means,
the system is quieter than a
purely air-cooled Athlon FX
with SLI graphics. And the
liquid cooling is likely to con-
tribute to more stable com-
puting as well, since it keeps
t he system f rom
THE INTERIOR OF THE VOODOO Omen a121 is a work of art that
features perfectly routed cables and a mirrored divider.
approaching the FX-57 ’s ther-
mal threshold, which ages the
processor rapidly.
The flash would be noth-
ing without the horsepower to
back it up, and the Omen has
that in droves. Voodoo over-
clocked the Athlon FX-57 pro-
cessor to 3.0 GH z (normally
2.8 GHz), and dropped in two
overclocked GeForce 7800
GTX KO cards. The result is
stellar scores on 3DMark05,
even at 1,600-by-1,200, and
also the best scores we’ve ever
seen on Splinter Cell: Chaos
Theory (94 fps at 1,600-by-
1,200). You will get a smooth
gaming experience even at
the highest resolutions.
Internal expandability is a
little limited by the cooling
tubes: You really don’t want
to add anything that could
rub against them. Besides,
the interior is a work of art,
and you wouldn’t want any
add-ons, and their wires, to
detract from that. Better to
use Voodoo’s Upgrade As-
surance program to help out
with future technology. The
company will upgrade the
parts you want, clean up your
system inside and out, and
then test it thoroughly before
shipping it back to you.
We close this review with
a warning: If you have the
means to buy the Voodoo
Omen a121, you had better
have the gaming skills to jus-
tify the purchase. Because
if you show up to a gaming
event with one of these, all
eyes will be on you.
Voodoo Omen a121
With 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
processor overclocked to 3.0 GHz, 1GB
400-MHz DDR SDRAM, two 500GB
7,200-rpm SATA hard drives in a RAID
0 array, two 256MB nVidia GeForce
7800 GTX graphics cards, dual-layer
DVD ±RW drive, integrated Realtek
sound card, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 sur-
round speakers, Windows XP Media
Center 2005. $6,023 direct. Voodoo
Computers Inc., www.voodoopc.com.
llllh
 FIRST LOOKS
Top Products

Our Top Desktop PCs

Visit go.pcmag.com/desktops for the full reviews of these and scores of other top-rated systems.
GAMING/MULTIMEDIA PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS AND SCORES

NEW Dell XPS 400 Direct XPS customer support and Could use a bigger hard drive. Dell’s new luxury multimedia Intel Pentium D 840 530J (3.2
$2,399 direct add-ons. Dual-core performance. desktop suits demanding users who GHz), 1GB RAM, two 160GB hard
llllh Nice widescreen display. Quiet. expect more from a system and drives, 256MB nVidia GeForce 6800
Wireless keyboard and mouse. want the best available. graphics. Doom 3 (10x7): 82 fps.

NEW Falcon Northwest Blazing gaming performance. Pricey. Fingerprints collect on case. The X2-4800 SLI delivers the rich AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (2.7 GHz),
X2-4800 SLI Attractive automotive paint. gaming experience you demand, 1GB RAM, two 300GB drives, dual
$5,671 direct Generous 600GB of drive space and with the forward-looking technology 256MB nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
llllh 3-year warranty. you need for games yet to come. graphics. Doom 3 (10x7): 165 fps.

NEW Voodoo Media Center in a gaming system. Pricey. Internal sound card instead The Omen excels as a gaming AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 (3.0 GHz), 1GB
Omen a121 Blazing gaming performance. of high-end Creative X-Fi solution. system, and has Windows XP RAM, two 500GB hard drives, dual
$6,023 direct Distinctive case. 1TB of hard drive Media Center Edition to boot. 256MB nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX
llllh space. graphics. Doom 3 (10x7): 138 fps.

MEDIA CENTER
NEW Dell Dimension Newer EM64T-compatible Hard drive is a little small for Media This is a good Media Center for Intel Pentium 4 630 (3.0 GHz),
E510 processor. Twin TV tuners. Quiet Center with TV/PVR. entry-level users or those moving 512MB RAM, 160GB drive, 256MB
$1,299 direct operation. Multimedia keyboard. beyond basic multimedia tasks. ATI Radeon X600 HyperMemory
lllhm graphics, 17-inch LCD.

HP z555 DEC HDTV tuner along with two ATSC tuner doesn’t work with The z555’s HDTV tuner is a nice Intel Pentium 4 530J (3.0 GHz),
$1,999 direct standard-def tuners. Sleek A/V satellite or cable HDTV. Some extra, with its own share of issues. 512MB RAM, 250GB hard drive,
llllm form factor. Quiet. HP Personal crashes and system slowdowns Otherwise, this is feature-packed 128MB nVidia GeForce 6600
Media drives. Plenty of I/O ports. with our early-production unit. Media Center PC. graphics. Doom 3 (10x7): 53 fps.

NEW Sony VAIO XL1 Included 200-disc CD/DVD changer. Changer is loud during some The XL1 approaches Media Center Intel Pentium D 820 (2.8 GHz),
Digital Living System More input/output ports than on operations. Single SDTV tuner. nirvana. You can load 200 CDs and 512MB RAM, 200GB hard drive,
$2,300 direct any other Media Center. 802.11g Smallish hard drive. walk away while the system rips 256MB nVidia GeForce 6200
llllm Wi-Fi. them, then load 200 DVDs. graphics.

ALL-IN-ONE
Apple iMac G5 Simple, stunning design. Quiet. Can’t upgrade graphics. Built-in Apple has another design coup PowerPC G5 (1.8 GHz), 512MB
$2,103 direct Just one cord (for power), thanks speakers don’t deliver much bass. on its hands with the iMac G5. RAM, 160GB hard drive, nVidia
lllll to optional Bluetooth keyboard and It’s about time someone made a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics, 20-
mouse. Gorgeous 20-inch screen. computer like this. inch widescreen LCD, DVD-R drive.

Sony VAIO VGC-V520G Bright widescreen display. Great A little pricey. No HDTV support. In the spirit of the Apple iMac, the Intel Pentium 4 (3.2 GHz), 1GB
$2,699.99 direct TV tuner. Wireless keyboard with Needs TV/volume controls on the PC components reside behind the RAM, 250GB hard drive, nVidia
llllh built-in touch pad. Wireless mouse. PC/TV case bezel. VGC-V520G’s 20-inch LCD. But Sony GeForce FX Go5700 graphics, 20-
Lots of included software. adds a TV tuner and a DVR. inch LCD. SYSmark: 174.

VALUE AND MIDRANGE

NEW Compaq Presario Dual-layer DVD writer. Good Lackluster 3D game performance. The SR1620NX has a lot of appeal AMD Sempron 3400+ (1.8 GHz),
SR1620NX performance. DX9 graphics for entry-level users, and the 512MB RAM, 160GB hard drive,
$499 direct capabilities. FireWire ports. Seven tech-savvy tinkerer will like the 256MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200
llllm USB ports. PCIe x16 expansion slot. expandability. graphics. SYSmark: 142.

Velocity Micro Better-than-average graphics Only one optical drive. The Vector SX-V offers the latest Intel Pentium 4 540 (3.2 GHz),
Vector SX-V card. Motherboard supports the technologies, a wide upgrade path, 512MB RAM, 120GB hard drive,
$999 direct latest technologies. Loaded with and enough horsepower to satisfy nVidia GeForce 6600 graphics.
llllh multimedia features. gamers and multimedia enthusiasts. SYSmark: 188.

BUSINESS
HP dx5150 Business Windows XP x64-capable. PCI x16 Half-height slots. May not fit your The dx5150 benefits from the AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2 GHz),
Desktop slot for graphics upgrades. AMD- current disk image directives. future-proofing and hardware- 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive,
$915 direct enhanced virus protection. Quiet. based virus protection that the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics.
llllm Built-in dual-display capabilities. AMD Athlon 64 platform offers. SYSmark: 155.

ANALYST'S TIP
JOEL SANTO DOMINGO, Lead Analyst
If you want the ultimate 3D gaming experience, one graphics card—no matter how fast—doesn’t cut it
anymore. You need a dual-card setup. By the time you read this, ATI will have introduced its CrossFire tech-
nology, which is similar to nVidia’s SLI in that both use two GPUs in tandem to improve performance for 3D
games. We’re eager to see which solution comes out on top.

44 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com J U M P T O N E X T PA G E >>


Welcome to Media Center Nirvana
BY JOEL SANTO DOMINGO
The Sony VAIO XL1
Digital Living Sys-
tem disproves the
notion that all the
cool technology is
found only in the Japanese
domestic market. Designed
to be the true Media Center
in your home theater, the
XL1 can replace your TiVo,
CD cha nger, DV D player/
changer, DVD recorder, and
any older Media Center
PC you have put in your
rec room. The XL1 looks
more like a piece of
stereo equ ipment
t h a n a computer,
and that is part of its
appeal. It improves
on the capabilities
of Microsoft Win-
dows XP Media Center Edi-
tion 2005 and brings added
convenience to those with
extensive media libraries.
The XL1 Digital Living Sys-
tem consists of two halves:
the VGX-XL1A main unit and
the VGP -XL1B 200-disc CD/
DVD changer. The XL1B is the
muscle of the system. You can
load 200 CDs into the chang-
er’s slot-load drive, call up
the MCE interface, select the
“manage discs” menu item,
and walk away while the sys-
tem rips all 200 CDs onto the
VGX-XL1A’s 200GB hard drive.
In our testing, the XL1 still
took 3 to 4 minutes to trans-
fer each CD, but it does all 200
consecutively, so you can let
it run overnight.
After you’ve ripped your
CD s to the system’s ha rd
drive, you can keep as many
as 200 DVDs in the changer.
The XL1 keeps track of them,
so they can be called up and
played at a moment’s notice.
The latest build of the OS sup-
ports lookup over the Internet
for album and DVD covers,
so you know at a glance what
DVD or CD you’re enjoying.
You can keep a mix of CD s
FIRST LOOKS
Media Center PCs
and DVD s in the changer if
you so wish. The XL1B mod-
ule can recatalog the discs in
the background, so the system
knows which CDs and DVDs
you have available in case you
swap discs out.
The XL1B can also burn
content to DVD s. Let’s say
you’ve just recorded the en-
tire Seinfeld saga from your
local affi liate onto your hard
INSIDE THESE SLEEK COMPONENT CASES reside a Media Cen-
ter PC (right) and matching 200-disc CD/DVD changer.
drive. To free up disk space,
you can insert as many as 200
blank discs and let the system
burn your programs to DVDs
that can be used in any con-
sumer DVD player. The XL1’s
Click-to- DVD burning util-
ity is well integrated into the
MCE interface, and it takes
only a few clicks to burn your
shows. It will even let you
know how many blank DVDs
you have in the changer, and
if you need to add more to
complete your project.
T h e VG X - X L 1 A i s t h e
brains of the system, using
a 2.8- GH z dual-core Pen-
tium D 820 processor. The
CPU ensures that hiccups
during operation are kept to
a minimum; we saw the pic-
ture freeze briefly only once,
while we were performing
two ha rd-drive-intensive
operations simultaneously
(ripping CDs to the hard drive
while fast-forwarding and
rewinding live TV). During
normal operations, such as
updating virus defi nitions in
the background while watch-
ing and recording live TV, the
system ran smoothly.
Connecting the XL1A to
the XL1B is a simple proce-
dure: You need only plug in
one i. LINK /FireWire cable,
and the two halves are made
whole. Other connectors on
the XL1A include HDMI (High
Definition Multimedia In-
terface) and compo-
nent video ports for
connecting to HDTV
and S/PDIF optical
inputs. The system also in-
cludes i. LINK , S-Video, and
four USB 2.0 ports. A neatly
hidden digital media reader
is on the front panel for cards
from your digital camera.
There’s an antenna port on
the back panel for the includ-
ed 802.11b/g wireless card.
One major issue we have
with the XL1 system is the
relatively small 200 GB hard
drive. Although 200GB is siz-
able for an average desktop
user, it is barely adequate for
a heavy DVR user who wants
to record entire seasons of
several shows and keep them
all on the hard drive. Sure,
there are two spare internal
drive bays (for up to 1.2TB of
hard drive space) and several
i. LINK /FireWire ports for
external drive upgrades, but
living-room PC s typically
follow the consumer elec-
tronics model: Buy it, set it
up, and forget it.
D u r i n g o p e r a t i o n , we
found the system to be (for
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE
the most part) quiet enough
for t he liv i ng room . T he
one exception was during
changer operations: When
you first load a CD or DVD,
the changer spins rapidly up
to a loud level before slowing
to near silence; the sound is
kind of like what you hear
when you first read a DVD
in a notebook or desktop
PC (but much louder). This
d i sc speed-up a nd slow-
down sound is different from
the “ CD changer is chang-
i ng discs” noise fa m i lia r
to most CD changer
users. (The changer
makes that noise, too,
of course.) This is a
strong argument for
placing the XL1B chang-
er in a closed cabinet or
closet, not in your A/V rack.
We tested the XL1 with an
LCD HDTV, using an HDMI
cable, and with a CRT-based
rear-projection HDTV, using
a more common component
video cable. Both solutions
worked wel l, t houg h t he
HDMI / LCD combo provided
the best picture—mainly be-
cause the HDMI connection
is less susceptible to interfer-
ence from other components
in the A/V rack. The XL1 is
desig ned specif ica lly for
home-theater use; there is no
VGA port for connecting to a
typical PC monitor.
All told, the Sony VA IO
XL1 Digital Living System is
a great step forward in the
integration of the PC into the
living space. Just budget for
an extra hard drive, and have
it installed before you put the
XL1 in your living room.
Sony VAIO XL1 Digital Living
System
With 2.8-GHz Intel Pentium D 820,
512MB 533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 200GB
SATA hard drive, nVidia GeForce 6200
graphics, dual-layer DVD±RW drive,
200-disc dual-layer DVD±RW changer,
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. $2,300 direct. Sony Elec-
tronics Inc., www.sony.com. llllm
61

Apple iPod Rocks Videos, Too
BY MICHAEL KOBRIN
D
on’t call it the Video
iPod, the vPod, or any-
thing that indicates
that this is a video player. It’s
simply the iPod, which now
just happens to have video-
playback abilities, a larger
screen, a thinner profi le, and
improved audio capabilities
(such as high-quality stereo
recording). Consider that you
can now get the 30GB model
(with all its enhancements)
for the same price as the pre-
vious-generation 20GB model,
and you have a pretty impres-
sive product.
The new 30GB iPod is 30
percent thinner tha n the
previous 20GB color model,
but the height and width are
the same. Even the new 60GB
model is roughly 10 percent
slimmer than the old 20GB
model. This may not seem
like a big difference on paper,
but we were impressed with
the new model’s slimmed-
down figure when we held
the two side by side.
The 2.5-inch backlit LCD,
at 320 by 240 pixels, is notice-
ably bigger than the previous
2-inch 220 -by-176 screen.
Apple did eliminate the 9-
pin remote-control connec-
tor in this version, reasoning
that accessories should go
through the already-present
dock connector rather than
through a second propri-
etary port.
A new Videos menu i n
the interface offers access
to video playlists, Movies,
Music Videos, and Video
Podcasts (audio podcasts
and audiobooks reside in the
Music menu). You can enable
or disable TV output, toggle
between NTSC and PAL for-
mat, and turn the widescreen
feature on and off. The stop-
watch and screen lock that
were introduced with the
iPod nano are also present,
although you can now have
64 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Entertainment Technology
up to three lap timers on the
screen at once, thanks to the
larger LCD. On our battery
rundown test, we measured
16.5 hours of battery life for
the 30GB model, using a real-
world mix of MP3 files encod-
ed at from 128 to 320 Kbps.
The device is rated at 2 hours
of video playback.
The player supports MOV,
M P4 , a n d M 4 V ( A p p l e ’s
DRM -protected video con-
tent) video files. Content is
available through the iTunes
Music Store, and includes
2,000 music videos, multiple
episodes of five TV shows
(including Lost and Desper-
ate Housewives), six Pixar
animated shorts, and plenty
of free video podcasts.
You can put your own vid-
eo files on the new iPod
(not just those
purchased from
iTunes), but you
may need to use
QuickTime Pro
($29.99 direct) to con-
vert the files first via
the new Export to
iPod function,
depending
on what co-
dec was used
to encode the fi les o r i g i -
nally. And of course, mov-
ies you create in iMovie are
supported as well. There are
also several tips that have ap-
peared online for how to get
TiVo and DVD content onto
your iPod.
We downloaded an epi-
sode of Lost and a few video
podc a st s , a nd fou nd t he
viewing experience remark-
ably comfortable. Brighter
shots looked very clear and
crisp, though, as with most
devices that play back com-
pressed video, you can often
see compression artifacts
(like blockiness and banding)
in dark areas. One nice touch
is that the iPod remembers
the point in a video when you
stop watching, so any time
you go back to it, you can sim-
ply resume from where you
left off. You can also scrub
through video, though not in
real time; you scroll through
a progress bar, and the video
jumps to the point where you
stop scrolling.
THE IPOD FEATURES a larger
screen and video playback, all
in a more slender package.
The iPod’s photo capa-
bilities remain largely un-
changed, though there are
now some new 3D transitions
for your slide shows. The big-
ger screen, however, does let
you see more of your photos
than before. We’d like to see
Apple add support for pan-
ning and zooming in images.
But the iPod’s main focus
is still music, and Apple (once
again) has quietly enhanced
the headphone output qual-
ity. Most users won’t hear the
difference in Apple’s stock
earbuds, but if you use bet-
ter headphones, you’ll hear
slightly more robust bass and
less distortion. We like that
during audio playback album
artwork and lyrics now stay
on the screen, rather than the
device returning to the Now
Playing screen.
One impressive new fea-
ture is the ability to record in
stereo at 44.1 kHz in WAV for-
mat via the dock connector.
Of course, this will require a
third-party adapter or micro-
phone with a dock connector,
but the feature has been in de-
mand for quite some time and
vastly improves upon the pre-
vious version’s weak 8-kHz
sample rate.
Recordings you make are
accessible two ways: An auto-
sync feature in iTunes grabs
them from your iPod and puts
them right into your iTunes
library, restriction-free; the
fi les are also stored in an un-
hidden folder on the iPod,
so you can access them in
disk mode as
well—which
could be very
handy for off load-
ing onto a device that has
a USB host port or a PC that
doesn’t have iTunes on it.
Unlike the last two genera-
tions of the iPod (and perhaps
more notably the iPod nano),
the new iPod ships with a
slipcover to protect your pre-
cious player from scratches,
which show up easily on the
black model. Apple has also
released another accessory:
The new Apple Universal
Dock supports an IR remote
and A/V-mini-jack-to-RCA or
S-video output for watching
your video content on a big
screen. The iPod ships with a
dock adapter so the iPod fits
securely in the Apple Uni-
versal Dock.
Apple iPod 30GB
$299 direct (30GB); $399 (60GB).
Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.com.
lllll

Archos Updates Its Media Player
BY MICHAEL KOBRIN
N
ever far from the fore-
front of portable enter-
t a i n m e nt , A rc h o s
has upgraded its pocket-size
portable media player (the
well-regarded Gmini 400)
to include a few of the latest
technologies. The new 20GB
Archos Gmini 402 supports
PlaysForSure and Windows
Media DRM for video and au-
dio. The new model has also
jettisoned the previous mod-
el’s CompactFlash card slot in
favor of a more practical USB
host port for connect-
ing directly to USB
mass storage class de-
vices. Overall, we’re
ju st a s i mpre s sed
with the new version
as we were with the
original, though we
noticed a few features
t hat cou ld sti l l use
some tweaking.
The Gmini 402’s de-
sign is sleek, with a silver
plastic shell and a 2.2-inch
color LCD that is relatively
bright. The analog controls
are quite confusing, though,
as many of the buttons per-
form either redundant func-
tions or do the opposite of
what you’d expect.
In Music mode, the
screen provides a wea lth
of i n formation about the
file being played as well as
a two- channel level meter,
which comes in handy, espe-
cially when you’re recording.
You can create, edit, rename,
and delete multiple playlists
as well as manipulate fi les in
various ways directly on the
device. The Gmini 402 also
syncs with Windows Media
Player 10, but, unfortunately,
you can’t transfer playlists
to the player (though the fi les
in the playlists were suc-
cessfully synced). An iTunes
plug-in is also available so
you can sync the Gmini 402
with iTunes—but the device
66 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Entertainment Technology
does not support Apple’s
AAC format.
Subjective sound quality
with the included earbuds is
adequate, but highs seem
suppressed and mushy, and
deep bass is lacking. When
we plugged in our high-end
Etymotic ER- 4P in-ear head-
phones, however, sound qual-
ity was very close to pristine,
with plenty of detail as well
as excellent bass response.
On our audio lab tests, the
Gmini 402 performed well,
turning in a nice flat frequen-
THIS POCKET-SIZE
player can handle your audio,
video, and digital photos.
cy response with solid bass,
rolling off just a bit in the
lowest octave. Distortion is
admirably low until you push
the volume to one step from
the top of the 99-step scale.
The device has plenty of
power as well, consistently
driving the included earbuds
to 101dB, with peaks of 105dB
using our rock test track.
The Gmini 402’s recording
capabilities are stunning: It
captures audio in PCM WAV
or ADPCM WAV format at up
to 48 kHz via either the head-
phone jack (you’ll have to use
the included line-in adapter)
or the built-in microphone.
You can even set the title of
the recording via a virtual
keyboard. We heard mini-
mal hard drive whine in our
microphone recordings, and
when we used a powered
microphone, we got even bet-
ter results. One of the best
features of the device is the
ability to edit your record-
ings; you can crop tracks or
cut from the middle.
J P E G a n d B M P p h o to s
look very good on the small
screen, and, although we
noted some jagged edges, the
pixel spacing is tight enough
that images retained some
crispness and had bright,
accu rate colors. We like that
you can pan and zoom pho-
tos, view them individually
or in groups of four or nine,
and set photos as your
wallpaper. Slide-show
features are a bit lim-
ited: You ca n set the
time between slides, but
there are no transitions
between them, and you
can’t play music while
watching a slide show.
Video is smooth and
sharp, with good color. In
a n i m ated scenes , jagged
edges become slightly more
noticeable, but not terribly so.
You can easily set the screen
format to 16:9 or 4:3 aspect
ratios, and the player sup-
ports MPEG - 4 SP in AVI for-
mat up to 720 by 480 pixels at
30 frames per second. Using
the TV output and included
A/V cables, we viewed pho-
tos and video on our 37-inch
TV monitor, and everything
looked very crisp (though
compression artifacts in our
animation were more notice-
able on the big screen).
Compared to the new iPod,
the Gmini 402 has a slightly
smaller screen, but better
battery life when playing vid-
eo (5 hours, versus 2 for the
iPod). With the Apple player,
you also get a handy source
(iTunes) for content. And the
iPod wins in the form-and-
function department. But the
Gmini 402 is a strong choice.
Archos Gmini 402
$329.95 direct. Archos Inc.,
www.archos.com. llllm
IN SHORT
eVGA e-GeForce
7800GT
Pros: Increased clock
rate over stock nVidia
GPU. Great perfor-
mance. Package in-
cludes Battlefield 2. Lifetime
warranty.
Cons: Still a tad pricey.
Bottom line: eVGA juices up
the clock rates in their version
of the nVidia 7800GT offering
and bundles in Battlefield 2.
The result is a superb per-
former that even includes a
lifetime warranty.
$388 street. eVGA, www.evga.com.
llllh
Pioneer
XW-HT1
Digital
Wireless
Speaker
System
Pros: Good sound. Easy
to set up. Good reception.
Cons: Distorts when used as
a standalone wireless stereo
speaker.
Bottom line: The XW-HT1 adds
value to any home theater
that doesn’t already include a
true surround speaker setup.
It’s also dead simple to set up
and operate, and we think it’s
a pretty good value.
$200 street. Pioneer Electronics
Inc., www.pioneerelectronics.com.
llllm
X-OOM Movies on PSP
Pros: Create your own MPEG-4
video content to play on the
Sony PSP.
Cons: Utility doesn’t convert
encrypted DVDs.
Bottom line: X-OOM Movies
on PSP is a straightforward
program that helps you
convert video content to
MPEG-4 format and load it to
a Memory Stick for playback
on the PSP. It can’t convert
encrypted DVDs (blame Holly-
wood, not the company), but
it can handle most other video
formats.
$26.99 direct. bhv Software GmbH &
Co., www.x-oom.com. lllhm
For an in-depth look at these products,
go to go.pcmag.com/guides.
 FIRST LOOKS
Top Products

Our Top Entertainment and Storage Products

Visit go.pcmag.com/guides for the full reviews of these and scores of other top-rated storage and entertainment products.

PORTABLE MEDIA PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS

NEW Apple iPod Video looks great on the sharp, Still no pan and zoom for photos. It’s the same excellent music player, 30GB hard drive; 2.5-inch color
$300 street clear screen. Slim design. Well Audio recording requires adapter. now with the added bonuses of screen; AAC, MP3, WAV, JPG, BMP,
lllll integrated with iTunes. Excellent video support, audio-recording capa- MP4; 4.8 ounces; battery life: 14
new audio-recording features. bilities, and enhanced audio quality. hours (audio), 2 hours (video).

Apple iPod nano Very thin. Excellent sound quality. No photo pan or zoom. No FM tuner The iPod nano has an unsurpassed 4GB flash memory; 1.5-inch color
$250 street Color screen. or voice recording. interface, excellent sound quality, screen; AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless,
llllh and an undeniable cool factor. MP3, WAV, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF;
battery life: 14 hours.

NEW Archos Gmini 402 Very good sound quality. Nice- Battery life could be better. No Overall, the Gmini 402 is a fine 20GB hard drive; 2.2-inch color
$329.95 direct looking screen. Video playback FM tuner. No calendar/contacts. player that will satisfy the techie screen; AVI, MP3, WAV, WMA,
llllm is very good. Excellent audio- Buttons are confusing. crowd, but there are a few features JPEG, MP4; 5.6 ounces; battery life:
recording capabilities. we’d like to see in future versions. 10 hours (audio), 5 hours (video).

NEW Delphi XM Roady Small size. Good price. Ticker func- Smallish display can be hard to The XM Roady XT is the smallest, XM satellite radio receiver, 3-line
XT tion for scores and stock quotes. read at a glance while driving. simplest way to add satellite radio monochrome display, 4.0 ounces.
$100 street Coming accessories will expand its to your car.
lllll usefulness beyond the car.

MobiBLU DAH-1500i Very small and light. Good sound. Controls lock via a button instead of The bite-size MobiBLU DAH-1500i 1GB flash memory; four-line
$130 street Excellent recording capabilities. a switch. Included headphones don’t is the smallest, most impressively monochrome screen; MP3, WMS;
llllm Innovative charging/USB cable. let you carry the player in your pants full-featured flash player we’ve 0.6 ounces; battery life: 10 hours.
pocket. Battery life could be better. seen yet.

Tao XM2go Cool-looking design. Rugged feel. Must be powered off to perform The XM2go is a solid portable XM XM satellite radio receiver,
$265 street Buttons are prominent and well scheduled recordings. Indoor satellite radio receiver that lets 128MB flash memory, 2.2-inch
llllm placed. Records up to 5 hours of reception isn’t great. Bulky. you record songs to the built-in monochrome screen, 7.2 ounces;
content. hard drive. battery life: 5 hours.

GRAPHICS CARDS, SOUND CARDS

Creative Sound Blaster Enormous feature set. Stunning No remote. Limited connectivity. The XtremeMusic boasts a huge 7.1 channels, 24-bit/192-kHz
X-Fi XtremeMusic audio quality. Outstanding interface. feature set. It delivers great playback, 24-bit/96-kHz recording.
$130 street Can restore badly recorded or performance and outstanding Codecs: Dolby Digital EX, DS3D,
llllh compressed content. Good value. sound quality for the money. EAX, DTS, MLP, OpenAL.

Creative Sound Blaster Enormous feature set. Stunning Pricey if you don’t need all its The Platinum has all the 7.1 channels, 24-bit/192-kHz
X-Fi Platinum audio quality. Outstanding features. connectivity you need, plus the playback, 24-bit/96-kHz recording.
$200 street interface. Flexible I/O box fits into ability to repair low-bit-rate MP3 Codecs: Dolby Digital EX, DS3D,
lllll a 5.25-inch drive bay. files and badly recorded CD tracks. EAX, DTS, MLP, OpenAL.

NEW eVGA e-GeForce Increased clock rate. Great Still a tad pricey. eVGA juices up the clock rates in its nVidia GeForce 7800 GT GPU
7800GT performance. Package includes version of the nVidia 7800GT. The (445MHz), 256MB RAM (1.1GHz),
$388 street Battlefield 2. Lifetime warranty. result is a superb performer that PCIe, 1,920-by-1,080 top resolution.
llllh even includes a lifetime warranty. Doom 3: 111 fps (1,280-by-1,024).

STORAGE SOLUTIONS
Pioneer DVR-R100 Fast 8X dual-layer and 16X single- No bundled MP3 encoder. The DVR-R100 combines state-of- 16X DVD-R, 16X DVD+R, 8X DL
$89.99 list layer recording. 8X rewriting. the-art recording speeds and a DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 8X DVD-RW, 8X
llllh Outstanding Ulead software terrific Ulead software bundle at a DVD+RW, 40X CD-R, 32X CD-RW.
bundle. Affordable price. reasonable price. 4.7GB DVD-R test: 6:32.

Seagate External Hard Large storage capacity. Convenient. Software not terribly convenient. A convenient way to increase PC 400GB external hard drive; FireWire
Drive (400 GB) Stacking design. Secure. One- storage or sneakernet your data 400, USB, USB 2.0. Disk transfer
$340 street button backup. around the home or office, this drive rate: 29.2 GBps (USB 2.0), 38.4
llllh is a very good addition indeed. GBps (FireWire).

ANALYST'S TIP
MIKE KOBRIN, Lead Analyst
Video is becoming increasingly prominent in handheld entertainment gadgets. While this feature can be
very compelling, look for a device that focuses on what’s most important to you, whether it’s audio, video,
photos, or gaming. After all, if video is really your top priority, something like a video iPod won’t be nearly
as satisfying as a portable media player with a large, sharp screen and perhaps even recording capabilities.

68 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


Two Winning PDAs from Palm
BY SASCHA SEGAN
P
alm Inc. has released
t wo new PDA s , a nd
both are winners in our
book. The $99 Palm Z22 is
ideal for students or gadget-
phobes who have been
reluctant to commit to a PDA ,
while the Palm TX is a solid
midrange offering aimed at
business users who need Wi-
Fi connectivity that doesn’t
break the bank.
Palm Z22
The Palm Z 22 is a
PDA pared down to
its essence. Small (2.7
by 4.1 by 0.6 inches,
HWD) and light (3.4
ounces), the Z22 has a little
bit of that Apple-esque iLook
about it. The front panel has
big contacts and calendar
buttons, a power button, and
a five-way navigation rocker,
and that’s it; there isn’t even a
headphone jack. Battery life is
excellent—we got 8 hours, 25
minutes of continuous use.
Though it might resemble a
toy, it isn’t. The Z22 can hold
plenty of Palm OS software
and documents in its 20MB
of available, non-perishable
memory; you sync programs
and information with a stan-
dard USB cable or via infra-
red beaming. A 200 - MH z
processor—the same used
in its predecessor, the Zire
31—can handle almost any
program designed for the
low-res, 4,096-color, 160-by-
160 screen.
In fact, the Z22 is a lot like
the popular Zire 31 with-
out the Zire’s memory card
slot. It’s smaller, lighter, and
cheaper than its predecessor,
with a bit more built-in mem-
ory. We miss the card slot, but
we understand Palm had to
make sacrifices to keep the
Z22 under $100.
Palm ships the Z22 with the
usual array of Palm Desktop
PIM software that lets you
70 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
PDAs
manage contacts and calen-
dars or sync your existing
Microsoft Outlook PIM with
your handheld. A few per-
sonal-organization programs
also come on the included
CD : SplashShopper, Han D-
B ase, and SplashPhoto. We
also wanted to make sure that
other, not-included popular
games and applications would
run on the device, so we tried
out Bejeweled, Tradewinds,
and the excellent Documents-
ToGo suite from DataViz
(the best program available
for reading Microsoft Office
documents on a Palm), all of
which worked well. And yes,
there’s full Mac support.
Pundits say basic PDAs like
the Z22 should be dead now
that cell phones have PDA
functions, but we disagree.
Most phone PDA s are dif-
ficult to use and even more
difficult to sync. The Z22 is a
simple, easy-to-use device for
non-techies who want to stay
organized, play a few games,
and read a few e-books. The
Z22 ’s friendly design, simple
software, and reasonable
power make it the best entry-
level PDA and a fine follow-up
to the Zire 31.
Palm Z22
$99 direct. Palm Inc.,
www.palm.com. llllm
THE Z22 doesn’t have a lot of
features, but that’s the point.
Palm TX
The terrific Palm TX
is the paragon of the
Palm PDA . A long,
slim slab that closely
resembles the earlier
Tungsten T5, the TX has an
SD memory card slot, built-
in Wi-Fi, and a huge 4-inch
screen, which is excellent for
surfing the Web or reading
documents.
We connected easily to
both WEP and WPA enabled
Wi-Fi networks on our TX ,
viewing Web pages in Palm’s
Blazer browser and down-
loading e-mail using Palm’s
VersaMail program. The TX
can also access the Internet
through Bluetooth phones.
Its list of supported phones is
better than the T5’s, though
there are still some conspicu-
ous omissions, such as the
Nokia 6620.
We were surprised to fi nd
that Palm’s Blazer browser
was more compatible than
Microsoft’s Mobile Internet
Explorer on some Web pag-
es (such as Amtrak’s home
page). We were less surprised
to find that, compared with
the new Pocket Office suite
on Windows Mobile hand-
helds, the DocumentsToGo
suite from DataViz (which is
bundled with the TX) opens
Microsoft Office documents
faster and maintains format-
ting just as well. We were
also excited to hear that the
upcom i ng Version 8 .0 of
DocumentsToGo promises
a decent PDF reader, some-
thing Palm OS devices have
never had.
Palm Desktop syncs well
with Microsoft Outlook PIM
information. And yes, the TX
comes with Mac support.
The TX also beat the HP
iPAQ rx1950 on all of our per-
formance tests: it plays video
more smoothly, opens Web
pages and Microsoft Word
documents more quickly, and
is easier to set up on Wi-Fi
networks. We used the in-
cluded PocketTunes for MP3
playback and the free Core
Media Player for video; both
work well, and PocketTunes’
Deluxe version ($34.95) sup-
ports protected WMA-format
audio. Yes, the high-end Dell
Axim X51v beats the TX in
most ways, but it’s also $200
more expensive.
THE BIG SCREEN on the Palm
TX makes it a pleasure to use.
The TX ’s main weakness
is its battery life. At just over
4 hours with Wi-Fi off, it’s
almost exactly on a par with
Palm’s LifeDrive. Most mod-
ern Pocket PC s come in at 5
or 6 hours. The Tungsten E2
and T5 lasted nearly 8 hours
and 5 hours, respectively.
Palm’s switch to Windows
Mobile 5.0 for its Treo de-
vices is a nod to corporate
buyers who prefer that OS ’s
seamless integration with
Exchange servers and other
Microsoft infrastructure.
But the Palm TX proves that
the Palm OS can still hold its
own for PIM , Web surfing,
and even some multimedia
uses. We think it’s the best
m id ra nge PDA ava i lable,
even though its battery life
leaves a bit to be desired.
Palm TX
$299 direct. Palm Inc.,
www.palm.com. llllm
 FIRST LOOKS
Top Products

Our Top PDAs and Phones

Visit go.pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and scores of other top-rated PDAs and phones.

PDAS PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS

Dell Axim X51v Windows Mobile 5.0 operating Slower at some tasks than models The Axim X51v is loaded with top- Windows Mobile 5.0 OS, 624-MHz
$499 list system brings welcome based on previous OS. Improved, notch features yet can be had for a CPU, 64MB RAM, 3.7-inch 640-by-
llllh improvements. Excellent value. but still so-so, battery life. reasonable price. 480 display, 802.11b, Bluetooth, SD
and CF slots. Battery life: 4:38.

NEW Palm TX Big screen. Inexpensive for a Wi-Fi Comparatively poor battery life. The balance of price and Palm OS 5.4, 312-MHz CPU, 128MB
$299 direct PDA. Very good document software performance make the Palm TX a RAM, 4.0-inch 320-by-480 display,
llllm and Web browser. Slim. terrific midrange PDA. We just wish Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SD/MMC slot, 5.2
its battery lasted longer. oz. Battery life: 4:06.

NEW Palm Z22 Inexpensive. Small and light. Easy No memory-card slot. The Palm Z22 is a fine basic PDA Palm OS 5.4, 200-MHz CPU, 32MB
$99 direct to use. that won’t pinch your budget. RAM, 2.5-inch 160-by-160 display,
llllm 3.4 oz. Battery life: 8:25.

PHONE/E-MAIL DEVICES AND SMARTPHONES

Audiovox SMT 5600 Smallest Windows Smartphone. Can’t play music or video over The SMT 5600 phone is your best GSM, GPRS, Windows Smartphone
$199.99 Excellent music and video support. Bluetooth headset. Poor camera. option for taking Outlook PIM data OS, 200-MHz CPU, 2.2-inch display,
llllm Excellent battery life. Great design. and many kinds of music and video 0.3MP camera, Bluetooth, miniSD
on the go. slot, 4.2 oz. Talk time: 8:23.

Nokia 6682 Excellent voice quality. Good Small keys. Battery life could be The 6682 is a powerful, flexible Symbian OS, 220-MHz CPU, 10MB
$350 street camera with bright flash. Symbian longer. smartphone that never forgets it’s RAM, 2.2-inch 176-by-220 display,
llllm third-party software available. first and foremost a phone. 1.3MP camera, MMC Mobile slot,
GSM/EDGE, 4.6 oz. Talk time: 7:28.

palmOne Treo 650 Good battery life. International Service plan costs more than that The Treo 650 performs better on Palm OS 5.4, 312-MHz CPU, 32MB
from Cingular voice and data roaming. Fast EDGE of Sprint’s Treo 650. Cingular’s network than on Sprint’s, RAM, 2.6-inch display, 0.3MP
$549.99 direct modem. but you’ll pay more for the speed. camera, Bluetooth, SD slot, GSM,
llllh GPRS/EDGE, 6.3 oz. Talk time: 7:33.

PHONES
Motorola E815 Excellent reception. Very good Can’t use phone as PC modem. The E815 is the most powerful, CDMA, EV-DO, 2.2-inch 176-by-220
$299.99 list battery life. MP3 player. Good Unusual predictive text system. flexible Verizon handset, with very display, 1.3MP camera, 64MB RAM,
llllm price (as low as $100 with service good reception and an attractive 4.6 oz. Talk time: 4:43.
contract). Mac support. price.

Motorola Moto Razr V3 Absolutely gorgeous. As thin as its Screen attracts grease. Not a great The Razr V3 is the ultimate GSM, GPRS, 2.2-inch 176-by-220
$299.99 list name implies. camera. see-and-be-seen phone for style display, 0.3MP camera, 5MB RAM,
llllm mavens. Bluetooth, 3.3 oz. Est. talk time:
7:06.

Motorola V551 Bright, sharp screen. Good camera. No external photo caller ID or For making calls, sending pictures, GSM, GPRS, 2-inch 176-by-220
$209.99 direct Built-in IM client. speaker-independent voice dialing. and occasional laptop Internet display, 0.3MP camera, 6MB RAM,
llllm access on the Cingular network, the Bluetooth, 4.3 oz. Talk time: 8:27.
V551 is your best choice.

Nextel i355 Good price (as low as $99 with Bulky. The i355 is a very good iDen 800, Direct Talk 900, 1.5-inch
$249.99 list service contract). Off-network communication tool for those who 130-by-130 display, 6.9 oz. Talk
llllm walkie-talkie. Very rugged. work (or play) outdoors. time: 9:58.

Sprint MM-A800 The only 2-megapixel camera Bulky. Though the camera is The MM-A800 is the ultimate CDMA, 1XRTT, 2-inch 320-by-240
by Samsung phone in the U.S. Lots of cutting- excellent, many other features bleeding-edge convergence display, 2MP camera, 32MB RAM,
$499.99 list edge features. aren’t quite perfect. phone and the best camera phone 4.3 oz. Talk time: 5:11.
llllm available today.

ANALYST'S TIP
SASCHA SEGAN, Lead Analyst
If you enter a lot of data on your phone or PDA, an add-on keyboard can be a real timesaver. Even if your PDA
already has a thumb-style keypad, an add-on model (with its larger keys) can significantly speed up your
typing. Even the most basic PDA can support a wireless IR keyboard, as can some smartphones. Look to your
device’s manufacturer for add-ons, or to peripheral providers such as Belkin and Think Outside.

72 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


The Ink Jet That Acts Like a Laser
BY M. DAVID STONE
Every so often some-
one comes out with a
printer that doesn’t
fit well into the usual
categories. The Ricoh
Aficio G700 is the latest exam-
ple. Although it’s technically
an ink jet, in that it sprays ink
directly on paper, it’s a new
variation on ink jets. More
important, the speed, qual-
ity, and price are much more
in line with entry-level color
lasers than with ink jets. All
of this means its best fit is
with the same small-office or
heavy-duty home- office
u ser s who m ig ht
otherwise choose a
color laser.
The G700 measures
8.6 by 19.3 by 18.5 inches
(HWD) and weighs a
hefty 24 pounds.
T h at ’s big ger
and heavier
t h a n most i n k
jets, but still a lot
lighter than most low-
end color lasers. Setup is
straightforward. Simply load
paper, install the four ink
cartridges, plug in the power
cord and USB cable, and in-
stall the software. You will
also find an alignment routine
in the driver, but according to
Ricoh, there’s never a need to
align the printhead, since it’s
permanently installed in the
printer rather than being part
of the ink cartridges.
The most important differ-
ence between the G700 and
garden-variety ink jets is in
the ink technology. The ink
is a highly viscous gel rather
than the usual liquid. As a re-
sult, it penetrates plain paper
on contact, then dries almost
immediately. That, in turn,
makes it feasible to put ink
on paper more quickly than
with liquid ink, since there’s
no need to wait for the ink
to dry. The G700 also uses a
wider printhead than stan-
FIRST LOOKS
Printers
dard ink jets, which helps
yield the fast speed.
Because of the G700’s per-
formance claims, we tested it
with both the ink jet version
of our business applications
suite and the laser version
(using QualityLogic’s hard-
ware and software to time
the tests in both cases, www
.qualitylogic.com). The ink
jet version includes two 12-
page Microsoft Word files.
The laser version substitutes
two 50-page fi les.
THE AFICIO G700 prints with
ink, but its speed is more like
that of a color laser.
On the ink jet version of
the suite, the G700 turned
in a record-setting 6 min-
utes 35 seconds total, cutting
the previous record—13:10
for the HP Business Inkjet
1200d—in half. Even more
impressive, the G700 sped
through the laser version
of the test in 13:48, which
also qualifies as a new record
for laser-class color printers
in its price range. The fastest
true color laser we’ve tested
that’s priced at $600 or less
is the Samsung CLP - 5 10N,
with an 18:14 total. And the
Editors’ Choice HP Color
Laserjet 2600n was even
slower, at 21:09.
O ut put qu a l it y i s a l so
laser-like, with ratings at
the high end of very good for
text, the high end of good for
graphics, and the high end
of fair for photos. Compared
with ink jets, the text rating
is high and the photo rating
low; most ink jets these days
deliver photos that attain or
at least approach true photo
quality. But compared with
color lasers in its price range,
the text quality is a notch be-
low the most common score,
photos are just a bit below
average, and graphics are
solidly midrange.
The G700 barely missed
an excellent rating for text,
with just under half
the test fonts easily
readable at 4 points,
and none needing
anything larger than
6. That’s certainly
good enough to han-
dle anything you’re
likely to throw at it.
Graphics are marginally
good enough to use when
you want output that reflects
well on your professional-
ism. However, default mode
shows obvious banding, so
you’ll need to use the best
mode when quality counts.
Photos are best described
as newspaper quality—good
enoug h for cl ient new s -
letters or Web pages, but not
much more.
Wit h its slig htly less
than ideal quality, the G700
doesn’t offer quite enough to
replace the HP Color Laser-
jet 2600n as our Editors’
Choice for entry-level color
laser-class printers. But it
does offer enough to earn a
spot beside it, with the 2600n
still our pick if you care more
about output quality, and the
G700 the winner if you care
more about speed.
Ricoh Aficio G700
$449 list. Ricoh Corp., www
.ricoh-usa.com. OVERALL llllm
Text llllh Graphics lllhm
Photos llhmm
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE
IN SHORT
Canon image-
Class MF5770
Pros: Fast
performance.
Excellent text.
Handy 50-page
automatic document feeder.
Works as standalone copier
and fax machine.
Cons: Photo quality barely
earns a rating of fair.
Bottom line: The Canon
imageClass MF5770 offers
just about everything a small
or home office needs in a
laser all-in-one. If you won’t
miss printing in color, this is a
very good choice.
$500 street. Canon U.S.A. Inc.,
www.usa.canon.com. llllm
OKI Printing Solutions
ES1624n MFP
Pros: Standalone
color copier and e-mail
sender, plus 50-page
ADF. Scans to FTP site.
Cons: No standalone fax.
Bottom line: The ES1624n
MFP offers most of the fea-
tures a color laser all-in-one
should have. But it’s pricey
for the small to medium-size
offices and workgroups it’s
meant for.
$2,800 street. OKI Printing Solutions,
www.okiprintingsolutions.com.
llhmm
Lexmark T640n
Pros: Exceptional
performance.
Convenient print-
ing of common file
formats directly
from USB keys. In-
cludes network connector.
Cons: Photo quality is at the
low end of the range for a
monochrome laser.
Bottom line: The Lexmark
T640n delivers fast per-
formance for its price and
engine speed, capable paper
handling, and some notable
conveniences, including the
ability to print PDF files di-
rectly from USB memory keys.
$1,049 direct. Lexmark International
Inc., www.lexmark.com. llllm
For an in-depth look at these products,
go to go.pcmag.com/printers.
77
 FIRST LOOKS
Top Products

Our Top Printers

Visit go.pcmag.com/printers for the full reviews of these and scores of other top-rated printers

PHOTO PRINTERS PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS AND SCORES

Canon i9900 Photo Fast printing on photos. True photo- No memory card slots. Eight ink colors give the Canon Photo or all-purpose ink jet; 8
Printer quality output. Direct printing from i9900 true photo-quality output; colors; 13x19; direct printing from
$499.99 list PictBridge cameras. Fast enough to 6,144 nozzles enable it to print cameras. 4x6 photo: 0:30.
lllll serve as an all-purpose printer. photos at breathtaking speeds.

Epson PictureMate Prints from computers, memory Limited to a maximum photo size This PictureMate offers high-quality Photo ink jet; 6 colors; 4x6; direct
Deluxe Viewer cards, PictBridge cameras, and of 4x6. output, plus the ability to preview printing from cameras and memory
$249.99 direct USB drives. True photo quality. images on a color LCD before cards. 4x6 photo: 1:30.
llllh Color LCD to preview images. printing. It can even run on battery.

HP Photosmart 8250 High-quality output. LCD screen. Text quality, while good, is low for a For photos, the HP 8250 offers fast Photo or all-purpose ink jet; 6
$199.99 direct Separate 4x6 tray makes it easy to photo ink jet. Photos are water- and printing and very good quality. It colors; legal size; direct printing
llllm switch between printing documents smudge-resistant, not waterproof also handles text and graphics well, from cards and cameras. Business
and photos. or smudge-proof. making it a good all-purpose printer. app suite: 15:01. 4x6 photo: 1:07.

PERSONAL AND SMALL-OFFICE PRINTERS AND ALL-IN-ONES

Canon Pixma iP4000 Fast performance for photos and No memory card slots. The iP4000 is a good choice thanks All-purpose ink jet; 4 colors; legal
$149.99 direct business applications. Direct to its speed, very good output size; direct printing from cameras.
llllm printing from cameras. Duplex quality, and unusually sophisticated Business app suite: 15:48. 4x6
printing. Two input paper trays. paper handling for an ink jet. photo: 1:05.

Canon Pixma MP760 Good to very good print quality. No ADF. No fax features. Equipped with a transparency Print, scan, copy; photo or all-
Photo All-in-One Fast performance. Transparency adapter, the MP760 can scan and purpose ink jet; direct printing from
$299.99 list adapter for slides and 35-mm film. print directly from slides and film. cameras and cards. Business app
llllm Can print directly from slides. suite: 15:27. 4x6 photo: 1:08.

HP Color LaserJet Low price. Good performance. Output quality for photos and With its low price, the 2600n could Color laser; 8 ppm mono and color;
2600n Excellent text. Includes Ethernet graphics is slightly below that of readily replace an ink jet as a legal size; Ethernet. Business app
$400 street connector. more expensive color lasers. personal printer. It could even serve suite: 21:09. 4x6 photo: 0:31.
llllm a few users on a network.

NEW Ricoh Aficio High-quality text. High-quality Network adapter is optional and The G700 is technically an ink jet, All-purpose ink jet; 4 colors; legal
G700 graphics in best quality mode. external. Graphics in default mode but behaves like a color laser. It size. Business app suite: 6:35 (ink
$449 list Extraordinarily fast performance. show banding, which limits the offers extraordinary performance jet suite), 13:48 (laser suite).
llllm Duplexing standard. usefulness of default mode. and high-quality text and graphics.

Samsung ML-2250 Compact size. Excellent text Photo quality is at the low end The ML-2250 is faster than most Monochrome laser; 22 ppm; legal
$230 street quality. Good performance. Ample for inexpensive monochrome personal monochrome lasers, and size; optional networking; optional
llllm paper handling for a personal lasers, though it’s acceptable for the 550-page maximum capacity is duplexing. Business app suite: 8:09.
printer. newsletters and the like. enough even for sharing the printer.

WORKGROUP PRINTERS AND ALL-IN-ONES

Epson AcuLaser Fast performance and good output Can’t fax from a PC. Network Epson’s first U.S. color laser deliv- Print, scan, copy, fax; color laser;
CX11NF quality. Prints and scans over a installation isn’t as smooth as it ers fast performance, good-looking 25 ppm mono, 5 ppm color; legal
$799.99 direct network. Standalone copier and fax should be. output, and most of the features size; Ethernet. Business app suite:
llllm machine. Includes 50-page ADF. you need in an all-in-one printer. 18:30. 4x6 photo: 0:57.

HP Officejet 7410 Fast. Very good graphics and Text quality is acceptable for most With the 7410 you get fast perfor- Print, scan, copy, fax; 6-color ink
All-in-One photos. Ethernet and wireless users but less than ideal for those mance, good to very good quality, jet; legal size; direct printing from
$499.99 direct networking. 50-page ADF. Prints who need extremely small type. and a 50-page ADF, plus Ethernet cameras. Business app suite: 16:11.
llllm from memory cards and cameras. and 802.11g wireless connections. 4x6 photo: 1:51.

Xerox Phaser 6300DN Extraordinarily fast for the price. Output, while very good, falls short Appropriate for a large workgroup Color laser; 36 ppm mono, 26 ppm
$1,499 direct Easy installation. Includes duplexer of excellent (even for text). or a small to medium-size office, color; legal size; Ethernet, duplexer.
lllm and network connector. the 6300DN is fast and feature-rich. Business app suite: 7:07.

ANALYST'S TIP
M. DAVID STONE, Lead Analyst
All-in-one printers are growing in popularity, but most affordable models have been based on ink-jet or
monochrome-laser engines. Epson’s AcuLaser CX11NF marks the coming-of-age of the home and small-office
color laser all-in-one as a category. It’s not the first color laser AIO by any means, but it’s the first one that’s
good enough to deserve an Editors’ Choice, and that makes the category finally ready for prime time.

78 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


Light, Bright Projector
BY M. DAVID STONE
There aren’t many
projectors light
enough to serve as
a constant traveling
compa nion. But at
2.2 pounds and small enough
to slip in a briefcase or com-
puter bag, t he ViewSonic
PJ256D qualifies.
Once you get where you’re
going, the PJ256D can do the
job you brought it for, with
a native XGA (1,024-by-768)
resolution and a big, surpris-
ingly bright image. We
mea su red it at 1 , 581
lumens, easily bright
enough to project a rea-
sonably large image in
a brightly lit room. The
unit’s contrast ratio was
289:1, an excellent score,
and in keeping with our ex-
pectations for the DLP engine.
Trade Up to a Bigger Screen
BY JOHN R. DELANEY
T
he Sharp LL-193A is a
good choice for home
and office users who
wish to move up to a 19-inch
LCD monitor—if you don’t
mind investing in analog-
only technology.
A Mode button lets you
choose one of four display
modes for the 1,280-by-
1,024 panel (such as STD
for standard office light-
i ng env i ron ments a nd
Vivid for brighter colors).
If your PC utilizes one
of the newer DV I -only
g raph ics ca rds, you’l l
have to use a DVI-analog
adapter (not included),
as the LL - 193A does not
support digital inputs.
Because the spea kers are
built into the rear of the
monitor, the sound is muted
to an extent, but that may be
a good thing, since the audio
quality is subpar at best.
80 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
FIRST LOOKS
Displays
Image quality was generally
good. We saw some minor
flaws in our tests with Dis-
playMate (www.displaymate
.com), but nothing serious
enough to create problems
for viewing. The very top and
bottom of the image were mar-
ginally brighter on the right
side than on the left, which
shows in the somewhat higher
than average 1.58:1 brightness
variance. The change is grad-
ual enough, however, for it not
to be an issue.
THE TINY
PJ256D fires a bright image.
On images from our
Di splayMate tests (www
.displaymate.com), the LL-193A
scored points for overall color
quality and screen uniformity.
Text readability was generally
good (legible at 6.8 points) but
not spectacular. Dark gray-
scale performance was also
good, although extreme low
g rays were
IT ISN’T PERFECT, but the
LL-193A is good for the price.
As is typical for DLP pro-
jectors, yellow tends toward
a dingy mustard, and parts
of the image can break up
into little red-green-blue
rainbows if you sweep your
gaze across the screen. But
color ramps, on which most
projectors show at least some
visible steps, were absolutely
smooth, as they should be.
Video from a DVD player
also fared well. With no on-
board audio, you’re limited to
silent movies unless you have
a separate sound system.
But the lack of audio seems a
small enough price to pay for
a projector that’s as conve-
nient as it is easy to use, and
produces as good an image as
the PJ256D.
ViewSonic PJ256D
$1,500 street. ViewSonic Corp.,
www.viewsonic.com. llllm
slightly blurred. The panel
did badly on the light gray
performance tests, however,
especially on the white-level
saturation test, where nearly
every box appeared white.
Similarly, the low-saturation
color and 64-step grayscale
tests revealed poor high-
grayscale reproduction.
Although there was no-
ticeable smearing of moving
images when we ran our PC
Maga zi ne L abs black-to -
white motion tests, it was
considerably less than we’ve
seen with other 8-ms LCD
panels. Gamers will appre-
ciate the monitor’s smooth,
artifact-free performance, as
will video enthusiasts. The
LL - 193A lived up to its 160-
degree viewing-angle rating
and then some; color shifting
was minimal at all angles.
Sharp LL-193A
$429.99 direct. Sharp Electronics
Corp., www.sharpusa.com. lllmm
IN SHORT
HP mp3135
Pros: Bright im-
age. Excellent im-
age quality. Small
and lightweight.
Straightforward
on-screen menu.
Cons: Uncomfortably low
volume and poor sound qual-
ity. Carrying case doesn’t quite
have room for all the cables
you may want to take with you.
Bottom line: The HP mp3135
isn’t the least expensive pro-
jector on the block by far, but
it offers a bright screen paired
with excellent image quality.
Poor sound quality is its only
Achilles’ heel.
$2,299 direct. Hewlett-Packard Devel-
opment Co., www.hp.com. lllhm
NEC LT20
Pros: Impres-
sively bright
image for the size.
Excellent contrast
ratio. Just 2.2 pounds. Includes
carrying case.
Cons: No audio. Hard to elimi-
nate jitter.
Bottom line: It’s only 2.2
pounds and small enough to
fit in a briefcase with room
to spare, but the NEC LT20
still delivers a bright image
and excellent contrast ratio.
There’s no audio, and poten-
tially more annoying is the
lack of remote mouse control.
$1,495 list. NEC Solutions (America),
www.necvisualsystems.com.
lllhm
Sony SDM-S75A
Pros: Good viewing
angle performance.
Thin bezel. Excel-
lent text readability.
Cons: Lacks height
adjustment. Function
buttons are difficult
to read. Limited stand
adjustment.
Bottom line: The Sony SDM-
S75A is an affordable 17-inch
LCD monitor that delivers
good image quality, but don’t
expect a lot of extra features
from this no-frills display.
$315.99 direct. Sony Electronics Inc.,
For an in-depth look at these products,
www.sony.com. lllhm
go to go.pcmag.com/guides.
 FIRST LOOKS
Top Products

Our Top Displays

Visit go.pcmag.com/displays for the full reviews of these and scores of other top-rated monitors, projectors, and HDTVs.

MONITORS PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS

Dell Widescreen Impressive image quality. Minimal picture adjustments in DVI This is an astonishing value for a 24-inch LCD (1,920-by-1,200), 16:10
UltraSharp 2405FPW Exceptional resolution (1,920-by- mode. Takes up a lot of room for a 24-inch, widescreen LCD, delivering aspect ratio, 12-ms claimed pixel
$1,199 direct 1,200 WUXGA). Aggressive price. desktop LCD. a bright, gorgeous picture. response rate.
llllh Built-in 9-in-1 memory card reader.

Samsung SyncMaster Portrait-mode rotation. Excellent Weak printed documentation. The SyncMaster 213T is an 21.3-inch LCD (1,600-by-1,200), 4:3
213T image quality. Analog and digital Smearing on moving images. excellent monitor, from the high- aspect ratio, 25-ms claimed pixel
$899 list connections and cables. quality LCD panel to the design response rate, portrait mode.
llllh detail throughout.

PC MONITOR/TV HYBRIDS
Samsung SyncMaster Excellent viewing angle. Good Stand lacks height adjustment and Featuring built-in TV and FM radio 19-inch LCD (1,280-by-1,024), 4:3
930mp image quality. Built-in TV and FM does not swivel. Does not include tuners and a wide array of connec- aspect ratio, 25-ms claimed pixel
$700 street radio tuners. DVI cable. tion options, this multipurpose response rate. Contrast ratio:
llllm display is worth every penny. 1,000:1.

Sony MFM-HT75W Great image quality. Well-designed Screen technology is best suited for Delivering great image quality 17-inch LCD (1,280-by-768),
$600 street remote control. Incorporates light-controlled environments. and a useful selection of A/V NTSC tuner, 16:10 aspect ratio,
llllm analog audio/video inputs and an features, the MFM-HT75W handled 16-ms claimed pixel response rate.
integrated NTSC TV tuner. everything we threw at it with ease. Contrast ratio: 800:1.

PROJECTORS
Dell 1100MP Lots of premium features at an Focus is soft in upper corners. Dell has created a winning projector SVGA (800-by-600) DLP engine,
$799 direct extremely low price. Generally No mouse function on remote. by paying attention to detail. The 1,400 claimed lumens (1,429
llllh good image quality. Rugged Standard warranty covers only 1100MP delivers much more than its tested), 4.9 pounds.
carrying case. one year. stripped-down competitors.

Toshiba TDP-T91U Document camera is removable. Larger than some other projectors. The TDP-T91U delivers excellent XGA (1,024-by-768) DLP engine,
$1,899 direct High brightness. Comes with two No auto-sync button on remote image quality, room-filling bright- 2,000 claimed lumens (2,018
llllh remote controls. control. ness, and a document camera, tested), document camera, 8.2
making it a versatile choice. pounds.

NEW ViewSonic PJ256D Impressively small and light (2.2 No on-board audio. Needs up to 2 Weighing just 2.2 pounds, the XGA (1,024-by-768) DLP engine,
$1,500 street pounds). Surprisingly bright image minutes to cool down before you PJ256D is light enough to bring 1,500 claimed lumens (1,581
llllm for its size (1,581 lumens). can pack it up. along all the time, and delivers a tested), 2.2 pounds.
bright, high-quality image.

HDTVS
Brillian Natural image quality (with Lacks an integrated HD tuner. The 6501mPB ranks as the best 65-inch LCoS RPTV, 1,280-by-720,
6501mPB good video sources). Illuminated Needs professional installation. RPTV we have seen to date. But ATSC, CableCard, NTSC tuners.
$5,999 list universal remote. Best-in-class Mediocre composite video quality. achieving optimal image quality is Viewing angle: 170 degrees (horiz.).
llllh contrast ratio. best left to an installation pro. Contrast ratio: 2,000:1.

Dell W4200 Solid image quality. Good on-screen Needs some color/brightness/ It’s tough to beat this deal. The 42-inch plasma, 1,024-by-768,
HD Plasma TV display controls. Dual built-in contrast adjustments out of the box 42-inch Dell W4200 HD Plasma TV NTSC and ATSC tuners. Viewing
$2,799 direct tuners (NTSC and ATSC). Good because default settings look a bit delivers very good image quality at angles: 170 degrees (horiz. and
llllm price. washed out. a very competitive price. vert.). Contrast ratio: 2,300:1.

Optoma Good image quality. Quiet Recessed S-Video input The MovieTime provides good DLP front projector, 854-by-480,
MovieTime DV10 operation. Portable. Advanced incompatible with some premium image quality and quiet operation, DVD player. Maximum image size:
$1,499.99 list image controls. A/V cables. delivering a complete portable 99 inches. Contrast ratio: 4,000:1.
llllm cinema package at a fair price. Brightness: 1,000 lumens.

Sharp Aquos Detailed imagery. Responsive Lacks support for 1080p input via The LC-45GX6U offers impressive 45-inch LCD, 1,920-by-1,080, ATSC,
LC-45GX6U universal remote control. DVI/HDMI. Minor grayscale/color clarity with high-quality HDTV. It’s CableCard, NTSC tuners. Viewing
$7,499.99 list Comprehensive and quick menu tracking problems. the best of the big 1080p LCD TVs angles: 170 degrees (horiz. and
llllm system. Analog and digital tuners. available today. vert.). Contrast ratio: 800:1.

ANALYST'S TIP
M. DAVID STONE, Lead Analyst
DLP projectors generally combine good image quality with affordability, but they can suffer from a rainbow
effect, with areas of the image breaking up into their composite colors. Some projectors are more prone to
it than others, and some people are more sensitive to it than others. So when you buy a DLP projector, be
sure you can return it with little or no restocking fee, and do a test run with a group of people.

84 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com J U M P T O N E X T PA G E >>


FEEDBACK
‘‘ With Apple’s current rate of innovation, you may
have to convert to a weekly.
H A M R A D I O : W H E N A LL E L S E FA I L S
Thank you! Thank you! And thank you! Being a
Ham Radio (or Amateur Radio if you prefer) op-
erator, it’s heart-warming to see a magazine other
than a Ham publication pointing out the services
we provide. We strive to provide a communica-
tions network when all other methods fail. In fact,
the Ham Radio motto is “When all else fails. . . .”
Every year we run through a mock disaster known as Field Day
where we set up in local parks (or other nonmodern areas) and
set up tents, generators, radios, and antennas in order to oper-
ate for 24 hours as if it were a disaster. It gives us the ability
to hone our skills as well as make the public aware of why we
exist. I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more
about Ham Radio to visit the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) Web site (www.arrl.org) and join the incredible com-
munity! Thank you again for bringing our efforts to the main-
stream media, and keep up the great work at PC Magazine.
Matthew M. Moog, KC9COY
A N A PPLE A W E E K
After downloading iTunes Version 6 and perusing the specs
for the iPod Video, I sat down to read the November 8 issue
with a First Look at the iPod nano and iTunes Version 5. With
Apple’s current rate of innovation, you may have to convert to
a weekly.
Mark Maisonneuve
S I M P LI F Y C O M P U TI N G
Don Taber wrote, “A huge number of people want the benefits
of a computer but don’t want to spend any time understanding
it” (Feedback, November 8). Exactly right. You could say the
same thing about automobiles. People want to go someplace
without having to understand the difference between fuel
injection and carburetion. What’s wrong with that? People
want to exchange e-mail and search the Web without having
to understand the difference between a modem fi rewall and
an antivirus program. What’s wrong with that?
It’s time the industry started providing a service that’s as
easy to grasp as learning to drive. Blaming the customer just
How to Contact Us
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
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E-MAIL pcmag@ziffdavis.com. MAIL Feedback, PC Magazine, 28 East 28th
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All letters become the property of PC Magazine and are subject to editing. We
regret that we cannot answer letters individually.
go.pcmag.com/feedback
’’
leads even more people to want to throw the
computer out the window.
Bob Barker
S I M PLI F Y FI R E WA LL S
In regard to “What About Linux-based Fire-
walls?” (Feedback, November 8), I admire the
goals of the SmoothWall group, but they will
run up against the difference between can and should. Yes,
one can take a PII boat anchor and turn it into a state-of-the-
open-software-art firewall, but the greater need is for an even
simpler firewall for millions of people who need one, but can’t/
won’t build one, or want one with lower energy cost. (What’s
that PII going to take, 100 watts, minimum?)
I have two better suggestions. No power supplies, no hard
drives, hardly any space taken at all! (1) Go to eBay and buy a
Linksys BEFSR11 router for $6 and be done with it! Rock-solid,
cheap, and 10 watts to run. (2) Here’s an entrepreneurial op-
portunity. Many homes have just one computer and a classi-
cally carefree owner; how about a self-contained firewall on a
PCI card? One RJ45 jack for connection to the system’s Ethernet
jack, one RJ45 jack for the DSL modem, and touch the PCI in-
terface only for a sip of 5-volt DC power. Or how about a tiny
external brick that plugs in between the DSL modem and the
computer, and a USB connector for power? A thing of beauty:
platform-independent, zero footprint, low energy usage.
Martin E. Swartz
N OT AG A I N
I have been a PC user since DOS was Version 1.1. I have been
through Microsoft Windows rollouts for all versions except
Windows 2000. I read your Vista review and it came over me
like a flood. Not another one, no more. I went out and bought a
Mac PowerBook. I just could not do it again.
John Spence
NONSENSE
The September 20 issue of PC Magazine (page 24) discussed
Google’s AdSense program in the Internet Business column.
Great concept, but very un-Google like in execution. I manage
an animal-rescue site, and ended up getting fed mainly ads for
selling animals over the Internet. This was worse than getting
porno ads, and is akin to an adoption site displaying ads for sell-
ing babies! We quickly dropped AdSense and hope that Google
does a better job at matching ads and sites sometime in the
future. For now, sites using AdSense need to watch what gets
advertised!
Dave Cohen
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 93
John C. Dvorak
Xbox 360 to the Rescue
eal progress in desktop computing always
R stems from gaming. Even the invention of
spreadsheets was a sort of game, and all
the display technologies were boosted by
gamers. But in the mid- to late 1990s, the
scene began to focus purely on business comput-
ing, giving it a largely undeserved leadership role.
As a result, the innovative game coders and free-
thinkers were spun off into their own world. But
they were the ones who were needed to make grand
schemes of integration and convergence work. The
business dudes thought that good ideas would mag-
ically work themselves out through free-market
forces. That didn’t mean savvy game developers; it
meant outsourcing to India. The result is a stagnant,
half-dead gaming business.
Luckily Microsoft’s Xbox 360 crew, and other
game developers, are working on cool stuff that
will cross over to PC s. When game developers
retake their rightful place on top of the hill of prog-
ress, we’ll all be better off. Needless to say, I am
impressed by the Xbox 360.
The Xbox 360 explores new menu structures
with a unique and pleasant GUI . One often-
overlooked element that the Microsoft games
group brings to the party is its unique GUIs that are
unlike the folder/desktop metaphor that Xerox and
Apple developed. Though Microsoft adopted this
“folders” model for Windows, the company also
developed many other interfaces, especially dur-
ing the CD -ROM era. Some of these are phenomenal
and are still being explored by the gaming folks.
One of the PC industry’s challenges has always
been integration. The Media Center PC has so
much functionality that it may be overwhelming
for users who can’t figure how to turn off underlin-
ing or Caps Lock while typing in Microsoft Word.
The commercial failure of the Media Center PC
and other initiatives is generally because of their
increasing complexity. Any hardware or software
product will, over time, incorporate new features
rather than improve old features. Inevitably, the
learning curve becomes too steep for new users.
Thus, the product is usable only by longtime users.
This is happening with Adobe Photoshop and
Illustrator and with some smartphones. It has also
happened with many “hard-core” video games. The
term hard-core reveals their market: people who
have played the earlier versions to an extreme.
The temptation to add more and more fea- I have not seen
tures to a product—“creeping featurism”—seems
irresistible. Adding this and that is a lot easier than
fi xing complicated or obscure features. This is the
checklist approach to development: Once a feature
is added and checked off the list, it is time to move
to the next. It doesn’t matter that the feature is in-
credibly difficult to use.
a hardware/soft-
ware system as well
thought out as
the Xbox 360 for
This is a problem with clones of Microsoft Word a decade or more.
and PowerPoint. The clones have all the features
on the checklist, but try to use them or even fi nd
them! The best Word clones should be either func-
tionally identical to Word—keystroke for key-
stroke—or totally simplified. But making software
easier is harder than simply adding features.
This brings me back to the Xbox 360, which has
incorporated complex new features but seemingly
has not overshot the user’s abilities with hard-to-
use features. In fact, I have not seen a hardware/
software system this well thought out for a decade
or more. But what’s remarkable is the potential for
the Xbox to open the market for the Media Center
PC by becoming a middleman or coordinator.
Microsoft personnel are rightly proud of how
the Xbox 360 (which operates in conjunction with
either regular TV or HDTV) can, when hooked up to
a network, function as a Media Center PC if there’s
also an actual Media Center PC on the network.
I’m sure not everyone sees the importance of this.
Media Center PCs have not done well for a number
of reasons. Nobody wants one whirring away in the
family room. Most people prefer to have one or two
PCs in places where work is done. To make mat-
ters worse, game consoles, which are usually kept
in the TV or family room, chew up connectors, and
it’s miserable to hook and unhook jacks constantly
from the TV sound and video system.
It seems as if the Xbox 360 can be plugged in
like any game console and act as a Media PC proxy
without the inconvenience. This is genius, and the
best example of integration I have seen. Note that
this came from game designers and not from busi-
ness software developers. The sooner we realize
that creativity is centered in the game business,
the better off the entire industry will be.
MORE ON THE WEB: Read John C. Dvorak’s column
every Monday at go.pcmag.com/dvorak. You can
reach him directly at pcmag@dvorak.org.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGA ZINE 97
 JOHN C. DVORAK
Inside Track
T
he Technology That Will Never Die Dept.:
Now the Europeans are hot and heavy into
power-line networking and have estab-
lished the Open PLC European Research
Alliance (OPERA, not to be confused with the
browser named Opera). They expect to establish a
worldwide standard by the end of this year—which
is quite a rush job, it seems to me. This technology
has one of the bumpiest histories of anything I’ve
ever followed, and still has not resolved its basic
radio-interference problems, which occur under
too many circumstances. This move seems to be
an attempt to slow down the runaway success of
802.11 wireless networks that are harder for cen-
tral governments to control. That’s what this is all
about.
Podcasting in Full Tilt Mode Dept.: While it took
people some time to figure out exactly what a blog
is (the majority of folks who go online still do not
know), the same may not be true for the next on-
line fad: the podcast. Named after the diminutive
iPod, these are audio fi les that are meant to be au-
tomatically loaded via an RSS feed into an iPod or
other MP3 player and appear on the playlist. They
are best equated with radio shows and many, in
fact, are exactly that. Lots of TV and radio shows
have been turned into podcasts for downloading.
Ebert and Roeper is available, as is Hardball with
Chris Matthews. Yours truly can be heard on the
podcast for podcast’s sake show This Week in Tech
(www.twit.tv).
There are an estimated 50,000 podcasts avail-
able on an ongoing basis, though that number
may be low. Most of them consist of guys shooting
the breeze. Others are wannabe talk-show hosts.
There is no one kind of show. Most of it is neither
very good nor interesting.
A true podcast was designed to be an attach-
ment to an RSS syndication feed from a Web site,
to which you would subscribe just as you would to
a news feed. Recent research has shown that only
about 35 percent of knowledgeable users can even
figure out how to use an RSS feed, let alone sub-
scribe to a podcast attached to one. The RSS scene
became popular during the blog boom, as it al-
lowed bloggers to keep track of each other’s post-
ings as they appeared. Before you knew it, there
were thousands of feeds. All blogs now have them
built in, and most online publications use the tech-
nology too.
The problem with RSS is there are both a lot
of fl aky standards and earnest competitors such
as Atom and other distribution systems. If using
RSS isn’t confusing enough, you can imagine how
daunting it is to create a podcast and then get it to
work with RSS so that people can subscribe to it. It
was a far-from-trivial task, until the appearance of
the jazzy podcasting kit that you can get from the
folks at M-Audio. With a good microphone, the M-
Audio Fast Track interface box, and Podifier soft-
ware, you should be able to get on the air with your
ramblings for around $180. M-Audio has a lot of
cool stuff for musicians and amateur broadcasters
too. Check out the company’s Web site, at www
.m-audio.com.
Backup Breakthrough Dept.: People who run
small businesses know that the best sort of
backup is an archival backup on tape. That has
always been an expensive proposition, but re-
cently Quantum, the leader in standard DLT tape
backup technology, released a sub-$1,000 320GB
tape drive, which stores data for $0.12 per giga-
byte. The best deal ever! Dubbed the Quantum
DLT-V4, this drive comes with excellent software,
including special programs for regulatory compli-
ance (Sarbanes-Oxley, anyone?). It’s backward-
compatible with other DLT systems and can use
VS160 media as well. It’s available with SATA or SCSI
Ultra 160 interfaces. This should be a real winner
for the company.
Of course, you’ll need this sort of backup for
the upcoming large hard drives. And you’ll need
to get a lot of tapes. Hitachi and Seagate have both
already announced half-terabyte hard drives, and
that means we’ll have a terabyte drive by Christmas
of next year.
While on the Subject of Hard Drives Dept.: I have
to say that I was impressed by an upgrade drive
that Hitachi is marketing. This is a 100GB, 2.5-
inch, 5,400- RPM notebook drive for those of you
who need big storage on your notebook, for mov-
ies or whatever. It should work with almost any
Hitachi and notebook, and the drive is quite easy to remove
and install. It sells for around $140 and includes
Seagate have an enclosure so you can use your old drive as a por-
announced table drive. Or you can put this drive in the enclo-
sure and move fi les to it before installing it in the
half-terabyte notebook.
hard drives; Whatever the case, these little USB enclosures
are very cool. Kudos to Hitachi for putting one
that means in the box. These enclosures are the rage in Asia,
we’ll have a where people also like to buy removable hard drive
kits that let you use the larger CD -ROM–size tem-
terabyte drive plate to slam and remove a hard drive placed in a
by Christmas special interface enclosure. Most small computer
shops have these for about $15. Better than dual-
of next year. boot, and perfect for moving drives from point A
to point B.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 99
Jim Louderback
Speakers of the House
’m convinced that audio speaker companies
I are run by retired military contractors. With
war machines you have throw weight, dis-
placement, and S-bend distortion. Step into
a speaker store, and you’ll be accosted by air
displacement, front-facing drivers, presence, and
negative diffraction.
Like military equipment, many speakers seem
as overpriced as a $640 military-grade toilet seat.
A decent set of speakers can cost less than $200—
but you can spend thousands on what often look
like refugees from the set of Serenity.
But what if you just want a nice-sounding set of
speakers to augment your PC or notebook? Do you
have to spend hundreds of dollars? I was in that
boat recently. I fi nally got fed up with the miser-
able speakers on my ThinkPad X40 —located con-
veniently on the bottom of the system. Tiny, tinny,
and often obscured, they were hardly better than
the single speaker found in IBM’s original PC. But I
didn’t want to spend a lot—and I didn’t care much
about air displacement scores (although I did won-
der idly what all that air was displaced with).
So I set out to fi nd a decent set of stereo speak-
ers—with subwoofer—for less than $50. Best Buy
yielded the cheapest speakers in the test, a $25 rig
from Cyber Acoustics. Circuit City came up with
two $49.99 offerings—the Creative Inspire T3000
2.1 and the Logitech X-230 . For the same price,
CompUSA produced the Altec Lansing VS2221.
I then rounded up 11 of my coworkers, connected
the speakers to a laptop, and conducted a series of
listening tests using a mix of audio files ranging
from Beethoven to Stereolab, along with a PC ver-
sion of Halo. My guinea pigs were allowed to twid-
dle the volume and bass controls to their hearts’
content, to achieve the best sound for their ears.
Each set theoretically includes a subwoofer, but
Cyber Acoustics stretched the definition to the
breaking point—theirs was simply a 3-inch speaker
bolted to the bottom of a small cabinet. The others
had more traditional designs, albeit clad in
marketing mumbo-jumbo. Creative’s was made
from “ported wood,” Logitech claims “dynamic,
real-time bass equalization,” while Altec Lansing
describes its subwoofer as “front-firing” and “long-
throw.” Gosh, I hope it doesn’t break any windows.
The Creative speakers were the only ones to put
tone controls on a convenient, separate remote.
The others scattered them about the speaker cabi- Even though it
nets—except for the Cyber Acoustics, which didn’t
offer any tonal adjustments at all.
Satellite speaker design also varied greatly. I was
disappointed by Altec Lansing—the wires had to
pass through the poorly designed plastic feet of the
front speakers during setup, the audio equivalent
of pushing a camel through the eye of a needle. Al-
scored slightly lower
on the listening
tests, I still think
Logitech’s X-230
tec Lansing also includes an audio-shaping option offers the best overall
called SFX—X is for “Xpander” —which claims to value in my low-cost
widen the sound field. The effect was underwhelm-
ing, and actually made Green Day sound worse. speaker tests.
Logitech’s satellite speakers, in contrast, fea-
tured a nifty rotating stand, for fashionable wall
mounting. Creative’s stands were removable for
wall mounting. These two, along with the Altec
Lansing, included both a tweeter and midrange
speaker in each satellite, which delivered better
sound across the board than the single-speaker-
based Cyber Acoustics.
How did they sound? When it comes to low-cost
speakers, ugly goes to the core. The Cyber Acous-
tics were roundly criticized as not worth even the
paltry price of $25. Wimpy, weak, and tinny were
some of the nicest things that testers called them.
Creative’s speakers created some controversy.
Some testers found them nearly perfect; others
thought they sounded terrible. That’s probably
due to the awesome subwoofer that delivers a pro-
digious amount of bass. But the rest “sounds shal-
low,” as one person put it; another described the
speakers as “flat.”
Altec Lansing’s speaker systems were the best
received by our testers. If not for the poor satellite
design and the cheap-feeling buttons, I could rec-
ommend these unconditionally. They’re a fi ne set
of speakers, but not the best of the test.
Although it scored slightly lower on the listening
tests, Logitech’s X-230 offers the best overall value.
These speakers crank, delivering a “fuller sound”
than the others, even at high volumes. Although ei-
ther of the top two will deliver a good experience,
the X-230 s get the nod. Now if only I could figure
out the throw weight of those front-facing drivers,
I could erase negative diffusion from my life.
MORE ON THE WEB: You can contact Jim Louderback
at Jim_Louderback@ziffdavis.com. For more of his
columns, go to go.pcmag.com/louderback.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGA ZINE 101
Bill Howard
The Case for Digital SLRs
hopping for a new digita l ca mera?
S Instead of paying $400 for an incremen-
tal improvement on the 4 megapixels
and 3X zoom you have now, take a deep
breath and set aside $1,000 or, more
likely, $1,500 for a digital single-lens-reflex camera
(D-SLR) with two zoom lenses, an electronic flash,
a high-capacity memory card, and a tripod.
A D-SLR with interchangeable zoom lenses can
capture the width of a room or fi ll the frame with
your golden retriever tussling with a stick 30 feet
away. Sophisticated controls make most pictures
turn out perfectly, whether you set the shutter and
aperture or just turn the settings dial to Automatic.
You can crank up the sensitivity in low light to the
equivalent of ISO 1600 or 3200 film speed.
In plain English, you can capture an image with-
out resorting to harsh flash in many indoor settings.
The autofocus locks in quickly, and the shutter
responds right away; if you click it as your dog leaps
for a Frisbee, that’s what you’ll capture, not Rover
back on the ground a second later. The shirt-pocket
cameras work best outdoors under shadow-free
daytime sky, with subjects standing still and no
more than 10 feet away. Everything else is a com-
promise, and that’s why you should think D-SLR .
With your D-SLR , you’ll probably want two
lenses: an 18- to 70mm wide-angle to short telepho-
to (35mm film camera equivalent: 29- to 105mm).
You’ll also want a serious telephoto lens, say 55- to
200mm (equal to 80- to 300mm); my preference is
70- to 300mm (equal to 105- to 450mm). With that
lens, you can sit in the stands at a sports event and
fill the frame with two players on the far side of the
field. (Because of image-sensor size, most D-SLR
lenses have a 1.5 multiplier effect; a 35mm D-SLR
and 50mm film SLR camera both cover about 46 de-
grees horizontally.)
Indoors, you’ll want a separate electronic flash
with a tilting head, so you can bounce light off the
ceiling to produce pictures free of harsh shadows.
Or you can use a tripod. If a little motion creeps in,
it adds a lifelike quality.
I recently tried three of the most popular high-
end consumer, low-end pro D-SLR s: the Canon EOS
Digital Rebel XT, the Nikon D50 , and the Nikon
D70 s. You’d be fine with any of the three. Canon
sells more cameras, so there’s a better chance a
friend has a lens you can borrow. Also, it has better
resolution than the Nikons: 8MP versus 6MP. One Everything else
version of the D50 , our current Editors’ Choice,
packages the camera and two lenses covering 18-
to 200mm for about $1,000 street, which is what
you’d call a relative bargain even in an era of $300,
5MP, mainstream point-and-shoots.
A decent electronic flash that can be controlled
by the camera runs $250 to $400. That seems high
is a compromise,
and that’s why you
should think D-SLR.
to me, but you can’t argue with the quality of the
pictures. Much of the time you’ll want to have your
camera on the TTL Balance setting (the term may
differ depending on the camera), meaning it mea-
sures and balances flash light and available light as
the picture is taken “through the lens” (TTL). Add
$50 to $100 for a 1GB to 2GB flash memory card,
and the same for a tripod, and you’re bumping up
against $1,500. At these prices, you’re getting the
maker’s value-oriented lenses, often under $250,
but the pro-quality lens that also lets in more light
through razor-sharp optics might run you $1,000.
If all this is too rich for your blood, you can get
many of the telephoto (not wide-angle) advan-
tages of a D-SLR using a superzoom camera with a
10X or better optical zoom, meaning the maximum
extension of the lens is in the range of 300mm to
400mm (35mm film camera equivalent). The shut-
ter response with action photos may not be quite as
quick, though, as with a D-SLR . Panasonic owns this
market and has a nice, low-light image stabilizer.
Among mainstream cameras that fit in your
pocket, Canon, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Nikon,
Olympus, and Sony all have fine offerings. Despite
Kodak’s modest showing on our Reader Satisfac-
tion survey, when a technology-challenged relative
asks advice, my answer ends with, “. . . and make
sure you look at Kodak, too.” Its cameras are easy
to operate. And all models can be used with a dock-
ing station, which I consider a must-have $80 option
because it makes three things happen: The pictures
are offloaded automatically to your PC, the batteries
are charged, and, since it’s in the docking station,
when you need the camera in a hurry, you’ll know
where it is. D-SLRs don’t get lost either: With a zoom
lens and flashguns attached, they’re big and notice-
able. In every way, a D-SLR is hard to overlook.
MORE ON THE WEB: You can contact Bill Howard
directly at bill_howard@ziffdavis.com. For more of
his columns, go to go.pcmag.com/howard.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGA ZINE 103
 SOLUTIONS
MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU
Before You Give Away
Your Old PC
Here’s how to prepare your old computer for a new home.
BY WARREN ERNST
hen you get a new
W computer, odds are
that you don’t simply
throw away your old
one. You may tuck it
away in the closet, or set it up elsewhere
in the house as a “backup” PC but never
use it. If you keep up with the cutting
edge, you might have two or three un-
used PCs gathering dust. You may have
considered giving your old PC away to a
family member, or perhaps to someone
who can’t afford a new computer (needy
students are everywhere), but wondered
if it was really worth it, given that you
can buy a new Dell for $299. Well, be as-
sured that a working PC , even if a bit old,
is a valuable commodity, and you can in-
crease its value with a little work.
We’ll classify a PC to be given away
as good, better, or best, depending on the
work you’ll be putting in to prepare it
for its new owner. A good gift computer
is a working PC with your personal data
removed, but your recipient may still
need to do some work to get it set up for
his or her needs, and may not have the
knowledge or resources to do this. A
better gift computer has had most of its
internal configurations reset to as close
to factory fresh as possible and has some
software installed to keep a new user
out of trouble. The best gift computer
is one where you’ve reinstalled a legal
copy of Microsoft Windows (perhaps on
a new hard drive) from scratch, and pos-
sibly also installed some new hardware,
along with those things you’d do for a
good or better gift machine.
No matter how much work you decide
to put into an old PC before giving it a
new home, any work at all will increase
108 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
A FILE SHREDDER PROGRAM such as Eraser
will ensure that your data is gone before you
transfer the PC.
its value and make it easier for its new them off its hard drive, you’ll need to do
owner to use. Here, we’ll cover how best so before you delete them. The My Doc-
to spend your energy (and maybe a little uments folder is where most of your files
money) getting an old computer ready live, but if you have multiple Windows
for a new life with a new owner.
LICENSING CONSIDERATIONS
It seems as if you can’t do anything these
days without first reading the fine print,
and giving away (or reselling) a PC is no
exception. Fortunately, things are most-
ly common sense here.
First, if your computer came bundled
with Windows (there would be a Micro-
soft Windows sticker on the PC), you can
legally transfer ownership of it with the
computer itself. You should include any
restore discs or Windows installation
discs with the computer.
Retail and upgrade versions of Win-
dows can be transferred with the com-
puter, but you should not use these discs
to install Windows on any other com-
puter fi rst. It is important that you don’t
accidentally use the same Windows Key
to activate it on more than one com-
puter, because this may prevent your
computer’s new owner from download-
ing Windows Updates, opening it up to
being hacked. Also, it is illegal.
In most cases, if other software came
with the computer, it can travel with the
computer too. If you bought a software
package and installed it on your com-
puter, it can either go with the machine
or stay with you on another one, but
it can’t be on both. Run the software
package’s uninstaller via the Add/
Remove Software Control Panel if
necessary. When in doubt, check
the software’s licensing agreement.
MAKING A GOOD GIFT PC
A good gift PC represents the bare
minimum of what you should do to
get your computer ready for a new
home. Fortunately, that doesn’t
take much time, effort, or money. It
essentially involves removing your
data fi les thoroughly and clearing
out basic network settings.
You won’t have any access to files
on a PC that leaves your possession,
so if you haven’t already copied
USE A PROGRAM SUCH as CCleaner
(www.ccleaner.com) to delete your
browser’s history, cache, cookies, and
temporary files.

112 HARDWARE: 117 DIY INTERNET:
Geotagging photos Customize Web
sites with
Greasemonkey
GRISOFT’S AVG ANTI-VIRUS Free Edition
antivirus program is a good alternative to
commercial antivirus products, particu-
larly for cash-strapped students.
users, there’s a My Documents folder
for each one. If you use AOL , you prob-
ably have personal files in its Down-
loads folder. Quicken, QuickBooks, and
TurboTax put their data fi les in unusual
locations you should double-check:
Quicken uses C:\Quickenw, C:\Program
Files\Quickenw, or C:\Program Files\
Intuit\Quicken. QuickBooks data files
live in C:\Program Files\Intuit\Quick-
books. TurboTax usually stores its fi les
in the TAX01 folder inside the default in-
stallation folder; search for fi les with a
.tax extension to be sure.
When cleaning a system for transfer,
don’t use the Recycle Bin to delete fi les.
Even when emptied, “deleted” files are
still easily recovered, since the built-in
delete mechanism simply makes the area
on the hard drive where the old fi le was
stored available to new files. Instead,
use a “file shredder” program, which
IT’S EASY TO ADD Mozilla Firefox as a
second browser that many users will
prefer to Internet Explorer.
go.pcmag.com/solutions
120 SECURITY WATCH: 124 BUSINESS: 127 USER TO USER:
Fight spam The virtual PBX Tips and tricks
with SMTP
Authentication
FINDING RECIPIENTS
There’s no shortage of people who could use an older computer, provided that it’s
working and properly set up. How do you find them?
If you don’t know somebody yourself (think hard; you probably do), start asking your
friends if they know anyone who really needs a computer but can’t afford a new one.
Still coming up empty? Most public-school teachers know many students in desper-
ate need of a working computer; do you know any to ask? Failing that, craigslist (www.
craigslist.com) has a Web forum for almost every metropolitan area in the country, and
a “Free computer to needy student” post will get an immediate response.
Local charities may be in need of donated PCs; contact them to find out their needs
and requirements. Donations may be eligible for a tax deduction. Dell has partnered
with the National Cristina Foundation (www.cristina.org/dsf/dell.ncf) in a program to
facilitate PC donations to local organizations who serve disabled and economically
disadvantaged people. People who donate through this partnership receive a coupon
for 10 percent off any online purchase of software or peripheral, to be redeemed on the
Dell Home Systems Software & Peripherals Web site.
Discover Technology (discovertechnology.com), a nonprofit that provides computer
education to people with disabilities, has been setting up computers in shelters serving
Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the Houston area. For information on donating to them,
contact dtinc8888@hotmail.com. Your local Red Cross shelter might also need com-
puters for evacuees—contact your local chapter directly.
overwrites the file multiple times before er is going to a stranger. If the computer
erasing it. Almost a dozen free shredder is going to a family member you trust,
programs are available from Snapfiles you can probably skip this step.
.com (www.snapfiles.com/freeware/
security/fwerase.html), but I use Eraser MAKING A BETTER GIFT PC
(www.heidi.ie/eraser) for this task. You can add a lot of value to an old com-
You should delete other personal data, puter by installing and configuring soft-
too. From your e-mail program, delete ware that its new owner could really use,
any inbox or stored messages, and com- and by resetting the operating system to
pact all folders if there is such an option. as close to factory fresh as possible.
Delete any contacts in the address book, No one should be without at least a
and remove any server/log-on account word processor (if not a whole office
information. From your Web browser, suite) and an antivirus program. If you’re
delete your bookmarks and saved pass- removing such software for licensing
words, and use a program like CCleaner reasons, at least install some free alterna-
(www.ccleaner.com) to delete things like tives. OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) is
your browser’s history, cache, cookies, an excellent substitute for Microsoft Of-
temporary fi les, and so forth. If you use fice (and Microsoft Word). Grisoft’s AVG
AOL or a dial-up or PPPoE Internet con- Anti-Virus Free Edition (free.grisoft.com)
nection, delete any accounts
or connection passwords.
Finally, empty the Win-
dows Recycle Bin once more,
and use a program like Eraser
to wipe all the hard drive’s
e m pt y s pa c e ove r n i g ht .
Though the only guarantee
that no one will recover your
files is to replace the hard
drive, this is a reasonable pre- MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD is a good (and free) e-mail
caution to take if your comput- client for those worried about Outlook security issues.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 109
 S O L U T I O N S • go.pcmag.com/solutions go.pcmag.com/solutions

is a fine alternative to any commercial

antivirus product, and your beneficiary WHAT ABOUT LINUX?
won’t have to pay for annual virus- You’ve probably noticed that when talking about operating systems, we’ve only men-
definition subscriptions. tioned Windows. Why?
Internet security is important, too. For the vast majority of users, a “computer” really means a “Windows computer.”
Consider installing Mozilla’s Firefox Windows is what most people already know how to use, so if you’re giving your com-
and Thunderbird (www.mozilla.org) puter to someone you know, having it run on Windows means you won’t be swamped
to escape Microsoft Internet Explor- with a million questions every week. If you’re giving it to a student, that’s probably
er’s security issues. Download and in- what he’s already using in school. Your being an evangelist for Linux may not be in the
stall any available Windows Updates best interests of the new owner.
(windowsupdate.microsoft.com) and Still, if you lack a legal Windows license and can’t buy a new one, Linux is a free and
set the update process to “automatic” if legal way to make that computer operational. A totally free and Windows-like Linux
possible. Download and install the lat- distribution like Ubuntu (www.ubuntu.org) should be enough for many people to be
est version of one or more free antispy- productive, and there are of course other Linux options.
ware programs, such as Ad-Aware (www If you decide to install Linux, be prepared to spend time getting its new user started.
.lavasoft.com) and Spybot Search & De-
stroy (www.safer-networking.org). future upgrades. If by some chance the And when you remove the old drive,
Make sure the system you’re letting computer is still covered by a warranty, there’s no way someone can undelete
go isn’t already crawling with viruses and if the warranty is transferable to a or recover your old files, because they
and spyware. Let whatever antivirus new owner, include whatever paper- were never there in the fi rst place. If the
and antispyware products you have in- work is necessary to implement it. computer is going to a relative, replac-
stalled perform full system scans, and ing the hard drive will almost certainly
clean out whatever they find. MAKING THE BEST GIFT PC save you from anguished telephone calls
Just as important as what you put on The best gift PC is a computer that’s down the line.
is what you take off. Uninstall (via the as close to new as possible, in terms of W hile you’ve got that computer
Windows Control Panel) software and both hardware and software. It repre- opened up to install a new hard drive, be
sents the most work for sure to clean out the dust bunnies—or
you, but the reward is a perhaps a whole dust ecosystem. Cans of
computer that will be compressed air are fine for this job, but be
as trouble-free as pos- sure to use a pencil or other tool to keep
sible, and no one can the various fans’ blades from spinning
pull your personal data too fast from a burst of air. A mini vacu-
off the hard drive, be- um cleaner or a dusting brush is handy if
cause you’ll be replac- you don’t have compressed air. You might
ing it. want to do this messy job outside.
W i ndow s work s If you’re feeling generous, a fresh
best when it is freshly retail or upgrade version of Windows XP
installed from scratch is probably best for any computer with
on a clean hard drive, at least 256MB of RAM and a Pentium at
so if you’re looking to 700 MH z or higher, but even a freshly
make the computer as installed instance of an older version of
trouble-free as pos- Windows (newer than Windows 98) is
sible, reformatting the almost always more stable than cleaning
hard drive and install- up an installation that’s been running for
BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD and install any available Windows ing Windows from the years. Once you’ve reinstalled Windows,
Updates before passing your computer on. Windows installation install the applications and utility soft-
discs is one way to go. ware discussed earlier.
drivers for hardware that will no longer But prices of new hard drives have come
be used. Once their software is gone, way down—you can get a 40GB drive for PASSING IT ON
remove any remaining printers in the under $60 and a 200GB drive for less than Though not as fast as a new computer,
Windows Printers and Faxes Control $100—so consider replacing the drive. a properly prepared older computer
Panel, as well as software and drivers The hard drive is the most likely com- should serve its new owners well for
for scanners, cameras, PDA s, MP3 play- ponent in an old PC to fail over time, most everyday tasks such as reading
ers, card readers, and any other remov- mostly because it has moving parts. Af- e-mail, viewing Web pages, and writing
able peripherals that aren’t going with ter a few years of use, hard drives will reports. All that’s needed to make some-
the computer. eventually stop working and need re- one’s computing dreams a reality is a lit-
Finally, collect all the books and discs placement. And when a hard drive fails, tle effort on your part. It’s well worth it
that originally came with the computer, it usually takes the new owner’s per- to whomever you give the computer to.
along with any discs for software you’re sonal data with it. A new hard drive can
including with it. They’ll be vital if its dramatically speed up a machine that Warren Ernst is a professional
new owner needs to reinstall anything had an old, slow drive, and offer much computer consultant. Check out
or to look up any technical details for more storage space for multimedia fi les. his blog at warrenernst.com.

110 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 S O L U T I O N S • go.pcmag.com/solutions
H A R DWA R E
Location, Location,
Location
Make your photos even more interesting by adding
information about where you’ve been. BY DAVID CARDINAL
H
ave you ever wanted to fi nd the
photos you took of a particular
place? Or to show your friends
a travelogue of your photos and where
they were taken? By integrating Global
Positioning System location informa-
tion with your digital images, you can do
both. Called geocoding or geotagging,
the process involves placing or “stamp-
ing” location metadata into the header
of your camera JPEGs.
It used to be you could do this only if
you had high-end custom hardware with
GPS support. But thanks to rapidly grow-
ing demand, many tools are now avail-
able to help you merge your off-the-shelf
GPS location data with your digicam im-
ages. If you don’t have a GPS, don’t worry.
If you know where you were, you can use
various utilities to look up coordinates
manually and tag your pictures.
If you want to go the GPS route, you
need a unit that supports recording a
track log—essentially a list of locations
you pass through—and a software utility
that can match the timestamp on your
images to the location information on
the track log and then help you display
and share the results. Garmin models
are the most widely supported GPS units,
but you can get utilities that let you use
track logs from other brands as well.
Before taking your photos, you need
to make sure your GPS is set up cor-
rectly. First, check to see that tracking is (World-Wide Media Exchange) research easy to use.
turned on and is set to create a track log. project (wwmx.org). Location Stamper
Next, if your GPS lets you specify how
often it writes track-log entries, make
sure that it is frequent enough for your
needs. Remember that the faster you
are traveling, the more frequently you’ll
need track-log entries, since later you’ll
be matching your photos to your approx-
imate location by estimating from those
log entries. If you are walking, for exam-
ple, your position changes very slowly,
so you won’t need log entries too often.
112 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
need to be connected to the Internet).
Location Stamper supports direct con-
nection to your GPS, and you can import
existing Garmin tracks using the com-
panion TrackDownload utility. For non-
Garmin GPS units, the WWMX site has
links to other freeware utilities that help
convert them into a readable format.
If you’d like to create your own Web
pages with location information or to
have the information appear on the im-
But if you are driving, you’ll need entries age itself, there are several options. Least
every few seconds if you want accurate expensive are the RoboGEO and Robo-
positions. Finally, make sure that your Photo tools (www.robophoto.com). Their
track log has plenty of room and your interface is quirky, and they require that
camera’s clock is set accurately, so you you have a publicly accessible FTP server
can later match photos and locations by for your images in order to link in maps
time. It’s a good idea to take a photo of (which they retrieve from the U.S. Cen-
the GPS displaying its time, so you can sus Web site), so before buying, experi-
ment with the demos to see if
they’ll work for you.
GPS -Photo L i n k f rom
GeoSpatial Experts (www
.geospatialexperts.com) is
a ver y power f u l product
that provides sophisticated
matching of your images with
track logs. It retrieves maps
from the U.S. Geological Sur-
vey sites. The application is
expensive, at $229 direct, but
it is well designed.
MICROSOFT’S FREE Location Stamper utility lets If you just want a light-
you add location data to your images, and it displays weight way to share images
their locations on a MapPoint map. with location information,
GEO snapper.com may be for
calibrate your camera time against the you. You can upload any geocoded im-
GPS time later. Then you simply turn on age or provide location details by hand.
your GPS , turn on your camera, and go Users of the site can browse for photos
take pictures! from a particular location or by catego-
When you get back to your computer, ry. If you have a Nextel camera phone,
you can match your log with your pho- you can use the GEOsnapper mobile ap-
tos. The simplest way to do this is with plication to send geocoded images di-
the free Location Stamper utility from rectly from your phone to GEOsnapper.
Microsoft, part of its ambitious WWMX The mapping interface is clever and
Similarly, users of the Flickr photo-
lets you import sets of photos and track sharing site can also make use of exten-
logs and will stamp the location into the sive user-contributed scripts available
EXIF (metadata) header in your camera in the Geotagging group (f lickr.com/
JPEGs. That process does not cause any- groups/94823070@N00) to tag their im-
thing to appear on the image itself; it just ages for use with either the aptly named
puts special tags in the header informa- Geobloggers site (www.geobloggers.com)
tion indicating the location where the or Google Maps.
image was captured. WWMX will then
display the location in a viewer window David Cardinal is a professional photog-
using Microsoft’s own MapPoint . NET rapher and software author. Visit his site,
service (which is free, but of course you www.proshooters.com.

D I Y: I N T E R N E T
The Web Your Way
Improve your favorite Web sites with the Greasemonkey
extension for Mozilla Firefox. BY DAVID A. KARP
here’s no Delete button in Gmail,
T Google’s popular Web-based mail
service. To delete a message from
your Gmail Inbox, you have to open the
More Actions drop-down list and select
Move to Trash. Having to click twice in-
stead of once to delete a message might
sound like a minor quibble, but unless
you have a particular fondness for get-
rich-quick schemes or anatomical en-
hancements ads, those clicks add up fast.
Even if you don’t use Gmail, there’s
surely a Web site you frequent that has an
equally annoying design flaw. Instead of
waiting for the site’s administrators to fix
the problem, you can use Greasemonkey
to fix it yourself.
Greasing Up. Greasemon key is a
free extension for the Mozilla Firefox
A GREASEMONKEY user script adds tabs
to the eBay Feedback page to let you
locate complaints quickly.
gopcmag.com/solutions • S O L U T I O N S
browser that lets you add custom Java-
Script code to any Web page. The code
then runs automatically as though it
were part of the page itself. (This is dif-
ferent from bookmarklets, which allow
you to create useful applets in JavaScript
but not to modify pages. See our story at
go.pcmag .com/bookmarklets.)
To install Greasemonkey, f ire up
Firefox (available at www.mozilla.org),
THE GMAIL INBOX page has no Delete
button by default, but you can use a
Greasemonkey script to add one.
go to greasemonkey.mozdev.org, click
Install Greasemonkey, and then click
Install when the confirmation box ap-
pears. (Greasemonkey also works on
Mozilla Suite, aka Seamonkey, as of Ver-
sion 0.53.) When you’re done, close all
browser windows, then restart Firefox.
By itself, Greasemonkey doesn’t do
much of anything. To bring Grease-
monkey to life, you need to install user
scripts that you download or write your-
self. This is where the fun begins.
Gearing Up. The primary reposi-
tory of Greasemonkey user scripts is at
userscripts.org. Most scripts are site-spe-
cific, but many are good for all Web sites.
For instance, install the Email Linkify
script to turn all e-mail addresses in all
Web pages into mailto: links. If you in-
stall the Zoom Image script, a toolbar
will appear whenever you hover your
mouse pointer over a JPEG image; click
the plus or minus sign to zoom in or
out. The Destroy Target script keeps
links from opening new windows. And
Check Range lets you check or uncheck
a range of check boxes on a Web form
by clicking the fi rst check box and then
Shift-clicking the last check box.
You can also search the site for spe-
cific scripts or show scripts designed for
specific Web sites.
In the Google section, you’ll find a
script that adds the aforementioned
Delete button to Gmail mailbox pages.
Another script, Fix Missing Attach-
ments, fixes a Gmail bug in which attach-
ments are lost when you save drafts.
There’s even an Autosave Emails script
that helps prevent lost work.
For eBay, you’ll find the Show Only
Negative Feedback user script, which adds
two tabs to eBay feedback profile pages,
letting you show only the complaints an
eBay member has received (something
eBay won’t let you do). And the Search
in New Window script, which we dis-
cuss later, forces all links in eBay search
results to open in a separate window.
Scroll down to the IMDB and Netfl ix
sections to find user scripts that add
links to connect these two sites, letting
you easily rent a movie you see on IMDB
or read the IMDB trivia and goofs for a
movie in your Netflix queue.
And it goes on like this. The noPics-
NoService script filters out craigslist fur-
niture listings that don’t include photos.
A script for Amazon.com shows whether
particular books are available in the San
Francisco Peninsula Library System. The
Expedia Expanded Search script lets you
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 117
 S O L U T I O N S • go.pcmag.com/solutions

D O - I T-YO U R S E L F

Profi les.) You can also open any script
in a text editor by highlighting the script
name in the Manage User Scripts win-
dow and clicking the Edit button.
Writing the Scripts. User scripts can
do anything JavaScript can do: modify
links and images, change colors and
fonts, and even add new content. With
a little JavaScript know-how, you can
write your own user scripts and custom-
ize the Web to your heart’s content.
For instance, the newwindow.user.js
script pictured here uses a for loop to
FROM THE Manage User Scripts box, iterate through all the links on a page
you can selectively disable or uninstall of eBay search results. Each time a link
Greasemonkey scripts. to an eBay listing is found, the script
changes the link’s target to listing, forc-
specify several dates/locations for a flight ing the link to display the corresponding
search on Expedia.com. Bicycling addicts auction in a separate browser window
will appreciate a script that shows racing named listing. Greasemonkey runs the
results by cyclists of different countries script automatically for all eBay search
in Cycling News pages. pages, so the process is transparent.
To install a user script, right-
click a link to the script and select
Install User Script. Or click the link
to display and examine the script;
then, from Firefox’s Tools menu,
select Install User Script.
Be warned that some user scripts
have bugs, while others don’t work
at all. Make sure to test each script
immediately after installing it.
From the Tools menu, select Man-
age User Scripts; this choice selec-
tively disables or uninstalls any
user script you’ve installed. Also, THIS SIMPLE user script forces eBay search
because scripts are not created by results links to open in a separate window.
the Web site owners, changes to the
site may break scripts. If that happens, To make a Greasemonkey user script,
check back at the Greasemonkey reposi- place your ordinary JavaScript code in a
tory because the script creator will likely function() wrapper. To streamline script
post a fix. installation, insert the = =UserScript= =
When you install a user script, Grease- comment block to designate the script
monkey saves it in the gm_scripts folder name, description, and URL s that acti-
located in your Mozilla profile folder. vate it. Finally, add the .user.js filename
(The profile folder is typically located in suffi x; otherwise, the Install User Script
\Documents and Settings\Administra- command in Firefox won’t be available.
tor\ApplicationData\Mozilla\Firefox\ It’s easy to share the scripts you create
through the repository at userscripts.org.
Once you set up a free account, you can
either upload scripts to the site or link to
your site if you host scripts there.
After working with Greasemonkey
a while, you’ll start looking at the Web
differently. Once-static sites will seem
more dynamic. Minor annoyances now
become compelling scripting challenges.
David A. Karp is a compulsive tinkerer
and the author of eBay Hacks, 2nd Edi-
IT’S EASY TO INSTALL a user script via tion (O’Reilly). David can be reached at
Firefox’s Tools menu. david@ebayhacks.com.
TO DO...
More Cool Projects to Try
■ Sometimes you can’t figure out just
where it was that you took a certain
photo. Phillip Torrone has linked a digital
camera and a GPS to tag photos with
maps showing where they were taken
(www.engadget.com/entry/
5079855875464065). The camera was
set to take photos at regular intervals
(using a $1.49 RadioShack timer chip),
connected to a Garmin GPS Forerunner,
and positioned to face out of the front
window of his car. The maps were made
by importing the data from the GPS and
running it through an application that
grabs the photos from a free satellite
photo server.
■ In Hacking Digital Cameras, Chieh
Cheng and Auri Rahimzadeh present
a range of tips and tweaks for digital
photographers of all levels. Among the
topics covered are
building a remote trig-
ger switch and control-
ling your camera from
afar, accessing raw
sensor data, making a
pinhole lens, extend-
ing Canon EOS lenses,
shooting infrared
pictures and removing your camera’s
IR blocking filter, building a car camera
mount, building a monopod, hacking
microdrives, and making a 500-watt
home studio light. Hacking Digital Cam-
eras is the newest title in the Extreme-
Tech series, published by Wiley.
■ We doubt many of you would rush
to do this, even if we provided instruc-
tions, but here’s a great example of how
a resourceful person can use limited
resources to produce an effective DIY
solution. A Vietnamese physician whose
hospital couldn’t afford a $30,000
endoscopy system (which employs a
small scope to image the interior of
patients’ bodies) instead set out to build
his own. Dr. Nguyen Phuoc Huy devised
an adapter—a system of lenses—to link
an $800 endoscope to a webcam in or-
der to display and store the endoscope’s
images on a PC. He has built three such
systems—it takes about a week to build
one—and plans to construct them for
other impoverished hospitals in Viet-
nam. See news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/
technology/4145984.stm.

118 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 S O L U T I O N S • go.pcmag.com/solutions
S E C U R I T Y W AT C H
Authentic E-Mail
SMTP authentication holds promise, but it’s not yet
a real spam-stopping solution. BY MATTHEW D. SARREL
D
espite years of effort, unsolicited
e-mail continues to be a huge
problem. Most spam is sent using
e-mail spoofing, where the e-mail header
is forged so that the message appears to
come from someone other than the actual
source. This not only tricks recipients
into opening the e-mail but also masks
the identity of the sender. E-mail
spoofing can occur because Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the
primary protocol used in sending
Internet e-mail, does not include an
authentication mechanism.
Among the many solutions pro-
posed, two of the most prominent are
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
and SenderID Framework (SIDF), which
evolved from the Sender Policy Frame-
work (SPF) and Microsoft’s CallerID.
DKIM is supported by a number of ven-
dors, including Yahoo! and Cisco. Micro-
soft and Google are backing SIDF.
SIDF is intended to verify that e-mail
messages actually come from the domain
they claim to come from, based on the
sending server’s IP address. Each partici-
pating domain creates an SPF record that
is published in its DNS . SPF records list
the IP addresses of authorized outbound
e-mail servers. On the receiving end, the
server looks at which domain the mes-
sage claims to be from, and checks the
DNS for that domain’s SPF record. If the
IP addresses match, the receiving server
processes the incoming e-mail.
DKIM takes this one step further by
providing a mechanism for verifying the
domain of the e-mail sender and the in-
tegrity of the message header sent. The
outbound domain uses a unique em-
bedded private key within the message
header. The private key is then authenti-
cated through comparison with a public
key registered by the DNS. Once the do-
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.
120 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
main can be verified, it can be compared
with the domain in the message header’s
“From” field. If that has been spoofed, the
message can be dropped from the server
before the recipient even knows he has
been spammed. Persistent-reputation
profiles can be established for domains,
and these profi les can then be incorpo-
rated into antispam policy
systems, shared among
ser vice providers, and
even exposed to the user.
So far, the deployment
THE ICONIX EMAIL ID plugin lets users
add a visual indication that a message
has come from an authenticated source.
of both technologies has been limited.
Moreover, difficulties have been re-
ported in implementing both methods,
particularly with regard to roaming us-
ers who may need to forge or add certain
headers when sending, for example, cor-
porate e-mail from their ISP account.
The jury is still out as to which, if
either, will prevail. And spammers are
ready to appropriate both as a means to
convince users of their legitimacy; these
technologies only authenticate domains,
they don’t necessarily filter spam. When
antispam vendor MX Logic tracked a
sampling of the 17.7 million messages
that passed through its servers in one
week last June, it found that of the 9 per-
cent (about 1.6 million messages) that
came from domains with published SPF
records, 84 percent was spam.
Still, experts agree that these tech-
nologies are significant steps toward
T H E L O O KO U T
FAKE GOOGLE TOOL-
BARS GO PHISHING
An Internet security specialist says a
new threat involves malicious links to
bogus Google software that spreads via
IM and Internet Relay Chat. The threat
appears to be a variety of the infamous
CoolWebSearch browser-hijacking
phishing scheme, according to Foster
City, California–based FaceTime Security
Labs. In these cases, IM users unwittingly
download a rogue Google toolbar, which
is installed in their Web browsers. The
only working feature on the fake toolbar
saves credit card details, according to
Christopher Boyd, FaceTime’s security re-
search manager. A host of other features,
including one to “enable pornographic
ads,” do not work. —Ben Charny
a real antispam solution. “These tech-
nologies don’t really identify the indi-
vidual sender, but they do give strong
assurances that the sender is using a
particular domain, and that should be
good enough to cut down on spam,” says
Clifford Neuman, director of the Center
for Computer Systems Security at the
University of Southern California’s In-
formation Sciences Institute. “Without
tools like this, so many spam filters don’t
work, because spammers just pretend to
be from domains that you trust.”
According to Neuman, DKIM should
prove the more effective technology,
because SIDF doesn’t always work with
forwarded messages. “If I maintain
alternate e-mail addresses and I set them
up to forward messages to my primary
mailbox, SIDF often makes mistakes,
thinking the messages are originating
from the intermediary servers doing
the forwarding,” he explains. In order
for SIDF to work properly in this case, it
must run on both the intermediary serv-
ers and the servers where the messages
eventually wind up.
The good news, says Neuman, is that
that neither technology needs ubiqui-
tous deployment in order to be effective.
“Both SIDF and DomainKeys are nice in
that they don’t require universal adop-
tion.” The wider the reach of each one,
the more they can cut down on spam.
Matthew D. Sarrel, CISSP, a freelance
writer and information security
consultant, is a frequent contributor
to PC Magazine.
 S O L U T I O N S • go.pcmag.com/solutions
BUSINESS
The Virtual PBX
Here’s how one small company runs a big-time telephony
system to keep its far-flung employees connected.
BY SEBASTIAN RUPLEY
W
ith the steep rise in telecom-
muting and advances in video
conferencing, many workers
are never—or hardly ever—in a physical
office. At San Felipe Development Com-
pany, a Baja California, Mexico–based
real-estate firm with just over 40 employ-
ees, workers frequently find themselves
in California offices, Mexican offices,
or other locations. The company faced
the tricky problem of centralizing its
telephone system and voice mail, and
found a solution, beginning in October
2003, in GotVM ail—a set of services
offered by Newton, Massachusetts–based
GotVMail Communications.
Typically, the heart of a large compa-
ny’s telephony and voice-messaging sys-
tems is a PBX (private branch exchange),
which handles extensions, conference
calls, call forwarding, and e-mail inte-
gration. Workers outside the office can
call in to retrieve their voice mail, and in-
coming callers are seamlessly forwarded
to remote locations through the PBX.
The problem for a small company,
though, is that PBX s cost thousands of
dollars, have ongoing upgrade costs, and
require expertise to manage. Instead of
issuing workers only cell-phone num-
bers and doing without a centralized
system, San Felipe Development uses
GotVMail as a virtual PBX.
“Getting lines transferred down to
Mexico can be really expensive,” says
Brian Crumrine, founder of San Felipe
Development, which develops and mar-
kets real estate under the name Mi Casa
del Mar. “That’s one reason we use Got-
VMail. We handle all our sales calls into
Mexico with it. It serves as our phone
presence in the U.S. People can go into
their voice mailboxes while on the go,
and they can get voice messages e-mailed
to them down in Mexico.”
Employees can choose to have fax and
voice messages e-mailed to them as PDF
or MP3 files. Calls coming in to the com-
124 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
may want to be reachable at more than
one phone.
If you’re an opponent of elevator mu-
sic, GotVMail lets you upload your own
tunes to play while customers are on
hold. The service also lets you search
for previous calls and export the search
results in Microsoft Excel’s XLS, PDF, or
other formats. “We’re really focused on
managing the burgeoning inbound vol-
pany’s U.S.-based 800 number can be ume of calls,” says GotVM ail CEO Sia-
routed to cell phones that employees in mak Taghaddos, “whether the calls are
Mexico carry, incurring only U.S.-based going to cell, VoIP, or other phones.”
fees. Employees can use Voice over IP Crumrine says that both cost savings
phones from Vonage or Skype for taking and efficiency explain his company’s
Internet calls. The service does not cur- use of GotVM ail. “It saves us money
rently support SIP phones. in that we don’t have to have the calls
GotVM ail operates data centers at transferred down to Mexican landlines
several U.S. locations (using various at maybe 60 cents a minute.”
carriers for calls) that route calls, mes- GotVMail’s VirtualOne pricing plans
sages, and e-mails. The company’s net- are available with flat monthly fees. San
work uses Oracle, NetAppliance, Cisco, Felipe Development uses the VirtualOne
and Dialogic hardware and software Premier plan, which costs $39.95 a month
Calling All Mobile Phones
San Felipe Development Company needed a unified way to route calls from the U.S. to mobile
employees in Mexico without incurring expensive long-distance charges. It uses GotVMail as a
virtual call center to route calls via landline phone, VoIP phone, cell phone, or MP3 file over e-mail.
Home/office phone
Public Mobile
switched phone
telephone
network
VoIP phone
GotVMail
routing E-mail message
facility
U.S.
customer
calls local or PDF to
toll-free
Internet fax
California
number
MP3 file to e-mail
components, as well as a proprietary for 20 mailboxes (extra mailboxes cost
software suite. $10 a month for each set of five). Calls
San Felipe Development has both a cost 7.5 cents per minute, but the com-
standard U.S.-based number that Got- pany can choose to buy minutes in vol-
VM ail issued and a toll-free number. ume—1,000 minutes—and reduce the
Any business can get numbers issued by per-minute fee to 4.5 cents.
GotVMail online at www.gotvmail.com Advanced telephony is without a
and have a virtual PBX up and running doubt essential in business. Even with-
instantly, but companies typically spend out a centralized office or PBX , San
some time customizing the service. For Felipe Development’s implementation is
example, some users may want voice as sophisticated as a large company’s—
mails forwarded by e-mail, and some but it’s all virtual, and a lot cheaper.

USER TO USER
PC MAGAZINE’S COMMUNITY OF EXPERTS AND READERS
Watch for Registry Changes
Many of PC Magazine’s tips use RegEdit to
configure a specific Registry setting, but
every now and then you may find that the
setting doesn’t seem to “stick”: It keeps
returning to its previous value. Clearly
something is changing it back, but it can
be tough to track down just what process
is doing the dirty deed. If you’re running
Windows XP Professional, though, you can
set a trap and catch the culprit.
To start, use Local Security Settings
to enable Registry auditing. Click the Run
item in the Start menu and launch Secpol
.msc. Click Local Policies, then Audit Policy,
and then double-click the item in the right-
hand pane entitled Audit object access.
Check both the Success and Failure boxes,
click OK, and close the Local Security Set-
tings applet.
Now launch RegEdit and navigate to the
YOU CAN AUDIT the Registry and then
check the event logs to find out what
might be changing a particular key.
key where the unexpected changes are
taking place. Select Permissions from the
Edit menu and click the Advanced button,
then click the Auditing tab in the resulting
dialog. Click Add and enter your username,
then click the Check Names button to make
sure it was recognized. When you click OK,
you’ll get a dialog box entitled Auditing En-
try for <name>, where <name> is the name
of the key, with two columns of check
In an Excel line graph, if you leave a cell blank, there will
be a break in the line where the cell’s data would appear.
gopcmag.com/solutions • S O L U T I O N S
boxes entitled Successful and Failed. Check
the boxes in both columns for the actions
you want to audit: In most cases, this will
be Set Value, Create Subkey, and Delete.
And in most cases you’ll want to change
the Apply onto drop-down at the top so that
it reads “This key only.” Click OK, OK, and OK
to start auditing the specified key.
When you notice that the unwanted
Registry change has happened, it’s time to
check the event logs. Launch Eventvwr
.msc from the Start menu’s Run dialog
and click the Security item in the left-hand
pane. Double-click the first (most recent)
event in the list and peruse its details, then
use the down arrow near the top to step
through the details for other events. You’re
looking for one where the category (near
the top) is Object Access and the Object
Name field (in the lower pane) is the key
you wanted to watch. When you find it, the
Image File Name field will reveal the name
of the process that made the change.
One last thing: When you’ve finished
sleuthing, be sure to turn off the auditing,
else you’ll fill up the event log with un-
necessary notifications. Back in RegEdit,
navigate to the key you’ve been auditing,
again select Permissions from the Edit
menu, click the Advanced button, and click
the Auditing tab. Then simply remove your
name from the Auditing entries list.
—Neil J. Rubenking
Patching an Excel Line Graph
I want to have a dynamic graph (x,y with
lines) that plots a range of data. But there
might be some “holes” in that range. I can
add an IF statement that puts a double
quote in the cell so that the cell appears
empty, but then it plots as a zero.
The particular situation I want to
graph involves aircraft flying various
routes. Depending on its range capabil-
ity, an aircraft may need aerial refueling.
If I plot the fuel level as a function of
distance, some aircraft will show a single
descending line while other aircraft will
have points in the middle where they get
aerial refueling. I therefore need to have
cells allow for refueling points, but if
no refueling is required, I want the cells
WITH THE =NA() FUNCTION, Excel’s
graphing module fills in the line graph
across the location of the unavailable
data.
to be truly blank (so that nothing gets
plotted). Thus something that makes the
cell merely look blank but plots as a zero
does not work. Any ideas?
CHRISTAN HOST
In an Excel x,y line graph, if you leave a
cell entirely blank, there will be a break
in the line where that cell’s data would
appear. If the cell contains any kind of
text, including a formula that returns an
empty string, it will be plotted as if that
cell contained a zero. The solution? Use
the =NA() function. This returns the #N/A
error, indicating that data is not avail-
able. Excel’s graphing module “patches”
the line graph across the location of the
unavailable data, which is exactly the
behavior you need.— NJR
Send Control Codes to a
Printer from XP
I need to send control strings to my old
dot matrix printer while using Windows
XP. I would like to do this from either a
batch file, the command line, or a short-
cut. For example, to change the emula-
tion, I want to send the characters Esc,
underscore, and ASCII character 2. I can’t
find simple instructions on how to do this
correctly. Can you help? Can it be done
across a network?
ANDREW CAVASIN
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 127
 You can indeed reference tabular
data in Word.
Before Windows took care of the details of
printing, users had to send control codes
(sequences of characters starting with
a nonprinting character, usually Esc) to
printers to change settings. And if you
have an older printer without a driver for
Windows, you still have to.
What you need to do is create a file
containing the special characters and
then use a batch file or Command prompt
to copy that file to the parallel port the
printer is attached to. To create a file
containing the Esc character and other
control codes, you can use the antiquated
Edit.com program, which has managed to
survive all the way to Windows XP. Launch
it by entering Edit in the Start menu’s Run
dialog or by entering the command Edit at
a Command prompt.
Within the Edit program, you enter
control codes by first pressing Ctrl-P, then
entering the corresponding ASCII charac-
ter. You can enter the character by holding
Alt, tapping out the ASCII number on the
USE THE OLD EDIT.COM to create a file containing printer may not work in all cases.
control codes
numeric keypad, and releasing Alt. Or you
can press the corresponding key or Ctrl-
key combination. For example, to enter the
Esc character (ASCII 27), first press Ctrl-P.
Then hold Alt, tap 2 7 on the keypad, and
release Alt. Or just press Ctrl-P followed by
Esc. ASCII 1 through 26 correspond directly
to the key combinations Ctrl-A to Ctrl-Z.
In Edit, the Esc character displays as a
left-pointing arrow and ASCII 2 (Ctrl-B) as a
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cannot answer letters individually.
128 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
smiley face (see the screen, below left).
Once you’ve entered your special charac-
ters, save the file with a name representing
its purpose—for example, Emulation.dat.
To send those codes to a printer on parallel
port 1 (LPT1), open a Command prompt,
navigate to the folder containing Emulation.
dat, and enter this command:
COPY /B Emulation.dat LPT1:
This should work for most legacy print-
ers. But what if the printer is attached to
another computer on the network? First
verify that you do indeed have access to
the shared printer, then carefully note the
computer and printer name. If a password
is needed to access the shared printer, note
that as well. Now, at a Command prompt,
issue this command:
net use lpt1 \\computer\printer pass-
word /persistent:yes
You’ll replace “computer,” “printer,” and
(if necessary) “password” with the values
you noted in the previous
step. Assuming the com-
mand returns a message
indicating success, you
can now attempt the
same COPY /B command
described above. This
network configuration is
significantly trickier than
a simple parallel port con-
nection, so the technique
If it doesn’t, you’ll have to
resign yourself to using the
legacy printer from the computer to which
it is physically connected.—NJR
Referencing Tabular Data
in Word
In Word Perfect I am able to insert a
“floating cell or field” and have it refer-
ence a cell in a table at the end of the
document. I use this in reports to show
numbers from the table, and it saves
time looking through many pages to find
each place to modify if the data changes.
Because the field references the table, I
have to change the data only in the table.
I can’t seem to find a way to do this in
Microsoft Word. Any ideas?
JOHN GOWRON
You can indeed reference tabular data in
Word, though it works a bit differently.
Highlight the desired cell in that table at
 S O L U T I O Ngopcmag.com/solutions
S • go.pcmag.com/solutions
You can’t import more than 256
columns into a single worksheet.
YOU CAN REFERENCE a cell in a table by
inserting a bookmark in the cell and a
cross-reference at the appropriate place
in your document.
the end of the document. Select Insert
| Bookmark from the menu, give the
bookmark a name and click on Add. Now
back in the document where you want to
refer to that cell, select Insert | Reference
| Cross-reference. Select Bookmark as the
Reference type, choose the bookmark you
just named, and click on Insert. You now
have a reference linked to that cell.
This isn’t quite like a spreadsheet cell
whose value references that of another
cell. The reference will not update by itself
when the cell changes. To make sure all
fields get updated properly after a change
in the table, press Ctrl-A to select all text in
the document and then press F9 to update
all fields.— NJR
Import Over 256 Columns
in Excel
I need to import a list of comma-
separated numbers from a file into an
Excel spreadsheet. The problem is, the
list has 500 numbers and won’t fit in
the 256-column width of Excel. Is there
a way either to get more columns in a
worksheet or to import the list vertically
in a single column?
MIKE HENRY
A quick Web search identified dozens of
pages that describe this problem and say
you just can’t do it, but that’s misleading.
While it’s true that you can’t import more
than 256 columns into a single worksheet,
you can fairly easily import them into mul-
tiple worksheets.
First, open a blank workbook and choose
Data | Import External Data | Import Data
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005
• SOLUTIONS
from the menu. Select your CSV file as the
import source. In the import wizard, choose
Delimited and click Next. Check the box
next to Comma and click Finish. Excel will
ask where to put the data—click OK to ac-
cept the default location. You’ll get a warn-
ing that some of the data won’t fit. Click OK
to continue regardless.
Scroll all the way to the right-most col-
umn (column IV) in the imported data and
take careful note of the data in the first
few rows. Quite likely the data in row 1 will
be the field name corresponding to the
last imported column. Now select Sheet2
in your workbook and repeat the process
of importing the CSV file. This time, after
checking the box next to Comma, click
Next rather than Finish. Scroll to the right
until you see the last column that was
imported the first time around. Click
on its column header, then scroll all the
way to the left and Shift-click on the first
column’s header. Find the option titled Do
not import column (skip) in the panel at
top right and click it. Now click Finish to
import the remaining columns. Of course
if the total number of columns is greater
than 512, you can repeat the import as
many times as necessary, each time
YOU CAN IMPORT more than 256 col-
umns in Excel by following the import
procedure as many times as you need.
using a new worksheet and skipping the
already-imported columns.
If you don’t actually need all 500 col-
umns you can use a similar technique to
pick and choose which will be imported.
Start by selecting all of the columns and
clicking the Do not import option. Then for
each column that you need to import, click
the column header and click the General
option. When done, click Finish to import
the selected columns.— NJR
See more tips online at
go.pcmag.com/usertouser.
PC MAGAZINE 129
 COVER STORY

HOLIDAY GIFTS

2005
WISHLIST
It’s safe to say that there’s a gadget
or gizmo in our story to make nearly
everyone on your gift list merry!

With this selection of our picks for the most desir-

able holiday gifts, we aim to make your shopping
a little easier—but it wasn’t so easy for us!
2005 is a banner year for cool-looking,
fun-generating gadgets and games
(for the hottest software titles
this season, keep reading till
you reach After Hours on
page 184).

Photograph by John Wilkes

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 131

 PHONES//PDAS//MESSAGING
SMART BUYING // Make sure the carrier you choose has your local area (and those Motorola E815
you travel to most) well covered. The more features your phone has, the more it’ll With its excellent
cost: Focus on what you really need and want. features and a rea-
sonable price, the
Motorola E815 is a
great phone for the
manly man in your
LG F9100 life and is our favorite
A perfect gift for texting teens, the Verizon phone to boot.
LG F9100 is a chubby candy-bar We got excellent recep-
phone with small but satisfying keys tion in testing, and the
and a bright color screen. Push gen- impressive battery life
tly on the bottom half of the phone gives you 4 hours 43
and a QWERTY keyboard slides out. minutes of talk time.
The instant-message client is easy The phone also has a
to use and supports AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, built-in 1-megapixel
and MSN. The battery gave us almost CMOS camera.—SS
10 hours of talk time.—Sascha Segan $99.00 to $299.00 list.
$199.99 list. LG Electronics U.S.A. Inc., www. Motorola Inc., www
lgusa.com. llhmm .motorola.com. llllm

Enfora TicTalk Palm Z22

This cell phone is just for kids: The TicTalk can make
calls to or receive calls from only a
parentally approved list of num-
bers. It’s a lightweight, tough
plastic oval, with a grayscale
screen on the front and a
loop near the top for clip-
ping it to a jacket or back-
pack. Kids can record up to
five of their own ringtones,
and the gadget comes with
five educational games
from LeapFrog.—SS
$99.99 list. Enfora L.P.,
www.enfora.com. lllhm
Nokia 7280
Undeniably gorgeous,
the Nokia 7280 phone looks
more Saks Fifth Avenue than Cir-
cuit City. Its surprising power is buried
in a shell that looks like a fashion accessory.
It also offers music-quality ringtones, and when the
phone rings, it glows a soft red. There are no games or
Java, but who cares? This phone is all about looks.—SS
$600 list. Nokia, www.nokia.com. llllm
The inexpensive Palm Z22 is a PDA pared down
to its essence. Even though it may resemble a
toy, it isn’t: The Z22 can hold plenty of Palm
OS software and documents in its 20MB of
available memory (it has no card slot). It is
a simple and easy-to-use device for non-
techies who want to stay organized, play a
few games, and read a few eBooks.—SS
$99 direct. Palm Inc., www.palm.com. llllm
Aeronix Zipit Wireless Manager
Are your kids hogging the PC to IM? This handheld, solely
for instant messaging, works on AIM,
MSN, and Yahoo! systems, connecting
via home 802.11b wireless networks
and hot spots. It can even log on to
all three services simultaneously. At
6.1 ounces, the Aeronix Zipit Wire-
less Manager fits in a coat pocket
and has a ten-line black-and-white
screen. Concerned parents will
be glad to hear that the Zipit
rejects unsolicited
messages from
anyone not already
on your kid’s
buddy list.—SS
$99 list. Aeronix Inc., www
.zipitwireless.com. lllhm

132 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


AUDIO DEVICES//
SMART BUYING // A personal audio device is as much a lifestyle choice as
a technical choice. Make sure the player can do the things you need it to do,
and that access to the features makes sense.
Logitech Wireless
Headphones for MP3
These sleek headphones use
Bluetooth 1.2, sound great,
and support most audio play-
ers, including the iPod. They come
with a wireless receiver, a charger, a
short audio cable extender, and extra
earpads. You can use them up to 60 feet
away from the receiver, and the internal recharge-
able batteries last about 9 hours.—Michael Kobrin
$129 list. Logitech, www.logitech.com. llllm
Creative Zen Vision
The Creative Zen Vision is a sleek portable media player
for listening to music and view-
ing photos and video. With a
gorgeous screen, 30GB stor-
age capacity, long battery
life, and support for a slew
of music, photo, and video
file formats, the Vision is as
versatile as it is cool.— MK
$399 direct. Creative Labs Inc.,
us.creative.com. lllmm
Apple iPod nano
For the rabid Apple-phile on your
list, the Apple iPod nano is the
latest and greatest. The incred-
ibly slim and stylish nano comes
in 2GB and 4GB (flash memory)
flavors, has a color screen,
syncs with Microsoft Outlook,
includes a stopwatch, and sup-
ports JPEG and TIFF images (so
you can watch a photo slide
show complete with musi-
cal accompaniment).— MK
$199 direct; 4GB, $249. Apple
Computer Inc.,
www.apple.com.
llllh
H O L I D AY G I F T S
MobiBLU DAH-1500i
This little player (shown actual size) is one of the cool-
est gifts you could give a music lover. Just slightly
bigger than a caramel, the DAH-1500i has 1GB of flash
storage, a very readable blue-on-black screen, a
headphone jack that doubles as a USB port, voice and
FM radio recording, and good sound quality.— MK
1GB, $130 street. Hyun Won Inc.,
www.mobibluamerica.com. llllm
Tao XM2go
This ruggedized portable player for XM
Satellite Radio, with a non-slip coating and
brushed-aluminum faceplate, can record
up to 5 hours of content for when you’re
out of signal range. It has 30 presets for
quick access. The dizzying array of acces-
sories includes home and car antennas,
a remote control, a belt clip, cradles and
stands for your home and car, a protective
carrying case, and an audio cable.— MK
$299 list; XM Radio, $12.95 a month. Giant International,
www.giantintl.com. llllm
Saitek A-200 Portable
2.1 Speaker System
This 2.1-channel, thin-and-light
portable speaker system is
easy to set up and sounds
terrific. The A-200 gets
24 hours of rated bat-
tery life, and it works
with any analog audio
source. To sweeten the
deal, Saitek throws in
a padded travel pouch
and a microfiber polishing
cloth to keep fingerprints off
the speakers’ lustrous surface.— MK
$99 list. Saitek, www.saitek.com. lllhm
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 133
 CAMERAS//CAMCORDERS//
SMART BUYING // Consider image quality, performance, ergonomics and style,
your level (current or hoped-for) of photographic skill, and price. But the bottom
line is money; the best strategy is to decide first what you want to spend.

Casio Exilim EX-S500

Like the Sony T7, the Exilim EX-S500 delivers excel-
lent images, great usability, and good looks. Its
LCD is smaller than the T7’s at 2.2 inches, and
it can’t match the T7’s image sharpness,
but it costs $100 less. It’s got a ton of scene
modes, and its supercool Past Movie func-
tion records video continuously but stores
only 5 seconds of it in the buffer, saving it to the
card when you press the shutter button—per-
fect for catching spit-takes.—Terry Sullivan
$399.99 street. Casio Inc., www.casio.com. llllm
Pentax Optio WP
This nifty camera is perfect
for shooting underwater when you don’t
need documentary-quality pics and don’t want to
go through the hassle of using add-on housing. It’s
a basic 3X zoom, 2-inch LCD shooter with a limited
aperture range and few manual controls or features.
But under water, the Optio WP takes surprisingly
good shots, and it’s convenient and fun to use.—TS
$349 street. Pentax Imaging Co., www.pentax.com. lllmm

Nikon D50
Help an aspiring shutterbug on your holiday list
enter the digital SLR league with the Nikon D50. This
6.1 MP shooter is light (1 lb 3 oz) and compact and
takes excellent pictures. It’s blazingly fast and has
a lovely 2-inch LCD with a raft of pro features and
great menus to help newbies make the step up.—TS
Body only, $649 list; kit with 18 to 55 mm lens, $799 list. Nikon
USA, www.nikonusa.com. lllll

Sony Cyber-shot T7 Panasonic SDR-S100 SD

The T in T7 must stand for tiny: This cool little unit packs a 3-CCD
This stylish 5.1 MP ultracom- camcorder in a half-pound spycam
pact is 5/8 inch thick. It’s format. The secret? It uses
got a 3X optical zoom lens SD cards to record MPEG-2
behind a sliding lens cover. video—less capacity than a
You frame shots using the MiniDV tape, but more than a
gorgeous 2.5-inch LCD DVD-R, and without the has-
(the T7 has no viewfinder). sles of either. The video isn’t
Pictures are very good for outstanding, but the camera is
a 5MP camera, and you’ll be fun and handy, great for spontane-
able to take plenty with the long- ous shooting. It’s got a 10X zoom
lasting InfoLithium battery.—TS lens and a 2.2-inch LCD.—TS
$499 street. Sony Electronics Inc., $1,199.99 list. Panasonic Corp. of North
www.sonystyle.com. llllm America, www.panasonic.com. lllmm

OUR CONTRIBUTORS: Sascha Segan and Terry Sullivan are lead analysts at PC Magazine Labs; Michael Kobrin is a junior lead analyst.
Lance Ulanoff is the editor for PC Magazine Online. Erik Rhey is a staff writer, and Molly K. McLaughlin is a staff editor for PC Magazine.
Bill Machrone is a contributing editor. Matthew D. Sarrel and Troy Dreier are frequent contributors. Features editor Sean Carroll helped
edit the reviews. Senior editor Carol A. Mangis was in charge of this story.

136 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 H O L I D AY G I F T S

GAMER GEAR//
SMART BUYING // The gaming platform is important, but it’s only
as much fun to play on as the games developed for it. Microsoft
Xbox 360
You’ve never seen games look
and perform the way they
Sony PSP do on the 360: Graphics are
This device created some seamless and hyperrealistic,
of the biggest gaming thanks to the console’s insane,
buzz in 2005; it’s almost specially-built-for-gaming-
surely on the gift list of high-performance, PC-power-
someone you know. The ful specs. You’ll also be able to
PSP is elegant, has a gorgeous use the 360 as a Media Center
screen, and totally succeeds as a portable Extender. There are too many
gaming console. The music- and video-playback features to mention here, but
capabilities are icing on the cake.— Matthew D. Sarrel just know that the 360 will
$250 street. Sony Corp., www.sony.com. llllh make any gamer you love—
love you twice as much!— CAM
Core system, $299.99 list. Microsoft
Corp., www.microsoft.com/xbox.
llllh
Intec Unlimited
Rechargable
Wireless Controller Nyko Air Flo EX for PC/Mac
For gamers who hate to tear We’ve liked Nyko’s previous Air Flo mice, which featured
themselves away from the built-in fans to cool off hot gamer hands. The EX version
screen, each of these control- builds on the Air Flo PC mouse by add-
lers has a rechargeable battery pack (rated for up to ing driver software, so you can
60 hours) and a connection cable—if you run out of customize button configurations.
juice, you can recharge while you play. They run on 2.4 You can also emulate keyboard
GHz, for maximum responsiveness, and can sense up to 16 and mouse functions, letting you
other players so there’s no interference.— Carol A. Mangis play games that you normally
For Xbox, $34.99 list; for PC and PS2, $29.99. Intec Inc., wouldn’t play with a game pad.— CAM
www.inteclink.com. llllm $24.99 list. Nyko Technologies,
www.nyko.com. llllm

Razer Copperhead Atomic Bolt Banshee Pad

This is our favorite gaming mouse, down to its
frictionless Teflon feet. The Copperhead has
a 2,000-dpi sensor and can remember five
profiles; it stores them within itself, so
you have your settings when you travel
to those LAN parties.—Troy Dreier
$79.99 list. Razer USA Ltd.,
www.razerzone.com. llllh
Forget the soft, mushy mouse pads of the past:
The Banshee Pad is made from airplane-grade
aluminum. The smooth surface helps your mouse
move as fast as possible, and
the pad looks very cool,
in purple, red (shown),
black, or blue.— CAM
$39.95 list. Atomic Bolt LP,
www.bansheepad.com.
llllm

Nintendo Game Boy Micro

Nintendo is targeting grown-up gamers with
the tiny, lightweight, and stylish Micro. The
Micro, with a 2-inch, crystal-clear screen that
is sharper and more colorful than the larger
Game Boy Advance SP’s screen, taps into the
GBA’s existing library of over 700 titles.— MDS
$99.99 list. Nintendo of America Inc., www.nintendo.com. llllh

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 137

 H O L I DAY G I F T S

KIDS’ STUFF//
SMART BUYING // Lots of manufacturers are putting out “kid” versions of Radio Shack
adult gadgets (cameras, cell phones, and so on). Most of them are fine, but
make sure you’re not spending more money for limited functionality. VEX Robotics
Design System
The VEX Robotics Design System
is an accessible robo kit for the scientifically inclined
Mattel Vidster teen. And it’s a perfect fit for the robo-hobbyist who
The Vidster is a great way can’t afford an AIBO but might be willing to build his
to introduce tweens to the own metal companion. In fact, this well-machined,
world of digital video—and decently documented kit succeeds as a helpful intro-
keep their paws off your duction for roboticists of any age.— Lance Ulanoff
expensive camcorder. It has a $299.99 direct. Radio Shack Corp., www.radioshack.com. llllm
handgrip and strap for small hands,
a 1.1-inch viewfinder LCD, and 2X zoom. It
records to the included 32MB SD card, and it can take still
photos at 1.3MP. The Vidster is bundled with a basic version
of muvee autoProducer 3.5MX for making music videos or
Nintendogs Best
slide shows, and runs on four double-A batteries.— Erik Rhey Friends Edition
$80 street. Mattel Inc., www.mattel.com. llllm Who would have thought that digi-
tal puppies would provide so much
addictive fun? The tactile experiences
offered by the Nintendo DS make the
LeapFrog FLY game feel eerily close to real, and
For ages 8 to 13, the very cool FLY pen- the animation is unpredictable and
top computer scans and responds lifelike. In this limited-edition pack-
to what you write with it. Draw age is a special-color DS—pink or
a calculator on paper and tap teal—bundled with a Nintendogs
the numbers to use it, or draw a game that features the 6 most
piano keyboard and tap the keys popular breeds; you can
to play a song (a small speaker in unlock all 18 breeds as
the FLY plays the sounds). The FLY you play.— CAM
works only with special FLY paper, $149.99 list. Nintendo,
which has a dot pattern for the scan- www.nintendo.com.
llllh
ner. Other add-on cartridges and games
impressively extend what the FLY can do.—TD
$100 street; paper and add-ons, $8 to $30. LeapFrog Enterprises
Inc., www.liveonthefly.com. llllh
Flight Factory Spin
Blade Indoor Helicopter
This rechargeable, radio-controlled toy helicopter is
Hasbro VideoNow poetry in motion. You can fly it up, down, left, right,
The VideoNow XP is a sturdy, portable and forward—it even hovers, and it has a 40-foot
DVD player for kids ages 6 and up. The range. “Indoor,” though? That’s your call!— CAM
device plays only VideoNow interac- $59.99 list. Flight Factory, www.radioshack.com. lllhm
tive DVDs, which include a decent
selection of kids’ programming.
The “interactive” ele-
ment of our SpongeBob
SquarePants test DVD
was a trivia quiz on the
SpongeBob episodes
and other Nickelodeon
cartoons. Games are
promised soon.— ER
$59 list; DVDs start at $5.99. Hasbro,
www.hasbro.com/videonow. lllhm

138 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 GIFTS FOR EVERYONE//
SMART BUYING // The best advice we can give you is to research any product
before you buy, especially by checking reviews at www.pcmag.com!

Timbuk2 Bag in a Box

Give the gift of creativity—actually, a $100 gift card in the afore-
mentioned box—and your recipient can click through the easy-to-use
wizard at Timbuk2’s Web site, mimobot
specifying colors, size, and other If you thought USB flash drives were useful
details, to create a custom laptop but kind of boring, get ready to eat crow.
(or other type) bag. Our bag ar- The limited-edition mimobot comes in eight
rived in about 2 weeks; made with cute little monster shapes and colors. There
tough ballistic nylon, it’ll soldier are three capacities to choose from, and the
through many commutes and drives come loaded with a selection of kooky,
trips.— CAM clubby remix tracks.— ER
$100 direct. Timbuk2, www.timbuk2.com. 256MB, $69 direct; 512MB, $89; 1GB, $139. mimoco
llllh LLC, labs.mimoco.com. lllhm

Global Pet Finder Iomega Micro Mini Hard Drive

Where’s Fido? Just strap this device to your pooch’s collar, and
you’ll receive periodic text messages or e-mails with your pet’s
location. You can turn alerts on and off by pressing a button (it
can take more than one try) or by text message. Within 3 hours,
we received 15 texts with the location of our moving test pet;
it works best away from tall buildings.—
Molly K. McLaughlin
$349.99 direct, plus $34.99 activa-
tion fee and a monthly service plan
($17.99 or $19.98 a month). GPS
Tracks LLC, www.globalpet-
finder.com. lllmm
No, it’s not a cigarette lighter—though it’s hardly
larger than one, at less than 3 inches in length.
Inside this sharp-looking little case is a
4GB hard drive. It connects via USB 2.0
and has a speedy transfer rate of 480
Mbps.— CAM
$129.95 list. Iomega Corp., www.iomega.com.
llllh

Digital Leisure StikAx

This hardware/software package places ten buttons and a light-
beam switch in your hands, so you can be an audio/video DJ,
on the fly. Program each button to play loops when pressed or
released; some buttons modulate others. You create loops with
the included TrakAx audio and video-editing suite, from
your own material or the included Vinyl Call clip library
for a multimedia mash-up. StikAx is fun for a
budding DJ, though pros will want more
real-time control, and the price is
Oregon Scientific MSN Direct
surprisingly low.— Bill Machrone Regional Weather Station
$99 list. Digital Leisure, This is no mere bedside clock! Using the MSN Direct service,
www.stikax.com. lllhm this gadget also tells you the current and upcoming weather for
your area, including temperature, humidity levels, and National
Weather Service warnings. You can check indoor temperature
too. Oh, and it tells time.— CAM
$199.95 direct. Oregon Scientific, www.oregonscientific.com. llllm

140 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


Sharp PW-E250
Electronic Dictionary
The Sharp Electronic Dictionary makes an excellent
homework helper and travel companion. It’s easy to use,
with several dedicated buttons that save you from scroll-
ing through confusing menus. At your fingertips are the
Oxford Pocket American Dictionary and Thesaurus, Span-
ish/English translation
tools, and a phrase-look-
up function.— MKM
$49.99 direct. Sharp
Electronics Corp.,
www.sharpusa.com.
lllhm
Optek Fretlight
The Optek Fretlight guitar is one
of the coolest things you’ll ever
plug into a USB port. It has 132 LEDs
embedded in its fretboard, show-
ing you where to put your fingers
for chords, scales, arpeggios, and
more. The included Guitar Power
software guides you through every
imaginable major and minor chord
and scale, and you can download
practice songs from the company’s
Web site. New colors are offered
for the holidays, includ-
ing Tobacco Sunburst
(shown).— BM
$599 list.
Optek Music Systems Inc.,
www.optekmusic.com.
llllm
H O L I D AY G I F T S
DLO mini fling
Here’s a stylish accessory for a stylish device: a padded iPod mini case
that comes in 12 styles and colors. With an elastic strap in the back for
money or earbuds, a wrist strap, and a mirror on the inside of the lid, this
case makes a great stocking stuffer for iPod people.— ER
$34 direct. Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, www.dlodirect.com. llllm
Wow-Wee Roboraptor
This toy robot could become the must-have
gadget of the holiday season. With its toothy
grin, blue reptilian eyes, and bright black, white,
and gray body (more than 2 feet long), the
Roboraptor is a surprisingly lifelike robot, with
just enough autonomy to make it truly interest-
ing for both kids and adults.— LU
$120 street. WowWee,
www.wowwee.com. l l l l m
CPS Cellboost for iPod
The handy Cellboost is a disposable battery
that can add around 60 minutes of addi-
tional talk time to a power-drained gadget.
You can get Cellboosts for smart
phones, camcorders, Nintendo Game
Boy Advance SPs and DSs, Sony PSPs,
and Apple iPods (shown; rated at 8 hours
additional power).— CAM E
$7.99 and up, list. Compact Power Systems Inc.,
www.cellboost.com. lllmm
>
MORE ON THE WEB
Log on to PC Magazine’s home page at
www.pcmag.com
for daily gift ideas and reviews.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 141
 No matter how deep
your pockets are
(or aren’t), there’s
a desktop or notebook
out there for you.

BY SEAN CARROLL
here’s never been a better time to buy, no matter what your

T
budget is, especially in a year when you can buy a PC with
Keep in mind, however, that you still get what you
a 17-inch monitor, a 2.93-GHz Celeron processor, and a
pay for. Makers cut corners to lower prices to more
160MB hard drive for $300. And if you can afford a little
attractive levels, and they often leave out things that
more, you can get a PC that would have been out of reach
really shouldn’t be optional. The Compaq Presario
a few years ago. In fact, this roundup includes whole new types of
SR1030Z, for example, is an otherwise quite good
processors that didn’t exist when we did our big yearly roundup last
Windows Media Center Edition desktop—except
November. Back then, 64-bit processors were the big news, as were
that it lacks a TV tuner. That $300 Systemax PC? It
SATA hard drives. This year those are old hat. Now we’ve got dual-
requires that you sign up for AOL service for a year at
core processors, which let you multitask as never before. Photoshop-
$23.90 a month—an unacceptable burden, unless AOL
ping an image when your anitvirus starts up? No problem.
is the single Internet service available in your area.
And almost every PC will require that you shell out more money for security software, as
most come with only a short-duration trial. Dell is a rare exception. Not coincidentally, Dell’s
systems are among our favorites, with the XPS 400 and E510 earning Editors’ Choices.
To help you make your choice, we’ve split the machines into three categories. We define entry-
level systems as desktops that cost $499 or less without a monitor, or notebooks with at least
512MB of RAM for $500 to $1,000. Mainstream systems are desktops that cost under $1,300 (in-
cluding a monitor) or notebooks that cost from $1,000 to $2,000. High-end systems, obviously,
IN THIS STORY cost more.
Although many of the top-of-the-line systems would make fine gaming machines, systems op-
146 Entry-Level Systems timized for gaming are a specialized breed; for a roundup, see this issue’s First Looks section, on
146 Editors’ Choices page 36. There are some dual-core systems among the high-end computers, and most are also Me-
148 Benchmark Test Results
dia Center PCs. When it comes to notebooks, we prefer Media Center (or the equivalent), and 1GB
152 Mainstream Systems
of RAM and a built-in or external TV tuner are a must among Microsoft Windows machines.
152 Editors’ Choices
Read the reviews, check out each machine’s test results (if you’re interested, read how we ar-
164 High-End Systems
rived at the figures in How We Test Computers on page 148), and shop around for deals. We’re
164 Editors’ Choices
confident that you’ll find the machine you need, at a price that just might surprise you.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DENNIS CHALKIN

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 145

« AOL Optimized PC by Systemax Apple Mac mini
2.93-GHz Intel Celeron D 340 processor, 512MB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM, 160GB Apple 1.25-GHz G4; 512MB 333-MHz DDR SDRAM; 40GB hard drive; ATI Radeon
7,200-rpm hard drive, 32MB integrated SiS661FX graphics, CD-RW drive, 17-inch 9200 graphics card; DVD-ROM/CD-RW; OS X 10.4.2. $499 direct ($673 as tested).
CRT monitor, six USB 2.0 ports, integrated sound card, Cyber Acoustics 2016 Apple Computer, Inc., www.apple.com. l l l l m
stereo speakers, Microsoft Windows XP Home. $299 direct
Systemax Inc., www.systemax.com. l l l h m
If you’re thinking of buying a Mac but are put off by the high price,
The AOL Optimized PC by Systemax or are a current Mac user limping along with an older system, the
gives good value for novices who know Apple Mac mini is here. You’ll need your own monitor, keyboard,
only a bit about PCs and just want to mouse, and speakers, but the elegant Mac OS X and Apple iLife
surf the Web—provided they’ll settle ’05 multimedia suite (which includes iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie HD, Ga-
for dial-up access. rageBand, and iTunes) make the Mac mini a fine starting point for
The AOL PC is a staid minitower. a second home PC.
Its minimal upgrade space includes The Mac mini’s diminutive size —it’s 6.5 inches square and
an AGP slot, so you can improve 2 inches tall—once again showcases Apple’s design prowess.
on the integrated graphics. After Apple’s typically painless
It comes with a Lexmark setup, you’ll be managing and shar-
ink jet printer and a 17-inch ing photos, digitizing your music
CRT display (an LCD moni- collection, and creating video and
tor is $100 more). AOL Office (Sun StarOffice rebranded) lets music projects in no time at all. The
you edit Microsoft Office documents. The Windows XP desktop sleek Mac mini is priced in a sweet
is replaced by an active AOL desktop that shows news, weather, spot for budget PCs: $499 for the
e-mails waiting, and more. To get the $299 price, though, you must 1.25-GHz version, and $599 for the
sign up for a new one-year commitment to AOL dial-up service for 1.42-GHz version with an 80GB hard
$23.90 per month. If you’re already a subscriber, this is inconve- drive. Our test system came with
nient. If you cancel, you have to pay the remainder of your con- 512MB of RAM, an AirPort Extreme
tract plus a $40 fee. Another drawback: The AOL PC comes with (802.11g) wireless networking card,
only a CD-RW drive. We prefer to be able to install programs from and the Bluetooth upgrade. It’s also qui-
DVD-ROM or watch movies. The PC’s SYSmark 2004 SE Office eter than any low-priced minitower system
Productivity score means that performance is fair for Web surf- we’ve tested.
ing or working on Office documents, but if you’re surfing and the The Mac mini stands out for its excellent bundled software,
AV kicks in, the computer will slow efficient use of space, silent operation, and the peace of mind it
RATINGS to a crawl. The AOL PC runs AOL 9.0 gives you (you won’t have to be as diligent about keeping spyware
Music: 3 (out of 5) Photos: 2 Security Edition, a big plus. McAfee’s and viruses at bay as you would with a Windows system). If you
Video: 1 Gaming: 1
VirusScan and other AOL security need to buy a keyboard, monitor, and mouse and you’re an edu-
Design: 2 Expandability: 3
programs (antispam, firewall, and cator, you should consider going with the $799 eMac; otherwise
Security: 4 Value: 5
more) are included, and AOL keeps pick the $1,299 iMac G5, reviewed later
PERFORMANCE them updated. You also get a single RATINGS in this roundup. But, as an affordable
SYSmark 2004 SE Office customer-support number for both Music: 3.5 Photos: 3 way to introduce a Mac into your life or
Productivity: 99 Video: 2.5 Gaming: 2
the PC and the AOL service. That as an additional system for an already
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet Design: 5 Expandability: 2
Content Creation: 134
alone should appeal to newbies. Mac-centric household, the Mac mini
Security: 4 Value: 3.5
—Joel Santo Domingo succeeds in style.—JSD

«« entry-level »»
SR1620NX has tons of expansion space, including a PCIe x16
Compaq Presario SR1620NX slot, which should keep the system from becoming obsolete
Dell Inspiron 6000 for a bit longer than the average entry-level system lasts.
The Dell Inspiron’s performance crushes its competition
The Compaq Presario SR1620NX is a forward-looking ma- among entry-level notebooks; impressive battery life at 4
chine for entry-level users who want a system that will last hours, 13 minutes (nearly double that of the competition)
and can be easily upgraded. For under $500, you get a 64-bit in a reasonably compact package with a sharp 15.4 inch wide-
Sempron 3400+ processor and a dual-layer DVD writer, neither screen makes this an appealing choice. But we’d recommend
of which are common among entry level systems. Best of all, the paying the additional $80 to have a DVD burner included.

146 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Compaq Presario SR1620NX eMachines T3302

1.8-GHz AMD Sempron 3400+ processor; 512MB 2.0-GHz AMD Sempron 3300+
400-MHz DDR SDRAM; 160GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive; processor; 512MB 400-MHz DDR
integrated 256MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics; SDRAM; 160GB, 7,200-rpm hard
dual-layer DVD±RW drive; seven USB 2.0 ports, two drive; 64MB integrated S3 Unichrome
FireWire ports; integrated sound card; Compaq Pro graphics; DVD/CD-RW combo
stereo speakers; Microsoft Windows drive; six USB 2.0 ports; integrated
XP Home. $499 direct (without sound card; eMachines stereo speak-
monitor). Hewlett-Packard Co., ers; Microsoft Windows XP Home.
www.hp.com. l l l l m $450 direct. eMachines Inc.,
www.emachines.com. l l h m m
The Compaq Presa-
rio SR1620NX slightly The eMachines T3302 is a mix
raises the bar for entry- of old and new. It has the AMD
level desktop PCs. This desk- Sempron 3300+ processor,
top Editors’ Choice is a durable starter which is AMD’s budget 64-bit
system for kids or for tinkerers on a budget. compatible processor, but the
Forward-looking technologies such as the 64-bit com- motherboard chipset supports only AGP graphics, which seems out-
patible Sempron 3400+ processor, ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset dated. The T3302 is a decent basic computer—and reasonable for
with PCIe x16 slot, and dual-layer DVD writer, rare among entry-level the upgrade-minded—but there are better options.
systems, should give owners plenty of mileage. Expansion space The AMD Sempron 3300+ processor lets the T3302 compete
is the SR1620NX’s main advantage over similarly priced compact with systems costing twice as much on Internet Content Creation
desktops, such as the Apple Mac mini. tests. We couldn’t run 3D tests, however, because of the S3 Uni-
The Sempron 3400+ powers the SR1620NX to respectable chrome Pro graphics chipset. For better graphics, you’ll want to
results on both SYSmark 2004 SE tests. You’ll be able to perform switch to a more capable system—or budget to upgrade to a decent
tasks smoothly, just as long as they don’t include complex graphic 3D card. If you do want to upgrade, there’s an AGP card slot. The
design or intense data processing. The SR1620NX can run the T3302’s expandability is good: There are two PCI slots, open SATA
3DMark05 test as well, which is notable; but you won’t want to use ports, and an open drive slot for upgrades. The T3302 has ample
it to play high-powered 3D games. hard drive space (160GB) and six USB
RATINGS If you want to play games, we rec- RATINGS ports, but lacks FireWire. Rounding
Music: 3.5 Photos: 3.5 ommend installing an ATI Radeon Music: 3.5 Photo: 3 Video: 2 out the features are Microsoft Works
Video: 3 Gaming: 1.5 Gaming: 1 Design: 2
x600 or nVidia GeForce 6600 PCIe and subscriptions of 90 days to Nor-
Design: 3 Expandability: 4 Expandability: 3
x16 card. The security offerings are ton Internet Security and 30 days
Security: 1 Value: 4 Security: 1.5 Value: 3
unimpressive. for McAfee AntiSpyware—neither of
PERFORMANCE The Compaq SR1620NX has a lot PERFORMANCE which is long enough.
SYSmark 2004 SE Office of appeal for entry-level users, and SYSmark 2004 SE Office The eMachines T3302 is a good
Productivity: 127 Productivity: 138
tech-savvy tinkerers will like the basic system with an appealing price,
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation 158
expandability and future-proof tech- Content Creation: 173
but there are better options out
nologies.—JSD there.—JSD

HP Pavilion s7210n Slimline PC but with more expandability. Yet it uses traditional desktop op-
tical and hard drives, as opposed to the notebook drives
1.4 GHz Intel Celeron M 360 processor; 512MB 400-MHz DDR2 found on the Mac mini, which should make the S7210n
SDRAM; 160GB, 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive; integrated Intel GMA
900 graphics; DVD/CD-RW combo drive; five USB 2.0 ports, one easier to upgrade. It comes with five USB ports, a 7-in-1
FireWire port; integrated sound card; Microsoft Windows XP Home. (SD, MMC, MS/Pro, SM, XD, CompactFlash I/II, and Mi-
$499 direct (without monitor). Hewlett-Packard Development Co., crodrive) digital media card reader (handy for the family
www.hp.com. l l l l m
with more than one digital camera), and digital audio-out
The entry-level s7210n Slimline ($499 direct with- and analog audio-out for surround sound. iTunes
out monitor) didn’t ace our performance tests, for music, HP Image Zone for digital pictures,
but it’s still very good for the bedroom or for and 60 days of Norton Internet Security are
the space-constrained apartment dweller. also included. (We’d like to see a year or
It can serve equally well as a home server more of security.)
or as a new The s7210 is no speed demon, but it’s
RATINGS PC for someone no slouch either. The notebook-based Cel-
Music: 4 Photos: 3 who needs a Web-surf- eron M 360 processor provides adequate
Video: 2.5 Gaming: 1
ing station that can also handle performance and runs cooler and quieter than
Design: 4.5 Expandability: 2
day-to-day computing tasks. It’s as a desktop CPU. You’ll be able to view rich Web sites and do gen-
Security: 1.5 Value: 4.5
compact as a 15.4-inch widescreen eral-purpose tasks with aplomb, but the integrated Intel GMA 900
PERFORMANCE notebook in both length and width, and graphics aren’t ideal for gaming. Compared with full-size systems’
SYSmark 2004 SE Office it’s a lot cheaper than most desktop- performance, the s7210n is a step behind.
Productivity: 109
replacement notebooks. At about the same price as a conventional minitower PC, the HP
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 126
The s7210n’s strength is its small Pavilion s7210n shows that desktop computers can compete with
size: a bit larger than the Mac mini entry-level notebooks when it comes to value.—JSD

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 147

 Acer Aspire AS5000 H OW W E T E S T C O M P U T E R S
AMD Turion 64 ML-30 (1.6-GHz); 512MB DDR; 60GB, 4,200-
«« entry-Level »»

The SYSmark 2004 SE

rpm hard drive; SiS 760Gx, 64MB; 15.4-inch, 1,280-by-800
display; Broadcom 802.11g; 6.5-pound system weight test suite evaluates office
(7.3-pound travel weight); DVD+R dual-layer drive; three productivity and Internet
USB ports; 65-Wh, 4.4-Ah lithium ion battery; Microsoft content creation. The Inter-
Windows XP Home Edition. $999 list. Acer Inc., www.acer.
com. l l h m m net Content Creation test
simulates Internet content
The Aspire AS5000 is not for multimedia enthusi- creation, using applications such as Ado-
asts, but this value system might satisfy those look- be Photoshop 7.01 and Macromedia’s
ing for a straightforward mainstream notebook. Dreamweaver MX. The Office Productiv-
The 15.4-inch widescreen display isn’t as bright as that ity test mimics usage patterns of today’s
of our current value favorite, the Dell Inspiron 6000, but it’s fine for movies and basic com- business users. The overall performance
puter tasks. The Turion 64 processor, lighter than an Athlon 64, helps keep weight down. score is a weighted average of the two.
The DVD+R dual-layer drive is a great feature on the Aspire AS5000, one that’s becom-
ing more popular in this class. Of course, this means other features are sacrificed to hold
MOBILEMARK L
the price down; the notebook has neither FireWire nor S-Video ports. You do get three USB L High scores are best.
ports, 802.11b/g, and a line-in jack, however. M Low scores are best.
Bold type denotes first place in Standard Extended
The biggest question about a Turion-equipped notebook is each category Battery Battery
RATINGS whether it will perform well while sustaining good battery life. Resolution K
Music: 3.5 Photos: 3 The Aspire AS5000 performed admirably on our tests, espe- Anti-aliasing/anisotropic filtering K
Video: 2 Gaming: 1.5
cially for a value system. MobileMark 2005 results were good, ENTRY LEVEL
Design: 2.5 Mobility: 2 DESKTOPS:
as were SYSmark 2004 SE scores. It uses integrated graphics,
Security: 1 Value: 2.5 AOL Optimized PC by
courtesy of SiS Corp., and though this is fine for Web browsing Systemax
N/A1 N/A1
PERFORMAN CE (you’ll need to upgrade the 90-day trial version of Norton Anti- Compaq Presario SR1620NX N/A1 N/A1
SYSmark 2004 SE Office Virus) and DVD playback, don’t expect to run many games. eMachines T3302 N/A1 N/A1
Productivity: 114
The Acer Aspire AS5000 is a reasonable no-frills system for HP Pavilion a7210n N/A1 N/A1
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation 138
basic computing. But, at the current prices, the Dell Inspiron NOTEBOOKS:
6000 is a better deal.—Cisco Cheng Acer Aspire AS5000 3:10 N/A1
Averatec AV3715-EH1 2:33 N/A1
Compaq V2000Z Turion 2:23 N/A1
Apple iBook G4 12-inch (1.33 GHz) Dell Inspiron 6000 4:13 N/A1
MAINSTREAM
PowerPC G4 1.33 GHz; 512MB DDR; 40GB, 4,200-rpm hard drive; ATI
Mobility Radeon 9550 (32MB); 12-inch, 1,024-by-768 LCD; AirPort DESKTOPS:
Extreme 802.11g; 4.9-pound system weight (5.4-pound travel weight); Compaq Presario SR1030Z N/A1 N/A1
SuperDrive DVD±RW; two USB ports, one FireWire port; 50-Wh, 10.8V Dell Dimension E510 N/A1 N/A1
lithium ion battery; Mac OS X 10.4.2. $999 direct. Apple Computer Inc.,
Gateway DX300 N/A1 N/A1
www.apple.com. l l l h m
HP Pavilion a1250n
N/A1 N/A1
The Apple iBook (12-inch) may look like the previous (Media Center)

iBook, but it’s different. A faster processor, a big- NOTEBOOKS:

ger hard drive, and more memory, along with the Acer Ferrari 4000 3:40 N/A1

PowerBook’s scroll touchpad and hard-drive Dell XPS M140 N/A1 6:28

protection that parks the drive’s heads during a Fujitsu LifeBook S2210 3:28 N/A1

sudden jolt, greatly boost the iBook’s value. Yet HP Pavilion dv4000 2:28 4:22

the already low price remains the same: $999. Lenovo ThinkPad Z60t N/A1 4:26

Though widescreen, transflective displays are the norm in consumer Toshiba Satellite M55-S325 3:15 N/A1

notebooks, Apple sticks with its 1,024-by-768 antiglare display, which we found lackluster. HIGH END

And we found the iWork ’05 suite (30-day trial) intuitive but not as robust as Microsoft DESKTOPS:

Office 2003. Dell XPS 400 N/A1 N/A1

The increase in processor speed—from 1.2 GHz to 1.33 GHz—is slight, as is the graphics Gateway FX400MC N/A1 N/A1

upgrade; the 512MB memory is standard (finally!) and should improve speed. We’d like an ex- HP Pavilion d4100y N/A1 N/A1

tended battery option; the included one lasted just 2 hours, 49 minutes. Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 Sony VAIO RC110G N/A1 N/A1

with EDR raised the mobility rating, as did its 4.9-pound frame NOTEBOOKS:
RATINGS and adapter. The iBook did well on our Security, Music, and Pho- Dell XPS M170 2:34 N/A1
Music: 3.5 Photos: 4 tos ratings. AirPort Extreme wireless (802.11g) is built in. Fujitsu Lifebook N6210 1:46 N/A1
Video: 2 Gaming: 1.5 N/A1
The hand-me-down features from the PowerBook, along Gateway NX850XL 3:22
Design: 3 Mobility: 3.5 2:15 N/A1
with the component upgrades, make the new iBook anything Sony VAIO VGN-A790
Security: 4 Value: 4.5 1:44 N/A1
but “same old.”—CC Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513
RED denotes Editor’s Choice. N/A1—Not applicable: The computer
does not have this feature.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS: Cisco Cheng and Joel Santo Domingo are PC Magazine Labs lead
analysts. Features editor Sean Carroll was in charge of this story.

148 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

We use MobileMark 2005 to measure
battery life.
Futuremark’s 3DMark05 evaluates gam-
ing performance. For high-end desktops,
we also test at 1,600-by-1,200 resolu-
tion, 4-sample anti-aliasing (4XAA), and
8-sample anisotropic filtering (8XAF). For
high-end notebooks, we test at native reso-
lution, 4XAA, and 8XAF.
Doom 3 has a self-contained bench-
mark test. Our test at 1,024-by-768, using
Medium quality settings, simulates users
sacrificing textures for frame rates. We which renders a 3D scene in software. We
also test at 1,600-by-1,200 on desktops also run a Multitasking test for dual-core
(native resolution for notebooks) at High systems: We convert a 3-minute AVI file
quality settings, using more bells and whis- to a Windows Media WMV file while a Nor-
tles. The Ultra quality setting runs all fea- ton AntiVirus scan is running in the back-
tures uncompressed. ground. The encoding session is timed and
We use Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Chaos the result is posted.
Theory, at the same settings, to test per- For detailed explanations of our tests
formance with high-end rendering meth- and to read how we arrive at our other rat-
ods including lighting effects. ings, please visit us online at go.pcmag
For systems equipped with dual-core .com/testdesktops and go.pcmag.com/
CPUs, we use Maxon’s CineBench 2003, testlaptops.

SYSMARK 2004 SE L 3D BENCHMARK TESTS L GAMING TESTS L MULTICORE TESTS

Internet Doom 3 Doom 3 Doom 3 Splinter Splinter Windows Media

(Medium (High (ULTRA
Office Content quality, quality, quality, Cell: Chaos Cell: Chaos CineBench Encode/NAV
Productivity Creation OVERALL 3DMark05 fps) fps) fps) Theory (fps) Theory (fps) 2003 L multi-tasking M
1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,200 1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,2001 1,600 x 1,200 1,024 x 768 1,600 x 1,2001 (xCPU)
Default 4X/8X Off/Off 4X/8X 4X/8X Off/Off 4X/8X

99 134 115 N/A2 N/A2 3 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

127 158 142 567 330 8 2 2 9 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

138 173 155 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
109 126 117 181 N/A2 7 3 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

114 138 125 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
97 136 115 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
102 139 119 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
113 141 126 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

131 177 152 538 N/A2 7 2 2 9 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

148 190 168 1,700 552 24 4 4 24 6 N/A3 N/A3
166 200 182 2,090 N/A2 50 10 2 29 8 N/A3 N/A3

149 245 191 617 N/Av 9 2 2 10 N/A2 524 9:47

121 156 137 2,474 732 47.0 N/A2 N/A2 33.9 13.4 N/A3 N/A3
141 188 163 168 154 3.1 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
103 129 115 415 415 5.7 5.7 N/A2 5.6 5.6 N/A3 N/A3
131 175 151 2,483 1,242 43.5 N/A2 N/A2 30.0 18.9 N/A3 N/A3
122 160 140 142 150 2.9 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3
129 155 143 168 N/A2 3.2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A2 N/A3 N/A3

187 269 224 3,787 1,922 82 23 21 53 17 522 8:34

171 251 207 6,743 4,610 76 50 48 89 40 489 9:17
167 260 208 3,667 1,866 67 22 21 52 17 522 8:44
173 249 208 1,322 420 19 3 3 20 5 486 9:21

129 187 155 6,590 3,657 101.3 N/A2 N/A2 93.6 30.6 N/A3 N/A3
113 165 136 1,201 603 22.9 N/A2 N/A2 17.2 9.3 N/A3 N/A3
121 184 149 4,293 2,342 93.6 N/A2 N/A2 62.2 21.8 N/A3 N/A3
107 169 134 1,247 272 22.6 N/A2 N/A2 28.4 10.7 N/A3 N/A3
119 174 145 2,472 1,421 63.5 N/A2 N/A2 32.2 14.7 N/A3 N/A3
1 Notebooks run these high-quality video tests at native resolution. N/A2—Not applicable: This computer was not able to complete this test. N/A3—Not applicable: This single-core PC did not run our multicore tests.
Note: The Apple Macintosh computers in this roundup were omitted from this table, since they do not run these Windows-based tests.

www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 149

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Averatec AV3715-EH1 Compaq Presario V2000Z

1.8-GHz AMD Sempron 3000+; 512MB AMD Turion 64 ML-32 (1.8 GHz); 512MB
«« entry-Level »»

DDR SDRAM; 80GB, 4,200-rpm hard DDR; 60GB, 4,200-rpm hard drive; ATI
drive; 32MB VIA/S3G Unichrome Pro Radeon Xpress 200M, 128MB; 14.1-
IGP graphics; 12.1-inch, 1,024-by-768 inch, 1,280-by-768 display; Broadcom
LCD; Ralink tech 802.11g; 4.2-pound 802.11g; 5.4-pound system weight
system weight (4.9-pound travel (6.3-pound travel weight); DVD-ROM/
weight); DVD±RW drive; three USB CD-RW; three USB ports, one FireWire
ports, one FireWire port; 49-Wh, port; 49-Wh, 4.4-Ah lithium ion bat-
4.4-Ah lithium ion battery, Micro- tery; Microsoft Windows XP Home
soft Windows XP Home Edition. Edition, $999 direct. Hewlett-Packard
$950 street. Averatec Inc., Development Co., www.hp.com.
www.averatec.com. lllhm
lllmm
The slim Averatec The HP Compaq Presario V2000Z
AV3715-EH1 laptop gives midrange performance and
is ideal for commuters features at a budget price. The
and students. It’s got a clean design V2000Z comes with either a Sempron
and an appealing price tag. processor or a more expensive Turion processor; we tested it with
The 4.2-pound AV3715-EH1 has a 12.1-inch antiglare screen and the Turion.
integrates a Sempron 3000+ (1.8 GHz), which delivers decent scores The V2000Z’s 14-inch BrightView widescreen display is easy on
on SYSmark 2004 SE—fine for Web browsing. That said, other sub- the eyes for movies or office tasks. Three USB ports, one FireWire
$1,000 systems are equipped with the more powerful Pentium M port, an S-Video port, and a 6-in-1 card reader are spread out on
and AMD Turion 64 processors. Components include a single-layer the system’s sides. It has a combo DVD/CD-RW drive (we prefer
DVD±RW drive, three USB ports, and an 80GB hard drive. In addition, multiformat DVD burners). Its Altec Lansing speakers work as well
there’s a FireWire port and a 4-in-1 card reader. as can be expected on a laptop.
The AV3715 gets a terrific rating for Value. As with other value The V2000Z’s integrated graphics aren’t 3D-friendly, so gaming
systems, the ratings for Video, Gaming, and Photos were low. The isn’t recommended. Its MobileMark 2005 score was an meager
Security rating is low because of the 2:23. The $25 extended life battery is
RATINGS bundled 30-day trial of antivirus soft- RATINGS a good buy, adding 4:40 of power. The
Music: 3 Photos: 2.5 ware; we’d like to see a full year. Music: 3.5 Photos: 2.5 V2000Z gets a very good Value rating
Video: 1.5 Gaming: 1.5 Video: 1.5 Gaming: 1.5
The Averatec AV3715-EH1 is a because it doesn’t skimp on compo-
Design: 3 Mobility: 2.5 Design: 2.5 Mobility: 2.5
good pick for those looking for a nents, but it fares poorly on Security,
Security: 1 Value: 4 Security: 1 Value: 4
lightweight, stylish system that’s because it offers only a 60-day sub-
PERFORMANCE not going to be used for multimedia PERFORMANCE scription to Norton AntiVirus 2005.
SYSmark 2004 SE Office creation. The design will impress SYSmark 2004 SE Office The HP Compaq Presario V2000Z
Productivity: 97 Productivity: 102
your peers, and so will the price—but gives you the performance and fea-
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation 136
don’t forget to budget for security Content Creation 139
tures of a midrange system at a bud-
software.—CC get price.—CC

Dell Inspiron 6000 (Media Center) gives you plenty of space to store TV shows, photos,
and music files.
Intel Pentium M 725 (1.6 GHz); 512MB DDR; 80GB, To include MCE, Dell had to sacrifice elsewhere to
4,200-rpm hard drive; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator
900 GM, 128MB; 15.4”, 1,280-by-800 display; Intel Pro keep the price under $1,000: The company chose to
Wireless 2200BG; 6.8-pound system weight. (7.7-pound ditch the DVD±RW for a DVD/CD-RW combo drive. If
travel weight); DVD-ROM/CD-RW; 4 USB ports, 1 FireWire DVD-burning is a must, a $79 upgrade to an 8X DVD±RW
port; 80-Wh, 7.2-Ah lithium ion battery; Microsoft Windows
XP Media Center 2005. $968.80 direct (E-Value code 1111- is available. Dell has also included only limited-duration
i6004pc). Dell Inc., www.dell.com. security software, whereas in its other offerings it
llllh provides a full year of protection.
With Microsoft Media Center Edition 2005 and The Inspiron 6000 does, however, have a
great performance for under $1,000, the Inspiron multitude of connectivity options, includ-
6000 is a penny-pincher’s dream and our entry- ing four USB ports, FireWire and S-Video-
level notebook Editors’ out ports, and an SD slot.
RATINGS Choice. At 6.8 pounds, it’s The Pentium M 725 (1.6 GHz) and
Music: 4 Photos: 4 not light, but it has a sharp, 512MB RAM combo rocketed performance to
Video: 2.5 Gaming: 2
bright, 15.4-inch widescreen the top of the entry-level pack. The Inspiron 6000’s
Design: 3.5 Mobility: 1.5
display that’s great for movies. MobileMark score was also impressive, at 4:13, nearly
Security: 2 Value: 4.5
The model we tested didn’t double its peers’ battery life.
PERFORMANCE come with a TV tuner, but you can buy Remember that the sub-$1,000 price tag is available only with
SYSmark 2004 SE Office an external one from Dell for an addi- Dell’s e-code: 1111-i6004pc. (You can’t configure this system for
Productivity: 141
tional $134, if you want to watch and this price on the site.) With this code in hand, frugal shoppers can
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 1 26
record your favorite television pro- enjoy the power and flexibility of the Inspiron 6000 for a very
grams. The sizable 80GB hard drive affordable price.—CC

150 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS
Apple iMac G5 (17-inch)
Spec Data: 1.8-GHz PowerPC G5 processor;
512MB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM; 160GB,
7,200-rpm SATA hard drive; 128MB ATI
Radeon 9600 graphics card; DVD/CD-RW
drive; 17-inch widescreen LCD monitor;
three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports;
integrated sound card; built-in stereo
speakers; Mac OS X 10.4.2.
$1,299 direct. Apple Computer Inc.,
www.apple.com.
lllhm
Although it ’s the
least expensive iMac,
the Apple iMac G5
17-inch is pricey for a mainstream system. Apple’s
cachet, design, and extras cost a premium, but they’re worth it. If
you’re already set on getting a Mac, add another point to the over-
all score, since this iMac hits the price/feature sweet spot.
The 17-inch G5 has a slower processor (1.8 GHz, vs. 2.0 GHz)
and a smaller hard drive than the 20-inch iMac. But for users with
limited desktop space, that’s a reasonable tradeoff for a system
that’s smaller—and $500 cheaper. The iMac includes the iLife
suite, which is ideal for budding artists—but don’t plan on burn-
ing anything to DVD. Unfortunately, to reach its price, Apple has
forgone the DVD-R drive in favor of a DVD/CD-RW combo drive.
The included 802.11b/g (AirPort) means the iMac can connect to
a wireless LAN, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR lets you connect wireless
keyboards and mice.
Though Doom 3 was viewable (at 14 frames per second), for
serious 3D gaming, we’d recommend the Dual G5 PowerMac with
an nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card. Spyware, viruses,
and other malware aren’t currently huge concerns for Mac us-
ers. McAfee and Symantec both have AV clients for Mac OS X, but
they’re not the must-have that they are on Windows machines.
When we were wrapping up this
RATINGS
story, Apple announced that it was
Ratings: Music: 4 (out of 5) introducing a new, sleeker version of
Photos: 4.5 Video: 4
iMac. Look for a review on our Web
Gaming: 2.5 Design: 5
site (www.pcmag.com), probably
Expandability: 2 Security: 4
Value: 4
by the time this magazine reaches
newsstands.—JSD
«« mainstream »»
Dell Dimension E510
HP Pavilion dv4000
The Dell Dimension E510 is an all-around winner of a desk-
top. Specialists might want the power of a dual-core pro-
cessor or need more than its modest 160GB of storage, and
gamers will not be satisfied with its Radeon X600 graphics, but
mainstream users will find this one to be a fast, powerful, quiet,
reasonably priced, and expandable, thanks to its PCIe slot and
152 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
«
Compaq Presario SR1030Z
2.2-GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+ processor; 512MB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM; 250GB,
7,200-rpm hard drive; 256MB integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics card;
dual-layer DVD±RW drive, DVD-ROM drive;
17-inch LCD monitor; seven USB 2.0 ports,
two FireWire ports; integrated sound card;
HP stereo speakers; Microsoft Windows
XP Media Center Edition 2005. $990 direct
($660 without monitor). Hewlett-Packard
Development Co., www.hp.com. l l l m m
The Compaq Presario SR1030Z is a
bargain among mainstream desk-
top PCs. Unfortunately, the lack of a
built-in TV tuner card limits its mul-
timedia flexibility.
The SR1030Z is packed with 250GB
of hard drive space, a dual-layer DVD
burner, seven USB ports, two FireWire
ports, a 17-inch LCD monitor, and the Micro-
soft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
operating system. The hard drive can store tons of photos, music,
and videos, but it’s a bit strange that the SR1030Z includes Win-
dows MCE but no TV tuner.
Regardless, you can still view pictures and listen to music us-
ing the MCE interface. The SR1030Z is a good, if uninspiring, per-
former. The Athlon 64 3500+ is a midlevel processor and garners
midlevel scores on SYSmark.There are, however, cheaper, entry-
level systems, such as the eMachines T3302, that achieve com-
parable performance. Like most entry-level systems and many
midlevel systems, the SR1030Z struggles with 3D gaming. There is
space inside to upgrade to better graphics: In addition to the open
PCIe x16 slot, there are three free
RATINGS RAM DIMM slots, two free PCI slots,
Music: 3.5 Photos: 3.5 and even space for an additional hard
Video: 2 Gaming: 1.5
drive. The system comes with a sub-
Design: 2.5 Expandability: 3.5
scription to Norton Internet Security,
Security: 1 Value: 3
but it’s for only 60 days.
PERFORMANCE If you can overlook the lack of a TV
SYSmark 2004 SE Office
tuner, the Compaq Presario SR1030Z
Productivity: 131
has a lot going for it, and is a good
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation 177
system for moderately demanding
applications.—JSD
many ports. A 15-month subscription to McAfee’s Internet
Security Suite seals the deal.
The HP Pavilion dv4000 is a mobile mainstream multi-
media dream. It’s great for creating, enjoying, and burn-
ing music and video, thanks to its powerful processor and
graphics chipset, great widescreen, and DVD±RW burner.
It’s even fast enough for moderately demanding game play,
though it’s not highly mobile, because of its heft and modest
battery life. The LightScribe drive for etching images and pat-
terns onto DVDs is a cool extra.
 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Dell Dimension E510 Gateway DX300

3.0-GHz Intel Pentium 4 630 proces- 3.0-GHz Intel Pentium 630
«« mainstream »»

sor; 512MB 533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; processor; 512MB 533-MHz

160GB, 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive; DDR2 SDRAM; 250GB, 7,200-
256MB ATI Radeon X600 Hyper- rpm SATA hard drive; 128MB
Memory graphics card; dual-layer nVidia GeForce 6600 graphics
DVD±RW drive; 17-inch LCD; seven card; dual-layer DVD±RW drive;
USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire port; 19-inch LCD monitor; seven USB
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 2.0 ports, three FireWire ports;
sound card; Dell A525 2.1 speakers; integrated sound card; Gateway
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center stereo speakers; Microsoft
Edition 2005. $1,299 direct. Dell Inc., Windows XP Home. $1,289
www.dell.com. l l l h m direct ($1,109 without monitor).
Gateway Inc., www.gateway
.com. l l l m m
The Dell Dimension E510, our mainstream Edi-
tors’ Choice, hits the sweet spot for general-purpose users and mul- An attractive PC for those who don’t
timedia enthusiasts, but those who record TV programs and archive need Windows MCE, the DX300 moves Gateway into the next gen-
photos simultaneously would benefit from a dual-core processor. eration of BTX systems. Users who need more than an entry-level
The E510 uses a mid-tower BTX case with a single cooling fan, PC can handle will find it an attractive upgrade.
resulting in a quiet system. It holds a 160GB hard drive, with space Unlike the Dell Dimension E510, the DX300 doesn’t include a TV
for another. Still, TV recording devours space, so shell out for a big- tuner or the MCE OS. But the DX300 has a more powerful graphics
ger drive if you plan to record lots of video. There’s just a single card, and its 250GB hard drive is larger than the E510’s 160GB one.
PCIe x1 slot available for future expansion, and the E510 has seven The DX300 offers good expandability for a mainstream system,
USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire port. Other features include a 17-inch with space for an additional hard drive and PCI card—though with-
LCD, a multimedia keyboard, dual TV tuners, an Audigy 2 ZS sound out a TV tuner, 250GB should be sufficient hard-drive space. The
card, ATI Radeon X600 graphics, and a dual-layer DVD burner. DX300 garners good scores on SYSmark 2004 SE. Its 167 on Office
The E510 delivered good scores on the SYSmark Office Produc- Productivity matches high-end systems on day-to-day tasks. Its
tivity and Internet Content Creation tests, but it would be more ef- nVidia GeForce 6600 graphics ensure reasonable experiences with
ficient if it had a dual-core processor. the latest 3D games—with challeng-
RATINGS It gains some benefit from its Radeon RATINGS ing details turned off. On Doom 3, the
Music: 3.5 Photos: 3 X600 graphics card, but not enough Music: 4 Photos: 3.5 DX300 outperformed similarly priced
Video: 3.5 Gaming 2.5 Video: 3.5 Gaming: 3
for hard-core gamers. We applaud Dell systems with integrated graphics. The
Design: 4 Expandability: 2.5 Design: 3.5 Expandability: 3.5
for including a 15-month subscription DX300 comes with just a 90-day sub-
Security: 3.5 Value: 3 Security: 1.5 Value: 4
to McAfee’s Internet Security Suite. scription to Norton Internet Security
PERFORMANCE The suite includes antivirus, firewall, PERFORMANCE and a 30-day subscription to McAfee
SYSmark 2004 SE Office antispam, and privacy protection. SYSmark 2004 SE Office Anti-Spyware.
Productivity: 148 Productivity: 166
This is a good system for entry- The Gateway DX300 is a good
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 190
level users and those moving beyond Content Creation: 200
choice for entry-level users who want
basic multimedia tasks.—JSD a more powerful system.—JSD

HP Pavilion a1250n more than one extra internal hard drive anyway.
There are plenty of USB and FireWire ports to
2.0-GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor; 1GB 400-MHz expand the a1250n externally.
DDR SDRAM; 250GB, 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive; integrated
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics; dual-layer DVD±RW drive The dual-core Athlon processor helps the
with LightScribe, DVD-ROM drive; 17-inch LCD monitor; seven a1250n achieve a SYSmark 2004 Internet Con-
USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports; integrated sound card; tent Creation score rivaling that of high-end
HP stereo speakers; Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. $1,229 direct ($900 without monitor). Hewlett- multimedia PCs. If you’re a digital photo-editing
Packard Development Co., www.hp.com. aficionado, the a1250n is a bargain. But its Gam-
lllhm ing scores are poor, because of the integrated
HP had to make a few compromises with the Pavil- Radeon Xpress 200 graphics. If you must play
ion a1250n. To shoehorn a dual-core AMD Athlon X2 Doom 3, upgrade via the PCIe x16 slot.
3800+ into the $1,229 system, it left out a separate Compared with similarly priced systems, the a1250n
graphics card and a TV comes out ahead in the 2D performance field, thanks to its
RATINGS tuner. The graphics card may be worth dual-core processor. But the HP lacks the Dell’s TV tuners, a com-
Music: 4 Photos: 4 losing in exchange for the extra pro- promise we don’t support for Media Center systems at this price.
Video: 2.5 Gaming: 1.5
cessing muscle, but the TV tuner isn’t. Another major shortcoming is HP’s standard security software
Design: 3.5 Expandability: 3.5
There’s a lot of expansion space in package: only a 60-day subscription to Norton Internet Security
Security: 1 Value: 3.5
the a1250n, including a PCIe x16 slot 2005 AntiSpyware Edition is preinstalled. Still, the a1250 came
PERFORMANCE and a pair of open PCI slots. There’s with a good mix of HP-based software for digital photos (Image
SYSmark 2004 SE Office only one spare SATA port, though the Zone), music (iTunes and HP Tunes), and more.
Productivity: 149
cables running from the front USB/ The HP Pavilion a1250n is a prime example of bleeding-edge
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 245
FireWire ports and the digital media technology trickling down to the mainstream. The lack of a TV
card reader would get in the way of tuner hurts its score, however.—JSD

156 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Acer Ferrari 4000 Dell XPS M140

AMD Turion 64 ML-34 (1.8 GHz); Intel Pentium M 770 (2.13 GHz); 1GB DDR;
«« mainstream »»

1,024MB DDR; 100GB, 5,400 80 GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive; Intel Graph-
rpm; ATI Mobility Radeon ics Media Accelerator 900 GM, 128MB;
X700, 128MB; 15.4-inch, 14.1-inch, 1,280-by-800 display; Intel Pro
1,680-by-1,050 display; Intel Wireless 2915AG; 5.9-pound system weight
Pro Wireless 2200BG 802.11g; (6.7-pound travel weight); DVD±RW; four
6.6-pound system weight (7.8- USB ports, one FireWire port; 80-Wh lithium
pound travel weight); dual-layer ion battery; Microsoft Windows XP Media
DVD±RW; four USB ports, one Center Edition 2005. $1,747 direct (E-Value
FireWire port; 72-Wh, 4.8-Ah code 1111-M140PC). Dell Inc., www.dell
lithium ion battery; Microsoft .com. l l l l m
Windows XP Professional. $1,999
list. Acer Inc., www.acer Dell’s XPS M140 is your complete digital
.com. l l l l m
home in a laptop. It’s loaded with Microsoft
The thin, light Acer Ferrari 4000 Media Center Edition 2005 and has a 14.1-
has a dazzling new design and inch widescreen featuring Dell’s vivid TrueLife
components for extra kick under the display, which is wonderful for viewing movies and photos.
hood. The carbon-fiber cover is stronger and lighter than aluminum, The integrated Intel graphics aren’t ideal for a hard-core gamer,
and the interior has a rubberized coating. One design complaint: The but this 5.9-pound notebook is powerful, loaded with a Pentium
mouse buttons are noisy. M (2.13 GHz) and 1GB of RAM. The battery life is also excellent, at
Though the 15.4-inch LCD isn’t as eye-popping as the Bright- 6 hours 28 minutes. Included are a 5-in-1 card reader, a FireWire
View screen on our Editors’ Choice–winning HP Pavilion dv4000, port, and a dual-layer DVD+/-RW burner. The 80GB hard drive
it is vivid enough for movie watching, even with the matte finish, is fine, but a Media Center system with a TV tuner should
thanks to its high resolution (1,680-by-1,050). The Ferrari 4000 have at least 100GB for storage. Dell’s site offers Hauppauge’s
has a solid feature set, including four USB ports, a FireWire port, WinTV-PVR-USB2 Personal Video Recorder for $134 extra.
and a 5-in-1 card reader. Video connections include both VGA and Dell doesn’t disappoint when it comes to value. Security ratings
DVI-D ports. Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11g are also included, jumped because of the generous 36-month McAfee Security Center
as is a dual-layer DV±RW drive and an subscription. The Music and Photos
RATINGS impressively large and fast 100GB, RATINGS ratings were also high, but the Gam-
Music: 3.5 Photos: 4 5,400-rpm hard drive. Music 4.5 Photos: 4 ing rating was low. Excellent support
Video: 3 Gaming: 3.5 Video: 3 Gaming: 2.5
In our performance tests, the Fer- and service are bonuses with the XPS
Design: 4 Mobility: 2.5 Design: 4 Mobility: 3
rari 4000 fell behind the HP dv4000 line. You’ll get a direct line to the same
Security: 1.0 Value: 3 Security: 4 Value: 4
on SYSmark 2004 SE, both systems salesperson for the life of the system,
PERFORMANCE had good gaming results. Battery life PERFORMANCE and access to certified technicians
SYSmark 2004 SE Office was an impressive 3:43. SYSmark 2004 SE Office who cater to your needs 24/7.
Productivity: 121 Productivity: 141
It’s only a matter of time before The Dell XPS M140 offers a terrific
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 156
Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick get Content Creation 188
Portable Media Center experience
their hands on one.—CC and top-rate customer support.—CC

Fujitsu LifeBook S2110 quick-launch keys. The full-size key-

board was comfortable to use, but
AMD Turion 64 MT-28 (1.6 GHz); 512MB DDR; 80GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive; ATI the mouse buttons are noisy.
Mobility Radeon X200 (32MB); 15.4-inch, 1,024-by-768 LCD; Atheros AR5006X
SuperAG; 4.1-pound system weight (4.8-pound travel weight); DVD-ROM/CD- The S2110 comes with a built-in
RW; 3 USB ports, 1 FireWire port; 56-Wh, 5.2-Ah lithium ion battery; Microsoft DVD/CD-RW combo drive, a big plus.
Windows XP Professional. $1,699 direct. Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp., The USB ports are all on the back;
www.computers.us.fujitsu.com. l l l m m
we’d have preferred some on the
Slim enough for serious traveling users, the Fujitsu Life- side. The 3-in-1 card reader and 80GB
Book S2110 is lightweight enough, at 4.1 pounds, to be hard drive (a 100GB drive is $10 more)
a reasonable choice for business users who want provide storage flexibility.
a notebook with an optical drive, but it trails the The S2110’s AMD Turion 64 MT-28 (1.6
competition in performance. GHz) isn’t as fast as the Pentium M pro-
T h e S 2 1 1 0 f o r- cessor on the Toshiba Satellite M55-S325,
RATINGS goes a widescreen for a but the S2110 scored an impressive 3 hours 28
Music: 3 Photos: 3 standard-aspect-ratio 13.3-inch minutes on the MobileMark test. You can swap
Video: 2 Gaming: 1.5
screen, but one that looks bright and out the DVD/CD drive for an extra battery ($138),
Design: 3.5 Mobility: 3
crisp, thanks to Fujit su’s ClearView which Fujitsu claims adds up to 5 hours of power.
Security: 1 Value: 3
screen technology. The high-contrast The S2110 has no TPM or fingerprint reader, and with only a
PERFORMANCE screen, with 1,024-by-768 resolution, is 30-day trial of Norton Security Center its Security rating is pitiful.
SYSmark 2004 SE Office easy on the eyes and great for in-flight The Value rating is average for a notebook of this stature—we’d
Productivity: 103
movies and light photo editing. Below expect a lower price for an AMD system.
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 129
the screen there are five multimedia Although the Fujitsu LifeBook S2110 is a good choice for a light
keys, which serve as both Internet and notebook, many of its peers outperform it.—CC

158 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

HP Pavilion dv4000 Lenovo ThinkPad Z60t

Intel Pentium M 770 (2.13 GHz); 512MB Intel Pentium M 750 (1.86 GHz);
«« mainstream »»

DDR2; 80GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive; ATI 512MB DDR SDRAM; 60GB, 5,400-
Mobility Radeon X700, 128MB; 15.4-inch, rpm hard drive; 128MB Intel Graphics
1,280-by-800 display; Intel Pro Wireless Media Accelerator 900 GM; 14-inch,
2200BG; 6.6-pound system weight (7.7- 1,280-by-768 widescreen LCD;
pound travel weight); DVD±RW Light- Atheros 802.11a/g; 5.1-pound system
Scribe; four USB ports, one FireWire port; weight (5.9-pound travel weight);
48-Wh, 4.4-Ah lithium ion battery; DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive; three USB
Microsoft Windows XP Professional. ports, one FireWire port; 75-Wh, 5.2-Ah
$1,627 direct as tested. Hewlett- lithium ion battery; Microsoft Windows
Packard Development Co., www. XP Professional. $1,879 direct. Lenovo
hp.com. l l l l h Group Ltd., www.lenovo.com. l l l l m

The HP Pavilion dv4000’s Lenovo is shaking up the ThinkPad line.

multimedia options and midrange price will ap- In a ThinkPad first, the Z60t comes with a
peal to users who want to play music and video. A powerful pro- 14-inch widescreen—though not a high-gloss
cessor and graphics card will make gamers happy, too, and help transreflective display. Another twist: In addition to traditional
make this our midrange notebook Editors’ Choice. matte black, the Z60t is available with a scratch-resistant titanium
The dv4000 is heavy, because of its 15.4-inch widescreen display. cover for $25 more.
The optional BrightView screen increases its brightness—excellent Our review unit had the Verizon EV-DO antenna. EV-DO offers
for movies, though a bit much for reading. The system has Quick- broadband-like connection speeds over cellular networks. Though
Play, which offers instant access to DVDs and music via multimedia it isn’t as fast or widespread as Cingular’s EDGE network, it’s bet-
keys without powering up the system. Listening is enjoyable, thanks ter than dial-up. In testing, the Z60t pulled down an acceptable
to Altec Lansing speakers on the notebook’s front. The DVD±RW is a 622-Kbps average speed on Verizon’s network.
LightScribe drive, which can etch images and patterns onto discs. The Z60t has an SD-card slot, an S-Video port, three USB ports,
Gaming performance was impressive, and the system delivered and a FireWire port. A DVD/CD-RW combo drive was included in our
impressive SYSmark 2004 SE scores. But, given its poor battery system, but even cheaper notebooks have DVD burners built in.
life, we strongly recommend the $25 extended-life battery. The There’s no discrete graphics option, which hurts the Z60t’s
dv4000 earned an excellent Value rating thanks to its graphics card Gaming rating. Its battery-life score reached an impressive 4:26.
and LightScribe DVD burner. Mobility The strong Mobility rating was
RATINGS ratings suffered because of system RATINGS thanks to its integrated WAN and
Music: 4.5 Photos: 4.5 weight and battery life, however. Mu- Music: 3 Photos: 3 Video: 2 lightweight design. The Trusted Plat-
Video: 3 Gaming: 3.5 Gaming: 2 Design: 3
sic and Photos ratings were excellent. form Module and built-in fingerprint
Design: 4 Mobility: 3 Mobility: 3 Security: 3
We’d like to see more security than the reader improved the Security rat-
Security: 1 Value: 4.5 Value: 3.5
included 60-day Norton AntiVirus and ing, but we’d have preferred security
PERFORMANCE 30-day Intermute SpySubtract trials. PERFORMANCE software subscriptions lasting more
SYSmark 2004 SE Office The HP Pavilion dv4000 offers SYSmark 2004 SE Office than 90 days.
Productivity: 131 Productivity: 122
everything you need to play music, Still, this much-improved ThinkPad
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 175
watch movies, and burn your own Content Creation: 160
is impressive, and it earns an honor-
DVDs.—CC able mention in its class.—CC

Toshiba Satellite M55-S325 The M55’s 14.1-inch TruBrite widescreen dis-

play is bright, and the Harman Kardon speakers
Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz); 512MB DDR2 RAM; 100GB hard are surprisingly good. To the right of the full-size
drive; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 GM; 14-inch wide-
screen; 802.11g wireless; 5.1-pound system weight; dual-layer keyboard are a set of DVD playback controls and
DVD+/-RW; 4 USB ports, 1 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video port; 46-Wh, two quick-launch buttons. The notebook also
4.3 Ah lithium ion battery; Microsoft Windows XP Home. $1,399 has a Quick Play feature, which lets you play
direct. Toshiba America Inc., www.toshiba.com. l l l l m
DVDs or CDs without booting up.
Finding a notebook with the right balance of portabil- The 100GB hard drive provides plenty of
ity, features, performance, and price can be difficult, storage space, and the M55 incorporates
but the Toshiba Satellite M55-S325 makes your search four USB ports. The 4-in-1 card reader
easier. The M55 is ideal for (SD, MS, MS Pro, MMC) is not as elab-
RATINGS the multi media-savvy and orate but should suit most users. The
Music: 4 Photos: 4 campus cruisers, thanks pri- M55 also has a built-in DVD±RW drive.
Video: 2.5 Gaming: 2
marily to its luggable frame, Performance is another strong suit,
Design 3.5 Mobility 3
roomy 100GB hard drive, and thanks to the faster (5,400-rpm) hard drive. Graph-
Security 1.5 Value 4
very good processing power. It ics power is delivered by Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 900
PERFORMANCE weighs 5.1 pounds, and its dimen- GM. On battery life, the M55 scored 3 hours 17 minutes. The 12-cell
SYSmark 2004 SE Office sions (13.5 by 9.5 by 1.5 inches) take battery upgrade is a bit expensive, at $145 direct, but if you travel
Productivity: 129
up little desk space. Toshiba gives extensively, it will come in handy.
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 155
you three top-cover colors to choose All told, the Toshiba Satellite M55-S325 is lightweight, reason-
from: blue, copper, and gray. ably priced, and a solid performer in its class.—CC

160 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS
Apple Power Mac G5 Dual (2.7-GHz)
Dual 2.7-GHz PowerPC G5 processors; 1GB
400-MHz DDR SDRAM; 250GB, 7,200-rpm
SATA hard drive; 256MB nVidia GeForce 6800
Ultra graphics card; dual-layer DVD±RW drive;
three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 400 ports,
one FireWire 800 port; integrated Apple
sound card; integrated speaker; Mac OS X
10.4. $3,648 direct (as tested, without moni-
tor). Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.com.
llllm
The Apple Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7GHz
is the system graphics artists dream
of. It has a quiet, state-of-the-art
cooling solution—a combination of
liquid cooling and smart fans—and
a speedy 16X dual-layer, dual-format
(DVD±RW) DVD writer. If your data files are
large, the 8.5GB capacity of dual-layer discs is enough reason to
upgrade your system. Other improvements include the new ATI
Radeon 9650, which comes standard—though we tested with the
high-end nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL (a $450 upgrade). These
improvements, along with Mac OS X 10.4.1 Tiger and iLife ’05, help
high-end graphics users get their work done quickly.
Apple sent us its widescreen 30-inch Cinema display ($2,999
direct), which dwarfs all except the biggest HDTV plasma displays.
We compared the Power Mac’s performance with that of two
Windows white boxes, one with the dual-core Intel Pentium EE
840, the other with the dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+.
Though both outperformed the PowerMac on the two Adobe
Photoshop filter tests, they won by only 1 to 2 seconds. The white-
box systems trounced the Power Mac on Doom 3 tests, but the
Power Mac won on the CineBench 2003 test. This shows that the
Power Mac has heavy-duty graphics-rendering horsepower, and
that the dual 2.7-GHz CPUs can help you get your job done faster
with applications that take advan-
RATINGS
tage of the second processor.
Music: 4 (out of 5) We recommend the Power Mac G5
Photos: 4 Video: 4
Dual 2.7GHz for power-hungry photo,
Gaming: 4 Design: 4.5
music, and video artists who need
Expandability: 4 Security: 4
Value: 4
expansion space and the horsepower
to get the job done.—JSD
«« high-end »»
Dell XPS 400
Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513
The “S” in XPS ought to stand for security—or perhaps
support. Your own personal support professional, reached
by a special phone number, and 15 months of McAfee Internet
Security Suite caught our attention. Still, no matter what kind
of security is on offer, the machine has to be worthy in the first
place. And the Dell XPS is; we love that it’s got twin TV tuners,
164 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
«
Dell XPS 400
3.2-GHz Intel Pentium D 840 processor; 1GB 533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; two 160GB,
7,200-rpm SATA hard drives in a RAID 0 array; 256MB nVidia GeForce 6800
graphics card; dual-layer DVD±RW drive, DVD-ROM drive; 20-inch widescreen LCD
monitor; seven USB 2.0 ports, three FireWire
ports; Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme
Music sound card; Dell 5650 5.1 speakers,
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005.
$2,799 direct. Dell Inc., www.dell.com.
llllh
Though other systems beat it on
some measures, the Dell XPS 400’s
feature set makes it the best in class.
The XPS 400 has an impressive
20-inch widescreen, occupies a quiet
BTX case, and has dual TV tuners, a
feature we love. The system has a rea-
sonable 320GB of storage—though we’d
have preferred two 250GB drives, to support
the TV tuners. You could easily add external hard
drives, however (there’s no expansion slot).
The XPS 400’s SYSmark Internet Content Creation score rivals
those of systems costing over $4,000, thanks to a high-end dual-
core Pentium D 840 processor, speedy DDR2 memory, and twin
SATA hard drives. You’re unlikely to see a performance hiccup
when your antivirus starts in the background. Although Dell leaves
bleeding-edge gaming performance to the XPS 600, casual 3D
gamers will be happy with the XPS 400.
Buyers receive a card with a phone number for a dedicated XPS
call center. Dell says this lets you bypass the company’s standard
support and speak with a dedicated Microsoft Certified Profes-
sional who’ll be your sole point of
RATINGS contact. Dell also promises remote
Music: 5 Photos: 5 troubleshooting. Your agent will sup-
Video: 4.5 Gaming: 4
posedly even help resolve issues with
Design: 4 Expandability: 3.5
third-party software and add-on hard-
Security: 3.5 Value: 4
ware. Another excellent feature is a
PERFORMANCE 15-month subscription to the McAfee
SYSmark 2004 SE Office
Internet Security Suite.
Productivity: 187
Though we’d have preferred more
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 269
storage, this machine deserves its
Editors’ Choice.—JSD
and it delivers great performance, even on relatively de-
manding games, thanks to a powerful processor and twin
SATA hard drives.
An exemplary widescreen and the widest array of ports
we’ve ever seen on a notebook make the Toshiba Qosmio
GV-AV513 a great choice. Impressive multimedia con-
trols, clever design, and good performance don’t hurt either. Be
warned that the battery doesn’t last long—but as the system
weighs nearly ten pounds, you might not be lugging it around
too much anyway.
 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Gateway FX400MC HP Pavilion d4100y

3.0-GHz Intel Pentium 3.2-GHz Intel Pentium D 840 processor; 1GB 400-MHz DDR SDRAM; 400GB,
D 830 processor; 1GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive, 160GB removable HP Personal Media Drive;
«« high-end »»

533-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB nVidia GeForce 6800 graphics card; dual-layer DVD±RW drive with
two 250GB, 7,200-rpm LightScribe, DVD-ROM drive;
SATA hard drives in a 19-inch LCD monitor; six USB
RAID 0 array; nVidia 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports;
GeForce 7800GTX integrated sound card; HP
graphics card; dual- stereo speakers; Microsoft
layer DVD±RW drive, Windows MCE, $2,968 direct
DVD-ROM drive; ($2,538 without monitor).
21-inch LCD monitor; Hewlett-Packard Development
six USB 2.0 ports, Co., www.hp.com.
four FireWire ports; llllm
Creative Sound Blaster Au-
digy 2 ZS sound card; Logitech
With an HP Personal Me-
z5300e 5.1 surround speakers; Microsoft Windows MCE. $2,934 direct ($2,544 dia Drive and a 400GB
without monitor). Gateway Inc., www.gateway.com. l l l l m internal hard drive, the
The Gateway FX400MC is Gateway’s top-of-the-line desktop. It’s HP Pavilion d4100y is
a powerful system for 3D games, home videos, storing and man- ideal for TV completists. The
aging photos, and recording TV. The major upgrade is the nVidia d4100y’s design is utilitarian but functional, with exposed drive
GeForce 7800GTX graphics, which improves the system’s Doom 3 bays and I/O ports. A slot for HP Personal Media Drives fills one of
and Splinter Cell scores. With a 3.0 GHz Pentium D 830 processor the empty 5.25-inch drive bays. Our system came with a 160GB car-
and twin 250GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array, it gets very good SYS- tridge. The Personal Media Drive is an external USB 2.0 hard drive
mark 2004 SE numbers. The dual-core processor can easily handle in an enclosure that facilitates easy docking in the dedicated bay.
editing home video while recording TV in the background. And with The two drives combine for 560GB of hard drive space, plenty
500GB of total hard drive space, there’s plenty of room on it too. for video from the twin TV tuners. There are also two empty hard
Expandability is limited inside to the single open PCIe x1 slot. drive bays and plenty of unoccupied internal SATA ports. You can
There’s only a single open drive bay for internal storage, but there easily add up to 1TB of storage, enough to hold all the information
are six USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire ports. The FX400MC is a your household generates, with room to spare.
better 3D performer than the Dell XPS The d4100y is good at everyday
RATINGS 400, but the XPS 400 has a faster RATINGS tasks, including recording and edit-
Music: 4.5 Photos: 4 processor and dual TV tuners, a boon Music: 4 Photos: 4.5 ing video. The dual-core processor
Video: 4 Gaming: 4 Video: 4.5 Gaming: 3.5
for multimedia multitaskers. The ensures recording in the background
Design: 2.5 Expandability: 3.5 Design: 3 Expandability: 4
Dell’s security package is better than won’t slow games in the foreground.
Security: 1.5 Value: 4 Security: 1 Value: 4
the FX400MC’s 90-day subscription One major flaw: the security is a paltry
PERFORMANCE to Norton Internet Security. PERFORMANCE 60 days of Norton Internet Security
SYSmark 2004 SE Office The Gateway FX400MC will more SYSmark 2004 SE Office and InterMute SpySubtract Pro.
Productivity: 171 Productivity: 167
than satisfy users with a penchant The d4100y is a digital storehouse
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
for 3D gaming and multimedia cre- Content Creation 260
that can archive and serve your digital
Content Creation: 251
ation.—JSD life.—JSD

Sony VAIO VGC-RC110G could add up to 1.5 terabytes of storage. Sony

has integrated its Click to DVD program
3.0-GHz Intel Pentium D 830 processor; 1GB 533-MHz with Microsoft Media Center Edition;
DDR2 SDRAM; 250GB, 7,200-rpm SATA hard drive;
ATI Radeon x300 graphics card; dual-layer DVD±RW you can back data up to DVD in a
drive, DVD-ROM drive; 20.1-inch LCD monitor; few clicks. One disadvantage: The
seven USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire/i.LINK ports; RC110G has a single TV tuner; the
integrated sound card; Sony stereo speakers;
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005. $2,199 Dell XPS400 and the HP Pavilion
direct. Sony Electronics, www.sonystyle.com. d4100y have two.
llllm The RC110G comes with a 90-
If you’re looking for a well-designed Media day subscription to Norton Internet
Center PC capable of handling video and photo Security 2005—we’d like to see at
editing without least a year. The subscription to
RATINGS slowdowns, and Intermute SpySubtract software is
Music: 4.5 Photos: 5 with enough potential storage space to a paltry 30 days. Quicken, Works,
Video: 4.5 Gaming: 2.5
please even video pack rats, the Sony Sony multimedia software, and Adobe Photoshop Elements and Pre-
Design: 4 Expandability: 4
VAIO VGC-RC110G is a good find. miere round out the better-than-average software bundle.
Security: 1.5 Value: 4
The RC110G is a black and chrome A dual-core processor keeps the system operating smoothly. It’s
PERFOR MANCE tower, and, with the largest CPU heat- capable of moderate video recording and editing tasks, but the ATI
SYSmark 2004 SE Office sink we’ve seen, it’s whisper-quiet. It Radeon x300 graphics card isn’t suited for 3D gaming.
Productivity: 173
has an average-sized 250GB SATA hard Choose the Sony VAIO RC110G if you want to load up your sys-
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 249
drive, but it comes prewired with spare tem with an extra 1.5TB of internal hard drive space, or if you prefer
SATA and hard drive power cables; you Sony’s design aesthetic.—JSD

166 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Gateway NX850XL Sony VAIO VGN-A790

Intel Pentium M 770 (2.13 Intel Pentium M 760 (2.0 GHz); 1GB DDR2;
GHz); 1GB DDR2; 100GB, 100GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive; ATI
«« high-end »»

5,400-rpm hard drive; Mobility Radeon X600, 256MB; 17-inch,

nVidia GeForce 6800 Go, 1,920-by-1,200 display; Intel Pro Wireless
256MB; 17-inch, 1,680- 2915ABG; 8.6-pound system weight
by-1,050 display; Intel Pro (10.3-pound travel weight); dual-layer
Wireless 2200BG; 8.3-pound DVD±RW; three USB ports, one FireWire
system weight (9.5-pound port; 44-Wh, 4.0-Ah lithium ion battery;
travel weight); dual-layer Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
DVD+R; four USB ports, one $2,799 direct. Sony Electronics Inc.,
FireWire port; 98-Wh, 6.6-Ah www.sonystyle.com. l l l m m
lithium ion battery; Microsoft
Windows XP Media Center Edition The most powerful machine in Sony’s
2005. $2,899.99 direct. Gateway,
www.gateway.com. l l l h m
laptop line, the A790 isn’t light, but it
is ultrathin, at just 1.8 inches thick. The
The Gateway NX850XL is a powerful Me- 17-inch XBrite screen delivers a stunning
dia Center laptop that’s equally good at multimedia tasks and play- 1,920-by-1,200 resolution.
ing games, but we wish Gateway would amp up the A/V features. VAIO Zone, Sony’s answer to Windows MCE, manages all your
The hefty NX850XL has a 17-inch widescreen, yet it’s thinner content via translucent menus and icons. The suite also offers an
and lighter than the Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513. Features are typi- audio player and recorder. Our biggest gripe: The TV tuner and A/V
cal: four USB ports, one FireWire port, a three-in-one card reader, a ports are built into a bulky docking station. The A790’s dual-layer
dual-layer DVD+R drive, and a 100GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive. The nu- DVD±RW can burn up to 8.5GB of data per disc, and Sony also wisely
meric keypad is a nice addition. Another noteworthy improvement is equips this system with a 100GB drive. With a faster processor than
the addition of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, the Toshiba Qosmio G25, the A790 earns higher SYSmark 2004 SE
which wasn’t even a choice before. The external TV tuner is a $99 scores. Its MobileMark 2005 results were just 1:55, but it’s unlikely
option; we included it in our tested configuration’s price. you’ll lug this beast far.
The NX850XL’s SYSmark 2004 SE score was impressive, thanks The A790 did poorly on our Mobility rating, even with a slight
to the fast processor and the whopping 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM mem- boost factored in for the included 802.11a/g wireless. But it did well
ory. The powerful nVidia GeForce in Music and Photo ratings, thanks to
RATINGS Go 6800 helped it deliver monster RATINGS VAIO Zone, and on the Video rating
Music: 4 Photos: 4 gaming scores. Even with the power- Music: 4 Photos: 4 because of the external TV tuner and
Video: 3.5 Gaming: 4 Video: 4 Gaming: 3.5
ful processor and graphics card, the the 100GB hard drive. Security suf-
Design: 3 Mobility: 1.5 Design: 3.5 Mobility: 1
NX850XL’s extended-life battery ran fers because of the limited trial offer-
Security: 1.5 Value: 2 Security: 2 Value: 2.5
for 3:34 on our test. Security is paltry: ings of Norton Internet Security and
PERFORMANCE 30 days of McAfee AntiSpyware. PERFORMANCE Intermute SpySubtract.
SYSmark 2004 SE Office The Gateway NX850XL is a solid SYSmark 2004 SE Office Though we wish the A790 had
Productivity: 121 Productivity: 107
Media Center laptop, but it lacks more A/V ports, its features and top
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 184
the A/V features that would make it Content Creation 169
components make it a good multi-
tops.—CC media notebook.—CC

Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513 layer DVD±RW is accessible in front,

and there are slots for both PC Cards
Intel Pentium M 760 (2.0 GHz); 1GB DDR2; two 60GB, 5,400-rpm hard drives; and Express Cards 34/54. Sound qual-
nVidia GeForce Go 6600, 128MB; 17-inch, 1,440-by-900 display; Intel Pro
Wireless 2915ABG; 9.4-pound system weight (10.9-pound travel weight); ity is exceptional. The TV tuner is built
dual-layer DVD±RW; four USB ports, one FireWire port; 48-Wh, 4.4-Ah in, and you can output high-quality
lithium ion battery; Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. video using the component-out port.
$2,899 direct. Toshiba America Inc., www.toshiba.com. l l l l h
The composite- and S-Video-in ports
No Media Center notebook compares with the Toshiba let you connect a gaming console and
Qosmio G25-AV513, our high-end notebook Editors’ a camcorder. The ConfigFree utility lets
Choice. It has the most A/V ports we’ve seen on a you set up your wireless connection
multimedia notebook and fits neatly into your en- and switch profiles and devices. And the
tertainment center. Touch and Launch feature lets you place
RATINGS The notebook has your finger on any corner of the touchpad to
Music: 4 Photos: 4.5 a terrific 17-inch wi- launch programs, open documents, and man-
Video: 4 Gaming: 4
descreen TruBrite display age settings effortlessly.
Design: 3.5 Mobility: 1.5
and four shock-absorbing “feet.” The Our system held its own at native resolution
Security: 1.5 Value: 4
dashboard has 11 multimedia keys, in- (1,440-by-900) on 3DMark 2005 and Halo tests. SYSmark 2004
PERFORMANCE cluding Express Play TV and DVD keys SE Internet Content Creation scores were also high, but the battery
SYSmark 2004 SE Office that take you into Microsoft Windows lasted only 1 hour 59 minutes. The Qosmio comes with a mediocre
Productivity: 119
XP Media Center Edition 2005 when 3-month Norton AntiVirus 2005 subscription.
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation: 174
the system’s on. When it’s off, they Still, the Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513 is the best-designed multi-
access the TV and DVDs. The dual- media laptop we’ve seen.—CC

168 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 DESKTOPS & NOTEBOOKS

Apple PowerBook 15-inch Dell XPS M170

PowerPC G4 1.5 GHz; 512MB 2.13-GHz Intel Pentium M 770 processor; 1GB DDR SDRAM; 100GB, 5,400-rpm
DDR SDRAM; 80GB, hard drive; 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX graphics card; 17-inch 1,920-by-
«« high-end »»

5,400-rpm hard drive; 1,200 LCD; Intel PRO/Wireless 2915AG; 8.6-pound system weight (10.6-pound
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, travel weight); DVD±RW drive; six USB ports,
64MB; 15.4-inch, 1,280-by- one FireWire port; 80-Wh, 7.2-Ah lithium ion
854 display; AirPort Extreme battery; Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
802.11g; 5.6-pound system Edition 2005. $2,899 direct (with E-Value code: 1111-
weight (6.1-pound travel M170PC). Dell Inc., www.dell.com.
weight); SuperDrive DVD±RW; llllm
two USB ports, two FireWire
ports; 50-Wh, 10.8V lithium ion
Membership has its privileges, and you
battery; Mac OS X 10.3.7. $2,149 get a lot with the Dell XPS M170, includ-
direct. Apple Computer Inc., ing great support, security, and
www.apple.com.
components.
llllm
The 8.6-pound XPS M170,
The Apple PowerBook 15-inch may one of Dell’s best-designed
look like the PowerBooks before it, but updates make it even better. offerings, has a sharp 17-
The most significant is Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor: If your note- inch widescreen display.
book experiences a sudden jolt (like a fall), the system parks the Thanks to the new nVidia GeForce Go
heads of the hard drive away from the spinning disks. 7800 GTX (256MB) graphics, the XPS M170’s
The PowerBook includes Version 2.0 Bluetooth, with the faster 3DMark 2005 scores raised the roof, surpassing the
Enhanced Data Rate technology, which gives a maximum data rate 6,500 mark. Its Doom 3 scores broke 100 frames per second, a first
of 3 Mbps. You won’t see an immediate benefit to the enhanced for a notebook, and big part of the system’s very high gaming score.
speeds without a Bluetooth 2.0 peripheral, but those should start The nVidia 7800 GTX graphics card effectively manages its power
arriving soon. The touch pad, also improved, can scroll vertically consumption, helping the battery last for 2 hours 34 minutes. Secu-
and horizontally. The aluminum chassis is strong, and the 15.4-inch rity got a boost from the 15-month subscription to McAfee Security
widescreen is bright. The ambient-light keyboard responds well to Center. You get the same personalized service described for the
changes in lighting conditions. The PowerBook has two USB ports XPS M140.
(we’d prefer three) and FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 ports. Video RATINGS Our review unit came with an ex-
connections include a DVI-I port and an S-Video-out port. Our unit Music: 4.5 Photos: 4.5 ternal USB TV tuner and five USB
Video: 4 Gaming: 4.5
came with a 1.5-GHz processor with the optional 8X SuperDrive ports. A DVD±RW can burn DVDs,
Design: 4 Mobility: 1.5
DVD±RW ($150 extra). On DVD playback tests, the PowerBook and a DVI-D port lets you connect to
Security: 3.5 Value: 3.5
mustered only 2:12 of battery life. digital displays. The Dell has excep-
RATINGS With new features like the scroll- PERFORMANCE tional speakers, with a subwoofer in
Music: 4 Photos: 4 ing touch pad, the Sudden Motion SYSmark 2004 SE Office the base.
Video: 3 Gaming: 3 Productivity: 129
Sensor, and the faster version of The luxury XPS M170 is an impres-
Design: 4 Expandability: 3.5 SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Bluetooth EDR, the PowerBook is Content Creation 187
sive performer and a very good note-
Security: 4 Value: 3
better than ever.—CC book.—CC

Fujitsu LifeBook N6210 stant-on button. It also has channel-surfing keys and
DVD playback controls.
Intel Pentium M 750 (1.86 GHz); 1GB DDR; two The N6210 uses InterVideo’s WinDVR 5, a below-
100GB, 4,200-rpm hard drives; ATI Mobility Radeon
X600, 128MB; 17-inch, 1,440-by-900 display; Intel Pro average DVR solution, with access to TitanTV for down-
Wireless 2915AG; 9.6-pound system weight (10.6- loading TV schedules. But we experienced multiple
pound travel weight); DVD±RW; four USB ports, one recording errors. The N6210 has enough connectivity
FireWire port; 65-Wh, 4.4-Ah lithium ion battery; Microsoft
Windows XP Professional. $2,549 direct. Fujitsu Computer options to encompass your A/V needs, including RCA
Systems Corporation, www.computers.us.fujitsu.com. jacks, four USB ports, and S-Video-in, S-Video-out,
lllhm TV tuner, VGA, and FireWire ports. The DVD±RW
Fujitsu’s LifeBook N6210 is living large as a 9.6- will burn home movies, and the 3-in-1 card
pound desktop replacement. It has all the makings reader offers flash memory flexibility.
of a high-end multimedia notebook, including two The N6210 manages to shave half a
100GB hard drives, a pound off its weight with the mobile Pen-
RATINGS built-in TV tuner, and tium M 750 (1.86 GHz) processor, but battery
Music: 3.5 Photos: 4.5 a vibrant 17-inch wide- life was a disappointing
Video: 4 Gaming: 4
Design 3.5 Mobility 1.5
screen, but lacks a full- 1:46. SYSmark 2004 performance MORE ON THE WEB
featured entertainment OS. fell a bit behind the competition, and
Security 1.5 Value 3.5
It’s got a numeric keypad, good the ATI Mobility Radeon X600 couldn’t For many more
PERFORMANCE speakers, and digitally displayed vol- catch up. The N6210 offers only a 90- notebook and desk-
SYSmark 2004 SE Office ume controls. Instant MyMedia lets day trial of Norton AntiVirus 2005.
Productivity: 113
top reviews, please
you play DVDs and watch TV without The LifeBook N6210 is a solid system, visit us on the Web
SYSmark 2004 SE Internet
Content Creation 165
booting into Windows; launch this but for a multimedia machine, consider at www.pcmag.com
feature by pressing the TV/DVD in- the Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513.—CC E

170 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com

 AFTER HOURS
T EC H N O LO GY O N YO U R T I M E

Holiday Software anything and everything you can find, so

you can replace the stars in the universe.
For PS2.—Matthew D. Sarrel
Rating: E. $29.99 list. Namco Ltd., www.namco.com.
BY CAROL A. MANGIS llllm

As we do each year, PC Magazine writers pored through multitudes of soft-

ware and played our fi ngers to the bone, so we could recommend the most
SPORTS/RACING
entertaining offerings. It’s a tough assignment, but we do it all for you!
Burnout Revenge
KIDS press the talent scouts enough to make Burnout continues to be the fastest, most
it big as a TV star. For GBA , GameCube, destructive road-racing series available.
Bratz: Rock Angelz PC , PS2 , and Xbox.—PS For a new challenge, try the traffic-
As one of the four Bratz girls, take part Rating: E. $29.99 list. THQ, www.thq.com. attack mode, where you must battle the
in a jet-setting adventure. Customize llllm clock while racing through rush hour
each of the Bratty ones with unique traffic. For PS2 and Xbox.—MDS
outfits, crafting the coolest hair and Rating: E. $49.99 list. Electronic Arts Inc.,
makeup and launching a fashion maga- PUZZLE/CARD/ARCADE www.ea.com. l l l l l
zine. For Game Boy Advance (GBA ),
GameCube, PC , and PlayStation 2 (PS2). Hoyle Casino NBA Live 06
—Peter Suciu Don’t head to Vegas until Hit the court as an NBA
Rating: E. $29.99 list. THQ, www.thq.com. you know whether luck is superstar, with dazzling
lllmm on your side. In this game dunks, paralyzing picks,
you can test your skills and bludgeoning blocks.
Disney’s Chicken Little and take your chances in A new graphics engine
The title character in this game is a good 14 popular casino games, increases the resolution
egg—just a bit scrambled. Experience including Texas Hold’em on player models; on the
the movie’s adventure and then some, Poker, Blackjack, and Xbox 360, you can see
using a variety of gadgets. Keno. For PC.—PS them sweat. For Game-
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN
For GBA , GameCube, PC , Burnout Revenge Cube, PC , PS2 , Xbox, and
l llll EXCELLENT Rating: E. $29.99 list. Encore
PS2 , and Xbox.—PS USA, www.encoresoftware.com. Xbox 360.—MDS
l l l l m VERY GOOD
lllmm Rating: E. $49.99 list. EA Sports, www.easports.com.
l l l m m GOOD Rating: E. $29.99 list. Buena Vista
l l m m m FAIR Games, buenavistagames llllh
l m m m m POOR .go.com. l l l h m Stacked with Daniel Negreanu
Playing with a stacked deck is one way NHL 06
Ed, Edd n’ Eddy: Mis-Edventures to win at poker. The other way is to learn A fter last yea r’s season-ca nceling
Three Eds are better than one: You’ll from a master like Daniel Negreanu, or at hockey strike, the game on the ice has
need each of the characters’ special least from the adaptive AI in this Texas changed a bit, and some of those changes
abilities to scam the neighborhood kids Hold’em simulation. Lis- are making their way
and rule the cul-de-sac. The Eds are ten to tips from Negreanu to your hands. Look for
each fun to play, but the game really gets while you play against the new skill-stick and deck-
going when Ed, Edd, and Eddy come to- computer, before heading i ng controls, so your
gether in an all-Ed formation. For GBA , for more serious compe- star players will be able
GameCube, PC , PS2, and Xbox.—PS tition online. For PC, PS2, to make the incredible
Rating: RP. $19.99 list. Midway Games Inc., PSP, and Xbox.—PS shots. For GameCube,
www.midway.com. l l l h m PC , PS2 , and Xbox.—PS
Rating: E. $29.99 list. Myelin
Media, www.myelinmedia.com. Rating: E. $29.99 list. EA Sports,
SpongeBob SquarePants: lllhm We Love Katamari www.easports.com. l l l l m
Lights, Camera, PANTS!
A sponge can’t be a fry cook forever, We Love Katamari Putt Nutz
and that’s why the square-trousered Last year we adored Katamari Damacy; If you thought your family was strange,
one wants to break into showbiz. Play as its unique game play returns in this se- check out the gang in Putt Nutz. Select
SpongeBob and friends, and try to im- quel. Your goal is to roll up large balls of from a variety of golf balls endowed

184 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com


with special powers (like the ability to
stop on a dime, jump obstacles, and set
off explosives) and watch your char-
acter do a victory dance as you sink a
hole-in-one. For PC and PS2 .—Nicole
Price Fasig
Rating: RP. $29.99 list. Black
Mountain Games, www
.black mountaingames.com.
lllhm
Tiger Woods
PGA Tour 06
Do you want to roar like
Tiger, or play a round
with the likes of legend-
ary golfers Jack Nicklaus and Arnold
Palmer? With 19 licensed golfers and 12
authentically recreated PGA courses,
you’ll feel like a pro yourself. For Game-
Cube, PC , PSP, PS2 , Xbox, and Xbox
360.—PS
Rating: E. $39.99 list. EA Sports, www.easports.com.
llllh
Tony Hawk’s American
Wasteland
Get ready for unlimited skating and
BMX biking in that vast wilderness
known as Los Angeles. With no distinct
levels and no load times, you can glide
through the story or just ride forever,
making this a whole new game. For
GBA, GameCube, Nintendo DS , PS2 ,
Xbox, and Xbox 360.—MDS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Activision, www.activision.com.
lllll
Virtua Tennis: World Tour
Play as one of 14 internationally ranked
tennis pros on hard clay and grass
courts. Prove you’re the ace as you take
on up to 15 of your friends over Wi-Fi.
This game looks and plays really well.
For PSP.—MDS
Rating: E. $39.99 list. Sega of
America Inc., www.sega.com.
lllll
ACTION
Aeon Flux
Fly through the air like a
deadly Romanian gym-
nast, in this futuristic
story of rebellion and temptation based
on the popular MTV animated series
(and the new movie). Execute bone-
crunching grappling fatalities to save
your fellow citizens from tyranny. For
PS2 and Xbox.—MDS
Rating: RP. $49.99 list. Majesco Entertainment Corp., A virus is making everyone in New
www.majescogames.com. l l l l m
go.pcmag.com/afterhours
MORE ON THE WEB
Brothers in Arms: Earned in go.pcmag.com/afterhours
Blood
We’ve been reviewing games and personal
The man next to you might not be re-
software all year! See our site for more.
lated to you, but he’s still your brother,
in this most authentic of World War II
shooters. T he squad- NYC joke here). In single-player mode,
based combat, built on you must shoot the infected ones to stop
actual events of the 101st the disease from spreading. If you beat
Airborne, is at times al- your opponent in multiplayer mode,
most too real. For PC , you can infect his PSP with your avatar.
PS2 , and Xbox.—PS For PSP.—MDS
Rating: M. $49.99 list. Ubisoft Rating: M. $39.99 list. Majesco Entertainment Corp.,
Entertainment, www.ubi.com. www.majescogames.com. l l l l m
lllll
Call of Duty 2 Peter Jackson’s King Kong
Call of Duty 2 Playing as King Kong, squash your
The struggle to liberate Europe from the enemies li ke bugs, f ight your way
Nazis’ yoke continues. Report for duty through the dark jungles of Skull Island,
and serve with the British 8th Army, the and relive your favorite movie scenes.
Desert Rats, in North Africa before head- For GBA , GameCube, Nintendo DS , PC ,
ing to defend Moscow with the Soviet PSP, PS2 , Xbox, and Xbox 360.—MDS
Red Guards during their darkest days. Rating: T. $49.99 list. Ubisoft Entertainment,
Then, with the American www.ubi.com. l l l l m
Rangers, lead the way to-
ward victory. For PC and Quake 4
Xbox 360.—PS That’s no mere rumble
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Activision, you hear; it’s the thunder
www.activision.com. l l l h m of Quake 4, as the series
returns to the first-per-
F.E.A.R. son single-player story.
F.E.—first encounter— You’ll battle a n a lien
suggests t he badd ies Peter Jackson’s King Kong threat within a stunning-
may not be human, and ly cinematic environ-
A.R.—assault and recon—means you ment, and you can also head online for
won’t be trying to play music to commu- a multiplayer arena battle that will have
nicate with them. This is run-and-gun you quaking. For PC and Xbox 360.—PS
action; your orders are to eliminate the Rating: M. $49.99 list. Activision,
intruders at any cost to save mankind. www.activision.com. l l l l l
For PC .—PS
Rating: M. $49.99 list. Vivendi Universal Games, Serious Sam II
www.vugames.com. llllm Shooting zombies and saving the world
is fun, but sometimes you just want to
Indigo Prophecy be a little less indispensable. For those
Lucas Kane, for reasons even he can’t times, this campy title features more
understand, kills a than 40 evil yet ridiculous enemy-unit
stranger in the men’s types and doesn’t get too serious. For
room of a local diner. In PC and Xbox.—PS
a unique spin, you play Rating: RP. $29.99 list. 2K Games,
as Lucas, and try to un- www.2kgames.com. l l l h m
cover why you have just
committed this horrific Shadow of the Colossus
crime. You can also play Tired of the little fights? Cut to the chase
from the perspective of and take on 16 massive enemies as you
American Wasteland his brother Marcus or battle to obtain the power to revive a
of either of the two lead dead loved one. Every encounter is a
detectives investigating the case. For titanic struggle that doubles as an envi-
PC , PS2 , and Xbox.—PS ronment-driven puzzle. For PS2.—MDS
Rating: M. $39.99 list. Atari Inc., www.atari.com. Rating: T. $39.99 list. Sony Computer Entertainment
lllhm America, www.us.playstation.com. l l l l h
Infected Spartan: Total Warrior
Prepare for battle with fi rst of the Total
York City insane and violent (insert War series to hit the console market.
www.pcmag.com DECEMBER 6, 2005 PC MAGAZINE 185
 A F T E R H O U R S • go.pcmag.com/afterhours
Wade into the immersive battles and
take on legions of Roman soldiers and
mythological monsters. For GameCube,
PS2 , and Xbox.—MDS
Rating: M. $49.99 list. Sega of America Inc.,
www.sega.com. l l l l h
Star Wars Battlefront II
Do you want to restore the Republic and
bring down the Emperor, or bring order
to the galaxy? Either way, try your hand
in massive battles with 12 new locations
including the interior of the Death Star
and the volcanic world of Mustafar. For
PC , as well as PSP, PS2 , and Xbox.—PS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. LucasArts,
www.lucasarts.com. l l l h m
Total Overdose: A Gunslinger’s
Tale in Mexico
Play as two brothers who
are searching for their
father’s killer. Plumb the
depths of the Mexican
drug trade as you seek
your revenge. A combat
and stunt system gives
points for killing with
style. For PC , PS2 , and Spartan: Total Warrior
Xbox.—MDS
Rating: M. $49.99 list. Eidos plc, www.eidos.com.
llllm
X-Men Legends II:
Rise of the Apocalypse
An uneasy alliance has formed between
the X-Men and the Brotherhood, in a
fight to reclaim Earth from the Apoca-
lypse. Improvements include double the
superpowers and customization capa-
bilities, new playable characters, and
more types of enemies. For GameCube,
PC , PSP, PS2 , and Xbox.—MDS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Activision,
www.activision.com. l l l l h
ADVENTURE
ECHO: Secret of the
Lost Cavern
Adventure games don’t
have to be about buff
heroes with special pow-
ers and big guns; more
personal tales like this one are a fun and
appealing alternative. Arok, a young
hunter/gatherer at the dawn of time, is
inspired by the Lascaux cave paintings
and sets off on an epic journey to find the
artist who created them. For PC.—PS
Rating: E. $19.99 list. DreamCatcher Interactive Inc.,
www.adventurecompanygames.com/tac. l l l h m
186 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
80 Days
If you had the time and money to take an
80-day vacation, you could cross the des-
erts of Egypt, traverse the jungles of In-
dia, visit Japan, and head
across North America be-
fore returning to Europe.
That’s where you’ll go in
this adventure, bringing
four scattered items back
to prove you made the
trip. For PC.—PS
Rating: RP. $29.99 list. Matrix
Games, www.matrixgames.com.
lllhm
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Every decision you make in life has
a consequence. This is certainly true
in the world of Fable, an
action role-playing game
that is never the same
twice. Whether you be-
come a hero or villain
is all in how you play it.
For PC .—PS
Rating: M. $49.99 list. Microsoft
Corp., www.microsoft.com.
llllm
Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire
The boy mage is back, and he doesn’t
have to go it alone in the latest magical
adventure. A new co-op mode lets play-
ers experience the world of Hogwarts
together and unleash their wizarding
powers. For PC , Xbox, and PS2.—PS
Rating: RP. $29.99 list. Electronic Arts Inc.,
www.ea.com. l l l l m
Lost in Blue
A shipwreck leaves you and a companion
stranded on a deserted island, where you
must not only survive but
also unravel the island’s
mysteries. This creative
role-playing game makes
excellent use of the Nin-
tendo DS’s innovative fea-
tures: Fish with the touch
screen, and fan the flames
with the microphone. For
Narnia Nintendo DS.—MDS
Rating: E. $29.99 list. Konami,
www.konami.com. l l l l m
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
To understand a criminal’s intent and
solve the hard cases, you need to be able
to probe his mind. Play as Detective
Robert Goren. This game re-creates the
action of the hit series and features the
voices of show stars Vincent D’Onofrio
and Jamey Sheridan. For PC.—PS
Rating: RP. $29.99 list. Vivendi Universal Games Inc.,
www.vugames.com. l l l h m
Myst: End of Ages
The saga of Myst is finally
concluding. The last jour-
ney lets you determine
the fate of a long-lost civi-
lization; you’ll face new
challenges beyond any-
thing you’ve previously
Harry Potter experienced. For PC.—PS
Rating: E. $49.99 list. Ubisoft
Entertainment, www.ubi.com. l l l l m
SoulCalibur III
In addition to the classic fighting mode,
this game now offers a single-player
adventure as well as 25 playable charac-
ters and the ability to create your own
character. Your thumbs will get a work-
out. For PS2 .—MDS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Namco Ltd., www.namco.com.
llllh
The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, The Witch and The
Wardrobe
This is one film that might make you for-
get about that magic ring. It also has the
makings of a very fun game, in which
you’ll have to help free the frozen land of
Narnia from the evil White Witch. For
GBA , GameCube, Nintendo DS , PC , PS2 ,
and Xbox.—PS
Rating: T. $29.99 list. Buena Vista Games Inc.,
buenavistagames.go.com. l l l l h
STRATEGY
Age of Empires III
When you’re running an overseas em-
pire, you have to discover new lands,
gather resources, build up your forces,
and improve your technology before
you can take on rivals. This might
sound like work, but fans of the Age of
Empires series know that it’s pure plea-
sure. For PC .—PS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Microsoft Corp.,
www.microsoft.com. l l l l h
Black and White 2
Want to play God? You don’t have to be
a kind and noble deity; you can be a dark
force that commands with a mighty
hand. Whichever path you choose,
you’ll create and customize a power-
ful creature to do your bidding, while
building settlements to provide for your
 A F T E R H O U R S • go.pcmag.com/afterhours
followers as you seek world dominance
through peace or war. For PC .—PS
Rating: T. $49.99 list. Electronic Arts Inc.,
www.ea.com. l l l l m
Diplomacy
W hom do you t r u s t ?
T h a t ’s a n i m p o r t a n t
question, in this game
about making and, more
i mpor ta nt, brea k i ng
deals. Start in Europe in
1901, with seven players
( AI or human) control-
ling each of the major
powers, and continue until only one is
left standing. For PC .—PS
Rating: E. $39.99 list. Paradox Interactive AB,
www.paradoxplaza.com. l l l h m
Shattered Union
After a questionable presidential race,
the U.S. disintegrates, and a new Civil
War breaks out among rival factions.
As one of them, you have to defeat your
rivals to restore the fractured nation in
this 3D turn-based strategy game. For
PC and Xbox.—PS
Rating: T. $39.99 list. 2K Games, www.2kgames.com.
llllm
Sid Meier’s Civilization 4
From humble Stone Age beginnings,
venture out to explore the world, build
a powerful civilization,
and eventually maybe
even head to Alpha Cen-
tau ri! T he ga me isn’t
easy, but it’s addictive:
You’ll play into the wee
hours. For PC.—PS
Rating: RP. $49.99 list. 2K Games,
www.2kgames.com. l l l l l
The Movies
Lights, camera, action! And script doc-
toring, reshoots, and celebrity melt-
downs. In The Movies, you build a studio
from the ground up, hire actors and di-
rectors, build sets, and shoot the film
you’ve always wanted to make—a campy
B-thriller or an epic period piece. For
GameCube, PC, PS2, and Xbox.—PS
Rating: RP. $49.99 list. Activision,
www.activision.com. l l l l l
EXPANSION PACKS
Battlefield 2: Special Forces
In modern warfare, you need to call in
elite troops like the U.S. Navy SEAL s,
British SAS , and Russian Spetsnaz. All
188 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com
three are ready for action in this addi-
tion to the online multiplayer game,
which features new weapons, maps, and
nighttime missions. For PC.—PS
Rating: T. $29.99 list. Elec-
tronic Arts Inc., www.ea.com.
lllll
City of Villains
This sequel to the on-
line role-playing game
City of Heroes lets you
become t he u lt i m ate
Zoo Tycoon 2 supervillain, complete
with over-the-top pow-
ers, truly badass costumes, and such
villainous missions as heists, kidnap-
pings, and infi ltrations. And you won’t
be foiled at every turn. For PC .—PS
Rating: RP. $49.99 list. NCsoft Corp.,
www.ncsoft.com. l l l l h
Rome: Total War—Barbarian
Invasion
The thing about building an empire is
that someone always seems to want to
bring it down. This time around, you
don’t have to be the empire creator; you
can play as barbarian tribes, including
Goths and Huns, and do the sacking for
a change. For PC .—PS
Rating: T. $29.99 list. Sega of America Inc.,
www.sega.com. l l l l m
The Sims II:
Nightlife
Look for more interac-
tion among your Sims as
you hit dance clubs and
other hotspots. You can
get your own car—a new
addition to the Sims uni-
verse—as well as plenty
The Movies of other items to keep the
Sims happy. For PC.—PS
Rating: T. $34.99 list. Electronic Arts Inc.,
www.ea.com. l l l l h
Zoo Tycoon 2:
Endangered Species
Some of the most endangered animals
in the world are just about impossible to
see in real life. But the next best thing
is to see their digita l
cou nter pa r ts i n you r
virtual zoo. Care for ko-
modo dragons, crested
gibbons, gray wolves,
and other rare creatures.
For PC .—PS
Rating: E. $29.99 list. Microsoft
Corp., www.microsoft.com.
lllhm
OTHER SOFTWARE
EyeToy: Kinetic
Get your own personal trainer on your
PlayStation 2. Choose from 22 workouts,
including yoga, tai chi, kick boxing, car-
dio, and strength-building exercises.
Your movements are tracked on screen
by the EyeToy camera; performance
analysis maximizes benefits.—MDS
$39.99 list. Sony Computer Entertainment America
Inc., www.us.playstation.com. L l l l h
Guitar Pro 4
Strummers of all sorts will love Guitar
Pro, a simple-to-use multitrack tablature
editor for 4- to 7-string instruments. You
enter notes with keyboard keys or click
on an onscreen fretboard. Numerous
other handy tools are included.—Carol
A. Mangis
$60 street. eMedia Music Corp.,
www.emediamusic.com. l l l l h
Leeza Gibbons Scrapbooking
Software Platinum Addition
This scrapbooking software works like
a pared-down version of publishing
programs such as Adobe’s InDesign.
Choose from preset templates or make
your own, then insert photos and design
the page to your liking. You can print
partial or whole pages ready to insert in
your scrapbook.—NPF
$49.99 direct. Mountaincow LLC,
www.mountaincow.com. l l l l m
Simple Star PhotoShow
As a media-management tool, Photo-
Show is powerful yet wonderfully easy
to use. It handles photos and video fi les,
provides tools for building professional-
looking slide shows and screen savers,
and is particularly adept at organizing
and tagging your photos—all from a
single interface.—Cade Metz
$39.99 list. Simple Star Inc., www.simplestar.com.
lllmm
Visual Thesaurus 3
An inventive way to explore language,
Visual Thesaurus 3 includes more words,
American and British pronunciations,
fun new display modes, a
cool configurable display,
content-filtering options,
and (online only) search-
es in French, Spanish, and
other languages.— CAM
CD, $29.95 direct; online sub-
scription, $2.95 per month or
$19.95 per year. Thinkmap Inc.,
www.visualthesaurus.com.
The Sims II: Nightlife llllh
 BACKSPACE
WOULDN’T YOU LOVE TO SEE WHAT’S STORED ON COURTNEY LOVE’S CAMERAPHONE?
Edited by Don Willmott

<< Faithful reader << For those

Stephen Fudge of you who
noticed some- are afraid
thing rreally of cakes.
rreally rreally (Google ad)
strange about
his new Logitech
keyboard.

>> How do we know the picture

isn’t there? (MSN ad)

>> Some misspellings

are more outré than
others, as is evi-
denced by this one,
found on a Disney
site, no less!

<< Isn’t it refreshing to see a news headline about a problem fol-

lowed immediately by another one with the solution? (CNN.com)

<< Use it to build a

Wi-Fi network
and to snake
your drains.
(Fry’s ad in The
Dallas Morning
News)

>> Chic! A deluxe $840 iPod holder by Valentino...but she’s

not even listening to it! (Neiman Marcus catalog)

If your entry is used, we’ll send you a PC Magazine T-shirt. Submit your entries via e-mail to backspace@ziffdavis.com
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190 PC MAGAZINE DECEMBER 6, 2005 www.pcmag.com