Computer Shopper articles from June 2001

Computer Shopper archives from June 2001

Today's Connected Home.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... The idea may sound like a scene from Woody Allen's Sleeper or an episode of The Jetsons, but refrigerators that monitor their own contents, lawn sprinklers that operate according to the weather, home heating systems that respond to voice...

Feedback Forum.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2001... Don't go changin' I've been reading Computer Shopper since the early years. In April's "Feedback Forum", Michael Palmisano complained Shopper was too geared toward gamers. First: So what? Second: In my experience as a computer technician...

Cool Front for Future CPUs.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... Tired of keeping up with the Joneses? Try being Intel. The chip maker has to keep pace with both competitors and Moore's Law, which posits that the number of transistors on a processor doubles every two years. Although Intel has succeeded in...

Broadband From The Ground Up.(Industry Trend or Event)
June 1, 2001... Fancy yourself a high-tech trendsetter because you installed broadband Internet access before your neighbors? The feeling won't last long. Many new homes have high-speed access built in, and buyers are beginning to demand not just broadband,...

Whopper Floppy.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... If you've been using your 1.44MB floppy disks for drink coasters, you might want to reconsider. Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries (that's Panasonic in the United States) has developed a new floppy drive that enables you to store up to...

Besides, the Martians Would Have Objected to the Glare.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... Bigger is better, at least according to the Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry, and Education (CANARIE), a nonprofit Internet-development organization that says it has built the world's largest "disk drive." Dubbed the...

Of Pineapples, Barbecues, and The Amazon Honor System.
June 1, 2001... Amazon.com recently kicked off the Amazon Honor System (www.amazon. com/honor), which the company describes as "a safe and easy way for you to support your favorite Web sites and to buy digital content on the Web." It allows sites to present a...

Indie Films Go TiVo.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The Internet opened up independent film distribution, but only to those willing to endure jerky movies in tiny windows on PC screens. Now there is a better option. Users of TiVo personal video recorders can watch selected short films-...

Talent for Sale.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... Next time you go online to up the bid for that hard-to-find Beanie Baby, you might be able to score the services of a graphic designer or copywriter, too. In a move to expand its offerings in the business arena, online-auction behemoth eBay has...

Like Dejanews All Over Again.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... A huge chunk of Internet history-a terabyte of discussions, FAQs, and flames-recently changed hands when popular search engine Google purchased the Deja.com Usenet archive. The archive, a trove of 500 million newsgroup postings dating back...

The Softer Side of Tech.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... If you've ever turned a sofa upside down looking for a lost TV remote, or angrily readjusted the driver's seat after your sweetheart took the car out for a spin, take heart. Technology may soon be integrated into everything from couches to...

The Free Way to Cars.
June 1, 2001... In the past year, Web sites like FreeCar (www.freecar.com) and Autowraps (www. autowraps.com) have promised to either give away free cars or pay you to drive your own. Of course, you'd have to swallow your pride, because the car must be wrapped...

It's All About You.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... Where would you go to find out if you're a sex god/goddess? If you're millionaire material? Who your TV family is? Surf over to Emode (www.emode.com), and learn the answers to these and a multitude of other scintillating questions. You'll...

Value Line: Ultraportable Notebooks.(News Briefs)
June 1, 2001... A selection of featherweight portables found on computershopper.com Acer TravelMate 351TEV $1,839 700MHz Pentium III, 128MB SDRAM, 10GB hard drive, 13.3" TFT, external combo bay (DVD and floppy), 4 pounds Gateway Solo 3350cs $2,199...

The Stuff You Want.(News Briefs)
June 1, 2001... Swiss-Army Wireless Motorola Accompli 009 Personal Interactive Communicator What it is: A 21st-century messaging device from Motorola that fuses the multifunctionality of a Star Trek Tricorder and Kirk-style Communi cator. For...

Computer Shopper Best Buys: June 2001.(News Briefs)
June 1, 2001... Software Adobe Photoshop Elements Adobe's latest midlevel software features Photoshop 6.0's greatest hits for hundreds less than the original. Photoshop Elements has just about everything you need for touching up an image, including...

Working Together On the Wild Web - Toward the Brave New World of Web- Based Content and Services.(Company Business and Marketing)
June 1, 2001... I couldn't exactly be considered a Microsoft apologist, since I publicly called for antitrust action against the company some nine months before charges were filed. But I do credit Microsoft with persistence and vision: Leaving nothing to...

Channeling Television's Future - Three new TV-viewing scenarios could change television as we know it, but not for the better.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... What's so wrong with television that every pundit and analyst insists it must change into something new? What's wrong with the way it is? Their expectations tend to be the same, with one or more of the following scenarios coming up most often:...

What E-Tailers Do Right - Pure plays still provide a better shopping experience than bricks and clicks.(Industry Trend or Event)
June 1, 2001... It's always irked me that analysts name big offline retailers as the inevitable winners in their battles with dot-com pure plays no matter how poorly designed their sites are or how pitiful their selections. Last holiday season, I typed in...

Computers Still Aren't Smart Enough - It's 2001, but we're still years away from the likes of the HAL 9000.(Technology Information)(Column)
June 1, 2001... Despite all the progress in clock speeds and memory capacity, computers have remained remarkably primitive. If the dreams of futurists, science-fiction writers, and artificial-intelligence theorists had been fulfilled, computers would be doing...

ABS Duron Special: Graphics Power and Value to Spare.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Fully configurable via the well-designed ABS Web site and delivering plenty of bang for your buck, the $1,249 ABS Duron Special impressed us with its solid multimedia performance and power-even if it cuts a few corners in cosmetics and cool...

Gateway Essential 933: This Essential Covers The Bare Necessities.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Perhaps you're not the type to tinker with and expand your PC. You want something you can plug in and start using, and you're more likely to replace it someday than upgrade it. If this description fits you, the Gateway Essential 933 is your...

Toshiba Equium 8000S: This Pint-Size PC Means Business.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Perhaps best known for its line of portable and ultraportable computers, Toshiba America is making a small impression on the desktop arena as well. Its Equium 8000S series, which targets low- to medium- duty business users, stands just 4 inches...

Altec Lansing ADA890: Get Your Games Ready to Rumble.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Altec Lansing's six-channel ADA890 speaker system is touted as the perfect setup for PC games, PlayStation2, music, and video. But while the $349.95 system is THX-certified, we found it better for gaming than for home theater. The speakers...

Canon Elura 2MC: Mighty Mite, But Murky Movies.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... The Holy Grail for digital-camcorder manufacturers is to produce the smallest camera possible. Canon U.S.A.comes closer than ever to achieving that feat with its $1,799 Elura 2MC, though not without a few sacrifices. The Elura 2MC weighs...

ATI Radeon VE: Two-Screen Support For the Price of One.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Priced at $99, the ATI Radeon VE graphics card is the least expensive dual-monitor graphics card you'll find today, and an excellent choice for most mainstream business users and consumers. The card's Radeon VE chip is a cost-reduced...

Cornerstone c910: The Big Picture On a Small Budget.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... The recent trend in monitors has been to downsize the amount of desktop real estate they occupy. The Cornerstone c910, an under-$300 19-inch CRT, bucks that trend. It's deep, running back a full 18 inches, which doesn't leave much room for...

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR: TV Broadcasts At Your Command.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Given the recent strong entries into the personal video recorder (PVR) market from ATI Technologies and Matrox Graphics, Hauppauge Computer Works has plenty of competition for its new $249 WinTV-PVR board. Both ATI's All-in-Wonder Radeon and...

Epson Stylus Photo 1280: Practically Perfect Picture Printing.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Sitting alone atop Epson's inkjet printer line, the Epson Stylus Photo 1280 is the ultimate digital-photo printer. Most inkjets can do passable reproductions, and some create very nice images on glossy paper. But few can equal even the...

Apple PowerBook G4: Power Is at the Core Of This Stunning Apple.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Meant for graphics gurus on the go, Apple's new $3,499 titanium-encased PowerBook G4 has style to spare. The first thing you'll notice when you open it up is its big 15.2-inch screen. To be sure, most of the talk surrounding this PowerBook has...

Dell Inspiron 2100: Solid Components Wrapped In a Compact Package.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... We've always found Dell Computer to be more concerned with producing solid, if relatively conservative, products than ones full of futuristic flash. Performance, price, and reliability are always Dell's watchwords; the bleeding-edge features...

HP Pavilion N5270: A Midrange Box That Travels Beyond the Basics.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... The standard midrange consumer notebook, tipping the scales at more than 7 pounds, is no fun to carry around, but consumers don't seem to care very much. They'll put up with extra pounds to gain a 15.1-inch screen, three fixed drives, plenty of...

Handspring VisorPhone: Give Voice To Your Visor.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Leveraging the Visor's Portable power, Hand - spring's VisorPhone seamlessly adds wireless voice and data to the PDA using its Springboard expansion slot. The result is a sensible and easy-to-use wireless phone that will appeal to PDA-centric...

Sonicblue RioVolt: Tote Tons of Tunes With Ease.
June 1, 2001... The first MP3/CD players seemed amazing, letting you carry hundreds of songs on a single disc. Amazing, that is, until you realized that "Turning Japanese" was somewhere between tracks 130 and 204, and your player didn't show song titles....

Toshiba Satellite 2805-S402: All-Around Great System, Desktop-Caliber Graphics.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... With desktop-level graphics performance-thanks to its brand-new nVidia GeForce2 Go graphics chip and 16MB of dedicated video memory-plus a pumped-up feature set, Toshiba's newest Satellite 2805 is more than your average midrange consumer...

Adobe Photoshop Elements: All the Right Elements Are Here.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... The name "Photoshop Elements" better describes Adobe Systems' midlevel image-editing package than its predecessor's, Photoshop LE (for "Limited Edition"), ever did. And the $99 program, which offers a subset of Photoshop 6.0's features with an...

Icepack Linux: New Linux Package Takes on Windows.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Icepack Linux is a new linux distribution-$25.50 direct or available for free download-intended to attract beginners to the popular Unix- like operating system. Installation can still confuse Windows-only users, but Icepack is a good step along...

ApproveIt: Digital Signatures Without Doubt.(from Silanis Technology)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Silanis Technology's ApproveIt was one of the first electronic- signature products available last year when the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act gave digital signatures the same legal weight as handwritten ones. The...

MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition: Video Making Its Way to the Palm.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Will a PDA replace your TV and VCR? Not soon, but you'd be surprised at how well full-color, full-motion video plays on a Palm screen with the help of a program like MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition. The Palm's small display and lack of sound mean...

ReadySyncGo: A Treat to Sync Your Teeth Into.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Keeping your information synchronized from PC to PDA to cell phone isn't always easy. But if you're a frequent traveler looking to keep your lines of communication in sync, Synchrologic's ReadySyncGo may be the solution for you. ...

Balthaser: Fx: Web Animations In a Flash.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... Balthaser: Fx represents a marvelous concept: a site that lets you create Flash animations by dragging and dropping objects onto pages. You don't need to buy, install, or learn any software, and the graphics and animations offered at the site...

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter: The Icemen Cometh Again.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Last year's Icewind Dale was an enjoyable, distinctively action-packed role-playing game that shared only a superficial similarity to other products from Interplay's Black Isle Studios division. It's somewhat disappointing then that the...

Blade of Darkness: Have Mace, Will Travel.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Blade of Darkness is a gory, hack-and-slash third-person action game that you can play as one of four different warriors, all of whom must do bloody battle against assorted forces of evil. Although it has a few problems and takes some time to...

Clive Barker's Undying: A Shooter to Die For.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Clive Barker's Undying is a horror-themed first-person shooter-a straightforward-enough concept, but one that hasn't been executed so well since Id Software's revolutionary 1993 shooter Doom. It's true that Undying doesn't ship with the one...

NASCAR Racing 4: Running With a Fast Crowd.(Software Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Papyrus has almost single-handedly defined what an automobile-racing simulation should be. Its latest project, Sierra Studios' NASCAR Racing 4, is the glorious culmination of years of experience and expertise. Like earlier versions, NASCAR...

Curing the Beige-Box Blues - Five Desktop Systems That Offer Buyers More Colorful choices.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Fact File Category Tested Stylish Desktop PCs Price Range $1,398 to $2,999 Minimum Configuration 800MHz processor; 128MB RAM; 20GB hard drive; CD- ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM drive; CRT or LCD monitor; Windows Me Companies Included...

Do-It-Yourself Designer PC.(Industry Trend or Event)
June 1, 2001... Designer PCs are fine for folks who start out needing a new computer system, but you might be perfectly happy with the system you already own. How to dress up that regular beige box? All you need is a bit of imagination and the right materials....

Flattening Up - With sharper pictures and falling prices, LCD monitors are finally going mainstream.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Fact File Category Tested 15-Inch LCD Monitors Price Range $595 to $769 Companies Included Acer Communications & Multimedia America, CTX International, KDS USA, Mag InnoVision, Samsung Electronics America Samsung SyncMaster...

Analog Versus Digital: Does It Matter?(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... Although all five of the LCD panels we reviewed came with analog (that is, traditional 15-pin VGA) interfaces, some models employ digital, or DVI, connectors instead. What's the difference between the two, and should you favor one over another?...

Rev It Up! Turbo-charge your PC by upgrading its engine.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... Time isn't kind to computers. After a couple of years, your desktop still runs, but it lacks the lightning speed and multitasking muscle it once had. You could sell it, but who wants to buy a computer that's slower than the least expensive new...

Speed Trap.
June 1, 2001... Upgrading a CPU can be tricky business. You could harm your computer with a static discharge, bend the pins on your processor, or cause rolling blackouts in California. (okay, the last is unlikely.) Upgrading isn't rocket science, but it can be...

Overclocking.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... A Freebie That Can Cost You Why buy a CPU upgrade when you can overclock your current chip and pay nothing at all? You can find hundreds of Web sites that explain how you can flip a few switches and rev up your processor by one or two...

Home Safety Nets - Firewall software shields PCs from hackers and attackers.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
June 1, 2001... Someone could be inside your computer right now, looking at your online passwords, stealing your credit-card numbers, and rifling through your tax files. Not likely, you say? If your computer is connected to the Internet with a dial-up modem,...

What Your Firewall's Telling You.(Glossary)
June 1, 2001... Most personal firewalls hide the details of hacker intrusions. If you're curious about the nature and source of these attempts, you may favor a package that keeps a detailed log of its activity. In addition to being scary reading, these logs...

Testing, One, Two, Three.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... How do you know if you're fully protected from hacker attacks? You could enlist the aid of a friendly Web site to launch an assault on your Internet connection. It takes only a few minutes, and you may find that your personal firewall isn't as...

Got Problems? Get Answers! You can find an oline technical-support solution for just about any computing conundrum.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... There's safety in numbers. That's why Harvey Van Sickle, an architectural historian in Hampshire, England, is so gung ho about online support: You don't have to depend on just one support person. Plus, he notes, online users are often more...

Phone It In.
June 1, 2001... Online support is great-but what if you can't boot your system or get your modem to work? The best solution is to favor sites that will let you phone for support. Some, such as Ask Dr. Tech, include 24-hour phone support along with the...

Be Prepared.
June 1, 2001... Want to cut your support time in half? Be prepared with the particulars of your problem. If your problem is complicated, make a list of the solutions you've already tried. For standard Windows error messages, press the Details button and...

Using Usenet.
June 1, 2001... Sometimes your question is so specific that it's beyond the scope of a jack-of-all-trades support site. That means you have to appeal to the masses to find someone who has traveled the same path and discovered the way out. For hands-on...

Have You Heard the One About...?
June 1, 2001... Feel dumb when asking for technical support? Don't worry: It takes world-class ignorance to impress most support people. They've heard it all, and many of their most outrageous tales are collected on sites that specialize in stupid-customer...

PC Prophylactics.
June 1, 2001... Want to avoid support sites or minimize your time at them? Here are some steps you can take to keep your computer humming: Make a startup disk. Defrag your drive regularly. Update your virus definitions. Visit McAfee.com...

Support Showdown.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... Though many support sites promise a rapid and knowledgeable response, the only real way to find out how fast and smart they are is to put them to the test. So we posed the same questions to a cross section of online support teams to evaluate...

Home, Sweet Home - The high-tech home links devices in every room to one another and to the Net, delivering convenience through connectivity.
June 1, 2001... "Coffeemaker, this is the alarm clock. It's 6:15 a.m. Mr. Smith has to get up an hour early today, so please start brewing now." "Roger." This is the kind of conversation-in zeros and ones-that will soon take place between...

The Wired Wired West.
June 1, 2001... Thinking of moving to Los Angeles? You may want to look into Playa Vista (www. playavistainfo.com), a "wired community" under construction in the city's West End. These 13,000 homes will include such 21st- century amenities as broadband...

A Wedding Cakewalk - From popping the question to booking the honeymoon, take a walk on the Web to take the stress out of planning and shopping for the big day.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... More couples ought to plan their weddings together, rather than leaving it to the bride, her mom, and the temperamental consultant. After all, any two people who can organize an emotionally charged ceremony and overpriced meal for 200 (or even...

Web Buyer - Site reviews for online shopping.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... PC Shopping The sites in this listing sell computers, components, and accessories from multiple manufacturers. See the sites under "PC Direct Vendors," or check the Computer Shopper Source Directory (cgi.zdnet.com/slink?8145) for more...

Computer Shopper Site of the Month.(linux2order.com)(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... linux2order.com Finding Linux software on the Internet is easy, but retrieving it can be a challenge. A complete Linux distribution or major application can easily weigh in at tens or even hundreds of megabytes-far too big to download...

Payroll ASP Targets Do-It-Yourselfers.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... A new Web-based payroll service is hoping to compete with the likes of QuickBooks Deluxe Payroll Service and NetLedger by targeting the 80 percent of small businesses that currently handle payroll themselves. At about $500 per year, PayCycle...

Privacy Guidelines Could Aid Web Sales.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Privacy concerns have plagued e-commerce since the first online shopper typed in a credit-card number. The Personalization Consortium hopes its new guidelines, which promise privacy at participating sites, will allay e-shoppers' fears and...

The Cost of Cyber Crime.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The financial toll of computer crime is soaring, according to the 2001 Computer Crime and Security Survey conducted by the Computer Security Institute (CSI) and the San Francisco Federal Bureau of Investigation's Computer Intrusion Squad. Among...

Small-Biz Bazaars - Buy what you need and sell what you make at small- business B2B marketplaces.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
June 1, 2001... What do paper clips, tax services, and lines of credit have in common? They're the essentials that keep business running. Once upon a time you'd cruise the local stationery shops, drag out the Yellow Pages, or tap a friend for help getting...

Boom to Bust - Six Deadly Moments That Brought About the Dot-Com Downfall.(Industry Trend or Event)
June 1, 2001... All over the San Francisco Bay Area, New York's Silicon Alley, and blossoming new-economy towns such as Atlanta, people are shaking their heads and wondering what happened. How could the dot-com boom that fueled fortunes, woke sleeping...

Inside Job - Your biggest security threat may come from within. Here's how to protect your company's digital assets.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... When you think of data security, your main concern is likely hackers breaking through your firewall. But although your corporate Internet connection still represents your network's weakest security link, internal systems are not that far...

When Computers Grow Legs.(Industry Trend or Event)
June 1, 2001... Is your costly equipment walking out on you? Here's how to tame its wanderlust Imagine setting up 100 new 1.5GHz Pentium 4s only to find one Monday morning that several dozen of them were missing their CPUs and RAM. It may sound...

The Hard Edge.(Industry Trend or Event)(News Briefs)
June 1, 2001... Wearable Computing Gets Real; Introducing the AliceCam; and Bill's Surprisingly Simple Online-Catalog Solution Alice was never the type to dream of sporting a wrist communicator, or one of those weird eye computers. It's hard enough placing...

Lights Out - How to control your home lighting and appliances with your PC and X-10 modules.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... Let's face it: The idea of controlling the lights, appliances, and miscellaneous gadgetry in your house from your PC is just plain fun. Like a cross between the gee-whiz gizmos of a James Bond flick and the pragmatic automation of the Swiss...

Alfred Poor's Computer Cures.(Questions and Answers)
June 1, 2001... Caching In Dear Alfred: What is the difference among the three hard drive cache settings under "Typical role of this computer" in the Windows 98 File System Properties area (Control Panel > System > Performance > File System > Hard...

Alfred Poor's Computer Cures: Tip of the Month.
June 1, 2001... Stereo Licks Today, computer makers do a better job of labeling parts than they did in the past, but you can still be stymied by some components. This month's tipster sticks his tongue out to solve one of these problems. Dear Alfred:...

A Surrogate Motherboard.(Technology Information)
June 1, 2001... Now that this year's tax return is a distant, unsavory memory, perhaps you're ready to take on another major headache, er, project. Here's one suggested by Dave Blackburn, a general contractor who has grown tired of his 667MHz...

Checking Out.
June 1, 2001... If i only had a brain The SportBrain Personal Fitness Assistant is a wearable device that monitors your daily physical activity (as discussed in "The Hard Edge"). Here are some other electronic brains we'd like to see: "here's how...