Australian PC World articles from December 2002

Australian PC World archives from December 2002

Sweet treats. (Editorial).
December 1, 2002... Since Microsoft released its Windows XP Service Pack 1, PC World has received numerous requests from its readers to include the hefty download on its cover CD. Bob Lewis's e-mail below is indicative of the many sent in by readers,...

DVD driving along. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... Developments in DVD technology have come at a rapid pace in the past few months, and the availability of products compatible with multiple DVD formats is increasing. DVD Multi is a standard that offers compatibility between three DVD...

Schools get StarOffice for free.
December 1, 2002... Sun Microsystems is giving away its StarOffice 6.0 product to schools, tertiary institutions and non-profit organisations across the country in a bid to steal market share from rival Microsoft. The idea, according to Dinesh Bahal, director...

Computer charity founder jailed.
December 1, 2002... Colin Bayes, director of PCs For Kids, last year accused Microsoft of almost forcing the closure of the Victoria-based charity. In an ironic twist, Bayes has single-handedly brought down the organisation himself after embezzling more than...

Xbox goes Linux. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... A group of developers has released a version of the Linux OS for Microsoft's Xbox game console, promising to turn the device into a fully-featured PC. Developed by a German group called h07.org, the distribution for the Xbox is based on...

Audigy 2 unleashed. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... When Creative Labs launched the Audigy sound card towards the end of last year, it raised the bar for PC audio. With the Audigy 2, it hopes to do the same again. Like its forerunner, the Audigy 2 is aimed at true audiophiles and contains...

ThinkPad turns 10.
December 1, 2002... IBM's ThinkPad notebook has celebrated a milestone, turning 10 in October. Although the ThinkPad has maintained its basic black design over the past decade, the noticeable visual change has been its size. IBM launched with the ThinkPad...

Xandros debuts Linux desktop OS.
December 1, 2002... Xandros, a new entrant in the Linux market, released its first OS, claiming ease of use, installation and functionality as its greatest drawcards. Xandros Desktop 1.0 is built upon Linux kernel 2.4.19, XFree86 4.2, Debian 3.0, and enhanced...

Net shopping gets safer. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... Ever considered buying goods online but have concerns about handing over your credit card details? Worried about the legitimacy of e-commerce sites? In an attempt to overcome e-commerce user fears this Christmas season, Consumer Affairs...

Domain resellers warned. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... ACCC chairman Professor Allan Fels has delivered a vigorous warning to suppliers of domain name renewal services, cautioning them against misleading or deceiving customers. Fels's warning follows a recent court ruling against...

Hard drive shortage to continue.
December 1, 2002... Chronic shortages in hard disk drives are likely to continue well into November and December, creating inventory headaches for distributors and resellers alike. The constraints are affecting markets worldwide and involve nearly all hard...

New interface could make mice extinct.
December 1, 2002... Researchers at the University of Delaware (UD) have invented a technology that they say will do away with the traditional mouse and keyboard, replacing them instead with a touch pad and finger motions that will allow computer users to control...

Antispammer wins trial. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... An antispam activist has vowed to continue to publish the details of spammers in Australia, and their ISPs, after the District Court of Western Australia dismissed a lawsuit against him for allegedly providing the IP address of a marketing firm...

VIA: price beats speed. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... VIA Technologies doubts you really need a 3GHz processor, and it's betting that low cost will eventually lure PC buyers more than raw speed. Most users don't require a multiple-megahertz processor--they just want a chip that's fast enough...

Mytek to support Dick Smith PCs.
December 1, 2002... Mytek, a company that provides assistance for PC owners, will now offer its 24-hour support service to Dick Smith customers who purchase a system from any Dick Smith Electronics, Tandy or Dick Smith Powerhouse retail outlet. For an annual...

Wozniak: PC technology reaching a plateau.
December 1, 2002... Steve Wozniak, Apple Computer's co-founder and one of the key people behind the PC revolution, believes the seemingly unrelenting upgrade cycle is levelling off--creating economic problems for some technology makers, but giving financial relief...

iiNet broadband gets `bliinkered'. (Broadband).
December 1, 2002... Providing too much of a good thing became too costly for Western Australia-based broadband provider iiNet recently. The company was forced to scrap offering unlimited off-peak downloads via its bliink Time (midnight to dawn) ADSL service and...

Netspace users transfer for free. (Broadband Briefs).
December 1, 2002... Netspace has introduced a new free transfer upload/ download service between its ADSL Home customers, which will allow same-state users to exchange files of any size without affecting their monthly download limits. The new service, which...

ArrayComm deploys 3G wireless. (Broadband Briefs).
December 1, 2002... US telco provider ArrayComm is partnering with local telecommunications infrastructure providers to roll nut a 1Mbps data service using the company's iBurst technology. ArrayComm is partnering with Vodafone Australia, which will provide...

Self preservation: ALT.NET [right arrow] archiving the Web. (Analysis News).
December 1, 2002... The Internet is the largest library ever created by humans and yet every day vast tracts of its content are wiped forever. Some of the losses are accidental, such as server crashes or human error, but the biggest culprits are neglect and...

PCAuction to master cyberspace shopping. (Online News).
December 1, 2002... Online auction house PCAuction has announced its intention to conquer the e-tailing world with the launch of an online IT superstore, PCAdvantage. Former E-Store founder and managing director Steven Spilly, who heads up the new division,...

MIT offers courses for free on the Web.
December 1, 2002... Although US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenCourseWare (OCW) project isn't quite a free education, it is a new approach to the open sharing of knowledge over the Internet. Now, anyone with an Internet connection and a Web...

auDA Panel proposes state/territory 2LDs. (Online News).
December 1, 2002... Australian states and territories will get eight new second level domains (2LDs) if a proposal by auDA's New Names Advisory Panel is adopted. The panel has recommended that auDA create geographic 2LDs--act.au, nsw.au, nt.au, qld.au, sa.au,...

Russian hacker gets three years in prison. (Online News).
December 1, 2002... A Russian hacker, tricked into coming to the US by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was sentenced to three years in prison after he was convicted on 20 counts of conspiracy, fraud and other related computer crimes. US District...

LG GMA-4020B, Sony DRU-500A: multi-format DVD writers. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... One of the most exciting DVD drive newcomers is Sony's groundbreaking $899 DRU-500A. Not only does this fiber-burner write DVD+RW and +R at 2.4x, it also writes the competing DVD-R and DVD-RW formats. And get this: it does so at 4x and...

Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen: personal MP3 player. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... Although not as bulky as other models in the Nomad range, the Zen's size is approximately equivalent to a cassette-based Walkman. Its outer shell is metal, making the unit very sturdy, while all buttons and ports reside on the sides of the...

Philips 180P2B TFT: LCD display. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors have become a viable option of late due to their attractive pricing and features. Although not as versatile as CRTs, LCDs are often preferred for a number of reasons. The footprint and thickness of the...

Acer, Compaq and Toshiba Tablet PCs: convertible notebook devices. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... By the time you read this, Microsoft's VP of Emerging Technologies, Dick Brass, will have unveiled the Tablet PC to Australians as part of a simultaneous worldwide launch on 7 November. There are two types of Tablet PCs: the first are...

Matrox RT.X10: video editing package. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... With Pinnacle and Matrox seemingly in a race to see who can bring down the cost of real-time video editing more quickly, now is a great time for enthusiasts to buy. The RT.X10 is an attempt to bridge the gap between Matrox's high-end products...

Nikon Coolpix 2000: digital camera. (First looks).
December 1, 2002... The Coolpix 2000 is Nikon's first foray into low-end point-and-shoot models for novice users, and offers an excellent combination of value for money, features and ease of use. With its plain looks, the 2000 is unexciting at first glance,...

Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro 7.0: photo manipulation software. (First looks).
December 1, 2002... Interest in digital photography is booming: people want to have more control over their images, and the technology can require less hassle than film cameras. Film cameras are still widely used for happy snaps but benefits such as previewing...

Britannica 2003 on DVD: multimedia encyclopedia. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... Encyclopaedia Britannica now comes on a single DVD. You can search directly from the opening screen, as well as browse the encyclopedia alphabetically from this first `page'. Another new feature is the introduction of three tailored...

Lotus Notes/Domino 6 RC: groupware, e-mail client/server. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... I tested a Lotus Notes/Domino 6 release candidate (the retail release will be shipping by the time you read this) and found a lot of things to like, including an overhauled interface, improved mail tools and upgraded calendaring features. ...

McAfee VirusScan Home 7, Norton AntiVirus 2003, Panda Antivirus Titanium: antivirus software. (First Looks).
December 1, 2002... You can't ignore the threat of PC viruses, but the latest antivirus programs let you devote less time and energy to defending against them. Although they don't offer breakthrough features, McAfee VirusScan Home Edition 7, Norton AntiVirus...

Creative Audigy 2 sound card and Inspire 6.1 6600 speakers. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... The Audigy 2 now features true 24-bit/96KHz playback and recording to support true DVD Audio. DVD-Audio is a new audio format, which hopes to do for the music industry what DVD-Video did for the film business--in other words, replace CDs in the...

New slim, Trim ICQ variants. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... If size matters, someone forgot to tell America Online's ICQ instant messaging division. They have released ICQ Lite, a condensed version of AOL's popular IM program with uncharacteristically few features. At just 1.7MB, ICQ Lite has only...

BenQ DVD Gem. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... If you want a DVD drive you can carry around in your bag for watching movies and occasionally for use with your PC, BenQ wants you to think about the DVD Gem. The Gem is small (135x44.5x165mm, WxHxD) and light (550g) and can play DVDs, CDs and...

Altech Lansing 251. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... Altec Lansing's latest submission into the 5.1 market, the 251, is aimed at gamers and movie buffs alike. The speakers were very easy to set up with colour-coded cables and a helpful user manual. The system boasts an overall continuous power...

Philips Micro MP3/CD Hi-Fi System. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... Further bridging the gap between MP3 technology and the mainstream consumer base is Philips's new MC-M250 Micro Hi-Fi System. It's a funky looking unit (whose yellow speaker grills were not too popular with people who saw it in our lab), but...

Olympus DS-330 digital recorder. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... Olympus has successfully taken the dictaphone and turned it into a computer peripheral. This small, light device has 16MB of built-in storage. That may not sound like much, but Olympus's advanced DSP (digital signal processor) technology allows...

BlackIce PC Protection 3.5. (Quick Takes).
December 1, 2002... BlackIce, although often lumped together with personal firewalls such as ZoneAlarm and Kerio Personal Firewall, is an IDS (intrusion detection system), making it more like a nightclub bouncer than a swipecard entry system. A personal firewall...

Instant messaging clients. (Linuxworld).
December 1, 2002... Communicating with others over the Internet with instant messaging (IM) is fun and easy, but there are so many competing networks now in operation that it can be hard to select one. Choosing one network over another often alienates you from...

CPU update. (Readers' Forum).
December 1, 2002... I have just read an article in the October 2002 edition, "Debates rise over CPUs" (page 8), which discusses Toshiba's Satellite 5005 notebook series. Although the article states that the model which is the central figure in the US lawsuit is...

Called in account. (Readers' Forum).
December 1, 2002... We have recently had trouble with our ISP, which has admitted to an accounting error where it thought a bill had been unpaid by us, but now they admit that it was their accounting error. However, the ISP proceeded to record a bad debt against...

Dilbert.
December 1, 2002... A GOOD MANAGER HIRES PEOPLE WHO ARE SMARTER THAN HE IS. SO... YOUR BOSS IS DUMBER THAN YOU? AND YOUR BOSS'S BOSS IS DUMBER YET? ACCORDING TO YOUR THEORY, OUR CEO IS THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE COMPANY. UNLESS ALL OF YOU ARE BAD...

Ongoing protection. (Readers' Forum).
December 1, 2002... I write in regard to the article "Protect Your PC" (November 2002, page 89). The report mentioned Norton AntiVirus2002 to be one of the top performers. I do agree the program is easy to use and efficient, but I found the after-sales support...

E-mail: handle with care. (Readers' Forum).
December 1, 2002... It's often said you should not open e mail attachments from people you don't know--a rule echoed in November's Web and You, "Take back your Privacy" (page 41). However, it has been my experience that the vast majority of viruses come from...

Missive of the month.
December 1, 2002... Congratulations to Dieter Hentschel! You are this month's winner of a year's subscription to PC World worth $66. We are pleased to receive your letters, bet please keep them to less than 300 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for...

On tap online: make the Web your wine waiter with these online alcohol sites. We have options for sourcing all your needs for an upcoming Christmas Party, as well as some information and specialist sites. (Web & You).
December 1, 2002... Are you a wine collector who fancies a rare drop? Eager to stock up on that favourite red but can't find it in your local bottle shop? Or do you want to know which beverage to serve at your next dinner party, or how to make a Hazy Shade of...

On the money upgrades: the right upgrades breathe new life into ageing PCs; the wrong ones waste your time and cash. Here's the real scoop on today's top options, and how to get the job done.
December 1, 2002... Smart PC users know that they often can save a buck by souping up their old computers instead of buying new ones. Carefully chosen upgrades can extend your PC's life and help you avoid the pain of migrating your data, software, and settings to...

The Insider's guide to fixing Windows.
December 1, 2002... 65 File and window fixes 66 Look and feel updates 69 Windows 2004: Microsoft's big makeover 71 Net solutions 72 Windows our way: we envision a better OS A show of hands, please: who's deliriously happy with Windows...

File & window fixes: explorer is a decent tool, but it's often not good enough. Here are some ways to get what you want, more quickly.
December 1, 2002... [All] Open documents with your choice of applications It's easy to change which application launches when you double-click a particular type of file. For some file types, though, one application just isn't enough. For example, usually you...

Look and feel: if you're going to stare at a cold computer screen all day, shouldn't it be as attractive as possible? Give Windows a look you like with these tips and tools.
December 1, 2002... [XP] A stylish solution to the blue menace Windows XP comes with a whole new visual style. If the blindingly blue (or green or silver) taskbar and title bars don't work for you, you have two solutions--switch to the classic look, or turn to...

Net solutions: use these tips to grease the wheels of your system's Internet surfing and network functions so that you can use your computer and Net time more efficiently.
December 1, 2002... [All] Rev up browsing with Internet Explorer Every time you use Internet Explorer 4 or later to visit a Web site, it makes one connection to download the HTML code and another to download graphics. This practice follows the standard...

The windows we'd like to see.
December 1, 2002... Longhorn won't rear its head until at least 2004, hut we're already tired of waiting. So we asked some leading user-interface experts about what works and what doesn't in today's OSs, then we sat down to design our vision of a Windows that...

Linux vs Windows: the rematch; can a frustrated windows user dump Microsoft? Even with lots of improvements, Linux is still not a walk in the park.
December 1, 2002... You might be pretty happy with Windows XP. But Windows continues to suffer from more than its share of drawbacks: from the newer operating system's incompatibility with older software to Microsoft's well-known security problems, Windows still...

Have a truly rechie Xmas: we present for your shopping pleasure some of the hottest Christmas gifts around.
December 1, 2002... UNDER $200 Subscription to PC World Give your favourite PC enthusiast the gift that keeps on giving: 12 whole months of PC World! PRICE: $66 PHONE: 1800 248 811 URL: https://secure.idg.com.au/subscribe (see page 97...

Picture perfect output: inkjet printers. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... What do you do when you've rounded up 14 of the current crop of inkjet printers in the same room? First we went crazy printing anything and everything our hearts desired, then we compiled performance scores and assembled report cards detailing...

Compact colour laser.
December 1, 2002... If you've ever considered purchasing a colour laser printer for the office, but always found the price to be a little overwhelming, then check out the latest offering from Minolta QMS. The 32MB memory equipped Magicolor 2300 DL is a colour...

Latest chipsets for P4. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... With the release of its fastest Pentium 4 processor this month, Intel has introduced enhanced chipsets that should take performance beyond anything ever seen for the desktop environment. The two new chips for the DDR platform are the 845PE and...

Techno terminology. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... What is a chipset? A chipset is a set of controller chips that control the flow of data in your computer system (think of the chipset as being the traffic controller). Motherboards have two central chips in their chipset (such as the 845PE and...

ASUS P4PE.
December 1, 2002... Targeted towards the power user, this gluttonous board is equipped with Serial ATA and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, and is certain to please early adopters who strive to have the latest and greatest in desktop PC technology at their disposal....

Gigabyte GA-8GE677Pro.
December 1, 2002... Greatly featured and aggressively priced, the GA-8GE667Pro is suitable for either budget or performance pursuits. This board is well built and boasts a lot of added value. Based on the Intel 845GE chipset, the board features 8MB integrated...

Sweet time to buy. (Best Buys Sweet Spot).
December 1, 2002... A regular new section called Sweet Spot is being launched in the December 2002 issue of PC World. It is designed to complement the Best Buys in assisting you to make your personal or business hardware purchases. The Sweet Spot will be a...

CPUs: Intel 2.53GHz, AMD XP 2200+. (Best Buys Sweet Spot).
December 1, 2002... The CPU is one of the key components of your PC. It is also one of the greatest battlegrounds for vendors and manufacturers alike. Product lines tend to be updated on a quarterly basis, although the forces of market competition sometimes see...

Graphics cards: GeForce4 Ti 4200-based, Radeon 9000-based. (Best Buys Sweet Spot).
December 1, 2002... One of the most confusing areas of your computer can be the graphics card. There is a wide variety of chipsets, video connectors, memory configurations and bundled things to throw into the mix. Last month the Test Centre examined 40 graphics...

Motherboards: Intel 845E-based, via KT333-based. (Best Buys Sweet Spot).
December 1, 2002... The motherboard is the epicentre of every system and in its most basic form will accommodate the CPU, system memory, a couple of IDE channels, an AGP port and some PCI slots. Most motherboards today incorporate items such as network adapters,...

System RAM: PC2700 DDR333 256MB modules. (Best Buys Sweet Spot).
December 1, 2002... RAM can be very confusing because a wide variety of it has been available for a while now. System RAM varies in speed and there are three basic types for the desktop: SDRAM, DDR SDRAM and RDRAM. Bandwidth is the defining factor of the memory...

Over $4000 home. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Metalbox Systems BeF pc world BEST BUYS * [1] This machine from Metalbox is one of the best gaming systems on the Best Buys charts right now. It features an optimal configuration that shone brightly in our benchmark tests (refer to the...

Over $4000 business. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Plus Corporation Dezign 123 pc world BEST BUYS * [1] For ultimate performance you have to pay hefty prices, but this configuration from Plus Corporation for its Dezign 123 video editing system should appeal greatly to both...

$2001-$4000 home. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Infocom Gaming Beast pc world BEST BUYS * [1] NEW The Gaming Beast has undergone a hardware refresh since we last tested it in the October issue, as Infocom has replaced the CPU and graphics adapter with more up to-date components that...

$2001-$4000 business. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Acer Veriton 7200D pc world BEST BUYS * [1] Boasting an extremely rich configuration, the Veriton 7200D managed to produce hefty results in all our tests. Running under Windows XP Professional and utilising the less secure FAT32 file...

IBM NetVista S42.
December 1, 2002... Boasting a space-saving size of only 31x35x9cm (WxDxH) when positioned as a desktop, the latest corporate offering from IBM comes standard with a Pentium 4 processor and 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM. The model we reviewed had a 2.4GHz (533MHz...

Sub-$2000 home. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Trinity International Computers P4 Home Pack pc world BEST BUYS * [1] NEW Hitting a price point of just under $2000, this machine is great value all-round, with a powerful CPU and overall configuration making it ideal as a gaming or...

Sub $2000 business. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... AcerPower Sd pc world BEST BUYS * [1] Built in a small microtower enclosure, this 2GHz Pentium 4 system performed on par with other 2GHz Pentium 4 systems we have seen (refer to the table) and should be adequate for users who are...

Over $6000. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Toshiba Satellite 5110 [1] Large in size and ideally a desktop replacement, the newly updated Satellite 5110 has a curved blue lid casing that has been made more flexible to help protect the 15in LCD display. Internally, the display...

$3001-$6000. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Dell Inspiron 8200 [1] This 8200 uses a 2GHz P4 M processor and 256MB of DDR SDRAM, from a maximum 1024MB. Graphics were delivered courtesy of an NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics controller with 64MB of DDR memory, which returned a record...

Sub-$3000. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Targa Traveller M1 [1] New The Traveller M1 features a stylish silver chassis of a size about standard for a notebook with a 14.1in display. It doesn't skimp when it comes to a processor, boasting a 1.6GHz P4-M processor as opposed to the...

Inkjet printers. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... HOME: Epson C61 Fastest times in its class and competitive pricing on consumables make this printer an attractive buy. SOHO: Canon $530D This printer produced fast times, and it incorporates separate ink tanks and memory card...

Home printers. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Also known as entry-level printers, these units are highlighted by their simplistic feature sets and sparse controls. They are easy to install and use, and are perfect for printing documents and Web pages. If you want to print the occasional...

SOHO printers. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Although these printers bear similarities to both home and photo printers in terms of their printing capabilities and pricing (the four printers in this review were priced from $500 to $600), they are generally distinguished by their boastful...

Photo printer. (Best Buys).
December 1, 2002... Heavily aimed at the digital photographer and priced between $270 and $900, almost all of these printers sport direct accommodation for most of the popular memory media used in mainstream digital cameras. This means you can simply remove the...

Increase your PC uptime. (Upgrade This!).
December 1, 2002... This month's columns offer great advice on how to upgrade your PC from a quiet puppy to a snarling beast, among other things. In our In Depth column this month, Spiro Hionis takes time out to explain to readers how to go about building a...

Improve your PC's graphics performance. (Upgrader).
December 1, 2002... Over the past year, a new generation of PC graphics cards has been exploiting cutting-edge video processors and fast memory to provide eye-popping performance, especially in 3D games and other graphics-intensive applications. In addition, many...