Australian PC World articles from March 2003

Australian PC World archives from March 2003

A silent voice. (Editorial).
March 1, 2003... In the last few days I have received quite a few e-mails from friends urging me to join the voice of protest which is growing against the war on Iraq. "Call to Action--Troops Leave Sydney Tomorrow for Iraq!" and "No War" have been the subject...

High five for HighMAT? (Analysis News).
March 1, 2003... Microsoft and Panasonic Consumer Electronics have announced additional hardware and software makers who will support HighMAT, a technology co-developed by the two companies that aims to provide better interoperability between PCs and consumer...

Windows CE update set for mid-2003 release.
March 1, 2003... The next update to Microsoft's Windows CE.NET OS, which has been given the codename McKendric, will ship before the middle of 2003 and include several new features, a company executive said at the Microsoft Embedded DevCon 2003 conference. ...

UK school to use eye scanner to charge for lunches.
March 1, 2003... A new school in Sunderland, UK, plans to use a retina scanning device to charge students for lunches in an attempt to make the school "cashless" and protect poor children who receive free food from being bullied and ridiculed by other children...

Morpheus to be updated. (Analysis News).
March 1, 2003... StreamCast Networks is preparing an upgrade to its Morpheus file-sharing software that will allow users to search farther across the peer-to-peer (P-to-P) network. The company also is preparing a Web-based, "remote control" version of its...

MandrakeSoft's woes. (Analysis News).
March 1, 2003... Linux distributor MandrakeSoft has filed for bankruptcy protection at a court in its home country of France. The company said a series of quarterly losses led to the filing of "declaration de cessation des paiements" but that current...

Survey: more workers turn to Web for news, info.
March 1, 2003... Online news sites could be the survivors of the dot-cam downturn, a recently-released survey suggests, as adult workers are reportedly racking up more time reading news and information online than they are consuming traditional media such as...

AMD, IBM team for future chip-making technology.
March 1, 2003... IBM and AMD will work together on future chip-making technologies, under an agreement that could help AMD compete against arch-rival Intel's manufacturing capacity. The two companies will work together on developing extremely small 65nm...

Xerox tests language for document transformation.
March 1, 2003... An experimental programming language posted on a Xerox-run Web site is designed to build applications that translate documents and data among different formats so that they can be read by any application or on any device. The new document...

Palm to replace Graffiti. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2003... PalmSource, the operating system division of Palm, has announced that it will discontinue its Graffiti handwriting recognition software in favour of Jot technology from Communication Intelligence (CIC). The Jot software will be renamed...

Crusoe adds security. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2003... Transmeta will build hardware security technology into the architecture of its flagship Crusoe processor that will store sensitive information and improve the performance of security algorithms. The company expects to ship the chips in...

Old drives privacy risk. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2003... Planning to auction off that old computer on eBay? You might want to take a closer look at what's on your disk drive first. According to a new study by two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate students, companies and...

Upturn in worldwide IT spending.
March 1, 2003... Worldwide IT spending will grow 4 per cent in 2003, rebounding from growth of just 1 per cent in 2002, according to research released by market analysis company Aberdeen Group. This level of growth will continue through 2006, with little...

Case quits as AOLTW chairman over criticism.
March 1, 2003... Steve Case is to step down as chairman of AOL Time Warner (AOLTW) in May, saying that shareholder criticism of him bad made it hard for the company to focus fully on its businesses. In a letter to the board of directors, which was released...

Broadband: funding boost for i-BURST. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2003... A juicy $14 million capital investment has propelled broadband carrier CKW Wireless into its first pro-commercial roll-out phase, bringing the provider's i-BURST technology and carrier-grade wireless system one step closer to Australian users....

NSW schools gear up for broadband.
March 1, 2003... NSW schools and TAFE institutions will soon gain access to a new multi-million dollar high-speed broadband system, following the NSW Government's announcement that it has awarded five telecommunications companies contracts to start work on the...

Optus takes Requests.
March 1, 2003... Australian broadband service competitors RequestDSL and Optus have struck a new reciprocal agreement that will see the two share business-grade DSL services nationwide. Under the arrangement, Request will gain access to an additional 55...

Thermaltake Aquarius II: water-cooling kit. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... As PC performance goes up, so does the amount of heat that components dissipate. Processors generate a lot of heat in a small area, which has resulted in bulky heatsinks and faster-spinning, noisier fans to keep things cool. Water-cooling is a...

Hi-Grade Notino W6700: widescreen notebook. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... When you first see the 2.7kg W6700's slim silver casing, 15.2in widescreen display, slot-loading optical drive, stylish blue indicator lights and white keyboard, you get the feeling that an attempt has been made to bring to the PC market some...

Sanyo PLV-Z1: home theatre projector. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... The latest offering in Sanyo's home theatre range, the PLV-Z1 projector features 700 ANSI lumens brightness, has a minimum projection distance of 1.1m and is stated to throw diagonal image from 76cm to approximately 5.8m. The unit has a maximum...

Panasonic LS-D521UE: multi-format DVD writer. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... The Panasonic LS-D521U is an internal IDE multidrive capable of writing to DVD-R and -RW (6x), DVD-RAM (2x), CD-R (32x) and CD-RW (24x) media. It comes with all the software you need to get up and running. The DVD-RAM format's large...

Canon powershot G3: digital camera. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... Is Canon late to the 5-megapixel party by releasing its swanky $1799 PowerShot G3 with the same 4-megapixel resolution as its predecessor, the PowerShot G2? Certainly resolution isn't the be-all and end-all for digital cameras, but it's an...

Ulead DVD PictureShow 2: slideshow creator. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... With digital cameras hitting the mainstream, the newly digitally acquainted will be looking for ways to show off and share their pics with friends and family. I can highly recommend Ulead's DVD PictureShow 2 Digital Camera Suite. DVD...

Microsoft Movie Maker 2: video editing application. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... Although the improvements to Movie Maker 2 with regard to transitions, effects and general usability are significant, the single new feature that transforms Movie Maker from an interesting utility in version 1 into a valuable video editing tool...

Macromedia contribute: web site management software. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... Creating and updating Web sites can seem like an impossible task to people who aren't very technical. This is where Contribute steps in; this new Web site management application from Macromedia requires no prior understanding of HTML or FTP....

Metrowerks CodeWarrior 8: code development tools. (First Looks).
March 1, 2003... Metrowerks latest release of its acclaimed CodeWarrior Development Tools provides enhancements to the C/C++/Java programming environment. With the new code completion feature, you can write complex pieces of code quickly with fast access to...

New 12.1in and 17in PowerBooks. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Macworld Expo San Francisco 2003: Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new 12.1in PowerBook G4 line (beginning at $3995) in addition to the new top-of-the-line $6995 17in widescreen PowerBook. The latter boasts a resolution of 1440x990, 512MB of...

Intel, Microsoft pitch portable video player. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2003: Digital video will become as portable as MP3 music files if a portable player being developed by Intel and Microsoft catches on. The two companies are working together on a `mobile entertainment...

Arturia Moog modular system 3C software emulation. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Winter NAMM 2003: At this music trade show, Arturia--best known for its Storm 2.0 virtual studio music software--presented its software reproduction of synthesiser pioneer Moog's Modular System 3C, using a new set of algorithms known as TAE...

Alphasmart notebook/PDA hybrid. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Alphasmart's $999 Dana is an affordable and lightweight notebook alternative: a mini-portable with a full-size keyboard, it runs on Palm OS 4.1 and can store 8MB of data or programs, and even more with cards in its two built-in Secure Digital...

DVD collector. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... For aficionados of movies on DVD, the ability to manage large collections easily is a must. Enter DVD Collector, a donation-ware program created by Australian developer CrunchyMedia, which aims to do just that with its intuitive and well...

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Nintendo's new Game Boy Advance SP is targeted at adult gamers and incorporates a flip-top design, rechargeable battery and lighting features intended to extend its portability. The unit is scheduled for release in Australia on 28 March. ...

Odyssey MP3 player to rival iPod. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... A small company named e.Digital hopes to challenge Apple's iPod MP3 player with its new voice-activated, hard-drive-based $US349 Odyssey 1000. Among its many features are 20GB of storage, USB 2.0 connectivity and voice-recognition technology...

ASUS CRW-5224A. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... An internal drive offering blistering read/write/rewrite speeds of 52x52x24x, the CRW-5224A includes ASUS's innovative CD-RW technology that optimises CD burning for high-speed quality output while ensuring burning errors are minimised. ...

InFocus LP70 projector. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... The LP70 is the flagship mobile business projector of InFocus's current line-up. As you can see, it's a highly compact device, weighing just 1.1kg yet still boasting a brightness of 1100 ANSI lumens. The LP70 can project from between 1.5m...

HP mobile colour inkjet printer. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Hewlett-Packard's 450CBi has a maximum resolution of 1200x1200dpi that can be bumped up to 4800x1200 using HP's PhotoRet IV technology for printing on photo paper. While the 450CBi isn't particularly small for a mobile model, it has versatility...

Adobe Photoshop Album. (Quick Takes).
March 1, 2003... Slated to be available around the time you read this is the latest addition to Adobe's Photoshop product line, Photoshop Album. With features, ease of use and price aimed at the consumer market, Photoshop Album capitalises on the booming...

New distribution: Gentoo Linux 1.4. (Linuxworld).
March 1, 2003... Gentoo Linux is a relatively new Linux distribution targeted at Linux power users and developers. It is unique among the range of Linux distributions available: although well-documented, Gentoo has no GUI tools, meaning the user gets to do...

Beat the heat. (Readers' Forum).
March 1, 2003... With reference to the article "Tactics for trouble-free computing" which I found to be interesting and informative (January issue), I would like to comment on Anne Kandra's column on page 66--"When PCs can't take the heat". The company...

Joining the mod squad! (Readers' Forum).
March 1, 2003... I loved the article you did on case roods. I had just finished reading a tutorial online at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mod/plexi/ index2.html on how to build a Perspex case from a sheet of Perspex. Do you plan to do any more case mod...

Dilbert.
March 1, 2003... I MAPPED YOUR GENOME, WALLY. I DIDN'T KNOW THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT HAD THAT TECHNOLOGY. I USED A PENCIL. YOUR GENES PREDICT THAT YOU WILL BE A BITTER, LAZY, CAUCASIAN GUY WITH SIX HAIRS AND POOR VISION. YOU'LL HATE...

Info in your inbox: these 12 mailing lists and online newsletters deliver tech news and tips right to you--for free. (Web & You).
March 1, 2003... To get a newspaper, you can drag yourself down to the nearest newsagent every day or you can have the daily fishwrap delivered to your door. Online, you have a similar choice: either you spend time using search engines, news sites, and...

How to fix the biggest PC annoyance: computing hassles driving you bonkers? We feel your pain, and we have solutions--for hardware, software, and the web.
March 1, 2003... SO YOU'RE ANNOYED ABOUT YOUR PC'S DUMB HABITS? YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE, BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO WIPE OUT THE MOST AGGRAVATING PC BEHAVIOUR--ONCE AND FOR ALL. VANISHING WEB DATA The annoyance: I spend an hour...

How to be a DVD maestro: goodbye, CD-RW. Hello, rewritable DVD. The latest DVD burners are faster and can hold more data (great for home moviemakers) than your CD-RW drive. Their prices are also finally falling. Read on for info on your options for buying a DVD drive and how to record your own discs. (Cover Story).
March 1, 2003... The DVD is undoubtedly the medium of choice for home film distribution, giving you the benefit of high-quality film playback and cinema-quality sound. You need only endow your PC with a DVD reader and a decent 5.1 audio system (amp, five...

The radio waves: internet radio stations have been steadily springing up across the globe--some commercial, others more community- or interest-based. PC World explains how to make your voice heard, with the help of your PC. (Surfing).
March 1, 2003... For those who can't bear to miss the end of their favourite morning program but have to be at work by 9:00, or hate working late in a deserted office, Web radio is a godsend. But there's far more to it than just catching shows on the Internet....

A time to upgrade: motherboards tested. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Motherboards When it comes to buying a motherboard, there's a huge number of variations and similar models available. Integrated components such as graphics and sound will save you money if you don't need anything extravagant, but what...

Global MicroPro LCD PC.
March 1, 2003... For environments where space is at a premium, or where PCs with elegant looks are required, an all-in-one system can do wonders. It helps cut down cable clutter and takes up much less space than a regular PC. The Global MicroPro 287SB does just...

Bandwidth or bust. (Tech.Files).
March 1, 2003... Two of the latest advances in consumer motherboards are dual-channel architecture for DDR memory and a serial interface for internal drive connections. As you can see from the motherboard review starting on page 97 of the Best Buys, many new...

End of quarter update. (Sweet Spot).
March 1, 2003... The first quarter of this year concludes this month and proves to be a little slower than the same period last year when it comes to introducing new technology. Generally, the price of components continues to drop, helped along by our...

Intel 2.53GHz P4, AMD XP 2200+. (CPUs).
March 1, 2003... In the last quarter of 2002 products were released that originally had been scheduled for the first quarter of 2003, resulting in no new desktop processors releases this quarter. At the time of writing, the Hyper-Threading 3.06GHz Intel CPU is...

GeForce4 Ti 4200-based, Radeon 9000-based. (Graphics Cards).
March 1, 2003... Prices continue to drop, but the Sweet Spot for graphics cards remains with the Radeon 9000 and GeForce4 Ti 4200, still priced between $200 and $500 depending on the bundle and memory configuration. Availability of 64MB versions of these cards...

Intel 845PE-based, VIA KT400-based. (Motherboards).
March 1, 2003... The Sweet Spot for AMD-based motherboards has shifted slightly from the VIA-KT333 chipset to the VIA-KT400 chipset, which provides improved AGP performance and improved RAM capabilities. It also boasts a better Southbridge in the form of the...

Combination DVD-ROM and CD burners. (Optical Drives).
March 1, 2003... The Sweet Spot for optical drives remains with a combination drive that can read both DVD-ROM and CD-ROM discs, and burn CD-R and CD-RW discs. These drives can range from $150 to $250, and do the job of a DVD player and a CD burner. Prices...

PC2700 DDR333 256MB modules. (System RAM).
March 1, 2003... Your system RAM is one area of your PC's configuration that can definitely affect the performance of your applications and operating system. The PC2700 memory modules still represent excellent value for money and can now be found for less than...

7200rpm 120GB IDE hard disk drives. (Hard Disk Drives).
March 1, 2003... It's always difficult to pick a storage market Sweet Spot because of the variety available. There are several hard drive manufacturers, the most common of which are (in no particular order) Seagate, Maxtor, Western Digital, IBM and Fujitsu....

15in LCD monitors. (Monitors).
March 1, 2003... One of the most varied markets in IT is the monitor one. It presents a variety of screen sizes and, basically, the selection between two types of technologies: CRT and LCD. The greatest installed base of monitors still lays with the bulky...

Over $4000 home. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Plus Corporation Astra H11. [1] NEW Plus Corporation's latest offering in the Over $4000 category is a complete powerhouse. The Astra H11 enters the Best Buys at number one and scores higher than the previous 3.06GHz title holder, Dell's...

Over $400 business. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Plus Corporation Dezign 123 [1] This configuration for Plus Corporation for its Dezign 123 video editing system should appeal greatly to both professionals and enthusiasts. It features the Pentium 4 2.8GHz CPU, the PC1066 specification...

$2001-$4000 home. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... PC Direct Grunt Master [1] The Grunt Master's windowed case lets the user admire what's under the hood without actually having to lift the hood. This window bears an X design with a blue light emitting fan positioned in its centre sucking...

$2001-$4000 business. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Acer Veriton 7200D. [1] Running under Windows XP Professional and utilising the less secure FAT32 file system (which almost always seems to outperform NTFS in our benchmarks), the 7200D has a 2.4GHz CPU with a 400MHz bus speed and 1GB of...

Sub-$200 home. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... PC Direct Home Entertainment [1] This complete package from PC Direct encompasses all the hardware that will be required by the graphically inclined user--a good graphics card, a CD-RW drive, a printer and a scanner. The Home...

Sub-$2000 business. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... AcerPower Sd [1] Housed in a small micro-tower 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 looking for a quick...

Over $6000. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Dell Precision M50 [1] Marketed as a mobile workstation, the M50's feature set and $6970 price tag under score its professional leanings. The M50 is the first notebook we've seen to sport an NVIDIA Quadro4 500 GoGL graphics controller....

$3001-$6000. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Hi-Grade UltiNote M6600 [1] NEW Hi-Grades UltiNote M6600 is the first PC notebook we've seen to feature an incorporated DVD writer--DVD movie making and/or high-capacity data storage (4.7GB) on the road has now become a reality. The...

Sub-$3000. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Twinhead Efio 2617 [1] This notebook has the same chassis as the Hi-Grade Notino R5400 in the $3001-$6000 charts, as Twinhead is its manufacturer. Therefore, the Efio 2617 features the same semi-ruggedised, rounded silver casing as the...

Motherboards. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... As the cornerstone of all computers, motherboards determine a system's performance, reliability and features. As such, careful consideration is required when purchasing a board for a new system. The crucial factors you will need to note are...

Intel-based motherboards. (Intel 845PE Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... All the Intel chipsets we looked at have an ICH4 Southbridge chipset; the Northbridge chipset determines the categories that follow. Motherboards based on this chipset run DDR SDRAM up to 333MHz and will accept CPUs up to and greater than...

MSI 845PE Max2-FIR. (Intel 845PE Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: The 845PE Max2 is a large board with plenty of connectivity and Hyper-Threading support. FireWire, USB 2.0, Gigabit LAN, six-speaker digital audio and ATA133 RAID support make this a potent cornerstone. An optional pin header is...

Intel 845GE chipset-based. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... Like the 845PE chipset, the GE boasts DDR SDRAM support up to 333MHz and accommodation for Pentium 4 CPUs up to and greater than 3.06GHz with Hyper-Threading, but it adds integrated graphics functionality in the form of Intel's Extreme Graphics...

AOpen AX4GE FM. (Intel 845GE Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: AOpen has introduced a new audio feature that is very welcome: an onboard FM radio tuner and a CD player. They reside on a chip on the motherboard called Jukebox FM and the supplied D-bracket is used to plug into the aerial. This...

EPoX computer EP-4GEA+. (Intel 845GE Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board comes fully stocked with ports: regular ATA100 ports, ATA133 RAID and Serial ATA. It also has integrated Intel Extreme Graphics (8MB), 10/100 networking, AC97 audio, and USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. A green circuit...

Intel E7205-chipset based. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... As the latest in Intel's stable of Pentium 4 chipsets, the E7205 is the first Intel chipset to support AGP 8X graphics mode and introduces dual-channel architecture for DDR SDRAM memory. (Check out Tech Files on page 68 for more information on...

ASUS P4G8X deluxe. (Intel E7205-Chipset Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This packed board boasts AGP 8X, dual-channel DDR and Gigabit Ethernet, in addition to Serial ATA capabilities and the usual glut of connectivity and value added features associated with ASUS motherboards. All you need is in the...

Gigabyte 8INXP. (Intel E7205-Chipset Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board is a great example of Gigabyte's bid to make motherboard installation a quicker affair, as it boasts colour-coded IDE ports, slots and header connectors, in addition to clearly marked and colour-coded front panel...

iWill P4GB. (Intel E7205-Chipset Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board has the expected AGP 8X support, dual-channel DDR SDRAM technology and Gigabit Ethernet, but omits features such as RAID and Serial ATA ports. It is a basic board but should appeal to the enthusiast or professional who...

AMD-based motherboards. (Best Buys).
March 1, 2003... The Albatron, AOpen and DFI models utilise the VIA VT8235 Southbridge chipset and the VIA Apollo KT400 Northbridge chipset. In the NVIDIA-based boards, the Leadtek K7NCR18D-PRO utilises the nForce2 SPP Northbridge, whereas the Leadtek...

Via Apollo KT400 chipset-based. (AMD-Based Motherboards).
March 1, 2003... Perhaps the most popular chipset for the AMD platform, this supports Athlon CPUs up to the XP 2700+ model and boasts support for DDR333 memory. It is unofficially touted to support DDR400 memory, but all the boards detected ours as 333MHz. AGP...

Albatron KX400-8X. (Via Apollo KT400 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: The KX400-8X is a well-priced, fairly no-frills board that should still appeal to enthusiast AMD users who like to tinker with CPU speed settings. It supports AGP 8X cards and DDR memory up to 333MHz, accommodating CPUs up to the...

AOpen AK77-8X max. (Via Apollo KT400 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board is an attractive option for the overclocker as it features a great range of FSB frequencies to play with (depending on the type of AMD processor you install) and it claims limited support for DDR400 memory. The...

DFI AD77 infinity. (Via Apollo KT400 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board should greatly please serious AMD performance enthusiasts, as it ships with parallel RAID and Serial ATA ports along with four DIMM slots for a total memory capacity of 4GB. It can accommodate Athlon XP CPUs up to and...

NVIDIA NForce2 chipset-based. (Motherboards).
March 1, 2003... This chipset brings AGP 8X support in addition to DDR400 support and will accommodate Athlon CPUs up to and beyond the XP 2700+, Boards based on this chipset win feature 10/100 Ethernet connectivity in addition to FireWire, USB 2.0 and ATA133...

Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18D Pro. (Invidia NForce2 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: As the predecessor to the K7NCR18G, this board provides similar functionality without the extravagant onboard graphics capabilities. It features dual-channel DDR memory support via three DIMM slots, as well as FireWire and USB 2.0...

Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18G Pro. (Invidia NForce2 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This board boasts comparatively powerful onboard graphics courtesy of an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX equivalent graphics chip. It is a viable integrated solution for users who don't want to pay high prices for a fancy graphics card, yet are...

MSI K7N2G-LISR. (Invidia NForce2 Chipset-Based).
March 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This potent offering from MSI is complete and easy to set up and use. The red circuit board makes the white writing for all the ports and pins easy to read, and the colour-coded ports make it very easy to identify major components...