Australian PC World articles from November 2003

Australian PC World archives from November 2003

Dollars and sense.(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... Ready to shop 'til you drop for PC gear This month's issue of PC World has tips for buyers in all price ranges--plus advice for upgrading your PC post-purchase. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the frenzy to have the latest and...

Study: Australia leads Asia in Linux uptake.
November 1, 2003... The take-up of Linux in Australian enterprises is well ahead of Asian nations, according to figures from Gartner. A recent survey asked IT managers from about 1000 companies in the Asia-Pacific region if they have Linux deployed somewhere...

Hitachi develops RFID chip for bank notes.
November 1, 2003... Hitachi has developed an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip that requires no external antenna and makes possible the embedding of tracking and identification chips in bank notes, tickets end other paper products. At present,...

Sobig's spam agenda.(News)
November 1, 2003... Three leading antispam sites were shut down after becoming victims of distributed denial of service attacks, attacks that may have been launched by spammers sending out copies of the Sobig worm. The target sites were the Spam Early...

AMD sends Durons to emerging markets.
November 1, 2003... Amid the countdown to the launch of its highest-performing processor yet, AMD quietly released three Duron chips for low-end desktops aimed at price-conscious buyers. AMD had said in 2002 it was planning to phase out the Duron chip, and...

Sony gives Aibo a face lift.
November 1, 2003... Sony has updated its Aibo entertainment robot with a new version that features upgraded electronics functions but few improvements on the robotic front. The ERS-7 Aibo looks a little different to the company's previous models and has a...

Maths answer to bugs.(Analysis News)
November 1, 2003... Tom Tilley has a dream to live in a world free of buggy software, and his mission is being realised through research being developed at the Centre for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology. The technique known as 'formal methods'...

Kids caught in RIAA net.(Analysis News)
November 1, 2003... The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has settled the first of the 261 lawsuits it filed in September against music enthusiasts who, the association alleges, have uploaded more than 1000 files using online music-sharing services...

Activate, says Symantec.(Analysis News)
November 1, 2003... Software giant Symantec is adding product activation technology to all of its upcoming consumer products, starting with Norton AntiVirus 2004. Customers who fail to activate the software by contacting Symantec within 15 days of installing it...

BBC plans to put television archives online.
November 1, 2003... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) plans to put parts of its extensive television and radio archives online. The move, announced by BBC Director-General Greg Dyke, will make selected material for which the BBC owns the rights...

Jeeves gets smarter.
November 1, 2003... Search site Ask Jeeves aims to help searchers with new tools designed to provide simple answers to seemingly simple queries. Known as Smart Answers, the new features should help users conduct more efficient searches by providing direct...

ISPs join ADSL ranks.(Broadband)
November 1, 2003... Two Aussie ISPs have signalled their intentions to take on the high-speed Internet services market with the launch of new national broadband products. Western Australia-based ISP WestNet (www.westnet.com.au) has struck a deal with Telstra...

New unlimited ADSL plans launched.(Broadband Briefs)
November 1, 2003... Broadband users fed up with incurring excess usage fees may benefit from the latest unlimited ADSL deals announced by ISP heavyweights Primus Telecom and Pacific Internet. Both ISPs have introduced flat rate ADSL plans, giving users access...

Wi-Fi hits QLD.(Broadband Briefs)
November 1, 2003... Some 20 high-profile locations around Brisbane and the Gold Coast are in the process of being equipped with Wi-Fi technology as part of the state government's 12-month Wi-Fi trial to test the market. Locations include several railway...

64-bit consumer computing: Athlon 64 FX-51 processor.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... With the release of the Athlon 64 3200+ and Athlon 64 FX-51 processors, AMD has brought 64-bit computing to the desktop environment. 64-bit computing is now no longer the domain of high-end workstation computers and servers that require extreme...

Great broadband bundle: Billion 743GE + wireless adapters.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... If you are looking to supply your own modem for a new ADSL connection, then the Billion 743GE from PC Range is worth every cent of its very reasonable $299 price tag. It is an ADSL modem capable of supporting data rates up to 8Mbps/1Mbps...

Graphics editor with extras: PhotoImpact XL beta.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... For a long time, PhotoImpact has been positioned in the mid-tier image editing market. Competing products include Adobe's PhotoShop Elements and Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro, from which Ulead's PhotoImpact differs in its packaged bundle and...

All-in-one burning: Nero 6 Ultra Edition.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... Think you need more than one software package to take full advantage of your CD/DVD burner? Think again: Ahead's Nero 6 Ultra Edition can handle all of your burning, authoring and playback needs--and then some. Built on Ahead Software's...

Crossing over: LM729 and SDMX53 LCD monitors.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... If you've dabbled with PCs over the last two decades you will be very familiar with the AOC brand name in monitors. It has traditionally championed the budget end of the CRT monitor market with low-priced products. Sony is another veteran of...

DVD playback software: PowerDVD 5.0.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... PowerDVD has been one of the leading video and audio playback packages for some time now. While it may be difficult to get too excited about the improvements made to version 5.0, the program is both simple and powerful enough to be the first...

Full antivirus protection: Norton AntiVirus 2004.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... Symantec's Norton AntiVirus has long been at the top of the list of antivirus options. The latest version turns its attention to non-virus threats such as spying, hacking and unauthorised remote access. Like its predecessor, Norton...

External multimedia card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... The $499 ZS Platinum Pro, the new flagship model in Creative's a ways-evolving family of sound cards, packages an internal sound card, external connector hub and infrared remote control. The basic version of the card itself retails for $269....

AMD 64-bit notebook: QDI A520.(First Looks)
November 1, 2003... The A520 is the first notebook we've seen with the 64-bit AMD Athlon 64-M, the mobile version of the processor reviewed this month on page 21. The pre-production A520 we tested featured a 3200+ processor (2GHz) with improved AMD PowerNow! power...

T2: PDA improves.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... The Tungsten T was the first PDA to feature Palm's new operating system, Palm OS 5.0, when it was launched last year. It was a relative success, but as with all first-generation products there are always improvements that can be made. Enter the...

Value Pocket PC device.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... There is another pretender to the crown of the low-cost Pocket PC device--ViewSonic's V35. This handheld joins the company's array of diversified products that lifts the brand out of its familiar monitor maker niche. Fortunately for ViewSonic,...

Gimme five.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... In the past, happy snappers keen for point-and-shoot models were often limited to low-megapixel models that restricted their printing options. Now, Kodak has added a 5Mp model to its range of EasyShare digital cameras--the EasyShare DX4530 ...

Good bargain site builder.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... Microsoft's $369 Office FrontPage 2003 Web-design software adds some great tools to help new users post an inviting Web site quickly and simply. Chief among its improvements is better HTML code. Previous versions of FrontPage generated...

Charting the workflow.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... Vision has long been the application of choice for business and technical professionals who produce flowcharts, organisation charts, time lines, network diagrams and the like. If you're new to Visio, the Getting Started tutorial should have you...

Multiformat DVD writer.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... Not that long ago, the debate among DVD enthusiasts was which writeable format would win out. LG's new DVD writer is compatible nut just with the major DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW formats, but also with the increasingly obscure DVD-RAM. At...

Data security software.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... Steganos Security Suite is a collection of tools that promises to keep your data safer than the crown jewels. Steganos Safe creates a secured area on your hard drive, up to 1.2GB in size, which shows up as a virtual hard drive in Windows...

Video conversion tool.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... When you're ready to convert your stacks of cherished (but now only rarely watched) videotapes to DVD, consider Hewlett-Packard's clever new DVD Movie Writer Dc3000. There are many ways to do the conversion job, but only the $649 Dc3000...

Powerhouse flatbed scanner.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... Canon's new $799 CanoScan 9900F is a powerhouse flatbed scanner that captures crisp, colourful images from film or prints--and can automatically clean up old, damaged photos. In addition to solid 48-bit colour depth and high 3200dpi...

Recovery utility.(Quick Takes)
November 1, 2003... EasyRecovery has been available to PC users far some time, offering effective data recovery--but at a price. Costing six times less than its big brother, EasyRecovery Life unfortunately emphasises 'lite' rather than recovery. Each time you...

Mono: .NET for Linux.(Linuxworld)
November 1, 2003... Several years ago Microsoft developed a new programming language named C#. To go along with the new language, Microsoft also introduced a new technology termed CLR, Common Language Runtime, which among other features allows programs written in...

Hear our pain, Telstra.(Reader's Forum)
November 1, 2003... Following our broadband special in September, we received many letters from readers frustrated to be excluded from fast Net access. Here's a sample of the comments: Your October editorial suggests that Microsoft's patches should be allowed...

Dilbert.
November 1, 2003... DILBERT, I GOT A NEW MEMBER FOR YOUR PROJECT TEAM ILLUSTRATION OMITTED MY NAME IS RON BUT EVERYONE CALLS ME MO. I DON'T KNOW WHY. ILLUSTRATION OMITTED MO, WHY IS YOUR SHIRT ON BACKWARD? ILLUSTRATION OMITTED WHAT??!...

A helping hand.(Reader's Forum)
November 1, 2003... I recently submitted a help question for the panel [Helpscreen at www. helpscreen.com.au]. It was about my task manager--I use windows XP and thought I had lost part of it. Luckily, the responses I got were extremely helpful. I have been...

Linux wins friends.(Reader's Forum)
November 1, 2003... I would like to thank the folks at PC World for giving us Knoppix Linux on the October cover CD. I always wanted to try out Linux but did not want to risk reformatting, etc. Knoppix let me stuff around with the operating system with the...

Quiz master.(Reader's Forum)
November 1, 2003... Thank you for printing a few lines of a quiz in October's programming feature ('Get with the program', October PC World, page 70). I wanted to write a quiz but, not having any knowledge of Visual Basic, I didn't know where to start. I managed...

Missive of the month.
November 1, 2003... Congratulations to M. Taylor! You are this month's winner of a copy of ZoneAlarm Pro 4 software, from Manaccom, This great software--valued at $100--is a well-regarded firewall for securing your system. We are pleased to receive your...

Beat the broadband blues: are you getting all the ISP you pay for? Here's how to make the most of your connection, and what to do if it's time to switch providers.(Web & You)
November 1, 2003... Hard as it is for dial-up users to believe, for some people on broadband the novelty is wearing off. High-speed Internet access is now just another bill, like electricity or water service. But broadband is different from a traditional utility:...

How to buy ... A desktop PC.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... The vast majority of people buy a PC to browse the Web, check and send e-mail, and perform word processing or spreadsheet work. Today, processor power has gone beyond what any of these tasks demand: even the least-expensive,...

How to buy ... A notebook PC.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Before shopping for a notebook, consider how you'll be using it. If your primary goal is to get some word processing or spreadsheet work done while staying on top of e-mail, a $2000 low-end Celeron model with a 12.1in screen and 10GB hard drive...

How to buy ... A hard drive.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... In the end, hard drives are all about capacity. All other things being equal, the biggest hard drives are always the most expensive, usually because the latest models of large hard drives are often in short supply for the first few months they...

How to buy ... A motherboard.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Except in some narrow circumstances, you won't be buying a motherboard without also buying a new CPU and some RAM. You'll want to consider the price and performance of those two components along with your motherboard when you're making a buying...

How to buy ... A graphics card.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... You can delve as deeply as you like into graphics card specs, from fill rates to clock speeds, until your 3D-rendered head spins. The main details you need to be concerned about are the amount and speed of onboard memory, the type of interface...

How to buy ... A CD-RW drive.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) drives let you burn, or write, CD-R and CD-RW media with your favourite music or photos, back up data, or store information you can share with others on this almost universally readable medium. The most important feature...

How to buy ... A DVD rewritable drive.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Formats, formats, formats! What all the formats mean and how you distinguish between them are the primary questions facing prospective buyers of a DVD burner. Just as CD-RW drives use write-once and rewritable media, DVD burners can be broken...

How to buy ... A monitor.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... As with most PC peripherals, monitors introduce you to a tonne of unfamiliar specs. While price or specifications alone shouldn't determine what you buy--image quality and what you'll use it for are important as well--here are some things to...

How to buy ... A printer.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Given the wide variety of printers available on the market, we've made a specific chart for each of the three most popular types of printers: inkjet printers, monochrome (black and white) laser printers, and colour laser printers. Inkjet...

How to buy ... A scanner.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... As with any piece of high-tech equipment, a scanner's specifications can't tell the whole story. But you can use price, along with resolution, colour depth, and other specs, to weed out the ones you don't want. With scanners in particular,...

How to buy ... A digital camera.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Many--shoppers and salespeople--believe that when it comes to megapixels, more is better. But that's not always the case. A camera's megapixel rating is another way of expressing its resolution. The higher the megapixel number, the higher...

How to buy ... A digital camcorder.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Although a digital camcorder's specifications don't tell the whole story, they can help you narrow your choices. You can use the camcorder's price, along with specs like LCD screen size, weight, and type of microphone, to weed out the ones that...

How to buy ... An MP3 player.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... Initially only a few MP3 players dominated the market. Now you can choose from dozens of players, each sporting a wide variety of features. No matter which player you pick, be sure you test it in a retail store before you buy--even if you...

How to buy ... A PDA.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... You don't have to spend a fortune to obtain a useful PDA, especially if you're mostly interested in keeping track of your schedule, having your address book handy, and perhaps playing a few simple games. Lots of inexpensive personal organisers...

How to buy ... Wireless networking gear.(The PC Buyer's Superguide)
November 1, 2003... In general, a wireless home network offers more convenience than a wired one--there's no need to install cables, and notebook users can roam untethered. Prices for networking gear based on the popular 11Mbps 802.11b wireless standard have...

60-minute upgrades: get new pc power in an hour--or less--with these speed boosters, storage add-ons, and more.
November 1, 2003... UPGRADES OF YESTERYEAR usually involved an afternoon of complicated work. These days, with a little planning and research, the process can go quickly and smoothly. We added a DVD burner to our old 700MHz Pentium III Dell PC in just 30 minutes....

Gigabytes are cheap.(Maximum Storage)
November 1, 2003... When did your 25GB hard drive run out of room? After you digitised your LP collection? Or when your office desktop evolved into an editing console for training videos? Whatever the reason may be, that once-capacious drive is ready for a 'No...

Burn movies, burn files.(Maximum Storage)
November 1, 2003... The latest internal DVD burners sell for less than $600 and support the two most popular formats: -R/RW and +R/RW. That price and the ability of rewritable DVD media to store up to 4.7GB of data on a single side are sure to appeal to archive...

A faster brain.(Speed Boosters)
November 1, 2003... The need for speed is most evident with CPU-intensive tasks such as encryption, video editing, and gaming. Your 500MHz Pentium III system may sprint like a greyhound when running applications such as Microsoft Word and Outlook, but it will...

More memory, more programs.(Speed Boosters)
November 1, 2003... Insufficient memory can slow a PC to a crawl. Task switching between open applications becomes a finger-tapping exercise in frustration. Graphics take forever to load. And always audible in the background is the mechanical grumble of an...

3D dazzlers.(Audio/Visual Power)
November 1, 2003... The 3D graphics and cinematic effects of Half-Life 2 thrill you--or at least they did when you tried the game out on a 2GHz machine at the computer store. But on your system, the action is slow and choppy. Equally aggravating: your computer...

An audible feast.(Audio/Visual Power)
November 1, 2003... Integrated audio is a checklist item on practically every motherboard made today. So why upgrade the sound system when you're already enjoying CD-calibre playback? Because audiophiles, multimedia developers, musicians, and gung-ho garners want...

Look, Ma, no wires.(Wireless Made Easy)
November 1, 2003... Wireless networking was once a novelty for most business and home users, but that's changing rapidly as the necessary equipment drops in price and becomes easier to install. Before you go wireless, however, do some research. There are several...

Pump up your PDA: slinkier and smarter than ever with an expanding range of software, your handheld PC can help you conduct business on the road or find your way around foreign parts while keeping your entertained with music and movie clips.
November 1, 2003... Personal digital assistants have superseded diaries and Filofaxes as the best way to store all your personal information. The advantages are plentiful: no flipping through illegible scribbles for that client's all-important address, and records...

Inside Office 2003: Microsoft's new release boasts a brighter outlook, potent workgroup tools, and a few surprises. But this upgrade isn't for everybody.
November 1, 2003... Although Office 'suites' of the past were all about helping individuals work more quickly and more efficiently. Microsoft's new Office 'system' focuses squarely on getting users to work together more quickly and more efficiently. Suites,...

Outlooks's new look.(Office 2003)
November 1, 2003... Current Outlook users will have one burning question about the revamped version: "does it help me clean up the mess that is my in-box?" After spending several months with the beta version of the new Outlook, we say the answer is a definitive...

Word 2003 and Excel 2003: ho-hum.(Office 2003)
November 1, 2003... Next to e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets dominate many people's work. Office 2003 will not fundamentally change the way most people use Word and Excel--particularly users who aren't part of a workgroup. Neither application has received...

Office 2003 and your workgroup.(Office 2003)
November 1, 2003... Microsoft is clearly stressing the new functions for workgroups and enterprises, envisioning Office 2003 as improving how you handle tasks within your organisation that are susceptible to delays or inaccuracy due to old information, such as...

Hot new graphics cards.(All That Glitters)
November 1, 2003... In this month's Best Buys we focus on graphics cards for entry-level mid-range and high-end users. There is a huge variety of cards on the market so it can be hard to decide which one to buy unless you're up to speed with the variations in...

Graphics cards breakdown.(Tech.Files)
November 1, 2003... In this month's Tech File we'll be looking at the three main types of graphics adapters in today's market, to help you decide which type s best suited to your requirements and budget. When you see something on your PC's screen, what you are...

LCD prices on the rise.(Sweet Spot)
November 1, 2003... Resellers and distributors are currently speculating over whether the cost of buying an LCD monitor will increase over the next few months, as a shortage of manufacturing materials puts further strain on stock supplies. Peter Agamalis from...

Over $3500.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Plus Corporation Inspire P32 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] Yet another powerful configuration from Plus Corporation, the Inspire P32 retains the number one position in the Over $3500 category. The Inspire P32 has dark styling across all...

IBM ThinkCentre S50.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... The ThinkCentre S50 from IBM is a great little system for the corporate environment or point of sale. With dark styling across all the shipped components, this system would benefit users with limited desktop space. A similar system has appeared...

$1500-$3500.(best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Infocom Gaming Beast 1.2 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] Similar to the Gaming Beast that has been in our charts, this Infocom system is targeted at garners and LAN'ers. The Gaming Beast 1.2 adds some features for increased portability and good...

Sub--$1500.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... PC eXpress Avatar 2600 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] The Avatar 2600 has an AMD Athlon XP 2600+ processor running at 333MHz front side bus speed. The motherboard featured in this system, an ASUS A7NSX, is based on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset....

Best buys.
November 1, 2003... MAKE/MODEL VALUE SPEED REAL WORLD RATING RATING TESTS OVER $3500 (1) Plus Corporation 183 300 (a) 3m43s (e) Inspire P32 18297 (b) 3m26s (f) ...

Over $4000.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Hi-Grade UltiNote M6600 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] The $4095 (down from $4195 last month) UltiNote M6600's optical drive can write DVD-RW and DVD-R discs at 1x and rewrite at 1x, and write and rewrite CDs at 16x and 10x, respectively, in...

Fujitsu Lifebook S6120.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Just missing out on a place in this month's charts is Fujitsu's Lifebook S6120. Using the Centrino platform, it incorporates a Pentium M 1.6GHz processor and 802.11b wireless networking to provide a solution that is very mobile, rigid and...

$2500-$4000.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Dell Inspiron 8600 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] With a 15.4in widescreen display capable of 1280x800 and the first 1.7/GHz Pentium M processor we've seen, the Inspiron 8600 also features an NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 graphics controller....

Sub-$2500.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... Mitac MiNote 8080 [pc world BEST BUYS*] [1] Although recording a SYSMark 2001 productivity benchmark score of 190, which is lower than its peers, in addition to just 1808 in 3DMark 2001, the MiNote 8080 more than offsets this with a...

Notebook: over $4000, $2500-$4000, sub-$2500.
November 1, 2003... VALUE BENCHMARK REAL WORLD MAKE/MODEL RATING SCORES TESTS OVER $4000 (1) Hi-Grade 105.5 216 (a) 2m7s (e) UltiNote 5346 (b) 4m27s (f) M6600 ...

Graphic cards.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... One of the most important components after your CPU, the graphics card will determine how well your computer will be able to display and run current PC games. All cards on the market are more than capable of displaying fast, great-quality 2D...

Entry-level cards.(Best Buys)
November 1, 2003... The chips featured on entry-level cards are the ATI Radeon 9200 and the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200. Most will have TV-out functionality and some will even ship with a DVl port, which can enable dual monitor setups. ATI RADEON 9200-BASED CARDS...