Australian PC World articles from September 2003

Australian PC World archives from September 2003

Fast or frustrated? This month we give you the low-down on choosing broadband services and maximising your broadband account, in a special 13-page report. Additionally, we look at whether it really is all it is cracked up to be. Certainly, for some readers that we have spoken to, they'd just like to find out!(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... In the August issue I reviewed the Federal Government and Senator Richard Alton's response to the independent inquiry into regional communications, noting that regional telco services were still inadequate. After reading the last issue, Chris...

Gaming goes online.(Analysis News)
September 1, 2003... The fierce battle for online supremacy between rival gaming consoles Xbox and PlayStation 2 is about to hit Australia, following Sony's decision to commence local trials of its PlayStation 2 online gaming network in August. While its...

Yahoo to buy Overture.
September 1, 2003... Yahoo has scooped up paid search service provider Overture Services in a $US1.63 billion deal. Overture is one of the leading commercial search providers, counting more than 88,000 advertisers in the first quarter of the year. Yahoo said...

Commodore brand to be relaunched.
September 1, 2003... Tulip Computers, which owns the Commodore brand name, plans to relaunch the brand to take advantage of an upsurge of interest in the obsolete Commodore 64 (C64) computer and its 1980s-era games, the company said. Tulip estimates that there...

Intel pushes wireless for broadband.(Analysis News)
September 1, 2003... Intel is looking to boost its wireless networking push with the development of chips that will be the building blocks in broadband wireless networking equipment that could replace existing last-mile networking technologies, such as cable and...

NSW library Australian first for RFID.(Analysis News)
September 1, 2003... ANSW council claims to have created Australia's first self-serve library using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, as part of a wireless e-commerce strategy. Residents of Baulkham Hills Shire Council in Sydney's north-west...

Rambus unveils XDR DRAM.
September 1, 2003... Toshiba and Elpida Memory will manufacture Rambus's new memory technology, formerly known as Yellowstone, by 2005, the companies have announced. The new technology, to be known as XDR (extreme data rate) DRAM (dynamic RAM), will run at 3.2GHz...

Lindows Linux runs from a CD.
September 1, 2003... Lindows.com is shipping a version of its Linux-based operating system that can be run directly from a CD-ROM drive without having to install it on a computer's hard drive, thus simplifying its use. The product, called LindewsCD, has "many"...

New Trojan peddles porn.(Analysis News)
September 1, 2003... Spammers based in Russia are using stealth and a sophisticated new Trojan program to turn home workstations into unwitting hosts in a pornography and spam distribution ring, according to security experts. Experts observed that one spammer...

Home robbed after virtual tour.
September 1, 2003... Police have warned people advertising homes online to be mindful of what is on display, after sports memorabilia was stolen from a home that featured in a virtual tour. Investigations continue into the theft of $150,000 worth of sporting...

Aussies triumph at RoboCup 2003.
September 1, 2003... Australia has won a robot soccer world championship, with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) proving the pick of Australian universities that starred recently at RoboCup 2003 in Padua, Italy. UNSW's team, rUNSWift, defeated the...

BigPond gets a makeover.(Broadband)
September 1, 2003... Telstra has overhauled its BigPond broadband services, introducing exclusive multimedia content for its broadband customers alongside a new multimillion dollar marketing campaign. Announcing the changes in July, the telco said it would also...

Broadband growth steadies as subscribers increase.(Broadband Briefs)
September 1, 2003... Despite strong take-up across all high-speed technologies, the latest quarterly broadband report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has found overall growth rates continue to hover below those recorded 12 months ago....

Senate broadband inquiry succeeds.(Broadband Briefs)
September 1, 2003... A second federal opposition attempt to force a Senate committee inquiry into the state of Australian broadband competition has passed through the upper house. After failing on the first occasion, Labor, the Democrats and the Greens...

Great value burner: DVR-A06.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... With a comprehensive software bundle, fast specifications, support for both popular DVD writing formats and a competitive price tag, the DVR-A06 builds on Pioneer's line of market-leading DVD writing units for the PC. It is ideally suited...

Sleek, sharp, shooter: Digital Ixus 400.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... The latest in the Ixus line is exactly what we would expect from Canon's quality range: a sleek, efficient and easy-to-use pocket snapper that takes sharp, colourful shots. You're paying over the odds for styling and the 400 lacks plenty of...

Low price colour, at a cost? Color LaserJet 1500L.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Hewlett-Packard's lowest-priced colour laser printer ever, the Color LaserJet 1500L, offers high-quality output for small- and home-office users ready to make the leap from inkjet to laser printing. To reach that low price, however, HP had to...

Compact and light display: Syncmaster 172T.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Samsung has long specialised in that irresistible combination of ravishing case design, high-calibre image quality and a beautifully pitched pricing strategy. The SyncMaster 172T is another winning model that gives the competition plenty to...

Get a graphics edge: FX Powerpack Ultra/760 XP Golden Sample.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... If you want high frame rates but can't stretch your budget to the high-end FX 5800/5900 cards, the ideal option has always been a GeForce 4600 or 4800 chip. With the FX 5600 Ultra chip, NVIDIA and Gainward hope to lure you with the promise of...

Shackle-free mobility: Mobile Connect Card.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Most office workers dream of throwing away the traditional shackles of a desk, yet still being free to access all the same services available on a deskbound PC. At press time, Vodafone was releasing a wireless solution that will enable its...

Trouble-free backups: Drive Image 7.0.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Most PC systems are vulnerable to problems such as data loss via viruses, corrupt software or hard disk failure. Unless PC users have a regime of regular backups, problems could arise. Powerquest's backup solution, Drive Image 7.0,...

Art made easy: Painter 8.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Many feats of human dexterity don't translate to a computer environment: shaking someone's hand, playing a guitar, performing open-heart surgery. But CorelPAINTER 8 makes the delicate art of painting on a digital canvas not just possible but...

Talk the talk: NaturallySpeaking 7.0 Preferred.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... Another year, another release of NaturallySpeaking. The new version now fully integrates the codebase of the old L&H VoiceXpress, so it promises to be the best edition yet. Indeed, ScanSoft makes some bold claims, saying that it's 15 per cent...

Innovative printer: Stylus Photo 935.(First Looks)
September 1, 2003... The Epson Stylus Photo 925 was packed to the rafters with connectivity options, combining versatility and innovation in a stand-alone photo printer that delivered great results. We couldn't wait to get the 925's latest sibling, the all-singing,...

Professional video editing.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... Adobe has been very busy lately with new releases of its DVD authoring (Adobe Encore), audio editing (Adobe Audition) and video effects (After Effects 6.0) packages. The biggest news is the arrival of the first serious upgrade to Premiere in...

Cylindrical sound device.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... The cylindrical JNC SSF-302 digital audio prayer is a cinch to use and has extensive functionality. It offers MP3 and WMA playback, has built-in FM radio, and also acts as a data storage device. Users such as students and journalists will...

True flat panel colours.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... Buying on looks alone can land you in deep water in the IT market, and in no area is this more true than the flat panel sector. At first glance the Neovo looks every bit the office essential--its polished glass screen and fold-down stand both...

Safer surfing with Steganos.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... Concerned that unscrupulous Web sites may be tracking your every move on the Internet? Steganos's $US25 Internet Anonym 5 keeps out prying eyes but exacts a heavy toll in Web-browsing performance. Anonym 5 foils online marketing spies by...

Slick new iPod even better.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... Apple makes the best hard-disk-based MP3 players, and the company's redesigned, third-generation iPod elegantly drives home that point. I squeezed my entire MP3 collection onto the 30GB unit and fell in love with its evolved looks, great...

Intuos2 goes Platinum.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... The shiny new Platinum version of Wacom's Intuos2 graphics tablet is designed to look right at home in a digital artist's workspace. But don't let its pretty face fool you: this is one serious input device. I tested the 15x2Bcm version of...

Video capture and editing device.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... While video editing is touted as a killer app, most PCs come bereft of any video input sockets. It's therefore not always obvious how you get footage to and from your hard disk. Pinnacle offers a number of solutions, the latest of which is...

Leap into digital photography.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... FujiFilm's A210 FinePix is aimed at first-timers making the leap to digital. Its design is deliberately simple, with large buttons and clear non-technical markings. It offers a 3.2Mp resolution with a 3x zoom. The 1.5in TFT screen allows users...

7.1-channel speakers.(Quick Takes)
September 1, 2003... Videologic is the first to release 7.1-channel units. (if you don't own a 7.1-channel sound card, Videologic's proprietary technology, SurFE (surround field enhancement), converts a 5.1 signal into 7.1 playback.) With 7.1-channel sound cards...

Directory services for Linux.(Linux World)
September 1, 2003... Directory services are a standard feature of any medium to large corporate network. If you're unfamiliar with the concept of a directory, think of it like an address book for networks. Information on people (e.g., name, e-mail address) and...

Registration of Jaws PDF Creator 2.11.(Readers' Forum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... I purchased August Australian PC World today, and viewed the CD and downloaded the free version of Jaws PDF Creator 2.11. I really liked it and then tried to register. The site (www.jawspdf.com) keeps telling me it is an invalid code. I have...

Notebook PC upgrades.(Readers' Forum)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... I am considering purchasing a second-hand notebook PC at the moment but am wondering if it is possible to upgrade the optical drives from a CD to a DVD-ROM? Are notebooks upgradeable in any sense? I appreciate any answers you might have on this...

Missive of the month.
September 1, 2003... Congratulations to Elizabeth Braddon! You are this month's winner of a copy of PublishPDF Pro software, from Mannacom. This great software--valued at $199.95--is a fast and cost-effective way to create PDF files. We are pleased to receive...

Dilbert[R].
September 1, 2003... HAVE YOU MET THE NEW CIO? NO. I HEAR HE'S YOUNG. HELLO. WE NEED TO INTEGRATE OUR ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING WITH OUR EXISTING E-COMMERCE PLATFORM. NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, NATURE CALLS. AAAHHH... THEN WE'LL...

Maximum Google.(Web & You)
September 1, 2003... GOOGLE IS FAST, ACCURATE, AND FUN TO USE, but you can get even more out of the boss of search engines. We've found more than 20 ways to customise your Google searches; locate the sites, images, and news you want more quickly; and train Google...

Best free stuff on the Net: PC World uncovers over 85 essential sites, services, and tools you didn't know you couldn't live without.
September 1, 2003... TOOLS AND SERVICES Beyond Weather.com Find detailed weather forecasting and news at www.bom.gov.au. The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology issues forecasts three times a day and has special sections for marine weather. Weather...

Tailor-made PCs: forget ready-made! You may not be able to afford a bespoke suit or couture gown, but we've found loads of ways to simply and affordably give your PC a custom makeover.
September 1, 2003... With just a few simple hardware and software additions, PC World will show you how to delve into the areas of digital photography, Web conferencing, audio editing and home networking. Though we have concentrated on these four areas with the...

Face to face: add a webcam to your Windows XP-based system and you have all the necessary hardware and software to make video phone calls through your PC. PC World puts a face to the voice with affordable video-conferencing.
September 1, 2003... Ever since Jeff Tracey's image was transmitted from Thunderbird1 to the lounge wall on Tracey Island, video-conferencing has seemed a good idea. Making a video phone call (one that includes moving pictures of both people involved) has been...

The need for speed: got broadband, or just hungering for faster Net access? We have advice for choosing a service as well as tips and essentials for getting the most out of your speedy broadband account.
September 1, 2003... PART I: YOUR KNOW YOU WANT IT Net users have known for a long time that dial-up can be a drag but is broadband worth the money? Listen to what some speed freaks have to say. After a slow start, broadband looks to be gaining momentum in...

Eye on webcams.(In Sharp Focus)
September 1, 2003... If video-conferencing, video chatting or just quick and simple video captures are some of the tasks you wish you could accomplish on your PC, then tune into our Webcam Best Buys, which showcase some of the best consumer webcams on the market....

Consumer graphics cards.(Tech.Files)
September 1, 2003... In the next few months, the graphics card market will include many cards from both ATI and NVIDIA that feature 256MB of onboard memory. These cards will be aimed at high-end gamers who like to have the absolute latest and greatest hardware for...

New chipsets to fill niche.(Sweet Spot)
September 1, 2003... Intel is predicting its latest chipsets are unlikely to have a significant impact on the mainstream motherboards market but will, instead, fill a niche in Intel's P4 chipset line-up. The two new Intel chipsets for P4-based systems, the...

Over $3500.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Plus Corporation Inspire P32 [1] NEW Yet another powerful configuration submitted by Plus Corporation, the Inspire P32 shoots to the number one position in the over $3500 category and is a worthy title-holder. Enthusiasts from all circles...

$1500-$3500.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Infocom Gaming Beast 1.2 [1] NEW Similar to the Gaming Beast that has been in charts, this new Infocom system is targeted at gamers and LAN'ers. The Gaming Beast 1.2 bundles some excellent features for increased portability and good looks....

Sub-$1500.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... PC eXpress Avatar 2600 [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 A7N8X, is based on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset. Occupying one of the...

Best buys.
September 1, 2003... PCs: sub-$1500 MAKE/MODEL VALUE SPEED REAL RATING RATING WORLD TESTS OVER $3500 (1) Plus 184 300 3m43s ...

Over $4000.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Hi-Grade UltiNote M6600 [1] UPGRADED Hi-Grade's 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 addition to reading DVDs at 8x and CDs at...

$2500-$4000.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Dell Inspiron 8500 [1] Using a 2.4GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M processor together with 512MB of DDR SDRAM (from a 2GB limit), our Dell Inspiron 8500 had a 15.4in wide aspect (16: 10) SXGA display capable of a maximum resolution of...

Sub-$2500.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Targa visionary XP [1] For a 15in notebook (with a maximum resolution of 2048x1456), the Visionary XP is quite light at only 3.2kg without power supply, but it does have a weak worst-case scenario battery life of just 58 minutes. Its...

Notebooks: over $4000, $2500-$4000, sub-$2500.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... MAKE/MODEL VALUE BENCHMARK REAL WORLD TESTS RATING SCORES OVER $4000 (1) Hi-Grade 105.5 216# 2m7s$ UltiNote 5346* 4m27s& M6600 ...

Webcams.(Best Buys)
September 1, 2003... Although many people may not consider webcams very exciting, there is no doubt that they are useful communication tools for basic video-conferencing. They can also be used to record personal video clips as AVI files for storage on CD or DVD,...

ADS USB Turbo 2.0.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: Styled in black and with a fairly sturdy tripod as its base, this ADS webcam features USB 2.0 connectivity (the only one in our review to do so) and allows very high-quality motion capture at up to 640x480 resolution. Its cord is a...

Creative PC-CAM 850.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This compact unit can be plugged into the PC and act as a very good-quality webcam for Web chats or simple video capturing. It can also be used as a still camera with equally good results. The camera is solidly built and quite easy...

Creative Webcam NX Pro.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This production sample from Creative came to us without proper packaging or installation instructions, yet we were up and running in no time after inserting the auto-running CD-R containing the driver and applications. The camera...

Kritter USB.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: Aptly named, the Kritter USB does indeed look like a sly little animal, with its translucent casing and easily manoeuvrable tripod. The latter enables the Kritter to clasp onto a slim monitor, such as an LCD, and is therefore...

Logitech QuickCam for notebooks Pro.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This tiny camera is designed for the notebook user and has been designed to hook onto the top of an LCD monitor with two little plastic legs. These aren't entirely secure in their function, but they do keep the camera steady enough...

Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This camera is a marvellous piece of equipment that provides excellent quality, advanced features and an easy-to-use--as well as very useful--software bundle. It's got quite a stylish appearance, even a Robocop-like lens protective...

Ritmo ePen Dual Mode Camera.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: Functioning as a still camera in addition to a webcam, this unit takes up to 26 high-quality or 107 low-quality photos with its 8MB of onboard memory, and it can record and play back audio, too. It connects to the PC via a USB...

Swann Opti-Viewcam.(Webcams)
September 1, 2003... DESCRIPTION: This camera has a CMOS-based image sensor and functions only as a webcam, but can take still photos via the supplied software interface. A small base means the camera can be utilised with a PC; without this base, the Opti-Viewcam...

Fine-tuning software and hardware.(Time To Tinker)
September 1, 2003... Computers can be time-consuming things: getting them up and running can sometimes be only the start of the hardware/software upgrade and maintenance roller coaster. In part, this could be put down to what we ask of them in terms of latest...

Bullet-proof your PC with a software firewall.(Upgrader)
September 1, 2003... A firewall is an absolutely necessary tool in every computer user's defensive arsenal, along with an antivirus utility. Firewalls are programs (sometimes hardware devices) that are designed to protect you and your system from the legions of...

Flashing BIOS.(In Depth)
September 1, 2003... The most critical component of any motherboard, and the one that controls many of the capabilities and features on a motherboard, is the BIOS (Basic Input Output System). This intermediary sits between the PC's hardware and the operating...

Top 10 XP tips.(Windows XP Home)
September 1, 2003... This month Here's How is providing collection of the most useful tips that we have come across since Windows XP was first released, We hope that you find something here that will allow you to improve your computing experiences. Be aware that...

How to get true colours.(Windows XP Pro)
September 1, 2003... Working with visual digital media such as photography, video and graphics requires consistent and ideally, portable, colour models. Otherwise, what you see won't match what you get when it's printed out or viewed on the screen. Smoothing...

ADSL and linux.(Linux)
September 1, 2003... The most popular and accessible broadband service in Australia is ADSL, which uses an ordinary telephone line to deliver high-speed Internet access. In this month's Linux Here's How, we'll look at connecting a Linux computer to an ADSL...

Exploring FL Studio 4.0.(Audio)
September 1, 2003... The latest incarnation of FruityLoops sees the software music studio now dubbed FL Studio 4, a name change that reflects an expanded feature set and slight shift in focus. If you're new to it, you may wish to search http://pcworld.idg.com.au...

Free graphics tools.(Graphics)
September 1, 2003... As more people switch to digital cameras, they are finding a greater need for software that can help manage, edit and improve their photographs. Many cameras ship with a basic editor program, but there is no reason why you can't explore other...

A closer look at arrays: Pt II.(PHP)
September 1, 2003... Last month PHP Here's How defined what arrays are, how they can be used in PHP and the elementary routines available in PHP to manipulate them. This month we will look at more advanced usage, including a number of support functions that provide...

Video compression.(Digital Video)
September 1, 2003... Professional filmmakers deal with uncompressed video, often at 768x576pixel resolution at 25 frames (50 fields) per second. Now imagine dealing with uncompressed video on your home PC. A 10-second uncompressed video file takes up 340MB of...

Windows 98, Me, XP: password-protect your sensitive files and folders.(Windows)
September 1, 2003... Until recently, the only way to password-protect individual files or folders in Windows 98 and Me was to buy additional software. Password protection of files has always been available in Windows 2000 or Windows XP, if the hard drive is...

Faulty keyboard?(Hardware)
September 1, 2003... [Q] About two out of three times when my computer is powered up from cold, there is no response from the keyboard. The mouse works, allowing me to shut down, but it then hangs at the 'Windows is shutting down' screen. If I then press the reset...

NTFS from a floppy.(Hardware)
September 1, 2003... Whenever your hard drive won't boot, you probably reach for a bootable floppy disk. But bootable floppies run the old DOS operating system, which doesn't recognise hard drives formatted in the NT File System (NTFS) that Windows XP and 2000 use....

Keep an eye on your CPU's temperature.(Hardware)
September 1, 2003... If your PC's BIOS monitors CPU temperature (many do), you can check the chip's temperature by going into your system's Setup program before Windows loads (soon after you turn your PC on, press the key that the prompt indicates). A handy utility...

Search and destroy hijackers.(Internet)
September 1, 2003... [Q] When I start Internet Explorer, it opens at a site I don't wish to visit. I find that the home page setting in Internet Options has changed. If I reset this to my preferred home page, it lasts only until I shut down Windows. The next time I...

Outlook settings backed up.(Internet)
September 1, 2003... Anthony Vickers wrote to advise how to back up account settings--for example, server names, login details and so on--in Microsoft Outlook. He searched in vain for any help in the Microsoft Knowledgebase and even tried Genie Outlook 2000/XP...

Which background programs can I close?(Miscellaneous)
September 1, 2003... [Q] When my PC is slow, I press -- to close unnecessary programs. But there are programs running that I can't identify. What are they? --Eric Andersen [A] All sorts of programs run in the background on your PC. Closing unessential...

Access denied.(Miscellaneous)
September 1, 2003... [Q] I'm using Microsoft Access 2000 on Windows 2000. If I try to create a new database using a wizard or by importing data from Excel, I receive the error message "ActiveX component cannot create object". However, I can create a database...

Emergency recovery? Call SuperTED!(Miscellaneous)
September 1, 2003... Savvy PC users keep a bootable system disk handy with tools like SYS, Fdisk and Format for use in emergencies. Sometimes when you're trying to fix a broken system, though, you need to edit text files like config.sys, autoexec.bat or win.ini....

C++ Weekend Crash Course (2nd Edition).
September 1, 2003... BY STEPHEN R. DAVIS Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Price: $56.95 Phone: 1800 777 474 URL: www.johnwiley.com.au ISBN: 0764538306 Can you really learn to program using C++ in just one weekend? Mind, that's not the whole weekend; 15 hours...

Break Into the Game Industry.
September 1, 2003... BY ERNEST ADAMS Publisher: Osborne (McGraw Hill) Price: $44.95 Phone: (02) 9900 1800 URL: www.mcgraw-hill.com.au ISBN: 0072226609 Employment in the game software industry is highly sought by gamers and geeks alike all around the world,...