Personal Computer World articles from November 2005

Personal Computer World archives from November 2005

Editorial - PCW's fresh look will give our readers more. We've made some changes, but don't worry, old favourites are still here, says Rob Jones.(product and service upgrade by Personal Computer World)(Editorial)
November 1, 2005... Here at PCW we have a passion for technology. We live and breathe it. We use it, see it and play with it every day. Pick up PCW and you will get technology from cover to cover, whether you're reading about the hottest products on the market,...

Intel drive for frugal chips.
November 1, 2005... Intel signalled a major change in the design of its chips last month with a shift of focus from speed to power efficiency. Chief executive Paul Otellini said performance per watt will replace GHz as a chip rating. Power was already an issue...

Broadband set for 50 Mbits/sec.
November 1, 2005... Broadband speeds available in the UK hit a claimed 24Mbits/sec last month - and cable provider Telewest predicted that they could reach 50Mbits/sec within two years. London startup Be (www.bethere.co.uk) was offering a 24Mbit service to...

Mains data air safety watch.(product details of Corinex Corp. and Devolo AG)
November 1, 2005... A faster generation of devices that turn household mains wiring into network links has hit the market, despite fears they may be a danger to aircraft. The devices use a low-power high-frequency signal that is filtered off from the...

Key moves as more phones start to sing.(service launch by HMV Ltd. and Microsoft Corp.)(product launch by Apple Computer Inc.)(sales of cellular telephone equipment industry)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Music on the move was in the news last month, with HMV and Microsoft launching a download service to rival Apple's Itunes. The two services are not compatible and HMV's requires the use of Creative and I-river players. Apple was expected...

Office politics.
November 1, 2005... The US state of Massachusetts has unveiled a plan to replace Microsoft Office with a suite that supports Open Document, an open standard set by the Oasis organisation. Chief information officer Peter Quinn said state agencies should plan to...

DVD tops out.
November 1, 2005... Panasonic and Hitachi-LG Data Storage 16-speed drives have reached the upper limit of recording speeds for now, says Panasonic. 'Any faster and even the best media might break apart. It's revolving at 11,000rpm,' said Anthony Jasionowski, group...

Local films on tap.
November 1, 2005... Google has introduced a feature that lets you check out films showing in your area and read reviews - see its UK site for details. For more search engine news and another bid to localise the web, see page 18.

Hackers 'create open MacPC'.
November 1, 2005... Hackers claim to have found a way of running the forthcoming Intel-based Mac OSX operating system on a non-Apple PC. They say on some PCs it appears to run faster than the version on current G5 Macs. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs caused...

Will OSx86 pass security test?(Apple Computer Inc. enhanced Mac OSx86)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... MacPCs could be a better buy than Windows machines for many family users because they offer better facilities out of the box for tasks such as home video and photo editing. They could even make an impact in the corporate world, as the Mac OS is...

Fujitsu sends in SAS to speed up drives.(serial attached small computer system interface)(Fujitsu MAV2036RC and MAV2036RC SFF launched)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Fujitsu has launched the first production models of a new class of fast small form factor (SFF) disk drive using a serial version of the venerable parallel SCSI link. Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), like the Serial ATA (Sata) link that has...

Simple surrounding.
November 1, 2005... Surround sound can do wonders for your home entertainment system but it can be a hassle with multiple leads running around the room. Not so with Yamaha's YSP-800 sound projector, which has 22 speakers to focus sound around the room to give a...

PC prices to drop.
November 1, 2005... The average PC price will drop by 10.8 per cent this year, followed by another 8.6 per cent drop in 2006, according to analysts Gartner. But increased sales will boost the revenues of PC makers by 0.5 per cent this year, though there will be a...

2GB SD card.
November 1, 2005... Kingston has launched an ultrafast 2GB SD Ultimate card costing [pounds sterling]105 ex VAT. www.kingston.com/ukroot.]

SIM backup.
November 1, 2005... Imation is bundling a 32KB backup device for phone Sim cards with its 1GB, 2GB and 4GB USB drives. www.imation.com/uk/sim.

Powerful access.
November 1, 2005... D-Link has launched a Wifi 11g access point supporting the 802.16 Power over Ethernet standard, allowing it to draw power from a compliant network link - see page 107. The [pounds sterling]206 Airpremier DWL-3200AP offers enterprise-class...

Notebook line-up for students.(product launch by Hewlett-Packard Ltd. and product details of Toshiba (U.K.) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Notebook vendors have been lining up affordable models to tempt students starting college or the new school year. HP launched a range with prices starting at [pounds sterling]499 for the Pavilion ze2200 and Compaq m2200, both of which come...

Eco-friendly laptop arrives.(new product Amilo Pro V2030 from Fujitsu Siemens Computers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Fujitsu Siemens claims its Amilo Pro V2030 notebook is the first to conform to EC eco-guidelines set out in the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which is due to come into effect on 1 July 2006. Prices start at [pounds...

Google calls open to question.
November 1, 2005... Google got so much publicity over the launch of its web telephony service last month that you'd have thought it had invented Voice over IP (VoIP) instead of playing catch-up. In fact, voice calls are only one aspect of the new Google Talk,...

Web magazines add a local perspective.
November 1, 2005... Local papers have arguably never recovered from the influx of freesheets over the past few years. Sales of paid-for papers dropped, advertising revenue was reduced and the standard of journalism fell, with a few exceptions. Yet community...

Eyeballing UK.
November 1, 2005... Eye2eye is offering a DVD of 360 deg panoramic views created by a specially developed panoramic camera. It has also developed software that maintains perspective as you pan round. Eye2eye Britain Panoramic Edition costs [pounds sterling]39.99...

Long-life batteries.
November 1, 2005... Panasonic says its Oxyride batteries, which are said to last twice as long as standard products, are now on sale in the UK at Morrisons, Waitrose and Argos stores. The batteries, previewed at CES earlier this year, are targeted at digital...

Screenteacher.
November 1, 2005... Softvoile has launched a screensaver that flashes up foreign words with their translation to help you learn a new language. Languages include Russian, English, Spanish, German and Italian. A trial version of Virtual Teacher Screensaver 2.1 is...

Slim drive.
November 1, 2005... Transcend has streamlined its portable hard drive products into the Slimline Compact Storejet 2.5 range. They cost EUR131 ([pounds sterling]90) with a 40GB disk, EUR186 ([pounds sterling]127) with 80GB, or EUR27 ([pounds sterling]18.50) for a...

O2 pilots mobile TV as BBC opens archive.
November 1, 2005... The convergence of IT and broadcasting took two new turns last month with the news that more BBC radio and TV programmes will be available online, and that O2 is to trial mobile TV broadcasts. Orange launched a TV service in May using the...

But will it be simply TV?(survey on consumers viewing habit on cellular telephones)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Around 350 testers in the Oxford mobile TV trial will use the Nokia 7710 phone to access any of 16 channels covering music, sport, news, comedy, soaps and drama. The idea is to investigate the viewing habits of people on the move, though how...

Call costs to be cut.
November 1, 2005... Mobile phone users will be able to make calls at landline rates in places such as airports and railway stations from next year, if a new service gets off the ground. A company called Coffee Telecom plans to offer the service at thousands...

Mobiles get wireless stereo.(O2 Ltd. to launch bluetooth headsets)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Notable among the latest handsets being shown off by vendors and operators ready for the Christmas market are several music phones, including the first Walkman phone, the Sony Ericsson W800i, available from T-Mobile and O2, and the Samsung...

Viiv PC is built to entertain.
November 1, 2005... Intel is to launch a platform tailored for entertainment PCs in the same way as Centrino chips and motherboards are designed for notebooks. The Viiv (rhymes with five) platform will include a dual-core processor and chipset optimised for the...

Cool ways to reduce chip power drain.
November 1, 2005... Multicore processors have allowed Intel to boost processing speed without increasing clock frequencies, power consumption and cooling requirements. In addition, entire cores can be switched off to conserve power when not needed; and processing...

Rugged PC for hot climates.(new computer from Intel Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Bill Su, of Intel's channel-platforms group, shows a 'community PC' designed for emerging markets such as India. The machine would be equipped for Wifi or Wimax to give entire communities access to the web, and would be capable of running off a...

Spat with AMD gets nastier.
November 1, 2005... AMD takes delight in needling its rival around the time IDF is held, when developers and journalists from all over the world descend on San Francisco to get the lowdown on the latest Intel high technology. But this year the spat between the two...

AVG purchase.(Grisoft Software acquired by Intel Corp. and a private equity company)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... In another post-IDF move, Intel and a private equity company bought a $52m ([pounds sterling]28.5m), 65 per cent stake in the Czech firm Grisoft, which develops the AVG anti-virus product. One possibility is that it plans to hardware more...

Brit chip fits the bill.(new product CSX600 from ClearSpeed Technology Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The most impressive device at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco in terms of speed and power consumption was a co-processor board from UK company Clearspeed. It has been rated at 50 billion floating point operations per second...

PCIe bus to double speed.(enhancement of Intel PCI Express)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The PCI Express bus will be upgraded to double the data rate within two years, Intel claims. The PCI Express ll (PCIe II) bus will be backward compatible with PCI Express devices but will be capable of performing up to 5GT/sec. ...

Analysis - Office file formats get major revamp.
November 1, 2005... Improvements to Microsoft's doc, xls and ppt formats may not persuade users to buy expensive Office upgrades - and will open the company to more competition. Clive Akass reports Microsoft executives may rank low on your sympathy chart, but...

Analysis - Wordperfect Mail arrives 20 years late.(product launch by Corel Corp.)(Brief Article)(Column)
November 1, 2005... Corel has launched an email client called Wordperfect Mail in a bid to tempt users away from Microsoft Outlook. The new utility, based on the Bloomba package from Stata Labs, includes features to enable you to import contacts and other...

PCW awards for excellence - The best in the business - voted by you.(Personal Computer World)
November 1, 2005... The time has come again to vote for your top products and manufacturers from the past 12 months, as we search for the best of the best in the 2005 PCW Awards for Excellence. The Awards celebrate the innovation and inventiveness of firms in...

Interactive - Reader watchdog - The Adviser. PCW gives advice on your rights.(keeping records of products purchase and products complains)
November 1, 2005... COVER YOURSELF - Keep good records; storing all receipts in one safe place as proof of purchase is vital. - Create a folder in your email client to store emailed receipts - but print a copy too. Print spec sheets from websites as proof...

Interactive - Inside information - Why digital SLRs could cause a dust up. Imagine all your holiday snaps being ruined by pesky dust particles. Gordon Laing suggests blowing away the blues.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Gordon Laing, gordonl@pcw.co.uk. Digital SLRs have grabbed the camera-buying public's imagination. Affordable models, first pioneered by Canon's EOS-300D two years ago, are now available from every major camera manufacturer, and if...

Interactive - Kewney@large - What's on your spy pod? As podcasting goes mainstream, Guy Kewney predicts that firms will exploit its ability to spy on your listening habits.(Editorial)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Guy Kewney, guy.kewney@gmail.com. When the Sunday papers get excited about podcasting, you know it's achieved something. The thing is, the podcasting that the mainstream press is getting so excited about isn't what podcasting is...

Interactive - Straight talking - The blind are leading the blind. A simple problem with his new router saw Barry Fox on his own and quickly reaching the end of his networking tether.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Barry Fox, barryf@pcw.co.uk. Visit your nearest PC superstore and see the pile of used networking gear on special offer - most likely returned for refund by people who could not get it to work. Persuading two PCs to share...

Trusted tests from the UK's best Labs - What's new this month.
November 1, 2005... Media Center might not have taken off as well as Microsoft would have liked, but that hasn't stopped PC manufacturers from giving it their backing. And it's easy to see why - the interface is well-designed, easy to use and loaded with features....

Review - Hardware - Media Center notebook - Elonex Mediastar 1541. A portable, stylish entertainment system with a lot of potential.(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Elonex isn't afraid to try something new when it comes to Media Center PCs - last month's whopping 40in LCD model is testament to that. Its latest Media Center is slightly more subdued, coming in the form of a 15.4in...

Review - Hardware - SLI PC - Mesh Matrix Xtreme PCW. Two Nvidia 7800 GT graphics cards prove their worth.(scalable link interface)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. Mesh's Matrix Xtreme PCW uses two of the newly released Geforce 7800 GT graphics cards, slightly cut-down versions of Nvidia's flagship 7800 GTX. Although there's no denying the superior gaming performance of PCs using...

Review - Hardware - Corporate PC - Dell Optiplex GX620. Ultra-quiet system aimed at businesses.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Simon Crisp. The Optiplex GX620 is the latest model in Dell's range of corporate PCs - a line that comprises four new chassis formats, all incorporating Dell's latest design ideas on the BTX form factor. You can configure the...

Review - Hardware - Semi-ruggedised notebook - Rock Hardbook. Find out if this portable can take a PCW beating.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. The Rock Hardbook is a semi-ruggedised notebook designed to survive the rigours of daily use. Its biggest asset is the partial magnesium alloy casing which, according to Rock, is 20 times stronger than the plastic used...

Review - Peripherals - HD camcorder - Sony HDR-HC1E. High Definition video at a low price and a good quality.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Paul Monckton. This is no ordinary camcorder. With a 2.97megapixel Cmos sensor and plenty of processing power, the HDR-HC1E from Sony is able to deliver images of a quality that is astonishing for a product of this size and price....

Review - Peripherals - Compact digital camera - Pentax Optio S5z. A pocket-sized snapper for those fun shots.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Anna Lagerkvist. The latest addition to Pentax's Optio family is the sleek S5z. Based around a 5megapixel CCD and 3x optical zoom, it's compact enough to slip easily into your pocket. As with most Pentax cameras, the Optio S5z...

Review - Peripherals - Soundcard - Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro. With 51 million transistors, the technology behind this system is set to make a big noise.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. You might be content with your onboard sound chip, but Creative is out to convince you otherwise with its new X-Fi (short for extreme fidelity) range of soundcards. By housing 51 million transistors,...

Review - Peripherals - Windows-based smartphone - Orange SPV C550. Improved multimedia features displayed on a sharper screen.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. Orange's updates to its SPV smartphone series are turning into an annual event. The SPV C550 is the latest kid on the block and arrives with a modified design and some new features, although it's still a Windows-based...

Review - Peripherals - Budget mono laser printer - Dell Laser Printer 1100. At less than [pounds sterling]100 this has no frills, but is easy to use.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Paul Monckton. Mono lasers have plummeted in price recently and Dell's Laser Printer 1100 is yet another to sit below the [pounds sterling]100 mark. It prints monochrome A4 pages up to 14ppm (pages per minute), while the...

Review - Peripherals - Bluetooth headset - Cellink BTST-9000D. Listen to chords without the hassle of dealing with cords.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. Fans of music on the go will be familiar with the struggle of untangling headphone wires. One answer is to shoehorn Bluetooth technology into a headset, such as the Cellink BTST-9000D. The device comes in two parts...

Review - Peripherals - Satellite navigation - Mio 269. Plenty of features but slow operation.(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Satellite navigation (sat nav) devices are steadily coming down in price and you will soon see budget models available for less than [pounds sterling]200. Although the 269 from Mio looks expensive kits at first...

Review - Peripherals - Cordless keyboard and mouse - Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 Media Remote. Stylish set that's loaded with multimedia features.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. Logitech's Dinovo keyboard, reviewed in PCW April, is undeniably stylish (and at [pounds sterling]200 also ridiculously expensive), but we loved the extra media functions it offered. The Cordless Desktop S 510 Media...

Review - Peripherals - APC Wireless Mobile Router.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Better known for its uninterruptible power supplies, APC is branching out into the world of mobile computing accessories. This 3-in-1 device serves as an access point, router and Ethernet Client. The latter lets you...

Review - Peripherals - Maxtor Onetouch II Firewire 800.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley, Thanks to the silver Mac G5-esque chassis, the Onetouch II cannot be faulted in terms of style. A 300GB hard drive sits within, with Maxtor suggesting you split this into storage and backup portions. Both USB and...

Review - Peripherals - Hercules Wireless Router.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Former graphics card manufacturer Hercules has taken its first step into the wireless ADSL router market. In an attempt to make installation as simple as possible, the setup procedure is unlike any other we have seen,...

Review - Peripherals - NEC ND-3540A.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. The ND-3540A is the latest drive in NEC's internal DVD writer range. Unlike previous models, this one is able to write to dual-layer DVD-R discs as well as DVD+Rs. With the dual-layer DVD+R write capability boosted to...

Review - Component - Motherboard - MSI 945P Platinum. Output audio in real time to DTS 7.1-channel speakers.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. MSI's 945P Platinum motherboard uses Intel's 945P Express chipset and supports the full range of socket 775 CPUs. This support includes the dual-core Pentium D series processor. Its range of features is very similar to...

Review - Component - Backup hardware - Storcase Data Express. Keep files safe and secure with this removable drive.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Simon Crisp. Most new PCs come with a DVD writer, which makes backing up data a fairly easy task - at least that's the idea. In reality, this can be a painfully slow process if you are backing up large amounts of data, even with...

Review - Components - Enermax CS-718 Maxflow.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... This server-sized CS-718 Maxflow case from Enermax is constructed from sturdy 0.8mm steel with an aluminium front. Using an inverted layout, the CPU sits at the bottom of the case with a large wind tunnel situated just above it. At...

Review - Component - Foxconn 915PL7AE-8EKRS.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Foxconn's latest motherboard combines the Socket 775 architecture with DDR1 memory. It also offers support for both PCI Express and AGP graphics cards. A standard x16 PCI Express graphics slot sits on the board along with a slot called an...

Review - Component - FSP Zen 300W.
November 1, 2005... If you are looking to build a quiet PC, you don't want to spoil all your hard work by slapping in a noisy power supply unit (PSU). What you need is a fanless PSU, such as the FSP Zen 300W. As the name would suggest, the Zen 300W is a 300w...

Review - Component - PNY Geforce 7800GTX.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Joining the ranks of Nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX graphics cards is PNY's offering. Unfortunately it arrived too late to be included in last month's group test. PNY has not done a great deal to alter the reference design and it features the...

Review - Software - Web design suite - Macromedia Studio 8. Creating pages for the Internet has become even easier.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Cliff Joseph. Although Adobe's takeover of Macromedia is yet to be finalised, the latest version of Macromedia's Studio web design suite has clearly been influenced by the imminent merger. One obvious change is that the...

Review - Software - Security suite - Zone Alarm Internet Security 6.0. Hackers, spyware and viruses can't escape this comprehensive package.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Cliff Joseph. Zone Alarm started life as a fairly conventional firewall program, designed to protect PCs from the threat of hackers over the Internet. During the past few years, however, the spread of viruses has become an even...

Review - Software - Database management - Filemaker Pro 8. Sorting, searching and sharing made easier.(Product/Service Evaluation)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Mark Whitehorn. Filemaker Pro 8 is the latest release of this popular database management system (DBMS). It's one of the few viable alternatives to Microsoft's Access and its user-friendly approach has won it many friends in the...

Review - Software - Remote access - Mythicsoft Remote Command. A simple and effective file transfer utility.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Tim Smith. If you like the sound of MywebexPC, but are after something a little simpler to use, Remote Command from Mythicsoft might be of interest. It offers complete access to files and emails on a remote computer. What it...

Review - Software - Remote access - Webex MywebexPC. Access your PC from afar for free.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Tim Smith. With more and more homes across the country using a broadband Internet connection, remote access software is proving to be big business. Remote access allows you to control a PC over the Internet. The entire desktop...

Review - Software - Google Talk (Beta).
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. In its latest attempt to take over everything Internet, Google has launched an instant messaging and Voip (Voice over IP) service. Still in its beta version, the interface is incredibly simple. No smilies, avatars...

Review - Software - Miracle Type.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Anna Lagerkvist. If you're still bashing in words on your keyboard using just two fingers, it's time to learn to touch type. Miracle Type uses memory aids and phonetics to help you remember where each letter resides on the...

Review - Software - Undelete 5.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. The pain of deleting a file accidentally and then not being able to retrieve it is all too common among Windows users. XP's Recycle Bin helps out to a certain extent, but it occasionally rejects files if they're too big,...

Review - Software - Ufly4less.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Ufly4less is too useful a tool to ignore, especially if you're a frequent flyer. By searching flight details of the UK's 13 low-cost airlines, it aims to save you money each time you fly. Enter a destination, travel...

Review - Games - First-Person Shooter - Chrome Specforce. Become a highly trained soldier of the future.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. Chrome is the sequel to the 2003 first-person shooter Specforce. Like its predecessor, the game asks players to assume a role in the Specforce - an elite combat unit tasked with ridding the galaxy of security threats and...

Review - Games - Arcade - Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder. The redneck race is on to save Big Ma from a jury's wrath.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. It's not surprising there aren't many games about trucking. Hauling cattle across thousands of miles of motorway isn't particularly glamorous. What better way to spice up a trucking game then, than to inject some...

Review - Games - Simulation - ER. Playing doctor at County General may try your patience.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. There are all manner of simulation games available. Some let you build cities, while others let you dabble in adult relationships, but there are very few that let you play doctor. ER aims to redress this balance by...

Reviews - VNU labs - How we test. Performance testing is an important part of PCW's reviewing process and to obtain our authoritative results we use the UK's best PC testing resource - VNU Labs. Here we explain why you can trust our results and give you a tour of our most frequently used benchmark programs.
November 1, 2005... One of the main reasons people upgrade their PCs is because their old model seems 'too slow'. But how do you tell whether the one you're going to replace it with is any faster? At PCW we take PC testing very seriously and we have the UK's best...

Windows Vista - Room with a Vista. The new version of Windows boasts better security, a new interface, plus features such as a graphics system and copy protection. Jorg Geiger and Paul Monckton dig deep into the Beta version and compare it to XP, Suse Linux and Mac OSX.
November 1, 2005... Microsoft has defined its goal clearly: Windows Vista, previously known by its code name Longhorn, is intended to become the company's best operating system ever and to finally dispose of Windows' bad reputation over security. To fully...

Practical advice from the industry's experts - Real-world solutions.
November 1, 2005... A warm welcome to the new-look Hands On section, where you'll find some of the very best hints, tips and practical advice available. If you're reading PCW for the first time, this is the section of the magazine that taps into the vast combined...

Hands on - Question time - Advice from our experts. If you have a question, PCW can help find the soution.
November 1, 2005... DIGITAL IMAGING Seeking input Q: My son-in-law bought a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD91E from Comet a year ago to film our first grandchild. Subsequently, nobody has been able to help him find a video-editing program that will handle files...

Hands on - Hardware - Character building. Monitor system or media information by adding a graphical character-based display.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Gordon Laing. Character-based displays can be useful additions for any PC. They can be configured to display anything from system information and temperatures, to scrolling news reports and, of course, details of what media file...

Hands on - Performance - Life in the slow lane. Slowing down your CPU could lead to a quieter life - and it saves power too.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Gordon Laing. This column - newly renamed Performance - traditionally celebrates pushing components further than they were designed to go, but in this month's edition we're going the opposite direction: not overclocking, but...

Hands on - Windows - Toolbar tutorial. Resurrect the shortcut toolbar with 'new document' links; and create glyphs.(Column)
November 1, 2005... Byline: Tim Nott. In this month's Word processing column (see page 138), we mentioned the demise of the Microsoft Office Shortcut Toolbar and promised you full details of how to create a standard Windows Toolbar with the same...