Personal Computer World articles from September 2005

Personal Computer World archives from September 2005

Editorial - Ruffled feathers and juicy tidbits. AMD's lawsuit may be revealing, but Rob Jones hopes it doesn't distract the CPU maker too much.(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rob Jones, rob_jones@vnu.co.uk You wouldn't necessarily expect us to write about Apple in PCW, but it has been an interesting few weeks for a company that has elegantly risen from the dead in the past to re-invent itself several...

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.
September 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...

Green light for 24Mbit DSL.(Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Clive Akass. Broadband links of up to 24Mbits/sec could be available within weeks, following a green light for next-generation ADSL2+ links. The rollout will be speeded up as a result of 'local loop unbundling' - the opening of...

Small comfort for tablet PC market.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... All the new tablet PCs we have seen this year have been 12in and 14in formats targeted at niche markets such as hospitals and field-force tasks that lend themselves to electronic form filling. Evidently these markets are demanding big...

Caerphilly court convicts chipper.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... An unnamed Cambridge graduate has become the first person in the UK to be convicted for chipping a games console. He was sentenced to 140 hours of community service by magistrates at Caerphilly for selling Xbox consoles fitted with a 200GB...

AMD lists Intel 'dirty tricks'.(Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)
September 1, 2005... AMD has launched an anti-trust suit against Intel claiming that it used cash, rebates, 'marketing funds' and other sweeteners to induce major system builders into using only or mostly Intel chips. Allegations include: - Dell, as a result...

Microsoft finally settles with IBM.(cases)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Microsoft is to pay IBM $775m ([pounds sterling]440m) to settle the bitter decade-long anti-trust battle stemming from a case in which IBM was identified as having been 'impacted in its business by certain Microsoft practices'. The settlement...

Lucky projector up against the wall.(products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Only the 'filthy rich' used to be able to afford digital projectors but now they are within the reach of nearly everyone, according to Lucky Goldstar. Its first entry into the market, the AN110, costs [pounds sterling]1,999, which may say...

Another fine Mesh.(Mesh computers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Mesh Computers has stepped in and supplied a PCW reader with a PC after his original prize, a Carrera PC, failed to materialise when the company went into liquidation in January. John Holbrook won his PC after he took part in our reader awards,...

Soft focus.(camera stand)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Fujifilm went a bit soft in the head when it tried to take a new angle on the camera stand. It came up with this [pounds sterling]9.99 cushion, designed to provide an easy-to-carry way to hold a camera still for low-light and self-timer shots....

Inside out as Intel forces name change.(Fotoinsight)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Intel has threatened court action to protect what it sees as its interests. Lawyers acting for the company 'requested' that UK firm Fotoinside to change its name, because it could be confused with the 'Intel inside' slogan. The Cambridge...

NEC adopts JIT system.(Just in time inventory systems)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Japanese giant NEC is taking on Dell in the UK market by using a similar system of just-in-time (JIT) manufacture at its plants in Scotland and France, and build-to-order offerings at its website. Dell became a world-leading PC builder...

Turion scores among corporates.(microprocessors)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... AMD's new 64bit Turion processor for mobiles appears to have broken Intel's hold on the corporate notebook market. HP unveiled a range of notebooks that incorporate the mobile 64bit processor. The chip is included in the company's Pavilion...

New launches recall first Tosh laptop.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Back in 1984, Toshiba launched a PC called the T1100. It had a 4.77MHz 80C88 processor, the MS-Dos 2.2 operating system, a 720KB floppy drive and a 640 x 200 4.7in display, and it weighed 4kg, which Toshiba proudly called portable. Toshiba...

Lots of slots on photoprinters.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... HP has released four new portable photo printers. The [pounds sterling]149.99 inc VAT Photosmart 335 (above) weighs 1.4kg and has five slots for direct printing from all major memory cards. A USB port connects to any Pictbridge-enabled camera...

USR maxes out on Wifi range.(US Robotics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... US Robotics claims its MaxG Wifi products can reach 50 per cent further than standard 802.11g devices, and are rated 150 per cent faster at 125Mbits/sec. This speed boost can only be achieved when used with other MaxG products, but USR...

Blue moving.(satellite navigation kit)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Evesham's [pounds sterling]329.99 inc VAT Bluemedia BM6300 satellite navigation kit uses a customised version of Destinator software, and has a 256MB memory card with maps of the UK and Ireland and an option for full European maps. It can also...

F10 in deep water.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Fujifilm has launched a waterproof casing for its high-sensitivity F10 Zoom camera enabling it to take pictures at a depth of 40m. The F10's 6.3megapixel sensor is rated at ISO 1,600, which is four times the speed of non-professional 'fast'...

Fox takes dive.(NHJ Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The Che-ez Fox 4 camera pictured below can also take pictures underwater, but only to a depth of 3m. It is, however, inexpensive at [pounds sterling]69.95 inc VAT for a 3megapixel slimline camera with an SD slot and 16MB of inbuilt memory. It...

U3 makes anywhere home.
September 1, 2005... Walking programs could usher in a new way for office and mobile workers to use computers, major USB-drive manufacturers believe. The idea is to install your favourite programs, complete with configurations, onto a flash drive so you can...

Double vision takes USB a long way.(Scene Double)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... UK-based Scene Double is offering a range of extenders that allow you to site monitors and USB2 peripherals up to 50m from a host PC using standard Ethernet cable. USB links are normally limited to 5m. The box pictured below provides two...

Photopack.(Serif Software Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... UK developer Serif has launched Photoplus 10 Studio Pack, a [pounds sterling]59.99 bundle of Albumplus, an album program and the latest version 10 of its Photoplus image editor New features in Photoplus include 200 macro presets for...

Lasting memory.( Bonusprint )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... A new Bonusprint service allows you to order prints of digital images on Kodak Supra Endura Lustre paper that is said to preserve images for more than 100 years. Prices start at 25p per print. www.bonusprint.co.uk.

Phone Notes.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Users of Symbian-based smartphones using the UIQ user interface, such as Sony Ericsson's P900 and P910, can now access their Lotus Notes email and other data using Commontime's MNotes for Symbian utility. It costs [pounds sterling]42 ex VAT,...

What a Cad!(computer aided design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... 'Thresholding' technology in Scan2cad 7.3, the latest version of the utility for translating paper-based technical drawings into editable dxf vector files, sharpens the scanned image to improve quality. The regular edition costs [pounds...

Cmos radio packed into processors.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Intel has developed a prototype of a single-package radio transceiver supporting all Wifi modes, including emerging 11n, and capable of being made by Cmos manufacturing processes. Information released didn't make it clear whether the device...

Motorola buys Sendo assets.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Motorola has acquired the development team and patents of mobile maker Sendo, which has gone into administration. A notice on the company's website says Simon Appell and Alastair Beveridge, of Kroll's Ltd, have been appointed as the firm's...

Celeron D goes 64bit.(products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Intel unveiled a new range of budget 64bit Celeron D processors last month as rival AMD launched a new Athlon64 FX-57 chip aimed at gamers. The Mesh FX-57-based system, reviewed on page 55, shows the chip to be a good choice for...

Freescale gets in first with UWB.(Ultra wideband)(Freescale Semiconductor)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Intel is facing competition in Ultra wideband (UWB), a short-range fast radio technology it has been heavily promoting. Freescale Semiconductor, the former chipmaking arm of Motorola, has developed a chipset for high-definition TV signals...

TV dish provides satellite web access.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The German company Teles has launched its Sky-DSL satellite web access service in Britain with prices starting at [pounds sterling]6.99 for a 1Mbit link. There will be no start-up fee for an introductory period. Satellite access has never...

Big is best for HDTV displays.(High definition television)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... It is not worth paying a premium for high-definition screens measuring less than 27in diagonal, according to tests performed at the BBC R&D Labs. 'There is little point in putting HDTV on a 14in portable; unless you sit very close to it,...

BBC trickle-charges HDTV.(High definition television)(British Broadcasting Corporation)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The BBC plans to make high-definition TV programmes available for download well before it begins HD broadcasts, which will not be until 2008 at the earliest. The idea is to 'trickle charge' personal-video-recorders, advanced set-top boxes...

Scramble for switchover spectrum.(Digital audio broadcasting)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... A global scramble has begun for the use of spectrum released by the shift from analogue to digital broadcasting - and it doesn't just involve broadcasters. Operators planning Wimax and other interactive services would love the use of some...

Video codec.(Dirac)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Dirac, the BBC's open-source compression technology aimed at providing a royalty-free way to deliver video, now supports Windows Media Player. It can now decode and play a 1Mbit/sec video stream on a standard PC at 'near broadcast quality'...

Mains data 'threat to planes'.(use of home networks may affect the aircraft communications)
September 1, 2005... Data-over-the-mains systems that promise home networks operating at up to 200Mbits/sec using standard household wiring could present a major threat to aircraft communications, according to a BBC expert. There may be a way to avoid them...

Homeplug flies without wires.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Tests have shown that Homeplug data-over-the-mains links are as much wireless as wired. A German researcher found that both the data connection and the interference it caused continued even after he pulled the plug out. This is because the...

Adaptive 'notching' could ease problems.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Data-over-mains vendors get round many complaints by 'notching out' (ie not using) frequencies that are likely to cause problems. But this doesn't take into account the fact that problem frequencies vary in different areas - and even at...

11a products on sale at last.(Linksys Group Inc)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Linksys, one of the leading Wifi vendors, has begun selling 802.11a Wifi products into Britain for the first time in a move that may signal a general move to the technology. Most Wifi routers and client cards support only 11g and 11b, which...

Proxim sold.(Moseley Associates Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Wifi pioneer Proxim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. Proxim was innovative but concentrated on the upper end of the market, offering extra features for corporates. It could not compete when mass-market vendors migrated...

Fujitsu takes your name in vein.(palm scanner )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Palm reading is the latest way to authenticate users - but forget all that stuff about lifelines and other mumbojumbo. Fujitsu's palm scanner reads the veins in your hand, which are said to be even more distinctive than fingerprints. ...

Dodgy circuits rule OK.(crossbar technology )
September 1, 2005... Experts have welcomed a claimed breakthrough in the design and manufacture of computing circuits - because the products are 'unreliable'. Researchers at HP say the company can deliver near-perfect manufacturing yields with equipment a...

First holo movie may usher in 3D TV.(Three dimensional television)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... US researchers have developed what they claim is the first truly three-dimensional holographic movie, using a digital light projector (DLP) chip similar to that used in most of the latest projectors. The breakthrough means that 3D TV could be...

Smart factories use language.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Computers controlling manufacturing processes will be able to reason and understand human commands better thanks to a new 'process specification' language, memorably entitled ISO 18629, the developers say. It uses artificial intelligence...

Nvidia parry in dual duel.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Nvidia says the Geforce 7800GTX graphics processor is as fast as two Geforce 6800 Ultras strapped together with its Scalable Link Interface (SLI) system. Our tests show a more mixed picture, as Rory Reid reports in his review on page 73....

MSN takes on Google at the desktop.(Microsoft Network L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... MSN has officially launched a desktop search bar in its latest bid to challenge the dominance of the Google search engine. Like its Google equivalent, the utility creates an index of all files on your PC or in any nominated network directory or...

Grokster suit raises burning questions.(peer to peer file sharing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... A US court decision against file sharer Grokster leaves IT vendors facing a new grey area it was intended to clarify. Grokster, which was sued by MGM, had successfully argued that it was not liable for what people did with its products. It...

Win2K curtain.(Microsoft Corp)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Windows 2000 was given a last-minute update before Microsoft ended full support for the product on 30 June. Microsoft will now address only security issues in the five-year-old operating system for the next five years. The 32MB Update...

Safe drives.(La Cie Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Lacie's Safe mobile hard drives (pictured) include fingerprint readers to prevent unauthorised access. The 40GB and 80GB models, available in August, cost [pounds sterling]89 and [pounds sterling]119 ex Vat respectively. www.lacie.com.

Firefox snub.(Scivisum)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... One in 10 UK websites is incompatible with Firefox, according to research from web testing firm Scivisum. Seven per cent use non-standard code recognised only by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Nearly 50 million people have downloaded...

Sun laptop.(Sun Microsystems Inc)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Sun Microsystems has launched its first laptop, a mobile workstation running Solaris 10. It will sell at $3,400 ([pounds sterling]1,890) and is equipped with Sun's Ultrasparc processor, 512MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive and Wifi connectivity.

Mobile Quake.(Pulse Interactive and id Software Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Pulse Interactive and ID Software will bring the PC classic Quake to mobile phones. Up to 16 people can play at any time, and it will refresh at an unprecedented 25 frames per second.

Columns - Inside information - Will chip move bite into Apple sales? While Intel CPUs will run fine in Macs, Gordon Laing has concerns about the timing of the announcement.(Column)
September 1, 2005... Byline: gordonl@pcw.co.uk. Forget the HP Compaq merger, Carly's resignation or 64bit processor roadmaps. The news that Apple really is switching to Intel processors for its Macs has generated more column inches of comment and speculation...

Columns - Kewney @ large - guyk@pcw.co.uk - Tablets could be the best medicine. Keyboard fans may protest, but others would welcome a device they can use standing up, says Guy Kewney.(Column)
September 1, 2005... On Toshiba's 130th anniversary, the company rolled out a tiny computer, literally half the size of the normal small notebook: the Libretto (see also news story on page 20). I hate it. It has been a successful form factor in Japan, and this...

Columns - Straight talking - Come back cables, all is forgiven ... Barry Fox discovers, to his frustration, that using Bluetooth with PCs is fraught with complications.(Column)
September 1, 2005... Byline: barryf@pcw.co.uk. A reader wondered how he could be sure, before buying, that a Bluetooth headset would work with his PC for use with IBM Viavoice. Manufacturers' websites ducked the issue. He saw an advert on Amazon for a...

IT matters - Columns - Good intentions, bad inventions. Rory Reid pleads for a sanity check so that pointless products don't get ideas above their station.(Column)
September 1, 2005... Byline: rory_reid@pcw.co.uk. The amount of rubbish that passes through PCW's offices is quite startling. Fortunately it's not the smelly kind that attracts foxes and other vermin, but the technological kind invented by companies desperate...

Reviews.(NVIDIA Corp)(Column)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Edited by Will Stapley. If there's one sector of the PC market that progresses faster than any other, it's graphics cards. Buy the latest model, and within six months (probably earlier) it will have been superseded. Just a few...

Reviews - Mesh Matrix Titan FX57 GTX. Find out whether the new Athlon CPU is a match for dual-core.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. In the August issue of PCW, Mesh gave us an insight into the future of desktop computing with the Titan Dual X2 Pro - one of the first PCs to use a dual-core CPU. While this delivered great performance in multitasking...

Reviews - Hardware - Evesham Quest Roma. AMD gives Intel a run for its money.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. It's generally accepted that, when it comes to processors, AMD's offerings present better value for money than their Intel rivals. The latest processor war between the two giants is centred on the notebook market,...

Reviews - Hardware - Dell Inspiron XPS. Good looks, but at what cost?(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. The Inspiron XPS Generation 2 is Dell's attempt to crack the burgeoning market for gaming notebooks. Dell has certainly pushed the boat out when it comes to design, with the XPS having distinctive looks. Under...

Reviews - Hardware - Motion LE1600. A neat product for a niche market.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Tablet PCs have had a rough time of late. Many people find them unwieldy to carry around, but that's because they're not really designed for the mainstream consumer market. Instead, they're far more suited to places...

Reviews - Hardware - Dialogue Flybook. Small and quiet with interesting features.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. If the Motion Computing LE1600 tablet (reviewed left) is too cumbersome, Dialogue has a smaller alternative. Instead of using Windows XP Tablet Edition, the Flybook runs standard Windows XP Home. Handwriting...

Reviews - Peripherals - D-Link DCS-2100G. Get surveillance with sound.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Webcams are great for videoconferencing and catching up with friends over the Internet, but if you want something a little more versatile, consider investing in an IP camera. Hooking up directly to a router, an IP...

Reviews - Peripherals - Panasonic BL-C30. Pan-and-tilt lens, but no microphone.(Matsushita Electric Corporation of America)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. Panasonic provides us with the second IP camera this month. Like the D-Link DCS-2100G (see review left), it can operate both wired and wirelessly. Physically, however, the BL-C30 looks very different as it is more...

Reviews - Peripherals - Mid-range digital camcorders. These digital delights are smaller and better value than ever before. We test out five.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. Digital cameras have plummeted in price over the past year or so, and now digital camcorders appear to be following suit. As more advanced features start to appear on the high-end models, such as hard-disk, DVD and...

Reviews - Peripherals - High-speed wireless routers.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Alan Stevens. For those unwilling to wait for the next generation of wireless networking devices that comply with the 802.11n standard, a number of vendors have come up with pre-standard implementations. Based on the same Mimo...

Reviews - Peripherals - Epson Stylus Photo R1800. A great way to output big, quality prints.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. One of the advantages of owning a high-megapixel digital camera is that you can print your photos at large sizes without a reduction in quality. The Epson Stylus Photo R1800 allows you to print onto paper sizes from 10...

Reviews - Peripherals - Dell 1600n. Print, copy, scan and fax at a good price.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. Brands such as Canon, Epson and HP instantly spring to mind when you're in the market for a new printer, but in recent months Dell has been building up a range of both inkjets and lasers. The 1600n, a multifunction...

Reviews - Peripherals - Canon Selphy CP600. Good value, great quality, miniature size.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Luke Peters. If you're in the market for a compact photo printer, there are plenty to choose from. All the major printing players offer their own spin on this gadget, including Canon, which has just updated its Selphy CP330 with...

Reviews - Peripherals - Mustek DVD R580. DVD player that can record video.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. Mustek made its name in the scanner industry during the 1980s, but is now known for a whole range of low-cost devices, especially digital cameras. But rather than capturing still images, the latest addition to its...

Reviews - Peripherals - Pinnacle Showcenter 200.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Will Stapley. The Showcenter 200 is Pinnacle's third release of its media streaming device. It's roughly half the size of the last two, but still houses a good selection of connection options such as Scart, composite and component...

Reviews - Peripherals - Podgear Shuffle Station.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Kathryn Twyford. With the popularity of Ipod add-ons increasing, Podgear has decided to give Ipod Shuffle owners a look-in with the release of the Shuffle Station. At just [pounds sterling]34.99, you get both a two-speaker system...

Reviews - Peripherals - NEC LCD2070NX.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. Whereas the NEC 1970NX fared quite poorly in our group test of 19in panels (see page 97), its bigger brother is far more impressive. The LCD2070NX is aimed at professionals who regularly perform digital image or video...

Reviews - Peripherals - XFX Geforce 6800 GT.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. If you can't afford the top-of-the-range Gigabyte Geforce 7800 GTX reviewed on page 73, you'd be wise to consider a card based on the 6800 GT chipset. This is a cut-down version of the previous king of the Nvidia hill,...

Reviews - Components - Gigabyte NX78X256V-B. Ultimate performance, but for how long?(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Rory Reid. This is one of the first graphics cards to use the Geforce 7800 GTX architecture, Nvidia's latest salvo in its battle against ATI. The NX78X256V-B doesn't look very different to its 6800-series predecessor, however,...

Reviews - Components - Aopen MZ855-II. A good basis for a diminutive quiet PC.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Simon Crisp. Aopen has stuck by the SFF (small form factor) PC and pioneered the use of Pentium M processors in desktop motherboards. It therefore comes as no surprise that the latest member of its XC Cube clan, the MZ855-II,...

Reviews - Overclocking - Sapphire Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition 256MB (AGP).(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... You'd think from all the hullabaloo about PCI Express that AGP is dead - far from it. There is a huge number of people who are unwilling to ditch their old motherboard for a new PCI Express version. If you are one of these and long for a...

Reviews - Overclocking - Aopen Aeolus PCX6800 DVD256.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Aopen's latest Nvidia Nforce 6800-based graphics card is the PCX6800 DVD256. Although the card uses the Nvidia reference specs (325MHz core and 350MHz DDR - effective 700MHz), Aopen has added its own cooling solution which allows the card to be...

Reviews - Overclocking - FSP Green Power 400W Power Supply.(Green Power PSU)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... When you first open the box to take a look at the Green Power PSU from FSP, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a bog-standard power supply. The standard grey box doesn't feature any of the nylon or plastic sleeving found on other supplies to...

Reviews - Overclocking - Gigabyte G-Power Pro.(products)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Gigabyte's previous cooler, the 3D Rocket, was reasonably quiet and well received. The latest edition is the G-Power Pro. It's an unusual design with the aluminium heatsink sitting off the nickel-coated copper base by means of four heatpipes....

Reviews - Overclocking - Toshiba SD-R6472 Dual Layer DVD Writer.(Products)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... If you fancy building a system around Aopen's latest XC Cube case, the MZ855-II (see this issue page 73), you'll be after a slimline optical drive. Toshiba's SD-R6472 should fit the bill perfectly. This is Toshiba's first slim dual-layer...

Reviews - Overclocking - Acoustifan Dustproof AFDP-8025B.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... One of the major enemies of any fan in a PC is dust. Nine times out of 10, dust is the cause of an increase in fan noise. If the situation gets out of control, a large build-up of dust can result in total fan failure. Acoustifan's Dustproof...

Reviews - Overclocking - Acoustifeet 3007 Case Feet.(computer cases)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... There's nothing more annoying than building a quiet PC but still getting a vibration noise. One cause you might not have considered is the feet on your case. It may seem trivial, but most case feet are either made of solid plastic or rubber, so...

Reviews - Software - Ulead Videostudio 9. This simple yet effective package has something for every level of movie maker.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. When we last saw Ulead Videostudio (version 8 was reviewed in PCW August 2004) it was doing very well for itself. Not as complex and unwieldy as high-end video-editing programs, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or...

Reviews - Software - Iris Readiris Pro 10. Accurate and quick OCR, plus a host of new features, make this hard to beat.(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 1, 2005... Byline: Alistair Dabbs. Anyone who bought an HP scanner or multifunction device recently already owns optical character recognition (OCR) software from Iris. If you want to step up from the standard package supplied by HP or any other OCR...