MAKE YOUR PC A HOME THEATER
T H E I N D E P E N D E N T G U I D E TO T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
www.pcmag.com
Host a Great LAN Party
THE NEW MONEY MANAGERS:
MONEY vs. QUICKEN
BETTER DIGITAL MUSIC:
Next-Gen iPod & Musicmatch
MUSIC•
MOVIES
SPORTS
•
PHONE SERVICE
ONLINE GAMING AND MORE...
>>YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO
Satellite
®A60-S1662
Advanced engineering you can afford.
$
799
$
999
Intel Celeron D Processor2325
(2.53GHz processor,2256KB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB)
Microsoft Windows XP Home 256MB DDR SDRAM 30GB3hard drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive
15" diagonal XGA active-matrix TFT display4
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 7000 IGP with 64MB shared video memory
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g),5
10/100 Ethernet and V.92/56K modem6
Limited warranty:71-year parts and labor, 1-year battery
Three months AOL membership8
Part #: PSA60U-01V01E
Jump Code: JADK-A60S1662
Toshiba recommends
Microsoft
®Windows
®XP.
Special Accessory Offers:
(valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshiba)
Toshiba 12-Cell High-Capacity Li-Ion Battery Pack $169, plus 20% off
$20 off Toshiba Nylon Carrying Case with notebook $29 (regularly $49)
Buy direct from Toshiba and take advantage of these limited-time offers thru 9/30/04. For complete offer details visit toshibadirect.com/pcmag921.
$100 off MicrosoftOffice 2003 Small Business Edition
Receive Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition for only $150 (a savings of $100) when pre-loaded on one of these customizable Toshiba notebooks:
• Satellite A70 or P20 • Tecra A2, M2 or M2V • Portégé M200 Tablet PC
Free ground shipping9
Receive free ground shipping on all notebooks $999 or more when you order by phone or online using offer code MADK.
0% financing10
0% lease with 0% down and no payments for 30 days.
Special pricing on select notebook accessories.
FREE 30-day trial11of MyConnectTM
MyConnect™enables mobile notebook users with remote Internet access through Wi-Fi®, wired Ethernet and dial-up networks at over 20,000 access points in the U.S., with just one service.
Go to toshibamyconnect.com/signup and enter offer code 3PCM2 to join today.
Offer valid thru 10/31/04.
Order direct today!
Call 877-266-7274
or shop online at
toshibadirect.com/pcmag921
1. Mail-in rebate offer is valid only with new purchases between August 1, 2004 and September 30, 2004 of the Satellite A60-S1662 (Part # PSA60U-01V01E) by an end user customer (“End User”). Visit www.toshibadirect.com/pcmag921 for complete rebate detail terms and conditions. 2. Central Processing Unit (“CPU lines or low-speed network connections; e. use of complex modeling software, such as high-end computer-aided design applications; f. use of several applications or functionalities simultaneously; g. use of computer in areas with low air pressure (high altitude >1,000 meters or >3,280 feet above sea level); h. use of co due to design configurations. Under some conditions, your computer product may automatically shut down. This is a normal protective feature designed to reduce the risk of lost data or damage to the product when used outside recommended conditions. To avoid risk of lost data, always make back-up copies of dat system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1 GB = 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bytes, and therefore may show less storage capacity. Available storage capacity will also be less if the product includes one or more pre-installed operating systems, such as Microsoft Opera bright dots that may appear on your display are an intrinsic characteristic of the TFT manufacturing technology. Over a period of time, and depending on the usage of the computer, the brightness of the LCD Screen will deteriorate. This is an intrinsic characteristic of LCD technology. 5. Wireless connectivity and some point design and configuration, and client design and software/hardware configurations. The actual transmission speed will be lower than the theoretical maximum speed. 6. Due to FCC limitations, speeds of 53Kbps are the maximum permissible transmission rates during download. Actual data transmission speeds w BEFORE THREE MONTH PROMOTIONAL PERIOD ENDS. Premium services carry surcharges, and communication surcharges may apply, including in Alaska, even during promotional period. Members may incur telephone charges on their phone bill, depending on their location and calling plan, even during promotio orders via phone. Taxes still apply. Offer valid from August 3, 2004 through September 30, 2004. 10. 30-month lease offer with fair market value end-of-term purchase option available through Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. to qualified commercial business customers only. Each lease subject to credit appro notice or obligation. Other terms and conditions apply. For full description of terms and conditions call 1-800-207-8362 or go to www.septemberzerolease.toshiba.com. 11. Valid in the U.S. only! You must cancel your Access Plan before the end of the trial period to avoid being charged the $39.95 monthly Access Service of Columbia within the MyConnect service area for 30 day continuous service periods. Use of optional 800 telephone number dial-up usage will incur additional fees even during the trial period. Other terms and conditions apply. Offer expires October 31, 2004. Information, prices and availability subject to change without Portégé, Satellite, Tecra and SystemGuard are registered trademarks and ConfigFree and MyConnect are trademarks of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. and/or Toshiba Corporation. Intel, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Centrino, Intel Celeron logo, Celeron and Pentium are trademarks or registered tradema owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Toshiba is under license. NVIDIA and GeForce are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product specifications, configura Reseller/Retailer pricing may vary. © 2004 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Special Accessory Offer: (valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshi
$50 off Advanced Port Replicator III $149 (regularly $199)
Included with every Toshiba PortégéM200 Tablet The fusion of form and function.
Intel Centrino™ Mobile Technology Microsoft Windows XP Professional 256MB, 512MB, 768MB, 1,024MB or 1,536M
DDR SDRAM
40GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive3 Optional USB DVD/CD-RW optical drive, only 12" diagonal polysilicon SXGA+ TFT display4 NVIDIA GeForce™ FX Go 5200 with up to
32MB dedicated video memory Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g),510/100 Ether
and V.92/56K modem6
Additional communication options including Bluetooth wireless technology Limited warranty:73-year parts and labor,
1-year battery Portégé M200 Tablet PC
Innovation Inspired hinge design allows the convertible display to quickly transform from notebook to tablet PC
Brilliance High-resolution 1400x1050 display and high-density digitizer produce crisp, vivid images
Agility M200 senses the tablet’s orientation and adjusts the screen to landscape or portrait for optimum viewing
Productivity Digital ink allows handwritten edits on shared documents, stimulating enhanced collaboration in the workplace
Toshiba recommends
Microsoft
®Windows
®XP.
Order direct today!
Call 877-266-7274
or shop online at
toshibadirect.com/pcmag921
Jump Code: JADK-M200 Starting at $1,999
$
1,799.10
U”) Performance Disclaimer: CPU performance in your computer product may vary from specifications under the following conditions: a. use of certain external peripheral products; b. use of battery power instead of AC power; c. use of certain multimedia, computer generated graphics or video applications; d. use of standard telephone omputer at temperatures outside the range of 5°C to 30°C (41°F to 86°F) or >25°C (77°F) at high altitude (all temperature references are approximate and may vary depending on the specific computer model - please visit the Toshiba website at www.pcsupport.toshiba.com for details). CPU performance may also vary from specifications a by periodically storing it on an external storage medium. For optimum performance, use your computer product only under recommended conditions. Contact Toshiba Technical Service and Support for more information. 3. 1 Gigabyte (GB) means 1000 x 1000 x 1000 = 1,000,000,000 bytes using powers of 10. The computer operating ting System and/or pre-installed software applications, or media content. Actual formatted capacity may vary. 4. Small bright dots may appear on your TFT display when you turn on your PC. Your display contains an extremely large number of thin-film transistors (TFT) and is manufactured using high-precision technology. Any small e features may require you to purchase additional software, services or external hardware. Availability of public wireless LAN access points is limited. The transmission speed over the wireless LAN and the distance over which wireless LAN can reach may vary depending on surrounding electromagnetic environment, obstacles, access will vary depending on line conditions. 7. Limited warranty terms are available at www.warranty.toshiba.com. 8. Three months of AOL membership included with the purchase of a Toshiba Satellite PC. Availability may be limited, especially during peak times. TO AVOID BEING CHARGED A MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP FEE, SIMPLY CANCEL
onal period. Available to new AOL members in the United States, age 18 or older; a major credit card or checking account is required. 9. Free ground shipping on new notebook orders of $999 or more via toshibadirect.com or by calling 877-266-7274. Enter code MADK during online checkout or mention code MADK when placing oval, acceptable documentation, 10% soft cost limit and order of Toshiba computer products of $1,500 up to $100,000 (exclusive of taxes, fees and shipping). Rates quoted do not include taxes or shipping. Offer available in the United States only, valid only until September 30, 2004 and may be withdrawn or changed at any time without fee for the initial 30 day commitment period. Monthly automatic renewal feature after end of commitment period. Available to new members in the U.S., age 18 or older, and a major credit card for billing is required. Offer is for unlimited dial-up, wired broadband, or Wi-Fi remote access connection time in the 50 United States and the District notice. 12. 10% instant rebate on Customized Systems is only available direct from Toshiba on Toshiba notebooks that offer customization (build-to-order) options. Visit www.toshibadirect.com/pcmag921 or call 877-266-7274 for eligible products. Configuring (customization) of your system takes an additional 5 to 10 workings days. arks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks and OneNote is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered certification mark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. The Bluetoothword mark and logos are ations, prices, system/component/options availability are all subject to change without notice. Rebates may not be combined, and are not valid in conjunction with other Toshiba offers or rebates for the same products, unless specified otherwise by Toshiba. Toshiba reserves the right to modify or withdraw these promotions at any time.
10% off all customized notebooks.
Order direct from Toshiba and get a 10% instant rebate when you order
a customized notebook thru 9/30/04.
12Tecra M2 The business workhorse engineered for longevity.
Intel Centrino™ Mobile Technology Microsoft Windows XP Professional 256MB, 512MB, 1,024MB or 2,048MB
DDR SDRAM
40GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive3 DVD-ROM, DVD-ROM/CD-RW or
SuperMulti optical drive
14.1" diagonal XGA or SXGA+ TFT display4 NVIDIA GeForce™ FX Go 5200 with up to
64MB dedicated video memory Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g),5
10/100 Ethernet and V.92/56K modem6 Special bundled performance package
options with 64MB video memory. Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire port and Bluetooth wireless technology Limited warranty:73-year parts and labor,
1-year battery TecraA2
Performance and adaptability for business.
Intel Centrino™ Mobile Technology or Intel Celeron M Processor2 Microsoft Windows XP Professional 256MB, 512MB or 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 30GB, 40GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive3 DVD-ROM, DVD-ROM/CD-RW or
SuperMulti optical drive
15" diagonal XGA or SXGA+ TFT display4 Intel Extreme Graphics 2 with 64MB
shared dynamic video memory Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g),5
10/100 Ethernet and V.92/56K modem6 Limited warranty:73-year parts and labor,
1-year battery
Special Accessory Offers: (valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshiba)
Toshiba 12-Cell High-Capacity Li-lon Battery Pack $169, plus 20% off
$50 off Advanced Port Replicator III $149 (regularly $199)
$60 off 3-Year SystemGuard Protection $99 (regularly $159)
Satellite A70 See more, do more with a wide screen.
Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor2 supporting Hyper-Threading Technology or Intel Celeron D Processor2
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 512MB, 768MB, 1,024MB or 1,536MB
DDR SDRAM
40GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive3 DVD-ROM/CD-RW or SuperMulti optical drive 15.4" diagonal WXGA TFT display4 ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9000 IGP
integrated graphics chipset with 64MB shared video memory
Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g),5 10/100 Ethernet and V.92/56K modem6 Limited warranty:71-year parts and labor,
1-year battery
Three months AOL membership8
Special Accessory Offers: (valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshiba)
Toshiba 12-Cell High-Capacity Li-lon Battery Pack $169, plus 20% off
$50 off Advanced Port Replicator III $149 (regularly $199)
$60 off 3-Year SystemGuard Protection $99 (regularly $159)
Special Accessory Offers: (valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshiba)
Toshiba 12-Cell High-Capacity Li-lon Battery Pack $169, plus 20% off
Toshiba Leather Carrying Case $99
Jump Code: JADK-A70S256
ba)
Tecra M2V Long-lasting performance for road warriors.
Intel Centrino™ Mobile Technology Microsoft Windows XP Professional 256MB, 512MB, 1,024MB or 2,048MB
DDR SDRAM
30GB, 40GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive3 DVD-ROM, DVD-ROM/CD-RW or
SuperMulti optical drive 14.1" diagonal TFT display4 Intel Extreme Graphics 2 with 64MB
shared dynamic video memory Integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g),5
10/100 Ethernet and V.92/56K modem6 Limited warranty:73-year parts and labor,
1-year battery
notebook: Integrated wireless • Proprietary ConfigFree™ networking software • FREE MicrosoftOffice OneNoteTM2003 (a $99 value) • Quick-return UPS repair service
Special Accessory Offers: (valid thru 9/30/04 when you order direct from Toshiba)
Toshiba 12-Cell High-Capacity Li-lon Battery Pack $169, plus 20% off
$50 off Advanced Port Replicator III $149 (regularly $199)
$60 off 3-Year SystemGuard Protection $99 (regularly $159)
after 10% instant rebate.12
Jump Code: JADK-A2S336 Starting at $1,299
$
1,169.10
after 10% instant rebate.12
Jump Code: JADK-M2VS330 Starting at $1,399
$
1,259.10
after 10% instant rebate.12
Jump Code: JADK-M2S630 Starting at $1,499
$
1,349.10
I save so much on eBay, I recommend it to my clients.
As an accountant, it’s my job to help clients make sound business decisions.
I know eBay helps save money because I’ve used it myself. In fact, I’ve purchased
more than $40,000 worth of new and used equipment on eBay—name-brand
printers, laptops and ten identical desktops—for less than $19,000. Now I send
all my clients to eBay, and they can’t stop thanking me.”
“
Bill Golden, CPA—eBay user ID: bluskybill (81) Chief Manager, Wm. R. Golden & Co., LLC
(www.wrgandco.com), an accounting firm located in Roswell, New Mexico.
www.ebaybusiness.com
© 2004 eBay Inc. All rights reserved. eBay and the eBay logo are registered trademarks of eBay Inc. Designated trademarks and b
rands are the property of their respective owners. All items subject to availability
.
© 2004 eBay Inc. All rights reserved. eBay and the eBay logo are registered trademarks of eBay Inc. Designated trademarks and b
rands are the property of their respective owners. All items subject to availability
This is an excellent time to have broadband. As we report in our cover story, starting on page 104, the amount of content designed specifically for broad-band has never been greater. Your choices now in-clude just about everything—video highlights of news and sports, quick downloads of software appli-cations, legal downloads of music and movies, Inter-net phone call services, and games you can play against friends across the street or around the world. Our surveys indicate that most of our readers have had broadband for some time now, and it’s quickly becoming the mainstream method of connecting to the Internet for large numbers of Americans.
All is not wonderful, though. Readers continue to complain that the cost of broadband is going up, even though service is not getting any faster. I find that surprising, especially given improvements in the
technology. This is proof that the phone company/cable company duopoly isn’t working, and explains the interest in solutions like broadband over power lines (BPL) and WiMAX.
Many phone companies have started offering DSL for less than the cost of cable modems. And some of the cable companies are beginning to roll out some-what faster services at 4 or 6 Mbps. Still, compared with speeds of 20 Mbps available in some countries, U.S. systems are downright poky.
I love having an always-on connection on all my ma-chines, so I can instantly access information wherever I am. But such access does have its downsides: Inter-net worms, tracking software, and zombie machines all take advantage of always-on connections.
Nevertheless, broadband’s pros greatly outweigh its cons. Now if only we could get it faster and cheaper.
Forward Thinking
M I C H A E L J . M I L L E R
Apple is not amused,
and has accused
Real of employing
hacker tactics—
reverse engineering
the way Apple
stores files on
the iPod.
Welcome to the Broadband World
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 P C M A G A Z I N E 5 K
More Choices in Music Players...
It’s always great to see more choices in legal digital music. I recently had the chance to play with the lat-est Apple iPod (see First Looks, page 36) and am very impressed. It’s a little smaller, with better battery life, lower pricing, a slightly improved user interface, and the wonderful new dial from the iPod Mini. Each of these may be a relatively minor improvement, but the combination makes the new iPod very cool. Once
Wi-Fi Phones: A Natural Duo
again, Apple has set a standard that others will try to match.
But Apple is no longer the only game in town. In our August 17 issue, we reviewed a number of new hard drive players (First Looks, page 34). Per-sonally, I’m also impressed by the Samsung Yepp YP-T5flash player. Slightly larger than a double-A battery, it’s one of the smallest players I’ve seen. While VoIP, so voice calls must be placed over the T-Mobile network. It’s not quite as elegant as the palmOne Treo 600, but then the Treo doesn’t use Wi-Fi. HPand T-Mobile are the first to enter the converged market, but others are following suit. Motorola has announced a new line of phones that adds a Wi-Fi feature, and Nokia is moving in that direction as well.
Getting your data on the fastest, least expensive network makes a lot of sense, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Transfer between networks needs to be more seamless, roaming agreements need to get better, and the devices may need to act differently on different networks. But the iPAQh6315 is a step in the right direction.
Many of us use Wi-Fi networks for our portable com-puters, but Wi-Fi coverage isn’t ubiqui-tous. That’s where wide-area services (data over phone networks) come into play. These services are significantly slower than Wi-Fi, so I’m glad to see a couple of devices that combine
its interface isn’t quite as intuitive as the iPod’s and the screen is small, the sound quality is amazing.
I haven’t had a chance to see the Sony Network Walkman yet, but it looks smaller, lighter—and maybe cooler—than the iPod. The big drawback,
though, is that it requires all music to be converted to Sony’s proprietary ATRACformat. Even the Apple player works with unprotected MP3 files—presum-ably those you have converted from CDs you’ve bought.
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com
6
MORE ON THE WEB:Join us online and make your voice heard. Talk back to Michael J. Miller in our opinions
section, www.pcmag.com/miller.
What’s the most expensive part of your computer setup? If you said the processor, the flat-screen mon-itor, or even the system itself, think again.
For most of us, it’s all the data that resides on our hard disks. If you’re in business, it’s the contact records, messages, and documents you’ve created. If you’re at home, you probably have an address book that would take a long time to replace, not to mention digital photos that simply can’t be replaced. If you’re in a big business, odds are great that your most im-portant corporate data—account and financial infor-mation—resides in an SQLdatabase that is backed up appropriately. But you also likely have all the little things—documents, contacts, etc.—that may not be backed up so well.
That’s why a regular backup plan is essential for every computer user. But I’m continually amazed by the number of people I meet who don’t back up. I get all sorts of letters from people who lost their files to a hardware failure or just to the latest Internet worm or spyware.
A basic backup is very easy, and it’s getting easier. Personally, I don’t worry about backing up my whole machine very often. I have an emergency recovery Music formats have become a com-plex case study. Other than Sony’s, just about every music player sup-ports MP3format. That’s a major ad-vantage for MP3, and it’s why I still use MP3for most of my music, even though the sound quality is probably not the best available for the space these days.
I know I could get more capacity and better quality with ATRAC, with the AACformat that Apple uses for iPods and iTunes, or with Mi-crosoft’s WMA. But when I want to buy music online, I have to pick one of the protected formats. The iPod and iTunes use AACencoding and Apple’s propri-etary FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) wrapper; most of the other services use WMA. All of these are smaller, but have DRMfunctions.
Lately, I’ve been quite impressed by the match online service. Like Napster and Real, Music-match offers an on-demand subscription service that
lets you listen to whatever music you like on your connected machine. And it has a few neat additions, like the ability to mail a playlist to a friend, who can then play the music a few times. I still think all the services have a ways to go in providing all the con-tent I want and better support for multiple devices.
One big issue is that some of the more popular de-vices, like the iPod, work only with their proprietary services. It’s hard to mix and match content from multiple online shopping sites. In many ways, I like what Real has done with the Harmony version of its music service. When you buy a song, you can put it on up to five portable devices, players that support (as of this writing) either WMAor AACformats.
Apple is not amused, and has accused Real of using hacker tactics—reverse engineering the way Apple stores protected files on the iPod. Real insists it is just providing another source of legal, protected music. I’m no lawyer, but this will be interesting to watch.
Being able to buy music from multiple sources and play it on multiple devices sounds like the future to me.
Time to Back Up
...And in Music Services
Forward Thinking
M I C H A E L J . M I L L E Rdisk for each of my main systems, but in general I fig-ure I can always reinstall the OSand my applica-tions. It’s the data I worry about. For a long time now, I’ve been backing up to op-tical disks monthly, using CDs for my laptop documents and writable DVDs for my home data (which has a lot of digital images and a large database). But in between, I use an external hard disk, like the ones reviewed in our story on page 131. I went with an optical drive because I can move it from one machine to another easily— and that also makes it easy to move data among machines.
*XBOUUPCF
QBJEBTGBTUBTNZCVTJOFTTNPWFT
Ï7JTB64"
*OD
*UTFWFSZXIFSFZPVXBOUZPVSDPNQBOZUPCF
5IFSFTOPUIJOHNPSFGSVTUSBUJOHUIBOUSZJOHUPHFUZPVSDPNQBOZTDBTInPXUPDBUDIVQXJUIEBZUPEBZ
PQFSBUJOHFYQFOTFT'PSUVOBUFMZXIFOZPVBDDFQU7JTBÑZPVSEBZTPGXBJUJOHGPSQBZNFOUTUPBSSJWFXJMM
CFDPNFBUIJOHPGUIFQBTU:PVMMSFDFJWFQBZNFOUTRVJDLMZBOETFDVSFMZ4PZPVDBOTQFOEMFTTUJNF BOENPOFZIBOEMJOHQBQFSXPSLBOEUSBDLJOHEPXOQBZNFOUT"OECFTUPGBMMBTNPSFBOENPSF DVTUPNFSTDIPPTFCVTJOFTTFTUIBUBDDFQU7JTBQBZNFOUDBSETJOMJFVPGDBTIPSDIFDLTJUMMIFMQZPV NFFUJODSFBTJOHDVTUPNFSEFNBOETPNFUIJOHFWFSZDPNQBOZDBOBQQSFDJBUF'PSNPSFJOGPSNBUJPO
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 P C M A G A Z I N E 11
www.pcmag.com
O N T H E C O V E R Make Your PC a Home
Theater page 38
The New Money Managers
page 32
Host a Great LAN Party
page 178
Better Digital Music
pages 34, 36
Get More from Broadband
page 104
CONTENTS
䊛
S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 20 0 4 • VO L . 2 3 N O. 16
29
Editors’ Choices
A comprehensive list of our current picks in nearly 100 categories.
32
First Looks
104
C O V E R S T O R YTH E
Broadband
Lifestyle
Don’t waste your broadband
connection by just browsing
the Web and checking
e-mail. You can use it to
download Hollywood
blockbusters and hit games,
or even to make phone calls
(read: no more
long-distance bills). We look at all
the cool ways you can make
use of broadband.
106Streaming Audio
107Music Downloads
108Movies on Demand
110Video Streaming
112Media Server
112File Sharing
113Photo and Video Sharing
116Gaming on Demand
117Multiplayer Gaming
118VoIP Phones
118Videoconferencing
122Remote Control
122Home Security
124Shopping
124Online Learning
126Premium Content
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JEAN-FRANCOIS PODEVIN
32 Microsoft Money 2005
33 Intuit Quicken 2005
34 Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0
34 Doom 3
36 Apple iPod K
36 Apple AirPort Express
38 eVGA nVidia Personal Cinema FX5700 (128MB)
38 ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 XT
40 Motorola A630
40 Nokia 6620 K
45 Canon PowerShot S60 M
45 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5
46 Dell Inspiron XPS
46 Velocity Micro Gamer’s Edge FX M
48 Apple DVD Studio Pro 3
48 WinDVD 6 Platinum
50 Agilix GoBinder 2005
50 Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 SP1
52 Apple Xserve G5
52 Apple Xserve RAID
54 Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration
Server 2004 Standard Edition
54 Sun Java Studio Creator 2004Q2
54 WebTrends 7 Enterprise
A L S O I N T H I S I S S U E
73 Feedback
N E T W O R K I N G
145
The Wireless
Office: Getting It Right
Home wireless networks have become a breeze to set up. But business wireless networks? Not so much. With a solid plan in place, though, you can design just the right network for your office. Here’s how. E X T E R N A L S T O R A G E131
Little Big
Drives
Storage and backup are no longer the realm of the IT
administrator alone; with drive prices falling
and capacities rising, the personal storage space is exploding. We take a look at 15 new drives terrific for storing your photos, music, video, data, and more.
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 12
88
Solutions
88 Two Connections Are Better than One: If your small or home office needs Internet access all the time, you probably need a backup connection. A second connection prevents down-time and helps you manage online traffic more efficiently.
90 Office: Share tasks, a calendar, and more with your family in Microsoft Outlook, while maintaining separate e-mail accounts. We show you how. 92 Security Watch: Think your home
router can take the place of a real firewall? Think again—it can’t. 94 Enterprise: A mesh network keeps the
bus system in Portsmouth, England, ahead of the technology curve. 99 User to User: How to sort nouns (and
not articles) in Word, generate a list of randomly shuffled numbers in Excel, and more.
Online
www.pcmag.com
DVORAK ONLINE K Each Monday, John C. Dvorak gives you his take on what’s happening in high tech today. Visit
www.pcmag.com/dvorak.
Coming up:
• Your PC’s RAM: Helping or hurting? • Small-form-factor PC roundup • Best bang for your DIY buck (www.extremetech.com)
B U Y I N G G U I D E
O N L I N E E X T R A S
E X C L U S I V E C O L U M N S
ULANOFF ONLINE K And each Wednesday,
Lance Ulanoff puts his own unique spin on technology. Visit www.pcmag.com/ulanoff.
WLAN solutions:Want to extend the
enterprise with switch-based technology? Read our reviews of two leading products.
(www.pcmag.com/onlineextras)
Product photo parade: Every day, PCMag.com adds dozens of product photos to the newest product reviews so that you get the full story.
(www.pcmag.com/reviews)
F I R S T L O O K S
T O O L S Y O U C A N U S E
Discussions: Log on and participate!
(http://discuss.pcmag.com/pcmag)
Downloads:Check out our indexed list of utilities from A to Z.
(www.pcmag.com/utilities)
Opinions
5 Michael J. Miller: Forward
Thinking
75 Bill Machrone
77 John C. Dvorak
79 John C. Dvorak’s Inside Track
81 Bill Howard
176
After Hours
176 Collectors’ Items: Maintaining a large collection of coins, comic books—and everything in between—can be tedious business. Here are five of our favorite programs for organizing your precious treasures. 178 Gear & Games: Host your own
LAN party; Doom 3 and other LAN games; Terk HDTVi indoor antenna, BMW iPod Adapter, SCOTTeVEST Gadget Tie.
High-definition televisions are here, and you’ll need our primer to get a leg up on the overeager salespeople.
(http://www.pcmag.com/hdtv)
23
Pipeline
23 The digital music debate—open or proprietary?
23 Health care to get a tech makeover.
23 New copyright protection bill gets a rewrite.
23 Online gaming: going strong.
24 Dual core chips: the future for AMD and Intel.
24 LCDs spread out at retail.
26 COMING ATTRACTIONS:Disney Dream Desk PC, Alienware DHD Media Center PC, Sharp LL-151-3D display, ADS Dual Link Drive Kit, Norton Ghost 9.0, and more.
New reviews every week! Coming soon:
•Dell OptiPlex SX280 K
•Musicmatch 9.0 •Doom 3
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMichael J. Miller
EXECUTIVE EDITORS Stephanie Chang, Ben Z. Gottesman, Carol Levin, Lance Ulanoff (Online)
ART DIRECTOR Richard J. Demler
DIRECTOR, PC MAGAZINE LABS Nick Stam
SENIOR EDITORS Jamie M. Bsales (First Looks), Vicki B. Jacobson (Online), Konstantinos Karagiannis (First Looks), Carol A. Mangis (After Hours, Special Projects), Sebastian Rupley (West Coast, Pipeline), Sharon Terdeman (Solutions)
MANAGING EDITOR Paul B. Ross
ASSOCIATE EDITORSSarah E. Anderson, Sean Carroll, Jenn DeFeo, Matthew P. Graven, Davis D. Janowski, Jeremy A. Kaplan, Michael W. Muchmore, Sarah Pike, Laarni Almendrala Ragaza, Michael J. Steinhart
ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR Michal Dluginski COPY CHIEF Elizabeth A. Parry
STAFF EDITORS Gary Berline (Online), Daniel S. Evans, Tony Hoffman, Michael Kobrin, Erik Rhey
ASSISTANT EDITOR Kyle Monson
SENIOR WRITER Cade Metz COPY EDITORS Erin Hollaway, Jessica Levine, Ann Ovodow, Steven Wishnia
PRODUCTION MANAGER Nicholas Cosmo PRODUCTION EDITOR Walter J. Konefal
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Rita Aprahamian COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Anita Anthony
INTERNS Shasta Jean-Mary, Lawrence Judd, Rahul Kadam, Molly K. McLaughlin, Radmila Nizberg
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Greg Alwang, Helen Bradley, Bruce Brown, Marge Brown, Sheryl Canter,
John Clyman, Richard V. Dragan, John C. Dvorak, Les Freed, Sally Wiener Grotta, Bill Howard, Don Labriola, David Linthicum, Bill Machrone, Edward Mendelson, Jan Ozer, Charles Petzold, Alfred Poor, Neil Randall, Sarah L. Roberts-Witt, Winn L. Rosch, Barry Simon, Craig Stinson, M. David Stone, Don Willmott
SENIOR ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Cynthia Rhett ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORS Sarah Crumb, Liana Zamora
GRAPHICS DIRECTOR David Foster GRAPHIC ARTIST Aaron Able CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Thom O’Connor
PC MAGAZINE LABS
DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Craig Ellison TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Richard Fisco
LEAD ANALYSTS Cisco Cheng, Laura Delaney, Sahil Gambhir, Oliver Kaven, Glenn Menin, Neil J. Rubenking, Joel Santo Domingo, Sascha Segan
PRODUCT TESTING MANAGER Charles Rodriguez TECHNICAL ANALYSTS Omar Cintron, Roy Goodwin, Joseph A. Guilbeau IV, William Pagan
INVENTORY CONTROL COORDINATOR Nicole Graham INVENTORY CLERK Alphonse Ragusa
PC MAGAZINE ONLINE
SENIOR PRODUCERYun-San Tsai PRODUCERMark Lamorgese ASSISTANT PRODUCERWhitney A. Reynolds
SENIOR DESIGNERDonatella Pereira COMMUNITY MANAGERJim Lynch PRODUCT DATABASE MANAGERGina Suk
EXTREMETECH
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, INTERNETJim Louderback TECHNICAL DIRECTORLoyd Case
SENIOR TECHNOLOGY ANALYSTDave Salvator TECHNOLOGY ANALYSTJason Cross SENIOR NEWS EDITORMark Hachman
SENIOR WEB PRODUCERRobyn Peterson ASSISTANT WEB PRODUCERDan Avery
COMMUNITY MANAGERJim Lynch TECHNICAL ADVISORNick Stam
CORPORATE PRODUCTION
SENIOR ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGERS Milena Emery, Ivis Fundichely
www.pcmag.com
THE INDEPENDENT GUIDE
PC Magazineis the Independent Guide to Technology. Our mission is to test and review computer- and Internet-related products and services and report fairly and objec-tively on the results. Our editors do not invest in firms whose products or services we review, nor do we accept travel tickets or other gifts of value from such firms. Except where noted, PC Magazinereviews are of products and services that are currently available. Our reviews are written without regard to advertising or business relation-ships with any vendor.
HOW TO CONTACT THE EDITORS
We welcome comments from readers. Send your comments to Internet address [email protected]or to PC Magazine,
28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940. Please include a daytime telephone number. PC Magazine’s general number is 212-503-5100. The West Coast Operations number is 415-547-8000. We cannot look up stories from past issues, recommend products, or diagnose problems with your PC by phone. An index of past issues is at www.pcmag.com/ previous_issues.For a list of upcoming stories, browse
www.pcmag.com. For a full description of who on staff cov-ers what, go to www.pcmag.com/whocoverswhat. If you are dissatisfied with a product advertised in PC Magazine
and cannot resolve the problem with the vendor, write (do not call) Anne King, Advertising Department, at the above address. Please include copies of your correspondence with the vendor.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
For subscription service questions, for address changes, or to order, please contact us: Internet,http://service.pcmag .com(for customer service) or http://subscribe.pcmag.com
(to order); telephone,800-289-0429 or 850-682-7624 in the U.S. and Canada, 303-604-7445 elsewhere; mail, PC Magazine,P.O. Box 54070, Boulder, CO 80322-4070 (please include your mailing label with any correspondence, as it contains information that will expedite processing);
fax,850-683-4094 in the U.S. and Canada, 303-604-0518 elsewhere; e-mail, [email protected](please type your full name and the address at which you subscribe.
Subscriptions: The one-year subscription rate is $39.97.
PC Magazineis published semimonthly, with occasional exceptions: A special issue may count as a subscription issue, a combined or expanded issue may count as two subscription issues, and there may sometimes be an extra issue. Outside the U.S., add $36 per year for surface mail; U.S. funds only. Please allow four to six weeks for your first issue to arrive or for any changes in your subscription to take place.
Back issues:Back issues are $8 each in the U.S., $10 each elsewhere. Prepayment is required. Contact customer ser-vice (above) for availability. Mailing lists:We sometimes make lists of our customers available to mailers of goods and services that may interest you. If you do not wish to receive their mailings, please write to us at PC Magazine,
P.O. Box 54070, Boulder, CO 80322-4070.
䊛
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 16
Upgrade to PC Magazine’s NEW Digital versionand enjoy premium services including:
Advance issue delivery via the Internet
Live hyperlinks to websites and other content
Keyword search and zoom in features
Timesaving tools to enhance usability Paperless share, efficient archiving and more!
There’s no risk! In the unlikely event that you’re not satisfied with the Digital version, you may switch back to the print version anytime — at no extra cost, no questions asked.
http://
format.pcmag
.com
PERMISSIONS, REPRINTS
For permission to reuse material in this publication or to use our logo, contact Ziff Davis Media’s rights and permissions manager, Olga Gonopolsky, at [email protected], or by phone at 212-503-5438 or by fax at 212-503-5420. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission. For reprints, please contact Stella Valdez at FosterReprints: telephone, 866-879-9144; fax, 916-983-6762; e-mail, [email protected].
The following are registered trademarks of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.: i-Bench, NetBench, PC DIRECT, PC Labs, PC MAGAZINE, PC MAGAZINE AWARD FOR TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE, PC MAGAZINE EDITORS’ CHOICE, PC MagNet, ServerBench, WinBench, Winstone, and Ziff Davis Media’s corporate logo. The following are trademarks of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.: After Hours, Backspace, CPUmark, EasyComputing, ExtremeTech, First Looks, First Looks Plus, i-Bench, Lab Notes, Lab Tales, PC Bench, PC Labs Scorecard, PC Magazine At Home, PC Magazine CD, PC Magazine Extra, PC Magazine Marketlink, PC Solutions, PC Tech, Pipeline, Power Programming, Quick Clips, ScreenDemos, Tech Notes, and WinDrain. Other trademarks and trade names used throughout the publication are the property of their respective owners. Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AZ, NV, TX Deborah Dembo 310-453-8855 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, NORTHWEST, UT, CO
Cristi E. Brown415-547-8056 Andrew Donehower 415-547-8815 David Kaye 415-547-8810 NEW YORK
Ian Owen-Ward 212-503-5110
Julie Zuckerman Kittredge 212-503-5029 NEW ENGLAND, CANADA
Ian Owen-Ward 212-503-5110 MIDWEST
Julie Lulu 773-739-9139 DETROIT
Julie Zuckerman Kittredge 212-503-5029 SOUTHEAST, MID-ATLANTIC STATES
Amy Jarratt 404-249-6646 EAST COAST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Andrew Guendjoian 212-503-5114, Melissa Price 212-503-5422 WEST COAST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Andrew Wesley 415-547-8047 Mathias Bontaites 415-547-8240
MARKETLINK, SOUTHWEST
Kathy Rosa, Marketlink Sales Director, 212-503-8487
MARKETLINK, SOUTHEAST Stacey Harnick 212-503-5106 MARKETLINK, NORTHEAST Chris Thornton 212-503-5067 MARKETLINK, NORTHWEST Brooke Alovis 212-503-4847 EAST COAST SALES ASSISTANTS Anne King, Nicole Kramer, Andrew Weissman WEST COAST SALES ASSISTANTS Jennifer Meyer, Rebecca Reining
DIRECTOR, SALES OPERATIONS Tara Culleny DIRECTOR, CIRCULATION Chris Ekizian DIRECTOR, RETAIL SALES Bob Kerekes
DIRECTOR, CREATIVE SERVICES Bobby Sutton
DIRECTOR, CONSUMER MARKETING Chris Wilkes
ADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGER Laura Quirk
MARKETING COORDINATOR Michele Itzkowitz SALES DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Matt Pfeffer
䊛
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GROUP PUBLISHER Timothy J. Castelli NATIONAL ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER C. Wesley Walton
EAST COAST AD DIRECTOR Jason Webby BUSINESS DIRECTOR John C. Hutchins MARKETING DIRECTOR Mark Pope
RESEARCH DIRECTORS Stephen Riddle & Chris Stetson RESEARCH MANAGER John Tsao
ADVERTISING OFFICE
28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940
Phone, 800-336-2423, 212-503-5100; fax, 212-503-5000 For advertising information go to www.pcmagmedia.com.
For information on advertisers appearing in this issue, go to www.pcmag.com/adindex.
ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA INC.
CHAIRMAN & CEORobert F. Callahan PRESIDENT & COOBart W. Catalane CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERDerek Irwin
SENIOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLISHING OPERATIONSTom McGrade EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & EDITORIAL DIRECTORMichael J. Miller EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL, & SECRETARYGregory Barton
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTSJasmine Alexander (Technology & Sales Operations), Timothy J. Castelli (PC Magazine Group), Chris Dobbrow (Corporate Sales & Publisher, eWEEK), Larry Green (Business Development & Worldwide Licensing), Charles Mast (Circulation), Sloan Seymour (Enterprise Group), Dale Strang (Game Group), Jason Young (Internet) VICE PRESIDENTSSarah DeCarlo (Database Marketing), Aaron Goldberg (Market Experts),
Jim Hasl (Event Marketing Group), Julie Herness (Event Marketing Group), Tom Jessiman (VP and General Manager, 1UP.com), Michael Krieger (Market Experts), Charles Lee (Integrated Media), Jim Louderback (Editor-in-Chief, Internet), Eric Lundquist (Editor-in-Chief, eWEEK), Chris Maginn (Internet), Angelo Mandarano (Internet), Paul O’Reilly (Event Marketing Group), Ellen Pearlman (Editor-in-Chief, CIO Insight), Melinda Maginn Reilly (Integrated Media & Corporate Sales), Beth Repeta (Human Resources), Martha Schwartz (Custom/Conference Group), Pam Spector (Business Development & International Licensing), Tom Steinert-Threlkeld (Editor-in-Chief,
Baseline), Stephen Sutton (Internet Audience Development), Elda Vale (Research & Market Intelligence), Stephen Veith (Publisher, CIO Insight), Monica Vila (Event Marketing Group)
SENIOR DIRECTOR, MANUFACTURINGCarlos Lugo DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONSRandy Zane
䊛
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 18
Moving?
Don’t forget your
PC Magazine
!
•
The Post Office will forward
your subscriptions for
only 60 days.
•
With one call to OneSwitch,
all your current magazine
subscriptions can be
forwarded to your new
address at no cost to you.
•
Be sure to ask about
special offers on magazine
subscriptions when you call.
Call toll-free
1-800-235-3640
today!
Make sure your
PC Magazine
moves with you!
Firefighter. Educator. Presenter.
Lifesaver.
He takes no chances with his equipment. Neither do you. You require reliability, ease of use and innovative features. So when it comes to projectors, you demand InFocus.
InFocus innovation makes your job easy. You buy from the worldwide leader in digital projection technology. Users get ultimate dependability, the most intuitive interfaces — and incredibly powerful tools for sharing their ideas with impact.
That means less maintenance. Fewer emergency calls. Perhaps even the occasional thank-you call. And more time to focus on what really matters.
People rely on you. You rely on InFocus.
Firefighter. Educator. Presenter.
Lifesaver.
To find out more about InFocus or where to buy:
call 1-888-InFocus or
visit www.InFocus.com
The InFocus®LP®
540
™$1599 Designed by a breakthrough engineer: you.
• Best-in-class capabilities • Intuitive controls • Brightness that lasts
The InFocus®
X2
™$999 All work. All play. All affordable.
• 3000-hour long-life lamp
• 1600 lumens for incredible brightness • Outstanding digital video
The Big Picture™
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 P C M A G A Z I N E 23
T E C H N O L O G Y T R E N D S & N E W S A N A L Y S I S
P I P E L I N E
www.pcmag.com/pipeline
THERE ISdissonance on the digital music
front. RealNetworks and Apple Computer— both on the front lines of the rapidly growing market for online tunes—are in a heated dis-pute over open versus proprietary
music distribution schemes, causing observers to herald changes ahead.
At issue is RealNetworks’ Har-mony software technology, which allows people who buy songs from the company’s online sites to play the tunes on Apple’s hugely popular iPod players. Apple’s Fair-Play digital rights management (DRM) technology has helped pro-tect the dominance of the iPod and of the company’s online song sales, where it has more than 70 percent of the market share.
“We are stunned that Real-Networks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the
iPod,” said a response from Apple, “and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCAand other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time, it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will
cease to work with current and future iPods.” RealNetworks officials say nothing was hacked. “We used publicly available information and had smart engineers take a look at that,” says Matt Graves, a
RealNetworks spokesperson. “I think Apple can do a firmware update to get around this,” says Dennis Mudd, CEO
of Musicmatch, “but I don’t think there’s anything illegal about what Real has done. Apple’s proprietary, closed strategy is going to hurt it, and it will start losing market share this year. There are some very exciting other portable products coming, and I think they’re going to take significant share from
the iPod.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft is prepar-ing its MSNmusic service, due out later this year, and Forrester Research predicts that the market for music downloads and subscrip-tions will grow from under $500 million in 2004 to over $4.5 billion by 2008. Tunes play amid bigger and bigger stakes these days. —Sebastian Rupley
Digital Music Discord
Will proprietary or open music distribution schemes win out?
Citing greater global use of broadband as their reason, researchers at DFC Intelligence are forecasting that the market for online gaming will increase 415 percent from the end of 2003 to the end of 2009. Asia, the largest broadband market, was responsible for 50 percent of online game revenues last year.
Online Gaming:
Going Like Gangbusters
$1.9
2003
Source: DFC Intelligence, July 2004.
$5.2
$9.8
2006*
2009*
*Projected
Online Game Revenues Worldwide (in billions)
A FAR-REACHING EFFORTto bring technology and health care
closer together is underway. The Bush administration has announced a ten-year plan to move from paper to electronic
med-ical records. Estimates peg the savings at $140 billion a year and cite expected reductions
in health-care errors.
Bringing tech to private practices is the biggest hurdle. “They’re the weak link,” says John Sarich, insurance
industry manager at FileNet. Sarich suggests hospitals encourage doctors to manage records electronically.—SR
Health Care: Tech Renaissance
In a controversial move, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have introduced a bill, called the Inducing Infringements of Copyrights Act of 2004. The bill is aimed at P2P file sharers. It seeks to make illegal the technology that “intentionally aids, abets, induces, or procures [in-fringement of copyright].”
Analysts say the language of the bill is broad enough that it could take legal aim at everything from digital music players to tape recorders to the Internet. “Almost any product or service that can be used to make an infringement can be accused of inducing copyright infringements,” says Jason Schultz, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Senator Hatch has called for revisions to the bill’s language by early September. Stay tuned.—SR
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DANIEL BAXTER
Say Again?
MINI MUSCLE
Toshiba has upped the ante on the micro hard drive
BIG SCREENS ARE NOT JUSTfor home televisions; they are starting to change the operations of retail and business organizations far and wide. Digital signage is a hot new growth industry, allowing compa-nies to put eye-catching informa-tion in front of customers.
Consider the “SALE” posters in a typical store. They are expensive to produce and convey static mes-sages.
Digital signage replaces these posters with large screens—LCD, plasma, or rear-projection—that de-liver dynamic messages to reach customers more effectively. (The photo shows a Sharp retail LCD.) Are skirts selling fast but sweaters sitting in piles? Change the signs to show an impromptu special.
Rapidly falling panel prices play an important role in this growing segment, but gains in the infrastructure tools are also key to success. Communications via wireless and Internet con-nections make it easy to deliver content to multiple displays across the room or across the continent. With new Web-based development tools and multimedia database applications, even nontechnical users can create and maintain content.
iSuppli/Stanford Resources reports that the market was about $388 million in 2002 but will leap to more than $1.9 billion by 2006. Those are numbers that could get the attention of even a “blue light” shopper.—Alfred Poor
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 24
P I P E L I N E •
www.pcmag.com/pipeline
Dual to
the Core
If two heads are better than one, then two processor cores must be better than one. That’s the plan, at least, from both AMDand Intel, who are pinning their next-genera-tion CPUhopes on dual-core processor designs.
Currently, Intel and AMD chips use a single processor core to handle tasks. Advances in chip fabrication and new materials, however, have made it more practical to cram two processor cores into a single design.
“Of course, you really don’t need dual-core processors to look at your e-mail,” notes Dean McCarron, president of Mercury Research. “But you will see a significant
perfor-mance difference in media-oriented systems and TiVo-like applications.”
Intel is targeting next year for the debut of its dual-core processors for servers and desktops. AMDrecently an-nounced that its dual-core desktop processor, Toledo, will arrive in mid-2005.
So will software developers have to rewrite all their applications? “The answer is yes and no,” says Intel manager Bill Kircos. If developers have already rewritten their programs to take advantage of Intel’s hyper-threaded processors, for example, they may face few adjustments, and Win-dows XPcan already take advantage of dual-core processors.—John R. Quain
The Next Bright Idea?
FUTURE CITY
In
late July, the beach
community of Grand
the city with access
points and extended
the coverage 15
miles offshore for
boaters, including
one Web designer
with a floating office.
“It’s America’s first
MAKE ROOMfor Internet ex-pansion. ICANN, the organiza-tion that oversees the Internet’s naming and num-bering scheme, has officially launched the IPv6protocol on its root servers. The new protocol is designed to make it possible for every device and every person to have an IP (Internet Protocol) address.
The predecessor to IPv6is IPv4, which will continue to run in parallel with IPv6on ICANN’s server systems for many years. The problem with IPv4is that demand for ad-dresses has been threatening to reach the system’s fixed numerical limit of possibilities, with about two thirds of the
possibilities already used as the Internet has grown.
“IPv6opens up the space to over 10 to the 38th power possible addresses, while IPv4is limited to 4.3 billion,” says Vint Cerf, ICANN’s chairman. “With the potential for billions of Internet-enabled devices showing up on the Internet, IPv6is the cleanest avenue towards providing these devices with addresses.”
Cerf also warns, though, that running the two proto-cols simultaneously will present challenges. “This is not going to be a simple process,” says Cerf. “Running
both protocols in parallel means parallel routing, rout-ing tables, and so on. It leads to interoperability questions, because a pure IPv4device will probably need a proxy to talk to an IPv6device, for example. But as far as I am concerned, the additional address space will ultimately pay for itself in utility.”—SR
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DANIEL BAXTER
Stretching the Net’s Boundaries
C O M I N G AT T R AC T I O N S
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 26
P I P E L I N E •
www.pcmag.com/pipeline
For more new products see www.pcmag.com/productbulletin
Better Ghost
The new Norton Ghost 9.0lets you create backup images of your ma-chine’s hard drive without restarting your computer or exiting Windows; imaging takes place in the back-ground while you work. You can schedule automatic backups and use
point-in-time rollback to restore your computer to the exact state it was in at a specific time, say, before a virus struck or some other catastrophe.—MKM
$69.95 list. Symantec Corp., www.symantec.com.
Add Storage, Simply
L
ooking for an easier way to upgrade or augment your storage? The ADS Dual Link Drive Kitgrows with you, letting you insert standard hard drives or optical drives into its stackable external enclosures. You can even connect your digital camcorder or other device to the second port on the back of the kit.—MKM $119 list. ADS Tech, www.adstech.com.Mickey Mouse PC
D
isney knows kids, and the company is hoping it knows what kids (and parents) want in a home PC.The bright blue Disney Dream Desk PC—designed by Disney and frog designand built by German electronics giant Medion— will feature a 2.6-GHz Celeron processor, a CD-RW/DVDcombo optical drive, a
kid-size mouse, a multimedia keyboard, and a digital pen. The matching 14.1-inch LCDmonitor ($299) sports signature Mickey Mouse ears. Disney will preload each system with a range of Disney games and learning tools as well as ContentWatch’s Internet and e-mail filtering soft-ware.—Molly K. McLaughlin
$599 list. Disney, www.disneyconsumerproducts.com.
Hang-on-the Wall PC
T
heAlienware DHDMedia Center PCis a wall-mountable entertainment sys-tem and full-fledged Microsoft Windows XPMedia Center Edition 2004 PCin one. With its 30-inch widescreen LCDand Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound,the unit replaces nearly all individual home entertainment
components. Access digital content—live and recorded televi-sion, movies, music, photos, games, radio, and the Inter-net—at the touch of a button.—MKM Price to be determined. Alienware Corp., www.alienware.com.
Sharp
Brings
3D to the
Desktop
W
e wereimpressed by the three-dimensional LCDscreen Sharp Systems built into its Actius RD3D note-book last year (First Looks, December 30, 2003). Now the company is bringing that same glasses-free 3Dtechnology to the desktop with the groundbreaking Sharp LL-151-3Dmonitor. The LL-151-3Dis targeted primarily at users of profession-al OpenGLapplications, such as medical imaging, engineering, and scientific modeling. For the rest of us, there are a number of 3D-enabled games that are ready to draw you into the 3Drealm. —Jamie M. Bsales
$1,499 list. Sharp Systems of America, www.sharp3D.com.
Easier DVDs
Video hobbyists and business users who can’t justify the expense of a high-end DVD-authoring package will want to consider Ulead’s DVDWorkshop Express.It delivers much of the power of high-end authoring packages, with-out the complexity or cost. Wannabe
filmmakers can preview their work in real time and add alter-nate music, languages, and commentaries with two subtitle and two audio tracks.—MKM
Designed to work the way you work.
Visit www.samsungusa.com/monitor or call 1-800-SAMSUNG
©2004 Samsung Electronics America, Inc. Samsung and MagicTune are registered marks of Samsung Electronics Corp., Ltd. Screen images simulated.
Samsung’s 193P display.
We know how you work. So we engineer our monitors to work the same way you do. Our 193Pdisplay is ergonomically designed to move the way you move. And with its MagicTune™software, personalizing your display is now a hands-free experience. This kind of thinking is responsible for over 67 design awards worldwide. Not to mention, monitors that work on the same level as you.
• 19" Analog/Digital TF T-LCD
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 P C M A G A Z I N E 29
www.pcmag.com/editorschoice
In the market to buy? Here are our latest Editors’ Choices in the leading technology categories—the products we’ve picked as the best from the hundreds that PC Magazine Labs has been testing. For links to the complete reviews, including dates of publication, visit
www.pcmag.com/editorschoice.
•HP Compaq Presario R3000Z
•Velocity Micro NoteMagix B50 Campus Edition
TABLET PCs
•Motion Computing M1400 •Toshiba Portégé M205-S809
MOBILE DEVICES
PDAs
•HP iPAQ Pocket PC h4350 •palmOne Zire 72
PDA/PHONE COMBO
•Turtle Beach AudioTron AT-100 (music)
DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER
•SnapStream Beyond TV 3
HDTV
•NEC PlasmaSync 61XM2+/S •Sharp Aquos 37-inch LCD TV
CAMERAS
•Casio Exilim Pro EX-P600
DESKTOP PCs & SERVERS
GAMING DESKTOPS
•Falcon Northwest FragBox Pro •Falcon Northwest Mach V •Velocity Micro Vision FX
MULTIMEDIA DESKTOPS
•Apple Power Mac G5 Dual 2 GHz
•Dell Dimension 8400
MEDIA CENTER PC
•HP Media Center PC m1050y
VALUE PC
•eMachines T3092
SMALL-BUSINESS PC
•IBM ThinkCentre A50p
CORPORATE PC
•IBM ThinkCentre S50
ENTRY-LEVEL SERVER
•IBM eServer xSeries 306
WORKGROUP SERVER
•Konica Minolta DiMage A2 •Leica Digilux 2
•Adobe Photoshop CS (pro) •Adobe Photoshop
Elements 2.0 (consumer)
PHOTO ALBUM SOFTWARE
•Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0
PHOTO SHARING
•OurPictures •Smugmug
PHOTO-PRINTING SERVICE
•Shutterfly
DIGITAL AUDIO & VIDEO
VIDEO EDITORS
•Adobe Video Collection 2.5 •Ulead VideoStudio 8
(consumer)
CD/DVD-BURNING SUITE
•Roxio Easy Media Creator 7
DVD AUTHORING
•Sonic MyDVD 5.2 (consumer)
•Ulead DVD WorkShop 2 (pro)
SLIDE SHOW CREATOR
•Arcsoft DVD SlideShow
PORTABLE AUDIO
•Altec Lansing inMotion Apple iPod
•Apple iPod Mini
•Belkin Digital Camera Link •Delphi XM Roady2 •Klipsch ProMedia GMX D-5.1
PC JUKEBOX •HP Deskjet 5150 (ink jet) •Lexmark C510n (color laser)
PERSONAL AIOs
•Brother MFC-3420 (ink jet) •Brother MFC-8420 (laser) •Canon MultiPass MP390
(ink jet)
PHOTO PRINTERS
•Canon i9900 Photo Printer •Epson Stylus Pro 4000 •HP Photosmart 7960
NETWORK PRINTERS
•HP Color LaserJet 4650n •HP LaserJet 9000dn •Xerox Phaser 4500DT •Xerox Phaser 7750DN
DISPLAYS & STORAGE
•ATI Radeon 9800 XT
MAINSTREAM GRAPHICS CARD
•PNY Verto GeForce 5700 FX Ultra
DVD BURNERS
•BenQ DW830A 8X DL •HP DVD Movie Writer dc4000 •Memorex True 8X External
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com •IBM Lotus Notes and
Domino 6.5
•Oracle 9iDatabase
WEB CONFERENCING
•SQL Anywhere Studio 9 (mobile)
WEB SITE DEVELOPMENT •Macromedia Contribute •Macromedia Studio MX 2004 WEB SITE ANALYSIS
GAMES & EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
•Savage: The Battle for Newerth SPORTS
•Madden NFL 2004 REAL-TIME STRATEGY •Rise of Nations: Thrones
and Patriots
•eMedia Beginner Guitar Method 3.0
•Math Mission:
The Race to Spectacle City Arcade, The Amazing Arcade Adventure
•Vtech V.Smile Learning System, Smartbridge Library
•Norton AntiVirus 2004 FIREWALLS
•Norton Personal Firewall 2004 •ZoneAlarm Pro 5
SECURITY SUITES
•Norton Internet Security 2004 •ZoneAlarm Security Suite 5 ANTISPYWARE
•Desktop DNA Pro 4.7 TOOLBARS
•Dogpile EXTERNAL DRIVES
Transcend 1.8” Portable Hard Drive
•Western Digital Media Center WiebeTECH Fire800
•ScanSoft OmniPage Pro 14 Office
PDF CREATION •Adobe Acrobat 6.0
•FinePrint pdfFactory PRO 1.57 •Jaws PDF Creator 3.0 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT •ScanSoft PaperPort Pro 9
Office •Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 E-MAIL CLIENT
Our solutions make online business success a snap.
Relax.
Web hosting solutions featuring an easy-to-use set of tools designed specifically for small business.
Everything you need to build a professional
website.
Powerful marketing tools designed to
increase sales.
Keep your successful website running smoothly. Maximize your
profits with tools for your retail business.
Help make your website more enticing to visitors. Features enhanced
email and provides protection from
viruses.
800.934.6788
www.valueweb.com
©
2004
V
alueW
eb
.V
alueW
eb is a tr
ademar
k of Affinity Inter
net, Inc.
All r
ights reser
preparation and planning tools, along with in-depth, personal-ized planning and debt reduc-tion aids. And if you’re diligent at your data entry, you’ll be rewarded with dozens of cus-tomizable reports that give you a comprehensive view of your financial picture.
This is usually a tight race, but this time around, Money
Intuit’s Quicken and Microsoft Money have been fierce
com-petitors for more than ten years. But rarely—if ever—have we
seen such disparity in the scope of their annual upgrades.
Mi-crosoft has made sweeping changes to Money, adding a new
end run around tedious account setup and a two-tiered
ap-proach to personal-finance management. Intuit has focused more on small but
important changes throughout the program that help you track your money flow
Money Edges Out Quicken
P C M A G A Z I N E SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 www.pcmag.com 32
better and more easily. The two stalwarts are gener-ally more alike than different. Both help you document all of the minutiae that make up your household income and expenses. This data entry, with the aid of comprehensive downloads of transactions and balances from your financial institutions, gives valuable big-picture feedback on how you’re doing now and where your finances are headed.
Specifically, using either Money or Quicken, you can record every transaction you make in a bank or investment account, or set up online con-nections to grab the data di-rectly. Both programs will cut checks for bills or dispatch payments electronically. On-line relationships with banks and brokerages help you keep close tabs on your balances and shift money easily. Catego-rizing transactions helps you track your cash flow and ad-here to budgets.
Investment tracking in both
programs is quite sophisticated and provides better personal-ized tools than you’d find on Web sites. And both companies integrate their online compo-nents well with their desktop counterparts, which lets you use current market data. You can track your portfolio and get customized feedback on it.
Both programs provide tax
2005 is our Editors’ Choice. Its better online connections, clos-er attention to spending and categorization, and new ability to let you choose a big-picture approach or see all the gory de-tails make an already capable, sophisticated, and highly usable finance program even better.
That said, Quicken 2005 re-mains a worthy adversary, and users committed to that plat-form will be served perfectly well by upgrading rather than switching. But if you’ve been mulling a switch or are new to personal-finance software, Money 2005 is currently king of the hill.
Microsoft Money Premium
2005
Microsoft has billed this year’s version of Money its most ambi-tious ever, and we agree. Most striking is its new two-tiered approach to financial management, geared to two different types of con-sumers. Those who want a more simplified look at their money can opt for more basic budgets, reports, account regis-ters, and bill calendars (the Essential view). Those who need more detail in an area can go for the Advanced view.
The Essential register, for ex-ample, tracks only balances and categorized transactions; the Advanced register allows for more sophisticated categoriza-tion, tracks paycheck taxes and deductions, and reconciles statements. The Essential bud-get is a truncated version of the Advanced budget; it tracks only three primary categories and reports bare-bones income and BY KATHY YAKAL
NEW DECISION CENTERSin Money 2005 assist with planning and help you put all your financial eggs in one easy-to-navigate basket. THE MAGAZINE
WORLD’S LARGEST COMPUTER-TESTING
FACILITY
F
I
R
S T
34 Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0 34 Doom 3
36 Apple iPod 36 Apple AirPort Express 38 eVGA nVidia Personal Cinema
FX5700 (128MB) 38 ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 XT 40 Motorola A630 40 Nokia 6620 45 Canon PowerShot S60
45 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 45 Fujifilm FinePix A340 45 Concord Eye-Q 5062AF 46 Dell Inspiron XPS
46 Velocity Micro Gamer’s Edge FX
