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 EDITORIAL

Expecting trust
here’s only so far hype can take you. Without delivering solid

T products and following through on promises, you’ll just fall flat

on your face. Apple is a company we constantly watch because
of its ability to balance hype with genuine innovation. It’s
managed to use product design, marketing, user interaction and consumer
psychology to imbibe its products with unmatched levels of desirability.
This is what industry watchers call a “reality distortion field”, and Apple has
used it to full advantage. This is the effect that glorifies every new feature
and makes all faults and omissions seem insignificant in comparison.

The illusion needs careful and regular tending. It’s also worked because
Apple has been an underdog for a very long time. Its computers have
always had miniscule market share, but a disproportionate (and carefully
engineered) amount of media coverage portraying them as the preferred
choice of artists, creative professionals, fashionistas, free thinkers and
bohemians of all types. These days its iPods and iPhones are everywhere,
and apart from outer cases and two body color choices, there aren’t many
things differentiating one user from another. The white earphone cords
that once advertised your exclusivity now only make you one of a million
drones. No longer the underdog, Apple is now one of the most visible
success stories in tech— so visible, in fact, that it’s become somewhat of
a target.

It’s difficult to comment on the justifiability of claims that the

company’s latest iPhone antenna design is critically flawed without much
firsthand experience using the device, but it’s extremely easy to believe
people’s claims that the company deliberately released a flawed product
into the market. Whether or not that proves to be true, the company has
been unusually high-handed and defensive about dealing with complaints,
dragging its competitors into the fray and setting off another storm of
high-profile criticism. Telling people to hold the phone differently hasn’t
just annoyed users, it’s painted Apple as arrogant. Recommending people
buy insanely overpriced slipcovers makes it seem callous. Refusing for so
long to acknowledge that there might be a problem turns their
pioneering spirit into pigheadedness. If the halo effect proves true in
reverse and people start believing that the company’s new product
designs severely compromise the most basic functionality, the
distortion field might never recover its full strength.

Maybe Apple understimated the amount of trust buyers have in it, or

maybe it's built expectations up too high over the years. Facebook
found itself being similarly demonized everywhere a few months
ago, proving that rapid growth earns companies as many critics as
fans. Apple needs a serious image fix and a more humble public
tone—and everyone else needs to learn that no one is too big or
too well loved to fall.

Jamshed Avari
Deputy Editor

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 3

Contents AUGUST 2010

54 COVER STORY
We help you make the best buying decision
for your next desktop PC

NEWSWIRE TEST CENTER FEATURED

10 News Snippets 22 Product of the Month 54 Cover Story
A look at what's making news in the world of High-end gaming on a 12-inch form factor Confused about what needs to go into your PC?
technology. laptop; Alienware makes it possible. Afraid it'll get outdated? Check out our guide.

14 New Products Launched 24 Hardware Tested 62 Fast and Furious

A round-up of the latest products that are The latest PC hardware, cameras, mobile phones Want the ultimate gaming experience? Choose
hitting shelves now. and peripherals tested and rated. from one of these 18 high-end graphics cards.

18 Science on the Move 40 Software Spotlight 69 HD or SD? You Decide

NIIT’s innovative approach to teaching science One of the finest tools for enhancing and A round-up of seven sub-Rs 35,000 standard
through the Mobile Science Lab. organizing photos just got a lot better. and high definition camcorders.

43 Software Tested 74 Be a Social Media Manager

Everything from language tools and system Social media is serious business. Here's how
utilities to video editors and photo managers. you can turn your hobby into a career.

52 Laptop Configs 76 Banking on the Move

Specifications and prices for a range of Standing in lines and filling up slips is passe.
netbooks and budget and mainstream laptops. Mobile banking brings the bank to you.

78 Caution! Kids Online

Norton's Onlinefamily helps parents keep a vigil
on their children's online activities.

4 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Contents
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22 TEST CENTERR
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86 HANDS ON
NETWORKING @ HOME
Share your Internet connection
and files between two PCs

40 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE SPOTLIGHT
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.0

HANDS ON UNWIND REGULARS

86 Networking @ Home
How you can network two PCs with a simple
cross-cable in under Rs 100.
88 Tweak 'n' Tune
Optimize system performance using the best
freeware tools.
102 Split/Second 03 Editorial, 08 Colophon,
An explosive thrill ride that will have you on 10 In the News... 14 New Products
the edge of your seat. Launched, 52 PC Configs, 80 Web Watch,
82 Dr CHIP, 92 Tips & Tricks,
104 Pure Football 108 Market Watch, 124 Contests,
The not-so-beautiful game. Ubisoft's first 128 Letters, 130 Personal Tech
football title fails.

90 Wi-Fi For Dummies 106 International Cricket 2010

A simple guide to help secure your wireless A new way to play last year's game.
network from snoops.

6 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 AUGUST 2010 | VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 09 www.chip.in

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SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT - SALES
Ruby Roy
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 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

DANGER BAROMETER IN THE NEWS...

HIGH RISK COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

Peace is restored
after the football
world cup—but we SECURITY
still need to be
careful and avoid
attachments from
MEDIUM RISK
Social networks, financial sites at most risk in 1H 2010
unknown senders
The first half of 2010 saw a Top targets of phishing scams
rise in the number of threats 2% 1%
3% 2% Paypal
LOW RISK 3%
aimed at Web 2.0 sites, most 4% ebay
notably social networks, HSBC
7%
says a report published by Facebook

security vendor BitDefender. IRS

53%
VISA
Phishing has been rising 10%
Mastercard

THE PHISHING-WORLD CHAMPIONS

steadily, and while PayPal is
Bank of America
the target of a whopping 53 Poste Italiane
percent of all scams, eBay EGG
16%
USA 73% follows with 16 percent
and HSBC is in third place Top malware infections
China 5% with seven percent. Two
11.26%
Trojan. AutorunINF.Gen
huge events around which Win32.Worm.Downadup.Gen
5.66%
Canada 4% scammers tried tricking Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen

people were the FIFA world 4.80% Trojan.Clicker.CM

Germany 2% cup and the earthquake in 3.18% Win32.Sality.OG

2.90% Trojan.Wimad.Gen.1
Guatemala. Search engine
HongKong 2% 61.46% 2.68% Exploit.PDF-Payload.Gen
results for these terms were
Trojan.Autorun.AET
2.32%
commonly polluted to capture
Korea 1% 2.08% Worm.Autorun.VHG
high levels of Web traffic. 1.90% Trojan.FakeAV.KUE
1.76%
Phishers try to steal your data using Spam grew to 86 percent Other
falsified Web pages. These are the
countries hosting such websites. of all email in total with
Source: Antiphishing.org pharmacy-related mails in the lead at 66 target computers' master boot records (MBRs)
percent. The distant follower subjects were also saw a resurgence.

DANGER: BOTNETS DON’T DIE replica products at seven percent, loans and
insurance at five percent, and malware at 3.5
BitDefender predicts that the second half
of the year will see more threats targeted at
1,00,000 percent. Autorun trojans continued to make exploits in third-party software and online
80,000 up the bulk of all attacks, while threats which platforms including Facebook.
60,000
40,000
20,000 FAIR USE
0
Jan
2009
Mar
2009
May
2009
July
2009
Sept
2009
Nov
2009
Dec
2009
Brazil outlaws DRM on public domain, fair use cases
A study conducted by Symantec shows Brazil has become one DRM from being enforced in
the results of the closure of Providers
of the most progressive situations in which a person's
Real Host had in 2009. The botnets have
regained their strength since then. countries on the planet actions would ordinarily be
Source: Symantec when it comes to allowed under commonly
regulating the artificial recognized fair use laws and
FIGURE OF THE MONTH restrictions imposed conventions.
on media files in the DRM, originally designed

92
The number of countries in which AdMob now
name of Digital Rights
Management. Proposed new copyright laws
would ban DRM from applying to files in
perpetuity, since all content must eventually
become public domain. DRM measures would
to prevent piracy, has been
widely abused by content sellers to restrict
competition, often resulting in inconvenience
to users because files and media simply
won't work except in certain restrictive
serves over 10 million ad impressions per month
have to expire when copyright does. The situations, such as music CDs that can't be
Source: AdMob Metrics Report
proposed amendments would also prevent played in cars or on computers.

10 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NSN to 51818

WEB
Google Me, Games Cathay Pacific to
target Facebook? offer broadband
Google is widely believed
to be preparing yet another
attempt at challenging
Facebook's dominance in
the social networking scene.
While neither company has
commented on the speculation,
even a former Facebook CTO
has said the project is real
and is a huge priority for the
search giant. Speculation says
Me will incorporate Buzz and
Google Latitude.
A separate set of rumors
point towards an undisclosed
US$ 100-200 million
investment by Google in
Zynga, the makers of Facebook
sensation Farmville. This could
be a move to tempt users to
play their games on a Google-
operated platform.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Cathay Pacific will offer
broadband Internet access
as well as phone and live TV
connections across its fleet
by 2012. A satellite link will
provide each plane with up
to 50 Mbps of connectivity,
which will also be used to
enable telemetry of flight data
from the ground in realtime.
Passengers will be able to
stream media and use new
e-commerce applications
from their seatbacks or own
devices. The cost of the new
service is currently unknown.
TECH LIFE
Hardcover books Videocon D2H
lose out to Kindle warns of phishing
Amazon reports that ebook
sales for its Kindle reader
have spiked massively since it
cut prices on its hardware in
June, and have now surpassed
sales of hardcover books. The
online store has been selling
books for 15 years, and
started selling digital ones less
than three years ago. Around
143 Kindle format books are
sold for every 100 hardcovers.
Popular authors Stieg Larsson,
Stephenie Meyer, and James
Patterson, have sold over
500,000 ebook copies each.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS
SECURITY
Videocon D2H has warned
the public that fake websites
are using its brand name and
image to scam unsuspecting
members of the public.
According to the company,
which has registered a
complaint with the Mumbai
Cybercrime Cell, users are
being directed to fake websites
via SMS broadcasts. They
are then informed they have
won a free Videocon DTH
subscription, but have to pay
a service tax via bank deposit.
Further, users are instructed
to fax their deposit slips
to a particular number. The
concerned banks have already
been approached to shut
down accounts linked to these
deposits, says Videocon.
08/2010 11
 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS
SECURITY
NEW SECURITY
RISKS DETECTED
AND PATCHED
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS4
If one opens a manipulated Photoshop
CS4 file in formats such as ASL or ABR,
attackers can get the complete control
of the system.
SOLUTION: Buffer overflows are to be
blamed for these faults. A patch is
ready and copies updated to the
version 11.0.2 are safe. Photoshop
CS5 is not affected at all.
VMWARE
Software plug-ins from different
manufacturers that contain
virtualization ehancements for
VMWare have security holes through
which hacking software can be
sneaked into a system.
SOLUTION: For the VMware products
ESX, ESXi, vCenter and vMA, patches
are available from the manufacturer’s
website.
SUN OPENOFFICE
Through a weak point in the free
Office suite from Sun, hackers can run
certain damaging code. For this the
attackers use Python scripts
embedded in deliberately manipulated
documents. Apart from this, a new TLS
lapse has been found in the SSL
library.
SOLUTION: The company has managed to
cement both lapses in its update,
version 3.2.1. You can find the
download link on the Sun website.
APPLE SAFARI
About 44 critical lapses have been
detected in the Webkit 2 rendering
engine, on both Windows and Mac OS.
SOLUTION: Apple has been quick to
release patched versions.
12 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SECURITY SOFTWARE
New threat spreads via pen drives, 74% of office PCs
not dependent on autorun.inf still use XP
A new rootkit threat,
going by the names
Microsoft has published the
results of a survey which
Stuxnet and Tmphider reveal that 74 percent of
amongst others, is office PCs still use Windows
gaining notoriety XP, and are an average of
after it has emerged 4.4 years old. The figure is
that it can spread particularly interesting since
via pen drives in an the cutoff date for support for
entirely new fashion. Windows XP
Multiple antivirus and security vendors are reporting that SP2 as well as
on being connected to a system, the rootkit can use LNK Windows 2000
files, rather than the well-known autorun.inf file method. expired in July.
It can be triggered simply by opening the drive location in That means an
Windows Explorer or any other file manager. The threat is unknown number of PCs will
currently rated as highly severe. have to be updated to at least
The rootkit places two files on a compromised system, SP3 or remain at risk without
named mrxnet.sys and mrxcls.sys, which are essentially any future security updates.
drivers that instruct the operating system to mask the XP will continue to be
threat. Incidentally, both drivers somehow manage to available as a downgrade
produce certificates signed by Realtek Semiconductor Corp. option until two years after
Other signs of infection are files with names similar to the introduction of Windows
"Copy of shortcut to.lnk". Symantec reported in mid July 8, the launch date of which is
that nearly 40 percent of infections were in India. still unknown.
SECURITY SECURITY
Koobface morphs yet again, poses VoIP attackers
fresh danger to users could cost dearly
Koobface, the botnet-
fueled worm that has
been around for at
least two years in
some form or other,
has unleashed a new
wave of attacks that
are more dangerous The Internet Storm Center is
than ever before. warning of increased activity
After spreading password-stealing spyware, popup ads and detected on ports usually used
redirecting search requests across the world, McAfee Avert by Voice-over-IP applications
Labs now reports that a new variant of the worm has that use the SIP protocol.
started hijacking DNS instructions. This allows it to block The organization attributes
off a computer's access to security vendors' sites and other this to attempts to use brute
sources of information. force attack methods to crack
Infected users will also see popups of typically fake weak passwords. Once users'
antivirus program "AV Security Suite" warning them that accounts are compromised,
their computers are infected. Most EXE files on the system the attackers might use
will be prevented from running, pretty much paralyzing them themselves or sell the
any infected PC. Preying on users' fears of viruses that credentials online. Use of the
delete important files, Koobface then blocks all web traffic accounts would then be billed
except to its own websites, where users will be directed in to the original owners and
order to purchase the full version of the supposed antivirus might remain undetected for a
product for US$ 50–70 and "fix" their computers. long time.
 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

WEB WEB GEEK CULTURE

Senior CNN staffer fired for New .xxx "porn Web pranks
inappropriate Twitter comment domain" okayed target teen singer
CNN's Senior Editor of
Mideast Affairs, veteran
journalist Octavia Nasr,
has been fired after a
massive controversy
over a tweet posted
to her official account
that said " Sad to After years of debate, ICANN, Justin Bieber, a 16-year old
hear of the passing of the authority that manages pop singer famous for being
Sayyed Mohammad top-level domains, has discovered through YouTube,
Hussein Fadlallah.. One approved of the .xxx TLD for has become the target of
of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot. #Lebanon". While Nasr "voluntary self regulation" of repeated pranks orchestrated
later explained that Ayatollah Fadlallah (who had praised terror adult material online. While by the infamous 4chan online
attacks on the US and is regarded as a terrorist himself there) it would be extremely easy community. Fake reports that
has been a positive influence on women's rights in the face of to filter out .xxx sites, there he has died violently, joined
totalitarian beliefs, the outrage was too strong for CNN to ignore. are so far no plans to compel a cult and contracted Syphilis
Nasr also apologized profusely for using a Tweet to comment adult websites to use this have spread virally; YouTube
on the situation, calling the medium "simplistic", and admitting domain, making simple filters was hacked last month to
she should have realized it was insufficient for commenting on ineffective. redirect his videos to porn
sensitive issues. Meanwhile, Chinese sites, and a public poll of which
Nevertheless, CNN dismissed her within three days, with a (Pinyin) has become the next country he should tour was
statement that the company believed her credibility had been international language in which manipulated so that the winner
compromised after the incident. URLs are available. turned out to be North Korea.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 13

 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI
AOC
Stylish LCD TVs
AOC has launched its range of LCD TVs
called Nautilus. AOC’s stylish LCD TV
series is available in 22, 26, 32 and
42-inch screen sizes. AOC Nautilus comes
in a stylish, high gloss piano finish with a
fashionable red and black dual colored
bezel and is available in Full HD and HD
Ready formats, with a super dynamic
contrast ratio of 50,000:1, boasting
amazing picture quality. Other features
include surround sound, Real Color
Engine, USB Cinema and HDMI input. AOC
Nautilus has a built in DMP Engine (Digital
Media Player). The USB Hub present on
the side makes it very easy for users to
connect their other AV gadgets and play
images or audio and video files. AOC
Nautilus provides this ergonomic feature
across its entire LCD TV series.
PRICE: TBA
WEBSITE: www.aocdisplays.in
BUFFALO
Tiny Flash Drive
Buffalo Technology has announced its
ultra-compact USB RUF2 PSG Flash Drive
series. Featuring AES encryption
software, the drive is so small that no
inserting and removing is required; one
can leave it plugged into a laptop
and move. This thumbnail drive
is a fast, easy and
secure way to
transfer data with
14 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Turbo PC and Secure Lock. One can just
leave the drive plugged in and move on
as they only extend 5mm from the laptop.
This new drive can transfer data 20
percent faster as it comes with Turbo PC.
The Thumbnail Flash Drive supports
Microsoft Windows 7 and comes in three
different colors, black, white and red.
PRICE: 2 GB: Rs 700; 4 GB: Rs 1,000; 8
GB: Rs 1,600
WEBSITE: www.buffalo-asia.com
ZYXEL
Compact Wireless
Adapter
ZyXEL Communications has
announced its new NWD-270N
Wireless N-lite USB Adapter, combining
the lightning fast speed and greater range
of 802.11n technology which delivers
maximum convenience to its users. The
new streamlined device provides an easy
and cost-effective way to add or upgrade
the wireless network performance of a
desktop or notebook computer. The
adapter is compatible with a 802.11n
network so users can access high-
speed Internet services and
includes features like WMM QoS
certification to deliver time-
sensitive applications such as video
and voice streaming by optimally
prioritizing data traffic.
PRICE: TBA
WEBSITE: www.zyxel.in
CREATIVE
Compact noise-
cancelling
earphones
Creative has announced the
EP-3NC in-ear noise-
cancelling earphones. The
EP-3NC earphones are
ideal for busy commuters
and travelers who seek
peace in increasingly crowded
environments by shielding them from
annoying ambient noise by up to 90
percent. One of the lightest pairs of active
noise-cancelling earphones available in
the market today, they have an added
feature that enables the user to keep
listening to his/her favorite music or
movie in passive mode after the battery
power has run out—an advantage for
travelers. Tuned Neodymium magnet
drivers offer powerful playback for
today’s digital music or in-flight
entertainment. Combines with the
pristine delivery from high-
quality Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC)
cabling and gold-plated plug, users
will find the Creative EP-3NC earphones
to be an aural delight, anywhere.
PRICE: Rs 5,999
WEBSITE: www.asia.creative.com
INTEX
Dual-SIM QWERTY
phone
The Intex IN 6633 brings Wi-Fi,
face-to-face chat, dual SIM,
and QWERTY keypad features
to users. It is a dual SIM
(GSM+GSM) handset with a soft
and attractive QWERTY
keypad. People hooked on to
the Internet can use Nimbuzz,
the instant messaging tool,
Java, Facebook, and games
like M-Sudoku, etc. Users can
also have a face-to face video
chat on 2G, facilitated by the
dual cameras. Wi-Fi further gives
them faster net surfing, download and
chatting experiences. Push Mail allows
access to 10 mailboxes (on different
portals) without logging in and out again
and again. The phone is very dapper
with a wine-red and black exterior
and a 5.8 cm screen.
PRICE: Rs 4,500
WEBSITE: www.
intextechnologies.com
SMS us!  Story code: NPL to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

The products and services listed here have not been reviewed by IC-CHIP.
These are not endorsements or recommendations. All prices, specifications and
claims are as stated by the respective manufacturers and publicists.

TARGUS tions,
and vivid color options,
ual
rather than the usual
Ergonomic laptop cases e
black and grey. The
P3110, available
Targus has introduced its latest Crave in Cherry Red,
collection of laptop cases made of premium Shiny White and
material that is durable, water and stain Glossy Black, has an
resistant. These new laptop cases were ife of six
excellent battery life
created to merge style with durability in and half hours. It is an 11.6-inch
the rainy season. The fun and funky Crave movie nights or watch the match with your notebook with an ultra-low-voltage Intel
Collection combines unique styling and family and friends with astounding visuals Core 2 Duo processor, high-resolution LED
practical functionality with its cushioned with the LED TV. Imagine playing your screen and Energy Star 5.0 rating. Low
design reminiscent of a plush ski jacket. favorite games on your TV with visual power consumption coupled with long-life
With a colorful blue exterior and vivid effects which bring you even closer to batteries enable users to work for longer
green interior, these cases are made of a feeling that you are IN the game. durations. The Lifebook P3110 weighs just
nylon material with a scratch-resistant PRICE: 32-inch: Rs 42,00; 40-inch: Rs 1.6 kg. An integrated 1.3-megapixel
microfiber interior. Crave cases are 70,000; 46 inch: Rs 95,000 webcam and built-in digital microphone are
available in three styles, which include a WEBSITE: www.technologies.vu perfect for video conferencing. This laptop
16-inch backpack, a 10.2-inch netbook case is 3G enabled and offers maximum data
and laptop slipcases ACER security in terms of Integrated TPM module,
available in four sizes. fingerprint sensor and optional Fujitsu
Crave cases feature Slim, stylish monitor advanced theft protection features.
double foam padding PRICE: Rs 63,500
and a front zippered Acer has launched an innovative TFT WEBSITE: www.fujitsu.com
compartment to store monitor that is poised to change the face of
accessories. PC displays. The S Series monitor, S243HL is WILEY
PRICE: Backpack: Rs a showcase of modern design, sporting a
2,699 razor-thin profile with a depth of only Microsoft Silverlight
WEBSITE: www.
targusonline.com
about half an inch and features an LED that
radiates a soft blue light when power is book
turned on. The Acer S243HL is made for
VU users who expect tasteful design, great With the release of
performance and earth-friendly Silverlight 4.0 and the
Efficient LED TV functionality. Encased in a stylish black Silverlight Control Toolkit,
bezel, it stands out and adds a it is time to start thinking
Vu has brought out their LED collection touch of class to any room. The about entire websites and
which is an efficient range of TVs monitor saves space and uses line of business
designed to enhance your white LED technology for power applications written from
viewing pleasure. They conservation. The Acer S243HL the ground up utilizing the new features
help you save on will be best appreciated by aimed specifically at this type of
electricity bills with their trendy, design-conscious users development. This book will take the user
low powered, energy & earth-caring advocates. through the steps of creating a live fully
efficient LED panels. Also, PRICE: Rs 15,000 functional application for the web utilizing
they are easily degradable WEBSITE: www.acer.co.in Silverlight 4.0, the Silverlight Control
and do not harm your Toolkit, and the new .NET RIA Services
surroundings. The new platform. Readers will learn how to create
range of LED TVs FUJITSU their own fitness tracking website called
guarantees sharp picture FitnessTrackerPlus and create the next
quality and a high Long-life laptop generation of Rich Internet Applications.
contrasts for deep black PRICE: Rs 449
or high brightness. Bring Fujitsu has launched its new WEBSITE: www.wiley.in
out the popcorn and have P3110 laptop with extra gloss – jamshed.avari@chip.in

16 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 NEWSWIRE
FEATURE
Science on the move
NIIT’s Mobile Science Lab is an innovative approach to teaching science by encouraging
students to conduct experiments. BY PRIYANKA TILVE
W
hat happens when the water
reaches its boiling point?
What happens when you add
sulfuric acid to sugar? Why is there a
cooling sensation when we have antacid
pills? It’s easier to get answers to all
these questions and many more now
with NIIT’s Mobile Science Lab.
The Mobile Science Lab is part
of NIIT’s endeavor to come up with
IT-enabled learning solutions to bring
back the joy of learning to young minds.
Abraham Tharakan, Vice President
& Head, Design and Development at
NIIT School Learning Solutions, says
“Conventional methods of teaching and
learning science pose vast challenges
both for teachers and students alike.
Today, science is taught largely in
classrooms with intermittent lab
sessions that allow students to perform
hands-on experiments. This means that
there is a large time gap between theory
18 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and practical, reducing the impact of The Mobile Science Lab allows you
what has been learnt in the classroom. to actually monitor changes that occur
With Mobile Science Lab, we aim to every second during the experiment
bridge this gap; it is a portable science rather than just noting the end result. For
laboratory that comes to the students instance, for checking the boiling point
instead of having the entire class going of water, all you have to do is select the
to the lab.” experiment, connect a thermometer and
Be it in sports or
academics, success comes
to those who inculcate learning
as a 24x7 experience. I am
delighted to unveil a product
that makes teaching and
learning of science a 24x7
fun experience, thus awakening
and encouraging the young
scientists.
– Viswananthan Anand
World Chess Champion and
NIIT Mind Champion
SMS us!  Story code: NNT to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
FEATURE

SPECIFICATIONS
The mobile science lab is made up of a 7-inch TFT LCD touch screen
and it consists of 39 scientific sensors that can be used to measure
various factors. It can typically be used by three students at a time.
The case, alongwith its other components, is made of ABS plastic,
making it sturdy and capable of withstanding rough handling. It
comes with integrated Wi-Fi and works on battery. Maintenance is
easy as it does not consist of any moving parts. The NOVA comes
with a one-year warranty, and NIIT provides three days of training at
the beginning of every academic year for three years.

dip it in a beaker that contains water. As the temperature

of the water rises slowly, the same will be represented on
screen in the form of a graph. Then as the water reaches
boiling point, you will see that the graph is stable as
the temperature remains constant. The Mobile Science
Lab covers a wide range of subjects, including Physics,
Chemistry, Biology and Environmental Sciences. More than
210 experiments from the NCERT-defined curricula for
classes 1–10 can be performed on it with the help of various
accessories.
Owing to its portability, the students can even carry it
during field trips to extract real-time data for conducting
experiments. For example, if students want to check the
amount of carbon dioxide in the air at various parts of the
city, they can do so by simply carrying the Mobile Science
Lab and carbon dioxide sensor with them. The machine will
automatically take readings of all the samples collected, and
store the data.
The device is also equipped with standard features such
as Internet access, word processing, spreadsheets and
e-mail. This helps students tabulate, record and share their
observations during an experiment.
NIIT will make this technology-enabled learning solution
available through computer-aided experimentation, and the
device will make use of Fourier Systems' Nova 5000 science
data logger. NIIT has worked to customize the solution for
use in Indian schools, but it will cost over Rs 1 lakh. If a
school decides to introduce the Mobile Science Lab only
for class 10 students, for example, it will be equipped with
only those apparatuses required for the experiments in the
curriculum and the cost will be calculated accordingly.
– priyanka.tilve@infomedia18.in

Students try out NIIT's Mobile Science Lab at its launch in Mumbai.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 19

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE PRODUCT
OF THE
MONTH
VERDICT

XXXXX
GAMING LAPTOP

DELL
ALIENWARE MX11
VERDICT: Serious gaming on a 11.6-inch laptop.
FOR: Great for gaming, excellent multimedia experience,
extremely portable.
AGAINST: This model is exorbitantly priced, very little value
for money.

LAPTOP
LAP
PTOP

A
lienware
lie
enw
ware gaming notebooks
w no
otebooks
b k are known
kno
own gaming
ming notebooks,, it’s the size and weight.
gam ght. It is
weig
for
or their
fo
XXXX
heir rugged build,
th
h b d, powerful hardware,
are,
excellent performance, and exorbitant price
tags. The new Alienware MX11 gaming notebook
essentially a small
smaller M15X.
5X. The lid and
ler version of the M15
screen frame are thankfully the only parts on the
entire unit with a glossy finish. Typical of Alienware
offers all of this, except for the high price. Let’s find notebooks, you’ll find lights all over, and the keyboard
FOR: XXX
out how. and power button are backlit. Then there are lights
AGAINST:
AGAIA NST: XXXX
Gaming notebooks are a dime a dozen, and in the front and even underneath the unit. Speaking
usually, they are large (about 15 inches), they weigh of underneath the unit, turn the laptop upside down

X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
at least 3 kgs, and offer very little battery runtime.
XXXXXX and you’ll notice an inlet fan (with LEDs) on the
The Asus G51J and the previous Alienware
XXXx models bottom. This fan enables effective air circulation by
- M15X and M17X, are perfect examples, but pulling
utheyant.khilnani@ch
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
dush in air from below, which is then expelled from
hip.in
Alienware M11X has changed everything. It weighs the side-vent.
almost half as much and is slimmer, hence easier Ergonomically, it matches up well with other
to carry. So gaming is no more restricted to desktop Alienware notebooks. The entire wrist rest and the
replacements, but even ultra-portable laptops can textured touchpad have a matte finish, and the
handle serious gaming; that too at a good price. mouse buttons are quite comfortable to use. All the
This new entrant has a 12-inch form factor with ports are at either side and the only connection at
a 11.6-inch screen and weighs less than 2 kgs. In the rear is the DC power connector. In terms of build
terms of aesthetics, if there’s anything about this quality, the overall package, including the chassis and
notebook that’s different from other Alienware hinges, is rock solid.
This machine is built around an IGP chipset; an
Intel G45, which features an Intel GMA X4500 HD
onboard GPU. It also has a discrete GPU - an Nvidia
SPECIFICATIONS GeForce GT335, so you can toggle between the
Rs XXX two when required. Coming back to the low-voltage
www.XXXX.XXXX
processor; it uses an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300, which
XXXXX: XXXXXX;
is common to ULV laptops. The other hardware
CONTACT XXX
PHONE XXX includes 4 GB DDR3 RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and a
EMAIL XXX 11.6-inch glossy screen with a native resolution of
RATINGS 1366x768.
BUILD QUALITY If you notice the hardware, specifically the
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
processor and the absence of an optical drive, it’s
PERFORMANCE hard not to compare it with laptops belonging to
OVERALL RATING
The illumination color of the keyboard, logo and front grille can
be customised. It looks super-cool in the dark. the ultra-portable laptops category. But gaming,
VALUE FOR MONEY

22 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCI to 51818
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT
V
VE RDIC
RD CT

something that this machine is good at, has never

so
been a forte of ULVs. And perhaps that’s the USP of
be
XXXXXX
XXXX
the M11X.
The ports on this machine include VGA, three
USB, FireWire, HDMI and a display port. Connectivity
US
options include 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-Fi N and
op
Bluetooth. The machine comes pre-loaded with
Blu
Windows 7 Home Premium, and the bundle doesn’t
W
include
in
inc much side from an OS recover disc. It’s funny
that they supply optical media, when the machine
tha
doesn’t
d
do have an optical drive to read it.

Typical
T y Alienware features
BINARY GFX: Common to all Alienware gaming
BI
notebooks, this option allows you to manually toggle
no
between discrete and onboard graphics, and it’s very
be
useful, especially when you’re using the machine on
us and this price tag forces us to compare it to a
the go and when you aren’t using it for gaming. gaming laptop in the same price range, like the Asus
STEALTH
LAPTOP MODE: This is another common feature,
ST
L G51J, which costs Rs 99,000, but offers much more
which puts the machine into a mode that helps in terms of features. An Intel Core i7 QM (which is a

XXXX
maximize the battery runtime.
ALIENFUSION: This is a separate interface for
power management of the laptop. It offers the same
powerful quad-core processor), 4 GB DDR3 RAM, two
320 GB hard drives and good discrete graphics are on
offer in the Asus G51. Over and above, its screen is 3D
features as those found in Windows’ power options. compliant and the machine bundles with it Nvidia’s
FOR: XXX
ALIENWARE ALIEN FX: This option let’s people who 3D vision kit.
AGAINST: XXXX X
hate those light effects to turn them off completely So why should you spend so much money on the
using the AlienFX button on the top-right corner of M11X? The standard M11X variant, which costs Rs

X
the keyboard.
XXXXXX Also, for those of you who love the
XX 70,000, is not very bad, especially since itXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
allows you
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
lights, you XXXx
can
XX
XXxchange the colors from the AlienFX to play demanding games on the go. It makes almost
control Panel. The Alienware Command
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
dushyant.khilna Center lets
nani@chip.in no sense to spend Rs 20,000 extra to get an SSD in
you access these features. this machine.
Alienware has smartly used a low-voltage To test performance, we started by playing a 720p
(weaker) processor and a good discrete GPU, which HD movie on this machine and the playback was
is an ideal combination for gaming notebooks, while flawless and completely stutter-free. Although the
it also keeps the price in check. It’s very crucial that sound wasn’t very loud, the clarity was excellent.
you configure this machine properly, to get the best Coming to games, we ran most of the game
value for your money. The M11X with a standard 500 benchmarks at the native resolution and with some
GB hard drive costs Rs 70,000, which is a good price, settings at high. This was mainly to see how the
considering the machine performs under stress. In Crisis Warhead,
SPECIFICATIONS
ultra-portable we got playable frame rates in the performance
Rs 90,000
www.dell.co.in form factor, and mainstream modes, and the gamer’s mode
Dimensions (WxHxD): 285.7 x 32.7 x 233.3 mm; and, the gaming was playable at lower resolutions. The same was
Weight: 1.99 kg; Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300, and multimedia SPECIFICATIONS
SPECIF
the case with Left 4 Dead, where at 1366 x 768 FICATIONS
and
1.30 GHz; Memory: 4 GB DDR3; Hard disk: 256 GB experience. Rs fps,
medium settings and no AA, we got over 40 XXX
XX
SSD; Screen size: 11.6 in; Connectivity: 10/100 www.XXXX.XXXX
www.XX
XXX.XXXX
Ethernet, Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth However, the which is good enough.
XXXXX:
X: XXXXXX;
CONTACT Dell India model we tested This laptop targets a very specific audience. It’s
CONTACT
CON
NTACT XXX
PHONE 1800-425-8046 features an SSD only for someone who wants an affordable laptop
PHONE
PH XXX
EMAIL NA
that adds Rs that can handle demanding games and is EMAIL
extremely XXX
RATINGS 28,000 to the easy to carry around. But the M11X only meets those
BUILD QUALITY
RATINGS
ERGONOMICS
cost. So the criteria if you opt for the Rs 70,000 variant. The
BUILD Rs
QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES total cost of this 90,000 machine, which we tested, is completely
FEATURES
over
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
machine comes the top. PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY up to Rs 98,000, – Dushyant Khilnani
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 23

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A POWERFUL
ION-BASED
LAPTOP WITH
INCREDIBLE
PERFORMANCE.

NETBOOK

ASUS EEEPC 1201N

FOR: Excellent performance, decent price.
AGAINST: Volume could have been better.

T
he EeePC 1201N is not as slim
or as light as the previous
Seashell 1008HA netbook,
which was merely an inch in thickness
and weighed a kilogram. Nevertheless,
at about 1.3-inches in thickness and
weighing about 1.4 kg, this netbook
packs more than double the power and
offers the same style and sexy looks.
In fact, ergonomically, it’s much more
comfortable to use, thanks to the larger
12-inch form factor. Typing on it is more
convenient because the keys aren’t as
SPECIFICATIONS crammed as they are on most netbooks.
other netbooks. Built around Nvidia’s
Ion platform, the Asus EeePC 1201N
is powered by an Intel Atom N330
processor. It has 2 GB RAM, a 250 GB
hard drive, GeForce 9400M integrated
graphics, and a 12.1-inch glossy screen
(1366x768). There’s no optical drive, but
that’s not yet a downside on netbooks.
Other features are rather common,
such as HDMI and VGA ports, webcam,
memory card reader and three USB ports.
Finally, the machine we tested came pre-
loaded with Windows 7 Starter, but there
are also variants that come with Windows

Rs 28,999 Except for the keys and the base, 7 Home Premium. This netbook is twice
www.asus.in which feature a black matte coating, the as powerful in terms of processing and
Dimensions (WxHxD): 297.18 x 33 x 208.3 mm; Weight: entire unit has an overall glossy finish. graphics when compared to entry-level
1.4 kg; Display: 12.1-inch; CPU: Intel Atom N330; RAM: Ports are well-placed at either side and netbooks. As a matter of fact, you can
2 GB; Hard disk: 250 GB; Graphics: Nvidia Ion.
the built-in speakers are in the front, even enjoy light gaming on this machine,
CONTACT Asus India
PHONE 022–67668800 which isn’t the best thing. When using thanks to Nvidia’s Ion platform. In terms
EMAIL helpline_west@asus.com the machine placed on the lap, you might of multimedia, it can seamlessly playback
RATINGS cover the speakers, which easily drowns HD-movies. The battery runtime under
BUILD QUALITY out the sound. medium load is 3 hours 43 minutes, which
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
In terms of features, it is the hardware isn't bad.
PERFORMANCE that distinguishes this machine from all - Dushyant Khilnani
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

24 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS TOUGH 3000
FOR: Excellent build, good color reproduction, 1 GB built-in memory.
AGAINST: Controls are too small, HD video lacks quality and sharpness.
T
he Olympus Tough-3000 is a
point-and-shoot camera that’s built
to withstand punishment. Encased
in a rugged plastic body, it is, as the name
suggests - tough. The device isn’t quite
compact, but it isn’t bulky either. The
camera comes with a 28 mm wide angle
lens, but with only 3.6x optical zoom. The
rear sports a 2.7-inch screen that performs
well under direct sunlight. First-time users
shouldn’t find using this camera difficult
as it comes with a detailed in-camera
manual that explains almost all functions.
Another major plus point for this camera
is its built-in 1 GB memory. The Olympus
Tough-3000 is specifically designed to
withstand harsh weather conditions. It
can survive freezing temperatures of -10
degrees Centigrade and is waterproof
to a depth of 3 meters. Moreover, it
can withstand a fall from as high as 1.5
meters, which we actually tested, and it
did work after the drop test. While these
are all reassuring features, we weren’t too
impressed with the tactility of the device.
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
VERDICT
THIS ONE'S A
TOUGH NUT TO
CRACK,
LITERALLY!
The rubber panel (buttons) are not very The HDMI and USB ports are neatly concealed behind
responsive, forcing you to press really hard an air tight flap that prevents water from seeping in.
to make things work. The overall interface
is good, but it feels a little too sluggish
and it lacks fluidity when changing
modes or settings. The Tough-3000
can record in HD at 720p, but the video
lacks the sort of sharpness and overall
picture quality you would expect from an
HD video. Overall, color and saturation
is handled well, with a decent level of
sharpness. However, images tend to lose
sharpness towards the top edges, though
SPECIFICATIONS
this is only viewable if you scrutinize
them closely. The night mode was a bit
Rs 13,999
www.olympus-imaging.co.in
of a letdown, as the images looked too Dimensions (WxHxD): 95.9 x 65 x 23.4 mm; Weight:
overexposed. The camera’s super macro 160 g; Resolution: 12 megapixels; Focal length (35
range is a sweet 1.3 cm, while the normal mm equiv): 28 - 102 mm; Aperture range: f3.5 – f5.1;
Shutter range: 4 - 1/2000 sec.
macro is 5 cm. The Tough-3000 may
CONTACT Olympus Imaging Corporation
not be the best point-and-shoot camera, PHONE 022-22854495
but it performs well in comparison EMAIL amit_sharma@ot.olympus.co.jp
to other mid-range cameras. At Rs RATINGS
12,999, this is an affordable all-weather BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
camera with decent performance. FEATURES
- Sandeep Balachandran PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 25
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A COMPACT
CAMERA WITH
A GOOD BLEND
OF STYLE AND
PERFORMANCE.

DIGITAL CAMERA

CANON IXUS 105

FOR: Good color reproduction, ISO values till 800, wide angle lens, excellent build.
AGAINST: No HD recording, limited features.

T
The large buttons make the IXUS 105 responsive and
he Canon IXUS 105’s standout
easy to use. feature is its super compact size;
it’s just about the size of your
palm and quite comfortable to hold.
It sports a metal build with a matte
finish that ensures that the body is free
of fingerprints. The camera packs in a
decently sized 2.7-inch screen, which is
pretty impressive considering the size of
the device. Also in contradiction to its
small size, the camera has surprisingly
large buttons, which makes it quite
comfortable to use. Button placement is
SPECIFICATIONS
typical of Canon cameras, with the usual
Rs 10,995 zoom rocker that encircles the shutter
www.canon.co.in
support HD recording. However, the
video output is quite well balanced at a
resolution of 640x480 pixels. The IXUS
105 delivers a near perfect balance of
color and saturation, which is quite rare in
cameras at this price range. Images aren’t
the sharpest, but the overall image quality
is quite usable. It is only the finer details
that the camera loses out on, and those
can only be detected once you zoom in
and scrutinize the image. Images in Low
Light mode display a considerable amount
of noise, making them almost unusable.
The IXUS 105 performs well till ISO
800, beyond which there is a significant

Dimensions (WxHxD): 90.5 x 55.8 x 21.2 mm; Weight: release button. You also get a decent 4x decrease in image quality. The camera’s
140 g; Resolution: 12.1 megapixels; Focal length optical zoom with a 28 mm wide angle macro range is a little disappointing at 3
(35mm equiv): 28 - 112 mm; Aperture range: f2.8 – lens. The interface is similar to other cm, but overall details are captured quite
f5.9; Shutter range: 15 - 1/1500 sec.
Canon cameras, with a total of 12 shooting well. The Canon IXUS 105 has a great
CONTACT Canon India
PHONE 1800-180-33-66 modes. The low light mode, a regular mix of style and performance, but it is a
EMAIL info@canon.co.in feature in recent Canon cameras, allows little short on features. For Rs 10,995, one
RATINGS you to shoot at a much higher ISO value would expect at least HD video recording.
BUILD QUALITY (max 5000), but at a limited resolution But if you’re not too keen on hi-res videos,
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
of 2 megapixels. The video mode was a the Canon IXUS 105 will do just fine.
PERFORMANCE bit of a letdown though, since it doesn’t - Sandeep Balachandran
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

26 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

AN AVERAGE
PERFORMER
FOR ITS PRICE.

DIGITAL CAMERA

CASIO EXILIM Z550

FOR: Decent color reproduction, neat set of shooting options, 2.7-inch display.
AGAINST: Noise at low ISO, disappointing night mode.

T
The calendar view allows you to quickly review
he Casio EX-Z550 is a compact
images taken on a specific date. little camera with a mixed
plastic and metal construction.
The camera features a high resolution
14.1 megapixel CCD sensor that comes
combined with a decent 4x optical
zoom. The Z550 also boasts a wide
angle lens (26 mm) that allows you to
capture a much wider frame. Despite
its diminutive size, the camera manages
to accommodate a 2.7-inch LCD
display, which works well, but feels
too reflective when used in a well lit
SPECIFICATIONS
area. The interface is quite simple to
Rs 10,995 comprehend, and options for flash, ISO,
www.casioindiacompany.com
camera's strongest facet, thanks to some
panning issues. There is also a visible
amount of noise when capturing video
under low light. However, the playback
quality is smooth. The Z550 does a good
job of capturing color. At times, the reds
and yellows tend to look a little dull,
but the overall picture is well balanced.
Sharpness and detail aren’t great though.
There is considerable loss in details
when pictures are viewed at 100 percent.
In night shots, the image tends to be
too blotched and hazy, with a yellow
tinge and a slight reduction in color.
The Macro mode is one of the camera’s

Dimensions (WxHxD): 99 x 53 x 20 mm; Weight: 140 timer, etc. are conveniently located. strong points, and the Super Macro mode
g; Resolution: 14.1 megapixels; Focal length (35mm The Z550 also comes with a allows you to take close up shots from
equiv): 26 - 104 mm; Aperture range: f2.6 – f5.9; dedicated record button for video a distance of 2 cm. This is a straight
Shutter range: 4 - 1/2000 sec.
capture. The Z550 packs in a whopping forward point-and-shoot aimed at casual
CONTACT Casio India company
PHONE 011 - 47154346 43 shooting modes. Amongst these, users. It offers a wide range of shooting
EMAIL sachins@casioindiacompany.com the silent mode gives you the freedom modes and the ability to record video in
RATINGS to record video in black and white and HD, even if video quality isn’t the best.
BUILD QUALITY without audio. Like all cameras these But with an asking price of Rs 10,250, you
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
days, there is the obvious Intelligent cannot ask for much more.
PERFORMANCE Auto mode. Video recording is not the - Sandeep Balachandran
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

28 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER
COWON J3
FOR: Lightweight, great design, superb audio quality, memory expansion.
AGAINST: Lag evident when accessing high resolution images.
T
he Cowon J3 is as generic in design
as PMPs get. That being said, it’s
still a very sleek device that’s just
9.9 mm in depth. The 3.3-inch Super
AMOLED touchscreen (capacitive) display
sports a resolution of 272x480 pixels
and as expected, it’s crystal clear and
extremely comfortable for viewing. It’s
also scratch-resistant to quite an extent.
We loaded it with an 8 GB microSD card,
and it worked without a hitch and no
speed loss during operation. The bundled
3.5 mm standard earphones work quite
well and are easy on the ears in both tone
quality and comfort. The Flash-based UI
is simple, smooth, responsive and easy to
navigate. The J3 also employs the use of
multiple pages. Options can be dragged
to different screens just like you would
in an iPod Touch or iPhone. The J3 also
supports multitouch, which is every bit
as responsive as Apple’s. The J3 can dish
out some seriously high quality sound
if your music files are optimized. The
most impressive feature is the inclusion
of iAudio’s Jet Effect 3.0 settings, which
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
VERDICT
THE COWON
J3 OFFERS
AN IN-DEPTH
AUDIO
EXPERIENCE.
offer customizable options to enhance
overall audio quality. BBE+, which is a Thanks to the microSD slot, the player's memory can
licensed audio enhancement engine, be expanded by up to 16 GB.
is also on-board to further customize
the audio, as are options for Stereo
Enhancement Reverb effect. Video
playback is also a plus point; you can
drag, drop and play videos of popular
formats like DivX and XviD. The FM radio
worked quite well too, although it did
take over 15 seconds to locate most of
the channels. The J3 also has a built-in
voice recorder, support for TXT files and
Flash games, and wireless connectivity
via Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. With music
SPECIFICATIONS
playback on a non-stop loop, the device Rs 12,500
www.cowonindia.in
ran for over 50 hours, which is excellent.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 56 x 106.5 x 9.9 mm; Weight: 76
While playing video, the J3 ran for a little g; Display: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixels; Video codecs:
over 9 hours 45 minutes. The Cowon J3 DivX, XviD and WMV; Audio codecs: MP3, WMA, OGG,
FLAC, WAV and APE; Connectivity: USB and Bluetooth.
is available in three capacities – 4 GB, 8
CONTACT Lipap Systems
GB and 16 GB that are priced at Rs 10,750, PHONE 022-28743457
Rs 12,500 and Rs 14,500 respectively. EMAIL iaudio@lipap.com
That’s not too bad considering its
RATINGS
features. For the true audiophile, the BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
J3 is a great option for the price.
FEATURES
– Shayne Rana PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 29
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

NOKIA'S N900
HAS PLENTY OF
POTENTIAL,
BUT COMES OFF
AS A WORK IN
PROGRESS.

SMARTPHONE

NOKIA N900
FOR: UI is well designed, supports DivX, XviD, FLV, excellent browser
AGAINST: Music player volume is low, UI is sometimes sluggish and buggy.

N
okia’s N900 is more of a mobile preloaded FM radio, but it has a built-in

The 5 megapixel camera is equipped with dual LED

computing device or mobile
flash and has a sliding cover for protection. Internet device than a phone. It’s
bulky, but like the N96 or N95, it’s still
easy to carry around. The 3.5-inch display
is bright and clear with a surprisingly
responsive resistive touchscreen. The
slide-out QWERTY keypad takes a while
to get used; it’s small, but the placement
of the keys is good. In addition to the 32
GB of built-in memory, the N900 also
supports MicroSD cards of up to 16 GB.
In keeping with today’s multiple-desktop
trends, the N900 offers widget, shortcut
SPECIFICATIONS
and bookmark support, enabling quick
Rs 28,449 and easy access to your favorite features,
www.nokia.co.in
antenna, so you can download an FM
radio app. The video player supports
almost all codecs, including DivX and
XviD. Connectivity options include 3G,
GPRS/EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and
USB 2.0. While the native browser is
fantastic, a few of its functions didn’t
work. Push mail is also fully supported.
The handset’s GPS module took quite
a while to locate a signal for Ovi Maps,
and the Geotagging function didn’t work
too well either. Image quality from the
standard 5 megapixel autofocus camera
was decent, but colors seemed a bit
dull. The N900 has the poorest battery

Dimensions (WxHxD): 59.8 x 110.9 x 18 mm; although a few applications took quite amongst Nokia’s handsets. On a full
Weight: 181 g; Display: 3.5-inch, 800 x 480 pixels; a long time to load. For existing Nokia charge, you get just a little over 12 hours
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-FI and USB; Camera: 5 MP, users, switching over to the new OS will of usage, while Android devices and
autofocus; Memory: 32 GB; Talk time: 6.5 hours.
be a cinch as they’ve tried to retain as other N-Series handsets manage much
CONTACT Nokia India
PHONE 0124-4833000 much of the Symbian UI as possible. Also, more. As much potential as the N900
EMAIL NA you can use any and every part of the may have, it’s still a work in progress for
RATINGS UI without the use of the pesky stylus. the Indian market. One might as well go
BUILD QUALITY The music player, although capable of with the N97 or Mini instead, which offer
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
clear tones, dishes them out at a very almost as much as the N900 does.
PERFORMANCE low decibel level. The N900 doesn’t have - Shayne Rana
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

30 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MOBILE PHONE

LEMON iQ 707
VERDICT: The iQ 707 is certainly no lemon.
FOR: Lightweight, good QWERTY keypad, quick interface, decent battery life.
AGAINST: Dodgy software, inconvenient dual SIM sockets, poor camera.

W
ith a shiny chrome ring running but we were unable to play any AVI files.
all around, the Lemon iQ 707 There’s no Wi-Fi and 3G; just Bluetooth
is certainly a looker. It sports and EDGE. The device comes bundled
a QWERTY keypad, which seems sturdy with Opera Mini, and Nimbuzz IM, and
SPECIFICATIONS and responsive. The 2.2-inch TFT display there are shortcuts to Facebook, Twitter,
Rs 4,499 is a bit tiny, but bright. The dual-SIM etc. There's an email app that supports
www.lemonmobiles.com feature sports slots on top of each other, POP3 and IMAP4, but we couldn't get it
Dimensions (WxHxD): 61.5 x 111.9 x 11.9 mm; making it quite inconvenient to insert a to work with Gmail. The 3.2 megapixel
Weight: 96 g; Display: 2.2-inch; Camera: 3.2 MP; SIM card. Internal memory is a measly 20 camera works well only in well-lit
Memory: 20 MB; Talk time: 4.5 hours.
MB, though there is support for memory environments. The 1100 mAh battery
CONTACT Lemon Mobiles
PHONE 9810924618 cards of up to 8 GB. The audio out is comes pretty close to the manufacturer's
EMAIL lopa.mohanty@lemonmobiles.com through the mini-USB port, but a USB- claim of 4.5 hours talk time. If you're on
RATINGS to-3.5 mm adapter is included. The iQ a tight budget and want to try a good-
BUILD QUALITY 707 comes with a nice, quick interface, looking QWERTY phone, then the Lemon
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
but it can be a bit frustrating at times. iQ 707 may be a good starting point.
PERFORMANCE The music and video players are basic, - Ivor Soans
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

MOBILE PHONE

ZEN S10 DUAL SIM

VERDICT: A good looking handset, but there is nothing truly special about it.
FOR: Good looking, comfortable design, good FM reception.
AGAINST: Average music quality, poor battery life.

T
he S10 is a rather masculine
looking handset encased in its
all metal, chromed body. It isn’t
exactly lightweight, but holding it gives
you a reassuring feel. The S10 employs
a Nokia Sirocco series-like slider with
an enclosed keypad. The keypad looks
small and compact, but you’ll quickly get
used to it. A power button is located at
the top and a universal mini USB port
for the headset and charger is located
at the bottom. The S10 also packs in a
2 megapixel camera with an LED flash.
Unfortunately, the S10 doesn’t have
comes to the UI, Nokia users should find
the transition comfortable. The quick
access shortcut bar on the desktop is
reminiscent of a Nokia Series 40 handset.
Basic GPRS/WAP is all the S10 has
to offer in terms of network connectivity.
This means no email, but you will be
SPECIFICATIONS
able to send and receive MMS. The only
Rs 4,999
social networking option available is www.zenmobile.in
an MSN Windows Live chat app. Other Network support: GSM 900/1800; Display: 2.2 in,
connectivity features include Bluetooth 128x160 pixels; Camera: 2 megapixels; Connectivity:
USB and Bluetooth; Rated talk time: Up to 10 hours.
and USB. It also doubles up as a webcam
CONTACT Zen Mobiles
when connected to a PC. PHONE 011-46555676
The battery life is one of the phone’s EMAIL NA

hot swap for the microSD card, but on biggest drawbacks. Its 800mAh battery is
RATINGS
the plus side, Zen has included a 2 GB capable of less than a day’s usage and it BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
card. The 2.2-inch display is quite clear had to be charged quite frequently.
FEATURES
for viewing in all conditions. When it - Shayne Rana PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

32 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

THE XPERIA
X10 MINI
MIGHT BE
SMALL BUT IT
PACKS SOME
HEAVY DUTY
FEATURES.
MOBILE PHONE

SONY ERICSSON XPERIA

X10 MINI
FOR: Comfortable design, smooth UI, good audio quality, great camera, good
battery life. The Xperia X10 Mini is very compact, but the battery is
not removable.
AGAINST: The glossy face attracts dust and fingerprints.

T
here’s never a dull moment with the
Xperia X10 Mini. It’s small, easy to
operate, and comfortable to hold.
The lightweight handset features a 2.5-
inch capacitive touchscreen. The Android
OS (v1.6) runs on the Mini’s Qualcomm
MSM7227 600MHz processer, making
the UI extremely zippy. Sony Ericsson’s
TimeScape UI works well and is easy to
navigate using just your thumb. The music
player is simple and capable of providing
loud and clear tones. The FM radio didn’t
work out too well, as sound reception
wasn’t very good. The Mini supports 3GP
and MPEG4 video, but the screen size and
resolution don’t make it easy to watch for
too long. The Mini is 3G-enabled and it
also supports EDGE and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth
v2.1 with A2DP is also available, and
well. The Android browser is great, and
its zoom feature is a real blessing. Push
email is also available and it’s really easy
to set up your email accounts. The phone
packs a very capable 5 megapixel camera
into its tiny body, but we were unable to
access any of the settings except for the
scene mode and flash. Photos came out
really well, with colors and clarity that do
justice to the price. The 950 mAh battery
allowed over a day and a half of usage
SPECIFICATIONS
with email, geotagging, and IM turned
on. Talk time averaged at around 3 hours
Rs 16,475
www.sonyericsson.com
15 minutes, which is quite impressive. Dimensions (WxHxD): 50 x 83 x 16 mm; Weight: 88 g;
However, the battery cannot be removed, Display: 2.55-inch, 240 x 320 pixels; Connectivity:
so if the handset hangs, there’s no quick Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB; Camera: 5 MP, autofocus;
Memory: 128 MB; Talk time: 4 hours.
fix. The X10 Mini’s Rs 16,475 price tag
CONTACT Sony Ericsson
may seem a little steep, but for all it has PHONE 1800 11 1800
to offer, it really isn't. If you’re looking for EMAIL NA

it packs in GPS with apps like Google a handset that does everything, is easy RATINGS
Maps, GeoTags and WisePilot. Although to use, and is as cute as button, you BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
the small screen becomes an issue, the can’t go wrong with the X10 Mini. FEATURES
handset handles the GPS software really - Shayne Rana PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 33

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

DEFINITELY A
YES IF YOU’RE
SERIOUS ABOUT
3-WAY SLI OR
QUAD-
CROSSFIRE.

MOTHERBOARD

MSI BIG BANG XPOWER

FOR: 4-way CrossFire support, buttons for overclocking and over-volting.
AGAINST: Dual NF200 bridges for 4-way SLI support would have been cool.

M
There's a lot to tinker with at the bottom — OC Genie,
SI’s Big Bang series of enthusiast
over-volting DIP switches, voltage check points, etc. motherboards has some insane
models packed to the gills
with features that will blow your socks
off. Big Bang XPower features the Intel
X58 chipset, which means it supports
Intel Core i7 CPUs that come in socket
LGA 1366 package. The first thing that
you’ll notice is a fleet of PCIe x16 slots.
There are six of them; two run at full
x16 speed, two run at x8, and two run
at x4. Support for CrossFire is offered
by the X58 chipset, plus MSI has thrown
in an NF200 bridge for SLI. Thus, this
SPECIFICATIONS board supports quad-CrossFire and up
Rs 19,000 to 3-way SLI. We feel MSI should have
www.in.msi.com
gone all out and added another NF200
Socket: LGA 1366; Chipset: Intel X58; Memory:
bridge to offer 4-way SLI support.
DDR3-1333 (24 GB max); SATA | USB: 8 | 11 (four via
headers); Expansion slots: 6x PCIe x16 and 1x PCIe x1; The Big Bang XPower packs in some
LAN: Dual gigabit. uber-cool features on-board. First of all,
CONTACT MSI Computer India it uses military class components (Hi-C
PHONE 011-41758808
EMAIL sanyam@msi.com caps and new generation ferrite core
chokes) that MSI claims have eight times
RATINGS
FEATURES
longer life-span, run cooler and facilitate
PERFORMANCE overclocking. At the bottom of the board,
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
you’ll find touch-sensitive buttons for
adjusting base clock (BClk) on the fly,
an automatic overclocking button (OC
Genie), and DIP switches for over-volting.
Even the power and reset buttons are
touch-sensitive.
Serious overclockers will like the
provision of check points for measuring
votages with a multimeter. The rear
panel has a pair of eSATA and USB 3.0
ports, a FireWire 400 port, dual gigabit
LAN jacks and a proprietary socket to
which a bundled overclocking device (OC
Dashboard) hooks up. The OC Dashboard
works straight out of the box; no drivers
required. It allows you to adjust Bclk and
voltages and displays fan speed and CPU
temperature. The package also includes
eSATA and USB rear brackets, three SLI
links and a 7.1-channel QuantumWave
soundcard that fits into the PCIe x1 slot.
We configured three GTX 470s in SLI on
this board just for kicks and it worked
without any hiccups.
– Anand Tuliani

34 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

DESKTOP SPEAKERS

CREATIVE INSPIRE S2
VERDICT: The S2 is slightly expensive considering its overall performance.
FOR: Decent highs and bass.
AGAINST: Weak mids, bass tends to get boomy at high volumes, expensive.

T
he Creative Inspire S2 is a 2.1
desktop audio system that
features a very slick design. The
package consists of a direct throw
subwoofer and a pair of satellites. The
satellites connect to the sub-woofer,
however, the right speaker comes fixed
to the woofer, so you can’t unplug it.
Nevertheless, the system is compact
and rather well designed. The right
speaker consists of an aux in and a
provision to connect your headphones.
adjust the bass.
The Creative Inspire S2 speakers deliver
rather decent sound and listening to
music is quite a joy. The bass is rich, but
SPECIFICATIONS
needs to be adjusted depending on the
music you are listening to. It delivers quite
Rs 5,999
www.in.creative.com
a punch, but there are times when the Dimensions (WxHxD): satellite - 74 x 73 x 103 mm,
bass tends to be quite boomy. The highs subwoofer - 232 x 180 x 200 mm; Power rating (RMS)
were also handled well while the mids (subwoofer/satellites/total): 17/6/39; Signal-to-noise
ratio (rated): 75 db
were on the weaker side. The S2 also
CONTACT Creative India
handled music at near full volumes well, PHONE 022-64510751
but listening to genres like rock and metal EMAIL india_getcreativek@ctl.creative.com

Here, you will also find the volume control threw out a boomy bass. On the other RATINGS
slider that doubles up as a power knob. hand, the S2 sounds best when listening BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
The rear of the woofer has left speaker to genres like pop and hip hop. FEATURES
audio out, and a knob that allows you to - Sandeep Balachandran PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

DESKTOP SPEAKERS

ARTIS S-DUAL USB FM

VERDICT: Good budget desktop speakers with pleasant sound quality.
FOR: Good sound quality at mid-level volumes.
AGAINST: Inconvenient placement of the control panel, harsh at high volume.

C
hoosing desktop speakers can be small control panel on the top, making it
a very tricky decision, especially uncomfortable to operate when placed
when you’re looking for budget on the floor. It features a USB and MMC
speakers without compromising on sound card reader along with a few buttons
quality and features. The Artis Dual USB to control the input selection, playback,
FM is a 2.1-channel desktop multimedia and select/scan FM radio stations.
speaker set with a power output of 2800 The rear of the subwoofer features the
SPECIFICATIONS
Watts PMPO. The product features a FM antenna and the bass control.
Rs 2,700
www.artis.co.in built-in FM radio and MP3 player with The speakers performed surprisingly
Dimensions (W x H x D): subwoofer - 250 x 195 x 270 support for flash storage via the USB well with average bass and mid tones
mm, satellites - 73 x 175 x 75 mm; Power output: 1400 and MMC card reader. The sub-woofer along with extreme highs. The bass
Watts + 700 Watts x 2 PMPO; Frequency response: 20
comprises of two 4-inch drivers, while the is pleasant but it lacks ‘thump’. The
Hz – 20 KHz; SNR: 65 DB.
two satellites have a single 2.5-inch driver speakers sound good at up to 70 percent
CONTACT Kunhar Peripherals
PHONE 022-66345758 each. The speakers are controlled via an volume level beyond which it sounds
EMAIL mail@kunhar.com in-line volume control pod, which also very harsh. The S-Dual USB FM is a
RATINGS features line-in and headphone jacks; it great choice, but only for those who like
BUILD QUALITY can only control the input via the aux input listening to music at low volume levels.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
from the computer. The subwoofer has a - Francis Dsa
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 35

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A GREAT
ROUTER WITH
HASSLE-FREE
INSTALLATION
AND GOOD
PERFORMANCE.

WI-FI ROUTER

BELKIN PLAY MAX

FOR: Simple installation, loads of features, good performance, USB ports.
AGAINST: No network status indicators.

I
Gigabit Ethernet ports and two USB ports for sharing
f you are unfamiliar with setting up
printers and storage are highlighted on the rear panel. a wireless router and want to avoid
the hassles of configuring its tedious
security, Belkin’s Play Max can be of great
help. The 802.11 N-based router is pre-
configured with security for straight-out-
of-the-box use. The Play Max supports
dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) 802.11 N
with MIMO technology for faster speeds
of up to 300 Mb/s. The security features
include 256-bit WPA and WPA2/PSK
encryption and 64-bit WEP encryption.
Other standard features such as NAT,
SPECIFICATIONS
SPI firewall and WPS are available.
Rs 8,199
www.belkin.co.in The Play Max has a rugged build and
Dimensions (WxHxD): 75 x 175 x 180 mm; Weight: 369 houses twin antennae internally. The
g; Network standards: 802.11a/b/g/n; Bandwidth: 20 rear features five gigabit Ethernet ports,
MHz, 40 MHz, auto; Encryption: 256-bit WPA/WPA2,
including one for the Internet connection.
64/128-bit WEP; Interface: Gigabit Ethernet (4 x LAN,
1 x WAN), 2 x USB 2.0 (printer/storage) Two USB 2.0 ports to share USB storage
CONTACT Belkin India or printers over the network are the icing
PHONE 0124-6688800 on the cake. The router bundles the Belkin
EMAIL vibhavm@belkin.com
Router Manager, which includes useful
RATINGS applications such as Bit Boost, Music
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
Mover, Daily DJ, Music Labeler, Memory
PERFORMANCE Safe, Torrent Genie and Self-healing.
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
Setting up the Play Max is simple.
We simply plugged in the router to the
Internet modem, powered it up, and the
device was instantly visible in the WLAN
list on the laptop. The router includes a
small card containing SSID and security
key details. After entering the details,
we were ready to surf the Internet. The
router performed well even in constricted
spaces and from a distance of 50 meters,
providing sufficient signal strength.
Network performance and Internet
connectivity was comparable to standard
Wi-Fi routers, but transfer of data from
the laptop to the USB storage on the
router wirelessly was a bit slow.
Overall, the Belkin Play Max is intended
for those who are looking for a simple and
feature-rich router with good performance
and simple installation. But using
advanced features such as backup, music
gadgets and the automatic torrent handler
can be a little complicated for those who
are new to Wi-Fi routers.
- Francis D'sa

36 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


LASER PRINTER
SAMSUNG ML-2526
VERDICT: One of the smallest and fastest mono laser printers on the market.
FOR: Speedy printing, small footprint, rugged build.
AGAINST: Slightly expensive.
C
laiming to be the world’s smallest
laser printer, the Samsung ML-2526
is truly a laser printer with the
smallest footprint we have seen till date.
It can print at resolutions of 1200x600
dpi with blazing speeds of 24 ppm. The
enclosed input paper tray can hold 250
sheets, providing a dust-free environment
for the paper sheets. A simple control
panel is located on top, comprising of
just three buttons - Power, Cancel and
Print Screen, along with two indicator
LEDs, one each for power and errors. The
ML-2526 brings back the Print Screen
function, which lets you print the exact
contents of the entire screen in just a
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 21,990
www.panache.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 88 x 253 x 230 mm; Weight: 3.13
kg; CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7500, 2.93 MHz; RAM 4 GB
DDR2; Chipset: Nvidia nForce 630i; HDD: 500 GB; DVD
writer: Slim; USB: 8 ports.
CONTACT Panache Infotech
PHONE 022-25007002
EMAIL bhavin@panache.co.in
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
few seconds. If you hold the button for
more than two seconds, the printer prints
only the active window. The print quality,
especially in graphics, was unsatisfactory.
The linearization test exposed the inability
of the printer to handle smooth gradation
of black to grey. However, regular text
and standard graphics for presentations
print extremely well. The toner cartridge
costs Rs 2,493 and yields 1,500 pages,
pegging the print economy at just Rs
1.75. Considering the performance,
feature set, print economy and small
footprint, this printer is best suited for
home use, small offices and SMBs.
- Francis D'sa
SMALL FORM FACTOR PC
PANACHE BLACK CURRENT 2.0
VERDICT: The small size is its USP, but upgrading it is near impossible.
FOR: Small footprint, feature-rich, roomy hard drive, ample RAM installed.
AGAINST: Below average build quality, non-upgradable.
T
he Panache Black Current is a slim
desktop PC with some character
below the hood. Though the unit
looks tiny, it is a fully functional computer
and can be used for basic-to-mainstream
computing for homes or small businesses.
Graphic designers and gamers can look
elsewhere; this one is not a workhorse
and you cannot upgrade the onboard
display with a graphics card. The slim
cabinet is an all-black metal casing with
a powder-finish but glossy paint, and it
attracts dust and scratches quite easily.
The PC is built around a nForce 630i
chipset with an Intel Core 2 Duo E7500
processor clocked at 2.93 MHz, and 4 GB
of DDR2 RAM. The 2.5-inch hard drive
is a roomy 500 GB and the optical drive
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 8,999
www.samsung.com
Dimensions (W x H x D): 360 x 197 x 389 mm; Weight:
7.3 kg; Print resolution: 1200 x 600 dpi; Input paper
tray: 250 sheets; Monthly duty cycle: 12,000 pages.
CONTACT Samsung India
PHONE 0124-4881234
EMAIL m.aditya@samsung.com
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
provided is a slim line DVD writer. Six USB
ports, VGA and DVI interfaces, gigabit
Ethernet and a 5.1-channel audio-out
show up on the rear panel, while the front
panel features two USB ports and audio
in/out jacks. The interior of the cabinet
seems quite cluttered, with absolutely
no room for any additional components.
But there is sufficient space for air flow
and a single exhaust fan does the job.
The Panache is aimed at those who
require a simple entry-level desktop PC
for space-constrained homes or offices.
All that you need to get started are a
mouse, keyboard, monitor and a pair of
speakers. The Black Current 2.0 ships
with SUSE Linux operating system.
- Francis D'sa
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 37
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

EXTERNAL STORAGE POWER SUPPLY UNIT USB HUB

SEAGATE FREEAGENT CORSAIR AX1200 ROCCAT APURI

GOFLEX DESK VERDICT: Perfect for high-end VERDICT: A very convenient USB hub
workstations and gaming rigs. with four fully-powered ports.
VERDICT: The ideal personal backup FOR: Fully modular design, flat cables, FOR: Superb design, excellent build
solution. 7-year warranty. quality, fully-powered ports.
FOR: Good aesthetics, upgradable. AGAINST: None. AGAINST: None.
AGAINST: Glossy body.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS

Rs 7,100 $260 (approx Rs 12,300) Rs 2,500
www.seagate.com www.corsair.com www.roccat.org

Dimensions (WxHxD): 44 x 158 x 124 mm; Weight: 944 g; Dimensions (WxHxD): 150 x 87 x 200 mm; Max wattage: 1204.8 Dimensions (WxHxD): 130 x 65 x 130 mm; USB 2.0 ports: 4;
Capacity: 2 TB; Interface: USB 2.0. W; Current on +12 V: 100.4 A; Connectors: 6x peripheral and Additional power source: 5 V, 2A.
CONTACT Fortune Marketing SATA, 8x PCIe and CPU and 1x 24-pin ATX; Fan: 130 mm. CONTACT Mihira Tech
PHONE 011-26414468 CONTACT Corsair Memory PHONE 9893086869
EMAIL sales@fortune-it.com PHONE 1800-425-5464 EMAIL info@mihiratech.com
EMAIL salesindia@corsair.com
RATINGS RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY RATINGS BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES FEATURES FEATURES
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY

T he Seagate GoFlex Desk kit is a

superbly built external storage
drive, which comprises of two units -
the storage device and the base, which
is basically a SATA-to-USB adapter
with a power indicator and capacity
gauge. The unit has a rugged build
with a glossy face and matte sides.
The drive performs just like any
other external USB storage drive,
with average read and write speeds
of 29 MB/s and 25 MB/s respectively.
Alternatively, you can get higher
performance from the drive by
attaching the optional FireWire 800 or
USB 3.0 adapters. Also available are
GoFlex Desk Drive Only packs, which
contain only the storage drives in 1 TB,
2 TB and 3 TB capacities. The drive
bundles the Memeo automatic backup,
sync and encryption software stored on
the hard drive itself.
- Francis D'sa
B e it a 4-way CrossFire or 3-way
SLI setup using high-end graphics
cards, throw in a bunch of hard drives
in RAID, and this massive 1200 W PSU
will handle it all with great ease. The
Corsair AX1200 sports a fully modular
design and bears the 80 Plus Gold
seal. Corsair claims this PSU delivers
more than 90 percent efficiency
at full load with a 230 V input.
The advantage of modular design
is that you can use only those cables
that you need, thereby reducing cable
clutter. The package includes one
24-pin ATX cable, two EPS 12V CPU
cables, six PCIe cables, five SATA
cables, four 4-pin Molex cables, and
two FDD adapters. All the cables are
flat, with ribbon design and the ones
for graphics cards and main power are
meshed. All these come neatly packed
in a nylon case.
- Anand Tuliani
T he RoccatApuri is no ordinary USB
hub. It sports a whacky design
and convenient features, which include
four fully-powered USB ports and a
flexible cable mount called a mouse
bungee. Although it works when you
hook it up to a USB port, a 5V adapter
is provided so that multiple power-
hungry devices, such as portable hard
drives, when plugged in simultaneously,
receive adequate power. The mouse
bungee, which looks like a scorpion’s
tail, is a flexible rubber cable mount
that holds the mouse cable so that it
doesn’t drag or stretch when you move
the mouse. The device stays glued
to the desk thanks to its rubberised
feet. The all-black Apuri has a smooth
rubberised finish and looks great in
the dark with the illuminated logo on
the base lighting up the ports and
the surface on which it rests.
- Anand Tuliani

38 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

USB FLASH DRIVE WEBCAM WIRELESS MOUSE

PATRIOT XPORTER MINI TAG 20 MP WEB CAM TARGUS WIRELESS

VERDICT: Ideal for storing and sharing
small amounts of data.
FOR: Rubberized body, small size.
AGAINST: Sluggish performance.
VERDICT: A simple webcam with an
effective resolution of 0.3 megapixel.
FOR: Good image quality, mounts on TFT
monitors and laptop screens.
AGAINST: Misleading specifications, no
bundled application, average build.
COMFORT LASER MOUSE
VERDICT: Exquisitely designed keeping
both right and left handed users in mind.
FOR: Good design, rubberized grip.
AGAINST: Ultra smooth scroll wheel.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS

Rs 485 Rs 999 Rs 1,775
www.technologyandgadgets.com www.technologyandgadgets.com www.rptechindia.com

Dimensions: 42 x 8 x 18 mm, Weight: 8 g; Interface: USB 2.0; Resolution: 640x480; Focus: Manual; Interface: USB 2.0; Focus Dimensions: 57 x 34 x 108 mm; Connectivity: RF 2.4 GHz;
Capacity: 4 GB. range: 5 cm to infinity. Operating range: 33 feet; Weight: 118 g; Battery: AA x 2.
CONTACT Technology and Gadgets CONTACT Technology and Gadgets CONTACT Rashi Peripherals
PHONE 022-23823331 PHONE 022-23823331 PHONE 022-67090828
EMAIL sales@technologyandgadgets.com EMAIL sales@technologyandgadgets.com EMAIL response@rptechindia.com

RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS

BUILD QUALITY BUILD QUALITY BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES FEATURES ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE FEATURES
OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

M easuring just 1.6 inches, this

USB flash drive by Patriot has a
rugged build. The rubberized exterior
makes it easy to grip, reducing the
chances of accidental drops. The drive
can store 4 GB of data; enough for a
few movies or a bunch of documents
or songs. The rubber body has a
provision for use as a keychain and
the snug-fitting USB cap ensures that
you won’t lose the cap easily. This
flash drive has very disappointing
performance when compared to
regular pen drives. Write speeds are
ridiculously slow, while the read speeds
were above average. We transferred
a single 1 GB file as well as multiple
files amounting to 1 GB between the
drive and our test PC's hard drive. The
read speed is average at 9.3 MB/s
(single file), but the write speed is
dismal at a sluggish 3.8 MB/s.
- Francis Dsa
A 20 megapixel webcam! A
manufacturer shouldn’t go this
far to create gimmicks that not only
sound ridiculous, but also mislead
the customer. When we hooked this
webcam to our PC, we found it was a
plain Jane webcam with a resolution
of 640x480 pixels; a meagre 0.3
megapixel. The package includes only
the webcam; a driver disc isn’t included
because the webcam doesn’t need
any drivers for installation. Just plug
it into a USB port and Windows will
automatically install a generic driver.
The webcam works with chat clients
such as Yahoo Messenger and MSN
Messenger, but if you wish to capture
videos or images, you’ll need a third-
party application. The only thing we
liked about this webcam was its stand
that allows mounting on the frame
of an LCD monitor or laptop.
- Anand Tuliani
T he Targus AMW51AP is an
ergonomically designed wireless
mouse that can be used with laptops
as well as desktops. It features a 1200
dpi laser sensor that smoothens out
movements and improves accuracy to
a great extent. Moreover, its 2.4 GHz
frequency gives it an operating distance
of up to 33 feet. The mouse features
a very lucid design, where the bottom
half sports a soft rubberized layer that
provides superior grip and comfort.
The top layer of the mouse, where
your palm rests, is easily detachable
as it is only held in place by three
magnets. Here, you will find a well
designed retention system that holds
the two AA batteries in place, while
also securing the micro USB receiver
within it. Flip the mouse over and you
will find a battery life indicator that
displays the amount of power left.
- Sandeep Balachandran

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 39

 TEST CENTER
TESTED SOFTWARE
SPOTLIGHT
PHOTO ENHANCING AND ORGANIZING TOOL
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
LIGHTROOM 3.0
VERDICT: One of the finest tools for enhancing and organizing photos just got a lot better.
FOR: Tethered shoot support, improved noise reduction, watermarking support, you can
now publish your photos to Flickr.
AGAINST: None.
A
dobe Photoshop Lightroom2 received
minor updates that fixed small issues
and added support for newer camera
models. The move to version 3.0 is a big one
that brings a slew of new features to the table.
The new version looks and feels the same, but
you’ll discover new features as you keep working.
So you won’t need to hone your skills towards
something that’s drastically different. If you’re an
avid Lightroom user, you’ll discover and learn to
use most of the new features in a day.
For those who aren’t familiar with Lightroom,
this is a very powerful workflow-based solution
that helps import and organize your photos,
enhance them, create slideshows, print photos and
create web photo galleries.
Here’s a list of the biggest additions and
improvements in the latest version of Lightroom:
IMPROVED PREVIEW AND IMAGE
RENDERING: Rendering/refreshing of
thumbnails in a large catalog used to take quite a
few seconds in Lightroom 2. This was most evident
when files were added or while scrolling through
a collection of photos. Lightroom 3 is significantly
speedier, and even zooming in and out of photos is
now much faster.
The Export Video function is a new feature of Lightroom 3. Slide shows can be The Watermark Editor lets you create graphic and text watermarks. You can
exported to full HD videos in MP4 format. specify advanced parameters such as opacity, angle and shadows.
40 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
IMPROVED MODULE FOR IMPORTING
PHOTOS: You can now import photos from a
storage device or digital camera from a single
module, and you can preview the photos in the
specified location. Photos can be added to the
catalog directly from the location or they can be
moved to another location prior to importing.
PUBLISH YOUR PHOTOS TO FLICKR: Yes, you
can now upload photos to Flickr, manage photo
sets, tags and comments from Lightroom 3.0.
TETHERED CAPTURE: Connect a Canon or Nikon
DSLR camera to your PC using a USB cable and you
can capture images directly into Lightroom 3.0.
IMPROVED NOISE CORRECTION: The noise
reduction function has undergone a big change
and the results are stupendous. It does a great
job at eliminating grains and color artefacts while
retaining the contrast and detail, giving standalone
noise removal tools a run for their money.
MORE TEMPLATES AND PRESETS: You now
have a bunch of new black and white filters and
other cool effects to play around with. Hovering
over presets displays a thumbnail preview, and
clicking on one applies it to the selected image.
Additions have also been made to the list of
templates for web photo galleries.
SMS us!  Story code: ASM to 51818
 TESTED

CUSTOM PRINT PACKAGES: This feature

ON DVD
lets you to create custom layouts as opposed to
choosing from predefined templates. It’s as simple
as dragging photos onto the blank layout and RED HOT APPLICATIONS
resizing them. Photos automatically snap into place,, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
which ensures they are aligned and don’t overlap.
Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite X4
WATERMARK YOUR PHOTOS: Lightroom 3.0
has a built-in watermark editor in which you can set Corel Paint it!
text or images as logos. The editor allows setting Corel PaintShop Photo Express 2010
the font, shadow, opacity, angle and position of the
watermark. Watermarking is available in the export, Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3
slideshow and print modules.
EXPORT SLIDESHOWS TO VIDEOS: Previously,
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5
you could export slideshows as a single PDF file or
individual JPG slides. Now, you can export them to
MP4 video with the option to set the resolution from FULL SOFTWARE
320x240 pixels right up to 1080p. With options to AAA Photo Album 1.0 CleanSkinFX 1.0 Free Digital Camera Enhancer 1.3
add shadows, set background music, and customize Adobe Camera Raw Presets Color Correction Wizard 1.1 HotPixels Eliminator
slide duration and fading, you can create great- Adobe Lightroom Presets ColorCastFX 1.0 Light Artist 1.5
cam2pc 4.6.0 DigiBookShelf 11.1.11.20 Photo Card Maker and more...
looking slideshows to flaunt your photos.
FILM GRAIN EFFECT AND BETTER
VIGNETTES: The Vignettes section under the FULL GAMES INTERNET DesktopSlides 2.0.0.0
Avant Browser 2010 Build 1 DiskGetor Data Recovery Free 2.08
Develop module is now a subsection of the Effects Cursed Cave Crusade v1.0
Core FTP LE 2.1 (Build 1649) DocX Viewer 1.1 Build 100518
section, which also has an addition called Grain. Daffy Studio Adventure v1.0
Firefox 3.6.3 FileGee Backup & Sync Personal
Flash Cricket 2
You can now control the highlights in vignettes Firefox 4.0 Beta 1 Candidate Edition 9.0.7
Flash Strike 1.0
and prioritize attention to highlights or colors. The Free Online TV Player 2.0.0.9 JetDrive 2010 5.0.0.0
Great Juju Challenge 1.0
Google Chrome 6.0.447.0 Beta Kijio - Subtitle Editor (formerly
Grain effect has three sliders - amount, size and Hulk Bad Altitude 1.0
Google Earth 5.2.1 Beta SubMaster) 0.3.0.0 Beta
roughness. Hulk Central Smashdown v1.0
IncrediMail 2 Build 4631 Macrium Reflect 4.2.2525
Jumpin' Juju v1.0 and more...
PERSPECTIVE CORRECTION AND LENS Internet Explorer 9 Platform Microsoft Money Plus Home &
Preview 3 1.9.7874.6000 Business 17.0.150.3817
PROFILES: The Lens Correction section is one GAME DEMOS Microsoft Download Manager 1.1 MiniTool Drive Copy 5.0
of the major additions. The controls under the Bubbly Burst Lite 2.0 PeaZip 3.2.0
ooVoo 2.8.0.27 and more...
Transform section let you correct distortions caused Cubix Mania Lite 2.0 PilotEdit Lite 3.3.0
Frog Fury Lite 2.0 MOBILE Pinoteo 0.4.2.4 Experimental
by the properties of the optics. You can either apply International Cricket Captain 2010 Daniusoft iTransfer 2.0.1 Portable Aximion 1.2.336 RC1
a lens profile or correct the perspective manually. Jisei 1.0 and more... FExplorer (S60 3rd Edition) 1.21 Simple Groupware 0.621
Profiles for the Apple iPhone camera and a variety off F-Secure Anti-Theft for Mobile Simpo PDF Creator Lite 3.0.1.0
lenses by Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc are built in. LINUX F-Secure Mobile Security for Series 60 Soluto 1.0.2 Beta
LINUX TOOLS Nimbuzz 2.3.0 SQLite PHP Generator 10.3.0.17
Arista 0.9.5 Nokia Map Loader 3 3.0 Sumatra PDF 1.1
Final words Gaupol 0.16.1 Nokia Messaging for IM beta TuneUp Utilities 2010 9.0.4300.7
Professional photographers and hobbyists will KAlarm 2.5.2 Ovi Maps 3 3.04 and more... VSuite Ramdisk and more...
benefit largely from the new features that improve
Linux Mint 9
Me TV 1.2.6 SECURITY MUST HAVES
speed and enhance productivity. Even if you’re Puppy Linux 5.0 and more... Ad-Aware 8.2.0.0 .NET Framework Version 4.0
new to enhancing and Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.594 Adobe Air 2.0.2.12610
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 16,353 managing photos, TOOLS AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5.1.43
www.adobe.com/products/ we suggest you start
MULTIMEDIA Kaspersky Anti-Virus 11.0.0.232 ADOBE PLAYERS
photoshoplightroom AKVIS ArtWork 3.5.961.6777-r Keyparc 0.9.3.0 ATI Catalyst Drivers 10.6 Vista
with Lightroom. You Audio Editor Master 5.0.1.186
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Loaris Trojan Remover 1.2.1.6 ATI Catalyst Drivers 10.6 XP
can get astounding Baby Paint 1.34 Martik File Eraser 1.0 DirectX 9.0c (Jun 10)
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X
v10.5 or v10.6; RAM: 2 GB; Disk space: results with just a few dBpowerAMP Music Converter 13.5 No Autorun 1.1.0.16 Flash Player 10.1.53.64
1 GB. FastPictureViewer 1.2 Build 152 Norton Removal Tool 2011.0.0.15 Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0.20
clicks and managing
GreenForce-Player 1.00 Build 1147 PC Tools AntiVirus Free 7.0.0.545 NVIDIA Forceware 257.21 WHQL
CONTACT Adobe India photos is a breeze. If K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 6.10 Sencrypter 1.0 and more... Shockwave Player 11.5.7.609
you’re already using Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 Silverlight 4.0.50401 and more...
RATINGS
FEATURES Lightroom 2, then this Stereoscopy 1.2 SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE
upgrade is a must-
Synfig 0.62.01 ACS Avira Update Backup Creator 1.0 E-BOOKS
EASE OF USE VideoPad Video Editor 2.10 Automatic System Cleaner 2.5 CHIP ARCHIVES
OVERALL RATING have. Vista Codec Package 5.7.7 and more... Comfort Typing Pro 4.1.2.0 MARCH 2010 to MAY 2010
VALUE FOR MONEY – Anand Tulianii
 TEST CENTER
TESTED

VERDICT

A VERSATILE
PHOTO
MANAGER
WITH WELL
THOUGHT-OUT
FUNCTIONS.

PHOTO MANAGEMENT TOOL

ACDSEE PHOTO
MANAGER 12
FOR: Improved user interface, integrated FTP client, speedy.
AGAINST: None. The built-in image editor has several easy-to-use tools
for enhancing images.

I
f your memory cards are overflowing
and you don’t know how to go about
managing thousands of photos on
your hard drive, then it’s time to use a
photo managing tool such as ACDSee
Photo Manager 12. What’s evident
instantly is the new interface of the
image database. It’s a big move from
the previous version, with a variety of
new features. The introduction of four
modules (Manage, View, Edit and Online)
is similar to those in Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom, which isn’t a coincidence.
In addition to the look and feel, even
the performance is quite convincing; it
took just 45 minutes to import around
6,500 images into the database, which
scanned. Images can be imported from a
memory card, scanner, hard disk, optical
drive or any other storage medium. Photo
Manager 12 even manages images on CDs
and DVDs without the disk being present
in the drive, but you’ll have to import
them into the catalog first. The user can
then add notes or other metadata.
The user can now use optical markers
to identify pictures. When organizing
photos, the program supports the IPTC
standard for metadata, but only when
editing individual pictures. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t work in combination with
SPECIFICATIONS
stack processing. On purchasing Photo
$69.99 (approx Rs 3,400)
Manager 12, you get a free ACDSeeonline. www.acdsee.com
com account with 2 GB of storage. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

is faster than many other programs of Photo Manger manages web space and OS: Windows XP/Vista/7; RAM: 1 GB; Disk space: 1 GB.
its class. However, such a complete transfers photos even to Facebook, if CONTACT ACD Systems
EMAIL NA
cataloguing is necessary only after the required. For those who have their own
first installation. After that, the user website or file server, it also has an RATINGS
FEATURES
has to feed the images into the catalog integrated FTP client.
PERFORMANCE
gradually as and when they are shot or - feedback@chip.in EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 43

 TEST CENTER
TESTED

PHOTO TO PAINTING

AKVIS ARTWORK
VERDICT: Convert your photos into great looking pieces of art.
FOR: Artistic results, lots of tweakable parameters.
AGAINST: No built-in help.

H
ow about converting the sunset
scene you shot with your digital
camera into a realistic looking oil
painting? With Akvis ArtWork, you can do
that and much more with just a click of a
button. You start by opening a JPG, BMP,
SPECIFICATIONS
TIF or PNG image file, which shows up in
$72 (approx Rs 3,400)
www.akvis.com the work area and a preview box displays
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS the effect of the various parameters. You
OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.4-10.6; can drag the box over the portion you
RAM: 1 GB; Disk space: 100 MB.
wish to preview. The main controls lie
CONTACT AKVIS in the vertical pane to the right. You can
EMAIL support@akvis.com
choose to apply one of four styles to the
RATINGS image you’re working on - Oil, Comics,
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
Pen & ink and Linocut. What makes this
EASE OF USE software really powerful is the fine-grain
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
control over the styles. For example, in
the Painting mode, you can tweak the
intensity, curvature, thickness and length
of brush strokes. You can also select
the texture of the canvas and tweak the
brightness, details and embossing of
the texture. We tried converting photos
into paintings and comic characters and
the results were incredible. Although
the built-in presets deliver good results,
you can get more impressive results by
tweaking the parameters manually. We
recommend referring to the online help,
which cites very useful examples and
explains each parameter in detail.
- Anand Tuliani

VIDEO EDITING

VIDEOPAD VIDEO EDITOR

VERDICT: A free and easy-to-use professional-like video editing software.
FOR: Ease of use, burn DVDs, upload to YouTube.
AGAINST: Intimidating interface for beginners.

E
dit your home videos yourself
and make them seem like a
professionally edited movies with
the use of this simple free software. With
VideoPad Video Editor, you can clip out
boring and uninteresting parts of a video
clip, add a voiceover or a music track, give
transition effects, and much more.
The software is very simple to use,
although first-time users might find it
quite confusing as there are no help
wizards; you’ll have to learn your way
color, brightness, rotate and crop, pan and
zoom, watermarks and text tiles. You can
also record your own narration and insert
the audio track in the video. The projects
can be saved with the option of importing
and sharing clips between projects too.
Once you’re done editing, you can
finalize your video on a DVD disc, save it
on the computer, encode it for a portable
SPECIFICATIONS
device, or simply upload it to YouTube.
Freeware
The VidePad Video Editor is free, but www.nchsoftware.com
if you need technical support, you’ll SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

through the features. You can also capture have to purchase the software for $60 OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7.
video from a webcam or simply download (approx Rs 3,500). This software is an CONTACT NCH Software
PHONE NA
the video clips from any camcorder. Clips excellent choice for those who'd like to try
EMAIL NA
can be selected from the original video, editing their own videos at home without
split into sections, and each section can spending a dime. RATINGS
FEATURES
be further tweaked with effects such as - Francis D'sa EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

44 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
TESTED

MULTIMEDIA

SUPER
INTERNET TV
VERDICT: An excellent application for internet-based radio and
TV entertainment.
FOR: Plenty of free channels, very easy to use.
AGAINST: Channels are often off-air.

W
atching TV or listening to the radio over the internet
cannot get any simpler than this. Super Internet
TV is a free application using which one can watch
television feeds and listen to radio channels broadcast over
the internet for free. All you need is this application and a
broadband connection with at least 512 Kb/s speed. Although
you can use it over a
SPECIFICATIONS
slower connection, you
Freeware
www.ahusoft.com would end up watching
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
the whole show in
OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, ME, 98, 98SE; frequent pauses due to
Browser: IE 5.0 or later; Hard disk: 2 MB.
buffering of the video
CONTACT Ahusoft feed.
PHONE NA
EMAIL NA
The interface is very
simple to operate and
RATINGS
different skins can be
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE applied too. A single
EASE OF USE
click on the radio or
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY TV icons pops up a
menu window with a
huge list of channels from different countries the world over.
You can apply filters such as countries and genre and even
create a list of your personal favorite channels. Additional
plug-ins for Windows Media Player and Real Player are
installed automatically. Channels were streamed flawlessly,
but there were quite a few channels that were off-air when
we tried. The premium version is available for $35 (approx Rs
1,750), which allows recording, faster streaming, auto channel
updates, reliable connections, and technical assistance.
- Francis D'sa

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 45

 TEST CENTER
TESTED
LANGUAGE TOOL
COMFORT TYPING PRO
VERDICT: A typing application with an
array of features and keyboard shortcuts.
FOR: Easy-to-use interface, creation of
templates.
AGAINST: Takes a little getting used to.
SPECIFICATIONS
$19.95 (approx Rs 920)
www.comfort-software.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7; RAM: 64 MB; Hard disk: 10 MB.
CONTACT Comfort Software Group
EMAIL support@comfort-software.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
EASE OF USE
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
T his little application allows you
to replace specific keywords with
predefined text. It features a built-in
multilingual auto-complete function
that lets you replace words you type. It
is more or less like the T9 dictionary in
your mobile phone. Templates can also
be created, which allows you to quickly
complete frequently used phrases,
signatures, dates, addresses etc. Often
used messages or documents can
also be created using the template. In
addition to this, selected text can be
changed to either lower case, upper
case or you can choose to capitalize
each word – a feature that is already
present in Word 2007. However, this
tool will take some getting used to and
those with fast typing speed wouldn’t
quite require this, as selecting the
appropriate word from the drop down
menu would surely take up more time
than typing the word out.
- Sandeep Balachandran
46 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
DEFRAGMENTER
ABELSSOFT JETDRIVE
2010 ULTIMATE
VERDICT: Defragmenting for beginners.
FOR: Easy to use, well-equipped.
AGAINST: Expensive.
SPECIFICATIONS
Euro 30 (approx Rs 1,950)
www.abelssoft.net
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
CONTACT Abelssoft
EMAIL contact@abelssoft.net
RATINGS
FEATURES
EASE OF USE
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
J etDrive is a defragmenter that aims
to get the hard disk working more
efficiently than the standard Windows
tools. The program interface is intuitive
enough even for amateur users; a
wizard helps you as soon as you select
a function. JetDrive 2010 Ultimate
offers a variety of functions, such as
defragmenting storage files, start files
and registry. Seven clean-up algorithms
have been added, which let you sort
files based on the last time they were
accessed, or arrange them in a space-
saving manner. However, the sorting
according to the storage location took
thrice as long as the standard method
on our test system. The performance
benchmarks returned better results
after running this tool. The difference
is noticeable on flooded Windows XP
systems, but not so much in Windows
Vista and Windows 7, because they
perform their own clean-ups.
– feedback@chip.in
HARD DISK TOOL
O&O PARTITION
MANAGER 3
VERDICT: A reliable partition tool.
FOR: Disk shredding, SMART information.
AGAINST: None.
SPECIFICATIONS
$49.95 (approx Rs 2,400)
www.oo-software.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP/2000/Vista/7; RAM: 1 GB; Disk space: 20 MB.
CONTACT O&O Software GmbH
EMAIL support@oo-software.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
EASE OF USE
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
O &O Partition Manager can be
considered an upgraded version of
the Windows Disk Manager. The new
program can be used to not only create
new partitions and move or expand
existing ones, but also for converting
dynamic volumes, including conversion
between MBR to GPT partitions.
However, the tool makes every change
the right away. With other programs,
you first have to choose the settings
and apply all of them in one go; this
one is safer and easier. An advanced
feature of Partition Manager 3 is the
ability to shred storage devices. In our
test, it took two hours to delete the
contents of a 1 GB USB flash drive using
the highest security level. There was
no way in which data could be restored
from it after that. In addition to this, the
tool defragments drives and displays
the SMART information of hard drives,
which isn’t present in Windows.
- feedback@chip.in
 TEST CENTER
TESTED

MULTIMEDIA

FREE AUDIO
EDITOR 2010
VERDICT: A basic and easy-to-use audio editing utility with
loads of features and functions.
FOR: Simple operation, easy to use, batch converting.
AGAINST: No wizard, no real-time sampling.

F
ree Audio Editor is a simple, powerful and handy
application for editing audio files and music. The
application supports audio file formats such as WAV,
MP3, OGG, WMA, and a few more. Using this utility, you can
edit the audio tracks using a range of functions such as cut,
copy, paste, insert, etc. Tracks can further be tweaked with
effects like normalize,
SPECIFICATIONS
amplify, reverb, echo,
Freeware
www.free-audio-editor.com chorus, noise reduction,
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
delay, pitch, and
OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, ME, 98, 98SE; equalization filters.
Browser: IE 5.0 or later; Hard disk: 2 MB.
Free Audio Editor
CONTACT FAE Distribution, Inc. can import audio
PHONE 1-253-243-2809
EMAIL sales@free-audio-editor.com
tracks directly from
YouTube videos using
RATINGS
the Internet connection.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE It also features ripping
EASE OF USE
of audio tracks directly
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY from an audio CD.
Additional features
such as ID3 editing, batch processing, and text to speech are
also included. The free version has a few limitations, such as
the ability to only save output files in WAV format. For other
formats and the option to burn audio CDs, you would need
the Deluxe version, which costs approximately Rs 1,500. Free
Audio Editor is a great utility for those who would like to try
their hand at basic audio editing. The application can be
useful for creating ringtones, school/college projects, or office
presentations.
- Francis D'sa

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 47

 HARDWARE
CPU GPU GUIDE

CHIP CPU-GPU Guide

This CHIP guide provides you the necessary perspective on
the processors and graphics chips market.
BY ANDREAS VOGELSANG

T
he latest from Intel are two new goes, it’s too expensive considering
CPUs that will excite enthusiasts. it’s a dual-core CPU. Our purchase
AMD too has a new mobile CPU recommendation this month comes from from the mobile CPU segment is the Intel
which is the first of its kind. the entry-level segment. The AMD Athlon Core i5-520M. It’s slightly less powerful
Desktop CPUs: The top three desktop II X3 435 costs only Rs 4,000 and with than the Intel Core i7-620M, but it offers
processors come from the market three cores, it has enough power for the best value for money out of all the
leader. The Intel Core i7-875K at the third seamless HD video playback and gaming; 30 mobile CPUs.
position deserves special attention. It ideal if you’re upgrading with a tight Graphics chips: The ATI Radeon HD
costs one-third as much as the i7-975 budget in hand. 5550 is a new entrant in the entry-level
Extreme Edition and offers a much better Mobile CPUs: There’s now a triple-core segment. The reason for its meagre
bang for the buck. What’s even better, CPU for the mobile platform. The AMD performance is the slow DDR2 memory.
thanks to the unlocked BClk multiplier, Phenom II X3 N830, the first model Even Radeon HD 4670 and HD 4650,
is that the i7-875K can be overclocked based on the new Danube architecture, which cost less, are more powerful.
without any problem. This new feature features in the middle section of our However, it runs without any problems
was available earlier in only the Extreme top 30 mobile CPUs. In spite of its with a fully-passive cooler, which makes
Edition Core i7 CPUs that came in the three physical cores, this CPU cannot it perfect for HTPCs. If you want a
socket LGA 1366 package. The Core outperform the Intel Core i5-520M, which powerful GPU for an attractive price, our
i5-655K also has an unlocked BClk is a dual-core CPU, or the Intel Core recommendation is the HD 4770.
multiplier, but as far as its performance i3-330M. Our purchase recommendation – feedback@chip.in

DESKTOP CPUs
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1 Intel Core i7-980X Gulftown 100.0 1366 6 3.33 1.5 QPI6400 32 1170 130 1137 141 188 40
2 Intel Core i7-975 XE Bloomfield 87.0 1366 4 3.33 1 QPI6400 45 731 130 1086 140 199 54
3 Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 86.5 1156 4 2.93 1 QPI4800 45 383 95 1100 138 195 56
4 Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 85.1 1366 4 3.20 1 QPI4800 45 731 130 1058 138 201 56
5 Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 82.0 1156 4 2.93 1 DMI2500 45 774 95 1000 138 213 58
6 Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 81.7 1366 4 3.06 1 QPI4800 45 731 130 1007 136 211 59
7 AMD Phenom II X6 1090T BE Thuban 79.2 AM3 6 3.20 3 HT4000 45 904 125 922 131 215 60
8 Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 77.2 1366 4 2.80 1 QPI4800 45 383 130 937 135 229 63
9 Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 76.5 1156 4 2.80 1 DMI2500 45 731 95 898 137 230 63
10 Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 74.2 1366 4 2.66 1 QPI4800 45 758 130 879 135 240 66
11 AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 72.0 AM3 6 2.80 3 HT4000 45 904 125 824 123 235 69
12 AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE Deneb 71.9 AM3 4 3.40 2 HT4000 45 731 140 933 130 224 79
13 Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 70.8 1156 4 2.66 1 DMI2500 45 774 95 914 137 242 78
14 Intel Core i5-670 Clarkdale 70.4 1156 2 3.45 0.5 QPI6400 32 383 73 1025 124 215 95
15 AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE Deneb 68.8 AM3 4 3.20 2 HT4000 45 758 125 884 129 236 84
16 Intel Core i5-655K Clarkdale 68.8 1156 2 3.20 0.5 QPI6400 32 383 73 983 125 217 99
17 Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale 68.3 1156 2 3.32 0.5 DMI2500 32 383 87 1089 116 244 98
18 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 68.2 775 4 2.83 12 FSB1333 45 820 95 881 126 263 79
19 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550s Yorkfield 67.4 775 4 2.83 12 FSB1333 45 820 65 882 126 263 82
20 Intel Core i5-650 Clarkdale 66.5 1156 2 3.19 0.5 DMI2500 32 383 73 1061 116 258 101
21 Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 63.7 775 2 3.33 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 1034 112 240 126
22 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield 62.7 775 4 2.66 6 FSB1333 45 820 95 821 114 302 87
23 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 62.4 775 4 2.66 4 FSB1333 45 820 95 818 112 301 88
24 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 61.3 775 2 3.16 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 974 108 251 131
25 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Yorkfield 59.3 775 4 2.50 4 FSB1333 45 820 95 774 106 324 94
26 AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 59.2 AM3 4 2.80 2 HT4000 45 300 95 754 105 282 103
27 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 59.0 775 2 3.00 6 FSB1333 45 410 65 930 105 264 138
28 Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 58.1 1156 2 2.92 0.5 DMI2500 32 383 73 841 110 298 117
29 AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE Deneb 56.6 AM3 2 3.10 1 HT4000 45 820 80 841 103 250 159
30 AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 56.5 AM3 3 2.90 1.5 HT4000 45 300 95 782 106 275 132
* in KB/s

48 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCG to 57007
 MOBILE CPUs
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1 Intel Core i7-920XM Clarksfield 100.0 4 2.00 8 DMI 2500 55 98 7955 623 1563 13876 — 22000 35000
2 Intel Core i7-820QM Clarksfield 97.3 4 1.73 8 DMI 2500 45 120 7725 611 1494 13670 — 21500 34500
3 Intel Core i7-720QM Clarksfield 95.4 4 1.60 6 DMI 2500 45 120 7651 598 1470 13220 — 21000 34000
4 Intel Core i7-620M Arrandale 95.1 2 2.67 3 DMI 2500 35 154 7105 663 1339 13950 6125 20000 33000
5 Intel Core i5-520M Arrandale 88.0 2 2.40 3 DMI 2500 35 154 6803 576 1187 13851 6100 19000 32000
6 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 Penryn 87.4 4 2.53 12 FSB1066 45 120 7555 464 1459 12255 6000 18000 30000
7 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100 Penryn 84.9 4 2.27 12 FSB1066 45 120 7489 459 1340 12127 5950 17700 29500
8 Intel Core i5-430M Arrandale 83.5 2 2.27 3 DMI 2500 35 154 6695 513 1127 13490 5925 17600 29250
9 Intel Core 2 Duo T9900 Penryn 80.8 2 3.07 6 FSB1066 35 154 6922 558 1034 11487 5900 17400 29000
10 Intel Core i3-330M Arrandale 73.0 2 2.13 3 DMI 2500 35 154 5591 452 975 12388 5800 17000 28000
11 Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 Penryn 71.2 2 2.53 6 FSB1066 25 216 6514 467 854 10631 5700 16200 27000
12 Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 Penryn 70.8 2 2.53 6 FSB1066 25 216 6512 464 847 10551 5600 15900 26500
13 Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 Penryn 68.1 2 2.53 3 FSB1066 25 216 5866 469 836 10075 5400 15300 25500
14 Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 Penryn 67.0 2 2.40 6 FSB1066 25 216 6385 430 782 10103 5300 15000 25000
15 AMD Phenom II X3 N830 Danube 63.8 3 2.10 1.5 HT1800 35 154 5065 334 926 11370 5200 14800 24500
16 Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 Penryn 63.6 2 2.40 3 FSB800 35 154 5805 437 810 8533 5100 14400 24000
17 AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-86 Griffin 52.0 2 2.40 2 HT1800 35 154 4300 342 609 8750 5000 12000 20000
18 Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 Penryn 51.9 2 2.10 2 FSB800 35 154 4401 369 695 6889 4900 11600 19000
19 Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 Merom 50.8 2 2.00 2 FSB800 35 154 5307 334 613 6600 4800 — —
20 Intel Pentium Dual T4200 Penryn 48.6 2 2.00 1 FSB800 35 154 5006 352 621 5460 4700 — —
21 Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600 Penryn 38.3 2 1.60 3 FSB800 10 480 3566 298 543 4003 4600 — —
22 Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Penryn 33.9 2 1.30 3 FSB800 10 480 3184 254 468 3745 4500 — —
23 Intel Pentium SU4100 Penryn 31.9 2 1.30 2 FSB800 10 480 3121 234 410 3715 4300 — —
24 AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Griffin 31.1 2 2.00 1 HT1800 35 154 1600 240 531 4912 4100 — —
25 Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 Penryn 28.4 1 1.40 3 FSB800 5.5 700 3121 249 249 3612 3900 — —
26 Intel Celeron-M 743 Penryn 27.3 1 1.30 1 FSB800 10 480 3014 238 238 3500 3700 — —
27 AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 Huron 27.0 1 1.60 0.5 HT1800 15 360 2150 231 231 4951 3500 — —
28 VIA Nano U2250 Isaiah 11.8 1 1.30 1 FSB800 5 600 1588 142 142 655 3300 — —
29 Intel Atom N450 Pineview 11.8 1 1.67 0.5 FSB667 5.5 800 1497 93 139 1070 3100 — —
30 Intel Atom N270 Diamondville 11.5 1 1.60 0.5 FSB533 2.5 800 1491 90 135 1050 3100 — —
1 Mobile-CPUs are mostly available only in laptops
2 Typical runtime in shared video memory, more efficient graphics reduce the runtime by up to 40 percent.

GRAPHICS CHIPS
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1 ATI Radeon HD 5970 2 x 1024/GDDR5 100.0 725 — 4000 2 x 256 3200 40 4300 294 109 170 81 16361
2 Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1536/GDDR5 84.5 700 1401 3696 384 480 40 3200 320 85 113 90 14975
3 ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024/GDDR5 82.1 850 — 4800 256 1600 40 2154 188 80 124 82 14302
4 Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1280/GDDR5 76.0 607 1215 3348 320 448 40 3200 215 70 97 89 13183
5 ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024/GDDR5 74.4 725 — 4000 256 1440 40 2154 151 68 105 82 12736
6 Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1024/GDDR3 69.9 702 1584 2664 512 240 55 1400 183 63 78 92 12470
7 Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 896/GDDR3 65.4 633 1404 2400 448 240 55 1400 216 56 65 90 11332
8 ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024/GDDR5 64.1 850 — 3900 256 800 55 959 190 54 83 80 10339
9 ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024/GDDR5 59.7 800 — 4800 128 800 40 1040 108 45 69 80 9421
10 Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 896/GDDR3 55.8 575 1242 1998 448 216 65 1400 182 46 57 84 9256
11 ATI Radeon HD 4870 512/GDDR5 54.9 750 — 3600 256 800 55 965 157 37 76 82 8625
12 ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024/GDDR5 54.0 700 — 4600 128 720 40 1040 86 40 61 73 8446
13 ATI Radeon HD 4850 1024/GDDR3 48.9 625 — 1986 256 800 55 956 114 34 62 73 7258
14 ATI Radeon HD 4770 512/GDDR5 48.5 750 — 3200 128 640 40 826 80 33 54 71 7472
15 Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512/GDDR3 46.7 738 1836 2200 256 128 55 754 141 32 60 81 6808
16 Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 1024/GDDR3 46.1 738 1836 2200 256 128 55 330 141 36 41 80 7353
17 ATI Radeon HD 4830 512/GDDR3 43.4 575 — 1800 256 640 55 956 80 31 52 67 6203
18 ATI Radeon HD 5670 1024/GDDR5 40.4 775 — 4000 128 400 40 627 61 28 41 62 5976
19 Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT 512/GDDR3 37.8 600 1500 1800 256 112 65 754 110 27 37 69 5793
20 Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 512/GDDR3 33.4 650 1625 1800 256 64 65 505 95 21 44 58 4614
21 ATI Radeon HD 5570 1024/GDDR3 30.0 650 — 1800 128 400 40 627 43 19 27 49 4330
22 ATI Radeon HD 4670 512/GDDR3 28.9 750 — 2000 128 320 55 514 59 20 32 51 3611
23 Nvidia GeForce GT 220 512/GDDR3 23.0 720 1566 1800 128 48 40 486 50 15 23 40 3461
24 ATI Radeon HD 4650 512/DDR2 17.2 600 — 1000 128 320 55 514 48 11 17 30 2204
25 ATI Radeon HD 5550 1024/DDR2 17.0 550 — 800 128 320 40 627 45 10 14 27 2303
26 Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT 512/GDDR3 12.8 550 1375 1600 128 32 65 314 50 8 9 27 2039
27 ATI Radeon HD 4550 512/GDDR3 10.5 600 — 1800 64 80 55 242 25 7 11 19 1158
28 ATI Radeon HD 5450 512/GDDR3 10.5 650 — 1600 64 80 40 292 19 7 11 16 1285
29 ATI Radeon HD 4350 512/DDR2 7.6 650 — 800 64 80 55 242 20 5 6 12 707
30 Nvidia GeForce 9400 GT 512/DDR2 7.0 550 1350 800 128 16 55 314 50 4 9 13 880
Enthusiast (100-90.0) High-end (89.9-75.0) Mid-range (74.9-45.0)
Entry level (44.9-0) All valuations in points (max. 100)
TTEST
TE
EESST CE
CCENTER
ENT
N TE
TERR
PC CON
PC CO
CONFIGS
NFIG
FIGS
GS

 MSI 785GM-E51
Rs 3,850
www.msi.com
verdict Packed with ample features,
this board is perfect for a home
theater PC.
love Four RAM slots, overclocking
switch, HDMI output, eSATA port.
hate None.

SPECIFICATIONS
Chipset: AMD 785G; Memory: Up to 16 GB; Video: DVI
and D-sub; SATA | USB: 5 | 12.

ANAND'S PICKS

ENTRY-LEVEL MOTHERBOARDS FOR

AMD PROCESSORS
The cheapest motherboards with DDR3 memory support for socket AM2+ and AM3 AMD processors.
 Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 Asus M4A78LT-M LE 
Rs 3,150 Rs 3,850
www.gigabyte.com in.asus.com
verdict Pick this if you want something verdict An excellent board for a home/
really good without shelling out much. office PC, but it should have been a little
love Great features and performance for cheaper.
the price, good layout. love Excellent layout, good heatsink,
hate None. overclocking switch.
hate Slightly overpriced for its features.
SPECIFICATIONS
Chipset: AMD 740G; Memory: Up to 8 GB; Video: DVI and SPECIFICATIONS
D-sub; SATA | USB: 4 | 12. Chipset: AMD 760G; Memory: Up to 8 GB; Video: DVI and
D-sub; SATA | USB: 6 | 10.

 Biostar TA785G3 Asus M4N68T-M 

Rs 3,700
www.biostar.com.tw
verdict A decent 785G chipset
motherboard but with a few quirks.
love Color-coded connectors, attractive
price.
hate There should have been additional
USB ports instead of PS/2 ports on the rear.
Rs 3,100
in.asus.com
verdict You can get something much
better for just a few hundred rupees more.
love The cheapest motherboard with
DDR3 support for AMD CPUs.
hate Outdated chipset with DirectX 9
graphics, no DVI port.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
Chipset: AMD 785G; Memory: Up to 8 GB; Video: DVI and Chipset: GeForce 7025; Memory: Up to 8 GB; Video: D-sub;
D-sub; SATA | USB: 4 | 8. SATA | USB: 4 | 10.

50 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
ANAND'S
PC CONFIGS
COLUMN

A DECENT DUAL-CORE
PC FOR BASIC HOME OR
OFFICE USE FOR RS 22,000
ANAND TULIANI, DEPUTY EDITOR - TECHNICAL

DUAL-CORE GOODNESS
M
y latest build was for a friend, for Rs 1,050. Power supply units that
who runs a small office come bundled with cabinets suffice for
from his home. He called entry-level PCs. Brands such as Circle,
me one fi ne day to ask if I iBall, TAG and VIP have good designs to
could build an affordable, yet powerful choose from. My friend chose the iBall
PC. His applications were basic day-to- Pride, which is an elegant micro-ATX
day tasks such as accounting, printing case that comes-fit with a 250 W power
invoices, browsing the Internet, email, supply. Its front panel features two USB
and scanning. I took up this build as a ports and audio jacks. The appropriate
small project to fi nd out how much one monitor for the budget was the 20-inch
would have to shell out if he/she were Samsung SyncMaster B2030. It’s a sleek
to assemble a good dual-core PC on a LCD panel with a
shoestring budget. native resolution
When it comes to building a low-cost
PC, the fi rst thing that comes to my
of 1600x900 pixels,
and both D-sub and
SINCE PRICES OF DDR2
mind is AMD’s line-up of entry-level
dual-core CPUs. Starting from the Athlon
DVI inputs. I picked
the Microsoft Wired
AND DDR3 MEMORY ARE
II X2 245 2.9 GHz that costs Rs 3,000,
AMD has a good range of entry-level
Desktop 500 combo
(PS/2 keyboard and
AT PAR, IT MAKES SENSE
CPUs. I chose to go with the Athlon
II X2 255 3.1 GHz, which costs Rs
USB optical mouse)
and Creative SBS A35
TO OPT FOR THE LATTER
3,400. Since the prices of DDR2 and speakers. The total cost of the hardware
DDR3 memory are now at par, it makes came to Rs 22,000. Additional expenses
absolute sense to opt for the latter, which included Windows 7 Home Basic (Rs
performs better. So I settled for the 4,300) and a 600 VA UPS (Rs 1,550).
Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 motherboard I sourced all components from a
and a 2 GB DDR3-1333 stick. For Rs reliable system integrator, who gave me
3,150, you cannot go wrong with the a bill mentioning all items and their
AMD 740G chipset-based MA74GMT-S2, respective serial numbers.
which offers both D-sub and DVI ports. – anand.tuliani@chip.in
So if you want to upgrade only your
Component Model Price (Rs)
CPU, motherboard and RAM, it should
CPU AMD Athlon II X2 255, 3.1 GHz 3,400
cost you around Rs 9,200. Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2 3,150
Deciding on the rest of the RAM Strontium 2 GB DDR3-1333 2,500
components was easy. I started off with Hard disk WD Caviar Green, 500 GB 2,500
the hard drive, picking a 500 GB Western Optical drive LG 22x SATA DVD-writer 1,050
Cabinet iBall Pride (250 W PSU) 1,650
Digital Caviar Green with 32 MB buffer LCD monitor Samsung SyncMaster B2030 6,600
for Rs 2,500. As for the final internal Input device Microsoft Wired Desktop 500 700
component, the DVD writer, I got a Speakers Creative SBS A35 450
22x model by LG with SATA interface Total 22,000

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 51

LAPTOP
L APT
AP
PTOP
OP C
CON
CONFIGS
ONF
NFIG
IGSS

LAPTOP CONFIGS
BUDGET NETBOOK MAINSTREAM
PROCESSOR Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core, 1.73 GHz PROCESSOR Intel Atom N450 or higher PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz or higher,
to 2 GHz AMD Turion X2, 2.1 GHz MEMORY 1 GB to 2 GB Intel Core i3, 2.1 GHz or higher,
MEMORY 1 GB or 2 GB HARD DRIVE 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB Intel Core i5, 2.26 GHz or higher.
HARD DRIVE 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB
DISPLAY 10-inch to 11.6-inch MEMORY 2 GB or 3 GB
DISPLAY 14.1-inch or 15.6-inch
GRAPHICS On-board HARD DRIVE 250 GB or 320 GB
GRAPHICS On-board
WEIGHT 1 Kg to 1.5 Kg DISPLAY 14.1-inch or 15.4-inch
WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 2.7 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer, OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-fi, Webcam, Card reader GRAPHICS On-board or Discrete
Wi-Fi b/g, Webcam PRICE RANGE Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 3 Kg
PRICE RANGE Rs 23,000 to Rs 30,000 OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer, Wi-Fi b/g or n,
Webcam
PRICE RANGE Rs 33,000 To Rs 45,000

SAMSUNG R528-DA01IN ACER ASPIRE ONE 532H DELL INSPIRON 1464

Rs 24,500
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400, 2.2 GHz;
MEMORY 2 GB; HARD DISK 250 GB; DISPLAY 15.6 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.5 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Wi-fi
Rs 15,000
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz;
MEMORY 1 GB; HARD DISK 160 GB; DISPLAY 10.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.2 kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-fi, Webcam, Card reader
Rs 38,500
CPU Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13 GHz;
MEMORY 4 GB; HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 14 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.2 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DVD-writer

ACER ASPIRE 4736Z LINUX

UX
Rs 27,000
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400, 2.20 GHz;
MEMORY 3 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.4 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi
LENOVO IDEAPAD S10-3
Rs 18,000
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; MEMORY 1 GB;
HARD DISK 250 GB; DISPLAY 10.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.5 kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-fi, Webcam, Card reader
HP PAVILION DV4-2101TU
Rs 42,500
CPU Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13 GHz; MEMORY 3 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.36 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi

LENOVO IDEAPAD G550 9495 HP MINI 210-1095TU ACER 5740G

Rs 27,000
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400, 2.20 GHz;
MEMORY 3 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 15.6 in,
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.5 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi
Rs 23,000
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; MEMORY 2 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 10.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.22 Kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-fi, Webcam, Card reader
Rs 45,500
CPU Intel Core i5-430M, 2.26 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6 in;
GRAPHICS ATI Radeon HD 4670; WEIGHT 2.8 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi

HP COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ42-116TUU SONY VAIO M 126AG SONY VAIO VPCEA25

Rs 28,000
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200, 2.0 GHz;
MEMORY 2 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.2 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi
Rs 23,000
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz;
MEMORY 2 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 10.1 in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.4 kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-fi, Webcam, Card reader
Rs 48,000
CPU Intel Core i3-350M, 2.26 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 15.6 in;
GRAPHICS ATI Radeon HD 5145; WEIGHT 2.35 kg;
OTHER DVD-writer, BT, Webcam, Card reader, Wi-fi

52 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
COVER STORY

We tell you exactly what you need to

know before you buy.
BY JAMSHED AVARI

54 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Nirmal Biswas SMS us!  Story code: CGG to 51818
 FEATURED
COVER STORY

There is no single PC that can be the best for

everyone. With prices falling every year, one
needn't spend anything more than the bare
minimum for a perfectly good machine. We've
identified five key niches and scoured the
markets for the best branded PCs available.
We've also evaluated assembled systems where
possible. The graph below gives us an idea of
the proportionate costs of various components,
and the vast differences between segments.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 55

 FEATURED
COVER STORY
A PC that fits into the budget segment
needn’t be cut-rate in any way. What
we’re looking for here is solid value that
will not only give people a respectable
level of power and run all current
software, but also continue to meet
those expectations for at least four years.
The emphasis here is not on cutting
corners; in fact we’re willing to pay a
little more for components that will help
keep this computer in use for as long as
it needs to be. The expected uses for this
PC will include Web surfing, audio/video
playback and streaming.
Our target for this budget-minded box
is around Rs 25,000 (including monitor
and operating system). Pretty much every
single brand has a few models to offer
in this segment, including both Indian
and MNC options. It’s unlikely that we’ll
get the latest and greatest 2010 series
Intel Core CPUs at this price today, but
i3 CPUs will be more common by the
end of the year. We’re happy to stick
with Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo
models, and of course AMD’s Athlon II
and Phenom II lines provide excellent
value. But we draw the line at the
cheapest nettops based on Intel Atom
CPUs. These can dip as low as Rs 20,000
in price, but we recommend a bit more
muscle so the PC will last at least three
years. One limitation we’ll face is that
a few years down the line, replacement
parts such as the motherboard and RAM
might become expensive or difficult to
find, so a solid warranty could make a
huge difference here.
The good news is that with the prices
of some components dipping after a
long time, you should be able to get a
56 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
BUDGET
3-4 GB of RAM, which will be more than monitor, the choices will be limited to
enough to run Windows 7, Office 2010, screen size. Don’t expect panel quality
new-gen rich Web browsers and heavy and response time ratings, or any kind of
Flash websites, audio/video playback, earth-shattering quality here, but 18–19
simple games, etc. The hard drive will inches or above will definitely be more
be anywhere from 320 to 500 GB, comfortable than the 15-inch baseline.
which is quite a good thing considering Because of its low demands, a budget
the amount of music and video even system will be fairly compact and quiet.
beginners can accumulate today. Avoid slim cabinets if you think you might
There won’t be any exotic components add a graphics card later, to be sure one
in this PC. Practically everything required can fit. Manufacturers are bringing out
will be onboard—sound, graphics, and a innovative colors and designs so you
network adapter at the very least. You might want to browse around a little
might get a system that supports the before buying.
new SATA 600 Mbps standard, but USB Our market survey unsurprisingly
3.0 ports will be highly unlikely, and you showed that all major brands had a
might need to buy an add-in card in a presence in this segment. While the
year or so. Branded PC manufacturers prices from smaller companies such as
sometimes obfuscate lesser-known but Panache and Chirag start at Rs 20,000
important component specifications such or so for a Core 2 Duo system, you can
as the chipset, RAM speed rating, and expect to find Core i3-based systems
quality of the cabinet and power supply. starting at around Rs 28,000 (including
If your choice comes bundled with a montior) from Dell and HP/Compaq.
BUDGET PC OPTION FOR ASSEMBLERS Rs 28,300
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E7500, 2.93 GHz 5,200
Motherboard Gigabyte G41M-ES2L, Intel G41 chipset 2,600
RAM 2 GB Strontium DDR3-1333 2,500
Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Green, 500 GB 2,500
Graphics card On-chip graphics (Intel HD) –
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,050
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster B2030, 20-inch 6,600
Keyboard and
Microsoft Desktop 500 700
mouse combo
Speakers Creative SBS A300, 2.1 stereo 1,400
PC Case Circle Delight Grey 1,450
Power supply unit Included with the PC Case -
Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic 4,300
TOTAL 28,300
 FEATURED
COVER STORY

GAMING
Gamers generally fall into two categories: most internal parts are easy to come by, For faster load times, consider two drives
those who want to play games but don’t they won’t get the warranty support or striped in RAID, or even a solid-state
want to spend on high-end hardware, the high-end fit and finish that branded drive, which is more affordable now.
and those who are willing to spend gaming PCs abroad offer. The biggest variable in the budget
anything it takes to get the best possible Even on the lowest end, budget is the graphics card (or cards). Stick
experience. While there’s plenty of parts won’t do. They might work now, to the latest generation GPUs. While
hardware to fulfill the needs of the first but you’ll never get all the effects and older ones might be fast, new ones
type of buyer, it’s the second lot who get image quality that games now promise, generally support new and better image
to have the most fun configuring a PC! and the next generation of titles will quality enhancements and other neat
That said, there aren’t that many leave you even more disappointed. Intel’s features. You’ll need at least an ATI
brands which offer high-end gaming rigs, Core i5 series is where you should start, Radeon 5770 or Nvidia GeForce GTX
mostly due to lack of demand and poor with AMD’s Phenom II X2 and X4 chips 460 (approx Rs 11,000 and Rs 15,000
volumes (the most notable exception competing at the same price levels. Core in retail respectively). Above that level,
being Dell’s Alienware lineup, which i7 CPUs are for the most demanding a gaming PC’s sticker price could go
happily populates the other extreme end gamers, but the overall cost including up by as much as Rs 1,00,000 for the
of the pricing scale). Boutique system motherboard and RAM will skyrocket. highest-end multi-card solutions! Keep
integrators in the larger cities are more Generic RAM will do, but you can also in mind the additional power and cooling
likely to have solutions available, or be get branded, high-performance kits. Ask requirements these high-end cards will
willing to build and customize them for the brand, speed rating and timings impose on your system.
for you to a large extent. The most of the RAM going into your new machine. Discerning gamers should ensure the
discerning gamers are undoubtedly better You’ll need at least a 1 TB hard drive, keyboard and mouse are sensitive and
off assembling their own PCs, but while since games today weigh in quite heavily. comfortable enough for their standards,
or throw away the bundled ones and
GAMING PC OPTION FOR ASSEMBLERS Rs 79,297 invest in good aftermarket replacements.
Gamers' mouse surfaces also make a
Processor AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, 3.0 GHz 8,600
big difference. Finally, pay attention to
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H, AMD 880G chipset 5,700
the monitor and speakers. 22-inch full
RAM 2 x 2 GB Strontium DDR3-1333 5,000 HD monitors are quite cheap and easily
Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Black, 1 TB 5,700 available today, but don't just buy the
Graphics card Zotac GeForce GTX 460, 1 GB 14,999 biggest one you can afford. With a lower-
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,050 end graphics card, you might not be able
to run at a high resolution with all the
Monitor BenQ V2400 Eco, 24-inch 16,700
graphical effects turned on, so you might
Keyboard Razer Arctosa 2,499
get better results with a smaller monitor
Mouse Razer Abyssus 1,699 at a lower resolution with more image
Speakers Altec Lansing Octane 7 VS4621 3,250 quality settings pumped up. You won’t
PC Case Cooler Master Gladiator 600 3,500 regret an investment in good speakers
Power supply unit Tagan Stonerock Series TG600 4,300 either. All games today support and fully
utilize surround sound. If not a decent
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,300
set of speakers, at least get a really good
TOTAL 79,297 pair of headphones.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 57

 FEATURED
COVER STORY
While our budget build is perfectly fine
for most ordinary home uses, this type
of computer goes after those who want
a bit more power to handle high-def
entertainment and other media-intensive
duties. The Entertainment PC costs quite
a bit more than the budget box, but
makes up for it with plenty of muscle as
well as style.
We’re primarily looking at HD
entertainment, so a large monitor is
absolutely necessary. If you want, this PC
can also be integrated with your home
theater or simply plugged into a large
LCD or plasma TV. You should probably
pick up the speakers separately though,
to allow you to test their sound quality
at leisure and make your decision. Some
of the 2.1 and 5.1 sets available today
are also quite compact and stylish. All
this functionality is facilitated by the full
complement of connectivity options that
we expect on a PC of this class, which
include DVI, HDMI and optical audio
outputs at the very least.
The processor should ideally be a
quad-core Intel i5/i7 or AMD Phenom
II X4 model, but don’t be surprised to
see older Core 2 Duos/Quads still in the
market. Multiple cores are really utilized
during media file ripping and conversion;
since pretty much all software today
is optimized to take advantage of the
ability to handle multiple simultaneous
operations of this type. Four gigabytes of
RAM should be the minimum level you
consider.
It’s important to pay attention to the
motherboard chipset here as well: stick
with the latest possible generations.
Integrated graphics solutions are now
58 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
HOME
ENTERTAINMENT
powerful enough to handle HD and what you can watch.
Blu-ray decoding, so if you want a cool, With a huge amount of streaming
quiet, dedicated living-room system, media freely available online today, a
this will be the way to go. AMD currently good Internet connection will transform
has the advantage when it comes to your entertainment PC. You can opt for
system flexibility, since Intel’s latest a Wi-Fi adapter to eliminate wires, or to
solutions place the graphics on the CPU make Internet connection sharing easier.
rather than the motherboard, limiting the Finally, you could even opt for a TV tuner
combinations of components that can with the computer. In areas where DTH
be used. is mandatory, ensure your tuner has the
On the other hand, a graphics card required audio and video inputs to work
will always provide more power, allowing with a set-top box.
the PC to double up for light gaming and If style is a major concern, look for the
providing quicker overall performance. quietest and most compact computer
You don’t need the highest-end graphics around, but check the specifications
card; a GeForce GT 220 /240 or Radeon thoroughly. The smaller the device, the
5450/5550 will suffice. These models higher the chances that manufacturers
don’t require extra space, power and have cut corners somewhere in order
cooling, and don’t make much noise to manage heat and power. A cordless
either. Blu-ray drives are extremely rare keyboard and mouse set will let you sit
in branded PCs today, but you could comfortably on a sofa or bed and still
consider the upgrade for more choices of control media playback.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT OPTION Rs 80,750
Processor Intel Core i5-650, 3.2 GHz 8,700
Motherboard Gigabyte H55M-S2H, Intel H55 6,800
RAM 2 x 2 GB Strontium DDR3-1333 5,000
Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Green - 1 TB 3,400
Graphics card Sapphire Radeon HD 5550 4,450
Optical drive Sony BC-5100S-OB, 24x SATA Blu-ray combo 8,700
Monitor BenQ V2400 Eco, 24-inch TFT (LED) 17,500
Keyboard and
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX90 1,400
mouse combo
Speakers Creative Inspire T7900, 7.1-channel 8,200
PC Case GlacialTech Altair A381 10,300
Power supply unit Included with the PC Case –
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,300
TOTAL 80,750

WORK
STATION
Today’s high-end computers can handle
some incredibly intense workloads,
including those that would have been
impossible just a few years ago. But
there’s a difference between a high-end
PC assembled from common retail
parts, and a proper workstation. If you
need rock-solid stability and the highest
possible levels of performance for
demanding tasks such as heavy scientific
calculations, animation, 3D visualization,
or medical imaging, then it’s time to get
serious about workstations. Computers in
this class aren’t found at neighborhood
shops, but the kind of warranty and
on-location support that big brands
provide are important to keep in mind if
you’re considering an assembled solution
for your work. Needless to say, you’ll be
looking at a significant investment.
It would be fairly simple to build
or buy a super-high-end desktop to
keep costs manageable. This is a good
middle ground for serious enthusiasts
CHECKLIST
Single or dual workstation-class Xeon/
Opteron preferred
6 GB RAM minimum, ECC preferred
10k RPM hard drive, RAID array or solid-
state drive preferred
Workstation-class Quadro FX/FirePro
graphics card
64-bit operating system
External storage for backups; additional
remote backup location preferred
Minimum three-year warranty
commitment with same day or next
business day on-site service
or self-employed professionals.
The world's current fastest-
performing desktop CPU is the
Core i7 980X, with six cores. This
ought to blaze through heavy graphical
and numbercrunching tasks. It will work
with ordinary consumer motherboards
(you don't have to spend on gamer-
targeted overclocking features, since
stability is key here) and RAM. The latest
Nvidia GeForce and ATI Radeon graphics
cards will also take care of high-end
computational tasks, so you can save
some money here too.
But there are serious benefits to
dedicated workstation-class hardware.
For a true workstation, you’ll need an
Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron CPU with
matching ECC (Error Correction Code)
memory. Suitable current CPU models
include the Xeon 34xx and 36xx series
and the AMD Opteron series. These
are designed to accelerate heavy tasks
beyond the capabilities of regular
Workstation graphics cards look like desktop ones
with different ports, but are quite different inside.
FEATURED
COVER STORY
desktop components, and you can count
on the latest and greatest technological
advances in this price segment.
Depending on your type of work, you
might want a dedicated graphics card,
such as AMD’s FirePro/FireGL and Nvidia’s
Quadro products. The main difference
between consumer and professional
cards is the ability of the latter to execute
extremely accurate calculations and work
with specific enhancements for CAD and
design software. These cards may also
have much more memory and different
display output options. Graphics cards
are also interesting today because of
their ability to perform superfast parallel
calculations for general computing,
providing a massive speed boost for
repetitive tasks including simulations,
renders, and encryption.
Graphics professionals will need the
best quality monitor(s) available. High-
performance LCD monitors that display
a wide color gamut with 24-bit accuracy
are available, but very expensive.
Storage will obviously be important
and you’ll want the fastest drives (or
RAID arrays) around. External network
shares or servers are preferable for
backups in a workstation environment.
Finally, make sure the manufacturer
has specified noise, heat and power
consumption details, and has used a
high-quality power supply.
Consumer workstations are available
from Dell and Lenovo amongst others,
with prices on request.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 59
 FEATURED
COVER STORY
Beige boxes are dead, and there’s no
need for ordinary home and office users
to put up with the same ugly, noisy
computers that were the norm a decade
or two ago. While LCD monitors have
now completely replaced their unsightly
CRT cousins, most computers are still
designed the same way as always even
though times have changed. Quite
simply, almost everything needed for
comfortable operation is now integrated
onto motherboards, largely eliminating
any need for expansion cards, and
thereby leaving mostly empty air inside
those roomy cabinets. If you’re not going
to play games that demand a graphics
card or use professional accessories, all
that space is wasted. Plenty of brands
have now realized this and are selling
PCs in “slim” cabinets, or at least trying
to make them as compact as possible.
These are usually perfect for bedrooms,
studies, kitchens, or wherever you
might want an unobtrusive computer
for any reason. There are often some
compromises to the hardware, and prices
tend to be on the premium side, but for
those whose main concern is looks, this
shouldn’t be a problem.
There are two main types of compact
computers: the all-in-one panel PC
style, which shoves all the guts behind
an LCD in one single enclosure, and
the lunchbox style, which still remains
a small, separate box connected to
everything else. All-in-one PCs are the
most stylish and almost totally eliminate
wires running around your desk. However
they aren’t all that easy to upgrade, and
you might find yourself throwing out a
perfectly good monitor when the PC
60 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
COMPACT
& STYLISH
As stylish as all-in-one designs are, your upgrade
paths will be highly limited.
parts become too old, or vice versa if
the panel happens to die. You won't get
extremely powerful hardware because
the compact size makes cooling difficult.
One interesting development in recent
times has been the use of touchscreens.
HP has a few models that allow for
multitouch gestures, which add a unique
dimension to computer usage and make
it fun, especially for children, when
coupled with software designed to take
advantage of this feature.
Lunchbox designs on the other hand
are typically easy to open and customize,
and you’re free to match them with
whatever type of monitor you like to
bring down the cost. Still, you are limited
in choice for the same reasons.
The most famous all-in-one is of
course Apple’s iMac. It uses high-end
desktop parts and even offers some
pretty powerful graphics options,
but all at a price of course. If you’re
looking for a style statement, it’s hard
Lunchbox-style PCs can look quite cute. Use
wireless peripherals to eliminate trailing wires.
to match this one. HP, Dell, Zenith and
Lenovo also offer a variety of such
designs, including some with multitouch
screens. Lunchbox-style boxes are more
difficult to come by, although assorted
companies including Apple, Dell, Zotac
and Panache do sell such products. More
commonly, low-cost PCs based on low-
power AMD Athlon Neo, Intel Atom CPUs
or even low-powered laptop components
are also available in these form factors.
There’s an obvious tradeoff in processing
power, so they’re worth buying only if
they aren’t going to be used for anything
more than basic Web surfing and
document work.
Look for plenty of USB, FireWire and
eSATA ports, since these will pretty
much be your only avenues for upgrades,
even if you just need more storage
space. On the other hand, you're likely
to get built-in goodies such as include
a webcam, card reader, Wi-Fi and/or
Bluetooth, unlike boxy desktops.

ADDONS:
ESSENTIAL ACCESSORY IDEAS
All of the types of PCs here are
quite complete on their own, but
a few additional accesories will
add a ton of fun and functionality
to them. Some of the functions
we take for granted on laptops
today are optional on most
types of desktops, most notably
wireless adapters for Bluetooth and
nd
Wi-Fi. Apart from that, webcams aren't
all that common either, but luckily
some excellent aftermarket models
ls
are available from companies including
uding
Microsoft and
Micro
Logitech.
Log
Gamers have
a all kinds
of choices
available to
THE VERDICT:
BRANDED vs ASSEMBLED
The price difference between branded
and assembled PCs has largely eroded,
and promises of qualified at-home
service and phone support are making
it extremely tempting to forget about
buying individual parts for good. The
Big brands offer high quality construction and
attractive finishes in various designs.
them, fr
from specialized
keyboards and mice with tons
keyboa
of extra buttons, to speciality
headsets and even
head
mousepads (better known
mous
surfaces) which are
as su
available in various textures
availa
depending on personal
depend
preferences.
pre
p referen
Budget-minded
B udge
buyers
b uyers who didn't
spend on the largest
large possible
hard drive, or those
thos with
cramped all-in-one PCs
needn't fear. Rather than
opening up the cabinet and
struggling with connections,
external hard drives aren't
very expensive any more
fit and finish of a branded PC is almost
always superior these days, mostly due
to the poor availability of affordable high-
quality cabinets and the manufacturers’
constant efforts to differentiate their
products’ exteriors. Mass production also
allows the brands to offer better moulded
plastics, goodies like built-in card readers,
intelligent cable management, and
qualified installation at home. You’ll save
money on the OS and other included
software, though some extra unnecessary
programs are bound to be present.
However you are limited in other
ways. Choices and customization options
are often limited. Buyers are caught
between paying way more than market
rates for simple upgrades like extra RAM,
and voiding their warranties by having
it installed later. Choices are also often
limited when it comes to the monitor,
speakers, keyboard and mouse. If you
need higher quality sound and video or
more comfortable peripherals, you’ll be
out of luck.
After analyzing product datasheets
from nearly every major player in India,
FEATURED
COVER STORY
at all. Choose
from plain USB,
FireWire, eSATA
or the latest USB
3.0 standard. Some
models come with
automatic backup
software.
A good pair of headphones will help
you enjoy late-night games and
movies without disturbing the
rest of the family.
And depending on where
you live, do consider buying
a UPS. These help prevent
damage due to fluctuating line
conditions, and give you enough
time to save your work when
the power suddenly goes out.
our very clear conclusion is that the
best branded offerings are in the sub-Rs
35,000 category. This appears to be the
sweet spot around which most models
are concentrated, and also targets buyers
who won’t want too many customizations
to their PC configurations. Going higher
up the price range, we find more stylish
“lifestyle”-branded PC models with
increasingly powerful hardware, but the
choices of components do not generally
represent the best possible distribution
of money to make them optimal for
gaming. Here, in the middle and at the
upper end of the price range, gamers
and extremely discerning consumers are
often better off seeking out local system
integrators who can build something as a
custom order, or simply buy the parts and
assemble a desktop themselves. And as
far as full-blown workstations go, the tide
turns swiftly in favor of branded options
again, considering the kind of component
choices, construction quality and after-
sales support the target audience for
these machines would value.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 61
 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON
Fast and Furious
Want the ultimate gaming experience? Take your pick from some of the fastest graphics cards
on the market to satiate your desire for extreme eye candy. BY ANAND TULIANI AND FRANCIS D'SA
I
magine you’re playing a first-person
shooter wearing 3D glasses on a
home theatre setup with a massive
display and surround sound. The game
has a dark environment with an eerie
score playing in the background. You hear
footsteps behind you. You turn around to
find yourself face-to-face with a dreadful
monster. So you pull out that big fat
gun and blast the beast into a hundred
pieces.
Today’s games look so life-like and
immersive that they literally make you
feel like you’re in some other world.
Visual effects such like reflections,
water ripples, HDR lighting and detailed
textures make games look movie-like.
However, only with a high-end graphics
card can you enjoy games in full glory.
Some games are so visual effect-heavy
that they bring even top-end graphics
card to their knees. Rendering graphics is
such an intensive task that even a dozen
62
high-end desktop processors will fall
short. That’s how powerful and complex
graphics processors are!
The latest in the world of gaming
and entertainment is 3D technology.
You can go completely 3D with Nvidia’s
3D vision kit, a suitable graphics card
and a compatible monitor. But again, to
enjoy games in 3D, you need a powerful
graphics card because processing
graphics for 3D is even more intensive
than rendering regular graphics. At
present, the hardware required for a
3D experience is expensive, but a few
years down the line, 3D will become
mainstream.
The need for graphics cards is not
limited to gaming alone. The power of
the GPU can be harnessed to accelerate
HD video playback, imaging and video
editing applications. The latest graphics
cards are equipped with HDMI 1.3 ports
and audio processors that decode Dolby
Jagdish Limbachiya
TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio,
making them perfect for home theater
PCs. Certain video editing applications
use the GPU’s stream processors for
transcoding and applying filters on the fly.
With a powerful graphics card, you can
transcode videos more than twice as fast
as a powerful desktop CPU.
In the last few months, ATI and
Nvidia have been churning out one GPU
after another. The high-end segment
now looks more or less complete,
with a decent number of options to
choose from. Manufacturers are ready
with models that use these GPUs, and
some have even introduced their own
PCB designs and custom coolers that
outperform the stock design. This month,
we bring you an exciting roundup of 18
high-end graphics cards. Let’s find out
which one takes the crown and what you
should pick if you want a good bang for
the buck.
SMS us!  Story code: FLC to 57007

TEST RIG
CPU: Intel Core i5-661, 3.33 GHz
Motherboard: MSI H57M-ED65
Memory: 4 GB DDR3-1333
SSD: Intel X25-M, 80 GB
LCD monitor: ViewSonic VX2433wm
TEST PROCESS
In this roundup, we've only included
models based on the latest Radeon
HD 5800 series (HD 5830, 5850 and
5870) and GeForce GTX 460, 465, 470
and 480 series GPUs. Vendors were
welcome to send variants with different
memory sizes, custom coolers and
factory-overclocked core and memory.
We evaluated cards on the following
parameters:
Features: The GPU architectures of
Nvidia and ATI are completely different.
So while an ATI GPU may have more
stream processors, both may be
equally powerful. So, we didn’t assign
any weight to the number of stream
processors. We did consider the core
and memory speed, amount of video
memory and memory bus width. Extra
points were awarded to cards with
custom coolers that were more efficient.
We also took note of contents like HDMI
adapters and cables. Features accounted
for 25 percent of the overall score.
Performance: We ran 3DMark Vantage
in Performance mode and noted the GPU
score. For the real-world tests, we ran
the following games at 1920x1080:
Left 4 Dead: Very high, 8xMSAA
Just Cause 2: Very high, 8xCSAA
Crysis Warhead: Enthusiast mode, No
AA and 4xAA
We ran Unigine Heaven 2.1, a DirectX
11 benchmarking tool, at 1920x1080 with
tessellation disabled, normal tessellation,
and extreme tessellation. The final
test was FurMark with 8xAA and
post-processing enabled. We noted the
average frame rate after a one-minute
run and the power consumption. After
running benchmarks, we let the rig settle
for five minutes and noted the idle power
consumption. This section was allotted a
weight of 75 percent.
Warranty: Most vendors offer 3 years
warranty. Bonus points were awarded to
cards that offered greater warranty.
Value for money: This was calculated
by stacking up features, performance and
warranty scores against the price.
SPARKLE GTX 480
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 27,500
Core speed: 701 MHz; Stream processors: 480; Memory: 1536
MB, 924 MHz; Ports: DVI, mini HDMI.
CONTACT Abacus Peripherals
PHONE 022-40914600
EMAIL enquiry@abacusperipherals.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
N udging its way past the Zotac GTX
480 by a single point, the Sparkle
GTX 480 bagged the Best Performance
title. The Fermi architecture finally
showed its true potential when sheer
performance was the need of the hour.
The card not only performed better in
most sections, but also scored decently
in the features section. It is built on
the GTX 480 GPU with 480 stream
processors and is clocked at 724 MHz.
Supporting the GPUs performance
is the 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory
running at 924 MHz tied to a 384-bit
bus. Demanding games such as Crysis
Warhead and Just Cause 2 ran smoothly
at over 30 fps with all the visual effects
maxed out. Even stressful benchmarks
such as Unigine Heaven and FurMark
ran smoothly. But the downside of this
card is that it runs extremely hot and
the power consumption of the system
goes as high as 430 Watts under load.
So if you go in for this card, make sure
that you also invest in a roomy cabinet
with a good number of exhaust fans,
because in spite of a gigantic cooler, the
GPU can touch a whopping 95 degrees
Centigrade.
VERDICT: An excellent choice for
gamers, enthusiasts, serious graphics
designers and animation specialists.
FOR: Excellent performance.
AGAINST: Hogs power, runs extremely
hot and hence needs a lot of cooling.
FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON
ZOTAC GTX 460
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 14,999
Core speed: 675 MHz; Stream processors: 224; Memory: 900 MHz,
1024 MB; Ports: DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort.
CONTACT Aditya Infotech
PHONE 011-46665666
EMAIL sales@adityagroup.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
T he GeForce GTX 460 is Nvidia’s
latest addition to its lineup of
high-end GPUs. As compared to the
GTX 465, which has 11 clusters of stream
processors, the GTX 460 is much leaner,
with four clusters less, which takes away
128 stream processors (4 x 32). However,
it runs both the core and memory faster
than the GTX 465 at 675 MHz and 900
MHz respectively. The Zotac GeForce
GTX 460 is the first graphics cards in the
market to feature the new GPU. The GTX
460 is available in two variants; 768 MB
and 1 GB. This model features 1 GB DDR5
memory tied to a 256-bit wide bus. As
far as performance goes, the GTX 460
is almost as powerful as the GTX 465
and comes very close to the Radeon HD
5850. Fewer stream processors means
lower power consumption and less heat
generation. You also won't require an
expensive high-end power supply unit to
feed this card. It consumes a little more
than 250 Watts under load, which is
just a tad higher than the consumption
of HD 5850. But considering its overall
performance, it’s definitely a better
bargain than the HD 5850, which costs
around Rs 4,000 more.
VERDICT: If you’re looking for pure value
for money, look no further than this
graphics card.
FOR: Very good performance for its
price, power efficient.
AGAINST: None.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 63
 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

PERSONAL TAKE
SpecScan
1 2
NAME Zotac GTX 480 Sparkle GTX 480
Contact Aditya Infotech Abacus Peripherals
ANAND TULIANI
Phone 011-46665666 022-40914600
anand.tuliani@chip.in
E-mail sales@adityagroup.com enquiry@abacusperipherals.com
Good performance doesn’t mean only high Website www.zotac.com www.abacusperipherals.com
frame rates. A graphics card should also be Price* Rs. 29,999 Rs. 27,500
energy-efficient and run cool. No doubt OVERALL 64

Nvidia’s GTX 480 and GTX 470 offer top notch Features (25%) 59 84 66

performance, but they heat up like crazy and Performance (70%) 78 93 94

drink up electricity. The Radeon HD 5000 Warranty (5%) 88100 60

series graphics cards are comparatively power- 0 5050 100 0 50 100

friendly but they can’t match up with Nvidia’s Overall (out of 100) 86
0 50 100 85
GPUs when it comes to tessellation and PhysX, Value For Money
which look awesome in action. My favorite FEATURES
from this round-up is the winner of the Best Chipset GeForce GTX 480 GeForce GTX 480
Value award, the Zotac GeForce GTX 460. It’s No. of stream processors 480 480
almost as powerful as the GTX 465 and offers Core speed 701 MHz 701 MHz
similar performance as the Radeon HD 5850 Memory
for a much lower price. Also, it doesn’t heat up Speed | Amount 924 MHz | 1536 MB GDDR5 924 MHz | 1536 MB GDDR5
as much as its elder siblings and neither does it Bus width 384-bit 384-bit
hog power. If you want sheer power, buy a pair Factory overclocked ✖ ✖
of GTX 460s and put them in SLI; it defeats a Cooler type Stock Stock
single GTX 480 and costs the same. DirectX support | 6-pin power connector DirectX 11 | 6 + 8 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 8 pin
Backpanel Ports
DVI ✔ ✔
DisplayPort ✖ ✖
HDMI ✖ ✖
Mini HDMI ✔ ✔
Package contents
Bundled games ✖ ✖
FRANCIS D'SA
francis.dsa@chip.in
Mini HDMI to HDMI connector ✔ ✖
HDMI to DVI connector ✖ ✖
As this roundup is for gamers and enthusiasts, I HDMI cable ✖ ✔
would rather sit this one out. But having been PERFORMANCE
involved in the test process, I do have a few 3DMark Vantage (Performance)
recommendations myself. If you don’t mind GPU 17416 17786
lightening your pocket, a card that offers top- Left 4 Dead
of-the-line performance should be your choice. 1920x1080 - Very High - 8xMSAA 77.00 fps 76.81 fps
Check out the GeForce GTX 480 series cards; Just Cause 2
an excellent choice for those looking for sheer 1920x1080 - Very High - 8xCSAA 61.00 fps 61.1 fps
performance from demanding games. Based on Crysis Warhead
the Fermi architecture, these cards offer true 1920x1080 - Enthusiast - No AA 37.20 fps 36.62 fps
performance. They can do a whopping 30 fps 1920x1080 - Enthusiast - 4xAA 32.09 fps 32.39 fps
with tessellations enabled in extreme tests, Unigine Heaven 2.1
such as Heaven. But beware; these rigs can 1920x1080 - 4xAA - Disabled tess 47.40 fps 47.5 fps
send your electric bills through the roof by 1920x1080 - 4xAA - Normal tess 38.20 fps 38.2 fps
sucking almost 430 Watts of power. To keep 1920x1080 - 4xAA - Extreme tess 30.00 fps 29.8 fps
your heart right, Zotac has the latest GTX 460 Furmark v1.8.2
well within the budget line of high-end cards. 1920x1080 - 8XAA with post-processing 43 fps 44 fps
Retailing at Rs 15,000 with a 5-year warranty, Power consumption
this card is great value for money, and can Idle | Load 89 W | 427 W 90 W | 426 W
handle demanding games like Crysis Warhead WARRANTY
and Just Cause 2. Warranty period 5 years 3 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

64 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

3 4 5 6 7
ASUS Matrix 5870 Platinum Ed. ASUS EAH5870 XFX HD 5870 Galaxy GTX 470 MSI GTX 470 Twin Frozer II
Asus India Asus India Rashi Peripherals Technology and Gadgets M.S.I
022–67668800 022–67668800 022-67090828 022-23823331 011-41758808
reachus@asus.com reachus@asus.com response@rptechindia.com sales@technologyandgadgets.com sanyam@msi.com
www.asus.com www.asus.com www.rptechindia.com www.technologyandgadgets.com www.in.msi.com
Rs. 38,000 Rs. 30,000 Rs. 25,500 Rs. 27,000 Rs. 23,000

78 71 73 64 57

83 83 82 79 79

60 60 60 60 60

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

81 79 79 74 73

Radeon HD 5870 Radeon HD 5870 Radeon HD 5870 GeForce GTX 470 GeForce GTX 470
1,600 1,600 1,600 448 448
894 MHz 850 MHz 875 MHz 625 MHz 608 MHz

1200 MHz | 2048 MB GDDR5 1200 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 1300 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 837 MHz | 1280 MB GDDR5 837 MHz | 1280 MB GDDR5
256-bit 256-bit 256-bit 320-bit 320-bit
✔ ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔
Stock Stock Stock Custom Custom
DirectX 11 | 8 + 8 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖
✔ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖
✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✔

✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✔
✔ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✖

17635 17346 17395 14207 14049

82.2 fps 83.94 fps 84.82 fps 70.36 fps 68.63 fps

45.69 fps 44.81 fps 46.8 fps 48.9 fps 48.54 fps

39.15 fps 38.48 fps 40.04 fps 31.99 fps 30.8 fps
33.97 fps 33.22 fps 34.79 fps 27.82 fps 27.55 fps

42.8 fps 42.33 fps 39.1 fps 39.1 fps 39.1 fps
28.8 fps 28.4 fps 26.2 fps 30.8 fps 31.6 fps
18.1 fps 17.6 fps 16.7 fps 24.1 fps 22.8 fps

39 fps 41 fps 42 fps 34 fps 34 fps

74 W | 307 W 62 W | 277 W 64 W | 278 W 93 W | 369 W 73 W | 301 W

3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 65

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

SpecScan
8 9 10
NAME MSI R5850 XFX HD 5850 Zotac GTX 470
Contact M.S.I Rashi Peripherals Aditya Infotech
Phone 011-41758808 022-67090828 011-46665666
E-mail sanyam@msi.com response@rptechindia.com sales@adityagroup.com
Website www.in.msi.com www.rptechindia.com www.zotac.com
Price* Rs. 21,500 Rs. 19,250 Rs. 22,999
OVERALL
Features (25%) 67 67 52

Performance (70%) 76 76 79

Warranty (5%) 60 60 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (out of 100) 73 73 73

Value For Money
FEATURES
Chipset Radeon HD 5850 Radeon HD 5850 GeForce GTX 470
No. of stream processors 1,440 1,440 448
Core speed 765 MHz 765 MHz 608 MHz
Memory
Speed | Amount 1125 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 1125 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 837 MHz | 1280 MB GDDR5
Bus width 256-bit 256-bit 320-bit
Factory overclocked ✔ ✔ ✔
Cooler type Stock Stock Stock
DirectX support | 6-pin power connector DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin
Backpanel Ports
DVI ✔ ✔ ✔
DisplayPort ✔ ✔ ✖
HDMI ✔ ✔ ✖
Mini HDMI ✖ ✖ ✔
Package contents
Bundled games ✖ ✖ ✖
Mini HDMI to HDMI connector ✖ ✔ ✔
HDMI to DVI connector ✖ ✖ ✖
HDMI cable ✖ ✖ ✖
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (Performance)
GPU 15582 15359 13560
Left 4 Dead
1920x1080 - Very High - 8xMSAA 81.23 fps 80.44 fps 70.61 fps
Just Cause 2
1920x1080 - Very High - 8xCSAA 40.53 fps 40.52 fps 48.36 fps
Crysis Warhead
1920x1080 - Enthusiast - No AA 34.3 fps 34.12 fps 31.41 fps
1920x1080 - Enthusiast - 4xAA 29.89 fps 29.83 fps 27.49 fps
Unigine Heaven 2.1
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Disabled tess 38.2 fps 38.1 fps 38.7 fps
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Normal tess 25.3 fps 25.3 fps 30.6 fps
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Extreme tess 15.8 fps 15.7 fps 24.1 fps
Furmark v1.8.2
1920x1080 - 8XAA with post-processing 34 fps 35 fps 34 fps
Power consumption
Idle | Load 66 W | 257 W 65 W | 253 W 84 W | 320 W
WARRANTY
Warranty period 3 years 3 years 5 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

66 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

11 12 13 14 15
ASUS ENGTX470 Zotac GTX 460 ASUS EAH5850 Sparkle GTX 465 Galaxy GTX 465
Asus India Aditya Infotech Asus India Abacus Peripherals Technology and Gadgets
022–67668800 011-46665666 022–67668800 022-40914600 022-23823331
reachus@asus.com sales@adityagroup.com reachus@asus.com enquiry@abacusperipherals.com sales@technologyandgadgets.com
www.asus.com www.zotac.com www.asus.com www.abacusperipherals.com www.technologyandgadgets.com
Rs. 19,580 Rs. 14,999 Rs. 29,250 Rs. 16,500 Rs. 19,000

52 66 54 55 60

79 68 70 66 63

60 100 60 60 60

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

71 69 66 63 62

GeForce GTX 470 GeForce GTX 460 Radeon HD 5850 GeForce GTX 465 GeForce GTX 465
448 224 1,440 352 352
608 MHz 675 MHz 725 MHz 608 MHz 608 MHz

837 MHz | 1280 MB GDDR5 900 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 1000 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 802 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 802 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5
320-bit 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit
✔ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
Stock Stock Stock Stock Custom
DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
✖ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
✔ ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔

✖ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖
✔ ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✔

14048 11580 14805 11475 11486

70.04 fps 55.66 fps 77.42 fps 59.48 fps 59.46 fps

48.32 fps 37.75 fps 37.83 fps 38.79 fps 38.91 fps

31.49 fps 31.97 fps 32.3 fps 26 fps 26.03 fps

26.97 fps 22.64 fps 27.91 fps 22.14 fps 22.08 fps

38.9 fps 35 fps 30.7 fps 31.1 fps 28.9 fps

30.5 fps 25.6 fps 21.2 fps 24.3 fps 22.3 fps
23.9 fps 18.9 fps 13.5 fps 19.1 fps 16.9 fps

34 fps 27 fps 33 fps 27 fps 27 fps

74 W | 303 W 64 W | 255 W 64 W | 220 W 74 W | 258 W 74 W | 293 W

3 years 5 years 3 years 3 years 3 years

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 67

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

SpecScan
16 17 18
NAME MSI GTX 465 Twin Frozer II Golden Ed. Zotac GTX 465 ASUS ENGTX465
Contact M.S.I Aditya Infotech Asus India
Phone 011-41758808 011-46665666 022–67668800
E-mail sanyam@msi.com sales@adityagroup.com reachus@asus.com
Website www.in.msi.com www.zotac.com www.asus.com
Price* Rs. 19,000 Rs. 17,999 Rs. 20,500
OVERALL
Features (25%) 55 48 48

Performance (70%) 64 63 63

Warranty (5%) 60 100 60

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (out of 100) 62 61 59

Value For Money
FEATURES
Chipset GeForce GTX 465 GeForce GTX 465 GeForce GTX 465
No. of stream processors 352 352 448
Core speed 608 MHz 608 MHz 608 MHz
Memory
Speed | Amount 802 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 802 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5 802 MHz | 1024 MB GDDR5
Bus width 352-bit 256-bit 256-bit
Factory overclocked ✖ ✖ ✖
Cooler type Custom Stock Stock
DirectX support | 6-pin power connector DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin DirectX 11 | 6 + 6 pin
Backpanel Ports
DVI ✔ ✔ ✔
DisplayPort ✖ ✖ ✖
HDMI ✖ ✖ ✖
Mini HDMI ✔ ✔ ✔
Package contents
Bundled games ✖ ✖ ✖
Mini HDMI to HDMI connector ✔ ✔ ✔
HDMI to DVI connector ✖ ✖ ✖
HDMI cable ✖ ✖ ✖
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (Performance)
GPU 11505 11224 11462
Left 4 Dead
1920x1080 - Very High - 8xMSAA 59.42 fps 58.83 fps 59.65 fps
Just Cause 2
1920x1080 - Very High - 8xCSAA 39.11 fps 38.85 fps 38.8 fps
Crysis Warhead
1920x1080 - Enthusiast - No AA 25.98 fps 25.26 fps 25.95 fps
1920x1080 - Enthusiast - 4xAA 22.14 fps 21.8 fps 22.16 fps
Unigine Heaven 2.1
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Disabled tess 27.68 fps 27.1 fps 28.5 fps
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Normal tess 21.9 fps 21.5 fps 23.1 fps
1920x1080 - 4xAA - Extreme tess 17.3 fps 16.7 fps 16.9 fps
Furmark v1.8.2
1920x1080 - 8XAA with post-processing 27 fps 27 fps 27 fps
Power consumption
Idle | Load 72 W | 256 W 73 W | 251 W 79 W | 280 W
WARRANTY
Warranty period 3 years 5 years 3 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

68 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


HD or SD? You Decide
Need help in deciding which camcorder to buy? Here are a chosen few to get you started.
BY SANDEEP BALACHANDRAN
C amcorders have gone through
major transitions over the years.
MiniDVs, which dominated the market
until recently, are now being phased
out because flash and hard drive-based
camcorders are far more compact and
offer richer feature sets. Also, flash
memory-based camcorders are less
likely to break down as they have fewer
moving parts.
Now when it comes to storage, both
flash and hard disk-based camcorders
offer substantial storage space. As of
now, flash memory supports just about
16 GB of space, whereas their hard disk
counterparts can give you as much as
240 GB. This gives you the freedom to
even record and store more than what
you might actually need. Since this
roundup had a limiting price factor of
Rs. 35,000, we could only get our hands
on camcorders with a maximum of 80
GB space. In addition, all test products
featured an SDHC expansion slot, which
SMS us!  Story code: FCC to 57007
further allows you to add more space
should you run out of it. So in comparison,
flash and hard disk based camcorders
allow you to record hours of video over
a fixed 90-minute MiniDV tape/disc.
However, this didn’t hold true for all test
subjects, as the Samsung HMX-H200BP
and the Panasonic SDR-S26 were devoid
of internal memory and a hard disk.
The second most important factor is
their ability to record in high definition,
and interestingly, HD camcorders almost
fall in the same price range as most
standard definition camcorders. It’s
ultimately for you to decided whether you
would like to own an HD camcorder or an
SD one. One thing’s for sure; even though
HD camcorders are a tad expensive, they
can record at a much higher resolution,
thereby producing a much cleaner, crisper
and clearer image.
Before we dig in, here are a few tips on
what to look out for before purchasing a
hard drive or flash-based camcorder –
Jagdish Limbachiya
F E AT
FE
FEATURED
ATUR
T UR
URED
U ED
CAMCORDER COMPARISON
Storage capacity: Look for a
camcorder with a high capacity drive as
it will allow you to record for a longer
timeframe.
Resolution: A camcorder with a higher
sensor resolution will not only deliver a
better video output, but will also capture
decent still images.
Optical zoom: Good optical zoom
value allows you to zoom into the subject
without compromising on the overall
picture quality.
Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS): This
is probably the most important factor
when purchasing a camcorder with high
optical zoom. It will help in maintaining a
jitter-free video at full zoom. We suggest
you test the camcorder at full zoom to
test the IS.
LCD screen size: Look out for a
camcorder with a decently sized screen
and a bright display. After all, you
wouldn’t want to be squinting while going
through the menu settings.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 69
 FEATURED
CAMCORDER COMPARISON
PERSONAL TAKE
SANDEEP BALACHANDRAN
sandeep.balachandran@chip.in
In comparison to cameras, the camcorder
segment is still much of an unexplored area.
Camcorders are certainly a more viable option
if you plan on recording video rather than
capturing still images. But deciding on a
particular brand and model of camcorder is
just as confusing as choosing a camera. For
some, a camcorder’s size and capacity are of
more importance, while for others, it is the
overall video quality that is of great
importance. But what good is video quality if
you can only record 10-15 minutes of high
definition video?
This brings me to our Best Performer - the
Samsung HMX-H200BP. Quality-wise the HMX-
200BP is almost flawless in almost all aspects
of recording. It delivered exceptional video
and audio clarity that outdid my personal
favourite – the Sony HDR-CX150E. The only
major drawback was that the Samsung
features no built-in memory, nor does it come
with a memory card; one of the main reasons
for it being the cheapest HD camcorder in the
roundup. Considering that a 16 GB SDHC card
will set you back at least Rs 2,000, it still
makes the Samsung HMX-H200BP a cheaper
proposition. Settling for a camcorder with no
flash memory or hard drive definitely doesn’t
suite my taste. That’s the main reason I still
consider the Sony HDR-CX150E a better
purchase over the Samsung HMX-H200BP.
Not only has Sony embedded the CX150E
with 16 GB of flash memory, but have also
thrown in an extra 16 GB SDHC card. The Sony
CX150E is also one of the most versatile
camcorders under Rs 35,000. What you get
are a whole bunch of features that allow you
to manually set the exposure, focus and white
balance. Irrespective of my likes and dislikes,
given a choice between the two, I would still
settle for the Sony CX150E, mainly for its rich
feature set and 16 GB of flash memory.
If you are looking for better image quality
and don’t really care about recording space,
then the Samsung HMX-H200BP should be on
your list. On the other hand, if you are not too
concerned about recording in high definition
and space is of more concern, then the Sony
DCR-SR68 seals the deal.
70 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Test Process
The test process was based on five
parameters: features, build quality,
ergonomics, performance and warranty.
So let’s walk you through each of them.
Features: The versatility of a camcorder
depends on not only its feature set, but
also on its overall performance. Each
category was given a decent amount
of weightage in accordance with their
features. Camcorders that came with
additional or extra features were given
greater scores. The test process was
started by noting down the CMOS sensor
size/resolution, the total zoom, maximum
video resolution, video/audio format, ISO
speeds, shutter speed and the number
of preset scenes. Moreover, camcorders
were given scores on their overall image
stabilization. After all, what good is a
camcorder if it features a weak image
stabilizer? Features accounted for 30
percent of the overall score.
Build Quality: The overall build quality
is vital as camcorders aren’t exactly
an affordable proposition. Moreover,
a better build also ensures that parts
don’t come lose over extended use.
Here, the overall quality of construction,
firmness of moving parts, such as battery
compartment lid and port flaps, was
evaluated. Build quality accounted for 5
percent of the overall score.
Ergonomics: A good camcorder is
designed with the user in mind. In other
words, the overall design should be such
that the user finds it easy to use and
navigate between the various functions.
We looked at the overall design, button
size/spacing, and the user interface. It
should offer decent grip along with easily
accessible controls during and after
the shoot. The overall menu navigation
and interface were also taken into
consideration as it is the ease of use that
adds value to the camcorder. Both grip
and menu navigation were given a fair
chunk of points. We also looked for the
presence of navigational aids such as
joystick, mode selection dial, and built-in
help. Ergonomics accounted for 20
percent of the overall score.
Performance: The performance
section is the biggest distinguishing factor
between camcorders. So to get an idea
of each camcorder’s performance, we
recorded an indoor scene and an outdoor
scene. Both scenes were captured with
the highest recordable resolution along
WEIGHTAGE USED FOR
EVALUATING CAMCORDER
40% PERFORMANCE 5% WARRANTY
30% FEATURES
20% ERGONOMICS 5% BUILD QUALITY
with the mode set to program with the
best possible setting. That apart, the
tests also included low light performance,
still image quality, IS performance at full
zoom, playback smoothness/sharpness
and overall audio quality, which is often
the most overlooked aspect when buying
a camcorder. Audio tests were conducted
both indoor and outdoor at a distance of
eight feet. This was needed especially for
outdoor tests (audio) as the recordings
sounded rather muffled due to excessive
ambient noise. Each level was analysed
stringently and points were awarded on
the overall clarity and sharpness of the
video captured and of the audio. Points
were also awarded to camcorders that
could capture acceptable still images.
Although not a very important aspect, it
still adds up as an extra feature. Since
performance is considered to be a very
important aspect in all of our tests,
performance accounted for 40 percent of
the overall score.
Warranty: You can never predict the
life of any electronic gadget, and since
camcorders are considered expensive and
delicate, it is important for them to be
backed up by warranty and support. For
this, the total number of service centers
in the country, the number of cities in
which these centers are present, and the
warranty period of each camcorder were
taken into account. A total of 5 percent
of the overall score was assigned to this
section.
Value for Money: Last but not least
was value for money, which was derived
by clubbing the features, build quality,
ergonomics, performance and warranty
and pitting it against the price. Higher the
score, better the value for money rating.
The camcorders were finally awarded
Best Performer and Best Value according
to the final score that they returned.

T he Samsung HMX-H200BP is one of
the best camcorders we’ve tested
in this roundup. It also features one of
the most responsive touch interfaces
amongst the seven we tested. Unlike
the others, it allows you to focus on the
subject before taking still images, thereby
ensuring sharper results.
The camcorder features a user friendly
design that makes everything from
navigation to usability easy. For instance,
it’s free of conventional rubber port flaps,
and instead features a hardened plastic
cover that effortlessly flips out when
required. It features the usual swivel
touch screen, with the quick menu, record
and zoom buttons placed alongside it.
However, the screen feels a little reflective
when shooting under broad daylight. This
model is devoid of a built-in hard drive
and comes with just an SD card slot that
supports upto 32 GB. Video recording
is offered in three modes – standard
definition and high definition at 720p and
1080i. It can record a maximum of 30
minutes at its lowest mode, while in 720p
and 1080i, you can squeeze in 10 and 7
minutes respectively on a 4 GB card.
T he Sony DCR-SR68 leaves very little
to fret about in terms of performance
and ergonomics. The only part that feels
a little out of place is the shutter release
button as you will need to stretch your
index finger to be able to access it. The
placement of the mode selection also
feels off. Placed towards the extreme
left, it is impossible to toggle between
picture and video modes using one hand.
Moreover, the camcorder doesn’t allow
you to take pictures when in video mode
or vice versa.
The positives, however, are the
massive 60x optical zoom and 80 GB of
recording space. That apart, the SR68
also features an SD card slot. Being a
mid-range camcorder, it does not support
recording in HD, but allows recording
in three other modes - high quality (20
hours), standard quality (29 hours) and
low quality (61 hours).
The DCR-SR68E comes with a fully
functional 2.7-inch touch screen that’s
quite vibrant and crisp, but only when
viewed under the shade. Take it into a
brightly lit area and the screen almost
turns into a mirror, making it almost
impossible to view the video. However,
FEATURED
CAMCORDER COMPARISON
Those who like to have the
functionalities of a digital camera in
their camcorders will like being able to
SAMSUNG HMX-H200BP
manually adjust aperture and shutter
speed. The Samsung features a Magic
Touch Shot that allows you to shift
focus anywhere on the screen by simply
touching that area of the LCD. This allows
you to choose the subject that you'd like
to focus on rather than the whole picture.
On the performance front, the
Samsung HMX-H200BP is extremely SPECIFICATIONS
impressive and maintains a very
Rs 21,990
good balance of color and contrast.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 58.5 x 59.3 x 111.9 mm; Weight: 275 g;
Performance was equally good under Video/Audio format: H.264/AAC; Sensor size: 1/4.9 in; Focal
broad daylight and low light conditions. length: 3.2 – 64 mm; Optical/Digital zoom: 20x/200x; Still image
resolution: 4.7/2.7 megapixels; Storage media: SD/SDHC.
Still image quality is decent enough as
CONTACT Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd
long as the resolution is scaled down to PHONE 0124-4881234
800x600. EMAIL NA
VERDICT: The Samsung HMX-H200BP
RATINGS
is a great camera with a decent set of BUILD QUALITY
features and impressive performance. ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
FOR: Decent low light recording, very PERFORMANCE
good balance of color and contrast, good OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
macro range, responsive touch interface,
IS works well at full zoom.
AGAINST: No dedicated hard drive, no
bundled memory.
the responsive and precise touch panel
works very well.
The SR68 performs quite well and
SONY DCR-SR68
delivers a decent blend of color and
contrast. Unlike other camcorders in its
category, the DCR-SR68 does a very good
job at maintaining the overall saturation
of blues and reds. Skin tones were also
exceptional as the results produced were
quite sharp and detailed. There isn’t
much noticeable fringing unless the video
is shot under direct sunlight. However, the SPECIFICATIONS
overall fringing does multiply when you Rs 19,990
zoom into the subject. Even though the
Dimensions (WxHxD): 56 x 65 x 115 mm; Weight: 300 g; Video/
camcorder features 60x optical zoom, Audio format: MPEG2/MPEG1; Sensor size: 1/8-inch; Focal length:
it cannot be considered one of the best 1.8 – 108 mm; Optical/Digital zoom: 60x/2000x; Still image
resolution: 0.8 MP; Storage media: 80 GB HDD | SD/SDHC.
as the image stabilization struggles to
CONTACT Sony India
maintain a steady frame at full zoom. If PHONE 1800-103-7799
you go beyond 80 percent of its zoom, EMAIL sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com
you will have to either use a tripod or
RATINGS
place the camcorder on a stable surface BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
to get a steady picture.
FEATURES
VERDICT: A compact camcorder with a PERFORMANCE
chunky storage space. OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
FOR: Good reproduction of colors, 80 GB
hard drive, responsive touch screen.
AGAINST: Extremely reflective LCD
screen, focussing issues under low light,
IS is not the best at full zoom.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 71
 FEATURED
CAMCORDER COMPARISON

SpecScan
1 2 3
CATEGORY HIGH DEFINITION
Name Sony HDR-CX150E Samsung HMX-H200BP Canon Legria HFR17
Contact Sony India Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd Canon India Pvt Ltd
Phone 1800-103-7799 0124-4881234 1800-180-33-66
E-mail sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com NA info@canon.co.in
Price* Rs. 29,990 Rs. 21,990 Rs. 32,995
OVERALL
Features (30%) 96 64 73

Build quality (5%) 100 100 100

Ergonomics (20%) 75 70 58

Performance (40%) 90 95 62

Warranty & support (5%) 50 50 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (out of 100%) 87 79 68

Value for money
FEATURES
Dimensions (WxHxD) 50 x 56 x 114 mm 58.50 x 59.30 x 111.95 mm 60 x 64 x 124 mm
Weight 215 g 275 g 270 g
CMOS sensor: Size | Resolution 1/4-inch | 3.1 MP 1/4.9-inch | 3.32 MP 1/5.5-inch | 2.39 MP
Max video resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Focal Length 2.5 to 62.5 mm 3.2 to 64 mm 3 to 60 mm
Aperture: Wide | Tele F1.8 | F2.2 F1.8 | F3.7 F1.8 | F3.6
Zoom: Optical | Digital 25x | 300x 20x | 200x 20x | 800x
LCD display 2.7-inch 2.7-inch 2.7-inch
No of preset scene modes 7 7 10
No of white balance modes 3 5 3
No of Color modes 0 4 6
Image stabilizer ✔ ✔ ✔
Video Format H.264 H.264 H.264
Memory: Onboard | Bundled 16 GB | 16 GB NA | NA 8 GB | NA
BUILD QUALITY
Shell | Buttons (out of 5) 5|5 5|5 5|5
Flaps | Battery compartment lid (out of 5) 5|5 5|5 5|5
ERGONOMICS
Grip (out of 5) 5 5 4.5
Menu navigation ease (out of 5) 5 5 5
Buttons: Size | Spacing | Tactility (out of 5) 4|5|5 5|5|5 5|5|5
Shortcut buttons: IS | Smart auto | Photo ✖|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔
Navigation aid Touchscreen Touchscreen Joystick
Built-in help ✔ ✖ ✖
PERFORMANCE
Clarity (out of 5) 4.5 5 4
Low light performance (out of 5) 4 4 1.5
Still image quality (out of 5) 4 4 3
Playback Smoothness (out of 5) 5 5 3
Overall Sharpness (out of 5) 5 5 3.5
IS performance at full zoom (out of 5) 4 5 3.5
Audio quality (out of 5) 4.5 4.5 3
WARRANTY
Warranty period 1 year 1 year 2 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

72 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
CAMCORDER COMPARISON

4 5 6 7
STANDARD DEFINITION
Sony DCR-SR68 Canon Legria FS305 Panasoninc SDR-H85 Panasonic SDR-S26
Sony India Canon India Pvt Ltd Panasonic India Pvt Ltd Panasonic India Pvt Ltd
1800-103-7799 1800-180-33-66 0124-4596600 0124-4596600
sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com info@canon.co.in richa.sethi@npi.panasonic.co.in richa.sethi@npi.panasonic.co.in
Rs. 19,990 Rs. 14,995 Rs. 25,990 Rs. 19,990

84 70 84 64

100 100 100 100

71 65 72 69

69 72 52 58

33 67 100 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

74 71 70 66

56 x 65 x 115 mm 55 x 59 x 121 mm 53 x 67 x 107 mm 56 x 65 x 107 mm

300 g 235 g 350 g 250 g
1/8-inch | 0.8 MP 1/6-inch | 0.8 MP 1/8-inch | 0.8 MP 1/8-inch | 0.8 MP
720 x 480 934 x 576 704 x 480 704 x 480
1.8 to 108 mm 2.6 to 96.2 mm 1.48 to 104 mm 1.48 to 104 mm
F1.8 | F6 F2 | F5.2 F1.9 | F5.7 F1.9 | F5.7
60x | 2000x 37x | 1800x 78x | 3500x 70x | 100x
2.7-inch 2.7-inch 2.7-inch 2.7-inch
9 8 9 5
3 3 1 0
0 5 0 0
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
MPEG2 MPEG2 MPEG2 MPEG2
80 GB | NA NA | 8 GB 80 GB | NA NA | NA

5|5 5|5 5|5 5|5

5|5 5|5 5|5 5|5

5 4.5 5 5
5 5 5 5
4|5|5 5|5|4 4|5|5 4|5|4
✖|✖|✔ ✖|✖|✔ ✔|✖|✔ ✔|✖|✔
Touchscreen Joystick Joystick Joystick
✔ ✖ ✔ ✖

4 3 1.5 2
3 3 2 2.5
4 3 2 3
4 4 4 4
3.5 3.5 2 2.5
2.5 5 4 3.5
3.5 4 3.5 4

1 year 2 years 3 years 3 years

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 73

 FEATURED
CAREERS
Be a Social Media Manager
If writing a blog comes naturally to you, if your Facebook profile is the center of activity, if you
have a huge following on Twitter, if you have more videos on YouTube than your peers, then
social media management is just the right career for you.
BY PRIYANKA TILVE
Y
ou will find that almost every
brand today has a presence
on one of the many social
networking sites. And it’s not just a
happy coincidence or some brand
aficionado who is doing it for them.
Social networking today forms a crucial
part of companies' marketing and
communication strategies. Having a
social media manager is no longer a
fad, given that over 50 percent of the
world’s population is under 30 years-old
and spends the better half of their day
on social networking sites. Increasingly,
companies are looking for dynamic
young people who know their way across
the various social platforms and
have the ability to
74 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
communicate well to manage their
virtual image.
According to Rajiv Dingra, Founder and
CEO WATMedia Pvt Ltd, social media in
India has taken a serious turn over the
years. It’s still at a very nascent stage
but more and more companies have
started investing their money on social
media. He says, “There are 71 million
Internet users in India according to the
IAMAI (Internet & Mobile Association of
India) report in 2009. Approximately 22
million people are active on social media.
Looking at these numbers, it’s important
to understand that these users would
be sharing information about various
brands, which could be
positive or negative
experiences.”
He states further,
“These users create
pages of their favorite
brands and start
conversations which
can be harmful as these
won’t be the official
presence. Thus, it’s
Sachin Pandit
It’s important to have a social media manager, who
will create an official presence for the brand in
social media.
important to have a social media
manager who will look into these pages/
conversations, will manage them and
create official presence of their brands
on social media. A social media manager
is required also because social media
is two–way communication platform,
thus enabling users to communicate
their feelings about the brand. A crisis
situation can be well handled on social
media with the presence of a social
media manger.”
What constitutes social
media?
When we think of social media,
Facebook, Twitter or YouTube come
to mind, but social media goes
beyond these platforms. As Robin
Jacob Abraham, Solutions Architect,
Drizzlin Media, says “How do you create
meaningful dialogue and establish
communities? This could involve going
offline to generate conversations
online, creating a branded community
itself, creating videos, presentations,
blogs, other forms of content, or
engaging in already active communities
across the web.” The most challenging
aspect, according to him, is to engage
the community. He says, “You need to
understand what conversations and
content works in generating engagement
and buzz, maintaining engagement
SMS us!  Story code: FSM to 51818

as well as reacting to negative and
sometimes abusive comments.”
What does the job entail?
Broadly speaking, the job of a social
media manager is to communicate
with the customers and clients. It’s all
about talking with people rather than
talking to people. What sets it apart
from PR is that while PR is one-way
communication, social media facilitates
two-way communication. It is the job of
the social media manager to identify the
proper channels of communication for
the brand and come up with meaningful
strategies. It is also his/her job to ensure
that all the communication flowing from
the organization, be it PR, advertisement,
marketing or social networking is in
sync and conveys the same message.
A part of the job is also to pass on
the communication across the various
platforms to the relevant department in
the organization, so that a suggestion
can be implemented or a query resolved.
Another important aspect of the job is
keeping an eye on the activities of the
competitors and always being prepared
to combat bad publicity.
Required skill set
If you are looking at taking up social
media as a career, then firstly, you need
to be a social and outgoing person.
Analytical as well as out-of-box thinking
abilities can come in handy. Most
importantly, you should have thorough
knowledge of all the social networking
sites and you must keep yourself abreast
with the latest trends and newer sites.
You should not only be able to identify
and develop communication strategies
for the brand, but it’s also important that
you execute them with efficiency. “It is
not an easy task to handle communities
with thousands of people in them. You
have to say the right things at the right
time. A good psychology and common
sense are plus points. Basically, you
have to be street smart and internet
smart,” says Aditya Rao, Co-founder
and Director, Social Business Strategy,
Superchooha.
Courses available
Looking at the increasing demand for
social media managers, IAMAI (Internet
& Mobile Association of India) together
with WATMedia Pvt Ltd, recently
EXPERT SPEAK
“Anyone from a
communications
background with a fair
knowledge of the
Internet can become a
social media manager.
Apart from that, and
from personal
experience, anyone with street smarts
and common sense can become one. And
hard work of course! The starting salary
can be between Rs 15,000 and Rs
20,000. The growth prospects are huge
since the social media concept has taken
everyone by storm, especially all the
marketing and advertising agencies in
the world. Every such agency has an in-
house team, and if they don’t have one,
they outsource it to smaller agencies. In
the past 12 months, my own startup
company has seen a 600% growth, with
an addition of two members to the team
every month.”
- Aditya Rao, Co-founder and Director,
Social Business Strategy, Superchooha
“Experience in this
field as a social media
executive is necessary
to graduate to the level
of a social media
manager. The ideal
candidate should be
proficient with
Microsoft Office products, must have a
deep knowledge of online marketing,
must possess excellent communication
and writing skills. He should also have
the ability to manage multiple priorities
in a limited timeframe. He should be
able to identify threats and
opportunities, and make quick decisions.
Of course, he should have a deep
knowledge and understanding of all
social media platforms. Social media is
an upcoming field and therefore the
career growth of an individual depends
on his/her capability and interest in this
field. The salary model is based mostly
on the PR model.”
- Rajiv Dingra, Founder and
CEO WATMedia Pvt Ltd.
launched India’s first social media course.
The four week program is designed
to aid the corporate as well as the
student communities to demystify social
media and its practices. For further
information on this program, you can
log on to www.socialmediacourse.in.
You can also join the Social Media Club,
Mumbai, which is the local chapter of the
FEATURED
CAREERS
“Anyone who's
passionate about the
web and understands
the flow of
conversations between
people can become a
social media manager.
The industry is a fast
evolving one and a lot of PR/
advertising/digital and specialist social
media agencies, along with many
brands, are looking at having social
media specialists. Growth is totally
dependant on you. You could go ahead
and become digital heads in agencies,
become entrepreneurs employing social
media in your activities, become
consultants, community managers to
brands, etc. Salaries are typically based
on experience. I wouldn't advice joining
a formal training program at this stage.
Get on the job and explore your
interests in social media. It's the best
training module available.”
- Robin Jacob Abraham,
Solutions Architect, Drizzlin Media
“Social media is a
specialized subject and
one needs to have a
good understanding of
the medium in terms of
technology as well as in
terms of understanding
how social media
communications need to be created.
Thinking of social media like mass
media, communication is the biggest
hurdle. One has to unlearn some of the
mass media communication principles in
order to be successful in social media.
On the personal front, if one is an
introvert, then pursuing a career as a
social media practitioner is not easy;
you have to be "sociable". Also, one does
not need to be tech savvy, but must
have the ability to learn new things and
keep oneself abreast with what is
happening. It is sun rise industry and
growth prospects are very bright.”
- Hareesh Tibrewala,
Joint CEO, Social Wavelength
International Social Media Club Group.
You can attend workshops that are held
there, listen to the experts in the field,
meet new people, share case studies,
learn about industry trends and even
develop business leads. To know more
about Social Media Club, visit www.
smcmumbai.com.
– priyanka.tilve@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 75
 FEATURED
MOBILE MONEY
Banking on the
move
Banking has never been simpler. If Internet banking made
going to the bank passé, the mobile revolution promises to
make banking a breeze. BY PRIYANKA TILVE
N
o longer do you need to go to
the bank, wait for your turn, fill
in slips, or even maintain cheque
books. Right from transferring money
to paying bills, recharging your mobile
to booking movie tickets, and shopping
to managing your finances, online
and mobile media have revolutionized
banking. We take a look at the various
banking services, which will make you a
more efficient money manager.
PAY USING YOUR MOBILE
Obopay lets you pay utility and mobile bills and
lets you transfer money to other Obopay users.
Remember that ad for a leading cellular
network that has a woman haggling with
a fisherman over the price of fish, only to
end up paying using her mobile phone?
Well, that is no longer just an idea, but a
reality. While there is still a long way to
go before you can actually pay the local
vegetable and fish vendors, you can start
by paying your utility bills, and you can
even shop, using your mobile phone.
Obopay is an application that allows
you to do this. Its Easy Money option is
just like a mobile top-up, and for this, it
has tied up with Nokia. All you have to
do is walk into a Nokia Priority store and
pay cash; this amount will be credited to
your Obopay account. You can then use
76 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
this amount to pay all your utility bills and
recharge/top-up cell phones. There’s also
an Easy Send service that allows you to
transfer money from person-to-person or
pay merchants for their products/services.
To activate this service, you will have to
go to a Nokia Priority store and download
the application. Then, you will have to fill
a know-your-customer form (as per RBI
rules) to open a YES Bank account. This
service is activated within 24-48 hours.
The only catch is that the recipient has
to be an Obopay member, otherwise
the money won’t be transferred when
doing a person-to-person money transfer.
Currently, Obopay services are available
only in Pune and Chandigarh.
Another great payment gateway using
the mobile phone is mChek. Through
this service, you can securely pay for
your phone bills, flight tickets, insurance
premiums, movie tickets, utility bills,
and online shopping. mChek links your
mobile phone to your Visa/Mastercard
credit or debit card, allowing you to make
payments through your phone. It allows
you to key in details for a credit card and
a debit card, and for every transaction, it
lets you choose between the two cards
as your mode of payment. After selecting
You can link your credit/debit cards to your mChek
account to make payments through your mobile.
Jagdish Limbachiya
PayMat
PayMate
Pa
PayMat
ayMa
ay
ayMa
Mate
Matttee
Intuit
Money
Manage
mCheck
obopay
the payment mode, you must
authenticate the transaction by
entering your mChekPIN number.
mChek has a comprehensive list of
merchant partners and when you shop
online, you will see an option to pay
using mChek. All you have to do is feed
in your mobile number and then you will
receive a payment authorization request
on your phone, which when confirmed,
completes the transaction.
While Obopay and mChek are fairly
newer services, PayMate has been around
for a while. It links your mobile phone to
PayMate's Green Money Transfer service lets any
mobile user send/receive money almost instantly.
your existing bank account or credit/debit
card, letting you pay for online purchases,
utility bills, flight tickets, and much more.
When you wish to conduct a financial
transaction (online or offline), all you have
to do is share your mobile number, and
you will instantly receive an automatic
IVR call-back confirming the transaction.
Once you authenticate the same with
your PIN, your payment will be processed
and you will receive an SMS confirming
the status. If you have more than one
accounts linked with PayMate, then while
making the payment, you can choose
SMS us!  Story code: FMM to 51818
 FEATURED
MOBILE MONEY

y
out full-fledged banking transactions.
er
Getting started is simple; just follow
the m-banking link of your bank and
download the application. After keying in
your login details and getting verified, you
are good to go.
You can conduct funds transfers and
transactions involving purchase of goods/
Perfios services to a maximum of Rs 50,000 per
day, but this may vary from bank to bank.
Mobile banking is absolutely safe as it
is user-specific and requires a four-digit
PIN code for any transaction. In case you
lose your phone, simply call the 24-hour Intuit Money Manager helps you plan, save and
customer care and request them to block grow your money.

the application. Also, as with the ATM, the

which account you wish to use. If you
do not wish to transact using your credit
or debit card, you can even purchase a
GiftMate voucher, which allows you to
transact using a pre-paid balance.
PayMate has also come up with
a Green Money Transfer service in
association with Corporation Bank and
Tata Teleservices. It is a person-to-person
mobile money transfer, wherein any
mobile phone user can send or receive
money almost instantly. A person who
wishes to send money has to go to a
Tata Green PCO and submit in cash the
amount to be transferred. He will receive
an IVR call asking him to confirm the
transaction with his mPIN. After this, he
will get a transaction code on his mobile
to be shared with the recipient. All the
recipient has to do is walk to a nearby
Tata Green PCO and share his transaction
code. He will then receive an IVR call
asking him to authenticate the transaction
with his mPIN. Once the verification is
complete, the cash will be handed over to
him. Currently, the services are limited to
registered customers of Corporation Bank
in Kerala and Karnataka.
THE BANK COMES TO YOU
If you don’t trust third-party applications,
look no further than your own bank.
Almost all major banks now offer their
customers the convenience of mobile
banking at no extra cost. Apart from
SMS alerts regarding transactions and
checking balance, you can now carry
application blocks itself on feeding three
consecutive wrong PIN entries.
Almost all major banks offer the convenience of
mobile banking at no extra cost.
MANAGE YOUR MONEY
ONLINE
With all this talk of paying bills and
shopping, let’s now look at something
that will help us save some money. We
came across Intuit Money Manager (www.
intuitmoneymanager.com), which is an
online personal finance tool that helps
you plan, save and grow your money. The
best part about it is that it allows you to
consolidate all your financial accounts,
be it your bank accounts, credit/debit
cards, loan accounts, investments, and
even your bills, under one platform.
After logging in, you’ll have to feed in the
details for all your accounts and then
you can easily keep a track of all your
expenses at a glance. Your expenses
are categorized, which allows you to
map your spending trends and even set
budget goals. You can fix a budget for
each category and when you reach the
limit, you will receive an SMS or email
alert asking you to stop spending. It even
calculates your tax liabilities, which helps
you to set aside money and invest it later.
With Intuit Money Manager, you can
even monitor your stock investments,
ULIPs, mutual funds, etc, thanks to live
price updates. It also allows you to set
reminders for all your payments, so you
don’t have to worry about missing a due
date. It thus acts as a constant reminder
of your financial health and motivates you
to save more. Currently, it supports over
40 major financial institutions in India,
including banks and brokerage firms. This
service is available with a 90-day free
trial, and if you like it, you can go for an
annual subscription at Rs 365.
Another website you can look at is
Perfios.com, which provides a 360-degree
view of one’s personal finances, right from
Perfios.com offers you a 360-degree view of your
personal finances.
bank accounts and credit cards, to mutual
funds, loans, and taxes. With Perfios, you
can also invite your family members to
share accounts and integrate the same
with your portfolio. This will help you
keep tabs on your family’s finances and
plan better. As of now, the service is free,
but they are planning to launch premium
services in the near future at a nominal
cost. The best part is that this website
even provides mobile access.
– priyanka.tilve@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 77

 FEATURED
KIDS ONLINE SECURITY
Caution! Kids
Online
With the ever increasing number of children
logging on to the web, software like the
Onlinefamily from Norton comes in handy to
keep a vigil on their online activities.
BY PRIYANKA TILVE
I
n the real world, parents often drill
words of caution into the minds of
their young children, such as “don’t
talk to strangers” and “don’t go there; it’s
not safe”. But surprisingly, parents are
not so foresighted when it comes to the
cyber world, as they allow their children
unrestricted access to the Web. Already,
we are witnessing an increase in cyber
crime, and what’s alarming is the rise in
the number of children being victimized
on the Web.
It goes without saying that young
children today are far more tech savvy
then previous generations were at the
same age. And by looking at Internet
penetration figures, the growth in
recent years speaks for itself. While
parents today are concerned about the
amount of time their children spend on
the Internet, they do not seem to be
concerned about what their children are
doing when they’re online.
A recent survey conducted by Norton
in over 14 countries underlines some
startling facts. According to the survey,
over 77 percent of children in India have
had a negative online experience. While
the majority of parents believe that their
children spend time playing games or
PO
P-U
P S
OFFERS
78 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
doing school work, an astonishing 68
percent of children download music and
video games online. This ever-increasing
online presence exposes the children
to threats such as identity theft, cyber
bullying, stalking by pedophiles, etc.
Over the years, we have witnessed
several instances where adults posing
as teenagers have befriended young
children and have coerced them
into inappropriate activities or even
duped them into divulging sensitive
financial details of their families. This is
particularly dangerous since, according
to the Norton Online Family Report 2010,
children feel that their actions online will
go unnoticed and cannot be traced back
to them. The survey further reveals that
not many of them are aware that few
things are ever permanently deleted and
that anything they say or do can come
back to haunt them later. Just as there
are set rules in physical environments,
you need to set rules for the cyber world
as well.
And with this aim in mind, Norton has
responded with a free Web monitoring
tool called onlinefamily.norton.com.
This service monitors Web surfing as
well as instant message conversations
Indian children are not following
some commonsense rules when they
surf the Web.
Don't watch out for too-good-to-be-true offers
66%
Don't always distrust online offers at first glance
56%
Aren't wary of too many pop-ups
55%
0 50 100
and interactions on social networking
sites. It allows you to create up to ten
accounts and once activated, you will
be able to see a list of all the websites
visited by the user of each account. If
you don’t like a particular site, you can
easily block it and it even allows you
to customize settings for each child’s
account depending on his or her age. It
also tracks words, terms and phrases
your kids search for online, which gives
you an idea about their online interests.
Most importantly, it allows you
to monitor their activities on social
networking sites as well as online
forums. You can easily monitor what they
chat about and with whom. OnlineFamily
also includes the option to allow users
to chat only with people you explicitly
approve of. As far as social networking
sites are concerned, it gives you an
overview of your child’s profiles and how
they represent themselves (name, age,
and profile picture). If you are worried
about children spending a lot of time
online, you can easily restrict that here
by setting time limits for usage. Once
the set limit has been crossed, it will
automatically cause the system to shut
down. You can continue to monitor their
online activities when you are away as
you will receive email alerts in case your
child ignores a warning or tries to visit a
blocked web site.
This may seem like a spying tool, but
unlike other monitoring sites, it’s not
hidden and the children are aware of it,
making it very transparent. Parents will
have to communicate openly about safe
Internet practices to ensure that children
don’t feel like they aren’t trusted or their
privacy isn’t being respected.
– priyanka.tilve@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: FKO to 51818

CLOUD COMPUTING CAN PROVIDE
A SAFE AND SECURE WORK
ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
PRIYANKA TILVE, SENIOR FEATURES WRITER
POWER YOUR BUSINESS
A
s much as naysayers may want
you to believe otherwise, cloud
computing is here to stay. While
individuals may still be skeptical
about adopting cloud technology, SOHOs and
several midsized business establishments are
increasingly taking it up owing to its several
benefits. According to a report by consulting
fi rm Zinnov, the market for cloud computing
in India is expected to grow nearly ten times
to US$ 1,084 million by 2015 from the current
US$ 110 million.
The biggest consideration causing the shift
towards cloud computing is naturally the cost
factor. Cloud computing will dramatically
cut down your hardware and software
expenditure and you will also require less
IT support staff. Plus, you only pay for
what you use, so this cuts down unwanted
expenditure. Also, as your needs increase,
you can buy more space as required or you
can even temporarily scale down usage
when you experience a slump in business.
Maintenance or even regular updates is no
longer your headache as they will be taken
care of by the service provider. It even saves
you the cost of setting up infrastructure to
host servers at your end.
Cloud computing is valuable from the
point of view of employees as it provides
them with the freedom to access all their
fi les from virtually anywhere. It is especially
beneficial for those employees who have
to be in the field, as they can easily access
the documents they require and even make
changes if required. Apart from this, it also
gives employees the flexibility to work from
home, especially on days when they can’t
make it to the office due to a strike or other
calamity.
FEATURED
CLOUD COMPUTING
Another advantage is higher security and
reduced threat of data loss. All machines
are prone to breakdowns and a hard disk
crash can also result in permanent data loss.
Imagine you are working on an important
presentation, your hard disk crashes and
your IT technician tells you it will take a
few days to restore your system. You could
have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble
if your data was on the cloud, and then all
you would have had to do is simply access it
using another system.
There are
many service
providers in the
CLOUD COMPUTING WILL
market, ranging
from international
DRAMATICALLY CUT DOWN
companies
including Amazon,
YOUR HARDWARE AND
Microsoft, HCL,
and Salesforce,
SOFTWARE EXPENDITURE.
to local service providers Zenith Infotech,
Orange Space, TCS, Wipro, and Infosys, who
offer cloud computing services.
While moving your data into the cloud is
very straightforward, you have to consider
a few points before fi nalizing the cloud
provider. First up, it is important for you
to determine your requirement and select
a plan best suited to you. Secondly, look at
the cloud provider’s security and privacy
terms. See what kind of technical assistance
will be provided as well as their downtime
assistance. Also, look for tutorials to
familiarize yourself and your staff with the
cloud environment for ease of usage. Most
crucially, read about the policy regarding
retrieval of data in case you want to switch
your service provider in the future.
- priyanka.tilve@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 79
 FEATURED
WEB WATCH

Web Watch
ENTERTAINMENT

VERDICT
StarTV.in is a good website to catch your favorite shows across the Star network
on a single platform, unlike other channel-specific websites.
F
or those of you who are hooked on to soap operas on TV,
here’s good news. If you miss an episode of your favorite
show, you need not worry, as there are many websites that
now stream popular shows on TV. First up of course, there is
YouTube, where you will find all you need. But since videos
are uploaded by users, the quality isn’t great. And very often,
you will find that the videos have to be taken off due to
copyright issues. As an alternative, you will find many popular
TV channels have now started their own online entertainment
websites, where you will find complete episodes of all the
popular shows, which you can enjoy at your convenience..
Star TV, for instance has Startv.in (www.startv.in), where you
will find shows from Star Plus, Star One, Star World, Star News
and Channel V. You can watch complete episodes online or even
record them and view them later. If bandwidth is a problem,
you have the option of choosing between standard and high
quality videos. However, keeping in mind the dimensions of
the video, watching it in full screen may not be a good idea.
Instead, you can just select the ‘switch off lights’ option to
enjoy your video without distractions. An interesting feature is
the ability to watch some of the old shows that have gone off
air form their archives.

VERDICT
The biggest USP of Miniclip, apart from the great graphics, is the fact that
it does not require a login to be able to play games. It is also devoid of
advertisements.
GAMES
If there is too much of work stress or if you’re just bored
to death, a quick online game or two can perk you right
up. Amongst the many online gaming websites, Miniclip and
Mindjolt are undoubtedly the most popular. Even though
Mindjolt can be accessed by going to www.mindjolt.com, it
is more popularly accessed through Facebook. It hosts over
thousand games, and it has close to four million fans and
almost 20 million active users on Facebook. You can choose
from various categories like action, puzzle, strategy, sports,
shooter, etc. and you can either compete with your friends or
play by yourself. It also shows you scores and statistics so that
you can keep track of your friends’ progress..
Miniclip (www.miniclip.com) has list of game categories than
Mindjolt and does not require a login to play games. However,
if you choose to login, you can compete with other users
and set records to earn rewards. The games here have a high
quality graphics, yet they load quickly and are surprisingly
devoid of irritating advertisements. This means that you aren’t
forced to watch adverts each time you want to play a new
game or replay a game. With over 500 addictive games to
choose from, it is the largest online games site. At Miniclip, you
have a vast variety of free games to choose from.

80 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
WEB WATCH

A selection of interesting websites you might want to visit.

COMPILED BY PRIYANKA TILVE

BOOKS
Thanks to smartphones and e-book readers, books have
been given a whole new meaning. No longer do you have to
lug around books with you. All you have to do is get a PDF or
a compatible version of the book for your portable gadget. A
great site to start with is Ebooks.net (free-ebooks.net), which
offers books across various categories. Once you sign up, you
can search for your favorite books and download them in the
desired format. The website offers two kinds of memberships;
the free membership will grant you unlimited access to HTML
books and up to 5 PDF versions each month, whereas the VIP
membership is available for a small fee, but allows unlimited
download of HTML and PDF books. VIP members can also
download unlimited books in the MobiPocket and ePub formats.
You must also visit Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org),
which is the first and single largest collection of free electronic
books. Be it a classic that you are looking for or essays or
reference works, with over 33,000 titles to choose from, you
can be sure you will find it here. You can choose between
ePub, Mobipocket, HTML and simple text formats. In terms
of application, TextOnPhone is a great application for reading VERDICT
Ebooks.net is a great website, where you will find most of the popular titles.
books on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, whereas BooksInMyPhone
And if you subscribe to their newsletter, you will receive information about the
is a great application for users of other smartphones.
latest books available for download along with a synopsis.

GADGETS & GIZMOS

A chocolate calculator, a duct tape mug, a pay and sit bench,
a self high-five machine, a sleep enhancing toothpaste. This is
just the tip of the iceberg. Visit nerdapproved.com to find such
crazy contraptions. True to what it claims, Nerd Approved is
indeed a website dedicated to all things weird and interesting
in the world of gadgets and toys. The weird looking gadgets
that are featured on this website do actually find buyers.
The website also recently launched three sister websites -
Fashionably Geek, CubicleBot and That’s Nerdalicious. CubicleBot
will have you in splits with write ups like ‘How to respectfully
quit your job’ and ‘Start an army of cloned co-workers’, etc. It
also features comics, videos, and photos from all over the web.
You might also want to check out Retrothing (www.
retrothing.com) and take a trip down memory lane. It’s a
beautiful vintage gadget website that showcases classic gizmos
and books every month. You will see phones with ancient
dials, mechanical handheld games, the earlier versions of PCs,
robots, VCRs, boxy television sets, vintage cars, bikes and
much more. It is divided into sections like automobiles, bikes, VERDICT
books, cameras, phones, flying things, games, timepieces, classic Nerd Approved is definitely a fun website. While most of the gadgets may seem
computing, musical instruments, etc. The website also features weird and silly, at times you will come across some practical and cool gizmos
do-it-yourself guides as well as videos. that you may actually put to use.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 81

 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
Sachin Pandit
[Q] Hi Dr CHIP. I have lots of
questions to ask you, but I’ll only ask
a few for now. I want to know about
the GPU. How much is the expandable
memory? Where could I get a GPU?
Which motherboard would be the best
for high-end gaming? What is a VGA
card? What is the difference between
GPU and graphics card? Which one is
better? Please reply. Thank you.
– Akash Ajayghosh
[A] Hello Akash. A GPU is a Graphics
Processing Unit or a processor that helps
in accelerating the performance of a
graphics job. This is used in high-end
applications such as games in which the
CPU or Central Processing Unit cannot
do the job sufficiently. The role of a GPU
is to process all the graphical commands
from the CPU. This in turn helps the CPU
do its own functions by offloading the
graphics processing part, and the CPU
can do the other crucial data crunching
jobs. The CPU and GPU together perform
This is an open AGP graphics card, showing the GPU
and video memory.
82 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Dr CHIP
better, thus making the computer more
powerful. Previously, motherboards did
not include an onboard GPU and a VGA
card was needed for video output to the
monitor. A GPU needs its own memory
for processing data just like a CPU does.
The CPU utilizes the system RAM for
this and a built-in GPU utilizes part of
the system RAM known as shared video
memory. This memory can be adjusted
from the BIOS and one can allot around
32 MB to 1 GB for the GPU. This would
also reduce the system memory for
the CPU and slow down the computer.
Hence, a graphics card, which has its
own GPU and dedicated video memory,
is needed. This card is sold separately
and is available in a variety of processing
speeds and memory capacities. Hope this
answers your query.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP. I have a BSNL
Telecom broadband connection with
a Rs 900 Internet plan. I get speeds
between 60 Kbps and 70 Kbps using
Windows can automatically get updates over the
Internet and consume a lot of Internet bandwidth.
SEND YOUR QUERIES TO: drchip@chip.in
Windows XP. But when I use Windows
7, the speed is reduced, and I get a
maximum speed of only 25 Kbps.
Can you please tell me why this is
happening?
– Nikhil Sawane
[A] Hello Nikhil. The broadband
connection seems fine, but there
are many applications that might be
running in the background (including the
Windows Automatic Updating service),
which are utilizing the Internet bandwidth.
You will have to monitor and stop the
ones that are using your bandwidth. Also,
certain virus and spyware are known to
be sending information up and down the
internet lines, which cause the internet to
be slower. Ensure a virus-free operating
system and your internet should be as
fast as before.
[Q] Hello Dr. Chip. I am facing a
problem while installing windows XP
on my laptop. When the installation of
windows starts, it shows a blue screen
and some technical error, and when
I went to my uncle, who is computer
engineer, he said that it contains
viruses. Kindly help me to solve this
problem.
– Ankur
[A] Hello Ankur. Your uncle may be right
as viruses can also hamper the operating
system installation, but there can also
be other reasons apart from virus issues
for the erratic behavior. Firstly, there can
be a possibility of a faulty hardware;
SMS us!  Story code: HDC to 51818

A good antivirus ensures that the OS is virus-free,
the PC runs efficiently, and your data is secure.
for example, a dusty RAM module, a
problem with the motherboard or the
RAM, or a hard drive failure or bad sector.
Secondly, if your laptop is a new series,
then it will not support Windows XP as
the hardware is incompatible with older
operating systems and you would have
to use Windows Vista or Windows 7. To
rectify the problems and install Windows
XP on your laptop, try these steps:
 Backup all the data from your hard
drive and delete all existing partitions.
Use the Windows XP installation CD
to boot and create new partitions and
proceed with the installation.
 If Windows XP still does not function,
remove the memory stick by carefully
opening the RAM compartment. Clean
the memory module using Isopropyl
alcohol and ensure that the RAM slot
and the memory are cleaned thoroughly.
Install the memory module and try.
 Finally, ensure that the operating
system CD you are using is an original
copy and does not have any scratches.
To verify that the optical media is not
damaged, try installing the same on
another computer to confirm.
 If you are still facing problems, ask a
hardware engineer to look into the matter
and resolve the problem. If you are able
to open the laptop case, you should try
cleaning the internal components of the
laptop and check if it solves the problem.
We highly recommend not opening the
laptop yourself unless you have the
know-how.
[Q] Hi Dr Chip, I have bought an
assembled PC just a month ago. The
configuration is Intel Core i3, Biostar
H55 mother board, 2 GB RAM, XFX
Radeon 5670 1 GB DDR5 and WD
320 HDD. I used to work on it every
morning for the first two weeks and
the computer used to frequently freeze
up within five minutes from the time
of booting. After restarting from this
situation, it used to work fine for the
whole day thereon. One day, when I
started to work on it at around 11 AM,
surprisingly the problem didn’t appear
at all. But for the last few days when I
again started to work in the mornings,
the problem reappeared. Please tell me
what should I do?
– Indrajit
[A] Hello Indrajit. The problem is
surely weird, but not unheard of. In your
case, I would recommend a complete
cleanup of the internal components to
ensure a dust-free interior. Also check
for any viruses and hard drive errors by
running a scan on the system and hard
drive respectively. Ensure antivirus and
operating system updates are installed
and are the latest. Your system should
be working fine. I remember a similar
erratic behavior of my friend’s computer,
where I found that he faced the problem
especially during the summer and
monsoons. The reason was that his
computer was placed in his bedroom
and was facing in the direction of the air
conditioner’s ducts. He would use the
air conditioner at very low temperatures
throughout the night. The extreme cold
draft was creating moisture droplets
inside the computer and hence the
system would either hang or not start
up at all. Later in the day when the
temperature of the room stabilized to
normal room temperature of around
30 degrees Celsius, the moisture would
evaporate and his system would work
perfectly without even a trace of a
problem. If you are in a similar situation,
then I would suggest that you shift
the computer to a room where the
temperature and humidity is normal.
Make sure the insides of your computer are clean,
as dust can retain moisture during the monsoons.
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP. I am Harshal from
Ranikhet. I have a strange problem
for which you guys are my only hope.
Whenever I start my system, it restarts
automatically. It is not certain as to
when it might restart. It restarts after
5 or 10 minutes or maybe at the time of
Windows startup too. I tried formatting
the system, but it restarts again. I also
changed the CMOS battery. There is
no problem of voltage fluctuation. The
configuration is Pentium D processor,
1 GB DDR RAM, 160 GB SATA HDD, MSI
865gm chipset motherboard, and a
400 Watt PSU (which is surely enough
for this configuration). Please help and
reply soon as it is very urgent. I’m sure
you guys will definitely help me out
with a solution. Thanks in advance.
– Harshal
Make sure there is sufficient CPU cooling paste
between the CPU and the CPU fan.
[A] Hello Harshal. The problem
appears to be small but very critical.
The main reason seems that the either
there is a virus problem or the processor
is overheating. Check for viruses and
ensure that the system is clean and
safe from any virus or malware attacks.
Next, confirm that the operating system
is not corrupt and your hardware is
properly functioning. To do this without
disrupting the existing operating system
and software, you should try booting
your system form a live operating system
CD/DVD such as Ubuntu or Knoppix. If
the system works fine with Linux, then
your existing operating system needs
reinstallation. But if your system hangs
even in Linux, then your hardware is at
fault. There could be some heating issues
with your hardware. You should check
if the CPU fan is installed properly, is
dust-free and is spinning normally (not
slow). To confirm, enter the BIOS of the
motherboard and check if the CPU fan
RPM is normal and the temperature is
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 83
 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
below 60 degrees. If there seems, to
be a problem, inspect if the CPU fan is
properly installed on the CPU and also
make sure that there is sufficient amount
of CPU cooling paste between the CPU
and the CPU fan. The fan blades and the
heatsink of the CPU fan should also be
clean. If the fan seems to be stopping or
spinning slowly, replace it immediately.
Also ensure that there are no other
overheating components (motherboard
chips, RAM, hard drive, etc).
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP, I have a PC with
following configuration: Intel Pentium
Quad Core 2.66 GHz, ASUS P5QVM
Motherboard, NVidia Geforce 9400
GT graphics card, and 3 GB of RAM.
I have a dual boot operating system
with Windows XP and Windows 7.
Whenever I switch to Windows 7,
the display blacks out after the boot
logo is displayed, while the HDD
light keeps glowing as though there
is some data being accessed. I have
tried going to Safe Mode and removing
the graphics card’s drivers and then
restarted the machine and it worked,
but after restarting it again, it installs
the drivers and again the same thing
happens. Although Windows XP works
fine without any issues, sometimes the
display gets blurred while running the
PC for around 3 to 4 hours at a stretch.
The system takes a long time to start
up as well. I noticed that after starting
the machine, the HDD light glows for
a while before the power LED glows.
Then there’s a beep sound and the
machine starts booting. Please suggest
me a way out of this. Thanks.
– Anirban
[A] Hello Anirban. I would suggest you
to do the following. Firstly, check your
system for viruses. Secondly, ensure
that you are not using pirated operating
systems. Thirdly, download the latest
drivers for the display card and install it
on both operating systems. Finally, if the
problem still persists, try using another
graphics card. The graphics card might
be faulty.
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP I am a hard core
fan of CHIP Magazine. Thanks to you
guys for helping us in keeping our PCs
in really good shape. I have an IBM
R60 laptop; a petty old chap. I am
84 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
using Windows XP on it. I wanted an
additional partition on the hard drive
and hence I used Partition Magic.
When I created the new partition, the
system restarted and started showing
a Partition Magic progress bar before
booting into the operating system
and the bar went up to 70 percent
and froze. I waited for almost 8 hours
and then had to forcefully shut down
the computer. And now when I power
up the laptop, it shows a blue screen
with an error “Technical information
:- 0x00000024 (0x00190203 , 0x8A
298068,0xc0000102,0x00000000)”
and recommends to disable or remove
any anti-virus or disk defragmentation
application, and to perform a
‘CHKDSK/F’ command on the hard
drive. I am not able to do this because
Windows does not start and the blue
screen shows immediately after the
Windows logo. The error comes in
boot options and also in Safe Mode
or CMD mode. I have installed Ubuntu
(thanks to you guys for the OS on the
CHIP DVD) in dual-boot. I am a student
and have to use Visual Studio 2010
frequently. Please help me out here as
you are my last hope. Thank you.
– Anuj Shrivastava
Try using ‘CHKDSK /F’ option after choosing ‘Safe
Mode with command prompt’ in the boot menu.
[A] Hey Anuj. The problem here is
pretty straight-forward. Partition Magic
did not complete its job of resizing the
existing partition, possibly due to some
error. You waited for a long time and had
to force shutdown the PC due to which
Partition Magic did not get a chance
to finalize the entries in the partition
table; but you had no choice. There is a
very tiny possibility that you can repair
the partition table and rectify the size.
You can try using the option that the
blue screen states—‘CHKDSK /F’ after
choosing the ‘Safe Mode with Command
prompt’ in the boot menu. The boot
menu can be availed by pressing the ‘F8’
button immediately before or while you
see the Windows logo when the machine
starts up. Windows’ CHKDSK utility will
try recovering the partition table errors
and fixing the errors, but there is a high
possibility that you might lose some or all
the data present on the partition. I would
strongly recommend that you save all
possible data to an external storage drive
using the Ubuntu operating system that
you installed and repartition the entire
hard drive before installing the operating
system.
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP, I have a strange
problem with my mobile phone. My
phone is a Sony Ericsson P1i model
and since last week I have been
experiencing a strange problem.
Whenever I open my default internet
browser, I get the error ‘Application
closed web, kern-exec, reason no 3’
and hence I cannot use the internet
through the default browser. However, I
am able to go online using applications
such as Opera. However I face
difficulties as I cannot download files
(as my phone switches to my default
browser when I try download any file).
Please provide a solution for me, Dr
CHIP. Thank you.
– Black Raven
[A] Hello. Your phone has a minor
problem with either the firmware or
the application. Usually it is difficult to
solve such an issue easily. Check if your
phone is infected with a virus. Use a
mobile antivirus such as Kaspersky or
Quickheal to scan the mobile. Finally,
it is recommended that you back up
your mobile data and contents to your
computer and update the firmware with
Backup all phone data to a PC before attempting a
firmware update. Follow instructions strictly.

the latest version available from the
Sony Ericsson website using the Sony
Ericsson PC Suite application bundled
with your phone. You can also download
the application from the website. Make
sure your phone is charged and the cable
connecting the phone to the PC is firmly
attached. Strictly follow the procedure
given in the firmware update application.
[Q] Sir, I have a HP USB keyboard
model KU-0841. This keyboard has
[Fn] keys and helps to execute some
functions. But when I upgraded my
operating system from Windows Vista
to 7, the [Fn] keys and also the sound
related shortcut keys have stopped
working. So I downloaded and installed
a host controller for window 7, but
these keys are still not working. Please
help me out. Thank you for your time.
– Karan Datwani
[A] Hello Karan. The additional function
keys require the software bundled with
the keyboard to function. Download the
driver and software for Windows 7 from
the manufacturer’s website and install it.
If the driver is not available for Windows
7, then download the older version and
choose the compatibility option and try
using it. Your problem should be solved,
else contact the manufacturer.
[Q] Sir, I am a big fan of CHIP. Your
ideas are very useful and if anyone
has any question, I recommend CHIP.
My PC configuration is Intel Pentium
Dual CPU 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA
GeForce 8400 GS graphics card 512
MB. Earlier I had a Seagate 500 GB
hard disk that I had bought in July
2009. But in June 2010 it got damaged
and I had sent it for repairs. Because
of this reason I am presently using my
friend’s Western Digital 160 GB Hard
Disk with windows XP SP3 already
installed on it. But the problem is that
when I want to install windows 7 on it,
the hard drive shows a single 160 GB
partition. When I tried to partition it,
the setup shows an error. What is the
problem?
– Shanky
[A] Hello Shanky. As the 160 GB
hard drive was partitioned on another
computer and a different operating
system, there are chances that the
It is recommended that you backup all hard drive
data and repartition it before installing a new OS.
partition table is wrongly reporting the
size and space on your motherboard. You
will have to delete the entire partition
that previously existed and recreate it
again using the new Windows 7 operating
system. If the 160 GB hard drive has
bad sectors or is faulty, you will find the
problem difficult to solve. Also ensure
that the SATA cable is not faulty as you
stated that your previous hard drive also
went bad. Try using a new SATA cable.
[Q] Hi Dr Chip. I think my
motherboard has a problem. Whenever
I try to start my computer, the
motherboard keeps making a beeping
sound, but the monitor shows no signal
or display. I tried to reboot, but that
didn’t work either. Please help me out
as you are my only hope.
– Darwin
[A] Hello Darwin. A continuous beeping
sound from the system indicates that
the processor has detected a fault with
the system RAM. Either the RAM chip
is faulty or has a loose connection, or
the motherboard RAM slots are faulty.
Remove the RAM chip carefully, clean
the RAM slots and the connection end
of the RAM chip, and reinstall the chip
Remove the RAM chips, and clean the slots and
connection end of the chips with Isopropyl alcohol.
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
on the motherboard. If the beeping
continues, then try using another RAM
chip. Ask a friend to try your RAM chip
on his computer to confirm if the RAM is
working. If your RAM chip is working on
another computer and a working RAM
is still not solving the problem with your
computer, then you will have to send the
motherboard for repairs. Check with your
local computer vendor or a computer
engineer to help solve the issue.
[Q] Hey guys you all are doing a great
work and as I think you are also doing
a good job of educating on the topic
of computers and IT. I am having a
problem while downloading Windows
XP SP3. I am downloading it with the
help of Download Accelerator Plus.
But every time it fails due to a broken
link. Even while downloading it from
the official website of Microsoft, the
download is broken. What should
I do? Now I am unable to upgrade
my Windows operating system. And
one more query - will Windows 7
run smoothly on my Computer? Its
configuration is 160 GB HDD, 1 GB DDR2
RAM, ASROCK G31M-S motherboard.
– Prakash Kumar
[A] Hello Prakash. You can install
Windows XP Service Pack 3 from the
CHIP DVD (April 2010 DVD). Ensure that
the Windows XP you have installed is not
Use Windows Update Downloader to download
Windows XP or Vista updates for use when needed.
a pirated version or else the Service Pack
will not install. Alternatively, you can also
start the Windows Automatic Update
and update the entire operating system
from the internet. Windows 7 should work
fine on your system configuration, but I
recommend that you install another 1 GB
or RAM for a smoother performance.
— Send your queries to Francis D’Sa
at drchip@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 85
 HAN
HA
HANDS
ND
D S ON
ON
WORKSHOP

Networking @ home
Connecting multiple computers usually requires an Ethernet switch or a router. We show you
how to network two PCs with a simple cross-cable in under Rs 100.
BY FRANCIS DSA

W
ith laptops and netbooks Cut the required length of the CAT5 cable pairs for a cross-cable. Now straighten all
becoming growingly affordable you need. Peel off the insulating sleeve the wires in a neat line and align them in
by the day, most homes at both ends by approximately 2.5 cm. the following manner — White Orange -
would definitely have more than one Separate the four colored and white wire Orange - White Blue - Blue. Next, neatly
computer. Data would also be scattered pairs from each other. Keep the blue cut the edges of the wire in a manner
across these computers, be it music, and the orange pair and chop off the that all the wires are now of the exact
videos or documents. In such a situation, remaining two pairs as we need any two same length. Make sure the length of the
transferring and synchronizing data
between the computers is the need of
the hour. This can be achieved with flash
drives and external storage devices, but
the transfer would be slower as it involves
copying the data to the storage and then
again to the other computer. Networking
the two computers is the ideal solution,
be it using Ethernet switches or routers,
but the cost would be Rs 1,500 or higher,
and it only makes sense if you need to
network more than two computers. For
connecting only two computers to each
other, you can use a simple Ethernet
cross-cable, which can be made in just Rs
100 or less. We show you how to network
two computers in a simple two-section
workshop.

Making the cross cable

Requirements: A minimum of two
RJ45 connectors, CAT5 Ethernet cable
(the length will depend on the distance
required), and an RJ45 crimping tool.

86 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: HNH to 51818
 HANDS ON
WORKSHOP

the sleeve has been locked in position

RJ45 Pin# Pin# RJ45 87654321
inside the connector. To crimp the other
RJ-45 Male White Orange 1 1 White Blue connector to the other end, follow the
Orange 2 2 Blue same procedure above, but the only
12345678 difference now will be the order of the
White Blue 3 3 White Orange
cable colors. This time, follow the order of
Not Connected 4 4 Not Connected
the colors as follows — White Blue - Blue
Not Connected 5 5 Not Connected - White Orange - Orange. The rest of the
procedure is the same. Your cable should
Blue 6 6 Orange
now be ready for use. Connect the cable
Not Connected 7 7 Not Connected
to each computer’s Ethernet port and you
Not Connected 8 8 Not Connected are ready for the next step.

Before crimping the connectors, study the pinout of the RJ45 connector properly. Make sure that the wiring
matches the diagram to avoid connectivity issues at a later stage. Else, step out and buy a readmade cable.
wires coming out of the sleeves is around
1.5 cm. Now separate the last wire (Blue)
from the others , keeping a gap of around
½ cm. The first three wires will connect
to pin numbers 1, 2, and 3, and the last
wire will connect to pin number 6 of the
RJ45 connector. Now carefully insert the
wires into the connector. Carefully match
the colors with the pins and confirm they
are in the exact order and groove. Push
the wires all the way inside the connector
using a little force. Finally, after ensuring
that all wires are in place inside the
connector, insert the connector into the
crimping tool. Apply a little force on the
cable to push the sleeve and the wires as
far as they can go into the connector and
immediately press the tool’s handle to
crimp the connector. You should also hear
a click sound when crimping to indicate
Networking the computers
In order to network two computers
together, a few settings need to be
altered in each computer’s network card
properties section. Firstly, each computer
has to have a unique name and a similar
workgroup name. To change the names
of the computer and workgroup, do
the following - right-click on the ‘My
Computer’ icon on the desktop and click
on ‘Properties’. Select the ‘Computer
Name’ tab (in Windows 7: ‘Advanced
system settings | Computer Name’)
and then click on the ‘Change’ button.
Enter a different computer name for
each computer and a similar workgroup
name for both. Apply the changes and
the system will prompt you to restart
the computer. Choose to restart later.
Now open the network section (For
Windows XP: ‘Start | Settings | Network
Connections’, and for Windows 7: ‘Start
| Control Panel | Network and Internet
| Network Connections’) and right-click
on the Ethernet card, select ‘Properties’,
and double-click on the ‘Internet Protocol
TCP/IP’. Click on the radio button to
enable ‘Use the following IP address’ and
enter unique IP addresses along with the
Subnet Mask in each computer’s network
card. For example, enter the IP address
‘192.168.0.1’ on one PC and ‘192.168.0.2’
on the other while keeping the subnet
mask common as ‘255.255.255.0’. Keep
the DNS and Gateway fields blank. Apply
the settings by clicking on ‘OK’ twice.
Your computers are now networked. Now
all you need is to share some folders
or drives on each computer in order to
exchange data.
This workshop can be carried further
to share a single internet connection
between the two computers by adding
another Ethernet card on one computer
and sharing the internet with the other.
– francis.dsa@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 87

 HANDS ON
WORKSHOP

Tweak ‘n’ Tune

Optimize system performance, gain hard drive
space, beef up security, and do much more that
isn’t possible from Windows Control Panel.
BY ANAND TULIANI

O
ptimizing system performance
is something many users ignore,
usually because they aren’t
aware or they don’t know how to go
about it. We all surf the web, create,
share and download content, install/
uninstall programs, play games, and
run various applications on our PCs and
laptops. These activities lead to creation
of temporary files that hog drive space,
fragmented hard drive partitions, lengthy
boot times and start up, redundant
entries in the registry, and faults that
hamper system performance. If you
haven’t optimized your laptop or PC since
the time you bought it or re-installed
the operating system, you’ll find it has
become sluggish, especially if your usage
is extensive. The sluggishness is more
prevalent in the case of outdated or
entry-level PCs. You can breathe fresh
life into your operating system if you
tweak and optimize certain settings.
Windows can be optimized from
the Control Panel and using the built-in
system tools, but you should know where
they are located and how to access them.
On the other hand, tweaking and system
tuning utilities present all the necessary
settings and tools in one user-friendly
package. Some utilities have tweaks that
are otherwise accessible only via the
Windows registry. Thus these specialized
programs provide a very convenient
means for system optimization.
Here’s how you can optimize your
system’s performance using some of the
best freeware tools out there.
WinBubble
This is one of the best Windows 7
tweaking tools, with plenty of tweaks
Before we move on you’ll need the following applications
Application Description
WinBubble A tweaking utility for Windows Vista and 7.
CCleaner Cleaning and optimizing tool.
STEP 1 STEP 2
to tinker with. The program features a STEP 3
tabbed interface and the tweaks are in
the form of checkbox options. So all you
have to do is select the tweaks from
each tab and click the ‘Apply’ button.
Start with the ‘General’ tab, from
where you can add more options to the
context menu and customize desktop
items. Some useful options here are
‘Copy to’ and ‘Hide this folder’. When
activated, they appear in the context
menu that shows up when you right-click
on any folder. On selecting ‘Copy to’, you
get the option to copy selected files/
folders to a specified location. You can
also add ‘Turn On/Off Aero’ and ‘Device
Manager’ to the context menu of the the icons for drive partitions, folders
'Computer' icon on the desktop. (Documents, Pictures, Favorites, Music
The ‘Specific’ tab has a collection of 15 and Videos), Recycle bin and Computer.
tools, the most interesting of them being In the next tab, you can set a
the User Accounts CP, which allows you wallpaper for the Welcome screen. There
to manage user accounts. You can hide/ is also a bunch of tools that are part of
unhide users in the login screen, enable/ Windows, but it’s nice to have them all
disable accounts, change passwords, etc. in one place. The ‘Security’ tab allows
The ‘Icons’ tab lets you customize you to enable or disable access to critical
items such as Control Panel, Display
Settings, Writing to USB flash drives,
Size Download link etc. These options are useful for offices
or cyber cafes, where you don’t want
700 kB unlockforus.blogspot.com
people tinkering with system settings.
3.3 MB www.piriform.com
You can also hide hard drive partitions

88 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HTN to 51818

STEP 4
and restrict access to certain features of
Internet Explorer, like disabling download,
disabling right-click, disablling Internet
Options, etc. There’s also a separate tab
for Internet Explorer, with more tweaks
and tools for clearing temporary files,
cookies, history and passwords.
The ‘Optimize’ tab has tweaks for
speeding up shutdown, boosting NTFS
performance, and enabling/disabling
searching the file index during searches.
The ‘More Policies tab’ has the most
interesting tweaks related to taskbar,
Start menu, desktop, removable storage
access, Control Panel and display
settings.
CCleaner
Reboot your PC to let all the changes
take effect. Now run CCleaner to get the
registry into good shape and clear junk
files. The ‘Cleaner’ tab has two sections
- Windows and Applications. Check the
HANDS ON
WORKSHOP
STEP 5 STEP 6
items you wish to clean and click the STEP 7
‘Analyze’ button to see the details of the
files that are going to be deleted. Then
click ‘Run Cleaner’ to get rid of them and
gain disk space. The Registry cleaner
works the same way. CCleaner fixes
unused file extensions, missing fonts,
entries of obsolete software, missing
shared DLLs, and so on. The ‘Tools’ tab
has the Startup manager from which you
can enable, disable or delete program
entries that run as soon as Windows
loads. It is recommended that you disable
the ones that aren’t important (such as
chat clients and download managers)
to reduce startup time. Take care not to
disable the antivirus, firewall or any other Also defragment your drive partitions
security program. at least once a month. It will keep your
Windows tweaks need to be applied hard drive healthy and reduce seek times.
just once, or you can enable/disable You can access Disk Defragmenter from
the ones you like at any point of time. ‘Start | All programs | Accessories |
However, CCleaner needs to be run at System tools’.
least once a week as a maintenance task. – anand.tuliani@chip.in
STEP 8 STEP 9
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 89
 HANDS ON
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Wi-Fi For Dummies
Secure your wireless network from unwanted snoopers.
CHIP shows you how. BY SANDEEP BALACHANDRAN
A
ccessing the internet wirelessly
at home is very convenient, but
securing your router and wireless
connection is very important. Not doing
so could allow unknown people to gain
access to your network. Here is a basic
tutorial on how to setup and secure your
wireless network. First, you'll need to find
out which type of internet connection is
installed at your premises (Static/DHCP/
PPPoE). Do this by right-clicking on the
network icon (system tray) and selecting
‘Open Network and Sharing Center’. Click
‘Change adapter settings’, right-click
on the connected adapter and choose
‘Properties’. Double click ‘Internet Protocol
Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and note down
all the entries mentioned there (such as
IP, gateway, and subnet mask). Click on
‘Advanced’ and note down DNS settings.
NOTE: Some routers need to restart at
each page. Make sure you do so before
proceeding to the next stage.
STEP 1
STEP 3
90 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Accessing router settings
Once the router is connected, open your
browser and enter the following IP in the
address bar – ‘192.168.1.1’ to configure it.
Note: If this address doesn’t work, refer
to your router manual for the IP address
and username. There a handful of routers
that have different interfaces and menu
systems. Enter the ‘Router username’ and
‘password’ when asked.
STEP 1: Changing the router’s
administration password
Click on ‘Administration’ and navigate
to ‘Management’. Here enter a new
password in the ‘Router password’
field and re-enter to confirm. Save your
settings and again login into your router
with the new password.
STEP 2: Configuring the Internet
or WAN connection
Navigate to ‘Setup | Basic setup’. Here,
you will need to change your WAN
connection type depending on the type
STEP 2
STEP 4
of Internet connection you have (Static
IP or Dynamic IP). If your connection
uses an automatic IP address, you will
need to change the connection type to
‘Automatic Configuration – DHCP’, else
you will need to switch to ‘Static IP’ and
enter the settings that you jotted down
earlier. ‘PPPoE’ users will just need to
select the same from the drop down
menu and enter the required username
and password provided by the provider.
Limiting computers from
gaining access
You can limit the number of computers
that can access the router. You should
be able to view a setting where you can
specify the number of users.
STEP 3: Securing your network
Switch to ‘Wireless | Basic Wireless
Settings’. Leave the network mode at
default settings and enter a name for
the router’s wireless network (SSID);
this is used to identify your network.
Once done, secure your connection with
a password. For this, click ‘Wireless
Security’ and choose a security mode,
preferably ‘WPA2 Personal’ as ‘WEP’ is
weaker. Leave the encryption type to
the chosen default and enter an 8 to 13
character password. Save your settings
and login to the router once again.
TIP: You can choose to disable the
SSID from being viewed. This hides your
wireless network so nobody can see it.
You would need to manually add the
SSID name while connecting if you do so.
STEP 4: Enabling the MAC filter
Enabling ‘Wireless MAC Filter’ helps
either prevent PCs from accessing the
network or let's you permit specific PCs
depending on their MAC addresses. To
know a PC’s MAC address, right-click
on the network icon in the task bar
and select ‘Open Network and Sharing
Center’. Click on ‘Change adapter
settings’, right-click on the wireless
adapter and select ‘Status’, and choose
‘Details’. The ‘Physical Address’ that you
see is the MAC address.
– sandeep.balachandran@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: HWD to 51818
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS

Tips &
Tricks AUGUST 2010
SHARE YOUR TIPS. Write to: tnt@chip.in

Sachin Pandit

WINDOWS 93
TIP OF THE MONTH
1. Windows XP, Vista, 7 Easily share folders with the help of integrated wizards
Excel 2000, XP, 2003
SAVING AND APPLYING FILTER 2. Windows XP Automatically deleting references to recently opened documents
SETTINGS FASTER
Excel has effective filter functions for 3. Windows 7 Creating customized data back-up using on-board tools
evaluation of table data. Separate
filters can also be set for individual 4. Windows XP, Vista, 7 Easily customize operating system with tools
columns, but you have to set the
criteria newly each time after editing 5. Windows Vista, 7 Not deleting necessary files in spite of their old date of creation
the data. Now that’s tedious.
6. Windows XP, Vista, 7 Integrating an FTP server in Windows Explorer directly as a drive
Though there is no specific function
to save the filter settings, a user-defined view APPLICATIONS 95
retains the settings made. This is saved along
with the document. Set all the desired filter 7. Panoptic lick Checking the ‘fingerprint’ of your own system
criteria for the worksheet. Then open ‘View |
Custom views’ and click ‘Add’. As ‘Name’ enter 8. Google Chrome Restricting excessive data transmission to Google
a brief explanatory name and confirm with
‘OK’. You can save further filter configurations 9. Firefox 2.x, 3.x Tracing no longer available info on websites
as views in the same manner.
In order to call, open ‘View | Custom 10. Firefox 2.x, 3.x Avoid double virus checks of downloads
views’, select the saved entry from the list
and click ‘Show’. The view is then always 11. Opera 10.5 Re-releasing the suddenly blocked right mouse button
applicable for a certain worksheet and cannot
be applied to other tables. For quick access,
12. Photography Photos with mosaic effect, interesting patterns
create a button on the toolbar. For this, open
13. Photography Optimizing and retouching baby portraits
‘Tools | Adjust’ and change to the ‘Commands’
tab. Then select the ‘View’ category on the
14. iPod Convert DVD films and video files for the media player
left side and search for the ‘Custom views’
entry towards the right. Drag the element
15. Photoshop CS 1.x–4.x Optimum mood lighting through creative white balance
through drag-and-drop to the desired place in
the toolbar. Click ‘Close’ in the ‘Adjust’ dialog.
After setting the filters, now click in the input HARDWARE 99
area of the symbol, enter a new name, and
confirm with [Enter]. The filter can now be 16. Defective Hard Disk Exchange hard disks with Windows 7 tools without reinstallation
called by selecting this combination field.
17. PlayStation 3 Use your notebook as a repeater to get a better wireless connection?

92 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HTT to 51818

WINDOWS
Windows XP, Vista, 7
1 Easily share folders with the
help of integrated wizards
Windows can be easily integrated in a
network. However, if you wish to allow
access to a folder for other users in the
LAN, it gets a little botchy.
1 selection of a user or a group and their
In this dialog box, specify the folders to which the
other users in the network are allowed.
Windows features a wizard
especially for this task. However, it is very
well hidden.
LAUNCHING WIZARD: In Vista and
Windows 7, click on ‘Start’’ and enter the
‘shrpubw’ command in the search field of
the start menu. In the result window, click
on the ‘shrpubw’ entry under ‘Programs’.
When operated using a normal user
account, Windows requests for the
selection of an admin account and the
corresponding password for the same.
DEFINING ALLOCATIONS: On the first
page of the wizard, click on ‘Next’. In the
next step, select the folder that is to be
shared. For this purpose, either type the
complete path under ‘Shared folder’ or
select the directory using the ‘Search’
button and the following selection dialog
box.
DEFINING ACCESS RIGHTS: On the
following page, specify the users who will
have read and write access rights to the
data in the shared folder. Windows offers
three options in this respect, which differs
between administrators, all, or other
users, as well as complete access and
write protected access rights.
With help of the ‘User defined’ option,
you can select the desired user for the
access rights separately, which are
registered to the PC. For this purpose,
click on the ‘Add’ button under ‘Select the
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
object names to be used’ in the ‘Select
2
users and groups’ dialog box. Enter the
names of the users and click on the
‘Check names’. Confirm with ‘OK’. The
selected user now appears in the ‘Group
or usernames’ list. Highlight the user and
activate the access rights applicable
for the account provided below. In this
regard, select the checkbox in the ‘Allow’
column in front of either ‘Complete
access’, ‘Edit’ and ‘Read’ entries. The
authorization to the shared folder can be
repeated similarly for other users. This value specifies that Windows must delete the
list of recently opened documents on shut down.
If you wish to allow write and read
folder access to all users in the network, new entry as ‘ClearRecentDocsOnExit’.
simply mark ‘All’ and activate the Open it by double-clicking, and set its
‘Complete access’. Confirm your settings ‘Value’ to ‘1’ in the ‘Edit DWORD value’
by clicking on ‘OK’ and ‘Finish’. The wizard dialog box. Confirm this change with ‘OK’
displays a summary, which you can once and close the registry editor with ‘File |
again confirm with ‘Apply’. Close’.
IT WORKS AS FOLLOWS IN XP: If you wish deactivate this automatic
Open ‘Start | Run’, enter the ‘shrpubw’ deletion of the references function, either
command under ‘Open’ and click on ‘OK’, allocate the ‘ClearRecentDocsOnExit’ with
and then on ‘Next’. Subsequently, select ‘0’ value or simply clear the value field.
the folder. In the next step, define a
‘Share name’ and, in if desired, a ‘Sharing Windows 7
description’ in the corresponding fields. As 3 Creating customized data
it has been explained earlier, you can now back-up using on-board tools
allocate access rights separately to users.
ATTENTION: Shared folders are like a soft Regularly create a back-up of important
spot for possible attacks from outside. data on external hard disks. Does
Therefore, at any instance your computer Windows 7 support with such routine
must be protected by a firewall. tasks?
Windows XP
3
2 Automatically deleting
references to recently opened
documents
The ‘Documents’ folder in the start
menu displays the references to the
recently used files. Thereby, anyone
who has access to the PC can see the
data you were working on and open
them.
Windows can delete the list at the Windows 7 already features considerably
improved functions for data back-up.
time of shut down. You can activate this
function in the registry. For this purpose,
open ‘Start | Run’, type ‘regedit’ and press In order to configure this backup
the [Enter] key. In the tree structure on option, click on ‘Control Panel | System
the left side of the editor, navigate to and Security | Backup your computer |
the ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Set up backup’. Note: This function can
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ also be used for creating a backup of a
Policies\Explorer’ key. pre-defined folder on a regular basis.
Right-click on a free space on the As soon as it begins, Windows first
right side of the editor and in the context, asks for the target location for the data
select ‘New | DWORD Value’. Name the back-up. For this option, the system
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 93
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
automatically recommends an external
hard disk as long as one is connected.
Select this drive, and click on ‘Next’.
Now, you may specify whether Windows
should select the data to be backed-up
or you would specify the same manually.
In order to create a system backup,
you may continue with the Windows
recommendation.
It is also possible to create a backup
of the most important directories on a
regular basis. For this purpose, activate
the ‘Let me choose’ option and click on
‘Next’. The default selection is same as
the previous Windows recommendation.
You can now customize it, whereby you
can select or exclude folders and libraries
individually for the backup. Deactivate
the ‘Save data for newly created user’
option and click on the arrow in front of
‘Libraries’. For example, simply leave the
‘Documents’ library activated. Moreover,
deactivate the ‘Integrate system image
of drives’, otherwise every time the
backup process starts, Windows will
create a copy of the complete system
drive. Subsequently, click ‘Next’. Windows
once again summarizes the settings and
recommends an automatic schedule for
future repetitions of this backup plan. In
order to carry out backup on a daily basis,
click on the ‘Change schedule’ button on
left side. In the ‘Frequency’ field, set the
value ‘Daily’ and also select the desired
‘Time’. Also ensure that multiple backup
processes do not start at the same time,
and confirm the schedule with ‘OK’. In
the end, click on ‘Save settings and run
backup’.
In the future, Windows automatically
creates back-up of your important data
on the external hard disk as long as it is
connected to the system.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
4 Easily customize operating
system with tools
Windows can be extensively configured
and adapted. Unfortunately, it is not
always as easy as it sounds. For a
few settings, it is necessary to edit
the registry. On the other hand, any
erroneous entries in the registry can
cripple the system such that it fails to
even start again.
The application of configuration
tools is simple and less error-prone.
94 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
QUICK TIPS
QUICKLY CREATE NEW FOLDERS
In order to quickly create a new folder in
Windows Explorer, press [Ctrl]+[Shft]+[N] and
enter the desired name.
GROUPING IN THE TASKBAR
‘TaskbarGroupSize’ in the ‘HKEY_CURRENT_
USER\Software\Microsoft\Win dows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\’ key
determines when the grouping takes place.
QUICKLY TURN-OFF FIREWALLL
In Windows 7, you can enter the ‘netsh
advfirewall set currentprofile state off’
command in the prompt in order to turn off
the Firewall.
HIDE CURSOR DURING INPUT
For this purpose, open ‘Mouse’ in the
Windows Control Panel and deactivate ‘Hide
pointer during keyboard entry’ option in the
‘Pointer options’ registry.
DISPLAYING SHORTCUT KEYS
In order to see all shortcut keys, open ‘Start |
Run’, type ‘%windir%\Help\keyshort.chm’ in
the ‘Open’ field and confirm it with ‘OK’.
TweakNow WinSecret 2010 supports
Windows 7 and Vista as well as Windows
XP. Since the application compulsorily
requires administrator rights, you should
either log in with such an account, or you
must authorize the launch of the tool
by selecting an account with computer
administrator rights. On the left side
of the tool, you will see a menu in
large letters, whereas on the right side,
depending on the selected menu item,
information and configuration options
appear.
With the help of the ‘System
Information’ and subordinate menu
items, you can get information about
4
With TweakNow WinSecret 2010 tools, Windows
can be easily customized for certain requirements.
your system. ‘Windows Cleaner | Startup
Manager’ informs you about the programs
that start automatically at system
start-up. You can prevent the start of
such applications, whereby you simply
remove the checkmark in front of the
respective entries. You can even uninstall
programs using the ‘Uninstall Program’
function in the ‘Windows Cleaner’, without
actually having to switch to the Control
Panel. In order to configure the system,
use ‘Windows Secret’. The page is
classified in the registry as ‘Applications’,
‘Control Panel’ or ‘Desktop’ so that
Windows automatically logs in with a
specific user. Click on ‘Windows Logon’. In
the end, select the ‘Enable’ entry on the
right side of the tool located near ‘Auto
Logon’ and highlight the user in the ‘User
List’. In ‘Password’, enter the password
of the user. Subsequently, click on ‘Save’
in order to activate these changes in the
configuration.
NOTE: The ‘Restore Backup’ menu item
enables you to easily and quickly reverse
the changes made by you in the above
described fields.
Windows Vista, 7
5 Not deleting necessary files
in spite of their old date of
creation
Certain data and temporary files must
be deleted automatically by Windows
based on their date of creation.
Although the search function offers
special options, you must execute the
search and delete processes manually.
You can allow this task to be
performed by a script. In such a case, use
the ‘for files.exe’ prompt program, which
allows editing of files based on their date
of creation.
To begin with, open a prompt by
typing ‘cmd’ in the search field of the
start menu, and press the [Enter]. Using
‘forfiles /?’, you can receive help with the
tool. As other options, you can integrate
the search path with the ‘-p’ parameter,
the date filter with ‘-d’ as well as a search
sample with ‘-m’. The ‘-s’ parameter
ascertains whether the search should
include all subfolders. Without the path
entry, the current folder is selected as
default.
You can use the date filter either by
directly entering the date in the form of

‘DD.MM.YYYY’, whereby a preset plus
character selects the new files and a
minus character selects all files before
the specified date. As an alternative, you
can set the date entry in form of ‘-DD’
for the selection of files, which are older
than the specified number of days. For
example, to search all Excel files in the
‘E:\Date’ folder, which were changed after
23.04.2010, the following command is
used:
forfiles p E:\Date m *.xls -d
+23.4.2010
With the help of the
forfiles p C:\Temp -s -m *.jpg
-d -10
command, Windows deletes all JPG files
in the temporary folder, which are older
than ten days. Subsequently, you can
allocate yet another command to the
forfiles command with the ‘-c’ parameter,
which shall be applied for the files in the
search results, for instance
-c cmd /c echo @FILE
Thereby, the command in the prompt
enlists all searched files. For more output
variables, you can even use the ‘@EXT’,
‘@PATH’ or ‘@FSIZE’ parameters. These
display the extension, the complete path
name and the file size respectively. A
command for deleting older files from the
‘E:\Date’ folder can, for instance, be as
follows:
forfiles p E:\Date -m *jpg -s |d
-14 -c cmd /c del @FILE
Your commands with the necessary
parameters can be copied in a text file
and can, for instance, be saved on the
desktop as a batch file with the name
‘Kill_old.bat’. This way, you will have
complete access to it.
ATTENTION: First of all, test the
command by replacing ‘del’ with ‘echo’
and thereby check the output of the
script without actually running it.
Otherwise, you could unknowingly delete
too many files, especially in case of
recursive processing.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
6 Integrating an FTP server in
Windows Explorer directly as a
drive
Numerous users use a special tool such
as FileZilla for exchanging data with a
remote FTP server. However, for this,
one needs to first start it and then log
in, which is a repetitive process.
It would have been so much
easier if the FTP server could be directly
activated from the Windows Explorer
just like a network drive. This is exactly
what the freeware NetDrive manages
to do. The link-up in form of a drive has
an advantage that you can access it
directly from the applications and thereby
immediately work on the FTP server.
Start the tool after the installation is
complete. A few servers of well-known
companies and universities are already
set-up as sample access. For creating
another FTP access, on the left hand
side, click on the desired item in the
folder structure and subsequently click
on ‘New Site’. Enter a name and on the
right hand side, complete all necessary
parameters such as ‘URL’, ‘Server Type’,
and the access data. Similarly, repeat
these steps for other servers. Using the
‘Export’ command, you can save the
complete server list in an INI file. This in
combination with the ‘Import’ function
makes it easy to set-up the tool on other
computers.
6 combination is using statistical figures.
Select the drive under which NetDrive must
integrate an FTP server into Windows Explorer.
To integrate the FTP server as a drive,
highlight an entry in the list and under
‘Drive’, select a free alphabet for the drive.
In case you use this entry on a regular
basis, automate the integration procedure
with ‘Automatic login when NetDrive
starts’. A simple click on ‘Connect’ creates
the link-up within seconds and opens the
Windows Explorer. You can now connect
NetDrive, and it then remains active in
the system tray. Now, in the main window
of the program, click on ‘Options’. Here,
you can specify whether the tool must be
automatically activated with the Windows
boot-up. if you do not wish the same,
simply deactivate the ‘Automatically
run NetDrive when I log on to Windows’
option and confirm the change with ‘OK’.
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
APPLICATIONS
Panoptic lick
7 Checking the ‘fingerprint’ of
your own system
When surfing on the Internet, you have
doubts that your surfing habits are
being spied on by the websites you are
visiting. Hence, you wish to check what
data is being revealed by the browser
without being asked and to what extent
it is suitable for identification and
tracking.
Even if you do not reveal any
personal data via cookies or direct inputs
to a website, the data transmitted by the
browser can be enough to identify the PC.
The following is applicable in the process:
the more customized the configuration of
the browser and computer, the easier it is
for a website to detect that it is the same
computer again, without even knowing
the personal data.
The Panoptic lick project determines
how unique your computer-browser
You thus get an idea how visible you are
on the Internet.
In order to test this, go to http://
panopticlick.eff.org and click ‘Test me’
there. The following analysis shows
which information can be read out
by the website and how specific this
configuration is. The table containing the
individual components shows the data
reported by your browser and also how
important the information content in it is.
Most of the special features are due to
the browser plug-ins and fonts of the PC.
At present, you can do little to prevent
this information transmission. It is
advisable to use the latest version of
7
Browser characteristics provide more information
than most of us can imagine.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 95
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
a common browser and install only
the necessary plug-ins and fonts.
From now on, the private mode of the
browser should also ensure simplified
and standardized data transmission to
the user-agent and plug-ins. Switching
off Javascript completely is the most
effective option since the detection of
plug-ins and fonts is prevented. If you
use Firefox, you can block the function to
a great extent using the ‘NoScript’ tool.
You can get more information at http://
panopticlick.eff.org/self-defense.php.
BACKGROUND: Purely from the
statistical point of view, about 33 bit
of independent information is required
(233) to distinguish all the 6 billion
people. If the sex is known, for instance,
it provides one bit information, because
it is relevant for every second person
on an average. In addition, if the birth
date is known without the year, it is true
of just every 365th person. The same
principle also applies to the data from
browser information. Detailed information
on this topic can be found at https://
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/01/primer-
information-theory-and-privacy.
Google Chrome
8 Restricting excessive data
transmission to Google
Google’s browser is particularly fast,
but also rather communicative.
Google not only records search
queries in its browser, but also other
information such as URLs and DNS
requests. You can decide on your own
which of these functions you actually
want to activate. You can thus prevent
Google from creating your exact user
profile.
8
The supplies for Google’s data hunger can be
restricted in the Chrome browser, at least partially.
96 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
QUICK TIPS
OPEN FILE DIRECTLY
Press [Ctrl] + [O] to open files directly in
Google Chrome, e.g. with a CRX extension.
There is no separate menu command for it.
MORE SPACE FOR ENTERING
FORMULAE
From Excel 2007 onwards, there is a formula
entry that extends over three cells when you
click the double arrow at its right end.
EXPAND TABLES QUICKLY
Select one cell or column at a time and press
[Ctrl] + [+] to insert new cells or columns in
the Excel table calculation fast.
ENABLE HYPHENATION
In Word, open ‘Tools | Language |
Hyphenation’ and activate ‘Automatically
hyphenate document’. This gets saved as a
template file ‘Normal.dot’.
COPY GRAPHIC OBJECTS EASILY
In Word, keep [Ctrl] pressed and drag a copy
of the object via drag and drop to the new
position. This is applicable only for
suspended objects.
For that, click the tool icon right above
in the browser and open the ‘Options’
menu. You will find details for certain
Google services, which you can deactivate
in ‘Under the Hood’ tab. The ‘Show
suggestions for navigation errors’ service
shows similar websites for instance, if the
desired site cannot be accessed. The next
option ‘Use a suggestion service to help
complete searches and URLs typed in
the address bar’ relates to the suggestion
service of Google on entering the web
addresses and search terms. If you use
the ‘DNS prefetch for improving the page
loading performance’, the browser sends
all the links on one website to a DNS
server to begin with so that the process
of calling links in future will be faster.
The ‘Activate phishing and malware
protection’ service is useful, but if you
are using other systems to protect
from malware and phishing sites, you
can do without Chrome's additional
protection, and deactivate this option.
The transmission of usage statistics and
failure reports is deactivated by default.
Click ‘Close’ to confirm the new settings .
Firefox 2.x, 3.x
9 Tracing no longer available info
on websites
9
The Wayback machine can be used to search the
Internet archive for earlier websites and versions.
The browser opens an error page
with the code 404 if you click a few
outdated links because the relevant
website is no longer available online.
Is it still possible to access this
information which was available
previously?
You have a good chance of
finding older information using the web
archive. The free of charge extension
‘404 Error’ simplifies the tracing process
considerably. We have included the
program with this issue’s DVD/CD. Open
the XPI file with the browser using the
‘File’ menu and click ‘Install now’. The
extension is available after re-starting the
surfing program.
It checks in the background whether
the ‘Page not found’ result is displayed
in the title line on calling a page. If this
is the case, the tool automatically offers
a search in the web archive, which you
just have to confirm by clicking ‘OK’. In
addition, you can query the archive using
the new ‘Tools | Archive’ command.
The result of the archive search
often turns out to be different. In most
cases, the older version of the individual
sites that is being searched is available
immediately. In comprehensive archives,
there is a choice at staggered intervals, in
which you select the desired old version
for a certain time by clicking a particular
link.
NOTE: you can also open the archive on
a current website, the CHIP homepage
for instance. You will find more than
thousand older versions of the site there.
Firefox 2.x, 3.x
10 Avoid double virus checks of
downloads

10
Double virus checks of downloads do not improve
security, but do take up a lot of time
After downloading bigger files, it takes
a fair bit of time before the browser
displays them. Your computer is
certainly up-to-date with respect to the
hardware and software so there should
be no performance-related problems.
The reason for the delay is an
automatic virus check when downloading
files, which seems to be a good idea at
first glance. However, you can deactivate
this function safely if you have an
updated virus scanner installed, because
it checks all the downloaded files
anyways. Performing checks twice does
not really improve safety, but only ends
up delaying the process. In addition, the
notification appears in the dialog box of
the browser even if no virus scanner is
installed. This just feigns security, which is
not provided at all in reality.
Deactivate double checking of
downloads in the upgraded configurations
of the browser. For that, enter
‘about:config’ in the address bar and press
[Enter]. Confirm the warning by clicking
‘I promise to be careful!’. Then enter the
search term ‘browser.download.manager.
scanwhendone’ in the ‘Filter’ field.
Subsequently, right-click the entry with
the same name in the list and select the
‘Switch’ context command. The value
must be set to ‘false’. Close the tab of the
configuration. From now on, downloads
are no longer checked twice for viruses.
Opera 10.5
11 Re-releasing the suddenly
blocked right mouse button
Some websites use a JavaScript to
block the right mouse button and
thus the context menu. While earlier
11
Deactivating this option prevents blocking of the
right mouse button via JavaScript on websites.
versions of Opera had ignored such
instructions, the current browser runs
the JavaScript. Can this behavior
be changed without deactivating
JavaScript completely?
The options for JavaScripts can
be specified in detail in the new version.
If you do not want to allow any change
in the context menu, you can ban it.
For that, click the new Opera button
and open ‘Settings | Preferences’. Then
switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab and select
the ‘Content’ category to the left. Keep
the ‘Activate JavaScript’ option activated
and click ‘JavaScript options’ next to it.
Deactivate the ‘Allow scripts to detect
context menu events’ checkbox. Confirm
the open dialog box with ‘OK’.
However, a few websites use scripts
in order to offer more options in the
context menu. You can ban JavaScript
actions dedicatedly only for certain
websites so that you do not have to give
up this option. For that, click the Opera
button and open ‘Settings | Preferences |
Manage Site Preferences’. Click ‘Add’ and
switch to the ‘Scripting’ tab. You can now
deactivate the ‘Allow scripts to detect
context menu events’ option individually
for this site. Confirm again by clicking ‘OK’.
Photography
12 Photos with mosaic effect,
interesting patterns
The subject is primarily interesting
and is suitable as a starting point for a
photo book. However, something isn’t
right with the perspective and that
‘something special’ is missing.
THE PROBLEM: The example
image is fascinating due to the vivid
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
colors, but its perspective is distorted.
Unavoidably, taking the picture from
another perspective was not possible.
PHOTOGRAPHING DIFFERENTLY: A
polarizing filter could have increased
the color saturation level. Balancing the
perspective distortion is possible only
with an expensive tilt-shift lens.
OPTIMIZING ON THE PC: Mosaic effect
can be used as the cover page of a
photo book. Before that, the photo has
to be color corrected. Move the sign
with the Photoshop function ‘Reduce
glare’. In the example, a value of ‘-35’
for the vertical perspective leads to the
desired alignment. After rotating it by a
few degrees, further adjust the section
with the ‘Crop’ tool. Make the colors
more vibrant with ‘Picture | Adjust |
Tonal correction’. For ‘Tonal inclination’,
enter ‘30’ and ‘240’ as minimum and
maximum values and to darken, enter a
value between the two values ‘0,87’ in the
field. Through ‘Selective color correction’,
specifically emphasize important colors
for effective results. Depending on the
subject ‘+30’ is a good approximate value.
In the example image, it is worthwhile
to intensify the shades of cyan, blue and
red. Duplicate the corrected layers. As a
filling method, select ‘Overlap [‘ and click
‘Filter | Pixilation filter | Mosaic effect’;
experiment with different cell sizes. A
good result will be achieved if the layer
is reduced in size before rasterizing. The
mosaic appears exceedingly large if it
is enlarged later. Additionally, it can be
moved a little to intensify the effect. The
mosaic effect is often weak on images
with a large homogeneous surface.
Duplicate the mosaic layer and use it
on the new layer ‘Filter | Stylize filter |
Find contours’. Select ‘Soft light’ with an
‘Opacity’ of ‘33 %’ as layer fill. Places that
12
Make your pictures stand out without the need for
expensive lenses by adding effects and filters.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 97
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
are too dark due to a high contrast can be
lightened again in the first layer with the
dodge tool.
Photography
13 Optimizing and retouching
baby portraits
The photo looked rather brilliant on
the camera display, but you were in
for a disappointment on the PC. The
background was not blur enough and
diverted from the subject. In addition,
the eyes glowed much more in real life.
THE PROBLEM: Baby photos are
often snapshots. It is not really a time
for a well thought-out set structure,
illumination, etc. And even a large
aperture is not sufficient in a camera
having an APSC sensor in order to get
a completely blurred background of a
close-up shot.
PHOTOGRAPHING DIFFERENTLY: A
bigger blur in the background can be
achieved if the baby is photographed at a
longer distance and with a light tele-focal
length. However, the photo situation does
not permit this in most cases. Another
problem - the bigger the focal length,
the greater must be the shutter speed.
In case of indoor shots, you must ensure
additional lighting if you do not wish
to flash in the baby’s eyes. However, it
quickly spoils the daylight mood.
OPTIMIZING ON THE PC: Selecting the
background takes up maximum time
during image editing, especially if harsh
edges are not available due to the narrow
focus range just like in this case. You can
make the basic choice with the magic
wand, which you can then extend with
a lasso by keeping the [Alt] key pressed.
Do not waste your time on single strands
13
Selective changes help you grab the viewer’s
attention without deviating from the subject.
98 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
of hair; you can do that later using a
Layer Mask. Select ‘Select | Feather’
and a radius of 3 to 5 pixels. If you have
the option, make the background blur
with ‘Filter | Blur’ by using ‘Reduce depth
sharpness’ repeatedly. Even ‘Gaussian
Blur’ works well. Optimize the brightness,
colors and contrast using ‘Image |
Adjustments | Levels’. It is best if you
make the correction in an Adjustment
Layer; you can thus adjust the values later
on. You can now touch up minor flaws
in the skin with the Stamp tool. You can
simulate extremely clear skin this way.
Duplicate the background layer, select
‘Filter | Blur | Make matter’ with values
around ‘5’. Leave out the eyes and mouth
with a Layer Mask. You can control the
effect using the Layer Opacity. Finally,
allow the baby’s eyes to sparkle. Select
the eyes using the Lasso and Feather
and increase the highlights and midtones
using ‘Levels’.
iPod
15 Convert DVD films and video
files for the media player
DVD films and video files in formats
such as DivX can't be transferred and
viewed on an iPod or iPhone directly.
With the freeware HandBrake,
films can be converted for iPod and
iPhone. However, you may not be able to
copy DVDs if they are copy-protected. You
will need to install the Microsoft’s .NET
Framework. Immediately after starting,
set the default path for the task. Open
‘Tools | Options’ and click the ‘General’
tab next to ‘Output files’ in ‘Browse’.
Navigate to the desired folder and select
the file that needs to be converted.
Through ‘Source’ select the source. Use
‘Video file’ for an individual file or ‘DVD/
VIDEO_TS Folder’ to convert an existing
DVD folder on the hard disk. As long as
the DVD is loaded, it can be selected
directly. HandBrake analyzes the source
and adjusts the dialogues. The title or
chapter to be taken from the source can
be selected with combo boxes in the
section ‘Source’. On a music DVD, select
the individual titles through ‘Chapters’. In
the input field for ‘Destination’, define the
file names for the task. For all additional
settings, use the standard defaults for
the target device. Right-click in ‘Presets’
on ‘Apple’ and subsequently on ‘iPod’.
15
The tool Handbrake processes videos in different
file formats for mobile players like the iPod.
HandBrake sets the options on the tabs
‘Picture’, ‘Video’, ‘Audio’ and ‘Chapters’
automatically. To convert, click on ‘Start’
at the top. The process is resource-
intensive and time consuming. The overall
time taken to convert will depend on the
computer performance, settings and size
of the video. The finished M4V file can
now be transferred to the iPod.
Photoshop CS 1.x–4.x
16 Optimum mood lighting
through creative white balance
Even with high quality cameras, the
color reproduction in photographs
does not conform to the colors of the
scenery in your memory.
Unwanted color casts reduce the
overall white balance. Our eyes adjust to
different lighting conditions, both in terms
of intensity and color. Even automatic
cameras have a chromatic adaptation.
With automatic white balance, the gadget
misses the color temperature of the
ambient light and adjusts the colors in
the photo accordingly. The function is
not always satisfactory. Above all, many
cameras have a hard time with artificial
light and twilight.
SELECT RECORDING FORMAT: A mixture
of technique, intuition and trial are
required to achieve the best results. You
have an optimum start position if you
shoot simultaneously with RAW and JPEG
format with automatic white balance.
Therefore you don’t have to be concerned
about the photograph; a greater part of
the image is good and thanks to the RAW
format, it gives the protographer freedom
to adjust the white balance in important
photographs later.
ANALYZE IMAGES: White balance cannot

16
Consciously selecting ‘Artificial light’, will provide
an atmospheric blue color in the scene.
be accurate for every photo. Finally,
there are some colors that are too warm,
setting the mood for a candle-light dinner.
Therefore, the technically right white
balance isn’t always ideal.
ADJUST WHITE BALANCE: With the
subsequent white balance, you have a
creative tool with which you can make the
color mood of the pictures intentionally
unnatural. The medium of choice is the
RAW converter. First, try all the default
settings. The options ‘Light bulb’ or
‘Fluorescent tube’, for example, ensure
significant variation in mood lighting in
daylight shots. ‘Artificial light’ ensures a
blue coloration in sunset scenes. Distorted
results often seem more interesting.
HARDWARE
Defective Hard Disk
17 Exchange hard disks with
Windows 7 tools without
reinstallation
Windows 7 has notified you that your
hard disk is defective. However, your
system is working fine and you aren't in
the mood to reinstall Windows.
Gone are the days when you
needed expensive programs like Norton
Ghost to exchange hard disks; Windows
7, like Vista, can do all of that itself. In
17
The Windows 7 tool for a complete backup of the
PC is the key to a smooth hard disk exchange.
Control Panel, go to ‘Backup and restore’
and select ‘Set up Backup’. Windows will
ask where you’d like to backup the hard
disk. You can burn everything onto a DVD,
or back it up on an USB hard disk.
Before starting the backup process,
ensure that the external hard disk has
enough free space and that it is in the
NTFS format. You can also back up
everything on a second internal hard
disk, but it has to be a ‘basic data
carrier’. Dynamic drives are rejected as
target drives must be converted into
a basic data carrier in the data carrier
management. Our 60 GB installation via
USB 2.0 was copied onto the external
hard disk in less than half an hour. The
PC must then be be switched off before
any defective data is exchanged from
mass storage. Then start the PC with
the Windows 7 installation DVD. After
booting, the installation routine begins.
After entering the serial number, Windows
asks for details about hard disk partitions.
Partition the new hard disk and format it
in the NTFS format. The quick formatting
method is almost always sufficient.
Cancel the Windows installation
and restart the PC with the Windows 7
installation DVD. Select the ‘Repair’ option
instead of ‘Installation’. Windows 7 does
not find any damaged partition. Click on
‘Next’. From the following options, select
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
‘Restore computer completely’. The tool
searches for backup files and finds the
backup on the connected external drive.
Confirm that the Windows 7 tool may
overwrite the data on the target drive.
After 30 minutes, the porting is done and
Windows starts up just fine.
PlayStation 3
18 Use your notebook as a
repeater to get a better
wireless connection?
If the wireless connection between your
WLAN router and PS3 is poor, wireless
connectivity might be very good when
you use your notebook.
You can use your notebook as a
relay station. For this, an Ethernet patch
cable is the only hardware you’ll need.
Assign an IP address to the network
connection so that your PS3 is recognized.
For this, go to ‘System control | Network
and Internet | Network and sharing centre
| Manage network connections’ and
right-click on the LAN connection. From
the context menu, select ‘Properties’
and confirm the UAC prompt. Notice the
‘Internet connection version 4’ entry in the
window that just popped up. Activate the
option ‘Use the following IP address’ and
enter the IP ‘192.168.0.1’.
Now, only the WLAN connection needs
to be approved. Re-work your way to
the ‘Manage Network connection’ point,
right-click on the WLAN connection and
confirm the UAC prompt. Select the
‘Approve’ tab in the window. Allow access
for the Internet connection and click on
the protocols stated under ‘Install’.
Finally, you only have to change the
setting on the PS3 from ‘WLAN’ to ‘Join
cables’ under ‘Network settings | Internet
connection’. The PS3 should support the
Internet connection when you restart it.
– Compiled by Sandeep Balachandran
send your tips to tnt@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 99
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW

Split/Second
102
An explosive thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat.

THIS MONTH
104 Pure Football
The not-so-beautiful game -
Ubisoft's first football title fails.

106 International Cricket 2010

A new way to play last year's
game.

100 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


SOME GAMES NOW INCLUDE
CONTENT THAT IS LOCKED
OUT IN AN ATTEMPT TO
CURB SECOND-HAND SALES
SAMEER DESAI
GAME ON LOCK
T
he used games market is massive
in the West, particularly the
US. GameStop, the largest video
game retail chain in America,
earns a majority of its revenue from used
game sales. This has caused a drop in the
sale of new games, and publishers aren’t
happy because they make no money from
used game sales. Legally, this is a grey
area, and up until now, the retailers have
just been too powerful. Publishers who
take up the issue risk their games being
pulled off shelves. So it was only a matter
of time before they found another way to
strike back.
With the release of Dragon Age: Origins
last year, EA introduced what is being
dubbed "Project Ten Dollar", which locks
certain in-game features until the player
enters a one-time-use code that is included
in the box. If you buy the game second-
IF THIS INITIATIVE IS TO WORK,
PUBLISHERS ARE GOING TO
HAVE TO BE BOLD.
hand and the code has already been used
by the original owner, you’re stuck without
that content unless you pay EA another
$10 to buy it for yourself. It’s a rather
ingenious way of making used game sales
less attractive, and profiting from it at the
same time.
In the beginning, these codes either
gave you bonus content that wasn’t
necessary to enjoy the game, or unlocked
content that you could do just as well
without. But THQ, publisher of the popular
WWE games, has taken the aggressive
UNWIND
COLUMN
step of completely locking out online game
modes from UFC Undisputed 2010 until
the code is entered. Those without codes
will have to pay $5 to “buy” the online
features. Unlike a few additional weapons
or mini-games which you could do
without, what THQ has done will make the
buyer seriously reconsider his used game
purchase. Being unable to play a game
online is a massive deal breaker and used
games aren’t cheap enough to justify the
purchase plus the $5 fee. They’d seriously
consider picking up a new copy instead.
If this initiative is to work in the long
term, publishers are going to have to be
bold. If you lock out mini-games, like in
EA’s The Saboteur, or add a few bonus
weapons, as in Battlefield: Bad Company 2,
you really aren’t making a strong enough
case for a new purchase. Going forward,
we’ll probably see more publishers
following THQ’s lead and locking used
game buyers out of major chunks of their
games. It’s an interesting cat-and-mouse
situation between retailers and publishers
who are both desperate to up their
revenues in a somewhat stagnant market.
But what does this mean for gamers in
India? Barring a few online forums where
you can buy and sell used games, there
really is no second-hand games market to
speak of. If anything, this will dampen
piracy, in effect excluding pirates from that
locked or bonus content. For those of us
who buy new games, nothing changes at
all. We still get the complete game at the
same price, and everyone’s happy. And for
once, the publishers, who are often made
to look like the bad guys in this industry,
get what they’re rightfully due.
- sameer.desai@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 101
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
RATING 3.5/5
A thrilling ride that runs out of steam after a while.
G
ames are constantly evolving
and developers are redefining
genres to appeal to an ever-
growing audience with a diminishing
attention span. For example, almost
all shooters now feature deep and
reward-based multiplayer components
to keep players coming back. In all
of this, the racing genre seems to
have remained somewhat stagnant.
However, a slew of new racing games
are aiming to change that, and Split/
Second: Velocity from Blackrock Studios,
the guys behind ATV racer Pure, are
at the forefront of this change.
The game's career mode revolves around a reality TV show in which you are a participant. Everthing from
bridges to powerplants are rigged to blow in order to create a visual spectacle and gameplay challenge.
102 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
BY SAMEER DESAI
Split/Second is best described as
an arcade combat racer, although you
won’t see power ups and weapons for
your car to use. Instead, the game relies
on powerplays in the form of triggerable
environmental destruction to help the
player tilt the race in his/her favor. The
main game mode is the career, which
is designed like one season of a reality
TV show. This season comprises 12
components, or episodes, each with six
events. So with 72 events, the career is
reasonably long. Events are of six types,
namely Race – lapped races against the
AI, Eliminator – where the last placed
Jagdish Limbachiya
car is eliminated at regular intervals,
Survival – where you must overtake
trucks that drop exploding barrels in
your path, Dominator – a time trial
where the environment is your enemy,
Air Attack – you against a chopper that
launches missiles onto the track, and
Air Revenge – where you can deflect
missiles back to the chopper to blow it
out of the sky.
You won’t find real world cars in
Split/Second. Instead, the cars here
look more like Matchbox scale cars with
their large tires and low profile. Vehicle
handling isn’t as easy as, say, a Burnout,
but it’s still very arcadey and responsive,
thereby allowing you to pay attention
to the environment around you rather
than worrying about negotiating the
next corner. Vehicles fall under three
categories – sports, muscle, and SUV.
Each category excels in certain driving
attributes, so you’ll need to pick your car
depending on the event type.
The standout feature, and one
that is fairly unique to this game, is
the powerplays. Various areas on and
around the track, be it structures like
walls and bridges or buses and petrol
stations, are rigged to blow. Driving
skillfully, namely drifting, drafting and
jumps, fills up your powerplay meter,
which is divided into three parts. Fill
up one or two parts, and you will earn
SMS us!  Story code: USS to 51818

Split/Second doesn't feature real-world cars, but the fictional rides are spread across sports, SUV, and
muscle styles, with some designs taking obvious inspiration from real-world cars.
the ability to trigger level 1 powerplays.
When you have a powerplay available,
a powerplay icon shows up over enemy
cars when they are in the vicinity of a
powerplay attack. Time it right and you
can take out one or more enemies to
gain an advantage. Level 1 powerplays
are also used to open up short cuts.
Level 2 powerplays are only available
when you fill up all three parts of
the powerplay meter. Each track only
has two level 2 powerplays, but the
destructive power and scale of these
powerplays is astonishing. Level 2
powerplays can either cause widespread
devastation and take out multiple
enemies, or drastically alter the layout
of the track. Imagine having the ability
to make a massive commercial jet plane
crash land onto the track with parts
coming loose and flying across the track
as cars approach it head-on. Level 2
powerplays are game changers. The first
time you see one happening before you,
it’s overwhelming, and these powerplays
are easily the highlight of the game.
But while the powerplays are Split/
Second’s standout feature, they also
expose the game’s biggest drawback
- the lack of replay value. There are
only 11 environments in the game, and
although each features multiple layouts,
the powerplays remain the same. So
after a while, you’ll be able to memorize
the locations of the powerplays, thereby
taking away the element of surprise.
The lack of environments is made very
apparent in the second half of the
career. However, the game’s presentation
and AI do go a long way towards making
the game enjoyable even once you’ve
seen all the environments.
Apart from the career, there’s also
two-player splitscreen as well as online
racing for up to eight players. The
structure is fairly generic and there isn’t
much depth in the online multiplayer.
There are no unlockables and no perks;
just a very basic leveling system. Still,
the combination of powerplays and
a field full of human opponents is a
potent one, and online multiplayer, as
barebones as it may be, is the best way
to experience Split/Second. In single-
player, the powerplays tend to skew
races in your favor, but online, everyone
is just as adept at using them, and that
will keep you on your toes.
UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
RATINGS
RACING
Split/Second: Velocity
PRICE PS3 (Rs 2,499), Xbox 360 (Rs 2,499),
PC (Rs 999)
PUBLISHER Disney Interactive
DEVELOPER Blackrock Studios
DISTRIBUTOR Excel Interactive
PHONE 022 40500778
EMAIL customercare@excelgroup.in
PLATFORM PS3, Xbox 360, PC
FOR
Powerplays are well implemented. Accessible gameplay. Well
created environments. Fun multi-player.
AGAINST
Only 11 environments. Online lacks depth. Repetitive.
Split/Second is quite an impressive
visual showcase. The racing is chaotic
and explosive, but there’s never a drop
in frame rates. The environments are
painstakingly created and it makes
triggering powerplays and watching
them unfold all the more rewarding.
The reality TV show fits the game well,
and thankfully they didn’t overdo it by
featuring characters and a story line.
Split/Second is a commendable
effort from Blackrock, who would
have surely been under pressure to
top their previous effort – Pure. The
implementation of powerplays is spot
on, and the core gameplay is accessible
without being too easy. The game
is best played in multiplayer, where
everyone can take advantage of the
powerplays, but there’s not enough
depth to the online multiplayer to make
you keep playing. In the career, repetition
soon sets in as you race through the
same set of environments again and
again. So while the content that is there
is fantastic, there just isn’t enough of
it. There’s quality here, but not enough
quantity, so enjoy it while it lasts.
– sameer.desai@infomedia18.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 103
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
A broken game; pure and simple.
BY SAMEER DESAI
RATING 1.5/5
P
ure Football is Ubisoft’s entry
into the football games genre,
which is currently dominated
by EA Sport’s FIFA and Konami’s Pro
Evolution Soccer. Pure Football though,
isn’t a direct competitor to those games;
it’s instead a 5-on-5 arcade game much
like the FIFA Street games, with an
emphasis on over-the-top action and a
blatant disregard for the laws of physics.
If done right, arcade sports games can
be a lot of fun, as evident from the
early NBA Street titles. In Pure Football,
however, it’s all gone horribly wrong as it
fails to implement even the most basic
gameplay mechanics that you would
usually take for granted in football games.
Gameplay is where Pure Football
suffers the most, and there’s no coming
back from that. Stiff animations and
clunky player movement make you feel
like you’re controlling elephants rather
than the world’s top pro footballers.
104 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The poor animations also affect the
responsiveness of controls, resulting
in delayed passes and shots on goal.
All passes and shots almost seem to
travel on rails, and regardless of where
you direct them, the ball seems to only
travel along predetermined paths. So
even though you may see a teammate
in an open space, there is a chance that
your pass will be directed closer to an
opponent instead. The AI doesn’t help
matters either. Teammates have a knack
for making runs straight into opponents.
In defence, they run around everywhere
but in the direction of the ball.
This being an arcade game, there
are shot meters and power bars galore.
The success or failure of a cross or shot
on goal depends on which part of the
power meter you release it on. Hit the only just. First, you must create a custom
green area for a good shot, and the red player and team that is full of nobodies.
for a misdirected one, but if you manage You must then take on 17 of the world’s
to hit the small white area, you’ll earn a top national teams over 28 days in order
Pure Shot, which has a greater chance to qualify for the final tournament.
of hitting the back of the net. You can All 17 national teams are licensed with
also earn Pure Shots by playing well and real players, whom you can transfer to
filling up your pure bar. There’s even a your team. Before a match, objectives
bar for fouls; fill it up all the way through are set for each opposition player;
mistimed tackles and your opponent will for example, score 3 Pure Shot goals
be awarded a penalty. It’s a good system, to unlock Fernando Torres. Achieving
but thanks to the broken gameplay, its objectives for a player unlocks him for
implementation is inconsequential. use in your team. It’s a fairly good unlock
If you’re a FIFA or PES player, you’ll system, and it ensures that you adapt
have to forget everything those games your style of play to the player objectives
have taught you to be able to play Pure rather than just looking to win. Matches
Football, and that’s got more to do with are spread across European cities in
how bad this game is than anything locations that vary from factories to
else. But if you are able to get to grips rooftops. There’s also variety in match
with the controls and compensate for types – from timed matches, to races
its inadequate gameplay, you may just to X number of goals, to mini
find the campaign mode tolerable; but leagues and tournaments. You
Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: UPF to 51818
also earn points after each match to level
up your created player’s skills.
The campaign is, at times, almost
bearable enough to make you forget
about the horrible gameplay, but not
for long. Further, it’s quite short, and
beyond that, there’s not much to do in
this game. You’ll almost max out your
custom player’s abilities in your first
playthrough, so there’s no incentive to
play the campaign again. We didn’t really
have the opportunity to play the online
mode, because there was absolutely no
one playing this game on Xbox LIVE. So a
short campaign is really all there is.
Internationally, Pure Football was
released at a budget price, and from the
game’s presentation and content, you
can easily see why. Visual presentation
is slick at times, but mostly quite bland
and lacking in detail. Some environments
look good, but the player models are
poor. Even if the intention was to go
after a cartoony art style, the detail and
texture work are way below par. There’s
no commentary to speak of; just a barely
noticeable soundtrack and the occasional
sounds of players calling for passes So
like in every other department, the game
also falls short in graphics and audio.
No matter how much you love football,
Pure Football is not a game you should
be playing; let alone buying. Playing it
feels like a punishment, especially if
you’ve played the good football games.
The campaign is a bit of a distraction,
but there are just too many flaws in every
department to make it even remotely
enjoyable. It’s short on content and the
gameplay is broken. Just pretend this
game doesn’t exist.
– sameer.desai@infomedia18.in
RATINGS
SPORTS
Pure Football
PRICE Rs 1,999
PUBLISHER Ubisoft
DEVELOPER Ubisoft Vancouver
DISTRIBUTOR E-Xpress Interactive
PHONE 022 29661017
EMAIL info@expressgames.in
PLATFORM Xbox 360, PS3
FOR
Tolerable campaign.
AGAINST
Broken gameplay. Horrible AI. Bland presentation. Short on
content.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 105
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
RATING 3/5 A new way to play a year-old game.
C
odemasters’ announcement
of International Cricket 2010
came as quite a surprise;
firstly because we’re not used to
annual iterations of cricket games,
and second, because from the looks
of it, it seemed identical to Ashes
Cricket 2009. Last year’s game was a
phenomenal commercial success in the
UK. It topped sales charts; partly due
to the quality of the game, but mostly
thanks to England’s Ashes triumph
that luckily coincided with the game’s
release. But a success it was, and more
often than not these days, a successful
game is followed up with a sequel.
International Cricket 2010 is, for most
part, identical to Ashes Cricket 2009,
with one fairly big, game-changing
addition – the Action Cam. Cricket
games have always stuck with the
broadcast camera angles, and gamers
have always been comfortable with
them. But this year, developers Trickstar
have introduced the Action Cam, which
puts you in a third-person perspective
just over the batsman’s shoulder as
he takes strike (like a wicket-keeper’s
point of view when standing up to
the stumps, but a little higher), or
right behind the bowler as he runs in.
There’s almost no change in gameplay
between International Cricket 2010 and
Ashes Cricket 2009, but with this new
106 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya
BY SAMEER DESAI
perspective, you’re given a new way
to play the same game, and it does
significantly alter your approach.
Playing using the Action Cam
is definitely a fun and refreshing
experience. It makes placing shots
between gaps in the field feel more
natural, and watching the bowlers’
arm speed and the ball coming at you
helps time your shots better as well.
I’m personally not a big fan of the new
Power Stick feature for strokeplay, but
it certainly adds some variety and gives
you an alternate way to bat. Bowling
is also more challenging now. Since
the camera is much lower than the
broadcast view, judging the delivery
length becomes much more difficult.
One of my favorite implementations of
the Action Cam is in running between
the wickets. When you set off for a run,
you stay in the third-person perspective,
and you can either keep your focus on
the ball, or change it to your non-striker
or the crease you’re heading towards.
It adds a brilliant sense of urgency
to what is a mundane task in the
broadcast view.
The Action Cam isn’t without its
flaws though. While batting, the camera
isn’t right behind the batsman, but at
a slight angle. This makes the line and
angle of the oncoming delivery more
difficult to judge; although you will
SMS us!  Story code: UIC to 51818

learn to compensate for that over time.
But the angle gets even wider when a
left-handed batsman is on strike. This
is probably done so that the batsman’s
body doesn’t block your view of the
bowler, but it does through you off your
game a little bit, and you will need to
make some adjustments to your stroke
selection as a result.
On the whole, Action Cam is a
welcome step forward for cricket
games, even if its implementation is a
little rough around the edges. But sadly,
beyond the Action Cam, International
Cricket 2010 is a very lazy effort. There’s
no noticeable difference to any area
of the game over Ashes when played
from the broadcast view; it looks, plays
and feels the same. There is a slight
improvement in the AI; it bowls better
and bats a little more aggressively,
but it isn’t a significant change. You
still have all the elements that made
Ashes one of the best cricket games,
such as accurate shot selection and
the ability to vary the severity of
swing, cut, and spin; so it’s still a good
game at its core. But as a full priced
game, you expect at least a subtle
evolution, which just isn’t there.
In terms of game modes, all you
get is the option to play through the
various formats of the game (T20, ODI,
Test), and a customizable tournament
option. It’s very barebones, and unless
you have a friend to play with, you’ll get
bored quite fast. Like Ashes, there is
also a Tutorial mode, for those new to
the game and cricket games in general.
The annoying part of it is that if you’ve
The Action Cam is the only worthwhile new feature in International Cricket 2010
played Ashes, you can’t skip the basics
and get to the advanced tutorials;
you’ll have to play through them all.
There are no licenses besides England
and Australia, so you’ll have to go into
edit mode and painstakingly rename
the players of other teams to their real
names. Non-licensed players don’t look
anything like their real-life counterparts
either, and the editing options are too
scarce to change that a whole lot. In
this day and age, even budget games
like Pure Football manage to squeeze in
a career mode, but International Cricket
2010 is still without it.
Speaking of budget titles, you
would be forgiven for thinking that
International Cricket 2010 was one. The
visuals look dated and the animations
are jerky and awkward. It’s quite
common to see a batsman square
cut a delivery that’s well pitched up.
Whether that’s due to the AI’s poor
shot selection or a limitation of the
animation system, it isn’t pretty. It’s all
too similar to Ashes 2009. Commentary
is also reused from Ashes, which in
turn, had a lot of recycled commentary
from Yuvraj Singh/Brian Lara
International Cricket 2007. You have
the same commentary team of Shane
Warne, Jonathan Agnew, Ian Bishop,
etc, and it’s all very dull, comprising
of lengthy unwanted anecdotes and
history lessons rather than ball-by-ball
commentary.
Although the AI is improved this
year, there is still a lot of room for
improvement, so offline multi-player
is – like in any other sports game - the
UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
RATINGS
SPORTS
International Cricket 2010
PRICE Rs 1,999
PUBLISHER Codemasters
DEVELOPER Trickstar Games
DISTRIBUTOR Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd.
PHONE 022 39816600
EMAIL helpdesk@zapak.co.in
PLATFORM Xbox 360, PS3
FOR
Action Cam is a great new addition. Improved AI.
AGAINST
Mostly a straight port of Ashes 2009. Lack of game modes; no
career. Online is unplayable.
best way to play International Cricket
2010. Stay away from the online multi-
player though, because it’s plagued
with connection issues. You’ll be lucky
if you make it through a match without
the dreaded ‘connection lost’ message.
It’s astonishing that Codies would allow
a game to ship with such a messy net
code. It’s even worse than Ashes, which
also had issues, but it would at least let
you play through one full match.
The existence of International
Cricket 2010 feels unnecessary. The
Action Cam, despite its flaws, is a
great addition, but apart from that
and some AI improvements, this game
is no different from last year’s Ashes
Cricket 2009. It’s the sort of “milking”
EA Sports’ titles used to be accused of.
If Codies had instead waited another
year and worked on other areas, we
would have undoubtedly been playing
a much better game. To sum it up,
this is a year-old game with one new
worthwhile feature. And as good as that
feature is, it’s not enough to justify a
new game.
– sameer.desai@infomedia18.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 107
 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of all

PROCESSORS: Intel
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED TDP
CORES
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5400 3,080 LGA 775 2 2.70 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 65 W
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 5,310 LGA 775 2 2.93 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 65 W
Intel Core i3-530 5,410 LGA 1156 2 2.93 GHz 32 nm 2.5 GT/s 73 W
Intel Core i3-540 7,000 LGA 1156 2 3.06 GHz 32 nm 2.5 GT/s 73 W
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 7,730 LGA 775 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 95 W
Intel Core i5-650 8,700 LGA 1156 2 3.20 GHz 32 nm 2.5 GT/s 73 W
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 9,800 LGA 775 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 5.2 GT/s 95 W
Intel Core i5-750 9,970 LGA 1156 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 2.5 GT/s 95 W
Intel Core i5-661 9,970 LGA 1156 2 3.33 GHz 32 nm 2.5 GT/s 87 W
Intel Core i7-930 14,270 LGA 1366 4 2.80 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 130 W
Intel Core i7-980X Extreme 52,500 LGA 1366 6 3.33 GHz 32 nm 6.4 GT/s 130 W

PROCESSORS: AMD
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED TDP
CORES
AMD Sempron 140 1,820 AM3 1 2.70 GHz 45 nm 2700 MHz 45 W
AMD Athlon II X2 240 2,880 AM3 2 2.80 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 65 W
AMD Athlon II X2 245 3,090 AM3 2 2.90 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 65 W
AMD Athlon II X3 435 3,990 AM3 3 2.90 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 95 W
AMD Athlon II X2 255 4,120 AM3 2 3.10 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 65 W
AMD Athlon II X3 440 4,450 AM3 3 3.00 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 95 W
AMD Phenom II X2 545 4,500 AM3 2 3.00 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 80 W
AMD Athlon II X4 620 5,110 AM3 4 2.60 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 95 W
AMD Athlon II X4 630 5,310 AM3 4 2.80 GHz 45 nm 2800 MHz 95 W
AMD Athlon II X4 635 6,370 AM3 4 2.90 GHz 45 nm 2000 MHz 95 W
AMD Phenom II X4 925 7,280 AM3 4 2.80 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 95 W
AMD Phenom II X4 945 8,030 AM3 4 3.00 GHz 45 nm 2000 MHz 95 W
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black ED 8,340 AM3 4 3.20 GHz 45 nm 3800 MHz 125 W
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 10,810 AM3 6 2.80 GHz 45 nm 2000 MHz 125 W
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black ED 14,950 AM3 6 3.20 GHz 45 nm 2000 MHz 125 W

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - IGP

PRICE CPU PCI X16/PCI/
NAME CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB/DVI/HDMI
(RS) SOCKET SATA/USB
ASUS M2A74-AM 2,980 AM3 AMD 740G + SB700 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|2|4
MSI 785GM-E51 3,740 AM3 AMD 785G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|1|2|5
MSI K9A2VM-FD 3,790 AM2+ AMD 780V + SB700 DDR2 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|2|4
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H 3,890 AM2+ AMD 780G + SB700 DDR2 ✔|✔|✔ 1|1|2|5
Biostar TA785G3 4,120 AM3 AMD 785G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|2|4
Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H 4,300 AM3 AMD 785G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|1|2|5
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H 5,860 AM3 AMD 880G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|5|6
MSI 790GX-G65 7,180 AM3 AMD 790GX + SB750 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2|2|2|5
ASUS M4A78T-E 7,580 AM3 AMD 790GX + SB750 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2|2|2|5
Gigabyte GA-890GPA 9,800 AM3 AMD 890GX + SB850 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|2|4
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

108 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the latest and greatest products on the market.

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - Non-IGP

CPU
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT PCIE X16 SLOTS PCI/SATA/USB
SOCKET
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P 6,060 AM3 AMD 770 + SB710 DDR3 1 2 | 6 | 12
ASRock 890FX Deluxe3 7,250 AM3 AMD 890FX + SB850 DDR3 ✔ 2 |6 |8
MSI 790FX-GD70 8,790 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB750 DDR3 ✔ 2 | 8 | 12
MSI GA-890FXA-GD70 10,310 AM3 AMD RD890+SB850 DDR3 ✔ 1 |6|8
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe 12,310 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB750 DDR2 ✔ 2 | 5 | 12

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L 2,300 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✖|✔ 1|2|4|8
MSI G41TM-P33 2,360 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|4
MSI G41M4-F 2,530 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Intel DG31PR 2,760 LGA 775 Intel G31 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|4
Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L 2,780 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|4
Asus P5G41-M LE 2,780 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✔|✖ 1|2|4|8
Intel DG41TY 3,390 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✔|✖ 1|2|4|4
Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-S2H 3,640 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2 ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|4|4
MSI H55M-E33 4,700 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|1|6|6
Intel DG43NB 4,950 LGA 775 Intel G43 + ICH10 DDR2 ✔|✔|✖ 1|3|6|6
ASUS P5Q-VM 5,050 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10 DDR2 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|6|4
Intel DG45ID 5,100 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10R DDR2 ✔|✖|✔ 1|1|5|6

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - Non-IGP

CPU
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT PCIE X16 SLOTS PCI/SATA/USB
SOCKET
MSI P43T-C51 3,940 LGA 775 Intel P43+ICH10 DDR2 1 3|6|6
MSI P45 Neo3-FR 4,040 LGA 775 Intel P45 + ICH10R DDR2 1 4|8|4
Intel BOXDH55TC 4,780 LGA 1156 Intel H55 + DDR3 1 2|6|6
MSI P45T-C51 4,950 LGA 775 Intel P45 + ICH10 DDR2 1 3|6|6
MSI P45-C51 5,160 LGA 775 Intel P45 + ICH10 DDR3 1 3|6|6
MSI P55M-GD45 5,160 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 1 | 6 | 10
MSI P55-CD53 5,560 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 1 3 | 8 | 10
Intel DP55WB 5,960 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 1 2|6|8
Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L 7,070 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 4|6|8
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 7,330 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 2 | 7 | 10
MSI P55-GD65 7,680 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 2|7|8
MSI X58 PRO-E 9,600 LGA 1366 Intel X58 + ICH10R DDR3 3 2|2|6
ASUS P7P55D 9,750 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 3|6|8
Biostar TPower i55 10,710 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 2|6|8
MSI P55-GD80 10,710 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 3 2|2|7
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe 14,900 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + DDR3 2 2|6|8
MSI BIG BANG TRINERGY 18,180 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + NForce 200 DDR3 3 2 | 10 | 10
MSI BIG BANG FUZION 19,500 LGA 1156 Intel P55+Lucid Hydra 200 DDR3 3 1 | 10 | 10
ASUS Rampage II Exteme 23,740 LGA 1366 Intel X58 + ICH10R DDR3 2 2|6|8
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 109

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of all

GRAPHICS CARDS: ATI

RADEON MEMORY MEMORY/BUS STREAM CORE/MEMORY SPEED
NAME PRICE (RS) PCIE X16 DIRECT X
GPU TYPE WIDTH PROCESSORS (MHZ)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 3,400 HD 5450 2.1 11.0 DDR2 1 GB / 64 bit 80 600 MHz / 800 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 3,820 HD 5450 2.1 11.0 DDR3 1 GB / 64 bit 80 650 MHz / 800 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5550 4,460 HD 5550 2.1 11.0 DDR2 1 GB / 128 bit 320 550 MHz / 1600 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5570 5,200 HD 5570 2.1 11.0 GDDR3 1 GB / 128 bit 400 650 MHz / 1800 MHz
Powercolor AX5750 1GBD5-PDH Radeon HD 5750 7,180 HD 5750 2.1 11.0 DDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 720 700 MHz / 1150 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5750 11164-00 8,280 HD 5750 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 720 700 MHz / 1160 MHz
Powercolor AX5770 1GBD5-MDHV2 Radeon HD 5770 8,590 HD 5770 2.1 11.0 DDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 800 850 MHz / 1200 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5770 11163-02 10,080 HD 5770 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 80 850 MHz / 4800 MHz
MSI ATI Radeon HD5770 R5770-PM2D1G 10,210 HD 5770 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 800 850 MHz / 1200 MHz
MSI R5750-PM2D1G Radeon HD 5750 13,640 HD 5750 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 128 bit 720 700 MHz / 1150 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 14,750 HD 5830 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1120 800 MHz / 4000 MHz
MSI ATI Radeon HD5850 R5850-PM2D1G 15,660 HD 5850 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1440 725 MHz / 1000 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 16,400 HD 5850 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1440 765 MHz / 4200 MHz
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD5870 AX5870 22,220 HD 5870 2.1 11.0 DDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1600 950 MHz / 1200 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5870 21161-00 23,340 HD 4870 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1600 725 MHz / 4000 MHz
XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 25,000 HD 5870 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB / 256 bit 1600 850 MHz / 1200 MHz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 30,230 HD 5870 2.1 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB / 256 bit 1600 850 MHz / 4800 MHz

GRAPHICS CARDS: Nvidia

PCIE MEMORY STREAM CORE/MEMORY
NAME PRICE (RS) GEFORCE GPU DIRECT X MEMORY/BUS WIDTH
X16 TYPE PROCESSORS SPEED (MHZ)
XFX Nvidia GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 3,240 9400 GT 2.0 10.0 DDR3 1 GB / 512-bit 16 1400 / 800
Zotac GT220 with CUDA DVI Audio 3,340 GT 220 2.0 10.1 DDR3 1 GB / 128-bit 48 625 / 800
Palit Nvidia GeForce 220 GT220 3,560 GT 220 2.0 10.1 DDR2 1 GB / 128-bit 48 635 / 1600
Zotac GT220 with CUDA DVI Audio 4,030 GT 216 2.0 10.1 DDR3 1 GB / 128-bit 48 625 / 800
Zotac GT220 with CUDA DVI Audio 4,100 GT 240 2.0 10.1 DDR3 1 GB / 64-bit 96 550 / 800
Zotac GT240 with CUDA DVI Audio 5,310 GT 240 2.0 10.1 DDR5 512 MB / 128-bit 96 550 / 800
Zotac Nvidia ECO GeForce 9600 GT ZT-96TEY3G-FSL 5,520 9600 GT 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 1 GB / 256-bit 64 600 / 1800
XFX Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT Fully Loaded 5,760 9800 GT 2.0 10.0 DDR3 512 MB / 256-bit 112 1675 / 1950
Palit Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 6,260 GTS 250 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 512 MB / 256-bit 128 700 / 1100
Zotac Nvidia ECO GeForce 9800 GT ZT-98GEY3G-FSL 6,370 9800 GT 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 1 GB / 256-bit 112 550 / 1800
Palit Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 6,900 GTS 250 2.0 10.1 GDDR3 1 GB / 256-bit 128 700 / 1800
XFX Nvidia GeForce 250 GTS GS-250X-ZDFL 8,690 GTS 250 2.0 10.0 DDR3 1 GB / 256-bit 128 738 / 2000
Asus Nvidia GeForce GTS250 ENGTS250/HTDI/52MD3 9,190 GTS 250 2.0 10.1 DDR3 512 MB / 256-bit 128 740 / 1100
XFX Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 9,700 9600 GT 2.0 10.0 DDR3 1 GB / 256-bit 64 1790 / 1790
Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 ZT-X26E3KD-FSP 10,920 GTX 260 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 896 MB / 448-bit 216 576 / 1998
Palit Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 NE3TX257FT394_01 16,440 GTX 275 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 896 MB / 448-bit 240 400 / 2268
Palit NE5TX470F09DA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 19,800 GTX 470 2.0 11.0 DDR5 1280 MB / 320-bit 448 607 / 3348
Palit Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 NV GTX 285 21,110 GTX 285 2.0 10.0 GDDR3 1 GB / 512-bit 240 648 / 2484
Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 ZT-285E3LA-FSP 22,810 GTX 285 2.0 10.1 GDDR3 1 GB / 512-bit 240 648 / 2592
Zotac ZT-40201-10P GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 22,810 GTX 470 2.0 11.0 GDDR5 1280 MB / 320-bit 448 607 / 3348
Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 ZT-40101-10L 29,700 GTX 480 2.0 11.0 DDR5 1536 MB / 128-bit 720 700 / 3696
Palit GTX4801586MBD5 GeForce GTX 480 29,800 GTX 480 2.0 11.0 GDDR5 1536 MB / 384-bit 480 480 / 3696

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

110 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the latest and greatest products on the market.

EXTERNAL DRIVE
NAME PRICE (RS) CACHE CAPACITY FORM FACTOR INTERFACE RPM
Transcend Storejet 25M 2,930 8 MB 250 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
LACIE Design by Sam Hecht 2,980 16 MB 320 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
Seagate FreeAgent Go 3,540 32 MB 320 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
LACIE Mobile Disk 3,610 8 MB 120 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 4,150 64 MB 1 TB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Transcend Storejet 25M 4,350 16 MB 500 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Seagate FreeAgent Desk 4,850 16 MB 500 GB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Western Digital My Book Essential 5,260 32 MB 500 GB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
Seagate FreeAgent Desk 5,560 32 MB 1 TB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Seagate FreeAgent Go 5,910 8 MB 500 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
LACIE Design by Neil Poulton 6,520 8 MB 500 GB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
LACIE Rugged 6,770 8 MB 250 GB 2.5 inch USB 2.0 5400 RPM
Seagate FreeAgent XTreme External Hard Drive 8,030 32 MB 1 TB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Western Digital My Book Essential 12,690 64 MB 2 TB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM
Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II 40,400 16 MB 4 TB 3.5 inch USB 2.0 7200 RPM

USB FLASH DRIVES MEMORY CARDS

NAME CAPACITY PRICE (RS) NAME CAPACITY PRICE (RS)
Sandisk Cruzer Blade USB Flash Drive 4 GB 420 Kingston Secure Digital 4 GB 420
Transcend JetFlash V30 Flash Drive 4 GB 430 Kingston Elite Pro Compact Flash Card 4 GB 720
OCZ Flash Memory 4 GB 460
SanDisk Cruzer Flash Drive 8 GB 740 Transcend Micro SDHC Flash Card with SD Adapter 8 GB 790
Transcend JetFlash V30 Flash Drive 8 GB 770 Kingston Secure Digital 8 GB 820
Sandisk CRUZER BLADE Pen Drive 8 GB 780 Kingston Elite Pro 16 GB 1,820
Sandisk Cruzer Blade 16 GB 1,420 Transcend Compact Flash Card 4 GB 1,990
Transcend JetFlash V30 USB Flash Drive 16 GB 1,650 SanDisk Ultra II Memory Stick Pro Duo (MS Pro Duo) 8 GB 2,000
Corsair Flash Memory 16 GB 1,950
Sandisk Memory Stick MS Pro Duo 16 GB 3,100
SanDisk Cruzer Flash Drive 32 GB 3,090
Transcend JetFlash V30 USB Flash Drive 32 GB 3,510 Sandisk Extreme III SDHC 32 GB 8,770
Corsair Flash Memory 32 GB 3,860
Corsair Flash Memory 64 GB 10,920

PROJECTORS
NAME PRICE TYPE BRIGHTNESS NATIVE RESOLUTION CONTRAST RATIO
BENQ MP515 27,270 DLP 2500 Lumens 800 x 600 2600:1
SONY VPLES7 32,320 LCD 2000 Lumens 800 x 600 350:1
Sharp XR50S 36,360 DLP 2700 Lumens 1024 x 768 2000:1
SONY VPLEX7 39,390 LCD 2000 Lumens 1024 x 768 500:1
LG BX275 39,900 DLP 2700 Lumens 1024 x 768 2200:1
LG DX630 49,490 DLP 3000 Lumens 1024 x 768 2300:1
Sharp PGD2500 50,000 DLP 2500 Lumens 1024 x 768 1100:1
SONY VPLEX70 52,520 LCD 2500 Lumens 1024 x 768 900:1
Sharp PGF267X 87,500 DLP 2100 Lumens 1024 x 768 2200:1
Sharp XGC335X 119,310 LCD 3500 Lumens 1024 x 768 600:1
Sharp PGD4010 144,310 LCD 4000 Lumens 1024 x 768 2500:1
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

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 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of all

LAPTOPS
PRICE OPTICAL
NAME WEIGHT PROCESSOR MEMORY CHIPSET DISPLAY HDD OS
(RS) DRIVE
MSI Wind U100 14,000 1.04 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel 945GSE + ICH7M 10.1-inch 160 GB DVD±RW Win XP Home
Asus Eee PC 1001HA 15,000 1.10 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel NM10 10.1-inch 160 GB DVD±RW Win XP Home
HP Pavilion Mini 210-1084 15,150 1.22 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel ICH8-M 10.1-inch 160 GB - DOS
Acer Aspire One D250 16,670 1.10 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel 945GSE Express 10.1-inch 160 GB - Win XP Home
HP Pavilion Mini 210-1085 16,920 1.22 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel ICH8-M 10.1-inch 160 GB - Win 7 Starter
MSI Wind U135 Atom 17,290 1.04 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel NM10 10.1-inch 160 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Starter
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 18,640 1.25 Kg Intel Atom 1 GB Intel 945GSE Express 10.1-inch 250 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Starter
Asus Eee PC 1201T 21,720 1.46 Kg AMD Athlon Neo 2 GB MV-40 12.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
MSI Wind 12 U200 22,830 1.3 Kg Intel Core2 Duo 4 GB Intel GS45 + ICH9M-SFF 12.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win Vista HP
Acer Aspire 4736z 23,490 2.30 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 1 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW LINUX
Toshiba L510-P401B 24,240 2.88 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD±RW DOS
Sony Vaio VPCW125AG 26,450 1.19 Kg Intel Atom 2 GB Intel 945GSE Express 10.1-inch 250 GB - Win 7 Starter
Lenovo G455 59-033063 26,510 2.49 Kg AMD Athlon II 3 GB RS880M 14.1-inch 250 GB - DOS
Acer Aspire 5738z 26,770 2.88 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel PL40 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW LINUX
Lenovo G555 27,040 2.70 Kg AMD Athlon II 2 GB RS880M 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-732TU 27,270 2.26 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400 3 GB Intel T4400 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-601 27,530 2.36 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
MSI X430 27,580 1.50 Kg AMD Athlon 2 GB AMD RS780 + SB710 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Dell Inspiron 1440 27,780 2.30 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq Presario 610FD 27,780 2.49 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel GME965 15.6-inch 250 GB DVD±RW DOS
MSI CR620 28,990 2.48 Kg Intel Core i3 4 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Acer Aspire 4740 29,040 2.20 Kg Intel Core i3 2 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW LINUX
Dell Vostro 1015 29,290 2.30 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel 45 Express 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW LINUX
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13 29,500 1.58 Kg AMD Athlon Neo 2 GB M780G 13.3-inch 320 GB - WIN 7 HP
Asus Eee PC K40AF 29,700 2.35 Kg AMD Athlon X2 2 GB AMD M870 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq Presario CQ62-103TU 30,410 2.50 Kg Intel Core i3 2 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 250 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo G450 30,750 2.30 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
HP Compaq Presario CQ61-413TU 31,570 2.68 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB Intel GL40 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e 31,790 1.50 Kg AMD Athlon 2 GB AMD RS780 + SB710 11.1-inch 320 GB - Win 7 HB
Lenovo G450 31,810 2.30 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
MSI EX310 32,070 1.9 Kg AMD Turion Mobile 4 GB AMD RS780MN+SB710 13.3-inch 250 GB DVD±RW Win Vista HP
HP Compaq Presario CQ42-173TU 32,430 2.20 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel HM55 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Dell Studio 14 32,730 2.38 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel X58 Extreme 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Toshiba Satellite C650-I5010 33,490 2.68 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Sony Vaio VPCW217AG 33,660 1.33 Kg Intel Atom 2 GB Intel NM10 10.1-inch 320 GB - Win 7 Starter

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

112 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the latest and greatest products on the market.

LAPTOPS
PRICE OPTICAL
NAME WEIGHT PROCESSOR MEMORY CHIPSET DISPLAY HDD OS
(RS) DRIVE
Dell Inspiron 1564 33,890 2.47 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Toshiba Satellite L640-M4010 33,990 2.26 Kg AMD Athlon X2 3 GB AMD RS880M 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Sony Vaio VGN-NW23NE 34,620 2.70 Kg Intel Pentium 2 GB Intel GL40 15.5-inch 250 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
HP Compaq Presario CQ62-105 TU 34,850 2.50 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Mobile Intel 5 Series
Dell Inspiron 5010-15R 34,950 2.50 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Express Chipset (HM57)
Acer Aspire 5740 36,360 2.88 Kg Intel Core i5 4 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW LINUX
HP Pavilion DV4-2110TU 36,770 2.20 Kg Intel Core i3 2 GB Intel HM55 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Sony Vaio VPCEB14EN 37,020 2.70 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel HM55 15.5-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Dell Inspiron 1564 37,120 2.47 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Toshiba Satellite L500-D5310 37,370 2.50 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 1 GB Intel Chipset GM45 10.1-inch 320 GB - WIN 7 HP
Acer Aspire 5740 38,380 2.88 Kg Intel Core i3 4 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Lenovo G560 39,020 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 4 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Lenovo U450P 39,130 2.10 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel GS45 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
MSI X350 39,770 1.50 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel GS45 +ICH9M-SFF 13.3-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
HP Pavilion DV6-2113 AX 40,200 2.94 Kg AMD Turion 3 GB ATI Radeon HD 4200 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Toshiba Satellite L650-I5310 40,960 2.68 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Asus K50ID-SX069V 41,090 2.26 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB NVIDIA MCP79D 15.6-inch 500 GB - DOS
Lenovo Y450 41,350 2.49 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 320 GB - Win 7 HP
Lenovo Y450 41,880 2.49 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 320 GB - Vista HP
HP Pavilion DM3-1111AX 45,630 1.91 Kg AMD Turion Neo 4 GB AMD 780E 13.3-inch 500 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Dell Studio 15 46,920 2.51 Kg Intel Core i3 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Sony Vaio VPCEB16FG 47,460 2.70 Kg Intel Core i3 4 GB Intel HM55 15.5-inch 500 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF 48,090 2.70 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB Intel PM45 15.5-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Toshiba M500-D4311 51,010 2.35 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 8 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
HP Pavilion DV6-2165TX 52,120 2.88 Kg Intel Core i5 3 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Sony Vaio VPCX113KG 52,210 0.65 Kg Intel Atom 2 GB Intel Hub US15W 11.1-inch 64 GB - WIN 7 HP
Dell Studio XPS 13 53,030 2.02 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB Intel PM45 13.3-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Vista HP
Lenovo Y550P 55,140 2.75 Kg Intel Core i3 4 GB Intel HM55 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Toshiba Portege A600-U2530 60,810 2.26 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GB Intel GS45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Dell Studio XPS 16 61,110 2.88 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB Intel PM55 16.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
HP Pavilion DV7-2213 TX 78,080 3.70 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB Intel PM45 17.3-inch 1TB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Sony Vaio VPCX128LG 86,570 0.78 Kg Intel Atom 2 GB Intel Hub US15W 11.1-inch 128 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP
Sony Vaio VPCZ116GG 105,720 1.38 Kg Intel Core i5 6 GB Intel HM57 13.3-inch 128 GB DVD±RW WIN 7 HP

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 113

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of all

DIGITAL CAMERAS
OPTICAL WIDE
NAME PRICE (RS) RESOLUTION APERTURE LCD SIZE SHUTTER SPEED
ZOOM ANGLE
Nikon COOLPIX L21 (Pink) 4,650 4000 x 3000 3.6x 35 mm F3.1 – F6.7 2.5 in. 2 - 1/4000 Sec
Kodak EasyShare C182 (Red) 4,950 4000 x 3000 3x 35 mm F2.9 – F5.2 3.0 in. 0.5–1/1400 Sec
Olympus Digital Camera T-100 (Black) 5,310 3968 x 2976 3x 36 mm F4.6 – F8.5 2.4 in. 1/2-1/2000 Sec
Kodak EasyShare C913 6,060 3472 x 2604 3x 3.2 mm F2.7 – F4.8 2.4 in. 1/2–1/1400 Sec
Canon PowerShot A495 (Silver) 6,520 3648 x 2736 4.0x 37 mm F2.8 – F5.6 2.5 in. 1 – 1/2000 Sec
Panasonic Lumix DMC FS42 6,570 3648 x 2736 4.0x 22.0 mm F2.8 – F5.9 2.5 in. 8-1/2000 Sec
Nikon COOLPIX L22 (Black) 6,770 4000 x 3000 3.6x 35 mm F3.1 – F5.5 3.0 in. 1/4-1/2000 Sec
Kodak EasyShare M1063 7,070 3664 x 2442 3x 3.0 mm F2.8 – F5.1 2.7 in. 4–1/1400 Sec
Nikon COOLPIX S3000 (Black) 8,190 4000 x 3000 4.0x 27 mm F3.2 – F5.9 2.7 in. 4 - 1/1000 Sec
Canon Digital IXUS 95 IS 8,290 3648 x 2736 3x 28 mm F2.8 – F4.9 2.5 in. 1 – 1/1500 Sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W310 8,290 640 x 480 4.0x 28 mm F3.0 – F4.3 2.7 in. 1/4-1/2000 Sec
Kodak EasyShare Z915 8,690 3648 x 2736 10.0x 0.5 mm F1.5 2.5 in. 1/8–1/1250 Sec
Canon Powershot A3100 IS (Silver) 8,840 4000 x 3000 4.0x 35 mm F2.7 – F5.6 2.7 in. 1 – 1/1600 Sec
Olympus Digital Camera MJU-1010 (Black) 9,600 3968 x 2976 7x 36 mm F3.5 – F5.3 2.7 in. 1/4-1/2000 Sec
Canon Digital IXUS 105 IS (Pink) 9,880 4000 x 3000 4.0x 28 mm F2.8 – F5.9 2.7 in. 1 – 1/1500 Sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W320 (Black) 10,100 4320 x 3240 4.0x 26 mm F2.7 – F5.7 2.7 in. 1/8-1/1600 Sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W350(Blue) 12,120 4320 x 3240 4.0x 26 mm F2.7 – F5.7 2.7 in. 2 - 1/1600 Sec
Canon Powershot SX120 IS (Black) 12,530 3648 x 2736 10.0x 28 mm F2.8 – F4.3 3.0 in. 1 – 1/2500 Sec
Olympus MJU 550WP 12,630 3648 x 2736 3x 5.3 mm F3.5 – F5.0 2.7 in. 1/2-1/1000 Sec
Olympus MJU 9000 13,440 3968 x 2976 10.0x 28 mm F4.5 2.7 in. 1/4-1/2000 Sec
Canon Digital IXUS 130 IS (Black) 13,490 4320 x 3240 4.0x 24 mm F2.8 – F8.0 2.7 in. 1 – 1/1500 Sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W380 (Black) 13,640 4320 x 3240 5x 24 mm F2.4 – F5.9 2.7 in. 2 - 1/1600 Sec
Nikon COOLPIX L110 (Red) 13,940 4000 x 3000 15x 28 mm F3.5 – F5.4 3.0 in. 15 - 1/1500 Sec
Panasonic Digital Camera Lumix ZR1 15,360 4000 x 3000 8x 25 mm F3.3 – F5.9 2.7 in. 8-1/2000 Sec
Panasonic Digital Camera Lumix SDR H80 17,680 640 x 480 70.0x 37 mm F4.6 – F8.5 2.7 in. 1/30-1/500 Sec
Panasonic LUMIX DMC FT1 18,690 1280 x 720 4.0x 5.1 mm F3.3 – F5.9 2.7 in. 8-1/2000 Sec
Canon Powershot SX210 IS (Gold) 18,890 4320 x 3240 14x 28 mm F3.1 – F5.9 3.0 in. 1 – 1/3200 Sec
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 19,190 3648 x 2736 12x 5.3 mm F3.3 – F4.9 3.0 in. 8-1/2000 Sec
Canon Digital IXUS 210 IS (Black) 19,800 4320 x 3240 5x 24 mm F2.8 – F5.9 3.5 in. 1 – 1/3000 Sec
Olympus SP series SP-590 UZ 20,910 2560 x 1920 26x 0.1 mm F2.8 – F5.0 2.7 in. 1/4-1/2000 Sec
Canon Digital IXUS 960 IS (Silver) 21,940 4000 x 3000 3.7x 24 mm F2.8 – F5.8 2.5 in. 1 – 1/1600 Sec
Canon Powershot D10 IS (Silver) 22,530 4000 x 3000 3x 35 mm F2.8 – F4.9 2.5 in. 1 – 1/1500 Sec
Canon Powershot SX20 IS (Black) 26,970 4000 x 3000 12x 28 mm F2.8 – F5.7 2.5 in. 1 – 1/3200 Sec

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

114 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the latest and greatest products on the market.

MONITORS
SCREEN NATURAL
NAME PRICE WIDESCREEN RESPONSE TIME D-SUB DVI HDMI
SIZE RESOLUTION
BENQ G610HDA 4,600 15.6-inch ✔ 1366 x 768 8 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
ASUS VH162D 4,700 15.6-inch ✔ 1360 x 768 8 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
ViewSonic VA 1601W 4,890 15.6-inch ✔ 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Dell E1709W 5,560 17-inch ✔ 1440 x 900 8 ms ✖ ✔ ✖
ASUS VH192D 5,810 18.5-inch ✔ 1360 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
BENQ G920WL 5,860 19.00-inch ✔ 1440 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
AOC F19 5,910 18.5-inch ✔ 1366 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
ViewSonic VA 1913W 6,060 18.5-inch ✔ 1366 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
Acer W V203H 6,120 20-inch ✔ 1600 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
BENQ G922HDL 6,220 18.5-inch ✔ 1366 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
Samsung 2033SN 6,500 20-inch ✔ 1680 x 1050 8.9 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
AOC 2036Sa 6,570 20-inch ✔ 1600 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
LG W2043T 6,850 20-inch ✔ 1600 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
AOC 2236Vw 7,780 22-inch ✔ 1360 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
ASUS VH222D 7,830 21.5-inch ✔ 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
HP LE1901W 8,530 19-inch ✔ 1440 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
ViewSonic VA2026W 8,990 20-inch ✔ 1680 x 1050 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
ViewSonic VX2237wm 9,595 22-inch ✔ 1680 x 1050 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
ViewSonic square VA926 9,770 19-inch ✖ 1280 x 1024 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
BENQ G2420HD 11,420 24.0-inch ✔ 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
BENQ LED V2200 Eco 13,340 21.5-inch ✔ 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
ViewSonic VA 2433WM 14,020 23.6-inch ✔ 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Samsung SyncMaster T240HD 15,430 24-inch ✔ 1920 x 1200 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
ViewSonic VX2268WM 24,400 22-inch ✔ 1680 x 1050 3 ms ✖ ✔ ✖

CABINETS
5.25-INCH 3.5-INCH NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE TYPE POWER SUPPLY
BAYS BAYS FANS
iball NetTop 009 1,230 ATX ✖ 1 1/1 1
iball Cabinet 6363 Red 1,240 ATX ✖ 3 3/6 1
CIRCLE CC623 1,370 ATX ✖ 4 6/1 1
CIRCLE Cosmo Red 1,490 ATX ✖ 3 6/1 1
CIRCLE Royal 1,870 ATX ✖ 0 5/1 1
Cooler Master Elite 335 2,111 ATX Standard ATX PS2 4 1 2
Thermaltake Matrix 2,630 ATX ✖ 4 4/2 1
Cooler Master Elite 100 3,030 HTPC/SFF Flex ATX 150W, Active PFC 0 0/0 1
Cooler Master Gladiator 600 3,540 ATX ✖ 5 5/1 2
Cooler Master RC690 4,250 ATX Standard ATX PS2/ EPS 12V 5 5/1 2
Thermaltake M9D 5,960 ATX ✖ 6 3/1 2
Cooler Master HAF 922 6,570 ATX ATX PS2 / EPS 12V 5 1 2
Cooler Master HAF 932 9,090 Full ATX ✖ 6 5/1 4
Thermaltake Kandalf 13,010 ATX ✖ 9 6/2 3
Cooler Master COSMOS S 14,140 Full ATX ✖ 7 4/0 5

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) by www.bitfang.com as on 15 July 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 115

 LETTERS

SPONSORED BY

STAR
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INBOX
Next month's Star Letter wins
LETonT
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This m
gets a coolset
accessories

accessories set (worth Rs 5,000)

Open
Open source
sso
o squad
Dear CHIP,
I am writing this on behalf of my friends in college to thank you guys for the motivation and inspiration you
have given to us and the gen next for fighting against piracy. It all started when we read the October 2009
cover story of CHIP titled “Is Piracy Too Easy”. I’ve been reading CHIP for the past five years and thinking of
writing this letter for a really long time. I encouraged my friends to read it from our college library. Without
any doubt they soon got addicted to CHIP and we were soon spending considerable hours in the library
sharing our tech knowledge. Soon one of us was struck with the idea of going completely open source. We
stumbled upon Ubuntu and using their site shipit.ubuntu.com, we got our hands on our
own free copies of the OS! Since most of us aren’t hardcore gamers but hardcore
tech and gadget freaks, we were suddenly opened to a whole new world. All of us
installed Ubuntu over Windows XP, Vistas and 7, and soon found Ubuntu
powerful and intuitive enough. We eagerly wait for the Linux tools and distros
that you distribute through the DVDs. Those who found the transition hard
completely shifted to free and open source software with Windows. We
started using K-Lite and VLC media player which satisfied all our
multimedia needs; Firefox and Chrome for surfing, OpenOffice for
documenting, Picasa for photo editing and viewing, CDburner and Nero
lite for burning, Daemon Tools Lite for CD imaging, Foxit reader for PDF
files, and most importantly AVG and Avast for free antivirus programs.
We also watch movies on the day of their release and don’t worry
about movie piracy!
We suddenly felt the difference; a sense of feeling good. Since then we
have pledged to fight piracy head on. We would like to thank all of you at CHIP for
inspiring us. Thank you guys, continue your fight against piracy.
Yours faithfully,
– PRAVEEN G PRAKASH,
KOCHI, KERALA

Hi Praveen,
That's quite a story! We're all glad to hear you took the time and trouble to experiment with
Linux. Many people shy away from it, but the best way to learn is just to try a Live CD (with
no risk to your existing OS and data) and jump right in.
Quite often, people aren't even aware that the operating system and software they're running aren't just
part of the package when they buy a PC. They take it for granted that these are the only programs available,
or that there's no point trying anything more "advanced" because their needs are being met. On the other hand,
others just get caught up in ideology for the sake of it. But you and your friends have found plenty of reasons
to widen your own horizons. Congratulations for taking the risk and finding something new that you're happier
with. Keep spreading the word!
– TEAM CHIP
Sachin Pandit

CONTACT INFO Fair price buyer CHIP has not let me down in any reviews. I really love the Test
Please send your Hi to each and every one of the manner. My friends at first always Center and Market Watch sections.
letters to: members of the CHIP team! My said that it’s not worth it and now When I had to buy a PC I was
editor@chip.in name is Varun and I live in they are the ones who are the first looking for prices that were the
with "LETTERS" in Bathinda. It’s been a year and half to buy the lastest issues! most accurate and CHIP came to my
the subject line since I started purchasing CHIP and The best thing is that CHIP always rescue. I seriously think that a a lot
I am highly satisfied and happy that gives us the right prices and of surveying goes into your Market

128 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


Watch section. Well I went to buy a
graphics card day before yesterday
(a Radeon 5750). I went to the
retailer to ask for this model he
said it is for Rs 10,000 (Sapphire). I
had read the July issue of chip and
was quite sure it read Rs 8,200 for
Sapphire and Rs 7,200 for Power
Color so I asked him to get me a
Power Color one. He said it’s for Rs
9,200. Well, I got shocked and I
argued with him to give me the
correct rates. After a bit of
argument he agreed on Rs 8,200
and that too for the Sapphire card.
So I finally got a decent bargain.
Bathinda is a small town and people
are not very aware, so retailers
here profit from that. Now I guess
things are changing, so I thank CHIP
for rescuing me once again. I love
CHIP!
– VARUN MEHTA
Hi Varun,
Thanks so much for your letter! It's
great to hear how you avoided
being cheated. Shopkeepers resort
to many tactics, including blatant
overcharging and trying to pass off
old stock. You're lucky the
shopkeeper you dealt with had the
card in stock, and you didn't have to
place a special order which could
have added to the cost. Anyway, we
hope this serves as a warning to
everyone out there—don't mess with
CHIP readers! They're smart,
informed, and always up to date
about the products available in our
markets!
– TEAM CHIP
Thin client advice
Dear CHIP,
I am Jigmet, staying in Himachal
Pradesh and working in a school as
a computer instructor. I am a
regular reader of CHIP and I really
appreciate the effort you put into
coming up with this wonderful
magazine. I never forget to buy
your magazine from the market. I
really like the Hands On workshops
and Tips and Tricks. I have one big
request you. I am facing a problem
with system maintenance since we
have around 52 computers in the
computer lab and a total of 100
computers around the school
campus. I thought of converting
all the computers into thin
clients to save energy and make
system maintenance easy. I
have searched for information
on thin clients on the Internet
but I have never found good
software to do IT. So I am
requesting you guys to please
publish articles on thin client
setup in the next edition, using
free software for both Windows
and Linux.
Thanks,
– JIGMET MINGUR
Table designs
Dear Sir,
I think the computer tables
available in the market now are
outdated. Actually they never were
to-date. These tables don’t provide
any added advantage other than
specific places for each of the
components. The mess of cables
which everyone hates—the user as
well as anyone cleaning the room—
still continues. I think what is
actually needed is a wired
computer table or a circuit printed
computer table where all
peripherals can be plugged into the
table directly avoiding the use of
connecting cables.
I should have written this letter
much earlier, as computer tables
themselves are disappearing from
the market as people are shifting
from desktops to equally powerful
laptops, and also because many of
the peripherals now available are
wireless.
– RANJITH SATYAN,
THRISSUR, KERALA
Interesting products
Dear Sir,
In the June 2010 issue I was able to
learn about two very interesting
products in section New Products
Launched. First the Datawind
affordable surfing device, and then
the D-Link Nano Wi-Fi adapter. I
would be grateful if you provide a
review of the Datawind device. I
remember that in one edition of
CHIP, Wi-Fi routers were compared.
Similarly, if you do a comparison
LETTERS
SMS US
Since we like knowing what’s
on your mind and what you
think about our magazine,
we bring you another way
to get in touch. Do you have
something to say about a test
or review? Liked a feature
story? Was the workshop
useful? SMS us your feedback!
For general comments, create
the following message:
ICCO <Your comments here>
Example: ICCO The cover story
was very useful
To rate a story, product
review, etc look out for the
story tag at the base of each
article and type:
ICCO <Story tag> <Rating>
Example: ICCO PWS 5
between different Wi-Fi adapters, it The “Story tag” is mentioned
at the base of every story in
will help us a lot in choosing one. the magazine and the “Rating”
In the June 2010 edition I was also is on a scale of 1 to 5.
impressed by the basic but useful
Finally, send your messages to
photo taking techniques. This letter 51818. Cheers!
is not going to end if I explain all
Please keep comments to
the things I liked in CHIP, because 160 characters per message!
every line printed in CHIP has great Include your email address
value and is priceless for me. Lastly to help us reply or check out
the SMS Feedback thread at
thanks for doing such great job for www.chip.in/forums
us and best of luck for the future.
Your regular reader,
– MUKTESHWAR SHARMA
BHOPAL
CHIP: my teacher
Dear CHIP,
Yes, you are my teacher. Three
years ago I was just a kid in
computer knowledge. Then you
entered into my life as a teacher.
You taught me not only about
computers but also electronics.
Because of you I got interested in
computer products and I became a
computer engineer. Thank you CHIP!
Each and every thing in CHIP is
very useful for me. The Test Center
helps with the prices, advantages
and disadvantages of products.
Then the report on 'Behind the
scenes of movies' in the May 2010
CHIP Plus was amazing. Dr CHIP and
Tips & Tricks help very much.
I have a small request for stories
on the features and installation
process of some good programs
that used in Ubuntu Linux. last once
again thank you for the valuable,
updated information.
– KRISHNA PRASAD M
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 08/2010 129
PERSONAL TECH
IF YOU DO HAVE PRIVILEGED INTERNET ACCESS
AT WORK, TRY NOT TO ABUSE IT. EVERYONE ELSE
MIGHT GET CUT OFF TOO.
JAMSHED AVARI, DEPUTY EDITOR
LOW BANDWIDTH
T
his year’s football world cup seemed to
pass with less than the usual fanfare,
which I with my lifelong indifference
to the sport, greatly appreciated. I did
tune out when the trickle status updates turned
into floods of anguished/triumphant/defiant
ALL-CAPS YELLS!!!, and thankfully the desire to
bludgeon some rabid sports fan only came every
100th time up I heard that damned Shakira
caller tune. I've emerged with my sanity, but
judging by the stories I’ve heard this past month,
not everyone was as lucky.
A bunch of friends and colleagues in
various offices around the country had to put
up with replay YouTube videos constantly
playing at loud volume on various parts of
their office floors. Even fans who’d stayed up
at night watching the match, started getting
annoyed by all the noise around them, but
for some reason, the world cup gave everyone
the license to disturb others! Perhaps it has
to do with crowd mentality. In ordinary
situations, one person wouldn’t start playing a
loud song or video in the middle of an office.
If he didn’t immediately get shushed, others
would at least come to see what was going
on or glare disapprovingly. In this situation,
chances are there was already a group of
people animatedly recapping some fine point
of the match or the other, probably with
someone challenging someone else’s judgment,
and leading naturally to YouTube for evidence
to settle the debate. The group approval is
already built in, so self-imposed protocol
checks go out the window and the speakers
get cranked up with no thought to anyone else
who might be within range.
One friend in particular had another grouse
because of the situation. YouTube is technically
banned in his office, with a few exceptions
130 08/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
for those whose work demanded access. Top
bosses have no such restrictions, and a few
even have private cellular Internet access
dongles for their laptops. It’s a fairly common
situation across offices, but according to him,
there are no checks and balances regarding
who needs YouTube and who doesn’t. As a
result, some use fl imsy excuses with the IT
department and then waste their time and the
office’s bandwidth watching funny videos all
day. These are the ones, he says, who then
enjoy gathering folks around their desks to
show off videos of interesting moments while
their frustrated cubicle neighbors wait eons for
a simple search results page to load.
The issue he raises is interesting:
YouTube and other high-bandwidth sites are
restricted for a reason. Yet people who are
granted access don’t respect the fact that
it’s a privilege, and are tempted to use it
indiscriminately. So shouldn’t offices take this
into account, and simply suspend all such
privileges during periods of expected misuse?
Doing this every few months also provides
the perfect excuse to force individuals and
departments to reapply for access, ensuring the
list is fresh and the reasons are genuine. In an
ideal world, we’d all be able to monitor social
media, stream videos, run VoIP conversations
and use every rich app out there. But
every person’s usage does add up, and few
companies can scale their bandwidth expenses
to such levels for every single user.
Whether football is in season or not,
workplace etiquette demands that those
wasting time at least do so with headphones
on. And companies looking to cut their service
bills ought to take regular audits to check that
resources aren’t being wasted.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in