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cove r s to ry
first looks
9 Software
Windows 7 Beta 1
Tax Software Roundup
Plus Quick Looks at Spore Origins,
eReader 1.3, and more.
13 Hardware
Sony VAIO VGC-JS130J/P
Canon Pixma MP980 Wireless
Photo All-In-One Printer
ViewSonic N2201w HDTV/monitor
Gateway FX6800-01e
Plus Quick Looks at the Dell Studio
XPS 16, the Samsung P400, the Sony
Lifestyle PC, and more
39
e enlisted thousands of PC
W 26 Sascha Segan Apple iWork ’09
Mag readers nationwide to
test which ISPs are the fastest 27 Dan Costa 20 Consumer Electronics
and friendliest. After months
SOLUTIONS RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900
of crunching data, here’s what (T-Mobile)
we found. 45 New Uses for Old Digicams
What can you do with your old HTC Touch Pro (Sprint)
camera? Turn here to find out. Creative Vado Pocket
4 feedback Video Cam HD
48 At Work
front side Sony Reader Digital Book
50 Office (PRS-700)
5 How the stimulus package will
affect tech; dealing with the 52 Security Vizio VP505XVT
“digital cliff”; the best of our blogs; 53 Tech Tips Plus Quick Looks at the LG Incite,
handy Web sites; finding the right the Cowon O2, the Nikon Coolpix
GPS. 55 the best stuff S60, and more
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®
FIRST WORD lance ulanoff
Diary of a Slow PC
During the many times I’m called upon between actions. This was unacceptable. system specs. The CPU seemed right, but
to provide tech support, there’s often And so, on a recent visit, I began my 4- the RAM made me question my sometimes
a moment when my eyes are squeezed hour-plus troubleshooting odyssey. faulty memory. It said 128MB of RAM. I
shut, my hands are pressed hard against Windows’ Automatic Updates recom- asked my mother-in-law about the mem-
my skull, and I’m muttering under my mended an upgrade to IE7 and Service ory upgrade she purchased. She said it was
breath. It’s at such times that I’m this close Pack 3. I ran these updates and retested in there, but she couldn’t recall how much
to giving up. I had one of these moments the browser. With one tab open, things was added. At the time, neither could I. It
recently, dealing with a system issue I had were okay. When I opened the second, the was time to take radical action.
probably helped create. system started to slow down a bit. When I powered the system down and
Let me rewind. I tried a third, I was back where I started. unplugged every single cable from it. After
Roughly four years ago, I bought my Soon I had a system message that virtual vacuuming out unbelievable amounts
mother-in-law a new Dell PC. While this memory was running low and I needed to of dust and dog hair from the back vents
may seem like an extravagant gift, I must close some processes. Man, this thing was and an intake chamber on the front, I took
admit that the whole thing cost less than in bad shape. Since resources and processes a look at the motherboard and the two
$500, including the display. These days, seemed to be the issue, I began to look at memory SIMM chips. It looked as if nei-
that’s not much of a bargain, but back then,
netbooks and sub-$300 Eee PCs were
pretty much nonexistent. Even so, I made My failure to buy the right PC, a bad memory install,
some mistakes with that purchase—ones
I would not make again. Take a look at the and looking for problems in all the wrong places had
system’s specs and you can see where I
went wrong: Dell Dimension 2400, 2.4- cost all of us countless wasted hours.
GHz Celeron CPU, 128MB of RAM, Intel
Extreme Graphics Controller Integrated
(82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV/) 32MB VRAM, things that always ran and were resident at ther one of them was fully seated. I used
Microsoft Windows XP. Got it? Right. start-up. I uninstalled a bunch of unused my thumbs to press one in—snap!—and
Even running Windows XP, this AOL utilities and with those eradicated, I then the other—snap! I put the PC back
machine did not have enough memory did another reboot. The results were the together, rebooted, and immediately the
or graphics power. In my defense, my same. Looking for other possible causes, I system found 384MB of memory. After this
mother-in-law did little more than use noticed in the Task Manager that McAfee browsing was fast, easy, effortless. This
Microsoft Word and Excel, browse the security software was eating up copious was a zippy PC.
Web, and access her America Online amounts of resources. So I uninstalled In the end, my failure to buy the right
account. Within a month, I got a call from McAfee and went with Norton Internet PC in the first place, a bad memory install,
“Mom.” “The PC seems slow,” she com- Security 2009 instead. NIS 2009 installed and looking for problems in all the wrong
plained. Sometime later, I was out for a on my home PCs like a dream, but things places had cost all of us countless wasted
visit, checked the system, and agreed: This went a little less smoothly with Mom’s. hours. The lessons here are to buy the
thing was a dog. I spent some time clear- Initially, the installation killed the Internet right PC with the right specs; don’t always
ing her Internet cache and defragging the connection. I performed an uninstall and assume your PC’s problem is with Win-
hard drive. That seemed to help, some- then a reinstall and the Internet miracu- dows, malware, or apps; and always seat
what. However, with those specs, this PC lously returned. I wish I could tell you why. memory properly (then make sure the sys-
was never going to be even respectably My first reboot after the successful NIS tem recognizes it).
fast. A couple of years later, I convinced 2009 install took forever, but eventually, I Now, whenever I call my mother-in-
my mother-in-law to buy additional RAM. was back online. With a few browser tabs law, I ask how the PC’s doing. Her reply:
Since she lives hours away, someone else open, however, the system was no bet- “It’s wonderful.”
installed the RAM. ter than it had been before. I even got the
But it was still a dog. My in-laws “virtual resources low” message. I think it Follow me on Twitter! Catch the
explained that the PC had gotten to the was at this point that the head pressing and chief’s comments on the latest tech develop-
point where it could take a minute or more muttering began. I decided to check the ments at twitter.com/LanceUlanoff.
sending a message After much debate, President Obama finally signed a stimulus bill that
ensures, among other things, money for technology so he can continue to use his BlackBerry.
www.r-tt.com/pcmag001.
frontside
co n n ec te d tr av e l e r
BEST
of the Internet Find the Right GPS for Your Travels
Here’s the quickest route to the best GPS device.
MyFolio
MyFolio is an online
community of artists
in which you can easily
upload and share media,
create your own blog,
and create galleries to
showcase your talent.
The free account offers
1GB of storage space
and imposes a limit of
100MB per file upload-
ed.—Alan Henry
get there in style GPS models like the
Navigon 2200T and Garmin nüvi 755T have big
screens and millions of maps.
Now that gas prices have come back down to the inexpensive, entry-level Nextar Q4 ($249.99
Last Freeware
earth, it’s a lot easier to get behind the wheel again. list, l l l h m ), which are perfect for most people.
Version So, whether that means you’re commuting to Every GPS will also have a points-of-interest
With Last Freeware Ver- work again or you’re finally taking that road trip, (POI) database to help locate landmarks, hotels,
sion, you can find older a GPS device can help keep you on track. Today’s restaurants, and other attractions along your
versions of some of your
favorite applications
navigators, though, can do a lot more than just get route, in a particular city, or at your destination.
when they were free and you from point A to point B. There are units on On average, you can expect a GPS to pack a few
roll back to when the the market that will help you sidestep traffic, find million POIs. The Magellan Maestro 4350 ($500
app didn’t cost money a great new restaurant, or even make hands-free street, l l l l m ) has six million, for example. On
to use. In addition to
some popular pro-
cell-phone calls. top of that, several systems tack on extra goodies:
grams, Last Freeware The nuts and bolts of picking the right GPS Navigon’s high-end 7200T includes onboard Zagat
Version keeps a number are fairly straightforward. Start by selecting your guides and 3D landmark views, and Magellan’s
of smaller, lesser-known screen size and onboard maps, and tack on the Maestro devices include AAA Tourbook listings.
applications.—AH
additional features that you need (or want) from A vital part of getting where you’re going is
there. As far as screens go, you can find ones with avoiding obstacles, like traffic jams and tickets,
big displays (like the 5-inch Magellan Maestro along the way. Some systems have speed-limit
5310, $599 street, l l l h m ) or small (like the 3.5- alerts and traffic-camera detectors in addition to
inch Navigon 2200T, $229 list, l l l l m ), but most live traffic updates, which can help you sidestep
devices these days feature 4.3-inch displays (like congestion. The Garmin nüvi 755T($499.99 list,
l l l l h ) for example, includes subscription-free
TaxACT 2008 Deluxe Although doing your taxes is never an enjoyable from you. They also break the 1040 down into man-
Edition experience, the good news is that the 2008 tax code ageable bits and take you through them in a pretty
Deluxe Federal, $12.95
includes changes that may save you money. Some natural order. They have you provide personal infor-
direct; State, $13.95;
Ultimate Bundle (Federal new perks include a new first-time homebuyer mation, and then launch into sections where you
and State), $19.95 credit, an increase in the standard mileage rate, and enter your income and deductions. And though you
ll l h m lowered taxes for many investors, to name a few. can often file federal taxes for free, you usually have
PROS Very affordable. The better news is that the new editions of the top to pay for a state filing (typically less than $20). In the
Simple, understandable tax-preparation packages include these changes. To long run, the money is well spent to get the highest
interface. Screen toggles
for help options. Free
save you even more money, it turns out that choos- refund (or lowest payout) and avoid an audit.
support. Good up-front ing one of these suites may not cost you a dime. A
preparation. partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alli- TaxACT 2008 Deluxe Edition
CONS Help language ance LLC (an organization of several private-sector For years, TaxACT has been the tax program of
could be simplified and tax software companies) provides free access to choice for the budget-conscious. It lacks some of
more context-sensitive.
Could use FAQs and less
online versions—minus some of the more advanced the bells and whistles of the premium services but
white space. capabilities—of the companies’ tax software. If you is significantly cheaper than TurboTax and TaxCut.
meet the criteria outlined at IRS.gov, you’ll be able In the areas it covers, it’s a strong competitor. The
Click here for more.
to prepare and file your taxes online at no charge biggest change this year is the addition of a tool to
through the IRS Free File program. help you determine the fair market value of non-
If you don’t qualify, or want the extra features, you cash charitable contributions. There’s also a new
have a lot of options. Overall, the three tax packages customer import report, and overview screens for
we review have not changed drastically. Those new income, deductions, and credits. The average filer
to tax-prep programs will find what veterans already will probably want more help, but if you can handle
know: These programs are easier to navigate than 1040s and other forms without the additional sup-
most software. All the products reviewed here use a port, this is the app for you.
question-and-answer interview approach to collect On pages that require data entry, TaxACT uses
the necessary personal and financial information a split screen. The question-and-answer fields are
positioned above, with several help options in a TurboTax Premier 2008 H&R Block TaxCut
tabbed window that can be toggled below. Neither TurboTax and H&R Block’s TaxCut wage a mighty Premium
$49.95 direct
TurboTax nor TaxCut employs a split screen; they battle in the premium personal tax-preparation soft- llllm
position help tools elsewhere. ware market every year, with TaxACT mopping up
PROS Deep search tool.
With TaxACT, the tax interview questions are the more budget-conscious and knowledgeable Excellent walk-through
thorough and clear, but the program lacks some of filers. This year, the outcome is the same as in recent of 1040. Expanded
the navigational guides that make TurboTax and years: TurboTax is our Editors’ Choice. Though explanations within
TaxCut superior. Nonetheless, TaxACT’s interface TaxCut wins points for its more reasonable pricing questions. Good help
and audit support.
is simple, fast, attractive—and works in much the and remains a formidable foe in terms of function-
CONS Too many screens
same way as those of its competitors. For the cash- ality, it hasn’t evolved as skillfully as TurboTax has. displaying too little
strapped, TaxACT is certainly an acceptable option. Both premium apps continue to do a commend- information. Help is not
able job of exploding the 1040 into palatable chunks always context-sensitive.
H&R Block TaxCut Premium that can be more easily digested and processed, but Dull interface.
Year after year, H&R Block continues to publish an TurboTax—the more versatile of the two, especially Click here for more.
exceptional personal tax-preparation program with in the Premier version—takes apart complex topics
excellent help tools and audit support. This year, and eases you through them with a greater variety of
the big news is a $20 price drop from last year (with at-the-ready guidance. TurboTax Premier
the package I reviewed, Premium Federal + State + TurboTax’s designers have put together an appli- 2008
Premier, $89.95 direct;
E-File). With TaxCut you get one help session with cation that’s—arguably—as elegant and deft as any Deluxe, $59.95
an H&R Block tax professional covering one topic, in the universe of desktop productivity applications, llllh
audit support, and the additional programs WILL- though it runs a bit more slowly than the competi- Pros Direct
Power and Deduction Pro. Not even TurboTax can tion. Granted, a program’s interface is just window import from
match H&R Block in terms of sheer bang for the dressing if it isn’t backed up with solid innards, but Quicken. Elegant
buck this year. But is the core TaxCut program the TurboTax has that in spades, too. TaxCut’s look is interface. Good
breakdown of
best personal tax-preparation program for 2008? old in comparison, and that detracts from what is a complex topics. Best
Not quite. Given that the old paper and snail-mail very capable program. TurboTax does a better job combination of help
system still works just fine, the most important thing of using screen space, whereas TaxCut displays too tools, some content-
a software and e-filing approach can offer (besides a much empty real estate, which leads to more click- sensitive. Thorough
coverage of tax topics.
faster refund) is ease of use, and that means a better ing. TaxACT’s UI falls somewhere in the middle—
Cons Price of state
UI and better help. TaxCut trails TurboTax a bit on better overall than TaxCut’s, but not in the same e-file ($34.95). Slow.
both counts. For example, TaxCut’s interface has league as TurboTax’s. This package saves time by
letting you import W-2 info directly from employ- Click here for more.
too much white space, which means extra pages and
tedious extra mouse clicks to go from page to page. ers who use ADP, Paychex, and ProBusiness, as well
Also, TurboTax puts more help resources within as import tax-related income and expenses directly
reach during the process. However, TaxCut oversees from Quicken 2007–2009 and major financial insti-
the review of your return just as well as the compe- tutions. In a nutshell, TurboTax Premier 2008 pro-
tition. Though TaxCut is an excellent bargain and a vides the most cohesive, intuitive, well-designed
solid package, TurboTax is still the best choice if you tax-preparation experience out there, with more
want the most thorough, well-guided, elegant tax- understandable and accessible help than the com-
preparation experience available for the desktop. petition offers.
Quick Looks
Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and scores of other software products.
MobileFiles Pro • Full editing of Excel 2003 docs • No Word document editing Business iPhone users will welcome the ability to
$9.99 direct • Transfers files to and from desktops via Wi-Fi • No cut-and-paste edit Excel spreadsheets and easily transfer them
lllmm • Allows access to MobileMe files over Wi-Fi to and from desktop systems. But if you’re
a serious spreadsheet jockey, you should stick with
Mobile Excel.
eReader 1.3 • Free • Getting new books is harder than it should be The eReader does a decent job of presenting books
Free • Flexible text formatting on your iPhone, and the dictionary option is handy,
lllhm • Good interface defaults but acquiring reading matter needs to be easier, and
• Easy bookmarking the software should support more file formats.
Stanza • Free • No undo With support for a broad range of content, Stanza is
Free • Flexible text formatting • Highlighting text for cutting and copying is a the most versatile e-book application for the iPhone.
Llllm • Large free library available bit awkward
• All major e-book file formats accepted • Can’t edit Office docs
• Converts text, Web, and PDF documents
Photogene • Good range of editing tools • Can’t shoot photos from within app The scope of Photogene’s editing tools—which
$2.99 direct • Pleasant interface • Tiny, crowded mode buttons include many that other iPhone photo-editing apps
Llllh • Responsive controls • Effects are strictly photographic lack—makes this a very appealing app.
• Many features
• Scales to the iPhone’s full resolution
CameraBag 1.4 • Converts images to any of nine classic or • Can’t tweak images beyond setting the basic Whether you’re a nostalgia buff, a photography
$2.99 direct creative photo styles style student, or just someone who wants to spruce up your
Llllm • Easy to preview images and save them in • Somewhat crash-prone iPhone photos, the easy-to-use CameraBag lets you
multiple styles remake your images in various photographic styles.
• Four image resolutions
SECURITY
DigitalPersona Personal 4.0 • Effective touch-style fingerprint reader • Must save account credentials manually DigitalPersona Personal 4.0 stores, applies, and rates
With U.are.U fingerprint reader, • Fingerprint log-in to Windows • No user-defined names for accounts your passwords. Both the password manager and its
$69.95 direct; without, $29.95; • Manages username/password credentials for • No automatic generation of strong passwords associated fingerprint reader are attractive and easy
fingerprint-based file encryp- Web sites and programs • Lacks sharing and true reporting features to use. DigitalPersona offers fingerprint-based Win-
tion, $14.95 additional • Checks for strong passwords dows log-in and an extra-cost file encryption module.
llllm
a-squared • Blocked every malware sample from launching • Identified several perfectly valid programs as a-squared’s near-perfect malware blocking perfor-
Anti-Malware 4.0 • Warns of malware-like behaviors malware mance is tainted by its erroneous identification of
$39.95 direct • Community-based alert reduction limits pop-up • Did a poor job of cleaning up malware valid programs as malware. In testing, it did a poor
llmmm queries • Disabled two test systems by quarantining job of cleaning up infested systems. You can get
Windows Explorer better protection for the same price with Webroot or
Spyware Doctor.
Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix • Antivirus engine is highly praised by indepen- • Rootkit protection is turned off by default The Avira engine that powers Lavasoft’s stand-alone
$23.95 direct dent labs • Needs to work alongside an antispyware antivirus is surprisingly effective against non-virus
Lllhm • Very effective at preventing installation of product for comprehensive protection malware types, but it still needs to work alongside an
non-virus malware • Full scan is interrupted by pop-up queries by antispyware solution for comprehensive protection.
• Successfully removed many non-virus malware default
infestations
CA Internet Security • Advanced program control blocks “leak tests” • Advanced program control damages valid There’s little to love in this Frankenstein’s monster
Suite Plus 2009 • Browser-independent parental control programs of a suite. Patched together from many separate
$79.99 direct • Firewall stealths all ports • Big performance drag mediocre tools, it put the biggest drag on system
llmmm • Prevents accidental transmission of user- • Antivirus not highly rated by independent labs performance of any suite tested. Save ten bucks and
defined private data • Poor malware removal and blocking get Norton’s suite (or Trend Micro’s) instead.
• Includes system migration tool • Backup very rudimentary
MUSIC
Slacker for BlackBerry • Streaming Internet Radio • Slow to load streaming stations With easy, free, customizable Internet radio, this app
Basic, free; Slacker Premium • Station caching • Requires BlackBerry OS 4.3 or later delivers on the multimedia promises that so often are
Radio, $7.50 monthly • All the functionality of Slacker.com made in BlackBerry’s television commercials.
Llllh • Free
ViewSonic N2201w
A Versatile 22-Inch
HDTV/Monitor
Designed for use in tight spaces, the N2201w is ideal for a dorm
room, studio apartment, or home office. This versatile 22-inch
HDTV/monitor hybrid sports a variety of entertainment features,
including a built-in DVD player and a digital TV tuner, but its dark
grayscale performance is lacking.
The 1,680-by-1,050-resolution panel is perched atop a sturdy
oval base. The 3-watt speakers embedded in the lower bezel are
a cut above the usual underpowered speakers found on displays.
A slot-loading DVD player with five control buttons is integrated
into the left-hand side of the cabinet.
While in PC mode, you can adjust contrast, brightness, and
sharpness, as well as toggle among four Picture modes (though I
recommend sticking with the Standard setting). In general, I was
impressed with the N2201w’s performance as a PC monitor. It did a
very good job of reproducing the lightest shades of gray on the Dis-
ViewSonic N2201w playMate 64-Step Grayscale test. Colors were bold and uniform at
$430 street the high end of the scale. The panel had a difficult time displaying
ll l h m the darkest shades of gray, however, making the deepest reds and
Pros Built-in DVD player and TV tuner. Solid light blues darker than they should be. For video, the L2201w showed a
grayscale reproduction. Good audio output. sharp picture, with no apparent jaggies or artifacts.
Cons Very weak dark-gray performance. Stiff stand Despite a couple of flaws, this LCD is a good deal for a display
with limited adjustability. Some backlight bleed. that pulls double duty as a PC monitor and an HDTV/DVD player
Click here for more. combo.—John R. Delaney
Gateway FX6800-01e
$1,249.99 list
L lllm
Gateway FX6800-01e
Power-Packed
Budget Gaming Rig
The Gateway FX6800-01e is clearly going after the In terms of performance, this system turned in a
gamer on a budget. It’s a bit more expensive than respectable 58 frames per second (fps) on Crysis at
sub-$800 gaming boxes like the Cyberpower Gamer 1,280-by-1,024, and a very smooth 70 fps on World
Ultra SLI Basic, but this Gateway system can play in Conflict (WiC) at the same resolution. These
today’s games a whole lot better. numbers are similar to those of gaming rigs that
The FX6800-01e is equipped with the quad-core cost over $700 more. The FX6800-01e is also very
Intel i7-920, a Hyper-Threading chip that is capable speedy on multimedia tasks: 37 seconds for Win-
of processing up to eight streams simultaneously. dows Media Encoder and 26 seconds for Photoshop
This system is also equipped with a single 512MB are impressive even for a quad-core system. All this
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card. The FX6800- makes FX6800-01e a performance bargain—and an
01e’s chassis includes a pair of externally accessible Editors’ Choice.—Joel Santo Domingo
hard-drive sleds, so you can easily add up to two
SATA hard drives without opening the side door. If Spec data: 2.66-GHz Intel Core i7-920 processor, 3GB
1066-MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 750GB 7,200-rpm SATA hard
you do open the case, you can also fit another hard
drive, 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card, dual-
drive, optical drive, a PCIe x4 card, another PCIe layer DVD±RW drive, eight USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire
x16 graphics card, and three more RAM sticks. You ports, two eSATA ports, Gateway stereo speakers,
can also configure this system for RAID 0, 1, 5, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.
1+0 with multiple hard drives. One complaint: Why
install 64-bit Vista when the system comes with only PERFORMANCE TESTS MULTIMEDIA TESTS GAMING TESTS
3GB of memory?
Windows
Like other Gateway computers, the FX6800-01e L High scores are best.
Media Photoshop World in
M Low scores are best. 3DMark06 L Encoder M CS3 M Crysis L Conflict L
has some crapware on it. There’s the usual 60-day Bold type denotes first place. 1,280 x 1,024* min:sec min:sec 1,280 x 1,024* 1,280 x 1,024*
trial of Microsoft Office and the 60-day trial of Nor- Gateway FX6800-01e 12,521 0:37 0:26 58 70
ton 360. There’s other stuff, too, like ads for eBay,
Acer Aspire Predator G7700 13,497 0:41 0:25 57 67
Napster, and ISPs. All this junk can make a system
unstable, so for optimum results, you may want to Cyberpower Gamer Ultra SLI Basic 4,260 1:07 0:46 9 10
reinstall the OS fresh. RED denotes Editors’ Choice. * Anti-aliasing/anisotropic filtering was set to 0X.
Quick Looks
Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and scores of other hardware products.
LAPTOPS
Acer Aspire • Blu-ray reader included • A bit bulky Equipped with a Blu-ray drive 2.0-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800;
6930G-6723 • Unbeatable price and generous performance parts 4GB DDR2 SDRAM; 320GB, 5,400-
$1,020 street • Good performance scores for under $1,000, the 6930G has rpm hard drive; 256MB nVidia
ll l l h • Good graphics card regained the Editors’ Choice acco- GeForce 9600M GS graphics;
• Terrific typing experience lade for best value media center 16-inch display; 7.2 pounds (8.3
• Generous feature set laptop that its predecessor lost. pounds travel); 71-Wh battery;
Vista Home Premium.
ASUS EeePC • Gunmetal casing • Lacks a six-cell battery Its metallic finish makes the 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270; 1GB
1002HA • Included overclocking software • Could use more features 1002HA the most attractive net- DDR2 SDRAM; 160GB, 5,400-rpm
$499 list • 92 percent keyboard book to date, and its performance hard drive; 128MB Intel Graphics
ll l l m • Excellent battery life doesn’t disappoint. However, Media Accelerator 950; 10.2-inch
• Bright 10-inch widescreen it could use some help in the display; 2.7 pounds (3.2 pounds
• Under $500 features department. travel); 31-Wh battery; XP Home
Edition.
Dell Studio • Strikingly gorgeous design • Could be lighter The XPS 16 delivers a lavish 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600;
XPS 16 • Blu-ray reader included media center experience with 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; 320GB,
$1,804 direct • Vibrant 16-inch widescreen a unique design, home-theater 7,200-rpm hard drive; 512MB ATI
ll l l h • Illuminated keyboard features, and a vibrant RGB LED Mobility Radeon HD 3670; 16-inch
• HDMI and DisplayPort widescreen. widescreen; 6.9 pounds (7.8
• High-capacity battery is pounds travel); 85-Wh battery;
available Vista Home Premium.
Sony • Incredibly light • Mouse buttons are adjacent to The Sony Lifestyle PC is a mag- 1.33-GHz Intel Atom Z520; 2GB
Lifestyle PC • 8-inch widescreen LED is first the touchpad nificently designed device with a DDR2 SDRAM; 64GB SSD; 128MB
(VGN-588EQ) of its kind solid set of features, but perfor- Intel graphics; 8-inch, 1,600-by-
$1,199 direct 3G wireless is standard mance can be limiting if you’re 768 widescreen LED display; 1.4
ll l h m • Two memory card slots using it as a primary laptop. pounds (1.7 pounds travel); two
• Pre-boot Linux environment is a USB ports; 16-Wh lithium ion bat-
nice addition tery; Windows Vista Home Basic.
DISPLAYS
ASUS LS221H • Slim cabinet • Poor dark grayscale perfor- The LS221H is an attractive 22-inch LCD; 1,680-by-1,050
$349 list • Good motion performance mance 22-inch display with a slim profile native resolution; HDMI and
ll l m m • Good text readability • Lacks multimedia features and a fast pixel response. But analog VGA inputs; 16:10
• Tilt-only stand its flaws include the inability to aspect ratio.
reproduce dark shades of gray.
STORAGE
OWC Mercury • Bus-powered • Comes HFS+ formatted (bad The Mercury is a speedy (7,200- External hard drive; 350GB
On-The-Go • Speedy FireWire 800 interface for PCs) rpm) SATA notebook-class hard c apacity; 7,200 rpm.
(320GB) • Comes HFS+ formatted (good • Backup software on CD drive that works with USB or
$179.99 direct for Macs) • Physically a bit larger than the FireWire power (for a Mac or a
ll l h m • Comes with all cables and a competition PC) and doesn’t require a power
carrying case • Pricey per GB adapter.
PROJECTORS
Samsung P400 • Highly portable • Doesn’t handle video well—loses The P400 isn’t the lightest projec- DLP engine; 4:3 aspect ratio;
$550 street • Unexpectedly bright details in dark areas tor, or the smallest, but it delivers rated brightness, 150 ANSI
ll l l m • Surprisingly high audio volume • Relatively noticeable rainbow a surprisingly bright image and lumens; analog VGA and com
• LED light source with 20,000- effect high-volume audio in a highly posite inputs, 2.5 by 5.8 by 5.7
hour lifetime portable package. inches (HWD); 2 pounds.
DATA TRANSFER
Clickfree • No configuration necessary • No Mac compatibility With the Clickfree cable, making 10 inches.
Transformer • No installation needed • You need to buy storage Windows-based document back-
Cable • One of the most user-friendly separately ups is finally as easy as plugging
$60 list backup methods we’ve tested • File backups only in a power cord.
ll l l m • Works with any USB hard drive • May not work with some USB
or USB key hubs
• Can support multiple computers
Lenovo ThinkPad
W700
$4,240 direct
Llllh
Pros Internal
Pantone color
calibrator. Palm-
rest digitizer.
Option for a
cool secondary display.
Quad-core proces-
sor delivered amazing
results. Dual hard drives.
ISV certified graphics.
Outstanding graphics for
gamers and profession-
als. WUXGA widescreen.
Adobe RGB–compatible
Lenovo ThinkPad W700 screen.
The Photography
Cons Butt-ugly and
bulky.
ViewSonic PJ513DB
A No-Frills, High-Quality
SVGA Projector
The ViewSonic PJ513DB is the kind of projector
that anyone on a tight budget should love—and not
just because of its low price. What makes this unit
appealing is that it gets the basics right, starting with
a suitably high-quality image and surprisingly good
audio.
Designed for typical business presentations, the
PJ513DB is a basic, no-frills projector built around an
SVGA (800-by-600) DLP engine. Although it’s not ViewSonic PJ513DB
the lightest or smallest projector available by any $450 street
lllhm
means, it’s fairly portable, at 5.7 pounds and 4.3 by 10.4 to throw a reasonably large image with typical office
by 8.6 inches (HWD). It doesn’t come with a carrying lighting. In testing, the projector showed some minor Pros Low cost. Reason-
ably light. Easy setup,
case, however, so if you need one, you’ll have to buy it DLP rainbow effects but handled images from a com- with well-designed,
separately. The same goes for most cables you might puter and DVDs (played over S-Video) pretty well. easy-to-use menus.
want; you get only a power cord and VGA cable for However, it was less effective for TV input. Despite Cons No remote mouse
plugging into a computer. Moreover, there’s no USB oversights like the lack of a remote mouse con- control. Optical zoom is
port or zoom control. trol and the nearly pointless zoom, the ViewSonic too meager to be useful.
The PJ513DB has a respectable contrast ratio of PJ513DB is a good choice for the cash-strapped, and Click here for more.
330:1 and a brightness of 1,717 lumens, about 78 per- certainly one of the best projectors in its category.
cent of its 2,200 lumen rating. It is also bright enough —M. David Stone
Lexmark T650n
Workhorse Monochrome
Laser Printer
For small offices and workgroups with heavy-duty Lexmark T650n
printing needs, workhorse monochrome lasers like $699 direct
Llllm
the Lexmark T650n are indispensable. As a rule,
Lexmark printers are among the best in the cat- Pros Fast.
Full set of
egory, and the T650n is no exception. Its fast speed paper-handling
and plentiful paper-handling options are enough to options, with up
make it a new Editors’ Choice. to 4,000-sheet
At 13.7 by 16.7 by 19.4 inches (HWD), this printer is Output quality was typical for a monochrome laser input capacity. Low cost
per page.
small enough for your desk, but you’ll probably need on graphics and photos, but text quality was a bit
Cons Slightly subpar
help moving this 40.6-pound unit into place. The below par—though still more than good enough for text for a mono laser.
T650n’s paper-handling options include a duplexer most business use.
($275), a 250-sheet drawer ($199), a 550-sheet drawer One last issue is running cost, a critical factor for Click here for more.
($249), a 2,000-sheet drawer ($499), and an output a printer designed to print lots of pages. Lexmark
expander with additional 550-sheet bin ($149). claims a reasonably low 1.6 cents per page. That,
This printer’s 45-ppm engine helped it score along with fast speed, capable paper handling, and
5 minutes 7 seconds on our business applica- reasonably high-quality output makes the T650n an
tions suite, which is fast, but not as fast as the 4:57 impressive package indeed, altogether worthy of the
achieved by the T640n, the printer it is replacing. Editors’ Choice.—MDS
PICK A PAGE In Pages, you can pick and choose which presentation pizzazz In Keynote, a neat little
page layouts you want to use from any template. pop-up menu lets you resize images.
Vizio VP505XVT
$1,499.99 list
ll l l m
Vizio VP505XVT
Pros Standard-
Quick Looks
Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and other consumer electronics products.
LG Incite (AT&T) • Sleek design • Sluggish LG’s first smartphone, the Incite, Windows Mobile Pocket PC;
$199 (with • Good voice quality • Stubborn, dim touch screen is attractive and powerful, but it’s GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA data
two-year service • Solid battery life • Poor camera let down by its obstinate touch networks; 3-inch, 240-by-400 TFT
agreement) • 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth • Buggy music playback screen, sluggish performance, LCD; 3MP camera; 4.2 by 2.2 by
ll l m m radios • No place to stow the stylus—and and sloppy software design. 0.6 inches (HWD), 4.2 ounces.
you’ll need it
DIGITAL CAMERAS
Nikon Coolpix • Sleek and good-looking • No hardware zoom control Viewing your pictures on this 10MP resolution; 3.5-inch touch-
S60 • Big, responsive touch screen • Captures fewer resolution lines camera is a blast, thanks to its screen LCD; accepts SDHC flash
$349.95 list • Simple touch gestures make than competitors iPhone-esque touch screen. memory; 2.4 by 2.8 by 0.9 inches
ll l m m photo playback a snap • No HD video recording Image quality, however, is lack- (HWD); 5.1 ounces.
• Flash shots are underexposed ing, so the fun of its flashy touch
• Poor battery life interface will likely fade quickly.
HEADPHONES
Apple In-Ear • Secure fit • Audio output is decent—but Apple’s In-Ear Headphones In-canal; Bluetooth; passive noise
Headphones • Built-in mic and remote control could be stronger for the price feature extras like a built-in canceling; 109-dB SPL per 1 mW
$79 direct • Works with latest-generation • Short on bass response remote and mic, but they’re a bit sensitivity; 23-ohm impedance;
ll l m m iPod’s Voice Memos feature overpriced given the audio quality 0.4 ounce.
you get.
BLUETOOTH HEADSETS
Altec Lansing • Comfortable fit • Music sounds overly bright The most comfortable stereo Play/Pause, Volume, Fast For-
BackBeat • Long battery life • Voice call quality isn’t great, Bluetooth headset we’ve seen ward, Rewind, and Call Answer
Model 903, $99.99 • Music doesn’t sound muddy especially outdoors has a lot going for it, but sound buttons.
list; 906, $129.99 quality still doesn’t match that of
Ll l h m wired or mono headsets.
GPS
Magellan • User interface is improved from • Voice recognition found in previ- The Maestro 4350 includes 6-million-entry POI database;
Maestro 4350 the Maestro 4250 ous models has been removed features that make it a worthy real-time traffic; 3D view; sup-
$499.99 list • New OneTouch feature • Current speed not displayed in upgrade. But bargain hunters ports MP3 playback; supports SD
ll l l m • Six-million-entry POI database map view may prefer the older yet still and MMC flash memory; 4.3-inch
• Can calculate up to three route solid 4250, which you can pick up touch-screen display; 3.3 by 4.9
profiles simultaneously online for $200 less. by 0.7 inches (HWD); 7.2 ounces.
MEDIA EXTENDERS
Western Digital • Affordable • No wireless streaming What the WD TV HD Media Player Remote control; RCA stereo
WD TV HD • Excellent file support • Doesn’t include a USB drive does it does well, but that doesn’t a udio, composite video, HDMI,
Media Player • Simple, intuitive user interface • Unremarkable physical design necessarily mean that this is a and USB inputs; supports AVI,
$129.99 list • Includes file-conversion useful or desirable device. H.264, MKV, MOV, MPEG-1/2/4,
ll l m m software and WMV 9 formats; 1.6 by 4.9 by
3.9 inches (HWD); 10.72 ounces.
The
BestFree
Software
The best things in life often are free. Here, a list of 173 of them—free software for
launching apps, networking, backup, entertainment, and more. By Eric Griffith
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Why launching—Launchy is the best choice
pay? You’ve already shelled out money App Launchers available.
for a computer, so there’s no reason that
what’s running on that pricey PC should Circle Dock circledock.wikidot.com Quicksilver www.blacktree.com
cost a darn thing. Not in this day and age Windows Who says a dock has to actually Mac OS Quicksilver does more from the key-
of amazing freebie software and Web apps. dock? To the side of the screen, that is. board than just launch programs. It can act
That’s why every year PCMag presents a Circle Dock brings up a spiraling launcher on any item you can find or drag on your
look at the best programs you can down- interface with all the icons you want to click. Mac. Plug-ins add even more functions.
load or access online at no cost. All are Rotate it with the wheel on your mouse and
worthy replacements for your ancient and change the skin to suit your desktop. Audio/Music
sometimes forgotten desktop applications,
and they’ll save you thousands of dollars to ObjectDock www.stardock.com ★ HALL OF FAME ★
EphPod www.ephpod.com
Windows It does whatever iTunes does in
Windows—syncing, playlists, iPod firm-
ware updates, and more, including moving
music from an iPod to your new PC.
foobar2000 www.foobar2000.org
Windows Basic playback of just about any
audio you can imagine is foobar2000’s
calling card, complete with an iTunes-like
interface.
TaskFive www.taskfive.com
Web Just five tasks a day? Take it as a chal-
lenge, not a limitation. TaskFive sports an Google Contacts RSS feeds or plan your calendar.
elegant calendar interface, and you can hogi.a.orn.jp/en/gmcont.html For our full review, click here.
enter tasks via Web, e-mail, or text mes- Windows This extension for Thunderbird
sage. Team to-dos will cost you, however. does one thing you need: It synchro- Yahoo Mail mail.yahoo.com
nizes contacts between Thunderbird and Web Our webmail Editors’ Choice embeds
Yahoo Calendar calendar.yahoo.com Google’s Gmail. the Yahoo Messenger IM and RSS reader,
Web An old-timer compared with many, works on the Web with any browser or
Yahoo Calendar doesn’t innovate a lot but iContact www.dataload.com/icontact operating system, and has more features
provides solid features, shareable calen- Windows Accessing your Gmail contacts is than anyone could hope to master.
dars, and synchronization with Outlook. all the easier with iContact. This app dis- For our full review, click here.
plays the normally browser-accessible-
Communication/E-Mail only list on your desktop and integrates Conferencing
those contacts into other communications
Affixa www.affixa.com software, like Skype. Dabbleboard www.dabbleboard.com
Windows Usually, with webmail, you have Web As simple as any whiteboard in a con-
to put attachments on a message after the Simple Mail ference room, Dabbleboard’s online app
fact. Affixa does it automatically when you www.userlogos.org/extensions/simplemail brings drawing and some real-time col-
select a file, or from within other apps like Windows | Mac OS | LinuxIf you already have laboration to your group.
MS Word. Building on its predecessors, Firefox open all the time, why not have one
gAttach and yAttach, Affixa works with of those tabs just for mail? The Simple Mail SightSpeed www.sightspeed.com
both Gmail and Yahoo Mail. add-on puts a POP3/IMAP client right Now owned by Logitech,
Windows | Mac OS
inside the browser. SightSpeed provides one-on-one video
eM Client www.emclient.com chat with unparalleled video quality, but
Windows Anyone familiar with Outlook ★ HALL OF FAME ★ more than two users at a time will cost you.
or Thunderbird can master the basics of Thunderbird For our full review, click here.
using eM Client freeware in no time. It www.mozilla.com/thunderbird
already syncs with Google Calendar, and Windows | Mac OS | Linux The Internet’s top Skype www.skype.com
future developments will integrate social e-mail client from Mozilla is (of course) Windows | Mac OS | Linux Easy to use for phone
networks and IMs with your e-mail. extensible, but even without add-ons calls (free between Skype users, with a
Thunderbird is simple-to-master software minimal charge to call other phones),
Gmail www.gmail.com for anyone with a POP3 or IMAP e-mail Skype truly shines when paired with a
Web | MobileThe current bellwether in Web- account. high-end webcam so that you can see your
based e-mail is still in beta, but Google con- For our full review, click here. friends and family.
tinues to innovate with additions via the For our full review, click here.
Gmail Labs. The searchable and increas- Windows Live Mail get.live.com
ing storage (up to 7GB now, from 5.5GB Windows Outlook Express has been trans- Tokbox www.tokbox.com
last year) doesn’t hurt. New themes make formed into the modern-day Live Mail, Web The Tokbox service turns your AIM
it pretty. And you can use it to IM or send ready to check POP3, IMAP, and webmail buddy list into a videoconferencing buddy
SMS text messages to friends’ phones. accounts when you’re not using it to read list directly in your browser. Separate apps
Penzu www.penzu.com
Web Hard to believe that in the age of blog-
ging, some people still want journals and
diaries they keep to themselves. Penzu is
all about making that happen, online, with
privacy as the first priority. Paint.NET www.getpaint.net
Windows This student project turned freeware masterpiece puts the power of
Springpad www.springpadit.com higher-end graphics editors in anyone’s hands.
Web Manage your life tasks with online
notebooks filled with lists, photos, notes,
and maps/directions you can share with
the whole family. Perfect for tracking images in ways specific to social networks latest IrfanView (version 4.20) received
receipts, planning meals or trips, and get- and mobile handsets. a nice cosmetic update. It also supports
ting your house organized. instant video and audio playback.
FastStone Image Viewer For our full review, click here.
Timetoast www.timetoast.com www.faststone.org
Web Ever wanted to create a timeline for Windows Another image browser and con- Pencil www.les-stooges.org/pascal/pencil
your site or a presentation, but couldn’t verter that handles almost any file type, Windows | Mac OS | Linux For the budding
decide what tool would best display the FastStone also has companion programs, Chuck Jones at home, Pencil is a free way
data? Wonder no more, as Timetoast adds like the handy Photo Resizer, complete to get started in the world of traditional 2D
this useful data with an attractive flair. with a fast batch processor. animation—that is, draw each frame anew.
UltraExplorer
www.mustangpeak.net/ultraexplorer.html
Windows Another replacement for Win-
dows Explorer, UltraExplorer stands out
by sporting a command-line interface to
go with the dual-pane view of files. And
it offers a preview window, so you can
quickly check the contents of a file before
opening it.
For our full review, click here. Ubuntu www.ubuntu.com NetSetMan www.netsetman.com
Linux The easiest Linux to install, now in Windows Stop using Vista’s convoluted
SlideRocket www.sliderocket.com version 8.10 (aka “Intrepid Ibex”), not only interface to change network settings. Net-
Web Promising more than PowerPoint and is suitable for (somewhat knowledgeable) SetMan takes over and creates profiles for
Keynote is bold, but this Web-only presen- consumers but also comes with all the soft- different networks you might connect with,
tation tool seems to deliver, with amazing ware you need to be productive. changing your need for static or dynamic
animations, support for embedded video, For our full review, click here. IPs, or hostnames or workgroups, on the
and 3D transitions between slides. fly. If you’ve got multiple network cards,
Networking NetSetMan is a huge help.
SoftMaker Office 2006
www.softmakeroffice.com AirSnare Network Notepad
Windows This free version is meant to home.comcast.net/~jay.deboer/airsnare www.networknotepad.com
entice you to upgrade to the 2008 version, Windows Turn your Wi-Fi–equipped laptop Windows It’s more than a notepad: This soft-
but if all you need is basic text editing and a into an info sniffer. AirSnare pulls down ware is specific to creating flowcharts of
spreadsheet, you’re set. info on computers and game consoles and your network layout. Put in the IP address
just about any device on the network, even for each device and you can use the inter-
Springnote www.springnote.com delivering devices’ MAC addresses. face to quickly ping devices to confirm
Web | MobileWhether you want a personal they’re online.
notebook or a shareable group notebook, AirRadar
this wiki-based note-taking site could give www.koingosw.com/products/airradar.php PrinterAnywhere
Microsoft’s OneNote a run for its money. Mac OS AirRadar goes beyond what the Wi- www.printeranywhere.com
Fi utility in Mac OS X can do by showing Windows | Mac OS | LinuxWhy print just
Widgenie www.widgenie.com extras like signal strength and the 802.11 to your printer? PrinterAnywhere lets
Web Sick of making meh-looking graphs network’s channel. you print to any printer on the Internet
RSS Readers
Netvibes www.netvibes.com
Web A personalized start page with an VLC media player www.videolan.org/vlc
emphasis on widgets and feed readers, Windows | Mac OS | Linux VideoLAN’s open-source software plays back—well, just
Netvibes also aggregates podcasts for you. about everything. It can also serve up streaming video and music to other PCs on
For our full review, click here. your network.
FeedDemon www.newsgator.com/
Individuals/FeedDemon
Windows The preeminent desktop news- Windows Live Sync sync.live.com audio to go with it, into a movie, suitable
reader for Windows was recently over- The replacement for
Windows | Mac OS | Web for future demonstrations.
hauled to be faster and easier, while FolderShare continues to do one thing and
remaining extremely customizable to suit do it well: sync folders (up to 20) across HandBrake www.handbrake.fr
how you read feeds. multiple PCs over the Internet. Windows | Mac OS | Linux Want to back up all
For our full review, click here. those DVDs you own before they get
Windows Live Mesh www.mesh.com scratched? This open-source tool does full
NetNewsWire www.newsgator.com/ Windows | Mac OS | Mobile | Web Microsoft’s DVD-to-MPEG-4 conversion, which you
individuals/netnewswire latest method for syncing folders on dif- can play back later on media centers, even
Mac OS | Mobile FeedDemon’s sibling on the ferent PCs goes FolderShare one better the Apple TV.
Macintosh platform has updated its inter- by including 5GB of online storage acces-
face and more. It now integrates with sev- sible from any PC, plus the ability to mesh Miro www.getmiro.com
eral other Mac apps like iCal and iPhoto to special collaborative applications (like a Miro’s a video player
Windows | Mac OS | Linux
help you share as well as read. group crossword puzzle!). that promises to play back just about any
video media file, organize files in playlists,
RSS Bandit rssbandit.org Syncplicity www.syncplicity.com and incorporate BitTorrent downloading
Windows Directly sync this reader with your Windows | Mobile | Web Synchronize up to to become a de facto PC-based TiVo.
online feeds at Google Reader or News 10,000 files (or 2GB, whichever comes
Gator Online. You’ll get fast browsing on first) on up to two computers free. Sign up TipCam www.utipu.com/app
the desktop but still have access to your friends and you can add another 1GB per Windows Another cool tool for captur-
feeds over the Web using other PCs. new user recruited. ing videos of your desktop, TipCam lets
you take big, beautiful videos (up to 800
Snarfer www.snarfware.com Mozilla Weave services.mozilla.com by 600 pixels). You can even zoom in on
Windows It won’t win awards for visual Windows | Mac OS | Linux A product of Mozilla specifics and upload the videos directly
innovation, but Snarfer does provide sim- Labs, Weave is meant to synchronize any- to YouTube. Frequent users can get an
plicity. It’s arguably the best way to handle thing and everything related to Firefox account to store and display up to 250MB
straight-up RSS info gathering and read- among all the computers you use, plus of video.
ing, and it’s available in over 20 languages. extend some features to others for sharing.
Registration is closed as of this writing but Want More?
Synchronization should be back soon. The festival of free software doesn’t have
to end! Skim through last year’s compila-
Dropbox www.getdropbox.com Video tion of free software, or take a look at these
Windows | Mac OS | Linux | Web One of the other app collections for various other
few sync/backup tools to support Linux CamStudio www.camstudio.org platforms.
(Fedora and Ubuntu), Dropbox always Windows This open-source program for • The Best Free Software ’08
gets kudos for its design and simple setup. capturing videos of your screen turns • Free iPhone apps
Online backup space is free for up to 2GB. what you do on your desktop, as well as the • 16th Annual Utility Guide
®
www.cybernetman.com Windows VistaTM
© 2008 Cybernet Manufacturing, Inc. All rights reserved. The Cybernet logo is a trademark of Cybernet Manufacturing, Inc. Intel and Intel Core 2 Quad are trademarks of Intel Corporation,
or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Windows Vista is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
The Fastest ISPs in America
We polled tens of thousands of PC Mag readers across the country to find out which ISPs
and connection types yield the blazingest speeds. By Jeremy A. Kaplan and Erik Rhey
Price is typically one of the biggest con- in your area are as fast, affordable, and as How We Tested
siderations in choosing an Internet ser- customer-friendly as ISPs in other parts In this story, our goal was to compile an
vice provider (ISP). And obviously you of your state and the rest of the country? accurate, three-dimensional picture of the
can choose only what’s available in your If you have only advertising to go on, then country’s ISPs, using two key metrics: cus-
area. For some, especially those living in you should believe that your provider is tomer feedback and speed numbers from
the boonies, there is the painful reality of super fast, super cheap, super friendly, and user testing. To achieve this goal, we relied
having only one option. But in order to be generally much better than the competi- on an app we created called SurfSpeed, a
an informed consumer, shouldn’t you at tion. Of course, we know that in the real utility that grabs pages (and page elements)
least know whether the choices available world, that’s not always the case. from several popular Web sites to measure
SurfSpeed Percentage of
Internet Service Provider 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
(Kbps) satisfied users
CABLE
Optimum Online (Cablevision) 839 62%
Cox 774 48%
Comcast 750 33%
Bright House 736 45%
Road Runner (Time Warner) 733 45%
Insight Broadband 717 51%
RCN 698 41%
Charter 641 29%
WOW Internet (Wide Open West) 638 57%
Mediacom Online 631 38%
Other cable 618 43%
Cable ONE 602 52%
EarthLink 565 46%
Average cable 688 45%
DSL
FrontierNet 724 20%
CenturyTel 520 16%
AT&T (including SBC Yahoo!) 502 38%
Verizon 469 29%
Other DSL 442 31%
Qwest 423 32%
BellSouth 413 36%
EarthLink 369 12%
Alltel 357 24%
Average DSL 469 27%
FIBER OPTIC
Verizon 931 71%
Other fiber optic 582 61%
Average fiber optic 582 61%
SATELLITE
HughesNet 121 6%
Other satellite 145 13%
Average satellite 121 6%
ropolitan areas are better cared for by According to Centris, New Jersey has Overall Results
Internet service providers. More densely the highest percentage of broadband pen- The top five states for speed are Nevada,
populated areas across the country etration, with a whopping 80.2 percent, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
reported better and faster service on our and speedy Nevada comes in second with Connecticut. At the bottom are New
test. So determining the overall speed of a 75.3 percent. In fact, broadband penetra- Mexico, Hawaii, Wyoming, Vermont, and
state means balancing data on how quickly tion was over 50 percent in more than half Iowa. The West proved to be the fastest
city residents get online and how effec- the country. But cost tells a different story: region, followed by the Midwest, North-
tively more rural areas are served. Folks from New Jersey pay a very low $33 east, and South. Some 24 states were above
Speed is only half the picture, however. on average for monthly broadband access, the national average for speed, with the
If half a state’s residents can’t even get but Nevadans pay nearly $40. Northeast having the most states in the
broadband access, how well served is the Does a price bump represent more top 10. Although a Western state won, the
state as a whole? Availability of broadband options, or is it simply a regional thing? West had the most states in the bottom
services is a gigantic factor in how fast According to David Klein, executive vice 10. Despite a significant rural population,
you get online, and the cost of that service president at Centris, “These findings are Virginia was the fastest state below the
also determines what percentage of area consistent with our view that competi- Mason-Dixon. And in the Midwest, the
residents can afford it. If it’s too expensive tion and market dynamics are driven by Cornhusker state of Nebraska topped that
and available in only half a state, the state’s the ability to deploy the fastest technolo- region’s list, thanks to users reporting tre-
overall speed rating will drop. To get the gies at the local level. We will likely see mendous speeds with Cox cable service—
full picture of Internet access across the even higher penetration rates and more 909 Kbps.
country, we turned to Centris, a research market-share changes as service provid- If you want to test your Internet con-
firm that collects information on the use of ers locally deploy new faster technologies nection using SurfSpeed, you can down-
voice, video, data, and electronic products such as DOCSIS 3.0 and universal wireless load the utility at www.pcmag.com/utilities.
and services. broadband.” Registration is required.
48 At Work 53 Tips
• Explore the benefits of accounting • Create meetings in Outlook easily • Keep camera lenses clean
software • Clear print jobs without rebooting • Learn Blackberry, iPhone typing
• Make earphones last longer tricks
50 Office
• Get the right antenna for DTV • Eliminate inkjet printout smears
• Create a TOC in Word 2007
• Get the right processor to play back • Find devices on your network easily
52 Security HD programs • Dress up your GPS icons
• Make console gaming safe
To attach the peephole you need some your subjects in focus. Experiment with an old point-and-shoot digital camera as
type of permanent mount on the camera. zooming in and with the macro mode, if a webcam. All you need is a camera with
This is where having an older camera can your camera has one. Remember to turn video output and a way to get the video
be better. If your camera doesn’t have a off your built-in flash, as it will be blocked into your computer. Your old point-and-
screw thread you’ll need to tape a piece of by the door viewer. shoot probably has an A/V-out port and a
PVC tubing or a bottle cap of some kind cable that lets you output to a TV. If your
onto your camera and then tape the peep- Do-It-Yourself Webcam computer already has a video input—many
hole onto it. My Nikon Coolpix 880 has a Are you jealous of your friends’ new lap- do, particularly ones marketed as media
screw thread, and for $5 I was able to buy a tops with built-in webcams but reluctant PCs—then you’re all set: You can just plug
threaded adapter that worked nicely with to invest the extra money in yours to add the camera into your computer and turn
my $15 ultrawide door viewer. one? The good news is that you can use on the camera.
Once the “fish-eye” is added, the cam-
era will have a huge field of view—much
wider than you can normally get with the
camera itself—and it gains that unmistak-
able fish-eye effect. I found I needed to
crop images a bit after taking them, as the
door viewer didn’t cover the entirety of
the 880’s lens.
The key to getting reasonable fish-eye
images is to buy as wide a door viewer as
you can find. The $15 version I bought cov-
ered most of the field of view of the lens on
my Coolpix 880. You need to keep the door
viewer out of the way of the lens when it
extends, either by using a screw-in tube
like the Nikon extender I purchased for
$5 or a short piece of PVC tubing attached
with tape. (Now you can probably see why
you’d want to use an older camera for this
project.)
You get a very wide field of view with
your home-built fish-eye, but you’ll need
to tinker with your camera’s settings to get a WEBCam in minutes An old Canon PowerShot serves as a more than able webcam.
• Your company’s total expenses, per tions and changes made to the system, and • Accountant access. If you’re working
transaction, for each vendor who made them. This is a critical security with an accountant who blesses your books
• What wage and withholding informa- feature. periodically, you can give him or her access
tion you need for state taxes • Multiuser access. Most accounting to your system—and keep working ahead
• Which transactions have affected the software can be set up on a network, which while your past work is being checked.
value of your inventory means you’re not constantly running back
Of course, you can set up Excel spread- and forth to other offices to get the infor- Yes, You Can
sheets to tell you just about anything, but mation you should all have. There are probably as many objections to
that’s the point: You have to set them up— • Roles and permissions. If you’re on a accounting software as there are reasons
and update them constantly. Account- network, you probably don’t want every- to use it. It’s expensive (it’s not). I’ll need to
ing software simply builds on the work one to have access to everything. Account- have an accounting professional on my staff
you’ve already done, the transactions ing software lets you assign roles to users (nope; these programs are built for non-
you’ve already entered, to give you a real- and define exactly where they can go and pros). I can track my finances just as well on
time, bird’s-eye view of your company’s what they can do on the system. my own (you can’t). I’ll lose all of my data
finances. • Online banking. Most accounting (this is 2009, and there are many reliable
That’s a time-saver, but it can be more: software gives you easy access to your backup options). My business is too small
a business-saver, if you stay on top of your bank accounts online (if your financial (do you spend money? make money?).
reports and catch problems early. institution allows it). This capability can If you need to know how much money
save a lot of time, provide real-time bank- you’re spending and taking in, where it’s
Auditing, Banking Benefits ing information, and eliminate some dupli- going and coming from, what’s in stock
There are still other reasons why most cate data entry. and on time and what’s not, and you want
businesses need accounting software: • Dashboards. With so much going on to treat your employees, customers, and
• Audit trail. If you have multiple in your financial system, how do you get vendors as professionally as possible, you
employees working on a paper system, a handle on what needs to be done each need accounting software.
you may have a hard time knowing who’s day? Accounting software can remind you
done what to your records, and when. when, for example, invoices are due or full reviews at pcmag.com For a full
Most accounting software offers an audit past due, payroll or other taxes must be roundup of accounting software programs,
trail, a lengthy list chronicling any addi- paid, inventory is running low, and more. check out go.pcmag.com/accounting
Sometimes the ideas for my Solutions TOC feature more usable than earlier TOC Level One
pieces come from readers; other times versions is the inclusion of the Styles gal- TOC Level Two
they’re the result of problems I’ve encoun- lery—that big thing that takes up the right TOC Level Three
tered and managed to solve on my own. half of the Home ribbon. TOC Level One
Then there are those occasions when The trick with Word TOCs is recogniz- TOC Level Two
I decide a solution is needed simply ing that they rely (for the most part) on TOC Level Three
because people around me keep asking styles. A basic TOC is essentially nothing
for help on a certain point. I figure if a more than Word grabbing text that has And so on. The hierarchy here is, obvi-
bunch of people I know are uncertain, it’s been assigned a specific style and plac- ously, that Level One reflects the main
a good bet others some readers are as well. ing it in a hierarchically arranged list. You TOC headings, Level Two reflects sec-
This solution, creating a table of contents tell Word which style you want to make ondary TOC headings, and Level Three
(TOC) in Word, is a request that never up each step on the hierarchy, and Word reflects tertiary TOC headings. Many
seems to go away. formats it for you as a TOC. As you might TOCs stop at only two levels, of course,
As with many things in Microsoft Word expect, you can modify this arrangement but more are possible.
2007, such as indexing, the Table of Con- (and we’ll get to that), but a quick-and- To create a TOC in Word, first deter-
tents feature comes almost unchanged out dirty TOC is pretty easy to create. mine which textual elements (we’ll call
of earlier versions of the software. One First, have a look at the following orga- them “TOC headings” here) you want to
thing, though, that makes Word 2007’s nization—it’s the standard one for TOCs. appear in it. Often these are the same as
the titles and subtitles in your document.
Then assign a unique style to all instances
of each TOC level. For example, assign one
particular style to all the main TOC head-
ings and another to all the secondary TOC
headings. Make sure these styles aren’t
used for anything else in the document (or
else Word will think it’s part of the TOC).
To assign a style to a text element, simply
highlight the text and, in the Style gallery,
automated options click on the style you want it to have.
The TOC drop-down
By default, Word assumes you want
menu offers two auto
mated TOCs along with to use the “Heading” styles for your TOC
other options. entries: Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3,
and so forth. (The first two are visible on
the Styles gallery, as long as you haven’t
modified it.)
You may use whatever styles you want,
however, including any you create your-
self. But you might want to stick with the
defaults, at least while you experiment
with TOC creation: Word’s automatic TOC
generator uses these by default.
Once you’ve assigned styles to the called Title, and level 2 to the style called click on a hyperlink to be taken to the rel-
headings that will be listed on your TOC, Subtitle. To delete the level number from evant page.
place the cursor where you want the TOC existing styles, highlight the number in While the TOC’s generation depends
to appear in your document (typically at the field and press the Delete key. When on your document’s styles, the formatting
the very top, or right after a title page), and you’ve made your choices, click OK and of the TOC itself (that is, how it looks in
click References on the menu bar. Next, Word will generate the TOC at the cur- your document) does not. Adjusting the
click the Table of Contents button at the rent cursor location. TOC format is easy: Just click the Modify
far left of the References ribbon. The top Note that there’s an option in the dia- button from the main TOC dialog. In the
two options in the resulting drop-down log box to use hyperlinks instead of page resulting Style dialog, select the TOC
menu give you nearly identical automatic numbers. It’s selected by default, and it level you want to change (TOC 1 is head-
TOC options (the only difference being will, as you might guess, link the text in ing level 1, and so on) and click Modify.
the title). A third option, the manual TOC, the TOC to the places in the document This reveals Word’s standard Modify Style
simply generates a set of placeholder text; where the headings indicated appear. So dialog, where you can specify precisely
you then change the headings and the anyone reading your document in Word what you want each TOC level heading to
page numbers yourself. It’s useful only in rather than on a printout can simply Ctrl- look like.
helping a bit with formatting.
The important point to note here is
that the automatic TOC options use stan-
dard Styles as the basis for TOC headings:
Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and so
on. To assign other styles as TOC head-
ings, first create those styles, and then
choose Insert Table of Contents from the
Table of Contents drop-down menu. After preview styles The
specifics for the style of
adjusting any items on this dialog that you
each TOC heading level
want to change (Formats gives some basic are displayed below the
layout themes, for example), click the small Preview area.
Options button.
Most of the Table of Contents Options
dialog consists of the Styles section. Here
you choose which styles represent which
elements of the TOC. By default (and
not shown in the graphic here), Heading
1 is given TOC level 1, Heading 2 is given
TOC level 2, and so on. In the graphic,
TOC level 1 has been assigned to the style
Tips
Useful tidbits from PCMag editorial staff, Labs analysts, and readers
MICROSOFT OFFICE
Create Meetings in Outlook the
Easy Way
Most times when you need to set up a
meeting in Outlook, the process starts
with an e-mail you receive. I used to switch
to the Calendar and add a new entry, with
the date and time, and then paste the
e-mail into the new appointment. But
there’s an easier way: Simply right-click
on the original e-mail and choose Move to
Folder, select Calendar, and hit OK. This
actually creates a new appointment entry,
complete with the e-mail inserted in the
main window. You still have to enter the
date, time, and participants, but you get to
that point faster.—Michael Muchmore
WINDOWS
Clear a Print Job Without
Rebooting
If you’ve ever had a print job hang, you’re
probably familiar with the Windows compose appointments via e-mail You can create appointments in Outlook directly
Print Spooler window. You get to this from an e-mail. The appointment will even include the e-mail text in the main window.
window simply by selecting the relevant
printer from the Control Panel’s Print- files, use Notepad to save the four com- designed primarily to home in on VHF
ers and Faxes applet (simply Printers in mands above as a batch file. I’ve named channels (2 to 13), while virtually every
Vista). In the somewhat unusual event of a mine Killqueue.bat.—Craig Ellison digital broadcast now resides on UHF
printer queue jam, you can go to the Print channels (14 to 69). The solution is buying
Spooler and simply delete the job. Some- MULTIMEDIA an indoor/outdoor HDTV antenna. They
times, though, the system won’t let you Make Your Earphones Last start at around ten bucks, and since they’re
cut off print jobs that way: It marks the job Are your earphones always breaking? If designed to focus on digital UHF broad-
“Deleting…” but never quite gets there, you wad them up and throw them in your casts, they should improve your digital
and you end up rebooting. Here’s a better bag every morning—or worse, play with reception dramatically. After the transi-
way to do it. them while you’re listening to music— tion, “high VHF” channels (7 to 13) will go
Open a command prompt (go to Start | stop! The best way to store earphone or digital, too—and this kind of antenna will
Run, then type cmd) and enter the follow- earbuds is to wrap the cable—gently— receive them as well.—TG
ing: around your fingers, then withdraw your
hand, keeping the loop intact. Put the High-Def Video Capture
net stop spooler coiled-up earphones inside a small car- I’ve fielded a couple of questions about
del c:\windows\system32\spool\print- rying case (not around your iPod), where what kind of processor power is required
ers\*.shd the lack of tension on the earpieces and the for capturing HD programs. Actually, the
del c:\windows\system32\spool\print- protective outer layer will keep them in issue isn’t capturing shows as much as it is
ers\*.spl tip-top shape.—Tim Gideon playing them back. Most TV tuner cards
net start spooler have integrated MPEG encoders that
The Right Antenna for DTV can offload that job from the CPU. But in
In Vista you’ll need to open an elevated Our government implies that plain old playback, the MPEG decryption is usually
command prompt by right-clicking on cmd rabbit-ear antennas should work with performed by software, and that requires a
.exe and selecting Run as Administrator. your DTV converter box, but usually this fairly serious processor—a minimum of a
For those of you who remember batch will not be the case. Your rabbit ears are 2.2-GHz P4 or so.—Jeremy A. Kaplan
PRINTERS
type urls in a flash No need to type Eliminate Smeared Printouts get the bar back Tap the top of your
“.com” when entering a URL on your If you use an inkjet printer and see smear- iPhone screen to access your address bar.
iPhone; Safari will fill that in for you. ing on a page, that’s typically because
something is sticking to the printhead. table shows all devices connected (physi-
CAMERAS If you have a printer that includes the cally or wirelessly) through the router. If a
Clean Your Lens! nozzles in the cartridges—as do most HP device doesn’t appear, make sure it’s pow-
This may seem obvious, but many people printers—and you see smearing immedi- ered on. Not sure about your router’s IP
forget to keep their camera lenses clean. ately after changing a cartridge, remove address? At the command prompt (Start |
A fat smudge on your lens will make all of the cartridge and check to make sure that Run | cmd) type ipconfig and hit Enter. Note
your pictures come out blurry. Depending the protective tape over the nozzles is the router’s address on the line that reads
on how dirty the lens is, there are many completely removed. If some of the tape is Default Gateway.—Mario Morejon
different options out there for cleaning it still attached, remove it, but be careful not
(brushes, fluid, and tissues being the most to touch the nozzle plate.—M. David Stone Gps
popular). At the very least, get something Dress Up Your Garmin Icons
that’s quick and easy—say, a pack of lens NETWORKING Most GPS automotive devices use some
tissue that can fit in your camera case—so Find a Device on Your Network variation of a triangle to represent the
you’ll always have something on hand. There are a few reasons to know your con- current position of your vehicle. With the
—PJ Jacobowitz nected devices’ IP addresses. For one, it’s introduction of the nüvis, Garmin started
invaluable in troubleshooting. After mak- providing additional vehicle icons that
MOBILITY ing sure your unresponsive device is actu- you can use instead of the triangle. But did
BlackBerry Typing Tricks ally plugged in, the next step will nearly you know that you can expand your library
Here are a few of my favorite tips for using always be to point your PC’s browser at of vehicle icons, free? Garmin provides a
a BlackBerry keyboard: its IP address and make sure that some- library of vehicle bundles on its site . Once
1. To capitalize letters, don’t bother thing having to do with the device appears, you’ve downloaded and unzipped the files,
with the Shift key; instead, hold down the such as a configuration page, or at least the simply copy them into the Garmin vehicle
key for the letter you want to capitalize for device name. This leads to another reason: folder on your device (you’ll need to con-
one second. Often, a device’s “home page”—what you nect your nüvi to your computer with a
2. While Web browsing, press K to see in your browser when you type in the USB cable). You can also customize vehicle
bring up your bookmarks list at any time; device’s IP address—will give you easier icons on Garmin’s zumo motorcycle GPSs
press A to add a new one. access to device options, and in some as well as the StreetPilot c500 series of
3. Scroll down a message or Web page cases, more settings and extras. devices.—CE
quickly by pressing the spacebar. Scroll How can you find the IP addresses
back up by pressing Shift-Spacebar. of your devices? Through your router’s GREAT IDEA! Got a tip to share? Find a cool
4. Dial a phone number that contains configuration screens. In your browser, new trick in your favorite gadget or app?
letters (1-800-PICK-UPS) by pressing Alt type in your router’s IP address, then find Send it to tips@pcmag.com. We’ll run it
and then typing the correct letter using the the DHCP client table among the config through the PCMag Labs wringer and print
QWERTY keyboard.—Jamie Lendino screens (which vary by router brand). This our favorites on this page.
network-attached storage
HP StorageWorks AiO400t Suite
$3,799 list Norton Internet Security
2009 $69.99 yearly
LCD Monitors parental control
Lenovo ThinkVision L200x Net Nanny 6.0 $39.99 yearly
$499.99 list
Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP Backup
$689 direct SOS Online Backup (beta)
$19.95 direct
Projectors
high-end XGA Financial
Canon Realis X700 $2,500 list blasting QuickBooks Accounting
Consumer/Business XGA on a budget The Pro Edition 2009 $199.95 list
NEC VT800 $1,000 street Gateway FX6800-01e nNEW TurboTax Premier
portable offers big gaming perfor- 2008 Premier, $89.95 direct;
Dell M109S $499 direct mance for a small price. Deluxe, $59.95