Tài liệu PC Magazine 2008 pdf

Experience the Difference A notebook with the new hafnium-based 45nm Intel Centrino processor technology can change your expectations about mobile performance, media-rich applications,

THE ISSUE

PC Labs Tests Green PCs Dvorak: Turn Off Those Lights!

Ulanoff: Can We Stay Green?

How to Recycle Your Old PC

MAGAZINE

1992106910) |

NÌ o tho:

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AM Processor Actual perormance may vary See Ina /wew.nta convpertormance/matle!

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3 Performance measured based on TMPGEncoder” Xpress" 44 optimized fr Intel® HO Boost, ‘comparing atest generation Intel® CoreTM2 Duo Processor T9500 8 T8100 wih comparable Irequencyprevousgeneratoninte¥8CoreTMDuoProcessor Acualpeformancemay rary See

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I'm the latest in mobile

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2008 intl Corporati AM rights reserved ntl the Inte og Cent rivino sie are trademarks of niet Corperation nthe US and ther counties

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you to take deeper control of yoursystem We show you how to manipulate and back up files, change the way Windows behaves, resurrect dead files miraculously, quicken start-up and

shutdown, thoroughly uninstall programs, and more This guide will help make savvy user out of you—and in the process render your system more fleet-footed and secure

Dvorak: Turn Off Those Lights!

page 58 Ulanoff: Can We Stay Green?

page 7 Apple MacBook Air page 25

ll Supercharge Windows page 74

30 Consumer Electronics Motorola RAZR? V8

1¢ BlackJack II (SGH-i617) Archos TV+

Samsui

Palm Treo 75 Nokia N8IO Internet Tablet Bose Computer MusicMonitor Sling Media Slingbox SOLO Logitech Harmony One IVC LT-42X898

FEATURE STORY BUYING GUIDE | SMB SERVERS

Lately it seems that every manufacturer is Whether you want to share files, provide col-

‘environmentally friendly devices 1 laborative, company-wide apps, or hosta Web

vl Xi ‘does it mean to be’ sen isiness needs a server But which

We look into the latest efforts at green PCs and on C Magazine's new benchmark suite

introduce the PC Magazine Green Approved puts the latest generation of SMB workhorse seal, based on our in-depth testing serversto the test

FRONT SIDE OPINIONS SOLUTIONS PCMAG ONLINE

15 News Ce a 87 Secure Your Need more tech news and reviews?

supply 60 John C Dvorak Keep your e-mailand where you'll fine:

the landscape of IM conversations + Full-length product reviews

chit 62 Inside Track salt edd sect (including video reviews) by our

green-tech Lee: ate safe and secure, 9 y

making datacenters ohne: Puoral experts in PC Mag Labs

more eco-friendly 64 Sascha Segan 90 Project + Industry analysis from insiders like

Get anold PC ready John C Dvorak, Michael J Miller,

16 Ata Glance 12 Feedback for recycling ane Timm Baber

Recycled-computer + The latest security news in our

jewelry;a human-fat 92 Ask Neil Security Watch blog

biofuel raceboat; 124 BACKSPACE + Useful software downloads in our

e-waste in America 94 Ask Loyd PCMag.com Utility Library

20 Connected 96 Business

carbon-offset site,

100 Office

102 Security

104 Linux

Need more green? You'll find help:

ful, money-saving tips in stories like

7 Ways to Save Eneray.” Read this cui SN GOS oaed ety 497 rye Dt 20 3t St ew RNY stony at goomag.com/areentech— {Soy rrmaca ome octane Oe Heb ana eatnrat rang tisPORTASIEN aan arg and get continuous coverage of

‘Greer 400958 Rat rears sis P9 tt ie Bens cred at ON

105 Tech Tips

4 PCMAGAZINE APRIL 2008

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FIRST WORD LANCE ULANOFF

Can We Stay Green?

Our so

wrapped in

real impact Remember the hat-wearing

bear begging us to prevent forest fires, or

the solemn American Indian—a single tear,

running down his leathery face—contem-

plating the littered landscape before him?

We later learned that the guy wasn’t actu-

ally a Native American, but that’s beside

the point We bought the image Asa child,

Ipicked up vherever I saw it, and as

anadult [continue to feel disdain for peo-

plewho throw their garbage wherever they

please Will our latest green craze have the

staying power of that old Indian or Smokey

the Bear? Idon't think so

have a habit of embracing fads with alarmii

| But global warming is no fad It’s

ows Worse by the

day I'm worried that we can't sustain the

momentum, since in going green we are

swimming upstream ‘inst powerful

interests and against our own unquet

able thirst for new tech products,

It’s not that we're not trying I recently

interviewed a rep of recycling firm Inter-

con Solutions, Intercon takes technology

products from U.S companies and, using

the still-voluntary environmental manage-

ment system set forth by the International

the ISO 14001 guidelines, breaks them

down into their basic components and

reusable materials The company doesn’t

burn or bury anything in landfill

it reclaims materials for reu:

scrap (for use in wood-plastic composite

lumber) to refined precious metals (for

new electronics)

mputers are the easiest tech items

to break down into reusable materials,

whereas monitors and televisions—which

constitute the bulk of products Intercon

receives—have the lowest recycling va

ues Monitors and televisions are now

s do-good urges are often evocative images that make a

such a big part of the recycling picture because our love affair with flat-screens and HDTVs has exploded,

Tapplaud Intercon and other compa nies’ efforts to help us recycle electron- but our desire for new technology far

‘outstrips our ability to recycle and reuse

While we're trying to go green, someone (guilty!) is showing us the new iPod toueh

or teasing us with the best-ever all-in-one

pe igital camera may be great, but

wouldn’ta more powerful one be better?

Going green is the right thing to do today Staying

green after the spotlight of public attention has

faded is a bigger challenge

The Chinese are finally closing the gap With the West, not only in their craving for technology but also in theirability toafford

it The problem is that China already has ahorrific track record when it comes to discarded tech products We've all heard reports of rivers flowing with old moni tors Now that the Chinese have the bug, soon they'llall have laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, PCs, and digital came Which they'll be upgrading before long, Even altruistic green ideas like One Laptop per Child may ultimately turn gray For every OLPC XO laptop that is properly demanufactured, I bet ten will cend up in landiills

Let’salsokeep in mind that every gadget

‘we use consumes electricity and thus con- tributes to global warming Most tech prod- ucts still get their juice the old-fashioned way And if they don’t plug into the wall, they use batteries, which, even if recharge- able, must eventually be disp

So how do we stay green, given our passion for gadgets? We need to be more

heating systems, and AC Irs the products

in our hands, in our pockets, on our desk- tops, and right in frontof us

nis certainly the right thing

to do today Staying green after the spot- light of public attention has faded isa big- lenge

Put the proof in your hand,

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PC LABS DIRECTOR, SENIOR EDITOR (HARDWARE) Laarni Almendrala Ragaza Senior eorrors Sean Carroll (software, Internet, networking),

Wendy Sheehan Donnell (consumer electronics), Carol Mangis (blogs), Sarah Pike (Solutions), Erik Rhey (Front Side)

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PC LABS LEAD ANALYSTS Cisco Cheng, Tim Gideon, David Gussman, Robert Heron, Michael Muchmore, Oliver Rist, Neil J, Rubenking, Joel Santo Domingo, Sascha Segan,

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This little annoyance has bothered me for years, reat to know finally how to make it just stop! Neil's column is truly one

of the biggest diamonds that stud the gen- erally golden PC Magazine,—Steve Grant

‘Two Views on Sascha’s Column Although I generally applaud consumers understanding more of the technology and

‘economies behind the products they buy I think many remain myopic when they look over that fence with only one eye open, as Sascha Segan does in his column “Pay Now

or Pay Later” (February, page 68)

He's correct when he states that many

of the things we purchase today are “pro- duced by a cadre of mercury-poisoned drudges working for six suntlower seeds

an hour.” But he doesn’t ask what these people were doing before they were pro- ducing the things we purchase today, or what they'd be doing if we didn't purchase those products, It’s true that “few of these jobs would create lives that you or would Want to be living.” But then again, they didn’t have lives many of us would want to

be living before, when they were worki for one sunflower Seed an hour And if we Were to stop purchasing things from them, Idoubt they'd be doing any better—env ronmental quality has never been a big pri-

‘economic downturn is happening because

consumer spending is down, But I've got-

ten knee-deep in thought about the Ameri- can way of wanting “the best bargain.’

to convince me that to ask S500 for a lap-

top was outrageous This was one of many

s with people who, to me, were

instead of needs and

on getting the cheapest thin

something that would fit thei last them for years

‘The bar for prices has continuously

dropped I feel manufacturers know that the majority of people care only about

price But companies can cut prices because they cut spending in areas like

jobs, customer support, and quality I feel

the blame lies heavily with companies

that encourage this trend by continuously breaking barriers on price and creating

new norms to entice customers P'mall for lower prices, but I want prices to go down for the right reasons Cheaper is not always better—Brian Wolf

to try downloading and installing Micro- soft Virtual PC

Much to my amazement, everyth went well, and Tnow have an

led on my computer side by side with the Vista machine Itis pretty handy being able to runboth operati

neously, as Well as being able f0 ac data folders and files from either m: via the shared files program Thai much for your very timely article Tother- ever Would have known about this capability Robert Hollingsworth

‘become the property of PC Magazine and are sub- iotters individually,

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Behind the Green Curtain

Big tech companies are going green, but what about the off-brand subcontractors

that actually make their components?

How much do you care about the eco- mental watchdog groups such as Green-

Would peace, the Silicon Vall

and Climate Counts, big tech is expendi lot of effort to market eco-friendly moves

to consumers Many have ramped up their take-back programs and are making sure products are certified by Energy Starand EPEAT (see the eco-label glossary on page

friendliness of your electronic: Toxies Coalition,

you pay more? Switch toa vendor that’s

greener? More than

dents toa recent Forrester survey claimed

to want environmentally friendly prod-

ucts, But of those, only 12 percent—the

Nonetheless, goin has a major

impact on tech companies After scrutiny

and some negative reports from environ:

Some have even implemented target dates for phasing out toxic materials But there is one missing piece to the

iginal equipment

green puzzle The ¢

manufacturers (OEMs), such as Apple, Dell, and HP, don’t actually do much Gf any) manufacturing Most PCs are merely assembled by those big tech companies Making components is a job for subcon tracted companies, sometimes called origi nal design manufacturers (ODMs), though how much they design varies widely from product to product Major ODMs include Asus Tek, Foxconn, and Quanta (all in Tai- wan), Celestica (Canada), and Flextronics (Singapore) So the vendors can tell you

>> If Americans recycled 100 million cell phones, we could save enough energy to power 194,000 households for a year

PRL 2008 PE MAGAZINE 15,

(= What’s New from the World of Tech

Behind the Green Curtain

Big tech companies are going green, but what about the off-brand subcontractors

that actually make their components?

How much do you care about the eco- mental watchdog groups such as Green-

Would peace, the Silicon Vall

and Climate Counts, big tech is expendi lot of effort to market eco-friendly moves

to consumers Many have ramped up their take-back programs and are making sure products are certified by Energy Starand EPEAT (see the eco-label glossary on page

friendliness of your electronic: Toxies Coalition,

you pay more? Switch toa vendor that’s

greener? More than

dents toa recent Forrester survey claimed

to want environmentally friendly prod-

ucts, But of those, only 12 percent—the

Nonetheless, goin has a major

impact on tech companies After scrutiny

and some negative reports from environ:

Some have even implemented target dates for phasing out toxic materials But there is one missing piece to the

iginal equipment

green puzzle The ¢

manufacturers (OEMs), such as Apple, Dell, and HP, don’t actually do much Gf any) manufacturing Most PCs are merely assembled by those big tech companies Making components is a job for subcon tracted companies, sometimes called origi nal design manufacturers (ODMs), though how much they design varies widely from product to product Major ODMs include Asus Tek, Foxconn, and Quanta (all in Tai- wan), Celestica (Canada), and Flextronics (Singapore) So the vendors can tell you

>> If Americans recycled 100 million cell phones, we could save enough energy to power 194,000 households for a year

PRL 2008 PE MAGAZINE 15,

they're green, but what about the subcon-

tractors who actually create the product

that bear the brand?

The fact that subcontractors generally

operate under consumers’ radar, in addi-

tion to being located in countries with

much looser environmental and workplace

standards, makes it easy to suspect they

might skimp on greenery There are even

rumors of “double manufacturing,” where

components or entire computers with the

same name are completely different for dif-

ferent markets with different regulation:

On top of that, the technology industry

is largely self-regulated The OEMs can

send audit forms for subcontractorsto fill

out, with no real guarantee that the subcon-

tractor will be forthright Even some non-

profit watchdogs like Greenpeace assign

green ratings based on trust The subcon-

tractors in question fill out and return a

survey voluntarily

“Audits are what they are, but there's a

Jot to do beyond audits,” says IBM’s John

to EICC, which details strict guidelines for safe working conditions and environmen tally responsible practices To its credit, the EICC does conduct on-site audits, as well

as awareness programs and training But joining the organization and abiding by its rulesisa voluntary move There is no sin- gle oversight body that inspects everyone inthe supply chain,

Change is stow in coming, even within the EICC and its member companies For example, after a recent annual review and

to include more environmental guidelines

in its code, Actually implementing thi

‘ision, however, could still take several

months And that’s how the EICC wants

it, “We don't believe rapid changes to the code are productive,” says Gabriel “It

takes time to internalize it and get it to the

suppliers.”

So who can be trusted!

firmly believe in the po:

According to Nabil

of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability

at the Rochester Institute of Technolo;

in Rochester, New York, itis in the best interests of the big tech companies to keep the subcontractors up to high standards because it’s good for business “Compa- nies witha product in the market can't take risks They must guarantee the quality of components,” he says

Dell's own environmental poli ager, Mark Newton, concurs: "

in this green movement or in any aspect

of quality depends on our interaction with suppliers.” Newton believes the sub- contractors consider sustainability lability, and phasing out toxic mate twofold opportunity: to help the environ- ment, sure, but perhaps more important for them, i’sa way to earn more business from companies eager to call themselves “the greenes Griffith

i? Some experts

ve etfon

AMBER WAVES OF E-WASTE

Much of the tech trash we discard is conveniently shipped to countries like China, India, and Nigeria But here's a look at the scale of the U.S.s e-waste and how it could impact us

away for every per-

son currently living

ry (about 0.5 gram its each) to poison the Great Lakes eight

Nearly every large electronics and semi- conductor manufac- turer that began op- erations in the 1970s

or earlier has an EPA Superfund (deemed the worst toxic waste sites) in tory Forty-one million Americans live within 4 miles of one of these sites

up overseas each year for low-tech

te recycling That

weight is the equivalent of over 500,000 Hummer

Apile of our obsolete computers could make a 22- story mountain that covers the entire

472 square miles

of the city of Los Angeles

lotwork, Contre for Environmental Justice (Sri Lanka), Contor for Public Integr, Electonics TakeBack Coaltion, Elzabeth Grossman’ High-Tech

Istical Abstract, Whatcom County Pubic Works (state of Washington)

>>A survey by Staples in November 2007 indicated that only 23 percent of U.S residents recycle electronics

16 PE MAGAZINE APRIL 2008

Saving Energy in the Server Room

Companies are looking for new ways to green up their data centers

Big tech is in fora wake-up call According

to Department of Energy estimates, data-

ter power consumption will rise from

1.2 percent to 4 percent of all power con-

sumption in the U.S in the next few years

Even now, IT consumes 30 to40 percent of

the power flowing into a typical corpora-

tion, and 87 percent of today’s server rooms

were built before 2001 As our appetite for

data rises, companies with large server

farms and storage area networks will face

out-of-control energy costs

Yet going green in the data center isa

new marketing opportunity

tiative to help reduce carbon ei

be the equivalent of taking Il m

\dors are promoting new cfficient servers and improved cooling systems Intel and others have announced the Cl

ons, a plan that,

on cars off the road Meanwhile, Google has installed a 1.6-megawatt solar panel array that provides

in the amount of ene:

studying power consumption, reallo

ng airflows—and even ting off a server that's not in use.— John Brandon

its California headquarters with 30 percent ofits peak power

Analysts, however, are skeptical about all the new marketing over greener Ï

“Many of the answers are things that don’t generate publicity, such as rightsizing the facility and supporting green design pri ples,” says Steve Wallage, a managing dire torat BroadGroup Consulting

Mark Peters, an analyst at Enterpri Strategy Group, says some alternative

ources for data centers, such a nd-powered turbines, don't reduce a company’s carbon footprint if you factor

nd materials needed to make those

ver loads, imple measures such as shut-

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FRONTSIDE

Green-Tech Investing Is Red-Hot

Ifyou want to know what the next big thing in green tech will be, just follow the money

nental interests have typically been Vi hetical to those of business and industry But given

recent trends in venture-capital investments, it seem:

that those days are over In fact, 2006 saw a 78 percent

increase in green-tech investing, and in 2007, U.S

venture-capital firms pumped $2.6 billion into green technology in the first three quarters Green isin,and this

year could see the development and production of tech-

nologies that both alleviate environmental impacts and

change the very waysin which we conduct our lives

“Green technology companies have a moral attrac

tion and distinct political appeal for liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike,” says Rachel Wesler,a partner

at law firm Goodwin Proctor who specializes in private

‘equity But there's more to the growth of green-tech investments than just ideals: Venture-capital backing is spearheading research that will make eco-friendly tech- nology economically competitive

The majority of green-tech deals—and develop-

ment—is going toward the clean energy sector “It’s

simple supply and demand,” says Wal van Lierop, presi-

dent and CEO of Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital

“We currently drill for 83 million barrels of oila day, and

by the end of the next decade we will need 250.” And with the price of oil ever rising, companies are ageres-

sively searching for renewable energy alternatives at competit

made on these investments.—Frank Washburn

TOP GREEN-TECH EARNERS New Alternatives

(NALFX) One of the pioneers

of green investing, this specialty equity fund (established in 1982) emphasizes the environment and alternative energy by invest ing in alternative energy, biofuels, and fuel-cell technology

Returns in 2007 were more than

33 percent,

Spectra Green Fund (SPEGX) Encouraged by Bill Clinton's group CGI (Clinton Global Ini- tiative), the Spectra Green Fund is a multi-cap growth fund that invests

in companies such

as Google, On Semiconductor, and GF Group This fund saw one-year returns in 2007 of cover 26 percent GREEN-TECH UNDERPERFORMERS

Domini Social Equity Portfolio (DSEPX)

Along with invest- ing in green technology, prod- ucts/services, and human rights, this large-cap equity fund also imposes

“social filters” that prohibit investment

in companies that deal with alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and more This fund than 3 percent in

‘ous social filters, along with investing

to underperform in

2007

Sources: Lipper, Social Investment Forum, 2008

GOOD CLEAN TECH

Everything Old Is Green Again

If you are a fan of green and geeked-out accessories, you'll love the stuff at Acorn Studios This online store sells unique recycled accessories made from electronic components that were once landfill-bound Items include jewelry, rulers, photo albums, clocks, and notebooks (shown)—all at rock-bottom, prices.—Steve Volynets

>>PCs contain gold too: There's more gold in 1.1 tons of PC scrap electronics than in 17 tons of gold ore

18 PC MAGAZINE APRIL 2008

You'll not only save

money, you're also

allowing more people

to fit on the plane

Take the train

If your destination

is only, say, 300

miles away, consider

train or bus travel,

instead of fiying,

Often, the time you'd

spend getting to

the airport, navigat-

ing check-in and

security, waiting at

the gate, and flying

to your destination

‘equals or exceeds

the time you'd invest

in train travel, even

given the longer

in-transit train time,

Also, trains are

powered ina more

Evening and red-

eye flights are

Plan either to walk or

to use public trans-

‘andi trash by bringing

‘your own snacks or

‘meals on your fight in

reusable containers

FRONTSIDE

CONNECTED TRAVELER

Giving Back to the Friendly Skies

Carbon offsets can be a good way to reduce your traveling carbon

footprint, but be wary of green scams

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, a big wed- ding is not the way to do

it Stephanie Cheng, a civil environmental engineer who lives in the Bay Area, real- ized this when nearly athird

of her guests flew to Cali- fornia from the Ea

for her wedding last year

In anattempt to reduce the environmental impacts of the event, Cheng asked her guests to purchase carbon offsets, which are invest- ments in projects (such as tree planting) designed

to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other sreenhouse gases The problem is that Cheng can't

be sure that her guests’ money is ending up in wor- thy hands

A cottage industry has cropped up online to funnel, the money conscience-stricken travelers fork over to offset air and car travel—and not all ofthese sites are

on the up-and-up Even the Federal Trade Commis- sion has become concerned about how carbon-ofixet programs work: it recently held hearings focusing

on carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates

‘There are disagreements over the impacts of certain investments, such as tree planting Furthermore, con- mers have to worry about the concept of “addition- ality.” referring to cases where a project would have

reputable offset site, suc

AVOID OFFSET RIP-OFF Go witha rated,

been implemented anyway with or without a donor's off- set dollars

But you can buy effective

offsets i you follow simple guidelines and choose rep-

utable companies Some reliable reports can bedown- loaded online, For example, Clean Air-CoolPlanet (www cleanair-coolplanet.org), a nonprofit group, publishes" Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers,” and the Tufts Climate Initiative has a report titled “Voluntary Offsets for Air-Travel Carbon Emissions: Evaluations and Ree ommendations of Voluntary Offset Companies Gowwtuy eV/earbonoffs

There are also third parties that verify and approv et sites, stich as Swiss site The Gold Standard (www.cdmgoldstandard.org) and the Voluntary Carbon Standard (ww' org) cording to the Clean Air-Cool Planet guide, the highest-rated US carbon offset companies Were Cli- mate Trust (vwww.climatetrustorg), NativeEnergy Guww.nativeenergy.com), and myclimate (www myclimate.org) The Tufts report picked Carbon- fund.org aiid CarbonCounter.org Most of these sitesalso have a carbon calculator so you can figure out how much to donate.—Isabelle Groc

The Biggest Cruiser

Pete Bethune, a New Zealand skipper, is on a quest

to circumnavigate the globe in a record-breaking

75 days The boat he plans to do it in, aptly named Earthrace, is an eco-friendly powerboat that runs on biodiesel fuel made primarily from renewable sources such as canola and soybeans—and one secret ingredi- ent: human body fat In an effort to take the bio in biodiesel one step further, Bethune and two of the crew members, courtesy of a liposuction procedure, made the very personal donation of 10 liters of their

‘own body fat, enough to propel the craft for about 15 kilometers Susie Parker

>> According to a 2004 survey, three-quarters of all the still-functional PCs ever sold are in storage instead of in use

20 PEMAGAZINE APRIL 2008

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Apple MacBook Air

$1,799 direct eeeco PROS Thinnest laptop out there Amazing 13-inch display on a 3-pound chassis Full-size keyboard Processor

is not ultra-low-voltage Eco- friendly, Gesture-enabled touchpad Decent price CONS Only one USB port, three ports total, Lacks an ExpressCard or card-reader option Battery is not user- upgradable Only 3 hours of battery life

with lia closed

Change Is in the Air

Apple fans have been eagerly awaiting the manu-

facturer’s reentry into the ultraportable market for

years The wait is over, thanks to the Apple Mac:

Book Air This 3-pound ultraportable isn't simply

a new iteration of the MacBook Pro; it’s a new class

of laptop altogether

The aluminum chassis measures 0.76 inches

thick at the back and tapers down to an unheard-

of 0.16 inches thick at the front bezel Despite its

remarkable thinness, it’s far from flimsy I got the

impression the MacBook Air could stand up to the abuse inherent in frequent travel The ultra slim case houses a bright 13-inch LED screen and a full-size, backlit keyboard, The design is gorgeous (That said, this system would have been even more spectacular if Apple had managed to integrate an optical drive.)

Another impressive feature on the MacBook Ait

is its large touchpad Besides the two-finger scroll- ing standard on MacBooks, the Air offers other

42 Software

48 Business

54 The Best Stuff

| 2008 PC MAGAZINE 25

FIRST LOOKS HARDWARE

TROUBLE AT THE PORTS

Opening the protective hatch

reveals the MacBook Air's

meager selection of ports Left

to right: headphone jack,

USB port, micro-DVI

PERFORMANCE TESTS

Avion scars tet

Butydeatsttce

‘Apple MacBook Ai ‘running Boot Carp)

‘Sony VAIO VGN-SZT9IN"

port

Z

gesture-based commands, similar to the iPhone's

For instance, you can expand a photo on screen

by stretching two fingers apart while pressing the touchpad, or shrink it by pinching your fingers together, Neat as that is, it would have been truly groundbreaking if Apple had extended touch sensi- tivity tothe MacBook Air sereei

The rest of the feature set is underwhelming

Only three portsare available on the MacBook Air aheadphone jack, the lone USB, and one micro-DVI port—all housed beneath a hateh that folds up into, the aluminum chassis Apple chose not to include acellular modem, WiMAX capabilities, or an Ether- net port, so the only way to get online is through the 802.lIn Airport Extreme wireless card or by using Bluetooth 2.0 device asa WWAN modem

There are ways to work around the lack of an ical drive Along with the Air, Apple shipped

TA ĐOHAY cucsenon — TONHT

of non-copy-protected content You could also pur- chase the External Apple SuperDrive for $99, Happily, the lackluster feature set is salvaged by impressive performance parts, ineluding.a Ló-GHz dual-core Intel processor It’s a good thing Apple provided 2GB of RAM, because the memory is soldered onto the logic board, making upgrades out

of the question Running Boot Camp, the MacBook

outpaced similarly sized laptops but was lower than the 4-pound crowd and every other Apple laptop

Apple claims that the 37-Wh battery should last 5 hours, which would be impressive, but it lasted only 3hours And the battery,

Speesr Ló-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM: 80GB, 4,200-rpm hard drive; 358MB Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100; 13.%inch, I,280-by-

800 LCD; 20-pound system weight (3.kpound travel weight); USB port; Mac OS X Leopard

>>If you buy a new system from Apple or Dell, the firm will recycle your old computer regardless of manufacturer

26 PC MAGAZINE APRIL 2008

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FIRST LOOKS HARDWARE

The 1525is lighter —by half a pound to be exact—

and boastsa tapering design, 14 inches at the hinge down toa mere inch thick at the front bezel Inside this slim shell is a generous 15.4-inch widescreen With 1,280-by-800 standard resolution, The 1525 isa pleasure to type on, thanks toits full-size keyboard

Media enthusiasts will delight in the inclusion of

an HDMI port—a first for the Inspiron line Hop

att 100 m8 129

fully thisisa si

n of more high-end media features

to come, Other assets include a 2.0-megapixel webcam right above the screen and an integrated cellular modem available in all three WWAN fla: vors, The 1525also offers tour USB ports, a FireWire port, and S-Video and VG?

in at an impressive 3 hours 45 minutes with the standard 56-Wh battery Imagine what you can get with the 85-Wh battery for an additional $50!

Refreshed witha new look and a slimmer desi the 1525 promises as

1 amiless computing experience for mobile consumers and home-theater enthusi- asts Its only real drawback, especially for gamers,

is that there is no option to upgrade the integrated graphics chipset —Cisco Cher

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>>Flaws in Windows XP's sleep mode may have added $5 billion a year to power bills worldwide since the OS's debut

Introducing the NEW

Bose® Computer MusicMonitor.”

We strive to always introduce new products testing phase When this happens we gener- that provide real benefits to users over what ally contain our enthusiasm, talk in ads about exists Once in a while, a product comes the new technology that made the product from our research laboratories possible, and leave it to others

that exceeds all our expectations to comment on the performance

and genuinely excites the peo- This time we are bursting with

ple in our other departments a sia R enthusiasm and we decided to

who are exposed to it during the SS share it So here we go!

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1 WE BELIEVE that, with respect to the accuracy of music reproduction, the

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4 WE BELIEVE that it is what YOU BELIEVE that counts

THUS OUR RECOMMENDATION Is:

Drop into any one of our Bose Stores for a five-minute demonstration and join in

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For your nearest Bose Store, contact 1-800-407-2673, ext CH205

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AOS `

Better sound through research

(©2007 dose Corporation Patent igh sued andr pending

FIRST LOOKS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

=

MOTOROLA RAZR? VB

Make a Sound Cell Choice

Motorola RAZR? V8 Tired of mediocre call quality on T-Mobile? You should have

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ise PROS Feels luxurious ĐT technology, producing the best sound quality I've ever heard Like Motorola’s popular RAZR? V9, the V8 has sroductag the Best coucd dixHO Eòo cớ he Crystal Talk

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There's also something truly unique under the V8's hood: anew, Linux-based operating system Unfortunately, Motorola

Mediocre ind ‘T-Mobile completely dropped the ball here by banning third-

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camera interface My V8 also suffered from some annoy’

lạ Internet yahoo!/MSN IM the POP3 e-mail

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nt and full Opera Web browser worked fin

nt refused toconnect toany service

“The huge gap in price between the V8 and other T-Mobile fea- ture phones is abit hard to stomach, but there's no denying that this phone takes voice calls on T-Mobile to a whole new level Sascha Segan

SAMSUNG BLACKJACK II (SGH-I617)

Double Down on This Device

Ifyou're looking fora smartphone that’s just as sweet as today’s Samsung BlackJack It

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some welcome features without raising the price, making it eo

acompellingalternative to the best RIM has to offer Tu ề

The Blackfack I improves on the original witha tighterkey- Ty xoynoad Sood

board, increased processor speed, better battery life, a larger voice quality Fast 36

screen, and double the RAM The new 260-MHz CPU and extra performance, Superior

memory definitely help with running multiple programs at once cerca eee

aswell The handset still felt litte sticky in opei Sone ne ely

Voice quality was bright and crisp over ATST'S3G cellular 32 sluggish as usual

network It was somewhat less so over the carrier's GSM con- Poor camera

nection, but still not bad The handset also sounded fine when For more

paired with a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset,and the 9.9emag.com/biackiack2

speakerphone was loud enough to use outdoors As for battery

lifo, [measured an excellent 6 hours, I minutes of talk time sevell wheel,

‘The 2-megapisel camera, however, took disappointingly soft Waway Por waning

and blurry photos.'The phone's microSD slot supportscardsas_—_Eavough lists

lange as 4GB,

If you are tethered to Microsoft Windows and Microsoft

Outlook you can make a solid bet on the BlackJack Hat ATST,

especially if you can't afford the super-capable HTC Tilt oraren’t

afan of ts larger size—Jamie Lendino

secrets, well Technology and

FIRST LOOKS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

=

Guide makes programming simple

"—-——— Extreme Streaming

ee een) eres Folks looking fora more-capable alternative to Apple TV

find that Archos has them covered Its new device, the TV»

network, you follow a quick setup process in Windows Media Player on your PC The Archos menu system, however, is

clunky and frustrating

reece The best part of the TV+ is its integrated DVR Archos

1⁄23 0%:00p - 0800p provides a guide of the week's shows on available channels,

and you simply select programs to enable recording It’s also easy to copy a recorded file to an Archos player, thumb drive,

or laptop viaa USB connection

The TV* has issues with aspect ratio—specifically, it PROS BuLiiDÙE didn’t properly fill upa widescreen set when usingits HDMI Streams media output And the highest resolution is standard-definition

HOMLout, browser —_Evenmoreannoying, the TV playsonly MPEG-4and WMV

ideo out of the box, and it lacks WMV HD support Audio is limited toMP3, WMA, and WAV, unless you buy plug

The Archos TV’ takes some effort to set up and use, but

it works If you can get past the drawbacks, you'll embrace

a feature set that Apple fans can only dream of —Tim Gideon

MANA6EMENT

Sage Software helps Steve Kuljt, General Manager of Island Lake Resort in British Columbia, see his unique Catskiing business

clearly from every angle Sage Accpac ERP software allows Steve the fiexibilfy to manage everything from hís daily operations

to his clients’ most unusual requests It's just one of the many end-to-end solutions we offer small to medium-sized businesses.

PALM TREO 755P (

Tired Treo Shows Its Age

‘tphones of 2006, the Palm 755p still has a lot going for it: a sharp, bright 320-by-320 sereen, an

to-use OS, 5 hours of talk time, and fast, responsive per-

2 little tired I'm shocked to see this,

multitasking, GPS, mobile TY, stereo Bluetooth for music, a light-

sensing display, voice dialing over Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi—you'll

probably still be happy The rubberized body is pleasant to hold

in your hand, and the keyboard, though cramped, is comfortable

Test calls over Verizon's network were clear, loud, and distinct, and voice performance via Bluetooth or witha speaker-

phone was acceptable

Powered by a 312-MHz Marvell processor and with 60MB of

free memory for programs, the 755p has enough under the hood

to ensure fast performance on the now four-year-old Palm OS

» That said, the Microsoft Office document suite, e-mail pro-

gram, and Web browser are all in sore need of serious updates to

support handling HTML pagesand HTML e-mail

The Treo 755p is not even old wine in a new bottle—it’s old

Wine in an old bottle Though it's not bad, I prefer the newer vin-

tages from BlackBerry and Windows Mobile —Jamie Lendino

$299 direct (with contract)

®ecoo PROS 3G data speeds High- resolution touch screen Stil

‘a great organizer anda good choice for Mac users

CONS Pricey Palm OS is growing mold No GPS, mobile TV, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth About 1.5 oun too heavy

gapemagcom/treo755p

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FIRST LOOKS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

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NOKIA N8IO INTERNET TABLET

The Web in Your Pocket

N810 is the company’s latest

sody users, and, surprisingly, Palm aficionados Unfortunately,

the lack of PIM and document-reading software, and the N8I0’s

problematic third-party software in general, may keep it irom

taking the PDA world by storm

‘The N8l0 isn'ta phone Itsa Linus-based handheld computer

(with a Palm OS emulator!) that connects to the Web via Wi-Fi or

with a Bluetooth connection through a mobile phone

The browser, the device's great strength, renders pages that

look just as good as they do ona PC, including Flash (but not

Java) plug-ins Music and video players are also on board, but

Bluetooth stereo, unfortunately, isn't supported You can make

calls using Skype and Gizmo VoIP clients that work over Wi-Fi,

too got surprisingly good call quality dialing through Skype

One downer is that the N810's interface seemed a bit sluggish

attimes, with responses trailing after button presses—a surp $479 list

considering the device's relatively powerful, 400-MHz processor &oo

The bigaest drawback, though, is that the N8IO lacks PIM suite PROS Well designed and attrac-

and some sort of Microsoft Office-compatible document-editing tive, Gorgeous high-resolution

program Also, [couldn't get the device's application installer to $©*"8”- Excellent Web browser

\work properly, which crippled my ability to add new apps CONS Prices: No Pi or crass

Nokia needs to bring this handsome 2.8-by-5.0-by-0.6-inch, cation installation process is

7.9-ounce tablet out of bet: ‘before it can truly seriously buggy

convince a lot of folks to buy For more: gopcmag.com/n810

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet

BOSE COMPUTER MUSICMONITOR

Small Speakers, Big Price Tag

Bose has speakers The concept beh wade some very small, very expensive computer

nd its Computer MusicMonitor

‘was to create a simple, good-sounding speaker set for com- puters in rooms that are more visible than home offices but have less room for subwoofers—like, say, the kitchen

With no subwoofer, no software to install, and a very bare-bones remote control, the Computer MusicMonitor akes about 2 seconds to set up The speakers deliver clarity in the mid- and high-frequency range But Bose’s opposing passive radiator” technology, designed to deliver deep lows while cutting down on vibrations, doesn’t quite

Madchen” they are: small If 'm going to spend $400 on a pair of PC

$400 list speakers, they had better sound absolutely amazing or make

@00 my breakfast for me every morning, PROS Clarity in mid and high The Audioengine 2 is a subwoofer-less alternative that, frequencies Upward-angled for for $200, takes up more space but delivers more bass If you

desktop listening Sleek and com- pone nig hicine can find room for a sub, the Harman/Kardon SoundSticks

CONS Overoriced Very ttc tow ‘HCostabout $150 and are vastly superior in audio quality to End presence Remote lslimited, both sets The Computer MusicMonitors are high-quality

For more: small speakers, and they do deliver more bass than most ti

gapemag.com/musiemonitor speakers, but they'll cost you.—Tim Gideon

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FIRST LOOKS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

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SLING MEDIA SLINGBOX SOLO

To-Go Television

Ever since the original Slin

scene, TV junkies have been using it and its various

descendants to view programming anywhere they

have Web access This latest model, the Slingbox

SOLO, gives you the Slingbox Pro model's HD com-

ty: but with just one component input

One port may sound like a big limitation, but if

you have a digital video recorder (DVR), you can

watch live television channels and recorded con-

tent through the same unit The SOLO also works

with regularand HD cable boxes Once everything

is hooked up, including plugging the Slingbox into

your home network router via Ethernet, you must

nstall the SlingPlayer software on your PC or Mac

On my testsat home using an iMac desktop and

over Ethernet, SlingPlayer delivered excellent pic-

ture and audio quality with both standard and high-

definition TV channels Remote testing via Wi-Fi

on my MacBook Pro laptop, however, showed much

lower video resolution Optional $29 SlingPlayer

Mobile software lets you watch your Slingbox from

your cell phone, too Video on my Verizon Motorola

Qeame in at 15 to 25 frames per second, Not bad, but

not TV quality either:

Sure, Td like tosee Sling Mediaadd Wi-Fi capabil-

ity into the deal, Even so, the SOLO is the box to get

if you want to watch live cable HDTV or your DVRS

recorded programs from afar—Jamie Lendino

Better buttons

CONS Pricey Touch screen requires you to look at the remote Glossy black finish

is prone to smudges For more:

lent value No monthly fees CONS No integrated Wi-Fi Doesn't stream in HO quality

in most situations Anyone at home gets stuck seeing what- ever you're watching remotely

a

you're streaming video

For more: gopcmagcom/%olo

LOGITECH HARMONY ONE

One Remote to Rule Them All

This welcome replacement to Logitech’s excellent Harmony Remote 880 keeps everything we loved (easy remote program- ming via computer, the ability to control multiple components inputs with one button, and a color LCD) and fixes the 880's biggest problem: button shape and placement The Harmony One has revamped keys that are larger and easier to use, and the remote’s shape feels more comfortable

The One's updated touch-screen LCD is so much sharper and brighter (220 by 176 pixels) that it makes the older 880's LCD (160 by 128 pixels) look like a Casio wristwatch, cirea 1980 Programming Harmony remotes is a breeze, too Rather than punching in codes, you simply go online, type in the model numbers of, say, your DVD, receiver, and HDTV, and the Lo; tech software will send the correct information to the remote via USB Once all of your devices have been entered, the Harmony you through setting up “One-Touch Control” for frequent activities, such as “Watch TV

Ultimately, the superb setup software and improved design, along with the touch-screen LCD, make the Logitech Harmony One the best universal remote for the money.—PJ Jacobowitz

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

Thin HDTV Handles Action Well

Although LCD HDTVs boast thin sereens and

bright, sharp pictures, these sets can also have issues

maintaining a clear and detailed picture when dis-

playing video filled with lots of motion The 42-inch

LT-42X898 from JVC seeks to make motion blur

a thing of the past, thanks to the company’s second-

generation 120-Hz display technol

effectively doubles the number of times each pixel

on the screen is updated and enables full 1080p

(1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution, to boot

Tevaluate an HDTV's motion resolution using

specific standard- and high-definition video clips

that I've collected on our lab’s digital video recorder

(DVR) One of these clips is of a commercial jet

at an airport In this fixed-camera

shot, the windowsalong the aireraft’s fuselage move

quickly across the screen I've seen some LCDs blur

these windows into a solid, indistinct gray stripe,

The LT-42

this challenging scene but did falter a bit, smearing

eof the windows toward the rear of the aircraft

Still, the TV delivered plea

moving imagery overall, enough to make sports fans

and video-game aficionados happy

The L'-42X898's three HDMI ports are the only

video inputs on the TV that accept 1080p signals

clarity and detail Unfortunately, an underscanned picture mode was not available with720p sources or with standard-deinidon video

The JVC L¥-42X898 turned in an impressive performance when processing 1080i video, since it minimized image artifacts and loss of detail even along moving edges—a difficult feat, Color accuracy using the LT-42X898’s theater picture preset was less impressive Green was extremely oversaturated and shifted toward blue, which made foliage appear unrealistically lively In my viewing-angle tests, the LT-42898's performance was similar to that of the Westinghouse LCDs I've seen recently The set

maintained good color saturation out to the widest angles, but a bluish-colored screen glare began fill- ing the picture starting at 20 degrees off-axis Ina darkened room, this glare became very distractin All inal, the TVC LT-42X898's video processing isamong the best I've seen, but this TV's picture quirks detract from its appeal —Robert He

ood imag ity in fast-motion vidi ideo process CONS Does not

PORTS INCLUDED Hom

Component Composite 0i FireWre

RF S-Video VGA

‘cablecARD