Computer Shopper (May 2006)

146 Pages·2006·18.38 MB·English

With over 300 products in every issue, Computer Shopper magazine is
the most comprehensive guide to today's technology and delivers:
• The widest breadth of products.
• The most in-depth product reviews.
• The most product round-ups.
• The most buying advice.
Look inside!
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CONTENTS
114 24 feature-packed, powerful
notebooks, starting at $999.
MAY 2006 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 5 ISSUE 314
DESKTOPS
24 Falcon Northwest Mach V
28 Apple Power Mac G5 Quad
28 Cyberpower Gamer
Features
Ultra 8500 SE
30 Dell Dimension E310
BEST 50 FREE DOWNLOADS
30 Shuttle XPC G5 1100h
71 Free Load
NOTEBOOKS
No such thing as a free lunch? Here’s
25 Dell Inspiron E1705
a whole free buffet.Rev up,lock
36 Hypersonic Aviator FX7 28
up,and clean up your
36 Alienware Area-51 m5500
PC with these 50 down-
38 HP Pavilion DV1000t
loadable utilities.We’ve 38 Apple iBook G4
hand-picked these win- 71
COMPONENTS
ners to help you compute 40 Creative I-Trigue L3800
smarter,faster,and 40 Plextor PX-740UF
safer—so dig in! 40 WD Raptor X
VIIV DESKTOPS DISPLAYS
81 Multimedia Merger 44 NEC MultiSync LCD1970VX
Intel’s new digital-entertain- 44 Philips Brilliance 230WP7NS
ment platform,Viiv,promis- 44 Samsung SyncMaster 204T 46
es a new kind of media-centric PC—but is it mostly hype and HOME NETWORKING
marketing,or the real deal? We look at five Viiv PCs to find out 46 Netgear RangeMax 240
if Viiv will thrive at the center of your digital universe. Wireless Router
46 Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet
TECH BARGAINS ONLINE
Video Camera
92 28 Top Shopping Spots
MOBILE PRODUCTS
The bargains are out there—you just have to know where to
48 T-Mobile SDA
look.Whether you’re hunting for a big-ticket LCD or a budget
48 ALK CoPilot Live Smartphone 6
graphics card,turn to our guide for a tour of the Net’s best tech-
DIGITAL CAMERAS
shopping sites.
54 Canon PowerShot SD430
54 Kodak EasyShare V570
54 Olympus Evolt E-500
DIGITAL CAMCORDERS 48
57 Panasonic PV-GS400
57 Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6
57 Sony DCR-SR100
DIGITAL AUDIO
58 Creative Zen Vision:M
58 Delphi Roady XT
58 Think Outside
Boomtube H0
2 1
DIGITAL LIVING
60 Hitachi 55HDT52
92
60 HP LC3200N
60 Toshiba HD-XA1
SOFTWARE
58
Page 24 62 Microsoft Works Suite 2006
Page 102
62 Corel WordPerfect Office X3
Page 142
Standard Edition
64 Citrix GoToMyPC Personal 5
64 DVD Copy 4 Platinum H.264 Edition
64 Photo Finale Premium 4.0
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computershopper.com May 2006 5

Help & How-To
COMPUTER CURES
99 Our resident PC doc helps a reader
decode his PC’s slots for a graphics
upgrade,braves the world of BIOS flash-
ing,and dispenses a cure for a quirky,
beeping keyboard.
WEEKEND PROJECT
102 New Life for an Old PC
That aging desktop might not be ready
for the recyclers quite yet.Our guide to
four easy upgrades just might help you 106
squeeze some extra use out of it.
106 BitTorrent for Beginners
BitTorrent has turned the Net into a
festival of multimedia file-sharing—
TechMarket
but do you know your swarms from
your leechers? How does BitTorrent
COMPLETE PRODUCT MARKETPLACE GUIDE
work,and how can you get started? 109 Media Center Desktops
Find out here. 114 Desktop-Replacement Notebooks
BUYING BASICS 118 Inkjet Printers
142 How to Buy the Right Laser Printer 120 Flat-Panel Displays (19 Inches
or Larger)
122 External DVD Burners
124 Wi-Fi Routers
Web Buyer
102 THE BEST SITES FOR ONLINE SHOPPING
129 TechProducts
129 Graphics Cards
130 Wireless Hardware
132 Direct PC Vendors
132 Software 119
134 Price-Comparison Sites
Also in This Issue
TRENDS
17 Intel and Microsoft unveil a new generation of
ultramobile PCs.Plus,nVidia revs up cell-phone
graphics,and VoodooPC announces a new desktop
PC with 8 terabytes of storage.
GEAR
22 • AudioFX Force Feedback Gaming Headset
• Flexity PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari Edition
• HP iPaq HW6900 Mobile Messenger
• Imation Micro Hard Drive
• LinkTheater Mini Network Media Player
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50
DEPARTMENTS
12 Editor’s Note
12 Letters
135 Spotlight
141 Ad Index
22 23
MAY 2006 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 5 ISSUE 314 Computer Shopper(ISSN 0886-0556) is published monthly, for $24.97 per year in the U.S. and $54.97 per year outside the U.S., by SX2 Media Labs, LLC, 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-
7942. Periodicals Mail postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40009221. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Computer Shopper, P.O. Box 52565, Boulder, CO 80322-2565. Return undeliverable
Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4R6. Portions of Computer Shopperare published under license from CNET Networks, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA. Editorial items appearing in Computer Shopperthat were
originally published on www.cnet.com, www.download.com, or www.news.com are the copyright property of CNET Networks, Inc. or its suppliers. Copyright © 2006 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ‘CNET’ is a trademark of CNET Networks, Inc. All
other content Copyright©2006 SX2 Media Labs, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission to use Computer Shoppercontent is granted on a case-by-case basis. SX2 Media Labs welcomes requests. Please direct inquiries to [email protected].
You may also make phone requests by contacting Reprint Management Services at 717-399-1900. “Computer Shopper” is a trademarks of SX2 Media Labs, LLC. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
computershopper.com May 2006 7