By 1993, PC World was pretty ubiquitous. You could find it in grocery stores, book stores, etc. It was probably the most popular magazine dedicated to PC compatible computers. I bought my first PC in 1993 several months after this issue hit the stands. The February 1993 issue of PC World includes:

Cover Story

• 25 New 486s: The Quest for the Best PC – Reviews of 25 486 based computers. Models range from 486 SX 25 based machines to 486 DX2 66 based machines plus the 486SLC, Cyrix 486DLC-33, and IBM 486SLC2. The following models are included: AST Bravo 4/66D Model 123B, Compaq Deskpro 4/66i, DEC DECpc 466d2 LP, Dell 486D/66, AcerPower 486e DX2/50 Model 5557, Tangent Model 450lx, Hewlett Packard Vectra 486/66N PC Model 170, ZEOS 486DX-33, NEC PowerMate 486/50l-DX2, USA Flex 486/33 Cache, Acma 486DX2/50, Blackship BLK 486/33 ISA, Eltech Research Model 4330, Insight 486-33 ISA Cache, ALR Flyer 32 LCT, CompuAdd 433DLC, Micro Express ME 486DLC, Austin 486/DLC-33, ATronics Int’l ATI-486SX/25, Reply Model 16 486SLC2, Swan 486SX/25DB, Copam 486SXB/25, CompuTrend Premio 486SX/25, CompuAdd Express 425CX, and PC Brand Leader 486/DLC.

Top of the News

• Dell’s Performance Explosion – Dell’s latest machines includes local bus video and upgradability to Intel’s forthcoming Pentium Overdrive.

• Apple’s Cross-Platform Printing – Apple’s new LaserWriter Pro 630 and 600.

• Windows Printing System – An add-on for HP LaserJet printers that speeds up printing.

• Intel’s Pentium Processor – Some details about the forthcoming Pentium.

• VL-Bus Boards Offer Better Graphics – A look at a bunch of new VL-Bus video cards including the ATI Graphics Ultra Pro VLB, Diamon Stealth 24 VLB, Hercules Graphite VL, Matrox MGA Impression, Number Nine 9GXE, STB PowerGraph VL-24, and others. VL-Bus was short lived, existing primarily in late 486 systems. Early 486 systems used ISA and Pentiums used PCI.

• Pointers for Portable Users – A look at pointing devices being used on laptops at the time including Apple’s integrated trackball on the PowerBook, the TrackPoint II on IBM’s ThinkPad, and others.

Systems

• Are Upgrades Worth It? – Businesses find that upgrades often aren’t worth it since more than the CPU usually needs to be upgraded. On the other hand, users looking for a quick speed bump can get it with a CPU upgrade at significantly less than a new PC.

Word Processing

• 75 Hot Word Processing Tips – Tips and tricks for common word processors of the time including World Perfect 5.1, Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0, and others.

Windows

• Windows for Workgroups: Operation Rogue – Setting up your own network with Windows for Workgroups 3.11.

• OS/2 Versus Windows NT – A comparison of these two next generation operating systems.

Communications

• Windows Fax Software – A comparison of available fax software for Windows including Bit Software BitFax/OCR for Windows 2.05, Caere Fax Master 1.01, Delrina WinFax Pro 3.0, Eclipse Fax 1.2, Intel Faxability Plus/OCR 1.0, Sofnet FaxIt 2.15e, and ZSoft Ultrafax for Windows 1.0.

New Products

• Orchid Fahrenheit VA, Sigma Designs WinStorm audio/video boards – These video cards also offer audio input and output.

• Hercules Graphite Card – The first mainstream graphics card from Hercules in a while.

• Panasonic CF-1000 notebook PC – This notebook features an AMD 386SXLV CPU, 4MB of RAM and a 60 or 120MB hard drive for $2299 to $2699.

• Hyundai and Gecco VL-Bus 486 PCs – Hyundai’s new VL-Bus PCs include models from a 25-MHZ 486SX for $1799 up to a 66-MHz 486DX2 for $2995. Geccos models include a 66-MHz VL-bus tower system ($2995) and a desktop 33-MHz 486 EISA system ($2290).

• NEC Ready 325, 425, and 433 PCs – The NEC Ready 235 includes a 386SX CPU, 120MB hard drive, and 2 MB of RAM for $1199. The NEC Ready 425 includes a 486SX CPU, 170MB hard drive, and 4 MB of RAM. The NEC Ready 433 includes a 486DX, 170MB hard drive, and 4MB RAM.

• Alphatronix Inspire II optical drives – Two magneto-optical drives, one featuring 650MB cartridges for $4495 and the other 1GB cartridges for $4995.

• America Online for Windows – The first version of America Online for Windows. Soon they would be sending free disks everywhere.

• Caere PageKeeper – A Windows based information manager to help you manage your files.

• HP NewWave 4.1 – An object-oriented desktop manager for Windows.

• TyIN 2000 modem-fax-voice add-on board – A 2400bps data / 9600bps fax modem.

• MicroPhone Pro for Windows – Fax and communications software for Windows.

• Port-Folio 550 I/O board – This I/O card features four serial, four floppy, two parallel, one game, and two IDE ports.

Here’s How

• Help Line – Questions answered about speaker magnets and disks, DOS RAM usage, laptops and radiation, and more.

• Spreadsheets – Tips for protecting spreadsheet formulas, Lotus 1-2-3 macros, degrees in Excel, and more.

• Word Processing – Tips for placeholder boxes in WordPerfect, printing macro code in Word Perfect 5.1, fonts in WordPerfect for Windows, and more.

• Windows – Tips for swap files, multiple windows in file manager, Norton Desktop, DOS boxes, and more.

Departments

• Letters – Letters from readers about 486 upgrades, MIS Computer Systems, software reviews, multitasking operating systems, the CUBE 433 ATX, and more.

• Consumer Watch – Computer vision syndrome and other VDT-related vision problems.

• Real Problems, Real Solutions – A 35 PC business analyzes upgrading existing machines vs. buying new ones.

• What’s Next – All about the latest parallel port upgrades including ECC and ECP.

…and more!