• Tag Archives 1990s

  • PC World (October 1996)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The mid 1990s was an exciting time for the PC industry. PCs were rapidly being adopted with nearly everyone having one by 2000. The Internet was just becoming mainstream and that’s the biggest part of what drove adoption. The October 1996 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Story

    • The Complete Guide to Free Online Help – Information about web sites, newsgroups, file libraries, and a number of other online sources for getting technical help for free.

    Features

    • Internet Overload: Disaster In The Making? – Gloom and doom predictions about the Internet being overloaded never really came to pass…well, except for the occasional DDOS attack.
    • Office In A Box – A look at combo devices that include printing, scanning, faxing, and copying functions. Though most printers have those functions now, this was still early days for such devices. Models looked at here include the Canon MultiPass C2500, HP OfficeJet 350, JetFax 4, Ricoh MV74, Sharp F-2700M, and Xerox Document WorkCenter 250. Prices range from $549 to $1195.
    • Do It All! Tips For Mastering Your Office Suite – Tips for getting the most out of Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and Corel WordPerfect Suite.

    Special Report

    • Top 10 Network Servers – At the top of the Workgroup Servers list is the Compaq ProLiant 1500 Model 5/133-2100 for $7555. At the top of the Enterprise Servers list is the HP NetServer 5/166 LS4 for $20,238.

    Multimedia

    • 20 CD-ROMs Under $25 – Some titles in this list include Full Throttle, Rebel Assault, Civilization, Simcity Classic, Blockbuster Guide to Movies & Videos, Bernard of Hollywood’s Pin-Ups, World’s Greatest Classic Books, and more.
    • Title Reviews – Reviews of Hind and Longbow helicopter combat sim and Guerilla Marketing.
    • Hardware Reviews – A look at the top five CD-ROM drives (Plextor 8Plex, NEC MultiSpin 6V, Sony CSD-880E, Teac CD-58E 8X CD-ROM Drive Kit, and GoldStar GCD-R580B) and sound cards (Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP, CrystalLake Model 110, Creative Labs Sound Blaster 32, CrystalLake Model 140, and Advanced Gravis UltraSound Plug & Play Pro).
    • Q&A – Questions answered about improving video playback, multisession CD support, creating a screensaver, and more.

    Top of the News

    • How To Get What You Want In Your New PC – PC manufacturers would often use multiple sources for parts so specific parts could vary even on the same model PC. Another common practice was (and still is as far as I know) to use cut down versions of retail parts. This isn’t always a bad thing as you could generally get a great deal on something that performed only slightly less well than top end retail components.
    • App Suites Abandon One-Size-Fits-All For Custom Tailoring – For instance, Microsoft, starting with Office 97, will offer three different versions (standard, professional, and small business) and the ability to add applets.
    • Broadcasters Use TV Signals To Send Data – There was this idea that people would want to watch TV split screen with a related web page. This never really caught on…though these days people will scroll on their phones while watching TV.
    • Upgrades to NT Server And Netware Include Web Setup Features – Windows NT 4.0 includes Internet Information Server 2.0 while NetWare 4.11 includes Novell’s NetWare Web Server.

    New Products

    • Compaq Presario 6708 – This PC includes a Pentium 200, combination keyboard/scanner, 33.6 fax modem, 32MB RAM, 2.5 GB hard drive, 64-bit video card with 2MB of DRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more for $3547.
    • Dell Dimension P200V – This PC includes a Pentium 200, 33.6 fax modem, 16MB RAM, 1.6 GB hard drive, 64-bit video card with 2MB of DRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more for $1999.
    • NEC Versa 4200 Series – This notebook features a 100 or 133-MHz CPUj, 810MB or 1.08GB hard drive, a 10.4-inch screen that displays 256 colors, and 6X CD-ROM drive for %2999-$3899.
    • Olivetti Echos – This line features four models ranging from the $2299 Pentium 100 to the $4599 Pentium 133 with all including a 1.3GB hard drive and 6X CD-ROM drives and feature screens from an 11.3-inch dual-scan to a 11.8-inch TFT.
    • TI TravelMate 6000 Series Notebooks – The 6020 ($4199) features a Pentium 120, 8MB of RAM, 1.08GB hard drive, and 11.3-inchd display. The 6030 ($4999) features a Pentium 133, 16MB of RAM, 1.35GB hard drive, and 12.1-inch SVGA display. The 6050 ($5499) is similar but features a Pentium 150.
    • Mitsubishi DiamondPro 91TXM Monitor – Large CRT monitors could be extraordinarily expensive. This 21-inch monitor Mitsubishi was $1899…and good luck lifting it.
    • AV Master Video Capture Board – This $999 video capture board could capture 640×480 video at 30 frames per second.
    • Broadway MPEG-1 Video Capture Board – MPEG-1 was the best video compression available at the time. This MPEG-1 capture card would set you back $995.

    Top 100

    • Power Desktops – The top PC in this list is the Dell Dimension XPS P200s for $3329 featuring 16MB RAM, 512K secondary cache, 2.6GB hard drive, Number Nine Imagine 128 Series 2 graphics adapter with 4MB VRAM, and more.
    • Budget Desktops – The top PC in this list is the Micron P133 Millennia for $2049 featuring a Pentium 133, 16MB RAM, 2.1 GB hard drive, Diamon Stealth64 graphics adapter with 2MB VRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more.
    • Notebooks – The top power notebook is the Dell Latitude LM P133ST for $3999 featuring a Pentium 133, 16MB RAM, 810MB hard drive, 12.1-inch 800×600 256 color screen, and more. The top budget notebook is the Toshiba Satellite 100CS for $1799 featuring a Pentium 75, 8MB RAM, 540MB hard drive, 10.4-inch 640×480 256 color screen, and more.
    • Top 10 Personal Printers – The top monochrome printer is the Panasonic KX-P6100 for $379 and the top color printer is the HP DeskJet 820Cse for $389.
    • Top 10 15-inch Monitors – The top monitor in this list is the Samsung SyncMaster 15GLi for $408.
    • Top 10 Graphics Boards – The top graphics board here is the VideoLogic GrafixStar 600 for $159.
    • Top 10 Modems – The top external modem is the U.S. Robotics Courier V.Everything V.34. The Courier line were always the best you could get. The top internal modem is the Zoom V.34C for $199. Modems at this time topped out at 33.6 Kbps.

    Here’s How

    • Answer Line – Questions answered about memory management in Windows 95, using the same e-mail account at home and at work, restoring DOS after removing OS/2, and more.
    • Internet Tips – How to find special interest mailing lists, making web sites more permanent, and more.
    • Hardware Tips – Tips for saving space on FAT drives.
    • Upgrade Guide – A detailed guide for replacing your EIDE hard drive.

    At Home

    • Internet Meets The Couch Potato – For a brief moment in time, everybody thought you would be surfing the net via your TV and some sort of internet appliance. While you can certainly do that today, the idea never really took off. Surfing the net was done via desktop, laptop, and later on the smartphone.
    • Top 5 Home PCs – The top “Home PC” is the Gateway 2000 P5-166 Family PC featuring a Pentium 166, 16MB RAM, 2.5GB hard drive, 8x CD-ROM drive, 28.8 kbps fax modem, and more for $2444.

    Departments

    • Up Front – What happens when what you do depends on the Internet and the Internet isn’t working? Still a problem today…
    • Letters – Letters from readers about the best internet browser, Windows 95, free speech online, Compuserve, and more.
    • Consumer Watch – Packard Bell had a policy of putting parts from returned PCs into PCs sold as new but they weren’t the only ones.
    • PCW Advocate – Problems with IDT ISP, Sharp battery issues, Packard Bell tech support, and more.
    • Full Disclosure – How new software is often released in beta form…or worse.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • PC World (March 1993)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    PC World was probably the dominant PC specific magazine in 1993 and 1993 was also the year I bought my first “PC”, replacing my Commodore 64. The March 1993 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Story

    • 486DX2-66s: Fastest PCs in the Universe – In 1993, a 486DX2-66 based PC was the fastest you could buy. Late in the year the Pentium would come along basically doubling the speed but for a little while, the DX2-66 was king. This article looks at 24 different systems based on this CPU. The Gateway 2000 DX2-66V is number 2 on the “Best Buy” list here and this is the same model I bought a few months later.

    Consumer Alert

    • Is Your New Software Secondhand? – Software returned to stores may not have only been used, but also contain a virus.

    Hard Disks

    • Tips to Organize Your Hard Disk – Tips to make finding files easier, making backups, and more.

    Personal Finance

    • Deep in the Art of Taxes – A look at seven tax software packages including AM-Tax, Andrew Toblas’ TaxCut, EasyTax, Personal Tax Edge, Tax Solver, TaxPerfect, and TurboTax.

    Printers

    • Dot Matrix Lives? – A guide to 24-pin dot matrix printers. This looks at 32 of them.

    Reference

    • Getting There With Software Maps – Before GPS and Google Maps or even MapQuest there were standalone software applications for mapping. Some of the ones looked at here include Street Wizard, Automap for Windows, Zagat-Axxis CityGuide, PC Globe, Street Atlas USA, Travel Partner, Personal Travel Guide, City Streets, Key Map, Local Expert, Travel Companion, U.S. Atlas With Automap, and World Atlas.

    Top of the News

    • DOS 6: More Utility, More Power – DOS 6 was the last major new standalone version of DOS finishing up with, I believe, DOS 6.22. DOS 7 would be included with Windows 95.
    • PC Tools Comes to Windows – A Windows version of an originally DOS only application for protecting and recovering data, monitoring and optimizing system performance, automating tasks, and more.
    • A Trio of ASTs Pushes the Limits – Again – Three new 486 based computers from AST including the Premmia 4/66d, 4/33, and 4/33s.
    • A Complete Windows Communicator – A look at the terminal program HyperAccess for Windows 1.0.
    • PC Prices Are Great, but Choices Dwindle – The five top PC makers were AST, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, and IBM though there were tons of others. Choices were already dwindling in 1993 but there’s tons fewer today.
    • Microsoft Profit 1.0 – An accounting package from Microsoft.

    New Products

    • Wyse Technology Decision PCs – A series of 486 based network ready PCs from Wyse.
    • doubleRES IV printer board – A $599 upgrade to make HP Series II and III laser printers print faster.
    • SuperMac VideoSpigot – A low cost video capture board ($499).
    • DECLaser 1152 printer – A low cost PastScript laser printer for $1299.
    • Logitech AudioMan – A sound card, microphone, and speaker combo for Windows that attaches to the parallel port.
    • Outside In for Windows 2.0 – A file viewer that can view various files and inside zip files.
    • Stacker 3.0, SuperStor Pro – Disk compression software. This functionality is included in Windows now and probably nobody uses it anyway since hard drives are so large now. However, at the time, 340MB was considered luxurious.
    • QmodemPro – Terminal software for Windows that also includes offline mail reading capabilities.
    • Quick Takes – A short look at other products including the CompuAdd 425C Color Notebook, Zeos 486 EISA Systems, BCC’s 486SLC Notebook, and more.

    Here’s How

    • Help Line – How to share external drives with multiple computers. Plus, a tip for making wallpaper more useful, and more.
    • Windows – A workaround for changing the default font in Windows Write, how to change printer names, managing sound files, and more.

    Departments

    • Letters – Letters from readers about the affordability of PCs, math coprocessors and Windows performance, OS/2 2.0, the 386DX-40 vs. 486SX-25, and more.
    • Consumer Watch – Hard drives and warranties plus the dangers of purchasing international software, and more.
    • Real Problems, Real Solutions – Creating a virtual office.
    • What’s Next – The future of PC support…and making your own repairs.
    • Managers of the Universe – A look at the games SpellJammer: Pirates of Realmspace, Wolfenstein 3D, and Amazon: Guardians of Eden.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • PC World (July 1995)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    PC World was probably the post popular PC magazine through most of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The July 1995 issue includes:

    Cover Story

    • Product of the Year – The product of the year was OS/2 Warp 3.0. I never used Warp but I did try OS/2 2.1. I loved it’s promise of being able to run DOS, Windows 3.1 and native OS/2 apps together. However, I could never find a driver for my video card so was stuck at 640×480 and I think 16 colors. I moved to Windows 95 as soon as it was available.
    • Desktop Dynamos – The Business Desktop Computer of the Year was the Dell Dimension XPS P90 and the Home Desktop Computer of the Year was the Micron P90 Home MPS. Both are Pentium 90 based systems. Other winners in this category include the Microsoft Mouse 2.0, Viewsonic 17 monitor, and Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM graphics accelerator.
    • Power Apps – Application winners include Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows, Microsoft Excel 5.0, Microsoft Access 2.0, and Microsoft Office Professional 4.3.
    • Sound, Fury, and Fun – Winners in this category include the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 sound card, Plextor 4Plex CD-ROM Drive, Creative Labs Edutainment CD 16 (CD-ROM upgrade kit), Intuit Quicken 4.0 for Windows (CD-ROM), Microsoft Encarta ’95 (CD-ROM), Myst, Just Grandma and Me, and Doom II.
    • ON the Road – The best notebook computer was the Toshiba T4900CT, the best subnotebook was the Toshiba Portege T3600CT, the best PCMCIA card was the Xircom Credit Card Ethernet and the best personal digital assistant was Sony Magic Link.
    • Cold, Hard Storage – This category includes best hard drive (Western Digital Caviar AC31000), best removeable/portable drive (Iomega Bernoulli 150 Insider), best tape backup drive (Colorado Jumbo 250), and best optical drive (Pinnacle Micro Tahoe 230).
    • LAN Links – This category includes best network server (Compaq Proliant 2000), best peer-to-peer LAN operating system (Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11), best server-based LAN operating system (Novell Netware 3.12), best groupware application (Lotus Notes), and best LAN e-mail package (Lotus cc:Mail Desktop Release 2.0 for Windows).
    • Making Connections – This category includes best fax-modem (U.S. Robotics Sportster 14.4 Data/Fax Modem), best fax software (Delrina WinFax Pro 4.0), best communications software (Datastorm ProComm Plus 2.0 for Windows – this was my favorite terminal software at the time), best internet interface/utility (NetScape Navigator 1.0), best online service (CompuServe), best BBS (The WELL), and best internet access provider (Netcom).
    • Off the Page – This category includes best scanner (Hewlett-Packard ScanJet Iicx) and best OCR software (Caere OmniPage Professional 5.0).
    • Page Pumpers – This category includes best color laser/dye-sublimation printer (Fargo PrimeraPro and Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet), best monochrome laser printer (Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4), best color ink-jet printer (Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 560C), and best monochrome ink jet printer (Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 540).
    • Swiss Army Knives – This category includes best utility collection (Symantec Norton Utilities 8.0), best windows shell (Symantec Norton Desktop 3.0 for Windows – I used this extensively back in the day), best backup software (Symantec Norton Backup 8.0), and best shareware (PKWare PKZip 2.04g).
    • Presentation Is Everything – This category includes best desktop publishing software (Adobe PageMaker 5.0), best font software (Adobe Type Manager 3.0), best presentation graphics (Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0), best drawing software (CorelDraw – I used this as a general picture/graphics viewer up until I switched to Paint Shop Pro), and best image editing/paint software (Adobe Photoshop 3.0).
    • Power Tools – This category includes best computer-aided design software (Autodesk AutoCAD) and best programming language (Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0).
    • Keep Your Ducks in a Row – This category includes best project manager (Microsoft Project 4.0), best personal information manager (Lotus Organizer 2.0), best contact manager (Symantec Act 2.0 for Windows), and best forms software (Delrina PerForm for Windows).
    • Money, Money, Money – This category includes best accounting software (Intuit QuickBooks 3.0 for Windows), best personal finance software (Intuit Quicken 4.0 for Windows) and best planning/preparation software (Intuit TurboTax for Windows).
    • Who Can You Trust? – This category includes best hardware service and support (Dell and Compaq), best software service and support (Microsoft), and best mail-order company (PC Connection).

    Video Accelerators

    • Fast Forward: Full-Motion Video Boards – A look at the best graphics boards capable of full screen video in Windows. These include the Diamond Stealth 64 Video VRAM, Diamond Stealth Video, Diamond Viper Pro Video, Genoa VideoBlitz III AV, Hercules Stingray 64/Video, Jazz Multimedia Jakarta, miroVideo 20TD, Number Nine 9FX Motion771, STB Velocity 64V, and VideoLogic PCI Movie.

    Business Graphics

    • Drawing for Dummies – A look at various business graphics packages including ABC FlowCharter 4.0, CorelFlow 2.0, IntelliDraw 2.01, and Visio 3.0.

    Multimedia Notebooks

    • Multimedia to Go – Notebook PCs looked at here include the MPC CD-Book 875 (486 DX4-75 CPU, 8MB RAM, 340MB hard drive for $2458), Aspen Universe CD (486 DX2-66 CPU, 8MB RAM, 520MB hard drive for $3675), Toshiba Satellite Pro T2150CDT (486 DX4-75 CPU, 8MB RAM, 500MB hard drive for $3799), Panasonic V41 (486 DX4-100 CPU, 8MB RAM, 450MB hard drive for $4599), and IBM ThinkPad 755CD (486 DX4-100 CPU, 8MB RAM, 540MB hard drive for $6799). All feature a CD-ROM drive, 9.5 or 10.4-inch color screen, and a maximum resolution of 1024×768.

    Systems

    • Top 20 PCs: Power for Penny-Pinchers – At the top of the Power Desktop list is the Dell Dimension XPS P120c featuring a Pentium 120 CPU, 16MB RAM, and 1.6GB hard drive for $4689. My choice would have been the Gateway 2000 P5-120 coming in at number 7 with similar specs. The top budget system is the Vektron PCI P75 featuring a Pentium 75 CPU, 8MB RAM, and 852MB hard drive for $1695. My choice would have probably been the Gateway 2000 P5-60 coming it at number 8. The top power notebook is the Gateway 2000 Liberty DX4-100 while the best budget notebook is the WinBook XP SX-33 Monochrome.

    Graphics Boards

    • Top 10 Windows Accelerators – The top Windows accelerator graphics card was the Hercules Terminator 64 DRAM. 3D accelerators were still on the horizon.

    Top of the News

    • Pentium PCs Pick Up the Pace to 133MHz – Three system makers release systems based on Intel’s new Pentium 133 including Micron, Gateway, and Dell with Gateway and Micron tying for the fastest PCs ever tested.
    • At Long Last, Power PCs – Vendors prepare to release systems based on the PowerPC that can run PowerPC versions of Windows NT and OS/2.
    • Voice/Data Modem Short on Software – Modems were starting to incorporate features such as voice mail, speakerphone and fax capabilities but software to support these features was limited. The Boca Research MultiMedia Voice Modem With VoiceView is tested here.
    • Customize…or Compromise? – Buying pre-configured systems vs. customizing your build.

    New Products

    • Compaq Deskpro, Presario, and Prolinea – New Deskpro XL models feature CPUs ranging from the 486 DX2-66 to the Pentium 100, the Prolinea 575 features a Pentium 75, and future Presarios may use 586 processors from NexGen and AMD.
    • Phone Blaster modem/sound board – These combo sound card/modem cards were a fad for a while but they always seemed to be a pain to get working. Even Windows XP and Linux don’t seem to like these and I always take them out if I run across an old PC with one of these.
    • GoPrintwireless Printer-sharing system – Today we take wifi and wireless printers for granted but they just didn’t exist in 1995. These are devices that let you connect PCs and printers wirelessly.

    Here’s How

    • Help Line – Questions answered about backing up a laptop on a desktop tape drive, sending e-mail from an AOL account to a GEnie account, sharing a modem, and more.
    • Windows – Questions answered about keeping track of installed files, moving the task manager, Adobe Type Manager, and more.
    • Windows 95 Adviser – Analyzing Windows 95 performance, multitasking, stability, and more.
    • Online – How to make your own web pages, online games, and more.
    • Hardware – Questions answered about 32-bit disk access and backing up to another hard drive.

    Departments

    • Letters – Letters from readers about truth in advertising, pentium upgrades, software piracy, and more.
    • Consumer Watch – Reasons to sign up to a PC user group.
    • Real Problems, Real Solutions – A case study in upgrading to Windows 95.
    • Full Disclosure – The deficiency of the multimedia/CD-ROM tech of the time.
    • Break Time – A look at a few games including the time-wasting Take Your Best Shot, a collection of mini-games from 7th Level, the classic Descent, and the Atari 2600 Action Pack.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged