• Tag Archives Windows

  • PC World (April 1996)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Though I was never really a subscriber to PC World, I did get the occasional issue over the years. It was probably the best general magazine dedicated to the PC though I preferred Maximum PC which came along a little later. The April 1996 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Story

    • Windows 95 at Warp Speed – Tips from PC World editors on using Windows 95 including advice for managing your files, on shortcuts, performance tips, and more.
    • Close Encounters With Windows 95 – Readers speak out about what they like and dislike about Windows 95.

    Special Report: Small Office, Home Office

    • Home Office Before and After – A guide to transforming a room in your house to a home office.
    • The Procrastinator’s Guide to Last-Minute Tax Tips – Help with your taxes.
    • Hot Picks for the Home Office – Choosing the right chair, laser printer, operating system, and more to choose for your home office.

    Personal Finance

    • Quicken Versus Money – A comparison of the latest versions of Microsoft Money and Quicken for Windows 95.

    Top 20 PCs

    • The Top 20 Power Desktops – At the top of this list is the Dell XPS P120c featuring a Pentium 120, 1GB hard drive, and 16MB of RAM. I was a big fan of Gateway 2000 so I would have probably chosen number 15 on this list, the Gateway 2000 P5-166XL featuring a Pentium 166, 1.5GB hard drive, and 16MB of RAM.
    • The Top 20 Budget Desktops – Coming in at the top of this list is the Dell Dimension XPS P100C featuring a Pentium 100 CPU, 16MB of RAM and a 1GB hard drive.
    • The Top 20 Notebook PCs – The top power system is the Toshiba Satellite Pro 400CDT featuring a Pentium 75, 800MB hard drive and 16MB of RAM. The top budget system is the Dell Latitude LX 4100D featuring a 486 DX4-100, 420MB hard drive and 8MB of RAM.

    Top of the News

    • Turbocharge Your Pentium PC – A look a the performance of Intel’s latest overdrive processors. There was the OverDrive-120 for upgrading Pentium 60 systems, the OverDrive-125 for Pentium 75 systems, the OverDrive-150 for upgrading Pentium 90 systems, and the OverDrive-166 for upgrading Pentium 100 systems.
    • Internet PCs: Next Wave or Nonsense? – So called Internet Appliances were a relatively short lived fad. The idea was that these would be cheap, (very) low end PCs to be used for internet access. A few are mentioned here including the TransPhone, Sun’s Java Terminal and the ViewCall America WEBster. These devices were around $500. However, despite being cheap for their time, they just didn’t offer enough bang for the buck. They were basically modern terminals.
    • DVD Drives: Giant CD-ROMs and Movies – The DVD standard had just been finalized with Toshiba to ship the first DVD player later in the year (for about $600). By the end of the year, $500 DVD-ROM drivs for PCs were expected.
    • Completely Focused: New NEC MultiSyncs – A look at the NEC 15-inch M500 monitor for $599 and the 17-inch M700 for $849.
    • HP Targets Small Business – A look at HPs Vectra 500 series of machines with CPUs ranging from the Pentium 75 to the Pentium 166.

    Top 10 Printers

    • Personal Printers: Quick, Cheap, and Colorful – The top monochrome printer in this list is the Panasonic KX-P6100 while the top color printer is the HP DeskJet 850C.

    Top 10 Hardware

    • Top 10 15-inch Monitors – The best 15-inch monitor in this month’s list is the NEC MultiSync XV15 for $460.
    • Top 10 Graphics Boards – The best graphics board this month is the Diamond Stealth64 Video 3200 featuring the S3 Vision968 chip and 2MB VRAM for $269.
    • Top 10 Modems – The top external modems were the Microcom DeskPorte 28.8P and Motorola ISG Lifestyle 28.8 though out of this list I would have picked the U.S. Robotics Sporster V.34 which is number three here. The top internal modem is the Zoom V.34C Model 520.

    Here’s How

    • Help Line – Questions answered about resiszing the task bar in Windows 95, copying system files from .CAB files, using your modem from DOS, and more.
    • Spreadsheets – Questions answered about moving averages, truncating, deleting empty rows in Excel, and more.
    • Word Processing – Questions answerd about timestamping WinWord files, selecting large text blocks, underscores in WordPerfect, and more.
    • Windows 95 Advisor – A guide to running your programs in a batch.
    • Hardware – Questions answered about Plug and Play, preventing Windows 95 crashes, write back cache, and more.

    Departments

    • Letters – Letters from readers about disk compression, hard drive upgrades, AOL, e-mail glitches, and more.
    • Real Problems, Real Solutions – Adding TV capabilities to existing PCs.
    • Full Disclosure – The difficutly in getting data into programs.

    …and much more!


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  • PC World (February 1991)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: PC World – February 1991

    By the early 1990s, PCs were being rapidly adopted though it would still be a few more years until the Internet came into widespread use. When AOL started providing web access in 1995 is probably a good metric for that. PC World was certainly one of the most popular PC magazines at the time and in 1991, 486 based PCs were around but 386 (and lower) were still much more common. The February 1991 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Stories

    • Excel 3.0: The Push-Button Spreadsheet – A preview of the latest version of Excel. Some new features of Excel 3.0 include a new tool bar, hierarchical worksheets, drawing tools, and more.
    • Laptops in Living Color – A preview of a few upcoming laptops with color screens including the Sharp Colorstar featuring a 20-MHz 386 CPU, 100MB hard drive, and 256 color VGA screen for between $10,000 and $15,000 and the Toshiba T3200SXC featuring 20-MHz 386SX CPU, 120MB hard drive, and 256 color VGA screen for $9000. Those color screens weren’t cheap then.
    • Value Alert! 20-MHz 386SX Systems – Reviews of the latest batch of 20-MHz 386 based computers including the ALR Powerflex 20CSX ($3600), AST Premium II 386/20 ($3528), Compaq Deskpro 386x/20 ($4279), Dell 320LX ($3659), NCR PC386sx20 ($3547), and NEC PowerMate SX/20 ($3635). Typical specs included 4-5MB of RAM, 100-120MB hard drive and VGA graphics.
    • Personal Laser Printers: Looking Better All The Time – Reviews of the latest laser printers including the Brother HL-4 ($1381), HP LaserJet IIP ($1493), IBM LaserPrinter E ($1500), Okidata OL400 LED Page Printer ($994), Panasonic KX-P4420 Laser Printer ($1334), and Tandy LP 950 ($2199).

    Special Report

    • Windows – A special supplement on windowing environments and applications.
    • The Windows-Mac Connection – A look at GE’s experience getting Macintoshes and Windows based PCs working together.
    • Reviews – Reviews of The DeskTop Set 3.0, Spinnaker Plus 2.0, Ashlar Vellum for MS-DOS With Windows 3.0, PerForm Pro Designer and Filler, Distinct Back-Up 2.0, Command Port 7.0, and Windows Workstation Release 3.

    News

    • Top of the News – 16-ppm laser printers hit the market, CD-ROM and erasable optical technologies arrive, IBM introduces the luggable PS/2 Model P75 featuring a 33-MHz 486 CPU and 8MB of RAM for $16000, and more.
    • Industry Outlook – IBM and Tandy back new multimedia standards with better audio and CD-ROM drives coming to PCs soon, cheaper laser printers on the way, 9600bps modems gaining ground, Macintosh introduces low cost LC model to tempt PC users, and more.
    • Product Outlook – A look at new and upcoming products including the AST Premiu Exec 386SX/20 and 286/12 notebook models, Howtek Personal Color Printer, Control Point Backup, Crosstalk Communicator 1.0, Zeos 286 Notebook, Tandy 2810 HD, Toshiba T2000SX, and lots more.

    Previews

    • PageMaker Tries Harder – A preview of PageMaker 4.0 desktop pubishing software.
    • ccMail Meets Windows – A preview of cc:Mail for Windows 1.0 e-mail package.

    Features

    • Taming the Telephone – What contact management software can do for you.
    • Buyers’ Guide: Management Software – A guide to numerous contact management tools including Act 2.0, Contact Professional 2.4, The Desktop Set 3.0, Performer 2.01, Tracker 4.0, and many others.
    • The WordPerfect Office – Communications and file-sharing functions for users of WordPerfect products.

    How To

    • The Help Screen – Questions answered about duplicating fields in Paradox 3.0, end of the month macros for spreadsheets, and more.
    • Network Q&A – Questions answered about fault tolerance, including disk mirroring and duplicating.
    • Windows Walk-Through – The basics of using Windows.
    • Words Into Print – Automatic footnoting with WordPerfect.
    • Spreadsheets (A…Z) – Graphing spreadsheet data with Lotus 1-2-3 version 2.x.
    • Data Basics – Adding titles and column headings to database reports.
    • The Art of Persuasion – Choosing the best typefaces for business documents.
    • The Information Edge – Tips for getting the best value out of GEnie’s off-hour services.

    Departments

    • Richard Landry – The new Windows craze.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about accounting software, installing Windows 3.0, tech support, shareware, and more.
    • Consumer Watch – Advice for getting an old PC fixed.
    • Taking It Home – Tips for backing up and insuring your home/office computer.

    …and more!


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  • PC World (November 1999)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: PC World – November 1999

    I haven’t researched the numbers but it wouldn’t surprise me if PC World was the most successful PC magazine in history. Of course, these days I don’t think there are any successful PC magazines. Certainly not on the scale they used to be. The November 1999 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Story

    • The Lowdown on Upgrades – For this article, PC World upgrades a Hewlett-Packard Vectra VL5 Series 5 in the following way: Pentium 166 -> K6-III-400 (via a PowerLeap adapter) ($199), 16MB RAM -> 64MB RAM ($100), add 17.2GB Seagate Medalist hard drive ($210), add 3dfx Voodoo3 with 16MB ($130), plus upgraded sound card, modem, USB ports, and monitor.

    Features

    • Spam!: How it Happens and How to Beat It – Spam, the eternal problem. This article offers tips to avoid and filter spam.
    • Notebooks for Cheapskates – A survey of “bargain” (i.e. sub $1700) notebooks. Ranked highest on their list of 10 notebooks is the Compaq Presario Notebook 150 featuring an AMD K6-2 380, 64MB RAM, and a 4GB hard drive for $1499.
    • Eyes on the Price: 17-inch Monitors For Under $400 – A look at 10 different 17-inch CRT monitors. The “best buy” in this bunch is the Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 71 for $349.

    Special Report

    • You Say You Want A Revolution: Music on the Web – A look at new ways of getting music and other audio on the web. While there were already some streaming sites, most were still downloads of static content.

    Top of the News

    • What’s a Buyer to Do? – A look at new chipsets for the Pentium III and the new Pentium III-600. Chipsets for the PIII and Celeron at the time included the Intel 440BX, Intel 810, Intel 810e, and Via Apollo Pro133 4x. RDRAM was available on the 820 but didn’t make much difference and the Athlon 600 was faster no matter what.
    • Speechware Needs Less Coaching – Speech software continues to improve but hasn’t quite reached Star Trek levels. Today, we practically have the Universal Translator.
    • High-Style Portables – A look at new Notebooks including the Thinkpad I Series 1480, Sony’s PCG-XG9, NEC’s Versa FX, and the Apple iBook.
    • Instant Messaging Brouhaha – Microsoft and AOL bicker over compatibility between Instant Messenger and Microsoft Messenger. I mostly used ICQ myself.
    • Microsoft Does Its Home Works – Microsoft releases Works Suite 2000. Works was sort of a lite version of Office that was cheaper and meant for home users.
    • Signed, Sealed, Delivered…Online – The legality of electronic signatures.
    • Whose Cable Is It Anyway? – AOL and other ISPs fight with AT&T over who should connect AT&T’s customers to the Internet.

    New Products

    • Micron Millennia Max PIII-600 – Back when I was buying Gateways, Micron was another computer maker I considered. This one includes a Pentium III 600.
    • Polywell Poly 800K7-65 Desktop PCs – AMD’s Athlon was the main competitor for the Pentium III and at this time it tended to be faster. This Polywell includes an Athlon 750.
    • HP Pavilion FX70 Flat Panel Display – Flat panel displays were around in 1999 but they were very expensive and not very good. This 15-inch LCD would set you back nearly $1200, had a native resolution of 1024×768 and one analog plus one DVI input.
    • Toshiba Portege 3110CT Ultraportable – This 3.1 notebook includes a 300 MHz Pentium II, a 6.4GB hard drive and 64MB of SDRAM for $2300.
    • Handspring Visor PDA – A PDA that runs PalmOS apps better than the Palm Pilot. The Palm Pilot and its derivatives made the best PDAs but it couldn’t compete with iOS and Android when they arrived.

    Top 100

    • Power PCs – At the top of the list this month is the Dell Dimension XPS T600 featuring a Pentium III-600, 128MB of RAM, and a 20GB hard drive. However, it is the Sys Performance 600A with its Athlon-600 processor that wins out in terms of raw speed.
    • Midrange PCs – Dell tops this category too with the Dell Dimension XPS T450 featuring a Pentium III-450, Diamond Viper NVidia TNT graphics board with 16MB, 64MB of RAM, and a 13GB hard drive.
    • Budget PCs – The top budget system this month is the Micro Express MicroFlec-50C featuring a Pentium III-450, 64MB RAM, ATI RageGL graphics board, for just under $1200.
    • Notebook PCs – The top power notebook this month is the Dell Inspiron A400LT featuring a Pentium II-400, 64MB of RAM and a 14GB hard drive for well over $3000. The top budget notebook is the Micron TransPort Trek2 featuring a Celeron-400, 64MB of RAM and 4GB hard drive for about $2300.
    • Home PCs – Still not sure how “home PC” varies from the other categories but the top power home system this month is the Dell Dimension XPS T550 featuring a Pentium III-550, 128MB SDRAM, Diamond Viper V770 video card with 32MB for a little over $2300. The top budget system is the Quantex M466c featuring a Celeron-466, 64MB SDRAM, 6GB hard drive for under $1000.
    • Graphics Boards – The top AGP board this month is the Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Riva TNT for $100 while the best PCI card is the 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 for $130.

    Here’s How

    • Windows Tips – Tips for disabling startup apps, cascading menus, using CDDB, and more.
    • Windows NT – Using Windows NT to share your internet connection.
    • Answer Line – Questions answered about hard drive crashes, Tweak UI, default file associations, creating a shortcut to standby, and more.
    • Internet Tips – Finding radio stations on the web, troubleshooting audio problems, trimming AOL files, and more.
    • Word Processing – Using watermarks, quick pasting in Word, keyboard shortcuts, protecting styles in Word, an e-mail formatting macro, and more.
    • Spreadsheets – Filling empty cells in Excel in line charts, summing the highest values in a range, and reducing the size of 1-2-3 imports into Excel.
    • Hardware Tips – Adding RAM vs. adding L2 cache, printing on different paper sizes, troubleshooting IRQ conflicts, and automating modem logoffs.

    Departments

    • Up Front – Hotmail suffers one of the biggest security breaches on the web up until that point.
    • Letters – Readers write in about Price Watch, the use of PCs (an the internet) in schools, Y2K utilities, online auctions, using FTP from Windows, and more.
    • Home Office – A look at DSL vs. Cable.
    • Full Disclosure – A look at seven improvements over the past year including aggressive price cuts, faster internet connections, improvements in ink jet printers, better and more affordable CD-R drives, MiniDV and Digtial8 camcorders with IEEE 1394 (firewire) connections, personal video recorders, and “profitless” e-business.

    …and more!


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