1. TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS
JANUARY 2010
Motorola
droid
Verizon’s Best
smartphone
how to Build
Your own
Gaming Pc
6 People and
10 Technologies
That Led the
Tech Revolution

2. JANUARY 2010 vol. 29 No. 1
44 CovER SToRY
BEST Of ThE DECADE
In this decade-ending blockbuster, we explore the people and
technologies that defined the first ten years of the 21st Century.
Come see how different 2009 looks from 1999.
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010 Photos: (middle row, far leff and right) Getty Images

3. 14 25
22
FIRSt lOOKS letteRS
4 CONSUMEr ELECTrONICS 5 fEEDbACk
Droid phones
Apple tV tech NewS
Vizio VF551XVt 7 frONT SIDE
Pc Mag’s annual technical
carMD
excellence Award winners;
Plus Quick looks
a motorized skateboard; fitness
22 hArDWArE gear for the road.
hP Pavilion 6267c-b
Apple iMac 27-inch OPINIONS
(core 2 Duo) 2 fIrST WOrD:
epson PictureMate charm LANCE ULANOff
Plus Quick looks 38 JOhN C. DvOrAk
28 bUSINESS 40 SASChA SEGAN
hP Proliant Ml330 42 DAN COSTA
G6 Server
Outright (Sept 2009) SOlUtIONS
hP ProBook 5310m 68 bUILD A GAMING PC
we show you how to build a solid,
32 SOfTWArE
midrange gaming box for less than
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta $1,700.
Google chrome OS 74 SECUrITy
Panda cloud Antivirus Account controls in windows 7.
Free edition 78 TECh TIPS
Plus Quick looks Sorting contacts in windows Mail,
80 ThE bEST STUff recording voiceovers, and more.
PC Magazine Digital Edition, ISSN 0888-8507, is published monthly at $24.97 for one year. Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 east 28th Street, New York NY 10016-7940.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

4. fIrsT WOrD LANCE uLANOff
The Word on Chrome OS
O
nce upon a time, Google’s you have a favorite drawing or scrapbook-
Chrome operating system was ing application, you might as well throw
an exciting idea that offered far it out if you plan on devoting your life to
more questions than answers. Chrome. On the other hand, it’s likely that
But now we now know much you’ve started using more and more cloud-
more about what the company is working based applications to get work done.
on and have even seen the OS in action. ChrOME Os usEs PArTs Of ThE ChrOME
Basically, there are some important things brOWsEr. If you like Google’s upstart
you need to know about the Google Chrome browser, you may love the Chrome OS.
operating system. They look almost exactly the same, though
IT’s NOT AvAILAbLE yET. So far, Google has Chrome OS does add a number of impor-
launched only the open-source develop- tant, OS–like features.
ment project. This means developers and yOu’LL GET EAsy ACCEss TO APPs. A Web
third-party partners (including hardware browser lets you add shortcuts to Web sites
manufacturers) can download, compile, and on the toolbar, but it isn’t particularly good
install the code. Most important, they can at giving instant access to applications.
change and enhance it. All those changes Google Chrome OS tries to address this
could pour back into what will become the by adding a “Tabs” feature. These are per-
first shipping product late next year. The sistent tabs that keep your favorite Apps a
rest of us will have to wait until then. click away.
EvEry APP IN ChrOME Is A WEb APP. This ChrOME WILL ALWAys bE uP TO DATE.
means there are literally no desktop apps. Microsoft always recommends you turn on
Google execs reiterated this point by add- Windows Update, but not everyone does.
ing, “third party apps will work as long as In Chrome, there is no choice. If you’re cur-
they’re Web applications.” This fact could— rently running the Chrome browser, this
and maybe should—scare you. All the appli- shouldn’t surprise you. It always polls for
cation CDs you currently have sitting on new versions and updates on its own, as
shelves are useless with the Chrome OS. If well.
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

5. What you see now probably doesn’t represent
what the shipping product will look like in 2010.
ChrOME WILL rEPAIr ITsELf. Google says app in an additional 3 seconds.
its primary goals for the Chrome OS are ChrOME WILL NOT ruN ON ANy PC. Sorry,
speed, simplicity, and security. To achieve but if you were planning on converting all
that last part, the Chrome OS will do some- your existing systems to the Google Chrome
thing never seen before in a desktop oper- OS, you’re out of luck. Google is targeting a
ating system: It will, if it needs to, re-image very specific kind of computer. In fact, even
itself. If the OS detects a malware infection though Google expressed great love for
or even just a bad bit, it will get an updated all the world’s netbooks, the company has
version of the OS from the cloud and rein- concerns about the current crop of small,
stall it. Thankfully, this will not blow away affordable laptops. Google execs said they
your data and settings, because they’re all want to see netbooks with 100 percent key-
stored in the cloud. boards and larger screens. They said they
yOur DATA Is IN ThE CLOuD. Chrome OS also want to focus on 802.11n connectivity.
will not store any of your data locally. As Google does believe that its operating sys-
long as you’re online, it will constantly cache tem will eventually run on more powerful
your data and settings in the cloud. All of desktops and laptops, but not in 2010.
that information is, by default, encrypted. ChrOME WILL WOrk OffLINE—sOrT Of.
There is a benefit here. If your computer is Google has made some vague promises
stolen, or even if you want to upgrade, you about “exposing offline capabilities” and
don’t have to back up or migrate a thing. supporting some offline storage. The com-
You’ll have all your data as soon as you sync pany also talked about the ability to play
up your new computer. The concern, obvi- offline media and games. There’s more, like
ously, is what happens when you don’t have the fact that whatever you see now prob-
online access—cross-country flight, any- ably doesn’t represent what the shipping
one? product will look like in 2010, and the fact
ThErE Is NO hArD DrIvE. Chrome OS will that Google doesn’t seem to have a hard-
not run on spinning hard drives. Google ware driver plan. But these are the early
execs say they’re working with OEMS to cre- days. I expect we’ll learn a dozen or more
ate the ultimate reference design for Chrome key points when we finally download and
OS machines. Part of that is flash or Solid compile the code in PC Labs. I have to say,
State storage. A key benefit is speed. During I’m looking forward to it.
Google’s demonstration of early code, the
FOllOW me On TWiTTer! Catch the chief’s
company showed a machine booting to the comments on the latest tech developments at
log-on screen in 7 seconds and launching an twitter.com/Lanceulanoff.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

6. ®
www.pcmag.com
Editor-in-ChiEf, pC magazinE nEtwork Lance Ulanoff
Editor Stephanie Chang
dirECtor of onLinE ContEnt, EXECUtiVE prodUCEr Vicki B. Jacobson
EXECUtiVE EditorDan Costa
art dirECtor Richard J. Demler
EditoriaL prodUCtion dirECtor Nicholas Cosmo
pC Labs dirECtor, managing Editor (Laptops, dEsktops) Laarni Almendrala Ragaza
managing Editors Sean Carroll (software, security, Internet), Eric Griffith (business, networking), Tony Hoffman (printers, scanners),
Matthew Murray (ExtremeTech), Sascha Segan (mobile), Wendy Sheehan Donnell (consumer electronics)
sEnior Editors Brian Heater (PCMag.com), Carol Mangis (blogs, community), Erik Rhey (Digital Edition)
pC Labs LEad anaLysts Cisco Cheng (laptops), Tim Gideon (consumer electronics), Samara Lynn (business, networking), Michael Muchmore (soft-
ware), Neil J. Rubenking (security), Joel Santo Domingo (desktops), M. David Stone (printers, scanners)
anaLysts Dan Evans (DIY, hardware), PJ Jacobowitz (consumer electronics)
inVEntory ControL Coordinator Nicole Graham
staff photographEr Scott Schedivy
pCmag.Com managEr, onLinE prodUCtion Yun-San Tsai
prodUCErs Mark Lamorgese, Whitney A. Reynolds
nEws Editor Mark Hachman
nEws rEportEr Chloe Albanesius
staff Editors Jennifer Bergen (blogs), Gregg Binder (printers, scanners), Zachary Honig (consumer electronics), Errol Pierre-Louis (software,
security, Internet)
assistant Editor Sean Ludwig (mobile)
CommErCE prodUCErs Iman Edwards, Arielle Rochette
UtiLity program managEr Tim Smith
CrEatiVE dirECtor Chris Phillips prodUCtion artist Guyang Chen
ContribUting Editors Helen Bradley, John R. Delaney, Richard V. Dragan, John C. Dvorak, Craig Ellison, Galen Fott, Bill Howard, Don Labriola,
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7. Feed
LETTErS
Feed
Windows 7 Over Snow Leopard Yes, this is a shame, but what would you
In regard to Lance Ulanoff’s piece, “Windows rather do: pay a few hundred to install Win
7 vs. Mac Snow Leopard: The Great Debate,” 7 or pay over a thousand to buy a new
I have several thoughts. First, 64-bit oper- Mac? Talk about leaving users behind.
ating systems are still not widely used, so —”Truetech”
no point arguing which system does it bet-
ter. Same goes for Hyper-Threading, which Symantec Slipping on Customer Service
also is not yet widely used. And, yes, there Thanks to Neil J. Rubenking for stating out
are those big yummy icons on Mac. But boo loud in his article, “Symantec Support Gone
hoo, the icons on Windows 7 aren’t as big as Rogue” what I’ve been finding over the past
ours! What are we, 3 years old, that we need four months: Symantec’s customer assis-
kindergarten jumbo icons? tance currently merits an “F” grade.
Windows 7’s UI is a big improvement on It pains me to say that, because I have
XP and Vista’s, and many users are quite found the most recent version of Norton
happy with its simplicity and user-friendly Internet Security to be a great program. But
design. True, Time Machine on Macs is a unfortunately, the off-shore customer ser-
great program that works really well. Win- vice reps—just don’t know that program—or
dows Backup is pretty Spartan, but who the other Symantec programs--well enough
cares when there are a plethora of free to provide helpful assistance. Most recently,
backup programs Windows users can have, a rep couldn’t figure out for me how to
versus the few backup programs avail- exclude programs from the NIS scan. I found
able for Maccies who don’t like using Time the solution during a telephone chat session
Machine? with the rep, and basically taught that rep
Finally, Apple’s claim that Microsoft has how to do it.
left XP users behind is idiotic. XP has run Even Symantec’s quality control seems
its course, it’s now a legacy OS, and unfor- affected. I have received no fewer than
tunately, Microsoft simply couldn’t make it three quality control questionnaires follow-
compatible enough to upgrade smoothly. ing my last chat session with Symantec. It
how to contact us We welcome your comments and suggestions. When sending e-mail to
Feedback, please state in the subject line which article or column prompted your response.
E-mail pcmag@pcmag.com. All letters become the property of PC Magazine and are subject to
editing. We regret that we cannot answer letters individually.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

8. fEEDbACk
is sad, and a disservice to Symantec’s cus- be spending money on hardware and soft-
tomers. And enough to make one recon- ware that just sits there waiting to be called
sider whether freeware is the better way to on and then isn’t.
go.—“Rufustel” Fundamentally, however, Google is after
the brainshare that will be released when
Google’s Game Plan all those millions of PC users are no longer
After reading Matthew Murray’s piece trolling for the next PC killer app or per-
“Does Chrome OS Spell the End of Desk- formance boost. To what end? Google has
top PCs?” I think anything other than a Web made the Internet more than a method of
OS wouldn’t be accepted from Google. interconnection. It’s now an agora, a mar-
The company has a plan. The thing about ketplace where what is wanted is being
its plans is that they tend to work out. Put- defined. The best place to build and define
ting everything ever written on the Web is content for this marketplace is in the rough-
literally changing the value landscape for and-tumble of that marketplace, not on
computing. Who else is doing that? It’s true your PC, the 21st century equivalent of the
that with a Google OS netbook you won’t mud hut.—“Cpenoi”

9. Front
What’s New from the World of Tech
The 2009
Technical
Excellence
Awards
PC Mag editors and
analysts choose the most
innovative technology
achievements of 2009. INTEL’s LIGhTPEAk
For the past 26 years, PC matrix behemoth that made printing afford-
Mag has taken this time able). These milestones have long been
of year to put aside the surpassed, but traces of these innovations
rush of press releases, are still with us. In our opinion, the list below
mountains of marketing will leave similar traces 25 years from now.
hype, and legion of prod-
uct launches to focus on the technologies LightPeak
that really mattered in 2009. And this year, We have written a lot about the advantages
we found some really cool stuff. of fiber-optic cable to provide high-speed
When we first started handing out TechEx data and video to the home, but engineers
awards in 1985, the recipients included revo- at Intel are working on bringing those blaz-
lutionary products like the Javelin spread- ing speeds all the way to your PC. As demon-
sheet, Trailblazer Modem (9,600 bits per strated at IDF this year, LightPeak transmits
second!), and the IBM ProPrinter (the dot- data at 10 gigabits per second and has the
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

10. frONTsIDE
MICrOsOfT’s PrOjECT NATAL
potential to scale to 100 Gbps over the next That box includes an RGB camera, infrared
decade. To put that in perspective, at 10 depth sensor, microphone, and processor.
Gbps you could transfer a full-length Blu-ray With this device in place, Natal can interpret
movie in less than 30 seconds. LightPeak can a wide variety of inputs, including gestures,
support multiple I/O protocols and could facial recognition, and voice commands.
be used for everything from simple periph- Although camera-enabled entertainment
eral access to high-speed data connections. systems date back to the Sony EyeToy, Natal
Although still expensive, LightPeak taps the is far more than a toy. It can map the human
extraordinary capacity of optical communi- body with as many as 48 skeletal frame
cations and could leap-frog more conven- points, a level of detail that offers developers
tional connections in the next few years. unprecedented flexibility in building every-
thing from sports games to first-person
Project Natal shooters. Natal won’t be available until later
We got our first glimpse of Microsoft’s Proj- this year, but game developers are already
ect Natal at the 2009 E3 show. Natal isn’t a building applications.
single technology,
but rather a collec- Nvidia Geforce 3D
tion of them inside a NvIDIA’s GEfOrCE Creating a truly three-
small box that con- 3D vIsION dimensional display has
nects to your Xbox been a goal of the film,
and sits below your television, and PC indus-
TV, much like the try since their inception, but
sensor on a Nintendo Wii. Nvidia’s GeForce 3D Vision shows
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

11. just how close we are. It isn’t TouchTec Gloves
seamless yet, however. You Anyone who has tried to
still need to wear the $200 use an iPod with gloves on
stereoscopic glasses, and will appreciate the inven-
you also have to use a newer tion of Jerry Leto, founder
graphics card and watch on of TouchTec. Although
a 120-Hz capable display. capacitive screens are more
The “active shutter” lenses sensitive and responsive
synchronize with your dis- than resistive touch screens,
play so that each eye gets they’re no good when used
60-Hz worth of images. with non-conducting mate-
Once you put those pieces in rials, like the cloth of your
place, the results are pretty TOUChTEC CAPACITIvE gloves. Leto found a solu-
impressive. Best of all, there GLOvEs tion by imbuing fabric with
are more than 300 games nanoparticles that let you
that support 3D vision right now, including operate an ATM, iPhone, or other touch
Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. screen without removing your glove. The
gloves come at a hefty price premium now
Xerox silver Ink Printable Electronics ($185), but in a few years we will be sur-
There are a lot of challenges in developing prised when a fabric doesn’t work with a
printable circuits. One of the most basic is capacitive touch screen.
that conductive metals melt at about 1,000
degrees Celsius, and the plastic sheets ideal honda stride Management Assist
for holding them melt at around 150 degrees When it to comes to robots, many of us tend
C. This year, Xerox cleared that hurdle by to focus on the futuristic and cool (Asimo)
developing a silver-based ink that can be or the cute and useless (Pleo), ignoring the
printed on plastic, paper, or a range of other fact that robotics will have a meaningful
surfaces. Soon we may be able to print elec- impact on our everyday lives. And as Hon-
tronic devices for a much lower cost, open- da’s Stride Management Assist and Body-
ing up a huge range of new applications. As weight Support Assist show, that impact is
PC Labs’ printer analyst David Stone puts it: not far off. These prototypes aren’t designed
“If you can print the RFID on packaging as to replace the function of standing or walk-
easily as printing a bar code, you can replace ing, but could help an individual move more
bar codes with RFID tags. This could mean easily or lift heavier objects. The 5.6-pound
going through a checkout counter becomes Stride Assist device contains a CPU and bat-
as easy as walking past an RFID reader to tery pack and straps around your waist. It’s
register everything in your cart.” connected to braces that fasten to your legs
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 9

12. frONTsIDE
and assist your movement. has been available overseas
When PC Mag editor-in- since last year, its U.S. debut
chief Lance Ulanoff tested was in 2009—and it was
the system he reported, “I an impressive one. With-
could see how this [technol- out additional spectrum to
ogy] might perform a dual deploy a truly 4G network,
purpose, assisting the infirm like WiMaxor LTE, T-Mobile
and helping the able-bodied is using HSPA+ to wring as
become better walkers.” much performance out of its
existing 3G network. Mobile
MPEG surround products managing editor
Currently the vast majority Sascha Segan tested HSPA+
of TV broadcasts and Inter- in Philadelphia, and he says
net radio stations use stereo that “speeds went wild.
audio encoding, because it My little laptop stick gave
takes too much bandwidth repeated results up to 3.6
to send true 5.1 surround hONDA sTrIDE AssIsT megabits per second.” The
sound. Fraunhofer Insti- technology is just in Phila-
tute’s new audio codex, MPEG Surround, delphia; expect more cities to light up soon.
could change that. In fact, the company
has demonstrated full 5.1 channel sound WiTricity resonant Magnetic Coupling
in as little as 48 kilobits per second. At the Magnetic induction isn’t new—it’s what
2009 CES show, PC Labs audio analyst Tim high-end electric toothbrushes use to
Gideon said that “It was virtually impos- charge up without wires. But those tooth-
sible to hear the difference between MPEG brushes need to be within millimeters to
Surround and the original surround-sound power up. The Boston-based firm WiTric-
recordings.” Not only could MPEG Surround ity can do the same thing over several feet
change the way music is heard, but it also and power everything from a light bulb, a
represents a boon for streaming TV firms, cell phone, or even a HDTV. The secret to
like Hulu and Netflix. WiTricity’s technology is the use of reso-
nant magnetic coupling, which occurs when
T-Mobile hsPA+ two objects exchange energy by varying or
ATT and Verizon are in a very public debate oscillating magnetic fields. The end result
over who has the biggest 3G network, but is power transferred much more efficiently
if you want to test out the fastest 3G net- than wires, and without the environmental
work, you need to visit Philadelphia and log hazards of using a disposable battery.
on to T-Mobile’s HSPA+. Although HSPA+ —Dan Costa and PC Mag staff
10 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

13. BEST of our BlogS
@WOrk
Square: Lets Businesses
Accept Credit Card Payment
by Phone
Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of
Twitter, recently unveiled a
new startup called Square—a
mobile payment system that
enables users to process credit
card transitions by phone. The
service requires no contracts
GEArLOG or fees, giving many small
Motorized Skateboarding is Not a Crime businesses that previously
If you’re looking to score some big points with your kids or just find didn’t have the hardware or
an interesting new way to tear your meniscus, then this gadget is funds to accept credit card
for you. Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a motorized skateboard payments the ability to do so.
($599.95 direct) that can travel at up to 19 miles per hour. The gadget All that’s needed is a small,
is powered by a 36-volt battery, and its 600-watt motor reaches top simple device that plugs into
speed in only 4 seconds. It even has enough horsepower to propel the audio jack of almost any
you uphill. The rider controls acceleration and braking with a wire- phone. —Errol Pierre-Louis
less trigger remote. The rechargeable battery lasts about 10 miles.
The skateboard weighs 40 pounds and can handle riders up to 225
pounds.—Troy Dreier
GOODCLEANTECh
Use the Sun to Know When It’s Sunny
Oregon Scientific has released the +ECO Solar Weather Sta-
tion ($99.99 list) for monitoring inside and outside condi-
tions. It comes with a detachable solar panel for powering up
the rechargeable battery. The weather station lets you know
indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, as well as
shows a graphic of the day’s forecast. It also includes an alarm
with snooze.—TD
BEST of ThE InTErnET
CULINAry CULTUrE GOOGLE DICTIONAry NEIGhbOrGOODs
Culinary Culture is a social The search giant is taking on NeighborGoods is a Web
network featuring a vibrant, language with Google Diction- service designed to help
active community of food ary, a fairly comprehensive you share things with your
lovers, a social calendar of resource featuring translations neighbors, rent things to
food events submitted by between English and 28 other them, or just sell them out-
users, restaurant and market languages, synonyms, related right. NeighborGoods is in
reviews, and even a database phrases, and definitions from private beta at the moment,
of user-submitted recipes. other online sources.—Brian but it is accepting requests for
—Alan Henry Heater invites.—AH
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 11

14. frONTsIDE
Connected Traveler
Stay Fit on the
Road
The right tech gear can help
you stick to your fitness
goals in 2010.
It’s hard to stay in shape while traveling. Fast 2
food is often the only food available and sit-
ting on a plane for five hours certainly won’t
strengthen your core. Many hotels don’t
have a fitness center or pool—just vending 1
machines. So if you’re one of the millions of
Americans who make a New Year’s resolu-
tion to improve your fitness level, don’t let a
busy travel schedule get in the way. With the
help of some affordable technology, you can
keep your promise to be totally cut by swim-
suit season.
If you already have an iPod or iPhone, get
the most out of it. There are a slew of fitness
apps for iPhone, including ifitness ($1.99
direct), which lets you record and follow
workout info, track your body weight, set
up custom workouts, and more. There’s also can give real-time feedback thanks to the
runkeeper for recording your runs via GPS wireless transmitter and receiver. And if you
(Free; Pro version, $9.99 direct) and fit- want to work out to your favorite jams with-
view ($5.99 direct), where you can record out those little earbuds getting in the way,
and crunch the numbers on many types of you can always plug your iPod into a por-
workouts. And iPod users can tap into the table, battery-powered speaker, such as the
[1] Nike + iPod sport kit ($29.99 direct) to [2] iLuv isP100 ($34.99 direct).
turn their iPods into a personal trainer that Along with cable TV and on-demand
12 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

15. 3
4
6 5
movies, many hotel chains (such as Best list) for a no-mercy approach.
Western, Marriott, and Embassy Suites) For true gearheads, sometimes it takes
offer game consoles for check-out or as in- serious hardware to get motivated. For
room amenities. So why not take along your example, the [6] Polar fT ($20 list) shows
copy of [3] Wii fit Plus ($99.99 list), or you your heart rate and whether you’re hitting
can try [4] yourself!fitness for the Xbox your target fitness “zones.” Finally, the []
or PlayStation 2 ($39.99 list). In case you bodyMedia GoWear fit (armband, display,
can’t get your hands on a game console, and 12-month subscription $249.90 direct)
you could always commandeer your kid’s will track your calories burned to adjust
Nintendo DS and load a copy of [5] jillian your workouts to your weight-loss goals.
Michaels fitness Ultimatum 2010 ($19.99 —Erik Rhey
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 13

16. 14
22
28
32
INSIDE
CONsuMEr ELECTrONICs
HArDWArE
BusINEss
sOFTWArE First
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Battle of the Droids
I
f someone has mentioned the word 5.9 ounces. The front consists of a bright,
“droid” recently and you think R2D2 rich 3.7-inch LCD capacitive touch screen
or C3PO, you haven’t been paying (which can display the full width of desk-
attention. The hottest smartphones top Web pages). Below the huge screen are
to hit the scene recently are “Droids” four light-up, touch-sensitive buttons. The
or phones that run Google’s Android mobile whole effect feels pleasantly expensive, but
OS. The claims are that Droid phones are also rather masculine. Slide the screen to
faster, more responsive, and feature the the right to reveal the first real disappoint-
“Google experience.” We tested the first ment, the Droid’s keyboard. The QWERTY
Android 2.0 phones out of the gate from keys are a little too small, a bit too flat, and a
Motorola and an Android 1.5 phone from touch too tight to put this in the first rank of
HTC (with HTC add-ons). Read on to see keyboards.
how these two phones fared in a head-to- Running Android 2.0 (including the
head showdown in PC Labs. “Google Experience”), the Droid is reliant
on the curiosity and tech-savvy of its cus-
Droid by Motorola (Verizon Wireless) tomers to customize their phones. With that
The Motorola Droid is the first truly lust- said, Android supports Microsoft Exchange,
worthy smartphone from Verizon, and it puts as well as a more flexible camera app, bet-
all other Google Android phones to shame. ter software keyboards, better browsing,
Motorola may have stinted on a few of the and multitouch. Motorola’s Droid is also the
basics in its quest for mind-blowing power. fastest Android phone, with an ARM Cor-
But the first Android 2.0 phone is definitely tex-A8 processor. I ran four publicly avail-
the most advanced and exciting device con- able Android benchmarks and found that
necting to Verizon today. on pure CPU measures, the Droid was about
The Droid is a big, industrial contraption at twice as fast as the Samsung Moment, which
4.5 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and a hefty until now was the fastest Android phone
14 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION jAnUARY 2010 Product name in rED indicates Editors’ Choice.

17. our ratINgS kEy:
l l l l l EXCELLENT
l l l l m VErY GOOD
l l l m m GOOD
l l m m m FAIr
l m m m m POOr
Droid by Motorola
(Verizon Wireless)
With two-year contract,
$199.99 list and up
Ll l l m
PrOs Best screen we’ve ever
seen. Excellent Web browser.
Very fast and powerful. Great
battery life. First Google Maps
Navigation device.
CONs Not a great voice
phone. Physical keyboard is
mediocre. No easy way to
sync with PCs.
CLICK HErE FOr MOrE
available. The Droid was faster on memory voice quality, music syncing, and handling
and file system tests, too. However, the fast Exchange calendars, the Droid is Verizon’s
processor also made it more frustrating future (with the Android platform superior
when programs (such as the camera app) to the staid Windows Mobile), and thus also
would occasionally freeze or crash. Also, the earns an Editors’ Choice.
Droid is not the greatest voice phone, with
calls sounding acceptable but somewhat HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless)
muffled and compressed. But it did get an Want a Verizon Droid, but, you know, with
amazing 7 hours, 7 minutes of talk time, one less Droid? The HTC Droid Eris is Verizon’s
of the longest results we’ve ever seen for a slightly watered-down Droid: slimmer,
Verizon phone. lighter and less powerful, but still a good
Although our current Verizon smartphone smartphone.
EC, the HTC Imagio, beats the Droid on The Eris is a 4.4- by 2.1- by 0.5-inch (HWD)
jAnUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 15

18. FIrsT LOOKs CONsuMEr ELECTrONICs
HtC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless)
With two-year contract, $99.99 list and up
ll l h m
PrOs Polished interface. Good call quality. Has multi-
touch pinch-to-zoom. Supports all Android apps.
CONs Poor camera. Poor video playback. Slower and
lower resolution than the Motorola Droid.
CLICK HErE FOr MOrE
extensions. HTC brings a lot of Android 2.0’s
advances to version 1.5 of the OS, but they
do things a little bit differently.
The Droid Eris has seven home screen
panels, with some great widgets, such as a
big clock, e-mail, and Twitter viewers (more
robust than the Motorola Droid). The Droid
Eris actually feels as if it has a slightly more
finished interface than does the Motorola
Droid, because HTC designs better icons
and widgets than Google does. But while it’s
faster than the Sprint HTC Hero because of
firmware fixes, it’s still much slower on vari-
ous benchmarks because its 528 MHz ARM11
processor doesn’t match up to the Cortex-
soft-touch black slab that weighs 4.2 A8 in the Motorola Droid. I was happy with
ounces. The front of the phone is domi- the Eris’s stability, though. It didn’t crash
nated by a 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen; while I was testing it, and apps stayed up to
below it, you’ll find a trackball for navigation date, even if the interface was occasionally a
and a range of physical buttons, including little sluggish. Also, the Eris is a better voice
pick-up and hang-up buttons. There’s no phone than the Motorola Droid, but its video
physical keyboard. Instead, you rely on two playback was largely inferior. Even though
very good virtual keyboards. The Droid Eris the Eris costs $100 less than the Motorola
might share a name and 12,000 applications Droid, Motorola wins with its bigger screen,
with the Motorola Droid, but as soon as you better multimedia abilities, and most impor-
turn it on, you know it’s different. Whereas tant, its much faster processor. Simply put,
the Motorola phone runs Android 2.0, the the Eris is a good device, but the Motorola
Droid Eris runs Version 1.5 with HTC’s Sense Droid is a great one.—Sascha Segan
16 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION jAnUARY 2010

19. FIRsT LOOKs CONsUMER ELECTRONICs
Apple TV
$229 direct
Apple TV Ll l l m
PROs Basically, an iPod for your HDTV. Easy-
Apple TV to-use, efficient, attractive interface. Streams
iTunes content from up to six computers. Gives
you the ability to rent and purchase content
F
from the sofa without a computer. Integrates
YouTube, Flickr, and Internet Radio.
or the second time since its
CONs Requires a widescreen HDTV. No access
introduction in 2007, the Apple to App Store (yet). Bundled bare-bones remote
TV has undergone a soft- could be improved.
ware-only facelift. The latest
3.0 update includes a snazzy of older televisions: Apple TV only works
redesign of the user interface and some fun with widescreen, flat-panel HDTVs.
new features, like Internet Radio. The basic The best parts of this update are the over-
concept remains unchanged: It plays iTunes all redesign of the menus and the inclusion
and iPhoto content on your HDTV, including of Internet Radio. From the main screen to
standard- and high-definition movies and TV the Settings sub-menus, the new interface is
shows. You can stream wired or wirelessly a breeze to navigate with the remote. Video
from your PC’s iTunes library or download looks fantastic for the most part, especially
content directly from iTunes to the 160GB when you opt to view HD, rather than stan-
hard drive. Add to this integrated YouTube, dard-definition video.
Flickr, and MobileMe support, and Apple TV The latest improvements are welcome
is a compelling purchase. additions for current Apple TV owners.
With the 3.0 update, the hardware has And for those who might be considering
remained unchanged. The slick 1.1-by-7.7- this media extender, the inclusion of Inter-
by-7.7-inch (HWD) silver box is mostly net Radio and ability to work with iTunes
unadorned. Since everything is transferred 9’s features give you more bang for your
to the device over your network, there’s no buck.—Tim Gideon
slot for DVDs or CDs. A note to the owners CLICK HERE FOR MORE
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 17

20. FIRsT LOOKs CONsUMER ELECTRONICs
Vizio VF551XVT
Vizio’s
Big-Screen
Bargain
Best known for its rock-bottom
prices on HDTVs, Vizio continues
to deliver the latest technology Vizio VF551XVT
affordably with the VF551XVT. $2,199 direct
Ll l l m
This 55-inch LCD model features
PROs Very attractive price for a large-screen,
LED backlighting and 240-MHz technology LED-backlit LCD HDTV. 240-MHz technology
for about the same price others charge for a reduces motion blur. Accurate colors. Robust
port selection. Low power consumption.
40-inch LCD. This HDTV is very energy effi-
CONs Uninspired design. Narrow viewing-angle
cient and picture quality is generally good, performance. Some noticeable artifacts in
although the panel does produce some 1080p content.
background noise and has a minor viewing
angle flaw. Also, it’s not the prettiest or the change in backlighting can be distract-
slimmest TV you’ll find, but a very attractive ing. Other advanced settings include Color
price makes up for all that. Temperature and Smooth Motion, which
At a depth of 5 inches, the VF551XVT may uses 240-MHz technology to combat blur-
seem thick for an LED-backlit HDTV, but ring and other motion errors. The VF551XVT
that’s because it uses Vizio’s TruLED back- turned in an average contrast ratio of 1173:1.
lighting technology. There is an obtrusive Colors were accurate and flesh tones were
speaker bar under the massive 1,920-by- natural looking after some tweaking. My
1,080–pixel LCD panel, but it delivers very biggest gripe was that during scenes with
good audio quality. Connectivity options very light or white backgrounds, there were
are plentiful, including five HDMI ports, a noticeable artifacts in the lighter fields. The
15-pin PC (VGA) connector, mini audio port, VF551XVT has its flaws, but it offers plenty
USB, composite and component video, and of ports and cutting-edge technology at a
stereo audio ports. very aggressive price—without boosting
With Smart Dimming enabled, the panel your electric bill.—John Delaney
delivered very deep blacks, but the subtle CLICK HERE FOR MORE
18 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

21. FIRsT LOOKs CONsUMER ELECTRONICs
CarMD
Play Doctor with Your Car
H
ow would you know whether CarMD
your mechanic or dealership $98.99 direct
Ll l m m
were taking you for a ride?
PROs Simple to use.
Now you can find out with Pulls up engine code
CarMD, a handheld diagnostic information, esti-
mated repair costs,
tool that plugs into your car’s computer sys- service bulletins,
tem, reads engine codes, and lets you diag- and safety recalls.
Works with all 1996-
nose potential problems before you hit the
and-newer cars and
repair shop. It also displays technical service trucks. Bundled
bulletins and safety recalls for your car. software compatible
with PCs and Macs.
CarMD works with all 1996 and newer cars
CONs Doesn’t actu-
and trucks with the requisite, government- ally clear engine
mandated On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD-II) codes. Requires
$20-per-year fee for
port (usually found under the dashboard). unlimited reports.
CarMD also offers access to its database, Technical service
bulletins cost extra.
which contains thousands of real-life fixes
from ASE certified technicians. It can gen-
erate an online diagnostic report with esti- tus window with three tabs: My Summary,
mated repair costs, even broken down by My Diagnosis, and Staying Healthy. When
parts and labor or by region. In general, the I tested with an older Volkswagen Golf, it
device covers only certain powertrain and caught many issues but missed a mass air-
electrical problems. flow sensor we intentionally disconnected.
The CarMD handheld feels like a large but Overall, my biggest annoyances with
lightweight cell phone. It’s constructed from CarMD are that you can’t clear the codes
cheap-feeling silver plastic, with a non-back- after a reading (your dealer or mechanic
lit LCD readout and three LED lights—green, must do it) and you’re limited to three cars
yellow, and red, which are there to indicate and six reports per month. Also, the com-
whether or not your car will pass inspection. pany charges a restocking fee if you return
When I plugged CarMD into my computer the device. In the end, CarMD was fun, but it
after taking readings from a 2005 Mini Coo- is too expensive and limited for the average
per, the software immediately identified the consumer.—Jamie Lendino
car make and model and displayed a sta- CLICK HERE FOR MORE
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 19

22. QuICk LOOks CONsuMEr ELECTrONICs
SMARTPHONES GPS PROJECTORS
RIM BlackBerry Bold Doro PhoneEasy TomTom XXL 540-S Optoma PK102 Pico
9700 (T-Mobile) 410gsm $299.99 direct Pocket Projector
$199.99 direct $50 direct $250 street
Ll l l m Ll l h m Ll l h m Ll l l m
• Excellent form factor • Excellent keys • Big 5-inch screen • Extremely portable
• Razor-sharp screen • Elegant design • Responsive interface at 4.4 ounces
• Wi-Fi calling • Easy to use • Fast boot-up and lock-in • Connects to both
PROS
• Good keyboard • Good voice quality • Accurate directions computers and video
• Solid call quality • Affordable • Easy POI searches devices
• Browser still needs help • Somewhat difficult • No real-time traffic • Low brightness limits
• Not a big jump up from to set up reporting useful image size
earlier models • Dated map graphics • Volume is far too low to
CONS
be useful
• No audio output
If you prefer your smart- The PhoneEasy 410gsm The XXL 540-S isn’t the Small and light, the PK102
phones to be evolutionary, is an excellent, affordable flashiest device on the can show video but is best
BOTTOM LINE
not revolutionary, the Bold option for older folks and market, but it offers a large for displaying business
9700 is the one for you. technophobes who want a screen and comprehensive presentations and photos.
simple voice phone. routing at a reasonable
price.
T-Mobile; 2.4-inch, 360-by- 2.0-inch, 176-by-220 color Automobile GPS; 5-inch DLP engine; 3:2 aspect
480 screen; 3.2MP camera; screen; Bluetooth; 3.8 by touch screen; turn-by-turn; ratio; 2000:1 contrast ratio;
Bluetooth; 4.3 by 2.4 by 0.5 2 by 0.7 inches (HWD); 3D view; 3.5 by 5.2 by 0.9 11 ANSI lumens bright-
inches (HWD); 4.3 ounces. 3.8 ounces. inches (HWD); 8.9 ounces. ness; 0.7 by 2 by 4.2 inches
SPECS
(HWD); 4.4 ounces.
Product name in RED indicates Editors’ Choice.
20 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

23. DIGITAL CAMERAS MEDIA EXTENDERS GAMES DIGITAL PHOTO FRAMES
Panasonic Lumix Logitech Squeezebox DJ Hero (PS3) HP DreamScreen 100
DMC-GF1 Radio $119.99 list $249.99 direct
$899.95 direct $199.99 direct
Ll l l m Ll l m m Ll l l m Ll l m m
• More compact than • Color display • Simple interface • Sexy design
a D-SLR • Easy to operate • Diverse song catalog • Good image quality
• Fast focusing speeds • Streams Internet radio • Effectively teaches the • Intuitive user interface
• Extremely sharp images • Incorporates apps like basics of DJing • Simple network configura-
• HD video capture Facebook and Amazon tion
• Built-in flash
• Noisy images at ISO • Set-up can be a hassle • Multitasking can be • Pricey
1600 and higher • Wi-Fi signal can be easily difficult • UI is very sluggish
• No optical viewfinder lost • No break between songs • Limited video playback
• No optical image stabiliza- • Weak sound quality support
tion with 20mm lens • Remote not included • Networking software does
not support Macs
The most promising Micro The Squeezebox line of Though it can be difficult Despite a slow interface and
Four Thirds camera yet, streaming devices keeps to truly master the skills of some less-than-useful ap-
DMC-GF1 offers a D-SLR getting better, but the turntablism, once you get plications, the DreamScreen
experience in a body not Squeezebox Radio is not the the hang of it, DJ Hero can 100 does a nice job of dis-
much bigger than a super- strongest here. be addictive. playing photos and videos.
zoom.
Micro Four Thirds camera; Internet radio playback; Turntable included. 10.2-inch screen; Com-
12.1MP; 4,000 by 3,000 802.11g Wi-Fi; Ethernet; pactFlash, Memory Stick
maximum resolution; 3-inch AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, Pro, xD-Picture Card, and
LCD; HD video capture; 2.8 FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, Secure Digital High Capacity
by 4.7 by 1.4 inches (HWD); WMA file support; 5.1 by memory supported.
12.2 ounces. 8.7 by 5.0 inches (HWD).
Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and other consumer electronics products.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 21

24. fIrsT LOOks HArDwArE
HP Pavilion p6267c-b
A Stylish
Quad-Core
Desktop
HP’s quad-core–powered Pavil-
ion p6267c-b delivers impressive
multimedia power and big screen
goodness at a very reasonable
price. For under a grand, you get
8GB of system memory, a nice-size hard
drive, a beautiful 25-inch LCD monitor, and
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). There’s
even a dedicated graphics card, albeit a low-
end one.
On the outside, there’s nothing to distin-
guish the p6267c-b from its siblings, the drive with LightScribe-labeling capabilities.
p6207c-b and p6247c-b, as they all use the In typical HP fashion, unfortunately, this sys-
same sleek-looking matte black chassis with tem is burdened with bloatware.
a silver-framed piano black front panel. A 15- On our benchmarks, the p6267c-b man-
in-1 card reader and two optical drive bays aged to edge past the Dell Inspiron 545
sit above a 3.5-inch expansion bay. Around (our budget desktop EC) on most tests. Its
back are four additional USB ports, a giga- PCMark Vantage score of 6,500 was almost
bit Ethernet port, and a FireWire port. 2,000 points higher than the 545 (4,529)
The bright 25-inch HP 2509m LCD moni- and was 32 percent faster than the Lenovo
tor included in this bundle has a 1,920-by- IdeaCentre K220 (4,922). It finished our
1,080 native resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. Windows Media Encoder test in 41 seconds,
You also get a multi-format recordable DVD which was only 1 second faster than the Dell
I sPECs 2.5-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 processor; 8GB SDRAM; 750GB hard drive; ATI Radeon HD 4350
graphics; dual-layer DVD±RW drive; 25-inch widescreen LCD; Windows 7 Home Premium.
22 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

25. HP Pavilion p6267c-b
$999.99 list
Ll l l m
PrOs Good performance on productivity
apps. Spacious hard drive. Comes with
25-inch LCD monitor. Lots of memory.
CONs Lacks a Blu-ray drive. So-so
graphics performance. Bloatware.
545 and 5 seconds faster than the Lenovo So even with the bloatware, the p6267c-b
K220. Although the p6267c-b comes with delivers more bang for your buck, especially
an ATI Radeon HD 4350 discrete graphics for workers with multimedia tasks, thus
card, it managed a paltry 16.5 frames per earning our Editors’ Choice for value desk-
second (fps) on our Crysis 3D test, proving tops.—John Delaney
it is by no means meant for serious gaming. CLICk HErE fOr MOrE
PErfOrMANCE TEsTs
L High scores are best. M Low scores are best. PcMark 3DMark WinDoWs MeDia PHotosHoPc s4
Bold type denotes first place. Vantage* L Vantage* L encoDer M min:sec cineBencH r10 L M min:sec
HP Pavilion p6267c-b 6,500 5,496 0:41 10,640 1:35
Dell Inspiron 545 4,529 n/a 0:42 11,121 1:30
Lenovo IdeaCentre K220 4,922 2,793 0:46 10,171 1:42
Product name in RED indicates editors’ choice. n/a—not applicable: the product could not complete the test, or the test was not compatible.
* test was run at the default resolution of 1,24 by 768.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 23

26. FIRst LOOKs HARDwARE
Apple iMac 27-inch (Core 2 Duo)
Apple’s
Big-Screen
Beauty
When it comes to the all-in-one
desktop market, the Apple iMac
is the standard bearer. And, like
any other industry-leading prod- Apple iMac 27-inch (Core 2 Duo)
uct, this makes it a target for all of $1,699 list
Ll l l m
Apple’s competitors. So Apple has again
PROs Continues design dominance. Wireless
updated the iMac with a wider screen, even keyboard. Wireless Magic Mouse. Mini Dis-
more aluminum-replacing plastic, and a playPort input. Better screen resolution than a
1080p HDTV. EPEAT Gold and Energy Star 5.0.
couple of neat new features. Not to mention
COns Card reader is SD-only. No eSATA.
its huge 27-inch screen. With a little tweak- Requires third-party adapter for HDMI or DVI
ing, this desktop could replace the TV in input. No Blu-ray option.
your den, kitchen, or bedroom.
Upon close inspection, you’ll notice the Energy Star 5.0 ratings, as well as company
“Jay Leno chin” is slimmer, and this model recycling programs and energy efficiency.
comes with a wireless mouse and keyboard. This system performed well, though it’s
The base iMacs (both 21.5-inch and 27-inch) not significantly faster than the previous
now have 3.06-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo proces- iMac (Nvidia GT130). This model scored a
sors, upgradeable to 3.33 GHz. HD videos good 1:57 on the Photoshop CS4 test and
look great on the backlit LCD, and the sys- proved to be fast at 3D and day-to-day
tem is powerful enough to play 1080p videos tasks, with high marks on PCMark Vantage
smoothly. With the Mini DisplayPort you can and 3DMark Vantage. Basically, this iMac
connect another display, or with an adapter, is a class-defining product, with a huge
a Blu-ray player, satellite/cable box, or game screen, beautiful design, and serious power.
console. This model also snags our Green- —Joel Santo Domingo
Tech Approved stamp for EPEAT Gold and CLICK HERE FOR MORE
I sPECs 3.06-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 processor, 4GB SDRAM; 1TB SATA hard drive; 256MB ATI Radeon HD
4670 graphics card, dual-layer DVD±RW drive, integrated 27-inch widescreen monitor, Mac OS X 10.6.
24 PC MAGAZInE DIGItAL EDItIOn JANUARY 2010

27. FIRsT LOOKs HARDwARE
Epson PictureMate Charm
Portable
Photo Printer
Champ
The ninth model in Epson’s Pic-
tureMate line, the Charm isn’t
very different from the previous-
generation models. But that’s not
necessarily a bad thing. Picture-
Mate printers have been consistent Editors’
Choice material since the first generation
in 2004. The Charm is just one more Edi- Epson PictureMate Charm
tors’ Choice variation on a winning family of $149.99 direct
Ll l l h
small-format dedicated photo printers.
PROs Fast. Low price per photo. High-quality
In some ways, the Charm takes a step back 4-by-6-inch output. Long-lived photos.
from the previous generation’s more attrac- CONs Can’t print from USB memory keys.
tive features. For example, the Charm’s 2.5- Relatively big and heavy.
inch LCD is smaller than previous models’
3.6 inches. And the Charm doesn’t let you The Charm’s speed printing a 4-by-6-
print from a USB memory key, as previous inch photo averaged 41 seconds, consider-
models did. On the other hand, the Charm ably faster than most of its competition (at
kicks up the level of photo quality by a small, 1 minute or more). Although not pro photo
but noticeable, notch. lab quality, the Charm’s output is better than
Physically, the Charm is similar to earlier you’d get from your local drugstore. And the
PictureMates, with a lunch-pail design—a cost per glossy photo comes out to a very
5.7- by 9.1- by 6.7-inch (HWD) and 7.9-pound reasonable 25.3 cents. This combination of
white box with a handle on it. As options, fast speed, low cost per page, and high-qual-
you can add a rechargeable battery or Blue- ity prints puts the Charm way out in front of
tooth adapter. The menu and front-panel its competition, and earns it a spot as Edi-
controls are easy to use and entirely self - tors’ Choice. —M. David Stone
explanatory. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 25

28. QuICk LOOks HARDWARE
DESKTOPS LAPTOPS
Asus Eee Top ET2002 MSI Wind Top AE2010 Acer Aspire AS8940-6865 Sony VAIO
$599 list $650 list $1,400 street VGN-NW270F/S
$799.98 list
Ll l h m Ll l m m Ll l l m Ll l l m
• Wireless keyboard and • All-in-one touchscreen PC • Affordable • Blu-ray player in an
mouse • VESA mount and wall • Gorgeous 18.4-inch $800 system
• Dual core Atom processor mount adapters included widescreen • Big, wide display
PROS
• HDMI In • VGA in and out • 1080p resolution • Unique design
• eSATA port • Very good gaming scores • Comfortable keyboard
• Blu-Ray included and touchpad
• No touch screen • Touch sensitivity is finicky • Ugly on the outside • Mediocre battery life
• Smaller hard drive and • Only 60-day • Small battery • Display falls short of
memory than rival subscription to 1080p resolution
CONS
• Can’t run 3D benchmarks Norton Internet Security • Lid and screen are a bit
at standard settings • Pricey for a nettop too flexible
• Lots of bloatware • Low-resolution Webcam
Asus carries its netbook The touch-sensitive AE2010 The AS8940-6865 has the With its unique design and
success into this attractive, is a decent system, but performance and feature Blu-ray player, the VFN-
BOTTOM LINE
dual-core nettop all-in-one, Windows Vista and lots of goods, delivered to you at NW270F/S is an affordable
but it’s not enough to usurp bloatware bring its scores an affordable price. entertainment laptop that
our current nettop EC. down. pulls double duty as a
workhorse machine.
1.6-GHz Intel Core Atom 1.5-GHz AMD Athlon X2 1.6-GHz Intel Core i7- 2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
330 processor; 2GB 3250e processor; 4GB 720QM processor; 4GB T6600 processor; 4GB
SDRAM; 320GB SATA hard SDRAM; 320GB SATA hard SDRAM; 500GB hard drive; SDRAM; 320GB hard drive;
drive; nVidia ION graphics; drive; ATI Radeon HD 3200 nVidia GeForce GTS 250M 15.5-inch display; Intel
SPECS
DVD±RW drive; 20-inch integrated graphics; 20- graphics; 18.4-inch display; GMA 4500MHD graphics;
widescreen; Windows 7 inch widescreen; Windows 9.1 pounds; 66-Wh battery; 5.6 pounds; 6-cell battery;
Home Premium. Vista Home Premium. Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Home Premium.
64-bit.
Product name in RED indicates Editors’ Choice.
.
26 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

29. NETBOOKS SCANNERS
Dell Inspiron 1750 HP Mini 110-1134CL Nokia Booklet 3G Epson Perfection V600
(2211MBU) $349 direct $600 street Photo
$729.98 list $249.99 direct
Ll l h m Ll l h m Ll l m m Ll l l m
• Huge 17.3-inch display • Attractive design • Luxurious design • High-quality scans
• Thin and light for desktop • Lightweight • Lightweight • Fully automatic mode for
replacement • Comfortable keyboard • Embedded 3G easy scanning
• Pleasing design • Just over 7 hours of battery • HDMI-Out • Scans both 35mm and
• Respectable battery life life • Great battery life medium-format film
• Spacious hard drive
• Display falls short of 1080p • Mouse buttons are awk- • Overpriced • Scans only four 35mm
• No HDMI port or Blu-ray ward • Slow-spinning hard drive slides at a time
support • Thicker than most net- • Crippling performance • Weak on office tasks
• No 802.11n Wi-Fi books scores
• Graphics limits perfor- • Battery bulges from the • No easy way to upgrade
mance back of the system memory
A basic, low-cost desktop The 110-1134CL’s attrac- Although it’s the most The Epson Perfection V600
replacement, the 1750 pairs tive design and spruced-up luxurious netbook to date, Photo offers high-quality
a huge display with main- feature set is now bundled the Booklet 3G is tough scans for prints and both
stream components for big- with a longer running six- to recommend given its 35mm and medium-format
screen bargain hunters. cell battery. bloated price and lackluster film, plus an exceptionally
performance. easy-to-use scan utility.
2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 1.6-GHz Intel Atom Z530 Flatbed scanner; 6,400-pixel
T6600 processor; 4GB processor; 1GB SDRAM; processor; 1GB SDRAM; maximum optical resolution;
SDRAM; 500GB hard drive; 160GB hard drive; 10.1- 120GB hard drive; Intel GMA USB connection; reflective
17.3-inch display; Intel inch display; Intel GMA 950 500 graphics; 10.1-inch and transparency scanning;
GMA 4500MHD graphics; graphics; 2.7 pounds; 6-cell display; 2.7 pounds 57-Wh 4.6 by 11 by 19 (HWD);
6.7 pounds; 6-cell battery; battery; Windows 7 Starter battery; Windows 7 Home 9.0 pounds.
Windows 7 Home Premium. Edition. Premium (32-bit).
Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and scores of other hardware products.
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 27

30. fIrsT LOOks BUsINEss
HP ProLiant ML330 G6
HP Serves Up
Great Performance
T
here’s nothing pretty about card in the ML330 can connect up to eight
HP servers from the outside, SAS (serial-attached SCSI) ports with a
but once you open them maximum of 12 drives. The card supports
up, you will be smitten by RAID 0, 1, 5, and optional 6.
the solid engineering. HP Management-software installation is
certainly sets the server bar high. The HP straightforward. The Smart Array Configu-
ProLiant ML330 G6 is a newcomer in the ration utility does what you would expect,
venerable ProLiant line, and it proved to be creating logical drives and managing the
a solid all-around tower server, with ample controller card. If you have to troubleshoot
space for extra hardware. the card or the drives, the diagnostic report-
As tower servers go, the ProLiant ML330 ing provides lots of information on both the
is one of the largest for the SMB. But it can drives and controller. The other major util-
still fit well in a small office, and you won’t ity is HP Insight Diagnostics, which is Web
know it’s there because it runs quiet, with based. Insight is comparable to the System
three fans to cool the box. HP also sells feature in the Windows Control Panel, except
the ML330 in a 2U case, which is similar in that you can compare different server con-
size to the ProLiant DL380 G5, our Editors’ figurations and even view the logical drives.
Choice pick from last year. This model has The System Management tool, which is simi-
all the classic characteristics you expect, lar to the Insight tool, takes management
such as a roomy case with three PCIe2 slots one step further by providing visibility of all
(one is taken by the RAID card), enough Web enabled HP system tools.
room at the front for non-RAID configured The ML330 scored 5,430 with Geek-
SATA hard drives under the vertically ori- bench 2.1 64-bit, a benchmark for measur-
ented RAID drive bay, and space for two ing processor and memory performance. It
more optical drives. The P410 controller scored 10,975 on Cinebench with the mul-
I sPECs 2.13-GHz Intel Xeon E5506 processor; 8GB SDRAM; three 250GB SATA hard drives; DVD drive;
two Gigabit Ethernet ports; four USB 2.0 ports; legacy VGA and PS/2 ports.
28 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

31. HP ProLiant
ML330 G6
$2,624 direct
ll l l m
PrOs Lots of room for expansion
in case. Performance is excellent.
Runs cool and quiet.
CONs Case is a little big if space
is tight.
tiple CPUs (cores) turned on. According to are running the latest Exchange 2010, some
desktop analyst Joel Santo Domingo, that other database intensive server app, or just
test was on a par with quad-core processor need a dedicated Web server, the ML330
systems—a very good score. can be adapted to any solution. No mat-
In a nutshell, the ML330 is a great general- ter what the setup, I highly recommend it.
purpose server that fits nicely in a small- —Mario Morejon
office network environment. Whether you CLICk HErE fOr MOrE
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 29

32. FIRSt LOOKS BUSInESS
Outright (September 2009)
Free
Ll l h m
PROS Clean, simple interface.
Excellent integration with re-
lated services. Estimates Federal
taxes due. Downloads credit card
transactions. Can’t beat the price
of free.
COnS No state tax tracking. No
export to tax prep solutions. No
electronic tax payments.
Outright (September 2009)
Maximize Deductions
and Accounting Time
O
utright does three things, for from your business credit card, as well as
free, within an extraordinarily from PayPal, Expensify, and eBay.
clean, understandable inter- Basically, your information lands in one
face: It tracks income and of two places: your income register or
expenses, creates reports, and your expense register. Click on the Income
uses that data to give you an estimate of tab to see what’s been brought in, and
what you might owe in taxes. Though you the Expenses tab displays downloaded
can enter some data manually, Outright is expenses—and you can add your own. The
Web-based, so there’s no software to install. Taxes page calculates the tax impact of your
Also, it imports data from FreshBooks income and expenses.
(invoices), Shoeboxed (receipts and busi- I haven’t run into another financial appli-
ness card management), and oDesk (pay- cation that handles accounting like Outright
tracking for remote contractors). does, with this level of skill, usability, and
Setup of Outright is as simple as clicking elegance. It’s still young, and still lacking in
the Settings link and following the instruc- some capabilities. But its innovation, secu-
tions for integrating external data. Outright rity, and simplicity make Outright a good
will download current information on a set choice for the self-employed and very small
schedule. The site has added a crucial ele- businesses.—Kathy Yakal
ment: the ability to download transactions CLICK HERE FOR MORE
30 PC MAGAZInE DIGItAL EDItIOn JANUARY 2010

33. FIRst LOOKs BUsInEss
HP ProBook 5310m
Thin is
ProBook’s
Business
The HP ProBook 5310m is evi-
dence that small businesses are
ready to embrace modern times. HP
The 5310m sheds the optical drive ProBook 5310m
$899 direct
and VGA port, which would have Ll l l m
otherwise made the design thick PROs Luxuriously thin. Very lightweight.
and conservative. The result is a Amazing typing and navigating experience.
Great battery life on a 41-Wh battery. Inexpen-
luxuriously thin ultraportable with-
sive. HP Quick tools are nice add-ons. Environ-
out the sticker shock. And it’s quite mentally friendly.
the performer, too. That’s why it COns 8-cell battery isn’t available yet.
earns our Editors’ Choice.
The 5310m’s design is strikingly similar to The 5310m’s 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo proces-
that of the HP Mini 5101—a netbook—except sor emphasizes both speed and energy
its footprint is significantly larger, measuring efficiency. This system achieved impressive
13 by 8.7 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and weigh- performance scores, with video encoding
ing 3.6 pounds. Brushed aluminum metals and Cinebench R10 scores easily beating
give the 5310m a striking, modern look. The out the ThinkPad X301. And on MobileMark
13.1-inch widescreen is the perfect size for 2007 tests, it lasted a respectable 5 hours 18
maximizing productivity, and the typing minutes. The 5310m also earned our Green-
and navigating experience easily rivals that Tech Approved seal for EPEAT Gold, Energy
of the Lenovo ThinkPad X301. You also get Star 5.0, and RoHS certifications, among
a webcam, three USB ports, Gigabit Ether- other factors. In short, the 5310m is for busi-
net, an SD/MMC slot, and various wireless ness professionals who are always thinking
options, including 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and moving forward.—Cisco Cheng
and options for mobile broadband. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
I sPECs 2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 processor; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM; 320GB hard drive; Intel GMA 4500MHD
graphics; 13.1-inch widescreen; Broadcom AGN Wi-Fi; 3.8 pounds; 41-Wh battery; Windows 7 Pro (32-bit).
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZInE DIGItAL EDItIOn 31

34. fIrsT LOOks sOfTWArE
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta
Office Gets a Tune-U
M
icrosoft Office 2010 has application. A nifty animated splash screen
now gone public in a reduces the boredom of waiting for the app
freely downloadable beta to start, and, even in beta, Office 2010 feels
version, meaning anyone slightly snappier than Office 2007. When
can try out time-limited you launch an application, the first thing
versions of the next generation of Word, you notice is that the blindingly blue-toned
Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and the rest of background that the previous Office ver-
the growing Office family. After a few days sion used by default has been replaced by
of intense testing, I’m deeply impressed a restful gray-toned background. The rib-
by the many ways Microsoft has improved bon is less distracting to look at because
on the solid foundation of Office 2007. If Microsoft ditched the boxes that used to
you’re used to Office 2007, you’ll need no surround many icons and groups of icons.
help using Office 2010. Old features remain The traditional File menu tab has also been
where they were, although some are now restored, with a “Backstage” view where
displayed on spacious menus with lots of you can access file-management options,
explanatory text instead of the cramped including export to PDF and privacy options
menus found in Office 2007. to remove metadata and revisions before
Here’s what it’s like to run an Office 2010 saving a file.
32 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2010

35. Microsoft Office 2010
Beta
Free
Not rated
PrOs More informative, con-
sistent interface. Improved
navigation. Improved image-
enhancement and typographic
tools. Tighter OneNote inte-
gration. No additional learn-
ing required because the new
features are so smoothly slot-
ted in. 64-bit support enables
gigantic spreadsheets.
CONs Not a compelling up-
grade for Office 2007 users.
Up
Picture-editing options available in most like the stack of section headings in Word’s
Office apps include a new “remove back- new Navigation Pane. PowerPoint’s big new
ground” feature, as well as blurs and pastels. feature takes advantage of today’s power-
And there’s an easy-to-use Insert Screenshot ful computers by embedding impressive
selection. A welcome new feature in Word, video-editing features directly into slides.
Excel, and PowerPoint lets you recover a And Outlook finally gets the Ribbon inter-
document you closed without saving. face throughout, as well as the same clearer,
As far as specific apps go, Word improve- less-boxy look that’s improved the rest of
ments include new typographic features the suite.
that support graphic refinements and the My overall judgment on the beta version is
new Navigation Pane, which automatically that it’s terrific but not essential for anyone
displays the sections of a document as a already running Office 2007. If you’re still
vertical stack of boxes. Excel innovations using Office 2003, however, I strongly rec-
are “Sparklines,” which display in a tiny ommend you upgrade to Office 2010 when
graphic image the data in a range of cells it becomes available. In the meantime, try
anywhere else in a worksheet and Slicer, a downloading the beta of Office 2010 and
Pivot Table feature that displays a summary give it a try.—Edward Mendelson
view of a Pivot Table in a chart that looks CLICk HErE fOr MOrE
JANUARY 2010 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 33

36. FIRSt LOOKS SOFtwaRE
Google Chrome OS
A Peek at a Google Future
I
nstalling Google’s Chrome OS is not
for laymen, and even the tech-savvy
will discover it doesn’t resemble the
Google demos. This OS is truly tied
to the hardware for which Google
intends it, and current testers won’t see
enhanced features, like instant boot times.
Using a virtual machine running on a Win-
dows 7 PC, I took an early look at Chrome.
The first thing you see when starting up
Chrome is a plain blue log-on screen, and any
Gmail account sign-in will get you past this.
Once you’re in, you’ll see what at first looks
like nothing more than a browser. On closer
examination, you’ll notice a white Google
Chrome icon to the left of your tabs, which is Google Chrome
Free
sort of a Start button that drops down your Not rated
most-often-used sites and perhaps settings PROS Simplified interface. Automatically up-
(depending on the release). dates. Apps and docs live in the cloud. Support
for working offline via Google Gears.
The two other major user interface fea-
CONS Can run only on specific hardware.
tures are pinned tabs and Panels. The first Repeatedly crashed test systems. Needs further
is similar to Windows 7’s pinned program refinement.
buttons. The site you pin stays loaded in its
pinned tab. But it’s too easy to unpin a tab testing, the OS froze regularly—after about
accidentally by dragging it. Panels are win- every five operations, requiring a restart.
dows such as chat and notifications that stay At this point, Chrome OS feels like a
at the forefront of the screen. There’s also top browser layer stuck onto a minimalist
support for offline work using Google Gears. Linux layer. Although this system will surely
Also, a clunky experience trying to down- change, it still offers tantalizing hints at
load and open a Microsoft Word attachment what Google considers the future of com-
makes me wonder how the OS will handle puting.—Michael Muchmore
downloading things like ZIP files. During my CLICK HERE FOR MORE
34 PC MaGaZINE DIGItaL EDItION JANUARY 2010