FEBRUARY 2011

PCWORLD.COM
$6.99 USA Printed in USA
DISPLAY UNTIL FEBRUARY 15, 2011
WHAT TO DO WITH AN OLD PC
Dont junk it! Here
are 11 great second
careers for aging
computers p. 94
BEST SECURITY SOFTWARE
Which all-in-one
suites keep your PC
safe while avoiding
slowdowns? p. 72
11 Tech Breakthroughs for 2011 p. 87
46
SITES
YOU CANT
LIVE WITHOUT
Storage, Office Tools, Photos, Travel,
Money, Music, Movies, Dining & More! p. 60
My name's 1rent and I buy and seII aII sorts of stuff :
a bike for my son, 3 burner griII for me. I track my
saIes using mini graphs caIIed SparkIines that I insert
into my spreadsheet in fxceI 20l0. 1eIIs me my net net
fast fast. So I know if I can afford more stuff.
See how you can make it great with
Ofce 20l0 at ofce.com/20l0.

lt means dootors |n Eth|op|a w||| be ab|e to |nstant|y oompare th|s b|ood samp|e to over 41,CCC Hlv treatment
h|stor|es to he|p the|r pat|ents reoe|ve the best treatment reg|men poss|b|e. The EuRes|st Network |s he|p|ng
dootors pred|ot pat|ent response to var|ous Hlv treatments w|th over 8% aoouraoyoutperform|ng 9 out of 1C
human experts |n a reoent study. The too| |s bu||t on an lBM ana|yt|os so|ut|on that |ntegrates a var|ety of d|sparate
databases onto a f|ex|b|e lBM DB2

p|atform to prooess oomp|ex metadata more effeot|ve|y than anyth|ng e|se

on the market. A smarter organ|zat|on |s bu||t on smarter software, systems and serv|oes.
|et`s bu||d a smarter p|anet. |bm.oom/hosp|ta|
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FEBRUARY 2011
1 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
DEPARTMENTS
6 Techlog
9 PCW Forum
108 The Back Page
FORWARD
13 Googles Chrome OS Laptop
Te CR 48 demo model shows the
OSs strengths and weaknesses.
17 Beta Watch
18 GeekTech
CONSUMER WATCH
21 Trouble-Free Tech Returns
Send items back without hassle.
22 Skeptical Shopper
24 On Your Side
BUSINESS CENTER
27 NAS for Any Business
Pick the right network attached
storage option for your company.
28 Net Work
30 Tech Audit
SECURITY ALERT
33 Paranoids Guide to Facebook
Follow our advice to keep your
personal information private.
34 Bugs and Fixes
36 Privacy Watch
HERES HOW
94 11 Uses for an Old PC
Feeling guilty about that box in
the closet? Try these reuse ideas.
102 Answer Line
104 Rick Broidas Hassle-Free PC
REVIEWS AND
RANKINGS
38 Media Streamers Step Up
Set top boxes gain new skills.
44 Barnes & Noble NookColor
48 Top 5 Monochrome Lasers
50 Top 5 Compact PCs
54 Top 10 Desktop Replacements
55 Nvidia GeForce GTX 580
58 Download This
55
50
87
FEATURES
60 The Webs Best Sites
Whether you want to get more
work done, fnd useful informa
tion, or discover fresh entertain
ment options, turn to these
indispensable sites and services.
72 Battle of the Security
Superpowers
Which of the latest security suites
ofer the best protection, without
overburdening your PC? Our lab
test results provide the answers.
87 The Tech to Watch in 2011
PCWorlds experts identify prod
ucts and trends from hybrid
laptops to innovative OSs that
will make waves in the world of
technology throughout the year.
98
2 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 6
Techlog
ST E V E F OX
EVEN IF YOURE the kind of alpha
geek whos happiest with your head in
the (Internet) cloud and your fngers
inside a PC case, keeping up with all
the latest developments in technology
has become nearly impossible. Te pace
of digital innovation is accelerating at
such a prodigious clip that theres sim
ply too much to keep track of.
If youre looking for confrmation of
this trend, check out the eye opening
chart (at the bottom of this column) that
Google generated when I
typed in the phrase tech
innovations timeline.
Impressive, no? In fact,
innovations growth curve
is so steep that keeping up
with technology can feel
like a full time occupation.
For PCWorld editors, thats
the job description. For
regular humans who may
love technology but have
day jobs elsewhere there
are likely better uses of
your valuable time than,
say, tracking upcoming
Android releases or pro
posed wireless standards.
To help you out, weve taken two
tacks. First, weve laid out a roadmap of
the years anticipated digital delights
(Te Tech to Watch in 2011, page
87). If youre seeking a high level view
of what to expect from the latest
chips to zippy 4G networks Senior
Editor Tm Moynihans article should
1. Dynamics Card 2.0: Tis programma
ble credit card is chock full of sophisti
cated electronics, yet it works with
existing magnetic stripe readers. Vari
ous buttons on the card allow you to
switch between accounts, hide the
account number until you enter a code,
and dynamically create new codes and
stripe properties for payments.
2. Firstech DroneMobile:
With this system, you
can use your Android,
BlackBerry, or iPhone
handset to interface
with your car. You can
unlock your vehicle
remotely, perform diag
nostics on it, and even
fgure out if your kids
are driving the car when
they shouldnt be.
3. Monster Cable Max 3D
Glasses: Designed with
the goal of playing Swit
zerland to the many fac
tions engaged in the 3D
wars, these specs work
with any 3D HDTV on the market.
4. Dell Inspiron Duo: A 10.1 inch screen
hybrid, the Inspiron Duo can instantly
convert with just a swivel from a
keyboard driven clamshell style laptop
to a touchscreen tablet. Dell gets loads
of style points for this clever design.
5. ThinkEco Modlet: Tis power outlet
add on transmits a wireless signal to
your PC, where you can manage devic
es power consumption, including the
dreaded vampire power.
If youre intrigued, look for more
of our CES coverage online. Well be
happy to help you stay up to date.
Steve Fox is editorial director of PCWorld.
Keeping Current on Digital Developments
give you enough info to evaluate your
tech needs for the coming year (and
even sound knowledgeable if cocktail
party banter turns to matters digital).
Second, for folks who want a deeper
dive, PCWorld has teamed up with the
2011 Consumer Electronics Show to
sponsor the CES Innovations Design
and Engineering Awards. Te winners,
in 35 categories, represent the best and
brightest that tech has to ofer today.
You can view a complete rundown of
the winners at CESs own awards page
(nd.pcworld.com/71141) or for a visual
traipse through some of our favorite
categories, check out the slideshows at
our CES page (nd.pcworld.com/71142).
I certainly dont
want to spoil the
fun of discovering
many of these
goodies for your
self. But I thought
Id at least point
you to fve per
sonal favorites.
This years CES Innovations Awards honor technology pioneers
and provide a behind the scenes glimpse of where tech is heading.
SO THATS WHY its so hard to keep up. This Google graph of tech
innovations shows that the pace of change just keeps accelerating.
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to |norease the|r baggage hand||ng oapao|ty by 4C%, so they oan meet the grow|ng demand p|aoed on them as
one of Europe`s |argest transport hubs. Th|s system |s bu||t on lBM Rat|ona|

and T|vo||

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. A smarter bus|ness |s bu||t on smarter software, systems and serv|oes.

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A0
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F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 9
PCW Forum
A number of readers
this month added use-
ful points to our Decem-
ber articles on television
streaming, rmware
updates, Windows time-
saving tricks, landline-phone alternatives,
and more. You can always send comments
to [email protected] or visit and join
our forums at nd.pcworld.com/55165.
Kill Your Cable?
In the December issue, the article Kill
Your Cable, If You Dare [Forward] dis
cussed streaming TV from the Internet.
But Internet service providers are al
ready talking about limiting the amount
of data that can be streamed or down
loaded. How will TV streaming afect
Internet service costs and quota limits?
For Internet service, I use Charter
Communications. Charter recently
announced changes to its Acceptable
Use Policy to limit an individuals data
transfer to 100GB, 250GB, or 500GB
per month, depending on the type of
service the customer has.
I gather that AT&T allows unlimited
data transfer for its home services at
present but is considering setting limits.
It appears that many Internet service
providers will begin setting monthly
data quotas and changing their rates to
refect quantity as well as speed.
We recently changed to digital TV ser
vice. Are companies going to limit or
charge for the amount of data that is
transferred to our HDTVs? Will custom
ers with lots of channels and/or many
TVs be charged for the quantity of data?
Telephone service has gone digital
both in homes and for cellular connec
tions, and AT&T has begun charging dif
ferent rates for data transfer on its cell
phones. Is in home phone service next?
James Keck, Reno, Nevada
Firmware Updating
I found your December article on frm
ware updating [Update the Firmware
on Your HDTV, Camera, Smartphone,
PC, and More, Heres How] very help
ful. However, I would add some cau
tions on updating HDTV displays.
First, read about the update and what
it is intended to accomplish. It may
extend the televisions capabilities or
resolve a functional issue.
If your display has been performing
optimally and doesnt have the issues
documented in the frmware fx, con
sider leaving it alone especially if the
set has been professionally calibrated.
Sometimes a frmware update installs
default settings that wipe out settings
that were adjusted for best performance.
While precision calibration is becom
ing less important due to the greater
accuracy of many modern displays, a
little caution can go a long way.
Conversely, input devices such as
Blu ray players ofen need updates just
to be compatible with recent movie
sofware releases.
Dale Beshansky, Clovis, California
Adobe Premiere Elements 9
You reviewed Adobe Premiere Elements
9 in the December issue. My experience
with Premiere Elements 8 was disap
pointing. Tough my computer exceed
ed the recommended minimum hard
ware requirements, Premiere Elements
8 was painfully slow and crashed fre
quently. Afer exploring various user
forums, I gave up on it and bought a
competing product that works great.
Ron Stern, Orange City, Florida
Conversation View
I agree with Edward N. Albro that Con
versation View haters are way of base
[Google Yields to the Haters of Gmails
Conversation View, Forward, Decem
ber]. You can delete individual messag
es: Click the down arrow next to Reply,
and in the drop down menu (the same
place you fnd Print for a single mes
sage), youll see the option Delete this
message. I use it all the time.
Belinda de la Libertad, Orange, California
Make Windows Smarter
An addendum to your December cover
story: On smaller screens, you can get
rid of the bars on top of Internet Explor
er 8 by right clicking each bar and turn
ing it of. You can also slide the Com
mand bar all the way to the right so that
only the Home icon and a small arrow
remain showing, leaving more room for
tabs. IE 8 looks cleaner, and your screen
is optimized. Or simply use IE 9 Beta.
VHMP01, PCWorld.com forums I
L
L
U
S
T
R
A
T
I
O
N
:
H
A
R
R
Y
C
A
M
P
B
E
L
L
Re: The 3D Printer Revolution
Countdown [nd.pcworld.com/
71086]: I am hopeful that a killer
app in the future will give me an
excuse to get [a 3D printer]. Kind
of like people in the 80s saying
they got their PC for home nance.
kronoscornelius,
PCWorld.com forums
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 10
PCWForum
PCWorld welcomes your feedback. We re
serve the right to edit for length and clarity.
Share your thoughts in the Comments area
under each story on our Website, or visit our
Forums (nd.pcworld.com/55165). Send
e mail to [email protected].
Landline Alternatives
Regarding Cut the Cord: Low Cost
and Free Landline Phone Alternatives,
Reviews and Rankings, December: Veri
zon is our local landline and cell phone
provider. Its tech support is arrogant,
uninformed, and shoddy; but the phone
works when the power goes (as it ofen
does in our remote rural area). Te
voice quality is good, and the user skill
level is minimal. At NetTalks site, you
have to pay and sign up to fnd out
what your phone number would proba
bly be reminiscent of the old Soviet
Union, which banned phone books.
Dzebruk, PCWorld.com forums
Beyond PayPal
Te article Beyond PayPal: New Per
sonal Payment Sites [Consumer Watch,
CORRECTI ONS
JANUARYS FREE, PAID Antivirus
Compared, Reviews and Rankings, had
an incorrect version of the chart for
paid antivirus products, affecting pri-
marily Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011. The
gures for Kaspersky should have
been: signature-based detection of
malware, 95.7 percent; fully blocked
attacks by real-world malware, 88 per-
cent; successful cleanup of active mal-
ware components, 80 percent.
In Decembers Hassle-Free PC, the
item Fix a Windows System That Ran-
domly Freezes recommended a Micro-
soft hotx for this problem (in Windows
7), but omitted its URL. Go to nd.
pcworld.com/71082 for the download.
PCWorld regrets the errors.
December] needs one clarifcation.
With the Obopay service, a person
doesnt need to set up and fund an ac
count before making a payment to you.
Instead, anyone can send you a payment
simply by using their debit/credit card.
Te service lets anyone accept debit/
credit card payments and does not re
quire the person making the payment
to create an account for payments.
Also, it is a bit diferent (and hopeful
ly better for most people) than PayPal
in that you can receive payments for
free, right into your own bank account.
David Schwartz, VP, Product and
Corporate Marketing, Obopay
Im mobile.
2011 Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. All rights reserved. Fujitsu and the Fujitsu logo are registered trademarks of Fujitsu Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 13
BY EDWARD N. ALBRO
CURIOUS ABOUT Chrome
OS? Shut down every app
on your PC except Google
Chrome (the browser), and
maximize that window.
Voil! It looks like Chrome
OS. Add a few apps from
the Chrome App Store, and
youll have an exact replica.
Googles CR 48, the com
panys proof of concept
Forward
For a practical introductory FAQ on Googles new operating system,
see nd.pcworld.com/71143. For an analysis of how Chrome OS
and HTML5 are likely to coexist, see nd.pcworld.com/71144.
Googles prototype Chrome OS machine delivers
little more than the companys browser in a box.
Google CR-48: First Look at
the First Chrome OS Laptop
Chrome OS laptop, is essen
tially Google Chrome in a
fat black box no desktop,
a rudimentary fle system
that you cant access direct
ly, and virtually nothing else
that cant run in a browser.
But if Chrome OS is just a
stripped down version of
Linux thats designed to run
a browser, why are commer
cial laptops capable of using
it lagging two years behind
Googles OS announcement?
App or Bookmark?
Many Chrome Apps are no
more than smart bookmarks.
Our CR 48 came with nine
apps already installed: a get
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started tour of the notebook;
a pair of games; links to the
Chrome Web Store, Gmail,
Google Maps, Google Talk,
and YouTube; and Scratch
pad, a basic note taking app
that actually stores fles on
the CR 48 itself. (Te laptop
carries a solid state drive,
but Google has not revealed
how big it is.) You can type
short notes in Scratchpad,
and the app will automat
INPLACE OF a Caps
Lock key, Google
equips the key-
board on its CR-48
Chrome OS laptop
with a dedicated
Web search button.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 14
Forward
between pages, a key for
page reloading, and a button
for toggling full screen view
on and of. A button that is
supposed to jump you from
one browser tab to another
didnt work on my system.
Te CR 48 has a VGA port,
a USB port, and an SD Card
slot. But I couldnt access
any fles on the USB drive I
inserted in the port. I could
access fles via SD Card, but
only by going to a site like
Picnik where I could see the
fles in the fle upload box.
When cloud apps gain a
little more polish and wire
less Net access becomes reli
able everywhere, a Chrome
OS machine may work well
for lots of people. But based
on my experience with the
CR 48, I dont expect using
the Chrome OS to be a revo
lutionary experience. Instead,
it feels a bit like working
with one hand tied to your
side: possible, but awkward.
TECH SPOTLIGHT: NEXT-GENERATION GPS
Digital Breadcrumb Trail
What if you get lost and want
to nd your way back to your
starting point? Bushnells $55
BackTrack Point-3 stores three
GPS locations; mark themwhen
you reach them, and continue
on your way. If you want to re-
turn to one of the marked spots
later on, simply select it, and
the device will guide you back.
GPS-Enabled Goggles
Zeal Optics Transcend goggles
feature a display in the lower
right corner of the goggle lens
that lists stats such as speed
and altitude. Zeal says that the
display produces absolutely
no distractions, but suggests
viewing it while in the chairlift.
Two versions of the goggles
are available, starting at $399.
Geotagging Dongle
Foolography makes wireless
dongles (like the Unleashed
Dx000 shown here) that con-
nect to a DSLR camera and
work with a Bluetooth-enabled
GPS receiver, transmitting lo-
cation data to the receiver and
then automatically embedding
geolocation data in each image.
Dongle pricing starts at $170.
Black Box for Your Car
Looking for details on your cars
travels? Mios GPS driver re-
corder tracks the location of
your automobile; the device
also contains a camera for
recording on-road action and a
G-sensor for tracking accelera-
tion and deceleration. The GPS
driver recorder is not yet avail-
able in the United States.
ically store them locally and,
in theory, sync them to your
Google Docs account. But
my notes never showed up
in my Google Docs account.
Te CR 48 has no equiva
lent of Windows Explorer
for viewing and managing
fles. You can fnd Scratch
pad fles, for instance, only
through the app itself.
Te only way to alter your
system is through the Set
tings menu in the Chrome
browser, where you monitor
your Internet access, change
network settings, manage
user accounts, and the like.
Internet or Bust
If youre not connected to
the Internet on this laptop,
youre dead in the water. I
wrote this article in Google
Docs on the CR 48 while
commuting, with a Verizon
MiFi card for connectivity.
But in midcommute, Chrome
reported that it couldnt
reach Google Docs. On any
other laptop, I could have
copied my text into Word
and kept working there. But
on the CR 48, I had to paste
my changes into an Evernote
note and rely on my connec
tion to that service.
On the plus side, the CR 48
goes from switched of to
the log in screen in just 15
seconds. And once you log
in, youre ready to work sec
onds later. Tats because a
Chrome OS system has only
one program to load afer
log in: the Chrome browser.
Tough Google doesnt
plan to sell the CR 48, the
unit has some quirks. In lieu
of a Caps Lock key, it ofers
a dedicated button for open
ing a new tab in Chrome. If
you prefer, you can restore
the Caps Lock key and use
<Ctrl> T to open new tabs.
Te top row of the key
board has buttons dedicated
to Web browsing: forward
and back arrows for moving
A LINK TO the Chrome Web Store came preinstalled as an app on our
test model of the CR-48, Googles Chrome OSpowered laptop.
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 15
BRIEFS
AT&T MiFi Finally Here
AT&T may ban iPhone teth-
ering on its network, but with
its new offering of Novatels
MiFi 2372 hotspot, who needs
tethering? The MiFi 2372 is a
pocket-size wireless router
that serves as a portable
hotspot for connecting up to
ve Wi-Fi devices to AT&Ts
3G cellular data network. The
company says the MiFi 2372
can achieve download speeds
of up to 7.2 mbps. AT&T was
slated to begin selling the
MiFi 2372 in December 2010
for $50 after a $100 rebate.
SSD Reliability Questioned
Solid-state drives seem to be
at least as unreliable as tra-
ditional hard disks, according
to French hardware review
and optimization site Hard-
ware.fr. In the data it used,
2.05 percent of SSDs were
returned as nonfunctioning,
versus 1.94 percent of hard-
disk drives. The report was
based on sales and returns
data from an unnamed online
retailer. For more details, see
nd.pcworld.com/71139.
Netflix Streaming-Only
Plan Arrives
Netix now offers an $8-per-
month subscription plan that
delivers no DVDs, but all the
streaming video you want.
Netixs streaming-only plan
is on a par with Hulu Pluss,
whose new subscription price
just dropped from $10 per
month. Though Hulu Pluss
price reduction is appealing,
it covers only 2400 episodes
of TV shows, whereas Netix
has more than 20,000 avail-
able movies and TV shows.
Baby, Youre a Rich Man
The good news for fans of the
Fab Four: The Beatles main
body of music is now avail-
able on iTunes. The bad news:
Youll pay a hefty premium
for the convenience. Whereas
iTunes is selling most Beat-
les albums for $13 apiece,
Amazon offers CD versions of
the same titles for only $8
per disc. Similarly, the double
album titled The Beatles (but
better known to fans as the
White Album) costs $20 at
iTunes, but $12 at Amazon.
newwave of apps that exploit
4G speeds will emerge for
example, telemedicine apps
for remote doctor visits,
augmented reality apps, and
mobile gaming.
But speed isnt LTEs only
claim to fame. Its networks
run on a lower frequency
spectrum band and use
advanced antenna technol
ogy to move the signal into
hard to reach places where a
3G signal would normally be
blocked or disrupted.
Tis will enable LTE net
works to connect automo
biles that are moving at high
speeds a capability that may
open up a whole new feld of
wireless apps for in car use.
LTE will also permit entire
networks of outdoor adver
tising (such as bus stop ads)
to stream video advertising.
Most interestingly, LTE
signals will be able to reach
inside houses far more reli
ably than 3G data signals can.
Tis might allow consum
ers to completely replace
their households wired DSL
or cable connection with a
single mobile hotspot that
would connect both home
devices and mobile devices.
Mark Sullivan
Verizon 4G LTE Debuts
THE NEXT generation of
wireless networks is here.
Sprint was the frst U.S. car
rier to ofer 4G (WiMax) ser
vice, but the dominant favor
of 4G in the future Long
Term Evolution has just
begun to roll out. Verizon
turned on the service in 39
cities on December 5; it says
the new network will deliver
download speeds of 5 to 12
megabits per second ten
times as fast as 3G service.
Right now consumers can
access LTE service on their
laptop using a 3G/4G USB
stick from Verizon no LTE
phones are available at press
time, but Verizon says the
frst LTE phones for its net
work will go on sale by mid
2011. Meanwhile, LTE radios
will begin showing up in all
kinds of mobile devices from
tablets to video cameras.
LTE service will certainly
make existing mobile apps
run much faster. Te picture
quality of streaming video
will improve, and videocon
ferencing will become a
smoother experience.
Downloading fles or load
ing Web pages will become
far less tedious. Verizon and
others also hope that a whole I
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Forward
chairman Jon Leibowitz.
New privacy protections
are needed because Internet
users are ofen confused
about how companies are
collecting and using person
al data, Leibowitz says.
Te FTC report also calls
on companies to build priva
cy protections into their
everyday business practices.
Businesses should ensure
reasonable security for con
sumer data, limit their col
lection and retention of per
sonal data, and make eforts
to ensure that the data is
accurate, the report says.
Companies should also
give customers choices as to
how their data is collected
and shared, the report says,
but companies should not
have to seek consumer per
mission to collect data for
such commonly accepted
practices as product ship
ping, internal operations,
and fraud prevention.
Te FTC urges online busi
nesses to create short, stan
dardized privacy policies
that are easy to understand.
Grant Gross
FTC Calls for Online Do-
Not-Track Privacy List
U.S. WEB USERS should be
able to sign up for a do not
track list that would prohib
it Websites and advertising
networks from following
their movements online,
according to the U.S. Feder
al Trade Commission.
Modeled afer a national
do not call list that targets
telemarketers, the do not
track list would help protect
consumers privacy by creat
ing a uniform mechanism for
opting out of online tracking,
the FTC says. Te Internet in
dustry or the U.S. Congress
could implement the do not
track list, the FTC suggests.
An FTC report concludes
that private industry has
failed to adequately address
privacy concerns online.
Opponents of a do not
track list say it could dra
matically decrease the efec
tiveness of online targeted
(or behavioral) advertising.
Te FTC is not yet calling
for do not track legislation;
however, Internet business
es should act quickly to im
plement a universal do not
track list, according to FTC
Disconnect: Turn Off Tracking
If youre a savvy Web surfer, you know that youre being tracked.
When you go to a site such as TechCrunch, for instance, the Face-
book fan box shows lots of people you know. If you nd that kind of
personalization creepy, try Disconnect, a browser extension for
Chrome and Rockmelt (other browsers coming soon) that blocks
tracking by Digg, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo. This free
software identies which of the sites are tracking you on each page
you visit. Unfortunately, it doesnt do anything to stop big advertis-
ing networks that are keeping an eye on you. disconnectere.com
Social Photo AlbumCreator: AlbumCollaboration
Most big events in your lifeweddings, birthdays, holiday parties
include more than one person with a camera. But collecting all of
the photos from the event and sharing them on Facebook can be a
pain. This Facebook app from Kodak allows you to create a photo
album and invite your friends to contribute their pictures. The
photo giant has some glitches to work out: If you publish an album,
and someone else adds photos, the new pictures dont show up
automatically. You have to go into the app and republish the updat-
ed albumand you wind up with multiple versions in your prole.
Thats unnecessarily messy. apps.facebook.com/kodak-social
BETA WATCH E D WA R D N . A L B R O
IF YOU WENT to a party where lots of people took photos, you
can share themin one Facebook albumwith a newKodak app.
DISCONNECT IS A browser extension that keeps Digg, Facebook,
Google, Twitter, and Yahoo fromtracking your Web movements.
DESPITE SOME GOOD actors, industry self-regulation of privacy has
not worked adequately, according to FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz.
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F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 17
APPLE RECENTLY released
iOS 4.2 for iPad, iPhone,
and iPod Touch. Te update
introduces more than 100
iOS 4 features to the iPad.
Heres a look at the high
lights from iOS 4.2.
AirPrint allows you to print
directly fromyour iOS device
to a network printer. Air
Print works only with wire
less printers that can interact
directly with iOS 4.2 devices.
AirPlay lets iPad, iPhone,
and iPod Touch devices run
ning iOS 4.2 to streampho
tos, music, and video directly
to the newApple TV. AirPlay
also allows iOS 4.2 devices
to streamwirelessly to Air
Play enabled speakers that
are expected to hit the mar
ket in the coming months.
Find My iPhone lets you lo
cate a lost device on a map,
have it make a sound so you
can fnd it, or even have it
display a distress message.
Multitasking enables iPad
users to listen to music on
Pandora while surfng the
Web, checking Twitter, or
reading e mail. Users can also
group apps into folders to
save screen space and to ft
more apps on their devices.
Ian Paul
DELLS VOSTRO V130 is one of the rst laptops
to incorporate Intels Hyperbaric cooling tech-
nology, using an internal fan to draw air into the
laptop to keep it from overheating. Most de-
signs use the internal fans to push hot air out.
The Intel design channels the drawn-in air
toward key components, such as the CPU, to
keep them cool. Air enters the left side of the
laptop, and warm air escapes out the right.
The system allows the fans to run at lower
speeds, which results in a quieter laptop, says
Rajiv Mongia, a principal engineer at Intel. It
also yields a cooler laptop, according to Intel,
because the cooling system is more efcient.
By using cold air directly from the outside
and then directly blowing across the hot com-
ponents, you create a more efcient
cooling solution. By blowing air
across the components, you cre-
ate more-intense convective
cooling and often get more cool-
ing ow through the platform,
Mongia explains.
Intel has not yet measured the
impact of Hyperbaric cooling on lap-
top battery life, according to Mongia.
The Vostro V130 targets business users,
a Dell spokesperson says. It has a 13.3-inch
screen and weighs 3.5 pounds. It is powered
by ultra-low-voltage Core i3 or Core i5 proces-
sors from Intel. The laptop comes equipped
with a six-cell battery that offers 4.5 hours of
battery life, according to Dell.
The laptop can accommodate up to 4GB of
RAM and up to a 640GB hard drive. It also has
an HDMI port, 802.11n wireless technology,
a ve-in-one media card reader, and a Webcam.
WiMax broadband and a SIM card slot are
extra-cost options. Prices for the Vostro V130
start at $429, and the laptop ships worldwide.
Agam Shah
Wood Stove as PC Case
Modders-Inc member Bobdbone picked up a
low-cost, electricity-powered, articial wood
stove and took the appliance apart to inspect
its insides. The interior contained lights meant
to shine onto rotating strips of metal, to create
the illusion of ames. It also had a lot
of empty space, which Bobdbone
decided to ll with a computer.
He inserted a PC into the stove,
mounted a monitor on the front,
and straightened out some bends
in the stoves frame to t PC com-
ponents. Then he added wiring and
openings for ports and the disc drive.
A custom-made smoke generator sends
smoke out the chimney, and subtle LED back-
lighting and crackling-re sound effects enhance
the mood. When the PC is idle, he slips in a re-
place DVD and switches on the other effects.
For detailed instructions, visit the Modders-
Inc forum thread at nd.pcworld.com/71103.
Elizabeth Fish
For more hacks, tips, and hardware news, visit
the GeekTech blog at go.pcworld.com/geektech.
GEEKTECH
Dell Laptop Uses New Intel Cooling Technology
AppleiOS
4.2Update:
Whats New
Also: What would a geek do with
an inexpensive faux wood stove?
Why, stick a PC in it, of course.
HYPERBARIC TECHNOLOGY LETS cooling fans inside the Dell Vostro V130 run at lower speeds.
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 18
TiVo App for iPad
This app for TiVo Premiere turns your iPad into a dedicated display
for TiVos user interface, letting you search, browse, explore, and
share your shows without interrupting whats playing on your TV.
Using the gesture-based controls, you can navigate TV channels,
launch shows, or drag forward and back through a show.
Staff Picks: Enhancing Your Mobile Lifestyle
Samsung Nexus S
The rst phone to ship with
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
and the follow-up to Sam-
sungs Nexus One, the Nexus S
(available unlocked for $530
or for $200 with a two-year
T-Mobile plan) combines
gorgeous hardware (most
notably a 4-inch Super
AMOLED display and a
5-megapixel camera)
with an array of Google
apps and useful Android
2.3 enhancements.
Google Maps for Android
An updated version of this app
includes 3D building images in
major cities and dynamic render-
ing for smoother results while
youre panning and zooming. Most
signicantly it stores maps of
your frequently
searched loca-
tions on your
Android phone
so you wont
lose access to
directions if you
hit a dead zone.
ReadySteady
The puck-size ReadySteady accessory ($30) offers a stable base
for your pocket camcorder, so you can take stationary shots, tilts,
and pans jitter-free. The product comes with a exible, rodlike
camera stand (not shown) that
attaches to the base at
one end and to the
bottom of the pock-
et camcorder at
the other. Then you
twist the camcorder/
ReadySteady combo
to keep the action in view.
DeLorean Time Machine Hard Drive
Flash Rods new $250 hard drive contains a 500GB Seagate drive
within the chassis of a stainless-steel 1:18 scale model of the
much-loved DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future
trilogy. The replica DeLorean features a Mr. Fusion energy reactor,
working doors, and of course a (nonfunctioning) ux capacitor.
May require up to a $36 activation fee/line, credit approval and deposit. Up to a $200 early termination fee/line applies. Device Offer: Offer ends 2/26/11 or while supplies last. Taxes and service charges excluded. Requires activation at the
time of purchase. Upgrade: Existing customers in good standing with service on the same connection device for more than 22 consecutive months currently activated on a service plan of $39.99 or higher may be eligible. See in store rebate
form or sprint.com/upgrade for details. Other Terms: Coverage is not available everywhere. The Sprint 3G Network reaches over 266 million people. Offer is not available in all markets/retail locations or for all phones/networks. Pricing, offer
terms, fees and features may vary for existing customers not eligible for upgrade. Other restrictions apply. See store or sprint.com for details. Screen images simulated.
2011 Sprint. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. Android, Google, the Google logo and Android Market are trademarks of Google Inc. The Android Robot
is based on work created and shared by Google and used in accordance to the Creative Commons 3.0 License. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.
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F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 21
Consumer Watch
in a brick and mortar store and the date of delivery for PCs
bought online. For all other items, you get 30 days to act (or
45 days even for computers if you spend the $2500 a year
at Best Buy that qualifes you for the chains Reward Zone
loyalty program at the elite Premiere Silver level).
Restrictions on Returns
When asked about the computer policy, Best Buy spokesper
son Erin Bix e mailed us a statement saying in part: We care
fully manage our inventory and selection so that consumers
have access to the latest and greatest, which means in a prac
tical sense needing to reduce the period for returns in some
categories like computing. An NBC afliate in Memphis,
though, recently reported that a local store manager said the
policy was a response to customer abuse of returns. Tey
buy them, use them for a week, then return them, store man
ager Jason Sampson was quoted as saying on NBC12.com.
Buy.coms policy states that it inspects items at the ware
house, and if they arent in pristine condition with all original
packaging, you wont get your money back or a replacement.
Its normal window is 45 days from the ship date, so you may
have a month to act by the time the product arrives. Te policy
says that the product doesnt have to be in the companys
BY YARDENA ARAR
TECH PRODUCTS CAN make great gifs, for others or for
yourself. But if you (or the gif recipient) arent happy with
the item, your options vary
depending on the mer
chants return policy fne
print that bargain hunters
ofen ignore at their peril.
With return policies, just
as with the products they
cover, advance research can
make the diference between
a good experience and a disaster. Here are tips for navigating
the sometimes rocky waters of returns, along with details on
which stores make them easy and which make them tough.
The Good, the Bad, and the Run of the Mill
Costco continues to reign supreme for returnistas, ofering
full refunds for anything unsatisfactory. Te only deadlines
apply to electronics from HDTVs and computers to MP3
players and iPods which you must return within 90 days.
You can return products bought online to a local store, or
Costco will send you a prepaid label for return shipping of
items small enough to drop of at a UPS location. Te company
will arrange for pickup of items that a freight service delivered.
Walmart has stricter deadlines (15 days for computers and
post paid cell phones, 30 days for camcorders and cameras,
45 days for computer components and accessories, 90 days
for just about everything else). But it has one user friendly
policy: If you lost the receipt, the retailer will still take back
the product (within the deadlines) and return cash for items
under $25, a gif card for anything pricier, or an even exchange
either way. (But if you return more than three items without
receipts in a month, a manager must approve the transaction.)
On the other end of the scale for tech returns is Best Buy.
Its window for computers (including laptops, netbooks, and
tablets) is 14 days; the period begins on the date of purchase
Evaluating your needs is key to choosing the right product and avoid-
ing buyers remorse. For one examplea look at the thought process
that goes into buying a laptopsee nd.pcworld.com/71104.
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Returning merchandise
purchased online can
be a costly hassle.
Before you buy, consid
er these tips for avoid
ing return problems.
Tips for Trouble-Free
Tech-Product Returns
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 22
Consumer Watch
THERES SOMETHING irre-
sistible about getting money
back for something youd
buy anyway. But face facts:
Do you always le your rebate paperwork?
Rebates are a win for the manufacturer
or store that offers them. First, the offers
help bring in business. Second, there is
always a percentage of buyers who dont
get around to mailing in the documenta-
tion. (See yourself here?) Those people
are money in the bank for the seller.
Here are some tips on making the tech
rebate process work for you.
Instant Gratication
If possible, skip the paper mail-in rebate
hassle. Focus on instant rebates, where
the amount is deducted from the price
you pay. Many online shopping sites make
this an easy proposition.
For instance, tech shop-
ping site Newegg.com has
an elaborate online Rebate
Center (nd.pcworld.com/
71043) where you can search
for products with instant
rebates by brand, category,
item numbers, and even the
amount you want to spend.
On the day I searched, it
had six pages of instant
rebates for GPS devices,
ranging from $10 to $95 deducted on
products priced from $85 to $500.
Other shopping sites offer instant sav-
ings that cant be determined and deducted
until you put the itemin the shopping cart.
While not instant, Amazon.coms rebate
center (nd.pcworld.com/71045) lets you
apply for paperless rebates and then
check their status 24 hours later. If youre
not an Amazon shopper, see if your favor-
ite site has something similar.
Some manufacturers, such as Canon
and Nikon, hold sales with instant rebates
for high-end items like DSLR cameras
and lenses. Usually you have to be proac-
tive to nd these events (poking around on
sites such as Nikonrumors.comis a great
way to keep informed). If you can antici-
pate offers, you can give yourself time to
save up to buy a product you really want.
If You Must Mail
Many bargains still require paperwork
and stamps. Once you mail the complet-
ed forms, however, you can often track
the progress of the rebate online. This
was the case with my recent purchase of
an HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon
Wireless. Once my paperwork arrived at
the Texas outt that processes Verizon
rebates, I could see the rebates status,
as well as when my $100 rebate debit
card was in the mail. And I could check
the site to see how much money I had
left on the card as I spent the rebate.
Big shopping sites also try to smooth
the process for you in order to win your
business. For instance, at the Newegg
center you can search for mail-in rebate
offers before you buy, as well as for those
on products that youve already pur-
chased. At TigerDirect.coms Rebate
Center (nd.pcworld.com/71044), you can
search by manufacturer, order number,
item number, or category.
However, after thatfor both of those
shopping sites and most othersits up to
you to follow through on the offer.
possession within 45 days, but it does
have to be with the shipper by then,
and you must have obtained a valid
Return Merchandise Authorization
number. Online merchants typically
require you to get an RMA (either by
calling in or going online) before send
ing back products; it allows them to
track whats coming back and why.
As for return shipping costs, most
vendors arent generous. Buy.com, for
one, will not pay shipping unless the
return is the result of its error. Amazon
will provide a prepaid shipping label,
but it too will deduct shipping costs
from your refund unless it was at fault.
Some merchants, such as Sixth Avenue
Electronics, will not only make you pay
for return shipping on discretionary
(buyers remorse) returns, but also for
the original shipping costs (even if you
took advantage of a free shipping ofer).
Other retailers will give you the op
tion of either paying for shipping your
self or using a prepaid label and de
ducting the cost from the refund. In my
experience, its difcult to match the
bulk rate that sellers get from shippers;
I usually opt for the prepaid label.
Dont Touch the Shrinkwrap
Amazon and others will also deduct re
stocking fees for many items, especially
once youve opened the packaging.
Some stores make it next to impossible
to return CDs, DVDs, and/or Blu ray
discs if the shrinkwrap isnt intact.
Its a good idea to keep all materials
such as the plastic casing, manuals,
media, and accessories together so
that you can restore a product to as
close to original condition as possible
if you decide to send it back.
Restocking fees for tech items typi
cally run about 15 percent of the price.
Youre most likely to see such fees for
discretionary returns at merchants that
have the lowest Web prices this is one
way for them to fnance the discounts.
Keep that fact in mind if youre buying
a gif the recipient might not want:
Teyll be less than happy if your pres
ent winds up costing them money.
How to Play the Rebate Gameand Win
SKEPTICAL SHOPPER
Rebates arent always about mailing in
paperwork. You may be able to work
the rebate system to suit your needs.
A N N E B . Mc D O N A L D
AT AMAZON.COMS REBATE center, you can apply for
online rebate offers on the products you purchase.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 24
Consumer Watch
IN EARLY DECEMBER the U.S. Senate
passed a bill designed to protect online
shoppers from bait and switch scams.
Te Restore Online Shoppers Conf
dence Act targets posttransaction
advertising, which has bilked consum
ers out of billions of dollars by subscrib
ing them to services without their con
sent. (For PCWorld s in depth look at
the practice, see nd.pcworld.com/69961.)
Te legislation follows a Senate Com
merce, Science, and Transportation
Committee probe. Te committee
learned that unscrupulous businesses
used ofers of rebates and rewards as a
smoke screen to pick the pockets of
millions of online shoppers, said Sena
tor John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (D West
Virginia), who chairs the committee.
Te bill outlines several protections.
Companies would be required to clearly
disclose the terms of their ofers, and to
obtain billing information including
credit or debit card numbers directly
from consumers. Internet retailers and
other commercial sites would be pro
hibited from transferring a consumers
billing information to posttransaction
third party sellers. And companies that
use negative options (charging con
sumers on a recurring basis) would be
required to meet minimum disclosure
and enrollment requirements so that
consumers do not pay fees for goods
and services they did not want to buy.
Te bill has moved to the House.
John P. Mello Jr. I
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OYS responds: After we contacted New-
egg about Hawkinss issue, a representa-
tive found that the company had a record
of the RMA for her netbook. Once Hawk-
ins sent Newegg a copy of the police
report regarding the theft, the company
issued her a $300 gift card.
A laptops or netbooks convenient size
and portability make it easy to steal. You
can take a number of steps, however, to
protect your PC and data. A veteran San
Francisco police ofcer and the Newegg
representative offered the following tips.
When youre on the go, be aware of
your surroundings. Dont let your laptop
out of your sight in public places such as
cafs, conferences, airports, and libraries.
Cars are not safe places to keep valu-
ables, even if you put them in the trunk.
At home, if you have a laptop that you
were planning on giving away or recycling,
keep it out in the open while hiding the
good one. A thief will grab the obvious
laptop. Some creative laptop hiding places
include under a sofa and inside a manila
envelope set vertically on a bookshelf. If
you prefer to keep your PC easily acces-
sible, use a laptop lock, which is essen-
tially a padlock designed for notebooks.
Password-protect the operating sys-
tem to make the laptop harder to access
if it is lost or stolen. Also, to reduce the
risk of a data breach or identity theft,
encrypt les and folders containing sen-
sitive information, or use an encrypted
hard drive, which is more secure than a
standard hard disk. A fully encrypted disk
features built-in hardware encryption; to
get in and use the les, the user must en-
able a drive-specic password. If thieves
attempt to bypass that protection, all
theyll see is unreadable, encrypted data.
Finally, consider installing computer-
tracing software, such as Lojack for Lap-
tops. The utility works by periodically
connecting to the Internet; if a laptop is
reported stolen, the computer sends its
location to a recovery service, which then
alerts local law enforcement.
Milestone TV Mount Recall
Milestone AV Technologies, in coopera-
tion with the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission, has recalled about
131,000 at-screen television wall
mounts (the Sanus VisionMount model
LF228-B1 and the Simplicity model
SLF2). Since the elbow joint components
on the wall mounts arm dont t togeth-
er properly, the attached TV can tilt and
fall when someone adjusts the TV. Con-
sumers should immediately inspect the
wall mount and contact Milestone for a
free replacement wall mount arm; see
inspection instructions at www.milestone.
com/recall. For more information, call
Milestone toll-free at 877/894-6280.
ON YOUR SIDE
I BOUGHT AN Asus Eee PC Seashell series netbook from Newegg.com.
When it arrived, its battery would not hold a chargeand because an
internal fan would not come on, the unit overheated. I had not dropped it
or mistreated it in any way, so I promptly requested, and got, a Return
Merchandise Authorization to have it replaced. I had the unit all packed
up and ready to drop off the next day to ship back to Newegg. That night,
however, my apartment was broken into and the netbook was stolen.
Because the netbook had arrived nonfunctional, I asked Newegg to either
refund my money or replace the unit, but they refused. Can you help?
Jen Hawkins, Peoria, Illinois
MA R L A MI YA S H I R O
Senate Passes
Bill to Prevent
Bait-and-Switch
camera
Heet So|o, the 1hinking Camera
"
.
Solo and your smartphone are going to be good friends, because
Solo sends video alerts when it sees events that are important to you.
A wireless surveillance camera that understands what it sees? How
smart. No wonder it gets along so well with your phone.
See Video Surveillance Done Pight" at thinkingcamera.com.
20!! Cernium Corporation. All rights reserved.
Content may vary in actual alert.
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 27
Business Center
For more information on network-attached storage, see What NAS
Can Do for the Small Business (nd.pcworld.com/71123) and Top
Network-Attached Storage Devices (nd.pcworld.com/71124).
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Network-Attached Storage for Any Business
BY JON L. JACOBI
NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE can make your business
easier to run and more efcient in multiple ways. Lets look
at some scenarios for NAS use in businesses of various sizes.
Small or Single Person Ofce
A small ofce/home ofce setup consisting of a few PCs, a
multifunction printer or two, and perhaps a wireless, peer
to peer network is far from optimal for sharing and accessing
fles. Data is scattered,
and accessing it from
outside the local net
work requires a VPN
or remote control.
A NAS box puts im
portant data in one accessible, easy to back up location. You
can back up anything youre working on of site by logging in
and uploading the fles to the NAS box. Most NAS boxes have
on board backup utilities and USB ports for attaching drives.
If sharing and access matter more than storage, consider a
hybrid device such as the PogoPlug Biz that uses local USB
storage you may already own and provides an online portal.
Wide Area Workgroup
If you collaborate with coworkers far away, a NAS boxs easy
wide area connectivity can consolidate and centralize your ef
forts. Like any other administered network storage resource,
your NAS will allow users to access only the contents you
approve. You may create private and shared folders, and (in
most cases) allocate space to users and folders as you wish.
To handle collaborative work arrangements, simply create
folders for each project, give each person access to folders as
needed, and give yourself access to all of the folders.
No static IP or domain? Use a service such as DynDNS.org
to create a proxy domain, and then point it to your NAS box.
Using your main server to store shared databases is overkill,
with high initial and ongoing costs. A NAS box can manage
the database serving so the main server can focus on handling
DHCP, maintaining the domain and users, serving applica I
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The right NAS system can
simplify your businesss
data management needs.
Heres what to look for.
tions, and dealing with other small business network tasks.
A NAS box is self sufcient, redundant, and task specifc. But
some programs insist that their database reside on a local PC,
and others require you to install a trafc cop program for mul
tiple users. For these programs, you need a NAS box that uses
Windows Home Server, such as the HP MediaSmart EX495.
The Large Ofce
In a large ofce, NAS performs well as a workgroup storage
and backup device. NAS is also ideal for sharing printers via
USB ports. Some boxes integrate additional peripherals shar
able over the Internet via the Internet Small Computer System
Interface (iSCSI), an IP based protocol for data transfer.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 28
Business Center
FACEBOOK IS a tremen-
dous marketing tool. No-
thing sells like word-of-
mouth recommendations from family and
friends, and Facebook gives users a forum
for posting status updates that offer feed-
back on products and services.
Location-based check-in with Facebook
Places takes the marketing a step further.
It lets users share their current location
and activities with their network of pals.
You can use Facebook Deals to attract
customers and to reward them for check-
ing inpromoting your business on their
social network in the process.
Today 200 million active Facebook mo-
bile users are out and about, and Face-
book Deals are pushed to their mobile
phones to let them know what bargains
are available in the area. The Facebook
apps for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry
enable Facebook Plac-
es check-ins, but Win-
dows Phone 7 does not
yet have the feature.
Create a Deal
To take advantage of
Facebook Deals, you
rst need to establish
or claim ownership of
the Facebook Place
for your business. Once
youve done that, set-
ting up a Facebook
Deals marketing cam-
paign is simple.
The Facebook Places Get Started page
walks you through the process of putting
your Place to work. Click the Create Deal
button to start assembling your campaign.
Each campaign has unique benets and
can help drive trafc for your business in
different ways, depending on your goals.
Individual deals are simply Facebook
Deals that any person can claim to re-
ceive a discount or reward for checking in
on Facebook Places. Friend deals encour-
age more trafc by providing an incentive
for customers to come in groups. Loyalty
deals provide rewards to repeat custom-
ers. And Charity deals foster an impres-
sion of goodwill and community giving.
Set Some Limits
After creating the ad, you need to dene
when and howoften a customer can claim
the deal. Fill in starting and ending dates
and times for pushing the Facebook Deal
to customers. You may also wish to spec-
ify a maximum number of times that cus-
tomers can claim the deal at all.
Then click Create Deal to submit your
Facebook Deals ad campaign to Facebook
for approval. Create your Deal at least 48
hours before you plan to start the promo-
tion, to give Facebook time to vet the cam-
paign and conrm that your Facebook
Deals ads are both reasonable and legal.
Remember that you are creating ad copy
for viewing on a smartphone. Use simple,
straightforward offers, such as Buy one,
get one free. Make sure that you have
the inventory or personnel necessary to
meet demand and fulll Facebook Deals
claims. And nally, dont overdo the offer.
The point of the incentive is to attract
customers, not to bankrupt your business
or establish a permanent discount.
Serving programs from a NAS box is
no walk in the park. To run a Windows
app, youll need a Windows Home Serv
er box. For a Linux app, use a Linux
based box that allows low level access.
Buying Tips
When buying NAS hardware, focus on
redundancy, capacity, and speed. Dont
buy a single drive NAS box: Youll need
at least a two drive box for mirroring
one drive on the other (RAID 1) so you
wont lose access when one drive fails.
NAS capacity is the number of drives
on board (normally between two and
fve) times the size of the drives, divided
by the RAID mode in use. Single drive
capacity tops out at 2TB, so a high end
SOHOunit ofers up to 10TB of storage.
Speed depends on the drives, the CPU
speed, and the ethernet connection
(usually speedy gigabit ethernet today).
Better boxes have multiple ethernet
connections. In some cases, this is for
failover the option for a backup con
nection to carry on if the primary one
fails via Multiple Path I/O, or MPIO.
More advanced boxes increase their
speed via Multiple Connections per
Session, which uses both connections
for data transfer. Te speed and trafc
on your local network may be limiting
factors, so dont overbuy hardware.
Drive Trafc With Facebook Deals
NET WORK
A Facebook Deals campaign can draw
customers and get them to come back.
T O N Y B R A D L E Y
THERE ARE FOUR types of Facebook dealsIndividual, Friend,
Loyalty, and Charityeach with its own systemof rewards.
THE QNAP TS-259 Pro Turbo NAS box offers
seamless online Amazon S3 network backup.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 30
Business Center
Thin clients are solid-state. If they fail, user data isnt lost: It
lives on the server. Thin clients reduce downtime per user by 79
percent, according to Gartner research.
Since each workstation accesses the same centralized applica-
tions, a worker can log in at any terminal rather than being tied to a
specic desk. Some thin clients also offer smartphone companion
tools for reaching remote virtual desktops.
A typical thin client demands 3 watts versus the 14 watts that
an efcient PC requires. Energy costs for a zero client can be 88
percent less than those for a desktop PC, according to Pano Logic.
Drawbacks
A single point of failure on the central system can put all users out
of luck, so a reliable server redundancy plan is essential.
Also, a thin-client arrangement is less than ideal if you need to
work regularly with bandwidth-intensive video, voice, and graphics.
To decide whether thin clients make sense for your workplace,
compare the costs of hardware and software licenses and central-
ized maintenance against what you spend on infrastructure now.
DO YOU REALLY want to manage a eet of expensive PCs that re-
quire ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting? A growing num-
ber of businesses are exploring an alternative to desktops and lap-
tops that can reduce associated hassles and expense. Thin clients
give users the familiar experience of working at a computer, but
the machines are limited to accessing applications on a server.
As small as a hard-
cover book, thin clients
carry ports for periph-
erals and are powered
by lightweight proces-
sors and applications
(or none at all). The
users monitor and key-
board plug in to the lit-
tle box, but they reach
and control a remote
computer on a server.
The market for thin clients has been growing. Some 7.4 million
units will sell in 2014, up from3.7 million in 2010, IDC analysts say.
A thin client generally houses a small CPU whose software inter-
acts with a remote desktop. A zero client, like the one from Pano
Ultraslim terminals can reduce the costs and
work involved in managing desktop systems.
Thin Clients: Because Sometimes Full-Blown PCs Are Overkill
TECH AUDIT E L S A WE N Z E L
PANO LOGIC ZERO-CLIENT devices offer
a streamlined approach to computing.
CASE STUDY
BOULEVARD BREWING COMPANY of Kansas City,
Missouri, is the ninth-largest craft brewery in the
United States, producing 148,000 barrels of beer a
year. When it built a new brew house several years
ago, it established a computer system to manage
the brewing process. But when the workstations
crashed, the company lost costly beer ingredients
to spoilageas much as $100,000 worth overall.
To address the problems, Boulevard replaced
desktop workstations with Pano Logic zero clients,
some of them protected within waterproof cabinets
and hooked up to touchscreen monitors.
Each $320 Pano Device can connect with dual
monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, and other peripher-
als, linking users to the computer on a server. The
brewerys data center uses VMware ESX hosts to run virtual machines. Having zero clients con-
nected to the company network enables employees to monitor and control nearly every aspect of
brewing, whether they are in the brew house or elsewhere on company property, without needing
to race from one workstation to another. The brewery no longer has to worry about computers
locking up and leaving ingredients to sour. The new system has also saved on equipment costs.
Boulevard Brewing Company
Zero Clients Help Brewer to Produce More Beer
Logic, convinces the virtual
machine in a data center
that the device is local, elim-
inating the need for a local
processor or software.
According to Pano Logic, a
device isnt a zero client if it
has a processor, an OS, and
drivers. However, market
leader Wyse sells zero cli-
ents with software that it
says can help them adapt to
future changes in network
protocols and security.
Benets
Replacing desktop PCs can
demand a huge initial effort
from an IT department. But
once set up, thin clients and
virtual desktops can reduce
operating expenses by 40
percent, according to Wyse.
With thin clients, a compa-
ny can focus on running serv-
ers, outsourcing any heavy
lifting to a cloud service.
STAFFERS USE ZERO clients on a local net-
work to control most aspects of brewing.
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 33
Security Alert
3
Hide your app activity: Some games on Facebook reward
players for recruiting friends. And some games and
apps post messages to your wall so friends see what youve
been up to (when you frst run the app, you agree to the
terms and conditions that allow it to do this). Te posts can
be a nuisance to your friends. Besides, do you really want
them to know that youve been playing FarmVille all day?
Head to the Privacy Settings page. At the bottom lef, under
Applications and websites, select Edit Your Settings. Below
Game and application activity, select Custom from the drop
down menu. Choose Only Me in the dialog box.
4
Disable Facebook apps: All Facebook apps can access
your profle information. Facebooks policy is that app
developers cannot use personal data of site and may access
only sufcient data to enable the app to run, or to enrich
your experience. But once an app has access to personal
information, its up to the developer to keep the info safe.
If you dont like that policy, block apps. Select Privacy Set
tings under Account, and click Edit your settings under Appli
cations and websites. Below Applications you use, select
Turn of all platformapplications. In the alert box, choose
BY LOGAN KUGLER
OVER HALF A billion people use Facebook. Its the largest
phenomenon of human connection in history, not to men
tion the biggest thing on the Web. But even though we love
using Facebook and other social networks, we hate the priva
cy and security drawbacks.
Here are some steps that you
can take to keep your informa
tion private on Facebook.
Five Steps to Privacy
1
Disable Facebook Places:
Using Facebook Places has
benefts. But when you broad
cast your location, you expose
vulnerabilities, inviting an ill intentioned person to swoop in.
If you use Facebook Places, note that the defaults let Every
one see your profle which means everyone on the Internet.
Go to the Account tab and select Privacy Settings. From there,
indicate who should and shouldnt see your profle, and how
much others may see when you upload comments and images.
To disable Facebook Places entirely, frst log in to Facebook
and pick Privacy Settings from the Account drop down menu.
Click Customize settings. Te last line under Tings I share deals
with Facebook Places; click Edit and select Disable. To stop
friends from broadcasting your location, scroll to Tings oth
ers share; for the bottom item, click Edit and select Disable.
2
Control items posted to your profile: Even if you delete
your Facebook account (see the fnal tip), the photos
and details you shared with friends can still lurk on Facebook
or the Internet at large. When in doubt, dont post it but if
you do, control who sees your items by using the lock feature.
Before clicking Share, click the drop down menu above
and select who can see the post: Everyone, Friends of Friends,
Friends Only, or Customize. Te last setting will let you
block individual friends irrespective of your general choice.
Facebook knows
who your friends
are, what you like,
where you live, and
what you buy. Our
advice will help you
secure your per
sonal information.
The Paranoids
Guide to Facebook
Reactions to Facebook Messages are mixed, with privacy concerns
yet again coming to the fore. But the newe-mail service may help in
the ght against online fraud. Read more at nd.pcworld.com/71055.
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 34
Security Alert
Select all and click Turn Of Platform.
You may have to wait a few minutes
while the new settings activate; Face
book needs time to disable app access.
5
Control what friends reveal: Your
friends have access to your pro
fle. Tey can repost your wall items to
their profles, or share the info, with
out your knowledge. Tey may also be
using apps that access their friend lists.
Click Privacy Settings under Account.
Go to Applications and websites, and
click Edit your settings and Info accessible
through your friends. Deselect items to
share when your friends allow apps
to access your profle; for full privacy,
deselect everything (recommended).
The Last Resort: Deletion
Eliminating your Facebook account may
be worthwhile if you no longer fnd it
useful. But to deep six it, you have to
dig: From the Account Settings page,
you can only deactivate your account,
which makes it merely dormant your
profle still exists, in hibernation.
If you want to obliterate the account,
the process takes 14 days, and once its
initiated you cannot use your account.
Te link to permanently delete your
account is buried in Facebooks Help
pages, at nd.pcworld.com/71057. Click
Submit, fll out the form, and click OK.
Ten leave the site, never to return.
IN NOVEMBER 2010, both
Microsoft and Adobe had it
fairly easy, with minimal
security threats and updates. The Patch
Tuesday update that Microsoft released
on November 9 was one of the companys
smallest patch collections for the year.
Rich Text Format Flaw
The Patch Tuesday release brought only
one update rated as critical; Microsoft
rated the other two as important. The
critical update, MS10-087, addresses a
aw that could affect you if you opened
or previewed a specially crafted Rich
Text Format e-mail. RTF is a
Microsoft-developed format
that lets you use multiple
fonts, text sizes, and col-
ors in e-mail messages.
If you open an RTF
e-mail that has mali-
cious code, the attacker
could gain the same rights
on your PC as a local user.
The two important updates
correct vulnerabilities in Microsoft Ofce
and in the Forefront Unied Access Gate-
way, which permits secure remote access
to corporate networks for personnel. The
most dangerous of these vulnerabilities
could allow remote execution and/or ele-
vated privileges for the attacker.
The Patch Tuesday xes apply to all
supported editions of Ofce XP and
newer for Windows; PowerPoint 2002 and
2003; Ofce 2004 for Mac; PowerPoint
Viewer 2007 Service Pack 2; and Fore-
front Unied Access Gateway 2010.
As usual, you should install these
patches as soon as possible through
Windows Update. To learn more about
each x, as well as to download them
manually, visit nd.pcworld.com/71109.
Adobe Reader, Flash Updates
Recently Adobe released three critical
security updates for its Adobe Flash
Player, Flash Media Server, and Adobe
Reader and Acrobat software products.
Vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player,
Reader, and Acrobat could cause the
apps to crash, and could allow an attack-
er to take control of your computer.
Meanwhile, a bug hidden in Flash Media
Server could permit an attacker to run
malicious code on an affected system.
The updates affect Adobe Flash Player
10.1.85.3 and earlier for Windows, Mac,
Linux, and Solaris, plus Flash Player
10.1.95.1 for Android. Also affected are
Flash Media Server 4.0 and earlier
for Windows and Linux;
Reader 9.4 and earlier for
Windows, Mac, and Unix;
and Acrobat 9.4 and
earlier 9.x versions for
Windows and Mac.
Be sure to grab the
latest editions of Adobe
Flash Player, Media Server,
Reader, and Acrobat, using
automatic update checks. Visit nd.
pcworld.com/71107 for the latest version
of Flash Player, and go to nd.pcworld.
com/71108 for Flash Media Server up-
dates. For Reader and Acrobat, select
Check for Updates from the Help menu
to get the most recent versions.
Apples Bumper Crop of Fixes
Apple has released updates that apply to
Mac OS X, as well as to iOS for iPhone,
iPad, and iPod Touch. The Mac OS X
10.6.5 update addresses over 130 vul-
nerabilities, 55 of which involve the bun-
dled version of Adobe Flash Player. See
nd.pcworld.com/71110 for more informa-
tion about the patch.
The iOS 4.2.1 update also comes
packed with plenty of security xesand
it offers several new features for iPad
owners. Browse to nd.pcworld.com/71111
to learn more about iOS 4.2.1, and be
sure to snag both Apple updates.
Patches for Rich-Text E-Mail, Acrobat Holes
BUGS & FIXES
Plus: Apples updates for Mac OS X and
iOS x a wide range of security issues.
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ERADICATING YOUR FACEBOOK account is
fairly simpleonce you nd the way to do so.
www.SafeWithSpectorPro.com
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Does Your Child Have a Secret Online Life?
The typical teenager has more than 100 chat buddies and friends on MySpace and
Facebook. Do you know who your children talk to online? What pictures they post
and view? Are they pretending to be someone theyre not?
Trust, Monitor, Protect, and Educate with Spector Pro
With Spector Pro, youll rest easy knowing that your child is protected online
with the worlds most trusted monitoring software. It records everything on their
computer, laptop, netbook or Mac including chats, instant messages, emails,
websites they visit, all activity on Facebook and MySpace, and much more. You
can block unwanted chats and activity, and even rewind and play screen
snapshots of everything they said and viewed on friends profle pages giving
you total visibility into their online identity and choices theyre making.
Recently awarded the 2010 Moms Choice Award, Spector Pro gives you
everything you need to ensure their safety, while helping them make smarter,
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 36
Security Alert
BE CAREFUL THE next
time you visit some of the
Webs biggest news, porn,
and torrent sites: They
could be peeking at your browser history.
Researchers at the University of Califor-
nia, San Diego have found that 485 of the
worlds 50,000 most popular sites now
have a way to read a browsers Web his-
tory. Called history snifng, the tactic
uses a combination of Web technologies;
read the study at nd.pcworld.com/71094.
Hijacking Your History
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a common-
ly used Web development language, con-
trols many elements of a pages layout.
One CSS item, the a:visited property,
displays visited Web links in a different
color (typically pur-
ple) from links you
havent visited (usu-
ally blue). A browser
stores this property
so that it can display
the right color for
every link you see.
In order to nd out
where youve been,
history hijackers
plant on their Web
pages some invisible links to third-party
sites such as Amazon, Facebook, and
Twitter. Then the spies use a snippet of
JavaScript code to learn from your
browser what color the hidden links
should have. After that, its pretty simple
to generate a list of sites your browser
has visited and a list of sites it hasnt.
Although the researchers discovered
485 sites that exploit the history-snifng
aw, only 46 of the sites actively down-
load browser histories. The researchers
also found that another 17 sites (for a
total of 63) transfer users browsing his-
tories to their network; however, the group
couldnt conrm whether the sites were
using the information collected. The ma-
jority of sites, the researchers say, are
simply inspecting the style properties.
About 18 of the 46 offending sites are
known to be using the exploit to analyze
users past visits to more than 220 sites.
History snifng isnt new, but this study
shows how prevalent it has become. The
researchers say that some analytics com-
panies, such as Beencounter and Tealium,
offer history-snifng services to clients.
Despite fears that parties could build a
prole about you based on your browsing
history and other information, history
snifng has more-benign uses that can
make browsing better, some Web devel-
opers argue. Blogger and developer Niall
Kennedy notes that
history snifng can
see which social net-
works you visit (nd.
pcworld.com/71095)
and then prompt a
site to showyou
share or like but-
tons only for them.
Other uses include
displaying your
favorite blog aggre-
gator instead of showing every RSS-
reader link. Or when you click a show
map link, the site could display just
the map services you tend to use.
Simple Safeguards
If you dont want your history sniffed,
you can take several steps. Chrome, Fire-
fox, and Safari can defend against the
tactic. Internet Explorer may stop it if
you use private browsing. You could also
use the Firefox add-on NoScript (nd.
pcworld.com/71096), which prevents sites
from running JavaScript in the browser.
And Firefox users can disable CSS visit-
ed links by modifying that browsers
about:cong le (nd.pcworld.com/71097).
Ian Paul
Rogue Sites Can Track Your Web History
PRIVACY WATCH
A number of big sites may be monitoring
your browsing trail. Find out how you can
keep your browsing habits private.
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(
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)
THE NEXT VERSION of Internet Ex
plorer will let users turn on tracking
protection, a new mechanism that will
block specifed third party sites from
tracking users, Microsof says.
Te IE 9 announcement came as the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission pro
posed that consumers be allowed to
subscribe to a do not track system
similar to the do not call lists that
block telemarketers (see page 16).
In IE 9, users can turn the feature on
and then choose a list of sites to block.
Anyone including individuals, compa
nies, and consumer protection groups
can make lists, and users can subscribe
to as many as they please. List authors
can update lists; the updates will auto
matically push out to subscribers, as IE 9
will check for updates once a week. Te
feature will not block Flash cookies.
Some users may be surprised by the
results, however: Sites that users block
from tracking them will also be prohib
ited from displaying certain content.
Websites will be able to detect when
visitors are using the list; the sites will
therefore know that some page ele
ments may be blocked for the visitor.
For instance, a medical imaging site
that uses a third party to deliver an
image may want to alert visitors that
they are not seeing the complete image
because the third party site is blocked.
Te new tracking protection feature
will be available in the Internet Explor
er 9 release candidate early next year.
Nancy Gohring
IE 9 to Let Users
Block Tracking
To learn more,
call 1-800-486-7145, ext. 3059 or visit Bose.com/mobile
2010 Bose Corporation Patent rights issued and/or pending The Bluetooth word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc , and any such use by Bose Corporation is under license
Introducing the rst Bluetooth headset from Bose that does what others cannot. The Bose Bluetooth
headset lets you hear and be heard, even as noise levels change. It is engineered with proprietary
technologies, so voices sound the way they should and you can hear what
is being said better than ever before. In addition, an exclusive noise-rejecting
microphone combined with digital signal processing allows you to be heard
even when calling from a noisy environment. By combining advanced design and
materials, this headset stays securely and comfortably in place. No other Bluetooth headset offers all
this. Experience it for yourself, and discover how much better you can hear, and be heard.
Finally, better sound quality
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headset.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 38
Reviews&
SO MUCH MEDIA, so many
ways to watch it on an HDTV.
Tats the quick take on the
streaming media landscape
following a year of explosive
growth in set top boxes
meaning almost any con
nected device that delivers
video, mu sic, and still imag
es to your set. New, high
profle streamers from Apple,
D Link, Logitech, Roku, and
Western Digital show the
category maturing.
Te media sources are con
tinually expanding, and vary
Explosive growth in set top boxes is making
media streaming ubiquitous and making the
choice of streamer more complicated.
depending on which box
you buy. Media could come
from a free or commercial
Internet service (Amazon,
Apple TV, Netfix, Vudu,
YouTube, or any network
TV site), or it could reside
on a drive connected to the
box or shared over your
local area network. Ten
there are all the TV shows
and movies youve recorded
with a digital video recorder.
Te set top boxes weve
seen can deliver media from
at least some of the above
sources, but at this writing
none can do it all either
because thats how they
were designed, or because
Hollywood wont let them.
Of the media streamers
we looked at, the most ver
satile and capable were the
Logitech Revue with Google
TV and the Boxee Box by
D Link but some network
TV sites prevent them from
showing content, and the
devices have some glitches.
Rokus products are great
for streaming media from lit
erally dozens of sites and
services, but they dont sup
port streaming from your
PC or networked drive.
Boxes from little known
vendors (Cirago and Uebo,
for example) do support
streaming of locally stored
Rankings
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Media Streamers Jump Front and Center
NEW STREAMER BOXES include (clockwise from
bottom left) the Apple TV, D-Link Boxee Box, WD TV
Live Hub, Roku XDS, and Logitech Revue.
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 39
INSIDE
44 BARNES & Noble
NookColor
50 HP TOUCHSMART 310 56 VIZIO VMB070 46 LEXMARK GENESIS
media, but they lack built in
sofware for Netfix or other
commercial services.
Most media streamers
support 720p HDTV, via
either a component video or
an HDMI hookup. But not
all can deliver 1080p con
tent. Some have built in
storage, allowing them to
double as media servers; but
USB ports for attaching
drives are more common.
Some connect to your net
work via ethernet; others
also have built in Wi Fi sup
port, although at this writ
ing that support is mostly
for 802.11n on the 2.4GHz
band. Because most note
books and other devices also
use this band, interference
may occur. Of the streamers
we looked at, only Rokus
high end version supports
streaming by Wi Fi over the
less crowded 5GHz band.
Look into wired network
options for hooking up
media streamers such as
HomePlug AV powerline or
the newer MoCA (Multime
dia over Coax Alliance)
products that use your
homes cable TV wiring as
they generally are more reli
able, especially for video.
Since these boxes are so
diverse, however, your very
electronics go, the boxes
can be geeky. But they are
rapidly opening up a whole
new frontier in home enter
tainment that may make
them well worth the trouble.
Roku XDS
Te new, $100 Roku XDS is
smaller than its predecessor
and sports added features
such as 1080p support, a
USB port for playing con
frst consideration in shop
ping should be what media
sources you want the box to
stream and whether your
other entertainment center
components, such as your
HDTV, game console, or Blu
ray player, can also deliver
them. (Teres little point in
buying a box that duplicates
what you already have.)
Pricing is all over the map,
but usually falls in the $100
to $200 range, depending on
features; the $300 Logitech
Revue is the priciest here,
but it has a full blown key
board and Web browser.
Although these products
show great promise in let
ting you enjoy media on
your TV, the gold rush men
tality of vendors means that
many of the devices have
sofware requiring frmware
updates. And as consumer
MODEL Rating Features
1
Roku XDS (2100X)
$100
nd.pcworld.com/71077
AmazonVideoon
Demand
Flickr
HuluPlus
Netix
Pandora
Vimeo
uThe Roku XDS lets you play a lot of Internet media easily; however, it cant streammedia fromyour local network.
2
Western Digital
WD TV Live Hub
$200
nd.pcworld.com/71079

Blockbuster On
Demand

Facebook

Flickr

Netix

Pandora

YouTube
uSince the WD TV Live Hub doubles as a media server, its a good choice for streaming media to and frommultiple locations.
3
Logitech Revue
$300
nd.pcworld.com/71080

Napster

Netix

Pandora

Twitter

Web
browser
uLogitechs Revue brings Google search and Web browsing to your HDTV, but its also underpowered and pricey.
4
D-Link Boxee Box
$199
nd.pcworld.com/71078

Current TV

Flickr

MLB.TV

Vudu
Web
browser
uThe stylish Boxee Box makes video fromdiverse sources accessible, and it will be even better when some bugs are xed.
5
Apple TV
(2nd gen., late 2010)
$99
nd.pcworld.com/71081

Apple AirPlay

Apple iTunes

Flickr

Netix

YouTube
uThis tiny box is a great deal if you have an HDTV and a lot of iTunes purchases, but it feels as if a fewpieces are still missing.
CHART NOTE: Ratings are as of 12/3/10.
PC WORLD TOP 5 MEDI A STREAMERS
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 40
Reviews&Rankings
video displayed
artifacts when
enlarged to
an HDTV
screens size.
Te built in
YouTube inter
face worked well.
Te videoconferencing
app, Logitech Vid, lets you
make video calls to anyone
else with the Revue or with
Vid installed on a PC or Mac.
(Te add on camera is $150.)
I liked a lot about the
Revue, but if youre hoping
for a box that will let you
abandon your existing cable
or satellite service, it will
disappoint. At $300, its
search and TV content limi
tations are serious faws.
D Link Boxee Box
Te $199 Boxee Box gets
points for design: Its a shiny
black polyhedron, a cube
with a corner lopped of.
Once hooked up, the box
works much as other set top
streamers do. It ofers an im
pressive range of Web video,
both free and paid; a slick,
videocentric user interface;
and a candy bar style remote.
Unfortunately, the Boxee
Box has problems Ive seen
on rivals. It allows Web based
streaming, but some TV net
works block their video. And
the sofware didnt always
feel fully baked: Te unit
tent from a connected fash
or hard drive, dual band
Wi Fi, and an improved
remote. For newcomers to
streaming media, its great,
but owners of the earlier
version can pass.
Te Roku XDS is a small
box that connects to your
home network and your TV
and streams some 100 chan
nels of Internet content, in
cluding the Amazon, Hulu
Plus, and Net fix on demand
video services; Major League
Baseball broadcasts; Inter
net radio services; and
photo sharing sites.
But it still cant stream
media from within your
LAN, and the XDSs new
support for playback of
media on a connected USB
drive is extremely limited.
If Internet content (rather
than your own material) is
your priority, then the Roku
XDS is a great choice.
WD TV Live Hub
Western Digitals WD TV
Live Hub ofers a 1TB inter
nal hard drive (it can do
both network storage and
media serving), support for
major Web streaming media
services, a major overhaul of
WDs user interface, and im
proved search and flter
ing features.
While a tad
pricey at $200,
its strong fea
ture set and
frst rate user
interface should appeal to
people who have a lot of
their own high def media to
stream to multiple rooms
and who also want easy
access to Web services.
Te WD TV Live Hub has a
bigger footprint than its pre
decessors, but is also much
thinner, and it provides the
same outputs: HDMI, com
ponent and composite video,
and digital audio, plus a USB
port for hooking up
a fash or external
hard drive, and a
gigabit ethernet
port to put the
Live Hub on
your home net
work. It lacks
integrated Wi Fi.
In my tests, I was able
to access media server con
tent on various devices. But
the Hub did not see any of
my shared network drives,
and I never determined why.
Overall, the WD TV Live
Hub is a versatile and mostly
user friendly media streamer
and storage device.
Logitech Revue
Te $300 Logitech Revue
with Google TV is nothing
if not ambitious. With
a keyboard that
incorporates a
universal remote
and mouse functions, this
Android based set top box
brings search capabilities
and an honest to goodness
Web browser to your TV,
along with solid media play
back and streaming services.
An optional USB video cam
era lets the Revue make your
set a video chat monitor.
Its not perfect. Certain
network TV sites block its
Chrome browser from play
ing their content, its Am azon
on demand app doesnt yet
support high def streaming,
and, oddly, its searches are
sometimes confusing.
But the Revue was excep
tionally easy to get up and
running. (It uses HDMI con
nections; one cable comes
with it.) You also must con
nect the Revue box to your
home network, via either the
built in Wi Fi or ethernet.
Googles Chrome Web
browser appears in the ap p
list. Launching it brings up
Googles search screen. A
picture in picture button
lets you view TV in a small
window as you surf.
During tests, video varied
in quality. ABC and CBS
video didnt play at all. NBC
THE WD TV Live Hub doubles as
a media server, so it can distrib-
ute content to multiple locations.
THE LOGITECH REVUE lets you browse the Web on your TV,
and it has a videoconferencing option (at extra cost).
THE ROKU XDS is good for Inter-
net streaming, but not for pulling
up content from your network.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 42
Reviews&Rankings
tion to a connected
home once all of
the premium ser
vices arrive and the
bugs are fxed.
If you want a
full blown Web
browser that
you can access
while watching
TV, you might
prefer to pay an
extra $100 for the
Logitech/Google device.
But for user friendly
access to a wide selection of
paid and free content, both
on the Web and within your
own local area network, a
fully baked Boxee Box may
well be the polyhedron
youve been waiting for.
Yardena Arar
froze and crashed occasion
ally. Several key services are
not yet available; the makers
of the Boxee sofware say
that it will have Hulu, Net
fix, and Vudu by early 2011.
While the Boxee Box mini
mizes the geek factor, it could
still use a full user manual.
Setup is easy, though: Once
you hook it up and power it
on, youre directed to adjust
the display to ft your TVs
screen and create a Boxee
account. Tat account will
store your information, and
you can link your account to
Facebook for video sharing.
Te Boxee home screen has
a menu of six icons and a
horizontally scrollable selec
tion of screenshots from fea
tured content (three at a
time). Te menu items
are Friends (shared
Facebook videos),
Watch Later (for
items youve tagged
while browsing
content libraries),
Shows (TV pro
grams), Movies,
Apps, and Files.
Youll fnd
most current Web
content and services under
Apps, including Flickr, Pan
dora, and YouTube, and
sites for news and music.
Boxees creators call them
apps because theyve been
optimized for Boxee.
Content accessed through
Boxee apps looked fne when
it played, but sometimes a
crash and re boot occurred.
Te sofware had glitches.
Since the Boxee Box re
mote has no mouse or touch
pad, selecting something
with the cursor is awkward.
Overall, the Boxee Box
promises to be a great addi
THE BOXEE BOX is uniquely styl-
ish and can pull in lots of Net
content, but it has a few bugs.
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 43
APPLE TV IS great for iTunes
users, but its Internet content
sources are somewhat limited.
For complete reviews and test
reports of the products we
tested for this story, go online
to nd.pcworld.com/71105.
MORE ONLI NE
Apple TV
Editors note: Tis review was
written by Macworld. On our
chart, this units relatively limit
ed selection of Internet sources
kept it from ranking higher.
In the second generation
Apple TV, Apple has dramat
ically changed the devices
technology. But until the
unit becomes more fexible,
its still a work in progress.
Tis new black box, one
fourth the size of the origi
nal Apple TV, runs a version
of iOS and carries the same
Apple A4 processor
that drives the
iPad. It relies on
solid state storage
rather than on a
moving hard drive,
sips power, and
runs cool to the touch. And
whereas the previous Apple
TV cost $229, this vastly
more advanced model will
cost you just $99.
Te Apple TV is 3.9 inches
square by 0.9 inches high,
and weighs 0.6 pounds its
really small. On the back
youll fnd a plug for the in
cluded power cord, an HDMI
port capable of carrying HD
video and 5.1 channel digital
audio to your TV set, an
optical digital audio port
for connecting directly to a
surround sound audio sys
tem, a 10/100Base T ether
net port (in case you prefer
wired networking to the
Apple TVs built in Wi Fi),
and a micro USB port that
Apple says is reserved for
service and support. Youll
need to supply your own
HDMI cable Apple doesnt
provide one. And if your
HDTV has support
only for compo
nent inputs, and
not HDMI, youre
out of luck.
But at $99, this tiny
box is a remarkable
deal if you have both an
HDTV and an in vestment in
iTunes purchases. Now that
Apple has re leased iOS 4.2,
iPhone and iPad users will
likely fnd its AirPlay wire
less streaming feature a great
way to move the content on
their devices to a big screen.
And if youre a Netfix sub
scriber as well, the product
is right in your wheelhouse.
But the Apple TV is limited
to only a few Internet based
content sources.
Jason Snell and Jonathan Sef
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 44
Reviews&Rankings
Blio Redenes E-Books
verlight versions promised
down the line. In my tests,
Blio ofered an intriguing
alternative to standard
e book readers for handling
complex book content.
As promising as Blio is,
however, your content
remains locked to your PC,
at least until the Android
and iOS versions arrive.
Yardena Arar
BLIO E-READER SOFTWARE nicely re-creates graphics-heavy texts.
INSTEAD OF focusing on
new hardware, K NFB Read
ing Technology has created
PC sofware that reproduces
the graphic elements of tra
ditional printed books and
efortlessly delivers related
content such as multimedia.
Blio eReader sofware (nd.
pcworld.com/71093) is available
as a free download for PCs,
with Android, iOS, and Sil
Color Tablet Optimized for Reading
THE NOOKCOLOR delivers
a superbly integrated, largely
satisfying, and (at present)
unique e reading experience.
And it has the potential to
deliver far more as Barnes &
Nobles library of periodicals
and childrens books grows.
A 7 inch capacitive touch
screen dominates the front
surface, with Android 2.1
and a Texas Instruments
OMAP3 series processor in
side. Te MicroSDHC card
slot can accommodate 32GB
of storage, and the e reader
also supplies 8GB of user
accessible on board storage.
Te 8.1 by 5.0 by 0.5 inch
device is solidly built, with
well formed buttons, a dark
slate colored bezel, and a
black, rubberized back. It
weighs 15.8 ounces.
Te NookColors display
employs an in plane switch
ing (IPS) panel, just as the
iPad does, for a wider view
ing angle and better color
reproduction than standard
LCD screens provide. Its
1024 by 600 pixel display
supports 16 million
colors. In use, letters
were very readable.
Special lamination
and an optical bond
ing process reduce
glare impressively.
Te viewing angle
was better than on
other tablets, too.
Tough the Nook
Color runs Android
2.1 underneath, the
e readers sofware
skin looks and be
haves nothing like
stock Android. Te interface
makes sense for reading,
ofering visual organization
that complements the navi
gation and the content.
Navigating the NookColor
relies heavily on tapping in
specifc spots of the device.
Most books are displayed
only in portrait view; but
Web pages, PDFs, and other
fles can appear in portrait
or landscape orientation.
Tapping at the bottom
of the book screen activates
the in book quick nav bar.
From here you can access
the contents, search for a
passage of text, share mate
rial, change the text display
options, and adjust the
brightness. It also brings
up a progress bar that shows
where you are in the book.
Te numerous text options
include six choices each for
text size, fonts, spacing, and
background color.
Te NookColor does have
room for improvement. My
biggest gripe involves the
units micro USB port. You
can give the 4000mAH bat
tery a rapid charge, but only
by using the included char
ger and cable. If you use any
other cable, you can only
transfer data with it. Id also
like to see a higher pixel
depth, so the text quality
comes closer to matching
that of Apples iPhone 4.
Te revamped Nook store
is light years better than be
fore, and it bests its rivals
with a graphical approach
and easy searching. But I
wish that obtaining search
results, navigating while
inside the shop, and moving
among selections proceeded
more smoothly.
Te NookColor makes a
strong case for color capable
e readers, but I wouldnt
recommend it if you plan to
use it primarily outdoors in
direct sunlight. For anyone
else, the $249 NookColor is
a worthy contender that
combines the readability of
E Ink based e readers with
the speed, customization,
and graphical advantages of
LCD based e reading apps
on touchscreen devices.
Melissa J. Perenson
NookColor | Barnes & Noble
Premium e reader has an elegant
interface and a low glare LCD.
Street: $249
nd.pcworld.com/71064
THE NOOKCOLOR Library screen
links to books and periodicals.
VERYGOOD
46
Reviews&Rankings
Photosmart eStation
e-All-in-One | HP
Solid performer has a unique, de
tachable, tabletlike control panel.
Street: $400
nd.pcworld.com/71047
HP, Lexmark Introduce
Bold New MFP Features
SHINY, BLACK, AND stufed
with new features, the
HP Photosmart eSta
tion e All in One and
the Lexmark Genesis
inkjet multifunction print
ers inject a rare dose of inno
vation into the staid printer
market. Whether the wow
factor justifes the $400 price
of either machine, however,
depends on how you feel
about the extras involved.
Te eStation e All in Ones
Zeen, docked on the front
of the MFP, is a removable,
7 inch color touchscreen
control panel that looks a lot
like a tablet and can handle
Web browsing, e reading
(via BN.com), and tablet
content printing. HPs ever
growing collection of Web
based printing apps is avail
able, too. Te Zeen currently
runs on Android 2.1, but HP
plans to upgrade the operat
ing system to Android 2.2
sometime in early 2011,
with an
upgrade available
to existing eStation users.
Te printer has a 125 sheet
input tray, an integrated
20 sheet photo tray, and an
automatic duplexer. In our
tests, the unit delivered
above average performance,
producing crisp text at a clip
of 8.4 pages per minute and
snapshot size photos at 3.8
ppm; images looked some
what grainy on plain paper
but smooth on glossy paper.
Te ink costs are average.
Lexmarks New Ideas
Te Lexmark Genesiss verti
cal, displaylike profle beck
ons you to ogle it. Te front
VERYGOOD
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
THE HP PHOTOSMART eStation
e-All-in-One has a removable,
tabletlike Zeen control panel.
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F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 47
Genesis | Lexmark
MFPs vertical prole and camera
based scanner offset pricey inks.
Street: $400
nd.pcworld.com/71048
THE LEXMARK GENESIS uses a
10-megapixel camera instead of
a scanner for digital images.
GOOD
panel showcases a 4.3 inch,
capacitive touchscreen LCD
and context sensitive touch
controls. Te display is espe
cially fun to use with Lex
marks Smart Solutions, a
growing collection of apps
that you can program to
automate local multifunc
tion tasks or use to access
Web based services.
Behind the new look of
the Genesis is a new kind
of scanner: a 10 megapixel
camera. In tests, it scanned
any kind of image, re
gardless of complexity,
in just a few seconds
(as opposed to the
dozens or hundreds
of seconds that a
conventional
scanner requires).
Images were com
parable in quality
to conventional
scanner output,
though copied text
looked a little faded, and
fner details in color photos
and line art seemed slightly
foggy or jagged. But the
camera picked up more sur
face faws on our samples
than most scanners do.
Te printer inside the Gen
esis is modestly confgured,
with a 100 sheet rear vertical
input and a 25 sheet output
tray. Print quality and speed
were unremarkable: Pages of
text seemed slightly feathery
and emerged at a rate of 6.4
ppm, while snapshot size
photos looked washed out
on plain paper but better
(though sometimes over
saturated) on glossy paper,
with an output rate of 1.9
ppm. Te MFPs inks are
very expensive in stan
dard returnable sizes,
and still pricey in high
yield returnable versions.
Lexmarks Genesis and
HPs Photosmart eStation
e All in One are equally
interesting. But afer youve
shown your MFP of to the
neighbors, you might want
to print. And in this funda
mental regard, the HP wins
the prize for being faster
and having lower ink costs.
Melissa Riofrio
MRSP $79.
99

2012
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 48
Reviews&Rankings
Acers Small, Powerful Ultraportable
drive, and 64 bit Windows 7
Home Premium. For con
nectivity you get an ethernet
port, Wi Fi, and Bluetooth,
but no mobile broadband.
Te sleek TmelineX is 11.2
inches wide, 8 inches long,
and just over 1 inch thick; it
weighs 3 pounds. Te lap
tops battery lasted for 6.5
hours on one charge.
In addition to three USB
2.0 ports, the unit has head
phone and microphone jacks,
a fve in one card reader slot,
HDMI out and VGA out,
and a Kensington lock port.
Te notebooks foating
Chiclet style keyboard is
full size
but very fat.
Te smooth, closely
spaced keys are fush with
the palm rest, and they ofer
frustratingly weak feedback.
Te glossy, 11.6 inch screen
has a native resolution of
1366 by 768 pixels. Te dis
play quality is pretty good.
Te Acer Aspire TmelineX
1830T 68U118 combines
power
and portabili
ty in an appealing package
that costs $100 less than the
new Macbook Air. Te lap
tops keyboard and touchpad
are fawed but for a machine
with a Core i7 processor and
an 11.6 inch screen, you do
have to make some sacrifces.
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
Aspire TimelineX1830T-68U118
Acer
Poor keyboard and touchpad detract
from this otherwise sleek laptop.
Street: $899
nd.pcworld.com/71060
THE TIMELINEX LACKS
a discrete graphics card,
but plays video well.
THE ACER Aspire TmelineX
1830T 68U118 packs
lots of power into a
tiny package, and yet
still manages to add
a full size keyboard.
Our $899 review model
carried an ultra low voltage
1.47GHz Core i7 processor,
4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard
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MODEL Rating Performance Features andspecications
1
Lexmark E460dn
$599
nd.pcworld.com/62482
Text quality: Superior
Graphics quality: Very Good
Tested speeds: 24.3 ppmtext/4.8 ppm
graphics
USB, ethernet, parallel connectivity
300 sheets input standard, 850
maximum
Automatic duplexing standard
uThe E460dn delivers great speed and print quality, but pricey toner and a skimpy standard paper capacity dimits luster.
2
Dell 5230dn Laser Printer
$999 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/70138
Text quality: Superior
Graphics quality: Fair
Tested speeds: 23.4 ppmtext/4.9 ppm
graphics
USB, ethernet connectivity
350 sheets input standard, 4000
maximum
Automatic duplexing standard
uFast, expandable, and blessed with inexpensive toner, this monochrome laser printer is well suited for a high volume ofce.
3
Dell 3330dn Laser Printer
$599
nd.pcworld.com/64137
Text quality: Superior
Graphics quality: Good
Tested speeds: 23.8 ppmtext/4.2 ppm
graphics
USB, ethernet, parallel connectivity
300 sheets input standard, 850
maximum
Automatic duplexing standard
uSpeed, automatic duplexing, and modest but upgradable paper handling make this unit almost perfect for a busy workgroup.
4
Dell 2350dn Laser Printer
$299 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71039
Text quality: Superior
Graphics quality: Very Good
Tested speeds: 22.8 ppmtext/7.0 ppm
graphics
USB, ethernet, parallel connectivity
300 sheets input standard, 850
maximum
Automatic duplexing standard
uA multitalented workhorse, the 2350dn comes through with impressive speed and print quality, along with reasonable toner costs.
5
Xerox Phaser 4510/N
$999
nd.pcworld.com/62509
Text quality: Superior
Graphics quality: Fair
Tested speeds: 25.1 ppmtext/4.2 ppm
graphics
USB, ethernet, parallel connectivity
700 sheets input standard, 1800
maximum
Automatic duplexing optional
uThe Phaser 4510/Nis fast and built to last, and we love its low cost toner but we wish that we could get decent graphic output fromit.
CHART NOTES: Rankings are as of 12/2/10. ppm= pages per minute.
Top 5 Monochrome Laser Printers
Dell dominates the chart with three productive models for three types of workplace.
Visit nd.pcworld.com/71128 to see in-depth reviews, test results, and detailed specs for these monochrome laser printers. MORE ONLI NE
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
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Today's cost saving Back UPS
For years youve relied on APC Back UPS to protect your business from expensive
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Unique energy efficient features
Power saving outlets automatically shut off power to unused devices when your
computer and peripherals are turned off or on standby. Automatic voltage regulation
(AVR) adjusts the undervoltages and overvoltages without using the battery. With
our patent pending AVR bypass, the transformer kicks in only when needed and
automatically deactivates when power is stable. Plus, APC highly efficient designs reduce
power consumption when power is good and extend runtimes when the lights
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The High-Performance Back-UPS Pro Series
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Power saving outlets automat cally shut off power to unused devices when your
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Back-UPS models are available with the features and runtime
capacity that best suit your application and many models have
been designed with power-saving features to reduce costs.
Unbeatable power protection
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 50
Reviews&Rankings
lution of 1600 by 900 cant
deliver true 1080p fdelity.
Te HP TouchSmart 310
functions equally well as a
workstation, family PC, or
HPs Multitouch Media-
Savvy All-in-One PC
THE HP TOUCHSMART 310
($1160) can do every
thing from streaming
movies to slinging
spreadsheets.
Loaded with a 2.5GHz
Athlon X4 615e CPU, 6GB
of DDR3 RAM, and ATI
Radeon HD 4270 graphics,
our review unit earned a
WorldBench 6 score of 94.
Te TouchSmart 310 han
dles television and movies
with aplomb, but advanced
games are out of its reach.
Its streamlined 20 inch dis
play responded quickly to
touch input in our tests.
Te PC is designed to work
as a midlevel media center:
Its recessed DVD burner
complements a 1TB hard
drive and an SD Card reader.
Video playback looked great
on the 20 inch touchscreen,
though the maximum reso
media center all from with
in a compact and attractive
case that looks at home on a
desk or a kitchen counter.
Alex Wawro
TouchSmart 310 | HP
PC combines polish, performance,
and a simple touch interface.
Street: $1160
nd.pcworld.com/71063
SUPERIOR
AN INTEGRATED Webcam/mic is embedded in the all-in-ones frame.
MODEL Rating Performance Features andspecications
1
Dell Inspiron
Zino HD 410
$825 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71066
WorldBench 6 score: 78
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Very Good
1.7GHz PhenomII X4
6GB RAM, 750GB storage
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5450
Blu ray Disc
uDells compact Inspiron Zino HD 410 PC is speedy, connected, and ready for your next generation movie discs.
2
ViewSonic VOT530
PC Mini
$750 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71067
WorldBench 6 score: 90
WorldBench 6 rating: Superior
Overall design: Fair
2.2GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM, 320GB storage
Intel integrated graphics
DVDRW
uIf your budget and your available space are sharply limited, youll appreciate what ViewSonics VOT530 has to offer.
3
Acer Veriton N282G
$450 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71068
WorldBench 6 score: 42
WorldBench 6 rating: Poor
Overall design: Good
1.8GHz AtomD525
2GB RAM, 320GB storage
Nvidia Ion 2
No optical drive
uThe Veriton N282Gs six USB ports will tempt you, but dont expect this PC to do much more than basic spreadsheet work.
4
Giada Slim-N20
$450 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71069
WorldBench 6 score: 42
WorldBench 6 rating: Poor
Overall design: Fair
1.66GHz AtomD510
2GB RAM, 320GB storage
Nvidia Ion 2
No optical drive
uLike many other compact PCs, Giadas Slim N20 sacrices a great deal of performance at the altar of economy.
5
eMachines ER1402-05
$300 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71070
WorldBench 6 score: 62
WorldBench 6 rating: Fair
Overall design: Fair
1.7GHz Athlon II K2 Neo K125
2GB RAM, 160GB storage
Nvidia GeForce 9200MGS
No optical drive
uThis inexpensive compact PC fromeMachines performs creditably, considering its extraordinarily lowprice.
CHART NOTE: Ratings are as of 11/23/10.
Top 5 Compact Desktops
Tons of storage space, a strong overall design, and a Blu ray drive highlight our Best Buy.
Visit nd.pcworld.com/71127 to see in-depth reviews, full test results, and detailed specs for these compact desktop PCs. MORE ONLI NE
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 52
Reviews&Rankings
Archos 32: Good for Media
text, the screen is harsh on
the eyes, and text is blurry.
Audio playback was excel
lent in our tests. Video play
back was smooth and jitter
free, though the images
were not as crisp as weve
seen elsewhere. Te Archos
32s image viewer can han
dle JPEG, BMP, PNG, and
GIF fles, but they appeared
less satisfactory than on
higher resolution devices.
Robert S. Anthony
Archos 32 Internet Tablet
Archos
This decent music and video device
has a poor screen resolution.
List: $150
nd.pcworld.com/71091
BASED ON ANDROID 2.2.1, the Archos 32
handles video and music well, but not text.
THE PALM SIZE
Archos 32 Internet
Tablet ($150) is a
high quality music
player with smooth
video playback.
But although it
browses the Web
and even runs
Android apps, this
minitablet (if it can be called
that) misses the mark.
Te 240 by 400 pixel dis
play is passable for viewing
photos and videos. But with
Sony Vegas Pro 10 Video
Editor Adds 3D Functions
SONYS VEGAS PRO video
editing sofware has a less
fashy reputation than Apple
Final Cut Pro 7 and Adobe
Premiere Pro CS5 do, but it
has its fans. Version 10 ($700;
upgrade from previous ver
sions, $250) gains some fea
tures that rivals already had,
but it also gains several
unique functions, including
stereoscopic 3D editing.
You can use the sofware
to produce 3D movies from
2D content (as well as to edit
footage from 3D camcorders,
once they hit the market)
and play back the results on
3D TVs and PCs. You enable
stereoscopic mode with a
menu command, and then
make adjustments to the
efect via a flter. I didnt try
the results using 3D glasses
and a 3D TV, but the old
school cyan and red 3D set
ting (you can choose from
several settings) made the
efect hard to miss, even
without glasses. Te feature
has the same system require
ments as high def editing.
Another new feature,
image stabilization, works
much like that of other edi
tors in that it analyzes video
and reduces movement by
foating the image in the
frame and cropping it. Te
stabilization worked well
with my footage. You can
set it to crop automatically,
or you can adjust settings
manually; I had luck even
with the automatic setting.
Like Premiere Pro, Vegas
Pro has multicam support,
letting you play multiple
video tracks and make quick
cuts between them. Vegas
Pro 10 goes one step further,
adding live preview. I found
it easy to use, and it created
a snappy, upbeat movie.
GPU Acceleration
Premiere Pro CS5 intro
duced GPU acceleration,
which speeds up multiple
functions and rendering
using your computers
graphics card instead of its
CPU. Now Vegas Pro 10 uses
the GPU to accelerate out
put to Sonys .avc format.
However, at this point
thats all it does it acceler
ates just that one function,
to a single output format.
Furthermore, despite the
fact that my PC has a sup
ported graphics card, I saw
no actual acceleration; the
application relied on CPU
power no matter what I did.
On the other hand, Vegas
Pro 10 has extensive audio
controls. It even supports
24 bit/192KHz audio, high
quality sound supported on
Blu ray Discs and the mori
bund DVD Audio format.
Most of the time, Vegas
Pro 10 operates smoothly
and quickly; the program
feels perky and stable. Tat
could be in part because it
is a 64 bit app (which Vegas
Pro has been since version
8), so it can take advantage
of larger amounts of RAM.
You can get it in a 32 bit
version, though, that will
run even on Windows XP.
A new plug in architecture,
Video FX, allows Vegas Pro
to accept efects from third
party developers, and the
app itself has many standard
efects; Sony says Vegas Pro
10 comes with more than
300 video and audio efects.
If youre eager to create
3D videos, Vegas Pro 10 is
your only option right now.
Beyond that, it has many
things going for it but until
Sony ramps up the GPU
acceleration, Premiere Pro
CS5 will continue to own
the performance advantage.
Alan Staford
Vegas Pro 10 | Sony
Editor has unique new features, but
its GPU acceleration falls short.
List: $700 ($250 upgrade)
nd.pcworld.com/71076
IN VEGAS PRO 10, you can edit stereoscopic-3D video footage.
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PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 54
Reviews&Rankings
MODEL Rating Performance Features andspecications
1
Dell Precision M6500
$4700 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71084
WorldBench 6 score: 118
WorldBench 6 rating: Superior
Overall design: Superior
Tested battery life: 2:04
2.0GHz Core i7 920XM
17.1 inch widescreen
9.0 pounds
1000GB hard drive
uThe M6500 lives up to its reputation as one of the most powerful workstations on the market and thats without counting upgrades.
2
HP Envy 17
$1825
nd.pcworld.com/70865
WorldBench 6 score: 108
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Superior
Tested battery life: 2:19
1.73GHz Core i7 720QM
17.3 inch widescreen
7.9 pounds
640GB hard drive
uHPs Envy 17 is a robust, media centric desktop replacement thats svelte enough to lug around if you need a large screen on the go.
3
AVADirect Clevo X8100 Core i7
Gaming Notebook
$4100
nd.pcworld.com/70509
WorldBench 6 score: 120
WorldBench 6 rating: Superior
Overall design: Very Good
Tested battery life: 1:26
1.73GHz Core i7 820QM
18.4 inch widescreen
12.4 pounds
896GB hard drive
uIf you require an all in one gaming rig for a LANparty, the Clevo X1800 does the job, but a compact desktop may be cheaper.
4
MSI GT660
$1699
nd.pcworld.com/70510
WorldBench 6 score: 108
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Superior
Tested battery life: 2:33
1.73GHz Core i7 740QM
16.0 inch touchscreen
7.7 pounds
1000GB hard drive
uThe stylish GT660, with a powerful GPU, is an all around great gaming laptop as well as a capable desktop replacement.
5
Alienware M17x
$3849
nd.pcworld.com/70063
WorldBench 6 score: 100
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Very Good
Tested battery life: 3:04
2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
17.0 inch widescreen
11.7 pounds
320GB hard drive
uA tricked out gaming machine like the M17x will performwell and cost you a lot of money. But fewlook as good.
6
HP EliteBook 8740w
$3000 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71085
WorldBench 6 score: 99
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Superior
Tested battery life: 1:45
2.4GHz Core i5 520M
17.0 inch widescreen
8.5 pounds
320GB hard drive
uIf youre looking for a business rugged laptop that has all the power of a desktop and all the sexiness of a Mac, this is the one for you.
7
Asus G73Jw
$1745 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71087
WorldBench 6 score: 109
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Very Good
Tested battery life: 1:48
1.73GHz Core i7 740QM
17.3 inch widescreen
8.8 pounds
1000GB hard drive
uThe G73Jwis a great laptop for gamers who are willing to spend additional money on peripherals like an external keyboard.
8
Dell Studio 17 (model 1747)
$1100
nd.pcworld.com/70511
WorldBench 6 score: 103
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Superior
Tested battery life: 3:23
1.6GHz Core i7 720QM
17.1 inch widescreen
8.7 pounds
500GB hard drive
uThe affordable Dell Studio 17 offers a solid design, good battery life, and a wide variety of congurations.
9
Samsung RF710-S02
$1049 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71088
WorldBench 6 score: 103
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Very Good
Tested battery life: 2:23
1.6GHz Core i7 720QM
17.3 inch widescreen
6.5 pounds
640GB hard drive
uSamsungs modern looking desktop replacement has solid components, but the overall implementation is slightly underwhelming.
10
Sony VAIO VPCF13AFX
$1375 NEW
nd.pcworld.com/71089
WorldBench 6 score: 107
WorldBench 6 rating: Very Good
Overall design: Very Good
Tested battery life: 2:24
1.73GHz Core i7 740QM
16.4 inch widescreen
6.6 pounds
500GB hard drive
uThe VPCF13AFX is both a looker and a great performer, but it isnt the longest lived desktop replacement you can nd.
CHART NOTES: Ratings are as of 12/6/10. Tested battery life gures are expressed in hours:minutes. Laptop weights do not include the power adapter.
Top 10 Desktop-Replacement Laptops
Dells hefty Precision M6500 supports up to 32GB of RAM and provides a terric display.
Visit nd.pcworld.com/70832 to see in-depth reviews, full test results, and detailed specs for all laptops on this chart. MORE ONLI NE
SUPERIOR
SUPERIOR
SUPERIOR
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
GOOD
GOOD
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55 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
Nvidia GTX 580: Fastest
GPU Money Can Buy
5970s ample muscle. Te
HD 5970 retook the lead in
the 3DMark Vantage bench
mark, but not by much.
Our real world gaming
tests saw more of the same,
with the HD 5970 holding a
near constant lead and the
GTX 580 nipping at its
heels. Results in a demo of
Dirt 2 were another story:
Te GTX 580 pulled ahead
by as much as 80 percent
over the HD 5870. It kept a
steady lead over the HD
5970, by up to 40 percent.
Te GTX 580 still has a
few of the GTX 480s prob
lems. If you want to run three
(or more) monitors, for in
stance, you need to buy a
second GTX 580. It also lacks
a DisplayPort connector.
Tose issues aside, Nvidia
has reforged an unwieldy
titan into a graphics board
that outpaces competitors.
Nate Ralph
GeForce GTX 580 | Nvidia
This superfast high end graphics
board outdoes the competition.
List: $500
nd.pcworld.com/71051
VERY GOOD
THE GTX 580 surpassed both
its predecessor and high-end
AMD cards in tests.
AT $500, NVIDIAS GeForce
GTX 580 graphics
card is aimed at
enthusiasts who
will accept nothing
less than the best.
And theyll fnd speed in
spades here: Te GTX 580 is
the fastest single GPU card
on the market, sailing right
through our battery of tests.
(For a breakdown of its
innards compared with
AMDs premier oferings,
see nd.pcworld.com/71053.)
Nvidia has retooled the
graphics processing unit to
mitigate some of the power
and temperature issues that
plagued its previous fagship
board, the GTX 480. Te
GTX 580 is quieter, cooler,
and more ef cient; for exam
ple, it shaves 20 watts of of
its predecessors idle and
full load power ratings.
We pitted the GTX 580
against the GTX 480, plus
AMDs Radeon HD 5870 and
HD 5970 (a dual GPU board).
In the Unigine Heaven bench
mark (a strenuous DirectX
11 test with tessellation and
geometry heavy scenes), the
GTX 580 took a decisive
lead, outdoing even the HD
A competency-based
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WGUs competency-based education lets you progress through your
online program as you prove your knowledge of it. You have the fexibility
to keep living your life, while staying on target to meet your career goals.
Its no wonder 94 percent of our graduates would recommend us.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 56
Reviews&Rankings
Vizio VMB070: Unsuitable
for Outdoor Viewing
WHETHER YOU GO tailgat
ing or you live in a really tiny
apartment, you might have
reasons to want a 7 inch TV.
Vizios strengths as a maker
of TV sets shine through in
its 7 inch LED LCD TV, the
$150 VMB070. But making a
TV for a living room setting
is not the same as making a
portable TV for use both
indoors and outdoors.
Te set has just one com
posite input, one RF input,
and an antenna. However, as
the antenna cant hold a sig
nal while youre moving,
you cant watch over the air
broadcasts in a car.
A USB port lets the set act
as a photo frame, but it sup
ports only JPEG fles no
audio or video. Some of my
JPEGs didnt work; the pho
tos from my camera were too
high a resolution for the TV
to scale down and display.
Although you probably
wont sit far enough away to
need the remote, its easier
to use than the TVs touch
sensitive buttons, which
sometimes respond poorly.
Indoors, the VMB070s
LED lighting keeps the image
bright, its 800 by 480 pixel
resolution handles over the
air broadcasts well, and view
ing angles are impressive.
But once you take it outside,
the glossy coating refects
too much light and makes
seeing anything other than
your refection fairly hard.
Te battery lasted for 3
hours, 20 minutes better
than comparable 7 inch TVs,
which typically promise a
2.5 hour battery life.
Te speakers arent espe
cially loud, and the sound is
tinny. Fortunately, the TV
set has a headphone jack.
Patrick Miller
VMB070 | Vizio
Despite good indoor image quality,
shortcomings hold this tiny TV back.
List: $150
nd.pcworld.com/71072
THE VMB070S GLOSSY screen produces glare outdoors.
GOOD
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k
g
a
r
d
!
Prolog i
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 57
HD7 | HTC
Phone has great specs but doesnt
use T Mobiles HSPA+ network.
List: $200 (with two year contract)
nd.pcworld.com/71049
VERY GOOD
HTC HD7: Excellent
Phone Gets No 4G Love
on a par with those of 4G
networks) is still in the early
stages of expansion, its dis
appointing (and odd) that
the HD7 missed out.
Measuring 4.8 by 2.7 by
0.4 inches and weighing 5.7
ounces, the HD2 is a beast.
Te phone is attractive, how
ever, and sure to turn heads.
Te camera has a dual LED
fash. Photos taken outside
on a sunny day had bright
colors and sharp details. But
when I zoomed in on a dis
tant building, my photo
came out blurry. Indoor
shots seemed overexposed,
even with the fash of.
In casual speed tests over
Wi Fi, the browser was pret
ty fast. PCWorld.com loaded
fully in 22 seconds.
Syncing my Facebook pro
fle to the HD7 took about
four tries; Im not sure if this
was a network issue or a
problem with the OS. Te
HD7 also switched between
EDGE and 3G fairly ofen
around San Francisco.
Call quality was hit or
miss over T Mobiles 3G
network. Callers sounded
good, but slightly distant
and tinny. When I was on a
busy street, the other party
had dif culty hearing me.
If youre longing for Win
dows Phone 7, the HTC
HD7 is a nice choice and a
great entertainment phone.
Ginny Mies
THE WINDOWS PHONE 7based HD7 is a good entertainment phone.
THE HTC HD7 ($200 with a
two year T Mobile contract)
has a 4.3 inch display, a 1GHz
Snapdragon processor, and
a 5 megapixel camera. It also
runs Windows Phone 7.
Unfortunately, the HD7
supports only HSPA, which
has a 7.2 mbps download
speed. Although T Mobiles
HSPA+ (which ofers speeds
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 58
Reviews&Rankings
own models. A menu permits you to either
print your selection immediately or add it to
the programs clipboard for editing, saving as
a PDF le, or printing later. nd.
pcworld.com/71099 Jon L. Jacobi
Windows Live Writer
Windows Live Writer 11 lls a niche
I didnt know existed: ofine blog-
post production tool. This light word
processor and design app helps you
write posts and make thempretty. It
comes in the free Windows Live
Essentials suite, but you can install
it by itself. Great for quick graphic
design, good for ofine writing, and
possibly unnecessary for a word-
heavy blogger, it gets the job done, as long as
you install the requisite patches and updates.
nd.pcworld.com/71098 Andrew Brandt
IN WINDOWS LIVE Writer, you can easily compose text and
insert pictures, creating an attractive blog post.
CARBONITE IS A great on
line backup program and
service, once confgured.
Version 4.0 warns you on
the frst page that it doesnt
automatically select .exe,
video, and fles over 4GB for
backup. But I wish Carbo
nite had added an option to
include those types of fles.
Even when you explicitly
add a folder holding them, it
skips such fles; you must go
into the folder and add them.
Elements of the interface
are brilliant, such as the col
ored dots on the Windows
Explorer fle icons that tell
each fles backup status.
Once youve confgured
Carbonite, it works great. It
ofers Web access so you can
download a fle from virtual
ly anywhere. Te service is
priced competitively, too:
$55 per year, per computer
for unlimited backup.
Jon L. Jacobi
DOWNLOAD THIS
SOFTWARE AND WEBSITES can demand too
much of your PC, your paper, and you. We
found a utility that keeps bossy processes from
hogging system resources. If youd like to print
only part of a Web pageexcluding all the
adswe have just the Internet Explorer plug-
in to help. And an ofine blogging tool lets you
lay out a beautiful-looking entry before logging
in. Each program is free or donationware.
Process Tamer
If youve ever looked at Windows Task Manag-
er and noticed an application hogging 70 per-
cent or more of the CPU resources, normally
you havent been able to do much in response
except close the application or kill its process-
es. Process Tamer offers an alternative. This
tiny utility stays in the background and keeps a
watchful eye for programs that attempt to hog
your system. It then automatically lowers the
priority on the offending applications, freeing
up all-important resources for whatever else
your computer is running at the time.
nd.pcworld.com/71100 Steve Horton
HP Smart Web Printing
You dont often get a giveaway as handy
as HPs Smart Web Printinga browser
plug-in that helps you cut down on
paper waste by allowing you to grab
only the portions of Web pages you
want and consolidate them into a single
printed document. And despite what the
name might make you think, this utility
works with any printer, not just HPs
Curb Grabby Processes, Print and Blog Better
Carbonite:
Easy and
Inexpensive
YOU CAN SELECT Web page elements to print
skipping the items you dont want, such as the
adswith the HP Smart Web Printing utility.
ARE ONE OR more programs taking most of your CPU power?
Keep resource gluttons in check with Process Tamer.
Carbonite 4.0 | Carbonite
Fast, reliable online backup service
has a few le selection pitfalls.
List: $55 per year, per PC
nd.pcworld.com/71092
VERY GOOD
DESPITE A FEW quirks, Carbo-
nite is simple to use overall.
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Webs
60 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
Best Sites
BY ROBERT
STROHMEYER
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
HARRY CAMPBELL
THE WEB IS A BIG PLACE. Really big
around 300 million sites and counting. So no
one could blame you if you dont have time to
browse through all that stuf, try all the latest
and greatest online services, and fnd the very
best. Good news: Weve done it for you.
PCWorlds editors have roamed all over the
Net searching out the fnest sites for travel,
search, dining, news, shopping, fnance, and
more. Presented here are 46 amazing sites
the best on the Web. Tese phenomenal
Websites should be your go-to resources for
everything you need to do online.
But we didnt stop there. Because every
user is unique, weve also collected great
alternatives that do things the top sites cant.
From quirky-but-cool photo tools to of-the-
beaten-path vacation rentals, this roundup is
brimming with sites youll love.
Rock-bottom travel fares, free ofce suites,
dependable system tools, and more.
These 46 amazing sites save you
time, protect your budget, and
improve your productivity.
61 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 62
Ofce Apps
Over the past few years, Web based ofce suites
have grown from humble roots to become tools
that nearly match the fexibility and features of
full blown desktop apps. Google has led the
way in this burgeoning category with its
popular Docs family of programs, though
rival Zoho ofers a broader, easier to use,
and more sophisticated suite. But while
most online suites have slightly kludgy
interfaces that come with their share of
quirks, Microsofs introduction of Web
Apps with Ofce 2010 ofers the familiar,
refned interface you already know,
directly integrating a desktop suite that
outstrips all online competitors.
Most people rely so heavily on their
word processors and spreadsheets that its difcult to depend on a solely cloud based system. Microsofs version of a cloud
ofering Office Web Apps (free, nd.pcworld.com/71083) provides the best of both worlds. Combined with Ofce, the apps allow
you to work in a robust desktop suite as well as to store, access, and edit your documents online.
If youre a Gmail user and your needs are modest, Google Docs (free, docs.google.com) is a highly serviceable secondary choice. It suf
fers fromquirky formatting and compatibility issues with Microsof Ofce fles, but its integration with Gmail makes it worth a try.
For a full service cloud based suite that gives you options for everything from accounting to human resources management,
be sure to check out the massive array of services from Zoho (free for personal use, zoho.com).
Storage
One of the greatest challenges of the mobile
age is keeping your essential fles online, acces
sible, and in sync from all your devices. Drop-
box (free, dropbox.com) rises to that challenge
with 2GB of online storage that syncs to apps
on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.
If you need 25GB of online storage, Microsoft
SkyDrive delivers (free, skydrive.live.com). Te
service lacks good mobile integration overall,
but it works great on Windows and gives you a
clean Web interface for Mac computers and
Linux systems. As of this writing, SkyDrive
also permits you to share pictures by way of
Windows Phone 7 handsets, and a possible
update to Microsofs mobile OS due out by the time you
read this could add access to other fles as well.
Want unlimited storage to back up your entire hard drive?
Trend Micro SafeSync (trendmicro.com/safesync) gives you just
that, plus the ability to share fles and folders with anyone
on the Web. At $60 per year, SafeSyncs unlimited capacity
is only half the price of Dropboxs 50GB paid service.
Microsoft
Office Web
Apps
Google
Docs
Dropbox
Microsoft
SkyDrive
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 63
Travel
Great travel sites are a lot like great travel destinations: Teres an ideal
place for everyone. Our all around favorite travel assistant, Kayak (free,
kayak.com), lets you punch in any destination, then it launches multiple
searches on all of the major travel sites at once so that you can compare
fares quickly. Te only drawback is that it clutters up your PCs desktop
with little windows for all the search results.
If you want to retrieve just the best airfare for your upcoming excursion,
Hipmunk (free, hipmunk.com) searches all the major airlines simultaneously
and presents the results in an intuitive timeline format that shows you
fares, layovers, connections, and airlines at a glance.
For excellent customer service on fights, hotels, and travel packages,
Hotels.com (free) cant be beat. Te site has won our trust with dependable,
friendly 24 hour phone assistance.
Of course, not everyone wants to stay in a hotel when they travel. If
youre looking to rent a ski cabin this winter or you want to check out
beach houses for a summer getaway, turn to Vacation Rentals By Owner,
aka VRBO (free, vrbo.com). With VRBO, you deal directly with the property
owners but the site takes most of the guesswork out of renting a house
for your holiday by ofering user reviews from people who actually stayed
in the rentals, and providing in depth reviews when one of the sites
employees has stayed there. Best of all, the site backs you up with $10,000
in rental protection in the event that the property owner rips you of.
Hipmunk
Kayak
Dining
Eating out gets expensive, so you dont
want to take chances on mediocre restau-
rants. Yelp (free, yelp.com) remains the
number one site for nding good dining just
about anywhere on earth. The sites iPhone
and Android apps make it easy to locate
highly rated spots in your vicinity right
away, and they let you quickly gather tips
on what to order when you arrive.
Dont waste time calling every restau-
rant in town to secure a reservation for
your next date night or business lunch.
Open Table (opentable.com) can save you a
spot at 15,000 restaurants around the
world, for free. When youre traveling, use
OpenTables free iPhone or Android app to
book a conrmed reservation instantly and
effortlessly, even from a taxi.
OpenTable
TV and Movies
Te Web has come a long way since YouTube turned watching video
online into an international obsession. Today you can not only fritter
away your afernoon watching people make fools of themselves on your
PC, but you can also stream full length feature flms and this weeks hot
test TV shows to just about any screen in your home.
Leading the way in online video is Netflix (from $8 monthly, netix.com),
which streams TV shows and movies to your computer and a host of
other devices, including the Roku streamers, Apple TV, Microsof Xbox
360, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and a rapidly expanding list of
HDTVs and Blu ray players. Netfixs streaming movie selection is still
underwhelming at the moment, but it has tons of great television materi
al, and the catalog is constantly growing.
Quickly gaining ground, with a fresh list of television programs and
movies that serves as a worthy complement to Netfixs selection, is
Hulus Hulu Plus ($8 monthly, hulu.com/plus). Te service is now available
on Roku streaming boxes, as well as iOS based phones and tablets, and
of course Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
For the latest movies that you cant yet get on the streaming services,
be sure to check out Amazon Video On Demand (prices vary, amazon.com/
videoondemand), which has a complete selection of new releases. You can
watch videos online with your PC or Mac, or on your TV with a Roku XD
or a number of other set top boxes.
Just want to entertain your little ones with some child safe video? Try
Kideos.com. Tis free site flters out the junk from YouTube to ofer a
broad selection of age appropriate videos for kids from infant (if its even
appropriate for babies to watch YouTube at all) to age 10.
64 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
Netflix
Hulu Plus
E-Mail
Conventional wisdom states that Googles
Gmail (free, mail.google.com) won the bat-
tle for e-mail dominance long ago. After
all, the services 7.5GB of storage and rela-
tively large 20MB attachment-size limit
makes it hard to beat. On top of that, Gmail
integrates nicely with Google Calendar,
Docs, and the rest of Googles online apps.
But if you think its time to close the book
on the e-mail wars, think again. For its in-
novative search features, Gmail still gets
top honors. If you want a solid alternative,
however, Yahoo Mail has come back from
the brink of irrelevance. Yahoo Mail (free,
yahoo.com/mail) now offers an unlimited
thats right, unlimitedamount of storage,
which makes any allocation of drive space
measured in gigabytes seem paltry. Also,
Yahoo Mail now includes apps for popular
Web services, so you can easily connect
your mail account to Evite, Flickr, PayPal,
Photobucket, and more.
Gmail
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 65
Search
For most of the past decade, picking
a search site was a no brainer: Just
use Google. (It was good enough for
Yahoo.) Now Microsof has made
that choice a little more complicated,
giving Google a serious run for its
money with the introduction of Bing.
Te two search giants have diferent
strengths. For basic Web searches
with instant results, Google (free,
google.com) is still our top pick. And
although our staf is divided on the
question of image search, we still nar
rowly favor Google for pictures, too.
When youre searching for videos,
though, its hard to beat Bing (free,
bing.com). Te search engine lays out
results in an intuitive grid, and even
plays instant clips as you hover over
them with your mouse, so you know
what youll see before you click.
Personal Finance
Since the dawn of the PC, personal fnance sofware has been a staple of
home computing. Just as Intuits Quicken package has dominated the home
fnance sofware market for years, the company now handily dominates the
online fnance arena as well with Mint.com. Mint is free, and it can track all
of your bank accounts and investments. In addition, it monitors your bud
get and helps you meet your savings goals.
When you want to make sense of your fnancial options, you need access
to a good assortment of fnancial calculators. CalcMoolator (calcmoolator.com)
provides free calculators to help you compare mortgage options and auto
loans, determine how much you could beneft from paying down your cred
it card debt more aggressively, and more.
Cooking
With all the great food sites popping up on the Web,
its a wonder that anyone sells paper cookbooks any-
more. The tastiest site we know of is Allrecipes.com,
a community-driven site that gathers recipes from
home chefs around the world into one massive cata-
log of cookery. Vegan? No problem. Wondering what
to do with a pound of octopus? You have plenty of
options. Other home cooks on the site rate and review
the recipes, so you can see what everyone thought
before you turn on the burner. And you can print out the instructions to t in just about any recipe-card box.
Serious and aspiring gourmands would be remiss in passing up Epicurious (free, epicurious.com). A site curated by the editors of Bon
Appetit and Gourmet magazines, Epicurious sizzles with comprehensive cooking guides, a wide assortment of recipes from top chefs, and
step-by-step videos that skillfully show you how to cook just as the kitchen professionals do.
Need to make dinner fast without running out to the store? FoodPair (free, foodpair.com) gives you tons of recipe options based on the
ingredients that you happen to have on hand. Terric meal ideas are just a quick search away.
Allrecipes.
com
Bing
CalcMoolator
66 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
Reference Sites
Beyond all the cute cat pictures and embarrassing celebrity videos, the great
promise of the Internet has always been education. If you can pry your eyes away
from the latest goofy diversion on YouTube, youll nd an unfathomable store of
knowledge out there just waiting for you.
You probably already realize that Wikipedia (free, wikipedia.org) is the largest
single repository of collected human knowledge. Although this publicly edited
encyclopedia has garnered widespread criticism concerning a few high-prole acts
of page vandalism, the sites content has generally come out on top when subject-
ed to serious academic review.
When youre looking for fast facts on just about anything, bypass Google and
Wikipedia and head straight for Wolfram Alpha (free, wolframalpha.com). This ref-
erence sites unique algorithm constructs a quick information page on any sub-
ject that you search for. Type in Montana, for example, and the site will bring up
a simple-to-read list of essential facts about the states population and economy,
complete with links to primary sources.
The next time someone forwards you another obnoxious chain e-mail, browse to
Snopes.com and search for the messages subject line. The free Snopes.com is
the essential source for digging up the truth behind the Internets most prevalent
hoaxes, scams, urban legends, and myths. If more people we knew went there,
wed spend a lot less time rolling our eyes.
What Wikipedia is to general knowledge, iFixit (ixit.com) is to technology. The
site bills itself as the free repair manual that you can edit, but its much better
than that. iFixit is loaded with user-created how-to instructions for upgrades and
repairs, and the site includes links to ofcial user manuals for most tech products.
If youre really stumped about how to accomplish something, just ask your ques-
tion, and the sites active community of tech experts will chime in to help you out.
Snopes.
com
Wikipedia
Music
Teres no shortage of great music on
the Web, and there are thousands of
great sites for fnding it. Our favorite
music site, Grooveshark (grooveshark.
com), allows you to search for and
play any song you like. Its free for
browser based listening, if you dont
mind a few unobtrusive ads. Mobile
access will set you back $3 a month.
Our second favorite music site,
Pandora (free, pandora.com), builds
playlists around songs and artists you
search for. Its a great way to discover
music you might not have run across
before, and the mobile app is free.
For unearthing music that youre
sure to love, Last.fm (free) is invalu
able. Employing a technique that the
sites developers call scrobbling,
Last.fms downloadable app tracks
your music preferences on your PC,
Mac, iPhone, or Android phone, and
makes eerily smart recommendations.
When you just want to fnd one
particular song quickly, try Google.
Its hit and miss, but the site ofen
turns up a full length track that you
can listen to right in your browser.
Last.fm
Find these and other great TP-LINK products online through these vendors:
Specifcations are subject to change without notice TP LINK is a registered
trademark of TP LINK TECHNOLOGIES CO, LTD Other brands and product
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promotions, and a chance to win great free products!
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68 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
Photo and
Video
Sharing
Sharing pictures and home movies with
relatives and buddies is easy: Simply
upload photos or videos to Facebook
(free, facebook.com), and they will be
available to everyone on your friends
list. Facebook ofers high resolution
downloads, imposes no storage
restrictions, and is arguably the most
widespread mobile app for smart
phones, so its the most sensible place
to upload all your pictures and videos.
If you want to edit your photos
online, just go to Picnik (picnik.com).
Tis free site provides you with incred
ibly simple tools for fxing your pic
tures, without forcing you to pass
through a registration form frst. Its
tools even remove red eye on dogs.
Picnik Shopping
You already know that Amazon sells darn near everything you could ever want.
But if youre hoping to nab stuff at deep discounts, youll need to do a little surf-
ing. Groupon (free, groupon.com) uses the power of numbers to present outra-
geous discounts on products and services available in your local area. When
enough people commit to buying, the deal is on.
For used stuff in your region, Craigslist (free, craigslist.org) remains the go-to
site. If you know how to browse classied ads, you know how to nd bargains
not to mention amazing free stuffon Craigslist.
Getting a good deal from a reliable contractor is often more difcult than it
should be. Angies List ($29 per year, angieslist.com) provides reviews and ratings
of contractors and service providers in your area, written by people who have
actually used them. Think of the site as the Consumer Reports of home services.
Angies List is entirely supported by its user fees, so the site doesnt take any
money from the companies and contractors it rates.
If youre looking for something unique, Etsy (free, etsy.com) has thousands of
cool, handmade, and vintage things for sale. If youre not in the market for a
macram iPhone cozy, digging up the really good stuff can take some time. But
Etsy rewards those visitors who make the effort to search.
Bookmark and
Password
Sync
Several tools, plug ins, and add
ons out there promise to help you
keep your bookmarks and pass
words in sync, but only one makes
it onto our list. Xmarks (free,
Premium upgrade $12 per year;
xmarks.com) synchronizes all your
bookmarks and saved passwords
among Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. It permits you to
create distinct profles so that you can have one set of bookmarks for
home and another set for work, and you can change profles on the fy.
Xmarks is a must have add on for every Web user.
Etsy
Xmarks
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Social Sites and
Aggregators
You already use Facebook. (And if you dont, whats wrong with you?) Youre
probably on LinkedIn and Twitter. But you likely also have IM accounts to man-
age, too. Keeping all of that straight requires some good software.
We love TweetDeck (tweetdeck.com) for managing Facebook, Foursquare,
Google Buzz, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter all under one roof. TweetDeck is
free, it offers desktop and mobile clients for every platform, and it allows you to
schedule updates for posting automatically.
For instant messaging on just about any network, the free Meebo (meebo.com)
is terric. It runs in your browser, so you can log in from anywhere.
Thanks to Facebook, few people bother to maintain a traditional blog any-
more. But when you want to post something for the world to see, be sure to use
Posterous (posterous.com) or Tumblr (tumblr.com). For this purpose, these free
services are nearly interchangeable, and both are extremely simple to use. And
you can e-mail your new blog posts straight from your phone on the y.
Calendar
and To-Do
Heres an easy one: Google Calendar
(calendar.google.com) is free and massive
ly robust, and it integrates with Gmail.
You can create as many separate calen
dars as you require, and you can share
those calendars with anyone.
Although Google Calendar includes a
task list feature, its too simple for our
liking. We prefer Remember The Milk
(free, rememberthemilk.com), which also
plugs into Google Calendar, Gmail, and
a bunch of other services. Remember
Te Milks fexible design makes it
great for everything from simple gro
cery lists to exhaustive Getting Tings
Done life management. For $25 a year,
you also get to use RTMs excellent
mobile apps for iPhone and Android.
If you want something more structured
than Remember Te Milk, Toodledo (free,
toodledo.com) is an excellent task and
project management system. It inte
grates with a wide assortment of mobile
apps for Android, iPhone, and iPad.
Remember
The Milk
Meebo
TweetDeck
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ILLUSTRATION BY TAVIS COBURN
L
A
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TESTED
72 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UARY 2 0 1 1
73 F E B R UARY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
Battle
of the
SECURITY
SUPERPOWERS
We tested the 10 top security packages to
see which ones can protect your data with-
out overburdening your PC. Here are the
exclusive rankings fromthe PCWorld Labs.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 74
Its no longerenough for antivirus sofware to scan
fles on your PC. You need someone looking over your shoulder
and telling you whether its safe to click that link; whether the
popup for that sofware update is legitimate; and whether that
download from your favorite social network is actually a tool cre-
ated by organized criminals for stealing your personal informa-
tion. You need an all-in-one Internet security suite capable of iden-
tifying, blocking, and cleaning up afer a wide array of malware.
We examined 13 security suites for this
story (for full reviews of all 13 suites, see
nd.pcworld.com/71140). To handle our ex
panded Internet security testing, PCWorld
contracted for the services of AV Test.org,
a respected security testing company. We
looked at traditional signature based de
tection (which indicates how well prod
ucts can block known malware) and at
how well the suites cleaned infections and
blocked brand new, live malware attacks.
In many respects, the suites we looked at
TOP 10 SECURITY SUITES FOR
PAID ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM PCWRating
Signature
based
malware
detection
Antivirus/antispyware detection
Successful
cleanupof
active malware
components
1,2
Scanspeed(inseconds)
3
Real world
malware
blocking: Fully
blocked
attacks
Real world
malware
blocking:
Partially
blockedattacks
Ondemand
1
Onaccess
1
1
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011
$70 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71129
98.7% 96.0% 4.0% 80% 126 291
2
Kaspersky Internet Security 2011
$80 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71130
95.7% 92.0% 0.0% 80% 109 315
3
BitDefender Internet Security 2011
$60 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71131
97.5% 68.0% 20.0% 80% 131 305
4
PC Tools Internet Security 2011
$50 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71132
97.7% 88.0% 8.0% 80% 283 200
5
G-Data Internet Security 2011
$60 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71133
99.4% 84.0% 4.0% 80% 111 342
6
F-Secure Internet Security 2011
$60 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71134
98.1% 88.0% 8.0% 80% 208 519
7
Trend Micro Titanium Internet
Security 2011
$70 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71135
98.4% 88.0% 8.0% 80% 187 249
8
Panda Internet Security 2011
$60 for one year/one PC
nd.pcworld.com/71136
99.8% 84.0% 12.0% 80% 258 366
9
Eset Smart Security 4.2
$90 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71138
89.2% 84.0% 0.0% 60% 90 240
10
Avira AntiVir Premium Security Suite
$78 for one year/three PCs
nd.pcworld.com/71137
99.0% 84.0% 8.0% 80% 98 260
CHART NOTES: Prices as of 12/12/10.
1
Test conducted at default settings.
2
Does not include removal of Registry changes or inert les.
3
Time to scan 4500MB of data; lower numbers are better.
SUPERIOR
SUPERIOR
SUPERIOR
SUPERIOR
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
VERYGOOD
L
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TESTED
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 75
produced closely bunched results, but they did vary in the ef
cacy of their protection and in the extra features they ofered.
Ultimately, we picked Symantecs Norton Internet Security
2011 the most balanced of the suites as our overall winner.
NewThreats for a NewYear
Malware has migrated to social networks, so this years Inter
net security suites put more emphasis on stopping Web based
attacks. Norton Internet Security 2011, for example, has Nor
ton Safe Web, a feature that hooks into your Facebook stream
(with your permission) to scan your Facebook links and pro
Comodo Internet Security 2011 Complete (which did not
capture a spot in our Top 10 chart) and the Kaspersky and
Norton suites ofered the best detection in our real world
malicious downloads tests, which gauge how well the various
suites block brand new, as yet unknown malware.
Improved from last year is Norton Insight, which measures
the relative trustworthiness of the fles loaded on your desk
top. Te idea is that crowd sourcing safe fles (letting consum
ers around the world rate a fles safety) is better than white
listing them (depending on a static list of acceptable fles).
Crowd sourcing is also behind so called cloud based detec
tion of new malware. Security sofware reports suspect new
fles from a PC to the cloud and creates antimalware signa
tures as needed. In 2011, BitDefender, Comodo, and others
join cloud pioneers McAfee, Norton, Panda, and Trend Micro.
All 13 of the security suites we reviewed ofer at least anti
virus, antispyware, and antispam components, plus a frewall.
Some, such as Eset Smart Security 4 and PC Tools Internet
Security 2011, had little more. Te others provide additional
capabilities parental controls, gaming features (such as a
silent mode that wont interrupt a game with alerts), and
online backup (useful if malware ever nukes your PC).
A few products also boasted sandbox features that run a
new app within a protected environment so that if it turns
out to be malicious, it cant infect your operating system. In
2011, Avast, Comodo, and Kaspersky all ofer this feature.
Performance Issues
Many users worry that a security suite will slow their PC. Tis
year, AV Test ran a battery of tests to address that concern,
looking at a number of key aspects of a suites impact on PC
performance including boot time, application launch time,
fle copy operations, application installation time, and fle
compression, among others. AV Test also looked at how
quickly each suite scanned a PC for viruses and other malware.
Te overall score for each suite takes into account various
aspects of malware detection, blocking, and cleanup; the fea
ture set; and ease of use. However, malware detection, block
ing, and cleanup account for the lions share of the scoring.
Symantec Norton Internet
Security 2011
No longer the bloated, slow, and crash prone monstrosity of
yore, Symantecs security suite ($70 for a one year, three PC
license) is now a streamlined and extremely efective antimal
ware application that continues to update and advance its
interface and its detection rates incrementally.
Te NIS 2011 interface can initially be overwhelming, but
you can ignore much of it. Almost everything is switched on
by default, and under those default settings it was one of the
most secure and efective antimalware apps we tested.
2011
Design
score
Bottomline
Very
Good
Nortons nicely designed
suite does an ex cellent job of
fully blocking and cleaning
up active malware.
Good
Kaspersky Internet Security
2011 provides solid defense
against malware and has a
friendly interface.
Very
Good
BitDefenders multiple mode
interface is overcomplicated,
but this full featured suite
blocks malware effectively.
Fair
While PCTools Internet
Security performs superbly
at blocking malware, it is
hobbled by slow scan speeds.
Fair
G Data posted high marks for
its ability to detect known
malware; however, it didnt
catch some new threats.
Very
Good
F Secure Internet Security
was reasonably successful at
blocking threats and is easy
to use, but scans slowly.
Good
Trend Micro Titanium
Internet Security is a good
defender, but this package is
light on extra features.
Very
Good
Pandas 2011 security suite is
generally effective, though
its blocking of new malware
wasnt top notch.
Very
Good
Eset Smart Security 4 is
speedy; unfortunately, it
struggled at detecting and
removing malware.
Fair
Avira AntiVir is very good at
blocking known malware, but
it left behind more malware
remnants than most suites.
actively block malicious ones.
Other suites this year look
for techniques that cyber
criminals use in attempts to
poison SEO (search engine
optimization), loading up on
popular search keywords to
make malware compromised
sites appear higher in search
results. A suite may fag any
such sites in search results
as unsafe or questionable.
Another threat is the resur
gence of banking related mal
ware. Tough some suites
protect against certain types
of banking specifc malware,
no suite targets the relatively
new man in the browser
attacks, in which the mal
ware doesnt activate until
you have successfully logged
into your bank account.
Practically all suites ofer
some method to prevent
malware from downloading
through your browser with
out your consent. For exam
ple, a Website might pop up
a fraudulent warning that
your PC is infected and that
you must buy a particular
(but fake) antivirus program
to remove it. Or it might
trick you into downloading
Trojan horses disguised as
the latest version of Adobe
Reader or Flash. Most secu
rity suites now monitor
browser downloads and fl
ter out this bogus sofware.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 76
tirely new set of installation fles. And Kaspersky wont install
at all unless you register your copy with an e mail address.
Still, we were happy to see a couple of uncommon add ons.
One is a Safe Run for Applications mode, a sandbox system
that lets you run potentially dangerous apps without fear of
infecting the machine. Tis isnt the fastest process around; but
if its a tool you think youll need, it can be a real savior. Asec
ond useful extra feature is the apps Anti Banner system, which
efectively scrubs ads from your Web browser while you surf.
BitDefender Internet Security 2011
BitDefender Internet Security 2011 ($60 for a one year, three
PClicense) tries to cover both casual and power users. Unique
among security apps, it ofers three diferent interface views:
basic, intermediate, and expert, with everything laid bare.
Most users are likely to fnd the basic view too basic, while
true novices may have difculty fnding the option for imme
diately scanning their PC (it
lurks beneath a large box
labeled Security). Te inter
mediate view is reminiscent
of an icon based smartphone
interface that the user can
arrange. And then theres
the overwhelming expert
mode and its advanced con
fguration options.
BitDefenders overall pro
tection levels are very good,
but short of the highest tier
of products we reviewed.
RAMHOGS
BESIDES MALWARE DETECTION and blocking tests, we also run
tests to determine how a suite will affect your PCs speed. Here
are the suites we tested that use the most and least memory.
Norton Internet Security 2011s numbers were solid
across the board: It fully blocked 24 of 25 real world
attacks tying for the best mark in the pack and it
detected 98.7 percent of samples of known malware,
another excellent result. False positives were near zero,
and the suites overall speed, while not exemplary, was
acceptable. It tied for the top score in removing active
malware components (at 80 percent), and its combined
rating for security and performance put it in frst place.
An especially impressive add on we should mention is
the Norton Identity Safe password manager, part of the
suites Web browser toolbar, installed by default. Its
one of those utilities that you soon cant live without.
Kaspersky Internet
Security 2011
Known for being a power users antimalware tool,
Kaspersky has quietly developed its suite ($80 for a
one year, three PC license) into a somewhat kinder,
gentler application thats more suitable for the masses.
But the company has not traded down on its well known
rock solid security. Its overall performance rating in our tests
earned it second place, behind only Nortons top ranking.
Across the board, Kasperskys fgures were good but not
perfect. It blocked 23 out of 25 of real world attacks a very
good score, but behind the leaders and it detected 95.7 per
cent of known, recently released malware, which is par for
the course. Kaspersky was above average at avoiding false
positives, and it was nearly tops at removing malware from
an already infected machine. Finally, it earned solid marks for
performance in both on demand and on access system scan
ning. (Te on access scanner kicks of when you open or save
a fle to disk; you launch an on demand scan manually.)
Regrettably, installation is a headache. Afer downloading
an initial 100MB fle from the companys Website, we were
prompted midway through the installation to download an
update another 100MB fle via a rather convoluted process.
We feel that such updates shouldnt mean downloading an en
HIGHEST TOTAL
MEMORY USE
Real
memory use
(MB)
Virtual
memory use
(MB)
1
Total
real +virtual
(MB)
PC Tools 77.3 281.1 358.4
G-Data 38.2 273.3 311.5
BitDefender 35.4 253.2 288.6
LOWEST TOTAL
MEMORY USE
Real
memory use
(MB)
Virtual
memory use
(MB)
1
Total
real +virtual
(MB)
Trend Micro 3.7 17.1 20.8
Norton 26.8 28.2 55.0
Kaspersky 35.3 70.4 105.7
CHART NOTE:
1
Virtual memory is information kept on the hard drive instead of in RAM.
L
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TESTED
Norton is a
very effective,
streamlined
antimalware
application. You
probably wont
need to ddle
with its default
settings.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 78
In our tests, BitDefender stopped 22
of 25 real world attacks and turned
away 97.5 percent of known malware
in traditional detection tests. Tose
fgures are good, but the top scoring
products blocked 24 of 25 real world
attacks, and hit 99 percent or higher
on the traditional detection tests.
Te BitDefender suite excelled at
avoiding false positives: It had none
in our tests, and it tied with PC Tools
for the best overall success at fxing
infected systems, removing active
malware components in 80 percent of
infections, and removing all traces 70
percent of the time. But while its on
demand and on access scan speeds
were acceptable, having BitDefender
installed will slow your computer
considerably: Of the 13 products we
tested, BitDefender was second worst
in the amount of lag it generated.
Other issues with BitDefender: It
requires registration and activation
during installation, and setup entails
clicking through screen afer screen.
BitDefender was noticeably slug
gish at everything it did. Full system
scans took well over an hour; and dur
ing one scan, our test PC crashed. We
could also do without its pop ups.
BitDefender is something of a bud
get option. Its interface could be sim
pler, but it does the job well and its a good ft for most users.
PC Tools Internet Security 2011
Does slow and steady win the race? PC Tools answer is a def
inite yes: Get the system clean, no matter how long it takes.
We found PC Tools Internet Security 2011s scanning per
formance to be quite good, as it blocked 24 out of 25 real
world attacks (tying for the top mark on this test) and detect
ed an above average 97.7 percent of zoo malware. In our tests,
PC Tools produced virtually no false positives; and it tied
with a number of other security suites for the highest score
in removing active malware components (with an 80 percent
success rate). Most impressively, it removed all traces of infec
tions 70 percent of the time, earning it the distinction of being
the strongest performer in that particular test.
But PC Tools takes its sweet time. Its on demand scan speed
ranked 12th among the 13 suites we evaluated, and it had the
most severe impact on system performance of the products
we tested, slowing computers down considerably.
Paradoxically, on access scanning with PC Tools is quite
spry. In fact, it was the fastest at performing these automatic
fle by fle scans of all the security suites we tested.
Getting around in PC Tools Internet Security is simple. Four
big status buttons tell you whether youre safe from malware
and spam, and whether your frewall is engaged; and settings
are easy to access, with appropriate confguration options.
Given PC Tools bargain bin pricing ($50 for a one year,
three PC license, making it nearly the cheapest application
we tested) and its solid security performance, the suite is
tempting. So go for it as long as you dont need to use your
computer for anything else while the sofware is scanning.
G-Data Internet Security 2011
Te G Data suite ($40 for one year, one PC; $60 for one year,
three PCs) is not designed for novices. Tough it stops viruses
capably, its complexity, cluttered interface, and overly scary
warnings make it inappropriate for inexperienced users.
Te interface is instantly confusing, with too much
BitDefender
is a full-featured
suite and blocks
malware well,
but it has an
overcomplicated
interface.
PCTools did the
best job of xing
infected systems;
however, its on-
demand scans
are slow, and it
also makes a PC
sluggish.
Kaspersky has
its design quirks
and is relatively
pricey, but it
offers solid pro-
tection and some
nice extras.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 80
information, and is organized haphazardly. Its not hard to
fgure out how to run a manual system scan, but if you want
to tweak your settings, good luck. Te main screen features
three diferent Options buttons plus three Change settings
options, the latter trio buried under a couple of hazy tabs at
the bottom. But youll soon discover that all too few of the
options and settings can actually be changed.
Another drawback of G Data is that it seems to use more
than its fair share of system resources while its working. A
full system scan which took nearly an hour in a hands on
test led to fans whirring at full tilt. G Datas own CPU load
readout ofen showed 100 percent usage during scans. Still,
in our formal lab testing, G Data performed reasonably well
in scan speed and overall impact on system resources, so
results may vary widely from one machine to the next.
Other quirks of the suite bugged us. We couldnt use the
program without generating a disturbing warning notifying
us that the WPA2 PSK wireless network we were accessing
was unsecure, because G Data deemed the passphrase too
short (it had to be at least 20 characters long overkill).
G Data would rank as an also ran except that it really does
ofer a superior level of security, turning in the third best
performance fgures in our tests. It fully blocked a solid 21 of
25 real world attacks, and zapped 99.4 percent of known
malware samples one of the top scores on that test. Its accu
mulation of false positives: None. And its 80
percent success rate at cleaning up active
infections was near the top of the chart.
We appreciated the sofwares extras, such
as parental controls and an app that writes
over deleted fles several times to make them
impossible to recover. (You must choose to
install these when you set up the program,
however; you cant enable them later.)
Nevertheless, the G Data suite remains
quite difcult to use, its processor usage is
signifcant, and its saddled with several poor design quirks.
F-Secure Internet Security 2011
Simple, simple, simple. Tats F Secures marching order.
Costing $60 for one year and three PCs, it focuses on safe
guarding the computers of novices and especially of families.
Even before the sofware is installed, you are asked to con
fgure parental controls and set an access password, which is
used to change settings. Keeping things simple, the F Secure
home screen provides just six options to choose from, so
even the most oblivious novice should be able to fgure out
how to get around its interface. One minor complaint: By
default, clicking the Scan button runs only a quick scan; you
have to use the pull down arrow to run a full scan of your PC.
F Secure was an also ran in prior years, but for its 2011 re
lease, the company has stepped up its game. In our tests, the
sofware fully blocked 22 of 25 real world attacks (it partially
blocked two others), and it detected 98.1 percent of known
malware. False positives? Absolutely none. And its 80 percent
success rate at disinfecting active malware components on
infected PCs put it among the top performers.
Tough F Secure barely slowed our test systems during back
ground operation, it was terribly slow at on access scans, fn
ishing dismally in last place for the time it took to scan a fle
TESTINGINTHEREAL
WILDWORLD
THE MALWARE THREAT landscape is ever-
evolving, with many thousands of new piec-
es of malware each year, and with cyber-
criminals developing new attack methods.
As a result, security productsand our
methods of testing themmust evolve too.
When reviewing security suites and anti-
virus software, PCWorld works with AV-
Test (av-test.org), a respected security testing
lab based in Germany. AV-Test looks at var-
ious aspects of a security products ability to
detect and block malware, including its abili-
ty to stop both known and unknown threats.
This year, AV-Test has introduced real
world malware-blocking tests that put
antivirus software up against real, live mal-
ware found online, not lab samplesa good
way to measure how well a security prod-
uct can detect new malware.
Among the security suites we reviewed,
Symantecs Norton Internet Security 2010
performed the best on this test, fully block-
ing 96 percent of real-world attacks, and
partially blocking the remaining 4 percent.
L
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TESTED
G-Data is hard
for novices to
use, and it may
issue some
scary warnings,
especially if
youre on a wire-
less network.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 82
as it opened. It was marginally faster at on demand scanning.
F Secure has one of the most spartan help systems of any
application we tested it consists of a handful of entries in
help trees, with zero documentation aside from a browser
based tutorial. On the other hand, we cant imagine the
suites users actually needing to refer to the documentation.
F Secures speed problems are seriously troubling, and the
suite lef behind some code remnants afer we uninstalled it.
However, those are really the only sore spots in what is other
wise an impressive and worthwhile security suite.
Trend Micro TitaniumInternet
Security 2011
With Ttanium Internet Security 2011 ($70 for one year, three
PCs), Trend Micro takes minimalism to an extreme. Te user
interface is one of the most basic and stripped down of any
we tested. A simple summary of threats blocked, a link to the
parental controls, and the date your subscription expires are
all that the primary display ofers. Below that, you can choose
to scan your system, confgure options, or check your logs.
A large blue Tools button is a red herring: It tells you only
whether parental controls and data thef prevention are on.
Rather than giving users myriad options to choose from,
Trend Micro defaults everything to a middle level of protec
tion, and youll probably leave its settings there.
In our tests of its efectiveness, Ttanium Internet Security
produced exceptional but not quite top of the line results,
fully blocking 22 of 25 real world attacks (and partially block
ing two others) and detecting 98.4 percent of known malware.
Its false positive count (just 0.0006 percent) is very good, as
is its success rate at fxing infected machines (80 percent).
On access scan speed was quite good, but on demand
scans were among the slowest we saw. (If youre running a
full system scan, do it while youre sleep
ing; even lunch hour isnt long enough.)
Ttaniums installation is rabid about
requiring you to register; it also manages
to hide the feld where you input your li
cense key very efectively (hint: its in the
system tray). By default Ttanium runs a
Quick Scan a scan so cursory that it
looked at only 11 fles on our test unit.
Te protection and simplicity of Trend
Micros ofering make it worth a look.
Panda Internet
Security 2011
Pandas suite ($60 for one year, one PC;
$70 for one year, three PCs) ofers very
good protection. Its 99.8 percent detec
tion rate for known malware was tops
among the 13 apps we tested. In our real
world malware blocking tests, it com
pletely stopped 21 of 25 attacks and partly
blocked three more. It also removed 80
percent of active malware components.
But that security comes at a price:
Panda is rife with false positives, and it
scans slowly. It turned in unusually poor
marks for both on demand and on access
scans, and Pandas adverse impact on
system speed was larger than average.
Very cautious users may be willing to
trade some system performance for rock
solid security, but we imagine that theyll
be less than thrilled with Pandas convo
luted and badly designed interface.
Sometimes it seems as though you
Panda spots
known malware
superbly, but
its slowand
has a penchant
for ringing up
false positives.
F-Secure
keeps things
simple in its
interface (its
easy to use),
but it scans
very slowly.
Trend Micro
offers good pro-
tection; its light
on extra features,
however, and it
has a minimalist
user interface.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 84
can do nothing in Panda with one click
or at times without a restart. Even
updating the sofware requires a reboot.
Ten consider Pandas language barrier
(the company is based in Spain). Te
interface and dialog boxes are studded
with poor or stilted English.
Should Panda fnd something it deems
awry, be prepared for some histrionics.
Immediately afer installing the suite,
we were greeted with a blazing alert an
nouncing Wi Fi intruder detected along
with its MAC address. In reality, it was
TVo jumping on the Web for an update.
Eset Smart Security 4.2
Eset Smart Security 4.2 ($90 for one
year, one PC; $70 for one year, three PCs)
fnished at or near the back of the pack in
most of our malware detection, blocking,
and disinfection tests.
Tough it fully blocked 21 of 25 real
world attacks (okay, but not outstanding), it stopped only
89.2 percent of known malware signifcantly lower than the
average performing products in this roundup. Esets 60 per
cent success rate at removing active malware landed it in a tie
for last place on that measure. It also tied for leaving the larg
est amount of inert malware remnants behind.
At least Eset is fast: It was the quickest suite in our round
up at on demand scanning, and it scored a solid second place
in on access scans. System performance barely slowed with
Eset installed; its rating was good enough for third place
among the 13 apps we reviewed. Eset deserves recognition
for keeping the false positives to a bare minimum, as well.
However, Eset has serious drawbacks. Its download and
installation process was the most aggravating of all the apps
we reviewed, as youre required to register and enter Eset
provided user names and passwords again and again.
Te home screen is simplifed to a fault, with few options
available. But under the hood youll see an exhaustive tree of
option afer option that even experts would fnd of putting
and convoluted. And youll likely have to venture into this no
mans land in relatively short order: Eset does not give you
an option for a complete system scan on the home screen at
all. You must confgure it via a badly labeled (Selected pro
fle) drop down menu found only on the options screen.
Esets claim to ofer two home screens one for experts
and one for beginners is misleading too: If you toggle the
system from Standard mode to Advanced mode, the only
diference youll see is the addition of one new option on the
taskbar: Te newcomer, Tools, enables you to look at log
fles, the quarantine list, and so on.
Eset Smart Security 4.2 features such a rare and unfortu
nate combination of poor security and bafing settings that
its impossible to recommend, no matter how fast it is.
Avira AntiVir Premium
Security Suite
Avira has long ofered a no cost version for personal use. Up
grading to the paid Avira AntiVir Premium Security Suite ($78
for one year, three PCs) adds a multitude of extra features a
frewall and parental controls, for instance but the core mal
ware detection and removal system remains the same.
Aviras standard mode should be plenty for most users and
provides more than enough tweakability. Or you can check
the Expert mode box easy to overlook and delve into the
sofwares minutiae. Te default settings will be absolutely
fne for most users, and only if you need to do a manual scan
will you want to open Aviras control panel.
Across the board, Avira turned in very good numbers,
blocking 99.0 percent of known malware, and fully stopping
21 of 25 of real world attacks (it partially blocked two other
attacks). On top of that, it was the second fastest on demand
scanner and the fourth fastest on access scanner we tested.
Despite disinfecting active malware components well, Avira
lef behind more remnants than most other suites. It also lost
points for false positives: Its behavioral detection engine
blocked 10 percent of all safe (yet suspicious) applications in
our tests. It blocked practically every autorun app it encoun
tered, too, whether on an optical disc or a thumb drive.
Tese issues lowered this otherwise decent apps score.
Eset undercuts
its speed with a
poor record at
blocking known
malware and an
abysmal down-
load and instal-
lation process.
Avira does well
at blocking
known malware,
but in cleanup
efforts, it leaves
behind too many
code remnants.
TRUE
USB 3.0
SATA3
+
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White
NZXT Phantom
Red
Antec DF-85
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BY TIMMOYNIHAN
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY POTTS
The
Techto
Watch
in2011
Hybrid laptops! Smarter smartphones!
Everything in 3D! From CES in January
to next holiday season, 2011 promises
some phenomenal new gear.
87 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 88
Android 2.3
Gingerbread
(and Beyond)
The most recent release of Googles An
droid mobile operating system code named
Gingerbread may be looking to replace
your credit card. Android 2.3 is the rst
iteration of the OS to support near eld
communication (NFC) chips, meaning that
you could use a smartphone running Gin
gerbread as a swipable payment device.
Among Gingerbreads other intriguing
new features are native support for Voice
over IP calling, manual control over front
facing and back facing cameras, simpler
cut and paste controls, and improved
power management.
The Samsung Nexus S (pictured at right,
and available both unlocked and in combi
nation with a T Mobile contract) is the rst
cell phone to offer Gingerbread out of the
box, but it most assuredly wont be the last.
Prepare for a wave of Android 2.3 loaded
smartphones to reach stores by the middle
of 2011 and perhaps earlier.
Also on the way is a tablet specic version
of the Android operating system Android
3.0 (Honeycomb) which Google recently
demonstrated on an unannounced, iPad like
Motorola tablet at the D: Dive Into Mobile
Conference in San Francisco. Will devices
powered by Honeycomb make up ground on
Apples runaway iPad market share? That
outcome certainly seems possible, as long
as the devices themselves are up to snuff.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Te Micro Four Tirds system of interchangeable lens compact cameras
continues to evolve, and the Panasonic Lumix GF2 represents an impres
sive combination of the camera lines best features: Its small, it boasts
lightning fast autofocus, it has both touchscreen and hardware controls
for focusing and menu navigation, and it shoots 3D still images when
paired with Panasonics separately sold H FT012 3D lens. Trow in a
pop up fash and the ability to record 1920 by 1080 AVCHD video at 60
interlaced frames per second, and this portable powerhouse qualifes as a
worthy rival to the similarly slim Sony Alpha NEX 5.
TECH TO WATCH in 2011
Intel
Sandy
Bridge
Intels next generation of
Core i5 and i7 processors,
code named Sandy Bridge,
represents a signicant
step forward. A new CPU
core brings revised vector
instructions and empha
sizes energy efciency,
too. The new integrated
GPU, built into the silicon
along with the CPU, may
be Sandy Bridges most
important advance. The
processor is dramatically
faster and more capable
than anything Intel has
shipped before.
LTE
Networks
Te next generation of wireless net
works is upon us. Sprint was the frst
major carrier to ofer 4G(WiMax)
service in the United States, but Long
Term Evolution the favor of 4G
that is most likely to dominate the
market for high speed wireless has
only recently begun to roll out. Verizon activated the service in 39 cities on December 5,
and the carrier claims that the new network will pump out download speeds of between
5 megabits per second and 12 mbps ten times as fast as 3G data service. Verizon LTE
should be available in virtually all U.S. markets by the end of 2013.
Right now consumers can access LTE service on their laptop using a 3G/4G USB stick
from Verizon. No LTE phones are available yet, though rumors abound that the frst will
be announced at CES 2011 in January (afer this issue goes to press). Verizon says that
the frst LTE phones for its network will go on sale by mid 2011. Beyond that, LTE radi
os will begin showing up in all kinds of mobile devices, fromtablets to video cameras.
LTE service will make existing mobile apps run much faster. Te picture quality of
streaming video will improve signifcantly. Videoconferencing will be smoother. Down
loading fles and loading Web pages will be far less tedious. Verizon and other service
providers hope that many new apps capable of fully exploiting 4G speeds will emerge.
LTE networks also operate on a lower frequency spectrum band, and they use advanced
antenna technology to move the signal into places where a 3G signal cant easily go.
Tat capability will enable LTE networks to connect fast moving automobiles, which
may open up a new feld of wireless apps for in car use. LTE will also permit entire net
works of outdoor advertising (such as bus stop ads) to stream video advertising.
Since an LTE signal is more reliable than a 3G data signal, it may let you replace your
homes DSL or cable connection with a mobile hotspot for home and mobile devices.
Eye-Fi Direct Mode
Eye Fis next generation wireless SD Card might help dedicated
digital cameras recapture market share from camera equipped cell
phones with a little smartphone help. The Eye Fis new Direct Mode
creates a link between a camera and a cell phone, transferring photos in
real time from the camera to the handset. And though the peer to peer
connection is based on Wi Fi, you
dont need a hotspot to make
the camera to phone
transfer.
89 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM
Dell Inspiron Duo
Dells new netbook/tablet hybrid pulls double duty with its
nify fip around capacitive touchscreen. It runs Windows 7
Home Premium and boasts a dual core 1.5GHz Intel Atom
processor with 2GB of RAM. But its marquee feature is a
swiveling 10.1 inch
screen that instantly
converts the device
from a clamshell style
netbook into a touch
screen tablet. Teres
even a docking audio
station for transform
ing it into a digital
jukebox or picture
frame.
90
AMD Brazos
The latest ultraportable platform from AMD, code named
Brazos, features two new chips (code named Ontario and
Zacate). They integrate single and dual core CPUs that
should outperform Intels competing Atom, as well as an
impressive DirectX 11 capable GPU, all on the same piece of
silicon. Brazos should be a popular option for a ood of more
capable netbooks and inexpensive ultraportable laptops.
Google
Chrome OS
Designed for portability, speed, and
security, Google Chrome OS will
rely almost entirely on Web apps
and cloud based storage. For an
app preview, check out the Chrome
Web Store (nd.pcworld.com/71125).
Chrome OS wont ofcially hit
the market until mid 2011, but
Google is running a pilot program
where you can apply to get a CR 48,
the frst Chrome OS laptop. Tis
12.1 inch, 3G equipped notebook
comes with a Webcam, a solid state
drive, and a battery life of 8 hours;
its likely to serve as a model for
future Chrome OS based machines.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
TECH TO WATCH in 2011
www.moneual.com
TECH TO WATCH in 2011
Nintendo
3DS
Te Nintendo 3DS handheld wont
be as fast as a PlayStation 3 or an
Xbox 360, and it wont let you play
older DS and DSi games in 3D. But
it will do lots of cool stuf. Te 3DS
looks stunning, with a spectacular
800 by 240, 3D capable widescreen
and a second, 320 by 240 touch
screen, all housed in an 8.1 ounce
package. It will let you take 3D pic
tures with dual cameras, play aug
mented reality games, and see new
games and native sofware in 3D
without special glasses. Te hand
helds widescreen will allow you to
manually adjust the depth of its 3D
efect and even knock the action
down to regular 2D if you dont
need the extra dimension.
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
Due out later this year, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has a 7 inch
screen to rival the Samsung Galaxy Tabs. It packs a dual core CPU,
1GB of RAM, front and rear facing cameras, 1080p video recording,
a micro USB port, and a micro HDMI output into a 0.38 inch thick
package. It will link directly to BlackBerry Enterprise Server and
support multitasking for users seeking a productivity tool. But an
app ecosystem, multiple ports, Flash 10.1 support, and hardware
accelerated video indicate a new, non CrackBerry target audience.
Acer Iconia
With its clamshell design and dual touchscreens,
Acers Iconia makes a clear design state
ment: Touch is in. When closed, the
Iconia looks like an ordinary
laptop. But when open, it
resembles no other note
book or slate. At the
heart of the Iconias navi
gation is the Ring interface. You
activate the Ring by putting fve fngers
on the bottom display, which Acer refers to as
the hand screen or the navigation screen. Up
pops up a wheel that you can scroll through to access apps
optimized for fnger navigation.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UARY 2 0 1 1 92
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 94
11 Uses for an Old PC
BY LOYD CASE
YOUVE FINALLY bought a
new PC. It has a boatload of
memory, lots of cores, and a
fast, modern graphics card.
But now your old computer
sits in a corner and you
feel guilty about the whole
idea of throwing it out. Afer
all, its perfectly functional.
Here are a few ways to put
that old system to work.
1. Convert It
Into a Server
If you have a home network
with family members on it,
reusing the PC as a NAS
(network attached storage)
box or even as an actual
server may be just the ticket.
However, its not simply a
matter of plugging an old PC
into a network connection.
Most desktop systems arent
confgured to be efective
servers or storage systems.
For one thing, they probably
use too much power. Youll
want to set BIOS power
management to run cooling
fans in quiet mode, if that
option exists. Youll also
need to set up the operating
system so it doesnt shut
down at inconvenient times,
yet runs in a low power state
when not being actively used.
Bear in mind that youll
probably want to run your
server headless (that is,
without a monitor), and
sans keyboard and mouse as
well. While youll require a
display and input devices for
initial setup, make sure that
for each person who might
need access. You may also
want to set storage quotas.
A better solution: Install a
proper network operating
system. One choice is Win
dows Home Server. Howev
to commit to an unfamiliar
OS, you can download Free
NAS as a LiveCD version;
this is an ISO fle that, when
burned to a CD, will boot of
an optical drive and run from
memory. You can keep your
old OS on the hard drive
until you determine whether
FreeNAS fts your needs.
2. Give It to a School
If your PC isnt too archaic,
consider donating it to a
local school or day care cen
ter. It could go to the high
school computer lab; alter
natively, the school districts
computer services group
might use it for parts.
If you go this route, con
sider buying some low cost
educational sofware pack
ages and preinstalling them
before donating. Also, as
with selling a computer,
youll want to remove all
sofware on the old PC that
youve reinstalled on your
new one. And make sure to
include all license informa
tion for sofware youre pre
installing on the giveaway.
3. Turn It Into an
Experimental Box
Youve heard about this
Linux thing, and maybe
youd like to give it a whirl.
But the thought of trying to
create a dual boot system on
Just because you bought a new PC doesnt
mean you must throw away the old one. Heres
how to make the most of an older computer.
Heres How
I
L
L
U
S
T
R
A
T
I
O
N
:
E
D
W
I
N
F
O
T
H
E
R
I
N
G
H
A
M
the reused system will work
properly without them.
Also, the operating system
is likely not well suited for
storage applications, partic
ularly for multiple users.
Windows XP, Vista, or Win
dows 7 can function well as
a storage repository for a
couple of users, but youll
want to create user accounts
er, it costs over $100, and it
may prefer newer hardware.
An alternative is FreeNAS.
Open source sofware, Free
NAS (nd.pcworld.com/71101) is
designed to turn a PC into a
network attached storage
device and is based on Free
BSD, a Unix variant. If
youre not certain you want
F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 PCWORL D. COM 95
7. Use It for Old
School Gaming
Related to the game server
idea, consider repurposing
the box for old school gam
ing. For example, you could
install Windows 98 on it so
that you can run older Win
dows 95 and DOS games, if
you have a bunch around
although this isnt as neces
sary as it used to be. Online
services such as Steam and
Impulse ofer older games
that have been rewritten to
work under newer operating
systems, and DOSBox lets
you emulate a legacy DOS
environment so that you can
get your classic gaming fx.
Perhaps the most com
plete site for older PC games
is Good Old Games (www.
gog.com). GOG ofers many
older titles, all of which
work fne under newer oper
ating systems. So if youve
always wanted to go back
and play Planescape: Tor
ment, nows your chance.
Love arcade games? Dont
worry about running out of
quarters: To go really old
school, install MAME (mul
tiple arcade machine emula
tor) sofware. (One example
is at nd.pcworld.com/71102.) It
will allow you to play arcade
games and titles written for
older game consoles, provid
ed that you have access to
the ROMs and other related
fles you need to run the
games. MAME sofware can
become a gigantic time sink
(albeit a very fun one), so
consider yourself warned!
8. Make It a Second
ary Computing Server
If youre a content creator
using a title like 3dsmax,
Adobe Afer Efects, or
manufacturer, restoring it to
its original condition from
the restore partition or the
restore disc accomplishes
the same thing.
5. Dedicate It to Dis
tributed Computing
Want to do a little good for
humanity? How about dedi
cating your old PC to one of
various public distributed
computing projects?
Te best known is proba
bly Folding@Home, which
employs computing resourc
es from all over the world to
help study protein folding,
an essential element of
understanding how many
diseases operate. Other
your primary PC leaves you
a little green around the
gills. Now you can experi
ment to your hearts content
on your old box.
Check out Ubuntu (ubuntu.
com), the sexy Linux distro
that geeks love to, well, love.
Te neat thing about Linux
is all the built in support for
older hardware, so installa
tion is usually easy in fact,
installing Ubuntu is some
times simpler than installing
Windows. And a wealth of
free sofware for Linux is
just waiting to be tried out.
A number of true Unix
based operating systems are
available, ranging from
FreeBSD or PC BSD (based
on the Berkeley Unix ver
sion) to OpenSolaris, based
on the Sun Microsystems
version of Unix.
4. Give It to a Relative
I do this all the time. My
brother in law has modest
computing needs, so I ofen
just hand over one of my
two year old PCs, though Ill
usually throw in a midrange
or entry level graphics card.
I dont generally recom
mend doing this with your
kids, though they ofen
need as much or more PC
horsepower than you use on
a regular basis (outside of
gaming and photography).
Also, giving a system to
family members means you
are now the go to person for
tech support. (For help with
that role, see How to Fix
Your Familys PC Problems,
nd.pcworld.com/70375.)
Youll want to completely
erase the hard drive and
reinstall the OS from
scratch. If its an of the
shelf system from a major
distributed computing ven
tures include SETI@Home
(the search for extraterres
trial intelligence) and vari
ous charities and research
projects (get links from the
online version of this article
at nd.pcworld.com/71059).
6. Put It to Work as
a Game Server
Do you have a favorite mul
tiplayer game? If so, see if
its a game where you can
host a server on a local PC,
turning your old system into
a dedicated game server.
Older machines used as ded
icated game servers ofen
need surprisingly little sys
tem horsepower.
YOU CAN TURN your old PC into a network-attached storage device
with FreeNAS, an open-source, no-cost server operating system.
TRY OUT UBUNTU, the most popular version of Linux, on an older
computer. Linux offers built-in support for older hardware.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 96
Heres How
Sony Vegas (see page
52), having another
PC to help with dis
tributed rendering
chores can greatly
speed up fnal renders
for complex projects.
Each application
handles distributed
rendering a little dif
ferently, so youll
need to consult your
documentation. But
typically youll install
a lightweight applica
tion on the secondary
rendering system, which will
take data and commands
from the primary system and
then return results when
done. Te main app on your
production system, or a sep
arate manager app, manages
the rendering across multi
ple networked systems.
9. Set It Up as a Light
Duty Living Room PC
My family has a small PC in
the living room that we ofen
use for quick Web surfng
and e mail checking, and the
kids occasionally use it for
homework. Tis setup can
work particularly well if you
have networked storage in
the house, so people can
access their fles whether
theyre on a personal system
or on the communal one.
Youll want security sof
ware thats as bulletproof as
possible. With multiple users
on one system, someone,
sometime, will hit a Website
that may try to upload a Tro
jan horse or other malware.
(See our security suites fea
ture on page 73.)
10. Salvage It
If you have a do it yourself
bent and you build your own
PCs, you might reduce the
cost of your new system by
salvaging parts from the old
one. Good candidates for
salvage include the PC case
(if its not a proprietary,
prebuilt system), the optical
drive, the power sup
ply, and sometimes
the memory modules.
Depending on how
much you reuse, the
distinction between a
new system and one
that has simply been
upgraded gets hazy: If
you replace the moth
erboard, CPU, memo
ry, and primary hard
drive, but keep the
case, power supply,
graphics card, and op
tical drive, is it a new
system or an upgraded one?
Tat will still leave you
with a few old parts which
brings us to our fnal alter
native for old PC reuse.
11. Sell It
Somewhere on eBay, some
one is looking for a comput
er. Tey may not be able to
aford a new PC, or are look
ing for a second one for the
family. Your old computer,
at the right price, may be
just what they need. If all
goes smoothly, everyone
wins: You unload your old
hardware, which fnds a
good home with a new user
who can appreciate it.
However, its not as simple
as selling it at a garage sale.
For one thing, scammers
cruise both Craigslist and
eBay, looking to convince
unwary sellers to take de
posits that mysteriously van
ish when the sellers try to
cash them. Always be suspi
cious of anyone who wants
to use Western Union and
has an overseas address.
My rule of thumb is to
stick to selling locally if its
Craigslist, and only in the
United States if its eBay
(since I live in the U.S.).
Also, using an escrow site
like PayPal (required for
eBay anyway) can add a
degree of safety. Read How
to Sell Your PC and Other
Gadgets (nd.pcworld.com/
70212) for more tips on sell
ing your old tech gear.
As you can see, an old
computer may have many
uses, particularly if its still
in good working condition.
And not all uses for a PC
require quad core systems
with high end graphics. So
if that old system is sitting
in a closet somewhere, dig it
out and put it to use.
Who knows? It might be
your old machine that identi
fes the signal thats the frst
sign of intelligent life out
side our planet.
TEAMFORTRESS 2 is a multiplayer online game that supports dedi-
cated game serversone role suited for an older computer.
HELP MEDICAL RESEARCHERS by using your
old PC to fold proteins with Folding@Home.
RELIVE THE GLORY days of arcade games with MAME (multiple
arcade machine emulator) software. You wont need quarters.
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 98
Heres How
Five Printer Nightmares and Howto Fix Them
EVERYBODY LOVES to hate
printers. When you need one
most, itll display a stupefy
ing error message or create a
mess of paper and spilled ink.
But with patience and
attention, you can probably
overcome a printer prob
lem, and avoid having the
nightmare recur. Heres how
to address fve of the most
common printer complaints.
paper path: If you cant tell
which door leads to the jam,
remove or open the input
tray and follow the paper
path to the output tray,
opening every door or panel
that you can fnd.
Carefully pull out paper
sheets and scraps: Check for
pages that are stuck or
askew, plus scraps. Pull
paper out of the path frmly,
but carefully and slowly.
When possible, pull in the
direction the paper is sup
posed to go not backward.
Remove all the paper; any
scraps could cause further
jamming. If you break a
mechanical piece in the print
er, stop and call for service.
Close all doors and turn on
the printer: Once switched
on, the printer should reset
itself. If the printer says its
still jammed, double check
for scraps. If it continues to
complain, try turning it of
and then back on. If that
doesnt fx it, call for service.
How to avoid this next time:
Use only one kind of paper
at a time in your input tray.
Whether your printer has one
input tray or several, tell it
what kind of paper the tray
holds: Most printer controls
include a section or drop
down list where you can
pick a paper by name, type,
thickness, or other quality.
If you arent sure whether
your printer takes a certain
kind of paper, check its doc
umentation. When you re
load the input tray, pay
attention to how the paper
should be loaded, and check
whether the length or width
guides need adjusting.
regularly, your IT staf needs
to fgure out why its hap
pening. Common problems
include trying to print a job
whose fle size is so large
that it chokes the network
or your printers memory;
attempting to print to a spe
cial kind of paper (such as
letterhead) without loading
the paper or specifying the
right tray; and requesting a
print job that requires you
(or some other user) to feed
the paper manually, but fail
ing to perform this step.
3. Power Loss in the
Middle of a Print Job
Treat this situation as if it
were a kind of paper jam.
Turn off the printer: You
dont want its parts to start
churning unexpectedly dur
ing your work on recovery.
Clear the paper path: Remove
sheets stuck in midprint.
Turn on the printer (if power
has been restored): As the
printer initializes, check for
error messages or odd noises
that might indicate a mal
function or damage. If you
have a laser or LEDprinter,
check the documentation for
a maintenance routine to
A little care and attention can minimize or halt
many printer headaches. Here are some basic
steps for ve of the most common problems.
I
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:
E
D
W
I
N
F
O
T
H
E
R
I
N
G
H
A
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1. Paper Jams
Jams occur when the paper
feeding through the printer
goes awry. Te printer may
extrude a crumpled mess; or
it may stop in midjob, and
the mess, or part of it, re
mains trapped inside.
When a jam occurs, some
printers fash lights, scream
ing for help. Others sense
where the jam is and provide
guidance. If yours does, fol
low its advice. Also, check
its documentation. Here are
the basic steps to follow.
Turn off the printer: If youre
going to poke inside, you
dont want trouble with elec
tricity or moving parts. And
if youre dealing with a laser
printer, you dont want the
fuser to generate additional
heat. If the paper is jammed
in or near the fuser unit,
wait for the fuser to cool of.
Open all doors leading to the
2. Stuck in the Queue
Regardless of how sophisti
cated it is, a printer prints
only one job at a time. A job
may get held up and block
all others behind it. If the
printer hasnt stalled for a
mechanical reason, check
the print queue to see if a
specifc job in front of yours
might be the culprit.
If your printer is not net-
worked: If your computer has
a dedicated printer, you can
get to the print queue di
rectly. On Windows, access
is through the Control Pan
els Printers program item;
on a Mac, its through Utili
ties Print & Fax program
item. Any stuck jobs will be
listed there, and you can eas
ily cancel them.
If your printer is on a network:
On a networked queue, you
have control only over the
jobs that you send from
your own PC. If another per
sons job is the problem,
you must either contact
them for help or ask your IS
department to intervene.
How to avoid this next time:
If the print queue clogs up
clean untransferred toner
fromthe drum. An inkjet car
tridge that stopped in mids
quirt may need cleaning. Run
a test page and check it for
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 100
Heres How
stains and streaks. Consult
your printers documenta
tion for further guidance.
How to avoid this next time:
Te odds that a printer will
turn of on its own are low.
If outages are relatively fre
quent in your area, plug the
printer into a UPS device so
that it can fnish printing and
power down normally the
next time the electricity fails.
4. Using the Wrong
Side of Photo Paper
You wait eagerly for your
photo to come out, but
what you get is big splotch
es of ink sitting and not
drying on the wrong side
of the photo paper.
Cancel the print job if you can:
Tis is especially important
with multiple sheets of pho
tos; each wrong way sheet
will just add to the mess.
clothing, skin, or carpets
when youre replacing a car
tridge. Heres what to do.
Take basic precautions:
Keep spilled toner dry
and contained.
Do not use hot water,
cold water, or heat to
wipe it up; use any gen
eral cleaning solution
with care and caution.
Do not use a con
ventional household
vacuum cleaner, as it
might blow the toner
out the back.
Avoid inhal
ing the toner.
Try one of these
three basic ways
to remove spilled toner:
For spills on hard, smooth
surfaces, use cardboard or a
paper towel to sweep the
toner carefully into a plastic
bag or other sealable recep
tacle for disposal.
Special toner cleaning
cloths use static to attract
the toner for easy wiping.
Regular paper towels or cot
ton towels will also work.
A special toner vacuum is
the only kind of vacuum you
should consider using. It has
attachments designed to
reach into small spaces and
pull toner from the interior
of a printer or an unlucky
area of carpet, along with a
receptacle designed to trap
very small particles.
How to avoid this next time:
Always handle toner car
tridges carefully, especially
during insertion and remov
al. Before working with
toner cartridges, protect
surrounding areas from
spills by covering them with
newsprint or paper towels.
Dont cry over spilled ink: Its
unusual for ink to spill from
a cartridge unless the car
tridge has been punctured,
squeezed, cracked, or
crushed. Also, a reflled car
tridge may be more suscep
tible to leaking or spilling,
so handle it carefully.
ward so as not to spread the
stain. Use additional clean
ing solutions with caution.
Ink on hard surfaces: If a
stain remains afer blotting,
try another method or clean
er suited to the surface.
Ink in the printer: Clean
up here will be a messy
job, and the outcome
will be uncertain.
Turn of the printer
if you can. If it ofers
cartridge access only
when it is on, keep it on
for now, and check the
cartridges. You
may have to
decide whether
the spill will be
worse if you remove
the cartridge or leave it
where it is. Try to minimize
further spillage as you clean.
Turn of the printer now
if you havent yet done so,
access its interior, and fnd
and remove as much spillage
as you can through blotting.
Ten use rubbing alcohol
and lint free cloths to clean
further; take care not to let
anything get stuck inside.
Run a test page and check
for evidence of lefover ink,
such as splotches or contin
uous streaks. Make sure the
printer acts normally.
If youre lucky, every
thing will be fne afer you
run pages through the print
er to let spilled ink print
itself out. If youre unlucky,
ink you couldnt remove will
lead to further damage.
How to avoid this next time:
Handle ink cartridges care
fully, especially if theyre
reflls, and during insertion
and removal. If youre spill
prone, protect the area with
newspaper or paper towels.
Melissa Riofrio
Online advice on cleaning
up printer ink spills recom
mends using substances from
rubbing alcohol to WD 40 to
hair spray to bleach but
efectiveness depends on
where the ink landed, and
on its chemical content.
A commonsense approach
would be to handle spills
quickly yet cautiously, start
ing with basic cleaning pro
cedures and escalating as
necessity dictates. Before
applying any cleaning sub
stance over a large area, test
it to ensure that it doesnt
cause damage of its own.
First step in all cases: Blot
spilled ink with an absor
bent cloth or paper towel.
Ink on skin: Use soap and
water to clean further. If ink
remains, try scrubbing. Use
any additional cleaning solu
tions cautiously.
Ink on fabric or carpet: With
soap and water, brush the
stain using an upward
inward motion upward so
as not to push the ink deep
er into the fabric, and in
Remove the paper carefully
and make sure the ink doesnt
run: Avoid getting it on your
hands wear gloves or use a
napkin or paper towel.
Throw the paper away: Yes,
youll have to say good bye.
How to avoid this next time:
Check the documentation
and tray markings to make
certain youre inserting the
photo paper correctly.
5. Spilled Toner or Ink
Toner can spill inside the
printer during regular use,
or it can spill onto surfaces,
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 102
Heres How
Fix an XP System That Wont Recognize Flash Drives
follow up messages for
me to get all the details I
needed to fnd a fx.
So please, everyone,
revisit my post on how
to ask for tech help (see
nd.pcworld.com/71061), and
remember that youll greatly
increase your chances of a
response by following its
simple guidelines.
As it happens, Microsof
itself has a fx for the prob
lem of unrecognized USB
fash drives (and other such
devices), which, it says, is
most likely the result of
corrupted or incorrect
keys in the registry.
Just go to nd.pcworld.
com/71062, scroll down a
bit until you see the Micro
sof Fix It button, click it,
and follow the instructions.
Tat should do the trick!
Rick Broida
CLICKTHIS BUTTONfor
Microsofts ash-drive x.
READER THOMAS IS hav
ing a problem with his six
year old Windows XP Pro
fessional system: When he
plugs in a fash drive, Win
dows doesnt recognize it.
Before I reveal the solu
tion to this vexing problem,
Tomas, note: You didnt
give me nearly enough infor
mation in your initial e mail
message. In fact, it took two
YOU CAN ACCESS a password-protected administrator account in
a number of ways. One is quick and easy, but works only in XP. If
the used PC runs Vista or Windows 7, skip the next two paragraphs.
The following will work only if the previous owner didnt know
enough to close XPs backdoor entrance to administrator control.
First, boot into Safe Mode: Start your PC, and press <F5> before
the Windows logo appears. In the resulting Boot menu, select Safe
Mode. The log-on screen will probably show a user youve never
seen before, Administrator, that does not have a password. This
lets you enter Windows as an administrator-level user, and you can
use Control Panels User Accounts applet to change the password.
If youre using Vista or Windows 7, you can remove the adminis-
trator password with Ubuntu Linux. Careful! This gets complicated.
Download the current Ubuntu version fromnd.pcworld.com/71065.
Double-click the just-downloaded .iso le. Windows may start a
program that burns your Ubuntu CD. If it doesnt, download and
install ISO Recorder (nd.pcworld.com/60657), and then try again.
Boot off the CD. When asked, click the Try Ubuntu button.
Install the software: From the menus in the top-right corner of
the screen, select
Check the two options not yet checked:
and
Click then After
the program is done processing, select
fromthe menus in the top-right corner.
In the resulting windows Search eld, enter chntpw. A program
with that name should appear in the subsequent list of packages.
Click it and select . Click the toolbar
icon. Click and wait until the installation is complete.
Now mount your drive: From the top menus, select then
your internal hard drive or Windows partition. When its mounted,
a File Browser window (much like Windows Explorer) will appear.
Double-click the folder icons to go to the Windows drives Win-
dows\System32\cong folder. Leave this window up. From the top
menus, select
Arrange the two windows so that you can see the top section of
the File Browser window behind the Terminal window.
In the Terminal command-line window, type
cd /media/ (note the space after ) and the path
to your cong folder, using the folder names at
the top as a guide. (Note: Ubuntus Terminal is
case-sensitive.) Then press <Enter>.
Now type sudo chntpw -u logon SAM, where
is the log-on name for the administrator
account. Press <Enter>; the last section of
scrolled-up text will begin . . . . User Edit Menu:
Press 1 (the number, not lowercase L), then
<Enter>. At the resulting question, press Y.
When the programs done, click the power-button
logo in the upper-right corner and reboot into Win-
dows. The account no longer needs a password.
Lincoln Spector
ANSWER LI NE ASK YOUR QUESTI ON AT FORUMS. PCWORLD. COM
I acquired a used PC but dont have
an administrator password. Help!
Alexleonardme
YOUCANUSE Ubuntu Linux to gain access to a password-protected administrator
account in Vista or Windows 7but followthe directions given here carefully.
E
ighty six years ago, a watchmaker
in Paris famous for building the
magnificent clocks at Versailles created a
legendary timepiece. He invented the first
watch with an automatic mechanical
drive. These innovative movements
required no batteries and never needed
to be manually wound. Only seven of these
ultra rare watches were ever made and
weve studied the one surviving
masterpiece in a watch history museum.
Inspired by history, classic design and
technology, our Stauer Meisterzeit has
been painstakingly handcrafted to meet
the demanding standards of vintage
watch collectors.
Why the new antique is better
than the original. The original time
piece was truly innovative, but, as we
studied it closely, we realized that we could
engineer ours with a much higher level of
precision. The 27 ruby jewel movement
utilizes an automatic self winding mecha
nism inspired by a patent from 1923, but
built on $31 million in state of the art
Swiss made machinery. With an exhibition
back, you can see into the heart of the
engineering and view the rotor spin its
powered by the movement of your body.
This limited edition Stauer Meisterzeit
allows you to wear a watch far more
exclusive than most new upscale models.
Here is your chance to claim a piece of
watchmaking history in a rare design that
is priced to wear everyday.
Elegant and accurate. This refined
beauty has a fastidious side. Each move
ment and engine turned rotor is tested for
15 days and then certified before it leaves
the factory.
The best part is
that with our
special price,
you can wear a
superb classic
historical repro
duction watch
and laugh all
the way to the
bank. Stauer
specializes in
classic timeless
watches and
jewelry that are made for the millionaires
who want to keep their millions. This
watch will quickly move to heirloom
status in your household.
Try it for 30 days and if you are not
thrilled with the beauty and construction
of the Meisterzeit, simply return it for a
refund of the purchase price.
Extremely limited availability. Since
it takes about 6 months to build
each Meisterzeit, the release is a limited
edition, so please be sure to order
yours soon.
A rare chance to claim a unique piece of watchmaking history for under $100!
Smar t Luxuri es Surpri si ng Pri ces
Exclusively Through Stauer
Stauer Meisterzeit II Watch $495
Now only $99 +S&P Save $396!
Call now to take advantage of this limited offer.
1-888-324-4351
Promotional Code MZW367-03
Please mention this code when you call.
14101 Southcross Drive W.,
Dept. MZW367-03
Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
www.stauer.com
WATCH SPECS:
- 14K Gold-clad case and bezel
- Precision 27-jeweled movement
- Interior dials display day and month
- Croc-embossed leather strap
- Fits 6
3
/4"8
1
/4" wrist
View the precision
movement of the
Meisterzeit through the
rear exhibition port.
We Can Only Find One
7
6
%

O
F
F
Stauer

As the master craftsman who opened

the famous Lincoln Pocket Watch in
Washington, D.C., I recently reviewed the
Stauer Meisterzeit timepiece.
The assembly and the precision
of the mechanical movement
are the best in its class.
George Thomas
Towson Watch Company
PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 104
Heres How
pcworld.com/71074), so I wont repeat his fairly glowing review.
I will say that I tried it myself on my large and unruly MP3 col-
lection, and it discovered some duplicates I didnt even know were
there. Plus, I liked the assorted after-scan options the program
affords, such as automatically selecting the older versions of
duplicate les and moving or deleting checked les.
In other words, FDFF is a smart, useful utility that works as
advertisedand you cant beat the price. Sound good, Pam?
Wirelessly Transfer Snapshots From Your
iPhone to Your Computer
Like most iPhone owners, I snap a lot of photos with the handset.
Unfortunately, the only way to copy those images to my PC is with
a sync cable and all the usual Windows Explorer drudgery.
Thats why WiFiPhoto
(nd.pcworld.com/71075)
is one of my all-time
favorite apps. It creates
a link between my
iPhone and my comput-
er, but it does so without
wires. Instead, as you
might expect, it uses a
Wi-Fi network.
After loading the app
(it works with all iOS
devices, not just the
iPhone), tap the photo(s)
you want to copy, and
then tap Done. Youll
see a message that
says Connect your
browser to
(see the screen at right).
Now re up your Web
browser, type in that IP address, and then press <Enter>. Presto!
Youll see a thumbnail for each photo that you selected.
To save them all in one fell swoop, click . Other-
wise, you can click an individual thumbnail to open it in your sys-
tems default image viewer; the viewing utility I like for this pur-
pose is IrfanView (nd.pcworld.com/47858).
I use WiFiPhoto almost daily, and I nd it absolutely indispens-
able. If youre tired of doing the sync-cable shufe every time you
want to ofoad some images, youll nd it a necessity, too. And
WiFiPhoto costs all of 99 cents.
RICK BROIDAS HASSLE-FREE PC
YOU PROBABLY KNOW that utilities can do a lot of work for you.
Here are three that should prove genuinely useful and convenient.
Set Your Default E Mail Client to AOL, Gmail,
Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail
If you use a Web-based e-mail client such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail,
youve likely encountered this hassle before: You click a mailto link
on a Web page, and then watch
while Windows tries to open
Outlook, Windows Live Mail, or
some other desktop program
you dont use and havent con-
gured. Error messages (and
possibly cursing) ensue.
You could jump through vari-
ous hoops to congure Win-
dows, your browser, or both to
direct such e-mail links to the
proper destination (to Gmail,
say), but why bother? Ive
found a small, simple utility
GmailDefaultMaker (nd.
pcworld.com/71071)that will do the hoop-jumping on your behalf.
Just run the free program and choose the default e-mail service
you want: AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. (Yes, the program needs
a name change.) Then go about your business. Its that easy.
Now, whenever you click a mailto link, youll land in the proper
Web client, not in an unwanted desktop program.
Eliminate Duplicate Files With a Free Utility
Reader Pam is looking for a way to clean out duplicate les, docu-
ments, pictures, etc., but doesnt want to spend money on the
project. In other words, she wants a freeware assistant.
I have just the thing: Fast Duplicate File Finder (nd.pcworld.
com/71073). True to its name, the utility scans selected folders on
your hard drive, nds duplicate les, and gives you the option of
tossing the copies into the trash. Also true to its name: Its fast.
My colleague Preston Gralla wrote up FDFF last year (nd.
This months quick tips show how to reset your
default e mail client, weed out duplicate les,
and transfer your iPhones photos wirelessly.
Three Ways to Make Your Online Life a Little Simpler
THIS SIMPLE UTILITY lets you
choose a default mail service.
FDFF DOES THE work of scanning folders to nd duplicate les.
WIFIPHOTOLINKS YOUR iPhone to your
PC to transfer photos wirelessly.
Your companys bottom line depends on the
performance of its PCs.
To assess and compare system
performance across your organization,
use the benchmarking software developed
by the experts at PCWorld Labs.
Real-World Performance
WorldBench is the core set of applications that PCWorld uses
to test desktop and laptop PCs. The results play an important
role in PCWorlds computer reviewsthe reviews you trust.
Because our benchmark uses actual programs performing
common functions, it is an excellent barometer of PC
performance outside the lab and on your desk.
Automatic Testing
From Web brows|ng to f|e enood|ng to genera| tasks, the
automated test scripts that run in WorldBench 6 are designed
to deliver a tough evaluation of todays top computers. Although
multicore processors and larger amounts of RAM are appearing
even in budget PCs, its important to have benchmarks that can
accurately assessand challengesystems with a wide variety
of oonfgurat|ons. Wor|dBenoh 6 de||vers.
Since its automated, the suite can report errors and restart
failed tests without user input. It then records the results,
|no|ud|ng the fna| Wor|dBenoh 6 soore as we|| as the |nd|v|dua|
results of each applications workload, in both text and graphs.
Refned over the past deoade, Wor|dBenoh |s ourrent|y used
in over 30 countries by Fortune 500 corporations, government
agencies, and international media outlets.
Visit www.worldbench.com today and secure
your DVD of WorldBench 6.
Test Your PCs
The PCWorld Labs Way
You can purchase one of three different licenses
for WorldBench 6, according to your needs:
A Single User license ($249) allows you
to install and use the software on a single
computer at a time.
A Small Business license ($999) allows
you to install and use the software for your
internal business purposes on up to 5
computers at a time.
A Corporate license ($2499) allows you
to install and use the software for your
internal business purposes on up to 25
computers at a time.
www.worldbench.com
www.worldbench.com
N
o
w

A
v
a
i
l
a
b
l
e

F
r
o
m

P
C
W
o
r
l
d
WorldBench 6
runs on all editions of Windows 7,
Windows Vista, and Windows XP,
including all 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
WWW. PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 106
PCW Marketplace
Send to: TNC Enterprises Dept. PCW
P.O. Box 2475
Warminster, PA 18974
Enclose name, address and payment with your order.
(No P.O. boxes please) PA residents add 6% sales tax.
You can even call 215-674-8476 to order by phone.
One - $18 Three - $45 Six - $84
Add $3.50 per slipcase for P&H. USA orders only.
Credit Card Orders:
Visa, MC, AmEx accepted. Send name
number, exp. date and signature.
To Order Online:
www.tncenterprises.net/pcw
Save Your Back Issues
Preserve, protect and organize
all your PC World back issues.
Slipcases are library quality. Con-
structed with heavy bookbinders
board and covered in a rich flag
blue leather grained material. A
silver label with the PC World
logo is included for personalizing.
Perfect for your home or office.
107 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1 WWW. PCWORL D. COM
Type find.pcworld.com/ plus the five digit number
below, to go directly to any advertiser in this list.
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Fujitsu| 11 70674
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Microsoft Office| C4 70695
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Patriot Memory| 45 70696
QNAP| 43 70684
Siber System, Inc. | 83 70675
SpectorSoft Corp| 35 70665
Sprint | 19 70697
Stauer | 103 70694
Symantec| 12 70685
TheNeat CompanyInc| 57 70681
TP LINK| 67 70691
TrendMicro| 23 70700
TRENDnet | 59 70686
USBImplementers Forum| 8 70658
WesternGov. Univ. | 55 70659
Wondershare| 42 70687
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Advertiser| Page Find-It# Advertiser| Page Find-It#
ADVERTISING SALES
SENIOR VP, SALES & MARKETING
Stacey Levy (415/978-3255)
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Gabe Rogol (415/974-7373)
EAST
ACCOUNT DIRECTORS
Amy Singer (201/634-2317)
Kathy Rebello (508/820-0440)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Paul Moretti (415/243-3575)
SALES ASSOCIATE
Shari Redan (207/899-2099)
SOUTHWEST
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
Cindy Hamilton (949/442-4005)
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Duane Hampson (415/978-3133)
SALES ASSOCIATE
Chrissy Schneider (415/978-3269)
NORTHWEST
ACCOUNT DIRECTORS
Elaine Ebner (415/267-4578)
David White (415/243-3664)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Carol Johnstone (415/978-3390)
SALES ASSOCIATE
Nelson Hong (415/978-3266)
MARKETING
MARKETING MANAGER
Jim Hopkins
MARKETING INTERN
Kelly Winterhalter
PC WORLD REPRINTS
[email protected]
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
Brian Buizer
PROJECT MANAGER, SALES
Leilani Lopez
SALES ASSOCIATES
Shari Redan, Chrissy Schneider,
Nelson Hong
PCWORLD. COM AD
OPERATIONS
DIRECTOR, AD OPERATIONS
Kevin Barden
AD OPERATIONS SPECIALIST
Keri Campbell
AD OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
Lauren Martinelli
PCWORLD | MACWORLD
CONTENT WORKS
CONTENT DIRECTOR
Ted Greenwald
CONTENT MANAGER
Michael Ansaldo
CONSUMER MARKETING
PROCIRC, SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT
Shawne Burke Pecar
PROCIRC, SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT
Megan Guard
PROCIRC, RETAIL SOLUTIONS
Mark Peterson, Scott Hill
PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION
Nancy Jonathans
PREPRESS MANAGER
Tamara Gargus
PRODUCTION SPECIALIST
Jerry Wandel
ONLINE MANAGEMENT
VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Ulla McGee
SENIOR DIRECTOR, AUDIENCE
DEVELOPMENT & ANALYTICS
Alexa Wriggins
DIRECTOR, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
David Lake
PRODUCT MANAGER, MOBILE
Jacky Lee
SENIOR MANAGER, AUDIENCE
DEVELOPMENT
DW Malouf
NEWSLETTER SERVICES MANAGER
Michael E. England
RESEARCH MANAGER
Miguel Beteta Rodrigo
RESEARCH ANALYST
Kyle Flick
E-COMMERCE MANAGER
Alisha Billingsley
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
Toni Panayotov
WEB DESIGN
SENIOR MANAGER, USER EXPERIENCE
Sky Collins
USER INTERFACE DESIGNER
Matt Glass
SENIOR VIDEO PRODUCER
Chris Manners
TECHNOLOGY
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Aaron Jones
SENIOR DIRECTOR, IT &
WEB OPERATIONS Sean Greathouse
IT MANAGER Walter Clegg
SYSTEMS ANALYST Eileen Quan
IT TECHNICIAN Dan Dudziak
SENIOR SYSTEM/NETWORKS
ADMINISTRATOR Wil Schultz
SENIOR WEB OPERATIONS
ADMINISTRATOR Andrew Trice
DIRECTOR, SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT Jim Hutson
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER Kieran Fitzpatrick
SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
Wei Ming Xu, Bill Cappel, Alexis Barrera,
Justin Counts, James Motch, Christian
McKeegan
QA & RELEASE MANAGER
Bhramara Thallapragada
HUMAN RESOURCES
VP, HUMAN RESOURCES
Kate Coldwell
HUMAN RESOURCES REPRESENTATIVE
Ellen Cobb
FINANCE
SENIOR VP, COO/CFO Vicki Peilen
DIRECTOR, FINANCE Diane Ryczek
DIRECTOR, ACCOUNTING
Michelle Reyes
DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL AD
OPERATIONS Diane Hacker
DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING ACCOUNT
SERVICES Kevin Greene
STAFF ACCOUNTANT
Scott Lum-Duenas
ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT
Jose Rodas
PHONE:
415/243-0500
FAX:
415/442-1891
E-MAIL:
[email protected]
WEB:
www.pcworld.com
MAIL:
PC World Editorial
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San Francisco, CA
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PRESIDENT, CE0 Mike Kisseberth
SENIOR EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR Caroline Ward
Volume 29, number 2. PC World (ISSN0737-8939) is published monthly at $24.95 for one year (12 issues), $49.90 for two years (24 issues), $74.85 for three years (36 issues) by PC
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The Back Page
108 PCWORL D. COM F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 1
FROMOUR READERS
Plugged In
Your McHealth
Research study concludes
that 500 million people
will use mobile health apps by 2015.
But we bet that 6 billion will use GPS
apps to nd the nearest McDonalds.
Urban Gaming Zynga
recently launched the
game CityVille on Face-
book. Its kind of like FarmVille, but
with cockroaches instead of cows.
Privacy Protection
The Federal Trade Com-
mission has proposed an
online do-not-track list. That distant
sound you hear is thousands of
Internet business plans collapsing.
Google This The Euro-
pean Union is investigat-
ing Google for alleged
anticompetitive practices. We hear
that the inquiry is being hampered by
unreliable search engine results.
The Long and Wind-
ing Road After years of
false starts, Apple secures
the rights to sell Beatles songs on
iTunes. Turns out all they needed
was love. And a lot of lawyers.
Steve Fox, Steven Gray, JR Raphael
Have an idea for The Back Page?
Send us your suggestions at
[email protected].
Well print our favorites here
and on our Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/PCWorld.
Thinking Ahead
Back in 1876, Alexander Graham
Bell was granted a patent for the
telephone. Coincidentally, thats
the same year that AT&T U-verse
launched its Facebook page. Talk
about visionaries! (Culled from
Facebook by Paolo Terrasi.)
Maybe Thats Too Much Sharing
Derrick Rowell was sharing his screen with someone, using LogMeIns Join.me
site, when a link to his own screen suddenly popped up into the browsers
address bar. Next, the browser image began reproducing in an inadvertently
artistic manner. Makes me think of 2001: A Space Odyssey, says Rowell.
Nonfatal Error
Jesse Friedman received this
error message while using Vanil-
la Forums, an open-source dis-
cussion forumplatform. One way
to succeed: Redene success.
Want to see more Plugged In? Follow
us on Twitter (@PCWPluggedIn).
You need 200 new computers
congured and deployed by Friday.
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