reason was: When it comes to sound
quality, controls, and sheer sonic
power, the Logitech Z-680 simply has
no peer. Our write-up should have
been clearer on this point.MAXIMUM PC = NO 10
VERDICTS?
I have read your magazine since
it was boot and I can’t remember
the last time you gave out a
Kick Ass/10 verdict in a review.
Maybe you never have. Do you
guys look at Playboy magazine
and say “Wow! Check out the 9
in this centerfold.” My take is
that you don’t want to upset any
potential advertisers by giving
the competition any legitimate
edge, so it’s 9s for everybody.
Did the Logitech Z-680 speakers
in your Dream Machine even
score a perfect 10 when you
reviewed them?
—EDEDITOR IN CHIEF GEORGE JONES
RESPONDS: Ed, you’re dead wrong.
Over the course of the last nine
months, we’ve given five perfect 10
verdicts to products we’ve reviewed.
In fact, in our February issue alone,
we gave three—count ‘em, three—
perfect scores. And we did indeed
give Logitech’s Z-680 speakers a 10.
But with this said, there are many
more products that get 9 verdicts
with a Kick Ass award. The reason
is simple: The “perfect” product
is as rare as the perfect movie or
book, and we’re more finicky than
most when it comes to slight flaws
and defects. Oh, and regarding your
question about Playboy ... we don’t
look at it. We read the articles.ATI X800 XT PLATINUM
DISCONTINUED?
Today I got a call from PC
Connection, from whom I
ordered my ATI X800 XT
Platinum Edition, and was
informed that ATI will not be
manufacturing the X800 XT
Platinum Edition because of an
unexpectedly low number of
chips that have 16 actual work-
ing pipes. Is this true?
—WAYNE PATTERSONTECHNICAL EDITOR WILL SMITH
RESPONDS: This sounded a little
fishy to us, so we contacted ATI
to find out the real story. We were
told: “ATI has not discontinued the
Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition
as erroneously reported on some
web sites. We continue to ship
Radeon X800 products to customers
worldwide, including the Radeon
X800 XT Platinum Edition. Because
of the popularity and success of our
Radeon products, meeting the strong
demand is sometimes challenging.
However, rest assured, we will
continue to ship the Radeon X800 XT
Platinum Edition and our full family
of visual processors for gamers and
computer enthusiasts!”PENTIUM M IS NOT CENTRINO!
In the August issue of Maximum
PC , you reviewed an Efficeon-
based laptop—the Sharp Actius
PC-MM20. Roughly halfway
through the article, the
following was written: “But the
Efficeon’s competition isn’t the
Crusoe, it’s the ultra-low voltage
version of Intel’s Pentium M—
known as Centrino.”
This is not true! Pentium
Ms and Centrinos are entirely
different. Obviously, a Pentium
M is a CPU used in laptops.
Centrino, however, is wireless
technology. A quote from
Intel’s web site reads: “The Intel
Pentium M processor is a key
component of Intel Centrino
mobile technology...With Intel
Centrino mobile technology,
three components work
together to enable outstanding
mobile performance, extended
battery life, and integrated
wireless LAN capability in
thinner and lighter notebooks.
These components include the
Intel® Pentium® M processor,
the Intel® 855 chipset family,
and the Intel® PRO/Wireless
Network Connection Family.”
Please do not propagate the
idea that Pentium Ms are known
as Centrinos. This is not true!
—JAKE CAMPBELLSENIOR EDITOR GORDON MAH UNG
RESPONDS: This is just semantics.
Pentium M is the low-power con-
sumption CPU that Intel makes for
laptops. It’s basically a P-III core on
steroids and is one hell of a proces-
sor. Centrino is a combination of the
Pentium M processor, the 855GM/
PM/GME chipset, and one of Intel’s
wireless chipsets. Cynical folks
would say the Centrino label is just
a marketing method that helps Intel
squeeze more cash from its custom-
ers. This is because laptop makers
who build systems with the very fine
Pentium M CPU and 855 chipset but
opt not to use the Intel wireless chip
can’t call it a Centrino, even though
the only difference is the wireless
chipset—which many OEMs have
told us is no different than other
cheaper brands.
These same cynics shake their
heads when they see or hear about
people entering electronics stores
asking for Centrino notebooks,
because while Pentium M note-
books are just as good, it doesn’t
matter to some consumers, who
have been suckered by Intel’s hype.
From our perspective, whether you
buy Centrino or Pentium M, you still
end up with a fine CPU—one just
has a different sticker. ■10 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2004
CUT, COPY, PASTE
➤ In “Browser Boosters” in
the August issue, we gave the
incorrect URL for Mozilla’s
update web site. The correct
URL is updates.mozilla.org.➤ Last month in “Tomorrow’s
Players Today,” we incorrectly
reported Creative Labs Zen
Touch as having a 40GB capac-
ity, when it has just a 20GB
internal hard drive.➤ Argh! Our worst night-
mare as editors was real-
ized when we saw that the
WeWa Stanchion MP3 player,
reviewed last month in the
“MP3 Player Showdown,” had
an incorrect accompanying
verdict. It should have received
a 7 instead of a 3. We are
humbled by the error.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT: 7
IN THE
LIGHTLY-HYPENATED,RE DUCED-VOWELNOVEMBER ISSUE OF
COMING
NEXT MONTH
MA XIMUMPC
THE MODERN PC
BUILDING SPECIAL
Bob Dylan said it best
when he sang, “The times,
they are a-changin’.” This
couldn’t be more true of
PC building these days,
what with the advent of
DDR2, PCI Express, new
CPU sockets, and other
fancy, newfangled gadget-
ry. We’ll show you how to
pick the best components
at the best prices—and
teach you the new rules
of hardware installation.
Stay tuned!MEDIA CENTERS GALORE
Editor in Chief George Jones’
home is literally flooded with
Media Center PCs from all the
major PC makers. Can the PC’s
foray into the living room com-
pete with TiVo? Find out
next month.TRAUMA KIT 2004
Next month, we’ll update
Maximum PC’s emergency tool-
kit. Everything you need to deal
with a PC disaster will be inside.PLUS
Super reviews: Four affordable
printers duke it out for top ink-
based honors, videocards, flat-
panel LCDs, PDAs, MP3 players,
and Microsoft’s new Portable
Media Center.LETTERS POLICY: MAXIMUM PC invites
your thoughts and comments. Send them to
[email protected]. Please include your full
name, town, and telephone number, and limit your
letter to 300 words. Letters may be edited for space
and clarity. Due to the vast amount of
e-mail we receive, we cannot personally respond to each letter.In/Out