MaximumPC 2005 05

LETTERS POLICY: MAXIMUM PC invites

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IN THE

HEATSINK-OR-SWIM

JUNE ISSUE OF

COMING

NEXT MONTH

MAXIMUMPC

In/Out

BUILD THE ULTIMATE

DIGITAL DREAM HOUSE!

Want the speed of a wired net-

work along with the convenience

of wireless? Maximum PC shows

you how to get the best of both

worlds in our step-by-step guide

to wiring your home for an ultra-

fast wired network that meshes

seamlessly with wireless access.

Plus, we show you how to make

the most of your “supernet” by

building a bit-sucking media

machine capable of encoding your

favorite TV shows from your cable

or satellite signal and sending

them to every room in your house!

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR DUAL CORE?
With the megahertz race pretty much
over, dual- and multicore computing
will soon be the essential foundation
of a power user’s rig. We beat the hard
facts out of Intel and AMD, and we’ll
tell you about their plans to revolution-
ize consumer computing with dual-core
desktops (they’re coming sooner than
you think!).

ENCRYPT YOUR DISK-ON-KEY
Your shiny new 2GB thumb drive is a
kick-ass way to carry your data from
work to home, but what happens if you
lose the tiny device? You can avoid
becoming the next Paris Hilton by
encrypting the data stored on your por-
table drives with simple—and secure—
encryption utilities that work on every
PC. We’ll show you how!

live-performance route. MP3s

and WMAs are already great,

and I don’t need a bit more

quality from them if they’re

going to take one more CPU

cycle or one more byte of

hard drive space.

—PAUL OSTERMAN

Regarding Michael Brown’s

comments on MP3s, is

there an echo in the room?

Actually, I have lightened up

recently, and I do subscribe

to a download service.

Thanks to MP3s, I can decide

which music I’m willing to

pay the price of a CD for.

I also enjoy the ability to

download old performances

that are no longer in

circulation, except in the

backwaters of people’s hard

drives. It’s rather like opening

up a time capsule—give it a

try, you won’t regret it.

—BILLY L. DAVENPORT

Thank you. I thought I was

the only one in the world

who misses sound quality.

Give me a download service

with high-quality audio—

even if it’s at a premium

price—and I’m on board.

I’ll begrudgingly admit that

MP3s are so convenient that

they can’t be denied, and

they sound fine when I’m

jogging; but, hey, so does FM.

What about when you want

to listen to ethereal highs

or the delicate background

sounds of guitar strings that

are brushed only accidentally.

I bet a lot of people would

be shocked by just how good

music can actually sound.

—ROGER STEINBACH

THE TIC CODE

I need help deciding on a

new digital video camera.

It’s not an easy task, because

I have Tourette’s syndrome

(not the fun kind, where

you swear all the time, just

the kind where you twitch

enough to spill coffee on

yourself in the morning). I

would like to buy a recorder

that can smooth out the

twitches as much as possible.

I don’t have a problem

holding the camera, just

keeping it still. The Army

trusted me with live grenades

and a rifle, so I think I can

handle a video camera. At

least if I drop that, no one

dies. Thanks for the help.

—BRIANA WARNER

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR

STEVE KLETT RESPONDS: It’s

tough to make a recommenda-

tion without knowing how still

you’re able to hold a camcorder,

but many camcorder models

offer an image-stabilization

feature. Although I don’t have

personal experience with it,

Sony’s 3CCD DCR-HC1000 has

received very good reviews. My

only other suggestion would be

to try shooting on a tripod and

operating the camcorder with a

remote control. ■

MAXIMUM MAC?

In Will Smith’s review of VMWare

Workstation 4.5 [March 2005],

there’s a clearly visible image of a

website called “Making the Mac

Switch.” I love my Powerbook G4,

but I feel that some less-forgiving

Maximum PC readers might deem

this subliminal message to be

offensive. After all, most of your

readers are hardcore PC fanatics,

and even the thought of using a

Mac would sicken them. Personally,

I use my Mac for business and my

PC for play. I read Maximum PC

for its trustworthy PC hardware

reviews. Please don’t remind me of

work while I play.

—ED BALCH

EXECUTIVE EDITOR WILL SMITH

RESPONDS: On a normal day, we’d find that kind

of subliminal trickery underhanded and mean as

well. As part of my ongoing series of adventures

with alternate operating systems—check out my

story “From Windows to Linux” in the February

2005 issue—I’ve shelved my Linux box for six

months and switched to a dual G5 running OS X

Panther. The website you’re referring to is a blog

I set up to help me keep track of my experiences

as I use the new Mac. Feel free to check out the

website at http://mac.willski.com.

8 MA XIMUMPC MAY 2005