single OCR error (thoughtfully highlighted in green to label it as suspect).
Don’t let the modest 7 verdict give you the wrong idea: The OptiSlim is
distinguished in our eyes; it’s a much handier travel scanner than those
awful fountain pen-size scanners that convert text into something resem-
bling graffiti tags. Despite its quirks and limitations (including a suite of
competent, but poorly inte-
grated apps), it manages the
most essential functions that
business travelers and corpo-
rate spies require: better-than-
average OCR and acceptable
scans of visual media for later
reference. Many a salaryman
will be grateful.
—LOGAN DECKEROptiSlim M12 Portable Scanner
Scan on the run
Reviews
MAY 200 5 MA XIMUMPC
Fine OCR; petite; good software bundle and price.LUGGAGE SCANSTRIP SEARCH$130, http://www.plustek.comMA XIMUMPCVERDICT 7
N
ostradamus predicted the paperless office would be commonplace
by the 21st century, yet we’re still up to our necks in dead-tree pulp.
But if Plustek just put a little work into a few important features, its
OptiSlim M12 portable scanner could help fulfill the sage’s prophecy.
Less than a foot long, the OptiSlim boasts heartwarming specs for a
device its size: 600dpi optical resolution, 48-bit color depth, and a scan
rate of up to three pages per minute, depending on resolution. A motorized
mechanism feeds the paper through the assembly (it can handle items as
small as a gum wrapper and as large as a letter-size document), and the
whole enchilada is USB powered.
Still, our first grapple with the OptiSlim was not a cheerful affair. Even
simple business cards, with minimal color and clearly legible sans-serif
fonts, were reduced to cuneiform by the OptiSlim’s optical character rec-
ognition (OCR). The descreen setting (for eliminating the halftone patterns
endemic to magazine page scans) wasn’t tweakable and was only some-
what effective. Photographs didn’t fare well either—add horn rims and a
beehive to the image and you’d swear you were looking at faded snapshots
from the 1960s.
But the OptiSlim was spared ridicule and cruel nicknames thanks to
its performance scanning documents in text mode to be processed by
the OCR engine. It breezed through a lightly formatted page containing
12-point Times New Roman text without a single boo-boo (although there
were minor formatting glitches at the end of the document). It delivered
similar performance with a ridiculously complex credit-card statement,
scanning and transcribing it with nearly all the formatting intact and just a
Erin Brockovich could have used
a gadget like Plustek’s OptiSlim
M12 portable scanner.10.75“(^1) .75
“
Acoustica Beatcraft
The next best thing to a set of drums
name as artist, and comments).
The entire process is
highly intuitive; you definitely
don’t have to be a musician to
enjoy creating music with this
program. I wouldn’t hesitate to
use it to create rhythm tracks for
song demos or for a guitarist or
keyboard player to jam with.
—JOHN WIND
T
he first drum machine I ever bought, a Yamaha RX-11, set me back
a cool $1,500. So I was understandably skeptical when I heard
Acoustica’s promise that Beatcraft would turn my PC into a drum
machine for less than 50 bucks. After spending several hours with the
program, though, I must admit that I’m impressed.
The program gives you the option of building rhythm tracks based on
predefined drum kits, or you can create your own tracks using the provided
samples and loops. The drum sounds seemed excellent to this drummer’s
ear, and there’s plenty of variety to fit just about any musical style. If you run
out of sounds, Acoustica sells two expansion packs: More Drums, Volume 1
($15) and More Drums, Analogania ($20).
Creating a rhythm track consists of three basic steps: Assemble your
drum kit from the in-depth library of drum sounds (all manner of bass drums,
snares, toms, hi-hats, and crash cymbals; plus a full set of percussion
instruments), create a series of rhythm patterns, and then assemble the
patterns into a full-fledged song. Everything is accomplished either by
pointing and clicking or by clicking and dragging.
Patterns are created in the Pattern Editor window, in which each drum
is placed on its own track. Tracks are subdivided into measures and beats,
and you trigger each drum by setting its volume on a particular beat. In
addition to volume—indicating how “hard” the instrument is struck—you
can also apply audio effects, such as left-right stereo panning and reverb, to
meticulously sculpt your overall sound.
Once you’ve created your patterns, you move down to the Sequencer
window to assemble them into a song: Simply drag the patterns from the
Pattern Editor into the Sequencer. The final step renders the sequence into an
audio file in WAV, MP3, WMA, or OGG format. You can even tag the file with
copyright information (the name of the sequence, the date it was created, your
Intuitive user interface, excellent drum samples,
well priced.
GENE KRUPA
THE CROUP
No MIDI support.
$50, http://www.acoustica.com
MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 8
You can easily create complex rhythm tracks using
Beatcraft’s intuitive user interface.
Horrible photograph/business card scans, no inte-
grated memory for stand-alone use, and USB 1.1.