MAXIMUMPC
EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF Will Smith
MANAGING EDITOR Tom Edwards
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Brown
SENIOR EDITOR Gordon Mah Ung
SENIOR EDITOR Katherine Stevenson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR David Murphy
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Steve Klett
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Norman Chan, Gord Goble, Tom
Halfhill, Tom McDonald, Christopher Null
EDITOR EMERITUS Andrew Sanchez
ART
ART DIRECTOR Natalie Jeday
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Boni Uzilevsky
PHOTO EDITOR Mark Madeo
ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHER Samantha Berg
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Martin Abel
BUSINESS
PUBLISHER Anthony Danzi
646-723-5453, [email protected]
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rob Smith
650-238-2503, [email protected]
WESTERN AD DIRECTOR Dave Lynn
949-360-4443, [email protected]
WESTERN AD MANAGER Derek Johnson
650-238-2327, [email protected]
EASTERN AD MANAGER Larry Presser
646-723-5459, [email protected]
EASTERN AD MANAGER GAMES Kristin Kelleher
646-723-5491, [email protected]
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jose Urrutia
650-238-2498, [email protected]
MARKETING COORDINATOR Michael Basilio
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Dan Mallory
CIRCULATION
CIRCUL ATION MANAGER Peter Kelly
NEWSSTAND MANAGER Elliott Kiger
PRINT ORDER COORDINATOR Heidi Hapin
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores
Quick Start Intel unveils its 45nm
Penryn CPU ............................................ 08
Head2Head Bill Gates vs.
Steve Jobs ............................................. 16
WatchDog Maximum PC takes
a bite out of bad gear ............................. 18
How To Clean your fi lthy PC—the
right way! ............................................... 48
Ask the Doctor Diagnosing
and curing your PC problems ................ 51
Contents
R&D How holographic storage
works, and why it’s awesome ............. 54
In the Lab New GPU power connec-
tors; lossless audio testing .................. 56
In/Out You write, we respond.......... 94
Rig of the Month Jackie
McGatha’s Dragon Knight ................... 96
Departments
Reviews
Kitchen PC HP TouchSmart IQ770 .... 58
Gaming PC Vigor Gaming
Force Recon QXN ........................................... 60
MP3 player SanDisk Sansa e280R .... 62
Blu-ray drive Sony BWU-100A .......... 62
Video effects FXhome
EffectsLab Pro .................................................. 64
Hard drive Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 ...... 64
Soundcards Auzentech Auzen
X-Meridian 7.1; Razer Barracuda AC-1;
Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeGamer
Fatal1ty Pro ....................................................... 66
iPod controller Belkin
SportCommand Wireless ................................ 68
Video player Doghouse Electronics
RoverTv Wide Screen ....................................... 68
Media speakers Cambridge
SoundWorks PlayDock Zen.............................. 70
Media keyboard Microsoft Wireless
Entertainment Desktop 7000 .......................... 71
APRIL 2007 MAXIMUMPC
Gaming keyboard Razer
Tarantula ............................................................ 71
Speakers TBI Audio Systems
Majestic Diamond I Speakers .......................... 72
Wireless USB hub Belkin
Cable-Free USB Hub ...................................... 72
Hard drive enclosure Norco
DS-500 .............................................................. 74
Receipt scanner NeatReceipts
Scanalizer ......................................................... 74
Mice Ideazon Reaper; Creative
Fatal1ty Professional Laser............................. 76
Image editor ProShow Gold 3.0 ........ 78
Backup software Memeo
AutoBackup ....................................................... 78
07
80
Supreme Commander ........................... 80
Sam & Max: Episodes 1 & 2 .............. 81
Gaming
68
74
FUTURE US, INC
4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080
http://www.futureus-inc.com
PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson-Bint
VICE PRESIDENT/COO Tom Valentino
VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
CFO John Sutton
GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/GAMES Simon Whitcombe
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/MUSIC AND TECH Steve Aaron
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dave Barrow
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY Jon Phillips
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSIC Brad Tolinski
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester
MARKETING DIRECTOR Shawn Roberts
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
Future US, Inc. is part of Future plc.
Future produces carefully tar-
geted special-interest magazines,
websites and events for people
who share a passion. We aim to
satisfy that passion by creating titles
offering value for money, reliable
information, smart buying advice
and which are a pleasure to read or
visit. Today we publish more than
150 magazines, 65 websites and a
growing number of events in the US, UK, France and Italy. Over 100
international editions of our magazines are also published in 30
other countries across the world.
Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange
(symbol: FUTR).
FUTURE plc
30 Monmouth St., Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW, England
http://www.futureplc.com
Tel +44 1225 442244
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Roger Parry
CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Stevie Spring
GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR: John Bowman
Tel +44 1225 442244
http://www.futureplc.com
REPRINTS: For reprints, contact Ryan Derfl er, Reprint Operations
Specialist, 717.399.1900 ext. 167
or email: [email protected]
SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Please email customerservice@
maximumpc.com or call customer service toll-free at 800.274.
Maximum PC ISSN: 1522-
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