We realize that
not everyone has
$500 to shell out
for a top-shelf 3D
accelerator. That’s
why we’re so happy—nay,
delighted —to see a full-
featured videocard that’s just a tad slower than the top dog, and
it’s available for less than half the cost! The Radeon 9600 Pro is that
do-gooder budget card. The secret to the 9600’s low cost and great
performance is its core. It’s basically the same core that's present
in the Radeon 9700 and 9800, but has fewer programmable shader
units and fewer pixel pipelines. This limits the 9600’s performance,
without limiting its functionality. It’s a fully DirectX 9-compatible
part, and is fast enough to run the DirectX 9 games we’ve tested
with all their fancy programmable shaders turned on. $200,
http://www.ati.com, reviewed June 2003
Caveat emptor: If you don’t use “3D applications” (read: games),
then you don’t need a fancy 3D card. In that case, just go to your
local computer swap meet and pick up the cheapest AGP card you
can find.
BUDGET
VIDEOCARD
ATI Radeon
9600 Pro
We waited a looong time to finally see
the first great wireless gaming mouse, the
MX700 from Logitech. It’s been more than
a year since that initial sighting, and we still
haven’t seen another wireless mouse that we’d
trust our virtual lives to in a deathmatch. The MX700’s
high-res 800dpi sensor gives us the speed and accuracy we require to
liberate our opponents from the burden of their less-than-l33t lives, all
without the hassle of tugs on the mouse cord. Of course, the MX700
isn’t just for twitchy gamers. The comfortable grip of Logitech’s foxy
little rodent fares well during everyday use, and the MX700 merrily
recharges its batteries whenever it’s seated in its base station. $80,
http://www.logitech.com, reviewed November 2002Leash laws: Wireless mice are inevitably more expensive than their
non-wireless brethren. You can get all the accuracy and comfort of the
MX700 in Logitech’s corded MX500—for $30 less.MOUSE
Logitech MX700