MaximumPC 2004 03

MARCH 2004 MAXIMUMPC 3

ContentsContents 03.

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ike it or not, we’re a review-oriented society. Formal

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ike it or not, we’re a review-oriented society. Formal

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reviews in newspapers help us determine whether
we want to see the latest Brad Pitt epic. Word-of-
mouth reviews determine whether we buy the latest 3D
shooter. Corporate performance reviews determine how
much money we make—or don’t make. And, judging
by the slew of passionate reader e-mails I receive every
month, Maximum PC’s reviews influence your PC pur-
chasing decisions in a gigantic way.
I like to call the reviewing process “delicately
straightforward” because analyzing a PC system, antivi-
rus app, game, or any other product requires a delicate
balance between opposing tensions: lab results vs. real-
world testing, envelope-pushing vs. practicality, objec-
tivity vs. subjectivity.
As an example, when we review a PC, our impres-
sions are largely based on how fast it performs in
SYSmark 2004, our key benchmarking test, but we also
take into account the structural integrity and aesthetic
appeal of the case, as well as the tidiness of the system’s
innards. Reviewing games, software, and digital cameras,
on the other hand, can feel almost entirely subjective.
Granted, this subjectivity is governed by Maximum
PC’s emphasis on brutal honesty, speed, power, innova-
tion, and high-end functionality, but product reviews
still create many heated conversations every month.
Because we tend to focus on high-end products
that often boast next-gen technologies, feature sets,
and performance, our review ratings process is even
more gut-wrenching for us. Do you penalize a product
for executing an amazingly cool, never-seen-before
feature that isn’t all that practical or is functionally
limited? And, conversely, do you penalize products
that don’t push the envelope, but execute existing
technology flawlessly?
Take, for example, this month’s review of Toshiba’s
e805 PocketPC handheld (reviewed on page 68). With
a 640x480 display, it is clearly ahead of the PDA tech
curve, but unless you use a third-party hack, the VGA
mode is limited to a few apps. So does it get penal-
ized? After much soul-searching, features editor Logan
Decker decided that the innovation of viewing your
PDA in a higher resolution was worth a Kick Ass score.
An even tougher example in this month’s issue is
Intel’s new Pentium 4 Prescott CPU, which Senior Editor
Gordon Mah Ung sinks his teeth into on page 28. With
its advanced architecture, awesome scalability, and
increased pipeline, this CPU will likely be a fan favorite
within a year or two, but for now, it lags behind the
company’s existing P4 Extreme Edition chip. So what’s
the verdict? Our eight page story will clue you in.
As always, I’m curious about your thoughts on the
matter, so drop me a line!
—GEORGE JONES
[email protected]

Release

Notes

REGULARS

REVIEWS

The Gut-Wrenching Dilemma

62 Vicious PC Assassin desktop system

64 Belkin Bluetooth GPS Receiver

64 Kyocera FineCam SL300R

66 AOpen AK86-L 64-bit mobo

66 Albatron K8X800 64-bit mobo

66 MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R 64-bit mobo

68 Toshiba e805 PDA

70 Creative Labs Wireless Music MP

streaming box

70 Slim Devices Squeezebox MP3 streaming box

72 Addonics 18-in-1 Multi-Function Recorder

72 Mad Dog Entertainer 7.1 DSP soundcard

74 Iogear MiniView III USB KVM

74 Acoustic Authority A-3780 2.1 speakers

75 MediaRecover data recovery app

75 Arrowkey CD/DVD Diagnostic

76 Adobe Photoshop CS

77 Norton AntiVirus 2004

77 McAfee VirusScan 2004

77 AVG Anti-Virus

78 Armed and Dangerous

78 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

6 In/Out

C’mon, readers, tell us what’s on your

minds. We can take it.

13 Quick Start

PC previews, news, factoids... and

Windows XP Service Pack 2 dissected.

20 Head2Head

Yahoo! or Hotmail? Find out which free

e-mail client serves cheapskates best.

24 WatchDog

If the Dog had only three legs, he’d be a tri-

pawed. But would he still be such a fierce

advocate for consumers’ rights?

56 Ask the Doctor

Do you have an old, tired, or illin’ PC?

Maybe it’s time you paid a visit to the Doc.

58 How To...

Connect to your home PC from anywhere

in the world. Plus, tips for shopping wisely

online.

104 Rig of the Month

Maybe you can figure out why this month’s

mod is called “Come Fly With Me.”

Page 20: Hotmail vs. Yahoo!

REGULARS

ContentsContents

ike it or not, we’re a review-oriented society. Formal

Dilemma

REGULARS

REGULARS

Page 14:

Why games

don’t come on DVD

Page 20: Hotmail vs. Yahoo!

Page 18: Eyetop Centra

Portable Display