NOVEMBER 2007 MAXIMUMPC 119
MAXIMUM
PC
’s2008 PURE
POWER
PREVIEW!
We turn our eye toward the
coming year and predict which
technologies and hardware will
be populating the dreams of
power users.DV CAM
ROUNDUP!
Six leading high-def digital-video
cameras—reviewed and rated.
Learn which ones are worth own-
ing and why.MAXIMUM PC
GIFT GUIDE
Before you compile your holiday
wish list, you’ll want to see all
the gear, gadgets, and goodies
that we’ve deemed geek-worthy
this season.IN
fIggy-pudd
IN g-
free
LetterS PoLicy: MAXIMUM PC invites your thoughts and comments. Send them to
[email protected]. Please include your full name, town, and telephone number, and limit
your letter to 300 words. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Due to the vast amount of
e-mail we receive, we cannot personally respond to each letter.to maintain and not updated as much as
they should, we wanted to roll features
out when they were good and ready—and
even better than their print counterparts.
i’d much rather take the time to make
each new enhancement for the site perfect
from launch, instead of rolling out a bunch
of features that aren’t fully baked. Now
that the site’s running strong, we’re going
to start regularly adding new features and
enhancements. i’m not sure exactly when
we’ll relaunch the Best of the Best section,
but you can rest assured that it’s coming. if
you have another feature you’d like to see
added to Maximumpc.com, please send me
an email at [email protected].
A tWo-Fer
Which is better, a 32- to 37-inch 1080p LCD
TV with its limited 1920x1080 resolution on a
bigger screen or a 30-inch monitor from, say,
Dell, with its 2560x1600 resolution? What are
the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Should I wait until DisplayPort is available,
and will it used on TVs as well? Also, would
anything else need to be HDCP-compliant other
than the monitor and videocard to watch HD
video on my new rig?
Also, when I built my last system, I said to
myself that the next system I build will probably
be a laptop, but the last I really heard anything
about DIY kits was when Gordon wrote an
article on them last year. Has this progressed at
all or is it pretty much dead in the water?
—Joel Bates
SeNior editorS K AtheriNe SteveNSoN
ANd GordoN MAh UNG reSPoNd:
regarding the display, you will obviously
get more desktop space with the 30-inch
panel’s higher resolution, although the
items on your desktop will be relatively
small—some people complain of eyestrain
with these Lcds. Also note that the current
crop of 30-inch panels offers only dual-Link
dvi inputs, whereas a tv will be more ver-
satile, should you want to connect a cable
box, dvd player, or console. Furthermore,
today’s 30-inch screens are restricted to
single-link hdcP, so protected content can
play at only 1280x800 resolution—which
defeats the purpose of the high native
res, at least for commercial movie view-
ing. displayPort should change that, and
we know for a fact that Samsung’s next
30-inch Lcd will use that interface, and we
assume other vendors will follow suit. (it’s
unlikely tvs will feature displayPort, as the
hdMi interface prevalent in consumer elec-
tronics products serves the same purpose.)
And, yes, an hdcP-supported monitor,
videocard, and optical drive will gain you
access to hdcP-encumbered content.
As for the laptop, diy models aren’t
dead yet, but the concept is certainly tak-
ing on water and may sink. the problem
appears to be the reluctance of retailers
and vendors to eat the warranty cost of a
notebook that’s accidently destroyed in the
building process. inevitably, clumsy con-
sumers will just return the whole package
claiming that it’s dead. that leaves either
the retailer or the manufacturer eating the
cost of a notebook, which is quite a bit
more than the cost of single components.
that doesn’t mean you can’t do it, however.
if you hunt around, you can find stores that
will sell white-box notebooks that you can
add your own parts to.tAKiNG StocK
Referencing the cooler reviews by David
Murphy on page 78 of the September issue,
can you please let me know which stock cooler
is used for comparison and whether it’s of good
quality. I need one.
—LarryASSociAte editor dAvid MUrPhy
reSPoNdS: the stock cooler we use is just
that—the default cooler that comes with
the processor when you buy it in retail
packaging. in our case, it’s a boring ol’
heatsink and fan for an AMd Athlon FX-60
processor. this allows us to show the rela-
tive value of an aftermarket product. if a
cooler we review performs better than the
stock cooler, you know it’s worth consider-
ing. if it performs worse, what’s the point of
paying the extra money? Unless, of course,
the cooler solves a problem other than
temps—such as minimizing fan noise.COMIN
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