Sunday, November 12, 2023

PC World (July 2003)

PC World was probably the most popular PC magazine throughout much of the 1990s and beyond. However, by 2003 I was mostly just reading Maximum PC which was more of an "enthusiast" magazine. The July 2003 issue of PC world includes:

Features

Best of 2003 - July seems a bit early to have a best of the year feature to me but I guess that's just how PC World did things. Winners include:

Best Entertainment PC: ABS Media Center PC 8500 featuring a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 for $1799
Product of the Year: T-Mobile Sidekick ($300)
Best Desktop Power PC: Dell Dimension 8300
Best Input Device: Logitech Cordless Elite Duo (wireless mouse and keyboard, $100)
Best Operating System: Windows XP Professional ($299)
Best Ink Jet Printer: Canon i850 ($170)
...and much more.

One-Stop Digital Photography Guide - A digital photography guide that includes advice for choosing a digital camera, organizing your digital photos, printing your photos, and more.

Pest Zappers - A review and comparison of sever anti-virus software packages including EXtendia AVK Professional, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2003, GeCad Software RAV AntiVirus Desktop for Windows 8.6, Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 4, McAfee VirusScan 7 Home Edition, Panda Software Antivirus Platinum 7, Norton AntiVirus 2003, and Trend Micro PC-cillin 2003.

_{Table of Contents from the July 2003 issue of PC World}

Top 100

Pentium M Has Juice - New Pentium M based laptops impress with battery life.

Top 15 Desktops - The top power system this month is the ABS Awesome 3450 featuring an Athlon XP 3000+, 1 GB DDR400 RAM, 128MB Sapphire Radeon 9700 Pro, and more for $1929. The top value system is the ABS Awesome 3380 featuring an Athlon XP 2800+, 512 MB DDR400 RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro and more for $1749. The top corporate PC is the Compaq Evo D510 Convertible Minitower featuring a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR266 RAM, 64MB NVidia Quadro4 200NVS, and more for $2012.

Top 15 Notebook PCs - The Top Power Notebook is the IBM ThinkPad T40 featuring a 1.6 GHz Pentium M and 512 MB RAM for $3249. The top Value Notebook is the Compaq Presario 2100Z featuring a Mobile Athlon 4 XP 1800+ and 512 MB RAM for for $1024.

Top 10 Ink Jet Printers - The winner this month is the Canon i320 Color Bubble Jet Printer for $55.

Departments

Up Front - Predictions for best products in 2004 including an OLED equipped camera, reliable wireless router, broadband on airplanes, a great phone that is also a great PDA, and more.

Letters - Reader letters about wiping data from old drives, reducing spam, the death of Adam Osborne, and more.

Plugged In - News and rumors including a pilot program providing broadband access via power lines, laws cracking down on spammers, Sony's new Blu-ray recorder, AMD's new 64-bit Opteron, and more.

Consumer Watch - Be careful buying the latest high-tech gadgets. They may not come with needed accessories.

_{Table of Contents from the July 2003 issue of PC World (continued)}

News & Trends

E-Mail Evolves - New programs and web services offer more ways to control, sort and search your e-mail.

AMD Keeps Its Value Crown - A look at the new Athlon XP 3200+ and a couple of PCs based on it including the Poly 880NF3-3200 and Sys Performance 3200+.

Flash-Memory Bargains Bloom - Bargain is a relative term. Flash memory was rapidly declining in price but was still very expensive compared to today. For example, new 512MB and 1GB SD cards were expected to cost $170 and $330.

New Products

Personal Digital Assistants - A look at some of the latest PDAs including the Palm Zire 71, Palm Tungsten Z, and the Toshiba Pocket PC E755.

Remote-Access Software - A look at new software for remote access including LapLink Everywhere 2.01 and PCAnywhere 11.

Scanner - A look at the Fujitsu ScanSnap, a sheet-fed document scanner for $495.

Here's How

Windows Tips - Tips for password protecting files and folders, stopping Windows Messenger from launching, and more.

Step-By-Step - A guide to building your own PC.

Internet Tips - Tips for making money on eBay.

_{Back cover of the July 2003 issue of PC World}

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