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- Epson Perfection 4490 Photo
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Epson Perfection 4490 Photo
PCWorld. com
Epson Perfection 4490 Photo
Richard Jantz
October 05, 2005
Rick Rizner
Epson's flatbed scanners are no strangers to PC World's ranked charts, where both small-office and corporate-level models have earned positions of honor over the years. Now, with the debut of its new Perfection 4490 Photo, Epson has another winner on its hands. Although the 4490's $249 street price makes it expensive for a value model, it also provides powerful features ideal for photo enthusiasts and other advanced users to justify its premium cost.
The...
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- Epson Perfection 3490 Photo
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Epson Perfection 3490 Photo
PCWorld. com
Epson Perfection 3490 Photo
Richard Jantz
October 05, 2005
Rick Rizner
The Epson Perfection 3490 Photo is the best bargain among value scanners we've reviewed lately. With its winning combination of great image quality, reasonable performance, versatile features, and a very affordable $99 cost, the 3490 is an excellent choice for the average user who wants a scanner that provides the most value for the best price.
In addition to scanning photos and paper documents, the 3490 can also batch-scan up to four 35mm negatives or...
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- Canon CanoScan LiDE 60
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Canon CanoScan LiDE 60
PCWorld. com
Canon CanoScan LiDE 60
Richard Jantz
October 05, 2005
Rick Rizner
The slim $80 Canon CanoScan LiDE 60 weighs barely four pounds and measures less than two inches high, making it a good choice for those with limited desktop space. With the small plastic stand that's included, you can use or store the scanner in an upright position. The LiDE 60 also eliminates a power cord and cuts down on cable clutter by drawing power through its Hi-Speed USB 2. 0 connection.
Unlike the vast majority of the flatbed models PC World has reviewed recently,...
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- Canon CanoScan LiDE 25
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Canon CanoScan LiDE 25
PCWorld. com
Canon CanoScan LiDE 25
Richard Jantz
October 05, 2005
Rick Rizner
The $50 CanoScan LiDE 25 features the slim design we've seen in other Canon scanners that use the same type of Compact Image Sensor (CIS) technology. Because they use tiny LEDs (LiDE stands for LED Indirect Exposure) instead of standard lamps, these scanners are much thinner than conventional flatbed scanners, so they fit neatly into homes or offices where desktop space is limited. The LiDE 25 also draws its power from the same USB cable it employs for data transfer,...
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- Fujifilm FinePix S9000
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Fujifilm FinePix S9000
PCWorld. com
Fujifilm FinePix S9000
Alan Stafford
October 25, 2005
Rick Rizner
The Fujifilm FinePix S9000 has some of the best attributes of a single-lens reflex model in an all-in-one body, but it's still a large, bulky camera that doesn't cost much less than a true SLR. It has a fixed 28mm-to-300mm lens--quite long for a fixed-lens digital camera, yet the lens is pretty compact. The zoom is manually operated; you just twist the barrel, as you do on an SLR. The S9000 can focus on objects as close as 0. 4 inch, and a button on the back of the...
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- Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D
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Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D
PCWorld. com
Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D
Alan Stafford
October 25, 2005
Rick Rizner
At $899 including an 18mm-to-70mm lens, the Maxxum 5D competes with other consumer digital single-lens reflex models such as Nikon's D50, Canon's EOS Digital Rebel XT, and Olympus's EVolt E-300. The 6. 1-megapixel Maxxum 5D has the requisite manual exposure modes, but it also has five scene modes located on a top-mounted dial. Advanced users will appreciate that the camera has a dedicated ISO button located prominently just beside the mode dial, and that it has...
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- Asus W3V
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Asus W3V
PCWorld. com
Asus W3V
Carla Thornton
October 29, 2005
Rick Rizner
If you want a strong-performing, intelligently designed portable, the Asus W3V may be worth a closer look.
This 14. 1-inch wide-screen has 10 hot (shortcut) buttons built directly into the edges of the case. The five left-side buttons include a power button and CD playback controls. The notebook's speakers aren't very loud, but their front-mounted outlets let you close the lid while playing CDs.
The right-side buttons include separate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controls, a Web site hot-key and a...
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- Casio Exilim EX-S500
- PCWorld. com
Casio Exilim EX-S500
Paul Jasper
August 29, 2005
Rick Rizner
Casio's $399, 5. 1-megapixel EX-S500 may be one of the thinnest zoom-lens-equipped digital cameras you can buy--just 0. 6 inch front to back with its 3X zoom lens retracted. That makes it small enough to take with you almost anywhere. Casio offers this model in three colors: dark gray, white, and an eye-catching orange. The 2. 2-inch LCD is slightly smaller than the 2. 5-inch displays found on some competing models of comparable size, but it's perfectly adequate for composing shots or sharing snaps with...
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- First Look: Quicken's First-Rate Upgrade
- PCWorld. com
First Look: Quicken's First-Rate Upgrade
Yardena Arar, PC World
August 01, 2005
First Look: Quicken's First-Rate UpgradeWe found several compelling reasons to upgrade to the 2006 version of this personal finance manager. Yardena Arar, PC World
Kudos to Intuit for not standing in place with its popular, if sometimes maddening, personal finance software. This year's versions of Quicken, announced today, take advantage of the latest in electronic record-keeping in some clever and useful ways.
Unlike Microsoft's recently released 2006 editions of Money--a minor upgrade...
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- Planar PX1910M
- PCWorld. com
Planar PX1910M
Laura Blackwell
August 23, 2005
Rick Rizner, John Goddard
The $469 Planar PX1910M is one of the few monitors to include screen pivot software along with its physical pivot adjustment. The software, Pivot Pro, costs $40 if bought separately.
Like its 17-inch sibling, the PX1710M, the 19-inch PX1910M looks smooth and corporate. Its thin bezel makes a dual-monitor setup seem less visually daunting. Better yet, it offers versatility and excellent ergonomics by including all four physical adjustments: height, pivot, swivel, and tilt. That said,...
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- Canon Pixma iP4200
- PCWorld. com
Canon Pixma iP4200
Paul Jasper
September 27, 2005
Rick Rizner
The Canon Pixma iP4200 prints high-quality glossy photos quickly, but it's just as well suited for printing office documents. For $130, you get strong black text, double-sided printing, and dual paper trays. In our tests the iP4200 printed documents at breakneck speed, but the quality of its plain-paper output barely improved on that of its predecessor, the iP4000.
The iP4200's silver plastic case feels solid and looks less boxy than other recent Canon models. A direct-print port lets you print straight...
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- Planar PX1710M
- Planar PX1710M
Laura Blackwell
July 28, 2005
Rick Rizner, John Goddard
If you just read the specs, Planar's PX1710M looks like a great deal for $369. It's one of a handful of monitors under $400 that include pivot adjustment, and it throws the $40 Pivot Pro software into the bargain. Many aspects of its design work nicely. But its image quality doesn't match that of similarly priced--and even less expensive--17-inch models.
Rounded edges and an oval stand soften the PX1710M's look, keeping it businesslike but not boxy. A thin bezel is a plus for tiling two screens side by...
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- FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ
Anandtech.com
- Wesley Fink-October 11th, 2005
"Beyond DDR480 to 500, the choices narrow to the Gigaram and OCZ, and while performance is similar, the system requirements are not. "
"If you want a wide range of overclocking to DDR550, fast performance at DDR400, and voltages that never need to be higher than 2. 7V, then the OCZ PC4000 1024MB EB Platinum is your best choice of the three memories that we tested. "
"The three 2GB kits that we tested are all winners, but the OCZ PC4000 EB Platinum Edition stood out from the crowd. The OCZ performed at fast 2-3-2 memory timings at DDR400 to 3-3-2...
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- AnandTech's very Impressed With This Value Offering From DFI: DFI's NForce4 INFINITY Motherboard
- Anandtech. com
Hayward, CA - Oct. 3, 2005 - DFI, a world leader of motherboards and maker of the award-winning LANParty motherboard series, is proud to announce today that AnandTech used DFI's nForce4 INFINITY board as the platform for its latest in-depth overclocking article titled "Investigations into Socket 939 Athlon 64 Overclocking. "
"At this point in time, the favored overclocking boards for AMD systems are all from the same place: DFI, " commented Jarred Walton of AnandTech. "We're comfortable in saying that's no accident, as DFI has pushed the limits in supported voltage...
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- Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
- PCWorld. com
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
Richard Baguley
August 01, 2005
Rick Rizner
Although many of the digital SLRs that we tested have a plentiful supply of buttons, the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D has the most: 24 dials and buttons spread around the camera. But this approach has a big upside: It makes the controls much easier to get to. For instance, on many cameras you have to use an LCD-screen menu to access the exposure or flash compensation settings, but the Minolta 7D puts these controls on two dials on the left side of the camera body. Likewise, additional controls--a button...
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- NEC MultiSync LCD1970GX
- PCWorld. com
NEC MultiSync LCD1970GX
Laura Blackwell
August 23, 2005
Rick Rizner, John Goddard
The $499 NEC MultiSync LCD1970GX impressed our jury with its clear text and rich color reproduction. In fact, it achieved the highest overall score by a 19-inch monitor that we've seen lately. Although it didn't receive the top number on any of our five text tests, it attained very high ratings on each of them. On our graphics screens, it reproduced color and detail admirably, nearly matching the high-performing Sony SDM-HS95P on most tests and narrowly beating it on our group portrait...
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- ViewSonic VX924
- PCWorld. com
ViewSonic VX924
Laura Blackwell
August 23, 2005
Rick Rizner, John Goddard
The $429 ViewSonic VX924 is the first 19-inch monitor to use ViewSonic's Amplified Impulse technology, which overdrives the LCD panel's electronics to improve transition speed between shades of gray. As the theory goes, fast gray-to-gray transitions lessen ghosting and motion artifacting. A fast gray-to-gray response time appeals strongly to many power users and to gamers in particular. For more detail, see our review of the VX924's 17-inch sibling, the VX724.
PC World's motion tests consist...
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- Casio Exilim EX-Z750
- PCWorld. com
Casio Exilim EX-Z750
Paul Jasper
August 29, 2005
Rick Rizner
Casio's $450 Exilim EX-Z750 will suit almost any photographer hunting for a small, pocketable camera. Occasional photographers will find automatic settings and plenty of scene modes to help them get better shots, while experienced shooters will appreciate the creative control they get by using the camera's solid selection of advanced features. Encased in a slim metal body, the EX-Z750 is small enough for you to carry everywhere. The camera's 3X zoom lens is standard fare, but the 2. 5-inch LCD is enormous...
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- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1
- PCWorld. com
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1
Paul Jasper
August 29, 2005
Rick Rizner
Sony's $500 Cyber-shot DSC-H1 packs a powerful 12X optical zoom lens and an impressive 2. 5-inch LCD into a chunky but intelligently designed package. Its built-in image stabilization helps produce sharp pictures, especially in low-light conditions or when you're taking telephoto shots. In bright light or when you're shooting action, you can switch to the DSC-H1's eye-level viewfinder. Because it's electronic, it delivers more-accurate framing then you'd get though an optical viewfinder, but it seems...
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- Nikon Coolpix S1
- PCWorld. com
Nikon Coolpix S1
Paul Jasper
August 29, 2005
Rick Rizner
Nikon's $380, 5. 1-megapixel Coolpix S1 is no bigger than a deck of cards, even when you're snapping shots. At all times, the 3X optical zoom lens remains entirely within the S1's stylish, brushed aluminum case, so you can put the S1 away without ever having to wait for the lens to retract. This arrangement also enables the S1 to start up very fast. Dominating the back of this ultrathin camera is a 2. 5-inch LCD; there's no room for an optical viewfinder. If you're a sometime-photographer, the S1's 15 scene...
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