PC & Tech Authority Magazine Issue: September 2007
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Issue: 118 | September 2007

About PC & Tech Authority Magazine:

Australia's premier computer magazine, PC Authority gives you the facts, opinions and insight to make informed PC and tech purchasing decisions. Every issue is packed with the latest products, reviewed by an expert team of technical writers and guarantees more Aussie exclusives and first looks than any other Australian PC magazine.

Trusted for its reliable & objective product reviews, the foundation of the magazine is the comprehensive and thorough evaluations of every product tested by the tech team in our Labs. Its readers are both PC enthsusiasts at home and small-medium business decision makers at work.

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What's in the mag?
  • SECRET WEBSITES
  • CPU MEGATEST
  • THE iPHONE KILLER
  • LASER PRINTERS GROUP TEST
  • THE MECHANICS OF MALWARE

    What's on the DVD?
  • NETOBJECTS FUSION 9
  • ROCKET READER TRIAL
  • EXALEAD ONE DESKTOP PRO
  • WEBSITE X5 SMART EDITION
  • NOVAPDF LITE DESKTOP 5

    ... and more ...

    PLUS subscribe this month and get a FREE PC Authority T-Shirt!

    From the Editor
    This month, we’ve got a treasure trove of great articles to enjoy. Discover the hidden gems that the Internet sequesters in our 50 Secret Websites feature, which contains dozens of fantastic services, sources of entertainment and web applications that will rapidly become invaluable.

    In our fascinating Mechanics of Malware feature, we drill deep into the technology that hackers and neer-do-wells apply in their quest to riddle the world with worms, rootkits and viruses.

    See our famous printer comparison work at its best in our laser printers lab test, pitting ten of the best models through the punishing PC Authority crucible.

    We also test the iPhone-killing HTC Touch phone, the new Blackberry Curve, and don’t miss our amazing graph that compares every computer processor in recent memory in terms of cost and performance. Has AMD really been left behind by Intel? The master graph tells all.

    Finally, Jon Honeyball explains Silverlight and our business supplement on advanced networking for small business brings you in-depth analysis of contemporary issues and practical networking advice for IT professionals.

    If you have any comments or requests for your magazine, PC Authority, go ahead and drop us an email. We’re always listening.

    Ed Dawson
    Editor
  • What's on the Disc?

    On this month's DVD, enjoy full versions of the web-development prowess of Netobjects Fusion 9, the drive-indexing and search power of Exalead One Desktop Pro, one-click web publishing with Website X5 Smart Edition and the document-exporting power of NovaPDF Lite Desktop 5. Also, see the innovative Rocket Reader trial, which is an Australian invention, that promises to teach you to read faster yet also retain more information! A truly extraordinary claim, that busy people everywhere would like to test!

    Full Version Software
    Exalead OneDesktop Professional
    NetObjects Fusion
    NovaPDF Lite Desktop 5
    Website X5 Smart Edition

    Entertainment
    Overlord PC Demo
    Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

    Patches
    ATI Catalyst 7.3 Control Center Package (XP)
    AVG Free Edition Updates
    DirectX
    Norton AntiVirus definitions update
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 6000 and 7000 series version 94.24 (98/ME/2000/XP)
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 6000, 7000 and 8000 series version 158.24 (Vista)
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 7050 and 7025 version 101.17 (98/ME/2000/XP)
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 7050 and 7025 version 101.17 (Vista)
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 7800 and 7900 GO series version 84.63 (Laptops)
    NVIDIA Forceware drivers for 8000 series version 158.22 (98/ME/2000/XP)
    Spybot Search & Destroy Update
    VIA HyperionPro drivers 5.12A
    Realtek AC'97 Codec
    Realtek AC'97 Codec (Vista)
    Realtek High Definition Audio Codecs
    Realtek Realtek High Definition Audio Codecs (Vista)

    Freeware
    AbiWord
    Ambient Design ArtRage
    Audacity
    DeepBurner Free 1.8
    Open Office 2.2
    PDFCreator 0.9.3
    The GIMP 2.2.13

    Windows
    Ad-aware SE Personal 1.06
    Adobe Reader 8
    AVG 7.5.446 Free Edition
    EditPad Pro 6.2.2
    ExplorerXP 1.07
    Google Desktop Search 4
    Google Earth 4 Beta
    Microsoft Windows Media Player 11
    RocketReader 8.20
    Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
    True Launch Bar 4.1
    Tweak UI
    WinRAR 3.62
    WinZip 11.0
    Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Firewall

    Internet
    AOL Instant Messenger 6.1
    Crazy Browser 3.0 Beta2
    CWShredder 2.19
    Diino 4 Trial Account
    FileZilla 2.2.32
    Google Toolbar 4.0
    Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.4
    Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.4
    MSN Messenger 7.0 (98/ME)
    Portable Firefox 2.0.0.4
    Remote Administrator 3.0
    SpamBayes 1.0.4
    Trillian Basic 3.1.6
    Windows Live Messenger

    Editorial
    Real World Benchmarks
    Creating a burned CD-R from an ISO image with DeepBurner

    Articles in this issue

    Acer Aspire L320

    A very-well designed alternative to big beefy computers which make a lot of noise.

    Advanced networking for small business

    Cutting edge technology is bringing powerful enterprise-grade solutions to the small and medium business sector. Read on for tips, analysis and tutorials about how you can take advantage.

    Apple iPhone: the facts

    A few odd omissions can’t disguise the fact that the iPhone has arrived to overwhelmingly positive reviews.

    Apple MacBook Pro

    Still one of the best examples of laptop design in the market, but there are compromises

    BlackBerry flavours

    There’s a lot to consider before jumping on the BlackBerry bandwagon. Should you or shouldn’t you use a dedicated blackberry device?

    Brother HL-5240

    An uncompromising monochrome laser that gets the job done with speed and precision.

    Desktop searches on Linux

    Google Desktop may finally be on Linux, but how does it fare against the competition?

    High-defcorner @ SMPTE

    David Field attends the motion picture industry’s biennial forum to see what the professionals are talking about.

    How viruses work

    They will get past your security software. Know your enemy and protect yourself.

    HTC Touch

    A great smartphone – particularly for ‘voice’ users. But we’d like to have seen the ‘touch’ technology run deeper.

    Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7

    With peerless detection capabilities, this well-conceived package is a joy to use.

    LG GGW-H10N

    A hint of things to come, but the first HD DVD and Blu-ray combo drive is very expensive.

    MegaPC Magnum

    A very fast, well-built high-end PC. But a few niggles and high price keep it off the A-List.

    Megaware Value Power

    Lacking in some areas, but punches above its weight where it counts.

    Opinion: Backwards migration

    Tagging is the best system for managing files ever conceived. David Kidd wonders what Google is so afraid of.

    Panasonic 103” plasma

    Take the Monolith from 2001 A Space Odyssey and let it display an image. That's the sense of enormity you feel when looking at this behemoth.

    Pioneer DreamVision LV190

    A poor performer in the face of HP’s similarly-priced, touch screen-enabled rival.

    Ricoh Aficio GX 3000

    An interesting new technology, but cheap running costs are let down by poor quality.

    RIM BlackBerry Curve 8300

    A desirable form factor that doesn’t compromise on usability.

    Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

    Why do so many network administrators trip over the humble VPN? Steve Cassidy goes in-depth.

    Sony Sound Forge 9

    Surround-sound support and mastering-quality plug-ins mean Sound Forge is better than ever.

    Toshiba Portégé R500

    Slim, good-looking and affordable – and you can even work outside in sunlight. Just note the niggles.

    Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus

    AVCHD support and some useful new effects keep this as the leading entry-level video editor.

    Wikipedia uncovered

    The best source of knowledge or “broken beyond repair”? PC Authority uncovers how the net’s highly controversial encyclopedia really works.

    From our Partners

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