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January 2011
We recognize the most significant advances in tech—from displays to processors to graphics to social networking, and much more!
technical eXcellence
27th ANNUAL AWARDS
facebook privacy toolkit
First Looks: Dell’s Groundbreaking XPS 15
Our PC Security Forecast for 2011
Make Your Own Ethernet Cables (and Save Money, Too!)
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
january 2011 vol. 30 no. 1
32 CovEr STory PC MAGAZINE’s TEChNICAL ExCELLENCE AwArDs
For 27 years, PC Magazine has recognized groundbreaking technologies and prod-
ucts in our annual Technical Excellence awards. This year, we honor innovation in 15
areas, including chip architecture, product design, graphics technology, and social
networking. Expect to hear more about these winners for quite some time to come.
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 1
PC Magazine Digital Edition, ISSn 0888-8507, is published monthly at $12 for one year. Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 East 28th Street, new york ny 10016-7940.
8 hArDwArE
Dell XPS 15
apple MacBook air 13-inch
Samsung nF310-a01
HP omni 100
Dell Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 410)
14 CONsuMEr ELECTrONICs
Motorola Droid 2 Global (verizon
Wireless)
Barnes & noble nook Color
Panasonic lumix DMC-FX700
18 BusINEss
HP Compaq 6000 Pro all-in-one
Business PC
Dell vostro v130
Xerox ColorQube 8870Dn
22 sOFTwArE
Google Chrome 8
Cyberlink PowerDirector 9
Hulu Plus
48 ThE BEsT sTuFF
FIrST looKS TECH nEWS 5 FrONT sIDE
What’s ahead for mobile apps; a
self-healing plastic invention; the
solar-powered nature of hornets; an
app for pee breaks at the movies.
oPInIonS 2 FIrsT wOrD:
LANCE uLANOFF
26 JOhN C. DvOrAk
28 sAsChA sEGAN
30 LArry sELTZEr
SoluTIonS40 FACEBOOk PrIvACy TOOLkIT
Worried you’re accidentally sharing
information you want to keep
private to Facebook? read on.
44 MAkE yOur OwN CABLEs
Store-bought Ethernet cables are
often too expensive and too short
(or too long). Here’s a quick and
relatively simple way to make
your own.
16 22
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
2 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
FIRST WORD LANCE ULANOFF
As the press and pundits pored
over the thousands of docu-
ments (cable communica-
tions) released recently by
WikiLeaks—the non-profit
media organization that says it strives to
“bring important news and information to
the public”—I find myself pondering the
other lessons this new breach teaches us.
The biggest and most obvious is that the
digital world is a porous place. Our secrets
are only safe for as long as we share them
with no one, in no fashion.
I’m not just talking about government
and diplomatic secrets. The government’s
WikiLeaks problem is really the same one
we all face: your digital information could
become grist for a rumor mill among your
friends, family, co-workers or the world
at large. Obviously, there’s a difference
between what you store locally (on your
home computer) and everything you post
online in, say, Facebook, MySpace and your
online e-mail provider. It’s harder, though
not impossible, for hackers to get at your
home network. However, if the incentive is
there, they might try and do it anyway.
according to a report on the BBC, Wiki-
Leaks’ diplomatic data came by way of a
government network that was expanded in
the early part of this century so government
intelligence agencies could more effec-
tively share critical information. Stovepipes
of information may have hurt us prior to the
9/11 attacks and it was assumed that these
more fluid information-sharing capabilities
would protect us from another attack. My
guess is that they have, but they also, natu-
rally, leave that data more open to outright
theft.
networks connected to the Internet can
be hacked in many ways. Sometimes it’s
malware that comes through e-mail and can
surreptitiously mail network-bound data to
e-mail accounts without your even knowing
it. In the case of the WikiLeaks, it’s unclear
if someone physically downloaded the data
to a portable drive or accessed it all through
the network. What isn’t in question is where
the data came from or its veracity.
WikiLeaks Teaches Us No Data Is Safe
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 3
FoLLoW me oN TWITTer! Catch the chief’s comments on the latest tech developments at twitter.com/LanceUlanoff.
If no digital data is bullet-proof, should the feds
pull all their data off the network and go back to
paper binders with red “ToP SeCreT” stamps?
tive information about their lives some-
where safe. The home computer should be
the spot, but the reality is that system has
very little in common with the steel, single-
key-access, safety deposit box.
If you store a piece of paper with all your
secrets in a bank’s safety deposit box, it’ll be
virtually impossible for anyone but you to
access it. The boxes are in a guarded loca-
tion, the box number is known only to you
and the bank, and only you have the key.
your home computer is accessible to every-
one in your home. a password can protect
the system, but the reality is that most home
computers are not password protected.
They’re also usually on the network, which
connects out the broader world.
The most secure government comput-
ers have a bit more in common with safety
deposit boxes. They can only be accessed
from certain physical locations, they have
complex passwords, their ports are either
blocked or restrict data downloads. Despite
all of that, regular people are now read-
ing thousands of classified documents that
came from a government computer.
I don’t really have an answer, but I do know
the lesson of WikiLeaks: no data, no matter
how carefully guarded, is ever truly safe.
If we accept that no digital data is truly
bullet-proof, what is our government—or
anyone for that matter—to do? Should the
feds pull all their data off the network and
go back to paper binders and giant, red
“TOP SECrET” stamps? I’m not sure they’ve
done away with that, but I also don’t think
an all-paper intelligence system is going to
help anyone. Likewise, I don’t think terrified
americans should stop posting data online
or storing it on their home PCs.
Facing Up To Realities of the Digital Age
For better or worse we live in the digital age.
Perhaps it’s time we started to embrace
the benefits and consequences and maybe
even modify our behavior. a more trans-
parent government and diplomacy means
that whatever people learn from the digital
world will essentially support what they’ve
heard in the real world. Likewise, people
who like to post secrets and compromising
images and text could start acting online as
they do in the real world.
yeah, right.
This all makes sense, except when you
consider that people purposely compart-
mentalize (who acts the same in their per-
sonal and professional lives?) and that there
will always be secrets. People can avoid
posting embarrassing information online,
but they still need to keep personal, sensi-
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
Editor-in-ChiEf, pC magazinE nEtwork Lance Ulanoff
Editor, pC magazinE digital Edition Stephanie ChangdirECtor of onlinE ContEnt, EXECUtiVE prodUCEr Vicki B. JacobsonEXECUtiVE Editor Dan CostanEwS dirECtor Peter PachalCrEatiVE dirECtor Chris Phillips fEatUrES Editor Eric GriffithSEnior Editor Brian HeaterfEatUrES writEr Iyaz AkhtarmanagEr, onlinE prodUCtion Yun-San Tsai prodUCErS Mark Lamorgese, Whitney A. ReynoldsnEwS EditorS Chloe Albanesius (East Coast), Mark Hachman (West Coast) rEportErS Leslie Horn, Sarah YinStaff Editor Jennifer Bergen (blogs)CommErCE prodUCEr Arielle RochetteaSSiStant Editor Hilary ScottUtility program managEr Tim Smith aSSiStant dESignEr Jackie SmithContribUting EditorS Tim Bajarin, John R. Delaney, John C. Dvorak, Bill Howard, Jamie Lendino, Edward Mendelson
pC labS managing EditorS Sean Carroll (software, security, Internet, business), Wendy Sheehan Donnell (consumer electronics), Laarni Almendrala Ragaza (hardware) lEad analyStS Cisco Cheng (laptops), Tim Gideon (consumer electronics), Samara Lynn (business, networking), Michael Muchmore (software), Neil J. Rubenking (security), Joel Santo Domingo (desktops), Sascha Segan (mobile), M. David Stone (printers, scanners) analyStS Tony Hoffman (printers, scanners), PJ Jacobowitz (consumer electronics),Matthew Murray (DIY, components) jUnior analyStS Alex Colon (consumer electronics), Will Fenton (software, Internet, networking), Will Greenwald (consumer electronics), David Pierce (consumer electronics), Natalie Shoemaker (hardware), Brian Westover (hardware), Jeffrey Wilson (software, Internet, networking) inVEntory Control Coordinator Nicole GrahamStaff photographEr Scott Schedivy SEnior ViCE prESidEnt, digital SalES Eric Koepele 212-503-5250ViCE prESidEnt, markEting James Selden 212-503-4689markEting managEr Lindsay Garrison 212-503-5270wEb dESignEr Yoland OuiyaadVErtiSing offiCE 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10016-7940; phone, 800-336-2423, 212-503-3500; fax, 212-503-5000; www.pcmagmedia.com
ziff daViS inC.ChiEf EXECUtiVE offiCEr Vivek ShahChiEf finanCial offiCEr and SEnior ViCE prESidEnt Neil GlassChiEf opErating offiCEr Steven Horowitz gEnEral CoUnSEl Stephen HicksSEnior ViCE prESidEnt, ContEnt Lance Ulanoff SEnior ViCE prESidEnt and gEnEral managEr, data SolUtionS Bennett ZuckerSEnior ViCE prESidEnt, bUSinESS dEVElopmEnt Anurag HarshSEnior ViCE prESidEnt, digital SalES Eric KoepeleViCE prESidEntS Larry Chevres (Engineering), James Selden (Marketing)dirECtor Joseph Mirabella (Licensing)
®
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january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 5
FrontWhat’s New from the World of Tech
Mobile apps can transform a phone into a
cookbook, a personal trainer, or a financial
adviser. The number of mobile apps has
grown to 300,000 in just three years, and
a report last month from IDC said revenues
from mobile app sales are expected to grow
more than 60 percent by 2014.
“Mobile app developers will ‘appify’ just
about every interaction you can think of in
your physical and digital worlds,” said Scott
Ellison, vice president of mobile and wire-
less at IDC. “The extension of mobile apps to
every aspect of our personal and business
lives will be one of the hallmarks of the new
decade, with enormous opportunities for
virtually every business sector.”
IDC said that market growth has been
driven by increased demand for devices
like tablets and smartphones; growth that
is expected to continue with connected TVs
The Decade Ahead: An Epic App ExplosionMobile app sales to grow more than 60 percent by 2014.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
frontside
6 PC MAGAZine diGitAL edition january 2011
GeArLoGSolar-powered Hornets!
The oriental hornet is more active during the day, and tends to become even more active as the temperature rises. and now scientists have discovered the reason: the hornets are solar-powered.It turns out that the distinctive yellow stripe on the hornet’s abdomen is actually full of tiny protrusions that gather sun-light and harness it for energy.
The insect also features a special pigment, called xan-thopterin, that helps with the process. “Xanthopterin works as a light-harvesting molecule transforming light into electri-cal energy,” Dr. Marian Plotkin told the BBC. Wasps and hor-nets tend to be more active during the morning, and this new research explains why the oriental hornet is differ-ent: It stays out during the day because there’s more sun. —Andrew Webster
APP sCout RunPee App for the Movies If you have an over-active bladder and always have to “use it” during what seems to be the best part of the
movie at the theater, the runPee app can help you find the best time to take a pee break without missing out. Here’s how it works: after you’ve decided what movie to see, simply open runPee and find the movie in its directory. after the open-ing credits are done and the movie officially has begun, start the runPee timer and it will vibrate to let you know when and for how long you can go potty with-out missing anything impor-tant. When you return, you can read what happened in the summary portion of the movie you are timing. —Terrance Gaines
Android APPs In
addition to apps
for apple devices,
the number of
android apps, like
Lock 2.0, are grow-
ing steadily.
and connected homes. IDC predicted that
the number of downloaded apps will grow
from 10.9 billion in 2010 to 76.9 billion in
2014, and that app revenues will surpass $35
billion in the same year.
app stores for various platforms have
reported positive growth this year. Last
month, apple confirmed that the app Store
had surpassed 300,000 applications in its
catalog. In October, Google said that the
android Market, which is soon getting an
update, had hit 100,000 apps.
The new popularity of tablets such as the
apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab have
further pushed growth for mobile apps.
apple sold 4.19 million iPads last quarter,
and after its first month, Samsung’s Galaxy
BEST of our BlogS
Tab sold more than 1 million.
Earlier this year, a Gartner study predicted
tablet sales of 19.5 million in 2010, reaching
208 million by 2014.—Leslie Horn
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 7
Scientists Develop Self-HealingPlastics
Extreme Tech
MOrPhING PLAsTIC When heated, the plastic
material called shape memory polymer retains
its original shape.
real-life Transformers just got a little closer
to reality. resarchers at arizona State uni-
versity have now figured out a way to build
plastic material that heals itself.
The material, called shape memory poly-
mer, contains a fiber-optic “nervous sys-
tem” of sorts that can detect and address
cracks over time, according to a report by
australia’s IT news.
Laboratory testing has shown the mate-
rial is capable of restoring up to 96 percent
of an object’s original strength.
researchers said the material could be
used in composite structures that humans
can’t normally reach, such as the Mars rov-
ers, or the insides of satellites or wind tur-
bines.
Here’s how it works: The fiber-optic net-
work inside the plastic transmits infrared
light from a one-watt laser; this highlights
any loss of light due to cracks in the plastic.
The surrounding plastic then absorbs the
lost light, heating the material and making
it 11 times tougher. In turn, that prevents the
crack from spreading, the report said.
The u.S. national Science Foundation
funded the work; the journal of applied
Physics published the results last month.
Products could be manufactured using the
new material within as little as two years,
according to the report.
Microsoft is also working on a shape-
memory polymer display that offers genu-
ine tactile feedback, which could usher in a
new generation of touch screens. Its patent
covers a touch screen design that includes
a “shape-memory layer.” When activated
via a specific frequency of ultraviolet light,
individual pixels can be raised or lowered,
lending the displayed image some physi-
cal texture. Imagine an on-screen keyboard
with individual raised “keys” that depress
when you touch them. —Jamie Lendino
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
8 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
The XPS 15 comes with 3 USB ports (two of
which are USB 3.0, the other an eSATA/USB
2.0 combo port), DisplayPort, HDMI, and an
HD Webcam. There’s no shortage of wireless
features either, including 802.11n Wi-Fi, Blue-
tooth, WiMAX (4G), and mobile broadband
(CDMA and GSM 3G technologies).
Top-of-the-line components, such as a
dual-core 2.53-GHz Intel Core i5-460M pro-
cessor and 4GB of DDR3 memory, comple-
ment many of these high-end features, and
undoubtedly contribute to the XPS 15’s
The Dell XPS 15, a desktop-
replacement laptop, is a won-
derland of lavish features and
cutting-edge components. It is
simply one of the best laptops I’ve
tested. And it can fit like a glove; most of its
parts are customizable, so the XPS 15 can
be completely over-the-top if you want, or
priced to meet a certain budget.
Covered in luxurious aluminum, the XPS
15 has a 15.6-inch widescreen that will blow
you away, with its 1080p resolution. The
screen itself can take images into another
color space, as it’s based on RGB LED tech-
nology, providing a wider color gamut.
The XPS 15 also has a Skype-certified HD
webcam —a laptop first—as well as floor-
thumping speakers, and every wireless tech-
nology imaginable. Its keyboard, touchpad,
and mouse buttons offer a nearly flawless
typing and navigating experience.
First INSIDE 8 HARDWARE 14 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS 18 BUSINESS 22 SOFTWARE
Dell XPS 15
DellXPS15$1,115 directL l l l h
PROS 1080p resolution. First HD webcam on a laptop. Nvidia GeForce GT 420M graphics chip is also a first. Has Optimus technology. Excel-lent keyboard. HDMI and DisplayPort. Long list of processor options. Reasonably priced.
CONS Thick and heavy. The 6-cell battery alone won’t cut it.
Groundbreaking,ManyTimesOver
ISPECS 2.53-GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor; 4GB DDR3 memory; 500GB hard drive; Intel GMA HD and nVidia Ge-Force GT 420M graphics; 15.6-inch widescreen; 6.3 pounds; 802.11n wireless; Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 9
OurraTINGSkEy:
l l l l l EXCELLENT
l l l l m VERY GOOD
l l l m m GOOD
l l m m m FAIR
l m m m m POOR
strong performance. It emerged the vic-
tor in tests like Handbrake (2:45) and Cine-
bench R11.5 (2.3). It also earned top marks
in PCMark Vantage (6,426), an overall per-
formance test that takes advantage of yet
another component—graphics.
The XPS 15 takes the cake when it comes
to features, components and customiza-
tion. It’s as impressive as desktop replace-
ments laptop gets, and that’s why it’s our
new Editors’ Choice pick.—Cisco Cheng
>> CLICk HERE FOR MORE
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
10 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
While its predecessor
was thin and beautiful
but a disappointment
in terms of features, the
new Apple MacBook
Air 13-inch has added features and perfor-
mance this time around that set the prec-
edent for what’s to come.
The 13-inch version adds an extra USB
port and an SD slot—features it desperately
needed to compete as a laptop. It com-
pletely transitions to flash storage (SSDs),
which made room for a bigger 50Wh bat-
tery and its over 5 hours of battery life.
With a 1.86-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L9400
processor and just 2GB of DDR3 memory,
the MacBook Air 13-inch isn’t going to set
the world on fire in terms of performance.
But if your demands aren’t outrageous, it’s
fast enough to tackle any number of tasks.
Compared with laptops like the Toshiba
R705-P35, Dell V130, and the Sony Z1390X,
it takes a lot longer to transcode a video
using Handbrake (4:28) or render a photo
with Adobe Photoshop CS5 (10:50). But the
differences are negligible when it comes to
surfing the Web, playing a high-definition
movie, or working in Microsoft Office.
With its extra USB port, an SD slot, and
bigger battery, Apple has addressed the
complaints Air users have had for the
last two years, yet Apple still found a way
to shave some extra fat off the frame. But
for those bound by a budget, the Editors’
Choice Toshiba Portege R705-P35 doesn’t
cost nearly as much and is a better overall
ultraportable.—Cisco Cheng
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch
Sleek, Thin And Full of Features
ISPECS 1.86-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L9400 processor; 2GB DDR3 memory; 128GB hard drive; nVidia GeForce 320M graphics; 13.3-inch widescreen; 2.9 pounds; 802.11n wireless; Mac OS X 10.6
FIRST LOOKS HARDwARE
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch $1,299 directl l l l m
PROS Added SD slot and extra USB port. Stun-ningly beautiful design. Twice as much battery life as its predecessor. Best clickpad implemen-tation, period. Zippy wake-from-sleep times.
CONS Pricey. Starting memory configuration only 2GB rather than 4GB. Intel Core 2 Duo processor based on two-year-old technology.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 11
Despite claims that tablets are
eating into sales, netbooks are
still key products. Standing out
from the latest batch of dual-core,
Atom-processor netbooks is the
Samsung NF310-A01. It offers a great user
experience, a high-resolution screen, more
than 7 hours of battery life, and a nice price.
The NF310-A01’s lid is dubbed “Titan
Silver,” spruced-up marketing lingo to
describe its reflective plastic. At 2.8 pounds,
it is lighter than the HP 5103 (3 pounds) and
Toshiba NB305-N410 (2.9 pounds). The
10-inch widescreen has a 1,366-by-768 reso-
lution, a rare find in the 10-inch space.
The NF310-A01 ships with a great key-
board that is 95 percent of full size, and is
as comfortable as typing on a full-size lap-
top. Features are fairly standard: a 250GB
(5,400-rpm) hard drive, three USB ports,
VGA, Ethernet, a webcam, and an SD slot.
On SYSMark 2007 Preview, which mea-
sures overall performance, the NF310-A01
scored as well as every other netbook in this
group (with 38). Its Cinebench R11.5 score
(0.48) matched that of the Asus 1015PEM
and Acer AOD255-1203. Battery life lasted 7
hours 5 minutes—nice for a small laptop.
The Toshiba NB305-N410 is still a great
netbook, but the NF310-A01 is our new net-
book winner because of its dual-core Atom
processor and high-resolution screen, for
the same price.—Cisco Cheng
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
FIRsT LOOKs HARDwARE
samsung NF310-A01
The Best Netbook Experience Around
Samsung NF310-A01$400 streetL l l l h
PROs Dual-core Atom. High-resolution screen. Full-size keyboard. Wide touchpad and soft mouse buttons. Reasonably priced. Over 7 hours of battery life. Easy to upgrade memory.
CONs Glossy top is a little dated.
IsPECs Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition Processor Speed: 1.5-GHz Intel Atom N550 pro-cessor; 1GB RAM; 250GB hard drive; Intel GMA 3150 graphics; 10.1-inch widescreen; 2.8 pounds; 802.11n wireless; Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
12 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
The HP Omni 100 has something
that most other all-in-one desk-
top PCs lack: a price under $600.
The Omni 100 is well-equipped at
this price point: 3GB of memory,
500GB hard drive, and a dual-core proces-
sor. It has most, if not all, the features you’d
want in an affordable all-in-one PC, and it
doesn’t feel like an underpowered nettop.
Like the Apple iMac, the Omni 100 is a
screen suspended by an arm with a single
tilt point. Unlike the iMac, which is made of
aluminum, the Omni is made of black plastic.
The Omni 100 has adequate, built-in speak-
ers, six USB 2.0 ports, a 6-in-1 digital media
card reader, a Webcam, Ethernet port, and
audio ports on the system. The system’s
widescreen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and
1,600-by-900 resolution—not quite 1080p
“True HD” but enough to display 720p online
videos and 480p videos from DVDs.
The Omni 100 is fast enough to keep up
with the general PC user, scoring 3,066 on
our PCMark Vantage test; it topped the
2,000-point scores of Intel Atom-powered
nettops like the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150
and Giada Slim-N20. On the Handbrake
video-encode test, it scored a respectable
5:31, and on Photoshop CS5, it held its own
at 10:48.
If you’re looking to stay below $600,
the HP Omni 100 is an attractive all-in-
one entry level PC with a large hard drive,
bright 20-inch LCD panel, and decent
performance. Therefore it is our new win-
ner for entry-level all-in-one desktops.
—Joel Santo Domingo
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
HP Omni 100
FIRsT LOOKs HARDwARE
All In One, And Under $600
IsPECs AMD Athlon II X2 processor; 3GB RAM; 500GB hard drive; ATI Radeon HD 4270 graphics; 20-inch LCD widescreen; Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW optical drive; Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
HP Omni 100$559.99 directl l l l h
PROs Compact all-in-one. Attractive design. Great bang for the buck. Speedier than Atom-powered desktops. Tool-less, easy-to-access chassis.
CONs Not true 1080p HD. Only 60-day Norton Internet Security. Wired keyboard and mouse. A bit of bloatware.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 13
The Zino HD (Inspiron 410) is certainly
fast enough to support HD viewing on an
HDTV or large-screen monitor. The system
smoothly displayed Web videos, DVDs, and
Blu-ray movies. And since it has full Win-
dows compatibility, it’s more powerful on
the Web and more flexible than Google TV
adjuncts like the Logitech Revue or Sony’s
Blu-ray player with Google TV. It is the best
compact entertainment PC available to
hook up to an HDTV or large-screen monitor,
and that’s why it earns our Editors’ Choice
for compact PCs.—Joel Santo Domingo
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Dell Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 410)
Here’s the ideal centerpiece to
your home-theater setup. This
compact desktop takes up about
as much shelf space as the recent
Apple Mac mini, even though it’s
a bit taller. It has a quad-core processor,
decent discrete graphics, a large 750GB,
7,200-rpm hard drive, MCE remote, inte-
grated IR sensor for the remote, 6GB of
DDR3 memory, and a Blu-ray drive.
The only thing missing is a TV tuner, so the
system can work as a DVR. Assuming that
you already have a cable-company DVR,
the system becomes the perfect HDTV
companion.
The Zino HD’s outer appearance is essen-
tially unchanged from the Inspiron 400 ver-
sion. It has a full-sized wireless keyboard
and mouse, a tray-loading optical drive and
4-in-1 media card reader in the front, and a
plethora of ports in the back. Most notable,
the Zino HD has an HDMI-out port for con-
nections to large monitors or HDTVs, a VGA
port, a S/PDIF port for digital audio, and
two eSATA ports for external hard drives.
FIRsT LOOKs HARDWARE
The Perfect Companion To HDTV
IsPECs AMD Phenom II processor; 6GB RAM; 750GB hard drive; ATI Radeon HD 5450 graphics; Blu-Ray Disc opti-cal drive; Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
Dell Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 410)$849.99 directl l l l m
PROs Wireless keyboard and mouse. Quad-core power. Discrete graphics. Blu-ray player. 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4-GHz/5-GHz WiFi. Quiet and compact. Built-in IR receiver. Included MCE remote. Two eSATA ports. HDMI port. 6GB of memory.
CONs Only 30-day trial to McAfee Security-Center. Thicker than Mac mini. Not user service-able. No HDTV tuner. External power brick.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
14 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
The Motorola Droid 2 Global
is Verizon’s premiere business
phone. If you’re a corporate cus-
tomer and your company doesn’t
require you to get a BlackBerry,
this is the cell phone you need. But it isn’t
perfect. If you’re picky about your voice
quality, you may want to shop around.
The Droid 2 Global is very similar to our
previous Editors’ Choice, the Motorola Droid
2. The handsets have almost exactly the
same body, but the Droid 2 is more power-
ful. Motorola has clocked the TI OMAP 3640
processor from 1 GHz up to 1.2 GHz and
folded in a world-ready HSPA 7.2 modem
without making the phone any larger,
though it’s a touch heavier, at 6.1 ounces.
Just like the Droid 2, the Global is a slid-
ing-keyboard smartphone with a 3.7-inch,
854-by-480 screen. There’s a SIM card slot
and MicroSD memory-card slot under the
Motorola Droid 2 Global (Verizon Wireless)
fIrsT LOOks CONsuMEr ELECTrONICs
Verizon’s Premiere Business Phone
sliding metal back. The four-row QWERTY
keyboard is quite good.
The Droid 2 Global connects to Veri-
zon’s CDMA EVDO Rev A network here
in the States and to CDMA, GSM or HSPA
900/2100 networks abroad. It also has
Wi-Fi 802/11 b/g/n.
Reception on the Droid 2 Global is fine,
but voice quality on the earpiece isn’t great.
Voices sounded muddy and indistinct in
my tests, which was frustrating. Attaching
an Aliph Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headset
helped, and voice dialing worked through
the headset as well.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 15
The Droid 2 Global is our Editors’ Choice
as the top smartphone with a keyboard on
Verizon Wireless. It is pretty much like the
Droid 2 but better. That said, there are rea-
sons you might want other Verizon smart-
phones. The Motorola Droid X has a bigger
screen, a better camera, and higher voice
quality, but you lose the keyboard and
global capability. Truly old-school, no-non-
sense business folks will still want to go for
the global BlackBerry Bold 9650, with its
unparalleled battery life and excellent voice
quality.—Sascha Segan
>> CLICk HErE fOr MOrE
Motorola Droid 2 Global (Verizon Wireless)$199.99 directl l l l m
PrOs Global capability. Good keyboard. Fast pro-cessor. Long battery life.
CONs Muddy voice quality.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
16 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Ever since the ebook reader boom
began, consumers have been
begging for color displays. Now
Barnes & Noble has released the
Nook Color with a 7-inch color
LCD display to satisfy this need.
The color and contrast on the Nook Col-
or’s LCD blows monochrome E-Ink (used
on the Amazon Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi and the
original Nook) away. Also, because the LCD
is backlit, you can read it without a light.
The one significant downside is the bat-
tery life—Barnes & Noble rates the battery
life at “up to 8 hours.” Pretty weak com-
pared with the weeks of use you can get out
of one charge with most E-Ink-based ebook
readers.
At 8.1 by 5 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and nearly
a pound (15.8 ounces), the Nook Color is
both bigger and heavier than the Kindle
or the original Nook. It’s still light enough
to tote easily, though, and we were able to
comfortably use the Nook Color with one
hand, which really isn’t possible for long
periods with the 1.5-pound Apple iPad.
Reading on the Nook Color is very intui-
tive. You can move forward or back in books
by swiping the touch-sensitive screen or
tapping, and the display is pretty respon-
sive. Rapidly flipping through pages is pos-
sible in a way that would be unthinkable on
E-Ink displays.
With the original Nook and Kindle sell-
ing for just under $200 each (less than
$150 each if you forgo 3G) and the Apple
iPad starting at $500, the $250 Nook Color
occupies a place right in the middle. It’s not
a tablet, and it needs to be charged fre-
quently, but overall, the Nook Color makes
a perfectly amiable reading companion.—
Dan Costa and David Pierce
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Barnes & Noble Nook Color
FIRsT LOOKs CONsuMER ELECTRONICs
More Than Just An eBook Reader
Barnes & Noble Nook Color$249 directL L L L m
PROs Bright, 7-inch LCD screen with 16 million colors. Intuitive touch-based navigation. Runs third-party apps. Deep social integration. Lots of periodicals available.
CONs No 3G, just Wi-Fi connectivity. Propri-etary AC adapter. Battery life is short for a dedicated ebook reader.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 17
The 14.1-megapixel Pana-
sonic Lumix DMC-FX700
is extremely fast and can
deliver great still images and
surprisingly high-quality
1080i HD video. And with a bright f/2.2 lens
with a 5x optical zoom, it shoots very well
without a flash. The drawback is its hefty
price tag ($399.95 list); competitors like the
Sony Cyber-Shot WX1 and Canon Power-
Shot SD4000 actually deliver better high-
ISO performance.
The 3-inch touch screen is a joy to use. You
can tap your subject on the touch screen
to focus, and even shoot using the touch
screen instead of the standard shutter-
release button. Besides automatic shooting
mode, the FX700 features manual, shutter
priority, and aperture priority modes.
The FX700 can power up and shoot in an
average of 2 seconds, and spends an aver-
age of just 1.4 seconds between shots (with-
out flash). It also averages just .4 seconds
of shutter lag, fast for any compact camera.
If you want something faster, you’ll have to
move to a D-SLR.
Recording video is one of the areas where
the FX700 shines. You can use optical zoom
and refocus while recording, an option
many digital cameras don’t allow because
of noise from the lens motor. Panasonic
slows down zooming during recording so
the noise is extremely faint; you have to be
really listening for it.
If you want good-looking pictures, speed,
strong video-recording capabilities, and
a bright lens, don’t hesitate to pick up the
FX700—if you can afford it. If you can’t, go
with the Sony WX1 or the Canon SD4000.
—PJ Jacobowitz
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700$399.95 listL l l l m
PROS Great still images. Powerful video record-ing options. Bright lens (f/2.2). Touch-screen interface. Automatic and manual shooting. Negligible shutter lag. Fast burst mode.
CONS Expensive. Dull LCD. Marginal high-ISO performance. Proprietary USB port.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700
FIRST LOOKS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
Impressive Camera With a Hefty Price
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
18 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
The HP Compaq 6000 Pro is an
attractive, all-in-one business
PC with enterprise-class fea-
tures, coupled with great per-
formance.
There’s no doubt that the Apple iMac
(Core i3) and its brothers have affected all-
in-one desktop design. The HP Compaq
6000 Pro All-in-One Business PC takes
some of the iMac’s most distinctive design
features, and puts it on an enterprise-class
PC. It has the power to produce everything
from Web sites to Word docs to digital
photos. If you’re looking for an all-in-one
desktop to spruce up or save space in your
office, then take a long hard look at the HP
Compaq 6000 Pro.
Encased in a black plastic chassis, the
6000 Pro sports a 21.5-inch widescreen dis-
play with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen has
tilt movement on a single-piece arm, just
like on the iMac. The open design of the arm
allows you to place the wireless keyboard
under the screen for easy storage.
The desktop has the usual business-
friendly ports, including seven USB 2.0
ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, Eth-
ernet, audio, and a DisplayPort.
The desktop comes with HP’s sourced
and customized software, most of which
should be useful if your business regularly
buys HP Compaq business systems. Among
the software are HP SkyRoom, a high-res-
olution collaboration tool that combines
video conferencing, instant messaging, and
screen sharing; and HP ProtectTools, which
manages your network and client security.
The 6000 Pro was a solid performer on
our multimedia benchmarks, thanks to the
system’s Core 2 Duo E7600 processor and
4GB of DDR3 memory. It handily beat com-
petitors Lenovo IdeaCentre B305, Sony
VAIO VPC-J113FX/B, and HP TouchSmart
310 on our Handbrake video-encode and
Photoshop CS5 tests.
The Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Core i3), our
fIrsT LOOks busINEss
HP Compaq 6000 Pro All-in-One business PC
An All-in-One PC That’s Fit For An Enterprise
IsPECs Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 4GB RAM; 320GB hard drive; Intel GMA X4500 graphics; 21.5-inch widescreen; dual-layer DVD+/-RW optical drive; Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 19
HP Compaq 6000 Pro All-in-One Business PC$1,109 directl l l l m
PROS Attractive all-in-one form factor. Easy service-ability. Back port cover. 3-year warranty. TPM, vPro, and HP business software, including FireFox for HP Virtual Solutions.
CONS Only 60-day McAfee Total Protection (Antivirus, anti-malware, etc.). Integrat-ed graphics.
Editors’ Choice for mid-priced all-in-one
desktops, is still our reigning champion,
thanks to faster performance and a higher-
resolution screen. However, if you’re look-
ing to equip your workers with an all-in-one
desktop that takes advantage of HP’s
enterprise-class business features, the HP
Compaq Pro 6000 should be first on your
list.—Joel Santo Domingo
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
20 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Dell’s Vostro V130 is a razor-thin
ultraportable geared toward
small-business profession-
als with an interest in style.
Though previous models in
this line suffered mediocre performance,
the V130 is the first to get the latest Intel
Core i5-470um processor instead of the
dated Core 2 Duos. The potential deal-
breaker, though, is that the V130’s small
30WH battery lasted a mere 3 hours.
The Vostro V130 is a light 3.6 pounds
and is as thin as two magazines stacked
on top of each other. It’s thinner than the
Lenovo ThinkPad X301 and Sony VAIO
VPC-Z1390X. The metallic top is made of a
hardened magnesium alloy. The 13.3-inch,
matted screen offers 1,366-by-768 resolu-
tion. Its full-size keyboard is comfortable to
use, and its pair of soft mouse buttons and
wide touchpad make the navigating experi-
ence one of the best in the laptop world.
The 1.33-GHz Intel Core i5-470um proces-
sor is a major leap forward for the Vostro
line, and the V130 powered past the Latitude
13 in Handbrake (4:37) and PCMark Vantage
(4,228) tests, but that’s what you’d expect
from a new generation of processors.
As for the battery, Dell calls it a 6-cell,
but its watt-hour rating is a mere 30, or the
equivalent of a small netbook battery. The
Vostro V130 lasted 3 hours 2 minutes in
MobileMark 2007. Three hours of battery life
simply isn’t enough for a business ultraport-
able, so we can’t recommend this laptop
over our current Editors’ Choice ultraport-
able, the Toshiba Portege R705-P35,
which will give you a lot more mileage and
power.—Cisco Cheng
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Dell Vostro V130
FIRsT LOOKs BUsINEss
Dell Vostro V130$928 directL l l m m
PROs Exquisitely thin. Sturdy. Fantastic key-board and mouse buttons. Fairly priced. Fast hard drive. Better-than-expected feature set.
CONs Small battery yielded short battery life. Battery is not removable.
Its Battery Could Break The Deal
IsPECs 1.33-GHz Intel Core i5-470um processor; 4GB DDR3 RAM; 500GB hard drive; Intel GMA HD graphics; 13.3-inch widescreen; 3.6 pounds; 802.11n wireless; Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 21
and easily readable at 8 points and smaller.
Print speed, however, is another issue. For
text files, which don’t need much process-
ing time, the printer came appropriately
close to its 19 page-per-minute rated speed
in my tests. However, the first page in every
test run took more than 80 seconds, so the
overall speed for a 50-page file was a much
slower 12.9 ppm.
Even with the speed issue, which may
have been a problem specific to the par-
ticular printer I tested, the 8870DN is worth
considering for its combination of output
quality, paper handling, and low running
cost.—M. David Stone
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
FIRsT LOOKs busINEss
This color laser printer is
Xerox’s latest answer to any-
one who complains that
printers follow the razor
industry’s model: give away
the razor to sell the blades. Conversely, the
8870DN asks you to lay out a lot of money
for the printer in exchange for cheap ink.
Print enough pages and the savings on ink
will make the printer itself effectively free.
The claimed cost per page for the
8870DN is 1.9 cents per monochrome page
and 3.5 cents per color page. That’s a sav-
ings of at least 6.6 cents per color page
compared with other color laser printers.
Based on that per-page savings, if you print
just 250 color pages per week for three
years, the savings in running costs will cover
the entire initial cost of the printer.
As for the 8870DN’s print quality, text is
a touch below what I expect to see from a
typical laser, but it has the same crisp edges
and is fully waterproof. More than half the
fonts in our text suite were both well formed
Xerox ColorQube 8870DN
For Heavy Printing Needs, It’s A Bargain
Xerox ColorQube 8870DN$2,499 directL l l h m
PROs Low cost of printing, particularly for color, can fully pay for the printer itself.
CONs Text quality is below par for a laser class printer, although good enough for most busi-ness needs.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
22 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
With Chrome, Google single-
handedly set off a browser revolu-
tion on several fronts: Its blazingly
fast JavaScript performance
kicked competitors like Firefox,
Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera into a
speed race. It also started the trend of min-
imizing the application’s window to let the
Web page shine unimpeded. The current
release takes this to the extreme, with but
a single menu button. It’s also the most fre-
quently updated browser, now at version 8
after a little over two years of existence.
This latest release brings with it a built-
in PDF reader, along with some bug and
security fixes. The fine, simplistic design,
compatibility, and especially the speed
have impressed the Web community
enough to make Chrome the fastest-grow-
ing browser, as it nears 10-percent market
share.
Chrome is the only browser to come with
Adobe Flash built in, rather than requir-
ing a separate (and annoying) installation.
Chrome also boasts a PDF reader, so you
don’t have to worry about installing any
Adobe plugins for viewing specialized
Web content. You can print the PDF as you
would any Web page.
Minimalism has been a hallmark of
Chrome since its first beta release. Tabs are
above everything, and you can drag them
out to the desktop to create independent
windows (and drag them back later) or split
them side by side. The only row below the
tabs holds the combined search/address
bar, or “Omnibar.” And now there’s only one
control button—the Wrench.
Our security expert, Larry Seltzer, con-
siders Chrome pathbreaking in a security
sense. The entire program architecture is
internally sandboxed so that almost all vul-
nerabilities are unexploitable in a practical
sense. And by integrating Flash they auto-
fIrsT LOOks sOfTWArE
Minimalist Design, Blazing Speed
Google Chrome 8
Google Chrome 8FreeL l l l h
PrOs Super-fast JavaScript performance. Easy installation. Excellent tab implementa-tion. Themes. Extensions for customization. Bookmark and preference syncing. Tab process isolation. Strong support for HTML 5. Built-in Flash player and PDF reader.
CONs Occasional misrendered Web pages. Paranoids won’t want to give Google another way to collect data about them.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 23
matically update it. As for maintaining
your browsing privacy, Chrome’s Incog-
nito mode (much like IE8’s InPrivate fea-
ture) lets you move around the Web
without leaving traces of your activity.
Chrome’s blazing speed, built-in Flash
and PDF reading, and so much more make
it a compelling choice for everyday use, and
it’s our new Editors’ Choice for Web brows-
ers, though we’re still eager to see how and
when Internet Explorer 9 comes out in a
final version; it may give Chrome a real run
for its money.—Michael Muchmore
>> CLICk HErE fOr MOrE
MINIMAL INTErfACE BOOkMArk MANAGEr
sECUrITY IN ADDrEss BArMENU sTrUCTUrE
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
24 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
PowerDirector 9 includes nearly
every video effect and output
option you could ask for, including
a capable sound editor. And as the
first full, 64-bit Windows video-
editing app, its response- and rendering-
speeds are the best among consumer
video-editing software.
For basic video editing, PowerDirector 9
makes it easy to fix lighting and color, and to
stabilize your video. Or if you just want the
program to create a wrapped-up movie for
you without much fuss, use the Magic Movie
feature. Once it’s done, you can dump the
movie into the timeline for further tinkering.
If you’re looking to do more professional
editing, PowerDirector 9 offers all the tech-
niques you could hope for in a consumer
video editor—up to 100 video and audio
tracks that avail you of picture-in-picture,
overlay, keyframing, and time codes.
We tested rendering performance on a
3.16-GHz dual core with 4GB RAM, using a
4:34-second movie. At 4:07 minutes, Pow-
erDirector beat Premiere Elements, Pinna-
cle Studio, and Nero Vision. PowerDirector
was also one of the fastest to start up: A cold
start after a reboot took just 15 seconds.
CyberLink’s PowerDirector has all the
speed and all the advanced features an
enthusiast video editor could want. And by
being the first consumer video-editing soft-
ware to support 64-bit Windows, PowerDi-
rector is taking a lead in the field. In terms
of sheer features, it is second to none, mak-
ing it our consumer-level video editing soft-
ware Editors’ Choice.—Michael Muchmore
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
CyberLink PowerDirector 9
FIRsT LOOKs sOFTWARE
Breaking New Ground In Video Editing
CyberLink PowerDirector 9$99.95 listl l l l h
PROs Fast startup. Fast interface. Fast render-ing. Tons of effects and transition. Up to 100 simultaneous video and audio tracks. Advanced editing features such as keyframes and time codes. Blu-ray and AVCHD authoring. 64-bit native code. Uses graphics card acceleration and multiple CPUs.
CONs No tagging or face tagging. No search for effects.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 25
PS3, Wii, TV, and other media devices. It
also offers a lot of content, from providers
including HBO and Showtime.
If deep content is your top priority, Netflix
is probably a better fit. But if easy naviga-
tion and better video quality is more impor-
tant, go with Hulu Plus.—Jeffrey L. Wilson
and Errol Pierre-Louis
>> CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hulu Plus$7.99 per monthL l l h m
PROS Deep catalog of content, including full seasons of shows. Lets you watch Hulu on a growing number devices. Works beautifully on iPhones and iPad. 720p HD quality video.
CONS Netflix offers a better variety of content for a dollar less. Same amount of ads as in the free version. Doesn’t work with Hulu Desktop.
If you love the free streaming-TV
service Hulu, you’ll love Hulu Plus,
a subscription service that offers a
deeper catalog of shows and com-
patibility with more devices.
Hulu Plus removes most of the content
limits you face with the regular Hulu service,
as it lets you watch a full-season or series
worth of episodes for some of your favor-
ite shows. You can stream content to your
iPhone 4, iPad, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and
some Internet-enabled TVs, in up to 720p.
Subscribers enjoy over 120 seasons and
2,000 episodes of rich content. This includes
current shows like 30 Rock, Family Guy, and
Glee, and full series or multiple seasons of
classic shows such as X-Files and Lost. It
doesn’t offer content from premium cable
providers like HBO or Showtime, however.
Since Hulu Plus is a paid service, we were
hoping for fewer ads and quicker access
to shows—episodes available an hour after
they air on TV, as opposed to a day later. But
Hulu Plus doesn’t offer these things.
Competitor Netflix has a similar stream-
ing option for $8.99, in which you can
watch episodes instantly on your computer,
Hulu Plus
FIRST LOOKS SOFTWARE
More Shows On More Devices
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
john c. dvorak
26 Pc MaGaZInE dIGITaL EdITIon january 2011
Creeping Ever Closer To Regulating the Net
Given the events of 2010, it looks
like 2011 will be a turning-point
year for the Internet. a universal
conspiracy to throttle the Inter-
net began in earnest in 2010.
Combine the WikiLeaks site with govern-
ment meddling, and misguided hacker retri-
bution on top of out-of-control botnets, and
you can see the concern. Onerous spyware
and the incessant tracking by advertisers
trying to get an edge just adds to the mess.
The Chinese censorship stories abated
in 2010; the world seemingly had grown to
accept China’s censoring the Internet. after
all, that is what China does. no big deal. Ten
years earlier, everyone would have been up
in arms. Twenty years earlier, boycotts and
condemnations would have been underway.
This attitude has actually evolved into
a worldwide theme. Why should anyone
have to put up with the Internet? Except
for the e-commerce aspect of the net, it is
something of a nuisance. The idea of reg-
ulating the Internet is evolving more and
more, with better and better arguments
against the free-for-all nature of the net.
The number of people who are pushing
back on regulation and eventually policing
the Internet is diminishing day to day. In the
united States the agency that wants to get
its mitts on the Internet is the FCC. after all,
the FCC is about regulating communica-
tions, right? and if the Internet is anything, it
is a communications mechanism.
a Takeover: not So Far-Fetched
I think the Internet is more susceptible
to government take-over than cable TV
because people will stand up for their
TV viewing habits with more enthusiasm
than they will the Internet, as weird as that
sounds. For one thing there is no “must-
watch” anything on the Internet. There are
Web sites and e-mail and youTube clips
and other forms of non-linear shotgun
entertainment. What would change for the
average Internet user if the content was all
licensed by the government?
There has always been complaining in the
united States about the press and its special
DvoRak LivE oN ThE WEb John’s Internet TV show airs every Wednesday at 3:30 ET on cranky-Geeks.com. You can download back episodes whenever you like.
january 2011 Pc MaGaZInE dIGITaL EdITIon 27
standing Congressmen and women actually
stood up before Congress and condemned
WikiLeaks and terrorist organizations as if
they were blowing up buses in jerusalem.
The Government and the Inner Webs
It was years go when the old-timers said
that the worst thing that could ever hap-
pen to the Internet would be to let the gov-
ernment boneheads get involved. nobody
in government even understands how the
Internet works, though if someone told
them it is a series of tubes that need licens-
ing, they’d say, OK, let’s license these tubes
and stop all the crazy WikiLeaks and viruses
and denial-of-service attacks, and every-
thing in between.
I can assure you that when the FCC
decides to begin a process of licensing peo-
ple to post on the Internet, the major media
will hardly squawk about it, since they will
get the first licenses and it will help them
beat the competition.
In the end, the viruses will still be there.
So will the denial-of-service attacks and the
botnets. nothing much will really change,
except there will be fewer bloggers, tamer
content, and no WikiLeaks. Problem solved.
rights contained in the first and foremost
amendment to the Constitution, which is
part of the Bill of rights. It was at the top of
the list of the Bill of rights for a reason.
Having a free press is not the greatest
thing in the world when you are running a
corrupt operation, that’s for sure. Even a
mediocre media such as we have in the
uSa can prevent that from happening with
little effort. But a more aggressive press
is necessary to reveal petty corruption,
incompetence, hypocrisy and the rest. How
hard would it be to push back on the First
amendment just to minimize the showcas-
ing of government idiocies and stupidities?
Of course, scaling anything back is just
step one in a process. The process usually
leads to no free press. The Internet itself
is today’s free press. It’s a virtual printing
press. Getting words on paper or words on
a screen are the same thing. and while some
people do not like the news, that is no rea-
son to end the First amendment, which is
embodied in the Internet.
The interesting thing about the Wiki-
Leaks drama for the past few months is that
it showed the true colors of a lot of politi-
cians who apparently have something to
fear. They ranted about how the operation
supports terrorism. By their logic, pretty
much every TV show ever produced sup-
ports terrorism. More than a few grand-
The idea of regulating the internet is evolving,
with better and better arguments against the
free-for-all nature of the Net.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
28 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
SASCHA SEGAN
Can Dell Sell Cell?
Are Dell’s mobile aspirations
doomed? The head of Dell’s
mobile division was kicked out
yesterday and the whole thing
was folded into the company’s
various PC groups as Dell faced one too
many failures in the cell-phone biz. But Dell
is not alone. Except for apple, all of the top
PC makers are having serious trouble crack-
ing the fast-growing mobile market.
under ron Garriques, Dell’s attempts to
build phones were marked by high ambi-
tions and really, really bad execution.
abysmal execution. Truly embarrassing exe-
cution. Garriques obviously needed to go,
but the real question is: where does Dell go
from here?
Dell’s mobile products so far were all
visionary, but the visions were often bad.
The aero was designed as an android phone
that could be built completely to a mobile
carrier’s spec, as opposed to what Google
or consumers wanted. That sells in China,
but in the u.S., the aero got awful reviews.
The Streak was a stab at an android tablet.
That’s the way the market is going, sure, but
the Streak was too small, too early, and ran
an unforgivably ancient version of android.
and then there’s the Dell Venue Pro. I
still want one. When announced, it looked
like the best of the Windows Phone 7 units,
with a killer, portrait-sliding-QWErTy
form factor. Dell even committed to hand-
ing out 25,000 units to its own employees.
But I’m not convinced the Venue Pro actu-
ally exists, and that Dell has in fact built
enough of them to sell. T-Mobile certainly
doesn’t, as it agreed to approve the device
but wouldn’t commit to selling them in
T-Mobile stores.
PC Makers Fail in Mobile
Dell knows that to be a big player in the
2010s, you’re going to have to be a big
player in mobile. To the company’s credit,
no traditional PC company other than
apple has so far been able to lead in mobile.
after acquiring Palm, HP has basically
blown a lot of smoke at us but not shown
any impressive new products. Lenovo has
decided to hunker down in China. acer
struggles. asus’s joint venture with Garmin
just imploded. Toshiba’s mobile business is
a rounding error.
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 29
STAY PHONE-SMART Keep up with the latest on smartphones by reading Sascha’s column at go.pcmag.com/segan.
Dell may have had to fail a few times before it
could succeed. As Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said
recently, it’s still early days for smartphones. If
Dell really wants to, it can start over.
as Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said recently,
it’s still early days for smartphones, and
especially for tablets. If Dell really wants to,
it can start over and produce some great
phones.
Give Them What They Want
Dell needs to fix its execution, sure; that’s
obvious. But the company also needs to
clean out its tin ear. The aero and Streak
were drastic misreadings of what the mar-
ket wanted. The Venue Pro looked like a
product hitting its stride, although we won’t
truly know until there are enough Venue
Pros to test out.
What Dell can’t do is just retreat into mak-
ing mobile phones a poor cousin, a subsid-
iary product created by PC-centric teams
and then tossed out into the market because
of a sense of obligation. That guarantees the
sort of dull, lackluster smartphones we saw
HP barely bring to market before it got wise
and bought Palm.
I’m not convinced Dell has the internal
competencies to do this. So what’s its best
bet? I’d say it should start by going back to
where it got Garriques from. I hear Motoro-
la’s phone division is for sale.
a big part of the problem is acquiring
competencies. Knowing Wi-Fi PCs doesn’t
translate into knowing cellular rF engi-
neering—see apple’s perpetual struggle
with antenna design. Knowing x86 prod-
uct design doesn’t translate into comfort
with arM chipsets. One of apple’s brilliant
moves there was to create an arM-based
OS that had elements in common with its
PC OS.
Sales channels are also very different
between PCs and mobile. PCs are sold at
retail or online, of course. at least in the u.S.,
mobile phones are usually sold through
carriers, and people like to try them out in
person. Dell’s three products show a very
uncomfortable relationship with the car-
rier sales model. First the aero tried to ful-
fill carrier demands too slavishly. Then Dell
started distributing Streak review units
before aT&T had fully approved the prod-
uct, possibly showing some sort of tension
in the relationship.
now Dell and T-Mobile seem to be in an
edgy standoff over retailing the Venue Pro.
What did apple, once again, do right? It’s
the only major PC vendor that controls a
powerful brick-and-mortar retail channel,
the apple Stores.
Dell’s engineers may have had to fail a
few times before they could succeed—and
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
30 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
LArry sELTZEr
Computer Security: How It Looks for 2011
Looking back on 2010, I think
we had a generally good year
in terms of computer security.
We’ve moved past the era when
PC users seemed to be in a con-
stant state of panic over one vulnerability or
another. So how about 2011? Here are what
security vendors predict, and my thoughts
on their predictions.
FrOM M86 sECurITy LAbs
“Malware will increasingly use stolen
digital certificates to bypass whitelisting
and code-signing requirements.” There’s
something to this, but not a whole lot. The
“trend” is based on two bad examples. The
first, Stuxnet, involved two legitimate certif-
icates in which the genuine private keys had
been stolen, perhaps through physical theft.
The second was a version of Zeus, in which
Kaspersky’s certificate was attached to the
executable, but it wasn’t genuinely signed,
so the hash didn’t match and the file gen-
erated conspicious errors. Stuxnet is not a
trend, it’s sui generis, and such private key
theft is beyond the capabilities of all but a
very small number of malware writers. any
idiot can do the Stuxnet trick and look idi-
otic doing it.
“Exploding smartphone market and
growing tablet demand lead to more
mobile malware.” actually, “the year of
mobile malware” has reached running joke
status in the computer business. not that
the prediction doesn’t make sense, because
it does, but it also made sense last year and
the year before that and... you get the idea.
“Botnets will thwart future takedowns;
smaller botnets will become more prev-
alent.” There were takedown attempts
against botnets last year; some were suc-
cessful. M86 notes this and suggests that
command and control structures will
become more layered and complex and the
botnets themselves smaller (“botiques”?).
FrOM syMANTEC
“Spam will become more global.” The
population with Internet access in places
like Brazil is growing so large that spam in
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 31
Keep up wItH Larry Read his security posts at blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch.
Internet access in places like Brazil is growing so
large that spam in languages other than english
will rise above 10 percent of the total.
up winning and holding its ground against
other botnets that try to attack it.” It cer-
tainly sounds possible, but I don’t know how
they can predict such a thing.
“Human mules will be replaced by mal-
ware that does the equivalent job of trans-
ferring balances between accounts using
keystroke-logged credentials.” Has this
already happened? If so, I can see it being a
good change of tactics.
“There will be more advanced IM threats
directed at the use of webcams and audio.
Webcam-logging and audio-logging will
become just as popular as keystroke-log-
ging.” There has already been some of this
going on, and it only makes sense that it will
continue to grow. Watch out for your own
webcam!
FrOM TrEND MICrO
“Some security vendors will run into trou-
ble with their inability to store all the threat
information with local signatures. They
will retire old signatures which will lead to
infections from old/outdated malware.”
This is a fascinating idea. I don’t think I’ve
heard it before, and I can see it happening.
There is a lot of old malware still circulating,
although I would think the aV companies
know what it is.
languages other than English will rise above
10 percent of the total. The growth of spam
from developing nations will also grow.
“Cybercriminals Usurp URL Shorten-
ing Services.” This is not completely new
of course, but Symantec says attackers will
get more ambitious and perhaps take over
an entire service, abusing link results.
“Hackers Exploit Router Vulnerabili-
ties.” They expect to see malware-abusing
known vulnerabilities in Internet-facing
routers. Why now? They don’t say.
“Rogue Marketplace Vendors Exploit
Online Digital Currencies.” Symantec says
that social networking sites will introduce
virtual currencies, a la gaming sites, result-
ing in scams and black-market trading of
the currencies.
FrOM FOrTINET
“Increased Global Collaborative Take-
downs.” Fortinet also predicts an increase
in coordinated efforts to take down botnets
and other organized Internet crimes. Makes
sense.
“64-bit Malware.” The number of 64-bit
systems has grown quietly, but sharply.
rootkits and other malware targeting these
systems should be more common in 2011.
FrOM NEIL DAswANI OF DAsIENT
“A large botnet cyberwar; Zeus will end
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32 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Technical Excellence Awards
Throughout the year,
the staff at PCMag.
com tests the new-
est and best tech-
nology in our labs
and then tells you
about all the juicy prod-
uct details in our reviews. But sometimes,
the very coolest technology is behind the
scenes, powering those products. Some-
times the best doesn’t even make it to end
users, but it’s still well worth talking about.
That’s why every year we take a breather
from the hardware and software testing to
consider what we’ve seen as a whole and
compile a list of the year’s most amazing
inventions and creations in computing. This
is the 27th year we’ve given out our Technical
Excellence Awards. We’ve definitely come
a long way from the dot-matrix printers
that made an appearance in the first year of
these awards. In fact, the industry has come
a long way since the dual-core processors,
GPS chips, and pocket-sized projectors
we found so thrilling just five years ago. A
very long way. Now, multiple-core chips are
the norm, GPS is in everything, and while
we don’t yet have a full-blown computer
that projects its display, its time is coming.
Expect it before you get your jetpack.
Innovation in graphics, networking, soft-
ware, and design continue, and they take
not only the world by storm but also the
hearts and minds of your humble editors
and analysts here at PC Magazine. So with-
out further ado, traverse through these
pages for a look at this year’s Tech Ex Award
winners, and be sure to let us know what
you think the most promising computing
strides were of 2010.
Our 27th annual look at the best advances of the year includes amazing innovations in wireless, displays, graphics, design, and social networking. By Eric Griffith and the PCMag.com Staff
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 33
Apple iPad
What more is there to say
about the Apple iPad? How
about this: It’s a triumph of
design that single-handedly
established tablets as a worth-
while platform. It takes every-
thing that worked for the
iPhone and iPod touch and
puts it on a grand scale.
AMD Fusion
AMD will soon debut Fusion, its next-gen micro-
processor architecture. Releasing an APU (accel-
erated processing unit) that combines the graph-
ics with the CPU is a natural progression after the
company bought ATI. The first APU for notebooks,
codenamed Llano, was demoed in October.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
34 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Wi-Fi Direct
Feel like connecting portable
devices to Wi-Fi is more hassle
than it’s worth? The Wi-Fi Alli-
ance agreed and, on its own, it
created this peer-to-peer wire-
less protocol (in other words,
it didn’t wait for some much-
delayed IEEE spec). Wi-Fi
Direct lets newer devices auto-
matically find and communi-
cate with each other—no router
needed. You can forget about
SSIDs and passwords, yet it will
be inherently secure. Think of it
as Bluetooth on steroids.
Sharp 3D Phones
You don’t see a lot of phones made by Sharp in the
U.S., but that could change in 2011 when the com-
pany brings its glasses-free 3D screens to handsets.
They may even come with a 3D camera built in. With
a pair of these, maybe watching Avatar on the phone
wouldn’t be so bad.
Technical Excellence Awards
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 35
Intel Sandy Bridge
Intel and AMD think it's time the CPU and graphics
processor (and even power management) all live
on a single die. That should mean four or five times
faster throughput when data is in the cache. Intel
promises it will "revolutionize PCs again." The desk-
top and laptop versions of Sandy Bridge should be
out early this year.
Content-Aware Fill
Hard to believe a product as
mature as Photoshop could
have any surprises left, but
indeed it does. Version CS5
came out this year and fea-
tured Content-Aware Fill, a
method of (almost magically)
removing certain items from
an image while leaving the
background preserved.
Nvidia Optimus
This automatic-switching
graphics technology is a clever
way of bypassing Intel’s restric-
tion of having third-party
integrated solutions on its plat-
form. It relies on the applica-
tion the laptop is running. If an
Nvidia chipset isn’t in use, the
laptop reverts to the Intel inte-
grated graphics for power sav-
ings. This technology is similar
to Apple’s Automatic Graphics
Switching (AGS) that’s found
in the MacBook Pro.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
36 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
CyberLink PowerDirector 9
CyberLink’s consumer-based
video editor, PowerDirector 9,
is the first to go native 64-bit,
and that, coupled with its use
of graphics hardware and mul-
tiple CPU cores, means it leaves
competitors in the dust with its
encoding speed. For $99.95,
the Ultra65 edition is a steal for
serious HD video-philes.
Samsung’s Super-AMOLED Screens
Since its debut on the Wave phone, Samsung has
moved its Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting
Diode (Super-AMOLED) screens to the entire Galaxy
S line (our choice for best smartphone of the year, and
for good reason). They’re 20 percent brighter than the
first AMOLEDs, use 20 percent less power, and have
80 percent less sunlight reflection glare.
Technical Excellence Awards
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 37
Power-Aware Cord
This design by Static Energy+
Design Network for a Swedish
nonprofit organization uses
light to show you exactly how
much power you're consum-
ing. The cord glows and pulses
when it’s plugged into your
electronics, pulsing brighter
when more power is con-
sumed. It will be hard to ignore,
and it might clue people in to
their power usage enough to
get them to unplug vampire
appliances. Here’s hoping it
becomes more than just a con-
cept.
Sugru
One designer’s quest to have a
material suitable for “hacking”
products that needed a fix or
patch has led to Sugru, a poly-
mer that sticks to almost any-
thing and cures into a flexible
silicon overnight. The number
of things it can fix—from shoes
to sinks to USB drives and even
the cracked case on your lap-
top or phone—may be as infi-
nite as the imagination it took
to create it.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
38 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Sony NEX Cameras
Micro Four Thirds changed
the way we look at digital
cameras by giving us inter-
changeable lenses on small
body cameras. This year, Sony
one-upped that tech with
NEX, which uses a larger APS-
C size image sensor—the kind
used in mid-range D-SLRs
from Canon and Samsung—in
a camera body that’s half the
size and weight of Sony’s own
D-SLRs.
Technical Excellence Awards
Intel’s Wireless Display (WiDi)
We’re still waiting for this
sleeper technology to hit it
big: At this year’s CES, In-
tel showed WiDi, short for
Wireless Display technology.
While other companies have
done something similar, nota-
bly Wisair, Intel’s WiDi would
come built in to computers
rather than requiring a dongle
to send signals to a receiver
on a monitor or HDTV. When
activated, the screen instant-
ly becomes your super-sized
monitor, sans cables.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 39
Google Wave
Google Wave went public in
May of this year. By August,
Google said it was no lon-
ger going to develop it as a
standalone product. It just
didn’t catch on. But it lives on
as a server-based develop-
ment by Apache Software
Foundation for good reason:
It’s a paradigm of a new com-
munications platform for the
Internet, combining XML doc-
uments with conversations
about and around them.
Apple’s Retina Display
The display experts say that
Apple’s new screen tech (cur-
rently available on the Apple
iPhone 4) may have exagger-
ated specs, but nevertheless,
it’s the best mobile display
currently available, even com-
pared to the amazing Super-
AMOLED screens. Consider-
ing that both are in their first
generations, they're only go-
ing to get more visually daz-
zling on future handsets and
tablets.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
40 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
Solutions
1) Create Block Lists
Go into your Privacy Settings from the
Account menu (this is easiest on a desktop
or laptop system, not on a phone) and look
for Block Lists at the bottom. Here you can
block individual users by name or e-mail,
block invites to applications from certain
users, invites to events from certain users,
and best of all, block applications you never
want to hear from again. This also prevents
that app from using your information.
2) Limit Application Data Use
On that same Privacy Settings page, click
the edit link for Applications and Websites.
You can’t limit who can see your picture,
name, gender or networks you belong to,
but everything else can be limited so apps
can’t get the data (nor can your friends, or
friends of friends). For example, the Instant
Personalization feature is great if you want
sites like Bing, Rotten Tomatoes, or Pandora
to instantly know you based on your Face-
book settings. Click the Edit Settings button
for “Info accessible through your friends”
and uncheck most of those, so your data
doesn’t become available to apps you’re
not even playing—it happens when your
friends use them!
3) Limit Who Finds You
At the top of the Privacy Settings page, click
View Settings under Connecting on Face-
book. This page lets you control who can
Your Facebook Privacy Toolkit By Eric Griffith
Sure, you like to share. But maybe not with everyone. And let’s face it, if you
post something on the Internet, and that includes Facebook, there’s no guar-
antee it will stay private; other people can pass on what you said (just bask in
the glory of Lamebook for proof). But you can still try to maximize your privacy
on the leading social network by following these tips.
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 41
1) CREATE BLOCK LISTS 3) LIMIT WHO FINDS YOU
4) MAKE YOUR SHARING PRIVATE2) LIMIT APPLICATION DATA USE
find you on Facebook through search, who
can send you messages or friend requests,
and even whether they can see what town
you live in. The choices are to let everyone
see these things, friends only, friends of
friends, or friends and other members of
your network. If you go with friends only,
that’s the smallest group that can interact
with you and limits people finding or ask-
ing to be your friend...but maybe you don’t
want any more friends.
4) Make Your Sharing Private
It flies in the face of the social aspect of
social networking, but it’s possible you
don’t want everyone to read or see every-
thing you post. Click the Custom button
under Sharing on Facebook (still on the Pri-
vacy Settings page), and you can limit who
sees your status updates and photos, your
biographical and contact information, even
pictures you’ve been tagged in by others.
And of course, it limits who can comment
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
42 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
SOLUTIONS SOCIAL NETWORKING
on all of the above. Again, you can set it so
Everyone can see them, all the way down
the scale to Friends Only.
5) Don’t Let Them Say Where You Are
Places is for Facebook users to specify
where they are when updating (a la Four-
Square). However, they can also tag you as
being with them—even if you’re not. It’s all
fun and games until someone says you were
at a brothel when you were actually visit-
ing your grandmother. Go to the Customize
Settings page, under Things Others Share,
and take the time to edit the “Friends can
check me into Places.” This is also where
you specify whether others can post on
your Facebook wall, or can tag you in vid-
eos and photos. The less they can, the less
exposed you are to non-friends.
6) Limit Your Contact Info
Chances are slim that anyone outside your
circle needs your phone numbers, street
address, IM name, or e-mail—if they’re really
your friends, they already have it. Make sure
all of the above are set to Friends Only, or
at most, Friends of Friends, unless you want
to be wide-open to contact by anyone and
everyone.
7) Pick Viewing Permissions Per Post
When you update your status in Facebook,
below the box you fill in there’s a little icon of
a padlock with a down-arrow next to it. This is
a dropdown menu that lets you choose who
can see this status, from everyone down to
Friends Only. If you click customize, you can
specify that it also gets shared with certain
networks you belong to, or block individual
people from seeing it (so that your ex who
said you had commitment issues doesn’t
read that you’re engaged, for example). You
can also make that a default setting.
8) Don’t Advertise for Facebook
In the past, there were some controver-
sies when people found their pictures from
Facebook showing up as part of advertise-
ments on the service. You can make sure
this doesn’t happen, with either third-party
applications or ads on Facebook. Go to
Account Settings and click the Facebook
Ads tab. For both choices, choose “no one”
from the drop-down menu. Then click Save
Changes for each selection.
5) DON’T LET THEM SAY WHERE YOU ARE
6) LIMIT YOUR CONTACT INFO
7) PICK VIEWING PERMISSIONS PER POST
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 43
8) DON’T ADVERTISE FOR FACEBOOK
9) LOOK FOR TRESPASSERS
10) TEMPORARILY DEACTIVATE
9) Look for Trespassers
Of course you know how to create a strong
password and use one on your Facebook
account. If not, someone might have fig-
ured out you “cleverly” used the name of
your dog or your birthday as your password
and is accessing your account. Unlikely as it
may seem, it can happen.
Fortunately, you can track if and when
other devices and computers access your
account. Go to the Account Button, to
Account Settings, and click “change” next
to Account Security. You can set it so you
get an e-mail or SMS message when a new
device signs on with your Facebook cre-
dentials. This page also provides a rundown
of recent account activity.
10) Temporarily Deactivate
This is the ultimate security step short of
totally doing away with your Facebook
account; after all, the only true safety is
never taking a chance. First, you can down-
load your whole Facebook history with the
new downloader tool, which is right above
the Deactivation link—it’s not necessary,
but it’s a good idea.
Click the “deactivate” link on the Account
Settings page and your Facebook account
is put in stasis. When your account is deac-
tivated, no one can find you, no one can
friend you, no one can see anything you’ve
posted (albeit some pictures and videos
with others tagged in them will likely stick
around). Deactivation doesn’t delete any-
thing. When you’re ready to come back,
you simply reactivate the account, and
it’s like you never left. Deactivation can be
handy when you’ll be away from the online
world for an extended period of time. ■
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
44 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
sOLuTIONs NETwOrkING
It happens too often: you unbox the
networking device you just bought
and pull out the included Ethernet
cable, only to find that it is far too
short—or too long—for your needs.
Most cables are at a fixed length, usually
measuring no more than 4 feet. That length
doesn’t present many placement options
for devices that aren’t portable and are usu-
ally hard-wired to a network, such as rout-
ers, switches, servers, and naSes.
Of course, you can purchase longer Eth-
ernet cables from Best Buy and other elec-
tronic/computer stores. Buying pre-made
Ethernet cables is the most practical option
if you have just a couple of devices to set up
on a small or home network. But what if you
are responsible for a large network, or sev-
eral networks, as a small-business tech con-
sultant? Or, what if you need a super long
cable that you just can’t find in the store?
The answer is simple: Make your own cables.
Ethernet cables (also known as rj-45,
patch, and network cables) are easy to make
with a little practice and the right tools.
Even with modest cabling needs, you can
reach the break-even point and pay off the
small investment you’ll need to make your
own Ethernet cables. at Best Buy, for exam-
ple, a 6-foot, Cat5 network cable costs $19;
a 25-foot cable is priced at around $33, and
for a 50-foot cable, the price is $43. These
prices are for just one cable.
If you’re up for the challenge of making
cables yourself, you can buy a 1,000-foot
spool of Cat5e online for between $65 and
$120. you’ll also need “heads,” the modular
plugs used to terminate an Ethernet cable;
a 50-count bag will cost you under $10. and
the crimping tool you’ll also need will cost
you anywhere from $10 to $50, depending
on the quality and additional features you
want the tool to have. But this is a one-time
startup cost. you can buy one online or at a
store like radio Shack.
Follow these fairly simple steps, and
you'll have Ethernet cables exactly the way
you want them in no time.
Tired of paying through the nose
for cables that are either too
long or too short? with a spool
of Cat5e, a crimping tool, and
modular plugs, you can quickly
make the exact size cable you
want. By Samara Lynn
Make Your Own Ethernet Cables
january2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 45
sTEP 2: Get the right tools. you will need a
spool of Cat5 (Cat5e is now the standard)
or Cat6 (if your network is Gigabit
Ethernet) cable. Cat5 or Cat6 cable can
have plenum or PVC jackets. PVC cable is
cheaper, but unlike plenum, it releases a
toxic smoke if it catches on fire, so some
building codes prohibit it. But if you’re
new to making Ethernet cables and your
building allows it, your best bet is to start
with PVC-coated cable. It’s easier to work
with because the wiring is not as soft as
a Plenum cable’s. you’ll also need rj-45
heads that terminate both ends of the
cable, a wire cutter (or a good, sharp pair
of scissors), a wire stripper, and an rj-45
crimper. The crimper is used to secure the
heads at each end of the wire. you can
purchase crimpers, cable and plugs from a
slew of online stores or radio Shack.
sTEP 3: Cut the wire to the desired length
and strip about an inch of the jacket off.
sTEP 1: Determine which type of cable
you need. newer networking hardware,
adapters, naSes, switches and routers are
connected with what’s called a straight-
through cable. This is the type of Ethernet
cable that generally ships with today’s
networking devices. In some cases you’ll
need a cross-over cable for connecting
older devices or connecting two hubs
(a technique called daisy-chaining), or
connecting two older laptops to each
other (for file transferring, for example).
Cross-over cables are rarely needed for
networking hardware that’s only about
three or fours years old, thanks to a
technology known as auto-MDIX, which
can automatically sense on network ports
whether a straight through or cross-
over connection is needed and will make
the appropriate connection. However, if
you want to link older equipment, check
your device’s documentation to see if the
connection requires a cross-over cable.
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
46 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION january 2011
This should expose the four twisted pairs of
inner wiring. When stripping the cable, be
careful not to nick the wires. This can cause
problems with the connection. Do this at
both ends of the cable.
sTEP 4: Prepare your wire for termination,
or “crimping.” untwist the wire. arrange
your wires based on whether you need a
straight-through or crossover cable. For
a straight-through, arrange the wires, on
both ends as you are holding and looking at
the cable, from left to right: white-orange,
orange, white-green, blue, white-blue,
green, white-brown, brown. For a cross-
over cable, the wire arrangement is different
at both ends. at one end, arrange as follows:
white-green, green, white-orange, blue,
white-blue, orange, white-brown, brown.
at the other end, arrange as you would for
a straight-through cable: white-orange,
orange, white-green, blue, white-blue,
green, white-brown, brown.
sTEP 5: Terminate the cable at both
ends. Straighten the wires out as much as
possible; it will make them easier to place
inside the rj-45 plug. Get the wires as close
to one another as possible, holding them
between your thumb, index, and middle
fingers. Trim the wires down evenly to
about a quarter of an inch. Here’s the tricky
part, which may take some practice: Slip the
wires inside of the rj-45 plug with the clip
side down. Don’t try to jam the wires in; they
should slip inside the clip and fit snug. you
don’t want to see any wires between the
plug and the jacket; you want just a bit of the
jacket going into the plug. you also want to
make sure each wire is making contact with
the gold leads in the plug. Take the crimper
and crimp down on the plug, pressing the
crimper firmly, but not too hard.
sOLuTIONs NETwOrkING
january 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 47
Zinio.com/GoWithIt
Zinio’s iPhone App
Have fun reading your favorite magazines (and get access to them on your pc and mac too).
go with it.PC Magazine for iPhone
n
sTEP 6: Get out your crimper. With a steady
hand, crimp down on the plug, pressing the
crimper firmly, but not too hard.
sTEP 7: Test the cable. use the cable to
connect a networking device with an LED
indicating network activity to your network.
Ensure you are getting a strong signal.
you’re done!
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all
48 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION JANUARY 2011
BestEditors’ Choices in Key CategoriesFor the complete reviews of these products and more
Editors’ Choices check out go.pcmag.com/editorschoice
DEskTOPs
MAINsTrEAM
Dell studio XPs sx8100-2777NBC $1,149.99 list
BuDGET/VALuE
sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ $629.99 list
ENTry-LEVEL
Asus Essentio CM1630-05 $479.99 list
GAMING/MuLTIMEDIA
Acer Aspire Predator AG7750-u2222 $1999 list
Cyberpower Gamer Dragon $1,099 direct
ALL-IN-ONE
HP Touchsmart 310-1000z$1,159 direct
NEW! HP Omni 100 $559.99 list
BusINEss
Dell Optiplex 780 usFF $1,484 direct
COMPACT DEskTOP
Dell Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 410) $849.99 direct
NETTOP
Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 $399 direct
LAPTOPs & NETBOOks
MAINsTrEAM
Asus u45Jc-A1 $867 street
CONsuMEr uLTrA-LOW VOLTAGE
Toshiba satellite T235-s1350 $630 direct
uLTrAPOrTABLE
Toshiba Portege r705-P35 $899.99 list
GAMING
Toshiba Portege r705-P35 $899.99 list
MuLTIMEDIA
Dell studio 17 (Multitouch) $1,411 direct
DEskTOP rEPLACEMENT
Dell XPs 15 $1,115 direct
NETBOOkNEW samsung NF310-A01
$400 street
BusINEss
Dell Latitude E5510 $884 direct
BuDGET
sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ $629.99 list
TABLET
Apple iPad (Wi-Fi) 64GB $699 direct
sTOrAGE
POrTABLE
Lenovo ThinkPad usB Portable secure Drive $319 list
DEskTOP
Western Digital MyBook studio Edition II $430 list
NETWOrk-ATTACHED sTOrAGE
Netgear readyNAs ultra 6 6TB, $1,349 street
LCD MONITOrs
Asus VW266H $309 list
HP LP2275w $349 direct
Dell ultrasharp u2711 $1,099 direct
PrINTErs
MONOCHrOME LAsErNEW Brother HL-2240 $120 street
COLOr LAsErNEW Dell 1350cnw Color LED
Printer $299 direct
Xerox Phaser 7500/DN 3,299.99 direct
sTANDArD INkJET NEW Epson stylus NX625 $149
direct
PHOTO PrINTEr
Epson stylus Photo r2880 $799.99 direct
ALL-IN-ONENEW HP Photosmart estation
$399 direct
HP Officejet 6500A Plus e-All-in-One $199 direct
PrOJECTOrs
NEW Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8700 uB $2,199 direct
sCANNErs
NEW Canon Canoscan LiDE110 Color Image scanner $59.99 direct
DOCuMENT sCANNEr
Canon imageFormula Dr-2020u $645 list
NETWOrkING
8x8 Virtual Office Pro $50 direct
Cisco Valet Plus $129.99 list
sMC sMCGs8P $300 street
Cisco Network Magic Pro 5.5 $39.99 direct
HDTVs
PLAsMA
samsung PN58C8000 $2,999.99 list
LCD
sharp Aquos LC-52D85u $2,099.99 direct
sony Bravia kDL-46XBr8 $3,999.99 list
samsung LN52A750 $3,999 list
LEDNEW Mitsubishi unisen LT-55265
$3,199.99 list
BLu-rAy PLAyErs
samsung BD-C6500 $249.99 list
DIGITAL CAMErAs
COMPACT
Panasonic Lumix DMC-Ts2 $399.95 list
JANUARY 2011 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 49
Bestkodak Easyshare M580 $199.95 directD-sLr
Nikon D300 $1,800 street
Canon EOs rebel T1i $899.99 list
suPErZOOM
sony Cyber-shot DsC-HX5V $349.99 direct
DIGITAL VIDEO CAMErAs
sony Bloggie Touch 8GB (MHs-Ts20/s) $199.99 direct
sony HDr-sr11 $1,099.99 direct
DIGITAL PHOTO & VIDEO
VIDEO-EDITING sOFTWArE
CyberLink DVD suite 7 ultra $129.95 direct
PHOTO EDITING
Adobe Photoshop Cs5 Extended $699 to $899 list
Aperture 3 $199 direct
DIGITAL PHOTO FrAME
kodak Pulse Digital Photo Frame $129.95 direct
POrTABLE MEDIA PLAyErs
Microsoft Zune 120GB $249 list
Apple iPod touch (4th generation with Camera) 8GB, $229 direct
Apple iPod nano (5th gen.) 16GB, $179 direct
sPEAkErs/DOCks
Beatbox by Dr. Dre from Mon-ster $449.95 list
Hercules XPs 2.1 Lounge $60 street
MEDIA EXTENDErs
sonos Bundle 150 $999 direct
slingbox PrO-HD $299 list
GAMING CONsOLEs
sony Playstation 3 120GB
(Ps3 slim) $299.99 direct
GPs DEVICEsGarmin nüvi 1390T $269.99 list
E-BOOk rEADErs
Barnes & Noble Nook Color$249 direct
Amazon kindle (3G+WiFi) $189 direct
HEADPHONEsBowers & Wilkins P5 Mobile
Hi-Fi Headphones $299.95 list
BLuETOOTH HEADsETs
Aliph Jawbone Icon $99 list
CELL PHONEsAT&T
samsung rugby II sGH-A847 From $249.99 with contract
samsung Mythic sGH-A897 From $199.99 with contract
Apple iPhone 4 $199 list
sPrINT
samsung Epic 4G $349.99 list
HTC Evo 4G $299.99 list
LG rumor Touch $79.99–$279.99 list
T-MOBILE
T-Mobile G2 $229 list
T-Mobile myTouch 4G $199 list
VErIZON WIrELEss
Casio G’zOne ravine $149 streetNEW Motorola Droid 2 Global
$559.99 list
OFFICE & PrODuCTIVITy
QuickBooks Premier Edition 2011 $399.95 list
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 $119 list
Office 2010 Professional $499 direct
iWork for iPad $9.99 direct
QuickBase $250 direct per month
NEW sliderocket Free
Citrix GoToAssist Express $69 direct per month
IPHONE APPsTomTom 1.3 $69.99 direct
Navigon MobileNavigator 1.4.0 $79.99 direct
Air sharing $6.99 direct
Photogene $2.99 direct
rhapsody 2.0 Free
GAMEsHalo: reach $59.99 list
God of War III $59.99 list
Alan Wake $59.99 list
MuLTIMEDIAAdobe Acrobat X
from $199 list
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 $99.99 list
NEW CyberLink PowerDirector 9 $99.95 list
rhapsody from $12.99 per month
GIMP 2.6.1 Free
Apple iLife ’09 $79 direct
Apple iTunes 10.1 Free
sECurITy
ANTIVIrusNEW Ad-Aware Free Internet
security 9.0 Free
Webroot AntiVirus with spy sweeper 2011 $39.99 direct
Norton AntiVirus 2011 $39.95 direct
suITE
Norton Internet security 2011 $69.99 yearly
Norton 360 version 3.0 $69.99 yearly
storemags & fantamag - magazines for all