Norton Utilities 4.0 brings PC safeguards to Macs
Norton Utilities 4.0 for the Apple Macintosh is the latest incarnation of a disk utility set that has been around almost as long as personal computers. I suspect Symantec Corp. is airbrushing Peter Norton's face a bit on the box, though his on-screen icon looks as good as ever.
GCN Lab revisits 1998's hits and misses
1998 has been a good year for computer hardware. Processor speed jumped impressively from 333 MHz to 450 MHz. But software suffered from the upgrade syndrome. Most upgrades fell a little flat or required a host of patches and fixes. Lotus Development Corp. released the year's only software suite, SmartSuite Millennium Edition [GCN, Sept. 28, Page 37], and Microsoft Corp. sent Microsoft Windows 98 on its way [GCN, June 29, Page 31]. But neither one made
GCN reviewer finds himself awed by power of new PC
Making the switch from a mainstream office computer to the ultimate workstation-class PC can be a bit daunting, even for an enthusiast. As soon as I knew the huge box had been shipped, I began to track it via the Web. I wondered how the truck driver was doing and hoped that he would not hit many potholes.
Crash Defender program does no harm and protects system without much annoyance
Box Score B Quarterdeck Corp. released Crash Defender Deluxe just before its acquisition by Symantec Corp. of Cupertino, Calif. Symantec is building the underlying technology into its Norton Utilities package. But you can still buy Crash Defender Deluxe from Quarterdeck. In my experience, most such programs have wound up doing a lot more harm than good.
With LCD monitors, big is in at Comdex trade show
LAS VEGAS—LCD flat-panel display makers were touting the biggest LCDs on the block at the Comdex trade show here last week. Officials of ViewSonic Corp. of Walnut, Calif., which makes both LCD and CRT monitors, said buyer interest is shifting rapidly toward LCD monitors. ViewSonic's newest LCDs have a 160-degree viewing angle, which means images stay sharp at the sides. The top-end, 18-inch VG180 can show 16.7 million colors in native mode and suits almost every
No question, Survey Select helps ease the circulation of surveys
Most agencies that circulate surveys have learned that answers are meaningful only if you ask the right questions. Survey Select takes much of the headache out of conceiving and formatting survey questions. It distributes surveys on the Web or by e-mail and analyzes the results. You can draft a survey from scratch or work from the package's templates, which give valuable guidance in designing questions to draw usable responses.
Apple's iMac rates high on cool scale but has built-in limitations
Pros and cons: + Good 3-D rendering + Very easy setup – No floppy drive – No upgrade path The iMac is the coolest-looking computer I've ever seen. As soon as I set up Apple Computer Inc.'s latest model in the GCN Lab, visitors started dropping by with lame excuses and asking casually if they could play with the iMac.
ErgoSentry keeps watch on how people use their computers
Proformix Systems Inc., Branchburg, N.J.; tel. 800-973-2739 Price: $64.95 per user for 50 users, $19.95 for 5,000 up Pros and cons: + Full administrator control over ergonomic program + User obedience enforceable – Possible user resistance – Not on CD-ROM Real-life requirements: Windows 9x or Windows NT clients, network server for advanced administration features, portable computer for ergonomic workplace checker
AirID protects your data while you roam the office
Pros and cons: + Hands-free supplemental security + Scan range adjustable + Noninterfering frequency – Security exposure from lost badges Real-life requirements: Windows 9x or NT All the network security in the world does no good if logged-in users leave their computers on and unattended during breaks or at lunch. An office full of such computers is an open invitation to mischief.
Feds can run high-end computer simulations at virtual reality lab
The RealityZone 3D Collaborative Visualization Laboratory in McLean, Va., gives federal users an out-of-body experience in high-end computer simulation. The simulation lab demonstrates virtual reality systems that would add up to $150,000 or $200,000 a pop if an agency bought the components through General Services Administration schedule contracts. The lab is a joint effort of EdgeMark Systems Inc. of Silver Spring, Md., MultiGen Inc. of San Jose, Calif., Pyramid Systems Inc. of Southfield, Mich., Silicon Graphics Inc.
ReadIris stumbles with Spanish, technical translations
Pro and cons: + Scans many languages – Error rate varies with language – Can't handle multiple languages in a document; graphics and chart text handled poorly Real-life requirements: Win95, NT or Mac OS; scanner; CD-ROM drive for installation Que hablas espa'ol? Tildes and other non-English punctuation marks can confuse English-oriented optical character recognition packages.
Panasonic hatches versatile PC video camera
Pros and cons: + Excellent color balance + Accurate video e-mail and videoconferencing + Almost no motion blur – Built-in mike a bit weak Real-life requirements: Windows 95, one open PCI slot for video-capture card, sound card, CD-ROM drive, 2M video memory Panasonic's EggCam doesn't crack under pressure. Combined with the included PCI video-capture card, the charge-coupled-device digital video camera makes it easy and cheap to videoconference from a PC over an office LAN or
FlowCharter 7's templates ease chart-building
Pros and cons: + Easy run-through chart checking + Lots of templates + All chart text together in data window – Needs more computer equipment icons Real-life requirements: Win95 or NT, 16M RAM, CD-ROM drive, 75-MHz or faster processor Flowcharting programs have been around as long as computer graphics. Most are just advanced drawing programs with few intuitive links between elements, so that each new chart has to be designed pretty much
Panafax UF-770i suffers from difficult installation routines
Pros and cons: + Can save long-distance charges in some cases + High-quality fax machine – Difficult to configure using standard documentation – Cannot handle e-mail attachments Panasonic's Panafax UF-770i gives more than just the fax. The high-end fax machine can transmit not only over ordinary phone lines but also via the Internet, circumventing long-distance charges. But there are a few glitches.
Flat-panel monitor dips under $1,000 price barrier
Box Score B Sceptre FT15 Sceptre Technologies Inc., City of Industry, Calif.; tel. 626-369-3698 http://www.sceptre.com Price: $950 Pros and cons: + Breaks price and footprint barriers + Good enough for most office tasks – Image distorted when not viewed straight-on
Users get best of two OSes on a Power Mac G3
Box Score B Power Macintosh G3 Apple Computer Inc.. Cupertino, Calif.; tel. 408-996-1010 http://www.apple.com GSA price: $1,863 with 32M RAM, 4G hard drive, 24X CD-ROM drive and Zip drive; no monitor Pros and cons: + Fast performance for optimized apps + Moderate performance for PC software – Very slow for some PC apps and Java
Software foils floppy-disk file fluster
DiskCataloger Sheridan Software Systems Inc., Melville, N.Y.; tel. 877-347-5228 http://www.shersoft.com Price: $50 Pros: + No training necessary + Floppies treated as virtual hard drive + Zip utility a nice extra + Color-coded folders ease organization Real-life requirements: Win9x, 16M RAM, 10M free on hard drive, CD-ROM drive
It's easy to see that Vortex is frustrating to read
Pros and cons: + Very large text display + Works with most word processors – Unusual text delivery method Real-life requirements: Win95 or NT Tenax Software Engineering bills Vortex IV as the greatest advance in reading since the stone tablet. But I suspect even Cro-Magnons would go back to their cave drawings after a few minutes with this flashy but frustrating program.
Tripp Lite helps unravel knotty UPS management
Pros and cons: + Can monitor any UPS remotely – Software not available separately – Only one UPS monitored at a time Real-life requirements: A Tripp Lite UPS; Windows 95, Windows NT, IBM OS/2, Unix or Novell NetWare Strength without direction is weakness. Having enough uninterruptible power systems for all the computers on your LAN isn't necessarily to protect your data from power failures and fluctuations. You've got to have a way
ImageCast Deluxe speeds up the configuration of multiple PCs
Price: $250 for 25-license pack; $795 for 100-pack and unlimited multicasting to limited number of target machines Pros and cons: + Multicast fast and reliable + Easy to set up host and destination PCs – Supports only Ethernet multicasts – Backup utility slow Real-life requirements: Win9x or NT, Ethernet connection for multicast, CD-ROM drive
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