Pentium Notebooks with Attitude Colour Scanners Six-Speed CD
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JULY 1995 Personal Computer World July 1995 £2.50 Tim Nott on Overseas Price £2.95 France 58 FF Germany DM 17,00 Italy 13,400 Lire Spain 925 PTS Windows 95 Holland HFL 14,25 Belgium 272.00 BFr Finland FIM 39.50 Page 628 VNU Business Publications ● 157,544 readers can't be wrong • Britain's top-selling personal computer magazine Six-speed CD-ROM Fast Movers Fast Pentium Notebooks FastFastFast ● ISDN update Movers Pentium notebooksnotebooks ● with attitude ● 7 Web browsers with attitude 18 Colour Scanners Colour scanners 18 tested from just £299 Six-speed CD-ROM ● Six-speed CD-ROM Plextor's speed merchant ISDN update Fast comms, but does it work? Web browsers p558 7 Catching the perfect wave If your Disk or CD is missing, Volume 18 Number 7 please ask your 07 Newsagent July 1995 9 770142 023052 July 1995 PCW July 1995 Contents Features First Impressions Regulars Hands On Pentium 357 Newsprint ISDN explained 448 Compaq, Iomega and Syquest in battle of Notebooks by TERENCE GREEN the 100Mb-plus superfloppies; First cable Does the fabled Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) live up presence on Internet; Escom launches High Street revolution and endorses Warp; to its promises? 627 Introduction Portables go for Windows 95 on schedule for August as 628 NEW! Windows 95 focus shifts to Cairo; Comdex round-up; top performance Windows Microsoft takeover of Intuit hangs in 630 with Pentium 398 NEW! Gadgets balance. 634 DOS power A monthly round-up of quirky and useful 636 32-Bit devices which might take your fancy. 375 News Analysis Jack Schofield on the return of the Amiga. 640 Word Processing 402 Dell Dimension XPS P120c Tim Bajarin on Win95 and portable 644 Spreadsheets Dell’s first 120MHz Pentium boasts computing. 648 Databases advanced internals. John Lettice and Mike Magee on Microsoft 652 Graphics & DTP strategies. 656 Multimedia 403 Adobe Acrobat 2.0 438 381 Sounding Off by Michael Hewitt 660 Sound The latest version of Adobe’s portable PCW Cover Photography by Bruce Mackie Interview: Nigel Seed, SGI 496 document world takeover bid is no circus 383 Homefront by Tim Nott 666 Visual Programming by WENDY M GROSSMAN act. 385 Straight Talking by Barry Fox 670 Low Level With hardware that can bring dinosaurs back from extinction, 676 Numbers Count 387 Business Matters by Nick Beard Silicon Graphics is the name in high-end graphics. Find out why 404 Plextor PX-63CS Six-Speed 678 Networks Cover Disk CD-ROM drive 391 Letters UK MD Nigel Seed thinks other computer companies are boring. Not double or even quad, this six-speed 682 Macintosh Buyer’s Charter demon is the fastest CD-ROM drive yet. 690 686 Computer Answers or CD-ROM 695 ChipChat 688 Beginners 406 Microsoft Project 4.0 for Mac ● Cover Disk 12 The black art of project management is brought to the non-specialist. The PCW Back Issues Index, As- Group Tests 412 Panther 2000 Easy-As shareware spreadsheet, Intel brigade getting you down? Check ESP contacts utility, Trolls action out the first of the next-generation NexGens. arcade game, and more 415 NEC monitors ● 14 If your eyes can’t take the strain, look PCW Interactive CD-ROM no further than NEC’s new range of 650Mb+ of software, demos, monitors. animations, video and music 417 Dean Database for Windows An affordable database that’s easy to use and great for basic record keeping. CUTTING EDGE 420 Kamco Picasso Flatbed scanners 460 Gordon Laing explains all about scanners, then tests 18 of the latest colour 557 Introduction The fine art of customisable PCs, as Interview: Mark Skapinker 504 pictured by Kamco. flatbeds from £299 to £3,495. PCW Online by GEOF WHEELWRIGHT 558 Focus: Web servers Mark Skapinker, head of Delrina, reveals his views on software 422 Opcode Overture for Mac Opcode’s dedicated score writer will help 578 Net.answers success, Internet security and the rapidly expanding consumer Stats software 512 you compose your musical thoughts. Maths man Eric Adler rounds up the latest in vital statistics software, and 580 Net.surf market. ● CD-ROMs: figures out which, if any, is worth an Editor’s Choice. 582 Net.news Borders and 425 Sage TeleMagic 1.05 for Creating a Linux gateway 534 Windows 586 Comms Backgrounds 592 Net.newbies by RICHARD WYLDE Keep tabs on any number of contacts Set up your own stable Internet gateway with freeware, with this powerful manager. PCW Futures shareware and public domain software. 597 Innovations 426 Maxtor MobileMax PCMCIA hard drive 599 Horizons (with New Horizons, page 600) 171Mb of portable storage for your 602 Bluesky Programming in Access 2.0 542 notebook. 605 Retro Computing by IAIN SUMMERS & ANGUS MACKELLAIG 428 Specular Collage 2.0 The second of a three-part series on getting the most out of PCW Media For the perfect collage of bitmap images, 607 Books Microsoft’s leading Windows database. Specular has the answer — now in 610 CD-ROMs improved version two. PCW Fun Procomm Plus for Windows 552 614 Kids’ Stuff by STEPHEN RODDA Long Term Tests Competition: Win a Hewlett Packard colour printer, 619 Learn how to extend Procomm’s fax capabilities in this third a Psion 3a or a copy of LapLink for Windows 434 Acorn Archimedes A310 and final part of our tutorial. 435 LetterPerfect 1.0 621 Screenplay (with Leisure Lines, page 624) 6 7 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD Editorial Advertising Editor Ben Tisdall Group Ad Manager Paula Devine 0171 316 9194 Associate Editor Simon Rockman Ad Manager Pranav J Oza 0171 316 9466 News Editor Clive Akass Assistant Ad Manager Kevin Elderfield 0171 316 9303 Cutting Edge Editor David Brake Senior Sales Executives Features Editor Chris Cain Catherine J Russell 0171 316 9303 Reviews Editor Gordon Laing Richard Young 0171 316 9309 Technical Writer Eleanor Turton-Hill Jon Miles 0171 316 9302 Staff Writers Steven Helstrip Sales Executives Nick Lawrence Timothy Mickelborough 0171 316 9463 Editorial Assistant Adele Dyer Nick O’Connor 0171 316 9304 PC Consumer Sales Columnists Nick Beard Beccy Carr 0171 316 9307 Barry Fox Alex Hole 0171 316 9306 Michael Hewitt Tim Nott Micromart Sales Executive Ben Hedges 0171 316 9308 International Correspondent Tim Bajarin Credit Control Manager Michael Donlan 0171 316 9701 Contributors US Sales Representative Barbara Gough 0101 415 306 0880 Eric Adler ● Azeem Azahr ● Tim Anderson ● Jonathan Taiwan Sales Representatives Grace Chu/Kent Lai 010 886 2717 7663 Barnes ● Paul Begg ● Chris Bidmead ● JJ Clessa Stephen Cobb ● George Cole ● Simon Collin ● Mike Collins ● Karl Dunkerley ● Jeanine Fox ● Tim Frost ● Production Rick Gould ● Terence Green ● Wendy M Grossman ● Production Controller Melanie Thomson 0171 316 9481 Cliff Joseph ● Frank Leonhardt ● John Lettice ● Mike Production Manager Adrian Brown 0171 316 9484 Liardet ● Angus MacKellaig ● Bruce Mackie ● Mike Production Assistant Susie Ross 0171 316 9486 Magee ● John Millar ● Mike Mudge ● Chris Nixon ● Tim Philips ● Stephen Rodda ● Jack Schofield ● Nicole Segre ● David Simpson ● Iain Summers ● Ian Circulation Waugh ● Stephen Wells ● Geof Wheelwright ● Mark Subscriptions Manager Leisha Bulley 0171 316 9712 Whitehorn ● David Whyte ● Richard Wylde Subscriptions Supervisor Joanne Nicholls 0171 316 9713 Editorial Phone 0171 316 9000 Publishing Editorial Fax 0171 316 9313 Editorial Email first name last - Founder Angelo Zgorelec [email protected] Marketing Manager Juliet Parker 0171 316 9191 Production Portfolio Administrator Kyley Chapman 0171 9316 9183 Publishing Director Peter Goldstein 0171 316 9000 Publisher Jon Ross 0171 316 9187 Production Editor Lauraine Lee Sub-Editors Mark Monahan Test Results are based wholly or in part on methodologies provided by National Software Patrick Ramus Testing Laboratories, a division of McGraw-Hill, Inc, and licensed to Personal Computer Design World. Neither NSTL nor the Publisher guarantees the accuracy or adequacy of its testing activities and makes no representations or warranties regarding tested products. Articles Art Editor Darrell Kingsley or portions of articles translated and reprinted (or adapted) in this issue from PC Digest or Designer Jonathon Mason Software Digest Copyright (c) 1994, by National Software Testing Laboratories (NSTL), a division of McGraw-Hill, Inc, 625 Ridge Pike, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428, USA. VNU Labs Reproduction of the NSTL material in any manner or language in whole or in part without permission of NSTL is prohibited. Group Editor John Barnes Labs Editors Julian Evans & George MacDonald Labs Assistant Paul Philip Lab Phone 0171 316 9067 Lab Fax 0171 316 9059 Enquiries or complaints regarding any advertiser in this magazine should, initially, be presented in writing to: Anthony George, ‘Customer Relations Department’, VNU BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS VNU House, 157,544 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. JUL-DEC '94 REPRINTS SUBSCRIPTIONS We offer a full reprint service for reproduction of all or part of any current or Annual subscription, £19.95 (floppy), £24.95 (CD). One year Europe only, £30. previous articles. Minimum order, 1000. For details contact Melanie Thomson Rest of World, £60-£80. P&P included. (0171 316 9000). Call 0171 316 9715/9716. Credit card orders welcome. USE OF EXTRACTS BACK ISSUES We are delighted for people to use quotations and segments of articles for We keep a stock of past issues and can provide individual copies at a charge of internal or promotional purposes. For clearance contact Juliet Parker £5. Call Tom Costin (0171 316 9714). (0171 316 9000). VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. Main Switchboard Tel 0171 316 9000. No material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holder © VNU Business Publications 1994. Advertisement typesetting by Typematters, London N1. Origination by Latent Image, 6 Balmoral Grove, London N7.