PadDock 10 Dock Holds, Charges and Syncs Your iPad

PadDock 10 Dock Holds, Charges and Syncs Your iPad | News & Opinion | PCMag.com function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){}(function(){var k='4197241685',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return c.substring(i+n.length+1,j')})();if (document.location.href == 'http://www.pcmag.com/') {utmx("url",'A/B');} Subscribe Try PC Magazine Digital Edition: now only $1/month Sign up for Free Email Newsletters from the PCMag Network Get PCMag.com headlines on your desktop with RSS HomeREVIEWS  Categories Editors' Choice Consumer Electronics Desktops Digital Cameras HDTVs Laptops MP3 Players Netbooks Cell Phones Printers Security Software MORE > Top Reviews Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ The Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ is loaded with features, including some that you'd never expect to find on a budget laptop, and it offers category-leading performance. Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Master System With its high-quality video, the waterproof Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Master System is an excellent way to monitor your home (inside and out) and record video. Asante Smart HotSpot Wireless N Router AWRT-550N Asante may not be the most famous maker of Wi-Fi routers, but the Smart HotSpot AWRT-550N is a good unit that deserves consideration.  NEWS & OPINION  Blogs AppScout Gearlog GoodCleanTech Security Watch Columnists Lance Ulanoff John C. Dvorak Tim Bajarin Dan Costa Sascha Segan Michael J. Miller Most Recent Apple Is Third Again in U.S. PC Sales Apple is now the #3 PC vendor within the United States, depending on which analyst firm you believe. Google Instant Now Factored into Search Share Google maintained its lead atop the search engine leaderboard for September with Yahoo-Microsoft slipping a bit. Twitter: 'New Twitter' Goes Live to All The company has now rolled out the so-called "NewTwitter" to all of its users. Windows Phone 7: Where Are the Apps? For better or worse, mobile platforms are judged by their app catalog, and the Windows Phone 7 catalog is pretty bare.  DOWNLOADSBUSINESSSHOP Pcmag.com $(document).ready(function() { $('.search-box').focus(function() { $(this).attr('value', '') .css('color', '#000'); }); $('.search-box').blur(function() { var searchContents = $(this).attr('value'); if (searchContents == '' && searchContents != 'SEARCH') { $(this).attr('value', 'SEARCH') .css('color', '#ccc'); } }); }); HomeProduct GuidesLaptops & NotebooksTabletsPadDock 10 Dock Holds, Charges and Syncs Your iPad PadDock 10 Dock Holds, Charges and Syncs Your iPad email share print reprint Share this page SMK Electronics unveils iPad cradle and speaker dock that could be the answer to hands-free Apple iPad use. Social Sharing Sponsored by: By: Lance Ulanoff10.13.20100 comments SMK Electronics unveils iPad cradle and speaker dock that could be the answer to hands-free Apple iPad use.

PadDock 10 for the Apple iPad yearns to answer the nearly year-old question: Where do you put your iPad when you're not using it?

My answer is, in the lovely case my wife bought for me. This is, apparently, not an atypical response. Apple's vision for the world's most popular tablet, however, is that it be out, visible and on most of the time. That's where a stand like SMK Electronics' $99.99 PadDock 10 comes in.

The incongruently-named PadDock 10 (there weren't PadDocks 1-through-9) is by no means the first iPad dock. Apple has its own minimalist version, and companies like iGearUSA offer a variety of cradles and stands. SMK's PadDock is, though, a little different.

View SlideshowSee all (8) slides
MoreLooking a bit like an LCD stand stripped of the display, the PadDock offers a full cradle for the iPad, with a little rubber bump in the middle to protect the back of the iPad and keep it from rubbing up against the plastic back of the PadDock every time you touch the screen. The silver stand includes back-firing speakers, which sit right below the docked iPad and bounce the sound off the nearby wall behind the dock. SMK Electronic execs explained that most people dock their iPads on tables, dressers and desks that are usually near a wall and, they promise, the stereo sound is actually fuller when it bounces. I took an anecdotal listen and tend to agree. This may be the first iPad dock with a physical volume scroll wheel?similar to what you might have found on an old AM/FM radio. Kind of a neat, retro idea, though I don't know if it'll catch on. (I find myself trying to imaging an iPod touch with one of those wheels).

The iPad slips in an out of the dock and plugs into the 30-pin connector on the right side fairly easily. Once docked, the iPad is held snugly in place by a small flexible lip on the left side and another on top of the PadDock. There is, however, no way to lock the iPad inside the dock.

PadDock 10 has a couple of other interesting tricks up its sleeve. It can charge and sync, though you have to flip a small switch to make the change. Charging is done either by sipping energy through the USB post (that you plug into your PC), or through the standard AC-based charger. The latter charges the iPad far more quickly. You can also rotate the PadDock a full 360 degrees and swivel it back for better viewing angles. That tilt, though, seemed a bit limited. You can't, for instance, tip back further than 20 or so degrees. Going further might be useful for, say, drawing on the Apple iPad.

SMK electronics' PadDock ships in Nov.

More... Recommended More by this Author 3D TV: Why Is It Stumbling? PadDock 10 Dock Holds, Charges and Syncs Your iPad Windows Phone 7 Devices Arrive: A Video Tour Windows Phone 7 is Do or Die for Microsoft Google TV's Dark Side
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Google TV Showdown: Sony's Blu-ray Player vs. Logitech Revue

A funny thing happened at Sony's Google TV-driven product announcement last night. In addition to the four Internet TV models that we knew were coming, Sony surprised us with another Apple TV competitor: a $399.99 Google TV Blu-ray player.

My first thought was: Huh—I didn't know that was coming. My second was: Did Logitech? Within one week, we've had two Google TV product-based announcements, but it was common knowledge leading up to each that Logitech would introduce a standalone box and Sony would unveil a television line with Google TV built-in. There was no mention of a Blu-ray player. Surely this Google TV Blu-ray player doesn't do virtually everything the Logitech Revue does and for only $100 more...right?

Let us compare the basic built-in features of the Logitech Revue, on pre-order now for $299 via Logitech's Web site, to the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc player (NSZ-GT1), also available for pre-order on Sony's Web site.

Do they both have virtually the same Google TV user interface with easy-to-navigate pull-down menus and Google search options for content available on your computer, DVR, and online? Yes. How about Netflix and other on-demand content? Yes. A Dish Network tie-in that's built in to the user interface? Yes. Access to apps from the Android market? Yes. Chrome browser? Yes. Handheld, full QWERTY remote controls? Yes...sort of. (The Sony Blu-ray player's remote is handheld, the Revue's is a full-size keyboard, although there is a $129.99 handheld QWERTY remote accessory.) Do they both have HDMI in, HDMI out, Optical audio out Ethernet port, and USB ports? Yes. Do they both stream music, video, and photos from computers on your Wi-Fi network to your television? Yes. Do they both have Blu-ray players? No.

Advantage: Sony.

To be fair, The Logitech Revue has video-chat capabilities that it seems the Sony Blu-ray player may lack—this is not yet clear—but either way, you still need to shell out $149.99 for the Logitech TV Cam in order to use this feature.

The bottom line: you will be lucky to find a brand-name Blu-ray player of reasonable quality for under $150. If you want extra features, it's probably more like $200-250. The Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc player is, more or less, the same box as the Logitech Revue, but with a built-in, brand-name Blu-ray player for only $100 more. This thing will play virtually every type of content you own, from stored computer files to old CDs and DVDs to new Blu-rays and streaming Web content.

PCMag has yet to review either product, but it's safe to say that the Logitech Revue, announced only a week ago, has lost a bit of its luster. It's not that the Revue suddenly looks like bad product—its new feature set is very exciting. But adding in a Blu-ray player for only $100 more is even more exciting, and it's a deal many consumers who have yet to buy their first Blu-ray player will likely lean towards if Google TV is on their wish-list this fall.

In retrospect, maybe Logitech knew about this all along—hence the earlier press conference (while all of this was still new) and a heavy focus on the video-chat function at that event. But video-chatting, the Revue's primary distinguishing feature, will cost you about $50 more for the whole package than the Blu-ray player, making the Sony option, in a certain sense, the cheaper of the two.

Both products are definitely going to make people think twice before buying Apple TV, but the competition between the two Google TV boxes may be the more interesting battle to watch.

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Google Dominates Online Video Viewership, Microsoft Gains

Facebook's video dominance didn't last long.

One month after jumping past Yahoo to be the number two online video property beyond Google, Facebook dropped back down to number three for the month of September, according to Tuesday data from comScore.

The two are neck-and-neck, however. Google Sites, driven by YouTube, captured the top spot with 144.2 million unique viewers while Yahoo and Facebook battled it out for a distant second- and third-place finish. Yahoo had 54.4 million viewers last month, while Facebook had 52.2 million.

In August, Facebook was number two for the first time with 58.6 million, followed by Yahoo at 53.9 million. In September, however, it was Microsoft that made some gains. The software giant's video properties jumped three spots last month to fourth place, with 45.5 million viewers.

Rounding out the top 10 were Fox Interactive Media, which includes MySpace, Vevo, Viacom Digital, NBC Universal, Hulu, and Turner Network.

Google had the highest number of overall viewing sessions at 1.9 million, and an average of 4.3 hours of viewing time per viewer. The average online video lasted 4.9 minutes. Overall, 83.9 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video during the month.

On the advertising front, Americans watched more than 4.3 billion video ads in September, with Hulu boasting the most captive audiences. Video ads reached 45 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 32 times during the months; most Hulu viewers watched about 27.5 ads in September.

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HP Pavilion p6654y

TypeMainstream, Multimedia, ValueProcessor FamilyAMD Athlon II X4RAM4 GBStorage Capacity (as Tested)750 GBGraphics CardATI Radeon HD 4200Primary Optical DriveDual-Layer DVD+/-RWOperating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Home PremiumMore

Its features are mostly modest, but the HP Pavilion p6654y's ($529.99 list) performance is stellar for a budget desktop—its not so modest attribute is a spacious 750GB hard drive. And not counting a rather anemic 250-watt power supply, the p6654y, which is available at Best Buy, has decent upgrade potential to boot. For its sheer performance capabilities, the p6654y presents an very good value for a budget desktop.

Design
The p6654y is one of the rare exceptions to the typically all-black HP Pavilion desktops. It still has a black metal chassis, but adds a little contrast to the mix with a gray-colored, plastic front bezel. The color might be a tad different from the usual, but the design is the same as all other Pavilion p6500- and p6600-series "everyday computing" line of desktops, such as the HP Pavilion p6627c-b ($749.99, 3 stars). This design entails a 15-in-1 media card reader at the top of the front bezel, with two accessible 5.25-inch bays below that. In the instance of the p6654y, the top bay houses a DVD burner, while the bottom bay is unoccupied. The bottom half of the bezel slides down about an inch to reveal access to two USB 2.0 ports and mic and headphone jacks.

You'll need a screwdriver to remove the single screw that holds the system's side panel in place. It slides away to reveal a clean-looking interior with plenty of room to work. All three 1X PCIe expansion slots are empty; and as the p6654y uses integrated graphics, the 16X PCIe slot remains unused as well. Two of the four DIMM slots are in use, so you could easily upgrade the system's memory from the 4GB it comes with to 8GB, without having to discard the existing memory modules. There are three internal 3.5-inch bays, of which only one is in use—it holds the 750GB 7,200rpm hard drive. Counting the spare 5.25-inch bay, there are a total of three empty drive bays; but since the motherboard has only two unused SATA ports, you could only install a total of two more drives.

If you are eyeing the p6654y as a platform for future upgrades, your options are going to be limited by the meager 250-watt power supply unit (PSU). It can probably handle a couple of additional drives and a few 1X PCIe cards, but installing anything other than a low-end graphics card in the 16X PCIe slot likely means having to upgrade the PSU as well. A MiniPCI Express on the motherboard has a half-height 802.11b/g/n card installed in it; unlike the HP Pavilion Elite HPE-410y ($929.99 street, 3 stars), which has the Wi-Fi antenna built into the case, the p6654y comes with an external antenna that attaches to a connector located on the back of the system.

Features
On the back of the system, you'll also find a 100MBps Ethernet port, as well as 6 analog audio jacks for 7.1-channel support, a digital audio connector, 4 USB 2.0 ports, and DVI and VGA-out video connectors. You won't find HDMI, eSATA, or FireWire connections on the system, but any of those types of connections might be wishful thinking for a budget desktop.

I keep waiting for an HP system to show up that doesn't have lots of bloatware preinstalled on it, and it looks like I'm going to have to keep waiting. While apps and utilities like CinemaNow Media Manager and SnapFish Picture Mover are of questionable value, you can at least take comfort in that including many of these subsidized applications helps HP keep the cost of the system down. It's not all waste, however, as a few potentially useful apps can be found among the flotsam and jetsam, such as CyberLink DVD Suite Deluxe for media-creation tasks, and the HP MediaSmart suite for media playback. The p6654y comes with a one-year limited parts and labor warranty, and HP provides toll-free supports around the clock.

Performance
Considering the p6654y's budget price tag, its overall application performance is excellent and should be sufficient for everyday tasks and most multimedia-minded jobs. Powered by a quad-core 2.8GHz AMD Athlon II X4 630 processor, the p6654y's respectable PCMark Vantage score of 5,886 bested both the triple-core 2.9GHz Athlon II X3 435-based Acer Aspire X3400's ($459.99 street) score of 5,450 and the dual-core 2.8GHz Ahtlon II X2 220-based Asus Essentio CM1630-05's ($479.99 street, 4 stars, EC) 4,503 showing. That said, both the X3400 and CM1630-05 are less expensive systems than the p6654y; on the other hand, the more expensive, dual-core 3.2GHz Intel Core i5-650-based Asus Essentio CM5675-09 ($799.99 street, 3.5 stars) handily beat them all with its score of 6,714.

The p6654y's Handbrake video-encoding performance of 2 minutes 40 seconds is also a solid showing for a budget system, which is better than what the CM1630-05 (3:12) could dish out, a statistical tie with the X3400 (2:39), but beat out by the CM5675-09 (2:20). The p6654y also had the best showing of the AMD-based systems on the Photoshop CS5 test with a time of 6:05; but once again the Intel-based CM5675-09 took the win with a time of 4:07. Perhaps the one surprise to come out of our tests is that the p6654y had the highest CineBench R11.5 score (3.15) of all of these systems, including the CM5675-09 (2.79). CineBench is a highly multi-threaded application that performs much faster when more CPU cores are present to share the workload. As the p6654y has four cores, and the other systems have either just two or three cores, it makes sense that the p6654y comes out on top on this test.

Budget systems seldom have the necessary hardware to play present-day 3D games, and the p6654y is no exception. The system's integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics engine is sufficient for casual games and HD video playback. But if you want to play games that require real 3D graphics horsepower, like Crysis or Lost Planet 2, you will need to consider a pricier system or at least take advantage of the p6654y's upgrade potential by investing in a discrete graphics card and possibly even a more powerful PSU.

Because of its budget price, it wouldn't be fair to ding the HP Pavilion p6654y for its lack of 3D gaming chutzpah—if you find a system at this price point that has good 3D gaming capabilities, snatch it up quickly, because it's probably a pricing error. For a budget desktop, the p6654y's application performance is top of its class, and therefore the system offers excellent bang-for-the-buck. It certainly lacks many of the bells and whistles that you'll find on more expensive systems, but its feature set more than holds its own against similarly priced systems, especially its generous 750GB hard drive. Still, the Asus CM1630, our Editors' Choice, is still the budget desktop to beat, with its additional video connectors, lack of bloatware, and lower price..

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pavilion p6654y with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
•   Dell Inspiron i580-6736NBC
•   HP Pavilion p6654y
•   Lenovo IdeaCentre K300-53162FU
•   iBuypower LAN Warrior II
•   Asus Essentio CM5675-09
•   more

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SlimComputer 1.0 Takes the Fat out of New Computers

New computers often come with a surfeit of "crapware" software that lowers the price of the PC but also bogs it down before your first use. Enter SlimWare Utilities' SlimComputer 1.0.

The new software, announced Wednesday, is designed to bring your PC to the pristine state you expect from a new machine. Most new PCs come with multiple installers, advertising links, trial apps, games, and toolbars that can make what should be a clean, fast, new computer sluggish from day one. SlimComputer is a cloud-based software-cum-service that identifies the likely unwanted extras and offers to remove them.

"New computers come pre-loaded with dozens of unnecessary programs that drain resources and slow down a machine," said Chris Cope, chief executive of SlimWare Utilities. "By giving consumers the ability to remove software they didn't ask for and don't want, we're letting people customize their online experience and have the best, most optimized new computer."

Since its launch in beta form at the Black Hat Conference last July, the software has undergone an interface redesign based on feedback from its over 2,000 testers. Key to this was preventing the deletion of items users might actually want.

"We've added features that give consumers more detail about applications that are slowing or disrupting their new PC," said Cope. "By providing more information about what's on a consumer's PC, we empower people to make better decisions about which applications they keep and which they should remove."

A simple "run scan" button starts the process of SlimComputer looking online for the latest software profiles for new PCs. Users can see community ratings for preinstalled software, and are able to reinstate disabled startup programs, toolbars, and shortcuts.

Interested potential users can download SlimComputer for free at slimcomputer.com starting today. Just don't tell the maker of your new PC, which got a good chunk of cash from the makers of all that software you'll be uninstalling.

View the original article here

Phiaton MS 600

TypeiPod# of channels2Separate subwooferNoControllerWirelessPower rating front satellite25 watts RMS per channelMore

Some audio manufacturers operate under the correct assumption that a majority of people will happily confuse striking visual design with top-notch audio performance. It's not that, say, Tivoli makes poor audio products—some of them are quite good—but the majority of its offerings are, first and foremost, design pieces. While Phiaton has made excellent-sounding headphones in the past, the $299 (list) MS 600, the company's first foray into iPod speaker docks, is definitely a design piece. Its audio performance lacks low-end response and its controls—both on the remote and on the dock itself—leave much to be desired. But just look at this thing!

Design
The MS 600 looks a bit like a spaceship. Its 5 by 14 by 7.5 inch, 4.8 pound frame balances on four metallic legs and would blend well with the furniture in 2001: A Space Odyssey or A Clockwork Orange. Two speaker cylinders flank the docking area, with black (or red) cloth circular grilles hiding slightly-upward angled drivers. The controls are lined up in front of the docking area. Five metallic buttons recessed in black glossy plastic include Track Backward, Play/Pause, Track Forward, Volume Down, and Volume Up. Behind the dock area, a Power button is situated to the right and glows blue when the system is powered on. Connectivity is about as minimal as the design: all you get is a connector for the AC power adapter and a 3.5mm audio input. There's no video out, so you can't send movies to your TV and use this system for audio. There's also no subwoofer out—a sad situation considering the serious lack of bass response here.

The MS 600 comes with four different tray adapters for various iPod models. Surprisingly, this dock only carries the "Made for iPod" certification from Apple. Since it lacks "Works with iPhone" certification, you will likely encounter GSM interference at times if you choose to dock your iPhone. These days, it's inexcusable for an iPod dock not to include iPhone certification. And for a $300 dock, it's ridiculous.

The remote control is also visually striking—red buttons arranged to form a large circle offer playback and track navigation, while a smaller Power button sits in the middle of the black plastic body. Not to bring up the price again, but a $300 iPod dock should include a remote that offers full iPod menu navigation. This one doesn't. But Phiaton isn't the only company guilty of this sin. B&W's pricey Zeppelin Mini ($399.95 list, 3.5/5 stars) notably lacks a useful remote control as well. Also, the range is weak—sometimes a button press registers, sometimes it doesn't. This makes the remote even more annoying.

Audio Performance
In the current era of booming bass, manufacturers often apply dynamic compression algorithms to audio output—this is a fancy way of saying they sculpt the dynamics of the music so that as you raise the volume, the bass is squashed to avoid distortion. When there's too much compression, everyone can hear it—if you've ever heard the volume dip on a song after a heavy kick drum or a loud vocal, then you're hearing compression in full effect. The Phiaton MS 600 remains pure, with no compression added to its signal at all. Ostensibly, this is an audiophile's dream, but the MS 600 doesn't need any compression for the simple reason that it doesn't produce enough low-end to distort. At least, you'd think it wouldn't distort because it has such weak bass response, but it does anyway.

At moderate listening levels, you will hear a very crisp, defined sound in the mids and highs, but there is nearly no low end presence. Kick drums sound like pencils tapping desktops, electric basses are clearly playing bass lines but sound more like detuned guitars. You needn't be a bass addict to be annoyed by this—if you even appreciate a smidge of bass, it isn't here. So, on a song you know has heavy bass, like the Knife's "Silent Shout", if you turn the volume up to see if you can tease a bit of low-end of the double-barreled speaker system, you will be disappointed with the results. To be fair, many systems suffer from distortion when playing "Silent Shout," but most of them do so while offering some semblance of low-end. This is not the case with the MS 600.

It's hard to compare the Phiaton MS 600 to anything I've reviewed—it looks great, costs as much as some top-notch iPod docks, but sounds like a sub-$100 product. If it's bass without distortion you seek, check out the identically priced Harman Kardon Go+ Play Micro ($299 list, 4/5 stars), which can deliver clean low-end at high volumes, but not in an overpowering way. For subwoofer-level bass, check out our Editors' Choice, the same-priced Altec Lansing Mix iMT800 ($299.99 direct, 4/5 stars). In the luxury iPod dock realm, most of the systems are more balanced and offer more subtle low end, like B&W's Zeppelin Mini. If you're willing to spend $300, do yourself a favor and check some of the aforementioned alternatives—all of them provide a better listening experience.

More Speaker Reviews:
•   Bosses Day: A Tech Gift Guide
•   JBL On Stage IV
•   Phiaton MS 600
•   Sony iPod Portable Speaker Dock (RDP-XF100iP)
•   iLuv Launches First Dedicated iPad Dock
•   more

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Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ

TypeValue, Desktop ReplacementOperating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Home PremiumProcessor Speed2.4 GHzProcessor NameIntel Core i3-370MRAM4 GBWeight5.38 lbScreen Size15.6 inchesScreen Size TypewidescreenGraphics CardIntel GMA HDStorage Capacity (as Tested)320 GBNetworking Options802.11nPrimary Optical DriveDual-Layer DVD+/-RWMore

Every so often a budget laptop comes along that is so loaded with goodies that you have to double-check the price to make sure you're not seeing things. The Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ ($629.99 list, at Best Buy) is that laptop. For just under $630, you get Core i3 processing power, wireless HDMI and WiMax broadband capabilities, good battery life, and a generous selection of I/O ports. Despite its smallish hard drive and slightly loud mouse buttons, this VPC- EB33FM/BJ model is the budget laptop to beat and supplants the Acer Aspire AS5745-7247 ($600 list, 4.5 stars) as our new Editors' Choice for the category.

Design
The VPC- EB33FM/BJ eschews the shiny, high-gloss finish used on so many budget laptops for a more subtle gunmetal black semi-matte finish that has a slight sheen to it. While smudging isn't as noticeable as it is on glossy finishes, the lid does retain fingerprints. A large chrome VAIO badge is plastered across the center of the lid, and there's a smaller white Sony logo near the top. The VPC- EB33FM/BJ weighs 5.3 pounds, which is about average for a 15-inch laptop, and has an overall travel weight of 6 pounds when you factor in the AC adapter.

A piano-black palm rest frames the isolated keyboard and houses a textured touchpad. Fans of chiclet-style keyboards will love the VPC- EB33FM/BJ keyboard's firm feel and good-sized keys. Sony managed to squeeze in a dedicated number pad as well. The touchpad is responsive and the raised finish provides good friction for precise cursor control, but mouse button clicks are a bit too loud. There aren't any dedicated media player controls, but there are three quick-launch buttons above the keyboard. The VAIO button opens Sony's Media Gallery app where you play music and videos and view photos, while the Assist button launches VAIO Care, a collection of troubleshooting and maintenance utilities. Naturally, the Web button launches a Web browser.

The brightly lit 15.6-inch display has a 1,366-by-768 resolution, which is the standard for a 15-inch laptop. Colors are bold and image quality is sharp, making this a good screen for watching HD (720p) movies and viewing photo slideshows. Viewing angles are relatively wide, although the screen loses it brightness when viewed from extreme side angles. The VPC- EB33FM/BJ's speakers are trebly, but they are loud and can handle maximum volume without distorting.

Features
The VPC- EB33FM/BJ sports an outstanding collection of I/O ports for a budget laptop. In addition to the basic 3 USB 2.0 ports there's also a combo eSATA/USB port. Video ports include VGA and HDMI outputs, and there's an Ethernet port and the always-present headphone and microphone jacks. Card readers include slots for Sony's Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo media with MagicGate support, and an SD card slot. There's also an ExpressCard 34 slot, a rarity for a laptop in this price range. A DVD burner and a Webcam are also part of the package. The 320GB hard drive is small compared with the 500GB drives that come with similarly priced laptops such as the Dell Inspiron IM5030-3413B3D ($630 list, 2 stars) and HP Pavilion dv6-3122us ($649.98 list, 3.5 stars). Rounding out this generous feature set is a wireless triple-play; not only does the VPC- EB33FM/BJ support wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n networking, it also comes with an embedded WiMax 4G radio for broadband internet on the go, and it supports Intel's Wireless Display technology (WiDi), which lets you send video and audio signals from the laptop to an HDTV's HDMI port without the need for cables. However, WiDi requires a device such as Netgear's Push2TV adapter ($100 street) to make the connection.

The VPC- EB33FM/BJ software bundle includes a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium and Sony's Media Gallery entertainment suite and VAIO Care utilities. It also comes with VAIO Gate, which is similar to HP's Dock software in that it offers a single launching point for multimedia apps, browsers, e-mail, and any other program you feel like adding to the launch bar. Trial versions of Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Office 2010 are preloaded as well.

Performance
Fueled by a 2.4GHz Core i3-370M processor and 4GB of DDR3 system memory, the VPC- EB33FM/BJ performed beautifully. Its PCMark Vantage score of 5,339 knocked the Acer Aspire AS5745-7247 (5,252) out of first place, though just barely. However, it crushed the HP Pavilion dv6-3122us (3,810) and Dell Inspiron IM5030-3413B3D (3,376) handily. The VPC- EB33FM/BJ and the Acer AS5745-7247 were evenly matched on our Photoshop CS5 (both scored 5:39), Cinebench R11.5 (both scored 2), and Handbrake (3:09 VPC- EB33FM/BJ; 3:08 AS5745-7247) multimedia tests, and the two went toe to toe on our 3DMark06 graphics test (both scored 1,874), which is not surprising, given their identical configurations.

The VPC- EB33FM/BJ's 39WHr battery lasted 4 hours 33 minutes on the MobileMark 2007 battery test, which is just 16 minutes less than the Acer AS5745-7247's time. Still, that's a pretty good time when you compare it with systems like the Dell IM5030-3413B3D (3:36) and Gateway NV53A52u ($599.99 list, 3.5 stars) (3:24).

There's a lot to like about the Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ, from its solid performance to its wealth of features, many of which are nearly impossible to find on a budget laptop. And of course, there's that $630 price tag, which may be slightly higher than what you'll pay for the Acer Aspire AS5745-7247, but its money well spent for the WiMax and WiDi functionality. For all of these reasons, the Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ takes its place as our new Editors' Choice for budget laptops.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
•   Toshiba Satellite L655-S5096
•   Sony VAIO VPC-F136FM/B
•   Acer Aspire AS5742Z-4097
•   Asus G73JH-BST7
•   HP Pavilion dv7-4165dx
•   more

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Gran Turismo 5 Delayed Again

The release of Sony's "Gran Turismo" has been delayed again. The fifth edition game was supposed to drop Nov. 2, but it will now hit stores in time for the holidays, Taku Imasaki, the game's North American producer, wrote in a blog post.

"We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches," Imasaki wrote.

A version of the game for the PlayStation Portable was released last year, but the last major overhaul of the racing simulator, Gran Turismo 4, was released in 2005. The original game first launched in 1997. Gran Turismo has been a popular game for PlayStation, selling 55 million copies globally. But the last iteration isn't even compatible with latest PS3; GT4 was released on the console's precursor, PlayStation 2.

According to a New York Times blog post, the game was slated to go on sale in Japan this March. That date came and went without the release, until the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, when confirmation of the November launch was provided.

"This was an executive decision that was made yesterday," Imasaki told the Times. "Realistically we thought we had a good date. We're not happy over here."

The game was also supposed to launch in Japan on Nov. 3, as well as in Europe on Nov. 4. No specifics were disclosed about a rescheduled release, but Imasaki said more information would be available "in the near future."

View the original article here

Picnik (October 2010)

If you're looking to make photo edits without needling to pour over thick manuals, Picnik may be more your speed than something like Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended ($699 to $999 list, $199–$899 list for upgrades, 4 stars). The free Web-based image editor makes it a snap to tweak photos—as well as create collages and share pictures on popular social networking destinations—from any Web-connected PC. There is a charge for using some of the more advanced features, and you can't open photos directly from the desktop, but Picnik is still a very capable photo editing app.

Despite being a Web-based application, Picnik doesn't require that you create an account—you can simply upload a photo from the main screen and begin editing. You can upload one photo at a time without an account, but you can do up to five at time with a free account. If you simply want to sample the application to see the extent of its editing capabilities, Picnik has three demo images to sample. It's all very inviting. The one drawback? Due to its cloud-based roots, uploading images is a requirement—you can't simply click on a photo to open it.

Interface and Usability
Five tabs adorn the top of the interface: Home, Library, Edit, Create, and Save & Share. From Library you can upload new images, create a slideshow, view history, check out photos in Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa Web Albums and other accounts that you have the option to connect—very handy, as Picnik doesn't have its own default photo-organization area.

On the Edit tab I could easily auto-fix, crop, rotate, resize, sharpen, remove red eye, and more. These all worked as advertised and simple to use, as Picnik's entire interface is designed to facilitate no-brainer image editing. In fact, Picnik gives you brief, but clear, instructions in a small dialog box that explains how to use a feature. Clicking Red-Eye, for example, instructed me that I need to click the center of each eye—and it worked well.

Create let me add effects, text, frames, and other visual goodies; Save & Share gave me the options to save the photo to my computer (BMP, JPG, GIF, PDF, PNG, TIFF), export to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and other social networks and services (more on these features later). When you save photos into one of the available formats, you can select the picture quality by using a slider, which was a nice touch.

The options under each tab are in large print, and have intuitive, "I just get it" menus. Adding effects typically consists of using sliders to determine brush size, hardness, and strength, which the average person will immediately latch onto to over adjusting percentages—one of the downsides of using GIMP 2.6.1 (Free, 4 stars) and Paint.net v3.5.5 (Free, 3.5 stars), which aim to rival Adobe Photoshop in varying degrees. It even has a handy zoom slider that is infinitely more intuitive than constantly clicking on an image in order to get a closer look.

Creative Tools
Cropping is simple, as is altering the resolution manually, or selecting one of the preset dimensions used for Flickr Buddy Icon, Twitter Picture, YouTube Thumbnail, and more. I'm surprised more video editors don't include these social networking avatar presets as it makes it remarkably easy to make custom images for a variety of settings without worrying about the photo being too large or looking up the required dimensions.

Of all the features available, creating collages proved to be the most fun, as it let me upload several pictures, select a border, and collage style, and save it to my hard disk. It's this type of built-in application creativity that GIMP and Paint.net lack, as they're more focused on higher-end editing capabilities such as layering (a feature that Picnik lacks).

Picnik Premium
Upgrading to the premium version ($4.95 per month, $19.95 per six months, $29.95 per year) opens the door to a new features unavailable in the free version. You'll get such as limitless photo history, professional fonts, the ability to upload 100 images at a time, and seasonal content all year long such as adding zombie effects (which would normally only be available around Halloween). But several year-round effects and frames under the Create tab carry the "Premium" designation, too.

Photo Printing and Sharing Options
Picnik has partnered with Qook to enable user to print images as physical photos, or onto mugs, postcards, posters, wrapping paper, and more, but you must sign up for a Picnik account to do so. You have limited options for sending images to your computer printer, which let you choose from a number of pre-determined dimensions (unfortunately, you can't utilize a custom layout as you can with GIMP).

If you'd prefer to share to social network friends, there are numerous options available such as e-mailing, adding to Google Buzz,Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket, Webs, and Webshots. It's quite simple to execute; for example, clicking the Twitter icon on the Save & Share tab let me sign into my Twitter account. There were only 110 characters available for me to craft a message (the other 30 were reserved for the photo link), but it was a remarkably intuitive way to tweet edited pictures. Picnik has tight integration with Flickr, so when I opted to share, I selected a photo set and the appropriate tags, and it appear in my Flickr account nearly instantaneously.

Should You Go On A Picnik?
Picnik has an appealing balance of ease-of-use and feature set that will make many non-pros happy. It's infinitely more user-friendly than GIMP, and has features (such as collage creation) that aren't present in Paint.net. You may only be unable to layer, upload more than five images at a time with a free account, or open an image on the desktop without first uploading it, but Picnik is a free, Web-based photo editing application with tremendous usability and mass appeal.

More Photo Editing Software Reviews:
•   Fotoflexer
•   Picnik (October 2010)
•   3D Image Commander 2.20
•   Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011
•   Paint.net v3.5.5
•   more

View the original article here

Asus K52F-A1

TypeGeneral Purpose, Media, ValueOperating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Home PremiumProcessor Speed2.4 GHzProcessor NameIntel Core i3-370MRAM4 GBWeight5.8 lbScreen Size15.6 inchesScreen Size TypewidescreenGraphics CardIntel GMA HDStorage Capacity (as Tested)500 GBPrimary Optical DriveDVD+RW (Plus)More

Looking for a laptop to replace that dated desktop of yours? There's no shortage of options in what's already a crowded field of desktop replacement laptops. The Asus K52F-A1 ($679.99 list, at Best Buy) provides plenty of firepower to handle your daily workload and features state-of-the-art WiMax and Wireless Display technologies from Intel. The one drawback is battery life, one of the lowest in this category. For its modest price, though, the Asus K52F-A1 is still one of the coolest kids on the block.

Design
The lid is made up of a brown plastic finish, which can easily be smudged and marked up. Further in, the palm rest has a copper-tone color and is coarsely textured, almost having a metallic feel to it. The design isn't as remarkable as other laptops in its class: The Dell Inspiron 17R-2248MRB ($849.99 list, 3.5 stars), whose plastic is designed to resemble brushed aluminum. The Samsung R540-11 ($999 list, 4 stars) gets the most style points, made with plastics that resemble wood. The Asus K52F-A1 weighs in at 5.8 pounds, a bit on the heavier side for a 15-inch laptop, but nothing unmanageable. The HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl ($599.99 list, 3.5 stars), by comparison, is a full half a pound lighter at 5.3 pounds.

The 15.6-inch widescreen allows for a full-size keyboard, but is significantly smaller than the Dell Inspiron 17R's 17.3-inch widescreen. The keyboard style resembles chiclet gum pieces; this particular one lacks depth, unlike the more user-friendly traditional keyboard of the Dell Inspiron 17R-2248MRB. There's also an adjacent numeric keypad, similar to other desktop replacements like the Samsung R580-JBB2 ($729.99 list) and Acer Aspire AS5745-7247 ($599.99 list, 4.5 stars).

The touchpad is generously sized, with dedicated mouse buttons. It blends in, almost camouflaged, with the rest of the laptop. The touchpad is comparable to the one found on the Samsung R580-JBB2, with its red-swirled color scheme blending in with its own palm rest. The touchpad on the K52F-A1 has the same coarse texture as the palm rest, whereas the touchpad on the Samsung R580-JBB2 is smooth. While navigating around with the touchpad, I found that the reaction time of the cursor lagged just a bit behind my finger movements. However, a few adjustments in the control panel fixed that.

Features
The K52F-A1 comes with a 500 GB, 5,400rpm hard drive. It has a standard helping of ports, including a VGA port, HDMI, 3 USB, and a 3-in-1 (MMC, SD, MS) flash memory card reader. For just $50 more, though, the Samsung R580-JBB2 comes with an e-SATA/ USB combo port (for more rapid data transfer) and an enticing Blu-ray disc drive. The Altec Lansing speakers, located on the front of the system, delivered a noticeably crisp and sharp sound when I played some sample video and sample jazz music on it.

The wireless capabilities of this system go beyond a simple Wi-Fi connection. Like your built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi card, WiMax and Wireless Display are both Intel wireless technologies that can simplify your life. WiMax (or 4G), essentially, allows you to connect to the internet anywhere within the 54 cities where WiMax towers have been built. Think of it as a city-wide Wi-Fi connection, with which you can download web pages at speeds ranging from 2 to 5 Mbps. This luxury, however, comes with a $20-40 monthly fee from a service provider like Sprint or Clearwire. The Wireless Display (WiDi) feature allows you to connect your laptop to an HDTV, wirelessly. The transmitter is already inside the laptop, so no need to use up any ports or pesky HDMI cables. There's one catch, though: You'll have to buy a Netgear Push2TV ($100) receiver box to enable this wireless connection.

Performance
Aside from battery life, the K52F-A1 was within range of most other desktop replacements in our tests. It scored 5,045 in PCMark Vantage, not far behind comparable systems like the Samsung R580-JBB2 (5,326) and Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5820T-5951 ($723 list, 4 stars) (5,233). It scored well ahead of the HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl (3524), which uses the budget AMD Athlon II P320 (2.1GHz) processor. The Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl ($999 list, 4 stars), however, is the rock star of the group (5,677). In our Handbrake video encoding test, the K52F-A1 gave a time score of 3:10, with only the Dell Inspiron 17R-2248MRB having a noticeably faster time (2:44). Integrated Intel graphics is all you get, so the K52F-A1 won't impress you with its 3D gaming proficiency. The HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl, which uses the ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 GPU, will do the trick if 3D gaming is your cup of tea.

The K52F-A1 came in at 3 hours 25 minutes in MobileMark 2007, with its 6 cell Lithium Ion (49 WH) battery. Only the Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7046 ($649.98 list, 2.5 stars) performed worse (3 hours 7 minutes), but it does have a bigger 17-inch screen, to be fair. The Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5820T-5951 gave the highest battery score (7:37), due to the simple fact that it comes with a bigger battery.

The Asus K52F-A1 comes loaded with the ammo you need to tackle all your daily tasks, and the wireless technology makes it a standout. However, there may be more attractive options out there, depending on what you're looking for. If you're looking for Blu-ray playability, a few bucks more can get you the aforementioned Samsung R580-JBB2. If you're looking for a more powerful system, the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl will quench your thirst. If saving money is your thing, the Editors' Choice for budget laptops, the Acer Aspire AS5745-7247 provides similar muscle as the Asus K52F-A1, and a huge 640GB hard drive capacity, but without the wireless bells and whistles.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Asus K52F-A1 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
•   Toshiba Satellite L655-S5096
•   Sony VAIO VPC-F136FM/B
•   Acer Aspire AS5742Z-4097
•   Asus G73JH-BST7
•   HP Pavilion dv7-4165dx
•   more

View the original article here

Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094

TypeGeneral Purpose, Desktop ReplacementOperating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Home PremiumProcessor Speed1.73 GHzProcessor NameIntel Core i7-740QMRAM4 GBWeight5.6 lbScreen Size16 inchesScreen Size TypewidescreenGraphics CardnVidia GeForce 310MStorage Capacity (as Tested)640 GBNetworking Options802.11nMore

The Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 ($899.99 list, at Best Buy) laptop looks no different than the model we looked at earlier this year, but under the hood it receives a jolt in performance with its quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and discrete ATI Radeon graphics. It doesn't offer a clear performance advantage on mainstream apps compared with competing dual-core models, but it offers a big leap from the Toshiba Satellite A665-S6051 ($799.98 list, 3 stars). Although I think the design could stand to be spiffed up a bit, I was happy to see (and hear) that Toshiba outfitted this A665 model with the same Harman Kardon speakers as the previous iteration. Simply put, they are impressive. For general use where audio quality isn't your sole priority, however, there are better mainstream laptops at this price.

For example, a number of sub-$1,000 laptops are ditching plastic for aluminum chassis. The Satellite A665-S6094 is impressively rigid for a plastic enclosure, but I prefer the look and feel of an aluminum chassis, like the ones found on the 15.6-inch Acer TimelineX AS5820T-5951 ($723 street, 4 stars), 14-inch Asus U45Jc-A1 ($867 street, 4.5 stars), and 17.3-inch HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl ($999.99 list, 4 stars). The Acer and Asus models also offer much more in the way of battery life, which is decidedly not one of the A665-S6094's strong suits.

Design
Sitting on a Best Buy store shelf, the Satellite A665-S6094 isn't likely to catch your eye. Its matte black plastic chassis offers little in the way of adornment. You won't find any color highlights or chrome edges, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The only design features are a textured pattern that runs across the keyboard deck and lid and some bright, white LED lights in the form of a small Satellite logo in the laptop's lower left corner and a stripe of white that runs along the top edge of the touchpad. The LED lighting can be distracting, particularly in low ambient light. Thankfully, you can disable the lighting by turning on Eco mode, which helps extend battery life, in part by lowering display brightness. Once in Eco mode, you can raise the brightness level of the display while still keeping the LEDs off.

The input devices are a mixed bag. The keyboard features isolated or island keys. The keys are nicely spaced, even though the laptop features a dedicated number pad, and they offer great feel. Aiding the typing experience is the stiffness of the chassis; despite being made of plastic instead of a metal, the chassis hardly flexes at all. The touchpad has a matte finish, supports multi-touch gestures, and feels very responsive. The drawback is the mouse buttons; they are generously portioned but look and sound cheap. A loud clack can be heard with every mouse click, and the buttons even rattle when the laptop is jostled. A small button above the touchpad disables the touchpad should you want to use an external mouse.

Above the keyboard is a row of multimedia shortcut keys. The volume keys emit a loud beep when pressed, but you can disable that annoying sound by following this path: TOSHIBA > Utilities > HWSetup > Button Setting > Function Button Sound Notification.

Features
The Satellite A665-S6094 features a 16-inch widescreen display and a 1366 by 768 resolution. The screen has a glossy coating, which can create some glare and reflections, but helps make videos and photos pop. And, indeed, movies look crisp and vivid on the widescreen display, but that's the case with the majority of today's laptops. What sets the Satellite A665-S6094 apart is its impressive audio.

Two Harman Kardon speakers reside above the keyboard behind oval-shaped grills, and they produce booming sound, for a laptop. Most integrated laptop speakers suffice for Web video, are barely passable for a feature-length films (particularly those with soft dialog or loud explosions), and can't cut it for music playback. The A665-S6094's speakers offer enough oomph for movies; we had to turn them down when seated right in front of the laptop. Listening to music is also an enjoyable experience, which is a statement I rarely make when describing laptop audio. In fact, Toshiba outfits the laptop with a new featured called Sleep-and-Music, which lets you run your MP3 player through the laptop's speakers whether the laptop is on, off, or sleeping. Similarly, Sleep-and-Charge lets you charge your USB peripherals from the laptop, even when it's in sleep mode or off.

The laptop offers a useful collection of data and video connections. You get 4 USB 2.0 ports (one of which doubles as an eSATA port), HDMI and VGA ports, and a media card reader and ExpressCard/34 slot. Unlike other similarly priced laptops, including the HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl and Toshiba's own Satellite A665-S6085 ($799.98 list, 4 stars), the A665-S6094 does not offer Blu-ray support, just a run-of-the-mill DVD burner.

The only disappointment among the networking options is the lack of Gigabit Ethernet; you must make do with 10/100 Ethernet. However, wireless connectivity is great, with 802.11n Wi-Fi and WiMax.

Performance
The Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 features a quad-core Intel Core i7-740QM processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, and an entry-level Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics card. The CPU is clocked at 1.73GHz, and with Intel's Turbo Boost, the clockspeed can go as high as 2.93GHz. These components offer competitive mainstream performance, and they represent a significant leg up on the previous Satellite A665D-S6051 and its quad-core AMD chip and integrated ATI graphics. Don't be too quick to assume, however, that a quad-core processor offers an automatic performance advantage against dual-core CPUs. While it's a powerful mobile processor, particularly for the price, many mainstream applications will run just as fast with a modern dual-core chip. The HP Pavilion dv6-3163cl ($899.99 list, 3.5), for instance, uses a dual-core Core i5-460M and edged the Satellite A665-S6094 on our PCMark Vantage, Handbrake, and Photoshop benchmarks. The Satellite A665-S6094 did take top honors on Cinebench R11.5, which put multiple processing cores to good use.

With its entry-level GeForce graphics, we saw only modest framerates on our Crysis and Lost Planet 2 tests. The best score we saw was with Crysis at a low 1024 by 768 resolution, and that was only 22fps. Don't mistake this quad-core mainstream laptop for a gaming machine.

While a quad-core part such as the Intel Core i7-740QM offers more headroom for intensive media editing and encoding applications than a mainstream dual-core chip, one of the drawbacks is power consumption and, thus, battery life. The Satellite A665-S6094 could muster only 2 hours 36 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 battery test. Most mainstream laptops have no trouble surpassing the 4-hour mark.

It's not the most well-rounded laptop, but the Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 does offer some specific features that hold great appeal. The audio output is second to none at this price, the keyboard is roomy and comfortable, and if you are running applications that will benefit from quad-core processing, this laptop will certainly look attractive. Opt for a dual-core processor at or around this price, however, and you'll find laptops, such as the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl, that include a metal chassis, a Blu-ray player, and better battery life.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
•   Toshiba Satellite L655-S5096
•   Sony VAIO VPC-F136FM/B
•   Acer Aspire AS5742Z-4097
•   Asus G73JH-BST7
•   HP Pavilion dv7-4165dx
•   more

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McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011

TypeBusiness, Personal, ProfessionalOS CompatibilityWindows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7Tech SupportFAQ; community forum; 30 day free phone support and unlimited email and live chat assistanceMore

Although McAfee's 2010 antivirus appeared in the fall of 2009 the new 2010 features didn't all trickle in until several months later. McAfee's continuous update system means that customers received the updates automatically, as soon as they were available, but PCMag couldn't review the product until they all arrived. McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 ($39.99 direct or $59.99 for three licenses) is available right now, with no waiting around for additional features.

The significant 2010 update included a user interface makeover and some serious feature changes. You won't see a lot of difference in the 2011 edition, and much of the enhancements that do exist aren't visible. You'll only notice the promised fewer interruptions and better handling of battery life by the problems you don't have, for example, and few will grasp the firewall's new ability to track UDP connections.

That new user interface introduced with the 2010 edition is rather different from the usual security product. It's smaller than most and oriented vertically rather than horizontally. Each of a stacked list of features expands with a click to reveal detailed status and configuration options.

McAfee's Navigation Center offers a different view of the program's features. In a single list it offers access to important tasks and settings within the program as well as links to McAfee's virus map, hacker watch, and other online resources. Some features such as the History and Logs link aren't easily accessible except through the Navigation Center.

That unusual vertical orientation doesn't play well in the History and Log window. This window stacks up nine distinct logging areas. If you're looking for evidence of a recent event but don't know which log to search you'll have to open each panel individually and scroll vertically to see what's what. I wish that each logging area's panel at least included a count of the items found in that log or a flag for recent activity.

At any time you can pull up a security report on the program's actions during the last 30 days. The report lists such statistics as the number of viruses detected and the number of programs blocked by the firewall but lacks links to get more detail beyond the bare numbers.

McAfee's antivirus includes a number of features normally associated with a full security suite rather than a standalone antivirus, a trend I've observed in other recent releases. Like Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 ($50.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars) McAfee includes a personal firewall. Like BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 ($39.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars) it lets you monitor and manage the configuration of other installations on your network. Where AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 (Free, 3.5 stars) checks for dangerous links with its LinkScanner toolbar, McAfee relies on its SiteAdvisor toolbar.

Balky Installer
Installing McAfee on my thirteen malware-infested test systems was more of a challenge than I expected. One system installed but refused to update; fortunately the update problem vanished after a full scan. Five of the test systems encountered an "Unexpected error" that forced the full scan to restart, though they did eventually finish.

In many cases McAfee's real-time protection popped up right after installation reporting that it had deleted a Trojan or asking permission to remove a lower-risk threat. One sample, though, completely bamboozled McAfee. The real-time protection system detected it and requested a reboot to complete removal. After reboot it did the same again and again and again, without end. That won't impress users.

On one system McAfee's installer halted and ordered me to first uninstall an incompatible antivirus. In fact it was a fake antivirus, a scareware program. Not only does it lack an uninstall routine it actively fights removal. Refusing to install in this circumstance seems short-sighted to me.

McAfee tech support supplied a version of their Stinger utility optimized for use against fake antivirus, but it didn't do the job. In the end I had to sit on the phone for two hours while a McAfee technician cleaned up the system by remote control, drawing on a wide collection of non-McAfee tools. I got the program installed but I lost two hours of productive work. Norton AntiVirus 2011 ($39.99 direct, 4.5 stars) installed on these exact same test systems without incident, as did Webroot AntiVirus with Spy Sweeper 2011 ($49.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars).

Mixed Lab Results
ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs test antivirus programs against a huge collection of malware samples. Both certify McAfee's antivirus technology for virus detection and removal; West Coast adds checkmark certification for detection of Trojans and general malware. McAfee didn't receive the VB100% aware in the very latest test by Virus Bulletin, but it got the award the other nine of its last ten attempts.

AV-Comparatives.org conducts ongoing antivirus tests, alternating on-demand virus removal tests with proactive detection tests. A product must achieve the STANDARD rating to pass; the best products rate ADVANCED or ADVANCED+. McAfee received an ADVANCED rating in the latest on-demand test but just STANDARD in the proactive test. In a one-time dynamic whole-product test last year McAfee also rated STANDARD.

AV-Test.org recently rated a collection of security programs on their ability to repair a malware-infested system, their usability, and their overall protection. Somehow McAfee rated 2 of 6 possible points for repair, 3.5 for usability, and 5 for overall protection. Kaspersky, Norton, and Panda all rated 5 or 5.5 in all categories.

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Verizon Preloads Amazon Kindle App on Fascinate, Droids

Amazon and Verizon Wireless announced Wednesday that the Kindle e-reading app will now come preloaded on the Samsung Fascinate, the Motorola Droid 2, and the Motorola Droid X.

"We're very excited to bring Kindle for Android directly to Verizon Wireless customers," Jennifer Byrne, Verizon's executive director of business development and partnerships, said in a statement. "Our smartphones come with great screens that make buying and reading books simple and easy, and Amazon's commitment to reading and offering a seamless customer experience is directly in line with what our customers want."

The software will be accessible on the app screen of the Fascinate, Droid 2, and Droid X. Other Android users can find it in the Android Market. Kindle software allows users to access more than 700,000 books in the Kindle store and read the text directly on their Android phone.

With Amazon's Whispersync technology, it's possible to read the same book across several different Kindle-outfitted gadgets under the same account. Kindle purchases are also automatically backed up online. Most titles sell for $9.99 or less.

The Kindle Android app was updated last month to include new features like voice search, orientation lock, and connection to Wikipedia within the app. Amazon and Verizon have said that the e-reader software will soon be available on more Verizon devices.

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