Consumer Reports 2008 Electronics Buying Guide

TESTS REVEAL THE BEST &WORST AUDIO & VIDEO GEAR CELL PHONES DIGITAL CAMERAS GPS NAVIGATORS MP3 PLAYERS BRAND-NAME P...

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TESTS REVEAL THE

BEST

&WORST

AUDIO & VIDEO GEAR CELL PHONES DIGITAL CAMERAS GPS NAVIGATORS MP3 PLAYERS

BRAND-NAME PRODUCTS RATED

HDTV

PLASMA

OR

LCD?

* WHAT rs ~~

AVAILABLE ~-IIiiii;;;;;;;~ * FEATURES THAT COUNT

*HOW TO C OOSE

Senior Director of Testing Managers Program Leaders Senior Project Leaders Project Leaders Assistant Project Leaders Technicians

Evon Beckford Gerard Catapano, James Langehennig Dean Gallea, Richard Sulin KerryAllen,Claudio Ciacci, Richard Fisco, Joseph Lazzaro, Maurice Wynn CharlesDavidman,Ernst St. Louis, Chris Lam,Th Elias Arias, Susan Daino, Artur Pietruch Chris Andrade, Antonette Asedillo, Isabella Bu Matt Ferretti, Larry Greene, Maria Grimaldi, R Miguel Rivera, Patrick Severin, Caroline Som William South, Rachelle Stern, David Toner

CONSUMER REPORTS NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER Sen ior Director Norman Leonarc zyk Director Mark Kotkin Manager Donato Vaccaro Program Leaders Jacqueline Bruskin, Stewart Stover Sen ior Research Associates David Gopoian, Rosalind Tordesillas Research Associates Kiran Bhart hapudi , Meredith Bachman Research Coordinator John McCowen

Consumer Reports Editorial Division Deputy Editorial Director, Editor-in -Chief, CR Director, Editorial and Production Operations Director, Design, Cons umers Union Executi ve Editor, Franchises Creative Dire ctor Edi tor-in-C hief, Online Media Executive Editor, Online Media

Kimberly KJeman David Fox George Art hur Greg Daughert y Timo thy LaPalme Giselle Benatar Marc Perton

Consumer Reports/Consumers Union President Senior Vice President for Information Products Vice President and Editorial Director Vice President and Techni cal Director Vice President for Extern al Affairs and Information Services Vice President for Publishing

James Guest John J. Sateja Kevin McKean Jeffrey A. Asher Chris Meyer Jerr y Steinbr ink

First pr inting, August 2007 Co pyr ight © 2007 by Consum ers Union of United States, In c.,Yonkers, New York 10703. Pu blished by Consu mers Union of United States, Inc., Yonkers, New York 10703. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. ISBN-IO: 1-933524-10-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-933524-10-8 ISSN: 1530-3713 Man ufactur ed in the United States of America.

I

Toda'['s

Best Buys in ...

TELEVI IONS LAPTOP & DESKTOP COMPUTERS . AUDIO & VIDEO GEAR DIGITAL CAMERAS & CAMCORDERS CELL PHONES & MORE

THE EDITORS OF CO NSUMER REPORTS Published by Consumer Reports

0

A Division of Consumers Union

0

Yonkers, NY

TELEVISIONS 24 HD is now the TV choice 29 As LCD prices go down, site and qualify go up , 33 Big, bright plasma TVs offer greater value 37 Rear-projection TVs get slimmer & better' 39 Front-projector TVs fill movie -sized niche 4~ Classic picture tubes hang in HDTV era ' 44 Gett ing your TV home and setting it up 46 How to find the best TV programming service 49 Easing the cut -off from analog t o digital

on

CHAPTER 03 1 LAPTOP & DESKTOP COMPUTERS 52 55

Laptops are becoming the primary computer

61

Tech support can come from many sources

65 67

Monitor prices drop & screens get bigger Inkjet printers rule, but consider lasers

71

Freeware: No cost, but worth plenty?

75

Internet service gains an even faster option Save your computer from online attack

79

Desktop computers: Powerful & cheap

Televisions, p, 23

Laptops, p. 52

118

Digital cameras gain speed and convenience

125

Photo software eases editing &storingpics

127

You have many options for printing your pics

130

Digital camcorders dominate the market

CHA PTER 06 1 CELL PHONES & CARRIERS 134 Your guide to finding the right phone deal 14 0

Cell phones focus on more than just talk

14 5

Smart phones become simpler and slimmer

14 7

Cordless phones make home calls convenient

Camcorders, p. 130

Cell phones, p. 140

RATINGS

& REFERENCE

15 1

Ratings

18 4

Brand Locator

186

Glossary

208

Index

Smart phones, p. 145

v

consideration s into Wh at's Available, Features That Count, and How to Choose sections. Brief sidebars WIyou in o n important purchase and usage tips. Th en turn to the ba ck of the boo k for th e Ratin gs, charts, an d summ aries of CONSUMERREpORTS' product testing. And before your next electro nics

ConsumerReport s.orq

bought at retail, just as a con sumer would acquire th em. Our sho ppers buy specific models based on which are top sellers or innovative design s. CONSUMER REpORTS' tests are rigorous an d objec tive, using const antly refined procedures. In the case of home comp uters, for example, benchm arks are used

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

electronics qear can be dauntinq when you consider the available features and options. You'll know just what to look for after readlnq this quide's expert buyinq advice and Ratinqs.

ELECTRONICS BU YING GUIDE 2008

5

in pr inter image

quality and assess

computer perfo rmance .

All electron ics

testing is done at the

Consumer Reports

National Testing and

Research Center

in Yonkers , N.Y.

r rITI fJll

6

CONSUMER REPORT S 0

ELECTRO NICS BU Y ING GUIDE 2 0 08

Expert · Independ

buy from an online store.

REpORTS readers who had purchased an electron ics product in th e previous 16 months.

and walk-in pre sen ce, such as Circuit City, th e Web site invariably did better. ~ Among the walk-in retailers, local ind ependent stores had a decid ed edge over m ost of the chain s for th eir selection, pro du ct qual ity, and service.

HOW TO CHOOSE In addition to surveying our readers, we cons ulted CONSUMER REpORTS'pro fes sional shoppers, the m en and wom en who buy about $850,000 worth of elec tron ic products every year for testing in our labs. Based on thei r advice and th at of readers, her e are some tips: Decide between price and service. Th at's the biggest trade-off shoppers face today, and whi ch of the two is your top pr iority might vary by pr odu ct. If you kn ow wh at you want, buy ing at one of ou r highly rated onli n e reta ilers will probably be faster and less expensive. However, if you n eed some time with a kn owledgeable salesperson (or would just like to see, hear, and touch th e mer chandise), one of the top-rated walk-in stores could be a better choice. In the case of a TV set, for instance, you m ight want to look at the pictur e and gauge th e set's size in relation to your living room. With au dio products, sound qu ality is largely in the ear of the listener, so in-store dem o facilities can

8

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 20 0 B

Expert· Independent· Nonprofit

independent, Ritz, or Tweeter, all of which earned high er mar ks overall in our surve y and were rated bett er for getting customers out the door and on their way. Take a hybrid approach. Our shopping pros often find the most efficient tactic is to buy a product online for pickup at the nearest store. That way you might receivethe pro duct sooner as well as avoid shipping charges. You can also check a particular stor e's inventor y on line in many cases, bu t don't assume it's 100 percen t accurat e. Instead, call ahead to verify that the item is actually on hand and ask that it be set aside for you. In some cases, the store might have on ly one of a par ticular item , which

could be a display mo del, so be sure to ask about that , too . Get a lower price after you buy. Most price guarantees say that if th e price of your item is reduced within a specified period of time, typic ally 30 days, the store will refund the difference. Some retailers also promise to match a competitor's lower price during that sam e time period, or to beat it by

You might prefer to buy from a local store with savv y sales help and a pric ing polic y to match t he best adver t i sed deal.

- - - - - - - - - --'--._ - -_

._ ----,

Happiness is buying online As this t able shows , our survey respondent s who bought elect ronics onli ne were more satisfied overall than those who bought at stores. A score of 100 would mean that all respondents were complete ly sat isfied with the shoppin g experience; 80. very sat isf ied; and 60. fairly well satisfied.

PRODUCT

ONLINE SATISFACTION

IN-STORE SATISFACTION

Digital cameras

91

83

Audio equipment (receivers. speakers, etc.)

89

79

Camcorders

89

78

Hard-disk recorder or digital video recorder

89

78

TV (rear projection)

89

85

DVD player/recorder

88

79

TV (flat-panel LCD or plasma)

87

84

TV (conventio nal picture tu be)

85

80

PDA (handhe ld)

84

76

Overall

89

81

ConsumerReports.org

CO NSUME R REPORTS 0 ELECTRON ICS BUYING GUIDE 200 8 9

bett er on price. Among t he walk-in stores, th e Ratings found several winne rs for selection and service.

and Amazon.co m are also low-price standouts, alt hough BuyDig's return policy is a drawback.

product select ion: 12 Rit z Camera 13 Tweeter 14 Ult imat e Electronics

For th e best online select ion: 1 3 4 5 6

QUICK PICKS For rock-bottom prices: 2 Costco.com 3 BuyDig.com 4 Amazon.com 5 Buy.com 11 Cost co 16 BJ 's Wholesale

Crutchfield.com BuyDig.com Amazon.com Buy.com JR.com

These were best in th eir class for selecti on and amo ng th e best for service. Readers liked the demo faciliti es at Tweeter and Ultimate; Tweeter's installati on service also added to satisfaction, Ritz and Tweeter had knowledgeable salespeople. Local indepen dents did well on select ion and service,

Crutchfield 's site earned top marks except for price, where it was average. The ot hers

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Guide to the Ratings Based on 29,891 elect ronics purchases made by 19 ,319 readers from January 20 05 t hrough June 2006. Reader score refers to how respon dents rated their overall sat isfactio n with the ir shopping experience and is not limited to t he fac to rs listed under survey results . A score of 100 would mean that all respondents were com plete ly satisfied; 80 wou ld mean very satisfied; 60, fairly well satisfie d. Differences

Consum erReports.org

of fewer tha n 4 points are not mea ningf ul. The

scores shown under survey results refle ct t he

percentage of respondents who rated the retailer

as excellent or very good on each item . Highe r

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compared wit h th e mean score; lower scores mean

it was rated less favorably. Note th at our readers

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CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONI CS BUYiNG GUIDE 200B 11

similar to an extended warranty.

It has become something of a ritual : Just as you're about to head over to the check out line, the nice salesperson who just sold you that high-ticket gizmo tries to persuade you to take out some extra insurance in the form of an extended warranty. What should you do?

to the cost of a repa ir, which you might never need. Electronics products are reliable. Only a small percentage ever need to be repaired in the first three years. Possible exceptions are microdisplay rear-projection TVs. Our data on sets bought new in 2005 or 2006 show that

warranty," page 32 . Before you cons ider paying for an ex tended warranty, check to see whether your credit card provides extra coverage. Such plans, most often found on gold and platinum cards, typically lengthe n the original manufacturer's coverage by up to one year.

PROTECT YOURSEL WHEN

UYIN N TEl TERN T

Simple precautions can save money and protect your identity

O

nline merchants offering extremel y low prices on brand-name TVs, cameras , and other goods are trolling for bargain hunters on the Internet. But if you bite, you might be bitt en back. A too-good to-be-true deal could be a scam that will leave you empty-ha nded, with no recourse-even on a reputable site that offers a bu yer-protection plan . Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself from fraud . When a deal sounds too good t o be true, assume it's bogus. Be suspicious when sellers

offer new mer chandise at pr ices much lower th an those of familiar retailers. High-definition TVs and expensive camera equ ipment are favorite targets of con artists. Consider comp arison shopping at sites such as Google Product Search (formerly

12

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 200B

Froogle), PriceGrabb er, or Yahoo Shopping to get

an idea of baseline prices from legitimate retailers.

(ConsumerReports.org subscribers have access to

a customized version of Yahoo Shopping's service

for selected products.)

Watch out for refurbished merchand ise.

Especially when it comes to electronic s, man y sites

offering bar gains sell used, reconditioned products.

Be sure to read all of the fine print in the descrip

tion to determine whether your product is new or refurbi shed . If it is refurbished, ask if it comes with a manufacturer's warranty. Beware of "gray market" goods. Those are branded products diverted from approved distribu tion channels. The y're not illegal, are usually just as good as authorized versions, and can som etimes


return an d other policies could b e different from

Let a 'bot' help you shop Online shopping bots can connect you to dozens of retailers selling the product you seek , somet imes at significantly differe nt prices. Among the better-known bots are BizRate, Buy.com, DealTime. Google Product Search (formerly Froogle), MySimon , Shopping.com, Shopzilla, and Ya hoo. BizRate and Shopzilla are affiliated, as are Shopping.com and DealTime, and you'll generally get t he same results in each of th ose pairs. (ConsumerReports.org offers a Shop Online tool with Yahoo, but neither it nor Consumers Union, its nonprofit publisher, receives any revenue from merchants or from Yahoo.) We haven't formally rated bats, but our reporter did take

10 of them for a spin recently, shopping at each for th e same

digital camera and plasma TV. We found you'l l have a more

successfu l bot experience if you follow the se steps:

Once you decide to buy from a listed retailer, t he deal is between the two of you. One site that promises the lowest price is Buy.com, but Its guarantee IS limited to a few specific vendors. 4. Know what you're buying. Read th e listing carefull y to see whether you'll be gett ing new or refurbished merchandise. If one retailer's price is muc h lower t han everybody else's, odds are it' s selling refurbs. Also check whether the item carries t he full manufacturer's warranty. Some gray-market electronics , not intended for sale in th e U.S., will lack one.

g-Shopping.com

1. Try more than one. Different bots scan different sets of retailers,

which will somet imes overlap. If you use t wo or three of th e bette r bats. you'll find results f rom dozens of merchants .

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Independent· Nonprofit

Penn sylvania , Texas, and Virginia. AT&T 's U-verse serv ice was available in 21 metropolitan areas in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Texas, and Wiscon sin . The latest programming services' expansion is bein g slowed by the need to build the costly infra structure for the fiber-optic service. Also, like the cable companies, they must apply for a fran chise in each m arket. But th at's starting to change. Several states have

ming cha rge. Most DVRs record about 30 hours or so of HD (more of sta ndard-definition) on a hard dri ve. You can pau se and rewind, th en fast- forwa rd live TV or p revio usly recorded shows. DVRs have been run away hits, especially with HDTV owners. In our sur vey, 43 percent of cable and satellite users had on e. Renting gear rather than buying eliminates up front costs and fears that hardware you spen t hundreds on will soon be obsolete. But rental costs

First Thing ~ First

Choosing a TV service Find out which types of service are availa ble in your area, then make your choice.

Cable Pros No up-front costs. Basic digital cable can be the least expensive way (other than an antenna) to get HD. More options for bundling with Internet and phone service. Video on demand.

Cons Customers complain more about price hikes and

changes in channel lineup than satellite users. Only one provider in most markets. Bundled rates may require service commitment.

Sate llit e Pros Choice of two companies: Dish Network has most HD

Cons You might have to pay for hardware or instailation.

(30 channe ls ); DirecTV promises lOO-plus HD channels later this year. Higher customer satisfaction than with cable.

Requires a service commitment. Local channel s still not offered in a ll areas. No true video on dem and yet. The dish must have a n unobstructed viewto receive signals.

Fiber-opt ic (phone) TV Pros The biggest "pipe " into the home , with the potential to carry many HD channels. No up-front costs. Video on demand.

ConsumerReporls.org

Cons Available only in select markets , and expansion likely to be slow. Newcomer to the TV market; we have little data yet from users.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2008

47

up-front fee, typically $50 to $300, depending on the length of your commitment. (You might get it free as part of a prom ot ion .) That fee covers the receiver, dish, and installation. In some cases, there's a monthly cha rge for equipme nt, and you mu st return it at the end of your contract. You can also lease equipment from the phone com pani es. Verizo n charges $10 a mon th for an HD box an d $13 for one with a DVR. With AT&T, there's no separ ate hardware charge; it's bu ndled with service. Prog ram mi ng packages includ e one to th ree receivers. HD lineups. Cable an d satellite are about tied; satellite is coming on stro ng. Cha nne ls such as Discovery, ESPN, TN T, Universal, HD -only H DNet, and premium movie chan nels are offered by all th ree services. Man y cable companies also carry INH D, ano ther all-H D chan nel. Alm ost all cable com panies an d th e phone com pa nies pass along th e majo r-n etwo rk broadcasts that or iginat e in HD. Satellite offers local channel s to many but not all markets. Go to the satellite companies' Web sites and enter your ZIP code to see whethe r you can get local chan nels. Cable is still the on ly way to get local-access and com m un ity stations. Th at could be a cons idera tion if you enjoy watching schoo l sports, for examp le. Many m ajor cable compan ies offer up to 20 or 25 HD channels, including network channels, varying by m arket. Dish Network has mo re than 30 HD chan nels, includ ing niche HD cha nnels acquired from Voom . DirecTY has about 15 H D channels, includ ing the broadcast networks. At press time, the company an nounced it would have lOO-plus HD

48

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2 00B

a month for local chan nels. Verizon's offerings include a 200-chan nel FiOS TV Prem ier package with almost 20 H D chan nels for $43 (plus $10 for the box, as no ted earlier). AT&T offers V-fami ly,with 50 family-or iented cha nnels plus seven H D channels for $44 a mon th, plus $10 a mo nt h for H D. Service bundles. Most digital-cable services offer "triple-plays" combi ning digital TV, digital pho ne, and broadb and Int erne t access at discounted rates. Most bundl es cost abo ut $100, usually for a one- year promo tio nal pe riod; pr ices rise after that. Besides getting a discount, you consolidate dealings and bills with one company. DirecTV and Dish Network don't have their own Interne t or ph on e service. Both of the satellite com panies have deals with EarthLin k and various phone compa nies to offer DSL Intern et access in certain areas.AT&T and Verizon are offering discoun ts when you sign up for some com bina tion ofTY, phone, an d Internet services. Sport s in HD. Satellite has the ultima te football fix. On e of the main reasons consumers go for big screens and H D is the desire for a virtua l front-row seat at sporting events. Cable, satellite, and pho ne com pan ies all offer regional spor ts channel s and spo rts packages, some in H D. Many football fans get DirecTV because it has NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan, with 150 HD game s a season for abo ut $350. Video on demand. Digital cable offers true video on dem and , includ ing H D, th rou gh digita l-cable boxes (bu t not CableCards). Yo u can ord er movies, spo rts events, an d shows from pre m ium cha nn els, suc h as HBO and Sho wtime, and wat ch th em

Expert· Independent · Nonprofit

ASING THE UT-OFF FROM A ALOG DIGI1 LTV The end of TV as we know it could be bumpy for traditional viewers - - - --

---- -- _._

he broadcast techn olo gy that carried America from "The Original Am ateur Hour" to "Ameri can Idol" is slated to disappear soon. In February, 2009, broadcasters must sh ut down thei r analog systems and transmit only digital TV signals to com ply with the Digital Television Trans ition and Public Safety ActOf2005. While this may sound cataclysmic, the end of analog broadcasts won't affect you in any way if yo u have a digital TV, either a hi gh-definition or standa rd-de finition m od el. You'll continue to get TV programming as yo u always have. Even if yo u have an olde r TV that's an ana log model, you sho uld n' t be affected if th e set is con nected to cable , satellite, o r telephone company TV service. Servic e providers are expected to support analog sets for some tim e after the transition. You will be affected if you have an analog TV th at gets over -the-air signal s via antenna. Your set will literall y go dark th e day analog signals cease. An estimated 20 million households get TV via antenna onl y, as d o millio ns more cable and satel lite subscribers wh o have secondary sets tha t rely on an antenna. To con tin ue using such TVs after Feb. 17,2009, you 'll ne ed to connect them to a set-top convert er box tha t will convert di git al signals received by th e an ten na into an anal og

T

.f

ConsumerReport s.org

form compatible wi th your older television. Digital converters are expec ted to cost about $60 wh en th ey hit th e m arket soo n, alth ough th e pr ice could drop as dem and inc reases closer to th e 2009 deadline. Uncle Sam will foo t part of the bill for the pur chase. Federal legislation allocates up to $1.5 billion to a program that will allow consumers two $40 coupons to buy converter boxes (the two coupon s cannot be combined to p urc hase one box ). While the initially allocated $990 mill ion is be ing used, all U.S. h ou seh old s are eligible for co u po ns. But eligibili ty narrows to o nly over-the-air hou se holds if the remaini ng $5 10 mi llion allocat ed is needed. Consumers m ust req uest the coup ons fro m Jan. 1,2008 throu gh March 31, 2009; coupons will expire three months after they're issued. Consumers Un ion , th e nonprofit publish er of CONSUMERREpORTS,find s little to applaud in th e cou pon progr am , which senior poli cy an alyst Jeannine Kenney describes as "underfunded:' She adds, "Unless Co ngress revisits the struc ture and fund ing of th e coupo n program, the digital tran si tion will be not jus t an annoyance to consumers, it will be a finan cial burden as well, undermin ing the likelihood that th e 2009 transition deadlin e will be met."

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

The end is near, but only analog TVs connected to off-air antennas will be cut off from programs.

ELECTRONICS BU YING GUIDE 2008

49

built in to th e TV or atta ched to it externally. All new TVs now being sold contain this type of tuner; m ost are high-definitio n sets, but th ere are also some stand ard-definition digital TVs in th e picture-tube category. OlderTVs mayor may no t con tain a digital tuner. With tho se TVs, you'd need to run the an tenna feed through a digital converter box before connect ing it to your TV. Th at would enable you to receive digital bro adcasts, but th ey will be converted to th e lower-q uality analog signals your TV can process . Even with a box, your analog set won't display HDTV. If you have an an alog TV tha t's connected to cable, satellite, or fiber-optic TV service from th e ph one company, you should see no change in your reception. Check out reception. Th e number of statio ns you can receive digitally where you live, and how well th ey come in, will obviously figure heavily in your decision. To find ou t about digital TV sta tions in your area, visit www.jcc.govlmblvideolfi1esldtvonair .html. You'll have th e best shot at receiving digital tr an sm issions if the re's a clear p ath to a station's

.,1':..

direct.comlantenna_resellers.html. The do -it-yourselfer can download a useful guid e on installing an outdoor TV antenna from www .solidsignal.com ImanualslAntlnstallGuide.pdj You m ay also find a professional an tenna inst aller in your area on th e H om eblue Contractor Network site: www. home blue.comlelectrical-l-a ntenna.htm. or on your local Craigslist. Goonline for more digital TV transition information. Othe r useful onlin e resources that can help you m ake th e tran sition from an alog to di gital TV include th e Digital TV Tran sition Coalit ion , a diverse gro up of TV and cons ume r electronics industry associations dedicated to educating consu mers (www.dtvtransition.org), and the FCC's DTV Home page (www.dtv.gov). You can phone in questions about digital TV to th e FCC's toll-free Consu mer Center at 888-CALL FCC (888-225-5322) .

sumerReports.arg I THE LATEST TV RATINGS ONLINE

This year's newest TV models ' were introduced too late for us to test in time for publication of this buying guide. You'll find up-to-date Ratings and recommendations for LCD, plasma, rear-projection, front projector, and picture-tube TVs at wWw.ConsumerReports.org.

50

to learn more abo ut anten na installation services. Antenn as Direct provides a listing of resellers and installers aro un d the countr y at its site: www.antennas

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 200B

Television-model Ratings can be accessed from the main Electronics & Computers page by clicking on the TVtype you're conside ring in the TV Decisions Guide listings, and se lecting Ratings on the TV tech nology's ' home page. Online Ratings are usually

available onlyto subscribers , but readers of t his book ca n obtain a 3Q-dayfree sub scr ip tion to the entire CONSUMER REPORTS Web s ite. Look on the ins ide front cover of th is guide for details on how you can take advan . tage of this offer.


Laptop portability and wireless connectivity let you take computing power wherever you go.

And a growing interest in wireless computing plays to the laptop's main strength: its portability. A laptop is the most convenient way to take full advantage of th e growing availability of high speed, wireless Internet access at airpo rts, schools, hotels, restaura nts, and coffee sho ps. Most lapt ops now have wireless networkin g capab ility built in and deliver com me ndably long battery life. Th e thinnest laptops on the mar ket are less than an inch thick and weigh just 3 to 5 pounds. But to get th ese light , sleek models , you'll have to pay a p remium and make some sacrifices in performance, screen size, and feature s. A deskt op computer typically costs less for

Toshiba are th e leadin g Wind ows laptop brands. Apple makes Mac OS MacBook and MacBook Pro models. Laptop s can be grou ped int o several basic configura tions: Budget models. These have slower pro cessors and fewer features than oth ers but are suitable for ro utine office work and hom e software. Price: $1,000 or less. Workhorse models. These have faster processors and more bu ilt-in devices, so there 's less need for externa l attachments. Th ey also have larger screens and enhanced sound and video com pon ents for home-entertainment uses. Th ey're not lightweight or battery-efficient eno ugh for frequ ent travelers. Price: $ 1,000 and up. Slim-and-Iiqht models. These are for travelers. The y are about an inch thick and weigh abou t 3 to 4 pou nd s. Som e require an external drive to read DVDs or burn CDs. Price: $1,000 and up. Tablet-style. These sit in your hand like a clip board and have handw ritin g-recognition software. Some convert to a "no rmal" laptop with a keyboard. Price: $1,300 and up .

FEATURES THAT COUNT Laptops generally com e with a single- or dual -core processor. Cheape r lapt ops come with a single-core processor such as the Intel Celeron or AMD Sernpron, which are fine for basic Web browsing and e-mai l. For those with greater needs, dual -core proc essors such as the Int el Core Duo and AMD Turion 64 X2 are recommend ed. Laptops com e with a 40- to 250-gigabyte hard

52

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 20 0 8


pare them down), but they might not feel as solid. Some laptops haveextra button s to expedite your accessto e-mail or a Web browser, or to control DVD playback. You can attach a USB keyboard, which you might find easier to use. A 14- to IS-inch display, measured diagonally, should suit most people. Displays that are 17 inches are becoming more common. A resolution of 1,280x800 (WXGA) pixels (picture elements) or more is better than 1,024x768 (XGA) for viewing the fine detail in photographs or video, but it might shrink objects on the screen.You can usc settings in Windows to make them larger. Many models are now offered with a display that has a glossysurface instead of a matte one. Those look better in bright,

n

connect an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, network, and power in one step. Most laptops let you attach those devices anyway, without the docking station. At least two USB ports, for easyhookup of, say, a printer,digital camera, or scanner, is standard. A wired network (Ethernet) port is common, as is a FireWire port for digital video transfer.An internal wireless-network(Wi-Fi) adapter isstandard.Another option is an internal Bluetooth wireless adapter to link to a cell phone or another laptop. For backing up files or transferring them to other computers,you can use a USB memory drive (about $20 and up), which fits on a keychain and holds as much data as a CD- R, or savefiles on a writeable CD

Which is right for you-a laptop or desktop? Laptop computers

Pros Laptops can do anyth ing that desktops can do, plus they can be carried anywhere and easily tucked away when not in use. According to our reliability surveys, laptops are about as repai r-prone as desktops.

Cons Laptops' cost more than comparab ly

equipped desktop models. Many components

and add-ons are costly to repai r. They're easy to

steal and at greate r risk of damage.

Price $500 to $3,0 00 plus.

Desktop computers Pros They start at a lower price. Dollar for dollar, they generally offer more than laptop s in terms of hard-drive capacity and sound quality. They also have more option s for expansion and

are less costly to repair. They allow for a more

ergonomically correct work environmen t.

ConsumerReports.orq

Cons They take up a lot of desk space,

even with a thi n LCD monito r.

Price $400 to $3.000 plus.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 200B 53

ware but financial data, medical records, even your ident ity. More dist urbing still, wit h wireless connections, your dat a can be compromised even if your laptop never leaves your hands. Here are a few soluti ons to consider:

PHYSICAL SECURITY Invest In a lock. Industry standard locking cables tet her your computer to a desk or othe r stationa ry object. Most cost about $20 to $ 70 and use thr ee- or four-digit comb ination dials or hard to-crack cylindrical key locks. More-expensive models might add feat ures such as an audible alarm. Register your notebook. If you fill out the warranty card, the manufa cturer will have a record of ownersh ip. Consider registeri ng with property-p rotection programs, typi cal ly offered by university polic e, insu rance agenc ies, and credit-card companies. Install tracking software. A few companies offer un erasable programs that will secretly send a coded signal wit h location informati on to a cent ral computer when the laptop connects to th e Internet. Service sta rts at about $50 per year. Note

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CONSUMER REPORTS 0

DATA SECURITY Lock down boot-up. You can set your laptop to prompt for a password before loading the operat ing system (generally by hittin g F2 when you see the brand logo at sta rt-up or by using Windows' configuration util ity). Choose a "st rong" password made up of letters , numb ers, and symbols. Use encryption software. This type of program scrambles data on your hard drive. To access files , you must enter a password or plug in a "token," a device that decrypts files. Consider biometrics. Bio met ric security devices such as fin gerprint scanner s allow only aut horized users (those with fingerprint patterns regis tered in the system 's memo ry) to use the computer. Some laptops have built-in scanners. External fin gerprint scanners, which often include built-in stor age, plug into a USB port on any laptop . WIRELESS SECURITY Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connections can be hijacked by passersby who want entry into your laptop or network for nefarious purposes. To protect yourself: Enable encryption on your router. Turning on t he "Wi-F!

ELECTRONI CS BUYING GUIDE 20 0 8

soft ware "key" to connect to your wireless home network and compute rs on it. Change the default pass wor d and router names. Manuf actur ers set a defa ult password and router nam e. Change both to protect your network from being hijacked. Turn on your router's MAC filtering. Every computer on a network has a unique Media Access Control (MAC)address. By sett ing t he router to allow connections only from your own MAC addresses, you block entry to your networ k and Internet connect ion. Use a firewall program. In addition to using your router's protection, it's wise to use soft ware th at will monitor data t raff ic and detect suspicious act ivity, Mac OS X has a basic one-way firewall built in. That protects you from incoming threats but won't monitor out bound traffi c. So if the re's malware on your system, th at fi rewall won't stop it from send ing out your keystrokes or data. Windows Vista has a two-way firewall, but we didn 't fin d it very effect ive out of the box. Third-party programs, some f ree, offer added layers of pro tection, with two-way security. Be wary of Wi-Fi hot spots. Clever data thieves can create

clones of legiti mate, for-pay Wi-Fi services to grab your credit card info when you try to log in at a public spot. If you must use a public Wi-Fi hot spot, you might want to avoid logging in to sensit ive sites your company's network, say and limit connection ti me to a min imum . Turn off transm itters when you're not using Wi-Fi. You'll conserve battery power. Present a "peerless" PC. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be used in peer-to-peer modes th at allow anoth er computer to connect to yours on a one to-one basis. Consult your operatin g system 's manuals on how to disable ad-hoc netwo rking. If your laptop has Bluetooth , t he manual should tell you how to modify automatic pairing, discovery, and visibility settings.


Readers report

on about 50,100

laptop computers

This graph shows the percentage of the following brands

of com puters bought between 2002 and 2006 that

have been repai red or had a serious problem. Differ

ences of less than 3 points are not meaningful for

laptops. Models within a brand might vary, and changes in design or manufactu re might affect reliability. Still, choosing a brand wit h a good repair history can improve your odds.

20%

25%

Data are based on more than 50,10 0 responses to

our Annual Product Reliability Survey, conduct ed

by the Consumer Reports Nat ional Resear ch Center.

Dat a have been adjust ed t o eli minate diff erences

solely linked to t he age and use of the product.

DESKTOP COMPUTERS: POWERFUL & CHEAP Tech support, reliability can help you decide which model to choose

T

he desktop comp uter has become just another applianceyou use every day. Replacement sales -not first-time purchases-now drive the com puter market. Fullyloaded desktops sellingfor less than $700 are comm on, even among established brands. When choosing a model, it's hard to go too far wrong; the performanc e of today's computers is routinely quite high across brands. With perform ance so consistently high among all types of compute rs, differencesin manufacturers' technical support matt er more than ever.Repair

ConsumerReports.org

rates for computers are higher than for most prod ucts we track, according to CONSUMERREpORTS' Annual Questionnaire. Technicalsupport might be a deciding factor in which manufacturer gets your business. It remains a hot-button issue,judging from our latest subscriber survey of computer users.Apple has kept its lead (though it offers telephone support free for only 90 days after purchase), while other brands continue to show only so-so performance and face some chronic support woes.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONI CS BUYIN G GUIDE 2008

55

No matter what the price, the basics remain the same for a new desktop syst em: computer tower, keyboard , mouse, monitor, and speakers.

Our subscribe rs still say that tech suppor t is dis mal. The m ost serious com plaint from ou r An nual Qu estionnaire was that the support peop le sim ply coul dn 't solve pro blems. Major com plain ts abo ut ph one support included being kept on hold too long , being bou nced around am on g sup port staff, and com mu nication problems. Sup port via e-mail or the manufacturer's Web site was also lacking. Live chat online sup por t was problematic, too. In fact, your best bet might be to pay for in depe n dent tech support, as our latest sur vey discovered (see "Tech supp ort can come from many so urces;' page 61.)

WHAT'S AVAILABLE There are eight major b rands of desktop s to choose from . Com puters from Dell, Compa q, eMachines, Gateway (which owns eMachines), HP (which own s Compaq), Lenovo (for me rly bra nd ed as IBM), and Sony all use Microsoft's Windows operating system . Dell owns the high -end gaming brand Alienware, and H P owns Voodo opc. Apple is the sole maker of Macinto sh models. Newer Macs are able to run Windows as well as Apple's own as X. Many small mail- order an d store br and s also cater to bu dget min ded bu yers. Price: $400 to $3,000.

FEATURES THAT COUNT The processor houses the "brains" of a com puter. Its clock speed, measur ed in gigahe rtz (GHz), and th e chip's design, termed "architecture;' deter mine how fast it can proc ess information. Within a processor

56

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRON ICS BUYINGGUIDE 200B

memory, the memory the computer uses while in op eration. Mem ory upgrades are not expensive. CONSUMER REPORTS recom m ends at least 1 gigabyte (a GB equals l,024MB ) for anyon e using Microsoft's recently int roduced Windows Vista operat ing system. (We also recommend 1GB of RAM for Mac as x users.) Vista is available in several versions with different hard ware req uireme nts. Vista Basic leaves out several features we liked in this software. Vista Ultimate is costlier, with more feat ures tha n most hom e users need. We recommend Home Premium as the right Vista version for most home uses. Video RAM, also meas ure d in meg abytes, is secondary RAM that works with the graphics processor to provide smoo th video imagin g and gam e play. Garners might want a dedicated grap hics processor with 128M B or 256M B of me mor y. The hard drive is your computer's lon g-term dat a storage system. Given the disk-space require me nts of today's games, digital ph otos, and video files, bigger is better. Sizes com monly ran ge from 120GB to 750GB. For removable sto rage, standa rd gear is the DVD writer, which also lets you transfer home-video foota ge to a DVD disc, or store as much data as six CDs. Budget desktop mod els might have a CD- RW (CD-rewriteable)IDVD combo drive that lets you create backup files or make music com pilations on a com pact disc, as well as play but not record DVDs. The newest options are high-definition disc drives, capable of playing either Blu-ray or HD DVD discs. There are three comp eting, incompatible DVD formats-DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM as well as drives that can create du al-layer OVOs that


spyware, hackers, and spam , Vista has several new security features. Windows Defender is an antispyware application. There's a two-way fi rewall, although we found its outbound blocking to be not very effective out of the box. And there's User Account Control . (UAC), which tries to prevent rogue soft ware from seizing your computer by asking you-via a pop-up window-to approve all actions it deems insecu re. This feat ure has some drawbacks , though. If you find the UAC pop-ups too frequent and annoy ing (Apple has released a TV commercial mocking them), you might turn them off , thereby defeating their purpose. And, since it's all too tempting to give your approval habitually, you might find yourself allow ing an action that you would have wanted to block. To address the popularity of digital photography, audio, and video, Vista has lots of new options for creating and organ izing music, photos, and video. Windows Photo Gallery, fo r example , lets you sort pictures by date taken , by ratings you give the photos , or by categories such as landscape or ocean. You can now edit and burn DVDs with Windows Movie Maker and DVD Maker. The recently overhauled Windows Media Center (which you can download free if you' re still using Windows XP) has more features than Apple's Front Row but isn't compat ible with iTunes. Vista has a new feature to speed up performan ce called ReadyBoost. You can

ConsumerReporl s.orq

to a faster processor, more memory, or other hardware improvements over your old computer. Some garners, though , may be dis appointed to learn t hat 3D games like Quake4 ran noticeabl y slower with Vista than with XP.

PC BUYING TIPS If you buy a budget compute r with less than 1GB of RAM, you should probably add more memo ry. The lowest-priced budget PCs come equipped with Vista Basic (which is fully fun ctional, but lacks a few of the bells and whistles of Vista Home Premium and costs about $40 less), but only 512MB of RAM. Vista runs slower on systems with so little RAM. Our informal tests showed that upping the memory on such a computer to 1GB (Which costs about $50) , applications loaded twice as quickly. The initial speed of a PCwith 512MB might improve slightly over time, as Vista optimizes the way it moves often-used applications into memory. But you're bette r off adding the extra memory and doing away with the . problem altogethe r. For your computer to have enough horsepower to last three or four years, get a dual-core processor, such as Intel's Pentium 0 and Core Duo, or AMD's Athlon 64 X2. You might also consider Intel's newest du al-core processor, the Core 2 Duo. (Most current processors-including the older single-core AMD Athlon 64 , Turion 64 , and Sempron, as well as the Intel Celeron

typical home-eomputing tasks , but a few years from now, they might feel wimpy, as your needs and those of newer soft ware grow.) If you're especially power hungry, look for quad-eore processors, which are also beginning to show up in systems. Few applications take advantage of those yet. If you're a 3D gaming fan , look for a system with a dedicated graphics card. In our tests , desktops with the alternative, integrated graphics , were only fa ir at run ning games such as Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4. Integrated graphics do, however, have sufficient power to run Aero, the 3D interface in Vista Premium and Ultimate. If you use security applications, such as ant ivirus and antispyware, you might need to upgrade them to Vista-eompatible versions. Some publishers will upgrade you for free if you're a current subscriber. In addition, many older programs could require you to download a patch in order to run on Vista. For gaming, we found minimal com patibility problems on the eight popular games we played on Vista systems . Seven of the eight, including Call of Duty 2, Halo, Madden 07, and Quake 4 , ran normally, but Civilization IV experienced compatibility issues. Before buying a Vista PC, make sure drivers for your printe r, scanner, and othe r periphe rals are Vista-compatible, or that Vista-compatibl e drivers are available online . Otherwise, you might not be able to use the device with your new compute r.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2008 57

On your next desktop computer, look for front connectors for photo memory, audio, and video Input s.

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CONSUMER REPORTS 0

store twice as mu ch. Some drives can write in mor e than one form at, but all can create a disc that will play on stand-alone DVD players. Now arri ving: DVD burners designed for high-d efinition video, which will allow storing 15GB or more on a disc. We recom mend waitin g until th e two competing version s-Blu-rayand HD DVD-sort out their differences. Many PCs now come with a memory-card reader that can also serve for file transfer. You can also get external drives or use a USB memory key to copy files from the hard dri ve. Th e computer's flat-p anel liquid-crystal display (LCD) or increasingly rar e cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor contains the display screen and rend ers the images sent from the graphics proc essor-internal circuitry that creates the images. Monitors come in sizes (measured diagon ally) ran ging from 15 to 21 inch es and larger. Sevente en- and 19-inch LCD monitors are common. LCD displays are now the mo st popular, taking up less space and using less power than CRTs. Better LCD displays can use a Digital Video Interface (DVl) connection, foun d on newer PCs. You might obtain a deep discount on an LCD monitor by bu ying it bundled with a new computer at a manufacturer's Web site.Apple's iMac comes with a built-in monitor, while its Mac Mini doesn't have one . All computers have a graphics adapter, which is inte grated on the motherboard or on a separate, internal plug-in card. In addition to feeding the

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2008

on top of or under a desk. More expensive machines have a mid tower, which has extra room for upgrades such as addit ional hard drives. A microtower is a space-saving alternative but has less room inside for upgrading. AlI-in-one computers, such as the Apple iMac, have no tower ; everyt hing but the keyboard and mouse is built into the monitor. Apple's Mac Pro line of computers has a tower.Apple's desktop model, the Mac Mini , has a space-saving design that puts everything but the mon itor, keyboard, and mouse in a case about the size of a hardcover book. Some Macs includ e a built -in video cam era. An "entertainment PC"--one with a TV tuner built in-comes in a case that is more like an audio or video component, made to fit in with other home-entertainment hardware. It usually includes a rem ote control. A mouse, a small device that fits under your hand and has a "tail" of wire that connects to the computer)moves the cursor (the pointer on the screen) via a rolling ball or a light sensor on its underside. Altern ative input devices include a trackball) which is rolled with the fingers in the direction you want the cursor to go; a pad , which lets you move the cursor by sliding a finger; a tablet, which uses a penlike stylus for input; and a game pad, used to play computer games. Most com puters come with a standard keyboard, alth ough you can also bu y one separa tely. Some keyboards have CD (or DVD) controls to pause, play back, cha nge track s, and so on. Some also have additional keys to facilitate gettin g online) startin g a search, launching pro grams, or retrieving e-mail. There are also wireless keyboards and mice that give


or IEEE 1394 ports are used to capture vid eo fro m digital camcorder s and connect to oth er periph eral devices. An S-video or HDMI ou tp ut jack lets you run a video cable from th e computer to a television , so you can use th e computer's DVD d rive to view a movie on a TV instead of on the com puter mon itor. Media-center PCs (eq uipped with TV tu ners) can also captu re video from a VCR and copy tapes to DVDs.

word processing, and Web surfin g. You can also do photo editing. Workhorse computers cost a few hundred dollars more but are faster and mo re versatile. They can run complex 3D games and edit video. Upgra dab ility is another reason to opt for a workhorse com puter. If you down load or record music or video regularly and don't copy it to CDs, DVDs, or a portable device, you'll eventually fill a budget mo del's modest hard drive.All-in-one

Extending your home network: Wall socket heats Wi-Fi If your wireless home network has t rouble reaching far-flung parts of t he house, you might want to upgrade to one of t he new routers that use a wireless protocol known as 802.11n (they're somet imes labeled "draft n compliant "). Makers of th ose routers claim they will cover an area of your house four to 10 ti mes larger than those that use the older standard, 802 .11g. They also claim that the new routers are 12 to 15 t imes faster, a capability that would be important only to the relatively small number of home network users who routin ely beam audio, video, or large fil es from room to room. When we tested several new routers, we found t hey didn't live up to eith er of t he manufact urers' claims, delivering only a few more feet of coverage than older models and beaming data just two to three t imes faster. Stil l, that's enough speed to move media and large files from one

Consum erRep orls.org

computer to anot her if you need to. Fort unately, we found an alternative t hat's cheaper and will extend your network to any room with a power out let. Known as a power-line adapter, wit h the new, faster capabilities called HomePlug AV, it uses your home's elec t rical lines to transfer data from room to room. Three of the four adapters we tested were faster tha n 802.11n products. The downside: They're not as mobile as wireless networks. Despite not living up to manufacturers' claims, 802 .11 n networks are better th an t he older sta ndard for tasks t hat require more spe ed, such as beam ing

movies to a set-top box or moving large

fi les aro und. If you're already in th e

market for a new wireless router,

consider bulking up for those applications

with one th at confo rms to 802.1 1n. One

of these plus a wire less card (you need

a card for all compu ters afte r th e f irst one) can run $225 to $25 0 , compa red with $80 to $110 for si milar products based on th e old sta nda rd. The best per former in t he group we tested was the Net gear WNR8 34B Range-Max Next Wireless N Router and WN511b PC Card. Its spee d was very good , and t he router/ card combo was well-priced, at $225 . If you need speed and a wider range for your netw ork, powerline adapte rs are th e better choice, and t hey cost less at $160 to $200.

A 802.11n

wireless router.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRO NICS BUYING GUIDE 200B 59

antispyware software th at will work (and can be updated) for at least a year.When comp aring computer pr ices, consider any other necessary software as addi ng to true cost, though you might A camera for find that m ost of your needs are served by free video phoninq software (see "Freeware: No cost, but worth (atop the screen); plenty?" on page 71). Apple adds yet another built-In Consider security. Security might not be fore feature to desktop mos t in your mind when you're shop ping for a computers. computer, bu t it should play a part in you r decision . Your choice of hardwar e and software can affect your ability to deflect intruders and defend your data. Viruses and spyware are far m ore likely to tar get Windows PCs than Macs. The new Win dows Vista has tighter securit y th an XP, but it's too new to kno w how mu ch less vuln er able it will ult imately be. If you opt for a Windows PC, you should use antivirus , firewall, and (for Win dows ) antispyware programs. Man y computers DESKTOP COMPUTERS include software such as Norton Intern et Fewer More Secur ity or McAfee Security Center, but

repa irs __1 - - - - repairs thos e are often limited to 30 to 90 days

Apple of use. Upgrade and update those starter Sony Dell packages as nec essary or replac e them to This graph shows t he percent age of the maintain protection over the long haul.

Compaq

following brand s of computers bought Skip the extended warranty. A sub eMachines bet ween 2002 and 2006 t hat have scriber survey found that the cost of a

HP been repaired or had a serious probl em .

service contract was not much less than Gateway Differe nces of less than 4 point s are not the average repair cost. That mean s you 0% 5% 10% 1 5% 20% 25% meaningful for desktops. Mod els within

might be better off paying for repairs out a brand might vary, and cha nges in

Data are based on more tha n 77,70 0 responses to of your own pocket. design or manufacture might affect relia our Annual Product Reliability Surv ey, conducted bility. Still , choosing a brand with a good by the Consumer Reports Nati onal Research Cent er. For Apple computers sold with a short Dat a have been adju st ed to elimi nate differ ences repair histo ry can improve your odds. solely linked t o th e age and use of t he product. phone-tech-support limit, you might want to con sider an extend ed service plan. th e crowd. And some bran ds are generally mo re expensive than others. Those factors could help you decide which of two similarly equipped computers is the better buy. Choose between preconfigured and custom built. You can bu y a PC off the shelf in a sto re or via the Web confi gured with features and optio ns the m anufacturer pitches to average con sumers. But you might also consider purchasing a desktop th at you confi gur e to ord er, either onl ine or in a store. Wh en you configure a comp uter to order online, onscreen menus typically show you the op tio ns and let you see how a change in one affects the over all price. Be sur e to review your cho ices before ord ering and look for un wanted item s that

Readers report on about 7T,700 desktop computers

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CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 200B


We d rew those co nclusio ns from our first sur vey to rate both ind ependent and manufacturer tech suppo rt, in which the Consume r Reports Natio nal Research Cen ter surveyed more th an 23,000 users. Independ ent services trounced all Windows PC manufacturers, who solved a meas ly 59 percent of probl ems. Free ma nufacture r suppo rt was often abysmal, succeed ing only 53 percent of the tim e. Extra-cos t extended warra nties had a slightly higher success rate, 62 percent , but no fewer hassles. By contrast, indep end ent tech-support services affiliated with major retail chai ns, such as Best Buy's Geek Squad and Circuit City's Firedog, solved 84 percent of users' problems with Windows-based PCs. Other third part ies offering in-home and ph on e support (and som etimes online aid) solved fully 93 percent of probl ems. Independents also had more knowledgeable staff and better phone respon siveness than computer makers did. Good help can cost a pretty penny, th ough. More than half the survey respondent s who used indepen dent services spent S100 or more. If th e situat ion isn't urgent, you might as well try free manu factur er support for computers still und er warranty. (See "Manufacturer support: Worth a try?" on page 62.) Th at's especially true for two manufacturers that stood head and sho ulders above the rest: Apple and Lenovo. Both solved 80 percent of problems, comparing favorably with independents. Even if your warra nty has expired, you might be able to get help from Web sites that offer free advice and tools. See"Help yourself to free tech supp ort," on page 64.

Consum erjeepcrts.orq

WHEN TO HIRE A PRO Of users who contacted any type of inde pendent su ppor t, 69 per cent were highl y satisfied vs. 42 percent of those who used manu facturer sup port. Satisfactio n rates reflect cost and promptness as well as problem-s olving skills. Consider the followin g: The source of t he problem isn't obvious. Most manufacturers look only at the preinstalled hardware and software covered by the original warranty. Inde pend ent s go beyond that, evaluatin g your whole setup, includ ing peripherals, networks, applications, and the software drivers on your system . If the prob lem doesn 't clearly lie with the original setup, an independent is more likely to solve it.

Computer fix: Independent tech support might be your best bet, although it might cost you more.

A virus or spyware might be t o blam e. If


to get results from t hose computer makers for whom we had

suffi cient data. (Comments apply to desktop and laptop supp ort

unles s noted.)

APPLE

I Any means. Users were equally satisfied with phone, Web site, e-mail, or chat for I contact ing the company, I

I and problems were solved about

18 hO pehrcent of the timhe no matte r ow t ey got in touc .

Apple is miserly; phone support is free only for 90 days. Because of that, consider buying a thre e-year AppleCare plan ($169 for iMacs; $249 to $349 for laptop support). If there 's an Apple store nearby, you can get free support at its Genius Bar. Apple also offers phone help at $49 per incident.

I COMPAQ/HP

I I

Online chat for both brands-whi ch share ownership and tech-support agents and policies. HP says it trie s to respond to chat messages insta ntly.

Offers a remote-access su pport program called Instant Care (f ree with all warrantie s). If your PC is out of warranty, you can buy SmartFriend minutes-$60 for 45 minutes, $100 for 75 minutes-for hardware and software phone help. Minutes expire in six months. New laptops and desktops include HP Total Care Advisor, softw are t hat tra cks your syste m's heait h.

Phone or online chat.

Recentl y simplified hardwa re-warranty phone suppo rt. Now the re's a number for high-end XPS systems, and another for other systems . Web-based support pages, including forums , have been organized by system, and a remot e-access assis tance program has been launched .

I

I

DELL

GATEWAY

Callin g is better th an conta ctin g

I throu gh the Web site .

All support has been based in North America since June 2006. More parts are now user-replaceable .

iBM/LENOVO

I I

Phone.

Consider buying an extended warranty on a Lenovo laptop. Survey respondents who had purchased an extended warranty had an overall satisfact ion score of 67 (out of 100), and thei r problems were solved 80 percent of the t ime. That makes Lenovo a viable alternative to thi rd-party support.

Calling is better than contacting through t he Web site.

Service on the products under warranty is free. Other services Include a $20 memory upgrade and "system boost" for $40.

SONY

I

62 CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2008


a probl em if someone removes a virus or adds a softwa re firewall. Call the com puter company if you're un sure.

nationwide. Most location s charge flat rates, from $99 for home service includ ing diagnostics and 15 minutes of repairs.

Tech support:Who helps best The Consumer Reports Nati onal Research Center surveyed CONSUMER REPORTS subscribers on the ir most recent experienc es with technical support from independent services and computer manufa ct urers. The survey covered Sept ember 2005 through J anuary 2007. In th e charts below th e reader score would be 100 if everyone was satis fied ; 8 0 would mean respondents were very sati sfied, on average; 60, fairl y well sat isf ied. Diff erences of fewer than 6 point s

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are not meaningful. Solved problem indic at es how many peo ple said t he manu facturer solved t heir problem. Waiting on phone refers to ti me waiting and other phone-system problem s. Support staff is primarily based on how know ledgeable phone represen tatives seemed and wheth er th ey commu nicat ed clear ly. Because of difference s in meth odol ogy, the two char ts are not dir ectly com parable.

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Based on 5,63 8 laptop computer s and 7,3 08 desktop computers bought thr ough January 2007. Note: (-) indic ates insufficient sam ple size. Another 10,000 survey respondents tnec oth er forms of tech su pport. Geek Squad was the only independent service wit h enough responses to be included here.

ConsumerReports.orq


remove virus es an d spyware, $80 to get a wireless network running, and $50 for PC setu p.

HOW TO CHOOSE

Walk-In service at a nearby retailer can be convenient. The Geek Squad technicians at Best Buy stores also make house calls.

Firedog (wwwfiredog.com). Circu it City's service offers in-horne, in- store, phone, and remote-access support. House calls cost $160 an hour. You can also pay per incident for services such as data m igra tion (moving data from on e computer to ano the r) , dri ve installation, PC setup, and wireless-n etwork setu p. Prices ran ge from $15 for an in -store PC du st rem oval to 5230 for in- ho rne data m igration ,

If your com puter starts actin g up, try th ese steps to get it back in business: Consider free support first. It's possible that free tech suppo rt from the m anufacturer can solve your problem with out costing you a cent. Th ere's no harm trying that first if your system is still un der warr anty and the problem do esn't seem too complex. Check the reputation. If free sup p ort isn' t an op tion you can or want to use, then it's time to pay for assistance. Be choosy abo ut lettin g strangers tinker with your computer. Before allowing anyo ne into your hom e or giving anyone rem ote access to your computer, make sur e th e provider is reputable. Consult the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org). Also see whether the company

Help yourself to free tech support Here's how to ta ke advantage of free online support: Try the mother ship. For Windows-related problems , subs cribe bye-mail to th e msn ews.microsoft. com newsgroup, or check Microsoft's Knowledge Base at support.microsoft.com. Apple's list of user discussions can be found at discussions. apple. com. Check out user groups. You'll f ind thousand s of groups for Mac and Windows users at groups.yahoo.com and at gro ups.goog/e.com . Look for groups with fr eque nt post ln gs. Don 't worry abo ut the number of membe rs. Windo ws

64

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYIN G GUIDE 200B

users can try WUGNET (Windows Users Group Network), at ww w.w ugne t.com. Download free tools. Free analyzers at www.pcpitstop.com test your hard drive, rate your PC's performance, and look for spyware. If the analysis turns up problems you can't fix on your own, you can pay to have t hem corrected. If your system is loaded with unused and temporary files, CCleaner (www.cc/eaner. com) will clean them up.


Third party

93%

Retailer

84

Manufacturer

59

you p urchase. PC Pinpoint guarantees work done under its single-use services for seven days and und er an nual subscrip tions for 30 days. PlumChoi ce guar antees its work for five days, and 1 800 905 Geek for 10 days.

MO ITOR PRICES DROP

& SCREENS GET BIGGER

LCDs are most popular, but CRT monito rs may offer advantages

- - -- ----- - - - - _ .._ - - -

I

n computer monitors, as in TVs, models using LCD technology are becoming bigger, cheaper, and more dominant in the marketp lace. Industry watchers repo rt that the vast m ajority of monitors sold in the past year were lightweight , flat-panel LCD d isplays. Th ey're largely replacing heavy, tubby CRT displays, which take up much mo re desk space. Alon g with the trend toward thin displays, the re's a move to bigger screen s. You 'll find more LCD models with 19-inch and larger screen s. Most of th ese larger LCD displays have the wide-screen shape that 's in creasingly fami liar from high -defin ition TVs. Th e extra real estate offered by a large wid e screen is hand y for many uses, including watching DVD m ovies, viewing and editing pho tos, runni ng multiple programs, surfing the Web, an d playing video games.

Con sumerReports.orq

Prices continue to fall, even on LCDs with bigger screens. If you're buyin g a moni tor bundled with a new computer, as many consumers do, you can often up grade from the standard display to a bigger one for a mod est amount-$50 to $150 or so.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE Apple, Dell, eMachines (which merge d with Gate way in 2004), Gateway, H P (which merged with Compaq in 2002), Lenovo, and Sony all m arket their own monitors for their comp uters. Ot her brands of mon itors, such as Acer, Envision , KDS, LG, NEC, Samsung, ViewSonic, and Westingho use, are sold separately. Many of these companies don't make their own monitors but buy them from outside sources an d put th eir own brand label on them.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

Did you know? Flat-panel displays use less power and emit less heat than old-style CRT monitors.

ELECTRONICS BUYIN G GUIDE 20 0 B

65

With an LCD mon itor, the nominal image size an d th e viewable-im age size (VIS) are the same. That sets th em apa rt from CRT mo nito rs, which offer a bit less screen space than the size suggests. Desktop LCDs that measure 17 or 19 inches diagon ally weigh aro und 15 pounds, com pared with 30 to 50 po unds for a CRT. LCD s with a screen 20 inch es or larger are increas ingly available. Wide-screen LCDs, specially designed for watching wide-fo rmat videos, are also available. Thes e screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, such as those found on mo st digital TVs. Flat-pan el displays deliver a very clear im age, bu t they have some quirks. Their range of color is a bit narr ower th an a CRT's. Also, you have to view a flat pane l screen str aight on to get op tim al im age quality. The pictur e can lose con trast as yo u m ove off-center, and fine lines mig ht appear gra iny.That's an issue m ainly if several people will be lookin g at th e screen sim ultaneo usly. It's not a big con cern if one user is sitting directly in front of th e display. Most LCD mo nito rs in our recent tests had a wider viewing angle th an we've seen in th e past. Price: $150 and up for 17-inch; $200 and up for 19-inch ; $250 and up for 20-inch ; and $300 an d up for 22-inch. Th ere are fewer CRTs available, m ost m easuring 17 to 22 inches. But that's the diagonal measurem ent of the picture tube; viewable-im age size is usually an inch sm aller. Thus a 17-inc h CRT has a 16-inch VIS. As a result of a class-action lawsuit, ads m ust state a CRT's VIS as well as its nominal im age, but yo u m ight have to squ in t at the fine print to find it. Gen erally, th e bigger the screen, the more roo m a CRT takes up on your desk, with depth rou ghly matching

66 CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRON ICS BUYINGGUIDE 20 0 8

1400x l 050, 1440x900, or 1680x1050 wide-screen resoluti on for a 17-, 19-, 20-, or 22-inch model. On both types of monitor, the higher the resolution , the sm aller the text and ima ges, so mo re conten t fits on th e screen. Dot pitch , mea sur ed in m illime ters, is th e spacing between a CRT's pixels. If all else is equal, a smaller do t pitch produces a more detailed image, though it's no guarantee of an excellent picture. In general, avoid m odels with a dot pitch larger than 0.28 mm. A CRT requires a h igh re fresh rate (the number of tim es per second an image is redr awn on the screen) to avoid annoying ima ge flicker. In gen eral, you'll be more comfo rtable with a 17-inch m onitor with a refresh rate of at least 75 hertz (Hz ) at th e resolution you wan t. For a 19-inch monitor, you might need an 85Hz rate to avoid eyestr ain, especially at higher resolutions. Th e refresh rate isn't an issue with flat pan el displays. Instead, you will see specs for response time, whi ch ind icates how well the screen can handle fast motion . Mo nitors have controls for b rig htn ess and con trast. Most of th em also have con trols for color balance (usually called color temperature) , distor tion , an d such. Buttons activate on screen controls and menus. Some mo nitors include a m icroph on e, USB por t, integrated or separate speakers, or S-video and com pon ent in puts for viewing the ou tpu t of a VCR o r camcorder. You might also see LCD disp lays with m em ory -card read ers, so you can display photos on screen, and iPod docks enabling yo u to view images or play mus ic through the m onitor. Plug-and-play capability ma kes it fairly simple to add a new m onitor to an existing computer.

Expert · Independent · Nonprofi t

That's especially true if you work with photo enlarge ments or regularly display m ultiple windows on the screen. Wid e screens are also a plus for many applications . Consider helpful feat ures. A feature th at allows you to adjust an LCD displ ay's height to suit your

compute r use generally have a higher resolution than a TV with the same screen size and thus can disp lay computer cont ent more clearly. Computer monitors with built-in TV tuners cost $100 to $200 more than those without and can't decode digital broadcasts.

Economical all-ln-one models can scan and copy, and some even fax

I

nkjet printers have becom e the stand ard for home computer use. They can turn out color photos nearly ind istinguishab le from lab-processed photos, along with banners, stickers, transparenci es, T-shirt tra nsfers, and greeting cards. Man y produce excellent black-and-white text. With some very good models selling for less than $200, it's no surprise that inkjets account for the vast majority of printers sold for home use. Laser printers still have their place in home offices. If you print reams of black-and-white text documents, you probably need the qu ality, speed, and low per copy cost of a laser printer. Printers use a computer's m icroprocessor and memory to process data. The latest inkjets and lasers are so fast partly because computers have becom e more powerful and contain much more m emory th an before.

ConsumerReports.org

WHAT'S AVAILABLE The printer ma rket is dominated by a handful of well-establishe d br ands. Hewlett-Packard is the market leader. Other

Inkj ets are your best all-around choice for print in g photos , t ext, and color graph ics.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECT RO NICS BUYING GUIDE 2008 67

So fine, and yet: Resolution, expressed in dots per inch (dpi), is not t he only gauge of printer quality.

68

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

cyan and magenta inks, or gray ink. Most inkjet prin ters outp ut black-and-white text at a speed of 2 to 9 pages per minute (ppm ) but are much slower for color ph otos. Various models we tested took 2 to 12 minutes to print a single 8x lO, dep end ing on the com plexity of th e image. The cost of pr inting a black-an d-white text page with an inkjet var ies considerably from mod el to mod el, from 2 to 12 cents. The cost of pri nting a color 8xI0 photo can range from 85 cen ts to $1.40.Printer price: $60 to $700. You can also get them with scanning, copying, and sometimes fax capab ility.Those all in-one models typically cost more than stand-alone inkjets. Price: $80 and up. Specialty snapshot printers. For printing photos at hom e, a speedy snapsho t p rinter can be more convenient than a full-sized model. Most are limited to 4x6-inch snapshots, but a few models can also print on 5x7 pa per.The se models use either inkjet or dye-sublimation techn ology. Like mo st full-sized inkjet p rin ters, mos t of these models can hoo k up directl y via cable to a digital camera th ro ugh the PictBridge connection, so you can print witho ut using a computer. This is the simpl est an d qu ickest way to print at hom e, pro vided you don 't want to edit the photos. Price: $90 to $240. Laser printers. These work mu ch like plain pap er copiers, formin g images by tran sferring ton er (powdered ink) to pape r passing over an electrically char ged drum. Th e process yields sharp black-and white text. Laser printers usually outrun inkjets, cran king out black-and- white text at a rate of 9 to 24 ppm. Black-and-white laser printers generally cost abo ut as mu ch as mid priced inkjets, but they're cheaper to operate. Laser cartridges, about $50 to

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 200 8

driver, also count. At their default settings -where they're usually expected to run-inkjets currently on the market typically have a resolution of 600x600 dpi. The dpi can be increased for color ph otos. Some printers go up to 5760x 1440 dpi. Laser pr inters for home use typically offer 600 or 1200 dp i. Printing color inkjet photos on photo paper at a higher dp i setting can produce smoother shading of colors but can slow pr inting significantly. Most inkjet pri nters have an ink monito r to warn when you're running low, but they vary in accuracy. For double-sided printing, you can p rint the odd numbered pages of a docu ment first, then flip th ose pages over to print the even- numbered pages on a second pass. A few printers can automatically pr int on both sides, but it slows down printing.

HOW TO CHOOSE Be skept ical about advertised speeds. Print speed vari es depending on what you're printing and at wha t quality, but th e speeds you see in ads are generally higher tha n you're likely to achieve in normal use. You can't reliably compare speeds for differen t brands because each company uses its own methods to measure speed. We ru n the sam e tests on all m od els, printing text pages and ph oto s that are sim ilar to wh at you might print. As a result , o ur pri nt times are realistic and can be com pared across br and s. Don't get hung up on resolution. A printer's resolution, expressed in dots per inch, is ano ther pot ential source of confusion. All things being equal, the more ink dot s a printer put s on tl1e paper, the more deta iled the image. But dot size, shape,


quickly and cheaply than most inkjets. Lasers are often quiete r than inkjets, too. Cons While tops for text, lasers aren't as versatile as inkjets and they're not suited for print ing photos. Even models that can print in color aren't intended for use with glossy photo stock or other

. Multif unction models start at $200, color ones

around $300.

The bottom line A laser printer will be your

best choice for fast , low-cost, top-quality black

and-white text.Bu t you'll still need an inkjet or

snapshot model if you plan to print photos.

Text plus color photos & graphics Your best choice A regular inkjet printer. Pros Many offer excellent print quality for both

photos and text , and will accept a variety of paper types and sizes. Most can print photos directly f rom a digital camera. Cons Supply costs can be high. Inkjet speeds

can also be slow, from 1.5 to 12 minutes for an

8x10-inch photo.

Price $60 and up.

The bottom line Inkj ets remain your best all

around choice for print ing photos, text. and color

graphics, such as greet ing cards and Web pages.

. - Text, photos & graphics plus copying & scanning

~ Your best choice An all-in-one inkjet printer. Pros It combines printing , scanning, and

copying in one unit and can be cheaper than buying several separate devices. The best of t hem can produce excellent color photos and text , and most will print photos without a PC. A few can also fax. Cons They mighthave fewer features than stand-alone printers. As with other electroni c

devices designed to do more tha n one j ob, you'll have to repair or replace th e entire unit if one part breaks down. Price $100 and up. The bottom line Check out all-in-one machin es if you need a printer, scanner, and copier but lack the space for separate units.

Snapshots only Your best choice A snapshot printer. Pros Snapshot printers are sma ll and fast.

with spee ds as quick as a min ute per 4x6 photo. Some have handles and run on batteries, handy for use on t he road. All can print photos from a digit al camera with out requirin g a computer. Many models use dye-sublimation (dye-sub) tec hnology to make prints t hat are more wate r-resista nt tha n th ose fr om inkje ts.

Consu merRepo rts.org

Cons Snapshot printers can print only small

photos, and th ey are not intended for printing

text or graphics. In our tests, most didn't provide

the photo quality of the best regular inkjets,

and they tend to cost the same as a full sized printe r.

Price $80 to $30 0.

The bottom line Snapshot photo printers are

speedy and convenient, but you'll sacrifice

f lexibility.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


69

panies, includ ing Microtek and Visioneer, that made their name in scanning tech nology. Other brands include computer makers and photo specialists such as Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, and Nikon. Which type of scanner you should con sider-flatbed, sheet-fed, or film-depends largely on how you will use it. Flatbed scanners. More than 90 percent of the scanners on the market are flatbeds. They work well for text, graphics, photos , and anything else that is flat , including a kindergartner's latest drawing. Flatbeds include optical-character-recognltlon (OCR) software, which converts words on a printed page into a word-processing file in your computer. They also include basic image editing software. A key specification for a scanner is its maximum opt ical resolution, measured in dots per inch (dpi). You'll pay more for greater resolution. Price range: less than $100 for 600x1,200 dpi; $100 to $500 for models with greater resolution. Film scanners. Serious photographers may want a film-only scanner that scans directly from an original slide (transpa r ency) or negative . Some can accept small prints as well. Price range: $400 to $800.

a scan onscreen and crop it or adjust contrast and brightness. Once you're satisfied with the edited image, you can perform a final scan and pass the image to a running program or save it on your computer. You can make more extensive changes to an image with specialized image editing software. And to scan text fr om a book or letter into a word-processing file in your computer, you run OCR software. Many documents combine text with graphic elements, such as photogr aphs and drawings. A handy software feature that's found on many scanners , called multiple-scan mode, lets you break down such hybrids into different sect ions that can be processed separately in a singl e scan. You can designate, for example, that the sections of a magazine article that are pure text go to the OCR software indepen dently of the article's graphi c elements. Other scanners would require a separate scan for each section of the document. Some flatbed models come with film adapters designed to scan film or slides, but if you need to scan from film or slides often , you' re better off gett ing a separate film scanner.

IMPORTANT FEATURES While the quality of images a scanner produces depends in part on the soft ware included with it, there are several hardware featu res to consider. You sta rt scanning by running driver software that comes with the scanner or by pressing a preprogrammed button . Models with buttons automate routi ne

Consider how much resolution you need.

If you want to scan only printed originals, you can buy a basic scanner wit h 12 00-dpi resolution for less t han $100 . That 's all you need for most sa me-size scans of photos, graphics, and text. If there's any chanc e you might want to scan transparent material or blow up portions of an image, you're bett er off

HOW TO CHOOSE


originals . The higher resol utio n allows you to captu re more detail when enlarging a 35-mm original or zoomi ng in on a port ion of an image. When compar ing specs, focus on nat ive optical resolut ion. "Inte rpolated" or "enh anced" resolution come s in handy for scanning line art. Consider color-bit depth for film. For enlarging prints or scanning negat ives or slides, the greate r th e color-bit depth, th e bette r the scanner can differentiate among subtl e gradat ions of shading: 24-bit (8 bits per color channel) is basic; 48-bit (16 bits per channel) is better. Consider a multifun ct ion unit. If you won't make heavy demands on a scanner (for instance, you cannot scan film or slides ) and you need a general-use printer, especially for a tight space, a multifunc tion printer/scanner/copier may serve. Choose quality and speed that suit your needs. Most of the tested scanners did very well at reproducing a color photo at 300 dpi. Those judged good produced less crisp scans, with less accurat e colors. Fewer models did well wit h fil m. Speed matters if you expect to be scan ning regularly. In our recent tests, t he fastest to ok about 11 second s to sca n an 8x10-in ch photo at 3 00 dpi, while the slowest took about 3 0 seconds. Don't sweat the software. All th e scanners we tested came wit h software for scann ing, image editin g, and opti cal character recognition for scanning text into a word-processing program. Some have soft ware for makin g digital photo albums or other projects. Expert· Independent· Nonprofit

might be higher than combining a few images on 8Yvd I-inch paper. With some models, if you want to use the photo inks to get the best picture quality, you have to remove the black-ink cartridge and replace it with the photo-ink cartridge. Then, to print text or graphics, you have to swap the black cartridge back in. This process can get tedious. Models that hold all the ink tanks simultaneously eliminate that hassle. Consider connections. Printers with USB 2.0 ports are common now. But they don't enable much faster print speeds than plain USB.All new computers have USB 2.0 ports, which are compatible with plain USB. Computers more than eight years old might have only a parallel port.

With Bluetooth connectivity, an Inkjet can print photos wirelessly from a Bluetooth

enabled phone.

Decide whether you need scanning and copying. All-in-one units provide scanning and color copying (and often faxing) while saving space. But scanners in all-in-one units might be slower than stand-alone scanners. Stand-alones are best for negatives and slides, although some all-in-one units now include a light in the lid and a holder to keep negatives and slides in place. And if one part of the unit breaks, the whole unit must be repaired or replaced.

EWA E: NO CO t

T ORTH PLENTY.

Unleashing your PC's f ull potential-at an unbeatable price - - -.. _

T

-_ .-.-- - - - - - - - _·· ··_·_ ·_·· _-

he software bundled with many new computers should let you write a note, surf the Web, and perform other basic operations, but it probably won't do everything you want. Before you go shopping for additional software, it might be worth seeing whether freeware can do the job. Though the definition of freeware is still debated, we're focusing on software that you can download from the Web at no cost. These aren't limited versions of commercial programs or shareware packages that

ConsumerReports.org

-

-

-

-

- --

-

-

- 1

you must pay for after a short trial period. They're yours to keep and use. Nor are these illegal copies of commercial programs or virus-, spyware-, or advertising-laden "freebies." You'llfind thousands of freeware programs online -mainstream applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, photo-editing, antispyware, and anti virus programs, along with specialized software to create a personal weather station or create 3D home designs, among many other applications. There are

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


71

Free software extends the use of your computer system at a cost that can't be beat.

72

and it's growing." Freeware comes from many different sources ind ividuals out to show off their pro gramming skills or assess an application's com mercial viability,or from companies trying to attract customers to their pay programs. Some applications come from well-known software developers, includ ing Apple, Microsoft, and Google. And many titles are developed by programmers world wide who enjoy develop ing and improving software that peopl e can use without charge . In fact,

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BU YING GUIDE 20 0 8

LEGITIMATE SITES Wh ile m uch freeware is on the up and up, deal only with reputable sources to avoid probl ems. Also, make sure you have up-t o-d ate ant iviru s and anti spyware programs installed on your com puter before you start surfing, whether or not you plan to download any freeware. A goo d place to star t is one of many rep utab le freeware sites (see "Where to look for freeware," on page 75) . Those sites evaluat e and some times rate the p rogram, and say th ey will rem ove appli cati on s if visitors report problems, such as hidden viruses or spyware. The most useful or gan ize progr am s in to categories. Th at enables yo u to search th rou gh spec ific types of applications with out having to wade th rough potentially tho usands of unr elated program s. Many have user ra tings and forums, where you can read about problems or get help. Ano ther good resou rce is the Usenet newsgroup, alt.compJreeware. Parti cipants discuss and som e times debate the merits of free program s, and each year they select the very best, a list of which appears at www.pricelesswarehome.org. You can get to th is newsgro up th rough http.i/groups.google .com or through a newsreader such as Windows' Outlook Express. Check with your Intern et service pro vider for more inform ation about accessing its "news server." Before downloading a free pr ogram, carefully evaluate its capabilities, system requirements, and license agreeme nt. Some applications are free on ly for personal use; othe rs allow edu cation al, nonp rofit, or even bu siness use. If possible, visit th e developer's site dir ectly. See whether you need


built-in "migration tools," which should come in handy when Apple releases its new operating system later this year.) If you're looking to move just data files-word-processing documents, photos, music, financial records, and other items -and not the actual applications themselves, you can simply

browser history, and program settings. But if you need to move programs, too, you can try either PCmover ($50, $60 with cable) or Easy Transfer Companion (free). Here's what we found during our initial look at both programs.

EASY TRANSFER COMPANION

LAPLINK PCMOVER

HIGHS

HIGHS

It' s free. You can get the beta from Microsoft at www.microsoft

Makes your move in one step. PCmover transfers everything, files and applications alike, in a single operation. (Before you start your transfer, follow the program's advice to update to a new version if necessary.)You can customize the list of programs you want to move. A variety of trans fer method s are available. You can use the cable Laplink sells, a network connection, removable media, or a second hard drive. It works well. PCmovermade the proper transfer of Outlook from the old PCwith a previous version of Office 2003, even though a newer version of Office was on the new PC. You can back out. As with Easy Transfer Companion, you can undo the move.

.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade /easytransfer.mspx. It works wel l. Easy Transfer Companion had no problems mov ing e-mail messages. If you're moving to a Vista PC, it skips programs that won't run on that operating system . (It did have one mishap with a Microsoft applica tion. It didn't move Office 2003, which has the Outlook e-mail program , to the new PC, which had a newer but basic Office 2007.that lacked Outlook.) You can customi ze the list of programs you want to move. You can undo th e whole process. You can reverse the .transfe r - just make sure you do so with in three days. LOWS Transfer options are limit ed. The Companion can move appli cations only via the special EasyTransfer cable or over a network. You can 't use a removable media drive, as you can with Easy Transfer and PCmover. It 's a mult i-st ep process. You have to perform two separate transfers-one for the applications and one for the files.

LOWS You can only use PCmover once. $50 is a lot of money for software that's valid only for a single use. (You can purchase licenses for additional migrations at a 25 percent discount, provided you buy them when you buy the software.) It has tr ouble moving e-mail. We couldn't transfer messages from Outlook Express on our XP machine to Windows Mail on the Vista PC. (Address-book contacts did make it successfully to the new system.)

__... _ ----_ _-

----_.._-- - _.. THE BOTTOM LINE If you don't want to spend a dime, don't mind a two-step process, and have a home network (so you don't have to buy a cable), use Microsoft's free programs. Vista's built-in Easy Transfer will move your files and you can transfer your applications with

...

_._..._-_._ - - - - - - - - -

little effort using the beta Companion program. If you need a cable because you don't have a network, or if you want to move applications using removable media, PCmover works just as well. But keep in mind that you will probably lose messages saved in Outlook Express.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----- --- --

ConsumerReports.org


;

I

GENERAL PROGRAMS Audacity http:// audacity.sou rcefo rge.net (Also run s on Mac OS X)

Mu lti tracking a udio recorder a nd ed it or. Also use to d igit ize t a pes , MiniDisc, a nd vinyl record reco rdings.

Envisioneer Express www.envisioneerexpress.com

Create your own 3 D home designs. Large dow nload . Expanded pay version available.

EssentialP IM www.esse nt ialpim. com

Person al information ma nager t hat lets you import data fro m many different sources.

G1 M P (GNU Image Manipulation Program) www.gimp.org (Also runs on Mac OS X)

A re placem ent for Ado be Photosh op . Somewhat d ifficu lt to learn but f ull-feat ured. Check the download ins tructions carefu lly.

DSpeech http:/ /dimi o.altervista.org/ eng

Have your com puter read text a lou d. Also saves spo ken text to M P3 or WAY f ile. Check t he develope r's page for free com pone nts you might need to download.

I

GreatNews http:/ /curiostudio.com

RSS feed reader th at offers different view styles, including newspaper-style page layout.

I

IrfanView www.ir fanview.com

Hand y image-viewing program . Also download a nd insta ll the package of ad d-ons.

Money M anager Ex www.thezeal.com/ software

Money-mana gement soft wa re that handles banking , invest me nt , a nd budget ing.

Mozllla Firefox www.mozi lla .com (Also run s on Mac OS X)

Popular Web browser t hat you can customize wit h many free downloadabl e extensions.

OpenOffice.org www.ope noffice .org (Also runs on Mac OS X)

Comp lete off ice suite, including wo rd processor and spreadsheet , com patible wit h Microsoft Office fo rmats. Large download .

Plcasa http:/ /picasa. google.com

Google's photo-orga nizing a nd bas ic ed iti ng too l fo r t hose who don 't need f ull feat ured edi t ing softwa re suc h as t he comme rcial Photoshop or f ree GIMP.

i

I

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W.bloggar http://wbloggar.c om

Slogging software th at lets you publi sh on most blo gs, Han dles multipl e acco unts . Inclu des a spelli ng checker.

Weat her Wat cher www.snapfiles.com/review / weather_watcher/ weather watcher.html

Turn your co mputer deskto p int o a personal weather st at io n for more th an 77,000 cities worl dwide .

I I I

I

I

UTILITIES Gadwln Printscreen www.gadwin.com

Expa nd your computer's screen cap t ure abi lity to ent ire screen , a se lected a rea , a nd more. Print cap t ured area , copy to Windows clipboard, sen d bye-ma il or save.

Google Toolbar http:/ /toolbar.googl e.com

Let s you cond uct a wide range of searches fro m Int ernet Explorer an d Firefox.

Mj M Free Photo Recovery Software www.mj m.co. uk/ freephotorecoverysoftware.html

Recover deleted .j pg im ages f rom many types of d igit a l-camera medi a card s. Also recovers images from refo rma tted ca rds.

Rename Master http:/ / j oej oesoft. com

Ren am e f iles in bu lk with ma ny opt ions to a utomat ical ly insert or de lete ch a racters.

Yankee Clipper 3 wwwintelexuet.com/prooucts

Expands Wind ows clipb oard by auto matica lly saving anything you cut o r copy. Also stores signatures a nd informat ion that you can paste into ma ny a pplica tions.

74 CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUY ING GUIDE 20 0 8

Exper t · Independent · Nonprofit

Once you've downloaded some programs, be sure to check the developer's Web site for updates. Often you'll find fixes and improvements. Usually you can find the developer's Web site by clicking on the "About" section in the "Help" menu item. Some programs can be set to update themselves.

uncover problems with an application, have suggested improvements or simply want to send your thanks. Some developers have "tip jars" where you can make a monetary expression of your appreciation. Many sites accept donations by PayPal or other online secure payment services.

Where available, fiber-optic challenges cable, DSL, and satellite

C

able Internet service has met its match. In our latest survey of more than 34,000 CONSUMER REpORTS subscribers-our first to assess the new kid on the block, fiber-optic broadband-readers gave Verizon's fiber-based FiOS service top marks across the board. FiOS users were more satisfied with the service's speed than were users of cable, which received top marks for speed in our survey a year ago. And they were more satisfied with FiOS's cost than were users of DSL, which remains the least-expensive type of broadband. FiOS also got higher marks for both reli ability and technical support than did cable or DSL. That's the good news. The bad news is that your chances of getting this promising service are slim. Verizon's FiOS currently is being offered to about 6 million homes in roughly one third of the states.

ConsumerReports.org

FEW CHOICES STILL The consumer broadband market has been a seller's market, often limited to a single provider. Our survey underscored the lack of choice: Of readers who used any type of broadband service, 22 percent said they had chosen their type because it was the only broad band option available. In some parts of the country, that sole option is satellite. But our readers gave some of the lowest satisfaction scores to a major satellite provider in our Ratings. Even where phone companies offer DSL or fiber, the number of broadband providers is often limited to two players: the cable and telephone companies. "Two is better than one. But a duopoly is not a fully competitive marketplace;' says Chris Putala, executive vice president, public policy, for EarthLink, one of the few providers that offer competitive broadband


The qlowlnq promise of fiber-optic cable broadband service is available In only a limited number of communities now.

76

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

original Intern et techn ology, with at least six national providers. But slightly less th an 10 per cent of our readers were willing to put up with dial-up's painfully slow speeds, despite its low cost. For everyone else, choosi ng broadband Internet service m eans making the best of a nonc om petit ive market. Given th at, th e inc reasing availability of


even new subscribe rs to Verizon's TV service have seen pric e hikes.

HOW TO CHOOSE Even if fiber is available to you right now, there's no need to switch services if you're happ y with your current pro vider. About half of our readers said they were highly satisfied, though the y were more pleased with reliability, speed, an d techni cal suppo rt th an th ey were with cost. Onl y 20 percent of the respon dent s said they were highly satisfied with cost. If you do sign up with a new broadba nd pro vider, you'll prob ably need to change your e-m ail add ress in the process. Here's more advice on h ow to cho ose a new pr ovider : Learn about yourchoices. Find out what services and pro viders are available in your area. You can find local providers at www.dsireports.com/prequal. Chances are you'll have just one DSL provider available-you r ph on e company-and just one cable Int ern et pro vider. But there are exceptions: EarthLink offers a competing Intern et service over cable in Time Warner Cable's 40 ma rkets nationwide; that service was one of the better-r ated cable services among our readers. EarthLink is also available on th e Comcas t cable system in Boston and Seattl e. Ot h er hi gh ly ranked cable com p an ies that have bu ilt th eir own cable facilities to com pe te with existing providers are WOW, serving part s ofIllinois,Michigan, and Ohi o; and RCN, serving Boston, Chicago. Phil adelphia , New Yor k City, and Wash ington, D.C. Th ere are also two na tional satellite-based Internet services, but their cost is very high. Weigh speed vs. cost. For m any user s, DSL


3

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39

0

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9

Mediacom

45

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10 Insight · ·

42

11 Comcast

46

12 Charter

41

13 Adelphia

44

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 0

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0

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38

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14 Verizon

29

15 Owest

34

16 BellSouth

38 26

17 SBC

18 EarthLink.

44

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19 AT&T

30

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32

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39

·

..

Guide to the Ratings

SATELLITE BROADBAND PROVIDER

HughesNet 22 (DirecWay) 13

~

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ConsumerReports.org

th at become available on fiber. Opting for Verizon fiber may well me an that your phon e service will be converted to fiber as well. Like

cable VoIP phon e service, such systems requ ire a

battery backup to opera te du rin g a power outage. Verizon supplies a backup system that provides about fou r hours of talk time; th e custom er is responsible for replacing it th ereafter. For installation, even if it involves digging or tunneling on your pro perty,

Verizon char ges $70 but waives the fee if you sign

a one -year contract.

The blazingly fast fiber service that is often heralded as vanquishing cable offers dow nloa d speeds of up to 50 Mbps. But such high er speeds can come at qu ite a premium . For exam ple, Verizon recently char ged as m uch as $200 mo nthly,depen ding on where you live, for one of its h ighest-speed serv ices. And m ost Intern et user s don't yet need tha t kin d of speed. For

Ratings are based on 34 ,521 responses from CONSUMER REPORTS subscribers

wit h a home Internet accou nt who com pleted the 2006 Annual Questionnaire

online; they might not be representative of the u.s. populati on. Price is the

median monthl y fee for service, as reported by respondents, which might include bundles or special discounts . Prices varied . Reader score reflects overall satis faction with the ISP and is not limited to factors listed under Survey result s. If everyone were completely satisfi ed with their service, t he reader score would be 100; 80 would mean respondents were very satisfied , on average; 60, fairly

well satisfied. Differences of less than 5 points betwee n scores aren't mean ing f ul. The foll owing scores are relat ive and indicate satisfaction with each ISP comp ared wit h the average: Speed refl ects sat isf act ion with connection speed (dial-up ISPs weren't included as they were uniformly lower-rated t han broadband ISPs). Reliabilit y reflects satisfaction wit h th e ISP's ability to maint ain stable, uninterrupted serv ice. Technical support reflects respondents ' satisfaction

wit h the ISP's response to se rvice problems. A dash (-) indicates that there was insuffici ent data to provide a score.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


77

must also use it for phone service.

and other factors. Inq uire about whether th ere is anything you can do to speed up your conn ection. Ask neighbo rs who subscribe to the same service about th eir experience. Once you have service, you can compare the speeds you're actually getting wit h the adverti sed speed by testing it free at

www.dslreports.com/speedtest. At th e oth er extreme, if you're using the Internet only for e-mail or basic Web browsing, dial- up ser vice might be eno ugh. Expect to pay aro und $10 to $20 a mo nt h. Consider your othe r services. Th ere's a good chanc e you can save by sub scribing to more than one service from the same provider. Cable com panies typically offer do uble- and triple-play packages tha t include television, and either Internet or teleph one

to change your ph one service later on. And bu ying a bu ndle might make it more d ifficult for you to change providers for any indi vidual service if you're tied into a lon g-term contract for all of the m. Look for feat ures. Consider whether a service offers multiple e-mail accounts, spam and spyware blockin g, parental contro ls, and a pe rsonal Web page. If you tra vel ofte n , look for a broadband servic e, su ch as Earth Link 's or BeltSouth's, th at incl udes dial-up access. Also look for Web mail, which lets you access e-mail from any In tern et enabled com puter. Test -drive it. Once yo u have a new service, if th ere's a tria l period, test the features before it expires. If possible, maintain your old acco unt during that pe riod in case you want to go back .

How much speed do you need?

Cable, OSL, fiber, and satellite all offer two types of speed, usu ally measured in Mbps (megabits , or millions of bits, per second): Download speed is th e highest possib le rate at which data can be sent to you. Upload speed, the highest possible rate at which

you can send data, is usually slower than download . Many factors can affect your actual speed, including your computer and router, home wiring, and Internet congestion . The download tim es shown below have been adjusted to take t hose facto rs into account.

DOWNLOAD TIMES FOR COMMON APPLICATIONS

78

1.5 MBPS

5 MBPS

50 MBPS

One 5MB MP3 file

33 seconds

10 secon ds

1 second

50MB worth of digita l photos

5.5 minutes

1.7 minutes

10 secon ds

125MB video-game demo

14 minutes

4 min utes

25 seconds

5 GB high-definltion movie

9 hou rs

2.8 hours

17 min utes

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUY ING GUIDE 2008


viruses, spyware, or phi sh ing e- mail scams. In fact, according to the survey, your od ds of becoming a cybervictim are about I in 4. O ur survey and investigation fou nd a decline in spyware infections since the previo us year, but not in viru ses and both remai n epidemic. Unt il th ings im prove, every onli ne consu mer m ust th ink like a secur ity expert. "It's up to you to be sure all your software is up to da te, with automatic scan ning fun ction s tu rn ed o n;' says Kath ryn Sederquist of Best Buy's Geek Squad techni cal support service in Riverhea d, N.Y. She recently rem oved a virus th at had replicated itself 40,000 tim es on a customer's home Pc. Here are som e of the most noteworth y findin gs from o ur investigation: ~ In a nationally rep resentative sample of m ore tha n 2,000 household s with Intern et access, 23 percent said a virus, spyware, or ph ishing scam cau sed seri ou s com puter problems and/or fin ancial losses in th e past two years. Based on projections from o ur survey, viru s infections prompted an estim ated 1.8 million ho useho lds to repl ace their comp ute rs in th e past two years an d spyware infections pr om pte d 850,000 in the past six m onths. ~ Too m any con sumers' defenses are down : 17 per cen t of the ho useholds surveyed didn't have antivirus software in stalled, and 33 perc ent didn't use soft ware to block o r remove spywa re. And con sumers in ro ughly 660,000 households continue d to b uy products advertised thro ugh spam. Most ho mes had a firewall installed to block ha ckers. Still, based on our findings, we project tha t abo ut 3.7 m illion U.S. ho usehol ds with bro adba nd, who are hackers' pri me targets, rem ain unprotected by a firewall.

ConsumerReporls.org

Here's the latest news abo ut maj or online thre ats an d what you can do to com bat them : Viruses (m alicious programs that infect com pu ters an d use th em to prop agate) and worms (self replicating programs th at bog down computers and networks) are still a ma jor scourge. In our survey, 38 perc ent of resp ondents reported an infection in the past two years. O f those, 28 perce nt had to

Spyware infections may have caused 850,000 households to replace the ir computers over a six-month period.


79

survey registered a decline in th e number of recent spyware infections, bu t new source s of threats con tin ue to arise. Even Intern et search engines can be sources of infection . A study of five major search engines, co-written by Ben Edelma n, a spyware

An tiSpyware ($30; an nu al fee $30) to offer inex pens ive, excellent feature- rich anti spyware. For a free com plement to your main antispyware, we recommend Microsoft Windows Defender or Spybot Search & Destroy.

Where to report online crime Wit h Jail time or stiff fi nes now a real possibility for cyber crimina ls, consumers subj ected to online th reats should document and report them to legal authorities. Because of ju risdictiona l overlap you might need to fi le several reports : ~ Report cyberfraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov). a part nership between t he Federal Bureau of Investigat ion and t he National White Collar Crime Center. A four-page onlin e comp laint form filed here is circulated to Federal, sta te, and local aut horities. ~ To complain about companies spewing spam or spyware, go to t he Federal Trade Comm ission's Consumer Complaint Form (www.ftc.gov/ftc/complain t.htm). If you th ink you've been t he victi m of identity th eft , you'll want to file a comp laint with th e agency by fill ing out an online ID Theft Complaint Input Form (https:llm.ftc.govlpls/dodlwidtpubl$ .star tup?Z_ ORG_ CODE =PU03). Even if t he FTC can 't act on a case, it makes the infor mat ion available to civil and crimina l law-enforcement agencies worldwide. ~ If you or your Internet attacker is in a state covered by cyber legislation, you'll want to inform the Off ice of t he Attorney General. The Nati onal Association of Atto rneys General maintains a Computer Crime Point -of-Contact List (www.naag.orgl issues 1 2001 0 724 -cc_lisCbg.php ) wit h inf ormati on on computer savvy stat e and local prosecutors. Many sta te AG's offices also

have online cybercomplaint forms on the ir own Web sites.

80

CONSUMER REPORTS .

ELECTRONICS BU YIN G GUIDE 2008

~ Any online exploitation of children should be reported to the CyberTipline (www.cybertipline.com).ma inta ined by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children wit h t he FBI and other governmen t enforcement agencies.

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Best choices for AT&T:

disp lay is relatively large and easy to read.

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Expert· Independen

(30 GB)

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Guide to the Ratings The MP3 player ma rket is dominated by t hree types of players: flash-memory, micro drive, an d hard disk. Flash-memory players are the smallest and lightest of th e group, They're no bigger than a pack of gum and weigh no more t han th ree ounces . They're solid-state, meaning they have no moving parts, and their storage capacities range from 512 mega bytes up to 8 gigabytes (about 120 to 2,000 songs) . Palm-sized microdrive players have t iny hard drives with a storage capacity of 4GB to 8GB (about 1,000 to 2,000 songs). They weigh abo ut a quarte r-pound, Hard-disk players are abo ut the size of a deck of cards and have a storage cap acity of 20G B to 160GB (about 5,000 to 40 ,00 0 son gs), They're about t he size of a deck of cards and typically weigh less than a half-pound, Some hard-disk players with video capabili ty have relatively larger displays, and as a result , tend to be the bulkiest players. You can expect a player to hold about 25 0 songs per gigabyte of memo ry. Overall score, as MP3 players, is based prim arily on ease of use, headphone quality, audio quality, damage resistance, and audio playback tim e. Video and picture quality is rated but not included in the overall score, Ease of use mainly covers player characte rist ics tha t aid in convenience, versat ility, and port ability, These prima rily inclu de navigatio n and scrolling featu res; the accessibility and readab ility of t he cont rols; and the readabil ity and breadt h of the infor mation in the display (such as music track dat a and battery-life indicator); size and weight ; and ease of use while walking or jogging, Some feature s and capabilities considered include t he presence of an FM radio, built-in mic ro phone, upgradeab le firmware, equalizer, data storage, softwa re assessment, and the player's ability to be recognized as a hard driv e by the computer witho ut the inst allat ion of ad dit ional

c onsumer aeports.oro

drivers. Headphone quality reflects judg ments from a listening pan el com paring th e player and its su pplied headph one to a t est aud io CD and a high-fidelity headphone, All uncompressed (audio CD or WAY) test mus ic sources were ripped (encoded) to MP3 format (128 , 19 2, and 256 kbps CBR rate) using a high-quality encod er, Audi o qualit y reflects jud gment s from a liste ning panel comparing the player to a test audio CD, using th e high-fidelity headphones for both , All uncom pressed (audio CD or WAY)test music sources were ripped (encoded) to MP3 format (128, 192, and 256 kbps CBR rate) using a high-quality encoder. Damage resistance mainly ref lect s drop-test results; scratch- and wipe-resistance results were also considered. Pict ure qualit y reflects j udgments based main ly on viewing angle, display size, and clarity and color in differen t lighting conditions, using the JPEG form at. Audio play back time reflects lab measure ments of cont inuous playback tim e to th e nearest hour, using a select ion of music tracks encoded to MP3 form at at a 128 kbps

CBR rate; full y charged rechargeable batteries; backlight at t he

min imum setti ng; with included headphone; and volume set

at a reasonable level. For players that can use stan dard batter

ies such as alkaline, expect a bit longer playback t ime , Our

measurements should not be compa red with those stated by

th e manufact urer, whic h might use diff erent testi ng methods

and criteria, All dimensions are measu red to the nearest tenth

of an inch, and listed the way the player would be oriented if

you were viewing th e screen , Weight is how muc h t he player

weighs in ounces, including batteries but not including acces

sories. For models wit h no internal memory, the memory card

is included, Based on tests posted on ConsumerRepor ts.org

in July 2007.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

EL ECTRONICS BUY ING GUIDE 20 0

radio and recording from FM radio. Very good sound qua lity reco rding f rom built in micropho ne. Color disp lay meas ured 1.4x1.1 inches. Has slidesho w with simultaneous mus ic . Has custom and presets equal izer, volume limiter, A-B repeat, text viewer, games, and multilin gual menu s. Can edit playlist and delete files on player. MTP compatible. No Mac sup port. Includes earbud-type headphone. Has nonrem ovable batt ery. AC adapter not included. USB2 inte rface . Similar mode l: YP-T9 (2GB).

3 Apple iPod Nano (8GB) Very good overall. Color display measured 0.9x1.1 inches. Has slideshow with simultaneo us music. Has presets equa lizer, a volume limiter that can be pass-code protected, contacts and calendar appointment appli cat ion, text viewer, games, stop watch, and multil ingual menus. Can edit playlist (but can't delete files) on player. Includes earbud-type headp hone. Has nonremov abl e battery. AC ad apter not included. USB2 interface. iTunes software not included; must download from Apple Web site. Simi lar mod els: IPod Nano (2GB), iPod Nano (4GB).

4 Cowon iAudio T2 (2 GB) Very good overa ll. Color OLED disp lay measured 0.5xO.8 inches. Has custom and presets equalizer, A-B repeat , chan nel balance, fade-in audio playback, alarm clock, and mult ilingual menus . Can edit playlist and delete files on player. Includes earbud -type

capable via line input. Good sound qual ity recordi ng from bui lt-in mic rophon e. Color display meas ured 1.0x1.1 inches. Has sli deshow with sim ulta neous music. Has custo m and presets equalizer. a volume limiter t hat can be pass-code protected , contacts and calendar appoin tment appli cation, alarm clock, and multilingual menus. Can edit playlist and delete fil es on player. MTP compa tible. No Mac support. Includes earbud-type headphon e. Has nonre mov able battery. AC adapte r not included. USB2 Interface. Similar models: Zen V (1GB), Zen V (2GB).

7 San Disk Sansa e280 (8GB) Very good overall. Good sound quality from FM radio, and recording from FM radio and built-in microphone. Color display measured 1.3x1.1 inches. Has video playback, and slideshow with simulta neous music. Has presets equa lizer, volume limiter, and multilingual menus. Can edit playlist (but can't delete files) on player. MTP compat ible. No Mac support. Includes earbud-type headph one. Has removable rechargeable battery. AC adapter not included. USB2 interface . "R" appended to model designat ion has built-in Rhapsody; availab le at Best Buy for about $2 0 extra. Similar models: Sansa e250 (2GB), Sansa e260 (4GB), Sansa e270 (6GB). 8 Philips GoGear SA9200 (2GB) Very good overall. Color display measured 1.3xl.0 inches. Has slides how wit h simultaneous music. Has custom and

172 CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 20 08

overall. Color display measured inches . Has slideshow with simu music. Has presets equalizer, an lingual menus. Can't edit playlist files on player. MTP compati ble. sup port. Includes earbud-type he Has nonremovable battery. AC ad included . USB2 interface. Similar YP-Z5 (2GB), YP-Z5Z (1GB).

11 San Disk Sansa elSO (2GB) overall. Good sound quality recor built-In micro phone. Color display 0 .5x1.0 inches. Has slideshow w taneous music . Has custom and equalizer, and multilingual menu playlist (but can't delete fi les) o MTP compatib le. No Mac suppor earbud-type headphone. Uses o batt ery. USB2 interf ace. Sim ilar Sansa c14 0 (1GB).

12 Samsung VP-KS (4GB) Ve

overall. Good sound quality f rom and built-in speakers. Color disp ured 1.3 xO.9 inches. Has slidesh simultan eous music. Has presets volume limiter, alarm clock , and lingual menu s. Can't edit playlist files on player. MTP compatible. support. Includes earplug-type h Has nonremovable batte ry. AC ad included . USB2 interface. Simila YP-K5 (1GB), YP-K5 (2GB).

13 Sam sung VP-U2JQB (2GB

overall. Very good sound qua lity

Exper t· Independe

reco rding f rom built-in mi croph one. Fair sound qua lity reco rdi ng fro m lin e inpu t. Two-color OLEO display measured O.5xO.9 inches. Has custom and presets equa lizer, A-B repeat , text viewer, stopw atch, alarm clock, and mu lti lingual menu s. Can edit playlist and delete files on player. Doesn't list tracks. Includes earbud-type headphone. Has nonrem ovable batte ry. AC ada pter not included. USB2 interface. Simi lar models: i.Beat organlx w/FM (1GB), i.Beat organlx w/FM (512 MB).

16 SanDisk Sansa m260 (4GB) Very good overall. Fair sound quality recording f rom built-in microphon e. Monoch rome display measu red O.5x1. 1 inches. Has custom and presets equalizer, A-B repeat, stopw atch, and mult ilingual menus . Can edit playlist (but can 't delete file s) on player. No Mac sup port. Includes earb ud-type headphone. Uses one AAA battery. USB2 interface. Simi lar mode l: Sansa m230 (51 2M B), Sansa m2 40 (1GB), Sansa m250 (2GB).

earplug-type head pho ne. Uses one AAA battery. USB2 inte rfa ce.

21 Klegg Mini (1GB) Good overall. Very good soun d quality recording from built in mic ropho ne. Color display measur ed O.7xO. 6 inches. Has slidesh ow wit hout si mult aneous music. Has presets equal izer, and A-B repeat . Can de lete f iles (but can 't edit playlist) on player. Doesn 't list tracks, and lacks lock control. No Mac support. Includes earb ud-type headphone. Has nonremovab le battery. AC ad apter not inclu ded . USB2 interface. Simi lar model: Mi ni (512 MB). 22 TrekSt or i.Beat mood FM (1GB) Good overall. Good sound quality from FM radio. Fair soun d quality recording fro m built-in microphone . Two-color OLEO display measu red O.5xO.9 inches. Has presets equalizer, A-B repeat, and mult i lingual me nus. Can delete fil es (but can 't edit playlist) on player. Doesn't list tracks. No Mac support. Inclu des earb ud-type headphone. Uses one AAA batt ery. USB2 interface .

17 Sony NW-S205F (2GB) Very good overall. Fair sound quality from FM radio. One-color OLEO meas ured O.2xO.9 inches. Has custom and presets equa lizer, volume limiter, volume leveling, pedom eter, and stopwa tc h. Can't edit playlist or de lete files on player. No Mac support. Includes earbu d-type headphone wit h earhooks. Has nonremovable battery. AC adapter not included . USB2 inte rfa ce. Simil ar mode l: NW-S20 3F (1GB).

ConsumerRep ort s.or g

Micro drive hard-disk MP3 players (4GB to 8GB) 23 Cowon iAudio 6 (4GB) Very good overall. Excellent so und quality from FM rad io. Good soun d qua lity recording from line input and FM radio. Color displ ay measured i .OxO.8 inches. Has slideshow with sim ult ane ous m us ic. Has custom and presets equal izer, A-B repeat, channel

si m ulta neous music. Has custo m and presets equ ali zer, cha nne l ba lance , virtua l keyboard, and multilingual menus . Can edit playlist and delet e fil es on player. MTP compat ible. Includes earbud-type headph one wit h volume cont rol. Has nonremovable battery . AC adap ter not included. USB2 interface. Similar model: 104 (4GB).

26 Sony Hard Drive Walkman NW A1200 (8GB) Very good overail. One-colo

OLEO display measured 1.0x1.0 inches. Ha line out put , custom and presets equal izer volume limiter, calendar appoin tm ent app cation, and multilingual menus. Can edit playlist and delete file s on player. No Mac support. Includes earbu d-type headphone Has nonremovable battery. AC adapte r includ ed. USB2 interface.

27 Creat ive Zen Micro (6GB) Good overall. Fair sound qua lity fro m FM rad io and recording from FM radio. Good sound quality recording from built-in microphone Monochrome display measured O.9x1.3 inches. Has custom and presets equalize volume leveling, cont acts and calendar appointm ent app licat ion, alarm clock , and mu ltilingua l menus. Can edit playlist and delete file s on player. No Mac suppor Includes ea rb ud-ty pe headphon e. Has removable rechargeable batte ry. AC adapt not included. USB2 inte rface.


playback time measured fi ve hours. Very good sound quality recording from FM radio. Good so und quality recording f rom built-in mic rophone . Color display measure d 1.5x2 .0 inches. Can view video or images on a TV. Has slideshow with simu lta neous music. Has line out put, custom and presets equalizer, volume leveling, contacts and calendar appo intment app lication, alarm clock, and m ult ilingual me nus. MTP com pat ible. Can edit playlist and delete fi les on player. No Mac s upport. Includes earbud type headphone. Has nonremovable battery. AC adapter included. USB2 interface.

30 Apple iPod (30 GB) Very good over all. Very good video quality. Video playback t ime measured 3 .5 hours . Color display measure d 1.5x2.0 inches. Has sl ideshow wit h sim ulta neo us mu sic. Has presets equalizer, a volum e lim iter th at ca n be pass-code protected, contacts and calen dar appo intment app lication, text viewer, alarm, stopwatc h, gam es, and mult ilingua l me nus. Can edit playlist (but can 't delete files) on player. Includes ear bud-type head phon e. Has nonr emo vable batt ery. AC adap te r not includ ed. USB2 interface. Can view video or images on a TV wit h optio na l accessory. iTunes softwa re not incl uded ; mus t download from Apple web site.

3 1 Creative Zen Sleek Photo (20 GB) Very good overall. Color dis play meas ured 1.0xl.4 inches. Good sound quality record ing f rom FM radio or bui lt-in microp hone. Has slides how wit hout sim ultaneous music. Has custo m and presets equalizer, cont acts and calendar appo intment app lication, alarm clock, and mu ltilingual me nus. Can edit play

174

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

3 3 Toshiba MEV30K V Series (30 GB) Very good overa ll. Good video quality. Video playback tim e meas ured eight hours. Fair sound quality from built-in speaker. Color display meas ured 2.0x2 .8 inches. Can view video or images on a TV. Has slideshow with simul ta neous music . Has presets equa lizer, line out put, USB host mode, and mu ltilin gua l menus. Can ed it playlist (but ca n't delete files) on player. Firmware not upgrade able . MTP compati ble. No Mac sup port . Includes earbud-type headp hone. Has nonremovable battery. AC adapter included . USB2 interface .

34 Creat ive Zen Vision W (30G B) Very good overall. Very good video quality. Video playback t ime measu red five hours . Good sound quality from FM radio and recording fro m built-in mic rophone. Fair sou nd quality fro m built-in speaker. Color display meas ured 2.1x3 .8 inches. Has slide show with simu ltaneous music. Has custom and pre sets equalizer, line outp ut, volume limiter, volume leveling, contacts and calendar appoi ntment app licat ion, and mu lti lingual menus. Can copy f iles directl y from a Compact Flash card though can't play music fi les from th e card. Can edit playlist and delete files on player. MTP com pat ible . No Mac su pport. Includes earbu d-type head phone. Has removable rechargeable battery. AC adapter included. USB2 interface. A larger sized 60GB version available for $400. 3S Toshiba gigabeat MES30 VS (30 GB) Very good overall. Good video qua lity. Video playback time measured 2 .5 hours. Fai r

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2 0 08

delete fil es on player. MTP com Includes earb ud-type headp ho volum e control. Has remov abl e ab le battery. AC adap ter not in USB2 interface. Can sc hedule, record video at OVO quality, and or images on a TV, with opt iona

37 Archos 604 Wi-Fi (30 GB) overall. Very good video quality. back time measured 4.5 hours. G qua lity reco rding from built- in m Fair so und qua lity from buil t-in Color touch-screen display measu inches. Has Wi-Fi capability th at to patc h into your wireless hom e synch with a PC, or access the W limited basis. Has slideshow with eous music. Has custom and pr izer, channel balance, text view keyboard, and multilingual men playlist and delete files on playe patible. Includes earbud-type hea volume control. Has removable re battery. AC adapter not included face. Can schedu le, and also rec DVO quality, and view video or i TV, with optional accessory.

38 Cowon iAudio A2 (30G B)

overall. Excellent sound qua lity radio, and recording f rom builtphone. Very good sound qua lity fro m FM radio. Color OLEO disp ured 0 .5xO.8 inch es. Has cust presets eq ualizer, A-B repeat, bal an ce, fa de-in au d io playbac clock, and mu lti lingua l menu s. playlist and de lete file s on play

Expert · Independe

and presets equalizer, channel balance, text viewer, virtual keyboa rd, and multilingual me nus . Can edit playlist and delete files on player. MTP compatible. Includes earbud type headphone with volume control. Has nonrem ovable batt ery. AC adapter not in cluded. USB2 interface. Can schedule , and also record video at DVD qua lity, and view video or images on a TV, wit h optiona l accessory.

41 Archos 504 (160GB) Very good over ail. Very good video quality. Video playback

Consu merRepor t s.org

music, and presets equalizer. Can edit play list (but can 't delete files) on player. No data storage for documents, spreads heets , and other types of files . No Mac support. Includes earbud -type headphone. Has non removable battery. AC adapter not includ ed. USB2 interface. WMA-DRM only from Zune Marketp lace.

43 RCA Lyra X3030 (30GB) Very good overall. Good video quality. Video playback time measured three hours. Very good so und quality recording from line input.

bu ilt-in spea ker, line output, custom and presets equalizer, volume leveling, contac and calendar appointment app licatio n, te viewer, alarm clock, and mult ilingual menu Can copy files direct ly fro m a CompactFla card thou gh can't play music files from th card . Can edit playlist and delete fi les on player. No Mac support. Includes earbud type headphone. Has removable recharg ab le batt ery. AC adapter included. USB2 interfa ce.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYIN G GUIDE Z00

versatil ity, top print quality , and low-cost enlargements. They can print almost any thing, including photos 8x10 inches or larger, text, and graphics such as greeting cards. You can use various types and sizes of paper, from business cards to banne rs. Quality is another plus. The photos from the best inkjets are as good as t hose you get from a photofinisher. Larger prints also typically cost less t han you'd pay a photo finisher-about $1 to $1 .50 for an 8x10 inch photo, com pared wit h $2 to $4 for professional processing. But inkjets aren't renowned for speed , so it could tak e a

1 Canon Pixma MP8 10, $3 0 0 2 Canon Pixma MP830, $280 3 Canon Plxma MP600, $18 0 All th ree were excellent for photos and text and were among th e fastest models tested. Copy and scan quality were all very good. Photo print ing costs a bit more wit h th e MP60 0 , but it' s lower priced t han t he other two; optional Bluetooth is availab le. The MP830 has a doc ument feeder, a fax modem, and 2.5-inch LCDviewer. The MP810 doesn 't have a document feede r or fax modem, but it has a 3-inch LCD

for text printing.

Best regular Inkjet for photo 22 Epson R3 8 0 , $129

This was th e fastest printer for 4 It prints excellent phot os and ve text, and includes extra feat ures graphers such as a memory-card and an LCD viewer.

Guide to the Ratings Photo qualit y is our assessment of the appearance of each photo. Models with higher scores produce more natu ral-looking photos, with smoother changes in shading and fewer problems with banding. 4 x6 photo time, to th e nearest half minute, is our measurement of how long it took each snaps hot printer to out put a 4x6 borderless photo di rect ly from a digital camera. 4x6 photo cost is t he estimated cost of th e color ink or ribbon (for dye-sublimation mode ls) and glossy photo paper needed to produce a 4x6 photo. 8 xl 0 phot o time, to the nearest half minute, is our measureme nt of how long it took each full-sized printer to output an 8x10 color print, at the printer's best setti ng, using a 2.8GHz PC with 496 megabytes of RAM. 8xl 0 photo cost is the estimated cost of the colo r ink and glossy photo

176

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


paper needed to produce an 8x10 photo. Text quality how crisply and clearly a printer produced black text in of faces, sizes, and sty les. Models with higher scores p more uniform type, with sharper edges and smoother cur speed is our calcu lation of the printe r's typical out put i per minute (ppm) for a th ree-page docume nt. Speeds ge range from 2 to 9 ppm. Text cost is the est imated cost ink and paper to produce a single text page. Graphics q is our assessment of the appearance of color graphics p by the printer. Models wit h higher sco res produce gra whose colors are brighter, more uniform, and less prone or bleed into one another on the page. Based on tests

on ConsumerReport s.org in April 2007.

Expert· Independ

o 1.8

0.45

5.8

1.30

120

e o

2.6

0.30

18

0.95

13 HP Photosmart C4180

130

e

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0.40

6.0

14 .Lexmark X5470

100

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15

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0.30

15

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NS

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21.0

11 HPOfficeJet 631 0

200

12 Dell 946

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90

16 Dell Photo 966

170

17 Brother WC-240C

100

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80

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100

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180

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130

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175

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30 Canon PIXMAiP62200

140

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CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONI CS BUYING GUIDE 2008

17 7

I 1

Brother MFC-7420

2

Brother OCP-7020

3

I

Cost Grap.hics cents ualit

100

P

LASER ALL-IN-ONES

a

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0

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LASER PRINTERS

4

5 6

Dell 1710 200 Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 130 101 8 Dell mO 100

==

sharper edges and smoother curves. speed is our calcu lation of the print typical output in pages per minute (p a three-page document. Speeds ge range from 2 to 9 ppm. Text cost i esti mated cost of blac k ink and pap produce a sing le text page. Graphics is our assessment of the appearance graphics produ ced by the printer. Mo with higher scores produce graphics colors are brighter. more uniform, and prone to band or bleed into one anot on the page. Based on test s pos ted ConsumerReports .org in Apri/2007.

PRINTERS, COLOR LASER Color laser printers The Ratings rank mode ls by performance. The Quick Picks highlights one you might consider first based on how they scored and on other factors,

such as price and features.

QUICK PICK 1 Dell 3010cn, $380 With excellent text and very good color graphics quality, the Dell was one of t he fastest color lasers with the lowest text-printing costs. It also has an Ethernet connection .

178

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYIN G GUIDE 2008

[Kcellenl Verygood (;ood

Ratings

o

e

0

In performance order.

I 1

Brand & model

I.

Test results

t rex

• T

Cost Q QualitI y (Speed m) (cents) u

Dell 3010cn

2 ' HP Color LaserJet 1600 3

Lexmark C500n

4

samsungCLP-300

380 =

==

o

14

2.5

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6

4.0

14

4.5

10

4.5

Expert· Independen

In performance order.

Brand & model

I

[1M

Test results

I o

P

1

Epson PictureMateSnap (PM240)

2

Epson PictureMatePal(PM200) Hewlett -Packard Photosmart 475 GoGo Photo Printer Hewlett-Packard Photosmart 385 GoGo Photo Printer Kodak G600 Photo Printer Dock Epson PictureMateDeluxe ViewerFinder Hewlett-Packard Photosmart A716 Sony PictureStation DPP-FP35 Hewlett-Packard Photosmart

A516 Lexmark P450 Photo Printer

3

4 5

6

7 8

9 10

$200 .

Printing LCD Memorymethod viewer card reader

Photo quality

Borderless 4.x6pho.to

4x6 photo cost (cents)

0 0

1.25

$0.25

Inkjet

0.25

_Inkjet

030

PittBridge

Wireless connectivity

100

F

G

VG

" flil

150 230

Features

"

150

E

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Guide to the Ratings Overall score is base d mainly on speed and photo quality. Photo quality is ou r asses sm ent of the app earance of each photo. Models wit h higher scores produce more nat ural looking photos, with smoot her changes in shading and fewer problems with banding. 4 x6 photo time is our measure, to the nearest half minu te, of how long it took each snaps hot

consumerReports.org

printer to out put a 4x6 borderless phot o dire ct ly from a digita l camer a. 4x6 photo cost is t he estimated cost, in dollars, of the colo r ink or ribbon (for dye-sublimat ion models) and glossy photo paper needed to produce a 4x6 photo. Price is approximate retail. Based on tests pos ted

on ConsumerReports .org in April 2007.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONI CS BUYINGGUIDE 200 B 179

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80

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70

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60

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70

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Overall score is based on t he ability to detect and isolate virus es, spam, and spyware wit hout falsely flagging nonth reats. Test results reflect the tests desc ribed in t he Rati ngs of software. Completeness rates the coverage of common funct ions and interface featur es, Ad/pop· up blocker suppresses ads and pop ups in your browser. Antiphishing is a browser add-in that checks sites against a fra ud list. Child filter is an optional tool t hat allows parents to block access to certa in Web sites. Privacy

'--------------- Consumerfieports.or q

issues an alert if you or someo ne else sends bye-mail or Web

form personal information that you told th e softw are you didn't

want to send elect ronically. File backUp provides periodic back

up of important fi les to another drive. Wi-Fi monitor lets you

know if some on e is trying to acc ess your wireless netw ork,

Windows cleanup provides a convenient interface to many

Wind ows mai ntenance fu nctio ns, Based on tests published

in Consumer Reports in September 2007 .

. CONSUMER REPORTS 0

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ArcSoft AT&T

800-222-3111

Audiovox Broth er

800-645 -4994 800-276-774 6

www.att.com

Canon Casio

800-7 0 6-2534

www.casio.com

Cingular

8 0 0-331-05 00

www.cingular.com

Compaq (HP)

8 00 '752-0900

www.com paq.com

Corel

800'772-6735

www.audiovox.com www.brother-usa.com

8 0 0-38 5-2155

www.usa.canon.com

www.corel.com

CTX Dell flisney Interacti ve

80 0-328- 03 68

DirecTV

800-4944388

DirecWay (HughesNet) Dish Networ k EarthLink -_._ - - -'." Emachine:..:s'

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Envision

disney.go.com/d isneyi nt eract ive www.dir ectv.com www.hughesnet.co m www.dishnetwork.com www.eart hlink.net

.

www.E4me.com www.envisionmonitor.com

Epson

888-838-6388 8 0 0-4 63-7766

Ericsson

86 6-766-9374

Fisher Frankl in Fujif ilm

818-998-7322 8 0 0 -266 -5626 80 0-800-3854

www.fisherav.com www.franklin .com

Fujit su. Gateway

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800-369 -1 409

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Garmin Hewlett-Packard Hitachi

8 0 0-800-1020 800-752-0900 8 0 0 -448-2244 800-426-49 68 80 0-275-2410

IBM Inkjet sinc

184

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


www.epson.com www.sonyeri csson.com

www.fujifilm.com

www.hp.com www.hit achLus www.ibm.com www.inkjets inc.com


866-709-9500 80 0-353-2729 Netwo rk Associates (McAfee Vir usScan) NEC

800-338 -8754 800-338-9549

www.mcafee.com www.nec.com

800-639-6 111 _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ __ --'=8:.:0= 0 -645-6689 800-2 55-3700 Nokia

888-665-4228

www.nokiausa.com

Olympus

888-553-4448

www.olympusamerica .com

800-881-7256 800-742-8086 Philips

800-877-0155 888-744-5 477

www.philipsusa.com

SSC Prodigy

866-722-9246

myhome.prodigy.net

ReplayTV

800-843-7422 800-336-1900 254-299-2705

www.replaytv.com

Riverdeep

888-242-6747

www.riverdeep.co m

Samsung

800-726-7864

www.samsung.com

888-777-0211 Sony

31 0 -649 -8 033 877-86 5-7669

Sprint PCS

800-777-4681

www.sprint pcs.com

Symantec (Norto n Ant iVirus)

80 0 -441-7234

www.symantec.co m

www.sonystyle.com

877-367-8486 800-866-2 453 800-631-3811 800-297-1023 800-922-0204 800-688 -6688 925-251-6398

Con sumerReport s.org


Accessibility The degree to which hardware or software is designed to allow peopl e with disabilities to use a computer. Window-style operatingsystems have many accessibility features, such asthe ability to enlarge fonts, icons, and menus, and to use alternate Human Interface Devices (HIDs). Active-matr ix display A high-quality, flat-panel display in which a separate transistor swi tch is used for each pixel. allowing viewing from wider angles. Most color LCDs are active-matri x dis plays. Commonly listed as"TFT LCD." Add it ional connectors, camcorders All cam corders have audio and composite-video out put. which let you monitor during recording or playback. other connectors includestereo audio, headph on e, and S-video outputs and a microphone input. Edit-control sign al inputs (including LANC, JLIP, and Control-l) are for use with editing equipment or a suitable VCR. AFireWire (IEEE-1394) port lets you connect to a computer or digital camco rder. An d for camcorders that let you capture still imag es, a USB or FireWire port lets you transfer saved images to a computer. Add it ional disc formats In additionto playing DVD-video discs, DVDplayers can handle audio CDs. (Some can alsoplay videoCDs, a format that's popular overseas.)other disc formats that some players support include CD-Rand CD-RW (the audio discs you record yourself, usingother equipment); MP3 on CDs; HDCD; DVD-Audio and Super AudioCD(SACD), two audio-centric formats intended to succeed CD audio; and the DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RWwriteable formats. Add-on (or add-in) Acomputer com ponent that can be attached to a larger device by a simple process such as plugging it intoa socket.

186

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

Sometimes the user has an opportunity to "opt out" of theadware whilecontinuing to use the desired software.

The smaller the number, thelarger the maximum aperture, an d the less light thecamera requires to take a picture.

AII-in-one Adesktop-computer designwith all required parts built in- display,hard drive, optical drive, and speakers. Apple's iMac is one example. Multifunction printers- which scan, copy, and sometimes fax as well as print-are alsocalled all-in-ones.

Aperture range The minimum and maximum aperture (len s opening) range for wideand telephoto shots.

Analog A representationof a continuous measure mentof some function. Acommon example is the commercial AM/FMradio, where sound is convert ed to a varying voltage that is transmitted via radio waves and converted from voltage to sound ontheother end. Analog input lets a camcorder record analog aud io and video fromother devices, suc h as a VCRor another camcorde r. Thi s feature ca n drive upthe price of a digital camcorder, since a unit must have additional circu itry to convert analog signals to digital. Answerer mailboxes Some answering machines have mailboxes that let you separate business from personal calls or set up boxes for differen t members of the household. Antenna/cable input Al socalled RF or VHF/UHF, themost basic connection through which a TV can receive the signal it displays. It'sthe easiest to use since it's the only connection available on every TVthat carries both sound and picture. Anewer con nection available on many digital (HD/ED/SD) sets, HDMI (see "HDMI") also carries both signals. The other videoinputs-chiefly composite-video, S-video, and component-video accept only the picture, requiring the use of separa te au dio inputs to receive thesound. Those other inputs, however, offer incremental improvements in quality.

ELECTRONICS BUY ING GUIDE 20 0B

Application programs have a particular function. Typica l examples are word processors, spread sheets, andgames. For a PDA (as wit h personal computers), these are the software programs includ ed. Contacts/address book, calendar/date book, to-do list/tasks, and memo pad/notes are standard on every unit. Aspect ratio See "Screen shape." Athlon Afamily of microprocessors from AMD that competes with Intel'sCore 2 Duo and Pentium series with similar performance. ATSC Ad vanced Television Systems Committee, an internation al, nonprofit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. In the United States, digital off-air tuners such as those in HDTVs receive content transmitted in ATSC formats. These formats include 480p, 720p, an d108Di. An ATSCtuner refers to onecapable of acceptingHD (720p, 1080i, or 1080p) and480p signals. Audio dynamic range control This DVD-player feature, use ful for late-night viewing,keeps explosions andother loud sound effects from sounding too loud, whileit makes whispers loud enough to be heard. Audio outputs Audiooutputs, found on many TVs, let you relay theset's audiosignal to a receiver or external.powered speakers-a must if you desire top-quality sound. Fixed-aud io ou tputs, trueto their name, have a fixed output level; you might prefer them if youwill use a receiver to control the TV's volume. With variable-a udio outputs, the

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copy-protected. Examples include AACand WMA on songs downloaded fromonline music sites. These may have thesuffix "-DRM," and may be referred to, for instance, as sec ure WMA. Audio tone controls Found onnearly all TVs equipped with built-in speakers, a control for adjusting treble and ba ss. Auto-channel setup Useful when you connect your TV set for thefirst time, thiscommon feature scans all the channels you receiveand sets up theTVto access only the ones with programming,so you don't haveto program the channels yourself. Once they're set up, your remote will skip the blank channels when you scroll upor down channels. Auto·fleshtone correction ATV featu re you can set to adju st color balance automatically to make flesh tones look more natu ral. Auto focus Automatically brings a camera's sub ject into sha rp focus. Some model s offer ma nual focus in add ition to auto focu s. Auto power-off Shuts off a TV after a preset (and often adjustable)period during which the screen image is stationary, intended to prevent screen burn-in. Auto talk Also referred to as auto answer.this cordless-phone feature allows you to lift the handset off its base for an incoming call and starttalkin g without having to press a button. On some phones this is automatic;for others, it is a selectable feature. Auto-volume leveler Found on some TV set s, it compen sates for chang es in theaudio signal that YOU 'd hear as ajump in vo lume. With this somewhat help ful feature, there are fewe r fluc tuations in sound level as you switch between channels and view commercia ls, which are frequently louder than reqular programming.

ConsumerReporls.org

picture-taking, most newPDAs support the use of external memory cards to store music, image, and video files.

B

Back up To copy data or other content onto a computer's removable disk, second hard drive, or other storage medium to prevent loss should the original become damaqed. Backlight APDA feat ure, found in un its with a mon ochrome screen, that lets you viewthe display better under low-light conditions. Using the backlight. however, will cause the unit's ba tteryto rundown more rapidly. Backlight compensation When the light behind a camcorder's subject is brighter than the light on your subject. the subject will ordinarily appear silhouetted. Backlight compensation slightly increases the exposure to make the su bjec t more visible. Backward compatibility The ability of a new computer product to workproperly with other prod ucts that use oldertechnology. Bandwidth Indigital systems, themaximum speed of a data link in bits per second (bps), thousands of bps(kbps), or millions of bits per second (mega bits per second, or rnbps), Ethernet has a band width of 10 to 1,000 mbps; WiFi wirel ess, between 11 an d 54 mbps. Ca ble-modem downloads are 1to 5 mbps, consumer-gradeDSl is768 to 1,500 kbps, and a V.90 or V.92 modem connection has a band width of up to 53.3kbps. Base keypad Also refe rred toas a cordless phone's dual or second keypad, a keypad on the base that supplementsthe one on the handset. It can be handy for navigating menu-driven systems because you don't have to take the phone away from your ear to pu nc h thekeys. When it's used wit h the

Battery backup Protectscordless-phonememory (stored phon e numbers) during power outages or when the phone is unplugged. On an an swerer, this feature can save greetings and messages. Battery holder Acompartment in a cordless phone's base that can ch arge a spare handset battery pack or hold alkaline batteries for power backup. The spare handset battery is usual ly not included. The handset battery pack or alkaline batteries sometimes can be used as the base power backup, enabl ing the phone to work if you lose hou seh old AC power. Battery type Nickel-cadmium(Ni-Cd) is the most common;nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) is a less' preval ent type. Lithiumion (Li-Ion) is used in laptop computers and cell phone s. Most are proprietary. Some hard ware uses ea sier to replace AA or AAA rec hargeable batteries. Bay Apo sition in a computer case to mount a device, such as a hard drive or DVD writer. Bidirectional With computers, capable of trans ferringinformation in both directions. Biometric Rel ating to themeasurementof on e or more properties of thehu man body. Used for authentication in securesystems, a biometric reader may scan the user's fingerprint or ocular iris pattern, or it may measu refacial feat ures or voice characteristics. BIOS Basic Input/Output System, the fundamental instructions by which a computer communicates with variousperipheral devices. The BIOS usually resides in a firmware chip on the motherboard, allowing the computer to boot. A"flash" BIOS can be updated byoverwriting its contents with new instructions from a file. Bit Short for bina ry digit and abb rev iated as "b." it's the smallest piece of data recognizable by a computer.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE 2008 18 7

to a list (called either Bookmarks or Favorites) throu gh a drop-down menu in the browser. Boot To bring a computer into operation. Thi s normally includes loading part or all of the com puter's operatin g system into main memory from a storage device. bpsBits persecond, a measure of data-transfer speed. Rates are usually expressedwith the prefixes k- for kilo-, rn - for rneqa -, or g for giga-. Broadband As comm only used, a connectionto the Internet that has a rece iving bandwidth grea ter than that of dial-Up or ISDNservice, about 128 kbps. (The FCCdefines broadband as "256 kbps in at least one direction.") Common broadb and connections are cable-modem, DSL, and satellite. Broadband makes streaming audio an d video practica l. BufferAcomputer memory area usedto holddata tem porarily while it is being transferred from one locati on or device to another or waiting to be processed. Buffers are essential for the efficient operation of the CPUandareoften used in graphics processors, CD-ROMdrives, printerdrivers, and otherinput/output devices to compensate for differences in processin g speed. Bug An error in a compu ter prog ram that prevents proper operation. Built-in digital tuner, TVs Includes a tuner that can decod e digital TV signals received off-air (ATSC broadcasts) or via cable or satellite. An HDset with such a tuner may berefe rred to asan "integrated HDTV." A TVthat requires you to connect an exter nal tuner(in a cable box, satellite receiver, or set-topbox) is called a TV"monitor"- asin "HDTV monitor"- or labeled withthe word "ready," as in "H D-ready." Built-in fax modem, printers Refers to a multi

188

program content. Also ca lled a CD or DV Dwriter. Burst mode Lets you take multiple, rapid-fire shots with one touch of a camcorder's or digital ca mera's shutter button:usefulwhen you're shooting a sub jectin motion. The number of shots that can be taken in burst mode varies from cam era to camera. Burst modemay not be available in a camera 's highest-resolution mode. Also ca lled "continuous shooting" or "rapid fire shots." Bus A pa thway that connects devices inside a computer, usually the CPUand mem ory, or a periphera l su chasan adapter card. Common busdesignsinclud e PCI and CardBus. Byte The ba siccomputer-sto rageunit, abbrevi atedas "B:' needed to store a singl e character, nomin ally 8 bits.

c

CableCard For digital-cable-ready (O CR) TVs, this credit-ca rd-sized card must be inserted into a slot on the set for you to receive digital-cable programming without the need for a cab le box. (You typically rent the card from yourcable operator for a few dollars a rnonth.) Current OCR TVs areone-way, so theydon'tprovide an interactive prog ram guide, videoon demand, or pay-per-view ordering via the remote control. For those features, you'll still need a cable box. Two-way DCR TVs are expected to be out soon. Cable modem A means of providing high-speed Internet servicethrough a TV cable. Cable/satellite box control A reco rding device's ability to change channe ls automatically on a ca ble boxor satellite receiver. lt's needed to record prog rams from seve ral channels when time-shift record ing from either satellite or ca ble systems that use cable boxes.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYINGGUIDE 2008

Can-Spam Act A law passed in 2003 Congress to curb the proliferati on of by manda ting labeling and opt-out p has failed to accomplish its purpose, because most spammers are outlaws are based offsh ore.

Card An electronic circuit board that particular function, such as memory In a PC. cardsare usually plugg edint connecto r on the motherboard.

Carpal tunnel syndrome Apainful, p bilitating injury that ca n arise from he use. Symptoms may include weaknes tingling, and burning in the hands an

CCD pixels Light from a camcord er's focused by the len s onto a ch arge-co (CCD), a sensor that converts light in blocks of information, called pixels. A sensitive area is typically composed pixels or more. A higher number of a generally means a sharper picture bu tivity to light.

CCD size Acharge-coupled device (CC light into minute blocks of informatio pixels, to form the images stored on a Al most all CCD s measure Y,-inch diag are larger; the additional sizegenera more light sensit ivity. Somehigh-end have more than one CCD.

CD, or compact disc A5-inch, alumi polycarbonate plastic disc with embe data, read by focusing a laser beamo tracks andsensing its reflection. CDs about 650 megabytes (MB) of digital which can be entertainment, such as motion video, or computer data. CD-RCD-Recordable,a disc that can once only, in a CD writer.

Expert· Independe

book or a speed -dial memory location and dial the number while you're on a phone call. This way you ca n make ca lls that require a sequence of separate numbers, such as a calling-card number used for a frequently ca lled long-distance number or, say, an au thorization code. Channel block-out ATV parenta l-control fea ture that can block specific channels altogether, as opposed to the program -specific V-chip, and may also prevent or otherwise limit useof the audio/video inputs to which video-game consoles are conne cted. Channel-guide menu ATVfeature, such as Guide Plus, that displays prog ram listings. The set receives program information while off butstill in "standby." Chapter preview Movies on DVD are divided into "chapters." This feature helps you find the scene youare looking for by playing the first fewseconds of each chapter or-with the related chapter gallery - showing the first scene of each chapter. This, in effect, lets you visually scan the disc. Chip An integrated circuit such as those com monly use d for a PC's microprocessor and memory systems. It is compose d of a small, rectangul ar slice of semicond uctor material, enca sed in a larger rectangular carrier with electrical connec tions. Clock In a PC, a circuit that regu latesall processes by synchronizingthem to a defined frequency. In a TV, its internal time-keeper, primarily for use with the set's alarm C'on") timer. Clock speed The rate at which a computer's CPU clock operates, measured in megahertz (MH z)or gigahertz (GHz). In theory, the faster the clock speed, the faster the CPU will perform its oper ations. Most new PCs now work at clock speeds ranging from about 1GHz to nea rly 4 GHz.

Consum erRepor l s.org

Color display, MP3 players This is typically a ba cklit liquid crysta l display(LCD). Some displays instea d use organiclight-emitting diodes (OLEOs). Virtually all players with a color display can show pictures taken with your digital ca mera. Color display, PDAs PDA screens have either a color displaycapable of asmany as 64,000 colors or a black-and-white display capable of mul tiple shades of gray. Whi le a color screen offers rich detail. it will drain the batteries faster than a mono chrome one. Th e qua lity of a color display (for example, detail and sha rpness)is most affected byits contra st ratio; the greater the ratio, the better the display. Command An instruction, usually entered directly from a computer'skeyboard or a pointing device, that is designed to bringabout an action. Commercial skip Useful to channel surfers and anyone averse to commercials, thecommercial skip function on a DVR lets you jum p temporarily to another channel, in 3D-second increments, for a duration you select. Compact Flash Compa ctFlash (CF) memory cards are about the size of a ma tchbook. Most digital came ras equipped with a type-II CFslot can also accept the high-capacity IBM Microd rive cards. Compatible operat ing system, printers An operatingsystem is the underlying program that manages a computer's applications. Most computers use a version of theWindows or Macintosh operating systems. The type of com puter a printer can serve also depends on its interfaces, or ports. All printers have a universal seria l bus (USB) port. which makes them compa t ible with newer Wi ndows or Macintosh computers. Some have USB2, a higher-speed port found on the latest computers. Some have an IEEE 1284

minimum. Acomposite-video connection b the playback deviceandtheTVprovides a with less detail andmore color artifacts th you're likely to get using an S-video connec Acomponent-video connection is necessar optimal picture quality from a progressiveplayerused with a digital TV.

Computer link for stills For cam corders t have still-image-capture capability, a USBo port is use d to transfer still images to a co

Computer monit or opti on The abili ty of s flat-panel TVs, notably LCD models, to doub a computer monitor, having the required in for a computer connection. Some models, HDsets. may accept computer signals throu Digital Visual Interface (DVI) input if compa Astandard VGA connection.however. is the guarantee of dual-use potential.

Conferencing Also referred to as three-way ferencing . For some sing le-line phones, allo conversation amo ng an outside party, the h and base speakerphone. For some two -line yo u can confere nce twocallers in a threeco nversation.Some two-line phones with a speakerphone ca n support four-wa y confer For phones with multiple han dsets, confere can take place among the handsets and an outside pa rty.

Configuration The way variouscomponen a system(su ch as a computer) are linked. T refers not only to theway the hardware is cally connected but alsoto how the softwa set upto govern the system and its parts. refers to the setup and operating paramete a softwa re program.

Convergence For CRT-based projection se t conve rgence is period ically necessary to a the three CRTs for a sharp, accurate image

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE

onthe insid e of the screen to form an image. You must periodically align the CRTs, using the TV's controls, to ensure a sharp image. Cryptography The science of encrypting data for transmission sothatan eavesdropper ca nnot discover its content but that theintended recipient can decrypt it using a string of characters called a "key." Thelength of the required key determines how secure themessage is. Cursor A symbol that marks the current position on the screen and moves as the positi on changes. It is most often a sing le underline, a vertical line, or a block thesize of one character. It can be either stea dy or blinkin g. Cursor-control keys Aspecial group of keys on a keyboa rd or keypad (designated byarrows pointingup, down, left. andright) that perform cursor-movement fun ctions. Custom bookmark Should you want to view a DVD scene again later, this featu re letsyou mark a spot on the discto which you can laterreturn. Cyberspace First used byWilliamGibson in the novel "Neuro mancer" to refer to a futuristic computer network Into whi ch people plugged their brains and interacted with it. It has come to refer to the interconnection of computers known as theInternet.

D

D/A convertersampling rate With respect to video, most standard DVD players use a 1O-bil/27-M Hz digital-to-ana log converter. Progres sive-scan DVD players use a 10- or 12-bil/54-MHz digital-to-analog converter.

190

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

optical. or both. Desktop computer APC featuring thetraditional full-sized case, monitor, and keyboard designed to beused in a stationary, "desk-centered" environment. Dialog box Awindow thatappears ona computer's screen to convey a message (such as a warning or error) or request input(such as a choice of alternatives or a confirmation of some action). Dialog enhancer If you're haVi ng trouble hearing dialog in a movie, this feature helps it standout from othernoises in the soundtrack. Dial-up line Acommunications line that connects through the telep honesystem. DigitalCharacterized bythe representation of data as numbers. Computers, for example, are digital. Digital-audio output, TVs ATVwith a built-in digital tuner often comes with either a coaxial or optica l digital-audio outputto let you route the Dolby Digital or DTS multichannel soundtrack to a receiver for decoding. The receiver thus splits apart the sound track for distribution to various speakers in the room. This output must matchthe input of the receiver. Digital-cable-ready(DCR or plug-and-play) TVs are a new typeof integrated HDTV. They can get broadcast HD byantenna and receivedigital-cable programming withoutusinga box. For digitalcable programming, including HD fare, you insert a CableCard into a slot on the set. Many of the integ rated HDTVs coming out now are OCRmodels, and they typically cost more than other HDTVs. In addition, while the first-generation OCR TVs can receive digital-cable signals without a cable box, they 're only one-wa y-you'lllose the twoway featu res: interactive program guide, video

ELECTRON ICS BUYING GUIDE 2 0 08

Digital security Abuilt-in cord less-p feature in wh ichdigital verification base and handset prevents you r dia beingintercepted and used to make

Digital still capable Some camcord take snapshots, much like a digital c (though not necessarily of the same The camcord er can then be plugged computer and the images down loade memory. Using a rem ovable memory as Memory Stick or Compa ctFla sh), transfer stills to a computer without connect theca mcorder, but you nee ca rd-reader hardware.

Digital-video input This input is fou computers and increa singl y on digit TVs. Found in the form of DVI, HDMI, (see "DVI," "HDMI," and "FireWire"), i a high-quality digital connection for potentially allowin g the contentpro control you r ab ility to recordthe co

Digital video recorder (DVR) Anoth a hard-drive recorder, the term orig ago with TiVo and ReplayTV models a video recorder that storesreco rd computer-style hard drive. Standard includepausing a "live" TVprogram is interrupted, and recording one pr playing back an other. Variations inc alon e models designed to work with programmin g service and comb ina that include a DVD recorder. Digital Visual Interface See "DVI."

Digital zoom Magnifies thecentra l a digital camera's or camcorder's im

Exper t· Independ

equipment); MP3 on CDs; HDCD; DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD(SACD), two auciocentric formats intended to succeed audio CDs; and writeable formats su ch as DVD-R, DVD-R W, and DVD+RW. Some discs may not play on a particular player for one reason or another. Diskette Asmall, portable plastic-encased flexible(floppy) disk used as a magnetic data storage medium. Data are recorded asmagnetic signals arranged in a seriesof circular tracks.Most diskettes hold 1.44 megabytes of data, a small capac ity bytodav's standards. Display Any electronic device that visually conveys information or images, usually graphically. Acom puter's display is often ca lled a monitor. Display size A PDA or compu te-sc reen mea surement that is made diagonally, in inches. Display type, MP3 players Most players have a liquid crysta l display (LCD) screen,often backlit, that letsyou view song title. track number, amount of memory remaining, battery life, and other function s. Display size and shape vary, including shap es such as square, rectangular, or oval. Displays are usually liquid crystal display (LCD) monochrome or color.Another type of displ ay uses organic light-emitting diodes (O LEDs). Display type, PDAs Screens come with either color or black-and-white (four shades of gray) screen displays. Color screensoffer more detail but alsotend to drain the batteries more quickly than mon ochrome. DLP Digital light process ing, a form of projecti onTV technology tha t createsimages using a chip with million s of tiny swive lingmirrors. Most rear-projection DLP sets cu rrently employ one chip and a rotatingcolor wheel, wh ichmay cause

Consume rRep orl s.org

have all that equipment, the soundtrack ca n be "downmixed" to two channels with no loss of key audio information. Dolby Pro Logic An anal og audio-encod ing format that, when output bythe DVDplayer and decoded bya sound system, splits the signal into fou r; left and right front, center chan nel (for dialog), and one limited-range surround channel carried bytworear speakers. Audio encoded in this way is found on most recorded VHS movies, all DVDs. many movies on TV, and some TV-show soundtracks. Domain name Astru ctured, alphabetic name, such as ConsumerReports.org,for a location on the Internet.These names are aliases for numeric IP addresses and are leased froman Internet naming authority bythe domai n-name owner. Dongle Asmall hard ware deviceplugged into a computer.It acts as a key, unlockinga copyprotected program soit can run on that system. Double-click Aquick double-press of the left button on a computer mouse (or the typica l Mac mou se's single button) to activate a file or icon. Download To transfer a copyof a file from a host (server) computer to a client compu ter, a term frequently used to describe the process of transferring a file or data from theInternet to a computer's hard drive. The other way, it's an upload. dpi Dots pe r inch,a common measu re of the reso lution of an image file, or the imagehandling capability of a printer, sca nner, or disp lay. Intheory, the higher thedpi, the better the image quality. But the unaided hu man eye cannot distinguish differences beyond about 200 dpi.

for user authentication at the point of con use. Hackers, however. are often able to "c DRMschemes and provide programs over t Internet to allow othe r use rs to circu mven protections. DRMis controversial among p advocates beca use some schem es use ce n manag em en t of rights.

DSL Digital Subscriber Line, whi ch provides high-speed Internet acces s through existing phone lines without affectingnormal phon operation.

DTSaudio Digital Theater Systemsis a multi sound format used in some movies. It allow to hear multichannel sound from virtually any -provided you havethe necessary speaker that the DVD player or connected digital re has a multichannel DTS decoder. Asepa rate decoder can also be con nected between the and the rece iver. Wh ile all DVD players supp Dolby Digital surroundsound,many models support DTS.

Dual antenna inputsWith two antenna inpu ca n easily swi tch between two antenna sig usin g your remote co ntrol. This capabi lity c handy if you use, for example, both a roofa and a cable hookup, or in order to take full tage of dual-tuner picture-in-picture (PIP).

Dual-band Some cordless-phone models hav band transmission. wh ich- between the bas hand set- wirelessly transmitwithin onefre band and receive on theother. Some 2.4-GHz have dual-band (2.4 GHz/900 MHz) transmiss some 5.8-GHz models have dual-band (5.8GHz or 5.8 GHz/900 MHz) transmission.

Dual-core processor See "Multi-core proc Dual-sided printing Th is capability is also

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONI CS BU YI NG GUIDE 2

DVD-R Awrite-once DVD format. Certain camcorders record in this form at onto a disc measuring a lilli e over 3 inches (8cm) in diameter. Discs can be played on most DVD players. DVD-RAM Arewriteab le DVD format supported by some DVD recorders. Certain DVD-RAMcamcorde rs record onto discs measurin g a little over 3 inches (8cm) in diameter in MPEG-2 format. the same technology used for commerc ial DVD. Discs, however, cann ot be played on most DVD players.

changes in a document. A word processor is an advanced type of editor, with special features such as word-wrap, headers/footers, and print attributes (boldface, underline, italics). EfT Electronic fund s tran sfer, a system commonly used by banks and other money handlers that involves secure, computer-controlled money transfers between accou nts. Electronic commerce Shopping through electronic catalogs and making pu rchases using the Internet.

DV input See "FireWire input." DVD recorder Adevice that records video to a DVD. It can bea stand-alone recorder or one integrated with a DVRor VCRin a co mbination model. :WI Digital vis ual interface, a relatively new form of connection standard supported by some set-top boxes, compute rs, computer monitors, an d highdefinition TVs. DVI inputin the displays matches a corresponding output in some computers and digita l TVtune rs. Like HDM I, it potentially allows co ntent providers to co ntrol your abilityto record. Unlike HDMI, DVI requires a separate audio ca ble to ca rry the audio signa ls. DVI output, DVD players Has digital visual interface (DVI) output for direct digital video connection to digital TVs with DVI input. Can output 480p, 720p, and 10BOi video signals,although signals upconverted from 480i or 480p to 720 p, 10801. or W80p donot prod uce a true HDpicture.

E

EBook reader PDA software from Ad obe that. when installed, lets you read electronic books.

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E-mail or email El ectroni c mail lets you send and receive personal messages, including those with attached filessuch as text or graphics, through the Internet. an online service, a BBS, a network, or other system. Encryption Aprocess applied to a da ta file to render its contentsunreadableto a non-authorized user or computer system. Read ing an encrypted file requires a software "key" that is available only to an authenticated user. End userThe person, business, or group making use of a product or service. This is generally you, the con sum er. Energy Star Alabel. on many kinds of appliances, that designates co mpliance with en ergy-efficiency goals developed bythe U.S. Environm ental Protection Agency. In order to qualify for certification, an electronic device must typically power down to no more than about 10 percent of normal power consumption after a periodof inactivity. Entertainment PC, or EPCAform of media-center PC designed to fit into a home entertainment systemas a source co mponent. EPCs have a remote control, a quiet coolingsystem, andone or more

ELECTRONI CS BU YING GUIDE 200 8

computers to each other, or to a route r or other devices on a network. EULA End-user license agree ment. A legal instrument accompanying most software, it states the terms under wh ich the company is allowing use bythe consumer. An EULA is typically written in legal jargon, but must often beag reed to by clickingan onscreen "I Agre e" button before onecan use thesoftwa re. Expansion card, PDAs Most PDAs come with expansion slots for flash mem ory, a modem, or an other device. The most co mmon expansion optionfor PDAs is through a connector that accommodates either a MultiMedia Card (or Secure Digital ca rd), Memory Stick, or CompactFlash card . Expansion memory format, MP3 players Th e format for the removable-memory medium used in a standard-capacity player: Most are external ca rds (som e the size of a matchbook) that install into the player. Amo ng the most com mon are CompactFlash,MultiMedia Card, Secure Digita l, and SmartMedia. in additi on, som e players use a proprietary memory format. such as Sony's MagicGate Memory Stick (a copy-protected ve rsion of Sony'sexisting Memory Stick media). Such formats may wo rk only on products of the brand for which they're designed-a disadvantage if you wa nt to swa p memory media with another brand of handheld device. Some hard-drive players have removable memory media for transferring files; but you ca nnot play music directly from the card. Expansion slot Aposition in a computer for adding an expansion board or card. DesktopPCs usually have at leas t two free expansion slots. Laptops use PCcards for expansion.


or service understand its feature s and operation, and perform simple troubleshooting. Fatal error The cause of premature term ination of proces sing, often as a cras h. Fatal errors can occur as a result of read/write errors, program bugs, system conflicts, and hardware defects. Some errors crash only one application; others require that you restart the computer. File Acollection of related records. Computerdata and documents are normally stored as files. Fileextension An identifier of thetype or purpose of a file,usually writtenas one to three letters followi ngthe file name and separated from it by a period. For example, the file My Letter.doc might bea text document. while Numbers.datcould be a data file. File name The uniqueiden tificationgiven to a program or data file for storage. File names were once limited to eight characters (plusa threecharacter extension) in older operating systems like DOS. Newer operating systems such asWindows and Mac OS allow much longer file names. File-sharing One of the common uses for a network. Fi les can bedesignated as shared by their owners on one computer and accessed byother authorized users in the same network wo rk group, or over the Internet through peerto-pee r protocols. File-swapping An Internet activity, popularized by free, peer-to-peer services such as BitTo rrent and eDonkey, which allows users to search for files of interest and downlo ad them from designated shared folders on a network of thousands of other computers. File-swapping has been criticized becau se users often trad e files containing copyrighted material.

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ca n add or enhance featu res, fix "bugs," and add support for other audio format s and opera ting systems. Check the Web siteof a ma nufactu rer for upgrades. Flash, cordless phones Abutton to answer call waiting. Flash animation A programm ingplatform commonly used for embedding animation in Web pages. Flash "movies" are relatively small, allowing them to download quickly on slow dialup connections. Playing one requires a plug -in for your browser software. Flash memory A low-cost. high-density, erasable memorychip that holds its data without power. It's used in computers and peripheral devices to hold settingsand allow easy BIOS updating, and is packaged in plug-in cards to act as data storage in small portable devices such as digital cameras. Flash modes, digital cameras li ke film ca meras, most digital ca meras have a built-in flash for shooting indoors or in other low-light conditions. Many cameras have an automatic-flash mode, which automatically fires the flash when more light is needed. The flashes built into most digital cameras havea fairly limited range (up to 10 to 13 feet on most models), compa red with external flash units, which can be much more powerful. Acamera with an external "flash sync" or "hot shoe" will usually have a built-in flash as well. Flat-panel display Athin displayscreen emp loyingone of several tech nologies, usua lly LCD or plasma . Flat-panel displays arecommonly used on portable devices to reduce size and weig ht,and are rapidly increasing in popularity as desktop-monitor replacem ents. They 'realso used in TVs.

Footprint The space ona floor or table oc bya piece of hardware.

Format To initialize a data-storage medium out in a specific pattern, such as a screen o format; or the layout or pattern itself.

Format, camcorders Format is based on t type of recording tape or disc that a camco uses and whether themodel records in ana digital mod e. Currently, there are at least n formats: Hi8, MiniDV, MicroMV, Digital8 (08) VHS-C, S-VHS-C, DVD-RAM, and DVD-R. Key d en ces among them include picturequality, of cam corde r, andcompatibil ity witha VCR DVD player.

Formats supported, MP3 players The for (such as MP3, WMA, and AAC) that the bund music-management softwa re can convert t format compatible with theplayer.

Forum An information exchange. usually fo onthe Internet.that is confined to a single or area of interest. FPS Se e "Frame rate."

Frame advance Allows you to ad vance DVD playback frame-by-frame, instead of at norm play speed.

Frame rate Expressed in FPS (frames-per-se the rate at which a display of moving grap images is updated. Motion-picture film run 24 FPS, theminimum considered to be esse jitter-free. Television in North America opera about 30 FPS. Computer-generated graphics as from games, can run at much higher ra limited bythe graph ics processor. Avid ga look for rates of 50 FPS or higher, produci more-realistic motion.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


FTP Fil e Tran sfer Protocol. an Internet proto col that lets you transfer files between your computer and an FTP site. "An onym ous" FTP allows a user to retrieve files without having to establish a user ID and pa ssword. Full auto switch Acamcorder feature that essen tially lets you point and shoot. Th ecamcorder automatically adjusts thecolor balance, shutter speed,focus, and aperture (also called the"iris" or f-stop with camcorders).

G

Game controller Originally limitedto knobs and joysticks, such devices now include driving simula tors. cockpit simulators. movementsensors, and theentire class of human interface devices (HIDs). Game port A15-pin serial port used for attaching joysticks or othergame controllers, alongwith MIDI music devices, to a computer. Game ports can handle a pair of controllers and maycome as part of an original system or be supplied on sound boards. They are becoming less common on new PCs, supplanted by newer interfaces likeUSB. Game timer Aparental-con trol fea ture that limits thenumber of minutes an input will accept signals from a gaming system such as Xbox or Pl ayStation. GB See gigabyte. GIF Graphics Interch ange Format. a lossless, compressed file format for image bitmaps created by the CompuServe online serviceto reduce download time. Gigabyte literally. a billion, 109, or 1,000,000,000 bytes. But most commonly used to mean 1.024xl.024xl.024 bytes. equal to 230. or 1,073,741,824 bytes. Glitch A non rep rodu cible problem in a system.

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on e who tries to gain unlawful access to a computer system or alters progra ms to allow unl icensed usage. Handheld Shorthand for any computing device that is operated while held in the hand. Handset memory dialing locations The num berof phone numbers and names, for phones with an LCD display, thatyoucan program into a handset's memory to make calls with only a f ew button presses. Handset speakerphone Ahan dset speakerphone offers a hands-free way to converse or wait on hold and lets others chime in as well. as long as you stay withina few feet of thehandset. Handset-to-handset talk Most mu ltiple-handset capable phones allow conversation handset-to handset. or am ong handsets for conferenc ing. For some phones, the handsets have to be within ran ge of the ba se. while others allow a direct link among handsets so you can take them wit h you to use like a walkie-talkie. Also referred to as handset-to-handset intercom. Handset volume control Foundon all cordless ph on e handsets. this lets you adjust the volume of thevoice in the handset's earpie ce. Hard disk or hard drive Amagneticdata storage system using one or more rigid platters sealed in dustproof hou sing and spun at several thou' sa ndRPM. Data are recorded as magnetic signals arranged in a pattern of concentric circ les on the surfaces. Typical storage capacities range from abou t 30 to 300 gigabytes. Hard-drive recognition, MP3 players Computers with newer operating systems can recognize an MP3 player as a hard or rem ovable drive when you plug it in. Some players requ ire you to install solt ware before they can be recognized as hard drives. You may also have to upgrade software if your computer


cially useful for HD(high-definition) movies. An HD·DVD disclooks similar to a DVD, but can only be rea d by an HD-DVD player or HD-DVD disc driv HD-DVD is currently competing in themarketplac with the Blu-rayformat.

HOMI High-DefinitionMu ltimedia Interface, rela tively new form of digital audio/video input. It matches a co rresponding ou tput in some DVD players an d digital TV tuners. Like DVI andFireWir it potentially allows content providers to control your ability to record the content. Unlike DVI and FireWire, HDMI ca rries aud io, video.andcontrol signa ls on thesa me cable.

HOMI output, DVD players Has High-Definition Multimedi a Interface (HDMI) output for direct digital-au dio an d video connectionto digital TVs with HDMI input. Ca n output 480p. 720p, and1080 video signals, although signals upconverted from 480i or 480p to 720p or 1080i donot producea true HD picture.

HD-ready HD-rea dy TVs, als o known as HDTV monitors. lack a high-definitionreceiver(tuner) and require an externa l device to decode the HD signals displayed on the TV. Sources for HD signals include HD-capable sa tellite receivers, ove the-air digital TV(DTV) receivers, and HD-capable digital-cable boxes. Th ose devices connect to the TV's HD component-video, HDMI. DVI. or FireWire input. An integrated HDTVset has a built-in DTV receiver/decoder andtypically costs more.

HOTV An HDT Vse t is capable of displaying high definition TVsignals and has a built-in receiver (tuner) to decode theHD signalsdisplayed on the TV. Note tha t the included tuner will decode digital TV(DTV) signals from sources suchas off-a (broadcast)signals. cable, or satellite. HDTVs that c decode digital-cable signals are called digital-cabl rea dy. Some HD-capable cable boxes and satellit receivers also include a tuner to decode off-air DT Header Aspecial message or identification that

Expert· Independent· Nonpro

High-resolution Showing great detail; the higher the resolutionof a TV, computer monitor or printer, the greater the detail of a drawing or image it is abl e to reproduce. Home page Thepag e of a Web site usually visited first; it contai ns links to other pages on the site or to other sites. The home page is automa tical ly sel ected when yo u type a Web address ending in ".com," ".org," or another domain suffix. Also the page designated to open first when you start you r Web browser. Horizontal resolution Atechnical specification that offers a rough guide to picture qua lity of camcorders and vide o displays. Th is indicates the maximum number of displayed vertical lines that can be counted horizontally across the screen. The closer they can get before blurring, the more lines of horizontal resolution there are. Most analog sets 27 inches an d larger have roughly the same horizontal resolution. Higher horizontal resolution (a higherline count) is said to provide a better picture, but this claim is not necessarily true. Some TVs with a lower line count but higher contrast. for example, can actual ly provide a picture tha t looks sharper. Host computer Acomputer that serves as a source for data and informationretrieval for client computers. usu allynetworked PCs. Hotkey Akeyor combination of keys that. when pressed, take priority in ca using an action to take place. Typical uses for hotkeys includeinitiating menu optionsor interruptingan ongoing process. HTML Hypertext markup language, thestandard language for creating pages onthe World Wide Web. Even if you donot understa nd HTM L. you can create it with Web-pag e authoring programs, popular wo rd-processo rs, or ba sic step-by-step

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Icon Asmall graphical image that appears ona graphicaluser interface such asa computer'sdesktop in a Windows or Mac system. These norma lly representa specific file or program or ca use a desired action to occur when clicked with a mouse. IDE Integrated Drive Electronics, a hard-disk interface tech nology.

Instant messaging, or 1M An onlinesystem usually proprietary, that lets you hold a priv real-time text-based conversation between users. Messagingamong more than two use is usually referred to as chat. Some 1M syste allow voice, image or video messaging.

Instruction In thecomputer wor ld, a comm to the CPU to carry out an operation.

IEEE Astandards organization that publishes computer-Industry-defined standards for hardware, softwa re, and data communications. IEEE 1394is the standard for the FireWire interface, and IEEE 802.11 is the standard for Wi-Fi wireless networking.

Integrated amplifier Afew DVD pla yers ha built-in amplifiers. Conn ected to spe akers, t can amplify signal s from the player and an y othercomponents of a hom e-theater system

Illuminated remote Some remote controls offer illuminated buttons for easier operation in a dimly lighted room.

Integrated camera Some ce ll ph ones and PDAs includ e a camera that lets you take ph for viewing or attaching to e-mail. Resolutio is typically muchlower than tha t of standar digital ca meras.

Image stabilization Afeatu re that automatica lly reduces the shakes in a scene ca used by holding a digital cameraor camcorder. It's also called digital image stabilization (DIS), electronic image stabilization (EIS), picture stabilizer, or steady shot. Using a tripod is thesurest way to get a steadyimage.

Integrated keyboard Afew cell phones and include a sma ll keyboard that you can use i of an onscree n "soft keyboard" representat the PDA's handwriting-recognitionsoftware

Import To transfer data from another file into the onecurrently in use. In-camera editing All but universal, this digitalcamera feature lets you decid e to keepor erase pictures you've taken. You can review the pictures on the LCD display and deletethose you don't wa nt. whichwill free upmemory for more pictures. In-home warranty Awarranty under which a technician comes to your home to eitherretrieve or diag nose and service the device when you have a problem-ofparticular importance with heavy (especia lly projection)or wall-mounted sets.

Integrated receiver Afew DVD players have AM!FM tuners,amplifier, and auxiliary inpu Connected to spea kers, such models can am signals from the player and anyother comp of a hom e-thea ter system.

InteractiveAb le to respond to a user's wish Interactive software usually refers to a multi presentation thatthe user cont rols, moving a speed and in a direction specified bythe

Interactive electronic program guide An on guide for TVprogramming. Using your remo can switchch ann els, select program s to rec models with recordin g ca pability), and-dep on the guide-search for material.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


Internal memory Als o called on board or built-in memory, theamount of internalmemory that comes with the devicefor storingmusic. Some devices have additiona l memory slots into which remov able media such asmemory modules or standard CompactFlash, Secure Digital, or SmartMedia card s can be inserted. Internet A"super" network of many commercial, acad emic, and governmental networks throughout the world.Public access to the Internet. now used by million s of people, is obtained throug h a con tract with an Internet service provider (ISP). Internet gateway Adevice or computer that provid es the co nnection and protocols to link a single computer or network to the Internet. Intranet An Internet-like hyperlinked information exchange system established within an organization or institution for its own purposes, protected from unauthorized public access. IPor IPaddress Internet protoco l address, a means of referringto locations on the Internet. Composed of a series offour numbers from 0 through 255, sepa rated by decimal points. Al l machines onthe Internet have one, often assigned by the ISP at connection time. An extended versi on of IP, ca lled IPv6, has more digits, allowing for futu reuse to address many more Internet-connected devices, even down to the level of specific controls on an appliance. IP telephony Use of an Internet conn ection to establish two-way voice communica tions between users, also called VolP (Voice over Internet Protocol). It may use com puter-to-compu ter, computer-to phon e, or phon e-to-phone connections, depending onthe telephony serviceprovider. ISDN Integrated se rvices digital network, a hig h speed telephone line that is a faster butexpensive alternative to traditional dial-up modems, and is

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file) to quite "lossy" (lower quality, small file), to suit different needs. Commonly used on Web pag es or digital-camera files. Justification The alignment of text or images in a document. usually to the left and/or right margins, or cente red.

K

K,or KB Kilobyte, which is exactly 1.024 bytes but is usuallythou ghtof as 1,000 bytes. Sometimes incorrec tly represe nted bya small k, which just represents the prefix kilo. Karaoke available On some DVD players, lets you singalongwith special karaoke DVDs. Discs provi de backing music as thelyrics appear on the screen. Key Abutton on a computer'skeyboard. Al so, in a database, an item- usually a field within a record that is used to identify the record. Keypad Aset of keys grou ped together and per forming a particular function. The most common keypad s on a computer are thenumeric and cursor con trols. Kilo· Aprefix meaning 1,000. Because of the binary nature of compu ters, kilo is also used to referto 1,024. Kilobit or kbLiterally 1.000 bits, but usually used to mean 1,024 bits (2 to the8th power). Kilobyte Literally 1.000 bytes, but usually used to mean 1,024 bytes (2to the Bth power).

L

LAN Local-area network, a system of two or more computers within an area (typicallya build ing)


Layer indicator Certain DVD s have two layers of data for additional capacity: a dual-layer disc can typically hold about four hours of video. All DVD players are designed to play these discs, butnot all have an indicator showing which layer of a disc is playing. Lithium-ion battery The most popular recharge able battery techn ologyused in small, portable devices such as laptop computers, ca meras and music players. Abbreviated as ti -lon. the battery has advantage s over ea rlier type s in power-to-weight ratio and absence of "memory effect." Thedown sides are a poten tial safety hazard if the ba ttery is damaged or has a defect. and a loss of capacity of about 20% per year. LCD, TVs Liquid crystal display.Like plasma TVs, LCD sets are known for their slimness and light weig ht, making sm all mod els good cand idates for wa ll-mounting or hanging below a cabi net. On a stand, they have a compact footprint that fits neatly on a kitchen counter or desk. Picture quality of the best LCDsets, usually high-definition (HD) models, is very good. Better black levels and wid er viewin g angles have ad dressed tradition al co ncernswith these screens. LCD technology is also used in some microdisplay projection TVs, whi ch are slimmer than CRT-ba sed mod els. LCDsize, camcorders Acamcorder's LCDtypically ran ges from 2 to 4 inches, measu red diagonally. LCD size, digital cameras Most digital cameras have a small LCDscreen on the back so you can view images and decide which to kee p. Most LCD screens are too dim for viewing clearly in bright sunlig ht. LCD viewer, printers Some printers have a built-in LCDscreen for viewing and editing images from a memory card. Th e scree n is small. usually only 1 to 2 inches, and editing capability is very limited,


Link See "hyperlink." Linux Afree downloa dabl e, user-supported, open-source computer operating system, based on Unix. Linux is touted as an alternative to Wi ndows but is more su itedto ce rtain business applications,such as Web servers. List server An Internet-connected computer runningsoftware that offers message-relaying service for members whojoins a "mailing list." When any member send s an e-mail to the address of the list server. it goes to all the other members. Lists tracks On an MP3 player's display, the song s can be shown in the formof a list. Lock control, MP3 players A bu tton, switch, or setting through the player's menu systemthat lets you lockthe controls of the player. Also referred to as "hold." Low-battery indicator Avisua l or auditory sign al that indicates a cordless ph on e's handset battery needs to be recharg ed. Low recycle time, digital cameras Arelatively low period of time thatit takes a camera to process and store animage wh en shooting in normal (non burst) mod e.at the ca mera's lowest-resolution, highest-compressionsetting. Lux rating Supposedly the minimum amount of light needed for a ca mcorder to pro duce a usable picture (the lower, thebetter). Becau se there is no agreed-upon stand ard, however, it's an imprecise way to compare light sensit ivity.

M

Mac as The windowed operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer family. Mac asx (version 10) departs radically from earlier version s.

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mation exc ha nge that operate s throug h e-mail. Most mailing list users refer to theirgroup as "the list" or "listserv Adirectory of over 60,000 public lists is availabl eat www.lsoft.com/catalist.html. Main memory The data-storag e area inside a co mputer that is directly accessible by the processor; alsocalled RAM, for random-access memory. Memory can range from as little as 1 MB to more than 8 GB. Manual aperture Gives the digital-cam era user more control over how much light hits the len s. Manual exposure compensation ca n se rve the same fun ction. Manual controls,camcorders These let you override automatic setti ngs and allowmore control over your recording. May include aperture, color (white)balance. focus.and shutter speed. They're useful for situa tions in which conditions areless than ideal. Manual controls, digital cameras Some cameras allow the userto setthe aperture (t-stop) and/or shutter spee d. Used to override the automa tic expos ure settings when more control is needed. Manual exposure, digital cameras Allows theuser to control both the shutter speed and the aperture settinqs, Most digital cameras offer fully automatic exposure, often with an exposure-compensation option. While these options cove r most situations, directcontrol of the shutter-speed setting is desirable wh en going for more specialized effects, such as a blurred image. Manual exposure compensation Not to be confused with manual exp osure, this allows for minor adjustmentsto a digital camera's automaticexposure setti ngs. Whena scenehas high contrast automatic exposure may not achievethe effect you want. Being able to lighten or darken the scene is an important option.

in the lens that co ntrols how much light hits camera's imag e sensor: maximum aperture r to the wid est it will open. Apertures aresta in t-stop s or f-nurnbe rs (for example, f/2). Th sma ller the t-stop number, the large r the ape and the less light the camera needs to take picture. A maximum aperture of f/2.8 is typi for a digitalca mera.

Maximum focal length (35mm) When setto maximum (lon gest) focal length, a digital cam lens gives its narrowest. most telephoto-like of view. For comparison purposes, it is often in terms of the 35mmcamera lens focal lengt would cover the same an gleof view.

Maximum horizontal pixels The number of p along the longer (horizontal) dimension of th image when a digital ca mera is set to its hig resolution.

Maximum image quality An indication of th color intensityof a digital ca mera's images. T more bits a cam era uses to indicate theinten of the three colors for each pixel. the more p cisely thepixel's color can be specified. Alm all digital cameras have 24-bit colo r depth (8 each for red, gree n, and blue, within each pix and arecapable of reproducing millions of d ent colors.

Maximum shutter speed, camcorders Cam c electronically adjust their light sensitivity in thatmodels a film ca mera's shutter. All camco dothis automaticall y; some alsohave a man override capability. Shutter speed is measure fractions of a secon d.

Maximum shutter speed, digital cameras fastest shutter speed provided, often1/1.00ot a second or faster. Being able to control shu speed lets youdecide if a moving objectwill a sharp or blurred in the image. A faster shutt spee d lets you freeze faster action.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRON ICS BUYING GUIDE 2

Media receiver One of a fam ily of devices that linka home-entertainment system(TV and audio) to a PC via a home network. Operated by a remote control and a simple visua l interface, the media receiver accesses multimedia files (music, pictures, and/or video content) stored on the PC and plays them through the entertainment system. Meg Short for megabyte or megahertz. Mega- Aprefix meaning one millionbut. because of computers' binary nature, is used to refer to 1.048,576 (or2 to the20th power). Megabit (Mb) 1,024 kilobits, yielding 1.048,576 bits, usually considered a million. Megabyte (MB) Literally, one million, 106, or 1,000,000 bytes. Alsocommonly used to mean 1,024 megabytes, equal to 220, or 1,048,576 bytes. Megahertz (MHz) 1million hertz. Megapixels (MP) This shows approximately how many mi llion pixels a digital camera's image sensor has. As a rule, wit h more megapixels, you can make largerprints or enlarge parts of an image without losing detail or image quality. Memory, PDAs Th eamount of usable internal memoryavailable for new uses- su chas appointments, addresses, and applications-when the hand held PDAmodel is new. With either PalmOS or Pocket PC, you can't rely on themanufacturer'sad vertised memory capacity to estimate how much room is left for new uses because it generally includes memoryalready in use by theoperating system or included software. Memory cards, printers If a printer has a built-in memory-card reader, this feature lets you print image files from a digital cam era 's memory card wit hout using a computer. You can also download the files to a computer.

for a drop-down menu system. Menu-driven A program or co mputer systemthat uses a series of menus to make it easier to use. Th e user selects the desi red option by clicking on an entry wit hthe mouse, typing the corresponding letter or number, or moving the cursor to the proper selection and hitting the Enter key. The program will then perform thechosen function. MHz Megahertz. Microdisplay An industry term sometimes used to describe rear-projection sets using LCD (liquidcrystal displ ay), DlP (digital light processing), or LCoS(liquid crystal on silicon) chips anda bright lamp to create images. This space-saving "light engine"technology makes microdisplays slimmer and lighter thanCRT-based sets. MicroMV Sony's relatively new ca mcorder-tape format. wh ich uses cassettes smaller than MiniDVs. Micron One-mill ionth of a meter, or one-thou san dth of a millimeter. Microphone input, camcorders Ajack for an external microphone to improve sound quality an d prevent picking upnoise from the camcorder. It's an alternative to using the built-in mike. Microprocessor Th e CPU of a personal computer, such as the Core 2 or Athlo n 64. Microprocessors haveanarithmetic logic unit to perform calculations anda control unit with limited mem ory to hold instructions. MicroSD An especially small, removable memory card format. It is used in mobile phones, handheld GPS devices, portable audio players, and expandable US8 flash memory drives. At15 mm x 11 mmx1mm (about the size of a fingernail) it is currently the smal lestmemory card format commercially available. It is abou t one quarterof the size of a standard


shutter speed lets you decide if a moving should appear sharp or blurred in the im

MiniSD Avery smal l, rem ovable me mo format. a smaller version of the SOcard Digital) format. It isprimarily used in mob About the size of a stamp, it is oneof th memory card form ats avai lable. It is abo the size of a standard SOca rd but ca n b into an adapter that allows the card to b devices with an SOca rd slot.

Minltower and microtower cases Small of the towe r ca se of some co mputers.

Mode Acondition or set of conditions for Aprinter may have modes for different ities, or a different port for different tra speeds or protocols.

Modem (modulator/demodulator) Used a digital device (computer) to a data com tions channel (telephone line, cableor rad A modem is used to send a fax, to acces and to get onlineto the Internet. A mod intended to work wit h normal dial-up tele lines has a top spe ed of nominally 56 k per secon d (kbps), (DSLand cable model muchhigher speeds.)

Modular bay Ina modular laptop compute that accepts an optica l diskdrive, a disk a second battery, a back-up hard drive, o ory-ca rd reader.

Modular laptopA laptop PC that contai more modular bays allowing variousdri battery to be insertedas desired, or rem save travel weight.

MonitorThe "face" of the computer, mo an LCDsc reen. Monitors are similar to T usually donothave a tuner and so can no receive television broadcast signals.

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that can be easily executedat will.

over how motion is expressed in your pictures.

Lighted keypad Also referred to as backlit key pad. Acordless-phone key pad that either glows in the dark or lights upwhen you press a key, it makes the phone easierto use in low light conditions.

Macro, digital cameras A lens feature that lets you take close-up shots, usua lly within a foot or less. Good fortaking pictures of small obj ects such asa postage stamp or an insect.

Line input. MP3 players Adigital. optical. or analog line input that lets you record from an external audio system to the player.

Macro focus. camcorders This camcorder feature letsyou focus onsmall objects froma close dis tan ce, say, less than 3 feet.

Manual white balance Ina digital camera, this feature corrects for differences in lighting so th white obj ects rema in white and colors appear th same as they dobyeye. Most cameras have aut matic white balance, which works well for mos scenes. Amanualwhile-balance control lets the u set the proper lighting type when theautoma tic system errs.

Lineoutput, MP3 players A lineoutput is in tended to work best when theplayer is con nected to anexterna l audio system.with a fixed-level output and no effect when using the player's volume control.

Mailboxes For cordless phones with an answerer, some models let you assign individual voice mail boxes for business and personal calls. or for ea ch personwhouses thephone.

Matrix An array or an ordered arrangement. For example, 63 dots might be arranged into a rectangular matrix. an array of nine rows and seven columns.

Mailing list Alistof subscribers to a topical infor mation exchange that operates throug h e-mail. Most mailing list users refer to theirgroup as "the list" or "Iistserv." Adirectory of over 60,000 public lists is availableat www.lsoft.comlcatalist.html.

Maximum aperture The aperture is theopening in the lens that controls how much lighthitsa camera's image sensor; maximum aperture refe to the widest it will open. Ape rtures are stated in f-stops or f-numbers (for example, f/2). The smaller the t-stop number. thelarger theapertu and the less light the camera need s to lake a picture. A maximum aperture of f/2.Bis typical for a digital camera.

LinkSee "hvperflnk' Linux Afree downloadable, user-supported, open -source computer operating system. based on Unix. Linux is toutedasan alterna tiveto Windows butis more suitedto certain business applications. such as Web servers. List serverAn Internet-connected computer run ning softwa rethat offers message-relaying service for members who joins a "mailinglist." When any member sends an e-mail to theaddress of thelist server.it goes 10 ali lheothermembers. Lists tracks On an MP3 player's display, the songs can be shown in the form of a list. Lock control, MP3 players Abutton, swi tch, or setting through theplayer's menusystem that lets you lock the controls of the player. Also referred to as "hold." Low-battery indicator Avisual or auditory sign al that indicates a cordless ph one's handset battery need s to be rech arged. Low recycle time, digital cameras A relatively low period of time thatit takes a camera to process andstore an image when shooting in normal (non burst) mode, at the ca mera's lowest-resol ution. highest-compression setting. Lux rating Supposedlythe minimum amount of light needed for a camcorder to produce a usable picture (thelower. the better). Because there is no agreed-upon standa rd. however. it's an imprecise way to compare light sensitivity.

M

Mac OS The windowed operatingsystemof the

Apple Macintosh computer family. Mac OSX

(version 10) departs radically from earlier versions.

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Multihandset capability, cordless phones Multiple han dset-capable phon es support more than one handset with one base, so you ca n have several handsets aroun d the house. each charging in a base. without the need for extra phone jacks. Additional handsets. including lhe chargingcrad le. are usually sold separately. Multilingual menu. TVs Amenu that presents the onscreen TV menu in a choice of languages, usu ally English, Spanish, and French.

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Main memory The data-storage area inside a com puter that is directly accessible bytheprocessor; also called RAM, for random-acces s memory. Mem ory can range fromas little as 1MB to more than BGB. Manual apertureGives the digital-camera user more control over how muchlight hits the lens. Manual exposurecompensation can servethe same funct ion. Manual controls, camcorders These let you over ride automatic settings and allow more control over your recording. May include aperture. color (white) balance. focus. and shutter speed. They're useful for situationsin which conditionsare less than ideal. Manual controls. digital cameras Some cameras allow the user to settheaperture (f-stop) an d/or shutter speed. Used to override theautomatic exposuresettings when more control is needed. Manual exposure, digital cameras Allows the user to control both the shutter speed an d theaperture settings. Most digital cameras offerfully automatic exposure, often with an exposure-compensation option. While these options cover most situations, direct control of theshutter-speed settingis desir able when going for morespecialized effects. such as a blurred image. Manual exposure compensation Not to be confused with manual exposure, thisallows for minor adjustments to a digital camera's automatic exposure settings. When a scene has high con trast. automa tic exposure may not achieve the effect you wa nt. Beingable to lightenor darken the scene is animportant option.

Maximum focal length (35mm) When set to it maximum (longest) foca l length, a digita l ca me lens gives its narrowest. most telephoto-like an of view. For comparison purposes, it is often giv in terms of the 35mm ca mera lens focall englh th would cover the same ang le of view.

Maximum horizontal pixels Th e number of pixe along the longer (horizontal) dimension of the image when a digital camera is setto its highes resolution.

Maximum image quality An indication of the color intensity of a digital camera 'simages. The more bitsa camera uses to indicate the intensity of the three colors for ea ch pixel, the more pre cisely the pixel's color can be specified. Al most all digitalcame ras have 24-bit color depth (B bi each for red. green, and blue. within each pixel) and are capable of reproducing millions of diffe entcolors.

Maximum shutter speed, camcorders Camcorde electron ically adjust their light sensitivity in a w thatmodels a film camera's shutter. All camcorde dothis automatically; some alsohave a manual override ca pability. Shutter speed is measured i fractions of a second.

Maximum shutter speed. digital cameras The fastest shutter speed provi ded. often l/l,OOOth o a second or faster. Being able to control shutter speed lets you decide if a moving object will app sharp or blurred in the image. Afaster shutter speed lets you freeze faster action.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

Noise Unwanted electrical or communication signa ls; interference. Noise filter An electric device designed to redu ce electrical noise on a data or ACline. Noise level Measured in decibels onemeter away (dBA). this tells you how noisya printer is when in use. Atypical noise level for an inkjet printer is 50dBA. As a frame of reference, a softwhi sper is about 20 dBA; a normal conversation, about 60 dBA.


via a modem or the Internet. The various featu include refe rence material (encyclopedias and atla ses), current updates (weather and stocks) and interactive features with otherusers (bulle boards and games). Popular services include America Online and MSN.

Open source Describing a program or systemwh code is freely ava ilable and publicly supported Anyon e can modify open-source prog rams for their own needs, and make those modification

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


When choosing your DVD player, consider the models that have theoutputs to match theinputs on your digital rece iver or external, digital decoder. All DVD players have digital audio outputs-co axial, optical, or both, Optical discGenerally refers to any disc read or written to bya laser or other light-emitting/ se nsing device. Optical zoom, digital cameras and camcorders Magnifies the imag e using a real multifocal-length lens, wherea s a digital zoom uses electronics to enlarge the center portionof theimage using interpolation. Some cameras have both optical an d digital zoom. The optical-zoom range is what really matters; image quality decreases the further one goes intothe digital-zoom range. Opt -out Ameansbywhich a consumer can stop receivingsolicitations or content delivery, especia lly via e-ma il. OS Operating System, the software that is neces sary to control the basic operation of a com puter. Examples are Windows, Mac OS. and Linux. Out put s, TVs TVs may have one or more ou t puts. Manymodels have audio outputs. which let you pipethe set's sound to a sound system (to drive unpowered speakers) or directly to powered speakers. Afew models also have a head phone jackin front. Higher-end models may additionally have various vid eo outputs (antenna/cable, composite-video,S-video com ponent.DVI, or HDMI). These are useful if you wantto route theset's video signal to another device. say. for recording.

p Page/ handset locator, cordless phones Also call ed one-way paging, a bu tton on the ba se set you can press to send a beep tone to the handset to find a missing handset.

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The ability to zoomin on details in the picture. Parts/laborwarranty The length of time, ex pressed in months, that a product is covered byits manufactu rer for defects or repairs. Password Aseries of characters used as a cod e to access a system. program. or file. Apassword should be chosen that is hard to guess. PC Personal computer; sometimes used to denote any IBM-standard personal compu ter. Also, a printe d circuit. PC card Acredit-card-sized. pluq-and-plav mod ule com monly use d to attach expan sion devices (such as memory, modems, and drives) to portablecomputers. PC-compatible Used to indicate compatibility with Wi ndows or IBMpes. not App le Macintosh. PCI Peripheral component interconnect. a loca l busdesign. popular on Pentium-based computers. thatprovides high-speed comm unications between various com ponentsand the proce ssor. PDA Personal digital assistant. a handheld com puter that functions as a personal organizer, with a calendar/reminder.to-do list.notepad. and add ress/phonedirectory. Usuallyuses a stylus for input. though some have small keyboards. Some PDAs offeroptional wireless access to such services as e-mail, Internet. or cell-ph one service. Pentium An Intel microprocessor employing a fast. 32-bit architecture(with a 64-bit internal bu s) that makes extensive use of RISC(red uced instruction set computer) technology, employsinternal memory caches. and can execute multiple independent instructionsinthe same clock cycle, giving it higher performance than its predecessors. Peripheral Any hardware attachment to a com puter, such asa keyboard, monitor, disk, or printer. Personal media player Any small, portable device


PIM Persona l information manager, a software application that orga nizes information on a day-to-day basis. PIMs routinely include features such as a reminder calendar, notepad, ad dress book, phone dialer. ca lculator.and alarm clock. Pincushion effect Abowing-in on each side of an image on a CRTmonitor, usually corrected with the monitor's controls. For CRT TVs, this requires special service·level adjustments, Fl at-panel moni tors do not have this effect. PIP (picture-in-picture) Afeatu re that lets you watch two images at the same time on one TV screen: thefirst.full-sized: the second. in a small box with in the larger picture. Avaria nt of this is POP (picture-outside-of-picture). where thescreen image is split evenly in two. TVs with dual-tuner PIP or POP can tuneinto two chann els simultane ously without additional equipment. Those with only one tuner require a second. externa l tuner. such as a VCR, in order to use PIP. Some TVs can send the second channel 's audio to a separate audio output.

Pixel. TVs, computer monitors Short for picture element. the smallest individually controllableunit of a visible image on a display. Often erroneou sly used to refer to the triad of dots on a CRTscreen. On flat-panel (LCD, plasma) displays. there isalways one pixel pertriad of stripes, butthere is no such mapping on a CRTmonitor.

Plasma Aplasma screen is made upof thousands of pixels containing gas that's con verted into "plasma" byan electrical cha rge. The pla sma ca uses phosphors to glow red, green, or blue, as dictated bya video signal. Th e result: a col orful display with high brightness and a wide viewing angle. Plasma setsare vulnerable to screen burn-in, but most come with screen sa vers.

Platform The hardware architecture thatsoftware applications run on an d the operating system or

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players with video capability,however, won't play copy-protected video. Plug and play A standard for managing the installation of expansion ca rds and periph erals in modern PC s and ope rating systems. If both a PC and a device are plug-and-play com pati ble, the com puter should handle the installation automatically. Pointing device Ahand-operated deviceused to move a pointer on thescreen of a graphical user interface, selecting program objects, activating controls, or manipulating objects. A mouse is one type of pointin g device. POP, TVs Picture-Ou tside-of-Picture. See "PIP." POP or POP3 Post office protocol. ane-mail sys tem that communicatesbetweenyourprimary mailbox in your own computer and one at your access provider's site. POP mail is the usual protocol for incoming mail. while SMTP is used for outgoing. Pop-up Amessage or window that appears on a computer screen , often in response to a user or prog ram action. Pop-ups are also a common way to prese nt advertisingassocia ted with Web sites. Pop-up adsthat appear when youclose a browser windoware called "pop-under" ads. Port Asocket on a computer that's used to connect a peripheral such as a printer or modem. Port expander or replicator Asmall module wit h con nectors for attachi ng power, network, and several peripheral devices to a laptop com puter via a single connection. Portrait Apage or screen orientation in which information is displayed or printed across the shorter dimension.

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login 10. Processor The "brain" of a com puter or other "smart" device. Productivity softwareAp plications for the office, such as word-processor, spread sheet, and database software. Program A logical sequence of instructions designedto accomplish a specific task, written in such a way that it can beread and exec uted bya computer. Also, to co nstruct a program. Program file Afile that containsa program. Prog ram files may alsobedata files if they serve as the input or output for other programs. Programmed record ing Lets you prog ram a camcorder to start recording at a specific time. Progressive scan Avideo display mode used in computer monitors, DVDs, and DTV in which every scan lineis displ ayed progressively, or in one pass. Comp ared with an interlaced display, a progressive-scan image, such as from a DVDplayer, can provide a smoother, more filmlike picture when used with high-definition TVs. Nowadays, all com puter monitors are progressively scanned. Prompt Acha racter, symbol, sound, or message sent to thescreen to signa l the user that the com puter is ready for input: also, to issue a prompt. Proportional spacing The characteristic of some print fonts (such as this text) in which narrow characters such asI and J use less space than wider ones such asMand W. Proprietary Incompatible with othe rs of the same type. Not adh ering to any specific industry

R

Radio buttons Asetof on -scree n options, only one of which is selectabl e at anyonetime. Once a selec tion is made (usually indicated bya dot or similar sym bol), any previous choice is turned off (thedot is removed). RAM Ra ndom-access memory, a read/write type of memory that permits the user to read the information that is there and write data to it. This is thetype of memory avai lableto the user in most computers. Random play, DVD players Lets you have a DVD unit randomly play different titles or chapters of a DVD (or tracks of a CD). Random/repeat, MP3 players Many players let you seta play mode soyou can repeat on e or all music tracks, or play them in a rando m order, also referred to as "shuffle" mode. Rapid-fire shots Also cal led contin uous shooting or burst mode, this feature lets you take multiple digital-camera shots in quick succession with one touchof the shutter button. Useful when shooting a subject in motion. The number of shots varies byca mera and with resolution setting. RBL Realtime Blackhole List, one of several publicly-accessible lists of Internet se rver ad dresses known to emit spa m. Some e-mail spam-filter programs access RBLs as a way to identify spam messages. RealAudio or RealMedia Popular strea ming audio (ra)and video (.rm)file formats for the Web, Downloading the free RealPlayer plug-in applet turns your We b browser into an Internet radio/television.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

ELECTRONICS BUYIN G GUIDE 200B

201

subject's eyes will appear red in flash photos. The camera emits a burstof light justbefore the main flash, causingthepupils to contract. Most cameras with a flash have this feature. Image-editing software often offers red-eye correction as well. Redial button Found on almost all cordlessphone models, this feature lets you automatically dial the last number called. Refresh To continuously renew or update as contents of vol atile memory; to redraw information after alteration, such as a grap hics image that is beingedited. Refresh rate Th e number of times each second that a CRT monitor red raws an image on the screen, A refresh rate below about 72 Hz can appear to "blink" because the image fades between refreshes. Remote control Arem ote control is standard with nearly all TVs. Most domore than turn onthe power andswitch cha nnels. The familiar standard remote controls onlythe TV andcan't operate anyother component. Aunified remote will operate other equipment of thesame brand. The more common universal remote will operate other brands and types of equipment; it requires you to input appropriate cod es for your equipment. Alearning remote can determine thecod es of rem otes belonging to other system s, Reversible charging With thisfeature, a cordlessphone handsetbattery can cha rge in the charging cradl e with the handset face up or down. RGB video Short for red/g ree n/blue, a color description method for video that provides for individual control of the intensity of the three primarycol ors.

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yourself on the LCD monitor. Router Adevice in a network that manages the flow of data packets between the network and the computers connected to therouter's ports. RSI Repetitive strain injury, a disorderof the hands, arm s, back, neck, and even eyes thatcan arise from repetitive motion such as very hea vy computer use. RSS Really Simple Syndication.An Internet protocol for rece ivingup-to-the-minute broadcasts of news and published information of your choice. RSS feeds provide summaries of Web content together with links to the full ve rsion s of the content. Updated feed s are delive red to your PCautomatically as XML files that you view via an RSS"reader" program. Run To execute a program.

5

SAP Secondary audio program ming(SAP) reception, offered on manyTV sets, is va luable for those whowant to tune into thealternate sound versions sometimes available, such as a Spanishlanguage soundtrack or a specially designed audio track for theblind. Scanner Aperipheral device that digitally translates an d then transfers photos, graphics, and/or text onto a computer's hard drive. Screen dimmer or saver, computers An applet that produce s a moving image on a CRTmonitor screen to prevent permanen t ghost images from being burned into the phosphors by lingering, unatten ded displays. Modern monitors are better served byusing the power-saving standby mode.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYI NG GUIDE 2008

sit approxima tely 11 feet from a 36 feet froma 32-inch set, and 8 feet set. For HD (high-definition) sets, can be halved.

Scroll bar Acomputer screen elem of a horizontal and/or vertical bar that moves within the bar, both to ing and to indicate position in a do

Scrolling channel preview On som TVs, provides thumbnail images of channels besides theone you're w

Secure Digital (SO) card A high ly sized flash-memory card thatweigh two grams.

Secure grip, digital cameras Den designed with room for your fing e hold it steady and keep your finger the flash, lens, or auto-focus senso especially importanton the smalle which have little room for a handh

Secure site AWeb site that uses e that cannot be read by unauthoriz including hackers. Many commercia Web sites have secure sections fo personal information with custome

SelectivityYour TV's ability to tune outinterference fromadjacent chan on ly if you use your TV, not a cabl e device, for tuning.

Self-timerAdigital camera's self-t take shots that include yourself. A timer delays the shot by10 second giving you time to ge t within its fie remote control provid es the same out the rush.

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it can display. Shareware User-supported software that is copy righted andtypically available on the Internet. The authorusually requ ests a fee (typically $10 to $50) from those who decideto continue using the program after trying it. Sheet feeder Adevice attached to some com puter scannersthat automatically feeds a stack of sheets, one at a time, through it for scanning,thus elimi nating the need to hand-feed the pag es. Useful for large prin ted docu ments. Shortcut An icon on Microsoft's Windows desktop or program list that launches a program or docu mentwhen activated; there can be many shortcuts to one program. Ash ortcut is eq uivalent to an "alias" in Apple's Mac OS. Shutterrange The minimum and maximum shutter speeds available for a digital camera, Signal-to-noise ratio Abbrevi ated Si Nor SNR, it represents the ratio, expressed in decibels (dB), of an undistorted ma ximum audio signa l and the noise prese nt in the signal. Au dio signals typically contain some noise or background from electronic parts, A system's ma ximum SiNis called the dynamic range. For audio, the higher the number, the cleaner the sound.This number is useful when com paring products. Signal type The typical an alog type of video signal comes out of olderca ble boxes, OVD players, camcorders, and VCRs. It ca n be carried overa composite-video, S-video, or component video connection. Whensuperimposed ona radio frequency, it can be broadcast over theair and picked up via antenna, or sent via cable to the cable box. If it's digitized first. then superimposed on a radio frequency, it can be delivered over the air as OTV (digital television), by OBS(direct

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pictures to be displayed in slideshow fashion, complete with fade-outs and other transitions. Some players let you adju st how long each pictureis displayed. Slim-and-light laptopA laptop PCthat contains only the components need ed to run installed applications, operate on stored documents and files, and communicate with externa l devices. Removable-diskdrives are connected externally when needed, as the focus of thedesign is on reducing travel size and weight. Slot Si milar to a port in a co mputer, but usually used for internal expansion s, such as memory, graphics, and so forth, bytheaddition of boards. Smart card Aplastic card, containing memory and a processor, that communicates with a com puter through a reader into which it is inserted. The data on thecard mayauthenticatea user, and/or provide personal or financial information enabling a transaction. Th e mem ory on smart cardscan be updated by the systemas partof the tran saction. Smart phone Acombination of a ce ll phone with a personal digital assistant that has e-mail and file management tools. SMTP Sim ple Mail Tran sfer Protocol, the usual protocol for outgoing Internet e-mail. SMTP is not a secure protocol in that it allows spammers to use it while remaining anonymous. Software The programs thatare run ona computer for variouspurposes. Sound, TVs Three differen t types of sound system areavailable. Some small TVs have mono sound, meaning that all theaudio is processed through a single channel.The next step upis stereo sound, which splits theaudio between two cha nnels for

Spam Besides thetrademarkedluncheon mea from Harmel Food s, a slang term for unsolicite commercia l e-mail-thou ght to come from a s bythe Monty Python comedy troupe in which word spam was repeated over and over until i became annoying. Spam is the Internet's equi lent of junk mail and proliferates despite man efforts to reduce it.

Spam filter Afeature built into e-mail program or installed as an add-on that attempts to ide spam messages and rem ove them from your m inbox. Spam filters onindividual PCs have mix success. Some ISPs also offera spam-filter op

Speaker wattage, TVs The audio-output pow expressed in watts, ranging from less than 1w to as much as 7 watts. Higher wattage, offered many TV sets, may provide a louder sound bu not necessaryimprove overall audio quality.

Speakerphone Aspeakerph on e feature on aco less ph on e offers a hands-free wayto convers or wait on hold and lets others chime in. A ba speaker letsyou an swer a call without the han sel; a handset speaker lets you chat hands-fre conveniently anywhere in the house.

Speech synthesizer Acompu ter output devi that simulates human speech using phonetic ru When used with the appropriate software, a sp synthesizer can "speak" the words tha t are di played on the monitor scree n,

Spreadsheet Asoftware package, such as Mic soft Excel, that lets the user enter into "cells" numbers and equations that the program auto ma tically caiculates. Spread sheet software eas thedevel opment of finan cial applications.

Spyware Undesirable software that often ride on a seemi ng ly usefu l program, butruns in th

CONSUMER REPORTS .


or bottom of a window. that provides information on lhe current operation of the software in use. Still-lmage file formats, digital cameras The file output. indicated in the image's filen ame extension, that the camera generates. TIFF, JPEG an d RAW are the most common. Still-image resolution settings, digital cameras The number of levels, or modes, of resolution the ca meraoffers. Storage Any disk (fixed or removabl e), tape, CD, or online service that stores data. storagesize Digital cameras store images as data files, such asthose on the hard drive of a computer. The more storage space available, the more images thecameracan store. Most came ras accept removable memory ca rds or othe r med ia that can store as much as several gigabytes (GB).

S-video input, TVs Al so known as S-VHS connection or VIC. An S-video connection splits the video signal into two parts, color andluma. Ingeneral, an S-video input will provide better picture quality than eitheran antenna/cable or composite-video input. Th ese areoften used with digital-cable boxes, satellite receive rs, and DVD players. Many sets have front-panel S-video input, which lets you make temporary connections to certain camcorders,game systems, and other devices with S-video output. S-video output, camcorders S-video is a higherquality vid eo connectionthan a standard compositevide o hookup. Both of these output types are used to connect the camcorder to a television or VCR to watch and/or record information saved on a camcorder's tape or disc.

streaming Pl aying an audio or video presentation directly from an Internet Web site without your first having to download it. Streaming requires cooperation between the Web server and a "media player" applet onthe user's PC.

S-video output, DVD players An S-video connection from a DVDplayer's S-video output to the TV provides a picture with more detail and fewer color artifacts than you can get using the TV's compositevideo or antenna/cabl e (RF) co nnection. S-vid eo output is also used to connect a camcorder to a television or VCR to watchand/or recordinformation saved ona ca mcorder's tape (or disc).

Stretchand zoom modes, TVs On wid escreen16:9 sets, such displ ay modes will expand or compress an image to bette r fill the screen shape. Th is helps to reduce the dark bands that can appe ar above, below, or on the sides of theimag e if you watch content formatted for onescreen shape on a TV that has theother shape. The picture, however, may be distorted or cut off a bit in the process of stretching and zooming.

Swap blackfor photo ink, printers The photo ink for some printers comes in an extra cartridge. To use these photo inks, you must rem ove the black-ink cartridge and replace it with the photoinkcartridge. To goback to printing text or graphics, the photo-ink cartridge must be removed and replaced by the black-inkca rtridge. This can get tedious. Models that hold all the inks simultaneously minimizethe hassle.

String On a co mpu ter, a set of characters treated as a unit.

SXGA Super XGA. a very high-resolution (1280x1024 pixels) compute r-grap hics display mode. SXGA+ provides 1400xl050 pixels.

Subdirectory or subfolder A directory that is

204

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


Tabletop/console Most TVs are placed o insidea piece of furniture (say, an enter center), but some TVs areconsoles, mea have theirown cabinetry and can stand the floor. Rear-projecti on TVs in particula co nsoles, although newer "microdisplay typically require a stand.

Tape. computers Amagnetic data stora backup medium on which files are store predetermined andrigid sequence. Upd a tape usually requires making a new co the entiretape.

Task Any process currently running on a An application may have several tasks ru simultaneously.

Task bar On theMicrosoft Wi ndows des bar with icons and window titles that is launch programs, switch between runnin and displaythe statu s of programs runn the background.

TCP!IP Transmission control protocol/in protocol.a shorthand name for the "lan of Internet commu nication.

Telecommunications Comm unications devices that are not located near each must make use of a data communicatio This occurs when PCs link to a host com an exchangeof data.

Template Adocument guide on a compu to a paper form, that permits the user to in the blanks to create a new document.

1080i A com mon type of HD(high- defin digital television signal format. Each fra of video lasts for about 1!30th of a seco

Expert· Independen

tionsuch as song tities on CDs. Text file Afile that usually contains on ly ASCII characte rs, readabl e by practically anyprogram tha t uses text. TFT LCDThin film tran sistor liquid-crystal display, an LCDdisplay of the type most common ly used on laptop PCscreens, flat-panel desktopdispl ays, and portable prod uctswith color displays. Also referred to as an active -m atrix LCD. 35mm-equivalent zoom ratio Di gital came ra manufacturers publish this "35mm-equivalent" focal len gth because people can use it to com pa re images produced bysa y, a traditional 28mm wide-angle or 50mm normal lens. 3:2-pulldown compensation A feature on most digital TVs that canenable things in motion to look less jagged around the ed ges. It affects onl y movies converted from film to video-the majority of cinematic movies on OVD. This feature is sometimes referred to as film mode.cinema mode, movie mode, or by brand-specific nam es such as CineMotio n. Progressive-scan DVOplayers have this feat ure as well. Thumb drive A USBmem ory drive, soca lled because it is about thesize of a thumb. Thumbnail Aminiature reproduction of an image, usually for display. THX-certified. DVD players, digital receivers TH Xis anenhancement to Dolby Digital (DTS) soun d processing thatfurther processes the multichannel sound to simulate theaco ustics of a movietheater. To hear the benefit, you must use the certified DVD playerwith a receiver and speakers that are also THX-certified. Time and date stamp Acamcorde r featu re with

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tridge, that is used in copy machines and laser printers. Toner particles becomeelectrically charged an d adhere to the pattern of animage defined by charges on a plate or drum. Touch-sensitive Any devicethat res ponds to light contact with a finger, stylus, or both. Some displays. such as those on a PDA or Table t PC, use a touch-sensitive screen to inputdata or control thedevice.

Two-way intercom, cordless phones For mo with a base speakerphone, it allows for conv tion between the handset and the base spea phone. For multiple-handset-capable models, allows for conversationbetween one handset another. Also referred to as two-way paging.

u

UI see "User interface." Tower case Acomputer ca se design that employs an upright (sta cked) arran gement of drives. Tower cases can sit on a tabletop, but more frequently they are placed onthefloor or a low stand adjacent to thework area. The term is often prefixed by full, rnid-, mini-, or rnicro-, indicating the ca se's relative size and expansion spa ce. Trackball Acomputer pointing device similar to a mou se; it uses a ball mounted on a fixed ba se to control onscreen cu rsor movement. You roll the ball withyou r finge rs or thumb in the directionyou want the onscreen pointer to go. Transfer rate An estimate of howquickly an MP3 file can be transferred froma computer to the player. Transfer rate is usually measu red in kilobytesor megabytes per second and ca n vary depending on the player, the interface type, the computer platform, operating system, configuration requ irements, file size, and other factors. Trojan or Trojan horse Ageneral class of computer programs that gain system entry byriding in on legitimate-appearing program s or e-mail attachments. Th e best-known examplesare malicious prog rams that provide hackers remote access to infected systems. TV type As digital televi sion has grown, the choice of TV types has expanded. Standard or conventional se ts receive only traditional analog TVsignals.

Ultra DMA or UDMA Afurther enhancement the EIDE computer disk-driveinterface that c tran sferdata as fast as 133 MB per second in bursts. Acompatible drive is required. Uninterruptiblepower supplySee "UPS."

Universal remote Controls not only your DV player, for exampl e, but also other componen such as ma ny different brandsof TVs.

;!nix Apopular butnot user-friendly operatin tem that run s on many pla tforms from mainf to microcomputer. It employs cryptic but pow commands, sh ells, and pipes, and has TCP/ IP cols built in; good for use in Internet servers

Update or upgrade The process of changin softwa re or hardware to a newer, more powe or possibly less-buggy version.

Upgradable Asystem whose components ar designed to beea sily upg raded to newer one usually bysimply unplugging the old one and insertingthe new one.

Upgrade path Refers to themeans for acom hardwa re component.or software applicatio be cha ng ed to a more powerful or newer ver without adversely affecting the remainder o system or any pertinent files.

CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTR ONICS BUYING GUIDE 20

infrared link. USB memory drive A key-chain-sized module witha USB plug at one end, containing a sizable amount of rewriteable flash memory, that serves as a portable data-storage unit. USB2 Most Windows and Macintosh computers purchased since the fall of 2002 have universal serial bus 2.0 ports (USB2). They can be used with printers that have either USB2 or USB connections. The speed for transmitting data with L1SB2 can be upto 40 times faster than with USB. Check which connections your computer has before purchasing a printer. Usenet Alarge butinformal collection of Internet servers that host groups of users known as newsgroups to exchange news and information on specific topics. User interface Any device, either hardware or software, that provides a bridge between the computer and the user. Examples include the keyboard, mouse, and menu programs. User-replaceable lamp Rear-projection TVs using LCD, DLP, or LCoS technology, called microdisplay sets (see "Microdisplay"), have a lamp rated to last2,000 to 6,000 hours. A user-replaceable lamp can be replaced if you're handy with a screwdriver and closely follow the instructions. The bulb costs $200 to $400. Aservice call, if necessary, typically costs an additional $200.

sive and widely available. The tape can beplayed back in a VHS VCR, using the supplied adapter, or in the camcorder. Video D/A conversion, DVD players Most standard DVD players use a 1O-bit/27-MHz digital-to-analog converter. Progressive-scan models use a 10- or 12-bit/54-MHz digital-to-analog converter. Video inputs, TVs Video inputs provide a better picture than the antenna/cable input (which combines audio and video), and most TVs are equipped withat least one video input. There are generally three types. Composite-video inputs, the most common, provide minor improvement over antenna/ cable. S-video input, at least one of which is found on most sets 27 inches or larger, is a further improvement. And component-video input separates the video signal intothree component parts to offerthe potential for even finer picture quality; they are useful mostly with a DVD player or other equipment that has component-video output. Digital video inputs-HDMI, DVI. FireWire-are typically found on HD and ED TVs. Front-panel inputs permit easy connection of an external device, such as a camcorder or game system, to the TV. Video-noise reduction setting May reduce the effects of noise due to poor reception, although this feature may sacrifice some picture detail. Video out,digital cameras Lets you connect a digital camera directly to aTV or VCR and view your images onthe TV screen or record your images onto a videotape.

User-supported software See "shareware."

v

VCR capability Some hybrid DVD players have a built-in VCR that letsyou play and record videotapes as well as play DVDs. Note that such models

206

CONSUMER REPORTS 0

Video output, DVD players The type of video output you use with your DVD player depends on the type of inputs on your TV or receiver. DVD players come withat least composite and S-video outputs. Both S-video and componentvideo outputs, however, provide an increase in picture quality.


Voice-mail indicator Avisual indicator o less phone's handset or base that notifie that you have new messages onyour tel company's message-waiting service.

Voice recognition The abilityof a comp accept inputcommands or data using th word. Voice-recognition technology has greatly and is likely to become a common tive to keyboard control and data entry.

Voice recording An MP3 player feature microphone that's useful for recording i lectures, etc.

Voice synthesizer See "Speech synthes

Voltage spike Asudden jump in electric These can bevery dangerous to data an enough, to computer hardware as well.

w

Wall-mountable Some TVs, particularly sets, can be mounted on a wall. althoug recommend you hirea professional beca sets need adequate support and ventilat TVs are also wall-mountable, though mo makes sense mostly for larger models.

Water resistance A printer's abilityto p output that will not run or smear if it ge Water-resistance for a printer's ink (or d thecase of a dye-sublimation photo print apply to black, color, or both.

WAV Also known as a wave file, this is a f for storing uncompressed digital audio.

Webcam Asmall camera connected to a for capturing still images or video to send over the Internet.

Expert· Independent

tem commands.

trum (DSS) technology.

Window Aportion of a computer screen setaside for a speci fic display or purpose.

Wizard Acomputer program that takes you one step at a time throu gh a complex process. such as setting up a home network, asking simplequestions to setupconfigurationoptions.

Windows A multitasking, grap hical user interface developed byMicrosoft for IBM-compatible system s. The program gets its name from using movabl e and resizable windows in which applicationsare displ ayed. Windows supports multimedia, common printer management. TrueType fonts, and copy and paste between Wi ndows applications. Windows Vista The newest-gen eration family of Microsoft Windows. It includes visual enhance ments, a more-accessible and robu st file system. and improvements in stability and security. Vista is available in several versions to satisfy differing needs, including VistaHome Basic, Vista Hom e Premium, and Vista Ultimate. Windows XP(Home and Professional) Th e most used family of Windows opera ting systems.

Con sum erR eporls.or q

(20mm x 25mm x 1.7mm in size), developed jo byFuji Photo Film and Ol ympus Optical.

Word processor Asoftware appli cation,such as Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word, that is designedto accept and process normal text (words) as data. Word processors rang e from simple program sthat are little more than screen typewriters to those with complex screen han dling. editing. and assistance features. Also refers to a stand-alone machine dedicated to word processing.

XOS Extend ed Data Services. Some broadcast nals include additional information about TV grams. such as thechann el label, program tit program length, and ela psed time, but the se is not available everywhere. This feature lets TV display this information when it is transm

XGA IBM's eXtended Graphics Array. ahigh-resol 1024x768-pixel col or graphics mode that is ve simila r to SVGA.

XML Exten sible markup languag e. a "superse HTML that allows Web page designers to inco rate new, interactive objects intotheir pages.

Workgroup A named group of computers connected as a peer-to-peer network. World Wide Web (WWW or W3 ) A global. multi medi a portion of the Internet featuring text. audio, graphics. and moving imag e files. The

CONSUMER REPORTS 0


•

Cables, 100 Camco rders, 130 Rating s & recomm endati ons, 152 repair history, 154 Cameras, digital, 118 see also Cellular teleph ones Ratings & recommendations, 157 repair history, 161 Care, basic, 19 Cellular te leph ones, 134 , 140 Bluet ooth headsets, 142 cameras, 143 car riers, 136 rlp-otts. 138 GPS (see GPS navigators) Ratin gs & recommendation s, 155 smart phones, 145 Computers & computer equipment desktop computers, 55 repair history, 60 home networks, 59 Inte rne t ser vice provi ders (ISPs) (see Internet serv ice pr oviders) lapt op computers, 52 repair history, 55 monit ors, 65 Rat ings & recommendation s, 166 printers, 67 Ratings & recommendations, 176 scanners, 70 secur ity (see Security) softwa re fr ee, 71 photo , 125 Rating s, 126 security, 79 Ratin gs & recommend at ions, 18 0

see Television Digital video recorders (DVRs), 115 DVD players, 106 high definition, 108 portable, 110 DVD recorders, 111

F

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Online crime , see also Security reporting, 80 Online security, see Security Online shopping, see Shopping

Front-projection TVs, see Television sets

p

G

Photo pro cessing, 127 Ratings, 129 Phot ograph y sof tware (see Comp ute rs & compu te r equipment, soft ware) t ips, 121, 124 Picture frames, digital, 122 Picture tube TVs, see Television sets Plasma TVs, see Television set s Pr inte rs, see Computers & compute r equip ment Projecti on TVs, see Television sets

GPS navigator s, 144 Rating s & reco mmendations, 162

H

Headphones, see Audio equipment High-definition DVDs, see DVD players High-defin it ion te levision, see Television Home net work s, see Computers & computer equipment Home t heater syst ems, 9 5 install at ion (see Installation)

I Install ation, 16 home theater systems, 97 televisi on sets, 44 Inte rne t securi ty, see Secur ity Int ern et service providers (ISPs),75 Rating s, 77 Int ern et sho pping, see Shopp ing iPhone, 145

208 CONSUMER REPORTS 0 ELECTRONICS BUYING GUIDE Z008

R Radio HD, 94 satellite, 92 Rear- projection TVs, see Television sets Receivers, see Audio equipment Recyclin g electro nics, 19 Reli abil it y surveys , 17 tel evision sets, 28

see Computers & compute r equipment Speakers, see Audi o equipment Sto res online, Ratings, 10 Ratings, 11

T

Techni cal support, see Computers & compute r equipment Teleph one serv ices, 135. see also Cellular telephones Telephones cellular (see Cellular te lephones) cordless, 147 Television digital,49 high definition, 24 servic es, 46 Television sets, 24 exte nded war rant ies (see War ranties) front-pr ojection, 39 installati on (see Installati on) LCD, 29 pict ure tu be, 42 plasma, 33 rear-projecti on, 37 reliability (see Reliability surv eys) Testing meth ods, 5

W

Warranti es, exte nded, 12 tel evision, 32 Windows Vista operat ing system, see Computers & comput er equipment

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