Kodak digital camera raises the industry standard
Digital cameras in this so-called megapixel range have been around for a while now, but the DC120 is the first at this price. It gets its maximum 1,280-by-960 resolution with 24-bit color through some of the same legerdemain that scanners use to reach higher-than-actual optical resolutions. The DC120's actual optical resolution is 836,400 pixels. The interpolation process that increases the apparent number of pixels by almost 50 percent causes a slight degradation in picture quality.
Fine-tune its settings and Stylus Photo will print with photo-quality perfection
The Stylus Photo can do all the things other high-resolution color ink-jet printers can, but it's designed to make high-fidelity reproductions of digital photographs on plain and ink-jet papers, glossy stock and transparencies. It prints at 720 by 720 dots per inch, not at 1,440 by 720 dpi like some of Epson's other high-res printers. It uses six colored inks instead of the standard four. Besides cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the Stylus Photo also
Surprise! Look who's got the best suites
This has been a banner year for new releases of the three leading office suites: Microsoft Office 97, Lotus SmartSuite 97 and Corel WordPerfect Suite 8. Microsoft Office has enjoyed a healthy federal market share without serious competition for the last couple of years. Lotus SmartSuite seemed to be floundering, but under IBM Corp.'s ownership, it is showing new strength. WordPerfect Suite, bought and then sold by Novell Inc., has finally become a version Corel
Over the long haul, the vendor's vision gains importance
GCN Lab staff held discussions with vendors of each of the three reviewed office suites to find out about their future directions. They told us that the Internet, thin clients and easier administration will be hallmarks of future suites. Here's how we graded their product vision. Vision grade for Corel WordPerfect Suite: B
Diagnosis for First Aid 97: Beef up hardware diagnostics
The interface had a Win95 look and feel, but the underlying code remained firmly rooted in the Windows 3.x world [GCN, July 15, 1996, Page 40]. One year later, First Aid 97 has a more sophisticated back end and a more refined interface. The tool fills a niche for government users who lack technical support and techies who crave diagnostic tools.
Dell 166-MHz Latitude notebook performs above par
At first glance, the exterior hasn't changed much, but closer inspection reveals improvements: an easier-to-use floppy drive and a CD-ROM drive that melds seamlessly into the chassis. The two Type II PC Card slots remain the same, but the speaker and microphone pickups are integrated better. In this year of ever-expanding LCD screens, the Latitude sports a respectable 12.1-inch, active-matrix display. It's not in the 13.3- and 14.2-inch realm but is plenty for most road
There's lots of workspace on Cornerstone's monitor
My 17-inch Sony Trinitron monitor's slot-mask aperture made clear, crisp, vivid images. It became my favorite GCN Lab monitor. Then, a few weeks ago, a Cornerstone Color 45/101sf 19-inch monitor arrived, and suddenly my Trinitron seemed drab by comparison. The first thing to notice about the Cornerstone is its size, and not just that of the screen. The total dimensions are slightly bigger than the Trinitron's-something of a breakthrough.
Bring in big guns for virus eradication -
How about a minute and a half a day? That's the time it takes to do daily virus scanning of executable files. There's no need to remember to scan, because most programs can be set up to execute automatic scans. The GCN Lab staff took a look at five anti-virus programs designed for end users to run under Microsoft Windows 95. We tested the programs on a Hewlett-Packard Co. Vectra VL 166-MHz Pentium PC with a 1.2G
Symantec satisfies a long-felt need with Utilities just for NT
As an OS for power users, NT 4.0 Workstation lacks Win95's warm fuzzies and can scare off the easily intimidated. Version 4.0 runs on both the Server and Workstation editions of NT 4.0. Symantec has avoided some of the superfluous gewgaws in the Win95 Norton Utilities, such as the System Genie. This NT program is for users who believe in belt-plus-suspenders management and don't want a lot of small talk.
Visioneer's scanning software sets the standard, if imperfectly
Now Visioneer has turned this utility into a standalone product, PaperPort Deluxe. No matter what TWAIN-compliant imaging device you have, you can use PaperPort Deluxe to organize scanned images-documents, business cards, photos-and make special links to transfer them to applications as needed. I tested PaperPort Deluxe with a Gateway 2000 Inc. P5-200XL computer running Microsoft Windows 95 and a Hewlett-Packard Co. ScanJet 5p scanner.
Shark swims circles around floppies
Large enough to hold many average text documents, the floppy's storage space hasn't changed, but demands for storage have ballooned. Many portable removable media options available today provide more storage but at the price of easy use. For instance, they generally require drives that are not integrated into the notebook and need independent power supplies. It becomes a balancing act between how much extra storage is necessary and how much a user wants to carry.
Symantec search utilities help mine the Net for gold
The main utility is WebFind. It submits your search criteria to several World Wide Web search engines at once for multiple online searches, when one well-thought-out search might have been adequate. Such products needlessly take up Web resources. WebFind does its job well, though, removing duplicate entries and putting search results in order.
Looks, brains, brawn-Dell's OptiPlex line has it all
Apparently Dell Computer Corp. believes that what is on the inside is just as important as what is on the outside when it comes to its OptiPlex line of computers. When it introduced its Pentium Pro business machine, the GXpro, Dell also introduced a complete case and chassis redesign called OptiFrame. Featuring a recyclable case and an extremely well-designed interior, the Dell GXpro combined aesthetics, function and power.
New Components suite is just what Notes users have wanted
Plenty of government users already work with Lotus Notes groupware, and more will under the forthcoming Defense Message System. Lotus' August release of Components could make Notes a real live-in environment. I've been a Notes user and developer since Release 1, and it's been a love-hate relationship all the way. But Components gives Notes almost everything it needs to fulfill my expectations.
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