Apple iMac G5 (iSight)

The first two versions of the Apple iMac G5 were wonders of design and engineering, and the newest version continues on that same path. The newest 20-inch iMac G5 ($1,699 direct) adds a few features, including upgraded graphics and a slightly faster processor, while cutting the price by $100. On the whole, the iMac G5 (iSight) is an evolution of the design we first saw a year ago, and we consider it an improvement. The iMac G5 is a great desktop for Mac users whose needs go beyond simple Web browsing and e-mailing.

The iMac G5's appearance hasn't changed much from the previous version: Sharp-eyed users will notice the now-curved back panel, which makes the iMac seem more organic and less bricklike than the previous version. The power button has been moved from the back right to the back left, no doubt to prevent people from accidentally turning the iMac off when plugging in a cable. Speaking of cables, the USB, FireWire, and VGA/video adapter ports now run horizontally instead of vertically. And with the multibutton Apple Mighty Mouse now standard, the people switching from Microsoft Windows will finally be able to right-click and scroll with an Apple mouse.

The integrated iSight camera—the main focus of the new iMac upgrade—provides iChat A/V video-conferencing capabilities as well as the usual picture and video webcam duties. A neat novelty program called Photo Booth lets the user select filters for self-portraits, giving your iChat/AIM buddy pictures visual qualities such as sepia toning, "X-ray" coloring, and other effects. In theory, this could turn people into avid webcam users, though in practice, most adult users are likely to take their picture once when they first get their iMac, then forget it's there.

The Apple Remote with Front Row interface is another story. The remote gives the iMac features very similar to those of a Media Center, albeit without the TV tuner. Front Row is a simple yet powerful control panel with the same sort of "10-foot interface" found in Windows Media Center Edition. You can see song titles and the like from across the room, from the comfort of your bed or couch. The included infrared Remote looks like a shrunken, thinner iPod shuffle, with the same five-way control pads for volume, track forward/back, and play/pause, as well as a menu control button.

Using the remote and the Front Row software lets the user control iPhoto (slide shows), iTunes (music), Videos (downloads and Video podcasts), and DVD movies from the comfort of an easy chair. Once set up, the combination works well, with the "no-look" interface you're used to if you have an iPod. This is a big improvement on most MCE remotes (or even consumer electronic remotes like the one for your cable box), where you have to look at the remote constantly to see if you're hitting the right button. The Apple Remote also works with the new iPod Universal dock ($39), which has IR built in to control a docked iPod, iPod mini, or iPod nano.

Doom 3 performance is still fairly anemic, at 20 frames per second, though this is an improvement over the previous iMac G5, a 2.0-GHz machine that came with Radeon 9600 graphics and got a score of 14 fps at the same 1,024-by-768 resolution. We're sure the improvement is due to the upgraded graphics (X600 XT) and the new PCIe-based motherboard. But Doom 3 performance still lags behind that of mainstream Windows PCs with discrete graphics.

The iMac G5 with built-in iSight is a very good reworking of an excellent product, with additions that enhance the all-in-one nature of the iMac. It's a great mainstream Mac desktop for people whose computing needs extend beyond simple Web browsing and e-mail.

Archos AV700

The Archos AV700 digital video recorder isn't meant to be small. It's meant to provide comfortable viewing on long trips, so it's a biggest-of-breed device with a 7-inch widescreen LCD and either a 40GB or 100GB hard drive. Although not particularly cheap, the AV700 is impressive. Taking advantage of the extensive feature set requires a bit of tech savvy, though, and the complexity—combined with the $799.95 (direct) price for the 100GB model and $599.95 for the 40GB—may scare some people away. But early adopters and gadget freaks with deep pockets will love this attractive, versatile product.
At 4.2 by 8.2 by 0.8 inches and a hefty 20.8 ounces, it certainly feels sturdy. Yet despite its size, the rounded-corner DVR manages to be fairly sleek and comfortable to hold. You can also set it on a table and flip out the kickstand to watch video on the bright LCD. The removable rechargeable battery is rated for 30 hours of continuous audio playback or 4 hours of video. To extending play time, you can buy a spare battery from Archos for $49.95.

In our real-world tests, we got 3 hours 47 minutes of video using the built-in LCD and just under 28 hours of audio on a charge. Your results will vary based on the bit rates of your encoded media files. Note that the AV700 doesn't charge via USB, so you may want to plug it into the power adapter if you're transferring lots of large files.

The analog controls on the AV700 are somewhat less confusing (for U.S. users) than those of other Archos products. Most are self-explanatory, including four cursor buttons on the left and play/pause and stop on the right. A couple of other sets, however, are unlabeled: Two buttons near the four cursor controls let you page up and down in your media collection; buttons on the lower right of the screen are for contextual menus. A button on top of the device toggles video output between the LCD and a TV monitor.

The menu structure is admirably easy to navigate. All the primary functions are clearly presented on the main screen with large icons and very readable text. You can access settings via the contextual menus—and for people who love lots of options, the AV700 delivers big-time, letting you adjust everything from the LCD refresh rate and menu color scheme to the power-management profiles for battery and DC operation. Best of all, settings menus are easy to read and understand, and most are limited to a single screen. You can even use the handy virtual keyboard in the contextual menus for renaming files and folders.

The AV700 supports the Microsoft PlaysForSure initiative for downloaded and rented audio and video content. A USB On-The-Go port (in addition to a standard USB 2.0 port), lets you connect to any Mass-Storage-Class device—a digital camera, for example—and do bidirectional file transfers. The AV700 itself is a mass-storage-class device, so it works with both Macs and PCs. The preloaded Mophun gaming engine lets you download Mophun games. Unfortunately, calendar and contact features are exclusive to the Archos PMA series for now, so you won't see them on the AV700.

Audio playback formats include MP3 (at up to 320 Kbps), WMA, protected WMA, and WAV. You can listen via the built-in stereo speakers or the included earbuds, but we're sure those who can afford this device will upgrade the headphones to something like the inexpensive Sennheiser MX400 earbuds at the very least, and preferably to a set with noise isolation or canceling. Line-in audio recording is in WAV (PCM or ADPCM) at sample rates up to a very impressive 48 kHz. You can also create and edit playlists and set bookmarks in songs.

The AV700 records video in MPEG-4 SP AVI format at up to 2,500 Kbps. Just hook the included TV docking pod to the AV700, plug the pod into the wall, and connect any analog video source to the A/V input on the dock using the included cables. (The dock also supports S-Video and composite output.) You can adjust nearly anything, including resolution, bit rate, aspect ratio (four different choices!), and sample rate. There's even an infrared emitter cable that lets you control your VCR or set-top box via the AV700's included wireless remote. The cable also lets the AV700 control other devices for scheduled recordings while you're away.

We recorded some TV shows at various bit rates and watched them on the built-in LCD and a large TV monitor. Video captured at 500 Kbps was nearly unwatchable. Material recorded at 1,500 Kbps looked okay, though we could see compression artifacts. At 2,500 Kbps we got very good results, though we could still discern compression effects.. Audio was properly synchronized in all of our testing, and we were able to edit out commercials directly on the device thanks to some basic cropping tools. Recorded files are limited to 2GB each, but the AV700 will simply close the first file and start a new one if you go over the limit.

Video recorded from your TV directly onto the AV700 will play back on any TV via the A/V cables (just make sure to press the LCD toggle button on the top of the player). One caveat, however: Because the player recognizes Macrovision copy protection, such as that found on Hollywood DVDs, any such content you record on the AV700 will play back only on the built-in screen, since the DRM disables the TV output.

Video playback supports AVI files up to 720-by-480 at 30 frames per second. Handy options include variable-speed playback, repeat and shuffle modes, and bookmarking. On both the built-in LCD and our TV monitor, the videos we loaded onto the AV700 look very good (arm's–length viewing is best for the LCD). We were also able to load TV shows recorded using a Media Center PC, though only via Windows Media Player and only after WMP automatically converted the files. Some recorded shows didn't play back smoothly on the AV700, but the same files looked fine in WMP.

Creative Zen Vision

The Creative Zen Vision occupies its own niche in the portable media player (PMP) market. Unlike the Archos AV and PMA series, it doesn't record video, and it's not as small as the fifth-generation iPod, but its gorgeous 3.7-inch screen provides a very comfortable photo- and video-viewing experience, despite some viewing-angle issues.

Overall, we like the Vision, but we do have a wish list for improvements, like the addition of line-in recording and the ability to make video playlists. And all four units we tested had a problem with background noise in some audio playback. Creative is aware of the issue and is working on a firmware upgrade.

At 4.9 by 2.9 by 0.8 inches and 8.4 ounces, the Vision is smaller and lighter than Creative's initial offering, the Creative Zen Portable Media Center. The 8.4-ounce Vision is sleek, with an anodized magnesium shell and measures 4.9 by 2.9 by 0.8 inches. Thankfully, the surface of the sleek magnesium shell doesn't pick up fingerprints like its predecessor did. The device comes in black or white and has a 30GB hard drive.

Controls are well-laid-out on the right side of the screen, with volume buttons on the top of the device next to the power/hold switch and built-in microphone. The USB 2.0 port and dock connector (for the optional docking cradle) are on the bottom, and the CompactFlash card slot is on the left side. The headphone jack is on the right side (which makes sense considering the Vision's overall shape), and A/V output and power jacks covered by a rubber flap lie next to it.

Although the manual says setup requires installing the Vision drivers and Creative's music transfer manager, we had no trouble simply plugging the device into our PC's USB port and syncing with Windows Media Player 10. The standard USB 2.0 High Speed connection, which replaces the Creative Zen Portable Media Center's proprietary connector, makes transfers speedy.

We loaded the Vision with video, photos, and music. You can also sync your contacts, tasks, and calendars with Microsoft Outlook and Creative's included PIM software. But although you can put the Vision into hard-drive mode to transfer music and data via drag-and-drop, you can't load photos, video, or anything else without Windows Media Player or Creative's software. Also, there's no Mac support.

The interface has been streamlined a bit and surpasses that of many other such devices, with clear, intuitive menus and controls. You can browse music by ID3 tag and photos and video by filename. A pane on the right of the interface lets you jump to specific letters—but just for video and audio, not photos, which are browsable by folder and thumbnail only. The main menu is customizable, which we found very handy for quicker navigation.

Audio format support includes MP3, WAV, and WMA as well as WMA files protected with WM DRM 10, such as those from online music and video subscription, rental, and download services. Subjective audio quality using the default settings has some problems. Despite deep bass and crisp highs, on some tracks, as mentioned earlier, we could clearly hear a background noise that sounds like what you get when you compress music too much. Creative claims the noise is audible on classical music only, but we heard it on jazz, folk, solo piano, and any music with quiet parts.

The included earbuds are actually quite good, and more efficient than most. The built-in mono speaker, however, is nearly useless because of its surprisingly low output. Our formal tests with the included earbuds showed a flat frequency response down into the mid-bass, with an admirably slow rolloff below that. We noted plenty of distortion at maximum volume, but the player puts out a fairly clean signal up to 23 on the 25-step volume scale. Output power via the headphone jack is quite strong: We measured a sustained 104 dB and 110 dB peaks with the included earbuds on our rock test track.

We checked out some of the equalizer settings, but none added anything to the sound quality. The Rock preset results in significant distortion even at normal listening volume, though Jazz doesn't distort even at maximum volume. The custom 5-band EQ gives you 12 dB in either direction, but in our tests, raising any of the sliders more than half way caused distortion.

eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT

The eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT ($390 street) distinguishes itself from the standard nVidia GeForce 7800GT reference design with a striking black graphic on the heat sink and higher clock rates for both core and memory. The 445-MHz core rate is about 11 percent faster than the 400-MHz default, and the 533-MHz (1,070-MHz DDR) memory rate is about 6 percent faster. Despite the overclocking, though, we saw no stability issues during testing, and core temperatures seemed in line with similar products.

There are two boxed versions of the e-GeForce 7800GT: one bundled with Battlefield 2, EA's highly regarded online shooter game, and one without. The $30 price difference is lower than the cost of the game, so if you want but don't already own Battlefield 2, buying the bundle is the better deal. Also included is a video-output dongle that supports component video output, a necessity for connecting to HDTVs.

Juicing up the clock rates resulted in excellent benchmark-test numbers for the e-GeForce 7800GT. On our tests (run on an AMD Athlon 64 FX-55-based system) the card ran noticeably faster than the Chaintech Apogee AE78GT, which is a stock reference design. Even when we turned on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering at 1,600-by-1,200, all the games except Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory achieved playable frame rates. Splinter Cell is a somewhat slower-paced game, so the sub-40 fps rate at high resolution and anti-aliasing settings may be acceptable to many players—but not to hard-core gamers.

With the card, you get a lifetime warranty and round-the-clock online and telephone support. If you're willing to shell out roughly $390, the combination of performance, superb warranty, and access to support at all hours makes the eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT a compelling product, and worthy of our Editors' Choice.

Nokia 9500 Communicator

The most apt analogy for the Nokia 9500 Communicator is a luxury SUV with a four-cylinder engine—big, comfortable, slow, and expensive. While the screen, office applications, and browser are very good, this device just doesn't deliver the power suggested by its considerable heft.

Essentially a bigger, heavier Nokia 9300, the 9500 also has Wi-Fi and a VGA camera added. Its clamshell body opens up to reveal a beautiful 640- by 200-pixel color screen. The keyboard is better than that of the 9300, having slightly domed keys that are more welcoming to fingers, so you're not confined to typing with your thumbs; while you can't quite touch-type on the 9500, you can come close.With the clamshell closed, the 9500 is a huge phone, 5.8 inches long and weighing 7.8 ounces—heavier than other PDA/phone competitors such as the Samsung i730. Despite this, the phone's rectangular shape makes it feel much more like a phone than wider PDAs do, and the external color screen and phone keypad run the familiar Series 40 interface found on lower-end Nokia phones. In "phone-only" mode, you can make calls, access the address book, read (but not answer) e-mail, and read and answer text messages, although for some reason the 9500 doesn't have predictive text capabilities.

As a phone, the 9500 has only average sound quality. We received excellent signal strength on the T-Mobile network, as this is a 900/1800/1900-MHz device (but it's not recommended for Cingular users, despite that carrier's operating in the same bands), but audio transmission sounded a bit muddy. The speakerphone, which turns on when you flip the device open, is actually loud enough for indoor use. A VGA camera on the back of the phone takes overexposed, slightly blurry pictures . Battery life was very good, though, at 11 hours, 5 minutes of talk time and more than a week of standby (though that's sure to drop if you use Wi-Fi).

The 9500's design makes it more of a mini-laptop than a Treo-like e-mail device. It doesn't open flat, so you'll often want to set it down on a table rather than hold it up. With this in mind, it's good that the Communicator comes with a robust set of office software: Microsoft Office–compatible word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications; an Adobe Acrobat viewer; RealPlayer; the Opera browser; an MP3 player; a voice recorder; and PIM applications. The included Microsoft Word reader handles embedded graphics and text formatting, but not tables, thus coming in short of the abilities you'd get with a Windows Mobile 5.0 device or one equipped with DocumentsToGo on the Palm OS platform. The PDF reader handles text well, but has some trouble with complex graphics. Finally, the built-in 80MB of memory and the memory potential of the MMC expansion card slot mean you'll be able to handle plenty of data.

The 9500 is also a "triple-threat" networking device, with Bluetooth, EDGE, and Wi-Fi on board. Bluetooth profiles are pretty basic, with good headset compatibility, file transfer, and syncing with PCs or Macs, but no high-speed Bluetooth 2.0 or stereo audio. The interface for connecting to Wi-Fi networks is very easy to use, and supports both WEP and WPA, though we had trouble connecting to some of our protected networks.

Sadly, the 9500 just doesn't crank out enough horsepower to cover its expansive feature list. We got a decent 700 Kbps downloading a test file using the phone's Wi-Fi connection (the wireless router we were connected to via Wi-Fi had a 1.2-Mbps DSL back-end connection to the Internet), but our testing speeds using the phone's EDGE connectivity on both the T-Mobile and Cingular networks were down in the basement, at 40 to 50 kbps. Video playback is also pretty slow on the phone as well, and although the 9500's delay in opening applications isn't as bad as the 9300's, it's still noticeable. Like the 9300, the 9500 performed poorly on our JBenchmark Java speed tests; we suspect this is because of the combination of a large screen and a slow processor.

Syncing to a PC using Nokia's PC Suite remains a clunky process when compared with how the Palm or Windows Mobile devices do it, and we found some bugs. Most annoyingly, we noted that when entering data in Web forms, the configuration of the keyboard on the 9500 changes so dramatically that we could no longer add punctuation. Another annoyance: You have to remove the battery cover to get at the MMC memory card.

To justify the 9500's size and $799 price tag, it should really be a powerhouse of a phone, and it simply isn't. The Nokia 9300 shares the same features and can do most things the 9500 can, except for Wi-Fi and taking decent photos, and because of the 9500's pathetic performance in those areas, not having those two features isn't much of a loss. Meanwhile, more powerful Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung i730 satisfy a need for speed in a way the 9500 can't match.

Benchmark Tests:
Continuous talk time: 11 hours 5 minutes
JBenchmark 1.1.1: 1765
JBenchmark 2.1.1: 66

Keyboard

Microsoft Media Center Keyboard

Forget operating systems or office suites; in fact, forget software. One of the things that Microsoft has been spectacularly good at over the last five years has been hardware or, more accurately, keyboards and mice. From the first Natural keyboard, through the first optical IntelliMouse - up until recent times, Microsoft has consistently churned out good quality, ergonomic kit.


High-Class Hardware

It's no surprise, then, that Microsoft has made an effort to make kit based around their current plat(form) du jour, Media Center. We have already looked at the remote control that ships with most Media Center PCs, and proclaimed it worthy of attachment to your nearest USB port.

However, one of the great things about Media Center PCs is that whilst they can do all the cool TV stuff, you can still use them as normal PCs. OK, so you might not want to write your doctoral thesis on a 42" plasma, but you can certainly browse the web or check your email - or even root around for photos to show friends and whatnot. This requires a keyboard, not just a remote control. Undoubtedly, there's no point having Media Center in the living room and using a standard, wired keyboard and mouse - that just looks ugly. So, Microsoft has come up with this, which aims to be the only Media Center control device you need.

The Microsoft Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center Edition, to give it its full moniker, is a small keyboard with media buttons on either side and a pointing device built in. The mouse pointer is a small 'nipple', not unlike those seen on IBM Thinkpads. The functions of the Media Center remote are replicated on the left and right of the keyboard, with the iconic Start button and the other sundry shortcuts. Across the top of the keyboard are shortcuts to sections in the software like My Music or My Photos.

In terms of the keys, they are a cross between low-profile laptop keys and full-size ones. The layout is pretty spacious, but eschews a number pad in favour of additional function buttons. The arrow keys are a little cramped, and things are a little tighter than your average desktop keyboard, but the typing experience is a good one, overall.

There's no software included in the box: to install the keyboard, you'll need to get a Windows Update from the web. I don't know why Microsoft can't include a CD with this on in the box - perhaps because it wants people to go through the rigmarole of Windows Genuine Advantage? This restricts downloads to verified non-pirated installations of Windows - something that already applies to stuff like DirectX 9.0c downloads.

Backlighting

Let's take look at those buttons then. They are mounted on sections that are raised on either side of the keys. This puts them squarely over your legs if you're sitting down. However, if you're holding the keyboard, all the buttons are within a thumb's distance, meaning you can happily operate it without having to rest it on a surface. The backlight is a cool orange, which looks pretty snazzy in the dark. However, we can't help but wonder if it should have been green or blue, carrying on the Media Center colour scheme?

There is not a lot to say about the tactile quality of the buttons - they are pretty hardy rather than weak little bits of plastic, and they're firmly attached. The only complaint is that there is no button to quick launch Internet Explorer, which is surely one of the main uses this keyboard will be put to.