Sorry this is a little late for products from ‘last
year’. But, these are still the best of the best
for 2003 or 2004.
Scanner: Epson Perfection 4870. The Epson Perfection
4870 Photo scanner (US$450 street) is possibly the best desktop
flatbed scanner available today, it even rivals professional
scanners costing thousands. Connects via USB and Firewire.
Digital Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR. 6.3-megapixels
for under US$900. The Digital Rebel accepts all existing
Canon EOS lenses, but the new mount paves the way for a range
of newer, smaller, and cheaper lenses designed specifically
for the Digital Rebel.
Printer: Canon MultiPass MP730. Providing high-quality
output, excellent print speed, slots for five types of memory
cards, and separate cartridges for its color inks, the Canon
MultiPass MP730 is the best multifunction printer of the year.
But, get this: it also has a fax modem and an automatic document
feeder. Its only slow area is scanning, but the loss of speed
is offset by the excellent scan results.
Utility Software: PartitionMagic 8.0 Using this application,
you can easily create, copy, resize, and modify drive
partitions—without losing any data. And it offers several
tools you won’t find in competing products.
AND:
DVD X Copy V1.3 Video quality of copied discs
is pristine, since there’s no recompression or altering
of the files from the original disc. All audio and video options,
such as those that provide commentary and viewing from multiple
camera angles, remain.
Portable MP3 (Music) Player: Apple iPod Mini. Holds
4GB of music, over 1,000 songs! Priced at a little over
US$200.
PC Computer Game: Madden NFL 2004. Boasting great graphics
and elaborate game play, Madden NFL 2004 (available on
most platforms) is the most realistic football game going.
Educational Software: Zoombinis Island Odyssey. Greedy
creatures called Bloats have ruined the ecological balance
of Zoombini Island. Your task is to lead teams of Zoombinis
on a journey across the island, resolving math and logic puzzles
along the way and restoring the island’s habitat.
And lastly, from the 2004 CES(Computer Electronic Show): Griffin
Technologies released its new USB-based PC Nanny, the $59
ControlKey PC lock. With special software, ControlKey
locks down a PC’s Internet connection and file system,
holding it hostage until the physical key is connected to
a USB port on the computer.
Book Review for MAC users: “Fix a Troubled Mac, v1.3”
So you have gone the Mac route and have kidded all your ‘PC’
friends because YOUR Mac NEVER breaks down? Well perhaps
you have had a few problems like -failed tape backups, incorrect
network settings, missing CD installers, flashing start-up
disks. Now you’ve discovered that your Mac is not as
trouble free as one is led to believe. If this sounds
like your problem, then this book is definitely for you. It
takes you through step by step assistance for troubleshooting
numerous issues, be it hardware, or networking or software,
Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X. Once you start reading or referring
to this book for advice, it really feels like having your
own Mac-friendly IT support person with you all the times,
but not at the hourly rate that they usually charge.
Have a question or problem? Write me at BaliPCAdvisor@GMail.com.
I’ll try and answer as soon as I can.
Bali PC Advisor and other Bali Advertiser article Archives
now ONLINE: http://baliadvertiser.biz/articles/index.html.
NEXT: WiFi comes to Bali.
PakBruce, your Bali PC Advisor!
