BJC-600
, Canon
Like the Epson Stylus Color (see page 58), this is a printer that delivers sharp and vibrant color without bleeding cash. To our collective eyes, the Canon's color output isn't as rich as the Epson Stylus Color's. However, it's still very good, and the Canon BJC-600 is a great deal faster than the Epson at getting the ouput out. Even if you use color only occasionally, you certainly should take a look at this one when it's time to purchase a new printer.
CleanSheet
, Working Title
Objects made easy. CleanSheet is like a construction kit for grown-ups--grown-ups who want to build customized calculation applications without writing any code. You drag the parts (i.e., objects) you need from a palette and then link them togethe
r. Scientists, engineers, and financial modelers will find it a most useful tool.
Collabra Share, Collabra Software
This groupware brings an easy-to-install, easy-to-use conferencing system to your LAN. With Collabra Share, users organize "forums" for discussion. The interaction isn't in real time; it's more like that of a BBS. Threads can include files, such as a spreadsheet, that everyone can comment on or edit. People not on the LAN can be included via regular E-mail. Collabra Share isn't Lotus Notes, but it's much simpler to install, use, and maintain. For certain workgroups, it's a good solution.
CorelDraw 5, Corel
CorelDraw, which regularly sprouts new applications, gets better as it gets bigger. The newest version offers a run-time engine for the CorelShow presentation program, support for morphing in the CorelMove animation application, new lenses for applying photographic effects, improved color management, and a much-better
Photo-Paint image-editing program, among other things. This is an all-in-one graphics shop.
DragonDictate for Windows, Dragon Systems
Dragon Systems has long been at the forefront of PC dictation technology. By delivering a software-only product that supports the most popular PC sound solutions (e.g., the Microsoft Sound System and Creative Labs' Sound Blaster), DragonDictate should propel speech-to-text dictation out of its niche and into the mainstream.
Folio Views 3.1, Folio
This Windows package is one of the best tools around for compiling and indexing massive amounts of text into a collection that can be quickly and easily searched. It's one of the tools that we use in the office to archive the text of BYTE articles.
HP LaserJet 4M Plus, Hewlett-Packard
Our November 1994 Lab Report ranked this model as the best overall printer for general business use, calling it "a leader in the new generati
on of 10- to 12-ppm, 600-dpi lasers." It's easy to set up, can switch between PCL5 and PostScript, and can hold lots of paper.
HP 9000 Series 700 Model 712/60
, Hewlett-Packard
Powerful Unix workstations at Pentium prices. HP uses innovative hardware packaging and the superscalar PA-7100LC CPU to deliver high performance in a system that's a good low-cost entry into workstation computing.
IBM 0662 Model A10, IBM
A 1-GB hard drive. Although our benchmarks rated Micropolis's 1-GB Taurus 4110A drive slightly faster on most tests, no other drive had the Model A10's combination of high capacity, speed, and compactness. IBM's magnetoresistive head technology allows for smaller read/write heads and more dense packing of data on the disks (1 GB on three platters, whereas Micropolis uses five).
Kai's Power Tools, HSC Software
These Photoshop plug-ins extend the capabilities of Adobe's ph
oto-editing program and simplify many of the complex operations. It's a good example of component software; you just plug it in and add features to an application.
LANMeter 675
, Fluke
This handy problem solver--which analyzes and tests protocols, hardware, and cables--can replace a shelf of network-testing tools. Not only can the LANMeter display the distribution of network loads, but it can also show you the source of error packets and, on Token Ring networks, perform soft error-domain analysis. This 4 1/2-pound device saves you from having to understand the low-level engineering of network communications and having to learn how to use a protocol analyzer.
LapLink for Windows, Traveling Software
With this program, Mark Eppley and company make the thankless task of transferring files about as easy as it can get. LapLink's remote-control utility is great, but probably the program's most impressive feature is Speed
Sync, which transfers only those parts of a file that have changed (which helps lower those phone costs).
Myst, Broderbund Software
If you want to see multimedia put to effective use, check out Myst. This package's fantasy-world game might not be as addictive as Doom, but the development effort behind this CD-ROM adventure certainly deserves an award. The animation, background graphics, and design are brilliant. Along with the game, you get QuickTime movies that take you behind the scenes, showing interviews with the people who conceived and programmed this challenging diversion.
One World Fax Server
, Global Village
This fax modem/software combination sits quietly on your LAN and provides shared fax-sending capability to any number of Mac users, taking up only one or two phone lines. A nice solution that sure beats printing out documents and then waiting in line at the office fax machine.
Ope
nDoc, Component Integration Laboratories
This cross-platform compound-document standard, backed by Adobe, Apple, IBM, Novell, WordPerfect, et al., aims to provide a way for users to work with information while operating on different platforms. Like the competing OLE 2.0, OpenDoc goes beyond compound documents to define a full-blown component architecture (see "A Close-Up of OpenDoc," March 1994 BYTE). OpenDoc parts can load dynamically, embed themselves in containers, and respond to commands issued from a variety of languages. Other notable features include vendor neutrality, support for nonrectangular content and multiple active objects, a scripting technology, and DSOM (Distributed System Object Model), which supporters say will give OpenDoc platforms a mechanism for packaging and distributing components.
OS/2 for Windows, IBM
With this version of OS/2, Big Blue has delivered a solution for people who want a 32-bit operating system that supports preempt
ive multitasking and multithreading while being able to run DOS, Windows 3.11, and native OS/2 applications on a relatively modest PC. It's easy for Windows users to get started with it because the operating system installs right on top of the Windows version that's already on their machines.
Photoshop 3.0, Adobe Systems
Adobe soups up the performance of its premier image-editing package; it's now significantly faster. Another welcome addition is support for multiple layers, which lets you place (and then work on) elements on different layers. The new Windows version supports multithreading under NT, so it takes advantage of dual-processor PCs.
Quicken Deluxe 4 for Windows
, Intuit
Intuit upgraded the various versions of this top-selling personal finance program, making it easier for new users and more powerful for experienced users. Most impressive is the Deluxe 4 version for Windows. This CD-ROM lets you stroll t
hrough an office, library, and conference room to gather information (on, say, mutual funds). It includes special appearances by financial experts Jane Bryant Quinn and Marshall Loeb, who answer questions about investments and offer generalized advice.
Silver Streak, Tut Systems
This $99 connector essentially turns plain old telephone wiring into 10-Mbps cabling--it's Ethernet without the thinnet. A Silver Streak LAN can have up to 30 Ethernet connections per segment. BYTE contributing editor Barry Nance set up and tested a Silver Streak network and remarked that "LAN packets flowed normally." When you add it all up, Tut's solution isn't less expensive than going with Ethernet cabling. But it's an innovative idea, it works, and it makes sense for small LANs.
Simon
, IBM/BellSouth
This personal communicator combines a cellular phone, an 8600-bps fax modem, E-mail, cellular paging, and several productivity programs (e.
g., a calendar, an address book, and a notepad) in an 18-ounce device that's the size of a slim walkie-talkie. Simon succeeds at being what it tries to be, which is not a personal computer but a mobile communications device.
SoftWindows for Mac, Insignia Solutions
This emulation package allows you to run DOS and Windows programs on a Power Mac. The speed isn't fantastic--it's comparable to that of a 386--but SoftWindows is a solid solution for folks who really have to run Windows applications on a Mac.
SparcBook 3
, Tadpole Technology
Tadpole put a lot of thought into the design of this mobile system, reviewer Steve Apiki said in the August 1994 issue. It's the smallest and lightest (6 1/2 pounds) of last year's wavelet of SPARC portables. (Sun's SparcStation Voyager is faster, but it weighs over 15 pounds.) Tadpole's Nomadic Computing Environment provides some network-configuration capabilities and a nice save-r
esume feature that stores the contents of memory when you shut down the system and then reloads it when you start it up again.
Stylus Color
, Epson
It was a very good year for color ink-jet printers, with Epson and Canon both coming out with low-cost units that produce amazingly sharp color images. You've got to see the Stylus Color's output to believe it. You've also got to wait a while to see it; speed is not this printer's forte. But its price is so low (around $600) that it'll make you wonder why anyone would buy a black-and-white model.
System 7.5, Apple Computer
The latest Mac OS, for both 680x0 and PowerPC systems. Strategic new elements in the interface can improve a user's productivity. Important additions, such as the Thread Manager, enable developers to tailor their applications to exploit features in the future Copland release.
TMS 320C80, Texas Instruments
Deve
lopers and analysts raved over this DSP (digital signal processor). One called it "the god of DSPs." The chip, also called the MVP (multimedia video processor), integrates four 64-bit DSPs, a 32-bit RISC CPU, dual video controllers, a DMA controller, and 50 KB of static RAM onto one chip. TI says it can handle 2 billion operations per second. The 320C80 should start showing up in high-end video boards, image processors, and videoconferencing systems soon.
V.34 technology, Motorola
Although Motorola Codex's 3260 Fast device didn't win the top spot in our July 1994 Lab Report on V.34 modems (Hayes's Optima 28800 V.FC + Fax did), it did score the fastest in the impaired-line test. Travelers who've had to deal with lousy phone lines at hotels and airports will appreciate this. Plus, Motorola is one of the few modem makers that doesn't charge you extra for upgrading to V.34. That, in our opinion, deserves kudos.
screen_link (19 Kbytes)
screen_link (58 Kbytes)
screen_link (18 Kbytes)
screen_link
screen_link (31 Kbytes)
screen_link (126 Kbytes)
screen_link (34 Kbytes)
screen_link (18 Kbytes)
screen_link (17 Kbytes)
Awards of Distinction
