Access 2.0, Microsoft
With new features that make it easy to learn and use, together with enhanced development tools, this object-oriented relational database can serve dabblers as well as developers.
Contura Aero 4/33c, Compaq
The Kate Moss of notebooks. This svelte color unit weighs only 5 pounds even with its optional external floppy drive, battery pack, and adapter. If it had a better screen than its passive-matrix display, this would be a killer notebook.
CorStream, Artisoft
A high-speed NetWare 4 server with the easy-to-use LANtastic interface. One of the best products to be shown at Spring Comdex 1994.
The Debugger, Jasik Designs
If you want to do serious source code and assembly language Macintosh programming, this is the debugge
r you need. It supports both 680x0 and PowerPC assembly language and source code deinfestation. The Debugger's ability to display and debug two processor instruction sets simultaneously is an extraordinary piece of programming.
DM-5028 DoubleSpeed Plus, Plextor
This unit was rated the best overall double-speed CD-ROM drive in our September 1994 Lab Report for its excellent combination of speed and price ($409). It led the pack in text-searching speed and came in second in sequential-throughput speed.
Internet-in-a-Box, Spry/O'Reilly & Associates
One of the slickest programs for pointing and clicking your way through the data jungle. This kit simplifies accessing the Internet from your Windows PC. It includes Spry's FTP, Telnet, Gopher, mail, news, WAIS (Wide Area Information Service), and Mosaic tools, as well as O'Reilly's Global Network Navigator.
Quadra 630
, Apple Computer
One of the
best multimedia machines there is, with built-in video support and a TV tuner if you want it. Affordable, too.
RAM Doubler, Connectix
A cool system utility that effectively doubles the amount of RAM available to Mac applications; it uses a neat data-compression mechanism.
SoftBoard, Microfield Graphics
This $2995 conferencing peripheral looks like a standard whiteboard. But it also displays the written information simultaneously on a PC or Mac hooked in via a modem and a phone line. Great for meetings with people in remote offices.
TD-4 Personal Workstation, Intergraph
Two 90-MHz Pentiums in a box, with a high-performance graphics subsystem. Perfect for CAD, modeling, and NT applications.
T4800CT
, Toshiba
The Cadillac of portables. The Windows notebook of choice if you're willing to pay $6400 for speed (the system has a DX4/75 CPU), long battery life (5
hours), and a very sharp color display. It makes a nice desktop replacer.
TrueSpace, Caligari
If you've wanted to try 3-D illustration but were daunted by the idea of learning how to use a complex CAD-type program, check out this Windows package.
Vectra XU 5/90C
, Hewlett-Packard
A 90-MHz Pentium PC with a design that our testers found "well-considered." The XU offers IDE and SCSI-2 storage, networking, and video acceleraton (via an S3 chip) integrated on the motherboard via the PCI bus. Take the top off, and it's easy to access the components.
Watcom C/C++ 10.0, Watcom
Now a complete graphical development environment. From a DOS, Windows, OS/2, or NT host, you can generate executables for those platforms, as well as for NetWare and AutoCAD.
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Awards of Merit
