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Best of the Tests 2010
We tested more than 100 products in 2009 in a wide variety of categories, but 15 of those products stood head and shoulders above the rest and earn our Best of the Tests Award. Read More
WHITE PAPER: Qwest
Connecting to Better Customer Service
Less than a third of surveyed IT executives believe their companies are "highly effective" at adapting to changing customer needs and priorities. Businesses that build a robust voice and data network infrastructure can achieve a high level of responsiveness, and transform customer information and feedback into actionable results. Click here.
WHITE PAPER: Riverbed
WAN Optimization Can Multiply IT Efficiencies
Data center consolidation, regulatory compliance and a more distributed environment are some of the IT initiatives making a comprehensive and robust disaster recovery plan more important than ever before. The Enterprise Strategy Group highlights trends in DR, the role of virtualization and the impact of WAN optimization. Learn more.
7 most useful Firefox add-ons
These heavy-duty browser add-ons can replace desktop applications. Read More
Fave raves: IT pros' favorite products
Readers dish on their must-have network products. Read More
Visual tour: Windows Phone 7
Microsoft's Windows 7 Phones Series mobile OS blends stylish Zune interface with new features for socializing, sharing, and office productivity. Read More
ZyXEL's NWA-3166 Wireless Access Point
Building and maintaining a wireless network isn't difficult when all of your employees fit around a single access point. Once you need to juggle radio profiles, security settings, and Quality of Service (QoS) configurations for multiple access points across an office building, a dedicated wireless-management product starts to look compelling. Read More
Dell's 5130cdn Laser Printer: Fast and Furious
The Dell 5130cdn color laser printer aims high--and on nearly all counts, it succeeds. It has the speed and features that a high-volume office needs, and it's also on target with its nearly perfect print quality. The price is high ($1549 as of February 16, 2010), but over the long haul its superlow cost per page will save you money. Read More
HP LaserJet CP4025dn: One of the Best
The HP Color Laserjet Enterprise CP4025dn is a workgroup color laser printer with speed and features to spare. Though not quite as fast as the Dell 5130cdn, the HP costs a little less ($1300 as of February 24, 2010) and offers smoother print quality. Its toner costs are economical, too. Read More
Acer Aspire 5740-6378: Affordable, But Lacking
The Acer Aspire 5740-6378 parks itself next to most midrange laptops. It feels fast enough for all common productivity applications; carries a big, 15.6-inch screen; and has nearly all the inputs and outputs you could want. But it never reaches beyond that middle ground. Its big screen makes it a good portable movie player, but without a dedicated graphics processor or 1080p resolution, it balks at gaming and high-end media. If you can get by with only adequate video performance--and matching audio, trackpad, and battery performance for that matter--the Aspire achieves its midrange aspirations: It's not too slow and not too fast. Many will want more, but for some, it will be just right. And at a price around $800, it won't break the bank. Read More
WHITE PAPER: Actuate
Selecting the Right Reporting Technology
Today, dynamic reports have emerged as the most visual, widely used and impactful part of enterprise applications. In order to increase the usability and value of applications, ISVs must embed a technology into their products to add rich, interactive, Web 2.0 reporting and analytics to attract and retain customers. Learn more!
MSI Wind Top AE2220: Great Upgrades, Bad Display
We've taken manufacturers to task for offering limited upgrades between their cycles of all-in-one desktops, and MSI almost escapes a talking-to with its Wind Top AE2220. This 21.6-inch successor to the MSI Wind Top AE2010 comes in at a total price of $949. That's $300 more than the AE2010, but it's money well-spent: the AE2220 is faster, larger, and more feature-packed in nearly every recordable category. But this is an all-in-one system, and the display is a critical part of the equation. It's the one place where the AE2220 actually performs worse than its older sibling. Read More
HP Slimline s5370t: Trims the Fat and Features
Although it's roughly half the width of a common midtower desktop, the HP Slimline s5370t does a great job of surpassing many of its value PC peers in performance. But you'll pay a lot for the s5370t's diet. Larger computers make full use of their fatter profiles to deliver a flurry of connections and upgrade possibilities that HP's little PC just can't match. And given the constraints of its trimmed-down profile, the s5370's $1089 price (as of February 19, 2010) makes this a difficult sell. Read More
ASUS EeeBox PC EB1501: Stylish, But Not Speedy
The EeeBox 1501 is a compact PC that could do well next to your TV, or in the dorm room--anywhere space is at a premium. And unlike most mini-PCs its size, it has an optical drive (a DVD writer/reader). That puts it in direct competition with Dell's Zino HD, so let's see how the two compare. Read More
Apple iMac (21.5-Inch, Late 2009): Fast, But Not Cheap
Though Apple's high-end ($2000+) iMacs are the first all-in-one PCs with Core i5 and Core i7 processor options--not to mention big and beautiful 27-inch displays--the cheapest iMacs now all come with 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo processors. These entry-level $1200 and $1500 iMacs both feature 21.5-inch displays (and replace the 20-inch iMac from early 2009), while the 27-inch 3.06GHz iMac is now the middle ground in price at $1700. Here we look at the $1200 iMac, tested using Boot Camp and 64-bit Windows 7. Read More
Dell Inspiron Zino HD: Attractive, Good Performance
The ideal home-theater PC is capable of dishing out high-definition media, while remaining unobtrusive--qualities the Dell Inspiron Zino HD excels at. The miniscule 8-by-8-inch shell will fit about anywhere you can think of, is whisper-quiet, and can hook up to your HDTV or computer monitor using its HDMI or VGA connections. It also has two eSATA ports and four USB slots (perfect for connecting external hard drives full of media), and a multiformat media card reader makes it convenient to view photos on the big screen. Read More
HP Compaq 6005 Pro Small Form Factor PC
HP's Compaq 6005 Pro Small Form Factor PC--yes, that's its full name--is about as big a compact system as its name is long. This system's relatively plain, all-black enclosure reflects the simplicity of its components and feature list. You aren't getting a lot of whiz-bang computing with the 6005 save for its processing speed. But at that, the 6005 delivers one of the better price-for-performance trade-offs on the Value PCs chart. Its $899 cost (as of February 1, 2010) might seem to be a lot for a system that isn't wrapped in a standard minitower case, but the 6005 plays within the realm of the category's top systems in performance, before the rest of its specs get left in the dust. Read More
Acer Aspire Z5600-U1352's Upgrades Disappoint
When we last left the Acer Aspire Z5610, this all-in-one system was suffering from the dreaded "really good-but-not-great" designation. General speeds were excellent, but the system's other omissions--including a less-than-appealing 320GB of storage and no upgrading--added some scuffs to what would otherwise have been a picture-perfect desktop device. Acer's Aspire Z5600-U1352 ($999, as of February 22, 2010) is in many ways a successor to the Z5610. But just how far does this system go to fix the minor problems of its predecessor? Read More
WHITE PAPER: Splunk
Make IT Data a Strategic Asset
This paper outlines the struggles organizations face managing silos of IT data and how, using Splunk, users are changing the way they do their jobs and elevating the role of IT in their organizations. Learn More!
HP Pavilion HPE-170t: Top Performance, Some Quirks
At first glance, HP's Pavilion HPE-170t might look out of place in the Value PC category. And it almost is: Its price of $1434 (as of February 19, 2010) nearly shoots above the category's limit, close enough to make anyone wonder about the "value" in this desktop. The HPE-170t, however, is a tremendous deal, as its performance beats out every single value system on our charts--and even rivaling all but the fastest of the power PCs we've reviewed. You don't often find a system with this wicked combination of savings and speed--but note that HP made a few sacrifices to get there. Read More
EeeTop PC ET2203T Does Blu-ray on a Budget
Although the 21.6-inch EeeTop 2203T all-in-one PC cuts corners a little here and there compared with other models on our Big Screen All-in-One PCs (Over 20 Inches) chart, Asus has done an excellent job of balancing features and price ($1050 as of February 1, 2010). Read More
Micro Express MicroFlex 75B Redefines 'Value'
The 75B's price of $700 (as of February 1, 2010) represents a considerable discount for the killer performance you get from this Intel Core i7-750-based system. While it's not without flaws, the 75B's superb mix of general and gaming performance, and its category-defying connectivity, does much to make it a top contender for users of all kinds. Read More
Viewsonic VOT530: Small, Speedy, But Not Strong
If you can't stand the thought of a PC that's larger than a one-volume encyclopedia, Viewsonic's $750 (as of February 1, 2010) VOT530 is one of the speedier compact alternatives. Read More
HP EliteBook 8440W
The HP EliteBook 8440w won't win awards for ultrathin design elements or elegant looks, but underneath the almost military-style exterior is a quad-core Intel CPU coupled with an nVidia Quadro FX 380M professional-grade graphics processor. When you first unpack the laptop, the muted magnesium-clad system impresses with its solid feel. While the body of the unit is mostly plastic, it's a dense, unyielding plastic that exudes ruggedness without seeming overbuilt. Priced at $1649 (as of February 23, 2010), the 8440w isn't the least expensive all-purpose laptop, but it delivers robust performance in a 5.3-pound package. Read More
Lenovo IdeaPad U150: Stylish Slimline
With the IdeaPad U150, Lenovo continues stepping gradually from the bookish land of ThinkPads into the world of cool ultraportables. Weighing less than 3 pounds, and stylish to boot, the U150 is an eye-catching little thing. Performance is right around the median for an ultraportable, and at $749, the pricing is a little bit higher than I'd like, but the U150 is so darned cool-looking that it just about justifies its cost with sheer style. Read More
Toshiba Satellite T135D-S1324: Easy on the Eyes
Though the awkward model number doesn't roll off the tongue, the Toshiba Satellite T135D-S1324 ultraportable laptop is a slim, sleek package that offers some pleasant surprises while making a few compromises. For one thing, the glossy black chassis, accented with a subtle carbon-fiber graphic, can be a magnet for fingerprints and smudges; but the unit's subtle curves and smart tapering down (from about 1.5 inches in back to just over a half inch in the front) make it a good design for carrying in your hand or in a bag. Along the front edge of the chassis is a row of LED status lights (power, Wi-Fi, hard-drive access, and so on), which are visible whether the laptop is open or closed. Thankfully, they're small, neatly arranged, and not annoyingly bright. Overall, the T135D-S1324 maintains the trim, classy look of Toshiba's Satellite line. Read More
ACDSee Pro 3.0: Capable but A Bit Inefficient
Think about the number of photos squirreled away on your hard drive--or across multiple drives, for that matter. If you're an average user, it's probably in the many thousands. Finding those images can be a challenge, though, which is where ACDSee Pro Version 3.0 comes in ($170, upgrade $90; prices as of February 8, 2010). Read More
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