Novatel has come out with a couple of new ExpressCard versions for Cingular and Verizon cellular broadband networks. I recommend both new cards. But the two high-speed networks are very different.
Vista is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced, Walt Mossberg says. But while navigation has been improved, the successor to XP isn’t a breakthrough in ease of use.
The FlipStart, part of a new wave of tiny Windows PCs, has a decent battery life, but its awkward, in-between size and $2,000 price tag is likely to keep it a niche product. (Video)
New PCs force consumers to spend hours weeding out teaser software and ads that slow down the machines. The problem is a lack of respect for the consumer: manufacturers don’t act as if the computer belongs to you.
Many people are furious about so-called craplets, the unwanted programs that come loaded on most new PCs. Until computer makers stop dumping these junk programs on us, here are some strategies for avoiding them.
Walt provides some tips for making laptop purchases. First, you may want to wait to get that new laptop until later this year or early in 2008. There are a number of interesting new hardware features coming.(Video)
New laptops from Toshiba and Dell tackle the design challenge of being both small and powerful. Both machines are stylish and worked fine in the tests, but Walt finds flaws that might give a buyer pause.
Walt Mossberg tests Fusion, another option for running Windows, and Windows programs, on a Mac. The program let him switch between each operating system rapidly and smoothly without slowing down his computer.
Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office isn’t as powerful or versatile as its rival. Walt faults iWork ‘08 for emphasizing elegance over the nuts and bolts of writing and number-crunching, but praises Apple’s alternative to PowerPoint. (Video)
Walt reviews Linux’s relatively slick Ubuntu variation and finds the alternative operating system too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users. (Video)
It’s time for Walt’s annual fall PC buyer’s guide and, surprisingly, 10 months after Microsoft’s Vista operating system emerged, Vista is still the biggest puzzle in consumers’ computer-buying decisions.
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
Ethics Statement
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.