| Product: |
PC Plus |
| Date: |
14/12/05 (48 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Interesting read
Disadvantages: Expensive
PCPlus has updated itself in the December 2005 edition due to increased competition in it's market sector. The magazine seems to be aimed at IT professionals and people who have more intermediate computer knowledge i.e. those that know the difference between an operating system and an office suite.
Accompanying CD/DVD-
Each issue the magazine has a CD edition and a DVD edition containing software. The DVD edition is about £2 more expensive but contains more software. The software is a mixture of trial programs e.g. Dreamweaver, copies of commercial programs for home use e.g. ZoneAlarm and open source software e.g. The Gimp. The software is divided into categories such as alternative operating systems, utilities and development.
Before the wide availability of broadband in the UK these CDs and DVDs where very useful as they allowed you to get software without having to endure a long download and clogging up your phone line, however now I have noticed that some software is an edition behind on the CD/DVD then what can be downloaded from the web.
The CD/DVDs still open your eyes to the wide range of software that is available usually for free, and although I have never done this some trial software allows you to upgrade to a full edition for a much cheaper price.
The Magazine-
The magazine as well as containing IT news/current events and readers letters contains sections called tutorials (Hands On), watchdog, helpdesk and reviews.
The tutorial section covers linux and mac computing as well as microsoft software. There are also articles on the programming languages Delphi, Java and C#.
In the current edition there is a OpenOffice 2 on the CD/DVD and a tutorial showing you how to use this office suite to make a marketing flyer. Not all tutorials are indepth as this and some just point out an element of a subject that is not widely known. I have never done any of the longer tutorials and perfer the shorter tutorials.
Watchdog deals with consumer complaints. When a consumer complains over a faulty product/service and gets no response from the company and writes to the magazine the magazine my take the complaint up to resolve the issue. The magazine is more likely to take up complaints from products/services it has reviewed.
Helpdesk is a section of the magazine that uses a panel of experts to solve a wide range of readers computer problems. In the December 2005 issue these included how to set up a wireless network using NTL broadband, what is CC and BCC in emails and what are the strange packets in a mixed Operating System network.
The review section seems to be the biggest section of the magazine and looks at hardware, software, computer services and components that are newly available on the UK market. Each issue the magazine takes one item such as broadband services, desktop PC under £1000 or routers and compares a selection of the items against each other using a certain set of criteria. The review articles are written by different people and are therefore only subjected to their individual bias.
Summary
After reading the magazine I find the layout of the pages cluttered and find the magazine no more informative than it's competitors which are PCPro and Personal Computer World. I only buy this magazine once or twice a year when one of the articles screams out to me on the newstand and unfortunately nothing in this revamp will make me subscribe.
Pros:
1. Informative
2. Comes with CD/DVD of software
Cons:
1. Expensive if not a subscriber
2. Some of the software on the CD/DVD out of date and freely available on the internet
3. Nothing to differientate it from it's competitors unless you are a Delphi programmer.
Rating-
5 out of 5 for quality of writing and information on subject matter.
4 out of 5 for reviews
2 out of 5 for layout of magazine
3 out of 5 for originality
2 out of 5 for price
3 out of 5 for the accompany DVD/CD
Summary: Not different from it's competitors
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