Personal Computer World Magazine (Personal Computer World)

Member Name: stuleg

Product:	Personal Computer World
Date:	24/02/05 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good at the promotion price

Disadvantages: Planty of adverts

Time was when I used to buy four or five computer magazines a month, as someone who has only been connected to the internet for about five years computer magazines used to represent the only way I had of finding out computer related information, news or reviews. Now in my mind the internet has done away with the need for most magazines of the computing ilk, who wants to pay £5.99 when the information is available in much more depth and for free (excluding your ISP cost of course) on the internet. Nevertheless, while going about my weekly shop in Tesco I noticed (between the nerds who insists on standing and reading the magazines before putting them back) Personal Computer World Magazine at a special issue price of £2.99, it looked a hefty tome at 284 pages and had a couple of free CD-ROMs attached to the front so I took the plunge and dropped it in my trolley for later perusal. The issue promising all kinds of exciting titbits within - AMD Motherboards would be put to the test; Wifi Laptops would be examined in detail and important information on how to secure my notebook were all but the turn of a page away. There seemed nothing else for it then but to grab a steaming mug of coffee and start reading. The magazine is broken up into sections to help the reader navigate easily with a double page contents listing two pages in, the sections are:-

Regulars

The regular features are scattered throughout the magazine and start with an editorial in which Rob Jones (the editor) examines home media centres and the fact that PC`s have moved from being mere gaming machines to an essential lifestyle machine. Another page and a half is given over to contact information with phone numbers and email addresses listed for most of the staff working on the magazine. Also a half page advertisers index is positioned near the front for speedy reference. Other regular features include a letters page in which anything computer related can be written in about, this month the star letter is bemoaning the hidden price of cheap PC`s, a letter which earned the author a TV graphics card. A smattering of columns discussing anything from digital cameras to digital TV are positioned throughout the magazine while the three page best buys section is a must see for those about to purchase anything PC related. Near the back of the magazine is a section called Micro Mart which is a collection of small adverts offering anything from Cheap Ink cartridges to blank CD-R`s and mobile scanners. Finally, the last but one page in the magazine holds a look at what will be in next months issue, with an in-depth look at A3 and A4 photo printers and instructions to build your own media centre all promised for those who are willing to part with their money again in four weeks time.

News

Unsurprisingly given its name the news section keeps the reader up to date with the latest goings on in the world of computing. This month’s section informs us that BT are using faster cable speeds to woo business users and also exciting new steps to try and stop security breaches to UK businesses online operations. All together there are twelve pages of news on which most of the articles are short and punchy with good photographic support where appropriate.

Reviews

Probably the main reason computer magazines are bought and read – the reviews section covers a gamete of hardware and software with each item receiving a thorough benchmark and comparison chart. This month six laptops are measured up against each other as well as wireless routers and laser printers. A far more thorough run through of DV Camcorders is given three pages with each of the six models featured given a good write up, a grid is then written at the end of the section so that comparing the six different Camcorders is a simple matter of scanning down the grid. This treatment is also given to TV tuner cards and cooling kits.

Cover Disks

My experience of cover disks is that they are very much a hit and miss affair – occasional gems of useful software bundled with plenty of rubbish that is not worth the effort to install, but it seems that PC World magazine has got a fair mix of utilities, game demos and trial programs so that even a cynic like me should be able to find something of use. Full programs include Internet cleanup 3, Panda Antivirus 7, Privacy Expert PE, Internet Anonym 5 and Alcohol 52%. Now these are not the latest versions of each piece of software but are non the less quite handy if no other Anti virus or internet cleanup software is owned, there is also the option to upgrade to the newest version of each particular utility for a price. Game demos seem to be firmly set in the football genre with Championship Manager 03/04 and Fifa 2004 joined by UEFA Euro 2004 and Splinter Cell: Pandora tomorrow, a nice idea if you have one of the games in mind but are reluctant to part with the ever increasing price of a computer game. A smattering of other utilities makes up the contents with buyers guides and handy programs to improve Windows all just a mouse click away.

Hands On

The Hands On section is firmly aimed at the computer user who likes to scratch beneath the surface to read about and participate in the deeper capabilities of their computers programs. Tutorials are given on subjects such as managing RSS feeds and enhancing the command-line interface. Each subject is perfectly written to satisfy the expert without alienating the novice.

Leisure

The leisure section is positioned near the rear of the magazine and comprises seven pages of the latest game reviews and news as well as an interesting article on retro computing on the Amiga and a couple of competitions to win the latest graphics card from Sapphire or a PC World voucher. For those so inclined there is also a computer related prize crossword and some coffee time puzzles. It would have been nice to have a larger games section in my opinion as this would broaden the magazines appeal but I guess there are other games only magazines that perform the role admirably.

My thoughts

Personal Computer World Magazine is a nice read for all things PC related but I’m not sure I will be a regular buyer. At £2.99 it is priced well but that is just the promotion price, at its regular price of £4.99 I cannot see the value in it. A massive amount of advertising breaks up the magazine, I calculate that up to a third of the 284 pages are adverts which is not unusual in such magazines but non the less seems a lot to me. The information contained is good but as I have said the games section could really do with being twice as big as it is while an idiot’s guide or two covering those seemingly silly little questions would be welcome and help to welcome new computer users into the fold. There are a few nice programs on the cover disks but they are swamped by the fillers that are not worth bothering with. None the less I’ll give three stars out of five and recommend the magazine as an OK occasional read.

www.pcw.co.uk
Published by VNU business Publications
Annual Subscription available from £26

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