| Product: |
Practical Internet |
| Date: |
03/12/01 (134 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Quality Journalism, Great Giveaways, Suitable for all Levels
Disadvantages: Expensive
Practical Internet is one of many, many net-devoted magazines on the market. I’m normally a WebUser reader, but have begun to find it a bit ‘beginner level’ for me and so went down to my local newsagent to look for one a bit more advanced and challenging. After flicking through several, I decided on Practical Internet – mainly because this edition (Dec 2001) contains a free CD with a whopping £1,362 of software on it.
Published by Paragon (www.paragon.co.uk), the mag weighs in at a hefty 162 semi-glossy pages. Like all magazines it’s heavy on the advertising, but between the ads are some outstanding articles and tutorials from beginner to advanced level.
The mag is split into sections, which are:
News – all the latest on the web
Backchat – including reader’s experiences and consumer problems
Buyer’s Guide – this month’s is an extensive guide to ISPs
Q & A – the Practical Internet team answer your queries
Reviews – all the latest software and hardware
Your Business – ecommerce advice
Tutorials – 40 pages of step-by-step on a range or net-related activities
As well as this there are special sections on fixing net errors, destroying net nasties, and a very good section for beginner-intermediate users containing 60 net time savers.
This month’s tutorials are Web Browsing (getting the most our of IE6), Web Building (the advanced features of Windows XP), and Special Projects (an excellent guide to building a site using Dreamweaver 4 that is better written and explained than any book I’ve bought on the subject).
There are also several well-written pages devoted to using the free CD. On the CD, to name but just a few, is IE6, Netscape 6.1 and Tiscali, plus SpeedConnect (which speeds up your modem for faster net access), Laplink Pro (which enables you to link up your home PCs), SoftBulk
Email (send the same mail to dozens of recipients at once), and the excellent Dazzler Deluxe 3.1, which lets you create great multimedia presentations for the web. I haven't tried Dazzler Deluxe yet, but a designer friend tells me it's brilliant.
Practical Internet is quality journalism, written in an easy-to-understand and follow style, which neither confuses you nor talks to you as if you’re 4. The articles are interesting, in-depth and genuinely useful. All in all this is an extremely professional publication.
It’s a real ‘meaty’ read with lots to learn and try out, which will keep you going until the next issue.
At £4.99 it ain’t cheap, but you get a hell of a lot of quality stuff for your money. I will definitely be buying Practical Internet again and would recommend it to users of all levels who want to get the most out of the net for both business and pleasure.
In a vastly overcrowded market, I think this magazine will stay the distance.
Summary:
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Last comment:
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Ophelia - 03/12/01 Does sound very useful. I'll look out for this one. Good op. |
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