Troy Dreier

Sure, shopping for electronics is no picnic. You drive to a store so large its visible from space and wander the maze-like aisles until you find what you need. But at least theres a clerk or two there to help you—often poorly informed and commission-motivated, but its help nonetheless. Shop for batteries, though, and youre […]

At A Glance Apple has updated its .Mac suite of online tools, giving subscribers more for their $99.95 yearly fee. Theyll now get more storage (1GB, up from 250MB), a new service called Groups for creating instant online shared spaces, and a simplified backup tool. Its not all good news, though, as one of the […]

Its the do-it-yourself approach to home security: Why pay a company when you can install cameras yourself? The ones reviewed here let you view your home while youre away, to check in and get a little peace of mind. Networked home-security cameras arent new, but with more families running wireless networks, adding a camera or […]

ZIFFPAGE TITLEAt a Glance Company:Microsoft Inc., www.microsoft.comPrice:$400 street Pros:Mac-only features, such as the handy Project Center. New tool for checking PC compatibility of documents. Excellent integration.Cons:No integrated database. PowerPoint still trails Apples Keynote in creating artistically designed presentations. Not cheap.Bottom line:Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is packed with a host of new features, some of […]

ZIFFPAGE TITLEAt a Glance The Apple iPod Mini is smaller, but just as stylish (and pricey) as its predecessors. Company:Apple Computer Inc., www.apple.comPrice:$249 directSpec Data:6-line display, 4GB hard disk, FireWire, USB 2.0Requires:FireWire or USB 2.0 port; Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X 10.3 or later recommended) or Microsoft Windows 2000, SP4 or […]

Apple iMacs are always beautifully designed, but the latest, a $2,199 (direct) system with a gorgeous 20-inch flat screen (up from 17), is almost too striking to relegate to a desktop. The super-sized display is a joy to view whether youre watching movies, surfing the Web, or even crunching numbers. This iMac marks a high […]

For those who found the ultraportable 12-inch Apple PowerBook too small and the 17-inch too large, chances are the new Apple PowerBook G4 15-Inch ($1,999 or $2,599 direct, depending on configuration) will feel just right. Serious road-warriors had the ultraportable, desk-bound creative-types were covered by the larger notebook, and now the new laptop makes the […]

Mac users, prepare to pounce. Panther, the code name for Apples latest operating system iteration, OS X 10.3, delivers enough useful and eye-catching improvements—like Exposé, fast user switching, and iChat AV—to warrant an upgrade. Complete the easy, if somewhat lengthy, installation procedure (which took half an hour on a new dual-G5 but nearly an hour […]

When Apples Steve Jobs introduced the Apple Power Mac G5 this summer as the fastest personal computer any company had built to date, we took it with a grain of salt. After all, Apple had made that boast in the past, and those claims did not tend to hold up when independent third parties (such […]

When youre the fastest gun in town, everyones gunning for you, which is why the Apple iPod may be looking over its shoulder at the e.Digital Odyssey1000 ($349 list). Until very recently, the Odyssey was in position to take on the 20GB Apple iPod. But that was before Apples late-April announcement that new 10GB, 15GB, […]