Pc World 2014

GAMEVOLUTION

THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE

GAME MARKETING SUMMIT

THE ESSENTIAL CONFERENCE FOR INTERACTIVE GAME MARKETERS

9TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE and AWARDS

APRIL 23, 2014

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts San Francisco, CA

»

DEPARTMENTS

5 News

28 Consumer Watch

43 Reviews & Ratings

132 Farewell, Pat McGovern

»

COLUMNS

113 Here’s How

»

FEATURES

83 12 PC upgrades for under $300

99 Laptops for work and play

APRIL 2014

CONTENTS

122 Hassle-Free PC

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NEWS

6

Windows 8.1’s

spring update

16

UI designer: Forcing

Metro on all is great

for power users

19

Microsoft to use a

pop-up to push users

off XP

22

Intel wants its new

mobile chips in all

your devices

25

Three big trends ruled

the Mobile World

Congress

»

By far the most welcome change in the Windows 8.1 update is one that many users may not even notice. If Windows 8.1 does not detect a touchscreen input on your device, it’ll boot directly to the desktop to keep its finger-friendly live tiles away from keyboard-and-mouse users. The operating system

Boot to desktop by default

Windows 8.1’s spring update

Due in early April, the OS’s third refresh might be the charm.

BY BRAD CHACOS

Tech and trends that will afect you today and beyond.

NEWS

»

Microsoft’s modern Windows 8 apps now appear in the taskbar, mimicking the functionality of traditional desktop software. The Windows Store app is pinned in the taskbar by default in the Windows 8.1 update, to serve as a guidepost and to drive users to Microsoft’s marketplace. Modern apps still appear full screen when maximized; windowed modern apps are reportedly in store for the 8.2 update (“Threshold”) in 2015.

Modern apps on the desktop taskbar

»

In modern apps, you now can find the taskbar by moving your cursor to the bottom of the screen. The taskbar spans the screen’s length even when multiple modern apps are snapped side by side. As a result, bouncing between standard desktop programs and modern apps is much less of a burden (though still not seamless).

Unfortunately, the taskbar sometimes covers interface elements in modern apps since they weren’t designed with it in mind.

The taskbar is everywhere

Inside Windows 8.1’s

spring update

»

Previously, closing modern apps or snapping them side by side required moving your cursor to the top of the screen, clicking and holding, and dragging the app to one of the edges—a gesture designed for touch displays. In the new update, a title bar appears at the top of modern apps. Clicking the upper left corner reveals a mouse-ready context menu with sizing options, while minimize and close buttons appear at the upper right.

Mouse-friendly title-bar menus

»

On the Windows 8.1 Start screen, if you’re using a mouse, right-clicking an app now pops up an options menu for that live tile. In contrast, if you’re using a touch input, the familiar modern-style options bar pops up at the bottom of the screen. And the Start screen now includes discrete power and search buttons at the upper

Start screen changes

Inside Windows 8.1’s

spring update

»

Windows 8 dumped tiles on the Start screen for every modern app you installed. Windows 8.1 required you to add tiles manually, which reduced clutter but made it easy to forget you’d installed an app unless you added it to the Start screen immediately. The update finds a happy medium: Next to the arrow that moves you from the Start screen to All Apps, a notification appears if any newly installed apps are available.

New apps installed notification

»

The All Apps screen that displays installed programs has received a slight rejiggering. The Tiles menu under the Settings charm now has a ‘Show more apps in Apps view’ option, which does what you’d expect by reducing the size of each app’s icon. The condensed view should come in handy for traditional-PC users who configured their

Show more apps in Apps view

Inside Windows 8.1’s

spring update

»

The Windows 8 and 8.1 versions of the modern Internet Explorer hide the open tabs and address bar behind an interface that you must manually summon. The incoming update leaves that interface visible by default. A helpful Options button in the Tools menu now negates the need to go messing around in the Settings charm, and the button to launch IE’s awesome Reading Mode is now more clearly labeled.

Internet Explorer tweaks

»

Windows 8.1 added a slew of granular options to the modern version of PC Settings in a bid to keep lovers of Microsoft’s touch-centric interface ensconced in it. The update continues the shift by including a new ‘Disk space’ menu under the ‘PC and devices’ options, which provides tools for you to view and manage the gigabyte gobblers on your hard drive. A button to purge the Recycle Bin is a

Disk Space menu in PC Setings

Inside Windows 8.1’s

spring update

»

Finally, an under-the-hood change: Microsoft has said that the coming Windows 8.1 update will be usable on devices outfitted with just 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space, a change that essentially halves the previous system requirements. Why move backward? Sick of losing customers to Android tablets and Chromebooks, Microsoft seems to be gearing up for a price war with Google.

Reduced system requirements

UI designer: Forcing Metro on

all is great for power users

BY BRAD CHACOS

WINDOWS 8’S MODERN interface didn’t go over well out of the gate. Although the live tiles and touch-friendliness offered a lot to like, usability experts panned many of the design choices, and power users felt abandoned.

But beyond bridging the gap between PC and tablet, Windows’ immersion in the interface formerly known as Metro may have had another purpose: separating novice and power users. This move could preserve the best of Windows while making it more palatable to the casual computing public.

on Reddit in February (go.pcworld.com/ millerreddit). (A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed his employment.) Any new feature had to be simple enough for newcomers but practical enough for power users. Miller claims that many features, such as virtual desktops, fell by the wayside.

All work, no play, and vice versa

Enter Windows 8. Yes, the modern interface is simple and better suited for content consumption than content creation, but Miller— who clarified that he was speaking as an employee sharing his viewpoint rather than in an official capacity—claimed that was the point.

Our hands were bound, and our users were annoyed. So what did we do? We separated the users into two groups. Casual and power. We made two separate playgrounds for them.

So if Windows 8 was designed to herd casual and power users into separate corners, why does the OS default to the modern interface?

Casual users don’t go exploring. If we made desktop the default as it has always been, and included a nice little start menu that felt like home, the casual users would never have migrated to their land of milk and honey… So we forced it upon them.

Now that Microsoft has fenced casual users inside the land of live tiles, Miller says it can work on making the modern interface better for casual users while filling the desktop with power features.

Once [the modern interface is] purring along smoothly, we’ll start making the desktop more advanced. We’ll add things that we couldn’t before. Things will be faster, more advanced, and craftier.

Displaced Windows

desktop aficionados

can start to feel

optimistic again.

Peering into the future

If Miller’s claims prove to be true, the results could be enticing. Windows 8.1 started the migration, adding an optional boot-to-desktop feature and numerous tweaks that improve the modern interface: more control settings, more flexible snap functionality, and Bing Smart Search. Microsoft’s modern apps are constantly adapting, too, as the company shifts toward rapid-fire updates.

Leaked versions of the impending Windows 8.1 update 1 (see “Windows 8.1’s spring update,” page 6) show that even more improvements are inbound. But its new features—such as the ability to boot to either the desktop or the Start screen, depending on whether your setup has a touchscreen—seem like a Ballmer-esque “refinement of the blend” (go.pcworld.com/ballmerblend) to make the desktop and modern interfaces play more nicely together, rather

than a doubling down on the strengths of both.

It’s unclear whether Microsoft always intended to smooth the edges or if it became more of a priority after Windows 8’s hard landing. But considering the new update’s changes, Satya Nadella’s appointment as Microsoft’s CEO, and Miller’s comments, displaced Windows desktop aficionados can start to feel optimistic again.

Windows 8.1 update 1 offers mouse-friendly Metro options.

Microsoft to use a pop-up

to push users off XP

BY MARK HACHMAN

NORMALLY, AN UNEXPECTED pop-up is a reason to worry: Is your PC infected with a virus? Is this pop-up an ad? With one particular pop-up from Microsoft, you’re supposed to worry—but the message is legit.

In its ongoing bid to encourage Windows XP users to move to Windows 7 or Windows 8, Microsoft began pushing a pop-up window to users’ machines in March. The company is also partnering with LapLink to offer a free migration tool to assist with the transition.

By now, PCWorld readers and other people who keep up with tech news should know that the expiration date for Windows XP is April 8, 2014. Support for XP is ending, meaning that any vulnerabilities Microsoft hasn’t patched by now will remain open for malware writers to exploit. A few contingency plans (see “Keep Windows XP secure after Microsoft ends support,” page 37) can mitigate that threat somewhat; Google will support Chrome for Windows XP through 2015, for example. And although Microsoft has ditched support for Internet Explorer 8 (the last browser for XP), Microsoft Security Essentials will support Windows XP until July 14, 2015. Still, that’s like wrapping duct tape around the Titanic.

So the challenge for Microsoft is to find a way to move users off XP. The company’s answer? The tried-and-true pop-up notification.

According to Brandon Leblanc, the chief blogger for Microsoft, the pop-up displays only for users who have elected to receive updates via Windows Update. It includes a link to the Windows XP End of Support website (go.pcworld.com/xpend), where XP users can learn how to stay protected against security risks and viruses after April 8. The notification is set to recur on the 8th of every month unless the user disables it, Leblanc says.

Pop-ups generally raise suspicion, but this one’s legitimate.

us not to click. Every tech-savvy son or daughter has told their parents to avoid such pop-ups, too. The alternative now, of course, is for those kids to step in and to encourage their parents to buy a new PC. Or a Mac. Or a Chromebook.

For those people who want to provide

such family tech support, Microsoft is offering a free copy of PCmover Express for Windows XP, which will copy files, music, videos, email, and user profiles and settings from the old PC to the new system, including across a network. The utility also allows Windows XP users to customize exactly what to bring over to their new machine. The free software is available from WindowsXP.com. If users want to transfer applications from Windows XP, they can do so, but they’ll need PCmover Professional (go.pcworld.com/ pcmover). Normally the price for that version is $60, but after a Microsoft-sponsored discount it’s just $24.

Microsof’s solution

for moving users of

XP: the

tried-and-true pop-up.

Intel wants its new mobile

chips in all your devices

BY MELISSA RIOFRIO

DESKTOP WHO? WINDOWS what? The classic Windows-based PC remains Intel’s bread and butter, but it has needed to diversify its diet for a long time. At an event at the Mobile World Congress in February, the company announced two new Atom chips, code-named Merrifield and Moorefield, that could be its first truly competitive mobile solutions—and they arrive not a product cycle too soon.

In case you didn’t know how high the stakes were, Intel President Renée James laid it out in her remarks at the event. “About 50 billion connected-computing somethings”—yes, that’s what she called them—“will be online by the year 2020.” Getting even a small slice of

B Y MELIS SA RIOFRIO Watch the video at go.pcworld. com/merri

The new chips have two big selling points: Their 64-bit architecture enables faster performance. At the same time, Intel wrings more battery life out of the chips by designing them to power down quickly after executing a task.

They’re also designed to work with operating systems beyond good ol’ Windows. Hermann Eul, Intel vice president and general manager of its Mobile and Communications Group, called the chips “complete platforms…that can support multiple operating systems and multiple segments in the market.” The company is particularly eager to associate itself with Android, if the green robots strutting around Intel’s booth on the show floor were any indication—hardly surprising, as Android could provide the entry to a much bigger market.

In a small, sterile room tucked discreetly into its booth, Intel demonstrated a bank of reference Android mobile phones in action. Using the Battery Xprt app for Android, the phones can last as long as 19 or 20 hours on a full charge, according to Intel. The tests simulate real-world cell-phone use, which is sporadic, as opposed to

Intel showed its Merrifield and Moorefield chips running in reference designs at the Mobile World Congress.

the rundown tests traditionally conducted for PCs.

The demo also included two identical Windows tablets, one running Windows at 32 bits and the other at 64 bits, “just to show we could do it,” said a spokesperson.

But the real test of these chips lies ahead: Which device makers will include them in their phone and tablet designs? Eul named several at the event—Asus, Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung—and promised there would be more partners to come. We’ll see. The lack of on-board LTE in Intel’s chips has long been a sticking point, for instance, and the new chips are also LTE free (go.pcworld.com/ nolte), though Intel does sell a separate LTE solution.

Eul aimed some trash talk at Qualcomm, whose 64-bit ARM chip isn’t due until the end of the year (go. pcworld.com/ qualchip). Intel got there first, Eul emphasized: “We ship. That is the difference.”

The new chips

The real test lies

ahead: Which device

makers will design

with Intel’s chips?

Three big trends ruled the

Mobile World Congress

BY FLORENCE ION, SUSIE OCHS, AND MELISSA RIOFRIO

WE SPENT A WEEK IN BARCELONA at the Mobile World Congress, wading through wearables (go.pcworld.com/wearables), sampling many

smartphones (go.pcworld.com/tensp), and trying out a tablet or two. While the Galaxy S5 (go.pcworld.com/galaxys5) was the biggest product to debut—with wearables from Sony (go.pcworld.com/sonywear) and Huawei (go.pcworld.com/talkband) also garnering attention—it’s not a revolutionary release for Samsung, despite some impressive software additions (go.pcworld.com/s5features). We noticed three trends.

Low-end phones: Flagship models like the S5 aside, most phone

makers were touting low-cost handsets. Mozilla showed off phones running the Firefox OS that could sell for the low, low price of $25. Even when phone makers had a big handset to announce—say, Sony’s Xperia

go.pcworld. com/mwc2014

Z2 (go.pcworld.com/xperiaz2)—usually a lower-priced model (like the Xperia M2) came along for the ride.

Phone makers are looking beyond users who want the latest and greatest smartphone technology to people with more basic needs and budgets—in particular consumers in

emerging markets. Nokia is getting into the Android arena with a trio of phones built on theAndroid Open Source Project (go. pcworld.com/nokiatrio). That’s allowed Nokia to give the X, X+, and XL a Windows Phone–style tiled interface, which it can sell to users in growth markets. And if those

users get accustomed to that Windows Phone feel by the time they’re ready to upgrade, Nokia reasons, so much the better.

Top tablets: A pair of tablets caught our eye. Lenovo’s Yoga Tablet 10

HD+ (go.pcworld.com/lenovoyoga10) is a sleek-looking tablet with a crisp display—a definite improvement over previous Yoga models. The promised 18-hour battery life is welcome, too. And HP’s Pavilion x360 (go. pcworld.com/hppavilion)—priced to entice at $399—takes a page out of

the Yoga’s book, with a hinge that lets you use this laptop as either a conventional notebook or a tablet.

Better audio: Manufacturers see

audio improvements as a way to make their mobile devices stand out. Sony built noise-canceling technology into its Xperia Z2. HTC’s midrangeDesire 816 (go.pcworld.com/htcdesire) offers dual front-facing speakers. Find more show coverage on our

Mobile World Congress page (go.

Flagship models

aside, most phone

makers were touting

low-cost handsets.

a new website for

Android enthusiasts.

We’ve got the ’droid info you’re looking for.

Helpful tips, critical reviews, and expert

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www.greenbot.com

T

WITTER IS REPORTEDLY working on an e-commerce project powered by Stripe (go.pcworld.com/twitterstripe), a company that processes payments for sharing-economy

Pay by hashtag

Twiter and other social networks aspire to become the go-to

spot for shopping.

BY CAITLIN McGARRY

CONSUMER

WATCH

Make smart purchases,

stay safe online.

B Y JUDE BUFFU M

network. When users then enter their Facebook login on partnering retailers’ apps, their info fills in the payment fields automatically.

In February 2013, Twitter teamed up with American Express to launch an experiment in which AmEx cardholders can sync their credit cards (go.pcworld.com/amexsync) with their Twitter accounts and then take advantage of discounts or buy physical goods by using an AmEx-approved hashtag. Major brands such as Amazon, Best Buy, J. Crew, McDonald’s, and Whole Foods have since signed on with American Express to offer deals on Twitter, and American Express claims that its social-network offers attract users who are ten years younger than the average AmEx customer and spend about 30 percent more.

Twitter also partnered with Starbucks last fall. Instead of hashtags, however, Starbucks required users to include a specific phrase— ”@tweetacoffee to @insertnamehere”—to trigger the sending of a $5 gift card to the recipient of their choice. Keyhole, a company that tracks social conversations, estimated that the promotion generated $180,000 in sales for Starbucks (go.pcworld.com/twitterstarbucks).

The coffee chain has long offered gift cards on Facebook Gifts, too. Gifts took a hit last summer, though, when Facebook determined that physical goods weren’t selling well and decided to focus on digital gift cards, which amounted to 80 percent of all gifts on the platform.

Sync your AmEx card with your Twitter account to get access to special deals.

Pinterest drives purchases

Although Pinterest gets little attention for its ability to turn inspiring images into sales, it’s cleaning up as far as social shopping goes.

On largely text-driven social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s difficult for companies to organically turn brand messages into sales because those messages stick out like a sore thumb. Pinterest, in contrast, drives purchases more naturally: Users can conceivably click through any image from any board on the site to reach a product link.

Some numbers confirm the online bulletin board’s influence: Pinterest captures the bulk of product sharing on social networks with 44 percent of shares (go.pcworld.com/pincommerce), while Facebook and Twitter lag behind at 37 percent and 12 percent, respectively. One

Pinterest is currently the only social network that inspires people to buy.

immediacy and serve to promote limited-time offers or flash sales. A pin continues to push as much traffic to a site three and a half months after it’s posted as it does when initially pinned, according to Piquora.

The retail challenge

Making a purchase directly from a product page feels safer than using a hashtag as shorthand for “buy now.” If Twitter wants people to buy stuff from a tweet, it has to convince users that shopping on a social network is truly secure—and it has to present sales messages in a way that doesn’t annoy users.

Social-conversion platform Chirpify is helping companies meet the latter challenge. A recent campaign involving Lady Gaga let Twitter users hashtag their tweets to get a package with the pop star’s latest album. In Chirpify’s promotions, users aren’t storing their financial information with Twitter—Chirpify’s team sees the promotional hashtag and directs the user to a payment page.

“You don’t want to carpet bomb,” says Chirpify CEO Kevin Tate. “You

Twiter has to

convince users that

shopping on a social

network is secure.

Chirpify helps big brands turn hashtags into purchases.

want to let the conversation be about other things. It lets customers who are interested raise their hand and continue the conversation from there.” And that conversation could begin outside of Twitter. If a brand includes a hashtag in a print ad or TV commercial, for example, Twitter users could enter that hashtag to take advantage of deals.

In the end, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and the retailers who want to translate eyeballs into sales are just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks—and to see what helps them get into your wallet.

ROUTERS AND OTHER connected devices are leaving home networks open to attack. The worst-case scenario? Strangers can access your files, slip malware into your network, or use your own security cameras to spy on you—all without laying a finger on your hardware.

For example, some older Linksys E-Series routers and Wireless-N routers and access points are vulnerable to a malware infection that deposits a self-replicating worm (go.pcworld.com/linksysworm). And recent reports indicate that the default settings of Asus routers leave USB storage devices wide open (go.pcworld.com/routerflaw).

If you’re running an Asus router with a USB storage drive attached, download and install the latest firmware from Asus’s website (www. service.asus.com). Don’t depend on the router’s Web interface to get the update, as it might not download the most recent version.

As for Linksys routers, “customers who have enabled the Remote Management Access feature can prevent further vulnerability to their

Routers: More

vulnerable than ever

BY JON L. JACOBI AND MICHAEL BROWN

network by disabling the Remote Management Access feature and rebooting their router to remove the installed malware,” company spokesperson Karen Sohl wrote in an email. “Linksys will be working on the affected products with a firmware fix that is planned to be posted on our website in the coming weeks.”

Asus and Linksys are hardly alone, however: Recent reports noted similar flaws in Netgear’s ReadyNAS line (go.pcworld.com/netgearflaw).

How atackers get in

Your public IP address is as well defined as your street address. In most cases this public address leads straight to your router. If someone gains control of your router, that person can open connections and redirect traffic anywhere. The havoc the intruder wreaks can also ruin the day for a lot of other people, depending on what the attacker relays through your equipment.

A router directs traffic in and out of thousands of numbered ports. Port 80, for starters, handles HTTP traffic (Web access). Port 21 sends and receives files over FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Port 443 takes care of HTTPS (encrypted Web traffic, such as banking or shopping transactions), and port 3369 is for Remote Desktop.

If a port is open—normally all of them are—the router simply shufles data to and from whatever IP device each port is directed to. So you must password-protect not only your router but also every

Using the Shodan search engine, we easily found an FTP server filled with pirated TV shows, wide open.

device that communicates with the Web, even if it’s a refrigerator, to prevent outsiders from gaining access via the ports.

Most routers and many NAS (network-attached storage) devices have well-documented default login IDs and passwords, such as “admin” and “password,” and their installation wizards encourage users to change these defaults. If you neglect to do so, you leave your network vulnerable. Note, though, that even if you create a secure, complex password, any hard reset you might later perform on your router for troubleshooting purposes can restore the old, weak password without your knowledge. You must also keep your router’s configuration firmware updated and secure all the services running on it. For example, enabling UPnP on older firmware—an action that most router manufacturers recommend, because doing so simplifies configuration—can expose any FTP and SMB servers you have running on the router, enabling Internet snoops to access every file on your attached storage devices.

A complete action plan

Want to assess your network’s vulnerability? First browse to What’s My IP Address (www.whatsmyip.org). At the top is your public IP address. To the left, select the Port Scanners option, and then run the tests to see which ports are open. Some Internet gateways won’t let you run such tests locally; you’ll have to note your public IP address and then try these tests from a coffee shop or a friend’s house.

You can learn more about network ports on Wikipedia.

At Wikipedia you can find a list of all available ports (go.pcworld.com/ports), but the critical ones are those that allow remote access to your files or remote control of your network devices, such as FTP, HTTP, and RDP.

Checking to see if your network is password-protected is easy enough. Open a browser and type in your public IP address preceded by the proper header (ftp://, http://, and so on). If you connect, you should see a screen asking for a password. If instead you go immediately to the homepage for your router, NAS, or IP camera, your network isn’t protected—and anyone else with an Internet connection can access those resources just as easily.

In addition, confirm whether the FTP service on your router or NAS box is enabled, and whether it allows anonymous access—unless you’re sharing files with the world, you should disable anonymous access. You can find FTP in your router’s HTML configuration pages, which you can access from your browser locally at 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.254, or a similar address. (Check your user manual for the default address of your router.)

For maximum security, you can put your router or router/modem into pin-hole mode, in which every port is blocked by default and you open only the services you need. It takes a bit of work, but it’s very secure.

Unless you’re sharing

files with the world,

you should disable

anonymous access

to your FTP service.

THE WINDOWS XPOCALYPSE is upon us: Microsoft is no longer providing security patches for Windows XP as of April 8, 2014. Nearly 30 percent of Internet-connected PCs still run XP. They’ll continue operating normally, but they’ll be rotting inside, suffering from increasingly numerous security holes.

If you’re using Windows XP, and you can’t upgrade your machine immediately, you can protect yourself. Make no mistake, however: The following tricks are like sticking your finger into a leaking dam. They’ll help a bit, but the dam is crumbling.

Choose your sofware wisely

If you use Internet Explorer, let it go—IE 8, the most recent version available for XP, is no longer receiving patches. In contrast, Google Chrome will continue supporting Windows XP until at least April 2015, while Mozilla Firefox has no announced plans to stop supporting XP.

Keep Windows XP secure

after Microsoft ends support

Most antivirus utilities will continue supporting XP; even Microsoft Security Essentials will do so until July 14, 2015. Antivirus-testing company AV-Test asked 30 antivirus companies (go.pcworld.com/ avsupport) about their intentions, and all of them committed to supporting XP until at least April 8, 2015. Most committed to an even longer period, into at least 2016. Be sure you’re using an antivirus program that’s receiving updates, though. And as Microsoft warns (go.pcworld.com/xpav), remember that “the effectiveness of anti-malware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited.” If you’re still using the defunct Outlook Express, switch to the full version of Outlook in Microsoft Office. If you want an alternative, Mozilla is still supporting Thunderbird with patches, though it’s unclear how long Thunderbird support on older operating systems will continue. Or you can use a Web-based email service in Chrome or Firefox.

Office 2003 is losing its support just as XP is. If you’re using that suite—or, even worse, Office XP—update to a newer, supported version. (Yes, this means a Ribbon-bedecked version. Sorry.)

Remove insecure sofware

The Java browser plug-in is exploit-prone on any OS. Unless you need Java for a specific purpose, uninstall it. If you need it, disable the

Mozilla’s Plugin Check ensures that your browser extras are fully patched.

browser plug-in (go.pcworld.com/ditchplugins) and keep it up-to-date. Attackers frequently target other browser plug-ins, too; Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader are crucial. Modern versions of Flash and Reader update themselves automatically, but older versions didn’t even check for updates. If you don’t need these applications, uninstall them.

Scan for unpatched software on your computer with Secunia PSI (go.pcworld.com/secunia_psi). You can also visit Mozilla’s Plugin Check page (go.pcworld.com/plugincheck) to see if outdated browser plug-ins are plug-installed. Don’t let the page’s name fool you: The check works in other browsers, too, not just Firefox.

Risky behavior will be magnified in a post-patch world. For tips, check out our complete guides to staying safe in the Web’s worst neighborhoods (go.pcworld.com/websworst) and guarding against devious security traps (go.pcworld.com/devious).

Take drastic measures

Now let’s dig into the more radical but totally appropriate tactics.

Go ofline: Say you need Windows XP only to run a crucial business

Windows 7’s XP Mode lets you run XP in a virtual machine.

application, or to interact with hardware that doesn’t function with newer versions of Windows. In this case, disconnect that Windows XP system from the network if possible. This action is the easiest, most foolproof way to keep a Windows XP computer secure.

Use a limited account: If your machine is

blasted by malware, the invader can do only as much damage as the account it infects. Administrator accounts (go.pcworld.com/ adminrisk) give baddies the keys to your computing kingdom. Stick to using a limited account for your day-to-day activities. Use an admin account to create the locked-down login and fill it with the software you need, and afterward don’t stray from limited land unless you need to install or update software. (And even then, use the admin account only for as long as is necessary to finish the installation.)

Confine XP to a virtual machine: Virtual machines let you run

Windows XP in an isolated container (go.pcworld.com/vminternet), placing it in a window on your desktop. Windows 7 Professional includes Windows XP Mode for just this reason, offering businesses and other professional users the ability to set up such a virtual machine without buying an additional Windows XP license.

If you’re upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 7 Home, however, Windows XP Mode is not included. In this situation you’ll have to get a boxed copy of Windows XP—an old one will work—and then install it inside a virtual machine. Fortunately, you don’t have to buy virtual machine software: The free VirtualBox (go.pcworld.com/virtualbox43) or VMware Player (go.pcworld.com/vmwarepl) will work fine.

Inside a virtual machine, you can run most Windows XP applications. Note, however, that if a program needs direct access to a piece of hardware, it may not work.

Remember, too, that the cessation of Microsoft support extends to

Stick to using a

limited account for

your day-to-day

activities in XP.

Move on

Suppose you have a trusty old XP system that works for Web browsing and you don’t want to invest in a new computer or a new Windows. To stay secure, you might try installing Ubuntu Linux (go.pcworld.com/ ubuntuguide) and tweaking its appearance (go.pcworld.com/ tweakubuntu), or perhaps installing the more lightweight Lubuntu (go.pcworld.com/lubuntu). These completely free OSs work well on older hardware, and will be supported with patches for years to come.

If Windows 8 puts you off, you can still upgrade to Windows 7, which Microsoft will support until 2020. New copies of Windows 7 or 8 cost nearly $100, though, and they might not run on XP-era hardware, so you may be better off buying a whole new computer.

Sure, Microsoft wants to sell you a new Windows license, but it’s been 12 years. Make plans to move on. You don’t have to go to Windows 8, but you can’t stay here—not for long, anyway.

Join The Nature Conservancy to plant a billion trees, one tree at a time, in the fght to end climate change at plantabillion.org

44

We push six

802.11ac Wi-Fi

USB adapters to

the limit

54

Lenovo ThinkPad

X240: A

no-non-sense business

laptop

57

Toshiba CB35-A3120

Chromebook hits

the sweet spot

60

Reveal 11 Business

automates

profes-sional videography

63

Samsung Galaxy

Note Pro: Android

challenges Windows

in the office

67

Intel 730 Series SSD

(480GB): Good

performance and a

strong warranty

71

Lenovo Miix 2 8: A

fast tablet that’s

short on features

76

Pro document

shredders offer total

destruction

REVIEWS

& RATINGS

We push six 802.11ac Wi-Fi

USB adapters to the limit

The competing devices we tested had significant diferences in

performance and price.

BY MICHAEL BROWN

TESTED IN PCWORLD LABS

In this section, hardware & software goes through rigorous testing.

REVIEWS

& RATINGS

Buffalo Technology AirStation WI-U2-866D D-Link DWA-182 Wireless AC1200

Dual Band USB Adapter

Trendnet TEW-805UB AC1200 Dual Band Wireless

USB Adapter Netgear A6200 WiFi USB Adapter Asus USB-AC56 Dual-band Wireless-AC1200 Adapter Linksys WUSB6300 Wi-Fi Wireless AC Dual-Band AC1200 USB Adapter B Y R OBER T CARDIN

O

wireless adapter to connect it to your client PC. If the client doesn’t incorporate an 802.11ac adapter—and few machines do—you won’t get the maximum benefit from the router. I benchmarked six of the newest 802.11ac Wi-Fi USB adapters and found striking differences in their performance.

The 802.11ac draft standard delivers a physical link rate of up to 1300 megabits per second (with a router that supports three spatial streams for sending and three for receiving). Products in the current

I tested each adapter in four spots inside

my 2800-square-foot single-story home,

using only the

batch of 802.11ac Wi-Fi USB adapters, however, support only two spatial streams and deliver a maximum physical link rate of 867 mbps.

To find the top-performing adapter, I tested each adapter in four spots inside my 2800- square-foot single-story home, using only the 802.11ac protocol. I sequentially installed each

product in an AVADirect gaming notebook powered by an Intel Core i5-3210M processor and 4GB of DDR3/1600 memory. Then I used an Asus RT-AC68U802.11ac Wi-Fi router (go.pcworld.com/asusrtac68u) to create a wireless network. Using the JPERF benchmarking utility, I measured TCP throughput between the wireless laptop client and a server that was hardwired to the router.

Some adapters come with a tethered USB cradle, increasing your range of placement options. If the adapter had such a cradle, that’s how I evaluated it. Other models plug directly into the client’s USB port, and that’s how I tested those. A couple of models have articulated USB connectors that allow you to orient the adapters either straight out from or at a 90-degree angle to the client. In those cases I selected the angled option if it was available—unless the vendor also provided a cradle.

USB surprise

The type of USB interface had no detectable impact on the adapter’s performance. The Asus USB-AC56, which has a USB 3.0 interface, turned in the highest throughput overall, but the Netgear A6200 placed second, despite its USB 2.0 interface. And the Trendnet TEW-805UB, which has a USB 3.0 interface, was the slowest overall performer by a wide margin.

The Asus USB-AC56 took first place in tests with the client located in the bedroom (9 feet from the router) and in the kitchen (20 feet away). Though the Asus didn’t perform quite as well at longer distances, it came out on top overall when I averaged the routers’ performance in all four locations.

I measured TCP

throughput between

the wireless laptop

client and a server.

More:

Wi-Fi USB Adapters

The Asus USB-AC56 was the top performer overall, but Netgear’s A6200 finished right on its heels. The Netgear is also much easier to travel with.

802.11ac Wi-Fi Client Adapter

Using an Asus RT-Ac68U Router

0 100 200 300 400 500

MEGABYTES PER SECOND. (LONGER BARS INDICATE HIGHER PERFORMANCE.) Bedroom (client 9 feet from router)

Kitchen (client 20 feet from router)

Home theater (client 35 feet from router) Home office (client 65 feet from router)

163.0 347.0 404.0 213.0 227.0 251.0 240.0 248.0 175.0 288.0 290.0 244.0 190.0 232.0 230.0 143.0 233.0 312.0 310.0 264.0 104.0 199.0 256.0 79.1 Trendnet TEW-805UB Netgear A6200 Linksys WUSB6300 D-Link DWA-182 Buffalo WI-U2-866D Asus USB-AC56

Asus USB-AC56 Dual-band

Wireless-AC1200 Adapter

The USB-AC56 ($70; ; go.pcworld.com/ac56) comes with a tethered USB stand and a hinged, detachable antenna. I thought the latter would give the adapter an edge at longer distances, but it didn’t.

Designed with a USB 3.0 interface, it had the fastest TCP throughput when the client was close to the router, reaching 404 megabits per second when the client was in the bedroom, 9 feet from the router.

With the client in the kitchen and the router 20 feet away, the USB-AC56 achieved a roundup-best TCP throughput of 347 mbps.

Given the size of the USB-AC56’s antenna, I was surprised when it landed in fifth place on my test with the client inside the double-thick walls of my home theater. Also unexpected was its fourth-place finish on my test with the client in my home office, 65 feet from the router. Even so, with data rates of 163 mbps and 213 mbps respectively on those tests, the Asus adapter should have no trouble streaming high-def video to any location inside a typical house.

The USB-AC56 is a bit unwieldy, whether you use its external antenna or not (it also has an internal antenna, so the external one isn’t essential). Without the antenna, the adapter protrudes almost 4 inches from your computer’s USB port. Remove the cap protecting the threaded antenna connection and attach the antenna, and the

The Asus USB-AC56 has internal antennas, too, so you can leave the cap covering the thread mount on, if you don’t want to use the long antenna.

More:

Wi-Fi USB Adapters

Bufalo Technology AirStation WI-U2-866D

In our roundup of 802.11ac Wi-Fi client USB adapters, Buffalo Technology’s AirStation WI-U2-866D ($40; ; go.pcworld. com/wiu2866d) earned two second-place finishes, and it ended up in fourth place overall. Its $40 street price makes it an attractive value.

The WI-U2-866D’s antennas are mounted internally. Though Buffalo doesn’t provide a cradle, you’ll find a bendable (but disappointingly weak) USB 2.0 stub cable in the box.

The adapter’s hinged interface allows you to position the adapter vertically or horizontally. The adapter is a bit over 3.5 inches long; but when vertically oriented, it protrudes less than an inch from the PC.

Buffalo’s model was the only adapter in my test group that lacked a WPS button. If you choose this model, you’ll have to remember your router’s passphrase in order to establish a wireless connection. Like Asus, Buffalo provides a software utility that reports connection status, signal strength, and other details. You can use the utility with either Buffalo’s adapter or your laptop’s built-in adapter.

The Buffalo adapter delivered TCP throughputs of 248 mbps from 65 feet away from the router (good for the second place in the roundup), 227 mbps from 35 feet away (again, second), 251 mbps from 20 feet away (fourth), and 240 mbps from 9 feet away (fifth).

The WI-U2-866D’s hinged USB interface folds into a recess on the adapter’s back to protect it.

The WI-U2-866D’s hinged USB interface folds into a recess on the adapter’s back to protect it.

D-Link DWA-182 Wireless AC1200

Dual Band USB Adapter

In our latest roundup of 802.11ac client adapters, D-Link’s DWA-182 ($50; ; go.pcworld.com/wusb6300) finished in third place overall, without achieving any first- or second-place finishes on any of the individual tests. The compact adapter measures about 3 inches long, not including its USB interface, and D-Link provides a USB cradle that gives you some welcome flexibility in positioning it.

D-Link switched to a USB 3.0 interface with hardware revision C1. I had an older version that uses a USB 2.0 interface, but I don’t think it makes a big difference. The adapter itself isn’t hinged, so your only orientation choices are horizontal or vertical. My benchmark numbers came from using the adapter in the cradle.

The adapter has a WPS button, which simplifies connecting the client to the router. The antennas are inside the device. D-Link offers a simple utility for establishing a connection to your wireless router: The utility reports the status of your connection, notes the channel it’s using, and shows a graphical representation of the signal strength.

The ‘C’ rev of the D-Link DWA-182 has a USB 3.0 interface, but the USB 2.0 interface on the model reviewed here didn’t present a performance bottleneck.

More:

Wi-Fi USB Adapters

Though Linksys was one of the first manufacturers to ship an 802.11ac Wi-Fi client USB adapter, the WUSB6300 is far from a standout model.

Linksys WUSB6300 Wi-Fi Wireless AC

Dual-Band AC1200 USB Adapter

Despite its USB 3.0 interface, Linksys’s WUSB6300 802.11ac Wi-Fi client USB adapter ($70; ; go.pcworld.com/wusb6300) was slower than average at three of my four test locations. The compact adapter protrudes from a PC by just 3 inches. It hides its two antennas inside its plastic shell, and its WPS button makes connecting to your router easy.

But there’s no USB cradle, and the adapter isn’t hinged, so you don’t have much flexibility in positioning the adapter for optimal reception.

Aside from its third-place finish on my home theater test, 35 feet from the router, the WUSB6300 was a mediocre performer.

The Linksys adapter finished dead last when the client was 9 feet away from the router in the same room, with TCP throughput of 230 megabits per second, versus 404 mbps for the Asus USB-AC56 at this location, and 310 mbps for the Netgear A6200. The WUSB6300 did slightly better when I moved the client into the kitchen, registering TCP throughput of 232 mbps, but that rate is nowhere near the 347 mbps that the Asus adapter delivered.

The Linksys WUSB6300 finished third, fifth, or last in my individual tests, and placed fifth overall. Combine that undistinguished perfor- mance with a $70 street price, and you have little reason to favor this adapter over any rival except the Trendnet TEW-805UB.

Netgear A6200 WiFi USB Adapter

The Netgear A6200 ($50; ; go.pcworld.com/a6200) has a USB 2 interface and a hinged connector. Its antenna lies inside a thin rectangular bar that you can pivot to fine-tune its reception. Netgear’s antenna design is much less fragile than the Asus USB-AC56’s screw-on antenna (unless you remove the Asus model’s antenna every time you pack it).

Tested with its USB cradle and its antenna in a vertical orientation, the Netgear adapter almost matched that of the first-place Asus USB-AC56 overall, falling short by just 2 megabits per second. But the performance gap was far larger when the client was 9 feet away from the router: 310 mbps for the Netgear’s TCP throughput versus 404 mbps for the Asus’s. The A6200 placed second when the client was in the kitchen, too, with throughput of 312 mbps as opposed to the USB-AC56’s 347 mbps.

The Netgear adapter beat the Asus at longer ranges, however, with TCP throughput of 233 mbps versus 163 mbps when the client was in my home theater, 35 feet from the router; and 264 mbps versus 213 mbps when the client was in my home office, 65 feet from the router.

The A6200 measures nearly 5 inches long with its antenna extended (not including its USB interface), and slightly less than 3.5 inches long with its antenna folded down for travel. The USB interface pivots, but it

Netgear’s Genie utility provides useful information such as site polling, physical link rate, and the client’s current IP address.

The hinged USB interface enables you to fine-tune the adapter to your router. Netgear also provides a USB cradle.

Nonhinged and cradleless, the Trendnet TEW-805UB gives you minimal placement flexibility.

Trendnet TEW-805UB AC1200

Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter

The Trendnet TEW-805UB ($40; ; go.pcworld.com/ tew805ub) is small (protruding from a PC’s USB port by about 2.625 inches) and inexpensive. ($40 street). But it brings up the rear on most performance metrics, and It has no special features.

The adapter is short and has a nonhinged USB 3.0 interface; it also lacks a USB cradle, giving you little placement flexibility. The TEW-805UB’s close-range performance was merely adequate. Whereas the top-performing Asus USB-AC56 delivered TCP throughput of 404 megabits per second when situated 9 feet from the router, the Trendnet managed just 256 mbps, good for fourth place.

In the other three test locations, Trendnet’s adapter finished last by wide margins. It couldn’t muster triple-digit performance when the client was at its farthest point from the router—65 feet away—and it only barely achieved that mark when the client was in my home theater, 35 feet away. When the client was in the kitchen, the TEW-805UB was 33 mbps slower than the fifth-place Linksys WUSB6300.

If your 802.11ac Wi-Fi budget is limited to $40, Buffalo’s WI-U2-866D is a far better buy. If you can stretch it just $10 more, D-Link’s DWA-182 will deliver even higher performance. There’s very little reason to opt for Trendnet’s TEW-805UB.

IF LENOVO’S SPENDY ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the laptop every worker bee craves, Lenovo’s thrifty ThinkPad X240 (go.pcworld.com / thinkpadx240) is the one an employer is more apt to spring for.

You might think the ThinkPad X240 is too big to qualify for the Ultrabook designation, but it’s only 0.79 inches thick and weighs just 3 pounds. It has two batteries and a battery bridge that allows hot swapping.

The X240’s WorldBench score of 282 leaves it slightly behind Dell’s XPS 12 Ultrabook Convertible (with the same dual-core CPU)

Lenovo ThinkPad

X240: A no-nonsense

business laptop

BY MICHELLE MASTIN Lenovo’s ThinkPad X240 may look big next to wafer-thin notebooks—but it’s only 0.79 inches thick. B Y R OBER T CARDIN

The X240 packs a fourth-generation Intel Core processor, so you can expect long battery life. Our test unit came with a Core i5-4200U, but there are other choices. The three-cell battery ran for 6 hours, 26 minutes.

The X240 has a number of I/O ports absent on the X1 Carbon, including a gigabit ethernet port, a smart card reader, a 34mm Express card socket, a VGA port, an always-on USB 2.0 port, and a docking port. Like the X1 Carbon, it has two USB 3.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort, an SD card reader, and a fingerprint reader.

The keyboard still has a nubby red dot in the center, but the dedicated buttons are gone. You must press the whole trackpad with your finger in the correct click zone. The roomy size lets you make the most of Windows 8’s multitouch gestures, but at times the trackpad registered

If you don’t mind toting an extra battery, the ThinkPad X240’s hot-swap feature will keep you productive for hours.

Lenovo ThinkPad X240

Batery life

Asus VivoBook S550CA (reference) Lenovo ThinkPad X240 Dell XSP 12 Ultrabook Convertible Samsung Ativ Book 7 model NP740USE-K01UB)

LONGER BARS ARE BETTER.

0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 6:00 6:26 5:00 6:49 6:03 3:22 7:00 8:00

two-finger scrolling when I only used one finger. But it was smooth and responsive overall.

The keyboard still has a nubby red dot in the center, but the dedicated buttons are gone. You must press the whole trackpad with your finger in the correct click zone. At times the trackpad registered two-finger scrolling when I only used one finger. But it was smooth and responsive overall.

If you’re looking for a workhorse laptop with great

Lenovo ThinkPad X240

PROS:

•

Durable carbon-fiber chassis

•

Hot-swappable battery

•

All the I/O ports you could ask for

CONS:

•

Disappointing 1366 by 768 display

•

Keyboard not up to ThinkPad

standards

•

Weak speakers

BOTTOM LINE:

Has fourth-gen Intel Core CPUs and hot-swappable batteries. But its display resolution is a letdown.

The 1366 by 768 display lacks definition.

THE CHROMEBOOK HAS found its sweet spot, and it’s around the $279 range, where the Toshiba CB35-A3120 Chromebook resides (go.pcworld.com/toshibacb35). It sure isn’t down with the $200-or-so cheapies, with their clackety plastics and sorry little screens. Nor is it in the 1-percenter fantasyland of the gorgeous and expensive Chromebook Pixel. The $250 Samsung Chromebook 3 is nice, and for $300 you could get an 11-inch touchscreen in the Acer C270P, or a 14-inch (non-touch) display in the HP Chromebook 14. But the

Toshiba Chromebook

hits the sweet spot

BY MELISSA RIOFRIO A top-down view shows the roomy clickpad and island-style keyboard. PHO TOGRAPHY B Y MICHAEL HO MNICK

Toshiba CB35-A3120 is nearly as good asthose higher-priced competitors, and it’s a notch better than the similarly priced HP Chromebook 11.

What the Toshiba CB35-A3120 has over the HP Chromebook 11 is a much larger 13.3-inch LED backlit display; a mobile-friendly Intel Celeron 2955U (Haswell) processor; and a 52Wh, four-cell lithium ion battery. The Toshiba performed well, scoring 2910 in Peacekeeper. The battery lasted almost 7 hours in our tests—noticeably longer than what the HP Chromebook 11 achieved with its ARM processor and 30Wh battery.

The CB35-A3120 also trumps the Chromebook 11 in connectivity, sporting two USB 3.0 ports (the HP has just USB 2.0), an SD card slot, a headphone jack, and an HDMI-out port. It has built-in Wi-Fi 802.11a/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, and a webcam and microphone sit atop the display. Built-in stereo speakers deliver tolerable though tinny sound.

Toshiba CB35-A3120

Chromebook

PROS:

•

Long battery life

•

USB 3.0 ports

•

Decent-size display

CONS:

•

Display feels a little bendy

•

Just adequate video playback

BOTTOM LINE:

The Toshiba CB35-A3120

Chromebook strikes a nice balance with its good-size display, long battery life, and compact design.

The right side has an audio jack, two USB 3.0 ports, and an HDMI-out port.

14 is decidedly bulkier. The 1366-by-768-pixel resolution is nothing special, nor is the occasionally choppy video playback, but that’s typical for this price range.

The Sunray Silver plastic chassis has an attractive, easy-to-grip surface. The display lid feels slightly bendy, but the bottom half is nicely stiff. At 3.3 pounds, the CB35-A3120

is easy to tote.

Most low-end Chromebooks have crummy keyboards with hard plastic keys and hard travel. The CB35-A3120’s island-style keys offer softer travel—a pleasant surprise. The top-row function keys and lower-right cursor keys are half-size but usable, and the clickpad is roomy and pretty responsive.

The Chromebook’s other features include 2GB of DDR3L 1600MHz memory and a 16GB SSD.

Chromebooks are hitting their stride. My current favorite in this price range is the HP Chromebook 14, but the

CB35-A3120 is a tempting alternative for a bit less cash.

The CB35-A3120 is slender, small, and light.

The CB35-A3120’s

island-style keys ofer

sofer travel than most

low-end Chromebooks

do—a pleasant surprise.

Reveal 11 Business

automates videography

BY JON L. JACOBI

MOST PEOPLE DON’T think of video-production software as a business tool. In today’s video-centric advertising, training, and communications environment, however, they should. Muvee Technologies seems to share that opinion, judging from its simple-to-use but effective Reveal 11 Business (go.pcworld.com/reveal11).

of style templates—which contain background music, effects, and transitions melded into a consistent look and feel—is what differentiates the regular $80 version of Reveal 11 and the $500 Business edition. The regular version has only a few, while the business version has more than 40, plus 2000 musical renditions that you may use royalty-free. Functionally, the versions are identical.

My only complaint is that Reveal 11 Business could stand to look more, well, businesslike. The styles offered in the Business pack are nice, but they’re named in artistic terms. If you’re looking for something like “Target: 27-year-old to 32-year-old food-centrics,” forget it—you’re getting “Reflections,” “Soar,” and “Turn Back Time.”

Reveal 11 Business is supremely easy to use. A content row sits at the top, and style-selection and preview panes appear beneath that. But the program offers more control over video production than is apparent at first glance. Click Personalize in the bottom-left corner, and you can insert your logo, adjust the scene timing, define the titling and credits, or record a voice-over. You’ll find a small audio-mix console, too. Click any picture or video in the media bay, and the program presents slick and simple editing controls such as a zoom-effect

Muvee Reveal 11

Business

PROS:

•

Easy to use

•

Produces professional-quality video

•

More affordable than a

videographer

CONS:

•

Styles content not organized in

a businesslike fashion

BOTTOM LINE:

Reveal 11 Business could be just the software you need to create high-quality promotional or training videos.

$500

control for photos and a highly accurate scene detector and slicer for videos. Attached to each style are controls for color profiles, scene-change speed, camera wonkiness, and more.

Even better, labels and messages are concise yet not overly terse: They actually tell you what to do. Additionally, there’s not one

cluttered area, overcrowded toolbar, or cryptic icon in sight. Interfaces don’t get any better than this. I never once cracked open the help file.

I’m not trying to step on the toes of professional videographers— good ones are worth their weight in gold. But many people don’t have the gold, and Reveal 11 Business largely meets the need, if not for a professional advertising campaign, then for just about everything else. If you’re strapped for cash, you could buy the regular version of the software and then shop in the Muvee store for a $10 or $15 style that suits you. The company also offers a music store with affordable licensing fees based on your intended usage.

In Reveal 11’s Personalize section, you can record a voice-over for your video.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro:

Android moves into the office

BY MARK HACHMAN

IN THE CURRENT market, paying $750 for a 12-inch Android tablet seems exorbitant. But if now isn’t the time for consumers to start thinking of large Android tablets as legitimate Windows laptop replacements, that day isn’t far off.

The massive Samsung Galaxy Note Pro (go.pcworld.com/

galaxynotepro), like the Microsoft Surface, functions best on a desk. Offering a 12.2-inch screen and weighing 1.65 pounds, it’s virtually identical to the Galaxy Tab Pro save for the addition of an S Pen stylus.

According to Samsung, the Wi-Fi version of the tablet houses a

Samsung’s Galaxy Note Pro makes Android an attractive option for business use.

PHO TOGRAPHY B Y MICHAEL HO MNICK

1.9GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A15 chip and runs Android 4.4 (KitKat). On our performance tests it produced a Sunspider score of 0.97 second (hitting the upper echelons among tablets), and a PeaceKeeper score of 815. For the sake of comparison, the third-generation iPad managed 516 in PeaceKeeper (higher scores are better).

You can configure the optional ($70) foldable cover so that it wakes and unlocks the tablet when you flip it back. The cover also doubles as a flimsy stand. To use the tablet as a laptop replacement, however,

you’ll need to buy a Bluetooth keyboard and possibly a mouse.

Charging takes three to four hours, but battery life is excellent: You’ll see two, possibly even three days of casual use from its integrated 9500-mAh battery. In our looping video test, the battery lasted 8 hours, 37 minutes.

The 12.2-inch display boasts a resolution of 2560 by 1600 and a pixel density of 247 ppi. You can hook up an external monitor via an optional ($40) HDMI dongle.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro

(SM-P900)

PROS:

•

Large, vivid screen

•

Excellent battery life and

performance

•

Office and videoconferencing

apps built in

CONS:

•

No wired display connection

•

Flip cover doubles as a flimsy stand

BOTTOM LINE:

This capable tablet offers a generous screen, excellent battery life, and access to plenty of productivity apps.

Judging from the home button’s position, the tablet’s preferred orientation is landscape.

Pen Window. This mode lets you run a second app inside a window, providing Android with a desktop-like multitasking environment. Even better is Multi Window mode: To trigger this mode, you swipe in from the right side, using a list of supported apps. Dragging one app to the main screen fills it. Dragging a second one

“snaps” the screen into two halves—and so on, up to four screens. Productivity apps such as Cisco’s WebEx and Samsung Remote PC (an alternative to Microsoft Remote Desktop) are included. On Google Play, Hancom’s Hanword word processor costs more than $17, but on the Note Pro, it’s free, as are similar apps to view and edit PowerPoint and Excel files. Aside from some possible font-compatibility issues, the Hancom apps work surprisingly well. Google’s own Quickoffice is also installed. Android versions of virtually every productivity app you could want are available from either the Samsung app store or

You can have up to four apps open at once in Multi Window mode.

You’ll see two,

possibly three days

of casual use from its

integrated batery.

Google Play, adding up to a PC-like experience on an Android tablet. Considering the sum of its parts, the Galaxy Note Pro is not only a viable choice for a tablet enthusiast but also an option for an adventuresome road warrior eager to leave the Windows world. If only Samsung could knock another $150 or so off the price.

The tablet gives access to a host of productivity apps.

Intel 730

Series SSD

offers good performance

BY JON L. JACOBI

INTEL’S NEW 730 Series of enthusiast-class SSDs come emblazoned with the image of a skull, but they don’t fully live up to a killer image.

The company shipped a pair of 480GB drives to us so we could benchmark them striped as a single volume in RAID 0, which is how a PC enthusiast might deploy them. Theoretically, you should get close to double the performance this way; but because we haven’t tested any other SSDs in tandem, we stuck with one drive for our full bench- marking regimen and ran CrystalDiskMark for the RAID 0 setup.

Plenty of room

SSDs in the 730 Series use 20nm MLC (multilevel cell) NAND. Since the SSD is just 7mm high, it will fit in most laptops and even in an

all-in-one (if the machine is upgradable), as well as in a conventional desktop rig. It relies on Intel’s PC29AS21CA0 controller, which the company also uses to power its 3500- and 3700 Series SSDs for data-center operators. Intel says that it overclocks the controller by 50 percent and the NAND bus by 20 percent to increase

overall performance substantially. Though Intel suggested at its 2013 developers’ conference that it might allow end users to overclock the controller, in the end it decided against doing so.

The drives are available in 240GB and 480GB flavors, priced at $250 and $490, respectively. We tested the 480GB model and it performed well, but not superbly, ranking tenth among the 19 drives we’ve

tested to date. That said, this SSD does smoke the Intel 335 Series; and the difference between the first and tenth-place drives is statistically insignificant once you exclude Plextor’s new PCIe drive and Samsung’s EVO using its Rapid caching software.

The 480GB Series 730 wrote our 10GB mix of files and folders at 469.1 megabytes per second and a single 10GB file at 461.9 MBps. It also read the files and folders at

Intel 730 Series SSD

(480GB)

PROS:

•

Strong 5-year warranty

•

Enterprise-class controller

•

7mm height

CONS:

•

Midrange performance

•

High-end price tag

BOTTOM LINE:

Intel’s 730 Series SSD ought to last a good long while, but you shouldn’t imagine that the drive’s skull logo portends killer performance.

The 480GB model

performed well,

ranking tenth among

19 drives tested.

performance jump when testing two of these drives striped in RAID 0, using Intel Rapid Storage Technology. The uptick approaches the 100 percent improvement that Intel claims for it.

CrystalDiskMark’s sequential write number jumped from about 460MBps to 800 MBps, and its read number went from 470 MBps to just over 900 MBps. But the performance gains will vary depending on which RAID technology you use. When I repeated the tests on my own system—a motherboard with an Intel Z77 chipset, an Intel Core i7-3770 CPU, and 8GB DDR3/1600 memory—the performance increase topped out at about 50 MBps.

The Intel 730 Series finished in the middle of the pack on this test involving reading and writing a 10GB collection of small files and folders.

Intel 730 Series SSD (480GB)

Read/Write Performance With 10GB

of Small Files/Folders

0 100 200 300 400 600 411.9 443.3 414.6 465.2 394.9 494.1 361.3 342.7 376.7 469.1 384.4

MEGABYTES PER SECOND. (LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE.) Files and Folders (Read)

Files and Folders (Write) 500

493.7

Toshiba Q Series Pro 512GB Samsung 840 EVO 500GB, w/RAPID Samsung 840 EVO 500GB, w/o RAPID OCZ Vertex 460 480GB Intel 335 Series 240GB Intel 730 Series 480GB