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NEVER MIND fussing with a keyboard or mouse: Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 lets you talk to your PC to take care of all kinds of business. Dragon says that you can […]

THE $99 SNAP Communicator is part telephone, part intercom. It connects to your PC via USB, and lets you talk to one of eight contacts at the push of a […]

INTERNET TELEPHONY AOL'S AIM PHONELINE lets AIM instant messaging users make Internet-based phone calls. I found the service easy to use, with good call quality most of the time. The […]

AT THEIR BEST, Internet phones provide affordable long-distance and international rates, all-you-can-talk monthly calling plans, online voice messages and other Web-based features that a landline company just can't offer, and--most […]

Gloriously clutter-free, Google Talk's beta gives you text- and voice-messaging, smooth integration with Gmail, rudimentary customisation options ... and that's about it. It's yet another potentially exciting service from the […]

USE BROADVOICE as my Voiceover-IP service. One day I got a call from someone I know who uses Skype. While I was on the call, I got an e-mail message […]

I OWN A TWO-YEAR old Logitech Cordless Elite Duo keyboard. One of its foldable legs broke, so I contacted Logitech to order a replacement leg. To my surprise, the company […]

MICROSOFT'S WINDOWS XP Service Pack 2 is supposed to improve security. Its Windows Security Center should alert you when your antivirus software is missing or out of date. But in […]

Bluetooth headsets are truly a matter of personal taste--especially if, like me, you're fussy about hanging contraptions from your ear. PC World tested Logitech's Mobile Bluetooth Headset with a Bluetooth-enabled […]

TALK IS CHEAP--cheaper in some cases than with land-line or cell phone plans--if you opt for one of the many Internet phone services. Voice-over-IP services offer better quality, wider choices, […]

COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH IN Motion's popular BlackBerry communications device is now improved with a color screen and wider global reach for wireless voice mail and e-mall. I tried a shipping BlackBerry […]

I DITCHED MY AGING GRAY-SCALE Palm V for a couple of weeks to test the (initially) dazzling Sony Clie PEG-NZ90. The screen is big, the colors crisp, and after cranking […]

LIKE ANY TELEPHONE lover, I want crystal-clear reception and complete conversations--without the annoying echoes, dropped sentences, or abrupt terminations that have plagued Web-based phones in the past. Internet Telephone from […]

IS YOUR notebook the only PC you have? The Plastic-smith's $80 Lapvantage Deluxe Dame is a stand that adjusts to place your laptop at just the right level for you, […]

Yakking to the PC isn't everyone's cup of tea. However, if you have trouble typing or want to give your hands a break from the keyboard, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 6 Preferred […]

SPEECH RECOGNITION YAKKING TO the PG isn't everyone's cup of tea. But if you have trouble typing or want to give your hands a break from the keyboard, Dragon Naturally […]

WENDING your way through Windows involves so many tedious tasks. When you want to maximize or minimize a program, for example, you have to bring your pointer up to the […]

Voice recognition programs let you do more than just plain dictation these days. For instance, Lernout & Hauspie's Now You're Talking Deluxe lets you snap orders at your PC to […]

Speech Recognition Dragon Systems' new $249 dictation package, NaturallySpeaking Mobile, lets you do your talking while you're walking. It combines a pocket voice recorder and NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software. You […]

Hands-Free computing may sound safe and comfortable, but if you don't proceed with due caution, talking to your PC can be hazardous to your vocal health. Dennis Ettare, director of […]

Think your PC doesn't understand you? Just wait. Someday, you may sit down and have a nice heart-to-heart with your computer--maybe even while speaking into your lapel. We asked experts […]

LOTUS ISN'T the only vendor adding speech technology to its products. Corel plans to release a version of WordPerfect Suite 8 in early May that lets you dictate text into […]

When Your PC Company Goes AWOL We've received a number of pleas from lost Austin Computer owners--Scott Deeck of Jacksonville, Florida, among them. 'They're not answering the phone,' Deeck laments. […]

CONVERGENCE You'd like to watch a movie and then play that PC game. Or you need a big screen for boardroom presentations. You'll want to take a look at the […]

Is the front of your fridge a jumbled array of bills, reminders, and IOUs? DayTimer HomeLife, a personal information manager designed for the home PC, can help organize that mess. […]

DESKTOP Wave good-bye to the Dell Dimension P series, it's time for the divine Dimension M. In its new cast of Pentium MMX desktops, Dell has included two entry-level business […]

Kids' World Online is like a cartoon network on the Internet. Download the software, and it creates a child's place on your computer. It's an Internet browser as well as […]

SPEECH RECOGNITION Are you on speaking terms with your computer? IBM's VoiceType Simply Speaking software lets you dictate to your PC. List-priced at $99, it's one of the first low-cost […]

Running out of ideas about what to rent at the video store? Check out Corel's All-Movie Guide 2, covering some 100,000 films. Like Microsoft's Cinemania, Corel's CD lets you search […]

John Ripka is a potential client, a skilled negotiator--and one tough cookie. In The Negotiator, an interactive role-playing CD-ROM, your job as Director of Sales is to successfully negotiate the […]

Last May I bought a Magna Media P120 from Maximus Computers, and the sound card refused to work. Maximus tech support instructed me to reinstall Windows 95--the CD-ROM was unopened […]

Did you know that the first space traveler was Laika, a Soviet dog? You'll be surprised at what you learn with Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Space and the Universe. Journey to […]

From the October 1996 Issue of PC World Online (PCW Advocate) I was excited to see an ad in PC World for IDT that said, 'Always a local call.' However, […]

Discover Astronomy Grade: B; STREET PRICE: $14.95; Maris Multimedia, 800/336-2947 Discover Astronomy takes you on a galactic voyage that starts with the Big Bang and keeps right on going. Adults […]

Do you hate the vague, lost feeling that comes with traveling to a new city? Well, if you're going to Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, or […]

Compares several different venues for buying a personal computer. Retail stores like Circuit City and CompUSA; Mail order vendors like Gateway 2000 and Dell Computer; Online shopping from CompUSA Direct and Gateway 2000; Benefits of each; How vendors rated; Where the best buying experience was from; How close vendors came to supplying what customers really wanted; Recommendations. INSETS: Smart shopping tips;Diary of an undercover shopper;Did they really say that?.

Presents `PC World's report on customer service in the personal computer (PC) industry. The report based on survey results from nearly 12,000 `PC World' readers; Criteria include reliability and service; Telephone support hold-time; Which PC makers build the most reliable machines; Which vendors respond the fastest to a user's cry for help; Other criteria. INSETS: AST's free fall;No more free support?, by Harry McCracken;A word about the numbers.

The article features instant messaging software MSN Messenger 7.5 from Microsoft Corp., Google Talk from Google Inc., and Trillian Basic 3.1 from Cerulean Studios. MSN Messenger has a powerful video conferencing capability and has a business-oriented applications. Google Talk has several features and customizing options, and it is also easy to install as well. Trillian Basic allows the user to connect to other people who use AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

This article offers ideas on identifying and replacing the parts in a personal computer (PC) that are making the most noise. The system's noisiest parts are its fans, and most PC use a lot of them. First, one could buy new fans. Slower fans make less noise, but they do not push as much cooling air over the central processing unit and other internal components. To identify the source of noise, use the ever-popular Cardboard Tube Test. With the PC turned off but plugged in, insert a small wooden stick between the fan's blades, and hold it there while turning the PC on. The power supply may well the first noise source one will want to replace, since its fan is often the loudest thing in the case. Note, though, that while a supply that delivers more watts gives the power to upgrade a PC equipment, it also costs more and might be noisier than a less-powerful model. Most hard drives do not have fans, but they still make plenty of noise when they spin. However, many new models make less noise, as they use fluid dynamic bearings in place of ball bearings. INSET: KEEP YOUR BACKUP DRIVE OFF WHEN IT'S NOT IN USE.

This article offers several tips on how to make quick work of Windows tasks by typing commands instead of clicking menus. The author suggests that to open a command in Windows 98, choose Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt. In Windows Me, click Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. Alternately, you can open the window by choosing Start, Run, typing command and pressing Enter. While the commands are useful by themselves, their real power comes from their switches. For almost every command, the best way to find the appropriate switches is to type the command name followed by a space and /?. Then press Enter. According to the author, this provides you with a summary of the command's purpose, as well as a description of its syntax and an explanation of each switch. When your command acts on a file or folder,generally you must type the path to that folder after the command. You can save typing time by doing a little dragging-and-dropping. To spiff up the command line, right-click the title bar of the command window and choose Properties. Under the Font tab, select the size and style of type you want; this also affects the size of the command window. In Windows 2000 and XP, you can change the background color and the text color via the Colors tab and the default size of the window by choosing the Layout tab. INSET: WINDOWS TOOLBOX.

This article discusses preventive-maintenance tips for PC internal and external devices. Few users are as diligent as they should be about backing up system, applications, and data. No backup strategy is 100 percent effective, and most take more time to set up and use than users are willing to spend on them. The very least one can do is to create an image of the hard drive when everything works. That way, when trouble strikes, users merely restore the pristine image, which usually takes less than 45 minutes. Symantec Norton Ghost 9 and Acronis True Image 8 restore Windows XP, Microsoft Office, and an assortment of other applications and utilities in half the time it would take to reinstall Windows, let alone the hours required to reinstall all programs, reload data files manually, and reconfigure system settings to the way one prefers them. The downside: Norton Ghost costs $70 retail, and True Image lists for $50. While saving the image to a second hard drive is far more convenient than placing it on a DVD, it is also more expensive. Incompatibilities between DVD drives and imaging software are common. To make data easier to restore, keep data files on a partition other than the one that holds Windows and applications.

This article offers tips to computer users on how to identify malware hiding in Windows' system folders. Antivirus and other security tools need frequent and detailed updates to work effectively; they can't block a piece of malware that they haven't seen before. Consequently, these programs always suffer a period of vulnerability between the time when source code for a new worm hits the Internet, for example, and the time when the antivirus definitions to block or clean the infection are available for download. Whether it's for a few minutes or for many days, that window always gapes open when new threats appear. First, and most important, users should remember that this is the operating system they're dealing with, so they shouldn't leap into their system files, deleting things willy-nilly as soon as they suspect trouble. If they blow it, they may render Windows unbootable. Users can't always trust the first few results when they research an unknown file on the Web. Even if a hundred small sites post data about a suspected piece of malware, one page on a Microsoft site that explains the legitimate use of the file can trump those analyses. INSET: Hunting Hidden Files.

This article presents techniques and tools that can be used to streamline file management and folder navigation. Everytime you want to make a new folder, you either select a folder in an Explorer window and choose File New Folder or right click in a folder window and select New Folder. One approach is to add a Make New Folder command to the right-click or context, menu. This saves you the trouble of navigating to the File menu's often slow New submenu. If you make a mistake in Windows 98, return to the Edit File type dialog box, select your new command and click Edit to change it or Remove to delete it. However, if you make a mistake in Windows 2000, Me or XP, you will have to alter the command via the Registry Editor or delete it and start over. Windows XP does have some features to help impose order. First, launch Explorer, select the folder you want to organize and click View Choose Details. Scroll through the attributes list and check the boxes that you think you might want to use as basis for organizing your files. For example, if you have a folder full of music files, you may want to check Album Title to be able to sort and arrange files by the album they belong to. Check as many attributes as you would like to see in Explorer's Details view and when you are done, click OK. INSET: WINDOWS TOOLBOX.

This article focuses on the benefits of Microsoft's MSN Toolbar Suite product for users of Windows operating systems. In addition to its useful features, the suite aims to make finding files on hard disks as fast, easy and accurate as Web searches. The toolbars for Internet Explorer, Outlook , Outlook Express, Windows Explorer and folder windows are free. The three programs that comprise the MSN Toolbar Suite search disks and provide the same results based on a single shared index of email and local files. MSN Desktop Search is a stand-alone search application; the MSN Toolbar appears in the folder and Explorer windows; and the Deskbar resides in the taskbar. They search Outlook and Outlook Express email and attachments as well as Word, Excel and other Office files. They also index PDF-format files, text files and HTML-format files.