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Flat-panel displays are getting ready to replace CRTs as the display of choice in desktop PCs. However, take time before designing your system to select the optimum analog or digital [...]

Relatively low-cost PC accessories that can significantly improve the computing experience are discussed. The 3M Precise Mousing Surface is an innovative mouse pad. It is not impressive looking, but at $15, it is a worthwhile investment. It is very thin, and its patented top surface provides consistent trackball contact and helps keep the trackball clean., Would you spend $15 to make personal computing significantly more pleasant and probably more efficient? You would? Then I have a deal for you. It works equally well with Windows [...]

The stars in this year's galaxy of workstations are not going to be just reduced-instruction-set-computing systems. The newest Intel Pentium II chips, running at speeds of 233-MHz, 266-MHz and 300-MHz, […]

Prices and supplies should be good for purchasers of electronics in 1997. Microprocessors are expected to be in good supply with Intel concentrating on the MMX Pentium chip. Intel controls 80% of the processor market. Prices of DRAM semiconductors are expected to be good. The market is expected to tighten in 1998 with some shortages predicted. Jim McGregor of In-Stat expects the DRAM market to grow to $25.5 billion., The buyer's market for electronics will continue through the first half of 1997. Availability will be high and prices weak despite strong if not stellar demand for computers, cellular phones, [...]

It's almost the end of summer. The year's nearly two-thirds gone, and you haven't managed to cross off that big to-do item from your New Year's resolution list. You know, […]

The PC Card standard is changing the shape of mobile computing. Personal-Computer (PC) Designers are constantly striving for two things: compatibility and expandability. The PC industry could not have evolved […]

Micrcomputers derive their names from the microprocessors they run on. They vary in areas such as processing speeds, memory, processing power and storage capacities. Microcomputers require several hardware, such as keyboards, video monitors, battery packs or universal power supplies, printers and scanners. Such equipment can be brought from reputable companies such as Apple Computer Inc., IBM, NCR Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp., Microcomputers get their names from the microprocessors on which they are based. A microprocessor is often called a computer or a chip because it is a fingernail size chip of [...]

A CD-ROM drive may be easily installed in a PC-based microcomputer by following the step-by-step process suggested. Microcomputers and CD-ROM drives, including peripheral cards, may vary accordingly. However, an understanding of the manual's contents will facilitate the installation process. Before making an upgrade, microcomputer owners should make sure that the machine has space to accommodate the CD-ROM drive and card. A 25-MHz Intel 486SX-based Epson Endeavor 4SX/25 was equipped with the drive, and the installation procedures were described., It's been happening more frequently of late. You find yourself looking enviously at all the ads for tax services on CD-ROM. Or you come across a review of a CD-ROM-based [...]

Sales of home and personal computer packaged software in the UK was worth 940 million pounds sterling in 1993. The market is being driven by sales of PC leisure software, LAN software and Windows-based business applications. The applications software market in 1993 reached 616 million pounds sterling. Generally, the market is moving away from games software towards applications software for IBM-compatible PCs. In value terms, the market is dominated by PC software companies, led by Microsoft and Novell Wordperfect. The 1994 PC and home computer market is forecast to reach 1.03 billion pounds sterling, rising to 1. 29 billion pounds sterling by 1998.

BUILD THIS SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORward circuit that lets you bread-board circuits and control them with your personal computer. The circuit consists of three parts: a parallel-interface card, an external breadboard platform, […]

Sound cards are increasing in variety and getting better and cheaper. Digital signal processor chips and the ARIA chip set offer great promise with software upgradeability. Technical concerns are explained, and 15 sound cards are briefly profiled.

Fifty multimedia gifts are recommended. The products include multimedia disk-based software, CD-ROM software and multimedia hardware. Products such as speakers, upgrade kits, encyclopedias and games are described. Prices and distributers' telephone numbers are provided.

LIKE THE VICTIM IN SOME CHEESY murder mystery who scrawls his dying message in the sand, your IBM-PC compatible computer might be trying to communicate with you. Every time your […]

LAST MONTH WE WENT OVER THE OPERATING theory of the Experimenter, and discussed the various commands that control it. Now its' time to build it. Assembly Experimenter is constructed on […]

Electronics assemblers today face continuing pressure to shorten time to market, improve flexibility, and boost product quality. And on all those counts, an emerging new breed of manufacturing software is […]

Build the Experimenter, and put your personal computer to work doing interesting and useful real-time tasks. JUST IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN if your personal computer had the ability to sense […]

MiniFinders is a comprehensive directory of current Macintosh hardware and software products that have been reviewed and rated in MacUser. Our rating system awards from one (worst) to five (best) […]

A data capture system based on an analog-to-digital convertor (ADC) for personal computers can be built at a home electronics workshop. Instructions on how to make and use such an ADC interface are provided.

A personal computer (PC) image capture board can be built for under $100. The Frugalvision board can capture a video image in 8 seconds, and will print a black-and-white copy of the image with 256x244 pixel resolution.

The electronics hobbyist can make his PC and TV into a home video production studio with a circuit that converts VGA signals to NTSC broadcast-quality signals. Complete assembly instructions are included.