What's your favorite computer magazine??

[lorthus]

My computer shopper subscrition is running out and I'm thinking about getting a different one but I have no idea of which one to get...
I like checking out reviews on new products and stuff and also software reviews, free downloads etc.. but Computer Shopper has way too many ads..
Whats your favorite?

 

[clue69less]

My computer shopper subscrition is running out and I'm thinking about getting a different one but I have no idea of which one to get...
I like checking out reviews on new products and stuff and also software reviews, free downloads etc.. but Computer Shopper has way too many ads..
Whats your favorite?

I can't think of any magazine really good enough to qualify as a favorite. CPU has some interesting articles from time to time. If the publisher of CPU (which also publishes Smart Computing and PC Today) condensed the best of their three magazines into one, that would be a much stronger mag. You can't be too down on adds - they pay the bills and also let you see new things, but monthly magazines are slow to the punch on the real content. I read them mostly to hear how products were reviewed and how the data was interpreted. Of the others, Maximum PC has a good sense of humor and some of their reviews are pretty insightful.

PC Format usually has the best cover art...

 

[swifty_morgan]

I'd like to tell you my favorite magazines, but if you are looking for hints as to where to put your ads, I already have to by-pass too many now.

 

[sojrner]

Tom's Hardware Guide


oh, wait... a magazine is on paper isn't it, lol. I read MaximumPC for all my "non-www" reviews and stuff. They are of the mantra that price is the secondary consideration to performance of anything. (but if it does not perform to par then it had better be cheap!) I have seen pics of them literally blowing up speakers as they test them for the rated specs. While ads are a part of life online or in a mag, these guys have no qualms about calling a spade a spade w/ respect to crappy hardware. Biggest thing is that unlike most other mags (including computer shopper) they do not review something that is middle-quality but hyped and/or pushed on them w/ a conclusion that it is good. Regardless of what the PR spin for the product is, it has to stand on its own.

The downfall of all mags is that they inevitably are behind on some reviews compared to online sources... but I still enjoy the reading.

 

[Howard_Stern]

Maximum PC by far. CPU is a close second.

Regards,
Howard

 

[clue69less]

I have seen pics of them literally blowing up speakers as they test them for the rated specs.

Back at the dawn of digital audio, a new recorder was being shown off for all of the golden-eared audiophiles in the industry that cared to listen. So the demo got started and something went wrong in the D/A converter and it went full scale. I remember they were using some incredible set of amps, something like four monos each pushing a KW or two to biamp the big B&W loudspeaker, the 801 if I remember right. Anyway, there's a photo of the front of the speaker and the grille cloth is all trashed with a big gaping hole and on the floor in front of the speaker lay part of the speaker cone with the magnet still attached. The guy that wrote it up for one of the mainstream mags said he had his SPL meter going and it got pegged beyond it's highest reading, like 129 dB or something like that. He said his ears rang for 3 days and some of the other writers were talking about a lawsuit for hearing loss. I'll never forget that photo.

 

[sojrner]

lol, ya that is cool... but I am actually refering to something more recent. About 2 years ago... Cant remember the brand (can look through my old copies to find it I'm sure) but they actually went through their frequency sweep and blew them (smoke and all) up. Then company sent them another set and they blew them too. Needless to say they got a poor rating but the pic was great.

With that they gained my respect in that they are not afraid to push to the limit.

 

[Sean618]

As I live in Britain the best here is Computer shopper, however I recently went to oz and checked out a few of theirs and I thought PC Authority was excellent. I didn't think that Custom PC was that good, as about half of it is just custom cases that people have built. The main thing I look for is the product testing in particular the labs which computer shopper generally does well.

 

[1Tanker]

My computer shopper subscrition is running out and I'm thinking about getting a different one but I have no idea of which one to get...
I like checking out reviews on new products and stuff and also software reviews, free downloads etc.. but Computer Shopper has way too many ads..
Whats your favorite?

I don't read comp mags anymore, but my favourite(if it's still published) was Computer Power User mag.

 

[NeonDeon]

Computer magazines.... What the hell are those? Oh wait.... Oh those dying paper things people use too read long ago? Yeah I remember buying them once apon a time. Now you just walk into the book store and read an article and then your done with it. I don't bother with those things anymore they are like newsapapers, yesterdays news today...

 

[clue69less]

I am actually refering to something more recent.

Sure, I caught that - and just used it as an excuse to tell the story.

With that they gained my respect in that they are not afraid to push to the limit.

What fun is it being gentle? You want to send back a product that was fully wrung out! I have a test disc with a 22KHz test tone that is delivered in a series of 1/2 second bursts. I've seen tweeters go up in smoke with it and all you can hear is a little distortion. Oops!

 

[clue69less]

MAXIMUM PC!!

minimum bs.

I like their KickAss awards.

 

[sojrner]

8)

 

[sojrner]

yes indeed.