Vincent Alzieu

We scrutinized five of the latest LCD monitors from the likes of LG and Iiyama and saw what new contenders from BenQ and Dell had to offer. See what LCD graphics and game performance is like today at a price range of $600 to $1,050.

We tested them so believe it - LCD screens with a refresh rate faster than 16 ms and 20 ms, response times of 12 ms. But these superlatives do not necessarily mean everything. We scrutinize the BenQ FP767-12 and the Samsung 172X to see which LCD makes the best use of such impressive specs.

HP attempts to invigorate its high-end printer line with its Photosmart 7960 and Scanjet 4600. With a host of nifty new features, are the technologies worth the extra money?

Wide-screen LCD monitors with fast response time have finally arrived. The Samsung SyncMaster 193P offers the first 19" monitor with a less than 20ms PVA panel. Others such as Hitachi, Sharp, Sony and Nec have also stepped up to the 19" plate.

Like response times and dead pixels, contrast ratios are based on an ISO 13406-2 standard. While most agree that contrast ratios serve a purpose, impressive contrast ratios do not make screens more reliable. We look at how contrast ratios are measured, as well as what they really signify.

Two IPS panels with very fast response times have entered the market at the same time. The first, by Sharp (20ms), is used in the Eizo L885. The second, an LG-Philips (16ms) is used in the Philips 200P4. IPS-type panels are famous for their very wide angles of vision and more-or-less uniform response time. So will these panels represent the ultimate solution for everyone, including gamers, graphic artists, photographers and people who just appreciate big screens?

The Christmas buying craze is upon us, and this year's printer crop has arrived: the Canon i865, the HP 5652 Deskjet, the Epson CX5400, the Lexmark X6170 and the Brother MFC 4820C, to name only a few. This year's Christmas season review roundup offers some glimpses of new multifunctional features, including recto-verso printing, sensors, LCD screens and more.

After spending years turning out the same products, the three major players in the inkjet market have now decided to go their separate ways. The new Canon printer has a raft of extra modules making it a bit like a tank, the HP has an LCD screen and integrated photo retouching, and the Epson has gone for cost-effectiveness with new ink and a model at half the price of the others. So which of them is right?

The previous tests showed that vendors offering LCD monitors with 20 response time milliseconds were serious about attracting the attention of the gamer and high-end digital photography crowd. Today, we review the new Christmas-buying-season 17" LCD stars: the Hercules ProphetView 920 Pro, the NEC LCD71VM, the Samsung 172X and the Viewsonic VP170m. Which one will win the best screen of the year prize? We also disclose Hyundai delivery problems and analyze the bogus elements of vendors' performance claims.

Many 19" LCD monitors that will debut this fall will cost less than 1000 euros (US $1100). Here, we survey these new monitors and gauge their performance in games, movies, colors, and calibration.

OEMs today try to squeeze everything they can into a single box. Scanners are more often than not combined with a printer or a fax. The days of testing single-task scanners were long over, we thought. But evidently, demand exists for high-end scanners that offer resolutions and performance beyond what all-in-one models offer. We thus decided to test the most popular stand-alone scanners. Much touted by professional photographers ever since it entered the market, Epson's Photo Perfection 3200 proved to meet our high-end criteria.

Canon has launched four new multi-purpose printers. In addition to the i550 and i850 that are still featured in the catalog, Canon stands ready to introduce the i250, i350, i450 and i470D - they are less expensive, faster and simply better, all around. Here is a preview of what awaits you once the summer vacation is over, in September, just in time for back to school.

The 20-ms line has now been crossed. And with it, most of the afterglow problem common to flat panels is solved. For our fourth set of comparative tests of the best currently available 17" monitors, we had two questions to address: can you play games and edit images on them?

Why buy a printer when for less than $200 you can have a photo printer, flatbed scanner and color photocopier all in one? Four models are in the running: Canon, Epson, hp and Lexmark. The results are in images and figures.

With the release of the i950 we have a perfect occasion to take a look at all the brands and see what the quality of their prints is like. How does the i950 compare to the i850, and to the latest HP, Epson and Lexmark printers? Are six colors better than four? The images give the answer!

No, despite the way it looks, this is no toy. The general public may even like the color scheme chosen for it. In any case, the inner workings of a printer are more important than the cover. And it's those workings that we were determined to test.

The 7350 may have card readers and turn out magnificent photos, but it still leaves something to be desired. Read on for the pros and cons we found with HP's version of direct printing.

Everyone has heard of Bluetooth by now. After all, this technology has been in the making for more than seven years. Now that Microsoft has released the first Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set, this seems like a good time to have a proper look at the technology. While we're at it, we'll also take a good look at that first keyboard and mouse set, the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop for Bluetooth.

Sales of LCD flat panels have gone through the roof and their prices go down by the day, but there still remains a point that is not exactly emphasized in the specifications: how many dead pixels does it take before the manufacturers agree to replace a monitor We asked 36 manufacturers this question. The answers came back in dribs and drabs. Looks like there are some things they are not too proud of.

Any self-respecting buyer of a 17" LCD monitor starts out by making a list of self-respecting monitors. This list would naturally include the Hitachi CML174SXW and the Iiyama AS4314UTG, both of which have been tested by Tom's. But we hadn't yet tested the 171N, a 25 ms, or the LCD1760V, a 16 ms. Well, this is now remedied, and for good measure we've thrown in some general details on LCDs: frequencies, technologies, interfaces, etc.

Hitachi's new LCD screen pushes the envelope. The response time of the CML174SXW is the fastest of all at only 16 ms! The rest of the characteristics are just as impressive - contrast of 400:1; brightness of 260 cd/sq. m.; 160° angles of vision; etc.

This year's ultimate Christmas present has to be a digital camera. We have tested the latest of them - the most beautiful and compact, the real must-haves: Canon PowerShot S230 (Ixus V3), Casio Exilim EX-M2, Minolta Dimage Xi, Toshiba PDR-T30 and Sony DSC-U10. Colors, detail, vignetting, zoom and speed have all been examined under the microscope.

We have tested printers all year long, bringing the results to you so you can keep up to date on what's new technically, as well as price-wise. Here, in what will be our last installment of 2002, we'll get you up to speed with our lab results for six new printers: the Canon i850, the HP Deskjet 3820, the Epson Stylus C62, the Epson Stylus C82, the Canon S330, and the Epson Stylus Photo 830.

Iiyama has won the gold medal yet again for the best screen of the selection. And good news, it's the cheapest as well. The competition consists of Belinea, Hitachi, Mitac, QDI, and Sony.

The i550 uses the same cartridges as the S750, has a very similar, very fast print motor, a maximum resolution of 4800 dpi versus the 2400 dpi of the older version, and costs less. Has the time come for a change?