_{Cover of the April 1996 issue of Computer Shopper}

During the mid 90s, just before the Internet exploded, Computer Shopper was at its peak. The April 1996 issue has more than 800 pages and includes:

Features

Pentium Performance Values - A comparison of a dozen of the latest Pentium 166 based systems including the Computrade 3D Game Station, Dell Dimension XPS P166c, Diamond DT-Super 166, Digital Celebris GL 5166ST, EPS Evolution P166, Gateway 2000 P5166 XL, Maximum Magna Graphiss Promedia, Micron P166 Millennia, MidWest Micro P5166, New Interactive Concept Systems Power Publisher 166, Quantex QP5/166 SM-2, and a Dell XPS P133c which serves as a baseline.

Sounds Good - A comparison of 3D speaker systems including the Altec Lansing ACS500, Cambridge SoundWorks Ensemble IV, Labtec LCS-2612, Media Depot SSS-170W, MIDI Land MLi-370, and NuReality Vivid 3D Speakers.

Videoconferencing - A look at various videoconferencing solutions including ShareVision PC3000 from Creative Labs (POTS), ProShare Video System 200 from Intel (ISDN), Live PCS 50 from (ISDN), TeleWork-5 from Vivo Software (ISND), C-Phone from Target Technologies (LAN), and CorelVideo from Corel (LAN).

Software

Presentation-Graphics Software - A look at several products in a field Microsoft came to complete dominate including DeltaGraph Pro 3.5, Fanfare Presentations, Great Presentations 1.0, Harvard Graphics 4.0 for Windows 95, Lotus Freelance Graphics 96 Edition for Windows 95, Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, Q/Media 3.00, and more.

Accounting Packages - A look at some of the latest accounting software including One-Write Plus for Windows 5.0, M.Y.O.B. 6.0, Peachtree Accounting for Windows 3.5, and more.

Bonner on Windows - OLE custom controls.

Wohl's World - Voice recognition and voice control on the PC.

Trends & Technology

With a new spec, Microsoft wants to make Windows 95 your communications center - Microsoft unveils new Simply Interactive PC (SIPS) spec; demand for 17-inch monitors increases but 15-inch still the standard; RAIDs and backup solutions become more common; new VRML releases; Overdrive CPUs extend life of older Pentium systems; and more.

John Blackford - The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Computer Shopper.

Eric Gravstad - A CPU (or more) in every room.

Rivka Tadjer - Build-to-Order trend for PCs takes hold on the web with offerings from companies like Micron, Dell, and Gateway 2000.

Michael Slater - USB, MMX, and 3D graphics accelerator are set to change the PC landscape.

Van Name & Catchings - Microsoft introduces DirectPlay to improve multiplayer gaming.

John Dickinson - PC adoption expected to slow before accelerating ahead.

_{Table of Contents from the April 1996 issue of Computer Shopper}

Connections

Portable Documents Put Designer Spin on the Web - Portable documents offer alternative to HTML docs.

Web information manager sift through and organize the glut of data on the NET - Tools to download and analyze web sites to your PC.

The Hot Spot - Compuserve's CB Simulator.

Online Grapevine - A look at some interesting sites around the web.

Shopper Online - Computer Shopper provides the benchmark tools it uses to test systems including Winstone 96 and WinBench 96.

Shareware Shop - A look at PowerToys from Microsoft which includes tools to tweak the Windows 95 desktop.

Treading the Boards - Different solutions for web based BBSs including MindWire, Worldgroup, Spinnaker and more.

Norton pcAnywhere32 - Remote PC access for Windows 95.

Netscape Commerce Server 1.0 - Software that serves web pages both over a network and via dial-up.

Netweave Wireless LAN for Ethernet - A proprietary wireless networking solution that gives you speeds up to 1 Mbps.

CD-QuickShare - A CD sharing solution that creates a compressed image of CDs on your hard drive.

Mobile Computing

Canon NoteJet IIIcx - A package that includes a notebook PC (120MHz Pentium, 1.2GB hard drive, 8 MB RAM), color printer, and monochrome scanner for $6999.

Sharp PC-3060 - A notebook that includes a Cyrix 5x86 processor, 8MB of RAM, and a 500 MB hard drive for $2599.

RZP100

CompuTrace/b> - Software to help you recover a lost or stolen laptop.

AMC2000 - A device designed to add multimedia capabilities to your laptop. It's basically an external CD-ROM drive and sound card for only $500.

SwapCrypt - A hardware based (PC Card) encryption solution for laptops.

_{Table of Contents from the April 1996 issue of Computer Shopper}

Multimedia Direct

I Want My PCTV - AITech's WaveWatcher TVR-202 is a PCI card that includes both TV and radio tuners plus a look at the Logicode TVideo, Mitsumi PC/TV Board, and Philips PCA20TV TV tuner cards.

CyberMax 586 Family-P120 - This computer from CyberMax includes a 120MHz Pentium CPU, 16MB of EDO DRAM, a 1.6GB hard drive, STB's Powergraph 64 video card, and more for $2349.

Imager 3-D Audio System (LCS-9210) - A device that adds spacialized 3-D processing to any powered speaker system.

PlanoScan 2.1 - Software for turning you music scores into MIDI files.

Inside Magic - Software for teach you magic tricks.

Multimedia Kit 800 - An 8X CD-ROM drive from Diamond Multimedia for $399.

Life's Greatest Mysteries - CD-ROM based software that answers 41 medically related questions.

Quest for Fame - A game in which you play a (potential) member of Aerosmith.

3D Kitchen - Design your kitchen with this software.

The Ultimate MPEG Video Upgrade Kit - A full-screen 24-bit color MPEG-1 playback card that is capable of playing VideoCDs, MPEG-1 files, and CD-i movies.

Doonesbury Flashbacks: 25 Years of Serious Fun - The complete run of Doonesbury through May 1995 including about 8,600 comic strips.

Popular Mechanics Car Guide, 1996 Edition - Includes information on more than 7,500 new and used vehicles.

Spin Doctor: A New Squeeze for Desktop Video - Video compression and playback software.

The Learning Arcade - A look at various educational software titles including Haunted House, Nick Jr Play Math, and Ozzie's Travels: Destination Japan.

The 11th Hour - The 11th hour is a horror themed adventure game that is a sequel to The 7th Guest.

Virtual Karts - A realistic go-kart racing game from MicroProse.

Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire - I was never a big fan of the Rebel Assault games or the shooter on rails genre in general. The first in the series was one of the earliest big CD-ROM games. I owned the first but never played the second.

Shannara - An RPG based on the Terry Brooks novels.

_{Table of Contents from the April 1996 issue of Computer Shopper (continued)}

Reviews

ACW P5-166HB - This computer features a 166 MHz Pentium CPU, 16MB EDO DRAM, 256K pipeline-burst cache, 1 GB hard drive, a Diamond Multimedia Edge video card with 2MB VRAM, and more for about $3000.

Quick Insight 1.20 - A marketing analysis program for Windows.

Kai's Power Tools 3.0 - A once very popular graphics utility package.

CorelXara - This drawing program features both vector and bitmap capabilities.

TravelPad CDB - This $3299 laptop includes a 90 MHz Pentium CPU, 16MB of RAM, 256K of secondary cache, a 1.3 GB hard drive, and more.

FileMaker Pro 3.0 - The latest version of this popular database for Windows 95.

TI microLaser PowerPro/12 - A 600dpi laser printer for $1599.

Okidata OL610e - A LED based printer designed for small offices for $679.

Lotus Smartsuite 96 - The Lotus answer to Microsoft Office.

ClarisWorks 4.0 for Windows 95 - An office suite designed to compete with Microsoft Works.

ScanMedia - A combo flatbed scanner/fax/copier for $895.

Micron P150 Millennia - This PC features a 150 MHz Pentium CPU, 1.2 GB hard drive, 16MB of EDO RAM, and more for $2900.

PowerDesk 1.0 - Tools to customize the Windows 95 desktop.

Recollect Gold 3.0 - The latest version of this scanning and OCR package.

DeksScan Color - A 24-bit color flatbed scanner for $399.

TeleMagic Enterprise for Windows 2.0 - A relational database designed for contact management.

Cyberjack/WinComm Pro 7.0 for Windows 95 - An integrated software package for accessing online services.

Tech Section

The Hard Edge - The lack of enthusiasm for the Pentium Pro, April fools jokes, and more.

Signs of the Times - The desktop PC may give way to the information appliance with the rise of the Internet.

It's a Small World - Molecular nanotechnology could reshape CPU and PC design.

Progressive Proteins - Using protein based computing to increase speeds by 1000x or more.

Opening Scenes - I look at IBM's butterfly keyboard introduced with the IBM ThinkPad 701C.

What Ever Happened To...? - Dumb terminals vs. the new Internet Terminal.

Development Tools - A look at an editor called Source Insight.

Alfred Poor's Computer Cures - Using your old 286 based computer as a printer server...or voice mail system; using a 64-bit video card with a Vesa Local Bus system; using an Apple dot-matrix printer with a Windows 95 PC; finding hard drive documentation on the web; using multiple EIDE drives; and more.

What's the Code? - Using structured exception handling in C++.

Smart Shopper

Buying a Refurbished PC - This guide concentrates on finding a Pentium class machine with CD-ROM, sound card, enough RAM for Windows 95, and a decent sized hard drive for a bargain price.