Computer Shopper back issues from July 1993:
Towers of power. (This Month)
Jul 01, 1993 ... In the endless pursuit of the next "ultimate" level in computing, PC users have been forced to choose between two approaches for 32-bit horsepower: EISA took the honors for top disk performance, but when it came to graphics--especially under Windows--local bus was the ticket. ...
PC vendors brace as competition steps up. (price wars) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Heading into the second quarter, all the signposts pointed to another donneybrook. Compaq dropped its prices on Deskpro/i and Deskpro/M computers up to 15 percent. IBM fired back with 18 percent price cuts on select PS/2 and ValuePoint machines. ALR, CompuAdd, and Dell all ...
Software heavyweights locked in price fight. (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Aggressive price competition has long driven the hardware side of the computer industry, but now software companies are being dragged into the fray. Microsoft's controversial $99 pricing of the Access data-base package has brought it to a fever pitch. Borland, Lotus, and other ...
X-Wing. (LucasArts)(Evaluation) (Software Review) (Games)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Science fiction, it ain't. George Lucas' "Star Wars" trilogy was great fun, sported some terrific effects, made Harrison Ford a star, and created the best villian--or at least the best Halloween costume--of our time in Darth Vader. But if you count the movies as science fiction, then you ...
Dune II. (Virgin Games) (Evaluation) (Software Review) (Games)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The story within Virgin Games' new part-strategy, part-action release, Dune II, bears only superficial resemblance to the tightly plotted book series and movie. Leaving aside the religious implications of the original story, Dune II transforms you into the local representative of a ...
Hard disk price wars set new storage standards; 250-megabyte drives loom as next entry-level PC standard.
Jul 01, 1993; ... 250-Megabyte Drives Loom as Next Entry-Level PC Standard Price wars among PC manufacturers tend to attract the most attention, but market-share battles by component vendors can be just as dramatic. Case in point is the price war that raged among hard drive makers this spring. ...
Stellar7. (Dynamix Inc.) (Evaluation) (Software Review) (Games) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Sir Draxon, Supreme Overlord of the Arcturan Empire, is gunning for Earth. As commander of the Terran forces assigned to protect the planet, your mission is to fight your way to Arcturus and destroy Draxon before he reaches Earth. Your equipment for this mighty mission is just a single ...
Aerodrome: the latest add-ins for flight simulation software. (Tutorial)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Instead of flying today, I'll show you how to build a collimated display for your computer monitor, designed to greatly enhance the three-dimensional effect of Microsoft Flight Simulator's "out-the-window" view. You can build this display for well under $20, but the effect looks like a ...
The Clinton White House goes online, soft of. (electronic mail via floppy disk)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The White House is gamely trying to enter the computer age, and at last has an E-mail system--of sorts. As part of the Clinton administration's push to invest in information technologies (see "Hot Off the Wire," page 561), media director Jeff Eller and his team in the Office of ...
Information on demand. (includes related articles on object-oriented databases, using spreadsheets as databases and buying suggestions) (Computer Shopper Guide to Database Software) (Buyers Guide)
Jul 01, 1993; ... When a Rolodex and a filing cabinet are no longer enough to keep you organized, a database can be a business's most important tool for managing information. Lately, however, you almost need a database program to choose a database program: The already large and diverse selection of ...
AMD wins a battle, for now; court ruling means new competition in 486 chip market. (judge orders new trial in Advanced Micro Devices' case with Intel Corp.) (Direct from the Editor) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Court Ruling Means New Competition in 486 Chip Market Just as Intel celebrated its record 1992 financial results, even as it prepared to announce doubled revenues for the first quarter of this year, and right when it was patting its corporate back for launching the powerful ...
NuTek says move over, Mac. (NuTek U.S.A. Corp.'s NuTek One Macintosh-like computer)
Jul 01, 1993; ... NuTek U.S.A. Corp. has begun shipping what it claims is the first legal Macintosh-compatible computer. Described as a "workalike" system--not a clone--the NuTek One runs on an independently developed, 68030-based platform that the company claims will withstand any legal challenges from ...
The hard edge: picking up the pieces, more Pentium pondering, Mondo Cool controllers, and the fate of Big Blue. (Tech Section)
Jul 01, 1993; ... You don't have to decipher complex statistical charts to understand that everybody is getting into the computer scene these days, and that spells massive change. Lately, however, what amazes both Alice and Bill is the sheer fearlessness of today's computer novice. If the road to computer ...
Unix combatants make up and get 'COSEy'. (Common Open Software Environment)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Let's face it. Competing computer vendors have a tough time cooperating on lofty projects such as "furthering common technological goals" or (our favorite) "responding to the needs of users." Unix buffs remember well the futile unity talks of 1990 between archrivals Open Software ...
Year of the OS, part two: Unix versus Windows NT. (operating system)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Last month, we defined the desirable features of a modern operating system, and compared those features to Windows/DOS, Unix, OS/2, NT, and System 7. Our wish list included: system-to-system communications, transparent application-to-application data exchange, multiple concurrent ...
1993 will remain the year of the 486; market keeps "politically correct" technology at arm's length. (Intel Corp.'s 80486 microprocessors and compatibles) (Mind on Mail Order) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Never in the history of the PC industry have so many expected so much from so little. Apologies to Sir Winston, but the fuss over the Pentium processor only diverts attention away from the real issue: For all its ballyhooed advantages in speed and power--of which there are ...
Dueling DOSs: a pair of 6.0s, a 3.3, and a 7.0.
Jul 01, 1993; ... For better or worse, DOS is no longer a singular noun. There are two companies in the PC-based DOS business these days, Novell (which has taken over DR DOS from Digital Research) and Microsoft. Which, then, is the DOS for you? It isn't an easy question to answer. Gone are the days when ...
The personal GUI: searching for the alternative Windows interface. (graphical user interface) (Notes from the Labs)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Graphical user interfaces are supposed to make computing easier. So much easier, in fact, that Windows is destined (according to Microsoft, at least) to become the user interface for everything from our computers to our television sets. Microsoft probably won't be satisfied until ...
Smart shopping in restless times. (avoid buying microcomputers from financially unstable companies) (Market Watch)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Avoid problems before they happen by doing your homework on vendors. If you do encounter problems, the tips below will help. The tumult in the computer industry over the past few months has forced several PC makers into bankruptcy. All purchases involve risks, of course, but ...
All about disk compression. (Tech Talk)
Jul 01, 1993; ... What was once a lot of boring numbers in math class has become headline news in the computer trades. Even when you discount the ranting of settlement-hungry attorneys, it's still impressive that the fight over disk compression should surround something as fundamentally simple as an ...
Give CD-ROM a spin. (selecting CD-ROM drives) (Direct Adviser)
Jul 01, 1993; ... CD-ROM drives are no longer an exotic peripheral--they're fast becoming a desktop standard. If you don't believe it, consider this: Gateway already offers CD-ROM drives as a standard component on some of its PCs, and other direct vendors are expected to follow suit. Moreover, you'll find ...
Online service helps shoppers find and buy computer parts. (Computer Parts Connection) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Launched earlier this year, Computer Parts Connection (CPC) is a dial-in online database dedicated to helping individuals and repair facilities find and buy computer parts. Not so much an online computer outlet as a group of listings, CPC took its cue from the proprietary ...
Canon melds inkjet printer with notebook. (Canon Computer Systems' NoteJet 486 notebook computer) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The road to the portable office is paved with compromises, mostly concerning the number and weight of things we're willing to tote. Many business travelers stop short of lugging a portable printer, with its own brick-like power supply and cumbersome extension cord. Unfortunately, relying ...
FTC upholds tariff on active-matrix screens. (Federal Trade Commission) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Will Rogers once said he didn't know any jokes; he just watched the government and reported the facts. Unfortunately, U.S. computer makers can find little humor in the latest example of government policy gone awry. Vendors were stunned when the Federal Trade Commission recently ...
Software piracy still costs vendors billions. (includes related article on determining whether a program has been pirated)
Jul 01, 1993; ... They terrorized the high seas during the 17th and 18th centuries, plaguing the Barbary Coast and raiding gold-laden ships from the New World. Blackbeard, Jean Lafitte, Captain Kidd; these buccaneers became legends, and some--like Sir Francis Drake--even heroes. Present-day ...
User groups make smart shoppers. (user groups as a consumer information resource)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Buying high-tech gizmos by mail is easier than some potential shoppers might think. Yet, for all that, many buyers still crave face-to-face meetings full of meaningful eye contact before making a purchase. Instead of walking into a computer store and subjecting yourself to an ...
At last ... the Pentium is here. (Intel Corp.'s Pentium microprocessor) (The Silicon Scene) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... After a seemingly endless roll-out, systems based on the latest, greatest, most-hyped x86 microprocessor--Pentium--should be trickling into user's hands by the time this column is in print. Finally, the question shifts from "When will it be out?" to "Should I buy one?" The ...
Responding to customer requests, some vendors offer overnight delivery of PCs.
Jul 01, 1993; ... When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight, PC Connection will deliver a customized Compaq-brand computer to your doorstep for a flat shipping rate of $5. According to a PC Connection executive, the company can ship your order for next-day delivery via Airborne if ...
Evergreen chips add punch to portable CPU performance. (PicoPower Technology Inc.'s PT86C168 and PT86C268 controller chips based on the company's Evergreen architecture)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Major computer makers are now shipping higher-end 486 notebook PCs that contain one of two new controller chips that dramatically reduce CPU heat emissions, increase processing performance, and extend battery life. PicoPower Technology Inc. is the Silicon Valley start-up that ...
Sparcom's SmartDock ComStation hooks your HP 95LX to the world. (docking station for HP's palmtop microcomputer) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The lightweight convenience of palmtop computers is sometimes hampered by difficult connections with other devices. When you want to transfer files, print, E-mail, or FAX data from most palmtops, you are confronted with several irksome steps. Bringing relief to owners of the popular ...
Telecraft's Pocket Faxxer is a slicer-dicer among peripherals. (Telecraft Industries' personal digital assistant) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... It stores basic client information, reminds you of upcoming events, acts as a four-function calculator, communicates with Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDD), recalls paragraphs of material at a single keypress, and sends preformatted FAXes, pages, and electronic mail--it's the ...
Voice-recognition technology, while still new, has exciting benefits. (Alpha Systems Lab Inc.'s Cyber Audio System voice recognition card and Telaccount Inc.'s Speech Recognizer for Windows voice recognition software) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... We're still a long way from the conversational PC, but for now, some multimedia-inspired voice-recognition technologies will at least get your system to respond to spoken commands. Depending on its design, state-of-the-art voice-recognition technology performs routine tasks like closing ...
Blackhawk's ColrTrax 1.3 lets DOS take advantage of color printers. (Blackhawk Data Corp.'s color printing software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Windows users take color printing for granted because drivers for the HP PaintJet and the IBM/Lexmark color PostScript printers are routinely shipped with illustration and image-editing programs. If you're still using DOS, however, some of your applications may only support monochrome or ...
Altec's ACS 100 Speakers and ACS 150 Subwoofer broadcast big PC sound. (Altec Lansing Consumer Products) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Altec Lansing's latest bid to bring high fidelity to the computer desktop, ACS 100 speakers, offer surprisingly big sound in a small package. Almost as striking are the speaker's good looks: Each unit combines two speakers in a clamshell design. The top half, where the tweeter is located, ...
Melinda's wedding Bill blues. (Comparison of a Microsoft Corp. software license to a prenuptial agreement) (Levitations) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Who Needs a Prenuptial Agreement When You've Got a Software License Handy? Submitted for your perusal: "Hello, Melinda? It's Bill! Sorry to bother you at work, but I need to run something by you before we finalize the guest list for the wedding. "The folks in legal ...
HP seeks market dominance with newest laser and color inkjet printers. (DeskJet 1200C, LaserJet 4L) (Product Announcement)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Hewlett-Packard reports that the market for color non-impact printers grew a whopping 235 percent last year, with HP kicking in 887,000 units of the total 1.2 million units shipped. This year, HP predicts that color inkjet printers will seize 76 percent of the combined home and office ...
Old-line PC makers turn to new weapon. (service and support options new competitive weapon) (Channel Watch) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Buyers Are Increasingly Baited With Service and Support Choices It's not exactly the Publishers Clearinghouse, but PC manufacturers are increasingly baiting buyers with a bonanza of new service and support offerings. That's an overdue shift, according to industry ...
PentaCalc puts five distinct calculators on the Windows desktop. (Headgate Inc.'s calculator software for Microsoft Windows)
Jul 01, 1993; ... If you're heavy-duty number cruncher, Headgate's PentaCalc software for Windows can put five calculators on your desktop: scientific, tape/10-key, financial, unit conversions, and statistics. All share a common interface that includes numeric keys, clear and memory functions, basic ...
Some vendors too quick for V.fast modem standard.
Jul 01, 1993; ... The latest V.32bis modems (14.4 Kbps) coming from AT&T Paradyne, Motorola Codex, U.S. Robotics, and others are designed to shift into overdrive--the so-called V.fast standard, with a top speed of 28,000 bits per second. The question is, will they be taking shoppers who want universal ...
The many benefits and pitfalls of SCSI; PC users wait for the performance to equal the promise. (small computer system interface) (The Boardwalk) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... PC Users Wait for the Performance to Equal the Promise A recent excursion into the world of Windows NT reminded me of how the Small Computer System Interface, SCSI, resembles the proverbial two-edged sword. With one stroke, SCSI was the magical doorway to a variety of ...
GlareCare screen filters shield your eyes. (Acco U.S.A.) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993 ... Acco U.S.A.'s GlareCare Screen Filters cover your monitor with low-transmission, non-reflective glass that's coated on both sides to reduce glare. The filters ship with an adhesive static-control keyboard strip that grounds static electricity ...
SCSI-2 sheds incompatibility problems as market acceptance grows. (Small Computer System Interface-2 standard)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) standard, affectionately known as "Scuzzy," is steadily evolving to support faster data-transfer rates--and, as a result, its acceptance in the PC community appears to be gaining, according to market analysts. Speedier throughput is ...
Windows NT's loss may be OS/2's or Unix's gain. (operating systems) (Wohl's World) (Column)
Jul 01, 1993; ... If Microsoft Fumbles, the Competition Could Clean Up by Striking First Once again, we are hovering over our computers like kids watching their piggy banks. We're waiting for the new operating systems to arrive and wondering whether they'll fit into the CPUs on our desks. ...
Life after client/server: "social computing." (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... In case you hadn't noticed, we're riding the last wave of growth for business computing. That wave is client/server technology, according to market wonk Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. "Client/server" is industry jargon for a network where "client" desktop PCs exploit the more ...
World Trade Center bombing underscores need for data-loss prevention. (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... No one expects the building they work in to blow up, but last spring's World Trade Center bombing underscored the vulnerability of a company's computer data to physical disaster. Smaller businesses that lacked a data-loss prevention plan suffered the most. These firms learned ...
"Infotainment" applications to drive home multimedia. (education/entertainment software to bring multimedia into home market) (Brief Article)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Multimedia has already penetrated corporations with training and presentation applications, and is fast overtaking the education market. Home use is the final--and toughest--market to crack, according to a report by Market Intelligence Research Corp. The lure for reluctant ...
Digicom's Connection 96+ V.32 modem phones home for upgrades. (Digicom Systems Inc.'s modem connects to company bulletin board system for free upgrades) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... At first glance, the Connection 96+ Internal PC V.32 Modem from Digicom Systems Inc. looks like any other internal modem. But it is really a deft, economical communications solution that adapts to the changing standards in the modem/FAX industry via telephone software upgrades. ...
Report Styler: desktop publishing for reports and other text. (Alpha Software Corp.) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... When was the last time you read entirely an in-house produced and formatted report? You know the kind--printed or photocopied sheets that look like they came out of a one-type-fits-all typewriter. Fortunately, with Report Styler from Alpha Software, there is hope for a new, more ...
Towers of power. (tower microcomputers with Industry-Standard-Architecture (ISA) buses compared with Extended-ISA (EISA) buses) (includes related articles on Intel Corp.'s Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) and what the benchmark tests mean) (Cover Story) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... THE FIVE-YEAR SHOUTING WAR BETWEEN ISA AND EISA may finally be nearing an end. After all the bickering between the two camps over which side offers the better bus, EISA has just gained the competitive edge with the help of VESA's Local Bus. Putting the VL-B in EISA means a system that ...
Gigabyte drives. (Fujitsu Computer Products' M2694ESA, Micropolis' 2112A, Optima Technology's MiniPak 1000, Quantum Corp.'s ProDrive 1225S and Toshiba America Information Systems' MK-538FB hard disk drives) (includes related articles on what the tests mean, small computer system interface (SCSI) and disk mirroring) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Should you want to banish disk space headaches once and for all--and you've got about $1,500 to burn--then a gigabyte hard drive is the answer to your storage woes. Don't go into deep shock at the price tag. With the imminent release of new storage-hungry applications for ...
The PC-Macintosh showdown. (Apple's Macintosh Quadra 950 microcomputer compared with Maximus' 486DX2/66 and Gateway 2000's 486DX/33; Macintosh IIvx microcomputer compared with the Insight 486SX/25 and Ares 386DX/33; Macintosh LC II microcomputer compared with IBM's PS/2 Model 57; and Macintosh PowerBook 160 notebook computer compared with the MidWest Micro Ultra 386SL/25) (includes related article on what the tests mean) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... There was a time, not too long ago, when certain statements could be taken as gospel: What goes up must come down. A penny saved is a penny earned. If you want a computer for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, get a PC, but if you want a computer for graphics work or desktop ...
WordPerfect Works: superior integration that works ... slowly. (WordPerfect Corp.'s WordPerfect Works 1.2 for Macintosh integrated software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The ever-increasing focus on and popularity of notebook computers has placed a new importance on integrated software packages for Windows/DOS notebook laptops and, with the unqualified success of Apple's PowerBooks, for the Macintosh hardware platform as well. Apple's own ClarisWorks ...
Premium Logic: right price; think twice about performance. (Premium Logic Inc.'s 486DX2/66 VESA Local Bus microcomputer) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Premium Logic's 486DX2/66 VESA Local Bus system proves once again that small companies can make good microcomputers at affordable prices. And with a price of $2,214, that's about as good as it gets. Inside this system's tower enclosure lies a 786-AIO motherboard with a 66MHz 486DX2 CPU, ...
Storage to spare. (removable storage and tape backup) (includes directory and related articles on backup beyond DOS, the costs of different systems, sharing data between Macintoshes and PCs, PCMCIA cards and shopping tips) (Buyers Guide)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Brush and floss. Buckle your seat belt. Back up your hard drive. If you're like most PC users, you've heard the last piece of advice almost as often as the first two, but you still don't back up regularly. The main reasons are inertia and inconvenience--first you think, "I ...
Corrections. (Correction Notice)
Jul 01, 1993; ... We apologize to Myriad Enterprises and LPAC (Laser Printer Accessories) for pricing and caption errors that appeared in the May issue's review of printer accelerators (Now in the Channel, p. 778). Myriad's Print-Sprint carries a suggested list price of $599, not $399; the $399 price was a ...
Feedback forum. (Letter to the Editor)
Jul 01, 1993; ...Most Monitors Mismeasured? Dear Editor: While I appreciated the April 1993 Shopper's Guide to monitors (p. 308), I found the data in the accompanying product charts to be very misleading. To take one example, you list American Mitac Corp.'s M1758 as having a ...
DOS 6.0: new utilities make it better, but not unbeatable. (Microsoft Corp.'s MS-DOS 6.0 operating system) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Fast. Safe. Effective. Take one every two years. A new superdrug? Hardly. But it could be Microsoft's tagline for upgrades to MS-DOS. Version 6.0 is the latest, if not necessarily greatest, revision in DOS's 12-year history. If you're still using DOS 3.3 or 4.01, the new DOS's more ...
Outside In: view files, share formats, even edit your E-mail. (electronic mail) (Systems Compatibility Corp.'s Outside In for Windows 2.0 file viewer) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ...Outside In for Windows 2.0 Outside In for Windows is a file viewer with the ability to copy the viewed files, or parts of them, to the Windows Clipboard. Supporting over 120 different file formats, Outside In for Windows is a next-generation file-conversion program that would ...
Under Cover for Windows customizes and costumes your FAXes. (WordStar International Inc.'s facsimile cover software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Have you ever worried that no one reads the FAXes you send? Then use one of Under Cover's 105 attention-grabbing customizable cover sheets to help you make an unforgettable impression. Cartoonist Randy Verougstraete created all of the cover sheet art, which ranges from the serious to the ...
Build a better desktop with PC Tools for Windows. (Central Point Software's file management software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Utility fans have long known that each box of Central Point Software's PC Tools almost bulges with high-quality DOS add-ons. However, the long-awaited PC Tools for Windows nearly breaks the box, if not the bank, by providing a Windows environment that is more productive and powerful than ...
Marquardt's MiniErgo keyboard is easy on the wrists. (Marquardt Switches Inc.) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Typing all day can be a pain--literally. The Marquardt MiniErgoMF2 keyboard is designed to prevent the pain caused by tendon- and nerve-related injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, which can plague those who spend long hours typing. At $179, the MiniErgo is also less painful to the ...
Sherlock solves the case of cryptic Windows filenames. (Physiotronics Corp.'s Sherlock 1.1 file name extension software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Eight-plus-three-character filenames like EIGHTDOT.123 have always been a necessary evil of doing business with DOS. A physical limitation of the DOS file system since its birth in 1981, the maximum of eight characters followed by a three-character extension provides few clues when it ...
Power Pak utilities go above and beyond the call of DOS 6.0. (PC-Kwik's Power Pak 3.0 file management software) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... If you're a DOS power user wringing the last ounce of performance from your PC, you may have already celebrated the arrival of MS-DOS 6.0. But if you haven't made the upgrade yet, you might want to put your money elsewhere--PC-Kwik's Power Pak 3.0 will give you definite reasons to ...
Logitech enters the sound card market with SoundMan 16. (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... Give Logitech credit for taking some risks: It introduced its SoundMan 16 sound board into an already crowded market. Nevertheless, this excellent 16-bit stereo sound board should raise the price/performance expectations for PC sound boards. At a retail price of $289 (and a street price ...
Compudyne Subnote notebook won't cramp your style. (Compudyne 4SL/25 Subnote notebook computer) (Hardware Review) (Evaluation)
Jul 01, 1993; ... The hottest buzz-words in business computing these days are "downsizing" and "right-sizing," and the hottest category of computers--notebooks--seem to be doing likewise. However, some subnotebook PCs take downsizing too far, trimming size and weight by sticking you with a squinty screen ...