* The Coolest-Looking Monitor Ever * A Revamped Workgroup Printer * Compact Hard Drives
Not since the days when the Maytag repairman sat forlornly by the phone waiting for a service call has product support -- or the lack thereof -- created such concern. Despite improved product quality, more and more users want to be reassured that someone will be there to answer questions and replace parts when something goes awry. Vendors, however, aren't always clear about whom to call in your time of need or even what parts they'll replace under warranty.
Before you buy expensive hardware, pore over the warranty to find out exactly what it says. Many vendors offer varying combinations of coverage to reduce costs. For example, a three-year parts-and-labor warranty for a monitor may not include the picture tube, which is the most expensive item to replace.
To clear up some of this confusion, from now on, Quick Labs' warranty listing will represent the shortest length of time covered by any component of the warranty. Even though a company may cover parts and labor for three years, if the CRT on a monitor is covered only for one year, we will list the warranty as being for one year. By reducing the warranty to its lowest common denominator, we're trying to make you aware of exactly how much "free time" you have with your hardware.
Also new this month: Quick Labs goes online. Check out "MacUser/ZMac Utility of the Month" in this month's New on the Menu for more details.
One Flexible Printer
Reviewer / Jim Shatz-Akin Testing / Jim Galbraith
The QMS 1660E has been shipping since January 1995, but we decided to test it this month, for two reasons. One is pragmatic -- vendors didn't ship any brand-new monochrome printers this month. The other is more practical: QMS just began shipping the 1660E in a new configuration, with 48 MB of RAM instead of the original 16 MB. The extra memory boosts the printer's price by about $2,000, to roughly $6,000, but unlike the lower-RAM configuration, which topped out at a resolution of 600 x 600 dpi, 48 MB provides enough imaging power for a workgroup to print handsome, full-bleed 11-x-17-inch documents at 1,200 x 1,200 dpi.
Text output from the 1660E was outstanding, as we'd expect from a 1,200-dpi laser printer; line art was also excellent. Photographic images, although acceptable for most general-purpose business documents, had some banding along the images' vertical axes -- regardless of the images' page orientation.
The 1660E's output speed for our test documents, which were all standard letter-sized pages, was comparable to that of other workgroup workhorses we've tested in recent months. The 1660E is also flexible enough for most work settings -- its RJ-45 connector plugs into any Ethernet network easily; it ships with drivers and software for Windows, OS/2, and UNIX as well as for the Mac OS; and it supports all standard network protocols.
The 1660E comes standard with a letter-sized paper tray that holds 250 sheets and a second 11-x-17-inch tray that can hold paper, transparencies, or envelopes. QMS sells extra trays that hold 250 sheets or 500 sheets, in both 11-x-17-inch and 8.5-x-11-inch sizes.
3/ Outstanding 2/ Acceptable 1/ Poor Estimated
Resolution Warranty Text Graphics Paper Support Comments Pages Per Minute
Street Price Quality Quality Handling
(4 out of 5 mice) Very Good QMS 1660E $5,999 1,200 dpi 1 year 3 2 2 2 Versatile workgroup printer that produces great text and line art.
Six Spacious Hard Drives
Reviewer / Roman Loyola Testing / Kristina De Nike
Big drives, small drives: We tested a few of each this month. The compact FWB Hammer PE 520 and Hammer PE 1000FMF (pictured) are ideal for desks that are tight on space. Each drive has a Quantum Fireball mechanism, and each comes with FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit software, a combination that makes them fast performers for their respective capacity classes. Hard Disk ToolKit sports a rich set of features for users who want options for formatting, troubleshooting, and tuning their drive.
The APS MS 1 GB sports a Micropolis mechanism housed in a compact case. The Cutting Edge Diplomat Q850 has a supersmall, easily toted case. Its power supply is external -- handy if you need to replace it. Unfortunately, we found Cutting Edge's tech support unresponsive.
If you need a high-capacity drive, check out the Mirror 4.0 GB or the PLI Infinity 4.0 GB. Each has a more traditional, full-sized case, and each is speedy -- in all, a competent duo.
We tested drive speed by using MacBench 2.0's Disk Mix test. The results are relative to that of a 250-MB Quantum IDE drive in a Quadra 630, which has a score of 10.
3/ Outstanding 2 / Acceptable 1/ Poor Estimated
Formatted Price Per Warranty Case Sofware/ Support Comments
Street Price Capacity Megabyte Manuals
(4 out of 5 mice) Very Good APS MS 1 GB $649 999.5 MB $.65 5 years 3 2 3 Great case, great warranty. An all-around good bargain.
(4 out of 5 mice) Very Good FWB Hammer PE 1000FMF $642 1,039.8 MB $.62 2 years 2 3 3 Compact case. Excellent software for tweaking settings.
(3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good FWB Hammer PE 520 $439 517.8 MB $.85 2 years 2 3 3 We like it, but 500-MB drives are no longer value leaders.
(3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good Mirror 4.0 GB $1,299 4,103.0 MB $.32 5 years 2 2 2 Has a traditional, full-sized case. Fast, but a tad noisy.
(3 out of 5 mice) Average Cutting Edge
Diplomat Q850 $299 808.5 MB $.37 2 years 2 2 1 Teeny, tiny case -- cute even. But we're still waiting for tech support.
(3 out of 5 mice) Average PLI Infinity 4.0 GB $1,499 4,103.1 MB $.37 2 years 2 1 2 Nothing remarkable, but it works just fine -- and fast.
Listing Is Alphabetical Within Groups of Equal Mouse Ratings.
Five Fine Monitors
Reviewer / Nikki Echler Testing / Martin Wong
A clean, sharp screen image and a wide array of controls make Portrait Display Labs' rotating monitor, the Pivot 1700 (pictured), more than just a marketing gimmick. By physically turning this sturdy monitor, you can view images in either portrait or landscape mode. After you flip the monitor, simply click your mouse, and the screen redraws, placing icons and open windows in their correct positions. The monitor can double as a conversation piece, thanks to its pattern of ventilation holes and its curves.
Substituting sensationalism for simplicity, the ViewSonic 17PS is a high-quality display system with easy-to-use controls. Digital front-panel buttons control an on-screen menu that lets you choose among 19 image adjustments. The LG Electronics Goldstar 2010 offers similar, but fewer, on-screen options through flimsy front-panel controls.
The PowerMax PM17TE+ and the ArtMedia TG1882 twins have the same box design and offer identical screen-geometry and image adjustments. To use the controls, however, you must be part contortionist -- for example, to activate the default settings, you must fiddle with a combination of buttons while pushing in the reset button with a ballpoint pen. If you're willing to sacrifice user-friendly controls, you'll find that either model is a fine choice.
The image-quality scores reflect the results of our tests for image sharpness, focus, brightness, uniformity, pincushioning, color range, color accuracy, and vibrancy. Maintaining focus and sharpness is more difficult on larger monitors, so 20-inch monitors tend to score lower than smaller models. A score of 1.0 is considered acceptable.
3 / Outstanding 2 / Acceptable 1/ Poor
Estimated Screen Maximum Warranty Manuals Support Controls Comments Image-quality Score
Street Price Size Resolution
(4 out of 5 mice) Very Good Portrait Display Labs Pivot 1700 $995 17 in. 1,280 x 1,024 pixels 3 years 3 2 2 Space-age case holds ace performer.
(3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good ArtMedia TG1882 $999 17 in. 1,600 x 1,200 pixels 1 year 1 2 2 Straight-A screen quality but awkward controls.
(3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good PowerMax PM17TE+ $999 17 in. 1,600 x 1,280 pixels 3 years 1 3 2 Sharp, bright screen images make up for low-end controls.
(3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good ViewSonic 17PS $995 17 in. 1,600 x 1,280 pixels 1 year 3 2 3 Large cast of on-screen controls and a decent display.
(3 out of 5 mice) Average LG Electronics Goldstar 2010 $1,599 20 in. 1,600 x 1,280 pixels 2 years 2 2 2 Average attributes at a high price.
Listing Is Alphabetical Within Groups of Equal Mouse Ratings.
Get Info / Aps Technologies 816-483-1600 Artmedia 408-980-8988 Cutting Edge 619-667-7888 FWB 415-833-4616 LG Electronics 201-816-2000 Mirror Technologies 612-830-1549 Pli 612-830-1549 Portrait Display Labs 510-227-2700 Powermax 503-232-9903 QMS 334-633-4300 ViewSonic 909-869-7976
