Coming up – February 2010 issue of PC User
The February 2010 issue of PC User comes out in early January and among the goodies you can expect is a new tool called Windows USB Installer. As its name suggests, this tool allows you to install Windows Vista or Windows 7 onto a USB flash drive so that you can install the OS onto a PC or notebook without an optical disc drive (eg. netbooks). You can install from either a Windows installation DVD or from an ISO image using any version of Windows Vista or Windows 7. You need at least a 4GB USB flash drive and it should work with ...
20th Anniversary issue of PC User – out now!
Twenty years ago, a new magazine hit the newsstands aimed not at tech lovers but those who wanted to learn how tech could make their lives easier and help them get stuff done. That magazine was PC User and with the January 2010 issue, PC User brings up its 20th anniversary. Inside, we take a bit of a look-back over 20 years of technology to see just how far we've come. But it's not all nostalgia - I've been busy working on new software - the latest version of our audio/video transcoder, RockPod 3, rolls off the production line, along with YouGrab ...
UserBench Encode 2009 – on December 2009 PC User’s cover disc
If you missed out on getting a copy of PC User's exclusive UserBench Encode 2009 benchmark back from the February 2009 issue, it's on this month's (December 2009) cover disc - so don't miss out. Also, we've included the full-version of UserBench UT3Demo 2, a 3D gaming benchmark based around the Unreal Tournament 3 game demo, that allows you to automate tests in resolution from 640x480 to 1920x1200-pixels. You'll also find the new PC user Upgrade Advisor 2010 software - if you're not sure whether your desktop or notebook PC needs an upgrade, this software will tell you what needs upgrading and ...
Apple iPad: behind the specs
Posted by Darren Yates in Apple on January 28th, 2010
It’s been the subject of more rumour and speculation than the moon landings but this morning, tech giant Apple finally announced its long-awaited tablet computer dubbed the iPad.
While the hype machine is getting into full swing, its worth taking a look at the technical specifications of the unit and seeing what’s going on inside.
The flat-screen tablet features a 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD panel, fractionally smaller than those you see in the majority of netbooks. But unlike most netbooks, the iPad’s LCD panel has a wide 178-degree viewing angle, similar to most new LCD TVs and making the unit suitable for viewing at almost all angles. The screen resolution is rumoured to be 1024×768-pixels. The unit can output video in the same way as the iPod can however, if the rumours are correct, it can only output 480p (720×480-pixel) video, marking the first time an iPod-like device from Apple would deliver more resolution on its built-in screen than it can output to a separate device.
Behind the iPad is a new processor called the A4, Apple’s own 1GHz processor designed specifically for the iPad. Apple purchased a start-up semiconductor design firm PA Semiconductor back in April 2008. Everyone at the time was speculating just what would Apple want with a chip design company when it had only inked its deal with chip giant Intel only a couple of years before.
Now we know.
The A4 is described by Apple as a “system on a chip” designed for embedded applications like the iPad. Interestingly, it runs the iPhone 3.0 operating system rather than the full-blown Mac OS X 10.6 OS but it means straight off the bat, the iPad has over 140,000 applications ready to roll when it becomes available.
And that’s the odd thing about this announcement – it’s been a long time since Apple announced a product without it actually being available on the day. According to Apple’s announcement, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad won’t be available until March while those hankering for the 3G mobile version will have to cool their jets until April.
Battery life and tech
Despite the relatively high clock speed of 1GHz (the iPhone by comparison is said to clock along at 412MHz), the iPad is claimed to have up to 10 hours battery life. What’s interesting about the claim is how it was tested. Apple ran the iPad with wireless connectivity switched on, keeping the unit powered up and running the screen on half-brightness. No doubt if you start using the iPad to watch H.264 movies, battery life will head south at a rate of knots.
Apple is claiming its advanced chemistry and charging tech will get the battery recharging up to 1000 times without a “significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five-year lifespan”. By “significant decrease”, Apple expects that properly maintained, the battery should still hold 80% of its charge by the time it’s done 1000 charge cycles but that will obviously depend on usage and settings.
Storage & connectivity
Storage is via built-in flash memory and basically what sets the price. The entry-level Wi-Fi model will feature 16GB at US$499, $US599 for the 32GB version and $US699 for a 64GB iPad. If you want Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities, the prices start at $US629 for the 16GB, rising the $US729 for the 32GB and $US829 for the 64GB model. Apple says the Wi-Fi versions will be available “late March” while the 3G versions will appear in April.
Apple is incorporating 802.11n-class Wi-Fi wireless networking into the iPad while its 3G connectivity will have speeds of up to 7.2Mbps on HSDPA networks.
The iPad will sync with a Windows or Mac OS computer via the standard 30-pin to USB cable.
At this stage, Apple has only announced US pricing. It says international pricing will be declared at a later date.
Activo AV-1000 – A rebadged MSI Wind U100 for $349?
Posted by Darren Yates in Freeware software, Notebook computing on January 8th, 2010

Just travelling around on the web today and came across the Activo notebook range.
One model caught my eye as if I’d seen it somewhere before – the 10.1-inch AV-1000. Although I haven’t seen it close up, the specs and the especially the chassis itself looks very similar to the MSI Wind U100. If you look at the port placements, they’re the same. The only difference is the placement of the power button on the left on the AV-1000 and on the right for the Wind U100.
At the moment, ARC Computers in Sydney is selling the AV-1000 for $349, which is about as cheap a 10-inch netbook as I’ve seen. Don’t hold me to it but I reckon it’d most likely be an OEM job from MSI of the Wind U100 given it features the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor.
By the way, this is no ad – I have nothing to do with ARC Computers. It just appears to be a very cheap clone of what I think was one of the best ever netbooks released.
UserBench Encode 2009 – show us your scores!
Posted by Darren Yates in Benchmarking, PC User software, What the... ? on January 8th, 2010
My UserBench Encode 2009 benchmark has been one of the mainstays of PC User’s PC, notebook and component testing now for the last 12 months and it’s now featured on two cover discs – the February 2009 issue and the December 2009 issue of PC User.
So that means if you have either of those issues, you should have had enough time to give it a whirl and see how your system stands up. There’s been a big thread on Whirlpool on this (g’day to everyone on that site!) but I’m interested to know what readers are getting and what constitutes the “typical Aussie PC” these days.
So don’t be shy – let us know what scores you get and what hardware you’re using.
I’ll start the ball rolling with the PC I use for everyday tasks:
UserBench Encode 2009 overall score: 24.39
Audio Component Time/Speed/Score: 2m44s / 3.95MBps / 17.28
Video Component Time/Speed/Score: 1m58s / 63.38fps / 34.31
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Memory: 2GB DDR2-800
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2
HDD: 320GB Seagate SATA2
The more you’ve got in your PC, the better the result you should get but that’s especially the case the more cores your CPU has and the higher the clock speed.
As I’ve said on countless occasions, application speed is not just have a quad-core CPU in your box. A high-clock speed dual-core CPU will almost always out-class a slow quad-core chip.
Just add your results using the comment box below.
