Pros: Thorough Reviews, Great editorials and features, Component Rankings
Cons: Alot of Ads, but this is normal in computer magazines
The Bottom Line: PC World is a fully featured computer magazine. All the latest products, indepth reviews and rankings. This is the best computer magazine out there.
Being an avid computer user, I always needed a source for computer information. Since I stare at a computer screen for many hours a day, I rather a printed source than going to a website. (PC World does have a lot of the information on its website, http://www.pcworld.com)
I have tried many of the magazines out there, Family PC, Maximum PC, PC Magazine, Computer Shopper and of course, PC World.
PC World magazine is unbelievably cheap for a subscription. Subscriptions are $15 per year for 12 issues. Newsstand prices are $5.99 per issue. Each issue is about 200+ pages. Out of that, about 40% are ads. At first hand, this may seem like a lot. But, if you’re accustomed to reading computer magazines, this is basically normal. Magazines main revenue is from Ads, not subscription/magazine prices. Magazine prices just cover the printing costs.
The magazine is very well laid out. The covers have basic designs, typical of most computer magazines (except Maximum PC). The table of contents points to every single feature in the magazine, everything is easy to find. The text is printed very big, easy for people to read, no need to strain your eyes.
All of PC World’s editorials are very well written. I really don’t find any of the writers controversial, they relay the facts and discuss the issues. I especially enjoy reading the Consumer Watch editorial, which talks about issues that will directly affect us, the computer users. For example, in June 2001 there was an article about taxes on the internet.
Here is another thing I really like about this magazine. Their news section talks about some of the latest stories in the computer world, but also about new products. Every new product they talk about they give it a brief review. For e.g., if it were a computer, they would talk about its components and show a benchmark table. But this is not the full review. That review may come the next issue. Therefore, after reading one of these pieces, you can get an idea of the product as soon as it comes out because it takes the magazines a while to fully test products.
PC World’s reviews are also very thorough. They do not issue ratings, they give an editorial on the product and a final Pros, cons and Value note. Reviews are very thorough. The very often review 2 or more similar products together which is great for comparisons. Every product that PC World recommended that I have bought has never been bad for me. I really trust their reviews.
Every month, PC world does a feature. It can be about anything. This is normally what is put on the front cover. For example, the June 2001 issue had a feature on travel sites. There were in depth reviews of all the airline ticket, hotel booking, car rental and tour sites on the net. This was very helpful to me because at the same time I got the issue, I was planning a trip to Mexico and I wanted to book my tickets online.
Also, in the past 3 issues, PC World has been featuring a tip section. They talk about typical computer problems and how to solve them. I cannot begin to tell you how helpful this has been. They talk about everything, from the sticking of the shutting down windows screen to the blue screen of death. I suggest you go out and pick up the April, May & June issues now.
Now, for my favourite part of the magazine, the top 100 section. Every issue I look forward to this section. Here, they rank all kinds of components and even complete desktop systems. There are top 10 Power PCs, top 10 Value PCs, Top 10 Home PCs and even top 15 notebooks. They also rank the top 10 monitors, printers, CDRWs, scanners and digital cameras. For each ranking, they compare the features of each product to each other. For example, in the PC rankings, there is a chart of benchmarks for each system.
In conclusion, PC World is my favourite magazine. I can safely say I prefer this one to all the others although I still subscribe to PC Magazine, Maximum PC and Computer Shopper just so I can have different opinions. But, this should be the first magazine you read, a complete technology source.
Recommended:
Yes
Primary Reason for Buying: Product Reviews/Information Recommended For: Hobbyists/Enthusiasts
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