Latest Apple StyleWriter * Two Hard Drives and a Removable * Low-Cost Mag and Two Look-Alike Panasonic Monitors
In general, hardware purchases can put a serious dent in the wallet. In this month's Quick Labs, however, two of the products reviewed can be had for less than $500. Apple's new color inkjet printer is a solid value if you're looking for a home-office printer, although there's room for improvement in text quality. And Mag InnoVision's new 15-inch monitor combines low cost with a high degree of software-based control. Also representing a good value, at slightly more than $500, is APS' new high-capacity hard drive, which boasts the company's trademark case design as well as this month's top rating.
Nothing this month strikes your fancy? Be sure to check out Quick Labs in next month's issue. Whether you're a savvy business user, graphics pro, educator, or college student, you can count on expert advice from MacUser -- each and every month -- to keep you in the know on the latest printers, monitors, and storage products in the Mac universe.
If you can't wait for next month and want to look up products we've reviewed in the past, check out our World Wide Web site at http://www.zdnet.com/macuser/. You'll find an index of mouse ratings from the past two years of MacUser.
GET INFO / APS Technologies 816-483-6100 Apple Computer 408-996-1010 CMS Enhancements 714-517-0915 MicroNet Technology 714-453-6100 Mag InnoVision 714-751-2008 Panasonic 201-348-7000
One New Color Inkjet Printer
Reviewer and tester / Jim Galbraith
Coming to brighten up home-office printouts is the latest Apple color inkjet printer, the Color StyleWriter 2500. The $399 Color StyleWriter 2500 offers a maximum resolution of 720 x 360 dpi and double the color-printing speeds of its predecessor, the Color StyleWriter 2400.
The 2500 comes with a serial cable and built-in LocalTalk. For those who'd prefer to use Ethernet, the $189 StyleWriter EtherTalk kit is available separately. The printer comes bundled with PowerPC-native QuickDraw drivers and PowerPC-native QuickDraw GX drivers as well as the Apple Color Printing CD. The CD-ROM is chock-full of useful Mindscape applications, such as CardShop Plus, Calendars and More, and StickerShop Plus. The CD-ROM also contains 12 TrueType fonts from Bitstream. The 2500 has three resolution modes: Best (720 x 360 dpi), Normal (360 dpi), and Draft (180 dpi). The printing software automatically chooses the optimal ink density for the type of paper you specify in the Print dialog box. Its use of two ink tanks (one for cyan, magenta, and yellow and the other for black) allows the Color StyleWriter 2500 to print fast, but you'll have to replace the whole color cartridge if you run out of one color, even if you have plenty of the others.
The 2500's color output was impressive when we printed on Apple's special coated paper. The text, however, wasn't as sharp as what we've seen from other inkjet printers. You can print on plain paper, but unless you're partial to oversaturated, curling pages with sloppy text, we recommend using the coated premium stock.
To test for speed and output quality, we printed several pages of text, line art, and color graphics. We timed the printer as it produced a variety of documents, from simple files that print quickly to complex files that take longer to complete, and weighted the results to reflect everyday usage. We used documents that represent a workgroup environment in order to reflect real-life conditions.
Estimated Street Price Color or Monotone Technology Maximum Resolution Warranty Text Quality Graphics Quality Paper Handling Support
Apple Color StyleWriter 2500 Rating: Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice) $399 color inkjet 720 x 360 dpi 1 year 1 3 2 2
Comments: Nice graphics. Subpar text quality. Great software bundle.
3 / OUTSTANDING 2 / ACCEPTABLE 1 / POOR
Two New Hard Drives and a new magneto-optical drive
Reviewer / Roman Loyola Tester / Rick Oldano
We've seen quite a few APS drives here in Quick Labs, which means we've seen the same case design for some time now. Don't get us wrong -- the fact that the case design hasn't changed is a good thing. The APS case (like the one used for the $599 APS Micropolis 2GB drive we review this month) has everything you need: active termination, good footprint, feet for laying the drive on its base or its side, and sturdiness.
Not to be outdone by APS, the $1,250 CMS Platinum 4000 (pictured) has a postmodern-looking design that's sure to catch your eye. Like the APS drive, it has a strong case and built-in feet, but its footprint is slightly larger. Don't let the name fool you: It's black, not platinum, but the 4000 does refer to the 4-GB capacity of the drive. Even though the Platinum 4000's throughput is narrow, the drive has SCSI-2 connectors. Make sure you have the right cables -- the unit we received didn't.
The $2,590 MicroNet Advantage 2.6-GB Magneto Optical Drive is the first removable-media drive we've reviewed here in Quick Labs. The drive uses 5.25-inch magneto-optical media with a capacity of 2 GB. It's by no means the fastest drive in the world, but the high capacity and durability of the media make the system ideal for archiving.
All MacBench 3.0 Disk Mix scores are relative to that of a 250-MB Quantum internal drive in a Power Mac 6100/60, which has a score of 10.
Estimated street price/ Wide SCSI / Formatted capacity/ Price per megabyte/ Warranty/ Case/ Software+ manuals/ Support
APS Micropolis 2GB Rating: Very Good (4 of 5 mice) $599 no 1,920.4 MB $.31 5 years 3 2 3
Coments: A great drive for standard desktop use.
CMS Enhancements Platinum 4000 Rating: Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice) $1,250 no 3,931.1 MB $.32 5 years 3 2 2
Comments: Stealthy-looking case design.
MicroNet Advantage 2.6-GB Magneto Optical Drive Rating: Acceptable (3 of 5 mice) $2,590 no 2,131.0 MB $.82 1 year 2 2 2
Comments: Big, heavy case; 5.25-inch media.
3 / OUTSTANDING 2 / ACCEPTABLE 1/ POOR
Listing is alphabetical within groups of equal mouse ratings.
Three New Monitors
Reviewer / Martin Wong Tester / Brian Fikes
This month's monitor roundup is a reflection of the growing preponderance of built-in on-screen controls. The trio of monitors we tested offer a balance of good price and ease of use and are excellent for general use.
The 15-inch Mag InnoVision DX15T (pictured) combines a Sony Trinitron tube with on-screen controls. The monitor has good image quality, and the on-screen controls are easy to navigate; the buttons on the front are a bit small for large fingers, though. The brightness and contrast settings can be adjusted by use of the on-screen controls or simply with the knobs on the front of the monitor.
The Panasonic PanaSync/Pro P17 and the PanaSync S17 look identical and even have similar on-screen controls. The PanaSync/Pro P17 has more to offer, with a few extra control options, a finer dot pitch, and 1,600-x-1,200-pixel resolution. The PanaSync/Pro P17 also has BNC connections on the back, giving you the option of hooking up another computer to the display easily. Both the PanaSync S17 and the Mag InnoVision DX15T have built-in signal cables.
All three of the monitors performed adequately in our tests. The DX15T's smaller screen size helped it outdo the Panasonic monitors.
Of the three monitors we tested, only the Mag InnoVision DX15T shipped with a Mac adapter. Mac adapters are optional on the Panasonic monitors. When you order any monitor, don't forget to ask for a Mac adapter -- otherwise, your monitor can do nothing else but serve as a really big paperweight. If you need to buy a Mac adapter, you can get one at your friendly neighborhood computer store for less than $20.
The image-quality scores reflect the results of our tests for image sharpness, focus, brightness, uniformity, pincushioning, color range, and color accuracy and vibrancy. A score of 1.0 or better is considered acceptable.
Estimated street price Screen size Maximum Resolution Warranty Manuals Support Controls
Mag InnoVision DX15T Rating: Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice) $499 15 in. 1,152 x 870 pixels 2 years 2 2 3
Comments: Button controls work well but are small.
Panasonic PanaSync S17 Rating: Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice) $949 17 in. 1,152 x 870 pixels 3 years 2 3
Comments: Macintosh adapter isn't standard hardware.
Panasonic PanaSync/Pro P17 Rating: Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice) $1,049 17 in. 1,600 x 1,200 pixels 3 years 2 3 3
Comments: Macintosh adapter isn't standard hardware.
3 / OUTSTANDING 2/ ACCEPTABLE 1/ POOR
Listing is alphabetical within groups of equal mouse ratings.
