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Magazine - Digital revolution editionTRANSCRIPT
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Entertainment
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British Airways to axe over third of its managers30/11/2005 British Airways (BA) chief executive WillieWalsh ©AFP/British Airways/File
LONDON (AFP) - British Airways is to get rid ofmore than one third of its managers over the next
two years under a restructuring programme that aims to slashcosts across the group.
The job cuts of almost 600 managerial posts, or 35 percentof the total, were set to save the airline 50 million pounds(73 million euros, 86 million dollars) as part of its driveannounced in January 2004 to achieve a 300-million-poundcost reduction programme by March 2007, BA said in astatement Wednesday.
The restructuring will see a total of 597 management postslost by March 2008. The number of senior managers will bereduced by half to 207 and there will be a 30 percent reduc-
Hurricane Katrina to cost Lloyd's 1.9 billion pounds30/11/2005Residents wade through a flooded streetin New Orleans©AFP/File James Nielsen
LONDON (AFP) - Lloyd's, the world's biggestinsurance underwriting market, raised its
estimated pre-tax loss from Hurricane Katrina to 1.9 billionpounds (2.8 billion euros, 3.3 billion dollars) from 1.4 billion.Lloyd's also forecast that Hurricane Rita would cost it 535million pounds and that Hurricane Wilma would add 483 million to the total.
As a result, the market said that chances of posting a profitfor 2005 were weak."The net loss from Katrina is now estimated at 1.9 billionpounds," Lloyd's said Wednesday in an official statement."This compares with the provisional estimate of 1.4 billion
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We Know All the Ins and Outs
108 d
labs
1. Acer Aspire AS95042. AJP M575A-H3. Apple PowerBook G4 17-inch4. Dell XPS M1705. Evesham Voyager Pro CAD720 Plus6. Rock Quaddra T647. Samsung M708. Sony Vaio VGN-A517S
ntil recently, most laptops and notebooks with 17-inch screens
haven’t been the kind of thing you’d want to have on your lap or
carry around with you. They have generally been what the industry
calls “desktop replacements”, or what we call “paving slabs”. Massive,
weighty, and short on battery life, they run so hot that putting it on
your lap for any period of time would burn a hole in your trousers.
A few thin-&-light models have been available – including the first
ever 17-inch laptop from Apple’s PowerBook range – but these have
been let down by poor processing and graphics power, and low-resolution
screens.
However, a wide selection of lighter, thinner and much more portable
models are emerging – and they don’t skimp on delivering power to your
creative tools. They offer top-notch high-resolution screens, long battery
lives, large hard drives, and fast wireless networking.
A standard 17-inch laptop screen has a widescreen aspect ratio and
a resolution of 1,440-x-900. Better screens offer 1,680-x-1,050, and some
even offer a high-definition resolution of 1,920-x-1,200. Most creatives will
prefer the extra 35 per cent of desktop space offered by a 1,680-x-1,050-
pixel screen over a 1,440-x-900 screen. Creative applications such as
Photoshop, QuarkXPress, InDesign, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and
Premiere feel a lot less cramped at the higher resolution.
Screens with resolutions of 1,920-x-1,200 offer even more detail, so
photos, page designs, and video footage look more accurate. However,
on a 17-inch screen, text in dialog boxes and other page furniture can
be too small for some users. The higher resolution puts a lot more strain
on the graphics chip, reducing the real-time 3D graphics power.
The majority of laptops included in this group test feature X-black-style
screens, a technology pioneered by Sony and emulated by others ever
U
The latest generation of 17-inch laptops are smaller and lighter than their brick-like forefathers, offering you the chance to get creative anywhere you like without feeling cramped by tiny screens and keyboards.
Large screenLaptops
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BY NEIL BENNETT
since. These screens offer a brighter output
than standard screens, with higher contrast to
represent the colours of your designs more accurately,
and a glossy sheen that makes them look more like the output of a
CRT monitor. Many laptops use two lamps for an even greater range
of brightness and contrast.
Keys to the worldThe larger case size necessitated by 17-inch screens over their 15-inch
cousins allows for better keyboards. Most models here feature full-sized
keyboards with numeric keypads, though a few have small return
or backspace keys that can be annoying if you’re used to a desktop
keyboard. 17-inch models have larger and more responsive trackpads
than 15-inch models, with many featuring scroll areas that mimic the
functions of the scroll wheel on your mouse. Laptops
are getting larger, too. We’ve reviewed the first 19-inch model
– Samsung’s M70 – on page 112.
A bulky 17-inch model can usually only last around an hour on its
battery. Most of the models we’ve looked at can keep going for up to
three, though the more processor-intensive your work, the shorter the
battery will last for. You’ll last longer using InDesign than Photoshop,
for example, while 3D animation really eats the juice.
Most of the laptops we’ve looked at here feature Intel Pentium M
processors, with most manufacturers plumping for the 2GHz 760 model
for the best combination of power and price. Intel has recently launched
the Core Duo and Core Solo processors to replace the Pentium M, though
these have only just started to appear in mainstream 15-inch models. The
Core lines don’t up the clock speed, topping out at 2.16GHz, but they do
d 109
110 d
labs
Acer Aspire AS9504format 17-inch widescreen
price £1,049 plus VAT
company Acer, www.acer.co.ukcontact Acer, 0870 900 2237digit rating
AJP M575A-Hformat 17-inch widescreen
price £1,299 plus VAT
company AJP, www.ajp.co.ukcontact AJP, 020 8208 9744digit rating
Apple PowerBook G4 17-inchformat 17-inch widescreen
price £1,489 plus VAT
company Apple, www.apple.com/ukcontact Apple, 0800 783 4646digit rating
offer faster front-side bus speeds (667MHz, up from 533MHz),
faster memory access speeds, and dual cores in the Duo range.
A dual core chip has two processor cores on the same piece of
silicon. As we’ve seen in workstations with dual-core processors (see the
round-up in Digit 93), this provides a major boost to a computer’s power
in all types of creative applications – from Photoshop to video effects to
3D animation and rendering – without raising the power consumption.
Apple’s 17-inch PowerBook uses a Power PC G4 processor, though
the company is moving to Intel processors – which seems a good
decision based on the underwhelming performance of the G4 chip and the
inadvisability of trying to put a G5 processor into a PowerBook shell. Its first
such laptop, the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro, is due out this month. A 17-inch
version is expected later this year, but Apple is staying tight-lipped.
Only one laptop here uses an AMD processor, though it did come
top in our processing tests. AMD’s Turion 64 processor for laptops offers
speeds up to 2.4GHz, though everyone now accepts that trying to compare
clock speeds between different processors is like trying judge Olympic
runners based on the numbers written on their chests.
RAM raidOther specifications that affect the performance of a laptop include the
amount of RAM, the graphics processor, and its storage and connectivity
options. 1GB is our recommended minimum for creative applications.
Laptops with 512MB will suffer from a large performance drop, while
Because of their large screens, many 17-inch laptops are
more focused on entertainment than creative power, and
the Aspire AS9504 firmly fits into this category. It has a
DVB-T digital TV tuner built-in and even ships with an
aerial and a full-size remote control.
For the creative professional, though, Acer’s
laptop is less appealing. It was the slowest among
the Windows-based laptops in our Photoshop tests.
Only the outdated PowerBook G4 was more sluggish.
Acer’s laptop’s performance was average for its 2GHz
chip in our LightWave-based graphics-processing
test, but noticeably slower than those with faster silicon
– with the same true for its real-time 3D output.
Other components were more impressive. The
CrystalBrite screen is second only to that of the Dell XPS
M170 for contrast and colour depth, though its 1,440-x-
900 resolution is average. The full keyboard is again of
a high quality, but it’s not as good as Dell’s. The trackpad
is large, but features no scrollbars, though there’s a
D-pad between the buttons.
The inclusion of external Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
buttons is useful, helping this Aspire achieve a long
battery life of almost 3.5 hours – longer than the quoted
life for once. The buttons sit on the front alongside
multimedia controls and a joystick for controlling
the Acer Arcade media player software.
Even so – and even considering the Aspire AS9504’s
comparatively low price – the combination of low
performance in Photoshop and mediocre components
leave it behind the pack. Those on a budget should check
out Rock’s Quaddra T64 instead.
Combining a high-definition LCD display, ATI’s top-rated
mobile processor and a full load of RAM, the M575A-H
is a creative powerhouse.
The M575A-H’s display offers a high-definition
resolution of 1,920-x-1,200, which allows for you to
see a very high level of detail in your images and models
– or your video at full resolution. Some creatives may find
themselves squinting, though the resolution is much
easier to use than 15-inch hi-def displays. 3D animators
won’t find any drop in performance due to the resolution,
as the ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT Platinum keeps
things running smoothly.
In our LightWave graphics test, AJP’s laptop
performed only averagely well for its 2GHz processor
– but being the only laptop with 2GB of RAM, it
outstripped the competition by a wide margin. These
heavy-duty components – plus the fast 7,200rpm hard
drive – take a toll on the battery life, with the M575A-H
almost making it to two hours of useful work before
fading to black.
This laptop is based around the same chassis as
Evesham's Voyager Pro. As with that model, the springy
full sized keyboard (plus a numeric keypad) is an asset,
but the trackpad is a right pain. Leave it alone for a
minute and it goes to sleep, taking a long time (up to
30 seconds) to become fully responsive again – and
we couldn’t find any options to turn this off in the Taskbar
control (and we spent a long, infuriating time looking).
This aside, the M575 is a powerful beast at a
moderate price that’s well worth looking at if power
is more important than battery life.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Apple’s new Intel-based MacBook Pro may be the
focus of the company’s attentions right now, but with
only a single 15-inch model currently available, the Mac-
maker is still selling the 17-inch (and 12-inch) versions
of the line’s predecessor, the PowerBook G4. However,
considering this model’s performance in our group test,
Apple better pull up its socks and create a 17-inch
version of the MacBook Pro pronto.
This PowerBook is still the smallest and lightest
17-inch laptop on the market – at least until Samsung’s
M50 arrives later this month – but it’s behind the curve
in almost every other area. One of the reasons why the
original 17-inch notebook still holds that crown is that
other manufacturers have installed X-black-style screens
that add to a laptop’s bulk – but the improved image
quality is worth it. The PowerBook’s screen offers
neither the colour depth nor the contrast of its rivals.
There are still a few innovations that the PowerBook
has kept to itself though, including the keyboard that
lights itself up in the dark, and the gestural interface
for scrolling using the trackpad. The trackpad is usefully
large, though there’s still only one button. There’s no
Mac version of MobileMark, but our manual tests rated
the battery life at over four hours, beating all comers.
The real nail in the PowerBook's coffin is the
performance of creative applications on it. Its graphics
processing in LightWave is poor, with the PowerPC G4
processor really showing its age. Its Photoshop results
were worse, dragged further down by the low standard
512MB of RAM, and its Cinebench test scores were
laughable, driven by an antiquated graphics chip.
★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★
d 111
Dell XPS M170format 17-inch widescreen
price £1,693 plus VAT
company Dell, www.dell.com/ukcontact Dell, 08701 524 699digit rating
Evesham Voyager ProCAD720 Plusformat 17-inch widescreen
price £1,499 plus VAT
company Evesham, www.evesham.comcontact Evesham, 08701 609 700digit rating
Rock Quaddra T64format 17-inch widescreen
price £999 plus VAT
company Rock, www.rockdirect.comcontact Rock, 08709 909 092digit rating★★ ★ ★ ★
★★ ★ ★ ★
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
users who work with large image or video files will benefit from 2GB.
Powerful 3D graphics chips with 256MB RAM are available for laptops,
though only creatives working with video effects and 3D will benefit from
these. Utilizing these chips heavily will have an adverse effect on the
battery life of a laptop.
If you’re working with higher-resolution images and video, a large
hard drive is important. Laptop drives currently top out at 120GB, though
160GB drives are due soon. 7,200rpm drives offer faster performance than
5,400rpm models, especially if you’re working with video – though 5,400rpm
is less of a drain on battery life. A dual-layer DVD±RW drive is a must, and
photographers will appreciate camera memory card slots.
Gigabit ethernet and 802.11a, b, and g wireless networking are standard
now, though we really appreciate buttons on the case or Taskbar/Menubar
options to turn off wireless networking. Constant reminders from Windows
to join your studio’s wireless network can be a real pain if you’re using the
wired Gigabit network to shunt around big project files.
If you need to transmit files on the move and there’s no local Wi-Fi-
enabled coffeeshop, don’t despair. Many companies are giving away
Vodafone 3G Mobile Connect Cards with their laptops, allowing you
access to email and the Internet through the telco’s 3G network (or via
much slower GPRS if you are outside a 3G coverage area). However, we
wouldn’t recommend trying to send anything larger than a Web-ready
image using this system – and the ‘call’ costs suggest that Vodafone
isn’t losing any money by subsidising their giveaway.
There’s something a bit chavvy about the XPS M170.
Its sculpted metal exteriors and hazy blue lights that
ooze from ventilator grooves in odd places are
reminiscent of a souped-up Vauxhall Nova.
Surprisingly, it’s not that heavy – only weighing
in 100g heavier than the models from Acer, AJP, and
Evesham. It’s as powerful as you’d expect from a laptop
built for gaming, making it a good choice for equally
power-hungry creatives.
The 2.13GHz Pentium M 770 processor is a powerful
engine, offering a noticeable bump in power above the
2.0GHz chip used by half of the laptops we’ve looked
at. The XPS M170 was slightly ahead of the Evesham
Voyager Pro, which bears the same chip. However,
it was still slower than the AMD Turion-based Rock
Quaddra T64.
In Photoshop, the XPS M170 was disappointingly
slow. This was perhaps to be expected, given the high-
definition resolution of the screen, and the lack of the
full 2GB of RAM. To get the best from this laptop, we’d
recommend adding an extra 1GB of RAM, though this
does push the already high price up by an extra £220.
It may not look pretty, but the XPS is constructed
of high-quality materials. The screen is the best available
on any model featured here, and the same is true for the
responsive, tactile keyboard (though there’s no keypad)
and the built-in speakers (naturally, the system includes
a ‘phat’ subwoofer).
There’s much that appeals about the XPS M170,
but you’ve got to ask yourself one question before
purchasing: “would I want to be seen in public with this?”
Evesham’s first attempt at a mobile workstation is the
first such 17-inch model that weighs less than a metric
tonne and can be placed on your lap without melting
your jeans into your legs. The Voyager Pro CAD720
Plus uses the same chassis as AJP’s M575A-H, so
it’s a normal 17-inch laptop with a balance of power
and mobility, except for the inclusion of NVidia’s Quadro
FX Go 1400 graphics chip.
This Voyager Pro uses the same 2.13GHz Pentium M
770 processor as the Dell XPS M170, and its LightWave
rendering results are similar – about seven per cent faster
than those of laptops using the 2.0GHz 760 model. The
Voyager Pro performed very well at image manipulation in
Photoshop, being the fastest of the models with a single
GB of RAM. Its Cinebench score was good rather than
great, though the reason for getting the Quadro FX chip
is for reliability and support reasons rather than graphics
power alone.
As well as using the same chassis as AJP’s laptop,
this Voyager Pro also shares a few of its problems – and
then adds some of its own. Evesham’s laptop suffers from
a narcoleptic trackpad, which goes to sleep if you leave it
alone for more than a minute and sometimes takes a
while to return properly.
The main problem, though, is the inclusion of
Windows XP Home as an operating system. XP Pro is
an option (luckily for only £40), rather than a standard.
XP is a requirement for most of the main high-end
3D packages. Why Evesham would put XP Home on
a model with a workstation-class chip is beyond us.
The Quaddra T64 may be the budget option here,
but it offers the best balance of power and portability
of any laptop in this group test. Rock has cut a few
corners to keep the price down, but this model’s
benefits more than outweigh its flaws.
This laptop is the only model here to use an AMD
processor, the Turion 64 ML-42, which delivers more
processing power to graphics applications than the
2.13GHz Pentium M 770 chip used by the much more
expensive Dell and Evesham laptops. We expect that
Intel’s new Core Duo chips will usurp AMD’s Turion
64 range, but this is the best option until they do.
However, the Quaddra T64’s Photoshop and
Cinebench scores were mediocre. In the MobileMark
battery test though, the T64 was again the top-rated
model, almost reaching four hours of use. It was only
beaten by our unofficial tests on the underpowered
PowerBook G4.
The T64 is the smallest and lightest of the
Windows-based laptops. Creatives on the move will
really appreciate carrying this laptop around, compared
to the behemoths from Dell, Samsung, or Sony.
With such a low price, there are some components
that we wouldn't accept from a more expensive laptop.
For example, the LCD screen is good, but its 1,440-x-900
resolution is basic. Ethernet connectivity is limited to
100Mbps, and the hard drive is only 80GB in size.
For an extra £150 you could increase the RAM
to 2GB (boosting the laptop’s Photoshop performance)
and expand the hard drive to the standard 100GB
– and still have a less expensive unit than its competition.
112 d
labs
Samsung M70format 19-inch widescreen
price £1,765 plus VAT
company Samsung, www.samsung.com/ukcontact Samsung, 08702 420 303digit rating
Sony Vaio VGN-A517Sformat 17-inch widescreen
price £1,446 plus VAT
company Sony, www.sony.co.ukcontact Sony, 08705 111 999digit rating
The VGN-A517S is a triumph of style over substance.
It looks great and would make a great home PC for
the fashion-conscious designer – but you wouldn’t
want to use it for work.
Sony’s laptop is even larger than Dell’s bulky XPS
M170 – and equally heavy – but while the XPS smacks
of Essex boy-racers, this Vaio is a smooth mix of clean
lines and soft curves. It’s bundled with a dock and
some speakers that follow the same design trends.
The speakers are better than you’d expect, as there’s
a subwoofer hidden in the dock, but the dock features
hi-fi outputs for connection to your home audio system.
There’s also a TV tuner and aerial input in the dock, with
a silver Bluetooth mouse and large shiny remote control
to finish off its home entertainment credentials.
Sadly, this Vaio’s performance in our benchmarking
tools for Photoshop, LightWave, and Cinebench is well
below par. Graphics processing in LightWave was the
slowest of any of the Windows-based laptops, and the
A517S’s Photoshop test score was undistinguished
– as was its Cinebench score. Worse, it couldn’t even
stay awake for 90 minutes before the battery drained.
There are parts of this laptop that are just as
appealing for creatives as they are for home users,
but most have flaws of their own. On-screen colour
representation is impressive, though the 1,400-x-900
resolution is not. The trackpad is very responsive,
but lacks scrollbars. The keyboard is large and tactile,
but lacks a numeric keypad.
Sony’s largest Vaio is encased in an attractive
shell, but unfortunately it contains no pearl.
★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★
productsat a glanceMANUFACTURER ACER
MODEL ASPIRE AS9504
PRICE £1,049 PLUS VAT
DIGIT RATING
OS Windows XP Home
CPU Pentium M 760 (2.0GHz)
RAM (STANDARD/MAX) 1GB
FRONT SIDE BUS 533MHz
SCREEN 17-inch
ASPECT RATIO Widescreen
X-BLACK' SCREEN y
RESOLUTION 1,440-x-900
GRAPHICS CARD ATI Mobility Radeon X700
GRAPHICS RAM 256MB
HARD DISK 100GB/5,400rpm
DVD±RW MODEL Matshita UJ-845D
DVD WRITE/DL WRITE 8x/2.4x/4x
/REWRITE SPEED
CD WRITE/REWRITE SPEED 24x/16x
MEDIA CARD SLOTS SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro
INPUT DEVICE Trackpad
DIMENSIONS (W-X-D-X-H) 402-x-286-x-40.7mm
WEIGHT INCLUDING BATTERY 3.8kg
BATTERY LIFE 2.5 hours
ETHERNET Gigabit
WIRELESS CONNECTION 802.11b/g/Bluetooth/IR/DVB-T
PORTS 5x USB 2.0, FireWire, DVI, VGA,
S-Video (in+out),
★★ ★ ★ ★
Testing timesThe laptops were benchmarked for 2D graphics
and rendering performance using cross-platform
applications, with the battery life of Windows-based
laptops also measured. All tests were performed three
times directly from start-up and an average taken.
PhotoshopThis test performs 20 actions upon a 200MB image
within Photoshop CS 2 with Version Cue running.
Results are in seconds and smaller bars are better.
Graphics processingThis uses the radiosity_BOX.lws file, included with
Lightwave 8.3, to test the response to very complex
scenes, and long-term stability. Results are in minutes
and seconds, and shorter bars are better.
Real-time 3D performanceCinebench 2003 simulates scenes from within Maxon
Cinema 4D. Scores given are the OpenGL HW-L result.
This is an indication of the framerate and 3D power of
the host machine, placing particular stress on the
graphics card. Results are in Cinebench’s proprietary
units, and longer bars are better.
MobileMark 2002 battery testThe battery-benchmarking test determines how long
the laptop will run for while in use without connection
to the mains, with a series of applications running to
mimic a moderate amount of work performed. Results
are in minutes, and longer bars are better.
Samsung’s laptop R&D department must have been
clocking up some serious overtime over the past six
months, as it has managed to create the world’s first
laptop with a 19-inch screen – and we’re expecting
a 17-inch model that outdoes even the PowerBook in
the lightness and thinness stakes next month. Perhaps
they’ve overexerted themselves though, as its innovations
are held back by some issues with the quality.
The M70 isn’t just a laptop, as it's bundled with a
monitor stand. The unit breaks in two, allowing you to slot
the screen into the stand and run a VGA cable between
the stand and the laptop body – which acts as a
keyboard that you can use from a more comfortable
distance. You can even plug the body into any monitor
(cutting down on the M70’s huge weight if you just want
to take it home, for example), or plug another computer
into the stand’s DVI port.
The central problem, though, is that the screen isn’t
up to scratch. It’s of a decent resolution (1,680-x-1,080)
but it doesn’t use an X-black-type technology, so it
offers lower contrast than most 17-inch models. It’s
hampered by the lower-quality VGA connection, which
became obsolete about the same time as floppy drives
and S Club 7. As the stand has a DVI input, not including
a DVI output on the body is odd.
Surprisingly for such a large unit with a large screen,
the M70 has a long battery life, lasting almost as long as
Rock’s Quaddra 64, and over twice as long as the other
bulky units from Dell and Sony. Its performance in our
tests was pretty average, with the low-powered GeForce
Go 6600 leaving it lagging in the Cinebench tests.
d 113
AJP APPLE DELL EVESHAM ROCK SAMSUNG SONY
M575A-H POWERBOOK G4 17-INCH XPS M170 VOYAGER PRO CAD720+ QUADDRA T64 M70 VAIO VGN-A517S
£1,299 PLUS VAT £1,489 PLUS VAT £1,693 PLUS VAT £1,499 PLUS VAT £999 PLUS VAT £1,765 PLUS VAT £1,446 PLUS VAT
Windows XP Home Mac OS X 10.4 Windows XP Media Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home
Center Edition
Pentium M 760 (2.0GHz) PowerPC G4 1.67GHz Pentium M 770 (2.13GHz) Pentium M 770 (2.13GHz) AMD Turion 64 ML-42 Pentium M 760 (2.0GHz) Pentium M 760 (2.0GHz)
(2.4GHz)
2GB/2GB 512MB/2GB 1GB/2GB 1GB/1GB 1GB/2GB 1GB/2GB 1GB/2GB
533MHz 167MHz 533MHz 533MHz 1,600MHz 533MHz 533MHz
17-inch 17-inch 17-inch 17-inch 17-inch 19-inch 17-inch
Widescreen Widescreen Widescreen Widescreen Widescreen Widescreen Widescreen
y n y y y y y
1,920-x-1,200 1,680-x-1,050 1,920-x-1,200 1,680-x-1,050 1,440-x-900 1,680-x-1,050 1,440-x-900
ATI Mobility Radeon ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 NVidia GeForce Go NVidia Quadro FX Go 1400 ATI Radeon Mobility X700 NVidia GeForce Go 6600 ATI Mobility Radeon X600
X800 XT Platinum 7800GTX
256MB 128MB 256MB 256MB 256MB 128MB 256MB
100GB/7,200rpm 120GB/5,400rpm 100GB/5,400rpm 100GB/7,200rpm 80GB/5,400rpm 100GB/5,400rpm 120GB/5,400rpm
Sony DW-Q58A Matshita UJ-846 NEC ND-6650A Sony DW-Q58A NEC ND-6650A Teac DV-W28EA Sony DW-Q58A
8x/4x/4x 8x/2.4x/4x 8x/4x/4x 8x/4x 8x/2.4x/4x 8x/2.4x/4x 8x/4x
24x/16x 24x/10x 24x/16x 24x/16x 24x/16x 24x/16x 24x/10x
SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro None SD None SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro, xD MS, MS-Pro, MS-Duo
Trackpad Trackpad Trackpad Trackpad Trackpad Trackpad Trackpad
397-x-293-x-45mm 392-x-259-x-26mm 394-x-288-x-42mm 397-x-293-x-45mm 395-x-278-x-35mm 435-x-314-x-39mm 405-x-280-x-45mm
3.8kg 3.1kg 3.9kg 3.8kg 3.5kg 4.4kg 3.9kg
1 hour 5.5 hours not given 2 hours 3 hours 4.5 hours 1.5 hours
Gigabit Gigabit Gigabit 10/100Mbps 10/100Mbps Gigabit Gigabit
802.11a/b/g/Bluetooth/ 802.11b/g/Bluetooth 802.11b/g/Bluetooth R802.11b/g/IR/Vodafone 3G 802.11b/g/Bluetooth/IR 802.11b/g/Bluetooth/IR 802.11b/g/Bluetooth/IR
IR/Vodafone 3G 2.0+EDR/IR 2.0+EDR
ExpressCard, PCMCIA, 4x USB 2.0, FireWire, DVI, 2x USB 2.0, FireWire 800, 6x USB 2.0, FireWire, DVI, 2x USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, 3x USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, 4x USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA,
keyboard/mouse, modem S-Video, composite video, FireWire, DVI, S-Video, VGA, S-Video, PCMCIA, S-Video, PCMCIA, parallel, S-Video, PCMCIA, parallel, S-Video, PCMCIA, modem
PCMCIA, keyboard/mouse, PCMCIA, modem modem modem serial, modem
serial, modem
Test results
Acer Aspire AJP M575A-H Apple PowerBook Dell XPS M170 Evesham V. Rock Samsung M70 Sony Vaio AS9504 G4 17-inch Pro CAD720+ Quaddra T64 VGN-A517S
LightWave 51m 15 51m 3s 61m 4s 47m 41s 47m 54s 45m 24s 50m 44s 52m 12s
Photoshop 8m 16s 4m 42s 9m 56s 7m 6s 5m 54s 6m 26s 7m 10s 6m 29s
Cinebench (CB) 3192 3278 845 3367 3170 2965 2174 3077
MobileMark 206m 119m n/a 106m 95m 228m 218m 86m
★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★
Workstations3XS DCC 939 Dual-Core £1,910 Scan, www.scan.co.uk, 0870 755 4747 Windows Nov 05 4.0
Uses an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ dual-core processor, and 2GB of RAM, but this doesn’t translate into the best performance. Good, but not great
Acumen DC64 £2,999 Evesham, www.evesham.com, 0870 160 9700 Windows Digit 88 4.5
Two dual-core processors for under £3,000 isn’t the only impressive thing about this workstation. Could do with more RAM, but the power is blinding
Celsius M £1,980 Fujitsu-Siemens, www.fujitsu-siemens.co.uk, 0800 004 003 Windows Nov 05 3.0
A textbook example of the bare minimum for a graphic workstation – so why it costs so much is a mystery. The case looks good, though
CX-XiE-2S £1,849 Cybernex, www.cybernex.co.uk, 0870 460 5829 Windows Nov 05 2.5
Huge, ugly, and noisy, this graphics workstation is a bit too basic – a real professional would need to spend a few quid on it to make it useful
D900T-U £1,599 AJP, www.ajp.co.uk, 020 8208 9744 Windows Nov 05 4.0
The best ‘portable’ unit we’ve seen. This is powerful enough to challenge some desktops, but too big to be moved around too much
DC64 £1,999 Evesham, www.evesham.com, 0870 160 9700 Windows Nov 05 3.5
Boasting a powerful dual-core Opteron chip, this workstation is still slower than models with 2.4-3.2GHz chips. An unremarkable set of specs
Gravistar ST £1,895 Armari, www.armari.co.uk, 01923 225 550 Windows Nov 05 4.5
Aside from its lovely looks, the Gravistar ST is a great workstation for graphics professionals. It’s incredibly fast with Photoshop
Imagine FX840DC £1,995 CAD2, www.cad2.com, 01332 545 802 Windows Dec 05 3.5
A good-looking workstation with a powerful 3D graphics card. However, rendering and image processing times are disappointingly slow
IntelliStation Z Pro £4,385 IBM, www.ibm.com/uk, 0800 015 7229 Windows Apr 05 4.0
Offers obscenely powerful 3D performance, and fast image rendering and processing. The price is huge, though, and the hard drive is too small
Katana 3D-9 £2,005 SavRow, www.savrow.com, 020 7428 0035 Windows Jun 05 3.5
Blistering performance, excellent set of components, and a great screen. However, it gets too hot, is massively heavy, and has a small hard drive
Latitude D610 £799 Dell, www.dell.com/uk, 0870 152 4699 Windows Apr 05 2.5
An excellent lesson on why creatives have high demands when it comes to PC specs. The screen is poor and the processor is basic. Best avoided
MJ-12m 7700 £1,928 Alienware, www.alienware.co.uk, 0800 279 9751 Windows Apr 05 4.0
The 3.4GHz Pentium 4 processor is at the heart of this enormous desktop replacement. The innovative drive system allows for speed and easy backup
PowerBook G4 (15-inch) £1,870 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac Apr 05 4.0
The new PowerBook isn’t a G5, but it’s still notable. It’s not the fastest, but it offers great value for money and is still very stylish
Power Mac G5 2.7GHz £1,701 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac Digit 88 4.5
Superb 2D graphics performance coupled with excellent value for money makes this the ultimate desktop Mac. The supplied RAM needs a boost
Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5GHz £1,956 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac Jan 06 4.0
This is much more powerful than its single-core predecessors, and offers great value compared to AMD-based workstations. Few 3D graphics options
Precision 670 £5,691 Dell, www.dell.co.uk, 0870 152 4699 Windows Digit 88 3.5
The most powerful workstation we’ve seen but you need to spend £3,000 to upgrade the £1,200 model. Two 3.4GHz Xeon processors make it very fast
Precision 380 £1,529 Dell, www.dell.co.uk, 0870 152 4699 Windows Nov 05 3.5
The Precision 380 sees the first appearance of Intel’s Pentium D 840 3.2GHz dual core processor. The system is not set up sensibly around it though
Precision M70 £2,290 Dell, www.dell.co.uk, 0870 152 4699 Windows May 05 4.5
This mobile workstation has a great high-definition screen and a terrific graphics chip. It’s pretty light given the power delivered. No FireWire ports
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
Apple Power Mac G5 dual 2.7GHzThis is the ultimate desktop Mac. Perfect
for the 2D creative, the Power Mac G5 dual
2.7GHz also offers good value for money
Armari Gravistar STArmari’s Gravistar ST is perfect for the graphics
professional – an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ core
processor keeps things ticking over
Dell Precision M70This genuinely mobile workstation has a 15-inch
screen with high-definition resolution – plus it
has the graphical power to drive it
Evesham Acumen DC64Dual-processor 3D workstation offering blinding
performance, plenty of scope to upgrade, and
great peripherals
Sony Vaio A397XPThis unit is a winner, combining creative
power with genuine mobility. Stylish, with
Sony’s great X-black screen technology
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: WORKSTATIONS
Digit Buyers guideDigit’s mission is to review and rate professional
tools that bring out the creativity in you. Each month,
Digit reviews more creative products than any other
magazine in the UK, and Digit reviews are the most
respected in the industry. The Digit Buyers Guide
provides the most authoritative listing of reviewed
products in the past year, including ratings, contact
details, and a product summary. Pricing is correct at
the time of the review, but please note that pricing
does change – you should contact your distributor
for pricing information before purchasing. The listing
is updated every month.
Digit Online Buyers guideCheck out Digit Online (www.digitmag.co.uk)for all your review and product news needs, with
exclusive reviews and content constantly updated.
buyers guidehardwareworkstationsdigitalcamerasdvcamerasinputdevicesstoragemonitorsprintersscanners3dgraphicscards
software3ddtpdigitalvideographicdesignmultimediawebdesignutilities
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Roswell 5550 £2,257 Alienware, www.alienware.co.uk, 0800 279 9751 Windows Digit 88 3.0
Alienware usually makes PCs for gamers, and this foray into the 3D artist’s world is unsuccessful. It’s noisy, and has very limited upgrade options
RX3D Platinum £2,750 Real Machines, www.realmachines.co.uk, 0845 022 1000 Windows Digit 88 4.0
This 3D workstation offers 11 5.25-inch bays, allowing for mixing and matching of drives. Two Opteron 250 chips provide the power
Vaio A397XP £1,899 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 Windows Apr 05 4.5
The best balance for power and mobility for the creative designer – and it looks great too. Sony’s X-black technology makes for an amazing screen
X6i-64 £2,499 Xworks, www.xworksinteractive.com, 01785 229 191 Windows Digit 88 3.0
This 3D workstation uses a 3.73GHz P4 EE chip – fast, but not as fast as a dual system. Includes 4GB of RAM and the ATI FireGL v7100 graphics card
X8i-SLIDC £1,895 Xworks, www.xworksinteractive.com, 01785 229 191 Windows Nov 05 3.5
Uses Intel’s Pentium D Dual-core processor, and offers decent performance. Could do with more storage space for creative work though
Digital camerasCamedia 7070 Wide Zoom £315 Olympus, www.olympus.co.uk, 0800 072 0070 M | W Aug 05 4.5
Top-quality compact digital camera with tough metal body, wide-angle lens, full manual and auto controls, and an excellent flip-up rotating monitor
Caplio GX8 £255 Ricoh, www.ricohpmmc.com, 020 8261 4000 M | W Jul 05 3.0
Capable of capturing very fine detail, Ricoh’s GX8 is an 8.2mp compact that offers great value and a decent level of manual control. Poor scene modes
Caplio R2 £195 Ricoh, www.ricohpmmc.com, 020 8261 4000 M | W Aug 05 3.5
This decent pocket-sized camera is neatly styled and boasts a versatile zoom lens. It’s let down by a lack of any real manual controls
Coolpix 8400 £553 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0800 230 220 M | W Jun 05 4.5
This 8mp digital camera has the widest angle of any compact camera – equivalent to 24-85mm. Sensor starts to get noisy at ISO 200 or 400
Coolpix 8800 £595 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0800 230 220 M | W Jun 05 4.5
The 8mp 8800 boasts a massive 10x zoom lens, and a clever Vibration Reduction (VR) technology to iron out shakiness. Good image quality and value
Coolpix S1 £212 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0800 8541 4440 M | W Aug 05 3.5
This is an incredibly slim pocket-sized camera. It’s stylish and well built, but its tiny size can make it awkward to hold and shoot with
Cyber-shot H1 £340 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Aug 05 4.5
This 5mp digital compact camera boasts solid build quality, 12x zoom, Steady Shot image stabilization, and an impressive feature set
Cyber-shot R1 £595 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Dec 05 4.0
This 10mp digital camera has a rugged build, and a super-sharp wide-angle Carl Zeiss zoom. The monitor’s great too, but there’s no image stabilizer
Cyber-shot T7 £297 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Aug 05 4.0
This camera is remarkably slim – just 16mm. Its build quality is also top notch, as is the image quality, but its tiny size makes it harder to use
D50 £340 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0845 4500 155 M | W Jan 06 4.5
Lowering the entry price of digital SLR photography still further, Nikon’s D50 offers great manual and auto control, and respectable specs
D70 £680 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0845 4500 155 M | W Jan 05 4.5
This is one of the first digital SLRs to move away from the professional market. It has consumer features like scene modes, plus pro fine-tuning options
D70s £595 Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk, 0845 4500 155 M | W Aug 05 4.0
A makeover of the popular D70 digital SLR, the D70s is durable, and offers ultra-fast handling. However, it’s pricey for a 6mp camera
Digital Ixus 700 £235 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Aug 05 4.0
Canon’s pocket range of digital cameras is good-looking and high-quality, and the Ixus 700 is no exception. Pricey, though, and lacks manual controls
Dynax 5D £390 KonicaMinolta, www.konicaminolta.co.uk, 020 8751 6121 M | W Jan 06 4.5
This low-cost 6.1mp digital SLR has a large screen, built-in anti-shake, and good exposure and colour. However, its output sharpness is its weakness
Dynax 7D £978 KonicaMinolta, www.konicaminolta.co.uk, 020 8751 6121 M | W May 05 3.5
A 6mp digital SLR with good anti-shake technology, although it doesn’t come with lenses that take advantage of this. Not as responsive as some rivals
E-500 £425 Olympus, www.olympus.co.uk, 020 7253 792 792 M | W Jan 06 4.0
Digital SLR based on the Four Thirds standard, the E-500 benefits from a 2.5-inch monitor, and a new metering system, but sharpness is poor
EasyShare P880 £365 Kodak, www.kodak.com, 01442 261 122 M | W Jan 06 3.0
A compact ‘bridge’ camera, with a 2.5-inch screen and a 24-140mm wide-zoom lens. Not a bad camera, but you can get an SLR for a similar price
EOS-1D Mark II £2,562 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Jan 05 4.5
A digital SLR built for performance. Canon’s DIGIC II processor, top notch exposure and autofocus technology, and 8.2 megapixels
EOS-1D Mark II N £2,595 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Feb 06 4.0
Action-oriented 8.2mp digital SLR with a rugged buid, great handling, and high-speed continuous capture at 8.5fps. Pricey
EOS-1Ds Mark II £4,510 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Apr 05 4.5
This 16.7mp digital SLR is aimed at professional studio and location use. Massive resolution means minimal interpolation, even at large print sizes
EOS-350D £450 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Jan 06 4.0
Small, light, and fast handling, the EOS 350D is a bargain-priced digital SLR that boasts 8mp, great build quality and brilliant usabilty
EOS 5D £1,958 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Jan 06 4.5
This 12.8mp digital SLR boasts Canon’s full-frame CMOS sensor, and is compatible with a wide range of the company’s lenses. Quite pricey
Exilim EX-S500 £255 Casio, www.casio.co.uk, 020 8208 7838 M | W Oct 05 3.0
This 5.1mp compact camera is ludicrously slim – and suffers ergonomically as a result. The images it produces aren’t much cop, either
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: CAMERAS AND DV
Fujifilm FinePix F10Fantastic image quality and a superb build make
this camera a great buy. Shoots high dynamic
range images, and boasts a 6.3mp sensor
Pentax Optio 750ZEverything you could want from a pocket-sized
camera. Stand-out features include true manual
exposure controls and a flip-out monitor
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIBased on Canon’s top professional film
camera, the EOS-1, this digital SLR is
built for the ultimate performance
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark IIThis 16.7mp digital SLR is perfect for the
studio-based professional photographer, and
allows use of Canon’s wide-angle EF lenses
Canon EOS 5DCanon hits the mark again with yet another top
SLR model in the EOS range. The least expensive
full-frame digital SLR available
Nikon D70The D70 is a great value digital SLR that packs
in some excellent professional-level features.
Thankfully, the images look great too
Nikon D2HAn updated D1H, this offers improvements
to the imaging technology and is incredibly
quick. Excels out in the field
Nikon D50This is an affordable professional SLR model, and
it offers decent image output and sound design
and build quality
POCKET-SIZED DIGITAL CAMERAS
SLR CAMERAS
RECOMMENDED:JVC GY-HD100EThe JVC GY-HD100E scores
well for it being the first HDV
camera with interchangable
lenses. The output at 720p
proved impressive in our
tests
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FinePix F10 £220 Fujifilm, www.fujifilm.co.uk, 020 7586 5900 M | W Aug 05 4.5
This pocket-sized camera has a 6.3mp CCD, a great 2.5-inch monitor, and the ability to shoot high dynamic range images. This camera oozes quality
FinePix S3 Pro £1,360 Fujifilm, www.fujifilm.co.uk, 020 7586 5900 M | W May 05 4.0
Mid-range Nikon-compatible digital SLR camera with innovative and effective sensor that captures a wide tonal range. Pricey, and a bit slow, though
FinePix S9500 £425 Fujifilm, www.fujifilm.co.uk, 020 7586 5900 M | W Jan 06 3.5
Lots of features make this 9mp model a versatile camera. A quality 10.7x zoom with a 28-300mm range and a super-fast ISO 1600 stand out
*ist DL £380 Pentax, www.pentax.co.uk, 01753 792 792 M | W Jan 06 4.0
The “L” apparently refers to “Lightweight” and this is Pentax’s lightest SLR. The three-point autofocus system is disappointing, but image quality is OK
Lumix DMC-FZ5 £297 Panasonic, www.panasonic.co.uk, 08705 357 357 M | W Aug 05 3.5
This 5mp digital camera has a lot going for it – such as a fast and powerful zoom lens, and a good feature set – but its body feels a bit flimsy
Mju-mini Digital S £230 Olympus, www.olympus.co.uk, 0800 072 0070 M | W Aug 05 3.0
This curvy camera comes in a variety of colours, but the performance is average. The 2:1 zoom and maximum aperture or f/3.5 are a bit limited
Optio 750Z £425 Pentax, www.pentax.co.uk, 01753 792 792 M | W Aug 05 5.0
Fantastic retro styling, manual exposure controls, and reliably built, the Optio 750Z shoots RAW as well as JPG, and is a fine, pocketable camera
Photosmart R717 £144 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 01344 360 000 M | W Aug 05 4.0
This pocket camera from HP boasts a 6.2mp output, and a built-in red-eye remover so you can correct your images and print them without a PC
PowerShot Pro1 £410 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Jan 06 3.5
This 8mp compact boasts impressive specs, but doesn’t quite live up to them in practice. However, output is good, and you get a lot for the money
PowerShot S2 IS £235 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 0800 616 417 M | W Oct 05 4.5
5mp compact that offers a big zoom, great optical image stabilization, and an extensive set of features. Takes rechargable batteries, which is a pain
Pro815 £468 Samsung, www.samsungcamera.co.uk, 020 8862 9311 M | W Feb 06 4.0
Samsung’s first foray into high-end compact cameras offers high-quality, high-ratio zoom lens with both wide-angle and super-telephoto capabilities
R-D1 £1,072 Epson, www.epsonrd1.co.uk, 08702 416 900 M | W Apr 05 3.5
This 6mp digital camera offers classic analog handling, with life-size finder. Large digital SLR-style sensor provides low noise. Menu system is poor
SP-500 Ultra Zoom £255 Olympus, www.olympus.co.uk, 020 7253 2772 M | W Feb 06 3.5
This 6mp digital camera is great value. It has a long-zoom lens, and good colour reproduction, but its lack of image stabilization lets it down
Digital video camerasDCR-HC90E £600 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Dec 05 3.0
This pocket-sized camcorder suffers from a lack of buttons – too many functions are accessed only through the touchscreen menu system
DCR-PC1000E £725 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Dec 05 4.5
Three CMOS sensors keep this camcorder small, and delivers fine footage, especially in auto mode. Relies too much on touchscreen, but great output
Everio GZ-MC500 £850 JVC, www.jvc.co.uk, 0870 330 5000 M | W Dec 05 3.5
The Everio GZ-MC500 attempts to be a mix of a still camera and a camcorder. However, the footage is dull and fuzzy, with poor colour accuracy
GY-HD100E £3,750 JVC, www.jvcproeurope.com, 020 8896 6000 M | W Sep 05 4.5
The first HDV camera to feature interchangable lenses, and works with 720p resolution. Excellent output quality of footage impressed
GR-X5 £850 JVC, www.jvc.co.uk, 0870 330 5000 M | W Dec 05 4.0
This camcorder has a strange square shape, but the ergonomics are surprisingly good. There’s no image stabilization mechanism
HDR-HC1 £1,275 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 08705 111 999 M | W Nov 05 4.0
Much smaller and lighter than the HDV competition. Capture quality is good, but it only has a single sensor and poor audio options
MVX4i £850 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 08705 143 223 M | W Dec 05 3.0
Canon’s top-end consumer camcorder is small and pretty, but suffers in terms of usability and functionality as a result. Single CCD lets it down
MVX45i £600 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 08705 143 223 M | W Dec 05 3.0
This DV/miniDV camcorder is let down by a single CCD. Its large size makes it easy to use. Picture quality isn’t quite up to professional standards
NVGS400B £1,000 Panasonic, www.panasonic.co.uk, 0870 906 8357 M | W Dec 05 4.0
This DV/miniDV camcorder is quite large, but wipes the floor with the competition in terms of image quality. Loads of manual control, too
SDR-S100 £725 Panasonic, www.panasonic.co.uk, 0870 906 8357 M | W Dec 05 4.0
This tiny digital video camera offers surprisingly good footage. The lens is optically stabilized, and there’s plenty of manual operation available
XL2 £3,000 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 08705 143 723 M | W Dec 04 4.5
Digit’s Best Buy and the best indie-film DV camera in the market. It’s £500 more than the DVX100A but is a better component-based system
Input devicesCintiq 21UX £1,899 Wacom, wacom-europe.com @ CU, 020 8358 5857 M | W Jun 05 4.5
This LCD graphics tablet is an amazing tool, with a massive screen, programmable Express Keys, and styling that would turn any creative’s head
Intuos3 A5 wide from £629 Wacom, wacom-europe.com @ CU, 020 8358 5857 M | W Jan 06 4.0
Graphics tablet that caters for the widescreen display user. Wide active area providing 16:10 aspect ratio. Great pen, but doesn’t come with a mouse
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
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Smaller camcorders allow you to get up close to yoursubjects. They can stay hidden in your coat or bag to keepthe wraps on an investigative documentary. They can bestrapped to a remote-control car and sent hurtling down a POV shot. They can also be bought at a much lower pricethan traditional pro-level DV camcorders.
To obtain usable footage, you’ll need to spend about£600 plus VAT. Footage will still only scrape the bottombracket of what we know as “broadcast quality”, but thistype of camera will be perfectly usable if you have highproduction values and enough time to fix problems in post.Viewers don’t expect documentary footage – especiallyhidden camera material – to match the production values of drama.
The quality offered by this level of camcorder has risen dramatically over the past year. Whereas triple CCDsused to be reserved for high-end models, this technology is now incorporated into many consumer models.
The biggest change to the camcorder landscapehowever, has been the emergence of units that use solid-state media rather than miniDV tapes. Manufacturers havetried other media types – such as Sony’s MicroMV tapeformat – to make camcorders smaller, but the limiting factor has always been the size of tape carriages. By using2GB SD Card and 4GB MicroDrives, companies can reduce the size further.
Pocket-sized camcorders often have ergonomicweaknesses. Their small controls and buttons can be fiddly to use for anyone with average-sized hands or larger – zoom controls especially can be tricky to use accurately.
Another downside is that they record video in MPEG-2format in non-standard wrappers (that is, a format otherthan .MPG or QuickTime MOVs). You can use one of thesupplied PC-only editing tools – or an open-source tool such as ffmpeg if you’re on a Mac – to convert to DV for real-time editing, but the footage will sacrifice quality.Alternatively, you can uncompress it and suffer a lack of editing performance if you don’t have dedicateduncompressed hardware. Either way it’s a workflow hassle that you’d rather have to do without.
Audio controls on consumer-level cameras arenotoriously poor, so you should seek out a model thatfeatures external microphone ports to improve the quality. Some can even record surround sound.
Buying advice: pocket-sized camcorders
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: PROSUMER CAMCORDERS
Canon XL2Quite simply the best indie-film DV camera
on the market – even if it’s starting to show its
age. Has the best component system on offer
JVC GY-HD100EThe first HD camcorder to offer interchangable
lenses. Great ergonomics, excellent output,
and thoughtful attention to detail
Sony DCR-PC1000EAn incredibly small and stylish camcorder,
with great functionality and an impressive
array of manual controls
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Storage devicesBravo Pro DVD £2,325 Primera, www.primera.com @ Bannerbridge 0870 870 1220 M | W Aug 05 3.5
This DVD duplicator and printer offers fast and efficient disc-creation, but its print quality isn’t high enough, and the Mac software is fiddly
DVR-110D £34 Pioneer, www.pioneer-eur.com, 01753 789 500 M | W Nov 05 3.0
This DVD±RW drive offers fast, dual-layer DVD burning. Single-layer disc burning is good too, but DVD+RW and DVD-RW creation is slow
GigaVu Pro from £365 Jobo, www.jobo.com, 01628 674 411 M | W May 05 4.5
Portable storage device that lets you view pictures on the move. Boasts decent battery life, and supports a range of CCD-RAW files. No car adaptor
ND3540A £29 NEC, www.nec.co.uk, 020 8752 3665 M | W Jul 05 4.5
A real bargain of an internal DVD writer. It pushes vastly more expensive drives for speed, and offers reliable and simple DVD burning
SilverSTOR XS from £579 Evesham, www.evesham.com, 0870 160 9700 M | W Feb 06 4.5
A small, quiet, flexible and easy to administrate network storage device. It’s fiddly to set up if your network doesn’t use standard settings
Monitors321 LCD Monitor £957 LaCie, www.lacie.com/uk, 020 7872 8000 M | W May 05 4.5
Aimed at designers who would normally plump for a CRT, this LCD offers fantastic colour accuracy, and looks great on your desktop
Cinema Display £595 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 M | W May 05 3.5
The emergence of other LCDs for designers makes the Apple Cinema Display less impressive. Still looks great though, and still a good performer
Cinema Display HD £1,060 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 M | W May 05 4.0
The 23-inch version of the 20-inch Cinema Display, the HD offers much better value for money. Colour accuracy and styling are great
ColorEdge CG21 £1,279 Eizo, www.eizo.co.uk, 01483 719 500 M | W Digit 76 4.5
It’s been overtaken by Barco’s Coloris Calibrator for the best LCD crown, but this 21.3-inch model is far more realistically priced
ColorEdge CG220 £2,399 Eizo, www.eizo.co.uk, 01483 719 500 M | W May 05 4.0
The best handling of colour available on an LCD monitor. Good ergonomics and great output quality, but there’s an inevitably massive price tag
FlexScan S2110W £629 Eizo, www.eizo.co.uk, 01483 719 500 M | W Jan 06 4.5
This 21-inch LCD widescreen display has great specifications and picture quality, and 10-bit gamma correction is a bonus. Shame it’s beige
FlexScan S2410W £909 Eizo, www.eizo.co.uk, 01483 719 500 M | W Feb 06 4.5
This 24-inch LCD monitor offers fantastic image quality for both text and pictures. Stick to the black model as the white one looks horrid
FP202W £385 BenQ, www.benq.co.uk, 01442 301 000 M | W Dec 05 3.0
Lowest-cost 20-inch LCD so far, with a very fast response time. However, it’s ugly, and offers a mediocre colour reproduction and small gamut
Gallery Xtreme 2010 £515 Formac, www.formac.co.uk, 08705 357 357 M | W May 05 3.0
It has the X-black technology pioneered by Sony for its laptops, but this large monitor suffers as a result. Too much glare, and a small colour gamut
Photon20vision II from £519 LaCie, www.lacie.com/uk, 020 7872 8000 M | W May 05 3.5
This previously great LCD monitor has been overtaken by newer models. The aspect ratio will put off video-editors, and colour-handling could be better
SDM-S204 £671 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 0990 424 424 M | W May 05 3.0
The SDM-S204 is quite old now, and is over-priced and under-featured as a result. Boasts a wide colour gamut, but not the accuracy to match
SDM-P234 £1,380 Sony, www.sony.co.uk, 0990 424 424 M | W May 05 3.0
This 23-inch LCD can’t compete with the likes of Apple’s Cinema Display HD. Whites are washed out even after calibration, and it’s very pricey
SpectraView 2180 £999 NEC Display Solutions, www.nec-display-solutions.co.uk M | W May 05 4.5
A fantastic LCD monitor that has good enough colour handling and gamuts to satisfy most designers. Calibrator is easily stored in a hatch on the hood
SyncMaster SM243 £1,701 Samsung, www.samsung.co.uk, 0870 242 0303 M | W Digit 76 4.5
A massive 24-inch LCD, the SyncMaster SM243 is remarkably compact considering its size. Picture quality is fine after calibration
UltraSharp 2005FPW £469 Dell, www.dell.com/uk, 0870 152 4699 M | W May 05 4.5
The 2005FPW is a widescreen version of the 2001FP, and offers the same budget pricing and excellent image quality
VP231b £1,190 Viewsonic, www.viewsonic.com/uk, 01293 643 900 M | W Jul 05 3.5
Viewsonic’s first 23-inch widescreen monitor. Offers good picture quality, but its design is dull and it’s much more expensive than Apple’s 23-incher
Printers5550DN £2,229 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0845 270 4222 M | W Jun 05 5.0
HP’s clever design and all-round quality belies the low price. An A3+ model that would be perfect for any busy design studio or creative office
AcuLaser C1100N £399 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Jun 05 3.5
Epson’s entry-level A4 colour laser printer, the C1100N is excellent value for money. Not really cut out for constant A4 colour printing, though
AcuLaser C8600PS £3,495 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Jun 05 3.5
This A3+ model from Epson is a four-pass printer, which explains the slow speeds in colour printing. Its standard 192MB RAM is a bit disappointing
Bubble Jet i9950 £407 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 01737 220 000 M | W Feb 06 3.0
This A3+ photo printer has a PictBridge camera port at the front, ChromaPLUS eight-ink system, plus a USB 2.0 and FireWire interface
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: PRINTERS
HP DesignJet 30While this is HP’s idea of entry-level, the range
of features and quality of the output, mean
design professionals needn’t look elsewhere
Canon Imageprograf W6400You’ll need a word with the bank manager,
but if your budget stretches, the W6400 is a
serious printer able to handle a range of output
Epson Stylus Pro 4800This heavy-duty A2 professional inkjet features
dedicated grey inks for monochrome, as well
as excellent colour output. Recommended
HP 5550DNA great A3+ colour laser printer that’s perfect
for any creative studio. Offers great quality at
a reasonable price
Oki C9500dn V2Colour printer that uses LEDs instead of lasers, but
works like a laser printer. Image quality is superb,
while the unit isn’t as big as some models
Konica Minolta Magicolor 545DLA compact A4 colour laser, with a new colour
engine and fast processing of pages. Offers
PictBridge for printing from a digital camera
Epson Stylus Photo R1800Large-format printer that excels at high-quality
photo prints on a variety of media. Uses the
Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink set
Epson Stylus Photo R2400This A3+ photo inkjet boasts a nine-ink system
that produces fantastic quality prints with great
colour accuracy out of the box
RECOMMENDED:NEC ND3540AThis bargain internal
DVD writer drive performs
outstandingly when pitted
against much pricier units.
It’s not quite the fastest out
there, but why pay over the
odds for a DVD burner?
RECOMMENDED:NEC SpectraView 2180A large colour gamut,
fantastic colour output
even before calibration,
and a stylish look make
the SprectraView 2180 a
fine choice for any designer.
A worthy Best Buy winner
Historically, photo inkjet printers haven’t producedprofessional output. Now though, high-end inkjet printersare capable of producing stunning designs and photographsthat are indistinguishable from commercial prints. They offera breadth of colour that can replicate both high-saturationwork and more subtle shades.
Over the years, manufacturers have used new models to up the level of detail within photographs – producingprinters than can lay down smaller droplets of ink to raisethe dpi value of their print heads. This has topped out, as a4,800dpi image is detailed enough that very few people willsee any difference if you push the level higher. Also, withthis amount of detail, it’s the accuracy with which dropletsare laid down that is more important than the number ofthem in every square inch. So to differentiate themselves,printer manufacturers have been adding more inks.
The first generation of photo printers used a four-colourprocess that replicated the CMYK of traditional printingprocesses. Currently, photo printers are available with up to nine inks (in HP’s Photosmart 8750).
There is a wide variety of ways in which printermanufacturers combine inks to improve output. Red ink can help to produce more accurate skin tones, especiallymore saturated ones. Green ink helps with shots such aslandscapes, and can provide a major boost as the human eye is more sensitive to shades of green than red or blue.Blue ink is the least important of the primaries for printing,but boosts the gradation of seas, skies, and metallic tones.
Some printers offer grey inks to boost the quality ofB&W prints. By including two grey cartridges along with the black, gradation between shades is much smoother tothe point that professional photographers will be satisfiedwith the results.
The downsides to this plethora of inks are speed and cost. As you’d expect, speed of output is inverselyproportional to the number of inks a printer has – andquality takes time.
Tech notes: Photo inkjet printers
RECOMMENDED:Canon CanoScan 9950FThis A4 flatbed scanner
is Canon’s flagship in the
desktop range, fitted with
a top-quality Super Toric
spherical lens for high
optical quality and
greater light transmission
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: GRAPHICS CARDS
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
3Dlabs Realizm 100This is a great value card. It boasts two display
outputs, two DVI output, 256MB memory, and
8x max AGP support
PNY NVidia FX 1300The PCI Express card is quick, solid, and good
value. It boasts 128MB memory, two display
outputs, and two DVI outputs
Bubble Jet W2200 £1,495 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 01737 220 000 M | W Sep 05 3.5
Capable photo-printer that is aimed more as a proofer for design studios and print shops due to its A3+ output – just too expensive for what it offers
C9500dn V2 £3,135 Oki, www.europe.oki.co.uk, 0800 917 6015 M | W Jun 05 4.5
This A3+ printer uses LEDs rather than lasers but works pretty much the same as a standard laser printer. Awesome image quality and very versatile
Designjet 130nr £1,295 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0845 270 4000 M | W Sep 05 4.0
This A1 printer comes with built-in colour sensor and automatic print-head alignment, but lacks FireWire or USB 2.0. Output is excellent, though
Designjet 30 £440 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0845 270 4000 M | W Sep 05 4.5
The Designjet 30 is HP’s entry-level wide-format printer for imaging professionals – and the price makes it attractive for a wide range of users
Designjet 90r £865 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0845 270 4000 M | W Sep 05 4.0
Despite being marketed as a proofer for design studios, the 90r makes a decent photographic printer as well, and B&W images are spot on
HL-3450CN £2,249 Brother, www.brother.com, 0845 6060 626 M | W Jun 05 3.5
A small, light A3 printer, but it’s also quite slow. Well made and easy-to-use, though there’s no installer for Mac OS X, which seems a bit daft
Imageprograf W6400 £2,499 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 01737 220 000 M | W Sep 05 4.5
Canon’s new Imageprograf W6400 provides a comprehensive printing solution – from A4 cut sheets up to 24-inch-wide prints. Print quality is very high
Magicolor 5450DL £1,169 Konica Minolta, www.konicaminoltaprinters.co.uk, 01784 442 255 M | W Jun 05 4.5
This compact A4 colour laser printer has a powerful 667MHz processor at its core, and 256MB RAM as standard. A top-quality offering
Magicolor 7300 £2,495 Konica Minolta, www.konicaminoltaprinters.co.uk, 01784 442 255 M | W Jun 05 3.5
It’s getting old now, but this A3+ laser printer is fast, considering its reasonable price. Konica Minolta’s image-enhancement technologies work well
Phaser 7400 from £2,556 Xerox, xerox.co.uk, 0870 873 3873 M | W Feb 06 4.0
Low-cost, fast A3+ laser printer with good quality considering the price. However, the quality might not be good enough for many design studios
Phaser 7750V/GX £6,999 Xerox, xerox.co.uk, 0870 873 3873 M | W Jun 05 4.0
A fast single-pass A3+ printer that can hit 35ppm in colour or mono. However, this level of performance doesn’t come cheap
PIXMA iP8500 £245 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 08705 143 723 M | W Feb 06 3.5
A strange shape, the PIXMA iP8500 is billed as a printer for pro photographers, but doesn’t have any digital camera card slots. Fast, with good output
Photosmart 8750 £340 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0870 010 4320 M | W Feb 06 4.0
The Photosmart 8750 is a nine-ink photo inkjet that offers good value for money. It requires calibration before the output is spot-on
Stylus Pro 4800 £1,498 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Aug 05 4.5
Heavy-duty A2 professional inkjet with excellent colour and new dedicated grey inks for monochrome. Borderless printing with choice of resolutions
Stylus Photo R1800 £339 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W May 05 4.5
This A3 inkjet printer excels at photo prints on a variety of media. Slower than standard inkjets on standard jobs, but great for photographers
Stylus Photo R2400 £510 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Feb 06 4.5
Affordable desktop A3+ printer with new K3 long-life pigment inks. RPM technology gives the printer a resolution on 5,760-x-1,440dpi
Stylus Photo R800 £210 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Feb 06 4.0
The highest-quality photo inkjet printer on the market, the R800 produces accurate photos, though it’s slow and can’t print borderless on the Mac
ScannersArtixScan 120tf £1,3690 Microtek, microtekeurope.com, 0870 906 3300 M | W Jun 05 3.0
The best film scanner Microtek has to offer, which isn’t saying very much, since this model is old. Correction system isn’t as good as Digital ICE
Canon CanoScan 9950F £288 Canon, www.canon.co.uk, 01737 220 000 M | W Oct 05 4.5
A4 flatbed scanner with 4,800-x-9,600dpi resolution and a top Super Toric aspherical lens for high optical quality and greater light transmission
Dimage Scan Elite 5400 II £509 Konica-Minolta, www.konicaminolta.co.uk, 01908 200 400 M | W Jul 05 4.0
This 35mm film scanner captures well on its automatic settings, and has good dust and scratch removal. However, is software is poor and it’s slow
Expression 10000XL £1,999 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Oct 05 4.0
A3 desktop scanner with 2,400-x-4,800dpi resolution. It’s good for digitizing old prints, but its slower speeds and high price makes it second choice
Perfection 4490 Photo £169 Epson, www.epson.co.uk, 0800 220 546 M | W Oct 05 4.0
A low-cost A4 desktop scanner with Digital ICE image-correction technology. Image quality is excellent, and it comes with a good software bundle
Scanjet 4890 £70 HP, www.hp.com/uk, 0870 547 4747 M | W Oct 05 3.0
This A4 desktop scanner is more suited to the family and enthusiast market. It’s well built, though, and the specifications aren’t to be sniffed at
ScanMaker 1000XL £1,701 Microtek, microtekeurope.com, 0870 906 3304 M | W Oct 05 4.0
With 3,200-x-6,400dpi resolution, 4.0D range, and Digital ICE for prints, this A3 desktop scanner is a great buy for the creative studio
ScanMaker i700 £179 Microtek, microtekeurope.com, 0870 906 3304 M | W Oct 05 3.5
High-resolution A4 flatbed film scanner with Digital ICE, and a decent feature and software set. An attractively priced all-rounder
Graphics cardsPNY NVidia FX 1300 £535 NVidia, www.nvidia.com, 01784 224 220 Windows Nov 04 4.5
A Digit Best Buy, this PCI-Express card is small, solid, and well-priced. With 128MB of DDR RAM, it’s good enough for most situations in 3D applications
Realizm 100 £683 3Dlabs, www.3dlabs.com, 01784 470 555 Windows Nov 04 4.5
Very good value. One of the most capacious cards on test and a Best Buy. 8xAGP support; 256MB memory; two DVI outputs; two display outputs
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Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
3D and animation software3D Software Object Modeller Pro £1,495 Creative Dimension, www.3dsom.com @ Freehand, 01483 200 111 Windows Oct 05 4.0
Simple-to-use method for capturing 3D objects from real-world originals. Merges multiple views. Problems with transparency and reflective surfaces
3DS Max 8 £2,695 Autodesk, www.autodesk.com, 01252 456 669 Windows Dec 05 4.0
Version 8 is a decent upgrade, and the new Pelt mapping feature improves day-to-day work. The interface is still a bit of a mess, though
Artmatic Voyager $129 U&I Software, www.uisoftware.com Mac Nov 05 3.5
3D landscape generator that allows you to explore preset worlds and take pictures of the scenes, editing various elements. The interface is very small
Bryce 5.5 €90 Daz Software, www.daz3d.com @Eovia, 0033 556 134 006 M | W Nov 05 3.0
The original landscape rendering program has come a long way, but still combines ease of use with considerable depth. OpenGL features are a bonus
Carrara 5 Pro £279 Eovia, www.eovia.com @ Computers Unlimited, 020 8200 8282 M | W Feb 06 3.5
Eovia has put meat on the bones of Carrara in this version and its tools are impressive, but it’s too prone to crashing to be a real pro-level suite
Character Animation Toolkit 2.1 £645 Character Animation Technologies, www.catoolkit.com Windows Feb 06 4.5
CAT can quickly animate characters in 3DS Max using easy-to-edit CATRig characters, and the layer-based parametric animation system CATMotion
Cinema 4D 9.5 £424 Maxon, www.cinema4d.co.uk, 0500 224 600 M | W Oct 05 4.5
This suite now boasts impressively improved rendering, and Ambient Occlusion. Global illumination needs updating, but otherwise a great product
Electric Image Animation Sys $895 Electric Image, www.eitechnologygroup.com, 001 830 438 4955 M | W Sep 05 3.5
While it offers high-quality rendering up to 32,000-pixels square, plus efficient materials control, the cluttered interface is off-putting
Endorphin 2.5 £5,495 NaturalMotion, www.naturalmotion.com, 01865 250 575 Windows Feb 06 4.0
A character animation application that creates brilliantly adaptable models. Often used alongside an existing Maya or 3DS Max pipeline
Hash:Animation Master 2005 12.0 £$299 Hash, Inc, www.hash.com, 001 360 750 0042 M | W Feb 06 3.5
For a relatively low price, Animation Master offers spline and patch-based modelling, and several ways to add animation to a character
Life Forms Studio 4.0 £252 Credo Interactive, www.charactermotion.com, 001 604 291 6717 M | W Feb 06 3.5
A standalone animation solution that ships with 750 motion files, plus batch file conversion for Maya, LightWave, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and others
LifeStudio:Head Pro 2.6 £483 Lifemode Interactive, www.lifemi.com, 01932 847 597 M | W Aug 05 4.5
A very comprehensive facial animation and lip-syncing application. Offers lip-syncing with auto phoneme extraction, as well as face modelling
LightWave 3D 8 £945 NewTek, www.newtek.com, www.newtek-europe.com/uk M | W Oct 04 4.0
Version 8 of this 3D suite has new character animation tools including bone editing and rigging enhancements, plus an IK booster and loads more
Maya 7 from £1,449 Alias, alias.com, 01494 441 273 M | W | L Sep 05 4.5
Maya is the industry-standard high-end 3D effects and character-animation tool. Its workflow is creative and experimental, but hugely powerful
Messiah:Studio Workstation 2.2 $299 pmG Worldwide, www.projectmessiah.com Windows Feb 06 4.0
Messiah:Studio is a standalone character package, but can work alongside larger 3D suites. You can combine IK with Puppet Master elements
MojoWorld 3.1 €199 Pandromeda, www.pandromeda.com @ Eovia, 0033 556 134 006 M | W Nov 05 4.0
MojoWorld is a landscape rendering application that tries to make the process fun. You can create entire worlds from scratch or navigate a preset
MotionBuilder 7 from £645 Alias, alias.com, 01494 441 273 M | W Feb 06 4.0
The new version of this character animation program offers character extensions, pose enhancements, and visual feedback. A worthwhile upgrade
Poser 6 £145 E frontier @ Computers Unlimited, 020 8200 8282 M | W Feb 06 3.5
This version of the character-modelling and animation software boasts powerful new rendering options and enhanced figure articulation
SketchUp 5 £315 @Last Software, www.sketchup.com, 020 8434 0518 M | W Nov 05 4.5
3D sketching software that offers powerful and accurate polygon modelling in a single 3D view. Perfect for fast, no-frills realization of objects in 3D
Softimage|XSI 5.0 from £299 Softimage, www.softimage.com, 01753 655 999 W | L Nov 05 4.5
A compelling 3D suite that seems to have little in the way of weaknesses. An artist-centric tool, the Advanced version is pricey, but comprehensive
Vue 5 Infinite £411 E-on Software, www.e-onsoftware.com, 0033 143 553 671 M | W Nov 05 4.5
This landscape-generation software offers new tools for rendering foliage and high-polygon scenery. Multipass rendering now comes as standard
WorldBuilder Pro 4 $699 Digital Element, www.digi-element.com, 001 510 601 7351 Windows Nov 05 3.0
Takes a professional approach to landscape creation and rendering, and offers a novel approach to creating terrains. It’s clunky and pricey, though
World Construction Set 6 $500 3D Nature, www.3dnature.com @ N-Light, 0117, 904 9452 Windows Nov 05 3.5
A powerful and complex package aimed at the professional design and technology markets, and anyone who needs accurate landscape modelling
Desktop publishing softwareAcrobat 7.0 Professional £395 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4001 M | W May 05 4.5
Update boasts extended print tools, improved preflighter, new Windows-only forms designer, and direct output from Internet Explorer
Canvas X $349 ACD, www.acdsystems.com, 001 250 544 6700 M | W Jul 05 4.0
Professional quality technical illustration and general design and layout program. Extensive toolkit allows you to do everything in the one application
InDesign CS 2 £609 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4000 M | W Jul 05 4.5
Adobe has boosted efficiency by improving workflow and style use. You can even switch layers on and off in Photoshop and PDF documents
PrintDevizor 1.2 £495 StoneCube, www.stonecube.com @ Colour Confidence, 0800 0735 845 M | W Oct 05 4.5
This software renders 2D graphics files in 3D, allowing you to preview special inks in various lighting conditions. Solves a real problem in a unique way
SPOTLIGHT: 3D MODELLING AND ANIMATION SOFTWARE
Alias Maya 7A comprehensive upgrade with wide-ranging
improvements to just about every area of
the application
Discreet 3DS Max 8Version 8’s Pelt mapping, asset-management,
and numerous workflow enhancments keep
3DS Max at the forefront of 3D
NewTek LightWave 3D 8Version 8 sees numerous hard- and soft-body
dynamics improvements, along with cloth
and workflow enhancements
Softimage|XSI 5.0The first version of XSI to run on 64-bit
workstations, Softimage |XSI 5.0 is the next-gen
package the company promised it would be
SOLUTIONS FOR £1,000-£5,000
Enya in 3DTop matte artist Charles
Darby created the vast
panoramic landscape for
Enya’s latest video. Post
house and 3D specialists
Rushes created the video
using Maya and Flame
SPOTLIGHT: 3D MODELLING AND ANIMATION SOFTWARE
SOLUTIONS FOR UNDER £1,000
Curious Labs Poser 6This latest incarnation of the character
modelling and animation software is
more complex, but more powerful too
Electric Rain Swift 3D 4This 3D-to-Web software is versatile and easy
to use. Version 4 sees a vastly improved polygon
modelling environment and better gallery options
Eovia Carrara 5 ProCarrara has been fleshed out for version 5,
and if you’re looking for a reasonably-priced
3D package, this could be the product for you
Kaydara MotionBuilder 7A comprehensive tool that allows you to
import models from other applications
and add real-time animation to them
Maxon Cinema 4D 9One of the best 3D applications available, and
ideal for learning the craft. Version 9 includes
many improvements, including N-gon support
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QuarkXPress 6.5 £995 Quark, www.quark.co.uk, 00800 1787 8275 M | W Jul 05 4.0
Quark 6.5 is a significant free upgrade to the DTP stalwart. QuarkVista is a useful image XTension, but Quark’s PDF output still lags behind InDesign’s
Ready,Set,Go! 7.6.1 £100 Diwan Software, www.diwan.com, 020 7252 5333 M | W Jul 05 4.0
A solid frame-based DTP application with a logical toolbox and smart menu systems. If you miss PageMaker, you’ll find this an excellent alternative
Digital video3DEqualizer V3 from £1,990 Science D-Visions, www.3dequalizer.com @ Techimage, 01367 253 868 M | L | I May 05 4.5
3DEqualizer is a hands-on motion-tracking tool, but still offers effective automatic options. Usable, stable, and robust, with great results
After Effects 6.5 from £565 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4001 M | W Feb 05 4.5
The upgrade to version 6.5 adds an advanced clone tool, which saves a lot of time on boring jobs. Disk caching also speeds things up. Essential
Boujou 3.0 $10,000 2d3, www.2d3.com, 01865 811 060 M | W | L May 05 3.5
An immensely expensive matchmoving tool, Boujou 3.0 will nonetheless save you a massive amount of time. Automatic tracking with great results
Boujou Bullet 2.0 $2,500 2d3, www.2d3.com, 01865 811 060 M | W Feb 06 4.0
Offers pro autotracking at an affordable price. Not as effective with low-quality footage, and motion blur can cause problems too
Combustion 4 £850 Autodesk, www.discreet.com, 020 7851 8000 M | W Jun 05 4.0
The best visual-effects package for under £1,000, but After Effects still tops it for motion-graphics work. Few new features in the version 4 upgrade
Continuum Complete 3.0 £459 Boris FX, www.borisfxeurope.com, 01264 326 384 M | W Jun 05 4.0
A massive set of video plug-ins that runs with Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or After Effects. Expensive but worth it for professional users
Data Animator $429 Digital Anarchy, www.digitalanarchy.com M | W Jan 06 4.5
After Effects plug-in that allows you to create animated graphs and charts in your projects. Fast and reliable, but modifying data is tricky
Final Cut Pro 5 £595 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac Jul 05 4.5
Final Cut Pro has clawed its way to the top since its launch five years ago. New version adds support for new formats and multicam editing
Kinemac 1.0 $249 Kinemac, www.kinemac.com Mac Feb 06 3.0
This motion-graphics application has a simple interface with a powerful engine. Supports a wide range of source files. No cross integration
Magic Bullet Suite 2.0 £450 Red Giant Software @The CarPark, 02879 632 614 Mac Jun 05 4.5
A set of plug-ins with a very wide appeal. Its preset looks for digital video have image-based previews, which makes choosing the right look easy
MatchMover Pro 4 £2,397 Realviz, www.realviz.com @ Computers Unlimited, 020 8200 8282 M | W | L Jan 06 4.0
A full-featured matchmoving package that offers a robust manual toolset and fast automatic solutions. Slow when interacting with 3D geometry
Media Studio Pro 8 £153 Ulead, www.ulead.co.uk, 02879 632 614 Windows Dec 05 3.0
This video-editing suite is a great improvement on previous versions. It’s a bargain, but lacks the fine-tuning tools of its competitors
Motion 2 £169 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac Jul 05 4.5
Apple’s motion-graphics product provides real-time manipulation and rendering. Needs a top spec Mac, but Motion 2 is a real step up for the product
ParticleIllusion 3.0 $389 Wondertouch, www.wondertouch.com M | W Jan 06 3.5
A near-real-time generator of high-quality, faux-3D particles. Would work better as a plug-in rather than a standalone application
Particular $299 Trapcode, www.trapcode.com M | W Jun 05 4.5
A powerful particle solution that bridges the gap between compositing and full-on 3D in After Effects 6.0. Includes a real-time preview system
PFHoe 1.0 from £49 The Pixel Farm, www.the pixelfarm.co.uk M | W Mar 05 4.5
This motion- tracking software brings high-end process within reach of beginners. Inexpensive and professional, with a user-friendly look-&-feel
PFMatch 1.0 £600 The Pixel Farm, www.the pixelfarm.co.uk M | W May 05 4.0
Relatively affordable tracking solution for broadcast, auto-tracking with good post-tracking cleaning and refinement tools. The interface is a little glitchy
RE:Flex $795 RE:Vision FX, www.revisionfx.com M | W Jun 05 4.5
RE:Flex is an incredibly easy-to-use set of warping tools. Morphing is just as easy – and auto-align feature matches features of common morphs
Silhouette Roto 1.0 $495 Silhouette FX, www.silhouettefx.com M | W | L Jun 05 4.5
A streamlined, easy-to-use, and powerful dedicated roto-spline package that takes a lot of the drudgery out of rotoscoping work
Graphic design softwareAperture £300 Apple, www.apple.com/uk Mac Feb 06 3.5
Apple’s digital photography utility offers fast integrated workflow for viewing, and enhancing digital images, including integrated RAW conversion
Aurora 2.1 $179 Digital Element, www.digi-element.com M | W Oct 05 4.0
A Photoshop plug-in that is also a 3D landscape generator – creating seas and skies with stars and suns, faking complex lighting and particle effects
Backdrop Designer $199 Digital Anarchy, www.digitalanarchy.com M | W Oct 05 4.0
Backdrop Designer is a Photoshop plug-in that focuses on creating textures for photoshoots. However, rendering is very slow
Eye Candy 5 $99 Alien Skin, www.alienskin.com, 001 919 832 4124 M | W Oct 05 4.0
Photoshop plug-in collection that isn’t the most artful, but what it does it does quickly and with a glossy sheen. Efficient and reliable
Fluid Mask £299 Vertus, www.vertustech.com, 0870 333 6901 Mac Oct 05 4.0
Masking tool for Photoshop that uses ‘heligon’ technology, making it effective on difficult subjects – though it’s tricky to use, and quite pricey
FreeHand MX £289 Macromedia, www.macromedia.com/uk, 01344 458 600 M | W Jul 05 4.0
With its excellent MX Studio interface cleanup, great new tools, and a raft of improved features, this is the most compelling upgrade since version 7
DIGIT LABS TEST: DESKTOP PUBLISHING PLUG-INS
Alap ImagePort 1.4Obsolete if you’re using QuarkXPress 6.5, this
plug-in lets you import Photoshop files into
Quark, with layers, channels, and paths intact
Alap InEffects 1.0.1Lets you set up drop shadows, inner shadows,
inner and outer glows, bevels, and embossing
for any InDesign object
Alap InToolsA bundle of six new tools for InDesign, InTools
covers a wide variety of tasks from the aesthetic
to the practical. Earns a Digit Best Buy award
Alap ShadowCaster 3.2The ultimate XTension for adding shadow
effects in QuarkXPress. At just £69 plus VAT,
ShadowCaster is great value
Alap XPert Tools Pro 2.1.3A bundle of 16 tools, all of which will come in
handy at some point. Offers improved object
formatting, workflow tweaks and loads more
Badia Software Printools 4.0Adds new sections to the standard QuarkXPress
print menu. Easy to use, and great value for
money. Quark and Windows only
Cacidi ContactSheet 4.0 CS2An automatic generator of photographic contact
sheets imported from image files. Creates
InDesign pages filled with image thumbnails
Callas Software MadeToPrintA professional batch printing plug-in for InDesign
or Quark, for users who have to create, organize,
and control large numbers of PDF output jobs
NAPS CopyFlow GoldAn automated text import/export application for
QuarkXPress and InDesign. You label your frames
and the software finds matching filenames
Soft Horizons ChartBotOffers a way to create vector graphics charts
by either manual pasting from spreadsheets
or automatic merges from databases
Vision’s Edge VTools 6.1VTools is a suite of editing and production tools
for QuarkXPress 6, packing plenty of features at
an attractive price
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
buye
rs g
uide
Genuine Fractals 4.0 $99 onOne, www.ononesoftware.com, 001 503 968 1468 M | W Oct 05 4.5
Photoshop plug-in that performs just one function – it increases the resolution of pictures. One of the most vital tools for the publishing industry
Illustrator CS 2 £435 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4000 M | W Digit 88 4.5
Live Trace makes vectorizing bitmap images a breeze, and Live Paint makes creating complex artwork easier. The new Options bar tidies up the interface
ModelShop $149 Digital Element, www.digi-element.com M | W Oct 05 4.0
ModelShop is a Photoshop plug-in that allows you to import 3D models into your pictures. Supports a wide variety of formats
Mystical Lighting $179 Auto FX, www.autofx.com, 001 205 980 0056 M | W Oct 05 4.0
Like an expanded version of Photoshop’s own Lighting Effects filter. Allows you to apply all manner of lighting styles to your images
Paint Shop Pro X £77 Corel, www.corel.co.uk, 0800 376 9272 M | W Dec 05 3.5
Reasonably-priced, and features some effects that are the equivalent of Photoshop. However, it isn’t as integrated as Photoshop or Fireworks
Photography Pack $50 Flaming Pear, www.flamingpear.com M | W Oct 05 4.0
A Photoshop plug-in collection that is comprised of three artistic effect filters and a wildly different water-modelling tool
Photoshop CS 2 £445 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4000 M | W Digit 88 4.5
The best reason to buy Adobe’s Creative Suite 2, Photoshop has been given some fantastic new special effects, as well as good efficiency improvements
Power Retouche £100 Power Retouche, www.powerretouch.com M | W Oct 05 4.5
A photo retouching plug-in for Photoshop, Power Retouche offers 20 filters. Some improve Photoshop’s tools, others offer something different
Primatte For Photoshop $299 Digital Anarchy, www.digitalanarchy.com M | W Oct 05 4.5
Essentially a greenscreen (keying) plug-in for Photoshop. Shoot your subject in front of a high-contrast background and Primatte will cut it out
Stitcher 5 £349 RealViz, www.realviz.com @ DCP Systems 0114 257 3620 M | W Nov 05 4.0
Versatile panorama stitching program now with full automatic and manual options. Handles cylindrical and spherical panoramas and saves templates
Verdant 1.6 $179 Digital Element, www.digi-element.com M | W Oct 05 4.0
Verdant is a plug-in for Photoshop that creates 3D plants, including trees. It’s preset-based, but there’s plenty of options and you can buy more online
Multimedia softwareDVD Studio Pro 4 £297 Apple, www.apple.com/uk, 0800 783 4846 Mac OS X Jul 05 4.5
Apple has gone straight for the Hollywood market with DVD Studio Pro 4. Supports HD DVD, and is well intergrated with Motion and Final Cut Pro
Ikivo Animator €295 Ikivo, www.ikivo.com, 0046 853 481 180 M | W Sep 05 4.0
While expensive for what it does, its ability to convert SVG files into mobile-friendly SVG-tiny files is robust, and you can add interactivity as well
Mediator Pro 8 £249 Matchware, www.matchware.com, 020 8940 9700 Windows Jun 05 3.5
Mediator Pro is a simple but effective multimedia application. Boasts an integrated drawing application and FTP upload facility
Web design softwareConceptDraw WebWave $299 CS Odessa Software, www.conceptdraw.com Windows Jan 06 3.5
Web-site planning software with comprehensive set of charting tools with Visio import and export, and database planning tools
Dreamweaver 8 £339 Macromedia, www.macromedia.com/uk, 01344 458 600 M | W Oct 05 4.5
A major upgrade for Macromedia’s Web-design program, version 8 offers timesaving boosts, new CSS support, coding improvements and more
Fireworks 8 £249 Macromedia, www.macromedia.com/uk, 01344 458 600 M | W Oct 05 4.5
The revamp for this Web-graphics software offers excellent export and import options, and a faster workflow with an easy-to-use interface
Flash 8 Professional £499 Macromedia, www.macromedia.com/uk, 01344 458 600 M | W Oct 05 4.0
This upgrade to the Web and animation software boasts a much improved video codec, and new creative possibility thanks to new filters
Freeway Pro 4 £165 Softpress, www.softpress.com, 01993 882 588 Mac Jan 06 4.0
Easy-to-learn Web-design application with a friendly interface and built-in text and graphic effects. However, it lacks a proper code-editor
GoLive CS 2 £335 Adobe, www.adobe.co.uk, 020 8606 4000 M | W Jul 05 4.0
Adobe’s Web design software has an improved CCS editor, and tight integration with the Creative Suite. It’s just not as wide-ranging as Dreamweaver
Xtivity 1.1 $399 Tivity Software, www.tivity.com, 001 205 980 7656 M | W Sep 05 4.5
Requires zero coding to create full, interactive Flash sites and applications that are extremely complex – and astoundingly, it does it very well
UtilitiesDxO Optics Pro 3.0 from £85 DxO Labs, www.dxo.com, 0870 444 0003 M | W Nov 05 4.0
This RAW file converter and enhancement software can process your RAW files in batches, and can correct lens deficiencies for a wide range of SLRs
FileMaker Pro 8 £219 FileMaker, www.filemaker.com, 0845 603 9100 M | W Dec 05 3.5
A comprehensive tool for asset management and database development. Very complicated – may be overkill for those looking for a simple solution
FlightCheck Studio £99 Markzware, www.markzware.com, 0031 70 307 2977 Mac Nov 05 4.5
Inexpensive preflighting software that can save settings to apply to multiple documents. Offers great external editing options and customization
iView Media Pro 3 £110 iView Multimedia, iview-multimedia.com, 020 7223 8691 M | W Jan 06 4.5
This dedicated media management tool looks great and handles graphics, movies, and audio files speedily and efficiently. Great value
Portfolio 7 £130 Extensis, www.extensis.co.uk @ CU, 020 8200 8282 M | W Digit 88 5.0
An improved interface and ease-of-use make this the ultimate media management tool. New NetPublisher allows you to create a Web portfolio
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
Adobe Illustrator CS 2The Create Suite 2 upgrade doesn’t have that
many new features, but the addition of Live
Trace and Live Paint is a revelation
FreeHand MXWith its excellent MX Studio interface cleanup,
great new tools, and improved features, this is
the most compelling upgrade since version 7
Painter IXPainter IX offers a more Photoshop-like
experience, and is all the better for it. There
is no better natural-media painting program
Primatte Chromakey 2.0This compositing plug-in for Photoshop removes
plain backgrounds from photos, and handles the
difficult cutouts like hair really well
pxl SmartScaleIt has limits, especially with text and logos, but
SmartScale soothes the headache of low-res
imagery like nothing else. Highly recommended
Product name Price Company and contact details Platform Reviewed Digit rating
DIGIT BEST BUY RECOMMENDATIONS: UTILITIES
Could it be magicLondon-based creative house
VooDooDog mixed CG and live
action to create an atmospheric,
painterly look for Mark Owen’s
latest video, Hail Mary.
Backgrounds for the live action
were built from photographs,
2D, and 3D elements
Kiss and tellInspired by the work of Saul
Bass, Danny Yount of Prologue
Films created a stylish title
sequence for the movie Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang. It was animated
in After Effects, while Maya
was used for some of the
3D elements
Extensis Portfolio 7A traditional asset-management program.
Puts every digital asset at your fingertips,
whatever you’re working on
iView Multimedia iView Media Pro 3Slick, speedy, and good-looking, iView Media Pro
3 is easy to use, and offers the added benefit
of image editing within the application
Markzware FlightCheck StudioPreflighting software with plenty of new features
to warrant the upgrade. Great value, and has
caught up with InDesign’s list of new tricks
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A3 Posters A3 full colour 1 side £95 £140 £200
A5 Post cards A5 full colour 1 side black reverse £75 £90 £120
A6 Post cards A6 full colour 1 side black reverse £65 £80 £105
A4 Folders A4 oversize+pocket full col. 1 side £140 £215 £350
A4 Posters A4 full colour 1 side £75 £100 £145
A6 4pp Full colour front black inside £90 £105 £135
A5 4pp Full colour front black inside £95 £125 £175
A5 Cards Full colour 1 side £60 £75 £100
The above prices are subject to sight of copy or file. Carriage charged extra. VAT will be charged where applicable. WP reserve the right to amend prices at antime.
Digital print runs of 1-1000’s (thats right ONE to 1000’s)From Mac and PC files • True Litho Quality Digital printing
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