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--Steve Fox,
editor in chief,
CNET
Networks
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Dear
readers,
Thinking about shedding a
few pounds in preparation for beach season? Why not start with
your hardware? To help you out, our review team weighed
the relative merits of two skinny notebooks: NEC's 3.4-pound
Versa FXi and Fujitsu's 4.4-pound LifeBook S-4546. The two
laptops employ different strategies for slimming down, neither
of which skimps on performance. And if something measured in
pounds is still too heavy for you, consider the sleek new
4-ounce Palm m500, which got a thorough workout
from our Electronics team. Palm enthusiasts may be tempted by
the m500's charms, though we wouldn't recommend taking this
handheld to the beach; that brushed aluminum case can get
awfully hot in the sun.
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 | Ultralightning:
two thin laptops set off sparks
Fujitsu and
NEC set out to craft the ultimate ultralight laptop but took
different approaches. NEC cuts its Versa FXi to the bone, leaving as
much out as possible to achieve a wispy weight. Fujitsu, on the
other hand, built an internal DVD-ROM drive into its LifeBook
S-4546, adding heft. Who takes the ultralight cake? In Hardware
Field
of streams: media players compared
The
Internet is like a coral reef for audio and video: it just teems
with life. If you want the best of what the Web has to offer, you'll
need the right equipment, including a good streaming media player
that plays CDs, streams sound and video, downloads files, and
manages your playlist. Find out which player--if any--meets our
criteria. In Software
Palm
m500
Fans of Palm Computing have been
waiting impatiently to see the company's response to the sleek and
powerful handhelds from Handspring and Compaq. But the refined,
monochrome m500, despite its improvements and expansion card slot,
isn't a giant technological leap for the company. In Electronics
CNET
reviews five midrange video editors
If
you've outgrown your basic DV editor, don't despair. These five apps
let you create lavish special effects, generate high-quality movies,
and integrate your project with the Web--all for less than $1,000.
Which one's best for you? In Software
Micropayments:
put your e-business in the black
Micropayments offer you a way to charge your customers for
each incremental visit rather than assessing a flat fee. Check out
our story to see if using a broker for token-based or billing
systems would work for you, or if you'd be better off building an
in-house micropayment system. In Web Building
Cell
phones coming soon
We've updated our list
of upcoming models. See what new phones will be available in May,
June, July, and August. In Wireless
|
movies written by unemployed
techies |
|
| The entertainment industry is in a tizzy. What will
Hollywood do if the writers go on strike? After all, no writers, no
scripts; no scripts, no movies. Well, here at CNET, we've got a
modest proposal: Hire unemployed techies to write new scripts. Of
course, the movies might be a tad geeky, but certainly the viewing
public would flock to the theaters to see the flicks listed below.
(P.S. Now it's your turn. Send your suggestions for tech-tinged
movies to Top10@cnet.com. We'll
print our favorites in next week's Digital Dispatch and send each
winner a handsome CNET mug.)
| 10 |
Spamlet
A Kenneth Branagh
remake in which the disgruntled Dane utters the famous words,
"To B2B or not to B2B..." |
| 9 |
Routers of the Lost
Ark
Archivists embark on a mission to find
ARPAnet's now legendary "first router," reportedly buried in a
Cisco storage facility in Egypt. |
| 8 |
The Great ESC
Handpicked team
of code-crackers breaks out of a systemwide network
crash. |
| 7 |
The Net
A lonely software
engineer takes a vacation and becomes embroiled in a web of
computer-espionage intrigue. Oh, wait. Unfortunately, that
movie has already been made. |
| 6 |
Hackers II: The
Revenge
Ecstatic geeks seize the chance to write
a computer scene that doesn't involve screensaver UIs or
acoustic couplers. |
| 5 |
Titanic 2
Forget the women and
children. This time, the CEOs commandeer the life rafts and
let the hapless investors take a bath. |
| 4 |
Watership Download
Tale of
digital bunnies swapping files over a peer-to-peer network is
a thinly veiled metaphor for open source
hegemony. |
| 3 |
Rugrats in Best Buy
The
diapered little miscreants get lost in the high-tech
superstore. Eek, Tommy, that Compaq iPaq looks just like a
scary dragon! |
| 2 |
The Jungle eBook
Downloadable
story of an orphan raised on a server farm by IS directors.
His wardrobe: a loincloth made entirely of visitor
badges. |
| 1 |
Fatal Attachment
Glenn Close
sends the I Love You virus to Michael Douglas, then makes
sauce of his Macintosh. |
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