We've all been through power failures--and they're never any fun. It's bad enough when the juice goes out before you've ground your morning coffee; it's far worse to have a blackout roll over a data-laden spreadsheet or a term paper you forgot to save.
These days there's little reason to risk such a loss. Protection, embodied in an uninterruptible power supply, has never been more affordable. One of the eight units reviewed here costs only $45, and one of our Best Buys goes for $75. And aside from being able to step in seamlessly and sustain your PC while you save your files, even the cheapest UPS models provide some surge protection, guarding your network, phone, and coaxial TV connections. All of the UPSs we tested come with software that can shut your PC down automatically if you're not there. (For more, read " Power Protection.")
- Uninterruptible Power Supplies
- Desktop PCs
- Notebook PCs
- 19-Inch LCD Monitors
- DVD Drives
- Digital Cameras
Your Guide to the Top 100
Each month, we test a large number of PCs, printers, monitors, and other products. Only the best products land on the charts, which are refreshed monthly.
Configurations are shown as tested. The overall rating for each product is calculated on a 100-point scale and reflects results from our hands-on evaluations and performance tests. A 90-point score is exceptional, while one in the 70s is above average.
For desktops and notebooks, the PC WorldBench 4 score is a measure of how fast a PC can run a mix of common business applications as compared with our baseline machine, a Gateway Select 1200 with a 1.2-GHz Athlon processor, 128MB of PC133 SDRAM, and a 20GB hard drive. For example, a PC that scores 120 is 20 percent faster than the baseline system. The support policies score is based on vendor support policies (not shown on charts). Click here for additional details on how we compile charts for the Top 100.
Freelance writer Carla Thornton and PC World editors Richard Baguley, Laura Blackwell, Tracey Capen, Kalpana Ettenson, Rebecca Freed, Melissa J. Perenson, and Alan Stafford contributed to the Top 100 section this month. Ulrike Diehlmann, Julio Giannobile, Elliott Kirschling, Jeff Kuta, Tony K. Leung, Thomas Luong, Ibrahim Reyhanoglu, and William Wang of the PC World Test Center performed testing on the products that are reviewed in this section, with logistical support provided by Julian Weatherby.
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