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World Class: Best Products of 1998

All products should be this good. After a wild, year-long ride culminating with the explosion of bombshell 400-MHz chips, the Pentium II processor winds up as the best of the best in 60 categories, including PCs, peripherals, software, and online services.

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Most Promising Hardware Newcomer

The Sub-$1000 PC

Sure, it's not as fast as today's top-of-the-line systems. It typically comes with limited RAM, a relatively slow processor, and a basic graphics card that can't run today's latest 3D games. And that tempting price usually doesn't include a monitor. Still, we're pleased that companies like Acer, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM spent part of their time this year building quality PCs that sell for around $1000.

Consumers are happy too. No wonder: How many people really want to spend $2500 on a system that will probably be outdated in six months? If all you want to do is send e-mail, work on documents, and browse the Net, a cheap PC might be the ticket. Is it a gimmick? A flash in the pan? Time will tell. But for bravely serving a market where profits aren't so grand, the makers of the sub-$1000 PC get our salute.

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