Best of 2004
PC World editors and a team of tech gurus put their heads together to crown the year's top hardware, software, sites, and services.
Editors of PC World
Digital Imaging
Digital SLR Camera
It's what photo enthusiasts were waiting for: a lightweight digital SLR that mere mortals can afford. Though the Rebel was the first sub-$1000 digital SLR, it's no longer alone. Nikon's D70 carries a similarly modest price, but the Canon is the better of the two. $999
Advanced Digital Camera
The C-8080 has a sweet combination of advanced controls and an intelligent design that makes it a pleasure to use. "Its image quality will satisfy even the pros," says Steve Sanders of Steves-Digicams.com. We agree: It earned top scores in our photo-quality tests. One knock is that the 5X zoom is short for its class. $899
Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera
The 5.1-megapixel W1 has almost everything you'd want in a point-and-shoot: low cost, small size, an impressive 2.5-inch LCD, fast startup, and a quick trigger. The photos we took looked sharp, colorful, and true-to-life. $400
Photo-Management Software
Every photo organizer we've seen brims with features--tagging, fixing, burning, and sharing. Choosing the best among a strong lot wasn't easy, but we like Photoshop Album 2's beautiful interface; its snazzy, unique tagging system; and its sophisticated online photo gallery tool. But the program is a little slower than we would like. $50
Image Editing Software
Just as it's easy to pick a Porsche as a world-class sports car, it's easy to pick Photoshop as our World Class image editor. Handy new layers management, an improved file browser, a creativity-enhancing filters browser, and expanded 16-bit editing capabilities are only a few of its improvements. A hidden gem: the Shadow/Highlights tool buried in the Image, Adjustments menu. $649
Photo Printer
In addition to printing glossy photos quickly, the Canon i960 produces sharp text and attractive color graphics on plain paper. It lets you print directly from a PictBridge-compatible digital camera, and a paper feed accommodates 4-by-6-inch photo paper. $200
Scanner
Want to make quality scans without having to master arcane software? The CanoScan 9900F delivers great-looking scans from both printed photos and transparencies. It automatically fixes dust and scratches, and its software is a breeze to use. $400
