The Atlanta Constitution du lieu suivant : Atlanta, Georgia • 80

H2 Sunday, June 1, 1997 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution TechRepQ Lexmark 7000 printer delivers, quality varies v. 'I 'l Samsung offering a faster drive y-' Samsung Samsung's newest generation CD-ROM drive (SCR-2030) can transfer data AAA I I I I 1 1 (f I i at Kiioores per second ana sens now ior i to. The Lexmark 7000 Color Jet-printer is, as far as I know, the first inkjet printer to offer 1200 dot per inch resolution and at a price of around $400. The 7000's exterior design follows that of most recent Lexmark inkjets, which is to say a kind of high-tech art deco. It's compact enough with the paper catcher retracted, but with it extended the 7000 takes up a pretty good hunk of real estate on tiie desktop.

Paper is held upright in a box which is easily loaded. Envelopes are easily loaded, too, but the printer software makes printing one more tedious than it should be. The entire case is constructed of plastic, and the construction doesn't give me a great deal of confidence, but then I've never seen a really solidly built inkjet In terms of operation, the 7000 delivers. Type scaled up to 72 points shows no sign of jagged or blurry edges to the naked eye, and the only difference between the three grades of print quality high, normal and fast draft is that the higher the quality, the darker the print. No resolution appears to be lost.

The 7000 makes use of two ink cartridges, black and color, both installed all the time. There is no second, high-quality color cartridge to be used for very high-quality color printing. The quality of the color printing obtained from the Lexmark 7000 can vary enormously depending upon the program being used for output Results from MicroGrafx Windows Draw, for instance, were quite disappointing. However, the same image exported as a bitmap file and printed through Windows 95's little paint program was much better. Results from a picture-editing program called LivePix, included with the printer, were splendid.

These variations, apparently, result from a program intruding on the printer dithering mode TECH TOOLS JACK WARNER with its own dithering pattern, or half-toning method. This leads us to the 7000's biggest drawback, which is its documentation. The only printed documentation is a little bifold sheet that tells you how to get it out of the box, put it together and get it running. The rest of the documentation is in an online manual. I'm not thrilled by online manuals, but obviously they save money.

The problem with this one is that whoever did the indexing must have had their mind elsewhere. You want to know what the buttons and the lights on the printer mean? A search for buttons and lights gets you nothing. If you look on the table of contents, however, there is a section on using them. The printer software offers several half-toning methods. Which should you use? Searching for dithering or dither gets you nothing, either.

There is some information available, but you have to stumble across it, and it's still largely a matter of trial and error. It's good to offer the user the greatest amount of control over his equipment, but most folks are going to need a little guidance on how to use it. The printer software allows you to increase the color intensity of each ink. That's good. But what if you want more brown? Which color or colors do you increase to achieve that? The Lexmark 7000 is oriented toward budget-minded desktop: publishers and artists, who are; likely to know these things, and in that light it is a very fine choice.

Michael E. Kanell STAFF WRITER Maybe you thought your computer's 8x compact disk drive was awfully fast. Oh yes, there are a few, brand-new computers on the shelves with CD-ROM drives capable of zipping along with a rating of 16x, but 8x is faster than most of the desktop machines out there. While no hard numbers are available, an educated guess would put the majority of PCs at 4x or even 2x if they have a CD-ROM drive at all. But manufacturers of CD-ROM drives are apparently driven to imitate their compatri- ots who make microprocessors and insist on churning out ever-speedier drives every few months.

The faster the drive, the more rapid the transfer of data from CD to computer, the more quickly a PC user can search for information, download images and install software. And now comes Samsung with a 20x drive. The gigantic South Korean company's U.S. division has recently announced its newest generation CD-ROM drive, the SCR-2030, which can transfer data at 3,000 kilobytes per second. The device, which comes with a one year warranty, sells now for $146 and can be found in my consumer electronics stores, according to a Samsung spokesman.

For more information, call Samsung (800-933-4110) or dial up the company's Internet site (http:www.sosimple.com). Read this But not only the speed of playing compact disks is changing. Also in flux is the very definition of the disk the ROM in CD-ROM. That is, CDs are now offered in recordable versions, as opposed to the Read Only Mode of the original. Driving the idea are several different notions.

For one, computer users companies and individuals would like ways to "back up" informa-jtipn to protect themselves against those pesky computer crashes. But with the digitization of so many different kinds of data, recordable CDs could be used to exchange photos, multimedia presentations or music. So far, the recordable CD usually referred to as a CD-R has been held back by two factors. The disks and the recorders have been expensive, with disks selling for $15 each and machines until recently well over $1,000. Also, the disk has not been re-recordable, the way a tape can be used over and over.

Among the most-recent efforts to give CD-R mass appeal by lowering its price is Yamaha CDR400 series. While the drives still can only make a single permanent recording on a disc, the prices have dropped. The new Yamaha drives sell for $799 and $899, depending on the features. Models are compatible with either Macintosh or IBM-compatible computers. For more information, write to the company's consumer products division (Box 6600, Buena park, 90622), call (800-823-6414, ext.

99) or visit the company's Web site (http:www.yamaha.com). Sporting offer If your idea of time well-spent is taking time to wonder how well Ken Griffey Jr. hits against left-handed pitchers, Lead Dog Stats is looking for you. In fact, if you are some kind of is there any other way to say it? sports nut then Lead Dog could offer you a way to while away countless hours. The company and its Internet site (http:www.leaddogstats.com) propose to provide answers to a near-endless stream of sports questions that revolve around numbers.

For example, Lead Dog promises to tell you if Michael Jordan led the league "in clutch, fourth- quarter situations against divsion rivals playing on his home court." The Seattle-based company hopes to appeal to the fanatic who just simply needs to know, as well as to participants in "fantasy leagues" who want to make the best possible managerial decisions. For starters, the company offers information about pro basketball, baseball, hockey and football. "No other sports service offers the statistical depth of Lead Dog Stats," the company boasts. Lead Dog offers to "push" information to interested Internet users, feeding them the data they want without waiting for them to visit the company Web site! The bad news is, it's not yet rigged to respond to users of Macintosh computers. But because the company hopes to support itself on advertising the service is free.

And for those fantasy baseball enthusiasts, Small World Sports recently announced that its team manager has signed up for its fantasy game. The New York-based company provides customized information allowing participants to follow their fantasy teams, said Mark Jacobstein, direcor of product development. "We offer dynamic analytics that give managers unique statisical insight into the sport." Small World, which also relies on advertising to keep its service free, claims top ratings from cnet, the Wall Street Journal and NetGuide. For information, check out the Small World site on the Web (http:www.sports.smallworld.com). E-mail Michael Kanell at mkanellajc.com.

1 MacN ews pieGameZone One golfing game's fun, another's more serious Claris Emailer delivers without going postal In print How much well-intended advice can a troubled company take? In Apple Computer's case, It has had to stomach a lot. Now there's more. Wired magazine's June issue fea-X tures a story about its editors' 101 suggestions on how Apple can save i itself. Top of the list is for Apple to i abandon the hardware business and i focus on making operating systems for all kinds of machines, whether i computers or washing machines. System requirements Front Page Sports Golf: Windows 95; Pentium 60; 16MB RAM; 25 MB hard drive space.

3-D Ultra Mini-Golf: Windows 953. 486-66 MHz; 8 MB RAM. By Malcolm Abram STAFF WRITER Now that the sport of golf has another crossover superstar in Tiger Woods, the game, once thought to be only for the country club set, has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. Sierra Online has jumped on this growing golf craze and two very different games, each with a specific market in mind. Their Front Page Sports division has introduced "Golf," which presents itself as the new top-of-the-line golf simulation, by painstakingly recreating virtually every aspect of the game course, but not "curses, included in a realistic format The in-house produced Ultra Mini-Golf goes strictly for fun, with colorful and wacky variations on the classic first date game.

Front Page Sports: Golf 'The Plot: Grab your hat, pick up your clubs and hit the links for a full 18 holes on the Prince Course in Kauai or the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport. Payability. For anyone with a serious interest in the game "Golf is definitely the better ''choice. Features include a putting green, a driving range and two graphically lush courses rendered in 3-D. Perhaps Golfs biggest innovation is the new "True Swing" system that allows the player to control the stroke.

This new system is instantly more absorbing than the traditional three-clitfk method used in many other simulations. With opens up in a separate window. Emailer gives you six pre-set folders: in box, out box, sent mail, deleted mail, read mail and logs. But you can add your own and even place folders within folders. Like all new Claris programs, Emailer has a convenient toolbar across the top and supports drag and drop.

You can drag text from another document or the desktop into a message you're composing in Emailer. Unfortunately, you can't drag an e-mail address from another program into Emailer and automatically add it to your address book. One of Emailer's most powerful features is the ability to sort and filter mail. You can sort mail by subject, date, priority and account. Then your sorted mail can be sorted in separate folders.

For example, you could separate your work and personal mail and store them in different places. Emailer will also let you filter mail according to rules you specify. You can, for example, program Emailer to check all incoming mail against a set list of junk mailers. Emailer will then automatically ship that mail to the Deleted Mail folder. A word of caution here: While doable, using the filters is a bit more complex and cumbersome than Emailer as a whole.

Emailer retails for about $50 and you can download a trial version from the Claris homepage at http:www.claris.com. By Charles Haddad STAFF WRITER Claris Emailer is a good program that has gotten better in the recently released second version. This communications program from Claris Apple Computer's software unit, has become easier to use and more powerful. Its best feature remains the ability to retrieve all your mail from a variety of services and deliver it to a single in box. Emailer retrieves mail automatically, at your command, from America Online, CompuServe, RadioMail and the Internet.

No other program does that While good, this feature can be better. Emailer still can't communicate with FirstClass and QuickMail servers a major shortcoming. FirstClass is the communications used by a lot of local bulletin boards. It's used by the Atlanta Macintosh Users Group, for example. The first thing you'll notice about Emailer is the easy, step-by-step process it uses to set up your account.

The next thing you'll see is the new two-paneled window Emailer uses. Mail folders, which work just like those on your Mac, are on the left. And the contents of the folders are displayed on the right. For example, click on the in box folder and you'll see a list of incoming mail. Double click on an item in the list and the mail Some of the suggestions are tongue- I in-cheek.

For instance, the company was advised to buy the song: i "Ain't Too Proud To Beg." The good news is that your days of nagging the kids about homework are just about over for the year. The bad news is: 1 What are the kids going to do this summer? The June issue of FamifyPC tries to help. It features an article about software that kids like and parents will approve of, too. Among their selections is I Let's Talk About Me, a computer CD for teenage girls. In the artl- i cle, a girl reviewer described the computer CD like this: "Helps Is girls get to know more about their bodies and if they are ready for I romance." i On CD-ROM OK, you Mayan buffs, there's finally a computer CD for you.

5 It's called Exploring the Lost Maya and is published for Mac and i PCs by Sumeria of San Francisco. This CD covers the ancient Mayan civilization of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize 5 between 2000 B.C and 1 500 A.D. There are panoramic video clips of ruins and interactive maps of individual Mayan cities. Lost I Maya Is Sumeria's second in a series of reference CDs on ancient I I civilizations. It retails for $49.95.

Online The Memorial Day weekend signaled the beginning of summer I and vacation travel. You can do alot of your travel planning online 5 these days. Here's a look at some travel sites and what they offer. i Microsoft Expedia, at http:vvww.expedia.msn.com, features 360-degree views of cities. It also lets you book hotel rooms, air- line reservations and rental cars.

While rich in information, this site has been termed dull by some reviewers. Fodor's, the renown travel guide, maintains a Web site at http:ZNww.fodors.com. It features tips on how to plan trips, locate restaurants and book hotels. But Fodor's is not a travel agency and you cannot book I trips at this site. Travelocity, at http:ANmw.traveiocity.corn, is a i full-service online travel agency.

In addition, it features chat groups In which travelers trade tips and gossip. I ChcrksHaddad I the smoothly animated real-time movements of the player and the ball you get a truer sense of the exhilaration and frustration of the game. Golf already has two add-on courses and Sierra promises free Internet tournaments. 3D Ultra Mini-Golf The Plot: Pick up your date, grab a putter and get ready for a surreal golfing experience on two wild nine hole courses. Payability: Less concerned with the game and more with the bells and whistles that make up miniature golf, "Mini Golf is also equipped with the "True-Putt" feature.

But putting may be the least interesting aspect of this well-designed cartoon of a game. No simple windmills here, Mini Golf is packed with blasting rocket ships, erupting volcanoes and an abominable snowman, all in colorful 3-D with odd sound effects. As with Front Page, the ball's movements are realistic and some of the holes are difficult to navigate, but Mini Golf probably wouldn't hold a serious golfer's attention for more than one game..