December 1999 Volume 80 Number 12 "serving the protectors"
By Mike Horsfall

Which Digital Camera?

Although digital cameras have been around for quite some time, they haven’t really been a practical or affordable consideration for most home users. Apart from cost, there was the requirement to own a high-performance personal computer, with a good quality monitor, suitable software and a colour printer.

Now, owning a PC that would have been considered a super-computer only five years ago is commonplace, and to most are attached 15-inch monitors. Most, if not all of these PCs will have the power to run any number of the imaging software programs now available. And, from around only $220, most colour inkjet printers will print to almost photographic standard.

So how much money is it necessary to spend on a digital camera? The simple answer is: spend as much as you can - you get what you pay for.

Buying one of the cheaper models (which start at around $390) will prove to be a disappointing purchase.

The most significant feature to look for in any digital camera is an image resolution of at least one megapixel (1152x864 pixels). In this area, price is relative. As a guide you can expect to pay about $800 per megapixel.

Kodak boasts a wide range of digital cameras, and must be considered one of the more reliable manufacturers. Its most compact megapixel camera to date is the pocket-size DC215 zoom which features a 2X optical zoom, built-in flash and both an LCD and optical view finder. It’s capable of producing photo-realistic pictures up to 5 x 7 inches, and at about $800 is suggested as the starting point for any digital camera purchase.

One might wish to investigate the additional features of the DC265. Less compact than the DC215 and with a maximum resolution of 1.6 megapixels, it will produce images of a quality to suit all but the most critical user. Even at a price of around $1800, you can be guaranteed of satisfaction with the Kodak DC265.

Which Video Card?

For a long time now we’ve been highlighting the benefits of the Voodoo Banshee range of PC video cards, and with good reason. When they were released 12 months ago, they introduced groundbreaking technology, and buyers will tell you they’re still happy today with the performance delivered.

But as with all PC-related items, performance increases and new products continue to see old technology quickly replaced. We recently tested the Diamond Viper V770, which is based on the NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 chipset, the first video card considered suitable as a replacement for our Creative Voodoo Banshee.

Performance delivered by the V770 was astounding, particularly in 32bit colour (millions of colours). More amazing is that another version of the TNT is the Diamond Viper 770 Ultra, and it boasts performance even greater than the standard model. Both cards feature 32MB of memory and support Direct X and Open GL APIs. 3DFX is not supported.

For those of us who are seriously into gaming, this range of video cards is sure to please. Both cards are available in most shops around Adelaide, but shop around for the best prices. Expect to pay around $280 for the V770 and $365 for the Ultra. That’s serious gaming at a serious price.

Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s Box presents 350 puzzles from the creator of Tetris - Alexey Pajitnov. But be prepared to lose hours as you take a visually stunning journey around the world in search of the mythical tricksters. It’s up to you to solve them all, capture the tricksters and save the world from chaos.

Microsoft suggests that most puzzles may be solved in 15 minutes or less. One puzzle experienced during our quest, however, took in excess of 30 minutes. Estimated retail price for Pandora’s Box is $49.95.

For more information visit
www.microsoft.com/games/pandorasbox

Quality Motoring

Midtown Madness is guaranteed to please and suitable for the whole family. It’s a driving simulation that allows players to drive normal cars around normal streets, cause mayhem and destruction and not hurt a single soul.

To play Midtown you’ll need a PC with at least a Pentium 166, a 4MB 3D accelerated video card and 32MB of RAM and about $80.

For the opportunity to win one of two copies of Midtown Madness, put your details on the back of a used envelope (but not your postcode) and address it to Mike Horsfall, Sturt Police Station (12) Midtown.

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