WebElites - Technology and Website Reviews

At first I thought Google Chromium, or Chrome, was just Google’s attempt to get into another field.  I didn’t think they would make a good or even fair browser.  I was very wrong.

Chrome gives the option to search directly from the address bar. Other browsers such as Opera have this, but this browser gives suggestions of what to search for. When you open a new tab in Chrome it shows some of your most frequently used pages. This is similar to Opera’s speed dial except it is automatic.

The best part of Chrome for me is that it’s a lot faster. I can surf the web much faster than I can with Opera or Internet Explorer. It seems like both the actual speed and the access time are faster. I have satellite, and the access time has been a little slow. With Chrome, it is about three times faster than Opera with the access time. It’s about twice as fast as the actual loading as well.

I really miss the mouse gestures from Opera though. That’s one of the things that this browser lacks. I doubt there are many plugins for the browser either. It doesn’t support JavaScript that well, but it does fair.

Overall I am very pleased with the browser. It has room to improve, but I like it.

Our rating of Google Chromium: 4 Stars

I got this flash drive for about $40 a year or two ago.  It’s a lot cheaper now - I think it’s even sold for $9.99.  However, after using it, I wouldn’t buy this if it was the only thing available.

First off, the most obvious thing is that the USB port retracts. You just slide the part in the middle. It takes a little getting used to though. It’s kind of awkward to slide for the first time. Actually, I don’t think I got it open on the first try. The place for your finger could have been made a little differently.

The Cruzer looks pretty nice. It’s exterior is black. The text is white and the part in the middle to retract the USB port is white. It has a detachable strap that goes around your neck. I just took it off and put it on my keychain.

Now to the important part of the review. The flash drive broke after about 6 months or so. It just felt flimsy. When I slid it in and out it didn’t click like my other one did (I also have a 512MB Cruzer Micro, still working). I’m sure being rough didn’t help much, but I don’t think it was the main problem. I have seen many other reviews where people are saying that theirs died on them too. I don’t think that it was a one-time thing.

Finally, the U3 is pretty bad in my opinion. I never got much out of it and I like technology to be much simpler.

Our Rating of the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB Flash Drive: 2 Stars

I’ve been getting PC World for a few years now and have been fairly pleased with it.  However, I do feel like it’s been going downhill a bit since I got it.  It still has a long way to go down in my opinion before it’s no longer worth getting.

This is a picture of me holding the magazine in front of my monitor which is displaying this blog.  The picture was taken with an older Olympus camera, which I don’t think I will review because I haven’t seen it being sold recently.  You will, however, soon be seeing a review for a new PowerShot that I recently got that will definately receive a perfect five stars.  That’s for later though, so I will go on with PC World.

PC World reports on news on technology that you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. I saw a story on TV recently that I had read in PC World earlier. It was quite a bit earlier actually. The magazine brings different websites to your attention that I have never heard of, and I talk to a lot of computer friends. It will often provide tips on speeding up a computer and helping security. They will review different technology and give statistics on how they compare to each other in many different areas and also overall.

PC World also focuses on new technology coming out, what features they have, and what beta testers have said about it. Additionally, they will tell you what they believe is overrated or underrated.  A lot of devices get a rating from them and a short summary of why it was rated as it was.  I like their writers as well.  They seem quite personal.

What I don’t particularly like about the magazine is that they will repeat similar things over and over. They always are putting a lot of tips on how to speed up a computer in there. I think we get this after about 20 issues guys. Also the magazine is called “PC World” but it doesn’t focus on computers nearly as much as I would like. It includes computers (and laptops of course), phones, TVs, monitors, cameras, and many other tech products. In fact, sometimes computers aren’t the main focus of the issue.

I haven’t used the website too much, but I know that it’s useful too. There are always discussions on the site, and they sometimes get printed in the magazine. A lot of the articles on their site are also in the magazine, but some of them aren’t. I can’t see myself becoming a regular of the site, but I will surely be checking in on it from time to time.

Overall, I really like PC World, but there are a few things that prevent me from giving PC World a perfect 5 stars.

PC World Website

Our Rating of PC World Magazine and Website: 4 Stars