pro

When I bought a gaming PC for home use a little over a year ago, I bought a middle-of-the-road machine that had everything I needed with a little room to upgrade later on down the line. I got a 2.2GHz processor, a high-end (at the time) video card so I could play the latest games, 2 gigs of RAM (on the advice of a gamer friend), and I opted for a 120GB hard drive to save a little money.

At the time, it seemed like 120GB would be more than enough. After all, I can remember when a 1GB hard drive was the pinnacle of storage capacity--120GB ought to be able to hold anything right? Games these days generally take up a few gigs each so I thought I would never run out of space. I now know I was wrong. If you wait long enough, even the biggest hard drives will fill up.… Read more

Firefox has Flock and Songbird, but it's not the only open-source app with some nifty spin-offs. OxygenOffice Pro is developed from OpenOffice.org, but don't let the name fool you: It's completely free, and like a Thanksgiving turkey it's stuffed with even more features. (Anybody else up for a list of Turkey 2.0 features?) Anyway, it's very much like its parent, and you can opt out of whatever features you dislike during the installation.

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I tested four desktop Webcams this month and went into the reviews thinking that the differences would be slight given that the trusted Webcam isn't exactly new or cutting-edge technology. Like Tom Brady and company this year (but without the cheating), one Webcam, however, proved itself to be far superior to the rest of the competition. The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 turned in the best image quality by far--particularly in low light--while also serving up the best software and build quality. It's like the Patriots, but with a strong running game. It's what Michael Scott might call … Read more

The Toshiba Camileo Pro has moseyed into Crave UK on a mission to prove that 8 into 1 will go. This entry-level, lightweight digital camcorder packs in a whole heap of features. It's a video-shootin', still-snappin', webcammin', voice-recordin', MP3-playin', file-storin', eBook-readin' motion-detectin' eight-shooter.

The Camileo also features a magnificent 7-megapixel sensor, a rarity in camcorders. Could this mean that the Camileo will do away with the need for cowpokes to carry a camera in one holster and a camcorder in the other? The Toshiba Camileo Pro is available now in the U.K. for a very reasonable 135 pounds (… Read more

If portable hard drives can come in leather and real gold, then surely one can come in pastel.

The "Store-It Pro," which is available in sizes ranging from 40GB to 160GB, comes in pink or black for the ultimate hers-and-his geek gift set. Or, if it's just for the sake of expressing one's individuality, free engraving could make for some interesting statements as seen in the photo here on Techie Diva.

That, however, doesn't mean that the black version should be treated like a mud flap.

I mentioned some weeks ago that our friends from TechTracker are now part of the CNET family. Along with the addition of all their great sites like VersionTracker, MacFixit, and iPhoneAtlas, joining forces means we get to use and develop VersionTracker Pro, the software that keeps your computer's software up to date.

I'm excited to announce VersionTracker Pro 4.5 has recently received a major upgrade. Free to all current subscribers, VersionTracker Pro 4.5 is 100 percent Leopard-ready, automatically installs program updates (even the pesky drag-and-drop varieties), and new users will be able to perform a free … Read more

As a frequent downloader of new software, I test and review a ton of programs on my PC at work. But after installing and uninstalling so many programs, it doesn't take long for my registry to become a complete mess, which causes errors, sluggishness, and sometimes even crashes. The problem is that not all programs uninstall as easily as they install and often registry entries are left to stagnate in your system and may eventually cause problems.… Read more

Update 10:50 a.m.: Apple confirmed that the iMac patch corrects the freezing issue reported by some users, and it's encouraging people to download that patch as soon as they get a chance. Also, the Macbook Pro patch is just for Tiger users; the graphics stability issues fixed by the patch were corrected in Leopard.

If you haven't been prompted already, iMac and Macbook Pro owners should wander over to Apple's downloads page and install new patches released Friday.

Apple didn't provide any details on what the patches correct, but it calls them "important … Read more