Enthusiast Magazines

jtm55 · Post by **jtm55** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:28 pm

Hi Everybody,

I'd like to get your take on print magazines like PC World, which ones do you read? What's your opinion on them?

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:09 pm

I enjoy Maximum PC http://www.maximumpc.com/
There website aint the best their mag. has good content.

Zelig · Post by **Zelig** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:41 pm

I don't much like MaximumPC, I've seen some of their articles that were poorly done, with badly drawn conclusions...

The only magazine I buy is CPU, I'll get ever 2nd or 3rd one released, I'm not subscribed.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 3:48 pm

Linux Magazine, Linux Format

jtm55 · Post by **jtm55** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:11 pm

Hi Everybody,

I agree with you Zelig, I read an article by Maximum PC a while back concerning building a future proof PC. Their choice of platform was IMHO completely wrong as they went with the first generation of Prescott processors. As we all know that if you wanted to upgrade to Dual core you had to pony up & buy another motherboard. They do tend to rush towards conclusions.

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:31 pm

I've actually had a PCWorld subscription for almost ten years now, though... I really don't read it much anymore. I don't know why I keep renewing, lol.

But yeah, PCWorld was there for my first forays into computers, I bought it as a kid to get the shareware games bonus CD, and decided to subscribe when I found the magazine was pretty interesting too. (More interesting than the literature and writing crap I was learning in middle school by far.)

I still remember creating my first bootdisk manually with the step by step directions from the tips & tricks section of the magazine so I could run a CD from DOS to reinstall Windows because I had killed it.

(Talk about run-on sentences.)

Nowadays they always seem a bit behind on the latest trends and technology, or maybe it's because they're just a monthly magazine and I'm always up-to-the-minute what with all the tech-news sites.

Most of the reviews and articles are actually very general (only a half/full page for the 7800GTX if I remember correctly), and the testing methods seem very limited and primitive (few charts and details) in comparison to sites like PCStats or Anandtech. Not what you would call an enthusiast magazine, but more of a PC & Technology magazine. They do cover a lot of stuff outside the realm of "the box" that most enthusiast sites tend to ignore such as peripherals (mice, printers, monitors, cameras, etc), and sometimes are very informational and indepth on trends (such as VoIP articles, electronics, and etc).

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 1:12 am

im with the other guy, i do too like maxpc. Yeah some of thier reason and articles are like, whatever!! But for the most part it helps keep me up to date on hardware and some comp questions. and they do have some great "todo" articles.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 1:58 am

I've been a subscriber to MaxPC since their inception. I like the mag, I like their topic ideas, but agree a lot of their conclusions are flawed.....but I do have to say that in this industry things change rapidly, and trying to get all the information correctly while on a deadline is a tough business (my point is print reviews are much harder to do, its not like the content can be upgraded daily). As far as their website, it isn't much different than most, a lot of know it alls, a lot of bad attitudes, and a few people who genuinely care and want to help others
Last week, while waiting for my wife to get her nails done, I was in a Barnes and Noble looking at the mag rack.... I was surprised by how few quality computer mags there really are.
On a similar note, i've considered putting together a book with a whole bunch of how tos....something i have not seen many of, or good quality....how to build a PC step by step, how to O/C.... things like that. i think a good comprehensive guide or book would really help our community, and show people that getting started doing this isn't that hard, and can save a lot of money.

jtm55 · Post by **jtm55** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:30 am

Hi Everybody,

You are right to point out how fast things change in this industry Capper.

A book/guide would really be a good thing, as there are a lot of folk who don't realize with the right guideance, building your own PC isn't difficult at all.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 1:55 pm

hmmm, I might be tempted to get in on a subscription there, would definitely be a good supplement to keeping up with technology.

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:59 pm

bigblockmatt wrote:I enjoy Maximum PC http://www.maximumpc.com/
There website aint the best their mag. has good content.

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:44 pm

killswitch83 wrote:hmmm, I might be tempted to get in on a subscription there, would definitely be a good supplement to keeping up with technology.

well you cant beat thier bottom line deal with 12 bucks for 12 issues. it really is worth it. I mean what i do is, i read the article and come up with my own conclusion on a review and what not. Did anyone see the rig of the month for october, that was a pretty unique piece he had going there. Nothing like i had ever seen.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:12 pm

man, not bad at all.....I got Chevy High-Performance for the same price and it's a great publication if you are also a car enthusiast...I can justify 12 bucks a year

SAMSAMHA · Post by **SAMSAMHA** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:03 am

i don't really subscribe any mags because almost all tech stuff you can read it online. Although sometimes it's nice to have a magazine lying around in teh house to read for enjoyment.

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:03 am

or for work! lol

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:21 pm

SAMSAMHA wrote:i don't really subscribe any mags because almost all tech stuff you can read it online. Although sometimes it's nice to have a magazine lying around in teh house to read for enjoyment.

I agree, but if you look around, you can find MaxPC for just under 4 bucks a year. You can't beat that price for the info they have.