Readers' Award 2003 Results (5)
Grumpy/Bluetooth 5 Jan 2004

After all that talk of Chipsets, CPUs and Graphic Cards, it is time to look at the things that bind the Computer together...Peripherals. The last year saw a rapid movement in technology. Power Supplies got beefier, Ram got faster, and being able to burn DVDs entered the realm of the average user. We also saw LCD Screens surge into favour with Readers, and balloon to above 20 inches in size. Sata emerged as a must have for speed and a way to remove air restricting IDE cables. peripherals was where the real action occured. A CPU/Chipset may be able to run fast, but with a poor PSU, slow Ram and dawdling hard Disk, all you got was a Silicon Dinosaur. So, lets see who made a difference in 2003 with our Members.

The number one item you need when building a stable fast system is the power Supply. If you choose poorly, you will have every drop of trouble imaginable. Thus our Best Buy PSU 2003. The veteran of the power game, Antec was noted #1 with 22.2% of the votes for their Truepower 550W. This is about as big as it gets for output for a home computer, and for those wanting to plug in every device that sings, dances or whistles, the Truepower 550W is a must.Enermax at 16.5% took second with their EG465P-VE FCA. It would be a strange day if these two did not appear at the top of a list like this. Thermaltake lumbered into third on 13.2 % with the Silent Pure Power 420W.

Best Buy PSU

Once power is restored to the computer, you will want good memory to squeeze the most from that new CPU and Mainboard. Enter the Best Buy DDR Module 2003 Award. Surprisingly, it is Kingston and the HyperX 3500 that grabs first place with 12.3%. Corsair is shunted to second using their 3700 TwinX receiving 9.7%, just passing Kingmax SuperRAM DDR 433 Long Dimm 256 M on 9.3 %. As seen, there are a horde of entries, all around 6% of votes..only the top 3 stand out in thgis large field. I doubt there are any bad products in this list, each better for a particular Mainboard, so check the manufacturers Website to see which module they recommend for their Motherboard.

Best Buy DDR Module

Now, we have a Motherboard, CPU, PSU and Ram..time to work out what to stick that Operating System CD/DVD into. Bring on the Best Buy CD ROM/CD-RW 2003. Erm, I thought this was going to be a close one, but I was wrong. The Liteon 52x32x52x smashed the nearest competitor with 57.5%. The LG with 20.8% looks shabby indeed for a 52x24x52x Drive. Sony just missed 2nd with the CRX-230 52x32x52x Model scoring 19.8%. The people have spoken and they say " Get a Liteon!"

Best Buy CDROM/CD-RW

Moving up a level we have Best Buy DVD-ROM/DVD WRITER 2003, and here an old and familiar name grabs first spot with 24.7%. Plextor has been around a long time, famous for their SCSI Models. The PA-708a is a monster 8 in 1  Combo Drive, providing maximum compatibility and speed. Pioneer, another great name in Optical Drives, scored 23.7% for the DVR-106D. Liteon crept up on both of them to fall just short on 23.1% with the LDW-811S. There is a Drive here in the top 3 for every price range.

Best Buy DVD-ROM/DVD Writer

With the Case almost stuffed, we move to that critical feature, the Monitor. For Best Buy LCD/CRT 2003, it is the LCD that takes the first three places. With 23.2% comes the Samsung 171S, a monitor with a solid reputation. Eizo and their L565 came a close second on 21.5%, with third belonging to the philips 107T. Samsung flew the flag for CRT Monitors, with the 755df and 753 DFX both scoring 11.3% in fourth and fifth. Sadly very few people want to review CRT Monitors these days, a shame considering they are excellent value for money and still superior to LCDs in many cases.

Best Buy LCD/CRT

Best Buy printer 2003 is a very hard thing to judge with many companies having slightly different models for each region. nevertheless, one thing is clear here, HP and Canon lead the pack. The HP 1210 stood apart from the rest on 17.4%, with the Canon i450 second on 13.9%. HP followed with 11.1% being cast for the HP 3558 and HP PSC 2110, and also the Canon i320. Like Nvidia and ATi, there are HP fans and Canon fans.

Best Buy Printer

At the bottom of the list for Peripherals, but of utmost importance, there is Best Buy Hard Disk 2003. Always a good category for a scrap, and being home to some dedicated lovers of one brand or another, four companie stand alone. Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor and Hitachi ( IBM). 1st Place goes to Seagate and the Barracuda 7200.7 80 GB scoring an impressive 32.6%. It was fast, it was quiet, and it was very reliable. if stability and good speed were needed, this model was first in line. If you could tolerate a bit of extra noise and heat, the WD Caviar Special Edition 80 GB ( WD800JB) would give you that extra edge in speed. Scoring 21.2% of Members' votes, this is one nice drive, or two if you have a raid 1 Array like me. A little ways back lies the maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y080L0 80 GB with 17.1%. maxtor had a good year, returning from the wilderness with some impressive drives. Their latest Sata Drive is outstanding, matching the 10,000 Raptors from WD. Fourth belongs once more to Seagate with another 7200 RPM IDE Hard Disk. Achieving 15.0% of the vote, the Barracuda IV 7200 rpm ATA100 120G..again a reliable quiet drive. Fifth, and the only Sata Drive, is the Hitachi Deskstar 7K250Gig Sata with 14.0%. This drive is already earning a reputation as a performer in the Sata arena. 2003 I feel is the last year of IDE dominance, 2004 will belong to Sata with 80 GB Drives dropping to affordable levels, and giving better throughput of data and improved airflow inside the case due to the narrow cabling. WD, maxtor and Hitachi are well position with all having new models just released, and whose performance shows good visible gains on the old IDE Drives.

Best Buy Hard Disk

Overall, I liked 2003 for Peripherals. Good solid products, reliability seems to have improved, and innovation steamed ahead. If only Operating System development went half as fast. here is to an even better, and cheaper 2004.

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