_{Cover of the February 2004 issue of Maximum PC}

Maximum PC was my favorite computer magazine. It had a pretty long run starting as 'boot' in the late 1990s. The last issue was published just a few years ago. The February 2004 issue includes:

Regulars

• In/Out - Letters from readers about hyperthreaded Pentium 4s, batteries in iPods, benchmark scores, and more.


• Quick Start - An on-hand look at the removeable graphics card in the Alienware Area-51m laptop; Phoenix looks at possible BIOS replacements; and more.


• Head2Head - A comparison of the benefits of 802.11g wireless networking vs. gigabit ethernet.


• WatchDog - The latest on a lawsuit regarding the IBM 75GXP hard drive
  
• Ask the Doctor - Questions answered about the Temp directory in Windows 98, viewing .dmp files, removing the password in Windows 95, swap file contents, CD burning problems, clock speed discrepancies, Radeon 9800 Pro issues, and more.


• How To - A guide to installing Linux on your PC. This guide uses Mandrake.


• Rig of the Month - A custom built PC with a case made with lego.








_{Table of Contents from the February 2004 issue of Maximum PC}



Reviews

• Hy-Tek Panel 300 desktop PC - An all-in-one PC with a 30-inch display featuring a 2.4GHz Pentium 4, 512MB DDR266 RAM, ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro, and more for $6495.


• Screamworx Hysteria 64-FX desktop PC - A PC featuring an AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 (2.2 GHz) CPU, 2GB Registered DDR400 RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 XT videocard, and more for $3650.


• Monarch Computer Systems Hornet Pro mini-PC - Features Socket 754 Athlon 64 series CPU support, one 8x AGP slot and three PCI slots, and a 250 watt power supply.
  
• AOpen XC Cube mini-PC - Features Socket A Athlon XP CPU support, one 8x AGP slot and one PCI slot, and a 220 watt power supply.


• FIC Ice Cube IC-VL67 mini-PC - Features Socket 478 Pentium 4 CPU support, one 8x AGP slot and one PCI slot, and a 220 watt power supply. I was never really a fan of the small form factor PC. I deal for LAN parties I suppose but too much heat, wimpy power supply, limited expandability, etc. always made it a poor choice for a primary PC.


• Fujitsu Lifebook P5020D notebook PC - This laptop features a 1GHZ Pentium M, 512MB DDR266 RAM, and a 10.5-inch 1280x768 display with Intel Extreme Graphics for $2000.


• Creative Labs Gigaworks S750 7.1 speakers - A decent 7.1 speaker set for your PC for $500.


• Logitech Z-2200 2.1 speakers - One of the best 2.1 PC speaker sets you could get for $150.


• Sapphire Radeon 9800 XT videocard - One of the fastest GPUs you could get at the time but it would set you back $500.


• Western Digital 740GD Raptor hard drive - This 74GB 10,000 RPM drive gets a perfect 10 from Maximum PC and was probably the fastest consumer drive you could get.


• Steganos Security Suite Generation 6 - Highly rated software for encrypting your hard drive.


• Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 4.0 mouse - Maximum PC gives this mouse a perfect 10.


• Sony DRU-530A 8x dual-format DVD burner - A DVD burner that could burn both DVD+R and DVD-R media.


• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - This classic Star Wars RPG gets a perfect 10 from Maximum PC. I can't believe it's been this long since this game was released.


• Secret Weapons Over Normandy - A mediocre World War II flight simulator.


• XIII - A relatively obscure and mediocre first person shooter.


• Deus Ex: Invisible War - Maximum PC calls this open world FPS the best designed PC game of the year.








_{Table of Contents from the February 2004 issue of Maximum PC (continued)}



Features

• Windows Tips - A detailed guide for improving the performance and usability of Windows XP.


• PC Rights - Your rights as they relate to the Digital Millenia Copyright Act (DMCA).


• Games of the Year - Maximum PC's first gaming awards. There are awards in a variety of categories including Game of the Year (Planetside), Single-Player Game of the Year (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), Technical Excellence (Deus Ex: Invisible War), and more.



_{Back cover of the February 2004 issue of Maximum PC (continued)}

...and more!

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Check out some of my other recent posts:

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (125-128)
https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-6-125

The Games Machine (June 1988)
https://ecency.com/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/the-games-machine-june-1988

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (121-124)
https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-6-121

Edge (April 1999)
https://ecency.com/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/edge-april-1999

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (117-120)
https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-6-117

Computer + Video Games (January 1991)
https://ecency.com/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/computer-video-games-january-1991

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Check out my other Social Media haunts:
Wordpress: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/darth-azrael
Blogger: https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/
Odyssee: https://odysee.com/@Megalextoria:b
Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2385054
Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Megalextoria


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Books I am reading or have recently read:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

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