Product Description
Business buyers and consumers of computing and consumer electronic products turn to PC Magazine as the trusted online brand for lab-based product reviews, news, buying guides, expert analysis and commentary, and special features. Our readers use this information to make informed purchasing decisions for themselves and to advise others on a wide range of products from desktops and printers to digital cameras and software and services. The Kindle Edition of PC Maga… More >>
As previous reviewers noted, I was pleasantly surprised to find some images embedded with my Kindle edition of PC Mag. However, on my first-generation Kindle, the image quality is so pixellated and poor as to be illegible. Can this be fixed, or are first-gen owners just out of luck in this second-gen DX world? That, though is my only gripe. Otherwise the Kindle edition of the mag brought me a nice digital version of a print publication I read for years. If anything I find myself reading articles with the Kindle version that I might have skipped in the past.
Rating: 4 / 5
My disappointment with the kindle edition is cost. I have been reading PC Mag online via zinio. I just received my zinio version renewal notice via email and thought I’d check out the kindle version. First thing that jumps out is the price difference between the zinio version and the kindle version. Zinio version is $9.97 for 12 issues – which works out to be 83 cents an issue. The kindle version is $1.49 an issue – about 80% higher than the zinio version. Ok Amazon. Kindle is a nice product, but it took a while to justify the cost. Now that I own a Kindle I have to feed the beast. My hamburger budget and your filet mignon magazine price is going to cause the beast to starve to death.
Rating: 2 / 5
Early in 2008, after a year as editor in chief, Lance Ulanoff scuttled the best computer magazine in print making it only available on the web or now Kindle but only after yanking what had been a fairly neutral presentation of technology hard to the left. I had subscribed for 20 years, the change was obvious. But you see, Mr. Ulanoff is on a green crusade to save the whales and stop global warming instead of just producing a good tech magazine. The magazine has become cluttered with needless nonsense and long screeds against any company that dares to make a profit. The transition to an e-publication has resulted in content that is hopelessly political and freed from the constraints of print and paper given to verbal diarrhea. The tone is preachy and condescending. John Dvorak remains the best reason to subscribe but even he as descended from his perch as uber-tech reporter to purveyor of rants and tirades.
I downloaded the October issue to my Kindle as a 14 day free trial. For me the Kindle version is a complete waste of virtual paper. While it is quite readable, it is accompanied by few pictures or illustrations in the product reviews. Knowing what a product actually looks like (e.g. a camera or a mobile phone) can be very important if you are trying to make a buying decision. Also, the articles are not in the same order as they are in the magazine, some articles are left out completely and there is no table of contents for easy navigation. Some folks like the fact that there are no ads but ads are frequently how we learn of new products or trends. They can be informative and sometimes funny so I miss them. Worst of all the Kindle version does not include the Editors Choice list of products. I am dropping the kindle version.
That said, I do subscribe to the magazine on-line. That version is slick and well illustrated. It remains one of the best sources for keeping up with what is new and improved in the world of tech and the online subscription is only $ 14.95 for two years. The web-azine is organized like the old magazine was and has all the features, but inexplicably the Editors Choice list is not hot-linked to reviews of the products. For 62 cents an issue, I will just put up with the proselytizing and lack of objectivity to know what will be on the shelves at Best Buy next month but I still cannot kick back and read it on the train. Darn it Lance, it was much better before you got hold of it.
Rating: 2 / 5
Simple and to the point. The layout fits the kindle and it even has photos. I feel its better than reading the actual print magazine. I was really excited to see this magazine offered for kindle and now I am profoundly happy I purchased the subscription.
Rating: 5 / 5
Since PC Magazine stopped publishing the print version, I was glad to see it available on the Kindle. The content is enjoyable, but I’m running into a problem.
I’m in my 14-day free trial right now, and have found a few problems (at least with the July 2009 edition):
1. The main article (the one that discusses the best utilities) is poorly formatted. The PC Magazine Logo appears at the top of every page. Perhaps it’s this half-inch or so of wasted screen space that is pushing the text downward causing the last line to be cut off on every page (but that last line is then repeated at the top of the next page, so it is still readable). This seems to happen no matter what font size I choose.
2. That same main article won’t remember my place within the article. It ALWAYS starts over again at the beginning of the article, and won’t allow me to bookmark within it.
3. The page turning and responsiveness are very slow…again, only within that main article.
Perhaps this is a Kindle issue…perhaps a PC Magazine issue…I’m not sure. Other articles in the same edition of that magazine seem fine. Pages turn quickly, no logo at the top of each page, etc.
I’m hoping that the next issue will arrive before the end of my 14-day trial. If the problem exists every issue, then it’s a deal-breaker for me.
As a side note…PC Magazine, when they stopped publishing the print version, converted my remaining subscription to a digital version using an online reader. It seems strange to me that the content of that version and of the Kindle version was different. The Kindle version contained some content that was missing from the online digital version.
UPDATE: As one of the commenters has noted, the problems stated above do not exist in the August 2009 edition. Looks like I will continue my subscription.
Rating: 3 / 5