Take a look here at the typical and most common benefits that you can receive when you check your domain names.

There are plenty of tools that you can use in order to make your job a lot easier. An instant checker is a much needed tool if you are looking to save some time. These tools can be found directly online and will let you know if anyone has your desired domain name or not. If the domain name is not currently taken, that means it is all up for grabs for you to take!

You can also do manual checks if you want a more extensive search done. It is imperative that you search the net to make sure that your name is available. From the search that you conduct, you will also have a list of other possible domain names that you might be able to use. Take what is available to you as well as what people are likely to remember. Check here: http://domping.com

Through a domain checking system there will never be a worry for choosing duplicate domain names. Through the systems and checks that have been set in place, you will not have trouble with using a name already in use. As long as you are using the proper tools, you are going to seek the best name for your domain.

Using a checker is not going to cost you very much either. Due to the fact that you are going to be using it right from the internet, you might have to pay a small fee. If you use the instant checker, you can expect to pay a little more simply because the work is done a lot quicker for you.

When checking domain names, you should not have any trouble using the system. Even those who are not very computer literate were still able to use a checker without any trouble whatsoever. Being easy to use makes everything a lot easier so that you do not have to learn a huge procedure to check a simple domain name.

Keep in mind, this checking step is a mandatory step. There is going to be a lot of trouble when you find that there is another domain under the same name as you have chosen. Do all of your research and let the checker tell you which domain name to choose in the event that your is already chosen.

There are always great benefits that come from domain checking. If you are looking into starting up your very own website, simply start with a checker and go from there. There are always suggestions to be made by the checker so take something better if you can spot it! Before you know it, your site will be up and running!
Here is top 1000 website rank by alexa:
http://domping.com/alexa-top/com
http://domping.com/alexa-top/jp

Source: http://www.prlog.org/10632480-common-benefits-of-domain-checking.html

Measuring 4.3 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches, the 9700 is much more pocketable than the colossal 9000 (which measured 4.5 by 2.6 by 0.6 inches). The new handset is lighter, as well, weighing 4.2 ounces (down from 4.8 ounces). Though the leatherette back is still present, it′s minimized on this new version–a good thing. (I′m just not a fan of fake leather on a phone.)

On the right spine are the volume rocker and the camera shutter/convenience key (a function key that you can program to open any app of your choice). On the left side you′ll find another convenience key as well as the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and micro-USB port. Lock and mute buttons are at the top of the device. Below the display sits the familiar row of hardware buttons we′ve become accustomed to seeing on BlackBerrys: Talk, Menu, Back, and End/Power.

Call quality over T-Mobile′s network was spotty at times. On a few of my calls, I heard a faint hiss in the background–I don′t think this is an issue with the Bold′s hardware, though, because I′ve heard this hiss on other T-Mobile devices. The Bold 9700 also allows you to make calls over Wi-Fi using a technology called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA); the voice-over-Wi-Fi feature improves reception in locations where cell signals are weak. (The AT&T version of the Bold 9700 does not have UMA support, however.)

RIM′s decision to add a touchpad instead of a trackball was wise: BlackBerry trackballs get dirty and start to stick, and sometimes even fall out with a lot of use. The responsive touchpad gives the Bold the feel of a touchscreen device, particularly when you′re swiping through pictures. BlackBerry loyalists who are used to the trackball might find the touchpad disconcerting. However, though it might be a different sensation, having a touchpad rather than a faulty trackball will save users money in the long run.

The Bold 9700 has a keyboard similar to that of the Bold 9000, with sculpted keys and thin metal dividers akin to guitar frets. This design is meant to eliminate finger slippage and to enhance the keyboard′s usability. The original Bold′s keyboard felt roomy and ergonomic, due somewhat in part to the handset′s measurements. Though the Bold 9700 has a narrower keyboard, I still found it quite comfortable to type on. My colleague who has larger hands than I do and is a Bold 9000 owner preferred the width of the 9000′s keyboard but didn′t have any issues typing on the 9700.

The 9700′s 2.4-inch display has a 480-by-360-pixel resolution, which is slightly better than the original Bold′s. The display looks quite stunning, especially when you′re viewing pictures and playing back video. One gripe I have about BlackBerry displays, however, concerns their annoying black border–why not make the display bigger and get rid of the border? This seems to be a signature RIM design, but maybe in the next round of devices it will go the way of the trackball and disappear.

Shipping with the Bold 9700 is BlackBerry OS 5.0, which we also saw on the BlackBerry Storm 2. BlackBerry OS 5.0 has sharper icons, brighter colors, and blacker blacks than BlackBerry OS 4.6 (which shipped on the original Bold). The interface is clean and simple to navigate, thanks to the easy-to-identify icons.

The Bold′s browser is definitely its weak spot. Because it isn′t built on WebKit, it simply doesn′t compare to the browsers on the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and Android phones. The browser will default to a mobile site when one is available, and it takes a bit of time to render a full site. That said, OS 5.0 adds some useful features, such as tabbed browsing.

Pressing the Bold 9700′s shutter key instantly launches the camera app. The 3.2-megapixel camera is an upgrade over the original Bold′s 2-megapixel lens. It also has a flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus, and video recording. The image quality of the photos I took, particularly outdoors, was pleasantly surprising: Colors looked accurate and details appeared sharp. While the flash helped with indoor shots, I detected a fair amount of graininess and image noise. Video recording wasn′t as good. In a side-by-side test with the iPhone 3GS, the Bold 9700 produced a noticeable amount of ghosting and blurriness.

BlackBerry OS 5.0′s fairly plain native music app lets you view your library by song, artist, or genre. During playback, a miniature album thumbnail appears. The app also has playlist and shuffle features, and a headphone equalizer. Sound quality was good through the included earbuds, but a bit hollow over the external speaker.

If you′re used to phones with larger screens, such as the Palm Pre or the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, you may find 2.4 inches for watching video too small for your liking. Still, the video playback was smooth, and I saw no pixelation or distortion.

Customers who bought the Bold 9000 probably don′t need to upgrade to the BlackBerry Bold 9700 just yet. Unless you really don′t like how large the 9000 is, you won′t find enough significant updates in the new handset to justify replacing the older one. If you′re rocking an aging BlackBerry Curve, however, you should definitely consider the Bold 9700. Its keyboard, display, software, and specs make it the best BlackBerry to date–by far.

The biggest selling point of the DSTL1 phone is that it can support two separate wireless phone numbers. You simply insert two SIM cards into the two slots below the battery. There′s also a slot to accommodate a microSD storage card with a capacity of up to 16GB. The phone itself has 4GB of internal memory.

The DSTL1 runs Android 1.5 OS (not the newer Android 2.0) and carries a 624MHz processor inside. General Mobile went to Sharp Electronics for the 3-inch 240-by-400-pixel touchscreen display and to Sony for the 5-megapixel camera. The DSTL1 has an FM radio on board and offers Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi support.

These specs look good on paper, but the phone′s construction felt cheap. I didn′t like the phone′s highly reflective plastic chrome outer shell–because I would rather see the phoneâ€Ë� “s features and content than my own reflection. The DSTL1 has a navigation wheel with an Enter button in the middle, plus buttons for making a call from either SIM card. General Mobile also provides an on/off button and an extremely useful back button.

Measuring 4.4 by 2.1 by 0.6 inches, the phone is nearly as thick as the Motorola Droid, yet it lacks a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. As a result, you have to rely on the native Android touch keyboard for your typing, which is painfully small and awkward to use in portrait orientation, and far from comfortable in landscape mode.

All of this might not matter much if the touchscreen worked well, but it doesn′t. The screen appears to be imbedded a few millimeters deep in the phone′s clear plastic shell; in any event, the touchscreen had trouble responding immediately and accurately to my commands in connection with everything from selecting apps to customizing the desktop to using the calculator. Meanwhile, the voice commands, such as ′open calendar′, seemed to work well.

One of the DSTL1′s biggest shortcomings is its lack of 3G support–it can run only on 2G or 2.5G EDGE networks. I tested the phone with SIM cards from T-Mobile and AT&T inside. The voice calls I made on those EDGE networks were clear and uninterrupted by latency or drops. When I surfed the Net, the phone behaved torpidly and ran at very un-3G-like speeds. (My Palm Pre, in contrast, loads pages pretty briskly with the help of Sprint′s 3G Network).

The DSTL1 does benefit from Google′s Android OS straightforward and intuitive interface. As I moved from task to task, the OS′s basic tools appeared roughly where I expected them to be.

Like other Android phones, the DSTL1 gives you three homescreens for installing your own set of shortcuts, widgets, folders, and wallpapers. A Google search bar appears at the top of the center panel. To move between the three homescreens, you swipe your fingers from side-to-side.

Similarly, you bring up your application launch menu by swiping a tab up from the bottom of the screen. Preloaded on the phone are some 20 apps, shortcuts, games, widgets, and other tools–from the phone′s settings to contacts to the FM radio. To install a shortcut to any of these “apps” on your front screen, simply press and hold the icon.

General Mobile didn′t attempt to build a layer of additional software on top of Android, as the manufacturers of some other phones did with varying degrees of success.

Within a few minutes I successfully connected the DSTL1 to my Gmail account and began sending and responding to e-mail. Navigation through the messages was easy and intuitive, though typing in the ′compose′ box was slow going because of the touchscreen.

The phone′s text messaging functions were similarly well organized and intuitive. Once you′ve typed your message, you choose which SIM card to use to send your message.

Importing my contacts from Gmail was easy; using the phone to create new contacts was a little more time-consuming. The Android address book adopts a tabular design, which simplifies the tasks of locating and accessing various contact details. When you click a contact, the app displays all of the available modes for contacting the person (text, phone, IM, and so on).

If you use one SIM for work and the other for personal activity, keeping the two separate is easy. Click one of the tabs at the top of the screen and you can quickly view the dialer, the call log, or your favorites (contacts you′ve dialed most recently).

The dialer interface itself is a touchpad keypad with oversize, slightly overlapping keys. I found the keypad reasonably easy to use, and certainly less arduous than typing on the virtual keyboard.

The music player in Android 1.5 is fine, but I had a lot of trouble getting music to load onto the DSTL1–in fact, I ultimately failed. I plugged the DSTL1 into my Dell PC (running Vista) at work, but the PC refused to recognize the device in Explorer. You may have better results. This problem also prevented me from loading any other kind of data onto the device, such as documents, images, and videos.

The included headphones sounded okay, but you can′t plug them (or any other headphones) directly into the DSTL1 because it has no 3.5-mm jack; instead, the headphones plug into a clip-on voice mic, which in turn plugs into the USB port on the phone.

The DSTL1 comes with a 5-megapixel Sony camera that has an impressive range of features, including auto focus, facial recognition, choice of picture sizes, a timer for taking your own picture, and multiple focus settings. The DSTL1 also provides a physical button on top of the camera for shooting pictures, which I much preferred to snapping photos with my shutter-buttonless Palm Pre.

The pictures I took with the DSTL1 looked good. The images were sharp, and the flash seemed to light photos properly without washing them out. I shot a 40-second video with the device, too; the output looked okay, but was limited by the phone′s mediocre screen.

The DSTL has some solid features (in particular, the dual SIM cards and the camera), but I wouldn′t pay such a high price for a device with so many shortcomings. I do like the look and feel of the Android operating system, and I believe that the set of applications that are available to it will eventually best the set offered for the iPhone. But on the DSTL1, the hardware got in the way of making full use of the Android goodness. Still, for the moment, if you have a special need for dual SIM and Android in one phone, the DSTL1 is pretty much your only option.

Both systems turned in equally unplayable results for gaming, with the ET2002 delivering a paltry 10 frames per second on a scaled-down version of our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark (1024-by-768 resolution, high quality). Ion graphics don′t help much with gaming, but will help with smooth HD flash video playback.

For the most part, the ET2002′s feature list matches the smaller HP MS214. Both systems come with 2GB of RAM, and the Asus squeaks in a little extra storage capacity: 320GB versus 300GB. Both use Windows 7 Home Premium, though HP does up the ante with a 64-bit version. Both systems feature an awesome collection of networking options, including support for 802.11n Wi-Fi and gigabit networking. And, to even out the playing field, each has a DVD writer.

But one big difference is display quality. Neither display is a touchscreen, and Asus′s is slightly larger, but the HP provides a stronger picture. Color saturation on the ET2002 was lacking, leaving otherwise vibrant scenes looking duller and more muted than I′ve seen on competing all-in-one desktops. Similarly, the dark-heavy contrasts gave scenes a faded look, leading to a slight loss of detail in the picture due to the lack of grayscale output at the white end of the spectrum.

Though the ET2002′s traditional setup of six USB ports and a multiformat card reader is a bit of a yawn, Asus offers a little surprise by including an HDMI input on the back of the system. It′s an excellent choice for those looking to stash this all-in-one desktop in a living room, as it gives you the option to integrate this system with your general entertainment setup (provided the relatively small screen size isn′t a bother). In addition, the wireless mouse and keyboard–generic in their overall operation–does allow for up to five USB ports to be used instead of the usual drop to four as a result of wired input devices.

Another significant difference between the ET2002 and the MS214 is upgradability. If you actually can alter any parts of the ET2002, you′ll need to figure it out yourself–Asus provides no instructions for modifying or replacing parts. By contrast, HP walks users through a fairly detailed procedure for replacing the RAM and the hard drive. It′s a rare thing to see in the AIO category, but one that should be rewarded.

While it might seem a little strange to directly compare Eee Top ET2002 to HP′s Pavilion MS214 throughout the course of this review, it′s an unavoidable match-up given the raw similarities between the two systems in both features and price. HP wins out in the end with its stronger picture quality and general performance, provided you don′t mind losing an inch and a half of screen real estate for the extra gains. Among its budget all-in-one PC peers, the ET2002 holds its own strictly through its expanded portfolio of network connections and included HDMI connectivity. But these, by themselves, aren′t enough to make it a number-one AIO choice.

–David Murphy

Nevertheless, it is a fact that data is continuously growing with everyone including enterprises, home users or with any body that is serious about data, with the increase in data has brought an exceptional amount of increase in the numbers of emails that we have to receive daily or store in our emails clients. Microsoft Windows being the most popular operating system brought the popularity of its emails clients Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook.

People who use Windows still are ignorant about choosing the correct email client for them. Talking about those who have facility to download emails (POP accounts, Exchange or any mail server). People with free email accounts with yahoo etc. can check emails only through IMAP accounts by using web based interface, some common differences between Microsoft Outlook Express and Outlook.

[More:]

Outlook Express (An add-on, installed with Internet explorer)

• Stores emails in folders, and each folder is archived in a DBX file (inbox.dbx is for inbox and sent.dbx for sent folder).
• Has support for newsgroup, once subscribe to a newsgroup using NNTP protocol
• But as per Microsoft has lot security vulnerabilities, and has been left in Vista and being introduced as Microsoft Mail without DBX support

Microsoft Outlook (One of the components installed with MS-Office suite)

• One of the most popular email clients, a client designed for MS- Exchange
• Stores all emails, notes, calendar, scheduled items etc. inside single email archive i.e. .pst file
• Unlike Outlook Express DBX files, .pst file is more prone to data loss
• Recent versions have support for RSS feeds, and can be used as Feed reader (Outlook 2007)

This post is not trying to instruct people about the qualities and limitations of both these email clients, even if we are using Microsoft Windows, we might choose Lotus, Thunderbird or any other email client. However, most importantly we should be aware of the capability of the application that we are using and should read more about the correct usage of the software, lack of information leads to data loss.

People using any email client to POP emails from remote or local servers, should always backup their emails, mail servers where client mailboxes are stored should be a major concern. However, people tend to forget a very common thing, which is “Filing emails on a regular basis”. It has been seen people looking for recovering lost emails because their inbox.dbx reached to a level of 2GB. Therefore, what do we say the cause for data loss, limitation of Outlook Express for not supporting a DBX file more then 2GB or the laziness of the user, which caused his email client to become unresponsive?

To suggest,

• Regularly file your emails: – If it is inbox, create sub folders to store emails based on months or years.
• Plan and implement a nice backup policy with whatever resources you have. Either write DVD’s of your DBX files or .pst files, or store them in your external drives on a regular basis.
• Always know the limitation of your email client, in terms of its capacity to manage number and size of emails. Some of the email clients are not of industrial strength, so use right email client suiting your data storage requirements and needs.

Coming to the post loss scenario: – when we have lost our emails, and are looking to recover them.

For recovering emails from Outlook Express, would suggest

• Disk Doctors Emails Recovery (DBX), a nicely crafted small tool, but is very effective in recovering emails from corrupt DBX files, or recovering deleted emails from any DBX file from Outlook Express version 4,5 or 6.
• Advanced Outlook Express Repair, is also a good tool to repair your DBX files.

For recovering emails from Outlook,

• Disk Doctors Outlook Mail Recovery (.pst), another tool from Disk Doctors and this is one of the best in recovering emails, notes etc from corrupted .pst file.
• Advanced Outlook Repair, is also good in recovering emails from corrupted .pst files

One very funny thing, that I have noticed about with many recovery applications around (quite a few number), by running “scanpst” an inbox repair tool provided by Microsoft in background to repair .pst files in the event of corruption and has its own limitation in terms of handling recoveries from damaged or corrupted .pst files. It is amazing how easily they can violate copyright without doing a bit of research and designing competitive products.

Companies not having a background of understanding how recovery happens or how to design recovery applications, seeing any opportunity in the market start creating applications which they feel is a piece of cake, people who are seriously looking to recover their lost data should avoid such companies.

Shortly, would be posting top email recovery tools.

Technorati: dbx repair • deleted email recovery • email recovery • outlook express repair • outlook repair • pst repair

At $930 (as of 12/23/2009), it costs more than similarly-sized budget all-in-one PCs (20 inches or smaller), but also outperforms them all. It′s score of 98 in our WorldBench 6 test suite edges out touch-enabled, budget-priced competitors like the 18.5-inch Dell Studio One 19 (93) and the 20-inch MSI Wind Top AE2010 (60). That performance is also tantalizingly close to pricier rivals like the 24-inch Sony Vaio L117FX/B (105); and actually faster than HP′s own 23-inch TouchSmart 600xt (92).

The star of the show is HP′s custom TouchSmart software. It offers full-screen, touch-friendly widgets for media playback, browsing, and manipulating photos, and for accessing popular Web applications like Hulu, Pandora, and Twitter. But while the software is typically quite responsive, we found its performance on the TouchSmart 300 to be a bit sluggish (see our video review).

Our test configuration came equipped with a 2.8GHz Athlon II X2 240e processor, 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory for Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), and a 640GB hard drive. The display sports a maximum resolution of 1600 by 900, which is comfortable for using touch applications, and great for watching 720p HD content. Gaming fans, however, should look elsewhere: Its ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics delivers a paltry 18 frames per second in Unreal Tournament 3 (highest settings, 1024 by 768 resolution).

The TouchSmart 300 has analog and digital audio jacks, five USB ports, a multi-format card reader, a DVD burner, a remote control, and an HDTV tuner. A gigabit ethernet port allows for easy connectivity, but using the included 802.11n wireless means you′ll need to deal with the power cord only when you′re moving the unit about. The stubby metal feet are also removable, and the unit can be mounted on a wall. Unfortunately, features missing from this model include HDMI and composite inputs for consoles, and the funky ambient lighting found on some other TouchSmart models that offered a distinct glow.

HP also throws in a wireless keyboard and mouse. The mouse is a bit plain, but offers up excellent connectivity across a respectable distance. The full-size keyboard (with number pad!) is slim, and fairly attractive. It actually might be a bit too slim: Our thumbs occasionally hit the keyboard′s frame while tapping the space bar, which can be annoying, but is not exactly a deal-breaker. The built-in stereo speakers perform well enough, provided you aren′t expecting much in the way of bass.

The TouchSmart 300′s strengths and weaknesses place it in a rather confusing position. An ideal spot might be inside a dorm room or a kitchen (one widget′s sole function is to gather and display recipes). But buying a touch-enabled, Web-connected media center to play slideshows and music while you cook might not strike everyone as the best use of funds. And at this price range, students are likely to opt for something they could tote to class.

That being said, if you′re in the market for a touch-friendly all-in-one and want something with a 20-inch screen size, you would do well to consider the HP TouchSmart 300. If you′re up for spending a bit more, the $1400, 23-inch Gateway One ZX6810-01 also offers an HDTV tuner and multitouch, but beefs up gaming performance considerably. And at $1149, users less interested in touch might want to consider the capable and readily upgradable 21.5-inch Lenovo IdeaCentre A600.

–Nate Ralph

In AV-Test.org′s malware-detection tests, which use 654,914 collected malware samples and then measure how well antivirus detects the nasties, McAfee′s suite performed respectably. It caught 97.4 percent of malware thrown at it, though it lagged with a 90 percent success rate at identifying spyware varieties that steal passwords and financial information. That doesn′t quite compare to the score of about 99 percent for top performers such as the Avira security suite and the Norton security suite, but is much better than the sorry 55.7 percent rate that the Trend Micro package produced with password stealers.

The new Artemis feature sends a signature of to-be-scanned files over the Internet to McAfee′s servers, which can then compare the files against a much larger and more up-to-date signature database that the one that resides on your PC. Artemis likely contributed to the McAfee suite′s decent showing.

On the other hand, this suite′s performance in behavioral tests, which examine how well antivirus products can identify unknown malware based solely on how it acts, was dismal. McAfee′s package was able to warn about some aspect of malware behavior for only 2 out of 15 samples, or 13 percent of the time. All of the other suites but one (F-Secure, at 33 percent) were able to display a behavior-based warning at least half the time.

McAfee′s suite also failed in scan speed tests. It was second to last for on-access scan speed, which refers to how quickly files are scanned when you access or open them. It did somewhat better in on-demand speed, which involves scheduled and manually run scans, with a fifth-place finish.

In line with the suite′s inconsistent performance, McAfee′s interface was good in some ways and less appealing in others. The suite does a good job at organizing features into intuitive categories such as â€Ë� “Computer & Files′ or â€Ë� “Internet & Network′, and generally it provides good information up front. But surprisingly it lacks context-sensitive help, so if you click the help link while viewing the useful network map, for instance, you won′t go straight to the relevant help section; instead you′ll have to manually search or sift through the topics to find the information you need.

That said, McAfee does offer some convenient touches. Most notable: On the aforementioned network map, you can click the icon for your home network router to bring up its Web configuration page in your browser. McAfee′s suite was the only one of the group to offer this minor but well-conceived feature.

Less well-designed is McAfee′s handling of a common adware file. When we attempted to download a screen saver from Zango that installs adware that most people would prefer to keep off their PCs, McAfee′s suite correctly displayed a warning about the download attempt, but the only remediation option was to remove the program. Electing to do so brought up a McAfee uninstaller, which failed because the Zango program wasn′t actually installed.

McAfee′s suite did the same thing when we scanned the Zango adware on an attached thumb drive. The suite might have become confused by Registry entries added by the site or download, but other suites were able to successfully get rid of the entries and the file.

You′ll find a wide array of features in McAfee′s suite, including backups, parental controls and antispam, along with smaller offerings such as a file shredder. And the suite did a decent job at detecting malicious software in tests. But for protecting your PC, you have superior alternatives.

Postbox starts with the Thunderbird program code and adds a bevy of features designed primarily to improve the search function and message management. If you′ve used Thunderbird, Postbox will look familiar. You′ll see a similar toolbar on top, with a folder and account list on the left. The right side consists of the message list and preview pane.

But you′ll quickly notice where Postbox differs, too. Postbox′s creators, including Scott MacGregor, who worked on Thunderbird for a decade, know that much of users′ frustration with e-mail stems from not being able to find items quickly. So Postbox offers such features as an Attachments button, which you can click to view a list of all your attachments, and an Images button, which lets you see a thumbnail presentation of all your e-mailed images.

Postbox uses tabs–its version of Thunderbird tags–to display those views, as well as to show individual messages and topic views. While the new app can still use traditional folders to sort messages, it emphasizes assigning topic keywords instead. You can assign a topic to a message, and then view all items with that topic by clicking on a virtual folder on the lower left. Topics will likely prove most useful to anyone who is willing to go whole hog and forgo folders in favor of the versatile tags.

While composing a message, which still happens in a separate window, you′ll encounter some of the ways that Postbox integrates with online services. For example, you can click a Find Images icon that allows you to search for a picture in a Picasa Web album (as well as your e-mail), and then drag and drop that picture into your e-mail. Other tie-ins allow you to upload an attachment to Google Docs, for instance, or to send a link to your Delicious account without leaving Postbox.

Postbox can quickly pull in messages from a Gmail, Yahoo Mail Plus, or other POP3 or IMAP account. One nice touch: It defaults to leaving the messages on the server for POP3 access so that you won′t accidentally limit yourself to reading your e-mail only in Postbox. It will also prompt you to import your e-mail, settings, and contacts from Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or Eudora if it finds one or more of those programs on your computer.

Postbox offers plenty of useful features that might entice you to give it a whirl. Unlike the open-source Thunderbird, however, Postbox is made by a for-profit company. Though Postbox′s makers haven′t yet decided on a business model, they may elect to charge for the program when they release a final version, perhaps sometime in the spring.

The NS-2BRDVD doesn′t look like much on the outside: It’s your typical glossy black-box Blu-ray player, with a glowing blue Blu-ray Disc logo, playback buttons on the front for easy access, and a large, easily readable display.

The long and thin remote is anything but typical–and more important, it′s intelligently designed. The commonly used buttons are all easy to reach, and the ones for controlling playback (Play/Pause, Forward, and Reverse, all in a circle) glow in the dark. Unfortunately, the Fast Forward, Rewind, and Skip buttons aren′t logically arranged, and I frequently found myself mistakenly pressing the wrong button. The layout is something you might get used to, but that could take a while.

Similarly, the unit’s menus are atypically well presented. The remote′s Setup button takes you to an easy-to-read, well-organized, and reasonably attractive menu. The menu sometimes explains what a choice means on screen, eliminating the need for you to refer to the manual. It′s a convenient touch, but it doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should: For instance, it doesn′t explain any of the audio options, which can be confusing on any Blu-ray Disc player. The manual, although not particularly well designed, describes what the on-screen menus do not.

Press the Display button while watching a disc, and the NS-2BRDVD will tell you the chapter number and the time, and you can toggle between the time elapsed and the time remaining. It doesn′t, however, display technical information such as the resolution and soundtrack, as other players sometimes show.

Our image-quality tests start with standard DVDs, and that′s where the NS-2BRDVD outright bombed. When we evaluated it for our latest Blu-ray players roundup, the NS-2BRDVD had issues upconverting standard-defintion video to 1080p: Scenes from both The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Phantom of the Opera looked dull and muddy, with, as one judge noted, a distinct lack of detail. You might get a better picture from a DVD on this machine by using the remote′s Resolution button (a rare feature I′ve seen on only two other BD remotes) to take the resolution down to 480p and let your TV do the upconverting.

In contrast, when we moved on to viewing Blu-ray discs, at their native 1080p resolution, the NS-2BRDVD performed superbly. Our judges awarded it grades of Very Good and Superior. One judge complained of images being a tad soft, but she also praised the terrific contrast and skin tone. In the black-and-white opening scene of Good Night and Good Luck, I noted the really good grayscale and the image’s nice dimensionality.

This player can decode Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution audio (but it lacks multichannel Dolby TrueHD decoding). It ships with support for Blu-ray Bonus View, too, and it has ethernet and USB ports in the back (a pleasant surprise). Insignia′s Web site promises a future firmware upgrade that will add BD-Live and USB-based multimedia playback. The USB port is in an awkward location at the back, but its presence on such a low-cost machine is a positive.

Another surprise: This model was reasonably responsive, as well. In our tests it loaded a Blu-ray disc in 71 seconds.

If you′re looking for a bargain in a Blu-ray player, the Insignia NS-2BRDVD is the best you can buy–but only if you’re willing to rely on another source for upscaling your standard-definition DVDs.

The Photosmart C6380 performed pretty well in our tests. It printed plain-text pages at a rate of 11.3 pages per minute (ppm), and color graphics as fast as 3.2 ppm–above average compared with the competition, though far slower than HP′s claims (33 ppm text, 31 ppm graphics). On plain paper, text is just slightly fuzzy, and photos a little dark but smooth. Everything improved on HP′s own paper, except flesh tones, which were orangey.

The silver-and-white box offers many useful features. Connections include USB, ethernet, and Wi-Fi. HP sells a Bluetooth adapter for $40. The control panel stretches along the upper front. Words and images on the 2.4-inch LCD can get awfully small, but accessing menus is otherwise easy using the adjacent navigational buttons. Function buttons (for copying, scanning, and photo-editing) are clearly labeled. Interesting copy features include on-screen previewing and cropping. Below you′ll find slots for MS, SD, xD, CF, and PictBridge-compatible media.

The paper handling is basic. The main input takes a wide variety of media, up to 125 sheets of plain paper. It has a sliding width guide, but no length guide or extension; legal-size paper hangs out the front a bit. A piggybacked tray takes up to 20 sheets of 5-by-7-inch or smaller photo media. The lid for both components also functions as the 50-sheet output tray, which has an impressively sturdy pull-out extension.

The Photosmart C6380 ships with five standard-size ink tanks that fit into a permanent printhead: a 250-page pigment black (K), and 300-page cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). The replacements are reasonably priced, but the high-yield ones are an even better deal: $27 for an 800-page black tank (3.4 cents per page), and $18 each for 750-page cyan, magenta, and yellow tanks (2.4 cents per color, per page). A page with all four colors would cost 11 cents. The fifth color is HP′s “photo black”; according to HP, its $10, standard-size tank lasts for up to 130 4-by-6 photos (7.7 cents per photo); its $18 high-yield tank, for up to 290 (6.2 cents per photo).

A few things about the Photosmart C6380 seem not to fit with its midrange price. In most ways, however, it handles a multifunction′s many tasks with aplomb, making it one of the better-designed competitors on the market.

–Melissa Riofrio