Stories by Yardena Arar

  • Lenovo C260: This inexpensive all-in-one PC performs more like a tablet

    The best all-in-one PCs bundle solid desktop features in a sleek display--no unsightly tower required. But because they include a display, they often cost a lot more than traditional desktops, a problem Lenovo seeks to address with its C260 all-in-one, a 19.5-incher which goes for $480 (Amazon was selling this model for $450 as of this writing).

  • Microsoft Office 2013 is here: Hands-on impressions and buying advice

    The wait is over for Office 2013 and Office 365. Starting Tuesday, the latest version of Microsoft's venerable productivity suite goes on sale to consumers and academics, both on Microsoft's Office.com site and at retail outlets. You can buy the traditional stand-alone desktop software or, for the first time, consumers and students can buy Office as a subscription service that will make multiple installations cheaper.

  • Microsoft Office 2013 features new look, prices

    Although consumers and businesses are turning more often to Web-based software and mobile apps, many millions still depend on Microsoft Office to get their work done every day. The folks in Redmond want you to use Office wherever you go—on your PC, your tablet, and your Windows Phone handset. To that end, Microsoft is pushing deep integration between its desktop applications and your data, stored on Microsoft servers.

  • Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook review: A multimedia marvel

    Although it's based on Intel's fastest new Ivy Bridge CPU for Ultrabooks, the Dell XPS 14 at 4.7 pounds hovers perilously close in weight to the all-purpose laptop category. But Dell gives you several reasons to lug the extra ounces around, especially if you value good multimedia features.

  • Acer Aspire S5 review: A serious MacBook Air challenger

    If you're looking for an Ultrabook with the superslim good looks of a MacBook Air, enough computing oomph to handle multimedia and general business tasks, plus a good-enough battery life, take a long hard look at the Acer Aspire S5. Especially the superslim good looks part.

  • Home networks reach for the Cloud

    The move to Cloud computing isn't just for businesses. At CES, home network giants D-Link and Netgear are showing a range of equipment that leverage cloud services to give consumers more access to and control over home networks--and network content--from mobile devices.

  • Acer Aspire One 522 Netbook

    The Acer Aspire One 522 (model BZ897) delivers a good, classic netbook for a very reasonable price ($330 as of March 18, 2011). Petite and slim with a handsome 10.1-inch widescreen LED-backlit display, a 250GB hard drive, an integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam, and a multitouch touchpad, this portable does a solid job with multimedia and boasts pretty good battery life: nearly 7 hours in our tests using the provided 6-cell battery.

  • 2nd Story Software TaxAct Deluxe

    TaxActDeluxe has been the budget tax-software option for some time now, but can it handle business taxes? The answer is yes -- but only if you don't need a heap of guidance and you can make do with limited data-import features.