Specifications

AFTER HOURS
Ask Dr. Tech
When we placed our service call to Ask
Dr. Tech, the operator told us we would
get a call back in about 2 minutes from an
appropriate technician. The call did come
back within 2 minutes, and the technician
promptly diagnosed and solved our prob-
lem by talking us through the necessary
settings changes. Still, we’d prefer a one-
step process.
Home plan: Unlimited phone and e-mail support
for any PC hardware and software, $89 per year
for the first PC; $45 for each additional PC.
Home Plan Plus: Faster response times, online
data backup, PDA support, depot repair service,
$179 per year for the first PC; $129 for each
additional PC. Ask Dr. Tech Inc.,
www.askdrtech.com.
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PC Pinpoint
Technicians at PC Pinpoint can address
problems related to any
PC or peripheral
running any
OS. First, you download
a communications client. When you
encounter a problem, you click on
the Pinpoint icon for automated testing,
which identifies and fixes about 65 per-
cent of common problems. If you need
more help, you can reference illustrated
self-help tutorials or contact a support
representative by phone, e-mail, or chat.
The representative we spoke with
about our monitor asked whether we
had tried the tutorials first. He then used
the communications utility to check our
computer’s components and quickly
talked us through the solution.
One year unlimited service, $49.95 per PC;
on-site support, $75 to $125 per visit. Distinctive
Technologies, www.pcpinpoint.com.
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SupportFreaks.com
SupportFreaks.com offers both a free e-
mail service and a subscription service for
support for any Windows-based
PC. The
free service lets you enter a question and
offers up to 25 automated responses. Sub-
scription services include basic, advanced,
and customized packages.
We presented our display problem to
both services. Within 16 hours, we re-
ceived two responses from the free ser-
vice, both of which solved the problem.
The phone technician quickly identified
the problem and talked us through the
necessary adjustments.
Basic service (telephone or chat), $29
for 2 hours. SupportFreaks.com LLC, www
.supportfreaks.com.
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Tech24
You can buy chat-based technical support
from Tech24 for any Windows-based
PC.
Tech24 also has service alliances with
companies such as BestBuy, Microsoft,
and Symantec.
When we presented our display prob-
lem to a support person, we had
to key in the details twice—but he
solved the problem in about 5
minutes, using a remote-control
utility to change our screen set-
tings. The representative was
friendly and polite, and he kept us
informed of his progress.
$19.95 per incident. Tech24 Inc.,
www.tech24.com.
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Star Wars
Galaxies: An
Empire Divided
This massively
multiplayer online
game (
MMOG) is
pretty, and char-
acter creation
is amazing. But the irritating trend of
premature game releases continues.
If LucasArts updates the story content,
improves the mission system, and
adds promised content such as ridable
mounts, Galaxies could be exciting.
Until then, it’s a half-baked experience
in a rich universe.—Rich Brown
$49.95 direct plus $14.95 a month. LucasArts,
www.lucasarts.com.
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EVE Online
This point-and-click MMOG offers
exquisite outer-space graphics, and the
customizable interface hosts features
we wish were present in more games
of this genre.
EVE boasts a gargantuan
universe and a complex player-run
economy that’s heaven for get-rich-
quick schemers. And—a pleasant break
from the usual leveling treadmill in so
many
MMOGs—your character pur-
chases skills and
training in real
time.—Ari Vernon
$39.99 list plus
$12.99 a month.
Simon & Schuster
Interactive, www
.eve-online.com.
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Virtual Thesaurus
Virtual Thesaurus’s remarkable Java-
based 3-D interface gives you a highly
engaging way to explore the English lan-
guage. Enter a word and watch related
words and their relationships pop up on-
screen, slowly orbiting the original word.
Click on a related word and it becomes
central, with its own branches. Mouse
over connecting lines to see word rela-
tionships. Add
this to your
reference shelf.
—Carol A.
Mangis
$39.95 direct.
Plumb Designs,
www
.plumbdesigns
.com.
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QUICK CLIPS
As a PC Magazine reader, you’ve undoubtedly received panicked calls from friends
and relatives begging for your help in fixing a misbehaving
PC. If someone’s abusing
the privilege a little too often, though, you could kindly recommend a consumer techni-
cal-support service. We presented four service providers with the same problem—
our monitor was displaying distorted colors and graphics—and made service requests
at various hours, and we were impressed with the quality and speed of responses.
Consumer Tech Support
By Marge Brown
www.pcmag.com SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 PC MAGAZINE
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