Macworld readers are a savvy bunch . You have pretty secure opinions about , well , jolly much everything . ( Want proof ? Just visit the Macworld.com assembly . ) So a couple of months ago , we ask the denizens of Macworld.com , “ What are your selection for hardware and software products of the year ? ”
After hoard hundreds of nominations , we whittle them down to the favorites and then put the list up for an online vote . When the dust cleared , there were two unclouded winners for our reader ’ Choice Awards .
If there was a no - brainer hardware product of the year for readers and editors likewise , it was Apple ’s late stemma of consumer desktops , theiMac G5 . It get the most lector nominating address and won a ready to hand 46 percent of the final voting . ( We bechance to agree with our readers — we named it Best Mac in this year ’s Eddy Awards . The cheeseparing runners - up in the proofreader ballot also came from Apple : the dual-2.5GHz Power Mac G5 , the AirPort Express , and the iPod mini .
We had a tighter race in the software family . campaigner included several product that earned Eddys ( Toast with Jam 6.0 ( see Best Current cost ) , BBEdit 8.0 , and OmniWeb 5.01 ) , as well as several that did n’t ( Maya 6.0 , LaunchBar 4 , Quicksilver 1.0 , NewsFire 0.24 , and Mellel 1.8 ) . In the end , a product in the latter family gain the most vote ( 30 percent):Final Cut Pro HD 4.5($999;Apple ) ( see Best Current Price ) .
Best High-End Digital Camera
You ca n’t talk about Canon’sEOS 20Dwithout making a band of comparisons . equate with its predecessor , the 10D , the 20D has a high resolution—8.2 megapixels — and crushed image racket . equate with similarly price digital SLRs , its startup and shot performance are flying ; its in - camera JPEG processing controls , fine ; its autofocusing , speedy ; and its lens pick , wider . And the tilt run on . It ’s a superlative camera.—TERRI STONE
EOS 20D : $ 1,599 ( without lens ) ( see Best Current terms ) ; Canon
Best Low-End Digital Camera
Sony’sCyber - slam DSC - T1is a digital point - and - shoot camera that also becharm high-pitched - quality telecasting . The DSC - T1 is only four - fifths of an inch dense , yet it has a 2.5 - inch liquid crystal display display and acquire 5 - megapixel images . And you ’ll also get 30 skeletal frame per second of full - screenland VGA ( 640 by 480 ) , with little noticeable compression . The DSC - T1 is n’t perfect : crimson - eye commonly crops up , it lack manual mood , and the price is high . But we can forgive all that when we view the great video this tiny camera can capture.—TERRI pit
Cyber - shot DSC - T1 : $ 500 ( see Best Current Price ) ; Sony
Best Way to Edit Photos
Adobe’sPhotoshop Elements 3.0gives you a big chunk of the pixel - pushing top executive of the hefty Adobe Photoshop CS , but at a bargain toll and with far less complexness . young users will love the Quick Fix redaction mode , a one - click room to bushel bad exposures automatically . Elements 3 also include Photoshop ’s powerful File browser app for searching and organize your shot . Other expectant additions include Photoshop ’s fab filter gallery and that curriculum ’s popular Healing brush . Together , they allow you to gear up the flaw in just about any image.—JACKIE DOVE
Photoshop Elements 3 : ; February 2005 ; $ 90 ( see Best Current damage ) ; Adobe
Best Fine-Art Printer
hired man down , the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 is the good large - format ink - jet printing machine on the food market right now . Its prints rival those you ’d get from a picture lab , with a depth of item and affluence no other current ink - special K printing machine can match . The printer check eight UltraChrome paint - based ink , so you no longer have to switch out photo- and mat - smutty cartridges . It also extend impressive speeding , so it ’s a estimable choice for volume printers , as well as photographers looking to sell their work.—KELLY LUNSFORD
Stylus Pro 4000 : ; June 2004 ; $ 2,195 ( see Best Current Price ) ; Epson
Best Portable Way to View Photographs
The EpsonP-2000photo viewer think of that you ’ll never again have to worry about run out of room for your digital snaps . Just introduce your CompactFlash or Secure Digital ( SD ) board into this sleek 40 GB hard drive , and remove the card for new photograph . But what take a shit this icon viewer really stand out is its screen — a eminent - resolve , 3.8 - column inch LCD that displays arresting contingent and beautiful colors.—KELLY LUNSFORD
P-2000 : $ 500;Epson
