professionals

X-NetStat Professional cannot be called the Cadillac of Internet connection software. Instead, it's more like a hot rod. Pure performance with little attention to appearances. For users obsessed with the minute details of their connection, it might be the best test drive of their life.

This program gives users deep access to their computer's Internet connection. An easy-to-measure bandwidth gauge constantly runs, as does a list of all programs and Web sites in action and how much space they are taking. Digging deeper into the program's options, users will find an incredible amount of statistics detailing bytes, … Read more

Get an accurate reading of your CPU speed and compare it online with other computers around the globe with this application.

CPU Speed Professional has a sleek, easy-to-use interface that resembles gauges from an automobile. The main function of this program is to test the speed of your CPU. It does its job quickly and efficiently in four automated steps. Results from the test are displayed in a pop-up window, on the gauge, and also in a flashing box below the gauges. It's hard to miss! There is a selection of tabs to choose from, including the CPU details … Read more

Reminder service ReQall is launching a new "professional" service aimed at business users. The service, which costs $2.99 a month, or $24.99 a year, lets users integrate their ReQall tasks and reminders with both Outlook and Google Calendar. It also organizes and groups together tasks and items by location, and has a new memory jogger tool that guesses which of your tasks will be forgotten and gives you an extra reminder.

Of all of the features, the calendar integration is likely to be the most alluring. It lets you use multiple devices to manage upcoming tasks. … Read more

You'll get no argument from me that $107,000 seems like a lot of money for a pair of speakers.

But the YG Acoustics Anat Reference II Professional is a lot of speaker. Stereophile magazine's Wes Phillips delved deep into the flagship speaker's build and sound quality in his review. It was a tough assignment, but somebody had to do it.

While $107,000 is definitely out of my price range, that doesn't mean there's not a market, albeit a very small market, for products that advance the state of the art. Great, but who buys these things?

Answer: rich people. You probably know some of their names. Rock icon Bruce Springsteen just signed a new $110,000,000 contract. The Boss could and should buy these things (maybe he'd make better-sounding records). And the last time I checked, Tom Cruise is still getting upward of $20 million to appear in a movie. A pair of YG Acoustics Anat Reference II Professionals would be a nice start for his home theater.

In addition, sports superstars are still signing megamillion contracts, and big-business CEOs are still eating at fancy restaurants. Even now, the rich aren't hurting; luxury markets are holding steady.

The Anat Reference II Professional is a three-piece modular loudspeaker. It is, shall we say, on the statuesque side of large; the Reference Main Module sits atop the Studio passive subwoofer, which, in turn, rests upon the Professional powered subwoofer. Each three-module array weighs 440 pounds.

Most of each module is made of aircraft-grade aluminum; the front baffles are a machined "ballistic grade" alloy of aluminum and titanium. The speakers are shipped in six custom aluminum flight cases.… Read more

Anyone in need of amping up desktop security will find this application both useful and easy to use.

WinLock Professional has a clean and functional interface that is easy to understand. The program works well to limit access to certain areas of the computer, but a few of the security measures could be bypassed by savvy users. On the first use, users can easily set up a password to keep others from changing settings, decide when the program will run, and how it will log activity. Other features include the capability to lock users out of vital areas, such as … Read more

Every home kitchen is different, and every home cook appreciates options. When kitchen appliance makers cater to choice while providing quality results, home cooks everywhere are free to perfect their craft without fear of unnecessary equipment failure. The first place to start in any kitchen is the oven. BlueStar Freestanding Ranges offer a multitude of options, while providing features that are designed to provide performance.

The freestanding ovens come in four categories, which can be broken down into three convection models and one standard oven. The Nova Burner models feature convection ranges, while the Culinary Series uses a more conventional … Read more

Hard Drive Inspector Professional keeps all of your system's attributes and hard disk health information in one, nicely wrapped package. However, we found a minor discrepancy with the information it provided us.

The user interface is beautifully designed, with large command buttons at the top for saving and sending data reports, and configuration options. Tabs organized the diagnostic information into three categories: Health Summary, Technical Info, and S.M.A.R.T. Details. From the Health Summary window, we got a brief summary of the amount of available space left on our hard disks, our disk model, and the … Read more

The mere mention of encryption can evoke images of lonely geeks or government operatives hunched over their potentially earth shattering work. Discussions of public and private keys can send even experienced computer users into a fundamental state of distress, but it doesn't have to be that way. Advanced Encryption Package Professional is a tool that can, at the very least, ease some of the pain of working with encrypted messages and files.

The program itself is decent-looking but quirky. It has a theme engine that works well, though the existence of the theme engine is both welcomed and perplexing, … Read more

Everything tastes better deep fried. Or at least, everything tastes better when it is deep fried correctly. From fish to fries, anything that spends too much time in the oil ends up a greasy and soggy mess. It's unfortunate that so many meals that could be delicious end up swimming in a puddle of their own grease. If only there was a way to control the frying process...

Take fry matters into your own hands with the Waring Professional Deep Fryer. The professional-style fryer is operated through a digital LCD control panel. Just input the desired temperature and set … Read more