Maximum PC
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Maximum PC, formerly known as Boot is an American magazine, focused on modern day PC hardware. Being a forum for printed review, Maximum PC is generally a respected label on commercial products. Most content in the magazine is projected to a less business-oriented audience than many other magazines. The magazine is focused more so on home-related computing, and the relation of modern hardware towards modern software and gaming.
Maximum PC's use of humor, sometimes vulgar language, and suggestive images (one of the issues featured a female nurse fixing a computer on the cover) gave it a distinct populist feeling, and also resulted in some controversy.
Prior to December, 1997, the magazine was called boot.
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Product reviews
Product review are done by editors on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. The only product to receive an "11" rating was Half-Life 2 in January 2005, raising some objections from readers.
Outstanding products are also given a "Kick-Ass" award. Many products with a "9" rating and all products with a "10" rating receive this award.
Each review also includes a "Pros and Cons" section giving a quick summary of the product. Shortly after its first publication, the magazine started placing humorous captions in this section, many of which being a pun on the product itself or its function. For example in a review of two monitors, one section is captioned LCD/LSD, in the other it's Liquid crystal/Crystal meth.
Notable features
- Dream Machine - an annual attempt to build the top-perfoming PC on the market, using the best componenets and techniques available.
- Gear of the Year - a review of the best PC parts for the current year.
- Watch Dog - a section where Maximum PC acts as a consumer advocate, going after fraud reported by the readers. Each month the section features a new dog, whose photos are also sent in by the readers.
- Head2Head - a side-by-side comparison of two or more competing products.
- Ask the Doctor - advice of fixing computer related problems.
- In the Lab - a behind-the-scenes look at Maximum PC testing. This section often includes humorous features sometimes involving "torturing" interns.
- Rig of the Month - a monthly showcase of an elaborate case modification.
Circulation
The magazine currently averages 79,954 newstand purchases, and reaches an estimated audience of 1.6 million per month.
External links
- Maximum PC (http://www.maximumpc.com)