Computer Shopper (US magazine)

Computer Shopper

Editor	John A. Burek
Categories	Computer magazine
Frequency	Monthly
First issue	1979
Final issue	2009
Company	SX2 Media Labs
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	www.computershopper.com
ISSN	0886-0556

Computer Shopper was a monthly consumer computer magazine published by SX2 Media Labs, it ceased publication in April 2009.^[1][2] The publisher continues to run ComputerShopper.com, a related website.

Web Site

The web site is a portal with reviews, product roundups, help and how-to coverage. It has a comparison-shopping component that allows buyers to connect with the lowest prices on technology products from online sellers.

The site comprises central pages for all major computer hardware and software categories. One section lists break out the site's most recent coverage according to category, while another lists provide guidance to the five best products in a given category. The site provides succinct summaries (including videos) of how to shop for PC hardware in over 30 categories. Editors blog new product releases and first impressions.

A forum enables readers to engage in debate and get answers to computer buying questions and operating troubles. The site's download area provides access to thousands of free, shareware, and trial software apps, maintained on the back end by CNET.com.

Magazine

Computer Shopper, the print magazine, comprised the following sections at the end of its publication:

• Boot Up. A commentary and product-news section written by the magazine's expert editors. A column written by Senior Editor Sarah E. Anderson examined tech-buying and related issues from a working mother's perspective.

• Reviews. Over two dozen in each issue, in-depth product reviews were the core of Computer Shopper's mission. Computer Shopper's reviews comprised rigorous lab testing and thorough analysis by some of the industry’s foremost experts on PC hardware and software.

• Features. Typically two or three per issue, the feature stories were typically product-centric, comprising head-to-head roundups and hardware and software buying guides. In addition, help and how-to features assisted readers in getting the most out of the technology they already own.

• Help and How-To. Here, Computer Shopper editors assisted readers with their tech troubles. Also, "Weekend Project" stories gave step-by-step directions on exactly how to perform common upgrades, PC-based leisure and productivity tasks, and much more. PC-building coverage also kept readers apprised of the latest in PC-hobbyist products.

• Shut Down. A retrospective look at technology through the archives of Computer Shopper.

History of Computer Shopper Magazine

Continuously published for 30 years, Computer Shopper magazine was established in 1979 in Titusville, Florida. It began as a tabloid-size publication on yellow newsprint that primarily contained classified advertising and ads for computers (then largely kit-built, hobbyist systems), parts, and software. The magazine was created by Glenn Patch, publisher of the photo-equipment magazine Shutterbug Ads, in the hopes of applying its formula to a PC-technology magazine.

The magazine rapidly expanded into the then-burgeoning area of popular factory-built computers such as the TRS-80, as well as models from Apple Inc., Atari, Texas Instruments, and others. For a time, it was a popular^{[citation needed]} source of info for users of these soon-to-be-outmoded home computers. Then, as the white box IBM PC compatible business exploded in the mid-1980s, it became a source of shopping info—via its editorial content and its volume of direct-sales advertising—for the clone-PC revolution. Dell and Gateway, Inc. sold their wares through ads in the pages of Computer Shopper.

In August 1984, the first perfect-bound^{[clarification needed]} issue of Computer Shopper debuted (at 350 pages), and the phone-book-size magazine regularly topped the 800-page mark during the early 1990s. It was during this time that the magazine was sold to Ziff-Davis Publishing (first as a limited partnership, then solely owned). It was later sold, in 2000, along with Ziff-Davis' ZDNet Web site, to CNET. CNET sold Computer Shopper to its current owners, SX2 Media Labs, in 2006.^[3] In April 2009, SX2 Media Labs discontinued the print version of the magazine.

List of Editors-in-Chief

1. Stan Veit (1982-1986)
2. John Dickinson (1986-1988)
3. John Blackford (1988-2000)
4. Janice Chen (2000-2006)
5. Rik Fairlie (2006-2007)
6. John A. Burek (2008-present)

References

1. ^ "Computer Shopper Is Going All Digital; April Is Last Print Issue". http://paidcontent.org/article/419-computer-shopper-is-going-all-digital-april-is-last-print-issue. 
2. ^ "Subscriber Bulletin". http://computershopper.com/more/subscriber-bulletin. 
3. ^ SX2 Media Labs

External links

• Computer Shopper (US)