Not only were 1980s issues of PC Magazine quite large (this one is around 375 pages), for a while it was also published every other week. The May 28, 1985 issue includes:
Cover Stories
Plug-ins: The Inside Story - Some of the best add-in devices including hard drives and half-height floppy drives, and backup devices such as tape drives (these weren't officially supported by IBM until the XT and PCjr came along).
Installing Megabytes in Minutes - A comparison of some of the hard drives available for the PC, including the Mountain Computer XT Internal, Micro Design IS 10, Falcon Technology PC Extender, Everex Everdisk, Quadram QuadDisk (12 MB), Sigma Designs HHK-02000, Kamerman Labs Megaflight, Micro Design IS 30, and Quadram QuadDisk (72 MB).
Portability Meets Privacy - A comparison of available removeable-cartridge hard disk systems including the Genie XL 10P, Quadram QuadDisk, IDEAssociates IDEAdisk, and Tecmar PC-Mate. These all coast in the neighborhood of $2000 for a storage capacity of 5 to 10MB per cartridge.
Double Your Driving Pleasure - A comparison of half-height floppy drives for the PC including the Panasonic JU-455, Control Data 9428, TEAC FD-55B-01-U, and QUME QumeTrak 142.
OmniTel's Encore Performance - A look at the Encore 1200B Hayes compatible internal modem (1200bps for only $449).
Get Smart with MaxThink - MaxThink is a "thought processor", a category of software designed to sort out the pros and cons and other factors for making choices.
2001: Futuristic Accounting? - 2001 from FIS is an accouting package designe for small businesses.
Macro Dynamos for the PC - A comparison of two pieces of software for creating macros: ProKey 3.0 and SmartKey 4.1.
Pro Columns
Finding Anything Anywhere - A type-in BASIC program for searching text in files on your disk.
Keeping the Wolves at Bay - A look at a bankruptcy-reorganization program from Arthur Anderson & Co. called The Reorganization Model.
Banking on Your Computer - Online banking has been around longer than you might think. In 1985, you could access your accounts via dial-up to systems such as PRONTO.
Restoring Matrix Commands to BASIC - The original Dartmouth BASIC including matrix functionality but this was cut when BASIC was created for PCs. Matrix 100 is a BASIC software package that adds back these BASIC matrix commands.
PC News - IBM enters the "phone-computer" market; IBM cuts prices and releases new XT models; AT&T's STARLAN; Ericcsson releases 15-pound portable computer for $2995; Kodak makes offer for Verbatim; electronic mail privacy issues; Japan's new PC JX (sort of a Japanese version of the PCjr), and much more.
The Mouse That Roared - Editors at PC Magazine experiment with using a mouse.
Letters to PC - Letters from readers about Professional BASIC, user software rights, sending files by modem vs. LAN, BBS lists, and more.
Complementary Comments - A look at new printers from IBM (Wheelprinter and Quietwriter Printer), the advantages of using non-IBM hard drives with the IBM AT, and a look at IBM's new Enhanced Graphics Adapter.
