Where is PCLive?

Linoge

What is with this magazine. Every other computer mag has their July issue out and PC Live still haven't got their June issue out.

They need to get their heads out of their asses... or have they closed down?

KTRIC

Linoge wrote:

What is with this magazine. Every other computer mag has their July issue out and PC Live still haven't got their June issue out.

They need to get their heads out of their asses... or have they closed down?

Get a real computer mag instead. PC Live is a joke.

odie

K-TRIC wrote:

Get a real computer mag instead. PC Live is a joke.

Have to agree here....it has turned into a business advertising mag....even the reviews are sponsored....which would tell me they are biased.

I go with PCFormat. And the kids love ComputerActive.

I have even found articles in PC live that were plageurised from American PC Mags.

Lump

BNack in the day when I was 12-16... I read PCLive, cheap and interesting enough. Fairly sure it's gone to pot now. I read Computer Active every so often, again for the cheap-ness reason.

John

awhir

what the best pc mag for giving advice on building your on pc and parts

fintan

PC Plus is a good mag

aaf

Yeah, PC Live used to be good and there are some good things still but too much sponsored reviews in there that are far too biased. I won't be renewing my yearly subscription. Got a note in the door yesterday saying they've just moved offices and as a result, the June issue will be a joint issue with July's and they'll stick an extra issue onto your subscription.

awhir

does pc live give reviews on parts and does it show how to build pcs well if it does not will ye please reccomend me a mag

odie

I would recommend PC Format....reviews, workshops, PCBuilds and such....http://www.pcformat.co.uk/

the_syco

claregalway Qs wrote:

what the best pc mag for giving advice on building your on pc and parts

Saw a mag in the shops called "Custom PC" http://www.custompc.co.uk/. Quick look through it, and it had a few articles on different PC bits. Not sure if its any good, but it looks alright.


=-=

I quit buying the mags when I got BB. Only go the mags for the demo's, and now I can get the demo's when they come out, and not a month later in some mag. I laugh when I see an "exclusive" demo in a mag, that I've already finished two weeks ago.

jimi_t

IMHO, there's only two computer magazines worth speaking about - Computer Music & MacFormat, and even these two aren't a patch on what they used to be. CVG and PC Format are certainly worth a look, and from time to time "Stuff" is good - articles are very well written and non-biased. PC!Live, like most irish magazines, is a sick joke.

The Real B-man

got a letter from pclive as i have a subscripyion they are currently delaying there latest issue as they have merged with toys for big boys and are realeasing a new bigger issue in a few weeks

L1011

I still get PCW from force of habit - my dad starting buying it in the late 1970's!

TBH, they're all crap. The only magazine I'd actually willingly buy was canned after a few issues due to problems getting authors (not sales, weirdly) - Be Magazine. Made by the company that does LinuxFormat and others in the US in 1999. Actually outsold LF, at one stage, but there were less technical people available to write it.

Random

PCLive is gone to the crapper. It really has. I bought the last issue and read it in 5 mins, and that includes the ads. There's nothing of value in it, and at E2, you get what you pay for.

I subscribe to PC Format, dam good magazine. Games, lifestyle, hardware, software, the whole shebang! If you don't want too much techy stuff then it's the one for you, but it also caters for the hardcore PC Enthusiast.

PC Plus is a little more indepth then PCFormat and has lots of workshops focusing on hardware, programmming, web design, etc.

Custom PC is about information and custom parts. It reviews all the latest gear and brings you the weird and wonderful from the world of modding also.


Just my views of course, PC Live is not something I'd buy again.

aidan_dunne

I agree with the other people's comments about PC Live. It really has gone to the dogs, and the downwards slide start about 5 years ago or so. I used to have a subscription but I didn't bother renewing it post-1999 or so because the downward slope started around then. I used to buy it occassionaly after that when they still had the coverdisc on the front if there was anything decent on it but when they stopped covermounting the disc and went to having to ring/text a premium number to get it, I almost stopped altogether. The last couple of times I bought it and texted for the disc, I never got it. I know it was only a couple of Euros wasted but, still, taking my money and not sending my disc out to me, that was the final nail in the coffin. :mad:

Used to buy PC Plus, PC Pro and PC World now and again if there was something in it I found interesting or if they had a coverdisc with some decent stuff on it, but I hardly buy computer magazines any more.

The only magazine I used to buy regularly was 'Amstrad Action' years ago for my CPC 464!

disco_bear

Actually, to be fair the articles weren't plagiarised, PC live used to have a license to use stuff from magazines like PC World. I asked about it before because I noticed a few of the same articles appearing in PC World and PC Live.


But you're right, the magazine has gone to hell. Personally, I've noticed some glaring factual errors and some really bad articles - rambling on, badly written. And they're usually the ones that don't have an author's name on it - embarrasment maybe?

I certainly won't be buying it again. And by the looks of things, there's quite a few readers that will soon be ex-readers. I wonder if they'll cancel any more issues??? And is that even a reason for cancelling an issue - surely they'd be more organised by that?

Didn't see the Indo drop an issue when they moved premises, and that's a much bigger operation with daily not monthly deadlines.

Fionn

haven't bought a mag in years nor read one either


there's one available for free, half looked at it, seems ok

http://www.homecomputermagazine.com/

scawley

Hi everybody,

Stephen Cawley, here, Editor of PC live!

First of all, thank you very much for the feedback. I think your constructive criticism can help us to deliver a better magazine. But I must also take this opportunity to address some inaccuracies with regard to the publication which have been posted in the thread below.



First of all, PC Live! does not plagiarise content from non-Irish titles. In fact we have commercial licensing agreements in place with international technology publishers which allow us to deliver the very best lab test reports and tips editorial. In saying this, I do think that we get the balance right by complementing this licensed pool of tips and feature editorials, with a good mix of Irish content through local news, opinion and features written by Irish writers. Where else will local users get IRISH consumer technology news if not from PC live!?



For those readers who used our text service to request our Covermounted CD ROM and didn’t get it, I can assure that this is the exception rather than the norm. I will be bringing this to the attention of our circulation manager. Any readers who have encountered this problem should mail me directly (stephenDOTcawleyATmediateamDOTie - edited by khannie to avoid spammage) and they will get their CDs immediately.



I must also point out that none of the reviews in the magazine are sponsored. We do have some sponsorships in there but only attached to tips editorial - such as a digital photo editing guide or a video editing guide - where there can be no question of vendor bias.



Some posters have suggested that the magazine was 'better' five years ago. Of course, they are entitled to their opinion and to share it with others. The reality is that the last five years have witnessed a major downturn in both the advertising and IT industries, and it has become increasingly difficult for a small, Irish technology magazine to thrive. We have had to cut our cloth to measure by keeping ratios tight so we can continue to deliver an indigenous PC and personal technology magazine. While the pagination may have been reduced in that time, we have done some very positive things for our readers: We have dropped the cover price from 4.85 to 2 euros delivering tremendous value for money. We have also introduced digital lifestyle and gadget content as a value add to the stable of PC content.



Finally, I think we are still doing something right as our latest ABC audit figure shows that we have 10,550 paying readers. And if you consider that Stuff has a circ of 65,000 in the much larger market which is the UK, you will see that proportionally, PC Live! is still a very popular magazine.



Thank you all for your interest in our publication.



Regards



Stephen Cawley, Editor, PC Live!

Linoge

Wow! Didn't know you paid attention to our little boards site!

First of all welcome. Hope you call in more often.

Its good that you've taken an interest in our discussion. I thought it was a great move lowering the price to €2. The coverdisk was never up to the 2 cds that came with other magazines such as PC Format, so I was always annoyed at paying extra for a disk I didn't want.

I had brought up the issue of repeated reviews in a post about a year ago. You should put a name at the end of each review that you buy under license, because it looks fairly suspect.

The reason why your reviews look sponsored is because you give the name and number of a supplier at the end of each one. There really is no need for this, we can find our own bargains thanks.

Some parts of your magazine just look really old, like the list of web hosters and that suppliers list. I don't think anyone really cares about these. The space would be better spent on a top 10 of everything like in the back of Stuff, T3 and PC Format.

And finally, a page or 2 dedicated to an Ireland Offline rant would be interesting. Most people posting here would probably want to see it in there as well.

Anyway, I think you're on the right track and look forward to seeing what this July issue is gonna be all about!

disco_bear

scawley wrote:

The reality is that the last five years have witnessed a major downturn in both the advertising and IT industries, and it has become increasingly difficult for a small, Irish technology magazine to thrive. We have had to cut our cloth to measure by keeping ratios tight so we can continue to deliver an indigenous PC and personal technology magazine.

But this doesn't account for obvious factual errors in the magazine. If you're aiming at PC beginners, it's important that you actually deliver the proper information. Otherwise people will go elsewhere.

You can't blame that on an economic downturn.

scawley

If you would be good enough to point out these factual errors then maybe we could address them.

Thanks

Stephen

chump

Nice response scawley,

You're never really going to appeal to the enthusiasts here, and as for the comments about it being better 5 years ago, those people were also 5 years younger and no doubt with less knowledge then...

What I do think you should do however, is increase the amount of stuff in the magazine, as even though it's 2euro, it is only worth 2euro contents wise.

I also think you should get more casual writers, like maybe even some people from boards, or somewhere, who write you up an article idea/example and you say, yea go ahead write that up and pay them 100euros or something for the piece.

It would fill up the mag at a low cost, and I'm sure there are plenty of 20somethings who would be able to write articles a hell of a lot better than some of the crap that get's spat out in your mag

Anyway best of luck

disco_bear

scawley wrote:

If you would be good enough to point out these factual errors then maybe we could address them.

Thanks

Stephen

wireless standards. I've spotted that a couple of times.

And if we're getting picky, prices would be another.

Kali

Hi Stephen,

Good to have a response from the mag on this thread.. as a lot of other users here I used to have a subscription to PC Live!, bear in mind that a lot of the comments on this thread are as chump has mentioned, from knowledgeable/experienced computer users who seem to have forgotten that PC Live! has always aimed squarely at the home-users new to computing (correct me if I'm mistaken), and unfortunaly its very simple and quick to outgrow such publications.

An idea may be to add a regular technical section to the magazine, covering novice issues such as Linux live CDs, boosting Windows performance, memory/cpu/gfx technology overviews etc.

Also one thing which would definitely get interest would be when hardware/software is reviewed to add at the end of the review price comparisons from Irish suppliers (including the likes of it-direct/elara/komplett).. so the consumer can shop around.

Consumer issues, things like the lack of broadband, telco issues (Ireland Offline territory), Irish copyright issues and IT related law, shopping around for good prices.. these are the things that you should be pushing (and you have the readership figures to help) both for your benefit and the consumer.

Again its hard to appeal to all aspects of the potential market, but well-written knowledgeable articles that demand respect would be the best start.

Cheers,
Ken

Khannie

chump wrote:

Nice response scawley,

Seconded

chump wrote:

You're never really going to appeal to the enthusiasts here

Seconded again. The people who frequent this forum are a tough bunch to please. My impression of PCLive is that it's more for mid-level computer users, though I did always like the Irish slant on things (don't buy mags much any more tbh).

Just my 2c.

mneylon

Linoge wrote:

Some parts of your magazine just look really old, like the list of web hosters and that suppliers list. I don't think anyone really cares about these.

You may not be interested in it, but we still get sales as a result of that listing

jmcc

blacknight wrote:

You may not be interested in it, but we still get sales as a result of that listing

I wonder if they've run any articles on hosting recently? There seems to be a lot of consumers registering domains these days.

Regards...jmcc

mneylon

Jmcc -
PC Live hasn't done any articles on hosting for a while.
ComputerScope tends to do one every year

Aquos76

Nice comment Stephen. I am a long time subscriber, and I still think the your mag offers exceptional value for money. Alot of these other mags which are been referred to tend to full of advertisements for the UK market.

Keep up the good work, and dont be shy about becoming a regular around here.

Leonard

aidan_walsh

Leonard wrote:

Alot of these other mags which are been referred to tend to full of advertisements for the UK market.

Probably because they're British-published magazines. Much in the same way that PC Live tends to be full of adverts for the Irish market.

I used to buy, but not in a long time now. It was ok for a bit, but I find it far too light these days.

jmcc

scawley wrote:

Where else will local users get IRISH consumer technology news if not from PC live!?

Apparently there is this new thing called the web. They can see the same press releases and the same product promotion. Even the Irish Times' "technology in business" section engages in product placement masquerading as technology journalism. ENN runs press releases every day as news with minimal original content. Siliconrepublic.com runs more business orientated stories but also does product placement. So as you can see, there is a lot of stuff out there for free. Strangely I think that even PC Live is also on the web.

I must also point out that none of the reviews in the magazine are sponsored.

So knowing how the review game works, how many of the "journalists" reviewing the products get to keep the products they review?

The reality is that the last five years have witnessed a major downturn in both the advertising and IT industries, and it has become increasingly difficult for a small, Irish technology magazine to thrive.

Well the late and unlamented DotIE going to the wall helped considerably as did the disappearance of WebIreland.

We have had to cut our cloth to measure by keeping ratios tight so we can continue to deliver an indigenous PC and personal technology magazine.

Indigenous? Hell that sounds like real multi-national speak.

Finally, I think we are still doing something right as our latest ABC audit figure shows that we have 10,550 paying readers. And if you consider that Stuff has a circ of 65,000 in the much larger market which is the UK, you will see that proportionally, PC Live! is still a very popular magazine.

So 10K5 readers in a low end market of what size? 65K in a market of how many?

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

blacknight wrote:

Jmcc -
PC Live hasn't done any articles on hosting for a while.
ComputerScope tends to do one every year

Most of the stuff I see written about hosting in Ireland in the magazines and newspapers is pretty clueless and gets fundamental facts wrong. That's why I was asking.

Regards...jmcc

mneylon

jmcc - the last one in the SBPost wasn't bad even by your standards

jmcc

blacknight wrote:

jmcc - the last one in the SBPost wasn't bad even by your standards

True - it was a lot better than Weckler's (editor of Sunday Business Post's advertising supplement "Computers In Business" ) idea that everyone should save money and host on Yahoo.

Regards...jmcc

Morgoth

Linoge wrote:

The reason why your reviews look sponsored is because you give the name and number of a supplier at the end of each one. There really is no need for this, we can find our own bargains thanks.

Must say I disagree! I get PC Pro every month and they do the same thing, i.e. they quote a supplier for every product they review. I find this an excellent little feature because:

1) They don't stick with the same few suppliers, they actually go and look for the cheapest price at the time of publication.
2) Due to 1), they have made me aware of way more smaller and medium sized suppliers in the English market who may not be able to match the bigger wholesalers on every price but can offer select products for cheaper.

I can't speak for PC Live! as I only bought one copy ever and that was back in '96 or so. But if they do the same as PC Pro then they provide a valuable recommendation service for cheap suppliers to people, many of whom may not know the names of any supplier, let alone even the bigger ones.

Paddy20

PC Live !.

Read that a couple of times when I first bought a computer. Thought it was a very amatuerish publication, and an insult to any reader of average intelligence.

Since then I occasionally buy ComputerActive ,and visit their website:- www.computeractive.co.uk
and now I also visit:- www.computeractive-direct.co.uk
which is their new innovative website.

As for "Where would Irish reader's turn to for a locally produced mag ?". Well, we are talking about computer's, which mean's the World Wide Web/Internet to me.

Enough said :rolleyes: .

P.

weird_science

It's not a bad magazine. Getting a bit thin these days though...

What's going on there? the issues used to be 80 pages plus, these days, they seem decidedly lighter...

weird_science

Though actually, while you're at it, perhaps you could explain where your readership figures come from?

I only ask because checking on the ABC website, there doesn't seem to be any for PC Live.

jmcc

weird_science wrote:

Though actually, while you're at it, perhaps you could explain where your readership figures come from? I know that the Irish Times kept quoting the ABC figures for its website from a few years ago until it had a new audit carried out recently.

I only ask because checking on the ABC website, there doesn't seem to be any for PC Live.

That is interesting. Could it be that ABC did not actually audit PC Live's distribution figures? Or is this some previous ABC audit that is being quoted?

Though one of the main problems that a magazine like PC Live would have is the pool of talent for tech journalism is so small. The bottom of that pool is generally filled with mediocre journalists with little knowledge on computers/technology beyond a hobbyist level and these people are the cheapest to employ. DotIE was a textbook case of the slide from mediocrity to oblivion. PC Live still has a chance before it becomes PC Dead. Though when claims are made about ABC audit figures without the corresponding weblink, then it makes you think if these claims are just marketing speak to impress the Irish technology magazine audience.

Regards...jmcc

jhegarty

jmcc wrote:

That is interesting. Could it be that ABC did not actually audit PC Live's distribution figures? Or is this some previous ABC audit that is being quoted?

Though one of the main problems that a magazine like PC Live would have is the pool of talent for tech journalism is so small. The bottom of that pool is generally filled with mediocre journalists with little knowledge on computers/technology beyond a hobbyist level and these people are the cheapest to employ. DotIE was a textbook case of the slide from mediocrity to oblivion. PC Live still has a chance before it becomes PC Dead. Though when claims are made about ABC audit figures without the corresponding weblink, then it makes you think if these claims are just marketing speak to impress the Irish technology magazine audience.

Regards...jmcc

anyone know what it would cost to publish something like pc live ?

anyone got a dogey copy of quark and an colour printer...

jmcc

jhegarty wrote:

anyone know what it would cost to publish something like pc live ?

anyone got a dogey copy of quark and an colour printer...

Publishing and printing is easy. Getting good distribution and an audience is more difficult. The magazine distributors may require anything from 40 to 60% of the sale price for carrying the magazine and before that there is the problem of getting advertising and content. I looked at putting an Irish tech magazine together a few years ago but the market is so small that it was difficult to justify financially with good writers.

Regards...jmcc

Snickers Man

weird_science wrote:

Though actually, while you're at it, perhaps you could explain where your readership figures come from?

I only ask because checking on the ABC website, there doesn't seem to be any for PC Live.

It's a big naughty claiming to have an independently audited figure when you don't have one at all. Tut Tut.

I did a search for some well known Irish publications on the ABC Website.

Among those who have chosen to submit to an ABC audit, and have been awarded one, are:

Business and Finance,
Computerscope, (PC Live's sister publication)
Irish Tatler,
Farmer's Journal
Business Plus,
Irish Entrepreneur
The Dubliner!!!!

Among those that haven't, or who have not been awarded one yet:
PC Live
Irish Brides
Magill

There's probably a few other publications without audits but I got bored trying them all.

jmcc

Just checking the Computerscope data on http://www.abc.org.uk shows a distribution figure of 10067 as of November 2004. Checking for PC Live shows that it has had its registration approved on 22/03/2005. This is what "approved" means:

"This means ABC has approved the publication/exhibition's registration but has not certified any circulation/attendance figures.Once registered, a certificate of circulation/attendance must be issued within 12 months. (18 months for those registered before 01/01/2005)"

I guess that claim about an ABC audited figure of 10550 is strange in this respect.

Regards...jmcc

odie

I am glad that SCawley replied to our queries but he has not addressed the issues here.

I purchase 3 magazines. ComputerActive, PC Format and PCLive
PCLive I bought since it was brought out. I understand that my knowlede of the IT industry has improved in that time, the criticism I have is that there is not enough coverage of Product reviews and by the time we PCLive comes out. The reviews are not up to date. That is I have read them in another magazine the month before.

Also maybe it is not plageurism Per se, but some articles have been reproduced from other (I assume) licensed syndicated magazines.

Not to say they other mags don't do it but I have not come across this in other mags I read.

What about having a voluntary section where readers review equipment and software. Quite a few readers have Broadband connections and could download software to try out an submit their thoughts on how it functions.

Also I find that PCFormat is one of the few UK mags that are not completely filled with Ads. Even though it is more expensive the layout is good and the free DVD makes it worth it.
It has some of the best objective articles, and actual tested reviews. Not to mention covering articles for Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced PC users.

ComputerActive is good for News articles and it's Workshops and while it is a UK mag it has a lot of news articles that cover general PC and software items.

I would rather have all or most of this information in an Irish mag but PCLive does not provide enough news on whats happening in the World of computers.

To be honest €2 is not expensive for what PCLive is, but I would not mind paying a fiver for a mag with more content, more independent hardware/software reviews and more Worldly PC News.

Slap the disk on for another 2 yoyo's. (Maybe include trial software for readers to review and respond for the following month)

Also, just a suggestion but printing on that high weighted gsm paper must be expensive, how about reducing costs by printing on lighter paper, like a magazine.

jmcc

odie wrote:

Also maybe it is not plageurism Per se, but some articles have been reproduced from other (I assume) licensed syndicated magazines.

It is cheap filler material. That way PC Live doesn't have to spend money on getting original copy from the tjs.

What about having a voluntary section where readers review equipment and software. Quite a few readers have Broadband connections and could download software to try out an submit their thoughts on how it functions.

Editing a reader review for print is time consuming and it would be interfering with the product placement flow. (Products reviewed because the sellers are advertisers in the magazine.)

Regards...jmcc

weird_science

That's a little bit unfair jmcc - a lot of publications use syndicated copy to over things they would otherwise have missed.

PC Live is no different.

Mr. Presentable

Indeed Weird_Science. One only has to read the footnotes of most articles in the Indo.

jmcc

weird_science wrote:

That's a little bit unfair jmcc - a lot of publications use syndicated copy to over things they would otherwise have missed.

PC Live is no different.

But the syndicated copy is still cheaper than paying tjs to write copy.

Regards...jmcc

Civilian_Target

To be honest - I think you guys are right. I got a copy of PC Live for the bus a few days back and it was painful to read. While its always been aimed at hobbyists and newbies rather than serious IT people, quality has dropped an awful lot from the days of 1999-2000 (I got it pretty much every issue from when the N64 came out until the time they had Corel Linux on the cover) - the promotional section (the buzz, or whatever it was called) has become extremely painful and seems to account for much more of the magazine than it used to. The whole lot definitely seems a bit oversponsered to me - even though Stephen says otherwise, as an average reader that comes as news to me.

rsynnott

PC Live went the way of most Irish magazines where vastly better ones are available from the UK.

deadl0ck

I moved to Sweden back in 2000 (back in Ireland now though). Anyhoo... at the time I rang PC live and aske if they would do a subscription abroad - no problem, so I paid and I got about 2 issues. I kept ringing their subscription dept and I kept getting "Oh we're sorry we'll post it to you today" and "Oh we forgot - I'll do it this very minute". I finally had to give up on them.

They've been dead to me since that - they were totally crap, but being the only Irish magazine of that type, I though it might have some interesting news from back home, at the time.

Bloody terrible - I subscribed and they couldn't even do that right, so it makes you wonder what the company in general was like !