Best of Montreal 2000

>> Consumer Madness

Chow Time


Best new clothing store

1. Simons (977 Ste-Catherine W., 282-1840)

2. Urban Outfitters (1246 Ste-Catherine W.)

3. Gap (various locations)

4. Zara (1500 McGill College, 868-1516)

5. Parasuco (1414 Crescent, 284-2288)/Juan & Juanita (1455 Peel, 847-2292; 2039

St-Denis, 849-9135)

6. Mosquito (1651 Ste-Catherine W.,

939-6793; 3521 St-Laurent, 288-6839)

Honourable mentions: Brisson & Brisson * BCBG * Club Monaco * Arithmetik * Costco * Escence * EXTC * DKNY * Guess * Harry Rosen * Holt Renfrew * Jacob * Laura Petites * Le Chateau * Le Grenier * Levi's * Mexx * Millennium * Moda di Trepani * Oceans * Old River * Pantalon Superieur * Phat Farm (opening soon) * Rebella * Reitman's * Ripoff * Roots * Rossy * Rudsak * RW & Co. * Sensations * Space fb * Stomp * Superior Jeans * Tailleur Natale * The Bay * The Face of London * U-bahn * Unique * Winners * X2O * Zellers



Best used clothing store

1. Village des Valeurs (various locations)

2. Eva B. (2013 St-Laurent, 849-8246)

3. Salvation Army (various locations)

4. Lolita (274 St-Viateur W., 270-5858)

5. Friperie St-Laurent (3976 St-Laurent,

842-3893)

Honourable mentions: Along Mont-Royal * Army Surplus * Church Bazaars * Crazzy Freddy's * Doc Love * Cruella * Folles Alliées * Friperie St-Viateur * Rebella * STCUM lost & found * Twist Encore!



Best sports store

1. Sports Experts (various locations)

2. Le Monde des Athlètes (various locations)

2. André Lalonde(various locations)

3. Diz (48 Westminster N., 486-9123)

4. Play it again sports (various locations)

Honourable mentions: All those soccer shops in Little Italy * Aventurier * Baron Sports * Joe's * La Cordée * La Godasse * Murray Sports * Peel Sports * Priape * Rousseau * Roy Sports * Sports aux puces



Best fitness club

1. Nautilus (various locations)

2. YMCA (various locations)

3. La Cité (3575 Parc, 288-8221)

4. Monster Gym (various locations)

Honourable mentions: Aérobie Plus * Body Tech * Canadian Armed Forces * CEPSUM * Club Santé * Gold's Gym * Le Sanctuaire * M.A.A. * McGill * Pro Gym * Ron Philpott's Bunkai Karate-do Club * The great outdoors * United Gym * West Coast Gym * Westmount YMCA * World Gym * YM-YWHA



Best travel agency

1. Voyages Campus (various locations)

2. Sears (various locations)

3. Zagurgy Travel (4226 St-Jean, DDO 626-3132)

Honourable mentions: CAA * Carlson Wagonlit * Club Aventure * Club D7 * Club Med * Cortravco * Cosmopolitan Travels * Fly Me to the Moon Travel * FranAir * Golliger * Libman * Marlin Travel * Octopus * Terre des Hommes * Voyage Mega Tours * Voyage Ulysses



Best new record store

1. HMV (1010 Ste-Catherine W., 875-0765

and various locations)

2. Sam the Record Man (399 Ste-Catherine W., 281-9877 and various locations)

3. Archambault (500 Ste-Catherine E.,

849-6201 and various locations)

4. L'Oblique (4333 Rivard, 499-1323)

5. Noize (3697 St-Laurent, 985-9989)/

DNA (28 Pins, 284-7434)

Honourable mentions: CD Esoterik * Disquivel * InBeat Records * Music World * Rayon Laser * Rock en Stock * Science * Sonik Records * Stomp * Tabou



Best used record store

1. Cheap Thrills (2044 Metcalfe, 844-8988)

2. L'Échange (3694 St-Denis, 849-1913;

713 Mont-Royal E., 523-6389)

3. C'Dément (388 Ste-Catherine W.,

866-7616)

4. Disquivel (1587 St-Laurent, 842-1607)

Honourable mentions: Beatnicks * Fichtre * Fou de disque * Le Pick-Up * Marché du Disque * Mars * Noize * Pawn shop in Chateauguay * Primitive * Rayon Laser * Tabou * Triple A



Best first run cinema

1. Paramount (977 Ste-Catherine W.)

2. Loews, RIP

3. Egyptien (1455 Peel, 849-3456)

4. Colissée Kirkland (3200 Jean-Yves)/

Guzzo chain (various locations)

5. Ex-Centris (3536 St-Laurent, 847-5536)

Honourable mentions: Angrignon * Cavendish * Cote-des-Neiges * Dorval * Eaton Centre * Faubourg * Imperial * Place LaSalle * Quartier Latin



Best rep cinema

1. Cinéma du Parc (3575 Parc, 281-1900)

2. Palace, RIP

3. Imperial (1430 Bleury, 843-0300)

4. Ex-Centris (3536 St-Laurent, 847-3536)



No surprises. But be thankful for the Parc, which shut down for a time but is now celebrating its first anniversary under new management. How else would we get to see rereleases of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Blue Velvet?



Best video store

1. Blockbuster (various locations)

2. Boite Noire ((4450 St-Denis, 287-1249,

380 Laurier W., 277-6979)

3. Movieland (various locations)

4. Superclub Vidéotron (various locations)

Honourable mentions: Audio/Video Centre * Avenue Video * Club Vidéo 2000 * Club Vidéo * Club Vidéo International * Metro Vidéo * Nickelodeon * Sun Vidéo * Super Choix * Video Zone * Westmount Video



Best new book store

1. Chapters (1171 Ste-Catherine W., 849-8825 and other locations)

2. Indigo (1500 McGill College, 281-5549

and other locations)

3. Paragraphe (2220 McGill College,

845-5811)

4. L'Androgyne (3636 St-Laurent, 842-4765)

5. Mojo (3968 St-Laurent, 282-7730)

Honourable mentions: Archambault * Bertrand * Champigny * Coles * Double Hook * Online * Pathfinder * Renaud-Bray * www.amazon.com



Best used book store

1. The Word (469 Milton, 845-5640)

2. Cheap Thrills (2044 Metcalfe, 844-8988)

3. Russell Books, RIP

4. S.W. Welch (3878 St-Laurent, 848-9358)

5. Argo (1915 Ste-Catherine W., 931-3442)

Honourable mentions: Book Market * Bouquinerie St-Denis * L'Échange * Déjà-Lu * Public library * Ste-Catherine Street * Tourne-Livre * Valois Flea Market * Village des Valeurs * Vortex * www.alibris.com



Best magazine store

1. Multimags (various locations)

2. Maison de la Presse Internationale

(various locations)

3. Point Vert (4040 St-Laurent, 982-9195)

Honourable mentions: L'Androgyne * Chapters * Cité Presse * Indigo * McGill bookstore * Metropolitan News * Priape * Tabatout



Best comics store

1. Empire Comics (1221 Crescent, 871-1402)

2. Fichtre (436 de Bienville, 844-9550)

3. Captain Québec (1837 Ste-Catherine W., 939-9970)

4. Komico (4210 Décarie, 489-4009) /

Mojo (3968 St-Laurent, 282-7730)

5. 1,000,000 Comix (1418 Pierce, 989-9587; 3868 Jean Talon E., 725-1355)

Honourable mentions: Astro * Captain Comix * Captain Fantastic * Comix * Cosmix * Mr. Comix * Super Comics



Best health food store

1. Optimum (630 Sherbrooke W., 845-1015)

2. Health Tree (7133 Cote-St-Luc, 484-1690; 3819 St-Jean, 624-2896)

3. Frenco (3985 St-Laurent, 285-1319)/ Rachelle-Béry (various locations)

4. Tau (4238 St-Denis, 843-4420

and various locations)

5. Frigo Vert (2130 MacKay, 848-7587)

Honourable mentions: À Votre Santé * Fleur Sauvage * Kilo * Nuture Plus * Rocky Montana Fruits * The Forest



Best sex shop

1. Lingerie Romance--formerly Séduction

(38 Ste-Catherine W., 876-3656)

2. Il Bolero (6842-46 St-Hubert, 270-6065)

3. Sex Cité (1821 Ste-Catherine W., 937-3678)

Honourable mentions: Canadian Tire * La Capoterie * Érotim * La Clé du Plaisir * Lady Rita's Closet * Pharmaprix * Priape * Sleazy Susie's Emporium



Best place to buy kitsch

1. Urban Outfitters (1246 Ste-Catherine W.)

2. Dollar stores (various locations)

3. Garage sales

4. Village des Valeurs (various locations)

Honourable mentions: Chinatown * Empire Crockery * Flea markets * IKEA * Il Bolero * Le Chateau * Le Retro * Notre-Dame * Salvation Army * St-Hubert * Victoria Avenue



Best hair salon

1. Tonic (3613 St-Laurent, 499-9494)

2. Mutt & Jeff (2135 Crescent, 288-7689)

3. Coupe Bizarre (3770 St-Laurent, 843-3433)

4. La Coupe (1115 Sherbrooke W., 288-6131)

5. Funky Toque (3688 St-Laurent, 985-2999)

Honourable mentions: Académie de Coiffure * Angela & Michel * Axion * China Town * Coiffure St-Laurent * Cosmic Pot * Costa's * Echec & Matt * Eclectic * Elixir * Le Pascha * Maestro * Ogilvy coiffure * Platine * Pur * Raphael B. * Salon des Athlètes * Salon Sex Symbols * Salon Sophie * Senza Titolo * St-Laurent Coiffure * Unique



Best grocery store

1. Loblaws (various locations)

2. Provigo (various locations)

3. Metro (various locations)

4. 4 Frères (various locations)

Honourable mentions: Atwater Market * Club Price * Espositos * Faubourg * IGA * Latina * Maxi * Metro * Murelatos * P.A. * Poivre et Sel * Sakaris * Segal's * Valmont * Vieille Europe * Warshaw



Best dépanneur

1. Couche-Tard (various locations)

2. Provisoir (various locations)

3. Dépanneur du Village de Montréal

(1271 Ste-Catherine, 524-3256)

Honourable mentions: Ali Baba * Alice * AM/PM at Drolet and St-Zotique * Balloon dep on Bernard * Boni-Soir * Crazy Dep at Clark & Duluth * Dep Jimmy * Dep Malak * Dep Vincent * Harnois * Korean place on Prince-Arthur * La Sorcière * Marché Nascimento * Monoprix * Mont-Royal/de Bullion * Samson's *



The skinny on choosing a component stereo system

When most people buy a stereo, they choose a minisystem, an all-in-one-box unit. Minisystems are compact and cute and they make stereo shopping easy, but they lack the sound quality of a component system.

When building a component system, sound quality is the most vital consideration. Here's a brief guide to putting together your own perfect component system with the help of Michael Mejares, aka Goldylocks, hip hop promoter and master stereo salesman.

Before choosing the system, it's important to determine how much you're prepared to spend. "Budget, that's the biggest thing," Mejares explains. "In sound systems you have the low-end, the medium-end and the high-end. Most people choose medium end." A low-end system will run from about $399-599, with mid-range systems topping out at about $1,200.

The first component to select is an amplifier. Most amps have a radio tuner built in, giving them that added functionality. Mejares recommends the Yamaha RX-496, which sells for about $400. "It's a 100 watt per channel amplifier. It has high dynamic power and a low impedance driver so it sounds full, without any muddiness." Distortion of sound is a common problem with low-powered amps that can't react properly to rapidly changing sound.

For the CD player, Mejares recommends another Yamaha unit: the CDX-393mkII. "It's a single disc player, and it has an optical output if someone wants to record on Minidisc." The CD player includes a remote and a CD-Text function, to record the titles and track names of discs.

When it comes to the old stereo stalwart, the analog tape deck, Mejares says that its popularity is waning. "If a person is just looking for playback, I recommend the Yamaha KX-393, which is a single tape deck. To record or dub tapes, the KXW-321 is a good choice." The tape decks sell, respectively, for $299 and $330.

Minidisc is a format that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Combining the sound quality of CD with the recordable nature of tape, many people have been looking at the MD format as the cassette tape's successor. For now though, Mejares doesn't recommend that everyone buy a Minidisc deck as part of a home system. "If someone has a lot of tapes and wants to take up less space and have higher sound quality, they should go for Minidisc."

As for vinyl, there is still a turntable on the market for everyone. "If a DJ wants a record player, he goes with the Technics 1200, but for someone who's not a DJ, there are turntables in the $200 range." Mejares recommends the Technics SLBD-20PPK, a compact belt-drive turntable.

No matter how good the components are, Mejares stresses the importance of good connection cables. "Linking two good quality components with cheap wires makes the whole system worthless. I recommend Monster Cable in the Interlink range." Expect to pay $50-100 for good quality cables.

The final step is choosing a pair of speakers, and it depends largely on the acoustics of the room. "No matter if they're cheap speakers or expensive, placement is crucial," Mejares asserts. Speaker prices can vary greatly based on what you need and what you want to hear, so consult your favourite stereo store for greater aid. *
-- Michael Citrome



Top speed is tops when it comes to ISPs

Not too long ago, modem-toting geeks joked that WWW stood for the World Wide Wait, and the crawl of the grey bar across the lower left corner of the screen caused more cups of coffee to be made than the lifting of the War Rations Act.

However, for over a year now, Bell Canada's Sympatico ISP has been offering Digital Service Line (DSL) service to residential customers, a blazing fast Internet connection over normal phone lines.

Since the time the service launched, Sympatico High Speed Edition (HSE) has gone from several hundred users to thousands, and analog modems are joining rotary phones in the city's cellars and attics.

Otherwise fashionable iMacs are sprouting big ugly DSL modems faster than crabgrass and, as many people will be moving into new digs this July, the network may soon get even bigger.

All this popularity is fine with Bell. They just invested $1.5 billion into high-speed Internet access. According to a recent statement, Bell plans to make high-speed Internet access available to over 85 per cent of their customers by 2002. This is good news for folks way out in the boonies, who lust after urban customers' high-speed lines but can't get any of their own.

But rural availability of DSL service isn't the big news. The big news is Bell's plan to boost their speed. Currently HSE tops out at about 1.5 Megs per second, but the near future may see speeds of up to 8 Megs per second, speeds already available with similar equipment elsewhere in North America.

There's no current news for HSE subscribers as to when, but it's clear that unless Montreal's other ISPs start offering broadband, next year Sympatico might not be the favourite local ISP, it might be the only one. *

-- Michael Citrome

Best Internet Service

Provider

1. Vidéotron

2. Sympatico

3. Totalnet

4. Sprint

5. Freeweb

Honourable mentions: Alcor * AltaVista * Any free one * AOL Canada * Arobas * AT&T * AT&T/Netcom * cam.org * Compuserve * Concordia * Cyberglobe * Delphi Supernet * Hack yourself a free account * Look * McGill University * MSN * Netcom * Netrover * Primus * Yahoo



Microbytes is a geek institution

Walk into any Future Shop or Bureau En Gros and you'll see them all lined up, shiny and identical. Brand-name PCs from companies like Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

They may have different names and cases, but under the skin they're all basically the same. The big PC manufacturers use most of the same parts, made by the same companies. You're choosing the features you want and the brand you like.

That's something else these PCs have in common: you get what you buy and that's it. If you want a different sound card or a bigger hard drive, sorry buster, you're out of luck. Just like you can't get Audi seats in your brand-new Toyota, Dell isn't putting Toshiba parts into your system at the factory to your specifications.

Back in the day, almost all PCs were clones. All, in fact, except those made by IBM, who originated the PC standard and licensed it to other manufacturers. At that time, buying a computer meant going to a specialized computer store, which would build it by hand to meet your desires.

Now that PCs are sold alongside VCRs and cook top ranges as consumer goods, most home users don't bother with customization. That's not the most clever move, because picking and choosing what goes into your PC will not only save you money, but also provide you with a system that meets your needs exactly.

Fortunately, Montreal is home to a chain of stores dedicated to building PCs that do exactly what their customers want. That chain is Microbytes, and among Montreal's many geeks, it's become an institution.

Microbytes has six locations all over the damn place, from St-Leonard, to the south shore, Laval, the West Island, and downtown. They're all the same deal, boxes of the latest hardware, price sheets constantly being updated and a stream of gamers and enthusiasts coming in to pick up the latest 3D accelerator or a pack of blank CDs. The atmosphere is more of a fish market than a stereo store, and it helps to go with someone who knows what they're doing.

The process of buying a PC at Microbytes really isn't that hard. Grab a price list and pick the basic system that appeals to you. Typically they have three levels of pricing, which correspond to the power of the machine, from inexpensive to hardcore. Then, substitute the components you want for the ones you don't.

The best part is that this can be done on the Net with the online system designer at www.microbytes.com. This bit of Web genius not only gives you all your options, but also calculates the price with GST. *
-- Michael Citrome