Monthly Archives: June 2003
iRiver – iFP-180T
Recently we reviewed Creative’s MuVo flash MP3 player and praised its minute size and stripped-down simplicity, which we felt more than compensated for the lack of frills like an LCD display. It made us think about what you really do – and do not – actually need from a flash player, and in the end…
Creative – Inspire 6.1 6700
If you’ve recently upgraded your computer with the Audigy 2 sound card and want to make the most of its capabilities (both for game playing and also for DVD playback) then the addition of the Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 speakers is a marriage made in heaven. This is the only card that is geared to…
ZyXEL – Prestige 650HW
The ZyXEL Prestige 650 Series of routers provides everything needed to share an ADSL broadband connection on a home or small business network. That includes a built-in ADSL modem, ready to plug straight into the phone line, and an integrated 4-port Fast Ethernet switch. In addition, on the 650HW model reviewed here, 11Mbps wireless connectivity…
Samsung – SV1204H
It may come as a surprise to some, but Samsung has been in the hard drive business for many years. Not for it the flashy, fast drives; instead the company concentrates on what are probably the most important factors, namely technical innovation, reliability and reasonable pricing. The SV1204H is the biggest capacity IDE desktop hard…
VMWare – Workstation 4
VMWare Workstation is a PC emulator which focuses on emulating hardware, similar to Connectix Virtual PC. Unlike just about every real PC available today, it doesn’t come with Windows. For many developers and IT staff, VMWare has become an indispensable tool. It allows a PC running either Windows or Linux to run not just one,…
Cardmedia – PenDrive + MP3
Like the Creative MuVo reviewed recently on this site, the Cardmedia PenDrive + MP3 combines a portable MP3 player with a removable storage flash memory drive. It’s a sensible combination, since many MP3 players use flash memory anyway. Looking a lot like a cigarette lighter (intentionally, we suspect), the PenDrive + MP3 consists of two…
Intuit – QuickBooks 2003
There’s a concise advertising message with this product; do your books, and do them quickly and Intuit(ively). A somewhat “brick-through-your-window” advertising delivery, true enough, but there’s an inherent appeal therein, mainly because this isn’t mere marketing blather. The QuickBooks financial suites have always been respected for their relative ease of use (we say relative because…
MSI – TV@nywhere
At first glance, there’s not a lot to endear the TV@nywhere board to a novice user. It requires fiddling with a jumper setting pre-installation to make sure you get proper PAL compatibility (although that’s also testament to the breadth of TV standards the board supports). It comes in a box with suitably dodgy translation work…
Roxio – Easy CD & DVD Creator 6
Adaptec’s Easy CD Creator (last reviewed here) was, along with Nero, one of the early forerunners in the CD burning software market. But while Nero has remained quite a slimline utility, Adaptec’s title – under current owners Roxio – has evolved into something bigger. Much bigger. Instead of being one sleek utility, this time around…
Seagate – Barracuda Serial ATA V ST3120023AS
For almost 20 years the Parallel ATA interface (or IDE as we all know it) has been the dominant connection type for mass storage data transfer in PCs. Now it’s reaching its performance limit, the time has come for a new interface to enter the fray; Serial ATA (SATA). Serial ATA 1.0 goes past the…