Monthly Archives: January 2006
Sapphire – Radeon X1900 XT/XTX
If you’re in the market for a new gaming graphics card then you may well be considering an ATi X1800, in which case hold your horses: ATi has just launched the X1900, which powers this new card from Sapphire. Visually there is no difference between an X1800 graphics card and an X1900; they’re big double-slot…
Samsung – SH-W162L
DVD writers have dramatically fallen in price with the result that many of the smaller companies have been driven out of the market, leaving a handful of giants behind. The market leader is HLDS (a joint venture between Hitachi and LG) and in second place is TSST (another joint venture, this time between Toshiba and…
Seagate – Barracuda 7200.9 500GB
The new range of Seagate 7200.9 hard drives is available in a range of capacities that start at 80GB and work up through 120GB, 160GB, 200GB, 250GB, 300GB and 400GB to the top of the heap where we find the 500GB model reviewed here. As the name suggests these drives have a spin speed of…
GSP – Kakuro Infinite Edition
More literal-minded readers out there will be pleased to know that this puzzle software from GSP doesn’t actually involve sitting and playing Kakuro infinitely, into the gaping black stretches of perpetuity. That would be unthinkable. A mere afternoon of the harder puzzles reduced our brains to jelly, let alone an eternity. Kakuro is the latest…
Philips – 200W6CS
While 19-inch TFT displays are overtaking 17-inch ones in the sweet spot for size and cost, 20-inch monitors and above are still holding onto their premium pricing. But Philips has upset the apple cart with the 200W6CS, a 20-inch TFT LCD display that you can get for under £400 if you shop around. Not only…
Canon – PIXMA iP5200
Canon’s PIXMA iP5200 is an A4 inkjet photo printer that should appeal to the purists. The list of features is relatively short and the price is low as you don’t get either an LCD screen or memory card reader slots. Instead you can either hook the iP5200 up to your PC with a USB 2.0…
Averatec – 1050
Usually, when hearing the words ‘ultra-portable notebook’, one might think of something small and grey being carried around by someone wearing a suit. Not so with the Averatec 1050; this is one ultra-portable that’s aimed at the home user, although why a home user would want an ultra-portable is an interesting point. However, weighing just…
Palo Alto – Business Plan Pro 2006
If you’ve ever thought of going on that Alan Sugar TV show for budding entrepreneurs, but were scared that he might chew you up and spit you out at the first barrier, then maybe it’s time you did your homework. Palo Alto has been producing guides to writing better business plans for several years and…
GSP – Who Do You Think You Are Deluxe Edition
Tracing your family tree is, in theory, supposed to be a bit of an adventure. It’s supposed to be fun, surprising, educational and worthwhile. It’s not supposed to make you feel that you’re inputting data into yet another database. That’s flaw one for GSP’s tie-in to the hugely successful and surprisingly good BBC TV show,…
LaCie & Mandriva – Globetrotter 2.0
At first glance the Globetrotter is nothing more than an external LaCie Mobile hard drive with Mandriva Linux pre-installed. Yet Mandriva (until recently known as Mandrake) really has a winning combination here, which becomes apparent when the system is put to work. The Globetrotter is a bus-powered USB 2 device, not significantly larger than the…