Monthly Archives: December 2006
Magix – Music Maker 12 Deluxe
Digital composers of the world rejoice, because Magix’s latest music making suite is now available. The question is, does it sound sweet or sour? Is it a symphonic piece of software or the programming equivalent of chopsticks? And will we drop the oriental cuisine motif before you go prawn crackers? We’d better, really… Music Maker…
HP – Color LaserJet CM1017MFP
Multi-function laser machines are generally very utilitarian, like laser printers with scanners stuck on top. HP’s Color LaserJet CM1017MFP does rather better. Although the components are the same, more work has been done on the styling and it ends up looking a little like a Star Wars droid, which is an improvement. The only aspect…
FujiFilm – FinePix S6500fd Zoom
By now most people should be at home with the ‘New World’ of digital cameras, especially the flat-fronted variety that require you to do little more than point and click, with instant playback. However, the move up to full digital SLRs might still appear too daunting and too expensive, with so many manual controls to…
Obsidian – Neverwinter Nights 2
The Dungeons & Dragons game world has produced several engrossing RPGs for computers over the years, including the two Baldur’s Gate titles, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and the first Neverwinter Nights tale. They were all concerned with a hero and his companions battling monsters and villains (usually in subterranean lairs) whilst gaining experience, skills and…
GP2X – Personal Entertainment Player
Somewhere in the midst of the face-off between Sony and Nintendo for the handheld gaming market is a third competitor. It’s not got the marketing budget, it’s not got the big name games. Heck, its price sits between the two of them, too, with the Nintendo DS Lite a good thirty quid cheaper. And yet…
Microsoft – Flight Simulator X Deluxe
Making an approach to Heathrow can be tricky, as the airspace over London is pretty busy, but rather that than try to approach it on land. These days, the traffic doesn’t so much snarl as bite your leg off, thanks to that most odious of tarmac creations, the M25. Luckily, the tenth version of Flight…
Web browsers group test
The beauty of Firefox lies in its approach. The browser itself is a streamlined affair, requiring a download of a little over 5MB. This standard core will do pretty much what you’d demand of such an application, and from there you’re okay to carry on using it as is, or you can extend its feature…
Abit – Fatal1ty AN9 32X
The Fatal1ty branding on this Socket AM2 motherboard makes it clear that Abit is aiming this high-end board at the gaming market. The large package displays the Fatal1ty AN9 32X in a clear case and it’s an impressive piece of kit. The colour scheme is red and black: it has a red PCB while two…
Sapphire – Radeon X1950 Pro
Right, hold on to your hats: here’s the CrossFire card with the technology that should have been embedded right from the start. CrossFire without the need for a Master card. Yep, that’s right: no more hunting down those rarer-than-rocking-horse-poo Master cards or using those cumbersome CrossFire cables. The one complaint heard more than others about…
Symantec – Norton Internet Security 2007
We recently reviewed McAfee’s security suite for 2007, and now it’s Norton’s turn under the microscope. Unsurprisingly, just like its main rival, Norton 2007 doesn’t contain any major additions since last year’s version (although it’s taken for granted that you’re more likely to see the Pope instigate a radical reformation than you are to witness…