Monthly Archives: October 2009
Sony – HDR-XR105E
Sony’s HDR-XR105E combines a pair of trends in the modern day circa-£500 camcorder. Firstly, it has an on-board 80GB hard drive, and a very quiet one at that. Secondly, it can shoot in resolutions of up to 1080p HD. Considering just how compact the device is, that’s a lot of power packed into a small…
Lenovo – IdeaPad U350
Lenovo is probably best known for its business machines. But the U350 is designed to attract consumers, and it has some nice specifications to help it along, not least of which is a small and light chassis. Weighing just under 1.6kg, the IdeaPad U350 is light enough for most people to carry around regularly, and…
Sony Ericsson – C903
Sony Ericsson’s C903 is a slightly less well featured handset than the top-end C905. Both are sliders, and the C903 is slightly smaller and a fair bit lighter. At 96g and 97mm tall, 49mm wide and 16mm thick, the C903 is no bother to pocket or to hold. Sony Ericsson knows how to build a…
MyHeritage.com – Family Tree Builder V4
The basic Family Tree Builder (FTB) program is free, including optional free membership of the MyHeritage basic website, where you can publish (or upload) your own family history of up 250 individuals and 250MB of photos. The commercial Premium program, reviewed here, adds Smart Research, Smart Match merging, All-in-One charts that show everyone related to…
IOGear – Wireless USB to VGA Kit
When we first read the press release issued by IOGear to promote its Wireless USB to VGA Kit, we were particularly intrigued by the potential of a product that would wirelessly send video from a PC to a TV at a distance up to 30 feet, imagining applications of gaming, watching video, viewing photos and…
Konami – Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
There’s no point building up your hopes. Konami, sadly, still hasn’t managed to turn the Pro Evolution Soccer juggernaut round. Some would argue that what was once the planet’s finest football game went off the rails at the Pro Evolution Soccer 6 stage, others cite PES 2008 as the one where the franchise lurched back…
Oki – MB260
Laser-based all-in-ones, or multifunctions as they prefer to be called, have traditionally been more expensive than their inkjet counterparts. That’s really not true of OKI’s MB260, though, which at Internet prices costs under £120 and uses a high-intensity LED strip, rather than a laser engine. Even with its modest asking price, it includes several features…
Toshiba – Qosmio X300-15T
Toshiba’s Qosmio notebooks certainly make a striking visual impact with their bold red colour scheme and flame-adorned livery. Fortunately the £1,400 X300-15T has the performance credentials to match its hot-rod looks. At the heart of this laptop beats a punchy Core 2 Duo T9550; one of the most aggressively clocked notebook chips available. With a…
Adobe – Photoshop Elements 8
Almost exactly a year since we took a look at Adobe Photoshop Elements 7, along comes another version to freshen Adobe’s portfolio and offer the creative home user more fun-packed features and improved editing power. Adobe tends to do a sterling job when it comes to new releases, offering enough new features to justify an…
Mamba Games – Outcry
It’s not advisable to ingest any magic mushrooms or anything even slightly hallucinatory before loading up Outcry, as this has to be one of the trippiest games ever to find its way on to the adventure game shelves. You play a writer who has been summoned by the brother you haven’t seen in a long…