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Acer - Aspire 5920 review
2008-03-30 16:24:00 Acer isn't afraid to make bold design statements with some of its laptops, as witnessed by the bright red Ferrari range. Now the company has commissioned BMW's Designworks team to breathe some life into the Aspire range, the result being the Gemstone design. The first example of this teamwork to see the light of day is the Aspire 5920. The new design certainly creates a talking point and, while most people agree that the rounded design and the shiny black pearl external finish of the 5920 work well, opinion is very much divided when you open the lid. What confronts you is a pale grey, ceramic-type finish that some people love and some people think looks very old hat. In fact at first glance it does look like an old Compaq notebook, but as with so many other things it may well grow on you with time, albeit perhaps a long time. Looks aside, under the bonnet some real technology refreshes have taken place, as the Aspire 5920 uses Intel's latest mobile Santa Rosa technology to provi... More About: Laptops , Review , Acer
Evesham - Voyager C515SR review
2008-03-30 16:22:00 The price of laptops has dropped so much with the arrival of the new dual core technology that it was only a matter of time before affordable dual core machines appeared on the market. Evesham has now extended its Voyager notebook series with the C535S and the C515SR, the first to be based on the Santa Rosa platform. The C515SR is the lower spec of the two and boasts a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor with 2MB cache, 1GB DDR II RAM running at 667MHz and an 80GB, SATA, 5400rpm hard drive. Both models have a 15.4-inch, WXGA, X-Bright, widescreen display with a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 800 but there's a marked difference in graphics quality. If you're more of a serious gamer then you might be tempted to pay a bit extra for the C535S's 256MB NVIDIA 8600 graphics with DirectX 10 support rather than the more pedestrian Mobile Intel 965 Express on the C515SR. In terms of design, the C515SR isn't going to win any prizes for originality as it has a traditional silver casing,... More About: Laptops , Review
Gateway - MT6839b review
2008-03-30 16:21:00 The MT6839b is a well featured notebook with Microsoft's latest Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed, and carries a quite reasonable price tag of £599. At the heart of the MT6839b lies an Intel Core 2 Duo T5300 processor clocked at 1.73GHz and backed by a generous 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 memory, so while it may not be a speed demon there's plenty of grunt to do all of your home and home office jobs. And that's pretty much all you'll be doing, as the integrated Intel GMA950 graphics (sharing up to 224MB of system memory) limits any games-playing potential. Despite the price tag, the MT6839b looks and feels well built, in fact it feels very well built, weighing in at a hefty 3.3kg (with the power brick), so it's not one you'll fancy carrying around all day. If you do, then the battery lasts for a useful three hours when in normal office use and just over two when watching a DVD. The build quality extends to the keyboard which has very little flex, feels firm to the touch and, al... More About: Laptops , Review , Gateway
Advent - 7113 review
2008-03-30 16:20:00 That oft-quoted phrase "you have never had it so good" could certainly be used to describe today's notebook market, with even some sub-£400 laptops having the same feature set as last year's £1,000 machines. And the trend is set to continue as technology prices fall. One of the latest to join the throng at the value end is from Advent , with the 7113, which remarkably includes Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium in its £400 price tag. Helping to keep the price in check is the choice of processor. Intel's Celeron M 430 isn't going to win any awards in the performance stakes, being clocked at just 1.73GHz, but it gets the job done and at the end of the day that's all that matters to many people. It is helped along by 1GB of DDR2 memory which is the minimum amount to get Vista up and running. Similarly, the graphics performance isn't any thing to shout about as it's powered by Intel's integrated GMA950 solution, so serious games playing is out, but on the plus side it's perfec... More About: Laptops , Review
Sony - Vaio SZ4 XWN/C review
2008-03-30 16:18:00 Sony's Vaio SZ4 XWN/C sits in the middle of a three-product family and is, as we've come to expect from Sony, a stylish, well featured, portable laptop with built-in security, all aimed at the business user. Clad in a stylish combination of black and slate grey, the Vaio SZ4 XWN/C is claimed by Sony to be an ultraportable: it may only weigh 1.69kg, but since it measures 315 x 234 x 32.6mm, that claim is pushing the 'ultraportable' envelope more than just a bit. Part of the reason for the light weight for its size is the slim, 13.3-inch screen, which is remarkably thin but worryingly flexible too, so it needs a bit of added protection when you are carrying it around. The display itself is a WGXA widescreen unit with Sony's X-Black coating. The latter is something of a double-edged sword, as while it produces clear, vibrant colours, it's also very reflective, which may put some potential users off. Built into the top of the screen is a 0.3-megapixel camera which unfortunately do... More About: Laptops , Review , Sony , Sony Vaio
Fujitsu Siemens - E8210 review
2008-03-30 16:16:00 What the mobile corporate user needs most from a laptop is the ability to connect to the office wherever he or she happens to be. Fujitsu Siemens ' flagship E8210 not only features wireless connectivity, but also comes with integrated 3G capabilities. Weighing in at around 2.7kg (including power brick) and measuring 360 x 260 x 35mm, it's at the upper level of what's comfortable to carry around all day, but to offset that it's a feature-rich and fast performing notebook, even if it looks a bit mundane in its silver and black corporate finish. Performance-wise you won't be disappointed by the E8210. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, clocked at 2GHz and backed by a gigabyte of fast PC2-667 DDR2 memory, the SYSmark04SE score of 302 is impressive. Less so the graphics performance; the ATI Mobility X1400 will allow you to play older games with a degree of satisfaction but for the market segment the E8210 is pitched at, graphics performance comes pretty low down on the l... More About: Laptops , Review , Fujitsu Siemens
Toshiba - Satellite Pro P100-216 review
2008-03-30 16:14:00 Toshiba's Satellite Pro P100-216 certainly stands out from the grey, silver and black crowd of laptops, as the lid is a striking bronze colour, covering a good, all-round, desktop-replacement multimedia notebook for the home user. While the Satellite Pro P100-216 has a good feature set, the performance is disappointing, scoring a lowly 4.3 overall in Vista's integrated benchmarking tool with none of the tested components scoring above 5. It's not going to set the world on fire in performance terms, then, but it will still do all the basics without complaining too much. The slow performance is mainly due to the choice of processor Toshiba has fitted into the P100-216; an Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 clocked at a relatively lowly 1.66GHz. Backing this up is 2GB of DDR2 memory - which is good - but Toshiba has chosen 266MHz (PC2-533) rather than the faster PC2-667 (333MHz) memory. The motherboard will support up to 4GB of memory through two DIMM slots. The 17-inch WXGA+ widescreen (1,440... More About: Laptops , Review , Toshiba , Toshiba Satellite
Dell - XPS M1710 review
2008-03-30 16:12:00 The M1710 (N04XPS7) is the bigger brother of the M1210 and, just like its smaller sibling, it's very different in appearance to the rest of the Dell laptop range. It's powerful, too; in fact it's one of the most powerful notebooks currently available. The XPS M1710 has been around for a while but our review sample, the flagship model of the range, is one of the latest with a Blu-Ray writeable drive fitted as standard. The M1710 comes in two colours - Metallic Black (our review sample) or Formula Red - and, as is becoming for a member of the XPS clan, enough lights to shame a Christmas tree. The design of the notebook is what you could call "funky industrial" with the metallic black lid inlay neatly set off by the metallic silver surround. It's a tough beast as well, with a magnesium alloy chassis, steel lid hinges and thick plastic palm wrests, but weighing in at 5.5kg you won't want to be carrying it around much anyway. As the flagship model, our M1710 came powered by an Inte... More About: Laptops , Review
HP - Pavilion dv6285 review
2008-03-30 16:09:00 There's a standing joke that if dull, reliable old HP had come up with the concept of Sushi it would have named the cuisine 'cold dead fish', so it's no great surprise that the photos of the HP Pavilion dv6285 utterly fail to convey how gorgeous it looks. What you see in the photos is a laptop with a black lid and a grey surround to the keyboard, but you can't see that the piano-black lid is finely patterned with a series of swirling lines. This pattern extends to the bare metal finish of the keyboard surround, while the touchpad and mouse buttons have a smooth metal finish. The shiny black bezel around the screen looks great and hides the 1.3-megapixel Web-cam discreetly. Some bright spark at HP has also thought to continue the swirling, fine pattern from the lid and keyboard surround to the HP desktop wallpaper in Windows Vista Home Premium. Generally speaking we change the wallpaper on a review laptop or PC to a neutral colour ASAP, but in the case of the Pavilion dv6285 we ... More About: Laptops , Review
Samsung - R20 review
2008-03-28 21:52:00 Samsung could have stuck to the tried and trusted Centrino formula when it developed the R20 but instead it chose to use a rare old mixture of components in this sleek laptop. There's a dual core Intel Core Duo T2250 processor running at 1.73GHz, but instead of the expected Intel 945GM chipset you get an ATi Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset which also supplies the graphics, plus an Atheros 802.11b/g wireless chip. Although the ATi chipset is a new model, the graphics core harks back to the X700 so it's a couple of years old. Despite that it has full hardware support for DirectX 9.0b and is therefore able to run the Aero interface in Windows Vista Home Premium with ease. The specification of our sample was rounded out by 1GB of relatively slow PC2-4300 memory - although you can specify up to 2GB of faster PC2-5300 - and an 80GB hard drive, although there are options up to 160GB. The screen is relatively small at 14.1 inches on the diagonal, with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 and a brightn... More About: Laptops , Samsung , Review
Acer - Aspire 9303WSMi review
2008-03-28 21:51:00 There's no getting away from the colossal size of the Acer Aspire 9303, and it's all thanks to the 17-inch screen. This model measures 400 x 294 x 42mm and weighs in at a hefty 3.6kg, so you're going to struggle to carry it around when you're on your travels. The screen has a resolution of 1,400 x 900 which is a typical specification for a 15.4-inch widescreen laptop but on this model the screen looks rather grainy. That's a bit of a shame as the Acer runs Windows Vista Home Premium which puts an emphasis on cosmetic looks, with its Aero interface, so in that respect it's a bit of a let-down. However, there's a balancing argument. If you have weak eyesight you'll often find that the icons and fonts in Windows are too small for comfort and a high resolution screen only makes the situation worse. Plonk the Aspire 9303WSMi on a desk and you'll find that pensioners take to it like ducks to water, just so long as you don't ask them to pick the thing up. Inside the chassis ther... More About: Laptops , Review
Altec Lansing - FX4021 review
2008-03-09 18:16:00 One of the easiest ways to improve the sound quality of a desktop or laptop PC is to use better speakers. Even if you don't have a 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1-channel sound card in your machine, you can get much better results with a good 2.1 system than with any internal speakers. Altec Lansing 's FX4021 set uses a novel speaker arrangement to produce good sound from the standard mix of a sub-bass unit and twin mid- and high-frequency satellites. The twin speaker units in the sub-bass enclosure - which is as large as a small, black paper basket - are mounted face-to-face in an isobaric arrangement. Isobaric, or constant pressure, speaker systems are designed to increase the bass range in a given size of cabinet, by using two speakers rather than one. By mounting them one behind the other to create a constant-pressure zone between them, they should gain an increased bass range of up to an extra half-octave, compared with single-speaker designs. The strange thing here is that whereas most isob... More About: Review
Hauppauge - XFones PC-2400 review
2008-03-07 18:56:00 When it comes to headphones, wireless technology is a great boon. Having no annoying cord trailing up your neck is marvellously freeing. It also means you can mosh along to your favourite tunes without any danger of strangling yourself (ahem). Indeed, you can wander around the house listening to your MP3 collection, as this headset has a ten metre range from the plug-and-play USB dongle which transmits the audio signal. Our tests bore this figure out; in fact, we could even listen in the kitchen downstairs, and our PC is two floors above in an attic room. Now that's pretty impressive. The XFones are comfortable to wear, as well. They're proper headphones with large cups that fit nicely over your ears, boasting a diameter that would be sufficient for even Noddy's best mate. They don't feel loose, however, and the headset sits sturdily without being overly tight. Overall, the XFones are well designed, with easy to reach controls such as the volume being perched on the outside of t... More About: Review , Hauppauge
Logic3 - i-Station Clock Dock review
2008-03-07 18:54:00 The latest iPod accessory from Logic 3 combines a more traditional clock radio with a mount for your player, putting your favourite music at your fingertips first thing in the morning. It has a rather retro feel, which we're going to assume was intentional, and is not entirely dissimilar to the LED display clock/radio alarms that started doing the rounds in the Eighties. This is obviously a bit more advanced, though, and as well as the radio (AM/FM only - there's no DAB) you get some degree of control over your iPod, which will charge when mounted and synchronise with iTunes if connected to your computer via USB. Unfortunately this control isn't all-encompassing, as you still have to fiddle with the player's scroll wheel to get to the right album; all you can do remotely once there is skip back and forth through tracks and adjust the volume. There's 12W of power on offer from the twin speakers, and a supplied remote control, so it feels a tad unfair to shoehorn the i-Station Clo... More About: Clock , Review , Dock
Creative - TravelSound Zen V review
2008-03-05 19:08:00 To start with a negative, the sad thing is that use of the Creative TravelSound docking speaker set-up is so prescriptive. Compatible with the Creative Zen V range of MP3 players, it won't even work cleanly with some of the company's own later models, and that proves to be a thorn in the side of an otherwise useful product. That's because the speakers themselves have a dual role. They can, as you'd hope, play back the music from the Zen player in question, but they also act as a charging station. What's more, from out of the box they're a breeze to set up. You assemble the plug fitting to suit a UK power socket (it's simpler than it sounds, don't worry!), plug in the speakers and that's part one done. Then the Zen player connects to a built-in mounting cradle (although it's not, surprisingly, a 100 percent easy fit), that interfaces with the headphone and USB sockets in the player itself. It then seats itself at the heart of the speakers, waiting to be accessed. You can c... More About: Review
Saitek - 3D 210 review
2008-03-05 19:07:00 Saitek's three latest speaker systems - the 3D 210, 3D 380 and 3D 590 - range in price from £19.99 to £49.99 and, while the 380 and the 590 include a subwoofer and considerably more wattage, the 210 is designed for portable use and can be connected to a PC, Mac, MP3 player or PSP via a simple jack connector. In terms of design, the stereo speakers are stylishly black and silver, smooth and cylindrical with a cone at one end. Part of the cylinder has been flattened so the unit can be positioned lengthwise on a desk and one end has also been levelled so you can have an alternative arrangement aimed upwards. One of the speakers houses the volume and bass controls and a headphone socket, plus a power input for the separate 9V DC power unit. Obviously you'll have to be within easy range of a power socket to make the most of the 10W (5W per channel, with 80Hz - 20kHz frequency response) output and, as you might expect for £19.99, there's no wireless option or remote operation. All thr... More About: Review , Saitek
Creative - GigaWorks T40 review
2008-02-29 00:04:00 When you look at pictures of Creative 's GigaWorks T40, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they're small. Without anything to size them against, they look a bit like the kind of satellite pair you get with a £400 PC from Tesco. They're a lot bigger and better than that, though. With dimensions of 90 x 136 x 310mm, each T40 is the size of a decent sized back-shelf car speaker. They sit vertically on the desk and are angled to point slightly up from the horizontal. Each one comes with an optional stand, for increased stability, and they can be run with or without a front-panel gauze. Each speaker holds two 60mm, glass-fibre, mid-range drivers at top and near-bottom, with a 27mm dome tweeter between. Creative claims a spacious, balanced sound for this arrangement but, while we wouldn't argue with the balance and precision of the high and mid-range response, the stereo stage isn't always that well-defined, with some muddle over the spatial make-up of larger bands and orchestras. ... More About: Review
Gear4 - Blackbox review
2008-02-29 00:02:00 Last summer we reviewed Bluetooth aficionado Parrot's excellent Boombox and were impressed enough to assume that this form of wireless audio streaming had finally been cracked. Gear 4 recently announced two similar solutions in the Blackbox and Blackbox mini; we have the larger of the two on test here but it's still substantially smaller than Parrot's offering and just about squeezes into the ?portable' market. The main highlight of the unit is its appealing design. A sleek gloss black finish covers the top and front, and when you turn the thing on you'll find a range of controls that light up with a cool blue hue at the top and a dynamic LED-based equalizer at the front. You're also supplied with a remote control that apes the on-board controls, which comprise volume, play/pause, track skip and pairing functions, along with an LED control that cycles between three different display modes. To add a bit more adaptability to the device there's a 3.5mm line-in jack at the back so... More About: Review
TwinMOS - BooM1 review
2008-02-29 00:01:00 Apart from revolutionizing how we listen to music on the move, the iPod has also been at the vanguard of a style earthquake that has seen cool white emerge as the new black. With your Mac laptop under one arm and your iPod earphones firmly installed, there's only one element you still lack to be the peak in chic elegance* - a powerful yet portable sound system to share your 10,000 songs with your pals. Cue a sudden expansion in the number of docking stations aimed at keeping you cool while stretching your eardrums. The latest from Taiwanese company Twin MOS is the BooM1, a speaker and sub-woofer set that looks like it was designed for some futuristic episode of Doctor Who. The sub-woofer, for instance, which packs a meaty 25 watts, couldn't be further removed from the conventionally boring square box. Instead it has a striking resemblance to a bleached version of the killer eggs at the beginning of ?Alien?. It weighs a satisfying 2kg and is connected by a matching white cable to th... More About: Review
Etymotic Research - Ety8 review
2008-02-26 23:26:00 Etymotic Research , a world leader of in-ear technology, is well known for its innovative developments in the field of aural research. It should be well equipped to develop the world's first in-ear Bluetooth headphones then, designed predominantly for use with an iPod but offering general Bluetooth support for other compatible devices. In the box you'll find the earphones themselves, a leather carry case, a range of adaptors and an 8-mate adaptor for an iPod. If you are planning on using one of Apple's players you'll benefit from a wider range of features, including volume and track control via the headphones and automatic pairing so you can avoid waiting while the device is found and paired manually. If you don't have an iPod you can pair the headphones with a PC, mobile phone or other device that supports Bluetooth 1.1 and higher, with AD2P support required for stereo sound. The 'phones themselves comprise two fairly small boxes with a sturdy rope-tie in between to stop them ... More About: Review
Kensington - FX500 Speaker To Go review
2008-02-26 23:24:00 In late 2006 Kensington released the FX300 Speaker To Go, an audio solution for your MP3 player that offered both a sturdy, splash-proof, shock-absorbing case and built-in speaker with an exterior volume control. It was a great little travel solution at a reasonable price, but has now been superseded by the larger, stereo sound FX500. Kensington has stuck with a similar design, using the same black, hard rubber exterior for protection. It's obviously a lot larger, though, and the stereo speakers are completely concealed within the casing either side of a see-through plastic window through which you can access your player. Sadly the external volume control is gone: a simple on/off switch is the only exterior control, which means you can only adjust volume or control the device by pressing buttons through the plastic view window. An elastic Velcro strap stops your audio player from slipping around, but the design here is specifically targeted at iPods. The size of the window fits the... More About: Review
Shure - SE420 review
2008-02-25 21:26:00 Shure hopes the answer lies around the £250 mark, as that's the asking price for this SE420 set. They're not the most economical in the Shure range - the impressive SE210 and SE310s can be had for a reasonable amount less - but they do come up trumps where performance is concerned. They also put all but one or two similar products firmly in the shade. Shure's background lies in the in-ear units deployed by on-stage musicians, and the first thing that hit us was the comfort of the SE420s when inserted into our lug-holes. We've used such in-ear devices before and had to stop after half an hour due to discomfort. Yet we easily got past three hours and counting in one session with the SE420s and still weren't particularly troubled. We found that the modular cable system that Shure employs doesn't offer quite the same level of comfort, but it still wasn't really a problem and it does open up a couple of extra connection options. But it's the audio that matters, and it's in audi... More About: Review , Shure
Logitech - Audiostation Express review
2008-02-25 21:25:00 There's no shortage of speakers and accessories for iPod users, with a range of companies appearing to adopt a strategy of catering for every possible audio environment. Logitech has a fair selection of iPod solutions itself, the newest of which is the Audiostation Express . Hitting the middle ground between dedicated solution and travel companion, the unit is supplied in an attractive black carry case, with access points for the iPod dock and audio/video ports. Whether used in or out of the case it's an appealing enough if rather basic design: an extendable twist volume knob at the front adds some dynamism to what is otherwise a pretty minimalist product. Many of the features are oriented towards iPod users, and you'll only get the most from the speakers if you utilise the iPod dock and supplied adapter. In doing so you'll be able to charge your player on the go, view podcasts through a TV using the composite video output connector, or control things from afar using the remote c... More About: Review
Logitech - FreePulse Wireless review
2008-02-25 21:23:00 Portable music has certainly come a long way since it consisted of lugging your boom-box around on your shoulder. The walkman was a revelation, although it was still a little bulky for jogging. Then the MP3 player came along, and these days you can have a gadget the size of a stick of gum playing your music on the move. The only hitch remaining is the headphone cord, which can still be irritating especially if you're running, but that's where wireless headphones come in. The FreePulse Wireless consists of a set of headphones and a Bluetooth adapter, along with a mains charger that charges both simultaneously. You can plug the adapter into anything with a standard 3.5mm jack - your MP3 player, PC, stereo and so on - and it will deliver wireless sound to the headphones within a ten metre range, according to Logitech . A collection of small plastic panels that slot on top of the adapter are provided; these adjust it to ensure that it's a secure fit for any iPod model. The headphones... More About: Review
Yamaha - NX-U10 review
2008-02-21 17:58:00 It's probably the most common complaint about laptop computers that no matter how much hard drive space you have, how stunning your graphics card or the power of your CPU, when it comes to sound quality it's hard to rise much above the noise of a tinny old transistor radio. Of course you could plug in your desktop's 5.1 or 7.1 surround system but that's not much joy when you're on the move. So to answer this dilemma Yamaha has come up with the NX-U10, a compact set of stereo speakers that amplifies the output and quality of your laptop's audio via the USB port. So confident is Yamaha of the result that the NX-U10 has been marketed as 'the world's most powerful USB speaker'. The problem in the past is that a USB port's usual maximum output is 5V/0.5A of power which appears very feeble emerging from regular speakers. Yamaha, though, has managed to augment this to a more impressive 10W per channel using what it calls a 'Charged Capacitor Amplifier'. In addition, the manufac... More About: Review
TerraTec - Headset Master 5.1 USB review
2008-02-21 17:46:00 The surround sound headset has turned out to be quite a trend. People use this piece of hardware all the time .From the humungous monstrosities of several years ago (with price tags to match), we're now being treated to more modest monstrosities that leave change from £50. TerraTec's Headset Master 5.1 is one of the better examples of the breed, although it does display the bulkiness that's required to house the technology around your ears. It's still smaller than a good many similar headsets we've tested, but anyone seeking the discretion of iPod-esque earphones is in for quite a surprise. Along with other products of its ilk, it has a control box on the headphone cord and this is a stylish little beast that allows you to individually control the output through each channel. You can mute the sound at the push of a button, too, and finding a suitable arrangement to entertain our ears was fairly straightforward. In fact the whole setup process of the Headset Master 5.1 was stra... More About: Review
Nimzy - Vibro Max review
2008-02-21 17:42:00 Those who saw the popular Nimzy Vibro Blaster, released last summer, probably won't be surprised at the capabilities of the successor. Others are in for a wacky experience; this portable sound unit uses electro-acoustic technology to turn any surface into a speaker by vibrating it in such a way as to produce sound. We saw something similar a few years ago with the Olympia SoundBug, witch is a nice piece of hardware. The Vibro Max unit is a solid metallic box a little smaller than a Rubic cube, finished in piano black. It succeeds the Vibro Blaster by offering more power (claiming 20W RMS instead of 15) and a supplied remote control that includes bass and treble adjustment and a loudness setting. It's mains powered, which reduces the portability somewhat, but to get it to work you simply place it on any flat surface and plug in an MP3 player. It's quite amazing how this new hardware works. If you were to place it on one side of a desk and rest your ear close to the other end it wo... More About: Review
Sharkoon - Majestic review
2008-02-21 17:39:00 Wagering that few of you will have heard of it, it's the latest company to have enjoyed some success on the continent (Germany, in this instance), now looking to break into the UK market. It's doing this with some low-key products at first, but the 5.1 headset nonetheless caught our eye. Initially it was for the wrong reasons. Like any headset attempting to replicate the full 5.1 surround sound experience, it's not small. In fact, given the cloth feel to the headphones, they've got an air of the good old-fashioned ear muff about them. But fear not, because - with some reservations - Sharkoon has delivered. And there are several reasons why. First, sheer of ease. We'd expect nothing less, but the headphones, which connect via a USB port, installed themselves in quick time, and all three of our test PCs were quickly diverting the system's sound directly through them with no intervention required from us. Next, they're very comfortable to wear, even for prolonged periods, thank... More About: Review
Philips - SPA9300 review
2008-02-21 17:37:00 In a world that is awash with 5.1 surround sound speakers it makes a pleasant change to be faced with a set of 2.1 speakers such as this. The two satellites that sit on your desk look very stylish, however they are a little on the tall side at 19cm. Unusually, they are finished in stainless steel, although it looks similar to aluminium, with a tweeter stacked above two mid-range drivers. The subwoofer is an understated black cube with a grille on the front. As the sub will live out of sight under your desk or tucked in a corner of the room this rather suggests that Philips spends its cash where it will be seen. Philips has joined the two satellites together so you only have a single jack to plug into the subwoofer. The company has also made the unusual decision of connecting the wired remote to both the subwoofer and the sound card in your PC, so the remote is the conduit for the audio signal. Although there's a rocker power switch on the back of the subwoofer, along with a rotary... More About: Review
Creative - GigaWorks G550W review
More articles from this author:2008-02-20 22:31:00 In the main Creative 's GigaWorks G550W are a conventional set of 5.1 surround sound speakers. The subwoofer is rated at 130W and the five satellites are 36W each, which totals 310W RMS. However, Creative claims a peak figure of 550W which gives them their model name. GigaWorks speakers inhabit the upper reaches of Creative's product range and, while the audio quality is superior, you'll find that GigaWorks are more laborious to set up than a budget set of Creative Inspires. You've got three cables to connect to your PC sound card, with mini-jack plugs at one end and stereo RCA plugs at the other, but there is no colour coding to make your life easy. Then there are the five satellites which use spring clips on each of the stereo connections. Granted this makes it easy to substitute cables or to cut them to length, but we prefer the convenience of a simple RCA plug. You might think that's the final word on speaker cables but you'd be wrong. The 'W' in the model name designate... More About: Review 1, 2, 3 |
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