Ten affordable mid-sized Full HD monitors
Product Round-up Give your PC a facelift
Monitors don’t age very well; growing, as they do, dimmer and yellower as time passes. Premium panel technologies are now also considerably cheaper than they once were, so if you haven’t updated your display in a while, the chances are it’s now more than a little bit rubbish.
I’ve taken a look at ten of the best affordable …
Pentax K-01 16Mp APS-C hybrid camera review
Mirrorless maverick for grown-up lenses
Mirrorless camera sizes seem to be ever-reducing, yet the company that brought us the tiny Pentax Q, has now produced its antithesis. The Pentax K-01 is a big, rubber-clad, brick-shaped monster – a 16Mp APS-C interchangeable lens camera which rather defies categorisation.
Pentax K-01 mirrorless camera Hybrid heritage: the …
Panasonic DMC-GX1 compact system camera
Review Micro Four Thirds maestro
Panasonic’s DMC-GX1 camera is the Lumix model many Micro Four Thirds enthusiasts have been waiting for since the release of popular DMC-GF1 back in 2009. This 16Mp shooter will appeal to seasoned users with easily accessible controls for customisation on an enticingly compact aluminium body – a combination that will take it …
Canon PowerShot S100 GPS compact camera
Review The pocket professional
As the latest incarnation of Canon’s highly-regarded PowerShot S range of enthusiast-grade compact cameras, the new PowerShot S100 has a lot to live up to.
Canon PowerShot S100 compact camera More than point and shoot: Canon's PowerShot S100
Where the S95 was a relatively minor upgrade to the very popular S90 reviewed …
Pentax Q compact system camera
Review The cutest camera in the world?
When it come to compact system cameras, Pentax has form, if your memory goes back far enough. Like the Auto110 SLR film camera of old, the Pentax Q is laughably small, but in a good way. It’s a happy laugh – like a friendly chuckle at the burblings of a new-born. Its design is achingly cute – especially the white version I …
Fujifilm Finepix X10 compact camera
Review A curious case of bountiful buttons
Pulling out a Fujifilm X10 in mid-conversation will often elicit a rapid change of subject. Common responses include, “Oh, now what sort of camera is that?”, “Is that a Leica?” and frequently, “Let me have a go!”. The last of these is one to be relished as, should you hand over the camera, there’s a very strong possibility that …
Nikon 1 J1 interchangeable lens compact camera
Review Late to the party and making a scene
Somewhat late to the game, Nikon has finally released its Nikon 1 range of compact, mirrorless cameras which use a new CX-format sensor and a range of interchangeable lenses.
Nikon 1 J1 compact camera The J1 model is currently the entry-level Nikon One camera
The Nikon 1 range currently comprises V1 and J1 variants. Excellent …
Philips 221TE2L 21.5in monitor and Freeview TV combo
Review Double vision?
All modern TVs can function perfectly well as a computer monitor; however the same isn’t true the other way round. To make a TV you’ll of course need a tuner to pick up the transmitted signal, a decent remote control for all that armchair channel hopping and probably a few extra inputs for your Blu-ray player, games console and …
Acer T230H multi-touch monitor
Review Point and flick?
Apple fans have been enjoying the advantages of multi-touch computing for some time, but Windows users are little late to arrive at the party. However, with Windows 7 billed as the first version of the operating system to “fully embrace multi-touch technology”, we’re starting to see notebook PCs and add-on tablets supporting the …
Samsung P2370HD TV-monitor
Review A PC-TV display worth looking at?
Combo TV-monitors are not a new idea, but all too often what you get is a standard PC monitor with a TV tuner bolted on. Yet with the P2370HD, Samsung has created a fully functional 23in widescreen TV, that’s designed to work just as well as a PC monitor.
Samsung P2370HD Dual purpose: Samsung's P2370HD
The monitor is …
Optoma HD20 budget full HD projector
Review Light fantastic
Billed as the first 1080p projector available for under £900, Optoma has taken a no-frills approach to cram maximum HD goodness into its HD20 home cinema projector. Compact at 324 x 234 x 97mm, it houses a full HD 1080p DLP device to satisfy film buffs and big screen HD gamers.
Optoma HD20 Back to basics: Optoma's HD20
The …
MSI Wind Top AE1900
Review Touchscreen all-in-one PC
All-in-one PCs have been around for ages and it’s not hard to understand their appeal. They feature the wire-free tidiness of a laptop, combined with the big screen of a desktop PC. The concept sustains many admirers, with Apple’s iMac range doing very well indeed with just such a form factor.
MSI Wind Top AE1900 MSI's Wind Top …
BenQ Joybee GP1 mini projector
Review Palm-sized portable projector with a lifetime lamp
We’re all used to being able to take videos and movies with us when we go out, whether it’s on a phone or a portable media player. Some of these devices boast pretty decent widescreen displays too, but with the Joybee GP1 mini projector you can carry an 80in widescreen display around in your handbag.
BenQ Joybee GP1 BenQ's …
Synology Disk Station 409Slim
Review Laptop storage drives nano Nas box
At first glance, the Synology Disk Station 409 Slim seems a rather strange concept. Why use 2.5in disks in a four bay Nas enclosure? Surely, you’d want to cram as much storage space as possible into a NAS? Moreover, 2.5in drives are currently limited to around one quarter of the capacity of their 3.5in counterparts, hence, …
Infocus X10 projector
Review Very high standard entry-level home cinema rig
Full HD is what we all want, but until the release of the X10 from InFocus, a projector capable of displaying a full 1080p image would have cost you the proverbial arm and a leg.
With the X10, the full resolution of your Blu-ray Discs is available below the psychologically significant £1000 mark - that's exc. VAT, sorry - making …
BenQ W500 projector
Review There’s more to image quality than a massive pixel-count
An entry-level 720p projector will give you a huge display that’s great for gaming and TV. BenQ’s W500 sits just above that price point and delivers some improvements in image quality.
With all the hype surrounding Full HD you may scoff at 720p, but there’s a lot more to image quality than a massive pixel-count and the W500 …
Samsung SP-A400B movie and business projector
Review The Wash & Go of the projector market
Forget TVs - to get a truly huge picture, a projector is the only way to go, and if you want to take full advantage of HD media, there’s no better way to show it off. It needn’t cost you a huge amount either.
Just £1000, in fact, if you opt for Samsung’s SP-A400B. It's capable of displaying 720p HD content at screen sizes of up …
