Another big improvement, but this time it’s enough to make PowerDirector a worthy alternative to its mainstream rivals

PowerDirector 3 is the latest version of CyberLink’s DV editing application aimed at home video enthusiasts. It has been radically overhauled since the previous version 2.5, and includes many new features as well as a revamped interface. On the capture front, a new quick-scan option enables fast pre-capture preview of an entire 60-minute DV tape in just six minutes. There’s also a new title editor, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) motion effects can be easily added, a three-track audio mixer provides real-time mixing during playback, and you can now record voiceover narration during timeline playback of a project.

With its limited editing features, it would be hard to see anyone choosing PowerDirector 5 over the Adobe, Pinnacle or Ulead competition.

Packed with features and closer to Adobe Premiere Elements, CyberLink PowerDirector 8 is close, but still not close enough.

This version brings some real improvements, but there are still a few features missing.

Anyone with $400 to spend on a graphics card should currently be looking at a RADEON X800 XL. It boasts the same 16 pipelines as an X800 XT, and also packs 256MB of GDDR3 memory to boot.

Despite sitting in third place for write speeds and fourth overall for the read portion of our testing, this drive has a couple of trump cards up its sleeves.

Video capture and two full games of your choice make this a Decent alternative to the 7600 GT.

Performance, software and value that almost snatches away the A-List crown.

Not all multimedia notebooks have to weigh in around the $5000 mark. Digital Star’s 15.4in widescreen PowerNote Z71V offers very good value for money for a laptop sporting a 2GHz Pentium M, 1GB of RAM and a 128MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 graphics chip.

A great next-generation camcorder, but it lacks editing support for the recording format

Potentially Much faster than a X1900 XTX in games with large textures yet it costs the same. At over $100 less than Nvidia’s 7950 GX2, it’s a fine card.

Out of the box water cooled graphics, now that's fresh.

A solid but unremarkable notebook offering a good set of features and excellent warranty.

The branding reflects the exclusivity, but not necessarily the capability.

Pocket-sized digital camcorders are becoming more capable all the time. We round up ten of the best