A welcome update to the Sound Blaster that can deliver perceptibly better audio than onboard chips, but it goes beyond most people’s needs for PC audio.

Creative's best efforts in desktop audio slide their way into the side of a laptop.

If soundcards were supermodels the X-Fi would be the Claudia Schiffer of the model world. Or maybe Jennifer Garner, since our first hands-on look at this card can be succinctly summarised as 'kicks major booty'.

Better sound for your laptop from Creative, plus the little white lies about its heritage exposed.

Great audio, but gaming ability hinges on the success of Dolby and DTS

Whether you're after something small, portable and cheap - such as the Creative Zen Mozaic - or something more fully featured, we've got the latest and greatest in portable music on test. The benchmark they all try to meet is the iPod Classic, which at $300 for 80GB of storage and 45 hours of audio battery life is still the clear leader.

Upgrade to Creative drivers for Vista

Custom design watercooling and some judicious overclocking make for a showstopping performance and price.

Not great value for money, but the XPS 700 offers plenty of power and striking looks.

Supreme quality and performance at a supreme price.

Download the latest version of Mandriva Linux

Firm claims to have solved issues from Microsoft's removal of HAL.

Under the guidance of Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, Creative gives mice a minor tune-up.

Fantastic design and highly-configurable power make this XPS useful, desirable and good value.

One-off patent licence payment helps keep media player firm afloat.