A comprehensive set of audio-editing tools, but not enough to justify the high price.

A fully digital multitrack audio production suite for under $2,500

Creative has enjoyed a long reign as the driving force in consumer-grade PC audio for the better part of a decade.

Streaming is the process of taking large files, breaking them into smaller pieces and sending them to their destination where they are recompiled as they arrive, providing an audio, video or animated broadcast over the net.

It’s not underground radio, but it’s the next best thing.

WinFM is a neat little package dedicated to Internet radio, although that term is a little abstract, because theres no radio waves involved.

Despite the fact it's aimed at professional users - corporate and event videographers and advanced home-video enthusiasts are the target market - Ulead DVD Workshop 2 retains many of the ease-of-use features for which the company has become known.

Daikin may be more familiar to some as the producer of Scenarist, a high-end professional package which has been used in the authoring of many major blockbusters.

An inexpensive audio interface that lifts the podcasting fidelity bar out of the world of cheap plastic microphones.

It doesn’t do anything apart from simple music streaming, but the price and ease of use make this a good choice for getting music from one room to another wirelessly.

There are now literally dozens of MP3 players on the market. However, the arrival of MPZoos MP3 Disc Player brings a slight change in direction

The ProV is a product similar in nature to the Canopus ADVC-100 (page 44), but where the ADVC-100 is used for transcoding video streams with an eye on digital video work, the ProV is used to bring versatility to your computer monitor, or breathe life into any spare monitors youve got laying around.

Good picture, built in DVD player, easy to use -- all at a price you won't believe.

IRiver's multi-codec CD player has all the necessary traits required of a high-end personal audio centre. Arriving with a bundle of goodies, the iMP-400 is a stylish unit, with an interesting burgundy and chrome finish.

The eXpanium is an MP3 CD player that uses a near-standard CD display, showing only track and album numbers and times, and has six transport control keys scattered over the lid. In addition to the usual functions, these provide 30 track programming, track and disc repeat and shuffle modes.

We audition the first entrant in our Bluetooth A2DP lineup.

MSI's MegaBook L61OI lives up to its 'mega' moniker with a large 15.4-inch widescreen TFT, desktop CPU, excellent graphics and pumping audio. The model we looked at was a pre-production prototype notebook and as such was a little shaky and did not come with all the inclusions a final model will have. As a proof of concept, however, the notebook is quite good.

The Fujifilm FinePix 40i is one of a new breed that will perform both still and video capture as well as accommodate playback of MP3 digital audio

Excellent audio with a cool factor.

For the last few years Creative has played catchup to the likes of iRiver, Rio and Apple.