In this line of work, there's really nothing quite like the all-too-occasional experience of opening a box from Apple, and unveiling the shiny wonders squirreled away inside. In fact, it's the only event that never fails to draw all and sundry AJB staff from throughout the office into the Labs to catch a glimpse of what the tech company with only 3 percent market share worldwide has managed to innovate this time.

A stunning design backed up by great performance and good value for money.

Gorgeous, expensive and exasperating in equal measure, and yet still desirable despite its myriad faults

Beautifully designed with a clear interface, but format support is limited

Still one of the best examples of laptop design in the market, but there are compromises

If the lack of a display or hold button don’t bother you, this is a superb player

Not without its impracticalities, but the touch is a simply brilliant marriage of software and hardware

With new, supercharged battery life, the new iPods offer superb design and performance. But compatibility caveats remain.

The world's most amazing multi-room audio system just got better with the addition of internet radio streaming and an iPhone app for controlling your music from anywhere in the house.

With the release of version 4.1, Windows users finally get a look at Apple's iTunes software on home ground. From the brushed aluminium and ice blue of the Mac OS branding, to the organisation of the interface, it feels almost alien in a Windows environment.

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.

There’s now very little reason not to buy an iPod. These are simply superb.

The widest format support, plus flawless wireless streaming, put this among the best network players we’ve seen so far

Jon Honeyball gets close to the next bona fide beta of Windows, gets in deep with printer ink coverage and still finds time to buy some new computers.

Surprisingly there's no visual voicemail on our Optus iPhone, but otherwise the phone performs brilliantly with a massive speed boost over the 1st gen model.

Dell has seen considerable success in the consumer PC market, and has drawn on the expertise gained in that market to drive into the business market over the past several years.

Despite various attempts at Windows Desktop alternatives, Linux is still best suited to servers, for which Red Hat is by far the most popular choice. With this in mind, it came as no surprise when in May 2002 Red Hat split its product line in two: Linux and Enterprise Linux.

An extremely well built and comfortable machine, blessed with striking looks and a great price.

A great reason to buy into iPod. It’s good value, though its required accessories can add up.

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