Significant competition from the likes of Optus@Home recently has given cause for Telstra BigPond to devise flat-rate pricing plans that have opened up its cable service to the residential market.

Simple to use and great performance without being locked to a provider.

NEC’s offering for this month’s roundup turned out to be a quality monitor with some noteable features: it still has last year’s styling, with a big neck that keeps the panel out of the way, lots of swivel and tilt freedom and a tiny bezel that makes the screen appear larger than it is. Internally though it’s a different story, with a new faster 16 millisecond response time, better brightness and contrast ratings.

Although the mobile marketplace has been changing in the face of Centrino and the slow but gradual tablet PC adoption rate, large form factored (greater than single spindle) notebooks are still the order of the day.

Another epic installment of the GTA series, tragically hampered by a poor PC port

There's no denying the appeal of broadband internet access and yet for a smart country Australia has been falling way behind our international counterparts.

This is a collection of essays from the people who are pioneering peer-to-peer networking projects today.

The form of DSL offered by BigPond is ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), meaning that the upload speed is lower than the download speed.

One of only two external DVD writers submitted for testing this month, this multi-format drive has you covered for all your archive and burning needs.

What do you need from a cordless keyboard? Basically, no cord, and keys that work. Things like smooth action, well-spaced keys, special-function Internet controls and a weighty feel that stops it sliding around are all pluses.

The Thecus N5500 NAS is a pricey option for your storage needs, but its loaded with useful features and delivers decent performance.

A great combination of features at an excellent price makes this our new A-List board - suitable for just about everyone.

For those users after the shift away from a Microsoft world to an OS X platform, Apple have got a deal for you. Starting at a mere $1699, you can pick up an G4 iBook capable of more than just entertainment uses.

The Mozo brand is new to Australia, and we were keen to see what it had to offer. At times its PV776 TFT excited, then disappointed. It’s quite feature-barren, with only an RGB D-Sub input and fairly standard specifications so if you’re after the quality of DVI you’d have to move on.

Stunning design and innovative features make the Squeezebox extremely desirable, despite the price.

Absolutely blitzing the competition, Altech takes out our highly coveted Labs Winner Award, just beating IBM to the top spot. Heavy on both the features and quality, this unit was one of only three units in the roundup to feature a 17in TFT display, with the others, the Pluscorp INTEQ V26 and Apple iMac, falling by the wayside on price, hardware spec and performance.

The HomePlug networking standard has been around in the States and other countries for a few years, and has proven a popular alternative to running CAT 5 cabling in your walls or for the (then) expensive cost of setting up a wireless network. HomePlug is wired networking for sure, but it uses an existing infrastructure in your office or domicile: your copper electricity power 'network' that feeds your TV, hair-dryer, fridge and any other electrical appliance the juice it needs to run. In short, HomePlug uses your house's electrical wiring.