An old PC is like putty in your hands. Tim Dean looks at how you can shape it into a new system with a few easy upgrades.

The Optio 550 is the first Pentax camera we’ve reviewed in the Labs. It’s the cheapest 5-megapixel device here and, despite the slim dimensions, crams in a 5x optical zoom.

The tiny Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1200 is a sleek, portable, flatbed scanner tailor-made for scanning small items with minimal hassle. Weighing in at a tiny 680g with a scan bed of only 10 x 15cm it's perfect for scanning photos. Features include 1,200 x 1,200dpi optical resolution, a USB 2.0 port, CompactFlash card and shared MMC/SD slots. Power is by the USB 2.0 port, or by four AA batteries when unplugged

Nominating Sato as our winner for the desktop machines this month was fairly straightforward, especially when compared to deciding the outcome of the closely-fought notebook war. Because, even though the Sato was outdone by one or two systems in terms of performance, nothing beat it on pure value for money.

A decent PC with media abilities bolted on, transforming this into a good lounge machine.

The Hi-Grade Xperian can simply be described as a bundle of essential technology ingeniously put together in one desirable package.

Samsung will demo a 7-megapixel cameraphone and a smartphone with a 3MB hard drive for playing music at this week's Cebit technology trade show in Germany.

TI's current workstation-class 3D graphics accelerators - dubbed X1 - are the company's latest effort to keep a hand in the high-end 3D graphics market. Consumer-level 3D hardware is now massively powerful, of course, but for all-out 3D performance and rock-solid driver integration you need a card dedicated to the purpose, and ATI claims the X1-128 is it.

Some of the wildest, weirdest and most useful gadgets and gizmos for kids - or big kids at heart

Still unsure about what GPS is best? Our buyer's guide compares each TomTom model on the market, including TomTom's newest GPS models.

An ongoing shortage of LCD parts - further exacerbated by a major maker's decision to halt external supply - may be partly relieved in the projection sector by products tipped for a 2004 release.

Print, scan, copy and fax with one single device. We put 10 all-in-ones through their paces.

Wireless in-car connectivity centres are gaining popularity thanks to 3G and burgeoning 4G services. We take a look at a couple of the bigger examples and investigate how they're changing the way we drive.

What will you be buying, using and drooling over this year? Tim Dean looks at the astounding products and technologies due to hit in the next 12 months.

After the disappointment - perceived or otherwise - of Windows Vista, many are pinning their hopes on a revival with Windows 7. And from our first impressions of the pre-beta code, that's exactly what they can expect.

Cebit is the showcase for future industry trends and technologies. Everything you need to know.

HP is the latest IT player to throw its hat in the digital entertainment ring unveiling a swag of new digital photography and home entertainment products which it hopes will cement its future in the digital home consumer market.

There is something totally decadent about playing your favourite PC game on a 30-inch LCD monitor with stereo sound from two banks of speakers - one on each side.

From movies and games to sporting events and even pornography, David Bayon explains why 3D displays are the next big thing.