Absolute beginner’s guide to building robots
If, like us, you’ve ever had the deep pining associated with wanting to build a robot or two, this book is definitely for you. This 360-page guide to everything you’ve ever wanted to know about robots covers how they work and how to build your own.
You’ll learn how to select the right power source, use the tools you’ll need and how to build a robot from things you have around the house or from kit form.
Acer AL1751W
The Acer AL1751W may have had the distinction of being the only widescreen 17in TFT in this roundup, but this wasn’t the only thing that contributed to its high rankings. Instead it was a combination of the unit’s specifications, its functions and its features that helped it score highly across our strenuous testing regime, plus a little nudge from value for money at the end to get it across the line.
ACER FERRARI 3000
It’s an odd gambit business-wise: align your own brand with that of another. But for Acer, the one-off team-up with Ferrari to brand and produce the Acer Ferrari 3000 notebook has resulted in a stunning product.
AOC LM729
Not the most feature-rich display here, the AOC LM729 was bettered by most of the other monitors in terms of specification, but managed to rally itself nicely when it came time to test with DisplayMate and our real-world tasks.
AOpen F75PS
As stated in the introduction, there are only four real TFT panel manufacturers in the world, so it’s no surprise that you come across eerily similar products every now and again, as each OEM supplies displays for a multitude of companies.
Auriga 7MLV-1
Auriga’s 17MLV-1 is not the best looking TFT we’ve ever seen, with a pretty big bezel and a chunky neck, but it has a wide degree of swivel and tilt flexibility. Plus there’s a feature unique to this monitor in the comprehensive roundup -- the 17MLV-1 came with a D-Sub RGB connection, plus Composite and S-Video. But furthermore, the TFT featured PiP (Picture in Picture) which meant you could have your PC as the main display, with the TV running in a corner, or vice versa. Via the OSD you could set where you wanted the PiP to appear, plus toggle the sources.
Belkin F5D6050
One of the better instructional booklets, Belkin have supplied a manual and a three step quick start guide - easy to follow, and even easier to set up
Belkin F5D7130au
When we plugged in the Belkin F5D7130au, we could see that it maintained a robust wireless connection at both close and greater indoor distances. It didn't take long to get up and running - the software is built into the device itself, accessible by pointing your browser to its IP address. A further advantage of having built-in configuration software is that the F5D7130au can be used with both PCs and Macs.
BenQ FP767
We’re no stranger to BenQ and its high-quality monitors at PC Authority: in our last roundup of 15, 17 and 18in+ monitors BenQ managed to score two awards including Labs Winner for its 15in model.
BOOYA BWSU25
One of the first USB adaptor dongles we tested, the Booya BWSU25 offers USB1.1 connectivity with Windows Plug and Play compatibility.
CMV CT-723A
Marketed clearly towards the gamer and entertainment user, this unit is not that different the CMV CT-722A (October 2003, page 59) both with a single D-Sub input and a excellent 16 millisecond pixel response time.
Compucon T750S
The Compucon T750S took the trophy for the monitor with the biggest stand, but aside from that it’s quite an unassuming display.
CTX S762A
The CTX S762A was one of the under-performing monitors from this roundup, with scores that either equalled or were a little less than the yardstick CMV monitor’s.
D-link AG250
This tri-band PCI wireless adaptor is designed to work with all of the ratified 802.11 standards.
D-link DWL-122
Tiny, lightweight and rugged, this USB thumb drive 802.11b adaptor features 64- and 128-bit WEP security making it ideal for frequent travellers and notebook users without a free PCMCIA slot.
D-Link DWL-7000AP
The D-Link DWL-7000AP is a wireless access point that is friendly towards all 802.11 devices. It's a dual-band/tri-mode wireless device - this means the 7000AP supports all three 'g', 'b' and 'a' standards. If you have one of these, you don't need to worry about what other 802.11 devices you will be using - chances are they'll talk.
Daewoo L17CS
Filled with a good feature-set such as an S-Video input and high brightness and contrast, the Daewoo L17Cs looked great on paper. In ‘person’ it looked quite snappy, with a silver and black finish, high neck and all the OSD buttons and controls arrayed up the right-hand side.
Dell 2200MP
When we last compared sub-$2,500 projectors (December 2003) Dell was unable at the time to supply us with a review model. We were eager to see what their brand new sub-$2,000 projector was capable of, but it's taken it a while to complete the circuitous route to our offices.
Eizo FlexScan L557
The FlexScan L557 was a great looking monitor with some top specs, including a high contrast ratio, dual inputs (D-Sub and DVI-D), very wide (and high) viewing angles (170º vertical and 170º horizontal), and a whopping five-year next business day warranty.
Excel WLG-1100
Reasonably priced for a $99 dual-band wireless 802.11b/g PCMCIA, it's physically identical in size to the Level OneWPC-0300 device.
Excel WLG-1201
Another PCI device to come supplied with a detachable antenna, it can be adjusted into one of three locking positions: parallel to the backplane, 45 degrees away from the card, or perpendicular to the backplane.
Gigabyte GD-1703BP
This monitor was physically identical in every way to the AOpen F75PS, aside from the Gigabyte badging on the front bezel. Both featured the same solid metal base, sturdy design and nifty sockets for plugs direct on the back, and there’s no prize for guessing that they performed identically in all of the tests we put them through.
Labs roundup: 17in TFTs: Introduction
Early last year we predicted that 2003 would be the year of the TFT, and we were proven right. TFT prices tumbled to affordable levels, and for the first time TFTs were arriving that had comparable quality to CRTs.
Level One WBR-3403TX
One of only two access points to feature an integrated print server, this unit brings affordable wireless networking to the masses by allowing consumers to share not only a local network, but also the productivity and handiness of USB print sharing and VPN access.
Level One WNC-300
The WNC-0300 is an 802.11g/b PCI card, and is the counterpart of the WPC-0300 PC card.
LEVEL ONE WPC-0300
The Level One WPC-0300 was a stubborn card, in a good way - we found it stubbornly holding onto the wireless connection at locations at long range and weak signal strengths. Needless to say, the card did well at close ranges.
LG L1710B
Featuring a very high neck, a very deep stand and a thin bezel, the LG L1710B evoked the iMac screen’s ability to ‘float’ in front of you. What’s more, the LG panel could be rotated to portrait mode if required, a feature that made it perfect for lots of document use or for graphic artists.
Linksys WRV54G
Even at a glance, the Linksys WRV54G looks to be more than just an 802.11g/b wireless access point. It acts as an Ethernet switch connecting up to four wired devices, making this a good bridging choice between wired and unwired networks. It's also a router capable of hooking up to a DSL modem, which is useful for basic connection sharing.
Microsoft Money 2004 Standard
One day Microsoft might realise that forcing its customers to have a Bill Gates issued 'passport' to use services on the internet sticks in people's gullets like a jagged fishbone. In the case of Microsoft Money you need a passport if you want to take advantage of its online banking services, but once you do sign up you find that it is the one area of an otherwise excellent program that does not work properly.
Minitar MN54G4R
Wireless technology is brilliant, but has been thwarted by the difficulty of implementation and the need for additional hardware to replace existing products. The Minitar MN54G4R takes care of all of this, combing a dual band 802.11b/g wireless access point, USB print server, router, SPI (stateful packet inspection) firewall and four port LAN switch into a single tiny unit.
Mitsubishi DiamondView DV175
Reviewed in a sneak preview as a pre-production model a few months ago (February 2004, page 48), the DiamondView impressed us then and it’s good to see a full production version fulfill those impressions now. Not a great deal has changed though; it still suffers from a few brightness issues and white wash-out, and the contrast didn’t really translate as well as it should for its rating.
Mozo PV776
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.
MSI MegaPC180 Deluxe
We reviewed the MegaPC180's predecessor, the Mega651, in September last year (Issue 70, page 46) and were fairly impressed with the way this unit handled for a first generation crossover Hi-Fi/PC. The key to digital convergence is seamless integration and MSI has gone a few extra steps in the right direction to help with this changeover.
NEC MultiSync LCD1760NX
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.
Omni LCD17003LS
Omni is another new brand to the PC Authority Labs, and while the price for this model was good its performance wasn’t as good as we would have liked for a new contender.
Philips 170B4BB
An impressive monitor all-round, the Philips 170B4BB came near the top of the pile for its great mix of specifications, and did extremely well in all of the testing. This was the only monitor in the roundup to rate three perfect scores in performance: with impeccable clock timing and phase locking, the clearest desktop of all tested displays, and the only monitor capable of displaying a truly dark black.
Samsung SyncMaster 172X
The SyncMaster 172X from Samsung was a bit of a powerhouse in our tests, scoring highly in all regards except one: surprisingly the monitor was a little over-saturated, meaning whites looked a little washed out, and this would not change regardless of how we tweaked and fiddled with the screen’s settings. However in day-to-day usage you’d barely notice this.
Shuttle ZEN XPC ST62K
Shuttle's push on the small form factor market has seen the PC finally migrate from the bedroom to become an integral part of the lounge room and entertainment set up. Capable of a number of varied roles, these include file servers, HDTV receiving boxes and media streaming machines.
SITECOM WL-121
The Sitecom WL-121 was very easy to install and configure once you had the software up and running.
Sony SDM-HX73
Sony’s SDM-HX73 was an extremely attractive TFT with plenty of features and performance for your buck. The specifications that set it apart from the rest were the dual RGB D-Sub connector for two analog inputs, the 400:1 contrast ratio and the 400cd/m² brightness ratios, a combo that’s impressive indeed.
Umax MaxVision V7
The Umax MaxVision V7 is a budget model, with very little in the way of specifications to tempt, nor does it have the performance to whet your appetite. While most of its scores were on par with the CMV that we used as the yardstick, there were a few problems (namely with displaying truly black blacks) that made the real-world 3D test unpassable.
Veritech VAC-2511-21
We found the 802.11b/g Veritech VAC-2511-21 a robust performer, holding onto the connection even at an extended distance in an office environment.
Viewsonic VP171B
It was a little hard to compare some monitors as they were more for the high-end market where others were aimed at the consumer/budget market. Such was the case with the Viewsonic VP171B, a high-end professional graphics model. The VP171B featured 280cd/m² brightness coupled with an incredible 600:1 contrast ratio.
Web Excel PT-3830
The Web Excel PT-3830 is an 802.11b wireless access point, four-port switch and DSL router all-in-one. It's a good package if you want to share your DSL modem with a small network, but everything about the PT-3830 is definitely no-frills. Closer examination, however, reveals a highly configurable device.