Altron MM10
On opening the box you can tell the Altron MM10 is a serious piece of equipment. It's a large, brushed-aluminium box with a distinctive neon-blue sound level meter on the front.
Become a Media Baron
Will home media centres do to the entertainment industry what video did to the radio star? With new technology reshaping our lounges, homes could soon become fully functional media hubs.
BenQ Joybook 8100-V13
A fantastic specification notebook with all the trimmings you'd expect to find on more expensive notebooks, the Joybook 8100-V13 has a 15.4in widescreen WXGA with native 1280 x 800 resolution. With ATI's Mobility RADEON 9600 graphics, boasting 64MB dedicated video memory, it's great for DVD playback or gaming -- the unit returned 9,502 marks under 3DMark01SE Pro, more than enough to provide comfortable gameplay with a decent number of fps even in recent games. BenQ has gone as far as to include not just a DVD-ROM for DVD movie playback, but an optical DVD writer, capable of 2-speed DVD+R media writing, ideal for both business archiving or for personal backup.
Chessmaster 10th Edition
Chess games are always a bit tricky to review. Surely not too much can have changed since the last release? Still, like many sports titles, developers are always looking for added extras to tempt us to put aside a perfectly good version and splash out on an upgrade.
Compro VideoMate Gold TV
Compro's VideoMate Gold TV may be an analog TV tuner card, but it's got one feature that alone makes it better then the DTV cards reviewed - it has a power pass-through for your PC's power switch.
D-Link DSM-320 Media Lounge
This unit is quite similar to the Pinnacle ShowCentre in look, as it's a wide and deep slimline component for nestling in amongst your other hi-fi componentry.
Diamond Digital DV 300 Information Display
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.
Digital TV tuners
Turn on and tune in with cards that give your PC a whole new lease of AV life.
Dvico FusionHDTV DVB-T
One of the few proper HDTV capable digital TV tuner cards reviewed, the Dvico FusionHDTV DVB-T was really capable in our tests.
Escape route
Leigh Dyer infuses a cheap standalone router with the power of Linux.
HP Photosmart R707
Digital camera prices are continuing to fall, which is largely due to market saturation. Fortunately for consumers, it's now at a point where a good quality high resolution camera can be picked up for a little under $1000.
IBM ThinkCentre S50 Ultra Small 808735M
The IBM ThinkCentre S50 Ultra Small is the world's smallest 'full-function' desktop computer according to manufacturer IBM. Whether it's the world's smallest or not, it's certainly one of the smallest we've seen.
Jargon buster: displays
Tim Dean explores the jargon and acronyms of monitor technology in our monthly tech term glossary.
Kohan II: Kings of War
TimeGate Studios' original Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns caused a bit of a stir back in 2001 by defying a few of the realtime strategy genre's long established conventions.
Leadtek WinFast PVR 2000
Leadtek's WinFast PVR 2000 is one of the two analog TV tuners we've looked at, but while it lacks Compro's power-on functionality it makes up for it with DirectBurn (the ability to burn recorded programs direct to CD or DVD) and an FM tuner.
Media Streamers
A PC in the lounge room too complex and cluttered? You need a media adaptor.
Myst IV: Revelation
The original Myst was an enormously popular hit for all ages (no pun intended!), and a regular succession of sequels has continued to tap into a solid fan base.
Nebula DigiTV 3.11
The USB Nebula DigiTV box has the best tuning abilities of the external devices tested, and it has some basic but good software to go with it.
Netgear Wireless Digital Music Player MP101
Netgear's Wireless Digital Music Player, the MP101 is one of the easiest music streamers we've reviewed, but for rich multimedia support you should look further a field especially if you're keen on streaming video to your equipment.
Nokia 6820
The 6820 is Nokia's business phone. Its previous incarnation -- the 6800 -- was heavily criticised for not offering tri-band or Bluetooth; both of which have now been remedied. For something the size of a regular phone, we can applaud Nokia for shoe-horning a full Qwerty keyboard in.
Norton Internet Security 2005
It's that time of year again when your Symantec security products start flashing at you for their annual update. This time Symantec has not only tweaked the performance of the various products that make up its security suite, but has also endeavoured to give them a new look.
Panasonic PT-LB10NTE
Panasonic's new business projector, the PT-LB10NTE is a stunning little unit for its price and size. It features a bright 2000 ANSI lumens rating - powerful enough that the projection is clearly legible even with the fluorescent boardroom lights on, and a wide 500:1 contrast ratio.
Pinnacle ShowCenter
It turns out that Microsoft [I]is[/I] bringing out Windows XP Media Center Edition in Australia, but until such time as it materialises -- and Microsoft Australia is being very sketchy on the dates -- those of us looking to integrate our PC media files with our televisions and hi-fi systems have to turn to bridging solutions.
Pioneer DVR-A08XL-A
As DVD starts gaining ground on CD burning as the optical storage method of choice, 4.7GB DVD has some competition at the hands of the newer 8.5GB dual layer format.
PowerNote CL56
Designed from the ground up to cater for all computer users, this notebook is a great all round performer.
Punch MEGA 2801 Computer System
The Mega 2801 has one of the coolest features seen on a HTPC: it lets you play CDs (but not DVDs) without the computer turned on. It has two red buttons on the fascia that let you choose between CD or PC.
Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War
Specialist developer ProSim, which cemented its reputation with the impressive Armoured Task Force wargame engine, now takes things a little further with Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War.
Richard Burns Rally
Hot on the heals of successful console releases, the PC version of Richard Burns Rally looks set to make a reasonable splash in the very tough racing genre.
Rome: Total War
The Total War series is undoubtedly one of the best wargame experiences of the past few years. Activision has built on the success of Shogun: Total War and gradually improved an already terrific engine with successive sequels.
S-Media MediaMate 210D
The small USB S-Media MediaMate 210D is a fairly hardy TV tuner, with some basic software but enough to get the job done.
Shuttle XP17 FPD
Shuttle has made a name for themselves with stylish and innovative barebones PCs, and now comes along this excellent addition to any XPC you own. Scratch that - this TFT would look good with any PC you own.
Shuttle XPC ST61G4
ATI gives the integrated graphics world a kick in the arse, John Gillooly feels the vibrations.
Sony VAIO VGN-A19GP
This notebook has been designed with classic Sony style: rounded edges, hidden IO inputs and a sleek widescreen footprint. From a connectivity point of view, this 'book has it all, boasting front-mounted Memory Stick Pro port, iLink 4-pin FireWire port and three USB ports.
Steel Panthers Main Battle Tank v3.01
The original Steel Panthers was a hit in the mid-nineties, and many players will remember wiling away the night hours at what was (for the time) an outstanding mix of realistic gameplay, terrific graphics and a first-rate interface.
Telstra F3000 Colour Screen
As mobiles have gotten more sophisticated and popular over the past few years, it was inevitable that the humble home phone would get a makeover, and the first such 'mobilised' landline phone is Telstra's F3000.
The importance of networking
Networking isn't just about cables. Edward Mandla offers some classic wisdom for new IT professionals.
The Investigator
You pay for what you get online, or do you? Ron Osborn tells a tale of confusing branding and high expectations.
TViX
The TViX is a fairly small box, roughly about the same size as a good DVD box-set, but inside it's got some amazing smarts. This also technically isn't a media streamer as such - it's more a media cacher thanks to the 80GB hard drive inside.
Twice the processor it used to be
The entire industry is moving towards dual-core technology, but why? Tim Dean looks at some of the reasons for the shift.
Unnatural selection
If it breeds, mutates and consumes resources, then it's a threat. Tim Dean thinks your Aibo may be more sinister than it looks.
Unwired and iBurst
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.
V-Stream X-Pert DTV-DVB-T USB
One of the few external DTV boxes, the V-Stream is a pretty capable tuner.
VisionPlus VisionDTV Ter
The VisionPlus VisionDTV Ter is an excellent DTV card - so good in fact that we received it twice with identical contents and functions but different badges (Pioneer Computers Dreamvision - $199; VisionPlus VisionDTV Ter - Lako Pacific $199).