20Q
A fairly basic toy, the 20Q takes all the hassle out of playing the 20 questions game 'animal, mineral or vegetable' and computerises it in a funky hand-held device.
A matter of perspective
Is online shopping the minefield we're lead to believe? David Kidd takes his chances.
Acer Aspire 1802WSM
The Acer Aspire has a lot of handy multimedia functions that help it work as a desktop replacement/media unit. One of the Aspire’s main selling points is the Arcade feature, which is a Windows Media Centre clone. A button on the notebook fascia opens Arcade, bypassing the Windows OS and enabling all media player functions: DVD, MP3 etc. It works quite well but isn’t as graphically stunning as MCE.
Acer Aspire T620
When it comes to accessories, the Aspire has one of the best bundles supplied for this roundup: including an MCE remote and a radio/TV antenna! It also has a decent specification list: 3Ghz Pentium 4; 160GB HDD; and 512MB RAM. The only sticking point here, amongst all this multimedia goodness, is the inclusion of the Mobility X300 video card. It's like building a Ferrari and installing a two-stroke motor. It doesn't make much sense.
Apple iBook
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.
Apple iMac G5
The iMac has always been a little more about style than function and the latest iteration is testament to this philosophy. The most noticeable thing about the iMac G5 is the massive 20 inch widescreen. It's a Big Mac. Geddit?
Apple iPod Mini
Taking over on the innovation and user friendliness from where the original iPod left off, the iPod Mini features similar design to the original, but is in every regard smaller.
ASUS W1N
The ASUS is one tough little cookie. Its cover and palmrest are encased in brushed aluminium lending the unit a reassuring sense of rigidity and roadworthiness. The 15.4" screen is bright, and its default resolution of 1680x1050 makes text sharp but a little small to read unless up close. The unit also comes with a built in TV-tuner, and also sports a TV-antenna output.
BenQ DV3080
As well as TV viewing (an analog tuner is built in) this screen's strength comes from its LCD-ness which makes it awesome for plugging into a PC (Media Center, anyone?) or for components like digital set-top boxes or DVD players.
BenQ Joybook 7000 v07
The BenQ Joybook 7000 v07 is a multimedia PC with some MCE-like abilities. It comes loaded with QMedia Center - another MCE clone - and a PCMCIA-sized remote. QMedia operates much like MCE in that there is a main page – coloured BenQ purple of course - from which the usual Pictures and Videos icons enable navigation of the user’s media files.
Blueant Bluetooth Wireless Headphones
A funky set of Bluetooth headphones. Connect to a variety of audio sources or use the built in MP3 player.
Canon Photo Paper Kit
An A4 paper and folder kit for printing out your digital photos in a format that can easily be shared and stored for years. It's essentially a pack of 10 sheets of double-sided photo paper, a hard book and folder clips.
Capitol Dream Station
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.
Digital Star PowerNote 258KA
Another notebook to embrace the entertainment market and sell units with widescreen 16:10 aspect ratio displays, this PowerNote packs some serious hardware under the hood, pushing not only AMD's Mobile Athlon 64 3200+ processor, but also ATI's Mobility RADEON 9700 a 60GB, 7200rpm hard disk drive and a multiformat 4-speed DVD burner for disc creation on the go.
Electric Shock Reaction Game
From the non-functional, just-because-you-can pile, comes this four-way electric shock reaction test game from JayCar Electronics.
EXCEL G900
If you're after an ultra portable, this isn't the notebook for you. If you're after a large form factored portable desktop replacement, this could be the ticket. This behemoth of a notebook features a 17-inch widescreen display and a footprint to match.
Forever Flashlight
What makes this torch really cool is that it's batteryless. To charge the thing you need to give it a vigorous shake. Around 30 seconds of shaking powers the torch for two to three minutes.
Home Multimedia PCs and Notebooks
Finding a good PC or notebook for the family is not as hard as you might think. PC Authority puts the latest models to the test.
HP DV1029AP
When it comes to notebooks, there are a few different flavours with their own specialties. The trick to purchasing the right notebook is to know your needs and the intended purposes of the unit so you can properly match the correct machine with your requirements.
iSTAR ID-17VSSBK
The iSTAR ID-17VSSBK is bright, sharp and clear and is housed in an attractive two tone glossy black and silver bezel which would match both the minimalist home or work environment.
LG RH4820W DVD Recorder
For those with deep pockets and big hearts, this DVD recorder comes with full PVR functionality and an 80GB hard drive.
Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite
Microsoft's hardware division pumps out some excellent keyboards and mice, and from the latest refresh of their range comes the evocatively named top-model Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth.
NOKIA N-GAGE QD
The N-Gage is as chunky as a phone, but when you use it with both hands to play games the N-Gage shines. The 3D processor is good, so you can get some reasonable depth-of-field gaming on the device.
One way or another
Everyone likes standards, but standards mean compromises. Tim Dean looks at whether they're worth the trade off.
Pieces of Paper
Tertiary education goes a long way. Edward Mandla looks at the options.
Pioneer Notebook 47DK
The notebook winner this month was a close call. Two units stood out as being at the top of the multimedia field: the Pioneer D47K and the Acer Aspire 1802WSM. Feature-by-feature they were very closely matched, but we chose the Pioneer for several reasons, one of which was its advanced media capabilities.
Pioneer Power PC 3800
When we sent out the call for multimedia systems we were expecting notebooks and PCs capable of DVD playback and some basic gaming. Pioneer not only cleared this bar with their submission - they raised it.
Pure Digital BUG
Digital radio in Australia is a slow burner. While many people are investing in digital set-top boxes and digital displays for the purpose of watching digital TV, not too many people are jumping on the digital radio bandwagon.
Shopping secrets
Want to skip the Christmas crowds, or nab a once in a lifetime bargain? Online shopping could be the answer. Tim Dean looks at the glory and the pitfalls.
Sony PlayStation 2
There's no denying the power of the PlayStation 2 gaming console. Once again it's going to be one of the must-have Christmas items for the home this year.
Targa A510
With a price beaten only by Apple's iBook, Targa's offering to the multimedia market segment could easily be confused for their budget line of products. Clocking in at only 1.5GHz, this isn't the beefiest CPU in our roundup, but the 64MB of dedicated video memory, based on ATIs Mobility RADEON 9600 generation GPU, helped carry it through.
Tech Horizons: Wireless grows up
The holes in WEP have finally been plugged and wireless is finally a secure technology. Tim Dean looks at how this was achieved.
The Investigator
How easy is it to replace a battery? Ty Pendlebury investigates when internal batteries can cost you a trip to a service centre.
Toshiba Satellite M30 Special Edition
Widescreen notebooks are the way of the future, really they are. With entertainment now proficiently done on the go, why would we go back to limited 4:3 aspect ratio? It's far easier to work on two spreadsheets concurrently in widescreen without needing to alt tab like a madman. Toshiba, like many manufacturers, has seen this need and provided such a product.
Tutorial: SkinStudio 101
PC Authority gives you the low-down on skinning your XP system using Stardock's SkinStudio.
Tutorial: StyleBuilder 101
Custom build your own Windows styles. PC Authority shows you how to get started with TGT Soft's StyleBuilder.
Tutorial: Way of the Samurize
We open up Serious Samurize and show you how to create a desktop object that displays free hard drive space.
Twinhead Efio 15B-Dothan
The Twinhead Efio is a mixed beast. It has some very good features, such as an all-magnesium casing and ATI Mobility 9700, but it also has some middling features, like a relatively slow 1.8GHz Intel processor and 4:3 screen. The unit is well made and well set out however.
Ulead DVD PictureShow Deluxe
The proliferation of cheap digital cameras and DVD burners means that consumers, with the help of programs like Ulead PictureShow, can now create their own professional-looking slideshows on DVD at little cost.
Vivitar DVR390H
Take a portable media player, add video and sound recording functionality plus a 3.1MP digital still camera and you've got the Richo Vivitar DVR390H.
Westan Biostar IDEQ 210P
Small form factor (SFF) PCs now have their foot well and truly in the home entertainment and IT/CE crossover market due largely to their aesthetics, functionality and quietness of operating volume. Westan's Biostar product looks to continue along these lines, offering a multimedia PC with all the performance of AMD's 64-bit desktop processor architecture.
Windows the way you want it
Don't want to settle for rolling green hills on your desktop? PC Authority looks at the alternatives with our guide to the latest desktop enhancements.