Laptops/PCs/Apple

Unlike our personal shadows, which follow us where ever we go, whether visible or not, the Blade company’s Shadow (note the capital letter indicating its different status) is an entirely different entity. Let me explain

With the 24V2Q well-known brand AOC offers a 1920x1080 16:9 IPS panel slim-line monitor in a stylish package aimed at those who want reasonable performance without breaking the bank.

The first monitor that I have seen that takes both its power and video signal from a USB ‘C’ port. In fact it has just one connection the USB cable – the other end goes to a USB ‘C’ port on your Notebook or Tablet and an on/off button.

This is a 24inch curved gaming monitor from AOC as the title might tell you. While I have other curved monitors including the first TV that was widely available in the UK they have all been substantially larger than the 24inches of this offering.

It’s taken a while, 18 months in fact from change of agency to the first arrival of an HP notebook. Its thin its light and it has connectivity so what is not to like about this 13inch offering called very appropriately by the name of ENVY.

As you might get from the title this is a 27inch panel. Like most recent offerings it manages to take a minimal amount of desk space and also to supply an excellent image while at the same time looking after your eyes with flicker free 1920x1080 resolution.

This is neither large nor heavy so ideal to use when out and about. A black sandwich with silver grey slices, it is a Notebook and a Tablet running the latest version of Windows 10 V1803. Three sides of the screen have tiny edges the forth the bass is the less than usual place to find the webcam. There are other surprises like only USB ‘C’ ports.

The Philips monitor 272B7QU is a high-end QHD 2560 x 1440 display that offers, in addition to high performance, good ergonomics and a built-in docking station.

All In One PC’s are not exactly new but here is a large screen offering that is equipped with lots of good features and even includes a Thunderbolt 3 socket as well as HDMI in the latter ideal for you to attach a PVR for those after work hours watching.

Forming part of BenQ’s Designer range of products, the PD2710QC is a 27 inch 2K QHD monitor. This particular model comes with the claim of being BenQ’s first USB Type-C display product to take advantage of the latest USB technology.

A rather nice 27inch panel from Philips, which should be able to give you 2560x1440 resolution which is that step up from the default offering these days of 1920x1080. It has a good colour gamut and shows well in a whole range of lighting conditions.

While this is a Notebook as it has a keyboard it is more likely to be used as a Tablet as the keyboard folds back behind the screen and then you have an excellent touch screen Windows unit that even comes with a stylus for accurate work. If fact the keyboard can even be totally detached should you wish.

When space is at a premium you might like to consider a tower system from Lenovo.

I had read a good bit about this tiny bare board computer that a lot will use for a single purpose. Then I was offered the chance to review one of the new batch that can take the required power from an Ethernet cable which seemed unusual at least.

For those who have an interest in photography then a specialised ‘RGB’ unit such as this offering from BenQ could well solve the problem of getting the colour correct, this unit guarantees 99% correct Adobe RGB colour space.

The 276E9QJAB/00 is one of a series of three 27 inch 1920 x 1080 full HD computer monitors employing what Philips describes as Ultra-Wide Color technology aimed at the home & office markets.

While this can be used as a notebook the keyboard is not fixed and the screen would need propping so this Latitude device is really a Tablet with a keyboard attached so probably best described as a Tablet/Notebook to be accurate.

Offering a wide range of viewing features is a monitor from BenQ aimed at designers.

Do you suffer from poor Wi-Fi coverage then Zyxel may have a solution for you. This Tri-Band Router allows you to increase the area covered over that offered by the majority of other similar devices simply by not sticking to one waveband.

The Filofax EniTAB360 Tablet Holder is a folding prop stand that has been designed to be attached to the rear surface of a tablet larger than 8.5 inches to enable it to be set at a convenient reading angle.

Most people think of Acer for their comprehensive Aspire range which varies hugely from entry level to really powerful business machines, they also have the Predator range of gaming systems and as I recently found another range call Nitro, here I am looking at the Nitro 5.

The latest range of USB3 small external drives from Toshiba sees the Canvio Advance (highest specified of three) cross my desk to be given the real world test over a matter of weeks, using transfer by USB2, USB3 and this time also USB ‘C’ for good measure.

A tiny device that arrived in a small plastic sleeve and this still in a not large clear plastic envelope with the lettering USB ‘C’. It is designed to fit in any device that has a USB ‘C’ port like the majority of recent mobiles or some recent lightweight Notebook/Tablets, that are lacking the thing that most people still require a full size USB port.

I saw this at the launch last year and despite two representatives of ASUS saying it would be available from tomorrow, it has taken a whole lot of tomorrows to pass before I managed to finally get one into my hands to review.

This is part of a range of gaming notebooks from Acer. While I openly admit that I am no gamer other reviews will tell you what this and other units in the Predator range can accomplish in the gaming area I concentrate on its other features.

This is a larger Android Tablet that has an ‘approved by Google’ label. I am told not many tablets have. It comes in quite a large box for an Android Tablet. There are three different Android Tablets in the range I was sent the largest the 10inch offering, I hope to get a smaller one soon.

Small enough to use on your lap and it comes with ‘ice cool’ technology to keep your palms cool something you will appreciate in the warmer months. The touchpad – a dirty word for some – has intuitive gestures and there is even decent sound from the Sonic Master chip.

This is very thin in fact so thin that the only connection is in the leg of the base of the unit which in turn goes to a fitment that looks rather like a power brick and then everything power and computer connection via HDMI goes from there.

A large flat panel showing 1920x1080 may seem like overkill for spreadsheets or word processing but of course if you have 20:20 vision you can change the % rate shown, as an example a notebook will often show the display at 150% or 125% this defaults to 100% so you see a lot more.

A big silver grey notebook from Dell was their latest offering to land on my desk. A large screen and a surprisingly small keyboard almost lost with lots of free space all around it may not sound that encouraging for you to read on.