Laptops/PCs/Apple

While netbooks are the current hot topics, notebooks continue to push boundaries with regards to performance and style.

Want a second monitor/panel but no connection is available then perhaps the solution could be this little unit from Lindy. Assuming you have enough USB ports you can connect up to six adapters to a single PC.

Over the last couple of years I have reviewed quite a number of items from these clever people in Hong Kong. Here I am looking at two of their best, first a three port hub and four socket card reader, second a bilingual speaking calculator.

Two mice from Kensington, first the SlimBlade Media Mouse ideal for those out of office moments. Second the SlimBlade Trackball Mouse that has the box claim ‘finally a mouse that works everywhere’

Another rather nice small PC from Asus marketed under the Eee brand. The main difference that will encourage you to look at this unit is that it has a claimed ‘working day’ of battery life, this is stated to be 9.5 hours. With the average battery life of most notebooks around 3 hours this is huge.

A few weeks ago I told you about Clickfree a painless backup solution, that used its own external hard disk. This option allows you to use any USB drive you might already own it consists of a dongle with the Clickfree software on it.

A lot of notebooks – especially smaller ones – have limited ports, some manufacturers provide expansion docks but at a price. So any universal dock is certainly worth a good look, here one requiring a single USB port from Kensington.

This Netbook sized notebook/tablet PC uses a low power Intel Centrino processor (all other netbooks seem to use the Atom processor that is not really powerful enough for Vista) so what has this HP offering got to get you buying it?

If you have two computers why should you need to double up on peripherals? Here I am looking at a device that allows you to connect two the devices from two adjacent computers and use whatever they may be as if they are tied to one PC.

This seems to be a style that has been touched on by several manufacturers but that so far does not seem to be that popular. You have what looks like quite a thick TFT display and this hides the PC everything else is connected via USB.

As well as the Eee family of netbooks and the like, Asus does have other irons in the fire. There is a video phone product, developed in conjunction with Skype, and the notebook that is the subject of this review to mention but two.

If you use a notebook on the move and at a desk then the latter is often a ‘pain’ as you are almost certainly looking down at the screen. With the addition of a keyboard and a mouse this item can solve the neck pain.

Backups are boring, backups are annoying, backups are a pain the *%$#. However once you have had a hard disc crash and spent ages reinstalling your applications only to realise that the most important thing – your data – is no more then you start to think backups are ESSENTIAL.

This uses the same processor as other Netbooks, it does have decent graphics a good sized hard disc and 2GB or RAM however I am not convinced that it has enough punch to run the memory hungry Vista especially with the Norton software supplied.

This is an interesting piece of kit if like me you have a couple of redundant internal IDE drives lying around. It can also work with SATA drives as well so for less than £20 these can now spring back to a useful life.

I can safely say this is the most powerful Vista notebook that I have reviewed. So should you be requiring speedy graphics you might like to cast your gaze in this direction as the Nvidia Geforce 9650M GT 1GB can help you in your pursuit.

Asus certainly created a stir when the company launched its original mini-notebook that was the flag bearer for the various netbook models that have appeared from a range of manufacturers. Now fashion forms part of the latest Asus product.

Put together an 18-inch display, Blu-ray drive, Intel Core 2 Duo processor packaged inside a Gemstone Blue design and the result will be the Acer Aspire 8920 which is currently residing on my work space.

Unlike most Medion kit that is sold through Aldi where if you are not queuing on the day they go on sale before the store opens you don’t get one this tiny notebook is one of two currently being sold by Sainsbury’s both online and in their larger stores.

A 22inch panel from Hanns-G that looks pleasant enough with its silver/grey surround. It has small powered speakers that are probably enough for beeps and notifications but not really enough for music or for conversations via Skype.

This is a tiny PC (size wise) of course if you have not got all the bits that connect then the price it costs will increase a good deal. All you get is the PC and a digital to analogue converter, so you need to find keyboard, mouse monitor/panel, CD/DVD drive and speakers.

If you use the Web, and even if you are not particularly interested in digital photography (but vital if you are), it is important that you calibrate your monitor to ensure that it displays colours correctly. You can do this painlessly with the DataColor Spyder 3 Pro.

Windows 7 is now in public beta for anyone to download. I was told in a briefing earlier this week that Windows 7 will run on a Netbook in only 1GB. No release date is yet available but I am informed it will be within twelve months.

Having just finished the monster 28inch offering from Hanns-G this big unit seems almost normal in size. It has exactly the same resolution but instead of the notional 27.5inches diagonal measurement it is 25.5inches.

Many months after the launch I finally get my hands on one, and yes it was worth the wait. Nice small machine that does not cost the earth and if you only want word processing, email and Internet then why look elsewhere.

Version 2 of the Home Hub from BT adds both style and functionality to an already good product. Coupled with the BT Hub Phone it will offer most of the capabilities an average home could want.

The big thing about this 22inch panel is not the resolution it is what now seems to be a standard 1680x1080, it’s not the wonderful sound –their isn’t any- it is simply that is uses less power in both use and on standby so it can help your pocket and the planet.

Have you often wondered whether an ergonomic keyboard is for you? This review looks at one of the newest keyboards, the Goldtouch.

A game aimed specifically at the gaming market, but that also works well in 'normal' applications the Verbatim Rapier V1 contains no less than nine buttons.

Sometime ago I reviewed a card reader that I believe claimed to be 27 types, this to me seemed far more than I knew of. Here I am looking at two devices from Brando and one of these claims 80 while the other has 56 and another plus.