Laptops/PCs/Apple

Straight from the box this screen shows 3440x1440 which has the ability to show three screens of information at near to full HD IE 1920x1080 side by side with no real overlap and after a small amount of pruning this means no switching of screens just move your mouse to the bit you want and work away.

Certainly not a cheap notebook, however it is a very powerful offering that is capable of doing everything you ask and it does it all within a small footprint so easy to use at home, in the office, or on your travels. So the name is right this is a Travel Mate.

Combining extra functionality connections and plenty of storage capacity is a device from OWC.

Think of this large Tablet that can be used in the home, the office, and anywhere in between as it has a Sim and can therefore keep you in contact anywhere. It has rather good speakers however few will want to hold it to their ears because of size, so Bluetooth for a headset and some form or privacy for your phone calls.

Acer seem reluctant to bring in new names, as I have reviewed an Aspire 5 in the past, only the bit after the ‘5’ varies here however there is doubt that this a different unit as the previous one weighed over 2kilos and this one only clocks in a tad over 1.5 kilos so what else is new on this small and light laptop?

I am used to review samples coming with a US keyboard where only a few keys are differently placed but this arrived with a German keyboard and when you use a UK keyboard overlay on it a number of keys move the most obvious is that the Y and Z are transposed but harder to fathom is where other keys have gone the most vital on initial setup of this Notebook is the ‘@’ key as try entering an email address without it, once booted you can investigate further.

I must admit to have heard little of ViewSonic recently, that is until the company showcased some of its home/office products.

A substantial Tablet in that the screen is over ten inches, it runs Android 10, however as you probably know Trump had a falling out with Huawei and because of that certain features cannot be included, probably the biggest miss is the Google Store for Apps.

Not a new name but certainly the contents are a lot more powerful than the unit I reviewed three years ago. This is a light Notebook that is powerful at the same time; it can happily show a presentation onto an external HDMI panel so ideal for those that travel around.

Often when used as a mobile entertainment device, a smartphone requires plenty of storage space.

The lack of ports is often a problem for a lot of small Tablets as they have as little as a single USB ‘C’ port, this means that unless everything is online you need a hub; earlier hubs were full size USB offerings. This hub is right up to date being USB ‘C’ and the only driver you might require is if you decide to use the HDMI port to output your display to it.

This is quite like the last couple of flat panels that have passed onto my desk however this has one thing to commend it over them a slightly increased resolution as this has 2560x1440 resolution while not a huge amount you can work with more windows open without straining your eyes.

A Chromebook can do a lot of the things that a Microsoft Windows Laptop can do however they normally cost less money. This is a ‘Touch’ version so assuming what you want is available in a Chrome App then this offering may suit your needs.

A rare find these days a Desktop offering, rather than a Laptop/Tablet/Notebook. This is a very small offering the dimensions are below and it comes with a Wireless keyboard and mouse set so nothing apart from the panel needs to be on your desk.

This is a small and light 14inch screen notebook with an AMD processor from Honor. It is a fast product, so what if anything is there that could be improved, first it is not that cheap but then all the components are high end, second there is only a single SSD drive of 256GB divided into ‘C’ and ‘D’ and on an office desk you could be short of connections.

This 24 inch flat panel from Philips is one of their ‘B Line’ range. It gives 1920x1080 HD resolution and has a range of connections which includes USB ‘C’. Other reasons to purchase include a small stand, very easy assembly, the ability to swing it from side to side on the stand and narrow bezels.

This 24inch panel from Philips displays in 1920x1080 like the majority, but here the refresh rate is up to 75Hz instead of the standard 60Hz. Another of the plus features is USB ‘C’ and the ability to charge and transfer data from your notebook or Tablet via a single supplied cable. It also has pivot ability so can be used in portrait mode as well.

I am sure we all have a number of USB Sticks often they have information from vendors of course these may contains ‘cookies’ or much worse but we squirrel away information and data and hope it’s not corrupted when we need it.

A light and full function 1080P notebook that has touch built in so Windows 10 works well, as when it was designed touch was the way it was designed to be used. This notebook is bang up to date and has plenty of memory for you to use.

This is a small and light notebook from Acer that will easily fit into a bag or backpack for those times when you need to be mobile. However it has a full size keyboard and the screen is 1920x1080 so everything should appear exactly as in the office.

A very large and powerful Tower system designed not for gamers – although it’s very fast – but for those Creative People who are not the norm but those who need the power to create their work, this will certainly suit those in that category.

This is a 27inch flat panel that is for normal home or office use, it is not sold as a gaming panel so the refresh rate can be a little slower. However it is also a panel with USB ‘C’ as a connection method so its bang up to date.

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Starter Kit from OKdo, a brand of the long-established Electrocomponents Group, brings together all the special items necessary to get started and put together a computer based on the 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single board computer.

This is large and you will need to sit well away for normal work and even farther away for those times when you marvel at videos shot in high resolution as this panel displays 3440x1440 and unlike other manufacturers offerings this requires no drivers to do it.

This is a 27inch panel that takes up not a great deal of your desk space. The secret is the shape of the stand that remains mainly within the footprint of the panel. So will this achieve everyone’s nirvana of a clean and clear desk space?

This is a keyboard for those who hate the onscreen keyboard that you get with SmartPhones and Tablets. But it is small in its collapsed dimensions it even has a carry bag and the whole thing is 27x5x3cm and weighs only 228gram including instructions.

Having recently told you about a smaller Chromebook, here is something larger that may suit. In fact for those only used to Windows this will not have a lot of differences for you to get used to and if you do not require third party Apps designed for Windows then it may do everything that you require. Also with Windows 7 support ending in January 2020 another reason to change.

This is an aluminium alloy mouse mat (Mousepad) but apart from controlling your mouse it lets you get extra USB ports via lead supplied as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port and both SD and Micro SD ports. So your notebook – even USB ‘C’ only now has standard USB3 and more on tap. I am told it also works with MacBooks.

Those old enough to remember manual typewriters will know that you had a good rake on the keys so your hands were always in the right position to type. Desktop computer keyboards less so but if you used the fold out keyboard support correctly there was still some rake, now sadly notebooks have flat keyboards, here is one solution.

A good sized panel capable of showing up to 4K as well as a range of screen sizes upwards from HD. Its stand means that the amount of desk space it takes is less than most of a similar screen size and the ability to lower or raise the panel is just another good point that can make this something that can fulfil so many demands without costing a fortune.