Laptops/PCs/Apple

This is a mono printer, it is also a sheet fed scanner, it can send and receive faxes and just for good measure it is also a copier even when the PC is not connected or turned on.

Computer manufacturers are no longer restricting themselves to internal improvements with fast CPUs and motherboard features but are also opting for a most aesthetic approach to the design of the chassis. Take the Aver Veriton series for example.

With a CD writer at say 24X or 48X the time difference for burning a 700MB disc is only a few minutes, however the time difference between 4X and 8X for a 4.7GB is substantial because of the volume of data.

I recently looked at the Zire21 a monochrome entry level PDA, here it is the Zire31 this is colour, it is backlit and has expansion both of which the Zire21 did not have. The price for these extras is only around another £30.

Having a copier, printer and scanner all in one is something that certainly saves space. Can such a device be a jack of all trades or would it be second best at all, as the saying goes ‘master of none’.

One of Adobe’s major products is Acrobat, almost all of us will have a copy of three of the Acrobat Reader that is mostly bundled with applications as it saves the manufacturers printing expensive manuals.

Contrary to what some people think there are other Office products apart from Microsoft Office. Some are shareware others are often bundled but it does not make them inferior, just less appreciated.

There are lots of mouse products around, some from people like Microsoft that sell on name, others sell only on price. However there is another category those that are, or do, something different.

A nice idea, available elsewhere when you purchase separate programs. This incarnation is easy to use and does just what it says it reads your words to you, this is text to speech software.

This is certainly a large notebook, and as such you would not need frequent visits to the gym if you carry it around a lot. However it is a genuine desktop PC replacement.

Space or lack of it makes a multi function unit almost essential. Having a scanner a copier and a printer all in the space normally required for just one device makes this a Soho users delight.

My new 'modern' laptop doesn't come with keyboard, serial or parallel connectors and so I've reluctantly had to retire my excellent Epson keyboard (for now at least) after 10 years good service.

To my mind this is exactly what the mobile user needs, a Tablet PC when on the move and a Notebook PC with keyboard when sitting down, both products in one unit.

A good multi function machine can be the answer for those of us with limited space. Printing, scanning, copying and even faxing are all possible with the Canon SmartBase MP390.

The only way to get a copy of XP with ‘Media Centre’ additions is pre installed from a manufacturer, here I am looking at one such offering from Hewlett Packard.

Not light, and not small, that just about sums up the negatives with this Hewlett Packard notebook offering and just for good measure the price is not that outrageous.

Owning a rewritable DVD drive does not mean you advocate piracy. There are many legitimate uses to which you can put such as the NEC ND-2500 product.

TV tuning and video capture for your Power Mac. Lack of attention to detail and the conflict between "sit back" TV and "sit forward" PC ergonomics spoils this intriguing device. But if you are desperate for TV on PowerPac, then this has some nice features - if you persevere. This review was written by Dr R W Fairbrother as opposed to Neil Fairbrother.

A photo quality inkjet printer with a bonus. The Epson Stylus Photo R200 can print text, photos and just for good measure given the right media it can even print on CD’s.

This all purpose offering can print text pages clearly, reasonably quickly, print up to A4 colour images borderless nicely, and in fact could probably get the average small business out of a hole.

What can these devices be? The PC in the titles could be a clue but then maybe not. They are both small and indeed both considerably less than £100. One thing they certainly are not is printers.

Yes I am a confirmed Corel user – since version 1 – someone like me with sparse graphical ability can produce okay output with the aid of the numerous gadgets in CorelDRAW.

While Microsoft and Logitech tend to grab the attention when it comes to wireless desktop equipment, there are other options available. One such offering has been developed by Gyration and comes with the rather mouthful, but descriptive, title of Gyration Ultra Cordless Optical Suite.

Sometimes lack of size is vital, this is the latest portable printer from Canon. Should you have no power it can even print from batteries. It is not just USB but infra red and with an adapter Bluetooth.

Tablet PC’s have been around for the best part of a year and a half, so far the takeup has been at best lukewarm so does this second generation unit have something new to offer.

Why would anyone use an external sound card with a PC? Believe it or not some PC’s are still not ‘multimedia’ and some notebooks have sound chips that belong only in the bin.

Two PC’s, one monitor, one keyboard, one mouse, one set of speakers and one KVM switch with cables, what does this give you? The answer two working computers and best of all less desk space needed.

A laser has one huge advantage for mono printing over an inkjet, when it says 17PPM that is what you get and not just 17 identical two paragraph memos in draft mode.

This inkjet offering gives reasonable print speed for text and very good image output as well as excellent speed.

I've finally bought a new laptop to replace my excellent but aging Toshiba. After reviewing quite a few options the only real choice was the Dell Inspiron 5150. The price performance can't be beat - in theory at least. I was a little nervous about whether it would live up to my expectations!