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Last time we reviewed an Acer Aspire Timeline laptop -- the 14in 4810T, which we tested in mid-2009 -- we were impressed. This time we've got our hands on the new Acer Aspire TimelineX 5820TG, which is a notebook equipped with a 15.6in screen. We ...

The battery is located on the rear of the notebook, so this metaphor almost makes sense

Thecus has been left behind in the last year, with the likes of QNAP and Synology taking over at the bleeding edge. But if you don't mind a bit of a rough diamond and you're just after huge storage at a good price, Thecus offers the product to beat.

Massive amounts of storage for a competitive price ; Great performance ; Chunky processor and RAM

A little noisy ; Interface rework still looks old, isn't finished ; Still defaults to manual IP, not DHCP ; Same old chassis as the N7700 ; Competitors offer greater depth of features

Acer's Aspire 5741-434G50Mn is a 15.6in, Intel Core i5-based notebook that's inexpensive yet stylish, well-featured and suitable for any task except serious gaming. It feels reasonably well constructed and at 2.6kg, it's not overly heavy. It makes for ...

Considering it only costs $1099, the Acer Aspire 5741 is a bargain. You get a quick CPU and a good supporting cast of components, and it will be fast enough for any task except high-end gaming

Luke takes a look a Kane & Lynch 2 - Dog Day to see what happens when you mix machine guns, a drunken camera man, the latest Star Trek movie, top it off with a bunch of criminals and set it all to bake over 4 hours.

Unique visual style ; Kane & Lynch are entertaining characters

Very short campaign ; Generic gameplay mechanic ; Lack of multiplayer maps ; Enemies are more like Terminators

It's honestly hard for me to recommend buying Kane & Lynch 2 - Dog Days at full price right now, mainly because of the short campaign and lack of map variations in multiplayer. On the other hand however I did have fun with it and think it has one of ...

V-Moda's Crossfade LP is a solid pair of headphones that comes with a lot of extras to help you enjoy music on your iPod, PC, and other audio devices.

Solid construction; Comes with a lot of accessories; Comfortable even when used for prolonged periods; Sounds great with bass-heavy tracks

Bass given priority; A bit bulky; Audio leaks even at mid-volume

Sony Ericsson's second Vivaz phone retains the original's ability to record 720p HD video and stylish, curved design. The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro adds a slide-out, physical QWERTY keyboard, but the clunky Symbian touch operating system and ...

Other features include assisted GPS, Bluetooth with A2DP, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Battery life is rated at more than five hours talk time and 440 hours standby time; with regular use of the camera and multimedia features, along with an average day of ...

: This 10 megapixel camera is Canon’s first with a so-called backlit sensor. The image stabilised lens has a 28â€"105mm range and a maximum aperture of f2 at the wide end. The camera is well made and can be used as a fully automatic point-and-shoot ...

: By creating a camera with a reduced pixel count and a short zoom range Canon has improved picture quality, especially where image noise is concerned. Images are clean up to ISO400 and useable at higher sensitivities. There is no noticeable blurring ...

: We regret the passing of Canon’s easy to use quick menu system, used on all their compacts for the past eight years. The function menu system is now divided into two parts and takes some getting used to.

: This is a fine little camera. Panasonic were first to have the nerve to drop out of the pixel race and fit their top compact with a 10mp sensor. Canon quickly followed suit with the G11, S90 and now the Ixus 300HS. And now Samsung has fitted its top ...

With the latest "Greathouse" patch coming out last week for Backbreaker, Sarge decides to go back and see what the changes will bring, and whether or not it's enough to make it a genuine competitor to the powerhouse that is the Madden franchise.

Backbreaker Alley ; Customisation levels are truly outstanding ; The most intense gameplay in an NFL game I've ever experienced

Lag makes playing online useless ; There's a grand total of 2 songs that appear in the game ; At times, it truly does feel like nothing more than a tech demo

When Backbreaker was first released, it was labelled as nothing more than a tech demo for the Euphoria engine, and it's quite easy to see why. At its core, Backbreaker is a fantastic game with some purely joyful moments. Scoring a hard-earned ...

It's taken two years for Nuance to update its market-leading voice recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeaking. We liked version 10, so what's new in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium?

You require a microphone headset, which Nuance thoughtfully provides. It connects via 3.5mm mic and headphone sockets, and is of more than decent quality

A metal box with all the plugs in the back and status lights on the front, the TRENDnet Dual WAN Advanced VPN Router offers four 10/100 Fast Ethernet ports along with separate WAN1 and WAN2 ports on its back. The nine-pin serial port for a console ...

Outside of those quibbles, the price and performance of the BVR324 makes it an excellent option for small businesses looking for an affordable dual-WAN connection router

Mafia II is a very enjoyable experience for different reasons than most games, which should be a warning to those of you who don't really dig story in games, or lengthy narrative, or act as an invitation for gamers craving something more to bite their ...

Lengthy, deep narrative that spans a full decade; Excellent recreation of the era; Living, breathing city makes for a unique background in this kind of game; Driving is excellent and cars have been handled spectacularly

Fairly linear overall; Side missions or activities lack compelling reasons to engage; Too many characters to explore, not enough time

Mafia II is a very enjoyable experience for different reasons than most games, which should be a warning to those of you who don't really dig story in games, or lengthy narrative, or act as an invitation for gamers craving something more to bite their ...

Lengthy, deep narrative that spans a full decade; Excellent recreation of the era; Living, breathing city makes for a unique background in this kind of game; Driving is excellent and cars have been handled spectacularly

Fairly linear overall; Side missions or activities lack compelling reasons to engage; Too many characters to explore, not enough time

At just $79, the Canon Pixma MP280 color inkjet multifunction printer (print/copy/scan) is priced to tempt budget-minded users. It offers impressive output quality, but its minimal features and higher-than-average ink costs mean that only low-volume ...

Low purchase price, exceptional text and image output

Black ink is expensive, control panel can be hard to understand

The standard-size, 220-page black costs $29.50, or 13 cents per page. The 224-page, tri-chamber colour cartridge costs $33.95 or 15 cents per page. A four-colour page would cost an above-average 16.6 cents. The high-yield inks offer little relief: The ...

Even if you haven't read the comics and you haven't seen the film and you have very little interest in doing either, you still want to download this game and play it. Trust me.

The artwork; The soundtrack; The vibe, man

A handful of bugs; Lack of drop-in / drop-out co-op; Sore thumbs

The Sony Alpha A55 uses a new mirror technology for digital SLRs, and features HD video recording and geotagging.

Mafia II is a very enjoyable experience for different reasons than most games, which should be a warning to those of you who don't really dig story in games, or lengthy narrative, or act as an invitation for gamers craving something more to bite their ...

Lengthy, deep narrative that spans a full decade; Excellent recreation of the era; Living, breathing city makes for a unique background in this kind of game; Driving is excellent and cars have been handled spectacularly

Fairly linear overall; Side missions or activities lack compelling reasons to engage; Too many characters to explore, not enough time

We've been calling for it for the last three generations of the BlackBerry Curve, and finally RIM has delivered. Its budget-conscious BlackBerry is now, finally, 3G.

While it may be a very basic point-and-shoot compact digital camera, Canon's PowerShot A490 can take clear and vibrant photos that are very impressive considering its low price. It's the perfect camera to consider if you're on a budget but want to ...

Good clarity and colours for such an inexpensive camera, good battery life using AAs, improved button layout over the PowerShot A480

Shutter button doesn't have a distinct two-step feel, highlights were overexposed

Macro mode is very useful on the PowerShot A490, as it allows you to shoot your subject from around 1cm and capture a very narrow focus - it's a lot of fun to use

The FaceVsion TouchCam N1 is not just for casual video chatting--at $189.99, this camera means business, too. In my hands-on testing, this high-definition Webcam delivered excellent sound capture and solid picture quality.

Adjustments and autofocus yield high video quality, excellent audio quality

Compatible with Skype only, bulky design

Despite a few problems with graininess, FaceVsion's TouchCam N1 is a great choice for an HD webcam--but only if you're loyal to Skype and are willing to pay a little extra. In comparison with a typical non-HD webcam, the TouchCam N1's clear video ...

The Garmin-Asus Nuvifone A50 is an Android smartphone that brings Garmin navigation to your handset. It may not have the power and pizzazz as other phones currently on offer, but it does a great job in making the user experience as easy as possible.

Solid build; Good GPS capability; Comes with all the accessories you need for navigation and mobile phone use; Comes with built-in storage

Slow processor; No dedicated 3.5mm jack; Outdated Android OS; Not a lot of use for widgets; Maybe too simple for some users

A competent compact camera with an enormous touchscreen, but spending a little more goes a long way

Videos are recorded in 720p AVC at 21Mbits/sec, more than twice the amount of data we'd expect, which helps keep the picture crisp and detailed. It's a shame optical zoom is locked during recording, though. Low-light clips were noisy, but otherwise ...

The Panasonic DMR-BW880 is a Blu-ray disc recorder with a 500GB internal hard drive and twin high-definition digital television tuners. It builds upon the older Panasonic DMR-BW850, adding DLNA media sharing over a home network, but we would have ...

DLNA server capability, cheaper than DMR-BW850

Still expensive, could use more Internet features

Using the Panasonic DMR-BW880 is easy. It may take a while to start up and to access certain menu functions, but generally the user interface is intuitive and settings are easy to change. You shouldn’t need to delve into the user manual too frequently

The Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 delivers great video at a fantastic price--and its smart design makes it perfect for use with laptops.

Plenty of customisable video-capture options, 360-degree rotational swivel

Requires refocusing with every subtle movement, picture is often extremely bright

Despite its colour quirks, the Microsoft LifeCam HD-6000 is a solid choice for casual video chatting, and it has a great price to boot. It looks great perched atop your laptop and is easy to adjust as you power your machine off and on. Another bonus: ...

Lets you watch your Blu-ray collection on the go • SDXC card slot • More than three hours of battery life • Slightly better image quality than portable DVD players

Visual advantages of Blu-ray are largely lost on small screen • No HDMI output • Other portable video options are more attractive • Only one headphone jack • No internet connectivity • MPEG-4 playback is dicey • Difficult remote control

The Panasonic DMP-B100 is the cheapest way to watch your Blu-ray movies on the go, but other portable media options, like an iPad or Blu-ray-equipped laptop, are more attractive.