How smartphones and tablets are taking over

Two years from now, something remarkable will happen: there will be more smartphones in the world than PCs. Technology analysis firm Gartner predicts that by 2013, there will be 1.82 billion smartphones compared to 1.78 billion PCs - and that doesn't include tablets. Apple sold 14.8 million iPads in 2010, and Forrester Research says that in the US, 82 million people will own tablets by 2015. Tablets and smartphones have become incredibly powerful in a very short space of time, with gigahertz-class dual-core processors, decent amounts of RAM and high definition displays appearing in pocket-friendly forms. As the price of such small but powerful...

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Acer Aspire 5552

Acer's consumer Aspire range includes a comprehensive collection of entry-level laptops. The Aspire 5552-N834G50Mnks is one of the most affordable laptops, but consequently it suffers from a few unfortunate weaknesses. Performance is provided by a triple-core AMD Phenom II X3 processor but we were a little disappointed by the results of our benchmark tests, as the Acer was comprehensively beaten by the other laptops around this price point. Your office applications will run fine, but anything more than light multitasking will bring the system to a halt. However, the Acer proves far more pleasing when it comes to graphical ability. Most laptops...

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Brother DCP-J125

The Brother DCP-J125 is an all-in-one device comprising scanner, copier and printer and is the entry-level model in the range. The two-tone grey design is rather utilitarian and better suited to an office than the home. In order to connect your laptop using the USB port, you'll need to open the machine itself, as the port is neatly hidden away. However, you'll need to budget for a longer cable than normal, not supplied, as it runs the length of the printer before exiting out of the back. Rather than the paper tray being on the back of the printer, you'll find it located at the front. Printed paper also comes out of the front, rather forcefully...

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Dell Adamo 13

When we first reviewed the Dell Adamo 13 back in 2009, we fell in love with its sleek design, but at £1649 it was priced a little too high. Now this highly desirable ultraportable has dropped massively in price to just £499, so even cash-strapped consumers can afford it. Without a doubt this is the best-looking laptop at this price point. Everything from the half-glossy lid to the matt-black interior exudes style and class. The build quality is superb too, with no hint of flex seen in any area of the sleek metal chassis. This is also one of the thinnest laptops we've seen and is practically half the size of the others here at just 20mm. The...

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HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B

The HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B is the entry-level model in the PhotoSmart range, yet comes with a whole set of features that belies its budget status. This all-in-one device comes with a colour LCD display on the screen, as well as full scanner, copy and print modes. It has a rather tall and boxy design, but with a front-loading in and out tray, it’s rather compact. HP has done away with physical buttons, opting for touch-sensitive buttons around the display. Below this you’ll find an SD Card slot for uploading your documents and pictures, which you can then edit and trim via the screen before directly printing. This printer comes with...

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Sony BDP-S570

Sony gave Blu-ray a big push last year by launching a wide range of players that were not only high on features, but low on price. Now you can pick up those players, including the BDP-S570, a highly specified model, for silly money, which makes it a very tough player to beat on value. The so-called Monolithic Design (the thinnest on the market at launch) is impractical, as the odd front panel collects dust and hides its tiny buttons from view. Meanwhile, the rear panel doesn't leave room for analogue multichannel outputs. In almost all other respects though, this is a remarkable machine. The disc loading time, which used to be so infuriatingly...

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Toshiba Satellite Pro S500

Toshiba's Satellite Pro range aims to strike a balance between a work machine and a home laptop. The S500-15W is a strong performer and has an excellent array of features that help it to stand out in the crowd. At 2.6kg, this laptop is only marginally heavier than the Acer Aspire 5552 and the Zoostorm 3389. It can certainly be carried around if needed, but the Dell Adamo 13 inevitably proves a much slimmer and lighter option. The chassis is reasonably solid with just a little flex, although the black plastic design looks a little cheap. However, the screen tilts all the way back to horizontal, letting you find your ideal viewing angle. Although...

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Zoostorm 3389

PC Nextday delivers cost-effective laptops via its Zoostorm range. The Zoostorm 3389-9426/A is a solid machine with some strong features, although it struggles to compete against some other laptops at this price point. The simple black design is attractive, with a mottled, fingerprint-proof lid and palm rests. It's a well-constructed chassis, despite a little flex around the DVD drive, and the 2.5kg weight almost matches the Acer Aspire 5552 and Toshiba Satellite Pro S500-15W. The 206 minute battery life is distinctly average though. The smooth and responsive touchpad proves usable, albeit a little too sensitive at times, and there are touch-sensitive...

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How to clean your laptop of dust and dirt

Most of us recognise the noise - the incessant whirring of an overworked laptop fan, struggling to keep a computer cool. You might put it down to old age, assuming that notebooks always get noisier and hotter until, eventually, they just stop working. That doesn't have to be the case though. When your laptop is starting to get on a bit, overheating and shutting down on its own, it might not be worn out - it might just be dirty. However clean you keep the outside of your notebook, dust inevitably gets sucked into fans, crumbs fall into keyboards and fluff gets into vents. We have already looked at how to clean the inside of your desktop...

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Kinect for Windows SDK official

Microsoft has officially announced the Kinect for Windows SDK, opening up a world of possibilities for developers to create new apps, tools and games for PCs. The new SDK, set for Beta release on May 16th, will give third parties access to the bare-bones tech that saw the motion-sensing peripheral become the fastest selling consumer device of all time. The headline feature of the SDK seems to be access to something called "robust skeletal tracking" which allows the tracking of one or two persons within the Kinect sensor's field of vision. Developers will also get full access to Kinect's advanced audio capabilities, which Microsoft says will...

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Microsoft releases Silverlight 5 Beta

On a busy day for Microsoft, the company has launched a public Beta version of Silverlight 5, its updated web app creation tool. Silverlight 5, which operates as a browser plug-in to offer video, apps, tools and games in much the same way that Adobe Flash does, boasts a host of new features for developers to sink their teeth into. Microsoft says it "adds significant new features and capabilities, and enables developers to create premium media experiences and deliver rich applications across browsers, desktops and devices." Amongst over 40 new features, there'll be support for 64-bit operating systems, 3D graphics support, improved text clarity...

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Nokia W7 and W8: the Finns; first Windows Phones?

Rumours of the first Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets have surfaced but don't get too excited now, they're just rehashes of existing Symbian phones. International mobile phone botherer Eldar Mrtazin has had a quick bit of hands on time with the two prototype handsets, the Nokia W7 and Nokia W8. The W7 is apparently based on the Nokia X7 hardware, while the W8 is essentially a Nokia N8 body with Windows Phone software. Guts and bolts There's one major change to the innards though; both handsets will use the Qualcomm chipset that Microsoft insists on for all WP7 devices. Murtazin describes the W7 as 'like [the] HTC Mozart" and the prototype has...

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Sony VAIO S Series VPC-SB1V9E

The Sony VPC-SB1V9E is Sony's latest power ultraportable laptop but it's unusual for Sony - itfalls into the business-oriented VAIO S-Series range. The VAIO Z-Series is the Japanese giant's usual ultra-portable laptop range, producing ridiculously sexy mini machines that can handle any application. Of course, this combo of power and portability often comes at quite a cost, usually well on the wrong side of a grand. But while the VAIO VPC-SB1V9E S Series may not have the looks of the MacBook Air or the Samsung 9-Series, this is still a fantastic laptop that doesn't skimp on performance. Even better, at £899, the asking price isn't too steep...

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Tough times for PCs as sales drop

Sales figures from two research groups show that PC sales have dropped in the first quarter of the year, despite optimistic predictions that they would grow. According to Gartner, global PC shipments fell by 1.1 per cent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Meanwhile, IDC calculates a 3.2 per cent dip in worldwide sales – either way, it's not looking too good for the personal computer. Pesky tablets Both analysts look to the tablet as a cause for weak sales, with Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, saying, "Low prices for consumer PCs, which had long stimulated growth, no longer attracted buyers....

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How to clean your PC of dust and dirt

Tips for improving computer performance usually concentrate on streamlining and maintaining operating systems, boosting speed with new RAM, upgrading video and so on. However, you can give your machine a speed and reliability upgrade easily with the help of a vacuum cleaner and a soft brush. A build-up of dust on vents, components and fans ruins your machine's ability to keep its cool, and when a computer runs at a high temperature, it goes more slowly. In the worst-case scenario, your cards, power supply units and motherboards can fail entirely. On a more basic level, dirt and dust can gum up moving parts and affect performance. Here, we'll...

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