Tech Bitch

Lite-On’s latest external DVD writer is speedy, smart and pretty - and it costs just £35. Nice! Following receipt of the prestigious Red Dot design award last year, PLDS’ (Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions) DX-20A3P is a high-speed 20x DVD burner encased in a trendy black-and-white case. And thanks to the stand (included as a standard accessory), the drive can be mounted either horizontally or vertically to save deskspace.

The market is saturated with both internal and external DVD burners from a raft of suppliers, but the DX-20A3P stands out from the crowd thanks to its ‘Apple-like’ finish and attractive pricing. As silly as it sounds, there’s also a power-switch at the back of the drive (you’d be amazed at how many drives don’t have one!), so you can easily save power consumption when the drive is not used.

Similar to all Lite-On 20x DVD writers, the DX-20A3P incorporates the company’s ‘SmartWrite’ technology. This technology allows the burner to overspeed certain 16x media to 20x. SmartWrite works by optimising the writing strategy for each burning session. Using a smart writing algorithm and self-learning techniques, it detects and selects the best method of writing data for each type of media used, and then remembers that decision for future sessions. In addition to this overspeeding to the highest possible writing speed, SmartWrite technology is also well appreciated for its performance quality improvement on low-quality media.

More jargon comes by way of ‘Super AllWrite’, a compatibility standard which allows the DVD burner to write to any disc media: DVD (R/RW), DVD-RAM and Double Layer. This all-encompassing optical drive technology means you no longer have to worry about different types of media or drives - except, of course, for Blu-ray, HD DVD, and LightScribe, which aren’t supported. Thus, the purchase and usage of discs should be hassle-free and more accessible, especially helpful to novice computer users who do not always understand the differences between media types.

If it’s raw speed you’re looking for then you’ve come to the right place. The DX-20A3P writes DVD+Rs at 20x maximum (CAV), DVD-Rs at 20X (CAV), DVD+R9s at 8x (Z-CLV), DVD-R9s at 8x (Z-CLV), DVD-RAMs at 12x (PCAV), DVD+RWs at 8x (Z-CLV), and DVD-RWs at 6x (CLV). It also reads DVDs at 16x maximum (CAV), but has an unusually slow access time of 160ms. It writes to CD-Rs at 48x (CAV) and CD-RWs at 32x (Z-CLV), and reads CDs at 48x (CAV) with an access time of 140ms. Don’t get too carried away with speed: 20x maximum DVD writing can only be achieved with specific PC configurations and specific 16x media; plus you’ll get more burn errors at this high speed.

Those looking for an external optical storage device that is not only fast and versatile but doesn’t break the bank, the DX-20A3P should be near the top of your list. Having said that, you should be aware that Lite-On’s identically-specified DX-20A4PU (£49) sports an EZ-DUB system allowing one touch duplication of discs and files. Two touch-sensitive buttons on the top of the drive bypass the need to use computer-based software to accomplish disc and file copying. The ‘DUB’ button allows one-touch duplication of complete discs, while the ‘FILE’ button copies files from a PC to optical disc. Though it won’t replace software for more complicated tasks, it does provide quick operation. [8]

Every now and again a product lands on my desk that gets me really excited. It happens rarely, but when it does it makes my day. As I tend to live on the Internet, there’s nothing that turns me on more than a fully-mobile Internet device that allows me to work and play on the move. All hail Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablet (£289), a new phase in portable Internet communication - sort of!

Larger than a mobile phone and smartphone but significantly smaller than a laptop, the N810 is a pocket-sized (128×72x14mm, 226g) device that allows you to connect to the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over your Bluetooth mobile phone in a matter of seconds - with none of the hassle normally associated with smartphones.

Unfortunately, there’s no SIM slot for total autonomy (iPhone fanboys rejoice), but hooked up to an Internet connection and the N810 allows you to make Internet calls out of the box thanks to the pre-installed copy of Skype, as well as check your Google Mail or Facebook Account, watch the latest videos on YouTube or update your blog using the device’s slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

There’s also a media player, RSS reader, image viewer, and FM transmitter, as well as a file manager, PDF reader, world clock, backup and restore utility, and a few games (chess, blocks, mahjong and marbles). The N810 isn’t a smartphone, so you can forget about any business productivity tools or even an office suite. Heck, it doesn’t even ship with a complete PIM suite or any calendaring software!

The most impressive feature of the device is its 4.13-in (800×480 pixels) colour display, allowing you to view Web pages in all their glory - no more squinting to read text or e-mails. It even has an integrated GPS receiver which allows you to pinpoint your position and find a wide variety of points-of-interests using the pre-loaded maps. Upgrade to Wayfinder’s voice-guided navigation and you can even receive turn-by-turn directions and explore the world on foot or in the car.

The N810 is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 2420 (400MHz) processor, 128MB DDR RAM (256MB Flash memory), and a rechargeable battery that offers up to 4 hours continuous usage (display on, wireless LAN active). It also supports miniSD and microSD memory cards (SD cards over 2GB must be SDHC compatible), and comes with built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a USB 2.0 port for PC connectivity, and a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack.

It’s based on a Linux OS and features a highly customisable user interface that is both easy to understand and navigate. It also contains various novelties such as the brilliant Mozilla-based browser with Ajax and Adobe Flash 9, as well as Bluetooth headset support. Personal e-mail application support includes IMAP, STMP, and POP3. The refreshed Video Gizmo, Skype and Rhapsody highlight some most popular downloads available while Boingo Wireless, Earthlink and The Cloud enable Wi-Fi connectivity, across thousands of different locations globally.

The N810 is no iPod video killer when it comes to multimedia, but its range of supported file formats is relatively good. For instance, compatible video formats include 3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, H263, H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4 and RV (RealVideo), while supported audio formats comprise MP3, WMA, AAC, AMR, AWB, M4A, MP2, RA (RealAudio) and WAV. Supported playlist formats include M3U, PLS, ASX, WAX, WVX, and WPL. Unfortunately it can’t playback DRM-protected or FLAC audio files. Supported image formats include BMP, GIF, ICI, JPE, JPEG, PNG, TIF/TIFF, SVG, Tiny, and WBMP.

With the ability to check e-mails, read the latest gossip online, IM your friends, or call via Skype, you’ll never be far away from those you want to keep in contact with. Whether you’re travelling on a business trip or on your daily commute, Nokia’s N810 is an excellent travelling companion. However, if there’s no Wi-Fi connection on your journey you’ll have to make do with up to 10 hours of music playback. Its open standard technology should accelerate the convergence of multiple functionalities and services into a single device too, offering a true Web 2.0 experience in a compact, stylish, yet affordable package.

Designed to complement your mobile phone (rather than replace it), Nokia’s N810 is compact, powerful and impressively fast to use. The biggest crippler is that it relies on a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection for Net access, which means if you can’t get online for some reason, or if anyone wants to call you for a good old-fashioned chat, then you need to carry a mobile phone too. But the N810 does offer built-in Skype functionality, which means free VoIP calls when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Navigating Web pages is quick and easy using the supplied stylus pen, and there are enough scrolling and zoom options to satisfy most preferences. The N810 isn’t an all-in-one device like Apple’s iPhone, but thanks to Linux there’s a developer community that should offer a wide range of third-party applications. If Web browsing is your priority, take a look. [8]

It’s great to see that Epson hasn’t forgotten about home workers and small offices - it offers an extensive choice of one business inkjet! The Stylus D120 is a smart-looking A4 colour inkjet printer designed for those who do more than print holiday snaps. As well as producing impressive text quality and colour graphics, the 4-colour unit is one of the fastest in its class. With speeds up to 37ppm in black and white and 20ppm in colour (Draft Mode), it is ideally suited to relatively busy offices producing marketing or in-house materials. The Stylus D120 is also pretty robust, unlike most flimsy consumer inkjets, so should be able to take the strain of office life.

The wholly-black Stylus D120 (£59) uses Epson’s individual ink cartridge system, so only the colour that is used needs to be replaced. The benefit of this is that running costs are kept to a minimum as you only need to replace individual colours as and when they are needed. Another couple of other features which stand out are that it’s Certified by the Energy Star international standard - with only 15-Watts power consumption it’s more energy efficient compared to a laser printer - and a Network Edition (includes 802.11b/g Wireless and 10/100Base-TX External Print Server) is available for those who want the convenience of wireless printing.

At first glance the Stylus D120 (435×240x161mm, 3.9kg) is like any other desktop inkjet. However, it has a few neat technical innovations under its hood. Epson has integrated an innovative Dual Black Ink System into the Stylus D120 which increases print speeds and page yields. As a result small businesses that need a productive and cost-effective printer should find the Stylus D120 a suitable low-cost alternative to a colour laser printer - it’s certainly more efficient than other inkjets. In addition, the printer supports high-capacity black ink cartridges, allowing for even higher print yields and larger volumes of text-based documents. Unlike similar-priced monochrome laser printers, it provides the flexibility to print high-quality documents and photos in colour.

The model’s impressive printing speeds are achieved as a result of Epson’s new Micro Piezo print head mechanism. The print head has hundreds of tiny nozzles for ejecting ink droplets with the very highest levels of accuracy. The number of nozzles dedicated to black ink has been doubled and when combined with an increase in the speed of ink ejection, the print speed for black text is maximised. This means that in its fastest mode it will print up to 37ppm in black-and-white, but when the quality of the document is paramount speed will drop significantly to around 5ppm.

Featuring the latest generation of Epson’s DuraBrite Ultra Ink, documents from the Stylus D120 are as durable and smudge-proof as any other from an inkjet, in addition to being water and highlighter pen resistant. Manual double-sided (duplex) prints are also supported, and the DuraBrite Ultra Inks do a good job of not bleeding through the page. Black text is sharp for an inkjet using regular copier paper, but to make the right impression with customers you’ll need to invest in high-quality inkjet paper. The Stylus D120 does a good job of doubling up as a recreational printer too, producing above-par borderless photos up to A4 size at a maximum resolution of 5760×1440dpi. Epson bundles its own PhotoEnhance software utility for improving photos quickly, and the utility also recognises skintones, landscapes and skylines to enhance colour settings.

Many small businesses are using inkjet printers for private offices or for the home office, due to their low initial cost compared to a personal laser printer. Epson has designed the Stylus D120 specifically with these customers in mind. In addition to print speeds comparable to an entry-level personal monochrome laser printer, the high-yield Dual Black Ink System offers extra convenience for more demanding customers with large volumes of black text printing. The printer is also much more compact and energy efficient compared to a laser, and with DuraBrite Ultra Ink it offers a range of colour printing options from text and e-mail printing to graphics and photos.

That’s where the good news ends. We’re disappointed the Stylus D120 doesn’t come with an Ethernet port (single USB 2.0 port only), and as it’s not an all-in-one printer you can forget about scanning, photocopying, and faxing. And unlike most personal lasers, the Stylus D120 doesn’t support automatic duplexing. Furthermore, its paper input try only accommodates 120 pages - hardly a workhorse!

For individuals wanting to print their own short-run promotional materials in brilliant, high-quality colour easily, the Stylus D120 is worth a look. For producing razor-sharp business documents to send to customers, as well as large-run materials in-house, you’d do better with a colour laser (available for less than £250). A colour laser would also be a much better choice for sharing within small work teams, due to better paper handling and driver support, as well as higher monthly duty cycles. [7]

Lenovo is on a roll. The second desktop PC to arrive at my offices in as many weeks, the ThinkCentre M57p (from £350) is built for stability and manageability and should therefore appeal greatly to both small and large businesses - and even enterprises. Kitted out the company’s typical livery of black (which I love by the way), the ThinkCentre M57p looks very similar to the company’s energy-saving A Series, but offers enhanced multimedia features and supports Intel’s Active Management Technology.

Available in tower, small form and ultra-small form factors, the ThinkCentre M57p is perfectly tailored to the specific needs of business users. For instance, it comes with a raft of tools to help you manage and secure just one or a fleet of hundreds. The complexity of IT management is also helped in several ways. For instance, Active Management Technology 3.0 from Intel provides advanced levels of PC remote management to power the PC when the OS or hard disk drive is inoperable, or the PC is turned off. Lenovo’s unique ThinkVantage Technologies allow a manager or user to restore data in less than 10 minutes and recover from viruses and other software failures. It also provides capabilities not found in traditional backup and restore programs.

Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) is a feature on the company’s Centrino with vPro technology and Core 2 processor with vPro technology. Using built-in platform capabilities and popular third-party management and security applications, AMT allows IT managers to better discover, heal, and protect their networked computing assets. AMT stores hardware and software information in non-volatile memory. With built-in manageability, Intel AMT allows you to discover a computer’s assets, even while the PC is powered off. With Intel AMT, remote consoles do not rely on local software agents, helping to avoid accidental data loss.

Furthermore, the built-in manageability of Intel AMT provides out-of-band management capabilities to allow you to remotely heal systems after OS failures. Alerting and event logging helps detect problems quickly to reduce downtime. A System Defense Feature helps protect your network from threats at the source by proactively blocking incoming threats, reactively containing infected clients before they impact the network, and proactively alerting you when critical software agents are removed. Intel AMT also helps to protect your network by making it easier to keep software and virus protection consistent and up-to-date across the enterprise. Third-party software can store version numbers or policy data in non-volatile memory for off-hours retrieval or updates.

The ThinkCentre M57p will never outperform a regular consumer desktop PC, but it does offer excessive performance for the typical business user (how much power do you really need for MS Office and Web browsing?). All chassis designs share the same internal component choices (processors, motherboard chipsets, and to an extent, graphics), so you can use the same drive image on all desktop models. Having said that, the ultra-small form factor model uses a laptop-style optical drive. Tool-less entry (no screwdriver needed) offers unmatched serviceability and upgradeability with completely tool-less components, allowing quick access to hard drives/floppy drives, optical devices and adapter cards.

The machine comes with a range of discrete graphics card choices, memory (up to 8GB, 667MHz DDR2) and hard drive (up to 250GB) options, and security features including I/O port disablement, TPM1.2 security chip and support for Computrace software. Gigabit Ethernet is also integrated as standard, along with eight USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, serial and parallel ports, eSATA, and analogue video-out. Our review system came with Windows Vista Business, though Windows XP is available as well.

The ThinkVantage Client Security Solution, along with the optional Fingerprint reader keyboard, provides an extra layer of protection for passwords, encryption keys and electronic credentials. This unique hardware/software solution - available on select models (and requiring download of security software) - provides a level of security not offered as a standard feature on a PC from any other manufacturer. In workplace environments, PC acoustics are important, and incremental improvements can make an exponential difference in the computing experience. With an up to 5dB improvement over previous models, the desktop offers a quiet, non-distracting experience. Lenovo also says it has reduced the desktop’s average running temperature by 9% for greater reliability.

The ThinkCentre M57p continues the tradition of excellence for this desktop line that started when it was owned by IBM’s Personal Computing Division. Lenovo has produced yet another winner that should fit in with all but the most creative of businesses. Of course, it’s expensive compared to a consumer PC and lesser single-core business PCs, but for small-to-midsize business owners looking for enterprise-level hardware along with forward-looking technologies and amazing management features, the ThinkCentre M57p is in a league of its own. [9]

The concept of computer imaging is a Godsend for anyone who’s endured the Setup program for Windows more than 10 times in their lives. You can create a single system image and send it out across your network to keep all your workstations uniform and up-to-date.

Cloning was originally developed as a method of quickly setting-up new Windows computers and rolling out applications and updates. An ‘ideal’ desktop computer’s software and configuration is captured as an ‘image’ that is then replicated onto multiple machines using cloning software. The IT landscape, however, has become vastly more complex, with constant updates to applications, configuration software, plug-ins, intelligent chips and motherboards. This means that two otherwise identical desktop computers (let alone adding laptops to the mix) can have enough driver differences to cause the cloning process to render machines inoperable without considerable manual modification.

Universal Imaging Utility (UIU) was developed to resolve this issue by simplifying the process, ensuring that when an image is taken of the ideal machine, all the driver combinations required by each machine are made available to each machine. The software therefore enables IT departments to reduce the time and money spent on image creation and deployment by streamlining the cloning process. It works with leading cloning applications such as Symantec’s Ghost, PowerQuest’s Drive Image Pro, Altiris’ Migration Suite, Novell’s ZENworks and Acronis’ TrueImage, making it possible for these programs to create a single, clean disk image. The image created will then work with virtually any Windows platform or configuration.

So how does the software work? Used in conjunction with your regular hard disk drive imaging software it creates a disk image that can be successfully deployed to nearly any PC in your environment, regardless of HAL type, processor, PC make or model. Maintaining individual images for PCs from Dell, HP, IBM, etc. is no longer required. Designed for Microsoft Windows Vista, XP and 2000 systems specifically, UIU resets your existing Windows installation to a similar state, allowing for correct detection of different hardware platforms upon image deployment without crashing the systems. A regularly updated driver database is also installed, assuring greater compatibility with new hardware components. So, as you get new hardware, with new video, network and audio components, you need not maintain those drivers.

How difficult is it to use? The procedure is actually relatively easy: you setup your Master Windows 2000, XP or Vista computer and capture a base image using the guidelines provided. This is the most time consuming step of the process. UIU will then modify your system, install drivers, launch Sysprep, and then shut your PC down - all in less than 10 minutes. At that point you need to take a normal image in DOS or Win PE (do not reboot to Windows!) using your disk imaging software. That’s it. No drivers, no Plug-n-Play IDs, no need to sweat through Sysprep. UIU even creates your Sysprep.inf or Sysprep.xml file for you. You can then deploy the image to your other PCs the way you always have.

Support for Microsoft’s System Preparation tool (Sysprep) helps keep you in compliance with Microsoft’s standards for disk imaging, and UIU uses it to help detect the hardware components on a machine receiving a Universal Image. Additionally, Sysprep will change the Security ID (SID) on your recipient PCs, allowing for consistent interaction with any Active Directory domain structure. UIU handles Sysprep for you though, so there is no need to build a custom Sysprep answer file.

Because UIU strips the image to its bare bones, you could potentially take an image built on an IDE-based machine and port it directly to a SCSI or SATA platform. It also incorporates other Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) configurations into the base image and resets the original HAL, so you don’t even have to confine your image to similarly configured machines (the HAL acts as the interface between hardware and software). During the UIU master image installation process, you can specify these as additional options. You can also use your own .INF file. Sysprep doesn’t achieve nearly as much as this as it mainly does things like initiate the mini-setup to search for new hardware, reset user/machine details and rewrite SIDs.

Licensing for UIU 2.0 is per-seat and is based on the number of computers that receive an Image which was prepared with the assistance of UIU. Corporate pricing starts at under £11 per-seat for up to 99 computers and goes down to less than £5 per-seat for 5000 or more licenses. Academic and Government pricing is also available. Almost as important as the software itself, when you license UIU, you get the driver database, which Binary Research updates on a regular basis. These regular updates are most helpful if you frequently refresh your images. If you have a great diversity of workstations, desktops and laptops on your network, UIU can save you tons of time in terms of keeping your images up-to-date.

There are some limitations, however. Windows Server installations aren’t supported, even if the imaging software can create server images, and RAID disks aren’t supported. SCSI drives can’t be used as sources either, so although an image can be installed to a SCSI drive it can’t be created from one. Furthermore, an image created on an ACPI-compliant system won’t be happy on a system that isn’t. And finally, your disk-imaging software must be able to run from a DOS prompt - Windows-based imaging software isn’t supported. It’s definitely worth a look though. [7.5]

American Power Conversion’s (APC) Back-UPS ES is the company’s best value product for protecting your home office computer system from power outages. The major benefit of the weighty (4kg) charcoal-coloured unit is that it provides battery backup power that allows you to work and save files through short power outages. It also safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility and phone lines (coax cable surge protection is also included on selected models).

The Back-UPS ES is available in a range of models. The differences between each model boils down to how many devices you want to protect at one given time, plus the estimated runtime you require based on different power draws (i.e. 200W, 300W, 400W and so on).

For instance, in the event of complete power failure the entry-level 50-Watt (230V Output/230V Input) model reviewed here (£41.80) has a typical backup time at half load of 11 minutes (92.5Watts) from a full recharge time of 24 hours - dropping to 2.9 minutes at full load (185Watts). Generally speaking, each model gives just enough time to save a document and shut down your computer and other attached peripherals safely.

What’s particularly neat about the Back-UPS ES is that it offers both battery-protected and surge-only outlets. Each reserves power capacity and run time for connected equipment that require battery backup while providing surge only protection for less critical equipment. Power conditioning protects connected loads from surges, spikes, lightning, and other power disturbances, while data line surge protection provides protection of connected equipment from power surges on the data lines. For further piece of mind, APC offers a ‘Lifetime’ data recovery warranty in the event data is lost due to the failure of the unit (not available on all models).

APC has been making UPSs for years now, so it knows the market very well. The BE325-UK is a nice entry-level product particularly well suited to home workers. It’s a relatively compact unit (at least for a UPS!), is easy to hook up, and doesn’t require any computer software.

Additional features like audible alarms, an LED status indicator, user replaceable battery, push-button circuit breakers and transformer-block spaced outlets make the Back-UPS ES a cost-effective unit to protect your productivity from the threat of power outages and lost data. The only downsides are that it provides power backup on only two of the four power outlets and the warranty requires the whole unit be sent to APC, which would be costly due to the weight. For individuals who don’t need a whole lot of outlets and power autonomy, the BE325-UK would make a good choice. [7]

Lenovo has raised the bar with its smallest, quietest and most energy-efficient desktop to date. The ultra-small form factor ThinkCentre A61e (from £270) also uses up to 90% reusable/recyclable materials as well as 90% recyclable packaging, making it one of the greenest desktop PCs on the planet. But the biggest attraction of the ThinkCentre A61e is its unobtrusiveness: it has a footprint the size of an average telephone book (275×242x81mm) and offers whisper quiet performance. Yet with a choice of AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core and AMD Sempron single-core processors, there’s plenty of power under the hood to run typical business applications.

The ThinkCentre A61e desktop marks Lenovo’s first product with EPEAT Gold status, the highest designation a product can achieve in the ranking. Operated by the Green Electronics Council, EPEAT ranks products on a variety of environmental attributes from energy efficiency to materials use to recyclability. Many organisations in the U.S. use this tool to help make purchasing decisions. Recognised for its environmental attributes, the ThinkCentre A61e can even be powered by an optional solar panel.

The desktop surpasses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star 4.0 criteria with its 85% efficient power supply. To put this into perspective: a single user could save in a year, on average, the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emissions created by two round-trip plane flights from Boston to New York; a customer deploying as few as 50 desktops could expect to save more than £500 a year in energy costs alone. And it could help avoid more than 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions; a large enterprise deployment of 50,000 desktops could save more than £500,000 in annual energy costs and cut more than 20 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Yikes!

The ThinkCentre A61e follows Lenovo’s recent introduction of the ThinkCentre A61 in tower form factor to equip enterprise users with leading technologies such as I/O port disablement for security, and support for up to four monitors for data-intensive task. Under the hood it has a modest range of components, but expandability options are obviously limited due to the size of the machine (you get no half-height expansion card slots for making upgrades).

My review sample (£540) was supplied with an AMD Athlon X2 BE 2350 (2.10GHz) processor, 512MB of 667MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 memory (upgradable to 4GB), 80GB Serial ATA HDD, and ATI Radeon X1200 graphics chipset. Other niceties included a matching 16x CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive and Windows XP Professional (Vista is optional).

Connectivity options are restrictive compared to a typical desktop PC, but this isn’t too much of an issue for corporates looking for a machine that’s easy to lock down in order to minimise threats from external sources. At the front of the system are two USB 2.0 ports as well as headphone and microphone jacks, while the rear of the machine houses a single Gigabit Ethernet port, four more USB 2.0 ports, VGA-out, another headphone jack, and line-in/out audio ports.

The most obvious omissions are a media reader, FireWire and DVI ports, as well as legacy PS/2 ports, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities, but again these aren’t essential for a business machine. Security features are excellent however, comprising a security slot (in rear for optional Kensington Microsaver cable), startup sequence control, hard drive I/O control, power on password, startup without keyboard, mouse, diskette drive, and unattended start-up.

The importance of maximising energy efficiency and being environmentally conscious is touching all aspects of our daily lives, from the light bulbs we use to light our homes to the hybrid cars we drive to the green technology we rely on to run our businesses. Lenovo is committed to providing an extensive menu of environmentally-responsible, energy-efficient technology choices, and the ThinkCentre A61e desktop is its signature item. For the first time a major PC vendor has combined small size and consistently quiet acoustics with a lightweight, highly energy-efficient desktop offering at an affordable price.

Taking up 25% less space than previous models and weighing just 3.72kg (about twice the overall volume of the Apple Mac Mini), the ThinkCentre A61e fits the shrinking real estate in today’s work environment, making it an especially good fit for customers in education, medical and financial sectors. It would also make a reasonable home office system, as long as your needs aren’t too demanding. There’s little scope for expandability, and more raw power and eye-candy can be had for the same price from other companies, but none are so well suited to corporate life than the ThinkCentre A61e. [8]

With so many households now with HDTVs and home theatre systems, we are all looking for new ways to enjoy high-definition (HD) entertainment. Netgear’s Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) enables you to watch HD videos and photos, Internet videos from popular sites like YouTube, and digital video recordings on your HDTV streamed from a PC, as well as to listen to music in your iTunes library and iPod on your home theatre system.

Similar in size to a regular DVD player, the EVA8000 (£196) builds upon the EVA700 (£107), a first-generation product that performed well but was a little rough around the edges. While there’s still no LCD on the updated model for status and file information, nor is there an optical drive for upscaled DVD playback, there’s now an all-important HDMI-out port.

Netgear’s EVA8000 has been designed to bring the universe of digital content from your Windows or Mac computer, NAS or USB media device to your television set. After connecting the relatively sophisticated set-top digital media receiver to a TV and your wired/wireless network, as well as installing the supplied driver software, it automatically discovers movies (all non-HD content is automatically upscaled to HD), TV shows, music files, and personal photos across multiple PCs. Thankfully, it organises them into a single media library displayed on your TV without the need for media server software running on the computer.

Using the included remote control you can then search your entire media library by multiple criteria including title, actor, date, genre or thumbnail images (from photos, album art or DVD covers). Furthermore, the included Windows-based software enables you to listen to music from iTunes, view YouTube videos and access your PC desktop from your living room (or wherever the TV is located). If your PC has an optional TV tuner installed, you can schedule recordings and pause or rewind live broadcasts using the EVA8000 without the need for an additional DVR device. Of course, your PC will have to remain powered for this to happen.

A neat feature for power users is that multiple EVA8000 receivers can work in concert throughout a building. Using ‘Follow Me,’ you can pause a video in one room and resume it in another. And while in ‘Party Mode’ you can synchronise music playback for whole-home listening. You can also plug in your USB flash drive, iPod, or other USB storage device directly into the front of the EVA8000 to access and play high-resolution digital media independently of a network.

The EVA8000 can stream many unprotected file formats over a network. It supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) media servers, plays Internet radio directly and can access RSS news feeds. Connectivity options are plentiful, comprising a single HDMI port for digital AV connection, RCA connectors for composite and component video outputs, stereo RCA audio ports, coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, an S-video port, and a SCART connector for regions requiring it. The receiver decodes many leading audio formats (MP1/2/3, WMA, WMA-Pro, AAC, AC3, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, and PCM), purchased music from iTunes, video formats (AVI, DivX, Xvid WMV, MOV, M4V, VOB, and MPEG-1/2/4) and image formats (JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF).

Playlist formats supported include PLS, M3U, WPL, ASX, WAX, WVX, RMP, while tag formats (metadata) are ID3 v1, ID3 v2, WMA, WMV, AVI, DivX, Xvid, FLAC, EXIF, MOV, M4A, M4P, and M4V. The device also supports Dolby Surround playback for digital audio ports and down-mixes to stereo for analogue outputs. It integrates a single 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller, as well as 802.11g wireless. Unfortunately, there’s no Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n or Bluetooth.

Netgear’s EVA8000 is a great addition to the company’s growing family of innovative multimedia networking products because it offers the ability to watch almost any content (legal, illegal, high-quality), in any room, at any time, on a HDTV. Loaded with features, from HD video playback (480i to 1080p) to online access of YouTube and Flickr, the EVA8000 even plays iTunes DRM-protected files. But it’s not without its faults. Most noticeable is that it can be a bit of a pig to set up (firewalls can cause a problem) and you’ll encounter playback jittering running high-quality audio and video over a wireless network.

Another frustration is that, unlike Apple TV, it cannot automatically update its library - you have to ‘scan for new media’ every time you update your computer’s folders. We wouldn’t rate it as highly as a dedicated upconverting DVD player in terms of playback quality either, and anyone with a low tolerance for frustration might be better off with Apple’s TV. And unlike Apple TV, the EVA8000 has no hard disk drive, so you can’t revert to hard drive playback when there are streaming problems. But for technical Windows users who like to get their hands dirty, the EVA8000 is probably the most accomplished media streamer currently available - I just wish it looked more stylish and was easier to use… [7]

Sony Europe’s IT Peripherals division recently added two new digital voice recorders to its line-up. Designed for a variety of dictation needs, the ICD-UX70 (£79.95) and ICD-UX80 (£99.95) stand out from the crowd because they offer up to 2GB of internal flash memory, and can record and playback MP3 files. Furthermore, there’s actually a USB 2.0 connection built directly into the devices (complete with protective cover), which enables direct battery charge (through rechargeable batteries) from a laptop or desktop computer.

Available in either a black or silver finish, the ICD-UX80 (34×99x13mm, 48g) is powered by just one AAA alkaline battery, so it’s nice and small. The backlit dot matrix LCD, on-screen menu and joystick-style control aren’t the easiest to use or navigate, but after a few minutes you should get to grips with setting up the device and making your first recording. The built-in stereo microphone offers selectable sensitivity, but due to the quality of the built-in microphone it’s only practical for recording audio sources in close proximity - such as a meeting or interview. Moving the microphone towards the back of a room, for instance, generally fails to produce an acceptable result.

Shipping as standard with a 2GB capacity (ICD-UX70 has 1GB), the ICD-UX80 can record up to an impressive 581 hours in LP (24 hours in best quality), but the single AAA battery is good enough for 34 hours. Gadget buffs will love the way the ICD-UX80 can record and playback stereo MP3 files, allowing you to record and listen to music on the move. Stereo recording is captured via the built-in microphones and as the audio is recorded into MP3 format (no support for MPEG-1/2 encoded audio or broadcast-quality WAV) you can then easily transfer files to your computer, without the need for additional software.

With the capacity for over 500 songs (less on the ICD-UX70 of course), you can even adjust the sound tone to Rock, Pop or Jazz, much like a regular MP3 player. The voice recorder even features direct audio encoding from a CD/MD player. There’s a digital pitch control function that allows playback of recordings to be heard at an increased or slower speed without distortion for transcribing or editing requirements, and Voice Operated Recording (VOR) automatically starts recording when sound is detected. Other features include alarm playback, repeat and search, and mono recording mode.

Let’s not get carried away. The ICD-UX80 is a decent voice recorder, but it is a million miles away from being a proper MP3 player or preamplifier microphone. If you consider price, music playback capability, compact size, MP3 recording functionality and PC connectivity a priority when purchasing a digital dictation device, the ICD-UX80 should be exactly what you’re looking for. If audio quality is the main priority, such as for podcasting or other types of broadcasting, you’d be better off with a proper microphone. But for the latest in personal digital dictation, the ICD-UX80 is not bad at all. We just wish Sony would sort out their unintuitive interfaces and make their products easier to use. [7]

The home theatre environment has certainly come a long way over the past 60 years. Back then, the typical home theatre experience involved the entire family huddled around a black and white analogue set in the living room, watching the same TV programme as every other person in the country. It certainly is an archaic concept to most of us nowadays when, thanks to recent technological advancements, we can enthusiastically devour cinema theatre-quality experiences in the comfort of our own private spaces.

The advent of HD technology has resulted in HD TVs becoming a feature of our domestic spaces. Some 15 per cent of homes in the US already have a HDTV, with numbers growing steadily both there and here in the UK. As the insatiable appetite for the HD experience grows, the consumer market is expanding from niche to mainstream. But misconceptions surrounding the technology and capabilities of the product still abound.

The Helios H4000HD (£65) reviewed here won’t win any design awards - plus it’s build quality is pretty shocking - but it’s a relatively feature-packed upscaling DVD player for those on a budget. The slimline (1.5kg) black player has a very appealing feature too - it can upscale standard DVDs to as high as 1080p resolution through component or HDMI. The player also has the capacity to upscale to 1080i resolution via HDMI output, and 1280×1024-pixel resolution via VGA output.

To cater to Helio’s (once NeoDigits) growing European market, the player also supports 480i and 576i resolutions. With 11 different resolutions to choose from, you have an even greater chance of getting the right match with your high-definition television for quality images with smoother and more pronounced details. What more, the player is region-free out-of-the-box. This means that it can play all your DVDs regardless of which part of the world you copied bought them.

The Helios H4000HD has upgraded power and audio capacitors, and better high-quality components than the older HVD2085 . The player now comes with a full-featured illuminated remote control with a newly-designed easy-to-use layout, a far greater range capacity, and a UOP-off function which lets you bypass all those annoying trailers and copyright notices.

To reap all the benefits of your HDTV’s promise, you need to understand what resolution to choose from the DVD player that is best suited to your LCD TV. For instance, will 1080p work on your TV? Do you know how to get the best high definition resolution from your TV? One common mistake is to wrongly interpret HDTV specifications - your TV may support 720p and 1080p high definition video input, but that doesn’t mean your HDTV will support 720p and 1080p resolutions. The truth is, very few HDTV screens have a ‘native’ resolution that can match 1080p.

The thing to note is that each LCD, plasma and DLP TV has its own native resolution. You must first find out what the native resolution of your TV is. Older-generation plasma TV screens, for example, only have a resolution of 852×480 pixels, while the new generation plasma TV screens have a higher resolution of 1024×1024 pixels. If you don’t have a HD DVD player, or other form of HD video source, the video output will be scaled to match your HDTV display resolution. This could make it look bad, as the video source will output a resolution signal that is different to the HDTV’s native resolution.

When content from a video source, such as a DVD player, is output to a scaler (processing chipset that upscales or downscales the received video signal to match the native resolution of the HDTV’s screen), the original digital format is decoded first by the player, then sent in an analogue format that can be read by the scaler. With that already decoded information, the scaler ‘upscales’ or ‘downscales’ the signal and then outputs it to the HDTV, based on the screen’s resolution.

While many HDTVs now on the market claim to support 1080i resolution (and the most expensive 1080p), you will not be able to play your DVD titles in 1080i resolution on these TVs. The key to getting the best images possible out of your HDTV is to choose the right video source - one that can output the exact same digital signal as the resolution of your HDTV’s screen, direct from the video source into the HDTV, bypassing the ‘scaler’.

Skipping the scaler step is one way of getting a sharper, crisper image from your HDTV. By removing this one step, the digital video signal, in its original format, is sent directly from your video source into your HDTV. DVD players that are able to do so are those equipped with HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface). It is this HDMI feature that takes advantage of a DVD player’s ability to upscale or downscale the DVD title according to the HDTV’s native resolution.

HDMI is the new standard for ‘pure digital’ connection, and was designed as a common interface for devices from set-top boxes to digital TVs. Currently, HDMI offers the best video quality on the market - far better than if an analogue scaler were used to process the signal.

Thus, the key to getting the most out of your HDTV is finding out your display panel’s native resolution, then matching your video source’s HDMI output to this specific resolution. DVD players with the HDMI function, such as the H4000HD, allow you to choose from a number of resolutions for matching purposes. Not all DVD players on the market, however, offer a wide range of choices. So if the native resolution of your particular screen is not available from the list of choices on the DVD player, the best thing to do is opt for the next nearest resolution, whether it is slightly higher of lower, and then test by trial and error to see which of the two images appears sharper.

The H4000HD offers no less than 11 output options. Indeed, owners of DVD players that offer a large choice such as this, have a higher chance of getting the right match for their HDTVs, and are able to reap the benefits from a larger pool of HDTVs available, no matter what the brand, model or resolution.

The player supports pretty much every type of format including DVD, SVCD, VCD, CD, HDCD, MP3, WMA, Photo-CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD-RW. It upscales standard DVD titles up to 1080p via component or HDMi connectors, and also supports 720p, 1080i, 480i and 576i output options. Output options via the VGA interface include 640×480, 800×600, 10247×68 and 1280×1024 pixels. It also has a built-in Dolby 5.1 and DTS decoder, as well as a 16-bit 149MHz Video DAC and 192kHz 24-bit Audio DAC (32-bit/133MHz Audio DSP). Connectors are plentiful and comprise component, S-Video, VGA, HDMI and composite video output. There’s also optical, coaxial (S/PDIF) and RCA audio outputs.

I tested the player on a Sharp Aquous HDTV running at a resolution of 1080p and the picture looked really good (I also tried 720p and was equally impressed). Compared to a regular (say 480p) player the detail levels were noticeably increased, as was general brightness. Even lesser DVD Movies looked better, with the exception of a few titles which showed up their inadequacies more predominantly. You’re not getting true HD, but the Helios H4000HD is a reasonable player for DVD buffs who want to get the most from their HDTV without spending hundreds on a ‘true HD’ DVD player.

The major criticism I had with the player was its build quality - the buttons on the unit itself are very noisy when clicked, DVDs frequently stuck (requiring me to force open the drive bay), and the remote control looks like an afterthought. Plus, the on-screen menu is painfully slow and subtitles keep appearing every time you pause a movie - how annoying! But, for the price it’s a steal. [6]