In Depth: 40 essential apps and add-ons for your Mac
With the current financial climate, belts are tightening and wallets are glued shut. Value for money has become more important than ever.
But if you've just got yourself a new Mac (or indeed an old one), it needn't cost the earth to enhance it. Hardware that would have cost thousands ten years ago can now be bought for a few crisp tenners.
And in the software space, Mac users are blessed. We might not have the number of apps that exist for Windows, but the thousands that are available are usually of a very high quality. Indie products are rivalling software created by huge corporations, meaning it's now easy to get a fantastic app for a fraction of the price.
This feature provides a checklist of the best ways to improve your Mac, balancing affordability and quality. Let's start off with 10 top hardware add-ons.
1. RAM upgrade (£40+)
Various manufacturers
www.crucial.com/uk
Extra RAM is just about the best investment you can make to power up your Mac for relatively little outlay. A Mac starved of RAM lurches along, struggling to work with virtual RAM. But with oodles of the real stuff, even a Mac that's a few years old will run more apps simultaneously and work with larger files more easily.
RAM prices vary, but an extra 2GB for an iMac or MacBook often costs as little as £40. If you've got the funds, though, get 4GB of RAM inside your Mac. If that means removing a stick of preinstalled RAM, you can always get a few quid back by selling it on eBay.
2. Apple keyboard (£29–£55)
Apple
It's important to have a good keyboard. Despite Apple's dodgy history with keyboard design, its current range is fantastic and affordable. In use, Apple keyboards feel robust and responsive, and their low profile is reminiscent of laptop keyboards (and happens to be more ergonomic than previous Apple designs).
Note: Apple offers wired keyboards with numeric keypads, and wired and wireless ones without, so be sure to order the right model!
3. Media reader (From £10)
Belkin and others
If you're lucky enough to own a new iMac or MacBook Pro, you'll have a built-in SD card slot. If not, getting digital photos onto your Mac requires finding a cable, connecting your camera to your Mac, finding your camera's dead, getting all angry, recharging it, turning the camera on (finally), and syncing images with iPhoto.
Save time and sanity by getting a USB card reader. The depicted Belkin Universal Media Reader costs about £15 and supports 56 cards types.
4. Bräda laptop support (£9.99)
Ikea
Laptops pack a lot of power into a tiny space, and generate a lot of heat. Therefore, your lap is probably not the best of locations to put your Apple laptop for any length of time – unless, of course, you have protection!
Many laptop supports exist, but our Deputy Editor swears by the rather lovely Bräda from Ikea. It costs under a tenner, has a formable base, washable fabric, and even a little pocket for your iPod.
5. Skype headset (From £20)
Sennheiser and others
With the exception of the Mac mini and Mac Pro, modern Macs include all you need to make free calls using Skype. However, the built-in speakers and microphone can lead to echoing and feedback. For making regular calls, buy a dedicated headset.
Prices start from around £20 for something that won't fall to bits. Depicted is the fantastic Sennheiser PC 146 USB, available online from about £45, and it includes both stereo mini-jack and USB connection options.
6. My Passport portable hard drive (From £50)
Western Digital
An external hard drive enables you to back up content should your Mac's hard drive fail. We recommend Western Digital My Passport drives – they're mid-priced, but for the cash you get a tiny, almost silent, drive that you can take anywhere with you. So clone your drive with SuperDuper! and take 'your Mac' to work in your pocket!
7. Wacom Bamboo (From £60)
Wacom
Don't let anyone tell you that a tablet is just for digital artists to use – Wacom's Bamboo can benefit pretty much every Mac owner. In use, Wacom tablets offer an easy multitouch interface, which is akin to a modern laptop's trackpad. It also enables pixel-perfect precision via stylus input.
The key benefits of this gadget include being ergonomic (thereby helping out RSI sufferers) and enabling you to 'snap' your pointer to a location on-screen just by touching the equivalent position on the tablet – much faster than using a mouse.
8. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (£84.99)
APC
If you use your Mac for anything important, a UPS is an essential purchase. In the event of a power cut, the battery back-up kicks into action, giving you time to save your work and safely shut down your Mac.
Additionally, a UPS will provide protection from surges, spikes and other major power fluctuations. APC is a leader in this particular field and the BE700G-UK is a reliable and impressive UK-specific model.
9. Wireless router (About £65)
Netgear
If you've not yet gone wireless at home, you don't know what you're missing. Having devices connected to a router by cables feels positively prehistoric when you can wander about your home at will and still enjoy internet on your laptop, iPhone or iPod touch.
Wireless routers start at around £20, but Netgear's DGN2000 is an 'N' series router (for faster speeds) worth the extra £45. (Cable users should consider Belkin's N+ Wireless Cable/ DSL router.)
10. Powered USB hub (From £20)
Belkin and others
Modern Macs have relatively few USB ports. The solution is a USB hub. Cheap hubs draw power from your Mac and can fare poorly when unpowered devices are plugged into them. Therefore, invest in a slightly more expensive powered hub. The £29.99 Belkin 2-in-1 is a great option.
11. Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) (£25)
Apple
Snow Leopard is the most misunderstood OS upgrade Apple's ever released. Because most changes are 'under the hood', it was dismissed as a service pack, and plenty of Mac users have yet to make the jump. Here's our advice: if you've a compatible Mac and £25, you'd be crazy not to upgrade.
At the very least, Snow Leopard will claw back 4GB of hard drive space and make your Mac experience snappier. But it's the refinements throughout that make it a joy to use, such as enhanced Stacks and Exposé, and the revamped Preview.
So while there's no standout major new feature – no Spotlight, Quick Look or Time Machine – the dozens of small updates are even better.
12. iLife (£71)
Apple
All new Macs will come with the latest iLife pre-installed, but if your Mac is a few years old, you could be missing out. New and great features of iLife '09 include facial recognition and online sharing in iPhoto, enhanced editing themes and titles in iMovie, and utterly fantastic guitar amps and stompboxes in GarageBand.
And if your iLife's older than iLife '08, you've yet to experience iPhoto Events and unified Search, GarageBand's Magic GarageBand jamming and multi-take recording features, and iWeb's live widgets.
iLife might be an obvious inclusion in this feature, but its place here is more than justified – it's not only one of the best creative suites for the Mac, but it's also fantastic value for money.
13. Photoshop Elements (£77)
Adobe
Although iPhoto provides basic enhancement tools, Adobe's affordable apps are where it's at if you want freedom when it comes to editing your imagery (or creating bitmap-based images from scratch). Many tools in Photoshop Elements are pretty much the same as those in the full Photoshop (£600).
By comparison, Photoshop Elements can be found for as little as £60. But to spend even less, consider Pixelmator (£37) and Acorn (£31).
14. iWork (£71)
Apple
If you've bought your first Mac or switched from Windows and are on the hunt for an office suite, think twice before buying Microsoft Office. Apple's iWork provides equivalents for Word (Pages), Excel (Numbers), and PowerPoint (Keynote), but with a more Mac-like experience and superior layout capabilities.
And even the cheapest version of Office (Home and Student Edition) is at best a few quid more than iWork; once you hit the Business Edition, Apple's suite is nearly £200 less.
15. TechTool Pro (£61)
Micromat
Hard drives are fragile and things can easily go wrong with them. Although every MacFormat reader is of course backing data up (if not, check My Passport Portable Hard Drive on the previous spread and SuperDuper! on this one, then rectify matters accordingly), it's good to fix a damaged drive if possible.
TechTool Pro can diagnose and potentially repair problems, rebuild and optimise volumes and attempt data recovery. It's first aid for your Mac, so always have a copy handy.
16. VMware Fusion (£54)
VMware
For years, Windows in a window was a nightmarish, sluggish affair. But with the arrival of Intel Macs, virtualisation software has come a long way in a short time.
VMware Fusion is our favourite (although Parallels Desktop comes close – see parallels.com for more on that app), making it absurdly easy to get a virtual Windows PC running on your Mac. Switchers can run Windows-only apps; web designers can test in IE; no-one has to suffer the horrors of owning a real PC.
17. Socialite (£13)
Realmac Software
If you're into social networking, you won't stop with Facebook. Chances are you share 140 characters of wisdom on Twitter, comment on Flickr photos, and use Digg, RSS and Google Reader.
Socialite saves you using multiple apps, bringing social networks together under a single interface. Images can be viewed and uploaded to Facebook or Flickr, and comments sent via the Quick Send dialog.
18. Scrivener (£27)
Literature & Latte
We already mentioned Pages for word processing, but it's not great for huge projects. If you're writing a novel or a script, or you're an academic trying to sort notes and research and write a coherent paper, you need Scrivener.
This app enables you to create outlines, refer to synopses on a corkboard, concentrate on writing by using full-screen mode, take snapshots for version control, and export your masterpiece in a number of formats.
19. SuperDuper! (£19)
Shirt Pocket
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) introduced Time Machine, for backing up your Mac and accessing older versions of files. Occasionally, though, it has problems and Time Machine also requires the OS install DVD for recovery.
So we recommend investing in SuperDuper! and cloning your Mac to a second external back-up drive. After doing so, getting up and running (should your Mac's internal hard drive fail) only takes as long as a reboot from the clone.
20. 1Password (£25)
Agile Web Solutions
1Password is a secure vault for passwords, banking details, online logins and application registration codes and documents. The interface is usable and the app also integrates with web browsers.
This means if you add a password to 1Password, you don't have to remember it again (and you can also use far more complex passwords). 1Password saves time and worry, and the security and polish ensures it's a winner.
21. Default Folder X (£24.95)
St. Clair Software
The best add-ons for the Mac are those that help you out every day by enhancing important components of the OS. Default Folder X powers up Open and Save dialogs, potentially saving you time whenever you open or save a document.
Its features are many, including quick access to folders and user-defined favourites, the ability to 'snap' a dialog to a Finder window in the background via a single click, tagging in Save dialogs, and system-wide access to your Mac's volumes and folders via the menu bar.
Default Folder might be one of the most expensive add-ons in this feature, but it's also the best and most essential.
22. Cocktail (£10)
Maintain
Cocktail provides a graphical user interface to access and activate hidden Mac OS X settings, interface tweaks and system maintenance features. The app can amend Time Machine settings, clear caches, delete DS Store files from folders, change the screenshot format and save location, amend the appearance and location of the Dock, stop Mail displaying attachments, and lots more.
The Pilot section enables maintenance tasks to be scheduled. Other apps offer similar features, but few come close to matching Cocktail's polish. Note that some Cocktail options are for system-level changes, so read the documentation before messing around too much!
23. LaunchBar (£21)
Objective Development Software
Although this application was initially a Spotlight-like launcher, LaunchBar is now a productivity utility, which provides keyboard based access to the information within your Mac.
By using short abbreviations you can access and manipulate files, search files by kind and filter the results, add iCal appointments, find content within iTunes and iPhoto, manipulate images, perform system actions and plenty more useful tasks.
Further boosting this great app's value in the latest version is full Quick Look support as well as an excellent multiple-item clipboard complete with merge capability.
24. TextExpander (£20)
SmileOnMyMac
System-wide text substitution finally came to Mac OS X in Snow Leopard, with you being able to define spellings and replacements in the Language & Text System Preferences pane. However, TextExpander remains far more powerful, enabling you to create complex boilerplates that include images, and insert them by using a memorable text string.
SmileOnMyMac's website provides downloadable snippet groups for things like HTML and conversions, and there's an iPhone version of TextExpander, which can optionally sync with the desktop app.
25. Mail Act-On (£16)
Indev software
It's easy to find messages in Mail using a combination of Spotlight and Smart Mailboxes, but most people also manually file messages into folders. If you get a lot of email, filing is tedious.
Mail Act-On speeds things up, providing a window that enables you to rapidly move or copy messages. It also enables you to create rules and assign keyboard shortcuts to them – for example, we have Ctrl+M set up to move selected messages to a 'MacFormat' folder.
26. Fresh (£6)
Ironic Software
Fresh is one of those useful add-ons that duplicates existing Mac functionality, but in a manner that somehow makes it completely indispensable. The application offers users two zones. The first – Fresh – shows recently created or modified files, much like the Recent Items option that you find in the Apple menu.
The other zone – The Cooler – is akin to the Dock, providing shortcuts for items. However, Fresh's system-wide nature (it's activated via a hotkey), blocking options (locations, extensions, items) and tagging system (for faster searching than Spotlight) makes it well worth the six quid that you have to pay for it.
27. Hazel (£14)
Noodlesoft
Everyone deals with countless files these days, so it's inevitable that certain folders on your Mac end up a mess. Hazel is a top-notch housekeeper, automatically tidying files according to your wishes.
Setup is simple: define folders for Hazel to watch and how it should deal with files placed within them. For example, Hazel can watch your Desktop and send new MP3s to iTunes, and apply a label colour to new PDFs before moving them to your Documents folder.
28. Web Snapper (£9)
Tasty Apps
Storing web pages offline isn't entirely straightforward. Screengrabs aren't interactive, PDFs from Safari lack a site's design, and web archives must be opened in a browser and often don't fully work.
Web Snapper eliminates these problems, saving web pages as PDFs that retain the site's design and links. Options exist to save to other formats (handy for web designers wanting full-height grabs of a design) and for each PDF to be saved as a single long document or as multiple pages.
29. AppZapper (£8)
Austin Sarner and Brian Ball
Mac apps are mostly well behaved, rarely scattering files about your system. Therefore, dragging an app to the Trash is enough to uninstall it. However, this leaves behind preferences and app support files – something AppZapper deals with.
Drag an app to AppZapper and you'll see what'll be deleted. Click Zap! and the files are trashed. There's also a search feature that finds apps you've not used in months, in case you want rid of them.
30. PhoneView (£13)
Ecamm Network
PhoneView bills itself as 'the desktop companion for iPhone and iPod touch', but we think of it more like a safety net for your device. The application enables you to access content on your device and copy to and from it.
Also, if iPhoto has a hissy fit, you can retrieve your photos; and although Mail now syncs with Notes, PhoneView enables you to drag and drop PDFs and Word documents for reading on the go. You can even save SMS messages and your call log if you wanted to.
31. iStat Menus
iSlayer
Menu extras provide useful information in your menu bar and system monitoring utility iStat Menus is the daddy of all menu extras. Use it to add modules to your menu bar, enabling you to check CPU resources, disk usage, network activity, and temperatures inside your Mac.
Clicking a menu provides access to more info and a link to relevant preferences. Even if you want monitoring, iStat Menus is great for its menu-bar clock, which includes a calendar and world clock in its drop-down menu.
32. Dropbox / SugarSync
Dropbox / Sharpcast
Dropbox and SugarSync both fundamentally offer the same thing: a means of backing-up to the 'cloud'. Data can automatically be synchronised across multiple devices, and accessed via each service's free iPhone app.
SugarSync limits you to two computers but is flexible regarding what you sync; Dropbox syncs unlimited devices, but requires items to be placed within a Dropbox folder. Both offer free 2GB plans and play nice with Macs.
33. Adium
Evan Schoenberg
One of the drawbacks of instant messaging is that your friends are likely to use a number of different services. If you're a switcher, MSN and Yahoo! may have been your previous IMs of choice.
Unlike Apple's AIM-oriented iChat, Adium works with almost every popular IM service (including Facebook), enabling you to do all your chatting within a single app. Adium doesn't do video, but it's perfect for text, and the hugely configurable interface offers multiple themes and alert settings.
34. Spotify
Spotify Ltd
Spotify is a fantastic service that provides ad-supported streaming of thousands of albums.
The free version is often 'locked' unless you get an invite, but keep an eye on the site for when this restriction is lifted, grab yourself an account, download Spotify, and enjoy your choice of free – and legal – music all day long.
35. Spark
Shadow Lab
Spark is an add-on for keyboard junkies, enabling you to create hotkeys to launch apps and docs, control iTunes, and more.
Snow Leopard users might argue that Services offers similar functions, but Spark is better for setting up and managing shortcuts. It also fine-tunes behaviours for launching and activation.
36. OpenOffice.org
Sun Microsystems
Microsoft Office is now under serious threat from free alternatives. Sun's OpenOffice.org is one of the better examples, and, unlike some of its rivals, the Mac version is a native app.
Sure, it's not as polished as iWork, and its compatibility with Microsoft Office isn't perfect, but if you want to read and edit the odd Word document, or maintain a couple of Excel spreadsheets, it's perfect.
37. Plex
Plex
Apple TV is limited, as is Front Row, and those wanting to turn the likes of a Mac mini into a decent media centre for hooking up to a television must look elsewhere.
Plex plays a huge range of video, audio and photo formats, has great library features, and wraps everything up in a sleek, contemporary interface.
38. Skype
Skype
Assuming you've got a half-decent broadband connection, Skype is a no-brainer download. The service enables you to make Skype-to-Skype calls online – get a friend to download and install Skype and you can chat all day long, for free. You can also call landlines and mobiles at low rates.
The app also includes video support, configurable status settings, and an instant messaging app, for those times when you want to type rather than talk.
39. ClickToFlash
ClickToFlash Developers
So you're online, surfing the web using your Mac laptop. Suddenly, your previously nearsilent computer is doing a good impersonation of an aircraft taking off. You've hit a website with Flash and the fans have kicked in!
Stop the horror by installing ClickToFlash, which by default disables Flash in Safari, but enables you to access Flash content on a case-by-case basis, or 'whitelist' sites via a settings window.
40. Flip4Mac / Perian
Telestream / Perian Project
A frustrating thing about the early days of the internet was lock-outs – sites would be 'compatible' only with one browser. Today, this is rare, but online video remains reliant on proprietary technology.
Flip4Mac welds components to QuickTime, so it can play Windows Media video. Perian describes itself as the 'swiss-army knife for QuickTime', adding support for AVI, DIVX, FLV and other formats.
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Review: Duolabs Qbox HD
The Dreambox has sired a whole industry – the manufacture of enthusiast-grade set-top boxes powered by the Linux operating system. All of these receivers tend to be highly customisable, and there are plenty of firmwares to choose from.
One of the most popular is Enigma (now in its 'Mark 2' guise). Indeed, Enigma II is the firmware supplied as standard on the Qbox HD, a sophisticated hi-def receiver from a new player in the Linux set-top box game.
Duolabs, based in Italy, also sells a standard-def Qbox (the 'Qbox One'). Oddly, this more affordable unit can accommodate an internal hard drive for PVR use. The Qbox HD tested here can't – but can record to an external drive.
Appearance and connectivity
Aesthetically, the Qbox HD is quite unlike any receiver we've seen before. A series of red LEDs recessed into the base of the unit pulse on or off , making for quite a light show. Then there's the iPod-influenced 'SenseWheel', a touch-sensitive front-panel navigation device that does take some getting used to (luckily, it can be customised).
In contrast, the remote is something of a plain Jane. Its crowning glory, though, has to be the crystal-clear 2.5in colour LCD screen that sits to the left of the SenseWheel. This provides, among other things, menu-related information, scan progress, start-up screens and a clock. Beware, the displayed text can be tiny.
On the right side of the front panel are two card slots (some firmwares will emulate CAMs) and a CI slot that has been clumsily blanked off with a plastic bung – remove this to fit the CAM of your choice.
In connectivity terms, there's a lot going on – certainly on the rear panel (the front, sadly, lacks even a USB socket).
The Qbox makes provision for up to three tuners. DVB-C (cable, though not suitable for UK use), DVB-S/S2 (satellite) and DVB-T (terrestrial) varieties are available, and can be mixed and matched. As with some other Linux receivers, the tuners plug into proprietary slots mounted on the receiver's main circuit board – an easy enough job.
Our review sample was supplied with DVB-T and Sharp-made DVB-S/S2 tuners (both of which are equipped with loopthrough outputs).
A decent complement of video outputs are offered. In addition to RGB/composite Scart and composite phono are component and HDMI (up to 1080i). A second VCR Scart is also available.
Three USB ports (one reserved for a memory device containing the firmware) and an external SATA connector ready the Qbox for multimedia playback and PVR use – Ethernet opens up various possibilities including upgrades, streaming and remote control (not all of which are currently supported).
Up to three antennas can be installed if you want to add Wi-Fi. Finally, we have analogue phono and AC3-ready optical digital audio outputs (decoded audio or AC3 bit streams can also be carried via HDMI) and an RS232 port for legacy upgrade purposes.
Setup
A series of step-by-step wizards will painlessly guide you through the process of installing the receiver. They cover language, TV system, time zone, initial dish/DiSEqC configuration and searching for channels – all parameters that can be modified later on via the setup menus, of which there are many.
Among the main menu's nine choices is 'setup', which itself boasts no fewer than 10 options. Unless you're happy with what the wizard came up with, the first port of call (after aligning your dish using the Satfinder, perhaps) should be the 'service searching' item.
Select a satellite and transponder and you're treated to large bar graphs for signal-to-noise ratio, automatic gain control level and bit error rate. There's no audio bleeper but the feature can nevertheless be useful for basic alignment of a fixed dish, as well as periodic signal checks.
The 'service searching' menu's 'tuner configuration' option lists the available tuners (up to three). It's then a matter of selecting the one of interest. If you have a terrestrial tuner fitted you can select the local transmitter.
For satellite (DVB-S/S2) tuners, the options are naturally different; you can select the type of dish setup in use – single (fixed dish), simple tone burst switching (two-port), DiSEqC (four-port) and motorised (USALS/ DiSEqC 1.2 – with dish movement options).
The parameters beneath then change, depending on the mode selected, but in all cases you can select a 'target' satellite. A choice of two tuner configuration modes – simple and advanced – is offered. The advanced one gives you more control over various aspects.
What's annoying is that if you've only specified a single-satellite configuration (i.e. no DiSEqC) the machine goes through each of the other satellites in its database and asks whether you want to delete it or not.
Searches can be manual or automatic. You can specify which tuner is given scanning priority and whether any existing channel lists should be erased beforehand. Automatic scans won't discriminate, finding all TV and radio channels whether hi-def or standard-def, encrypted or free to air. In this mode multiple-satellite searches can be carried out, the dish moving automatically where necessary. It's a pity that manual searches don't permit PID entry; you can, however, tell the receiver you only want free channels.
Blind search is also missing. We hope such a feature will be added via the Enigma plug-in architecture. Unless you want to waste time searching your section of the Clarke Belt you're advised to use the manual 'single satellite' mode to search each one of interest individually.
Other setup menus look after the CI slots, network configuration, languages, the appearance and complexity of the 'skinnable' user-interface, customisation tweaks and AV matters. Other handy features are a test-pattern generator for adjusting your TV's contrast and brightness control and 'red star' button on the handset acting as a shortcut to one of nine functions.
Basic use
Unfortunately, the supplied manual had not been changed to reflect the fact that the Qbox HD comes with a different handset, although the onboard 'help' system makes reference to it using the latest firmwares. If you've used Enigma-based receivers in the past you'll soon get used to the receiver. If you're not, then expect a bit of a learning curve.
Although 'channel stepping' is permissible, the main channel-selection menu is more flexible. It presents you with a series of basic choices that are selected with the handset's coloured keys. 'All' displays a 'master list' of all available channels, while 'satellites' allows you to home in on a specific bird. The remaining two are 'provider' and favourites.
As with other Enigma-based firmwares, channels are organised into lists known as bouquets. It's easy to add and remove bouquets, courtesy of the favourites lists – into these can be placed individual channels or provider-specific groups of channels. It therefore follows that you can have as many favourites lists as you like, subject to available memory capacity.
You can only add and remove channels from these bouquets – the master list cannot be changed. Satellites can be deleted.
If the relevant EPG data is in the machine the name of the programme currently being broadcast by the channel is shown in the channel list. The EPG, which supports both now-and-next and seven-day schedules, is accessed by pressing the handset's 'info' button. It's a bland text list and not the 'magazine' format of traditional receivers.
One EPG mode focuses on one channel's schedule; another ('multi') allows you to see what your bouquets are offering in the current or a future timeslot, complete with progress bars. A 'zap' button jumps to the highlighted channel; the timer can also be programmed from the EPG and there's a manual timer too.
PVR and multimedia
Up to four standard-def (or two HD) recordings can be made simultaneously. When a recording is in progress you can view either this or an existing one. Timeshifting is also possible.
We used an external SATA drive for PVR use – despite assertions to the contrary in the manual, our USB ones wouldn't do (but they were recognised by the onboard media player). Storage is Linux formatted, which would make it difficult to directly transfer recordings to a Windows PC. Our advice is to transfer recordings across the network instead using the FTP client.
One of Enigma's advantages is its 'plug-in' architecture, which allows new features to be added. To this end a plug-ins browser/manager is one of the Qbox's main menu options. At the time of writing no plug-ins beyond the pre-installed ones were available. The latter include VLC's Video Player, a web interface and a picture player.
The onboard media player wouldn't list MP3 files stored on a USB device, let alone play them, but MP3 audio was recognised in the DivX HD player (though the receiver won't play HD file formats).
Typing the receiver's address into the browser presents you with the Qbox web interface. Channels can be remotely selected from here; you can also invoke recording, access EPG info and set timer events. This proved to be somewhat erratic, with pages not being displayed.
A WebTV function, presumably for streaming live TV from the box over a network, didn't work either.
Performance
After problems with an initial sample we tested the Qbox using the latest firmware (and bootloader) that proved stable and worked with the supplied handset. Like many Enigma-based receivers, the Qbox can take a long time to start up from cold; waking up from standby is much faster. Searching speeds can be slow.
Although a full search of the Astra 1x cluster was completed in just over five minutes, a Hot Bird scan took over 11 minutes. The user interface and menu system were responsive, channel changing taking about a second.
Sound quality and picture quality are both excellent, especially if HDMI is employed. Sensitivity is fair – the Sharp DVB-S/S2 tuner seems to doing a good job.
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Review: MSI H55-GD65
Simple souls that we are, when it comes to overclocking, we prefer instant gratification. With that in mind, the MSI H55-GD65 ought to be right up our alley.
The relevant feature here is the OC Genie auto-overclocking button. According to MSI it's a fully automatic, smart overclocking feature that detects the best possible settings. Simply flick the button and enjoy optimal overclocked performance. It even works with the system running, so there's no need to reboot it.
Some smarts
But that's just the beginning of the GD65's talents. It's a full-featured ATX board at a reasonable price and comes complete with a pair of x16 PCI-e ports for multi-graphics mayhem, though currently support is limited to AMD's CrossFire; SLI hasn't been licensed.
Sticking with the graphics theme, this board packs Intel's H55 chipset and that means it's ready to tango with the new Clarkdale fusion CPU and its on-chip graphics core. Thus, you'll find a trio of video-out options among the main bank of ports: namely VGA, DVI and HDMI.
Put it altogether with reasonable pricing and the work MSI says it's done to ensure clean power to the CPU and you have what looks like a pretty solid package. The reality, however, is a little underwhelming.
For starters, OC Genie thinks that all Core i5-750 chips should run at 3.2GHz. We say "appears", because we can't be sure that result is typical. But it's what's widely reported by users and it's exactly what we found. Not terrible, then, but not exactly 'smart'.
However, it's when you get your hands dirty with some manual base clock massaging that more serious shortcomings emerge.
Allowing the GD65 to set voltages, timings and the memory clock automatically, a base clock of 185MHz is the best you can expect. That's significantly down on the 200MHz achieved by the best on test.
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Opinion: By the time you've read 'spoiler warning' it's already too late
Spoiler warning – two of my least favourite words in the English language, not including phlogiston and topiary.
They remind me of those signs that soulless bureaucrats put up in their windows; the kind with 'Polite Notice' written on them in the hope that passers-by will be robotic enough to file the inevitable pettiness that follows into the desired brain receptacle.
In both cases, the qualifier is added for one reason alone: that deep down, the person knows that in a fair and just world, what they're writing would earn them a well-deserved slap in the kisser. Then they write it anyway.
The problem with a spoiler warning is that, almost by definition, it's an admission that you're in a place where readers shouldn't have to worry about them. If you actively hunt them out, of course, you'll get no sympathy from me. I don't care how exciting the show or game is, you make your click, you make your choice.
What annoys me to the point of absolute spitting fury is having an experience randomly ruined. Once, long ago, when dragons roamed the Earth and 56.6k modems had only just been invented, enjoying the latest shows, movies, games and novels the way their creators intended was as easy as avoiding forums for a while.
Or making it clear that any friends incapable of keeping their mouths shut would be having themselves a hot date with the business end of a blunt needle and length of black thread.
Speedy spoils
Now, however, there's always something exciting on the way, and avoiding unwanted info is next to impossible. The statute of limitations for spoilers seems to be roughly five picoseconds, especially for net-friendly shows like Lost.
With Twitter, events can be spoiled in real-time. Or faster, if The Pirate Bay's minions are on the ball. It doesn't take much, and usually the guilty party isn't even aware they're doing it.
They think that by writing 'Spoiler Warning' they're doing their duty, oblivious to the fact that the eye doesn't magically blank out everything except the currently focused word. Yes, the warning's there, but like finding the words 'Do not drink' at the bottom of what turns out to be a tall glass of cool urine on a hot summer day, you're still left with a foul taste in your mouth.
Staying in the dark
Personally speaking, when I'm looking forward to something, I like to go in knowing as little as possible. Something that sounds terrible in summary can work brilliantly when you have all the facts, and simply not knowing what to expect adds that all-important Christmas Eve excitement to getting your hands on something new.
True, sometimes I crack; sometimes the nature of my job makes it impossible to know as little as I want to about what's coming up over the next few months. But all things considered, ignorance is usually bliss.
This month, for instance, I dodged the spoiler gauntlet for both Mass Effect 2 and BioShock 2. The worlds, reveals, plot points, mechanics… all of them unfolded at the pace the creators intended. It wasn't easy, but holding out was worth the effort.
What's ironic is that it's rarely the good bits that get directly spoiled. If someone really loves a twist, chances are they'll hide it so everyone else has the same moment of realisation or discovery. True, you might find out that there's a That Bit in the game/show/movie, or that (to borrow an IT Crowd line) There's A Twist, but generally nothing specific, and nothing that ruins the experience.
It's when someone's disappointed that you tend to get the dismissive, back-handed 'Spoiler Warning: I was so cross when I found out it was Earth' level variety. These are spoilers in the purest sense – not just ruining the moment, but poisoning the whole experience.
Even if it turns out to be great, that old saying about only having one chance to make a first impression is every bit as true for media as people. And of course, with people, you don't have to spend up to £50 a shot to talk to them. Not most people, anyway.
Until we have a magic helmet capable of zapping very specific memories, or some form of trebuchet-based justice system for dealing with persistent spoiler offenders, there's really nothing that can be done about all this. If the occasional big release means becoming a temporary online hermit, so be it.
Still, I would politely urge that the next time you're about to wax lyrical, check you're in a spoiler-friendly place, and if not, don't say anything you wouldn't have wanted to read in advance yourself. The people you're talking to have a right to enjoy things at the same pace. They may also have knives. Just a thought.
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Review: Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H
At-a-glance Gigabyte has nailed it with the fab, affordable, full-featured H55M UD2H motherboard. It ticks all our boxes. It may be a compact MicroATX motherboard, for example, but it still packs a pair of 16-lane PCI Express graphics ports.
Thanks to the H55 chipset, it's also about as flexible as it gets for an Intel compatible motherboard. Drop in any LGA1156 CPU and you can be sure you're getting the most out of it. That includes Intel's new Clarkdale Core i3 and Core i5 'fusion' chips. You know, the little dual-core blighters with on-package graphics.
Gigabyte has gone one better than most H55 boards by providing not just HDMI, DVI and VGA video connectivity, but also a DisplayPort socket. You could argue, of course, that Clarkdale's graphics are so ghastly that any video-out functionality is moot. But being able to boot your PC without the graphics card installed is a handy debugging tool.
Likewise, support for Intel's integrated graphics could give this board a second life as the basis of a low-power media or home cinema PC once its front line duties are done.
Top clocks
Even more impressive is the sheer performance on offer. A 200MHz result in our base clock contest is good enough for equal first place. But thanks to deft handling of Intel's Turbo Mode feature, the H55M UD2H beats all comers with a maximum CPU frequency of 4.2GHz. That includes even Asus' weapons-grade Maximus III Extreme, a board that comes at a near-£200 premium.
And remember, that frequency is courtesy of stock voltages and a standard cooler. Corners cut Affordability usually comes at a cost and this bargainous board is no exception.
The most notable non-attendees are USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps. Odds are, 18 months from now their absence will be smartly felt. If future-proofing is a major priority, you'll need to look elsewhere.
It's also worth noting that Intel has surgically removed RAID support from the H55 chipset. Specific to this board, enthusiast-friendly frills, such as hardware power switches and coolers for the VRMs are likewise absent. We're not that keen on the close proximity of the RAM slots and primary graphics, either.
We feel obliged to chalk up a minor demerit regarding ease of overclocking. Keeping memory speeds in check when cranking up the CPU clock is essential for stability. The other boards here can be configured to do that job for you. Not so with the H55M UD2H. You'll have to manually set the memory divider to a suitable level.
Oh, and it turns out that the second PCI Express x16 port is only wired for four lanes. But don't let that give you the wrong idea. At this price and with this sort of table-topping performance, Gigabyte quite literally has a winner on its hands.
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Hands on: Toshiba Satellite C650, L650 and L670 review
Toshiba's refresh of its Satellite laptop range sees the company try and please everybody.
Using Intel's new Core i3 and i5 chips to full effect, Toshiba has added three new models to its laptop range – the Satellite L670, L650 and C650.
For those who are counting the pennies (and who isn't at the moment?), the C650 range is branded as 'the most affordable' option, with prices starting from £400.
The laptop isn't the nicest thing to look at. It's packing some bulk on the chassis and it doesn't have a gloss finish like it's more expensive stable mates, but Toshiba certainly haven't scrimped on what features it is offering.
These include the company's own software that's been designed to make your computer life that little bit easier including a Bulletin Board, which can also be found on the NB305 netbook range.
MATTE FINISH The C650 has been given a matte finish
Even though the 15-inch C650 is budget friendly, it includes a nice chunk of pre-installed software from Nero – for all your burning desires – and an iPlayer desktop icon for those who want to stream.
The whole thing is powered by a Core i3 chip and is running Windows 7 Home Premium.
Connectivity for the C650 leaves you a touch wanting. There's a card reader on board, Wi-Fi but only two USB 2.0 ports.
Interestingly, there is a numerical keypad on all the new Satellite ranges, something which had started disappear from most laptops.
GLOSS IT The glossy finish of the L650 and L670 does leave finger marks
If you fancy splashing out a bit, then the L650 and L670. Both models have the same specs appeal, but the L650 has a 15.6-inch screen and the L670 hosts a 17.3-inch screen. Both are LED backlit and impressive to look at.
Design-wise, they have a gloss-black chassis and are bulky looking beasts. They are being pitched as desktop replacements and it shows. You have more chance of Paris Hilton sitting easy in your lap than these devices.
PASS THE PORT Just two USB ports are on board the laptops
With the bulk come lots of features, including 500GB HDD storage space, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, integrated web cam with facial recognition and DVD drives. You can also opt to upgrade to Blu-ray.
Like the A660, there are a number of streaming options including DLNA compatibility and a pre-installed iPlayer app is also on board.
DVD Burning giants Nero also pop again with the company's software installed for all your burning needs.
MEDIA MAGNET Toshiba's Media Controller is on the laptop range
The Satellite L650, L670 and C650 have a UK release date of My, with official pricing to be announced.
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1 comment:
Nice post, Thanks for sharing it with us
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