Steam's user base is now 5% Mac
New figures suggest that 5 per cent of all users of Valve's Steam download to a Mac.
Steam's monthly hardware and software survey showed that in July Apple is starting to make an impact to the Steam user base, with the survey showing that a number of its downloaders are Mac based.
Steam for Macs was announced back in May so it is interesting to see two months on what the take-up has been like.
In the drop down for OS Versions used, it shows that MacOS 10.6.3 (64 bit) is used by 4.30 per cent of Steam users and MacOS 10.5.8 (64 bit) 0.77 per cent.
The results also showed that 46.78 per cent of those with a Mac are gaming with a MacBook Pro, while just 3.44 per cent are using a Mac Mini.
Steam punks
Obviously, the PC market is still the most dominant user of Steam, with Windows XP being the most popular version of Microsoft's OS used.
Windows 7 (64 bit) is starting to gain more traction, though, with the OS being used by a total of 29.77 per cent of PC users.
The Steam survey is an optional one, so it may not paint the truest picture of what machines (and their specs) are using Steam but it does offer some interesting insight into what the popularity of kit is that people are using.
And it also makes for a handy checklist to make sure you are up to scratch spec-wise with what the majority of Steam users have in their computers.
Go to http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey to check it out for yourself.
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Firefox for Android ready for download
Firefox for Android has moved up a gear, with the news that Fennec Alpha has been released for the platform by Mozilla.Also available for the N900, the new release adds in a number of new extras to the pre-Alpha build that appeared in April.
The main focus of the new release is to improve the performance of the build, with responsiveness to user actions the key area upgraded.
Fennec does this by separately running the browser interface from the rendering of web content, making user inputs easier to read while other, more CPU-heavy activities are tootling along in the background.
Spit, shine, done
Mozilla has also confirmed that the beta release of the software is coming soon, with areas like video, scrolling and zooming all set to be given a spot of spit and polish.
Of course, the main reason for using Firefox Mobile is the functionality it ports from the main browser: namely the use of the Awesome Bar, which not only remembers the websites you've visited on your desktop, but is highly accurate at taking you to the right site when you type in a search term.
Add-ons are also included in the Fennec Alpha build, meaning you can add in things like Twitter clients to your browser on your mobile.
Mozilla told TechRadar that it anticipated the full version of Firefox for Android would be available towards the end of this year, so we're hoping the development schedule goes according to plan.
Head on over to the Mozilla Blog to download the new build for your device (although remember it's an alpha release and therefore may not perform properly at all times) and you can also see a video of the release in action (although this must be in alpha mode too, as it's currently not working).
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In Depth: Best LCD monitors for both style and substance
Forget CPUs, GPUs, SSDs and RAM. The most important part of your PC is sitting right in front of you: the display. It's quite literally the window into the workings of your PC, and it has an enormous impact on your computing experience. Unfortunately, monitors are also among the trickiest components to pick. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of treating a flat panel much as you would any other upgrade, and just focus on a few key specifications.
For a processor, that approach works well: the combination of core count and clockspeed provides a good overall impression of performance. For a screen, replacing those metrics with size and resolution is a recipe for disappointment.
The most important issue to get to grips with is the pecking order of panel types. Broadly, there are three different LCD panel technologies, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Manufacturers are sometimes reluctant to reveal the panel technology their screens are based on, but if you know what to look for it's usually possible to identify the panel technology from the specs.
The most common of the three monitor types is Twisted Nematic, or TN for short. For the most part, TN panels dominate the market because they're dirt cheap to manufacture and hence to buy. However, the low cost comes with a number of drawbacks.
For starters, TN screens suffer from relatively poor contrast and viewing angles. Consequently, black tones may lack depth and colours can be inconsistent.
The limitations
Part of the problem is that the default position of the crystals in a TN panel allows light to pass through. Only when a voltage is applied do the crystals 'twist' into a position that blocks the backlight. However, because the crystals are fixed at one end, they can only bend or twist, rather than freely rotate. Consequently, they don't block light as effectively as other panel types.
Limited colour saturation and accuracy are further shortcomings of TN technology. In fact, the range of colours a TN panel can produce is restricted to six bits per channel. Put another way, that's 18 bits overall for a total of 262,144 colours.
Why, then, do nearly all current TN monitors claim to be capable of displaying 16 million or more colours? The answer is a technology known as dithering. In simple terms, this involves approximating an intermediate colour by rapidly jumping between two adjacent colours. Look closely at most TN panels and you can see the pixels fizzing away as they hop between colour states.
Still, the upside of dithering is that it provides a giveaway of TN tech in the specification list. For reasons related to the number of shades that are required per channel for 8-bit colour, TN panels with dithering fall slightly short of the total colours offered by genuine 8-bit panels.
Where the latter deliver 16.7 million colours, TN screens are typically limited to 16.2 million. That's a handy little factoid in your hunt for the perfect panel. Put it all together and a typical TN display often has a watery, washed out appearance compared to alternative technologies.
It's not all bad news, though: twisted nematic crystals are the fastest responding of any panel type, making TN screens the weapon of choice for gaming enthusiasts. Fast response is also an advantage for video playback.
However, shortcomings in areas like contrast prevent TN screens from being suitable for home cinema.
Next up is In-Plane Switching, or IPS, technology. At the opposite end of the scale to TN screens in everything from price to colour accuracy, IPS is a favourite of graphics professionals the world over.
DELL ULTRASHARP U2711: This IPS screen is accurate and very pleasing to the eye
Where other panel types usually have a single controller transistor per subpixel, IPS panels pack a pair and therefore deliver the best control and colour accuracy. There is, however, a snag. The added complexity not only increases cost, it also blocks more light and reduces overall colour saturation.
Read ourDell Ultrasharp U2711 review
Another strength of IPS technology is its extremely wide and consistent viewing angles. Unlike TN crystals which twist at one end, the liquid crystals in an IPS panel rotate about their axis. They therefore present a more consistent face to the viewer at varying angles and allow a near-constant quantity of light to pass through each of the red, green and blue subpixels, regardless of the angle of view. Put another way, the colours don't go wonky when viewed from off-centre.
There is, however, a downside to the greater range of movement of IPS: the pixels take longer to respond when moving between extremes of colour. The longer that process takes, the blurrier a panel looks when rendering moving images.
The last of our trio of panel technologies is VA, or vertical alignment. There are actually two types of VA panels: PVA (patterned vertical alignment), and MVA (multidomain vertical alignment).
PVA is more common, but both share the same basic characteristics and give similar image quality. For the most part, VA panels fall halfway between TN and IPS technology. In terms of cost, colour accuracy and pixel response, VA panels split the difference.
However, VA screens also have a number of distinct characteristics that set them apart. Most notably, the default position of the liquid crystals in a VA pixel blocks light from passing through. This results in the deepest, inkiest blacks of any panel type and the best static contrast ratios.
Colour saturation is another plus point for VA screens, even if outright colour accuracy is usually lagging behind the best IPS screens. What's more, VA panels are true 8-bit per colour channel. Overall, VA panels give the most vibrant, eye-catching image quality of any LCD technology.
The richness and depth of a good VA monitor really is spectacular. For that reason, many high-end HDTVs use PVA LCD panels.
If VA technology does have a weakness, however, it's pixel response. In an attempt to reduce response times, many VA monitors have a technology known as pixel overdrive. While it can be effective for speeding up pixel response, it creates problems all of its own, including input lag and inverse ghosting (there's some more information on this below).
Any screen with a static, rather than dynamic, contrast rating above 1,000:1 is likely to be based on a PVA panel. Likewise, claimed viewing angles of 178 degrees or more indicate IPS and PVA technology. TN LCDs tend to dip into the 160s in the vertical plane.
As for pixel response, anything with a very low single-digit rating in terms of milliseconds is almost definitely a TN screen.
Price is another good indicator of panel type. Any 20 or 22in screen on sale for £200 or less is bound to be TN. The same goes for 23in and 24in screens below £350.
Is size important?
Armed with a good knowledge of panel technologies, the next step is to choose size and resolution. Firstly, it's worth noting that the increasing adoption of the full-HD 1080p resolution means you won't necessarily get more desktop space from a larger panel.
STAND AND DELIVER: Different monitor stands can make a big difference to your viewing pleasure
Currently, the majority of affordable monitors sized between 22 and 28 inches sport precisely the same 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution. One of the few exceptions is Dell's new U2711 with its 2,560 x 1,440 pixel grid. So, while larger screens are superficially more dramatic, they often don't actually display any more data.
What's more, as screen sizes increase while maintaining the same native resolution, the pixel pitch, or pixel size, also balloons. In other words, smaller screens are sharper and clearer, especially when viewed at close quarters.
That said, the 1080p resolution (and the HDTV-aping 16:9 aspect ratio that comes with it) isn't the only option available. A few 22in and larger displays are still available in the slightly taller 16:10 widescreen aspect. The benefit here is increased vertical resolution.
Larger 23in and 24in 16:10 panels, for instance, usually pack 1,200 pixels in the vertical plane, allowing you to view more of a web page or document without scrolling. Although monitor makers sound off about the multimedia advantages of the wider 1080p standard, the real reason they favour it concerns their manufacturing margins. The wider 16:9 aspect makes for slightly less overall screen area for a given screen diagonal, and therefore cheaper panels. In our view, a 16:10 screen remains preferable for PC usage.
Once you've decided on panel type, screen size and resolution, the next LCD-related issue worthy of your attention is digital image quality enhancement technology. In recent years, the capabilities claimed by manufacturers for their monitors have become increasingly spectacular. It's not unheard of, for instance, to see advertised contrast ratios as high as 100,000:1. But all is not quite as it seems.
A good ratio
Any ratio that measures in the tens of thousands to one (or more) will be achieved courtesy of dynamic contrast. The theory here is simple enough: video and games are typically composed of scenes that vary in terms of light intensity. Rapid changes from bright daytime vistas to nightscapes are standard fare.
However, the backlight strength of a conventional LCD monitor remains constant, and it's the changing orientation of the liquid crystals per pixel that modulates the amount of light the screen emits. But what if you could vary the backlight intensity, and therefore enable darker blacks to be rendered without compromising on vibrancy and brightness in brighter scenes?
That's exactly what dynamic contrast technology attempts by analysing the image data as it reaches the monitor and then adjusting the backlight according to the brightness of the scene being displayed. It's certainly a plausible idea in theory.
In practice, however, the results tend to be rather unsatisfying. Often, the backlight is too slow to respond. When it finally does, it tends to overreact, typically obscuring the finer details in darker scenes.
The next term you are likely to come across while perusing the monitors on offer to you is digital colour enhancement. Here, image data received by the monitor is digitally processed with a view to either compensating for the limited colour space of the panel itself or generally jazzing up the visuals. Just like dynamic contrast technology, we've yet to see an implementation of this technology that unambiguously improves overall image quality.
The final major enhancement technology is the pixel overdrive we mentioned earlier. The idea behind overdrive is to reduce response times – the time it takes pixels to change colour. Altering the colour of any pixel requires a change in the voltage applied.
By either increasing or reducing the voltage more aggressively than is required for the target colour state, pixels are accelerated towards the new colour state more rapidly. However, before the pixel can overshoot the target colour, the voltage is normalised.
Pixel overdriven?
Well, that's the theory, at least. Overdriven panels are definitely sharper when displaying movement. However, close inspection reveals something slightly rotten, too.
The first problem is usually referred to as 'inverse ghosting'. It's caused by excessive overdrive leading to pixels overshooting the required colour state and usually manifests as a trail or shadow in the wake of a moving object, approximately in the opposite colour to that object, hence the term 'inverse'. It's quite distinct from the blurriness and smearing seen on monitors with poor pixel response.
VIEWSONIC VX2739WM: The quickest LCD monitor around
Inverse ghosting can effect both TN and PVA panels with overdrive technology. However, the other major problem with overdrive technology – input lag – seems to be restricted to PVA screens. The issue here is a measurable delay between the video signal being sent to the monitor and the screen responding with a refreshed image.
Read ourViewsonic VX2739WM review
Typically, this is noticed as a lag between a physical mouse input and the movement of the cursor or application window on the screen. Of course, processing a digital signal results in at least some lag on all LCD monitors compared to the instantaneous output of an analogue CRT monitor.
Using a CRT monitor in cloned mode as a control device, LCD screens are usually found to lag behind by 10 to 20 milliseconds. With some overdriven screens, this increases to 50 milliseconds or more. The result is a sticky, disconnected feel on the desktop. For games enthusiasts, it can make first-person shooters in particular almost unplayable.
If that's a general guide to the state of play in LCD technology today, what does the future hold? Two new technologies which are grabbing the headlines of late are LED backlights and stereoscopic 3D displays.
As for stereoscopic 3D, the hype suggests that it's set to take over everything from your local cinema screen to HDTVs and the PC.
3D panels
There are various implementations of 3D technology, but all work by presenting a different image to each eye with the aim of generating the illusion of visual depth. Usually, the use of a pair of polarised glasses is required.
Currently, the most mature stereoscopic platform on the PC is Nvidia's 3D Vision. It's composed of a pair of active shutter glasses controlled by an IR emitter and requires both an Nvidia graphics card and a display with support for 120Hz video input.
For now, we remain dubious about the potential for 3D on the PC beyond games. That said, there is an unexpected benefit of the 120Hz refresh rate required for shutter-glass-driven stereoscopic 3D technology. The increased refresh rate has a noticeable impact on image quality, even when you're not in 3D mode.
There's no denying the added smoothness and clarity of 120Hz compared to the more usual 60Hz refresh of standard LCD monitors. It's also no surprise to find games are slicker and feel more responsive, but even if you are just shunting windows around the desktop it feels smoother.
When LCD monitors first arrived and brought with them the fixed 60Hz refresh rate, CRT fans complained about the demise of higher refresh rates and were dismissed as Luddites. Now it seems that they might have had a point after all.
SAMSUNG LD220Z: This touchscreen is excellent as a second monitor for a laptop
Finally, the widespread adoption of touchscreens is another possible trend for the future. While touch interfaces for mobile devices have improved immeasurably in recent years, we've yet to see a really convincing touchscreen PC for the desktop.
Read our Hands on: Samsung LD220Z review
For the most part, that's due to a lack of quality interfaces and suitable applications rather than any problem with the hardware. However, we also have doubts that the very concept of touch on a desktop PC actually makes sense, and that's an opinion our experience of Samsung's new SyncMaster LD220Z has done nothing to change.
In the context of the traditional desktop PC, it's hard to see what touch does better than a conventional keyboard and mouse.
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Chris Ryan to pen 'Medal of Honor' book
As if being described as 'un-British' by the defence secretary wasn't enough, EA's Medal of Honor has scored another PR win with the news that The One That Got Away author Chris Ryan is penning a MOH prequel. Ryan is of course responsible for some of the bestselling men with guns thrillers around, and another of his books – Strike Back – was recently screened on Sky.
But not content with television, film and books, the former SAS man is now penning a prequel book for EA's Medal of Honor series.
Please don't hurt us
Now we don't want to anger a man who could kill us with the top off of his biro, but we can't help but wonder if he'll be sticking the 'u' back in 'Honor'.
"It is a real privilege to be involved in a game with such a heritage as Medal of Honor," said Ryan.
"Combining my experience as an SAS soldier in the Gulf War with missions from the videogame itself enabled me to create an authentic and respectful account of an elite soldier fighting in Afghanistan for Medal of Honor: The Book.
"Bringing together the disciplines of literature and videogames has been a new but compelling experience for me as a writer, resulting in what is hopefully an engaging read for fans of videogames and novels alike."
It's not been long since it emerged that Richard Morgan had penned the story for Crysis 2, and it's becoming increasingly apparent that gaming is a world that writers are keen to get involved with.
But rumours of JK Rowling's post-Harry Potter project being to write a (Hog)warts and all expose on Donkey Kong are probably wide of the mark.
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Google 'significantly enhances' realtime search
Google has launched a dedicated page for its realtime search, with the internet giants indicating the 'significant enhancements' they have brought to the feeds of content. Google's realtime search – which arrived at the end of last year – is one of the most significant changes the company has made to its search - recognising the growing importance of the likes of Twitter feeds.
Now you can look at just the realtime data at www.google.com/realtime.
"Today we're making our most significant enhancements to date, giving real-time information its own home and more powerful tools to help you find what you need," blogged Google's Dylan Casey.
"On the new homepage you'll find some great tools to help you refine and understand your results.
"First, you can use geographic refinements to find updates and news near you, or in a region you specify."
Conversations vew
"In addition, we've added a conversations view, making it easy to follow a discussion on the real-time web," he continued
"Often a single tweet sparks a larger conversation of re-tweets and other replies, but to put it together you have to click through a bunch of links and figure it out yourself.
"With the new 'full conversation' feature, you can browse the entire conversation in a single glance. We organise the tweets from oldest to newest and indent so you quickly see how the conversation developed.
"Finally, we've also added updates content to Google Alerts, making it easy to stay informed about a topic of your choosing."
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In Depth: Upgrade Windows 7: the unofficial Service Pack
Windows 7 is a great operating system, but it's not yet fantastic. Like us, you'll probably have come up against some of its most irritating shortcomings in the time since you installed it on your PC. Icons are missing, utilities have been dropped and functionality has been reduced in some areas. Certain tools are still as hopeless as they were in Vista, and other long-term Windows issues also remain, including inadequate security features and application-related slowdown.
If you were hoping that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 would solve all these problems, you should prepare to be disappointed. Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc told the world in March that:
"Service Pack 1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update."
That's really not good enough. We think Windows 7 needs many tweaks before it reaches the standard that we expect of it. As it doesn't look like Microsoft is going to provide them, we've set out to fill the gap and built our own unofficial service pack, which is absolutely packed with new features and essential upgrades.
We've included tools to plug long-standing security gaps, apps to boost productivity and utilities to keep your PC running at its peak performance. The PC Plus Service Pack will refresh the interface, simplify networking, add new entertainment options and fix many well-known Windows 7 annoyances.
So why wait for Microsoft? We've got all the service pack functionality that you need right here.
Windows 7 looks great, and its interface is a major step forward in many ways. There's no confusing mass of tiny buttons on the taskbar – just a single icon per app.
Hover the mouse cursor over the Firefox icon and thumbnails will appear for every Firefox window that you have open. Hover the mouse over a particular thumbnail and that window will be highlighted. You can then click it to switch to that app. It's an easy way to locate the window you need, no matter how cluttered your desktop.
Jumplists are another timesaver. Right-click the Windows Media Player icon and you can choose to replay a recent video. Notepad's jumplist similarly displays the last file you saved, while IE's includes your recent browsing history.
Then there's Aero Shake (shake a window by its title bar to minimise all other windows, or bring them back) and Aero Snap (drag and drop to align windows to the left or right half of your screen) as well as some appealing Windows themes and gorgeous backgrounds, along with better ways to use them (like the ability to have the desktop slowly cycle through your favourite images).
Let's be frank, though. There are problems, too. Explorer has never been the best of file managers, and in many ways the Windows 7 version has got worse. It no longer remembers folder sizes and positions, so you have to keep relocating windows manually. The status bar no longer shows the size of the files you've selected, or the free disk space.
There are other strange omissions. If you found it useful that the network icon flashed to indicate traffic, for instance, then you're out of luck – it's gone. Some of the new features aren't that useful, either. Jumplists only work with apps that support them, which right now isn't many. And pinning applications to the taskbar sounds good, but space quickly runs out.
Configuration options are notable by their absence. The Aero Peek taskbar thumbnails are a little small, for example, but Microsoft provides no obvious way to change their size.
For the answer to this and many other Windows 7 interface issues, you'll need to turn to a more capable source: the PC Plus Service Pack.
Desktop tweaks
Windows 7 has some great and exciting new wallpaper images, but there aren't enough of them. If you haven't found one that really takes your fancy – or if you prefer to have several on rotation – then you should try Microsoft's Bing's Best packs.
These include spectacular Bing photos, custom sounds and other items that you can use to customise your desktop.
The Windows 7 screensavers are disappointing – they're just a subset of those bundled with Vista last time round. So we think you should add a little variety with SE-Screensavers. There's a configurable Matrix-style screensaver, an animated kaleidoscope, a spectacular 3D slideshow and several others all designed to give your vacant screen a little bit of oomph.
Jumplist Extender
Jumplists normally only work if a program supports them – but Jumplist Extender changes the rules. In just a few clicks you can create custom jumplists for any application. These can launch a program with a command-line switch or automatically perform any of its commands. Built-in AutoHotKey scripting lets you automate more complex tasks. If that's too complicated, import someone else's extensions and use those.
ShellFolderFix
No one knows why, but Windows 7 saw Explorer lose its option to remember the position and size of particular Explorer folder windows. Now you must rearrange them manually – unless you install the simple tool ShellFolderFix.
Install the program, configure it with the settings you need – the number of folders it must be able to remember, for instance – and then it just works. (And unlike Vista, it doesn't forget your settings.)
Classic Shell
Are you missing old Explorer and Start menu features? Classic Shell is a collection of tools to bring them back. There's a fully customisable clone of the old Start menu (it doesn't completely replace the Windows 7 menu so you can use both), an Explorer toolbar adds useful shortcut buttons and it makes the status bar show the free space and size of your selected files, just as it used to do. There are many other tweaks, too.
7plus
7plus delivers a host of productivity-boosting interface tweaks to Windows 7. You're able to add favourite folder buttons to Explorer toolbars, for instance – just click one to jump there. Mouse shortcuts include right-clicking a window title bar to set it as 'always on top', or middle-clicking to close a window. There are also keyboard shortcuts to create folders, upload files to FTP sites, paste previous clipboard entries and more.
Network Activity Indicator
Windows 7 saw the unfortunate end of the useful network activity indicator, the icon that would flash to indicate incoming or outgoing network packets. But don't worry – this tiny program brings it back, better than ever before. Right-click the icon and you'll find you can now configure everything from the icon blink rate to the network interface and even the packet type (TCP, UDP or ICMP) that will make it flash.
Jumplist Launcher
Pinning shortcuts to the taskbar sounds like a good idea, but you will run out of space very quickly. Jumplist Launcher amalgamates shortcuts for many diff erent applications and tasks – up to 60, in fact – into a single, well organised jumplist. To reduce clutter, add lesser-used shortcuts here (and your desktop shortcuts, maybe) and leave the rest of the taskbar for more important applications.
AutoSizer
Windows often forgets the size of a window you'd like to use for an application, but AutoSizer will quickly rectify this problem. Leave it running in the background and it'll keep particular windows at a specific size, or keep them maximised (perfect if you're tired of forever maximising new IE windows yourself). It can even maximise apps to the display you specify on a multi-monitor system.
Windows 7 was supposed to greatly simplify networking with its HomeGroups, which Microsoft claimed would take the headache out of sharing files and printers. In reality the technology can fail for a number of reasons, and setting up your own HomeGroups can be a frustrating experience.
We don't have a direct fix for this – the issues are just too fundamental – but if some of your HomeGroup PCs can't communicate then we may be able to point you in the right direction.
The technology requires that network discovery is enabled. To check this, go to the Control Panel, click 'Network and Internet | Network and Sharing Centre' and choose 'Change Advanced Sharing Settings'. Strangely, your PC clocks should be synchronised.
Right-click the system tray clock, click 'Adjust Date/Time | Internet Time | Change Settings' and make sure that both systems are set up to synchronise clocks manually. IPv6 must be enabled on all your systems. Enter ncpa.cpl at the Start menu, right-click the Network Connection icon and click 'Properties' to make sure it's turned on. IPv6 must also be supported on your router if you have one, and allowed by your security software.
If you've disabled certain services then HomeGroups will also fail. Enter services.msc at the Start menu and make sure the 'Function Discovery Provider Host' and 'Function Discovery Resource Publication' services are both started.
Most fundamentally, HomeGroups are in theory only for other Windows 7 PCs. With a little work, though, it is possible to give XP and Vista systems some access to shared HomeGroup content.
Greg Shultz has written an informative blog post to explain the basics.
Bandwidth control
Windows 7 does provide a sprinkling of other network features beyond HomeGroups, but they don't solve the day-to-day problems that many users face. That's where our Service Pack could make a real difference.
Windows 7 now provides a list of local networks that makes it easier to locate and log in to the one you need. But if you need to change other settings – IP addresses, gateways or DNS servers – then you'll have to manually tweak them every time you log in. You should let our service pack do this for you in a couple of clicks.
The Performance Monitor has had a visual overhaul, but it's still too complicated to use as a bandwidth monitor. We've provided something that's both more capable and easier to understand. And if you're running multiple internet applications, then Windows 7 still has no way to control how that bandwidth gets allocated. Our Service Pack does, though, and it's the perfect way to bring order to a busy PC packed with internet tools.
NetBalancer
Windows 7 provides little in the way of internet traffic management, so a single resource-hungry application can easily hog all your bandwidth. There's an easy way to regain control – install NetBalancer.
This app lets you assign download and upload priorities to particular applications, so if you set your browser to 'High' then it will always get a better share of the available bandwidth, regardless of what else is running.
NetSetMan
Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate select the correct default printer for each network you use, but your other settings still have to be filled in manually. NetSetMan creates up to six profiles with all your network settings, including default printer, PC name workgroup, network drive mappings and more.
When you connect to a network, choose the right profile and NetSetMan will adjust all your settings immediately.
NetWorx
The Windows 7 Performance Monitor can monitor your bandwidth, but it's a complex utility. NetWorx is easier to use and delivers more information. It's able to monitor the speed of any network connection, display real-time graphs of bandwidth use, produce daily, weekly and monthly totals and export your data to Excel or other apps for further analysis. It even includes network-testing tools like netstat and traceroute.
Keeping your PC running at its peak performance has always been hard work. This isn't entirely Microsoft's fault: much of the problem lies in the way that third-party applications mistreat your system. Still, it's important that the operating system provides robust tools to maintain and repair your computer in order to keep it running as fast as possible.
Windows 7 does make one notable step forward in this area with the introduction of its Troubleshooting platform. Click 'Control Panel | System and Security | Troubleshoot Common Computer Problems' and you'll find a few built-in tools to help resolve issues with Windows Update or get audio playback working again. They're all simple wizards and can be used by anyone to detect and clear up many common PC problems.
Elsewhere, though, Windows 7 offers very little extra in the way of new maintenance functionality. The backup tool is now slightly better, there are some defrag tweaks (though the utility still won't optimise your file layout) and System Restore is a little more configurable. But apart from this, maintaining a Windows 7 PC will take just as much effort as it did on Vista or XP.
Safety first
Microsoft would argue that its first priority has to be user safety. The company is never going to give Windows an aggressive disk cleaner, for instance, because of the risk that it will delete an important file. And Registry cleaning is even more risky, while offering few practical benefits.
There is some truth in this idea. We've come across several disk cleaners that delete files based on extension alone. That's a risky business, and those utilities do occasionally delete important files.
There are safer improvements that can be made, though. If applications are uninstalled properly then much Registry and hard drive clutter will disappear. The PC Plus Service Pack features an uninstaller to do just that.
Buggy drivers remain a major cause of crashes and system instabilities. Windows 7 does a better job of locating new drivers for you, but it's still not good enough. We've included a tool that will identify any driver updates that you might have available.
Our third addition is a defrag tool that not only defragments files and consolidates free space, but also reorganises your files so that the most commonly used are placed in the fastest part of your hard drive. This often delivers a very significant performance boost.
Windows 7 does little to help optimise your services, so if you're a knowledgeable PC user, SMART may be interesting. The app automates the process of disabling unwanted services by allowing you to choose one of three profiles for your PC. Beware, though – disabling a service can have unexpected side effects, so test any new configuration thoroughly before you accept it.
IObit Uninstaller
Windows 7 does nothing to manage application clutter, and poorly programmed uninstallers can leave your hard drive still packed with junk files. Fortunately IObit Uninstaller can quickly clean up. After removing an unwanted app, the program's 'Powerful' scan checks your PC for leftover files and Registry entries. These are displayed, and if they're surplus to requirements then you can delete them all with a single click.
Puran Defrag Free Edition
Windows' own defrag tool has never done a good job of optimising your hard drive, and the latest version is no exception. Puran Defrag Free Edition moves frequently used files to the fastest part of your hard drive. You can defragment files or folders by selecting the 'Puran' option from their right-click context menu. A scheduler lets you run full defrags at a specific time, when the PC is idle or when the screensaver starts.
DriverEasy
Windows 7 is better than Vista at locating drivers for your hardware, but once they're installed, you'll rarely hear of any possible upgrades. DriverEasy will quickly detect all your devices, installed drivers and their version numbers, then look for and alert you to any drivers that have updates available. It's all very straightforward, and unlike most of the competition, DriverEasy is free for personal use.
Security was one of Windows Vista's rare success stories (relatively speaking), with the OS adding a host of useful features. So it's no surprise that Microsoft took a more relaxed approach with Windows 7, fine-tuning existing security options rather than adding new ones.
User Account Control has been tweaked so that it presents fewer pop-ups, and parental controls are a little more effective. IE8 also adds its own small improvements, with the SmartScreen filter doing a better job of blocking dubious downloads than IE7, for example.
What you still won't get, though is adequate antivirus protection. You can get online with a new PC right away, but you won't be safe. That's unacceptable. Other irritations include the dropping of Windows Defender Software Explorer, which makes it more difficult to monitor and control your start-up programs. We've addressed these problems.
Windows 7 also sees encryption restricted to high-end editions. Everyone can benefit from quality encryption software, so we've included the powerful tool AxCrypt in the PC Plus Service Pack.
Avira AntiVir
The web is a dangerous place, and Windows Defender can't keep you safe. AntiVir is an excellent antivirus engine that is rated very highly by independent testers such as Anti-Virus Comparative. It's fast, accurate and generally raises few false alarms, so for the most part you can simply install the program and leave it to keep malware locked firmly out of your PC.
AxCrypt
If you don't have Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise, you'll appreciate our inclusion of AxCrypt. To encrypt a file, right-click it, choose the AxCrypt menu, select the appropriate Encrypt option and enter your passphrase. And that's it – snoopers can no longer view the file. You can still access it easily, though. Double-click the file and enter your password to open it. It will automatically be re-encrypted after modification.
Autoruns
Windows 7's version of Windows Defender doesn't include Software Explorer, which displayed exactly which programs would launch at startup. We're replacing it with the excellent Autoruns. Not only does this display regular start-up programs, it also lists your shell extensions, IE add-ons, scheduled tasks, drivers, Windows services and more, making the app an excellent security and boot optimisation tool.
Media Center provides an easy way to view and manage your media files. The new media streaming capabilities help you to share music, video and photos across your network, and there are some great new games. But despite this, there's plenty of room for improvement.
Windows Media Player can't by default play all the file types you need, so we're enhancing it with the Windows 7 Codec Pack: it can handle formats such as MKV, DivX, FLV and more. We've also included the Lagarith codec, which uses a lossless algorithm to compress video files. It's perfect if you're editing videos, as you can work on and save clips multiple times with no loss of quality (and without gobbling up the gigabytes of hard drive space you would need to save uncompressed video).
Of course ideally you'd avoid Windows Media Player where possible, as it's slow to launch and uses more than its fair share of your system resources. That's why we've included the media player VLC in the PC Plus Service Pack. It plays considerably more file types and is packed with bonus features, yet remains a fast and lightweight tool.
If you still play classic old DOS games then you'll know that it's more difficult than ever to get them working on modern PCs. DOSBox can often help by emulating DOS and all the ancient hardware these games might need: 80286/386 CPUs, archaic screen resolutions like Hercules or VGA, SoundBlaster soundcards and more.
And while Windows 7's new games are great, we still miss Internet Reversi. Unofficial Service Pack brings it back in the shape of Magic Reversi, which lets you play challenging games against the computer, a local player or even a remote player over the internet.
The default Windows installation has never been a good place to get any work done, and Windows 7 does little to change that. A few core applets such as Paint and Wordpad have received a facelift, but this doesn't disguise the lack of functionality underneath. Windows Live applications are better, but these aren't Windows 7 tools – you can install them just as easily on an XP system.
Explorer remains the real obstacle, slowing down your day-today work in many different ways. It can't view essential file formats like PDF; it can't rename a folder full of files other than, tediously, one at a time; it's poor at vital tasks like synchronising folders; and even its search option requires intrusive indexing and still isn't that quick.
That's why we've focused on it in the PC Plus Service Pack, including tools designed to bypass the problems and speed up a host of tasks.
Foxit Reader 4.1
It's one of the most common formats for exchanging documents online, yet a fresh Windows 7 installation still can't view PDF files. We've fixed that here by including a copy of compact PDF viewer Foxit Reader 3. It's packed with extras, allowing you to add graphics and notes to a PDF file as well as highlight text. The new Secure Trust Manager adds extra protection to keep you safe from malicious content.
Bulk Rename Utility
Windows 7's Explorer is useless if you want to quickly rename a group of files as one. Bulk Rename Utility more than fills the gap, though mastering it could take a while. It can add, replace or insert text, add numbers and change cases or file extensions. Metadata support means you're able to rename photos using EXIF data and MP3 files with ID3 tags. You can even change file creation and modification times.
Everything
The Windows 7 search indexer causes excessive disk thrashing, so the PC Plus Service Pack contains powerful alternative Everything. This app works by reading the central list of files on every NTFS drive, so regular indexing isn't required and resource use is kept to a minimum. You can't search the contents of files, but it locates file and folder names incredibly quickly. Just type it in and matches will appear almost instantly.
Paint.NET
Windows 7's Paint is still inadequate for all but the most basic of image-editing tasks. Paint.NET is a much better choice. It includes drawing and paint tools, lets you make easy adjustments to colours, brightness and contrast, and contains many useful special effects. Selection tools and layer support ensure you're working on only the areas you need, and the tabbed interface makes it easy to work on several images at once.
FileMenuTools
customises the right-click Explorer menu with an array of useful options. You're able to synchronise selected folders, delete locked files, run files with command-line switches, copy the content of a selected file to the clipboard, change a file's creation or last access time, register or unregister DLLs and securely wipe a file so it can't be undeleted – among many other options. Phew!
LinkedNotes
Like Notepad, LinkedNotes provides a simple way to take text notes. Unlike Notepad, it makes it very easy to organise them. You can create new pages and subpages, there's support for rich text formatting, web links you enter are automatically made clickable and the program creates links from one page to another whenever you enter a page name. It's like building your own personal Wikipedia.
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YouTube bolsters free on-demand movie service
YouTube has announced improvements to its free on-demand movie service, after signing deals with a number of major distributors.YouTube has tapped up the likes of Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM and will be showing classic content through the site.
Although YouTube has been offering free movies for some time, the titles available have ranged from the obscure to the bizarre.
The new deal will mean that more recognisable movies like The Buena Vista Social Club will be made available.
However, a quick look shows that most of the movies available are still obscure and bizarre. Anyone for Batchelor Party In The Bungalow Of The Damned?
Free films
"This is one of many efforts to ensure that people can find all the different kinds of video they want to see, from bedroom vlogs and citizen journalism reports to full-length films and TV shows," explained YouTube head of video partnerships, Donagh O'Malley.
"We hope film lovers enjoy the range of titles in this free library, whether catching up on a mainstream hit or delving into the vast archive of classic films from decades past."
YouTube has also announced a deal with Blinkbox, which will offer more than 150 movies of its archive for playback on the site.
This is the latest in a long line of link-ups the site has been doing, but the first for movies.
So far YouTube has been heavily investing in its TV output, signing deals with Channel 4 and Five.
Hopefully getting BlinkBox on board will be the start of something special for www.youtube.com/movies.
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Exclusive: Google's 20 per cent concept still alive and well
Google's much admired 20 per cent time - where engineers are allowed to spend a portion of their time on their own projects instead of their day jobs - has not been eroded by the company's explosive growth.Product manager Aparna Chennapragada, who is moving from Google Labs to work on video search at the company, insisted that the concept of engineers taking on their own side-projects for a fifth of their working week has not diminished.
"The culture is still pervasive although the company has grown along with the range of people," she told TechRadar
"But it's very much present and the 20 per cent task gives people a chance to take a break from their day jobs."
Android gesture search
Although many of the projects gather big teams, like Google Goggles for instance, some or the projects arrive on Google Labs and even as final products due to a single person.
"The gesture search mobile app for Android took under two months to become a final product," explained Chennapragada.
"A single researcher had this idea of gesture recognition and he obviously had a background in human computer interaction.
"So he converted those ideas into a prototype in 20 per cent time then he contacted the Labs team and it took just two months to launch."
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Valve: Only we could make a Half Life movie
Gaming giant Valve has told PC Gamer that the only way a Half Life movie will get made is if the company makes it themselves. The adventures of the taciturn MIT grad Gordon Freeman are widely considered to be among the greatest games of all time, with the original also playing a large part in spawning famed multiplayer game Counter-Strike and redefining the first person shooter.
But developers Valve have so far resisted the calls from Hollywood, and according Gabe Newell their sensational Team Fortress 2 shorts are an illustration of them considering if they could make the film themselves.
"As a WoW player, I would much rather that the WoW team made the movie...than anybody else," Newell told PC Gamer.
"I like Sam Raimi, I've been a fan ever since Evil Dead came out, but I would rather see Blizzard making the movie.
"Where we got into this direction was after Half Life 1 had shipped. There was a whole bunch of meetings with people from Hollywood.
"Directors down there wanted to make a Half-Life movie and stuff, so they'd bring in a writer or some talent agency would bring in writers, and they would pitch us on their story.
Brutally, the worse
"And their stories were just so bad. I mean, brutally, the worst. Not understanding what made the game a good game, or what made the property an interesting thing for people to be a fan of," he added.
"That's when we started saying 'Wow, the best thing we could ever do is to just not do this as a movie, or we'd have to make it ourselves.'
"And I was like, 'Make it ourselves? Well that's impossible.' But the Team Fortress 2 thing, the Meet The Team shorts, is us trying to explore that."
If you haven't watched the brilliant Team Fortress Meet The Team shorts then clear half an hour in your schedule and watch them now at http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.htm
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3D Android tablet - no glasses needed
If you've used the iPad before but wept at the sheer lack of perceived depth on offer, then IFA could hold the answer for you.Not as a tablet you'll be able to buy soon (boo) but engineering firm Rockchip will be showing off its lenticular tablet technology that could make a boring tablet 3D-enabled without glasses (yay!).
The tech would also allow you to watch movies in 2D as well, at the flick of a switch, making it a dual purpose device.
Magic monkeys
It's currently at the engineering stage at the moment, but Rockchip is apparently looking to create its own Android tablet to bring to market - presumably to then be re-badged by a larger manufacturer.
While autostereoscopic technology offers an inferior performance to the stereoscopic elements used in today's 3D TV, the ability to not wear 3D glasses on the tube while indulging in a spot of Toy Story... we mean, football or films with stuff blowing up, on the tube would be worth the drop in quality.
However, the issue of price also rears its head - will Rockchip be able to make the Android 3D tablet cheap enough to go glasses-free, given that TVs using the tech have required a high premium?
We'll be there at IFA to check out all the latest gizmos, and if this catches our eye (provided we stand in precisely the right place) we'll tell you all about it.
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Blu-rays for home cinema nuts: Se7en
In TechRadar's weekly look at up-and-coming Blu-rays which every audiovisual head needs, we traipse through the dark and deadly territory of Se7en.Back when Brad Pitt wasn't just known as Angelina Jolie's play thing, when Morgan Freeman didn't just play Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey was a relatively unknown actor who excelled at portraying mentalists, Se7en was a breath of putrid air for the movie industry.
Director David Fincher managed to pull off the ultimate whodunit detective story with one of the best twist endings ever seen.
And it gave us all a catchphrase for when we open our Christmas pressies. 'What's in the box,' indeed.
Disc-ussion
Se7en is finally making its way to Blu-ray and Home Cinema Choice – part of the TechRadar network – have managed to get their hands on the disc and are mightily impressed by what they have seen (and heard).
"Fans of Fincher's 1995 masterpiece are going to be blown away by Warner's Blu-ray release," said Anton van Beek, News Editor for HCC.
"Not only does this BD50 pack in pretty much all of the bonus materials from New Line's two-disc Platinum Edition US DVD release (including four commentaries, deleted scenes, extensive art and photo galleries, and even the featurettes looking at the video and audio remastering for that release), but Fincher himself has overseen a great brand-new transfer."
It's a sin
The transfer for the film has been completely re-done since the DVD version, with van Beek noting: "Unlike the oddly green-tinted remaster that appeared on DVD, the new VC-1 2.40:1 1080p encode has been completely overhauled to deliver an image that is much more in-keeping with the original CCE silver retention process that was used on the initial first-run prints during the film's cinema release.
"And if all of that ain't enough for you, then there's also a thunderous DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix to give your speaker system one hell of a workout."
To prove how good the transfer is, HCC has posted some high-res images of the film, taken straight from the Blu-ray. They are so good, you can pretty much read every word in John Doe's diaries.
Get your self over to hcc.techradar.com now to see for yourself.
The Blu-ray version of Se7en has a UK release date of 25 October and will be priced at £17.99.
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In Depth: How to buy a new hard drive
If you're looking for a PC upgrade that will have a dramatic effect, then nothing will deliver quite such immediately obvious results as swapping a tired old hard drive for a modern, speedy replacement.Boot times should fall dramatically, for instance. Your system startup is heavily dependent on your hard drive as Windows and your apps are loaded into RAM, and moving to a solid state drive could see your PC fire up in half the time that it does now.
Apps will launch more quickly, too. Anything that makes heavy use of the drive will run faster; you should find it easier to run multiple applications at the same time; and if you're currently short on hard drive space, then a 1TB drive (1,000 GB) could be yours from under £50.
There are a whole host of affordable hard drives around, too. Which one is best for you? It all depends on your needs.
Performance
If you'd like your new drive to be both spacious and fast then the best option is to buy a conventional hard drive. The capacity of whatever you're looking at will be plain, but performance is less obvious, however there are several indicators you can look for that will give you a general idea.
Mechanical hard drives store data on platters, for instance, circular discs that rotate at high speed. The quicker they spin, the faster the drive is likely to be. A few 3.5" desktop drives have spindle speeds of 5,400 rpm; most run at 7,200 rpm for better performance; some work at 10,000 rpm, usually delivering great speeds but at significantly higher cost.
Another factor is the "areal density" used by a drive, the amount of data it can squeeze onto a platter. The higher this is, the more data a drive can read or write for a given mechanical movement, and the faster it is likely to be.
To compare the areal density of drives, just check their specification and divide capacity by the number of platters. So most 2TB hard drives use four platters, for instance, 500GB per platter; but Samsung's new EcoGreen F4EG requires only three platters, each holding 667MB, giving it a natural performance advantage.
Hard drives will also have an amount of cache memory (typically 32MB although 64MB caches are becoming more common), where they store frequently required data. It's quicker to fetch information from cache than the platter, so the more memory a drive has, the better.
And every drive has a host of low-level statistics surrounding it, but a particularly important one to check is the seek time, the average time it takes for the drive heads to move to a required location. As with all of these comparisons, a lower seek time doesn't guarantee better performance - it's not as simple as that - but it will give you a general indicator of how fast the drive should be.
The 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black can be yours for under £70
Read our Western Digital Caviar Black review
The Western Digital Caviar Green is a conventional hard drive with a very exceptional capacity, an amazing 2TB
Read our Western Digital Caviar Green review
Solid State Drives
If performance is your absolute highest priority, then you may want to forget about old-style mechanical technology and buy a solid state drive (SSD), instead. This replaces the spinning platters with fast flash memory, which has all kinds of advantages.
There's no annoying seek-time delays, for example. A fast 7,200rpm drive might take 13ms to locate a particular item of data, but an SSD should be closer to 0.1ms.
Read and write speeds are also faster, though not to such a dramatic extent. (You probably won't see any real-life task run much more than twice the speed it did before.)
SSDs are also silent, generally use less power, and also run much cooler than hard drives, so you may find your system fan doesn't have to spin quite so hard, or often.
Sounds great, right? But there are problems. Flash memory is relatively expensive, which means SSDs typically have low capacities and high prices. You can buy a standard 1TB hard drive for under £50, for instance: a much smaller 120GB SSD will typically cost you £200 to £300, so perhaps six times the price.
And SSDs have shorter lives, too - the memory effectively wears out with repeated use. There are technologies to minimise this, and you shouldn't see any issues for years, but it's still a concern.
If you can afford one, though, a quality SSD is definitely worth buying. Install Windows and a few important applications on it, leave everything else on a regular hard drive and you'll still notice the difference - it's the perfect addition to a power PC.
To compare SSDs for performance, look for figures like maximum read and write speeds, maximum sustained write speeds, perhaps the number of IOPS (input/ output operations per second). SSDs are particularly prone to odd controller issues, though, so in-depth testing of a drive is essential to find out how it really behaves. Be sure to check out our hard drive reviews to discover which SSDs are worth every penny of their premium price.
The Kingston SSDNow V Series 30GB drives are relatively cheap, perfect for a RAID setup
Read our Kingston SSDNow V Series review
It's an incredibly fast SSD, but the OCZ Vertex 2 delivered only 120GB for a launch price of £264
Read our OCZ Vertex 2 review
Read our group test of the 12 best solid state drives
Interface issues
Whatever you're buying, it's important to consider the drive's interface, how it connects to your PC.
If your PC is a few years old then it may only support the IDE interface - bad news, as it's now obsolete. There are still a few compatible drives available, so an upgrade should be possible, but you won't be able to use the latest technology: IDE just isn't fast enough.
More modern PCs and drives use the speedier Serial ATA (SATA) interface, instead, but this comes in three main versions. The first (SATA I, or 150) could handle speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps; the second (SATA II, or SATA II), by far the most commonplace today, supports 3 Gbps; the very latest (SATA III, or SATA 600), appearing on many new motherboards, supports 6 Gbps.
If you have SATA 150 (check your system documentation), then you'll be able to connect drives using the other standards, but there's little point - you won't get the full performance benefit.
If you have SATA 300, like most people, then you've a huge amount of choice. Look for an SATA 300 or 600/ 6 Gbps drive that provides support for TRIM (a performance-boosting command built into Windows 7 and available in other tools) and native command queuing (a technology that optimises read/ write commands to improve speeds).
If you have SATA 600, then it still currently makes sense to use SATA 300 drives, especially of the regular mechanical variety. Most can't take any advantage of the extra 6 Gbps bandwidth.
Should you be looking at high-end SSDs, though, it may be a different story. They can deliver significant burst speeds and should benefit from the newer interface. Look for SSDs supporting SATA 6Gbps to allow the best possible performance, and check the controller, too: Marvell and SandForce controllers are some of the fastest around.
Powerful SandForce controllers help many OCZ SSDs to deliver the best possible performance
Read our OCZ Agility review
Crucial's RealSSD C300 128GB is so fast that it'll benefit from running on an SATA 6Gbps PC
Read our Crucial RealSSD C300 review
Comparison complications
Buying a hard drive on capacity alone is simple. As soon as you factor in performance, though, life becomes very much more complicated.
We've pointed you at some of the issues you need to consider, for instance, and they'll give you a general idea of how a drive will perform, but there are no guarantees.
Consider drive A, for instance: SATA 6 GBps, seek time of 13ms, 64MB cache. It should be faster than drive B, SATA 3 Gbps, seek time of 15 Mbps and a 32MB cache, right? But this won't always be the case, because there are all kinds of other issues, like the choice and implementation of the drive controller, that can't be compared in any simple way.
There's no substitute for reading the views of an expert who's tried out a drive in a variety of real-life situations, then, and that's exactly what you'll get on our review pages. So by all means use your own comparisons to produce a shortlist of likely drives, but after that, head off to our hard drive reviews section for the low-down on which models really deliver.
There are hundreds of drives out there - let our SSD reviews help you to identify the best deals
Seagate's Momentus XT 500GB is part mechanical drive, part SSD. How does it perform? Check our review
Read our Seagate Momentus XT 500GB review
Looking for an external drive? Read our group test of six 2TB monsters
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Review: Alienware M17x
Founded in 1996, Alienware has long been one of the world's best known manufacturers of gaming PCs. Since Dell acquired it in 2006, it has gone from strength to strength and its M17x is the current benchmark by which all gaming laptops should be measured.Gaming performance is staggering and by far the best we've seen to date. Twin ATi graphics cards set up in a CrossFireX configuration let the latest games run flawlessly, with ample power on offer for the most demanding multimedia use.
The vibrant 17-inch screen provides the perfect canvas for this level of power. Images are as sharp as it gets, thanks to its Full HD resolution, with stunning brightness, colour and contrast on offer. The only downside is that the high-gloss panel is extremely reflective.
Home office performance is equally impressive. A quad-core processor from Intel's fl agship Core i7 range delivers fantastic levels of power.
Only 4096MB of memory is in place, however, so the Asus and Toshiba in this group test prove marginally more capable in this regard.
Speed is enhanced by the use of a hard drive that spins at 7200rpm – the fastest speed currently available in a laptop. While its 500GB capacity cannot match the Asus' in this group, there is ample space for storing large multimedia collections and running games directly from the drive.
Combining an anodised aluminium casing – available in a choice of black, red or silver – and textured plastic interior, the chassis exudes high-quality style.
At 5.7kg you won't want to carry it far, but the M17x is stunningly resilient and will stay suitably protected on the occasions you do travel.
Customised lighting
Several areas of the laptop – such as the keyboard, touchpad and vents at the front of the chassis – feature garish lighting effects. Each can be customised from a variety of colours or disabled entirely, depending on personal taste.
The keyboard is one of the best we've used, with large keys that respond quietly and accurately. With all keys highlighted by white borders and the aforementioned backlighting, it is easy to type in any lighting conditions, adding to the usability.
802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet allow the fastest possible wireless and fixed network connections for high-speed online gaming.
An integrated camera and microphones are in place above the screen to let you see and taunt your opponents when battling in online gaming bouts.
With its near-perfect combination of style, power and features, the M17x is at the vanguard of the modern gaming laptop market. If you're after the most powerful gaming machine with bags of style and features, there are few rivals.
Related Links
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Review: Panasonic Lumix FZ45
Panasonic's been on something of a roll this year, bringing out a roster of well-received cameras such as the TZ10, and of course, the excellent Lumix G2 hybrid.Now we've got the 14.1 Megapixel Lumix FZ45, an upgrade of the Lumix FZ38.
The big selling point of the new camera is a fixed 24x optical zoom, while secondary benefits include an overhauled AF system (the grandiosely named 'Sonic Speed') and 720p HD video recording in both motion JPEG and AVCHD Lite format.
There's an intuitively placed video record button, and it's all very straightforward. Indeed, there are the lots of other helpful widgets for camera novices, such as Intelligent Auto mode, while more experienced users are catered for by a proper PASM dial. Intelligent Auto mode is also available when shooting HD video, along with Aperture Priority mode for more confident users.
The DMC-FZ45 is keenly priced at £349.99, and it's already being discounted to around £300.
At this price, we predict the DMC-FZ45 will do really well. It's significantly cheaper than more SLR-like hybrids such as the Olympus Pen 2 and Sony NEX-5, while still offering plenty of advanced features.
The DMC-FZ45 certainly seems better equipped than comparatively priced compacts such as the Canon IXUS 300HS, for example.
When it comes to big zooms, a key rival is the Fujifilm Finepix HS10. It offers an even more impressive 30x zoom and is now retailing around £350. Three hundred quid or so will also account for the lion's share of an entry level SLR such as the Canon EOS 1000D, which comes with an interchangeable, rather than fixed, lens.
Another challenge for Panasonic will be persuading customers to stump up the extra cash to buy this, rather than the excellent Lumix TZ10; as mentioned, much of the sales pitch is based on that monster zoom lens and foolproof video mode.
The lens on the FZ45 is a newly designed Leica DC Vario Elmarit unit with a 25-600mm range (35mm equivalent).
The aperture range of f/2.8 to f/5.2, so this is a reasonably fast and bright lens in less than perfect lighting conditions. Of course, the downside of such as long built-in lens is the risk of camera shake, so to beat the jitters, the DMC-FZ45 includes an optical image stabilizer with three modes – more on this later.
The sensor is a CCD-type device with 14.1 effective pixels. Able to shoot both JPEG and RAW, the DMC-FZ45 delivers large and detailed files, which should be more than enough in terms of size and detail for the target audience.
Image processing is taken care of by the clunkily named Venus Engine HD 11, and the camera has an ISO range of 100-1600 (note this can be expanded but we'd stick to these levels).
Other interesting new features include face recognition and a rear control 'jog' dial for adjusting aperture and shutter speed.
The rear screen is better than the FZ38's too. It's three inches, compared to the older camera's 2.7 inches, and with 230,000 dots, it's nice and clear.
We certainly preferred using the rear LCD for composing images as although it can be struggle to use in bright sunlight, it's nicer to use than the rather cramped electronic viewfinder (it's a shame Panasonic hasn't taken the opportunity to improve the mediocre EVF, as it's basically the same you get with the DMC-FZ8).
The menus have been overhauled so they're easier to use and cover the extra options available with this camera; while reasonably intuitive, they still aren't as slick as a Canon or Nikon interface.
While the FZ45 is not a particularly bulky camera, it's not that compact either. Even with that monster zoom lens retracted, it's 120 x 80 x 92mm in size, though the camera is fairly light at 94 with battery. The lens extends by a full six centimetres, so don't stick it in your trouser pocket or you could get arrested for indecency!
It needs to be said from the start that that 24x zoom lens can be a mixed blessing.
In terms of optical performance, we were impressed. For the money there is minimal distortion and the DMC-FZ45 delivers sharp and punchy images from the box. The biggest problem, along with most fixed-lens super zoom cameras, is shake.
See full-res image
ANTI-SHAKE: In decent light, the built-anti shake really helps keep things steady at full 24x zoomTo get the most from the impressive telephoto reach of this lens you must use a tripod, or at the very least select a fast shutter speed/higher ISO setting. As mentioned, the DMC-FZ45 is quite a light camera, so even braced against a wall, keeping that lens steady while shooting handheld would challenge an SAS sniper.
See full-res image
LOW LIGHT: But in trickier light, it struggles to beat camera shake – you'll need to get a tripod to get the most from this cameraAnd you absolutely must turn on the lens stabilization. For some reason this sensor-shift system is not turned on by default, which is really annoying.
The anti-shake system works well enough when you do turn it on, though we found we needed to activate the most powerful mode when shooting in low light at the full 24x zoom. A far better solution is to get a tripod and cable release (to be fair to Panasonic, it's wise to use a tripod when shooting with a long lens on a similarly priced interchangeable lens camera, too).
See full-res image
LENS: The quality f/2.8 lens and long zoom makes it easy to blur backgroundOtherwise, image performance is impressive. The large sensor and image processor deliver well exposed and colourful images and the metering system is flexible and intelligent.
We noticed the overhauled AF is faster too, though the maximum burst rate of this camera isn't as good as some of its competitors.
See full-res image
COLOURS: Colours are rich and pleasing without being overblown or garishNoise is pretty well controlled on the DMC-FZ45 (see ISO tests). Things start to get smudgy and smeary at ISO 800 but images are impressively clean below that. The DMC-FZ45 is also good for close-ups. The Macro enables you to focus on a flower, for example, that's just one centimetre away (remember to retract the lens to wide-angle mode though).
See full-res image
SHARPNESS: Lens performance is good for the money with minimal distortionThe much-vaunted Intelligent Resolution feature uses smart image processing technology and digital zoom to beef up the resolution of standard shots. As with so many of these clever widgets, we couldn't see a huge improvement, so if you want maximum detail and resolution from your shots, shoot in RAW.
See full-res image
METERING: The smart metering system copes well with a variety of challenging light conditions though it's blown out some highlights here…See full-res image
MACRO: Close up/Macro performance is also impressive for the moneyWe tested the Panasonic Lumix FZ45 at every ISO setting. Here are the results...
ISO 100...
See full-res imageISO 200...
See full-res imageISO 400...
See full-res imageISO 800...
See full-res imageISO 1600...
See full-res imageSee Panasonic Lumix FZ45 video sample in HD
As mentioned, you can shoot in 1280 x 720p HD video, in Motion JPEG or AVCHD Lite mode.
The quality of movies is up to Panasonic's usual standards, though it's a shame you can't shoot in full 1080p HD mode.
It's very easy to activate movie mode via an unmissable red button on the top, and there's a good range of exposure control. Intelligent Auto mode is available in movie mode, or you can stick to conventional PASM controls.
It's also good to be able to make use of the 24x optical zoom when shooting video, along with face detection. There's a proper stereo mic built-in, and a wind Cut function also helps to block out background wind.
At around £300 the Lumix FZ45 is a very appealing buy, and a convincing upgrade of the FZ38 - though Panasonic has missed some tricks.
We liked:
This is well made camera, delivering rich and detailed images from the box. The 24x zoom lens removes the need to carry around an extra telephoto lens and it's almost impossible to mess up the HD video recording. There's a good range of helpful widgets but plenty of options for more experienced users too.
We disliked:
Camera shake is a real problem when you shoot at the telephoto end, so you must turn on the anti-shake system. The electronic viewfinder is cramped and you don't get full 1080p HD video. 24 x optical zoom is impressive, but it's not the longest in class.
Verdict:
There's a lot to like about this camera, so long as you're aware of the limitations of the monster lens and the HD video recording features. If you don't want the hassle of changing lenses, the DMC-FZ45's smart technology, quality optics and convincing image quality make it a great buy for £300.
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1,000,000 Gmail calls made in one day
Google is claiming that its Gmail calling service is already a success, with over 1,000,000 calls placed in under 24 hours.Although only available in the US and Canada at the moment, the service has seen a huge take up right from the outset.
Google confirmed the news in a Tweet, although it didn't give information on where the callers were placed:
"Over 1,000,000 calls placed from Gmail in just 24 hours! Thanks to everyone using this new feature!"
Cheap or free?
This makes a big difference; to call Gmail buddies in the US and Canada is free until 2011, but to call internationally will cost you actual money (although only around 1p per minute).
We're still waiting to hear when this service will get its UK release date, because we don't want the US to have all the fun - and cheaper calling too.
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Wii Party to be bundled with Wiimote
Nintendo's Wii Party will come bundled with a white Wiimote, as the Japanese gaming giant looks to keep hold of its family market dominance in the face of offerings from Xbox and PlayStation. Wii Party is a first party game from Nintendo, and the company's decision to bundle it with a Wii Remote is an interesting one.
Microsoft are set to unleash Kinect for Xbox 360, and Sony the very Wii-like Move, as both attempt to wrest back a share of the family market.
Attachment
Nintendo's Wii has been around since 2006, and the console has always had a low attachment rate – the term used to describe how many games console owners buy.
Nintendo are no doubt hoping that Wii Party can convince more Wii owners to fork out for a new game, and get an extra controller in the process.
"With 13 different game modes to get to grips with, Wii Party will be the life and soul of any gathering as you enjoy games that refine the traditional party videogame experience," said Nintendo.
"For the first time, the action away from the television screen will be as important as what's displayed on it as House Party mode turns your living room into a pivotal part of the game play."
The game launches on 8 October in the UK, if you're Wiimote-ly interestey, nearly a month after Move arrives in Britain.
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Xbox headsets to get major sound upgrade
Xbox has announced it is making significant improvements to the audio quality of its headsets by upping the bit-rate.This sound move was revealed by Xbox Live Studios boss Jerry Johnson, who was speaking at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.
"The codec we used when we first launched was a low bit rate codec and we stuck with that," Johnson explained.
"We launched and we said we required broadband. We required a 64k connection, which not many people think of as broadband any longer. But that was the minimum requirement to run the service at the time."
Moving on up
As things have changed in the world of broadband (64k?!?) has significantly changed, a new codec is going to be piped through.
"It's time for us to move on," said Johnson. "Especially if we want to think about broadening – a crackly headset on the top of your head – not what people think of when they talk about popular entertainment."
Quite when this audio upgrade will happen is unclear but it is likely to co-incide with the UK release date of Kinect, which is pencilled in for 10 November.
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Manchester prefers Leeds United over Man City
Google was kind enough to send through its fastest growing search terms for Manchester this week, and TechRadar was a little surprised to learn that United are well ahead of Man City, not Manchester United you understand, but Leeds. In fact, in football team terms, Leeds United as the 12th fastest growing search term were ahead of Man City back in 15th.
Now, as these are the fastest-growing search terms, the more logical among you may wonder if Manchester United is merely already much searched for and is less likely to be affected by trends.
But, we're all about the cheap headline in our weekly Google search zeitgeist stories, so we're not mentioning that until the third paragraph of our story. Ha.
Stig in the dumps
The top search result is Ben Collins – the man behind Top Gear's Stig's helmet – who has hit the news for daring to publish an autobiography.
We're more surprised that nobody has pointed out that it's likely to be an incredibly uninspired book ("Monday, drove round same track in X car, Tuesday drove round same track in Y car, Wednesday drove round track in sensibly priced car").
GCSE results made their expected entry, as did Ultimate Big Brother, which we *think* might be where the most annoying reality stars are shut in a house and gassed, but we're not entirely sure.
Interestingly (or not), UBB was ahead of X-Factor which has been using Autotune to make people sound better/worse but unfortunately was never applied to Louis Walsh's accent.
Chatroulette-a-like Omegle, shopping site Marisota and the Leeds festival are also in the top 20, along with Edexcel – one of the companies that produces exam papers for GCSEs.
Manchester area's fastest growing search terms this week*
ben collins
gcse results 2010
ultimate big brother
notw
x factor
sunday mirror
leeds festival
edexcel
marisota
omegle
telegraph fantasy football
leeds united
football results
arnold clark
man city
talktalk webmail
mail online
alliance and leicester
tv shack
jane norman
*Apparently nobody uses capitals when searching for things on Google.
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Weird Tech: Ordinary man plays videogames for many hours
No idea why this is news. The Sun is reporting on the shock case of an unemployed 17-year-old youth called Zach, who spends 15 hours a day playing Call of Duty and FIFA on his Xbox (presumably 360, otherwise social services would have been called in). The Sun seems to think this is out of the ordinary. As do the doctors, who have suggested that Zach's "marathon" sessions could cause health risks.
What they should be going is encouraging Zach to push on through the 18-hour-a-day level, else he'll never be able to compete with the real GamerScore professionals. Come on, Zach. There are actually 24 hours in a day, you slacker. What are you wasting a whole nine of them on?
iWatermelon
We're not entirely convinced of the reality of the iWatermelon iPhone app or indeed of the underlying technology that's behind it, but it fits the Weird Tech remit 100 per cent so we'll tell you what little we know about it regardless.
DANGER! OVER RIPE! Try kicking it around the shop
iWatermelon was featured on Taiwanese news channel TVBS, and is an app that informs the would-be watermelon purchaser if the watermelon being offered by the vendor is ripe enough or not by analysing the sounds made as you tap on the melon. Could be real, or we could've just been "pwned" by a Taiwanese comedy show. See for yourself.
Mario Kerb
Some joker with (a) too much spare time and (b) access to a collection of durable professional-quality paints, has carried out a superb bit of tech vandalism in the town of Portland, Oregon.
The unknown artist covered the road surfaces with icons from legendary videogame Mario Kart, adding speed boost symbols to cycling lanes, star icons to the middle of the road - and banana skins to utterly confuse gaming commuters. The news report of the gonzo art stunt is online.
TYPICAL MARIO KART: Someone always gets crushed by a bus on the last corner
If Banksy had spent the early 1990s playing a SNES we could've got this instead of all his angsty gun/war stuff.
"...also transforms into a picnic table"
The nation of Iran inadvertently made itself look a bit silly this week, while in the process of unveiling its latest national defence weapon. Presumably designed to instil FEAR into the Western world and force the compliance of its troublesome neighbouring states,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually looked a bit silly unveiling something that looks like Gerry Anderson knocked it up in his shed in 1965.
IRANIANBIRDS ARE GO: Mustn't laugh, it's pointing towards us
The unmanned aerial weapon is supposedly capable of carrying out long-range bombing missions, but we think it's going to be more at home ferrying Lady Penelope between her town and country residences. That pod on the bottom is for her make-up and clothes. It's the cardboard clouds that appear to be leftover props from a school play that really ruin the sense of aerial menace.
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Audio Technica unveils new headphones
Audio Technica has announced the products that it weill be showing off at IFA in Berlin in September, with a raft of new headphones, earphones and mobile phone accessories. Audio-Technica's new range include the flagship ATH-CKS90 earphones which take no notice of the exchange rate by being priced at €120 and also £120 (how is that fair?).
Aside from the unfair pricing, the ATH-CKS90 earphone does offer 13mm drivers for "superb clarity and a frequency response of 5-25 000 Hz,"
Headphones
There is also the ATH-CKS50 earphones with 12.5mm drivers and a high frequency reach to 24kHz as well as the entry-level headphones ATH-WS50
Last and not least is the ATH-WS70 with 40mm drivers, and priced at £129 (and €129 as well, grrr).
Next up is Audio Technica's retro headset the ATH-RE70 – finished in white with complementary dark tan leather and based on a design from 30 years ago.
There are also headsets and some lower end audio products along with a portable headphone amplifier for iPod and iPhone.
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Video: Samsung Galaxy Tab vs iPad and Galaxy S
A new video has popped up on the web to show off the stylings and UI of the forthcoming Galaxy Tab.Although in Korean and using only Korean characters, it gives a real example of how the Galaxy Tab will look in real life.
The UI seems slick and responsive, and the seven inch screen size is easy to hold in the hand - something that the iPad can't manage.
The video also puts the Galaxy Tab next to the 10-inch screen of the iPad and the 4-inch screen of the Galaxy S, showing it as something that fits between the two product types.
More specs
A few more specs are confirmed in the video, namely a 16:10 aspect ratio and 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity.
But it's the interface that really shows off the power of the new Galaxy Tab - the 1GHz processor is working overtime under the hood, and it looks easily as fast and as smooth as Apple's iPad, especially with the web and Google Maps.
Check out the video yourself and see if it's the next device for you... we're now looking forward to seeing what LG comes up with next.
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