PC World New Zealand Magazine: Technology advice you can trust.

Reviews

Review: Webroot SecureAnywhere Essentials

Security software

Wednesday, 22 February, 2012 This package is fast, and it's good at catching malware before the invader reaches your PC, but a higher-than-average false-positive rate and disappointing system-cleanup results hold it behind its competitors.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Review: AOC e1649Fwu

15.6-inch LCD USB monitor

Friday, 17 February, 2012 | 3 comments AOC’s e1649Fwu is an LED-backlit LCD monitor with a difference. Instead of connecting to your PC’s video card via DVI, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort or any other conventional standard, it connects via utterly ubiquitous USB 2.0.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

IObit Advanced SystemCare 5

PC performance-tuning software

Thursday, 16 February, 2012 | 1 comment IObit Advanced SystemCare 5 is a free system optimisation tool, with a Pro version offering more tools for US$20.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Samsung Series 7 UA46D7000

46-inch LED backlit LCD TV

Wednesday, 15 February, 2012 Samsung’s 46-inch Series 7 ‘Smart TV’ is a brilliant television, let down by dreadfully clunky internet functionality.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Philips The Stretch

Headphones

Wednesday, 15 February, 2012 Philips’ ‘The Stretch’ headphones are not the most beautifully designed over-ear headphones on the market. But after several weeks of use, we found them the most comfortable we've ever tested.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Review: Sony PS Vita (Wi-Fi version)

Handheld game console

Tuesday, 14 February, 2012 | 3 comments PlayStation's follow-up to the PSP, the PS Vita, will arrive in stores on 23 February. Will it be a massive success, or the beginning of the end for dedicated handhelds?

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Review: Intel Sandy Bridge-E

CPU range

Monday, 13 February, 2012 As if Intel didn’t have a big enough lead in the CPU performance stakes with their Sandy Bridge family of chips, it’s gone ahead and released a new series named Sandy Bridge-E (the ‘E’ reportedly standing for Enthusiast).

Review: Sony HMZ-T1 Personal 3D Viewer

3D video headset

Thursday, 9 February, 2012 | 2 comments Sony’s HMZ-T1 Personal 3D Viewer is a niche product that works phenomenally well.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Epson Dreamio EH-TW6000W

3D Home Cinema Projector

Friday, 27 January, 2012 This home cinema projector from Epson features great 2D quality, active (shutter-glasses) 3D, WirelessHD video transmission and surprisingly good sound, all right out of the box.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Panasonic PT-AE7000

3D Home Cinema Projector

Wednesday, 25 January, 2012 If 3D is your bag, the PT-AE7000 is definitely worth checking out. It's a one-trick pony, but it pulls that one trick off fairly well.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Walking Access Mapping System

Website

Wednesday, 25 January, 2012 | 1 comment WAMS provides a single point of access for outdoor enthusiasts to a diverse range of public land, boundary and walking-track information. Access requires no signup or login, and is completely free.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Preview: Norton Internet Security 2012

Security software

Tuesday, 24 January, 2012 Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2012 adds new features to the suite's toolkit, including those to enhance PC performance and make some basic use of the cloud; it also adds some tweaks to the interface. This is not a major overhaul, but the addition of new tools makes a useful piece of protection software even more valuable.

Cyberoam NetGenie

Wireless-N Router

Tuesday, 24 January, 2012 The internet is a great and wonderful experience, but it’s no secret that it can be hostile, offensive and just plain weird too. Cyberoam's NetGenie Wi-Fi router aims to provide a 'family safe' filter between the web and your home network.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2

Iomega Mac Companion 2TB

External hard drive

Monday, 23 January, 2012 This surprisingly bulky drive provides 2TB of external storage, optimised for Mac use with two FireWire 800 ports and an all-purpose USB 2.0 hub.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Creative GigaWorks T40 Series II speakers

Speakers

Friday, 20 January, 2012 | 1 comment If you’re looking for serious sound from regular old computer speakers, then the T40s are going to be about the best you can do without buying full-sized stereo speakers.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Nikon V1

Hybrid Digital Camera

Thursday, 19 January, 2012 Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, or ‘hybrids’, are increasingly popular because they slot neatly into a sweet spot between compacts and DSLRs, in terms of both size and performance. It’s no real surprise then that Nikon, one of the biggest players in the world of photography, is chasing some of this lucrative action with the introduction of the Nikon 1 camera system.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Preview: Nikon J1

Hybrid Digital Camera

Thursday, 19 January, 2012 The J1 is the Nikon V1’s slightly smaller and simpler cousin - much the same, minus the V1's electronic viewfinder and plus a small but effective built in flash.

Sony Cyber-shot WX30

Digital compact camera

Tuesday, 17 January, 2012 Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-WX30 stands out from the crowd not just through its tiny size, the smallest in our late-2011 travel-zoom roundup, but also the comparatively small 5X zoom range.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Leica V-Lux 30

Digital compact camera

Friday, 13 January, 2012 | 4 comments We check out legendary German imaging master Leica's V-Lux 30 travel zoom, and find something just a little too familiar...

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2

Cisco Linksys RE1000 Range Extender

Wi-Fi Range Extender

Friday, 13 January, 2012 Wi-Fi is wonderfully convenient compared to cabled networking, but often the signal doesn’t reach every corner of your house and you experience poor performance and even connection drop-outs. Luckily, there are ways of making Wi-Fi go further, using a repeater like the Cisco Linksys RE1000.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-iSSD

Motherboard

Thursday, 12 January, 2012 Gigabyte and Intel have teamed up to roll out yet another hybrid solid state storage technology that promises great performance at a moderate price.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Samsung WB700

Digital compact camera

Wednesday, 11 January, 2012 Korean Manufacturer Samsung is working hard to get a foothold in the camera market, and the WB700 compact is a creditable effort: your money buys a 14.2-megapixel camera with German Schneider-Kreuznach zoom optics. The lens is reasonably bright at 24mm and f/3.2, and deserves the mega-zoom moniker with an 18X reach.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Sandisk Cruzer Fit (8GB)

USB 2.0 flash drive

Wednesday, 11 January, 2012 If you’re in the market for a plug-and-stay USB flash drive, the Sandisk Cruzer Fit should satisfy your desire for lilliputian gadgets. At 21 x 14 x 6mm, it’s possibly the easiest-to-lose USB key we’ve ever come across.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Creative Inspire T12 Wireless Speakers

Wireless speakers

Tuesday, 10 January, 2012 If you’re looking for standard computer speakers – the kind that you don’t remove from your desk unless you absolutely have to – then Creative’s T12 wireless speakers might be right for you.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

D-Link Boxee

Media streaming device

Tuesday, 10 January, 2012 D-Link's media server, Boxee, is a strange-looking device that brings content from all over the web into one easy-to-navigate place.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Revisited: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20

Digital compact camera

Monday, 9 January, 2012 | 3 comments When we first looked at the DMC-TZ20 in early 2011, image quality was disappointing. We checked back two firmware revisions later to see what, if anything, has changed.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Huntkey Universal Notebook Adapter (65W)

Universal notebook power supply

Monday, 9 January, 2012 Huntkey’s Universal Notebook Adapter provides a cheap replacement or spare power adapter, at a more affordable price than you’re likely to see for an official spare part.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Razer Ferox gaming speakers

Mobile gaming & music speakers

Friday, 6 January, 2012 Razer's Ferox speakers are simple but sexy, and Razer claims they’re “tiny but mighty”. Tiny they may be – they’re about as tall and wide as a tube of lipstick – but mighty they are not.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2.5

Lexar Echo ZX (16GB)

USB 2.0 flash drive

Thursday, 5 January, 2012 The Lexar Echo is a tiny USB flash drive at just over 2cm in length and 1.5cm wide. When it’s plugged in, only 7mm protrudes from your USB port. Our review model came as a 16GB version, but you can also get 8GB and 32GB versions.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Kodak Easyshare M583

Digital compact camera

Thursday, 5 January, 2012 As the name implies, Kodak has gone down the simple route with the M583, and done a good job of it too. This nicely designed piano-black camera eschews manual modes in favour of four groups of scene selections.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Sennheiser PC 360 gaming headset

Gaming headset

Wednesday, 4 January, 2012 The PC 360 is a seriously high-end gaming headset, with a fold-up microphone and large, comfortable ear cups. The design is minimalist in all black, and the build is typical of Sennheiser – solidly constructed and likely to last for years.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Fujifilm Finepix F550 EXR

Digital compact camera

Tuesday, 3 January, 2012 The stylish and robust Finepix F550EXR is aimed at serious photographers, with RAW image format support and manual exposure modes.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Logitech G930

Wireless gaming headset

Monday, 2 January, 2012 Don’t like being chained to your computer? Logitech's G930 provides wireless connectivity and virtual surround sound.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Canon LEGRIA HF R26

Digital video camera

Friday, 30 December, 2011 What is a ‘Legria’? Canon must know, as it gave that moniker to its HF R26 HD video camera that features a 20x optical zoom and dual SD card slots as the highlights.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Card Reader

Multi-card reader

Thursday, 29 December, 2011 Memory cards are getting astonishingly fast. The fastest CompactFlash now chugs along at around 101Mbyte/sec and the latest SD cards do a barely-slower 95Mbyte/sec. So we were pleased to see the first USB 3.0 card reader, from Lexar, arrive in the test centre late 2011.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4