PC and Components: Reviews

The $US129 (as of May 9, 2012) HP Photosmart 5520 e-All-in-One color inkjet multifunction (copy/print/scan) is a decidedly welcome replacement for the HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One--a handsome but disappointing product that lacked manual duplexing and layout support. The Photosmart 5520 makes amends big-time, offering an automatic duplexer as well as both booklet and multipage printing. In other aspects, the units are virtually identical.

Dell's Streak 7 tablet runs on Google's Android 2.2, and is powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 dual-core processor. The tablet will be upgradeable to Google's Android 3.0 OS, code-named Honeycomb, soon after its launch, said Michael Tatelman, vice president at Dell, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

As the economy slowly improves, things are finally looking up for laptops.

All-in-one desktop PCs have long been touted as space-saving wonders, squeezing an entire computer into a frame that's only slightly bigger than the monitor itself. They've also represented some of the computer industry's best bargains, typically selling for about one-third less than a standard desktop PC with a separate monitor. But did you know they can cut your electricity bill significantly compared with a traditional desktop system?

The capacity of external USB hard drives is going up all the time. Unfortunately, most only offer a USB 2.0 connection, which limits how quickly you can get your data onto or off the drive.

AOC 619Fh

Acer Aspire One 3G

Polycom QDX 6000

Brother's MFC-990CW has all the features and gadgetry anyone will ever need from a device the size of two stacked Yellow Pages. Just don't expect it to print quickly or at the best possible quality.

HP's Colour LaserJet CP2025dn is a mid-range printer with a small stature and fast print speeds. Photos won't dry properly when printed on glossy media, but for matte in-house marketing materials the printer is a viable choice.

HP's Mini 1001TU is a netbook with plenty of style; it's black and it has a 10.2in glossy screen and a swirly pattern on its lid. It has an Intel Atom N270 CPU and runs the Windows XP operating system, and it has plenty of storage space for work files, music and videos. But it's far from perfect.

Acer is the first to market with an Intel Core i7-based machine, which means that if you want to buy the absolute latest in PC technology right now, then you have to check it out. It's called the Aspire M7720, and not only does it have some of the most advanced components on the market, it also features a functional and feature-rich case design.

NetApp SnapManager 3.0

There is often a gap between the rate at which technology develops and the rate at which people and businesses adjust to it. The prevalence of identity theft and the large number of major data breaches suffered by businesses are examples of how we're still grappling with an increasingly networked and data-dependent economy.

The My Passport for Mac is a no-frills external hard drive that lacks the comprehensive connectivity of the more expensive Western Digital My Passport Studio II. It is one of the cheapest external drives on the Australian market and a must-have for anyone who needs a quick and easy backup solution.

Edimax’s BR-6574n nMax Wireless Gigabit Router offers plenty of features but it falls short when it comes to range and speed.

The specification sheet might not say it, but the Linksys WRT110 wireless router can actually deliver speeds that are pretty close to what an 802.11n router can achieve. It’s not actually certified for 802.11n functionality, only 802.11b and 802.11g, but its chip can nevertheless take advantage of 802.11n devices in a typical home network.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds

With its 22in touch screen, HP's TouchSmart IQ518 is one of the most interesting PCs on the market. It offers a new way to interact with a PC, giving it more of a kiosk feel right in your own home.

Around 10 years ago the concept of an overclocked retail PC was something associated only with dodgy dealers looking to sell a slower CPU for a higher price. It was generally frowned upon by non-enthusiasts, as components weren't as reliable when overclocked as they are today (anyone remember the Kryotech machine that used a fridge to overclock an 800MHz AMD Athlon to 1GHz?). With the Core 2 Duo, though, it's possible to ship reliable factory-overclocked PCs. Altech is taking advantage of this to give its customers more value for their money.