Products: Reviews

Toshiba's new KiraBook ultrabook offers a sleek, rich look along with high-end components, including a fine display and great speakers. The question is: Can you afford it?

Acer got a few things right and a number of things wrong with the Predator (specifically, Predator model AG3620-UR12). On the "right" side of the ledger, it has one of Intel's better processors - a 3.4GHz Core i7-3770--and 32GB of DDR3/1600 memory. With those components, the asking price of $US1299 is very reasonable.

Plenty of specialized companies out there sell PCs with Linux, but Dell is one of the very few mainstream contenders to have done so over the years. After some spotty initial offerings, it's taken a different approach with its latest Linux PC. Rather than try to sell Linux hardware to the masses, which the company has said typically requires support, it's focusing instead on developers, a savvy group that tends to need less help.

The HTC First is one of the more intriguing Android phones I've had the chance to review. The result of a collaboration between HTC and Facebook, the First is the first phone to ship with Facebook Home preinstalled--doing away with the traditional Android home screen in favor of a continuous Facebook news feed. Apps such as Gmail and Maps are hidden away, while the official Facebook and Messaging apps take center stage. The phone is aimed at fans of the social network, but the First's unassuming design and modest $100 price tag (with an accompanying 2-year contract on AT&T) should prove enticing to anyone looking for a smartphone on a budget.

At first glance, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 doesn't look like anything special.

Taking photos with a full-frame camera is an amazing experience. Shots just look so much wider and more fulfilling thanks to the bigger sensor. It used to be that you had to pay big bucks to get yourself a full-frame camera, but thanks to Canon, you can now get a model like the EOS 6D for about $2400.

Samsung possesses one of the better design aesthetics in the industry, and it shows in the design of the 23.6-inch display model of the Series 7 All-in-One. This $1000 PC will draw many an admiring look, and its Core i5 CPU helps it deliver smooth everyday performance and wonderful movie viewing. But gameplay is strictly low-res, and as with most all-in-ones, you're paying a lot for the form factor.

With the introduction of Windows 8, touchscreens are coming to the desktop -- but they're not cheap. We look at three of the latest monitors from Acer, Dell and ViewSonic.

HP has just unveiled the Slate 7, a 7-inch Android tablet targeted squarely at consumers.

The newest Wi-Fi technology -- 802.11ac -- promises blazing speeds of up to 1.3Gbps, according to claims made by the leading vendors.

Transcend's ESD200 external SSD is fast and very portable. Unfortunately, the backup software doesn't impress.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500 is a compact scanner that blends good performance and quality with a range of useful scanning types.

HP's Spectre One is in large part, a successful all-in-one design. But unlike some of the similarly-priced competition, it lacks a touchscreen and a TV tuner. The latter is a popular option for all-in-ones, which often double as entertainment centers in space-challenged abodes. That said, you can add TV via USB, and there's an HDMI input, so if you're not hooked on fingerprints all over your display, it could quite possibly fit your needs

Apple's largest all-in-one desktop computer, the 27-inch iMac, was recently updated with a long list of under-the-hood changes, but it's the strikingly thin design that people notice first. And while the 5mm edge on the new iMac is certainly impressive, you can't help but wonder if the trade-offs Apple made for the new design are worth it.

The Toshiba Satellite LX835 starts at $1399.99, which doesn't exactly put it in the budget all-in-one category (if such a category even exists). But you'd never know that by looking at it--thanks to its be-stickered bezel, unimpressive touchscreen, and cheap peripherals, it doesn't exactly look like a top-of-the-line machine out of the box.

For some, a laptop bag is just a piece of luggage dedicated to safely transporting a portable PC and/or tablet from Point A to Point B. For business travelers, though, the laptop bag is more like a Swiss Army knife--an essential element filled with the gadgets and accessories you need.

The Acer Aspire V5 isn’t a bad-looking machine, considering its price point. It’s heavier than it looks, but that heaviness translates into denseness, which translates into the machine feeling sturdy and stable. It almost looks like an Ultrabook – it’s relatively slim, it has a simple, sleek overall design, and an edge-to-edge glass display. But does this laptop’s performance live up to its prettiness? Read on to find out.

Although consumers and businesses are turning more often to Web-based software and mobile apps, many millions still depend on Microsoft Office to get their work done every day. The folks in Redmond want you to use Office wherever you go—on your PC, your tablet, and your Windows Phone handset. To that end, Microsoft is pushing deep integration between its desktop applications and your data, stored on Microsoft servers.

We wrap up our week-long coverage of the best products of 2012 with a look at the business and productivity category. And there's plenty to chew on, starting with Microsoft's entrely new operating system and ending with—interestingly enough—software that enables musicians to use ethernet networks in a completely new way.

One of the biggest trends that jumped out at us from this year's Top 100 list was the number of new tech products designed specifically for the home. If you thought the cocooning trend was over, think again. Tech enthusiasts are clamoring for new products for the home, and the industry is responding in a big way.