Computeractive! Latest hardware

Canon Digital Ixus 120 IS

Gavin Stoker — 2009-11-11T16:30:00.000Z

Gavin Stoker, Computeractive, Wednesday 11 November 2009 at 16:30:00

Canon’s smallest wide-angle compact camera yet

Canon’s cute Ixus 120 IS has a 4x zoom lens, equivalent to 28-112mm on an old film camera, with 12-megapixel images from a body only 2cm in depth.

It’s the manufacturer’s slimmest wide-angle camera to date and has no optical viewfinder.

The combination of the 28mm wide angle, suitable for panoramic views or group portraits, and the credit card-sized dimensions make it an ideal companion for travellers.

Build quality is excellent thanks to a largely metal construction. This explains the fairly high list price, even if the finish does little to hide scrapes and scratches.

Photographs can be composed and reviewed on the 2.7in rear screen that, on our review sample at least, displayed an image slightly warm in appearance.

It powered up in just under two seconds and features Canon’s Smart Auto feature, in which the camera recognises common subjects and types of scenes and alters its settings accordingly.

With this mode selected, all we had to do was point and shoot. The highest resolution pictures were saved to the memory card in less than three seconds.

Even though pictures from the IXUS 120 IS were not the sharpest we have seen, they were detailed and the colour was natural. And noise didn’t become a problem until we used the highest light sensitivity settings (in low light conditions).

Like its rivals the Ixus 120 IS features three fashionable must-have features: face detection, high-definition video at the 720p resolution (a HDMI port allows the camera to be hooked up to a flat-panel TV) and blink detection, which warns the user when a subject has their eyes closed.

There’s also automatic red-eye removal.

A brief description of each icon popped up while we scrolled through menus, which meant we didn’t have to wade through the manual supplied on CD. More experienced users can choose to disable the help.

All these features eat up power, though. Canon promises 220 shots from a freshly charged battery, so if you are going on a trip take the charger too.

If cool design and portability top your wish list for a new digital camera, this latest IXUS fits the bill.

Verbatim Executive Portable Hard Disk

Paul Allen — 2009-11-11T16:01:00.000Z

Paul Allen, Computeractive, Wednesday 11 November 2009 at 16:01:00

Back up and synchronise data with the disk's included tools

Verbatim's Portable Hard Drive Executive is a 2.5in disk that can store 500GB of files and plugs into a USB socket using the supplied cable.

Unlike some portable hard disks, it can draw sufficient operating power from the older USB1 sockets too, although you may find it slower to copy files over such connections.

The disk is small enough to fit in your pocket and comes with a soft, padded case to protect against minor knocks. However, there is no space for the connecting lead inside this case.

The Executive comes with two pieces of software to help make the most of the disk: Nero's Back It Up 4 Essentials for simple backups, and Verbatim's own synchronisation tool that keeps documents, emails and a calendar up to date when working on more than one PC.

This information can also be encrypted in case it is lost or stolen. No manual, printed or PDF, was provided for the Nero software but it was fairly self-explanatory in use.

The disk also contains a program that claims to speed up data transfer over USB but our test showed no difference.

If you need to carry this much data around regularly then the Verbatim Executive is capable enough, if a little pricey.

But if all you need is extra capacity at home, products based on the larger 3.5in disks are better value.

Mobiu Smart Key

Paul Lester — 2009-11-10T16:47:00.000Z

Paul Lester, Computeractive, Tuesday 10 November 2009 at 16:47:00

Back up and securely access files from any computer

If you work away from home or the office with sensitive information, you may be concerned about privacy and leaving traces of what you are doing, or leaving important documents on a temporary computer.

Security company Mobiu’s answer to this is the Smart Key, a device that combines the Pin security you might find on a bank card with online storage of documents to bring convenience and peace of mind when working from an unfamiliar location.

The device comes in the form of a 1GB USB memory key and offers 1GB of online storage by default. When connected it requests the user to enter a pin to grant access to a screen from which files can be accessed.

Backups can be created from relevant folders on your computer’s hard disk and when documents are changed on your usual computer they can be refreshed to bring the online copies up to date.

It’s also possible to save multiple versions of your documents so if you make a change you don’t like you can go back. There is no restriction on the size of each file or the number of files that can be uploaded.

When you access a document from a different computer it is temporarily downloaded to the storage on the Mobiu device while you work on it. The Mobiu interface also offers dedicated, secure software to handle common documents.

A word processor, spreadsheet and presentation package are included and offer a wide range of features as well as full support for common files such as those created by Microsoft Office.

It also includes a web browser, archive software and a PDF reader so a wide range of documents can be retrieved and modified without any trace being left on the host computer.

You can even invite other Mobiu Smart Key owners to access your storage at the same time, which makes it an effective way for business users to work on group projects.

The Mobiu Smart Key is very effective if you need security for your documents while on the move. It’s easy to use and offers all the tools required.

Nikon D3000

Tom Royal — 2009-11-10T15:00:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Tuesday 10 November 2009 at 15:00:00

Don’t need video from your camera? The D3000 may be for you

Lately, more and more digital SLR cameras shoot high-definition video, but the new Nikon D3000 bucks this trend to focus purely on photos.

The D3000 replaces the D60 at the bottom of Nikon’s range. Its body is clearly derived from those of the D60, D40x and D40. It’s impressively small and light with a small protruding grip for the right hand and very little bulk to the left of the lens.

This small body necessitates a relatively small optical viewfinder, but it’s still better than composing images on the screen.

The controls are simple with only one command dial – the D90, a couple of models up, has two. It offers a mind-boggling array of scene modes including Guide, which explains how to pull off simple effects such as soft backgrounds or sharp pictures of objects in motion.

Nikon is selling the D3000 body in a kit with an 18-55mm lens that includes its vibration reduction stabilisation technology. Like all previous versions of this lens it’s hard to focus manually but works fine with the camera’s autofocus system.

With no motor in the body the D3000 can autofocus only AF-S lenses, but its 11-point focus system was more than adequate.

We were happy with the 10-megapixel photos produced by the D3000, and the Automatic mode produced decent results.

The kit lens is not perfect, with some very slight colour fringing near the edges of a few test shots, but the results are generally sharp and well exposed.

Those looking to move up to an SLR from a compact camera will be impressed.

But is it good value? At the recommended retail price of £500 this kit looks like a stretch, but it was easy to find online at around £400 in most shops.

Around £150 more will get you the video-ready D5000, but for those looking to move up to an SLR for stills only, this is a great rival for Canon’s EOS 1000D.

Oregon Scientific WMR100 Advanced Weather Station

Simon Williams — 2009-11-06T17:26:00.000Z

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Friday 6 November 2009 at 17:26:00

Compete with the Meteorological Office with this complete local weather station

It’s common to see desktop weather monitors that include a thermometer and barometer and predict fine or stormy weather based on changes in air pressure.

This Oregon WMR100 Scientific weather station goes further. Although its base station has the same type of screen display, there is a lot more on it, as it connects wirelessly to two external sensors to monitor wind direction and strength as well as temperature and rainfall.

These sensors took some assembly and careful mounting, with staples and guy ropes in the case of the wind sensor. All the kit is well made with – for example, a three-piece steel pole to mount the wind monitor on and a mesh gauze to filter detritus out of captured water in the rain gauge.

The electronic set-up was made particularly easy by the automated nature of the system. The wind and rain sensors connected automatically and were calibrated with minimal intervention, though we did have to use a compass to tell the wind sensor which way north was.

The base station picks up the time from the atomic-radio clock at Cumbria and adjusts its calendar and moon phase display as soon as it gets an accurate time.

There is a mini-USB socket on the side of the base station which connects to a PC and, once you have downloaded the display software from the Oregon Scientific website, it’s possible to feed weather data through to this program for logging and display.

From a usability point of view the software is the weak link as it has a much more complicated – and rather untidy – design and little of the automated setup that was such a strong feature of the rest of the package.

The users have to determine arcane settings such as which Com port the base station is connected to (not obvious with a USB connection) and the latitude and longitude of your location, together with its height above sea level.

If you get around this lot, the software is pretty thorough. It can log readings from the weather station so you can see how weather events progress over time. It will not necessarily help with prediction, but the whole station is more about monitoring and recording than guessing tomorrow’s weather.

Elonex iGame

Paul Lester — 2009-11-06T16:35:00.000Z

Paul Lester, Computeractive, Friday 6 November 2009 at 16:35:00

A fun and innovative new take on the iPod dock

The release of an iPod dock may not appear to be very exciting – there are already plenty of them available – but in the iGame, computer maker Elonex has added appeal.

In addition to working as an iPod dock, the device doubles up as a simple games console that attaches to your television set.

The iGame is built into a white and silver oval-shaped casing that looks good against Apple’s devices and is designed to connect to a TV to offer access to either the player’s music, video and photos or any of the 20 games included.

Elonex has taken a leaf out of Nintendo’s book by providing a motion-sensitive controller, similar to the one supplied with Nintendo’s Wii console. In keeping with this approach the majority of titles supplied with the console are based around sport and puzzles.

Up to four players can compete at once, although this requires additional controllers that have to be bought separately for £20 each - it comes with a single controller in the box. Other accessories such as dance mats are promised in the future.

In truth the ‘console’ behaves rather like a simplified version of the Wii, and it’s worth clarifying that although the controllers offer vibration feedback, they are not as accurate and do not have the same range of motion as the Wii’s.

That makes the gaming side of the iGame much more suitable for kids than older gamers, and in this light it works well as a family product, with the adults more likely to use the iPod connection.

This was again rather basic but worked very well, giving quick and easy access to iPod-style menus. It works with all current players but it’s not fully compatible with the iPhone, which you will need to put in aeroplane mode to reduce interference.

It’s possible to browse and view videos and music directly from any connected iPod and Elonex says photo support is on the way in a downloadable update.

The iGame can be updated regularly to add features, which should increase its appeal. Elonex has made the console available for software development on an open-source basis, which means anyone can create programs for it.

The company expects future software to be available at prices ranging from £1 to £5. It also promises refinements and tweaks to the interface and features through future updates.

The biggest factor that makes the iGame appealing is the price. At £79 it offers good value and even if it will have limited appeal for adults as a games machine, the iGame is a good idea for a Christmas present, particularly for families with younger children.

Netgear XAVB1004 Homeplug AV adapter kit

Kelvyn Taylor — 2009-11-05T12:37:00.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, Computeractive, Thursday 5 November 2009 at 12:37:00

High-speed networking for up to four devices – without wires

Netgear’s XAVB1004 kit plugs straight into your mains electricity wiring to network up to four devices using the Homeplug AV technology.

The package contains a single grey Homeplug AV adapter (model number XAV101), a small black Homeplug AV switch (XAV1004), two network cables and a mains lead for the switch.

The kit is simple to set up. Plug the single adapter into a mains socket (extension sockets can disrupt the network) and connect the network cable to a spare port on your router.

Plug the switch into another mains socket, wait a few seconds and that’s it. You can connect up to four devices – computers, consoles, printers and more – to the switch so they can be accessed over the network.

It’s a great alternative to using a wireless network. The 200Mbits/sec connection, shared between four network ports on the switch, is fast enough to stream high-definition video.

Available speeds depend on the kind of devices you have plugged and how many there are. Wiring quality and electrical interference will also affect performance.

The ports are colour-coded to prioritise certain devices. The two green ports are used to connect high-speed devices such as games consoles and the yellow ports are used for slower devices such as printers.

You do not need to configure the device and a software utility is included in the package for troubleshooting and changing advanced network settings, although this is probably best left to experts.

If you don't like blinking lights, the status LEDs on the adapters can be switched off and the network is automatically encrypted to prevent unauthorised access.

More adapters can be added as needed, but watch out for two rival standards - Homeplug and UPA. Netgear sells both types, so if you already have another adapter, check first that it’s a Homeplug one.

The XAVB1004 kit is great if your wireless connections don’t work well or you don’t want to run network cables around your house.

Samsung N510

Anthony Dhanendran — 2009-11-04T17:19:00.000Z

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeractive, Wednesday 4 November 2009 at 17:19:00

A large-screen netbook that can play HD video

Samsung’s N510 computer is halfway between a netbook and a laptop. It uses an Intel Atom processor, but it’s an Atom N280 model, a step up from the N270 found in similar computers.

Like a netbook, it is missing a CD or DVD drive, instead using the space saved to reduce its overall size. It’s a slimline device and easy to carry around, but it’s larger than most of its rivals as it has a 12in widescreen rather than 10in.

It’s similar in size to the Packard Bell Dot m/a computer but its graphics capabilities account for the price premium.

Most netbooks are designed for office work, mobility and to play basic video, but the Samsung N510 uses Nvidia’s new Ion graphics chipset so it can play video much better than other computers.

We tested it with a few standard high-definition movie clips in the 720p format, something that would be fine on many desktops and larger notebooks but without would usually tax a netbook to its limits, resulting in stuttering, juddery playback.

On the N510 our sample clips played back beautifully and looked superb on the reasonably large screen.

The computer comes with a HDMI connector to attach it to a flat-panel TV or a high-definition projector and has three USB sockets and a wired network port (it can also connect to wired networks and Bluetooth devices).

The design is nice and flat without the rounded curves of its brother, the N310, and there is a slight jut at the bottom of the body from the large battery, which gave four hours in our tests.

Despite the large screen, it’s still a slim laptop and easy to carry around.

The N510 comes with the Samsung power-management software to control the brightness, processor power and more to conserve the battery when the computer is not plugged in.

The keyboard size is reasonable, with keys big enough to type on and comfortable enough for long periods of typing. The trackpad also benefits from the larger size of the N510, as it’s a bit bigger than most.

For simple office and internet tasks the N510 is overkill. A smaller, cheaper device such as the Samsung N310 is more than adequate for this and even for playing standard video.

For those who want to do a bit more, though, or those who just want a mobile laptop with a bigger screen the N510 is an excellent choice.