Johnsons Buddy B-200

Wouldn't it be useful to have an extra PC in your home or office, but pay only a fraction of the cost for the privilege? Well, now you can. Buddy enables you to share your existing PC between two or even three people. The kit includes an ISA card, which plugs into a free slot inside your PC, and a box to which you connect your extra monitor, keyboard and mouse. The software would have been easy to install, but we had some incompatibility problems with the latest version of Windows 98. We were assured, however, that these would be ironed out in time for the UK release.

What you get, then, is a duplicate Windows desktop on which you can run multiple applications - just as if you had your own separate PC. The resolution on the Buddy station is limited to 640 x 480, which is disappointing but still just about good enough for browsing the Web or using a word processor. The advantage is that you only need one phone line, even if both users want to browse the Web simultaneously. There's no sound support, so you really do have to use a 'dumb' terminal.

Buddy would be quite useful if you're looking to get a second PC for the home or office but don't have the money for the system you want. Look out for the new Buddy release in the near future, which will be a PCI card and should be a better performer.