Review Archive

Results 1 to 25 of 67.

Ultra Motors A2B Metro electric bike
A2B via fun city 30 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
Eye-catching design, comfortable ride, decent mileage, respectable speeds

The Bad
Weight, price

Verdict
Expensive, but you can't deny the great looks and the impressive performance
Apple Time Capsule 802.11n Wi-Fi Hard Drive 2009
Backup and connect in one box 30 April 2009 9:00 GMT

The Good
Basic setup simple, Time Machine, Windows PC support

The Bad
Can take a while to route out all the options, gets pretty hot, no physical access to drive, expensive

Verdict
A simple and convenient solution that will cater for the majority of users, supplying both backup and a wireless network hub in one tidy package
Jura ENA5 coffee machine
Perfect bean-to-cup coffee? 29 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Superb looks, flawless espresso, quick and easy to use

The Bad
Fiddly milk frother, expensive

Verdict
We can’t justify the price, but it is beautiful, easy to use and produces a cracking cup of coffee
Etymotic/ACS hf2 custom fit headphones
Will these fit you like a glove? 29 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
You won't hear anything other than the music you are playing, comfortable, fitting process easy

The Bad
Take a bit of getting used to putting them in, the standard clear design shows ear wax

Verdict
These headphones are amazing, amazing in that they are comfortable; there is little or no movement making them ideal for runners, and they sound great
Medion Akoya E2005 D desktop PC
Does this budget nettop impress? 29 April 2009 9:00 GMT

The Good
Price, DVD burner, audio out options

The Bad
Poor keyboard and mouse, disk and fan noise

Verdict
Adding a DVD player to the reasonable performance of a netbook, this should suit a great number of users who are only after basic online and office tasks
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - Xbox 360
Can Riddick stand the test of time? 28 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Butcher Bay is brilliant, truly brutal, absolutely fantastic aesthetics

The Bad
Far too much "action", poor multiplayer

Verdict
Butcher Bay is still as brilliant as ever, but the new episode is quite as true a classic
Canon IXUS 990 IS digital camera
Can this comprehensive compact deliver? 28 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
LCD screen is great, good zoom

The Bad
Dial on rear a bit fiddly, expensive

Verdict
A great compact digital camera, but it’s pricey and only for those who really need a smaller camera. It does have a good feature set however
Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray player
BD-Live and Wi-Fi on a budget player? 28 April 2009 9:03 GMT

The Good
BD-Live, Wi-Fi possibilities, DivX playback, USB hubs

The Bad
Wi-Fi dongle is a £50 upgrade, no home networking

Verdict
BD-Live is a bit messy and the Wireless dongle costs more than it should, but the BD-P1600 gives a good picture performance
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 notebook
Does the Mini 10 hit the spot? 27 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Size, outstanding keyboard, great all-round package

The Bad
Very little, no VGA-port

Verdict
A fantastic keyboard, good quality and a sensible design make this an appealing package. Battery life isn’t overly great, however
Breville Hot Cup
Will this make you a proper cuppa? 27 April 2009 13:24 GMT

The Good
Boiling water on tap, energy saving, ideal for small offices or tea addicts

The Bad
Clunky design, noisy pump and only dispenses 250ml measures

Verdict
A great idea that will save you energy, water and time, but it isn’t very practical if you need water for cooking.
Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller Premiere Edition - PS3
The ultimate Guitar Hero accessory? 27 April 2009 8:30 GMT

The Good
Stunning build quality, fantastic strum bar

The Bad
Lacking the clicks is a big miss at first

Verdict
The price may be huge, but you certainly get a whole heap of product for your cash. For Guitar Hero fanatics, this is a must
EA Sports Active - Nintendo Wii - First Look
Ready to sweat? 24 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Easy to get in to, will focus you on doing exercise, calorie data helpful, created by fitness professionals

The Bad
Strong exercise focus means little time for fun, will have to look like a dork in your living room

Verdict
EA Sports Active does what it sets out to do which is getting you to be active in your living room and feel good about it
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) - Blu-ray
Should you opt for the original over the remake? 24 April 2009 14:30 GMT

The Good
A classic tension builder, plenty of extras, clean print, great sound

The Bad
Slow, black and white, 4:3 ratio

Verdict
As for the Blu-ray experience - it's a good one with plenty on offer for the fan
The Boston Strangler: The Untold Story - DVD
Killer thriller? 24 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
The odd unintended laugh

The Bad
Where do I start?

Verdict
Flat, unengaging and little more than a TV movie, this is not one that can be recommended on any level
Sennheiser CX 380 Sport II headphones
Will these see you round the Marathon? 24 April 2009 9:00 GMT

The Good
Protection against the elements, secure, comfortable fit, impressive all-round performance

The Bad
Lengthy cable a little untidy, colour may not appeal to all

Verdict
The CX 380 Sport II are tough and versatile enough to appeal to sporting types and audiophiles alike
Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Edition mobile phone
Touchscreen? Slider? We find out 23 April 2009 19:00 GMT

The Good
Great build quality and looks, HSDPA, good media file support, GPS, camera surprisingly good, widgets

The Bad
Sometimes slow to respond, browser experience seems a little bloated, menus not the most intuitive, lacks Wi-Fi

Verdict
For those who love Samsung and want the reassurance of a keypad and the thrill of a full touch device, then this is a hot little number.
Roxio Toast 10 Titanium Pro - Mac
The ultimate burning solution? 23 April 2009 12:30 GMT

The Good
Feature rich, web video support, dedicated streaming application and conversion, improved Blu-ray and AVCHD support/burning, easy to use

The Bad
DivX and HD-DVD burning options removed, Intel or G5 processor required for HD encoding

Verdict
Toast 10 Titanium and the slightly pricier Pro version tested here update Roxio’s famed burning software for the Mac. There are new features aplenty and improvements over Toast 9. The must have burning software for the Mac, just got more desirable
Asus S121 notebook
Light in size, large in capacity, luxurious in looks 23 April 2009 9:00 GMT

The Good
512GB SSD, stylish design, slim form factor, Express Gate

The Bad
Battery life not as great as specified, but it is a prototype

Verdict
A slim stylish netbook, with a decent capacity for once and a screen size that can challenge laptops for usefulness
Plantronics Audio 655 headset
Will this bring your PC audio to life? 22 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Comfortable, good sound quality, adjustability of mic, volume controls on headset, price

The Bad
USB only, lacks external noise isolation

Verdict
If you are looking for a headset to take care of your audio and VoIP needs, that not only delivers great results but is also good value for money, then the Plantronics .Audio 655 come highly recommended.
Marmitek Connect410 HDMI switcher
Switch and save with this HDMI hub extraordinaire 22 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
Simple, great build quality, smaller enough to hide

The Bad
Introduces yet another remote control to your living room

Verdict
Simple and effective, its great build quality and inclusion of a very high quality HDMI cable helps make this one of the best value around
Olympus E-620 DSLR camera
An entry-level enthusiast DSLR? 22 April 2009 9:47 GMT

The Good
Great image quality, good handling, Super Control Panel, comprehensive and creative feature set, customisability, good dust reduction system

The Bad
Small viewfinder is slightly blurry, many complex features means complexity of set up (AF adjustment for example)

Verdict
A cracking little camera that combines the majority of the high-end kit of the E-30 with the compactness of the E-420 and E-520 rolled into an easy to use body that will not break the bank
Shure SE115 in-ear headphones
Will these immerse you in sound? 21 April 2009 16:00 GMT

The Good
Noise cancellation, comfortable, build quality

The Bad
Bass not as meaty as we'd like

Verdict
Better suited to some types of music, it is worth looking at your options before parting with your cash
Roberts iDream DAB iPod clock radio
Can this wake you up in style? 21 April 2009 12:00 GMT

The Good
DAB, iPod dock, FM radio

The Bad
Design, ease of use, colour scheme

Verdict
We expect more from Roberts and this clearly isn't them on form
Sharp LC-46DH77E television
Sharp crosses the thin green line 21 April 2009 9:00 GMT

The Good
Strong colours, excellent onscreen menus, very involving Blu-ray picture

The Bad
Some blur and noise, weak audio

Verdict
You won’t find many bells and whistles here, but if you’re after a monster screen to pair with a Blu-ray player there’s few LCD TVs of this size around that give a cinematic treatment to HD sources
Tweetie - Mac
Can this make your Twitter life even slicker? 20 April 2009 20:48 GMT

The Good
Easy to use, multiple account support, doesn't run power/memory hungry Adobe Air, upload images by dragging them, shorten URLs within app

The Bad
No real notification option, single column view only

Verdict
From our play so far it looks to be a killer app for the Twitter user that is interested enough to download an app, but not interested enough to be a TweetDeck power user