Stephen Patrick Reviews Archive

News from Stephen Patrick

Results 126 to 150 of 511.

Toshiba Satellite A300-177 notebook
Does the gloss take the shine off the price? 26 May 2008 12:30 GMT

The Good
Looks good, great price, good performance

The Bad
Attracts fingerprints

Verdict
A great machine for the price but the high-gloss finish, while looking great, will soon annoy the average user

Price
£499
Kensington SlimBlade Presenter Mouse
Giving presentations on the move? 23 May 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Nice design, set-up is easy

The Bad
Can't recharge batteries, overly sensitive

Verdict
Combining a notebook mouse and presentation tool in one is a novel and space-saving approach that works surprisingly well

Price
£32
Sony DVP-FX850 portable DVD player
Want to watch movies on the move? 22 May 2008 12:30 GMT

The Good
Great screen, decent battery life

The Bad
Heavy, doesn't support all formats

Verdict
While not without its flaws, the image quality is fantastic and it's easy to use, making this a great choice

Price
£248.99
Norton Ghost 14.0 - PC
Will this solve your backup problems? 22 May 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Works well

The Bad
Can be tricky to use

Verdict
The core backup tools work well but the new features won’t tempt sole-users to upgrade any time soon

Price
£39.99
SanDisk Sansa View MP3 player
Audiovisual loveliness at a competitive price 20 May 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Plenty of storage, great screen

The Bad
Long, bulky, slow software

Verdict
Larger and heavier than its rivals, this device wins points for screen clarity and it's great price

Price
£125
Acer Extensa 5620 notebook
Bargain basement or bit of a steal? 19 May 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Solid design, nice keyboard

The Bad
Design is getting old, poor graphics

Verdict
Originally designed for business use, the notebook offers plenty of power for minimum spend

Price
£399
AVG Internet Security 8 - PC
Will this keep your PC safe online? 15 May 2008 12:00 GMT

The Good
Easy to use, solid AV tools

The Bad
Slow to scan

Verdict
The improvements all make sense and the new interface is slick but it’s not the fastest scanning software on the market

Price
£39.99
Dicota BacPac Element rucksack
Will this protect your notebook in the great outdoors? 13 May 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Separate notebook sleeve, tough design

The Bad
Only one compartment

Verdict
A hardwearing design that makes light work of even the heaviest of loads

Price
£46
Acer Aspire 6920G-603G25Bn notebook
Does the Gemstone Blue deliver? 12 May 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Great screen, full HD, Blu-ray

The Bad
Big, the media buttons aren't as useful as they look

Verdict
Acer has put together an impressive multimedia notebook but the design won't suit everyone

Price
£899
Buffalo Super High Speed USB Flash Type R
Need top-end memory on the go? 9 May 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Big capacity, good software, fast transfer rates

The Bad
Pricey

Verdict
Ignore the price, this is a fast and reliable drive with plenty of space – pity it's physically large too

Price
£170
Verbatim External Hard Drive
Straight from the storage stalwarts 7 May 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Compact, fast, good value

The Bad
Needs mains power

Verdict
It has a nice design that is simple and compact and the cost per GB makes this a great purchase

Price
£70
Serif WebPlus X2 - PC
Website creation made easy? 6 May 2008 9:22 GMT

The Good
Easy, plenty of features and resources

The Bad
Site content is quite static

Verdict
A great package for those needing a quick and simply website but it’s not intended for professional and business use

Price
£59.99
Asus M70SA notebook
Is this the powerhouse you've been looking for? 5 May 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Plenty of storage, powerful, great to use

The Bad
Pricey

Verdict
An amazing design and a powerful specification make this one of the best desktop replacement notebooks we've ever seen

Price
£1400
LG DP271 Portable DVD player
A good budget choice for movies on the move? 2 May 2008 12:10 GMT

The Good
Cheap, plenty of extras

The Bad
Cheap, doesn't support a wide range of formats

Verdict
If you're looking to simply play DVDs this player is fine but anything more complicated and you'll find this a poor buy

Price
£100
Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Headset
The ultimate gaming headset? 1 May 2008 12:00 GMT

The Good
Six drivers, good sized cans, good sound

The Bad
Quite cheap plastic

Verdict
The plastic used is a little on the cheap side but the overall sound quality more than makes up for it

Price
£69.99
Brenthaven MetroLite II notebook case
Want to carry your lappie in style? 30 April 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Compact, neat design, strong

The Bad
May not fit all your stuff, poor strap

Verdict
This carry case is great if you simply want to commute with your laptop as it's compact design prohibits you carrying too much extra stuff around

Price
£55
Webroot Parental Controls - PC
Want to protect your kids online? 29 April 2008 12:00 GMT

The Good
Easy to manage, decent level of control

The Bad
Only 1 year of updates

Verdict
If you’ve tried talking to your children about PC responsibility and failed to convince them, this is a good fail-safe for locking it down and keeping them out

Price
£24.99
Samsung P200 laptop
Does this Samsung notebook impress? 28 April 2008 9:00 GMT

The Good
Great spec for the price, nice keyboard

The Bad
Average display

Verdict
A lightweight notebook with an impressive keyboard and battery life at a great price

Price
£599
Family Tree Heritage 7 - PC
Will this track down your ancestors? 24 April 2008 14:30 GMT

The Good
Easy to use, online collaborative features

The Bad
US centric, interface is a little plain

Verdict
It’s a great tool for the first-time genealogist with plenty of online support, but the interface feels a little basic at times

Price
£25
iRiver E100 MP3 player
Will this replace your iPod? 23 April 2008 15:00 GMT

The Good
Great audio playback, easy to use

The Bad
Poor screen, plastic look to it

Verdict
While not the most expensive of MP3 players, the E100 has a satisfactory screen for the price and a sound quality well above average

Price
£100
SanDisk microSDHC with MobileMate Micro Reader
Transferring phone data to your PC? Read on 23 April 2008 12:00 GMT

The Good
Small, quick, easy to use

The Bad
Can be awkward to use, only works with SDHC devices

Verdict
If you don’t have Bluetooth on your PC, this is a great way of sharing the data from your phone

Price
£28
TrekStor DataStation microdisk external hard drive
Do you need data on the move? 22 April 2008 17:00 GMT

The Good
Small, easy to use

The Bad
Not the fastest external drive

Verdict
It is small enough to fit in your pocket and packs in 80GB of space, which is great for the price

Price
£120
AgfaPhoto AF5070M BT
Will Bluetooth add magic to this photo frame? 21 April 2008 16:00 GMT

The Good
Bluetooth, good resolution

The Bad
Only runs on mains power

Verdict
Image quality is more than acceptable but it is the addition of Bluetooth that makes this frame stand out

Price
£110
Lenovo ThinkPad X300 notebook
Do you want high-end ultraportability? 21 April 2008 8:45 GMT

The Good
Light, great keyboard, plenty of features

The Bad
Legacy ports, expensive

Verdict
If you can afford it, this is truly one of the best ultraportable machines on the market, as the battery life and the keyboard make it a pleasure to use

Price
£2140
GEAR4 World Tour charger
The travel charging solution? 17 April 2008 13:00 GMT

The Good
Neat design, compact

The Bad
Lacks variety

Verdict
If you own an iPod this is a great gizmo for charging on the move but it is a little limited

Price
£18