http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/ PC Pro labs en-gb Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:43:05 +0100 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:43:05 +0100 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 site.editor@pcpro.co.uk webmaster@pcpro.co.uk http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/168/inkjets-all-in-ones/products.html Inkjet printing has been around, in one form or other, for over 20 years - and it's still going strong. Today's inkjets offer print speeds and image quality beyond our wildest dreams back then, and do so at prices as low as a staggering £22. Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/168/mini-pcs/products.html It may be an awful cliché but the best things do, sometimes, come in small packages. Take the nine PCs in this month's group test, for instance. They boast desktop-rivalling levels of performance, but manage to squeeze it all into some of the tiniest cases we've ever seen - some are so small and light, you can even carry them around in a bag as you would a laptop. Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/167/bargain-laptops/products.html They say the credit crunch is already biting, but we've got some excellent news: in the land of the laptop, prices have plummeted, performance has caught up with desk-based counterparts, and you can now pick up a finely equipped machine for less than a cross-continent flight. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/167/pocket-digital-camcorders/products.html High definition is no longer the exclusive domain of blockbuster movies and the latest television series - you can now capture clips in full HD at home, with equipment small enough to drop into a jacket pocket. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/167/wireless-n-routers/products.html Wireless networking has been adopted incredibly quickly in the past few years. With the widespread take-up of broadband and an increasing shift from desktop PCs towards laptops in the home, it's been a natural progression. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/166/20in-tfts/products.html After putting this month's selection of TFTs through their paces, the writing's on the wall for smaller monitors. A 17in or even 19in monitor now costs barely less than a decent 20in widescreen, and with some 24in models costing little more than £200 there's never been a better time to expand your desktop. Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/166/499-pcs/products.html There's no need to spend a fortune to get a brilliant PC any more. Blistering power and superb peripherals can be had for less than £500 these days, blowing away the stereotype that cheaper machines are sluggish and slow. Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/165/gps-devices/products.html It wasn't too long ago that GPS devices were restricted to luxury cars, yachts and mountaineering expeditions. But in the last few years they've leapt from being expensive luxuries to affordable commodity devices. Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/165/motherboards/products.html When we talk about a computer's specifications, we tend to focus on its components - the CPU, graphics card, RAM and hard disks. But if you're building a PC, there's another fundamental component you can't neglect: Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/165/300-laptops/products.html Once upon a time, trying to buy a laptop with £300 in your pocket wouldn't have left you many options. If you didn't want to buy second-hand, this tight a budget would have forced you to consider a cheap desktop PC instead. Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/164/business-pcs/products.html Last month's business laptops Labs may have seen your office decked out with fancy new mobile kit, but there's still more value to be found in the trusty desktop PC. True, it can't be packed in a bag and taken out of the office (although with a few of these tiny chassis that isn't entirely unfeasible), but for sheer power and security a desktop is hard to beat. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/164/digital-photo-frames/products.html In a world where smartphones, HDTVs and ultraportable laptops grab many of the headlines, you may be surprised to hear that digital photo frames are currently among the biggest-selling electrical products. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/163/business-laptops/products.html Business laptops have it tough. Passed from desk to desk, employee to employee and unceremoniously shunted in and out of bags on a regular basis, the average business laptop has to be strong, sturdy, reliable and keenly priced if it's to succeed. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/163/graphics-cards/products.html Until recently, the graphics card market was a bit of a one-horse race, but the past few frenzied months have blown things wide open again. The unveiling of ATi's dual-processor Radeon HD 3870 X2 has given Nvidia's GeForce 8800 series cards some much-needed competition at the enthusiast end, while the battle for the mid-range is more competitive now than at any time in recent memory. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/162/business-projectors/products.html A projector is one of those peripherals that's either regarded with great desire or apathy. At home, it's responsible for movie displays at a size most plasma and LCD owners can only dream of. At work, it's responsible for the less exciting task of displaying presentations in meetings. Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/162/external-hard-disks/products.html If you've been a computer user for any length of time, you'll know the agony of running out of hard disk space. We're all constantly acquiring and creating data, and no matter how assiduously you clear out old and unwanted files, sooner or later you inevitably reach that fell point where the disk is full and there's nothing left you can bear to delete. Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/162/luxury-pound599-pcs/products.html Buying a PC these days is more than just getting the right processor, graphics card, hard disk and memory. Even with a relatively low budget of £599, it's perfectly possible to select components and peripherals that not only do the job, but do it with comfort, quality and style. Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/161/laser-printer-megatest---business-laser-printers/products.html When it comes to getting real work done, there's still nothing to compete with a laser printer's combination of quality, speed and economy. And while the past decade has seen laser technology evolve only gradually by contrast with the regular generational leaps seen in other areas of consumer technology, today's lasers offer a remarkable range of capabilities. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/161/laser-printer-megatest---colour-laser-printers/products.html When it comes to getting real work done, there's still nothing to compete with a laser printer's combination of quality, speed and economy. And while the past decade has seen laser technology evolve only gradually by contrast with the regular generational leaps seen in other areas of consumer technology, today's lasers offer a remarkable range of capabilities. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/161/laser-printer-megatest---mono-laser-printers/products.html When it comes to getting real work done, there's still nothing to compete with a laser printer's combination of quality, speed and economy. And while the past decade has seen laser technology evolve only gradually by contrast with the regular generational leaps seen in other areas of consumer technology, today's lasers offer a remarkable range of capabilities. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000