Despite recent fluctuations in the Aussie dollar, the general decline in component prices means you can still get pretty decent value, even if you've only got $1,000 to spend. Among the systems we saw this month came 23in widescreen monitors, DirectX 11 gaming and the latest Intel and AMD processors. Not every system impressed, so you still need to shop ...

Outlook is a great program for managing your working day. It will handle everything from email to your to-do list and calendar. What's difficult to do is to find all the information you have when you need it. The Outiook addin Xobni solves this problem, making all your information discoverable in an easy-to-use interface. You might be surprised at just ...

HomeGroups make light work of sharing files and printers when all your computers use Windows 7, but what if your home network includes computers running XP or Vista? In that case, you'll need to get your hands dirty fiddling with your network settings._THE SAME WORKGROUPTo share files between computers, all the computers must share the same workgroup name. If you're ...

Newcomers to genealogy often ask whether they should buy a computer program to 'do' their family history for them. Despite the advances in computer technology, there's no magic program that will automatically search your family tree and send it back to you, ready to distribute to family members. However, there are hundreds of family history software packages that will help ...

Change is coming to the LCD monitor market. Much as it has with LCD TVs, LED backlights are starting to be used more widely in new LCD monitors, which can often result in markedly better pictures; however, this isn't always the case, as we found this month. Also new are more wallet-friendly IPS screens, which often still trump LED models ...

BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 PCALSO ON PS3, XBOX 360 / RRP $89.95 / WEB www.battlefield.comThe guys at EA may have taken their sweet time, but Bad Company 2 is here at last and is actually the best edition since the glorious Battlefield 2. While there's been simplification in some areas, the brilliance of the core mechanic remains and is backed ...

Ubuntu developer Canonical has been planning some major changes to the way its popular Linux operating system works, looks and feels, and many of those changes have appeared in the new Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.First off, if you haven't tried Ubuntu yet, now is a great time because 10.04 is an LTS version, which stands for long-term support. Canonical will provide ...

If you'd like to keep your computer clean and operating at its best then Ashampoo WnOptimizer 6 is a must-have tool. This version of WinOptimizer is compatible with Window 7 as well as the 32- and 64-bit versions of Vista. It also comes with some handy new tools for organising your computer and protecting your privacy.The tools in WinOptimizer can ...

If s taken a while, but the DirectX (DX) 11 graphics card market is finally starting to fill out, with Nvidia having just launched its mid-range GTX 465. This month, we got our hands on all the DX11 cards commonly available to help you choose the best gaming option for your budget._BUDGET CARDS UNDER $ 2 00At under $200, ATI ...

It's long been a point of contention that many overseas ISPs offer unlimited broadband plans, while here in Australia our broadband plans have been heavily capped. Thankfully, we're seeing some signs of improvement, with new broadband plans offering unlimited or significantly larger data allowances. And while many of these plans aren't cheap, some are now surprisingly affordable. So what are ...

SONIQ QPB302BSTREET PRICE $96 CONTACT SONIQ PHONE 1300 765 663 WEB www.soniqav.comWith the QPB302B, Blu-ray players have officially become dirt cheap. At press time, this unit was selling for $96 at JB Hi-Fi, officially making it the cheapest Blu-ray player we've seen to date, and it puts Blu-ray playback within reach of just about everyone. Blu-ray isn't all you get ...

"There's a staggering number of Australians being in having their computers infected at the moment, up to 20,000, uh, can regularly be getting infected by these spams, or scams, that come through, the portal." - Senator Stephen Conroy."(If) you were doing a banking transaction, or transmitting personal information, they could have hoovered it up, sucked it up into their machine." ...

If you're building a RAID setup using Western Digital (WD) hard drives, make sure you buy the drives all at the same time and beware of using desktop Caviar Green models. That's what we've discovered, particularly if you're using the 1TB models.Our interest was sparked by a reader email claiming WD's popular EA-series drives aren't RAID compatible. Sure enough, checking ...

BitTorrent isn't just for PCs anymore. It has well and truly made its way into the mobile space. Right now you can get applications that will download torrents directly to your mobile phone's memory card. There are other applications that allow you to use your mobile to remote control the BitTorrent client on your home PC, so downloads will be ...

Projector prices are falling, with even XGA (1,024 x 768-pixel) models now available for well under $ 1,000. A good 1080p projector for home cinema use will still cost you around $2,500, but don't expect bright images - most offer low-output lamps to keep fan noise to a minimum. We even thought that one unit we looked at wasn't bright ...

BOP IT DOWNLOADAGES FROM EIGHT YEARS / PRICE $49.95 / CONTACT HASBRO PHONE 1300 138 697 / WEB www.hasbro.com.auBop It has been around for a while, but this new incarnation adds more functionality to the already popular toy: you can record your own voice, and download extra beats and sound from the web (www.playbopit.com). Bop It is a great game ...

Web hosting remains the most high-profile example of how outsourcing IT has become a practical option not just for large enterprises, but for the smallest of businesses. While you could set up your own server for your site, that's not a fiscally sensible choice when the cost of hosting with an external provider will generally be less than the most ...

When you need to share a document with others, make sure you use a format they can easily access. One format that meets this criteria is the PDF (Portable Document Format) from Adobe. Adobe provides Adobe Reader as a free download that anyone can use to open and view a .pdf file. novaPDF Lite 7.0 is a printer driver you ...

RED DEAD REDEMPTION ALSO ON PS3 / RRP $109.95 / WEB www.rockstargames.comWith Red Dead Redemption (RDR), Rockstar Games has done for westerns what it did for crime with the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games: created an expansive, compelling tribute that has effectively redefined the genre. While RDR could uncharitably be called 'GTATV with horses' (both games use the same RAGE ...

RIPPING & BURNINGConverting .wtv filesI tried to convert some of the files recorded by Windows Media Center on my computer running Windows Vista Home Premium 66-bit, but it's a no-go. A 30-minute clip shows up as 1,207 minutes. When I try to make a DVD, I get the error message: "ffmpeg.exe has stopped working". Am I doing something wrong or ...

Thanks to Reckon, this month's letter of the month prize winner will receive a QuickBooks Plus 2010/11 QB' Series annual licence valued at $319. This accounting software will help you manage your business's inventory and track payroll. More than 100 different reports and graphs can be generated to outline detailed financial information.MP Mode for Windows 7Sender: Anthony Khoo / Adelaide, ...

BORDERS KOBORRP $199 /CONTACT BORDERS/ PHONE 1300 842 802 / WEB www.borders.com.auThe new Kobo ebook reader is one part of Borders' ereading strategy. At a device level, it's a $199,6in display e-ink reader with 1GB of onboard storage and a lot of similarities to Amazon's Kindle. It's obviously cheaper and the trade-off with that is there's no provided keyboard, the ...

If you want to try Windows 7 while keeping your existing installation of XP or Vista, you can install Windows 7 to dual-boot with your existing installation of XP or Vista.Dual-booting has the disadvantage that you can't have both Windows 7 and XP or Vista running at the same time. However, compared to virtualisation, which requires you to share your ...

In recent versions of Dreamweaver the concept of a layer on a web page has been replaced by an absolutely positioned element called an AP DIV .We'll show you how to use these objects to create interesting effects on your web pages.On a new HTML page, add a background image by selecting Window-> 'CSS Styles' and clicking the Style entry ...

Every business needs to keep track of its finances to record what comes in and goes out, and to meet government requirements such as tax returns and BAS. You'll find the one-year licence for B-free for Accountants Plus on this month's cover DVD. Although it's aimed at accountants, the package includes a fully working version of B-free Small Business, so ...