Dishonored (PC)

7/10
Dishonored was released with quite a lot of hype. On face value it looked and certainly appeared a game changer with something that looked appealing and something that promised to play a little different. The story is nothing too complex, with you (Corvo) a personal guard being framed for the assassination of the Empress.

From there, her daughter Emily is kidnapped and you have to set out in retrieving her at the dying Empresses wished whilst navigating through missions and side quests. Dunwall in which the game is set, was a very interesting and unique setting. The economy mostly is greased by the whaling industry, but as bad times loom there is a growing rat infestation problem together with local gangs jostling for power. It seems the Empress and Corvo have been double crossed and the power struggle is ensuing amongst prominent leaders.

The actual game itself was a little bit of a let down to be frank. The stealth isn't implemented too hotly in order for the player to play the game in the way it tells you is best (ie to keep undercover with minimal deaths). The game just doesn't allow the player to continually take this option, so what you have a series of massacres with multiple guard deaths.

The story is a little flat and characters are somewhat easily forgotten. There's Emily and the boat man, with all other characters just blending in the background. There are numerous ways to kill your targets and there are various paths to choose from within the game at any one time. It's not open world, but the game allows for diversity.

The problem I had was that I just couldn't be drawn in enough in either the story or the game play. The game for me involved switching between blink, the heart and my crossbow with sleeping darts which becomes frustrating. There are various magical powers to learn and perfect but I just didn't feel either engrossed enough in the game or felt the necessity to use them. So generally, a chance missed but nevertheless a solid 7/10 with some excellent graphics thrown in.

Reaper AMD Bulldozer 4.2Ghz - FreshTech Solutions Ltd - £239.66

9/10
If you want some value for money with a Christmas Gaming PC purchase then this offer from FreshTech Solutions Ltd may be up your street. At £239.66 you have the basic elements in place apart from the OS and GPU which I already bought separately. My personal spec was the Reaper as shown, combined with my copy of Windows 7 64-bit and the Sapphire HD 7750 GPU.

The computer came within the 3-5 delivery time specified. The case is an understated black with a mesh like front grill. It's nothing spectacular but it feels solid and looks decent. Here are the other specs -

Case Built In	CIT Reaper Black Mesh fronted Case with Rear 80mm Exhaust Fan
Motherboard Included	Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3
CPU Type	AMD FX Quad Core
CPU Model	AMD Bulldozer FX 4170 4.2ghz Quad Core 8mb Cache
CPU Socket	AMD AM3 / AM3+
CPU Clock Speed	4.2 Ghz
Memory / Kit Size	8gb DDR3 1600mhz Crucial Ballistix Sport
Hard Drive Size	1tb Sata Hard Drive
Graphics Card	Onboard Graphics
PSU Size	500 Watt Branded Power Supply
Operating System	No Operating System
Rear Panel Connections	1x DVI Port
Front / Top Case Ports	2x USB 2.0 Ports
Features	Front Audio Ports
Warranty	1 Year Collect and Return Warranty
Also Includes	Free 60 Day Trial Norton Internet Security ( OEM )
Model Number	GigaN68PFX4170v11REA

As mentioned, the Sapphire HD 7750 was added as the graphics card. The result is a very nice and nimble gaming rig. If you're the sort of person that amps everything to ultra and wants to get every last drop of juice out of the system, then this system isn't for you. But the default clock setting of 4.2Ghz combined with the rest of the setup ensures that you have a very decent gaming rig for the price. Games tested have been Crysis 2, Dishonored, Witcher 2, Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 and FIFA 13. All games had absolutely no issue in the graphical department. Added to that is the huge 1TB hard drive space and 8gb of DDR3 1600mhz RAM and what you have is a real deal.

Here is the link to the website -
http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/custom-built-computers/new-computers-chosen-by-us-for-you/reaper-amd-bulldozer-fx-4170-4-2ghz-desktop-pc-1tb-hdd-8gb-ddr3-dvd-writer.html

Dragons Age - Origins (PS3)

6/10
I haven't been one for RPG's over the years but lately I've been trying to get into them. I heard a lot of great things from some quarters about this game, so tried it in anticipation. Firstly the graphics aren't great. Secondly, the combat system isn't great. You can take control over your player and others in your party assigning tactics and moves.

But the game is spent micro-managing everything in the pause screen it seems, tweaking this and that, only to see your character involved in unsatisfactory combat that just doesn't seem engaging. The characters though are engaging and so to the plot and story combined with a very good dialogue path. There's also plenty of gore on offer which adds to the realism.  All in all a game which is good occasionally but is just too frustrating and ultimately a little boring.

Kingdoms of Amular (PS3)

6/10
Kingdoms of Amular splits opinion when talking about aesthetics.  The colour palette is more vibrant and colourful than the grainy realistic palettes of other titles. But, I think it's a welcome change in this game as it looks beautiful and fantastical inter-twined with the type of story. The combat system is also very good. You have a plethora of weapons, potions and magic to use also to give the player enough variety.

Where the game falls completely flat is the sense of being generically mundane. Eventually you start seeing the same landscapes (not in terms of colour which I stress again is wonderful) but the layout of villages and cities. I swear, by around a few hours in I thought I had serious deja-vu on entering one town, which looked exactly like the previous three towns I had visited. I wasn't compelled by the story either or the characters themselves.  It's this department that the game takes a critical hit and after prolonged gaming I just wasn't drawn into the world at all.

Dark Souls - Prepare to Die Edition (PC)

3/10

The Dark Souls PC port is an abomination. Even with the mouse fixes, mods and graphic enhancements (which is a hit or miss affair in its own right) the game still plays and feels clunky with the mouse sensitivity and general movements feeling awful. Also trying to map keys and buttons is a drama in itself. Stick to the PS3 version. With the graphical element introduced though it at least looks much better.  But the proof of the pudding is in the gameplay which is rendered almost impossible by jerky controls and the feeling of just not being in control.

Dark Souls - Prepare to Die (2012) (PS3)

This game could have been really something.  Atmospherics, combat engine, immersion, it's all there.  But the monotony of doing the same thing over and over just to get to the bosses left me frustrated and in the end angry at the game.  Bought it, and traded it within three days.  Within those days I had some of the best 'one off' moments in gaming ever.  If only the bonfires were right before end of level baddies!

BUT, the fact that everything gets re-spawned after using the fires and then muddling through the same thing time after time only for the boss to hit you with one almighty blow was just too much in the end.  But for this (which is massive) I'd have given this game a perfect 6 stars; as it is it's an average 3.

LA Noire (2011) (PS3)

I had high hopes for LA Noire, it looked the type of game that I have been craving for years.  Brought up on the point and click adventure games on the PC like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Monkey Island, LA Noire I figured would give me a cinematic experience combined with tight investigative gameplay.  In short, this was going to be a masterpiece.  Alas though, it is not, and I was left so disappointed at the chance missed. 

Quite honestly, after playing Uncharted 3 the game looked far worse graphically.  The enhanced facial technology kind of freaked me out as the models looked bland, almost mummified.  I couldn't get engrossed in the characters themselves and after four or five cases I had basically seen it and accomplished all the game had to offer.  The formula is quite simple; travel from A to B, walk around until the musical chimes (which denote clues), then just by trial and error, recover the clues.  In between this there is only so much arm/wallet/face exploring that you can stomach before the game starts to grind.  And grind quick it does.  There is little or no skill involved and the 'detective work' is done automatically by the officer you control.  It's so dis-engaging that I don't even know the officers name off hand after hours of gameplay.

Then we have the interrogation which is in fact a pointless lottery, which doesn't really matter anyway.  The game I suppose has to be applauded for being bold in it's gameplay choice and many will undoubtedly feel the vibe of the locations and get sucked into the gameplay.  For me, as a detective experience set in the 1940's and a game that I couldn't wait to play, I feel sorely let down.

Uncharted 3 - Drake's Deception (2011) (PS3)

Being the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games ever meant that it was no mean feat to accomplish something that would rank above and beyond its predecessor.  But Uncharted 3 did just that.  A simply stunning masterpiece in which our hero Nathan Drake (magnificently portrayed again by Nolan North http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_North) goes on a quest to trace the footprints of Sir Francis Drake uncovering questions over his journey commissioned by Royalty and unearthing terrors and mystery along the way.

The graphics are sublime.  Stunning.  The characters are real, alive and believable.  The main character Nathan Drake will surely go down as my favourite game character of all time along with his mentor Victor Sullivan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_McGonagle) and sidekick and estranged wife, Elena Fisher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Rose_(actress).  This game is the complete article in a gaming and cinematic package that oozes class and quality.  The locations are awesome and you'll be sucked into the story and genuinely feel for the characters plights.  Is the best single game ever?  For my money, it's a yes.  

Jaangle

Jaangle is an excellent music player/organiser.  Aesthetically very nice, very functional and very good sound quality.  As an overall product and the ease of use, Jaangle is Ascend IT Services music player/organiser of choice.

Oz Unity - Black Pearl 32 bit

An absolutely fantastic Linux OS, that fuses usability with aesthetics.  Stunning design, excellent effects.  A great range of apps to use straight away.  This particular version of Linux for me, is really good.  What holds Linux back in my use, is the lack of Nero like transcoding/burning app, a consistent media player that plays perfectly with my PS3 and the same issues with Silverlight and in using Sky Go.  If you don't have use for these things highlighted, then Oz Unity Black Pearl is excellent.

Windows 8 RTM - Review

Windows 8, Metro UI

"Windows 8 RTM is lightening quick at times; and just downright unresponsive and frustrating at others"

First off, let me just say that I have been really looking forward to testing this OS.  Not because it brings waves of enthusiasm and over-riding joy out of every pour in my body at the prospect of using Metro UI, but because the community is split well and truly down the middle on Windows 8.  Well maybe not even the middle, maybe 70-30....and it's not in the positive.

Windows 8 is likely to divide opinion even months after release with those in the 'power user' bracket complaining heavily that production will suffer and that it is a needless and pointless OS designed to bridge the PC and Smartphone market.  Many too will cry with howls of derision at the Duplo bricks feel and design of the OS.  It takes a while to get used to shall we say, both aesthetically and from a navigational perspective.

Windows 8 RTM is lightening quick at times; and just downright unresponsive and frustrating at others.  Installation was a breeze.  I have a primary disk with Windows 7 installed (it would be madness to upgrade and risk losing a stable OS), and I recently emptied my secondary drive of Linux after many disasters with Ubuntu, Xubuntu and Mint.  The installation speed was swift as can be expected and we were right into the lock screen which I got rid of as soon as I had the chance.  Now Windows 8 boots straight to my password screen.  From the password screen we have the Metro UI and the intial response of OMG soon evaporated after a days use.  It's now reasonably friendly and a quick way to reach all your constantly used apps and folders.

Boot times were lightening fast.  Really impressively so.  My Windows 7 running an AMD Athlon X2 takes 1m43s to ignite its first web page from the initial Windows logo appearance.  Windows 8 blows it out of the water taking a mere 50 seconds to boot into Chrome and load up my three default tabs.  Highly impressive.  It may just be me, but the interface and general graphics seem much more modern.  I cannot describe it but it feels swanky.

Now the big bug bear.  The Start Button.  I must confess, although I pin lots of things to the Pin Bar, I really didn't realise how much I use and rely on the Start Button in Windows 7 until it was gone.  You see, in Windows 7 everything is branched out so that anything can be accessible with just a click or two.  The Metro UI and the Windows 8 desktop changes all that.  The Start Button now is effectively the Metro UI screen.  Here you can pin things onto it and re-arrange the blocks as you please.  Default things like pictures, music and videos are all there as well as IE10 and other bits and pieces.

Navigation is now done through the Metro UI, the desktop (which is like Windows 7) and yes, here is the big change, shortcut keys.  If you have absolutely no interest in using shortcut keys or just refuse to use them on the premise that you have to distort your uncoordinated hands all round the keyboard, then Windows 8 will not be for you.  My reliance on Alt+F4 (to close applications), WinKey+Q (to open up search), WinKey+C (to open up 'Charms') and WinKey+Tab (to flick between desktop, Metro and all other apps and open pages) is now legendary at least in my own home.

"The shortcut keys will be a huge divider.  This is where the joining of desktop/laptop PC and Smartphone comes into play, and this is where a lot of the community will just say 'no thanks'!"

And here is the crux of the matter.  Windows 8 is essentially two operating systems stuck together.  For me anyway, you have the Metro UI to carry out your basic functions and provides quick navigation to the internet and the news and then the desktop; without a start button.  The shortcut keys will be a huge divider.  This is where the joining of desktop/laptop PC and Smartphone comes into play, and this is where a lot of the community will just say 'no thanks'!.

Aside from the obvious learning curve of the shortcut keys you have the corners of the screen which act as other means of navigation.  Moving the mouse to the top left of the screen provides you with a quick view of pages and apps that are open.  Moving the mouse to the bottom left reveals Start area or Metro UI.  So....the start button is there in kind, just not as revealing and present!  An issue many will find is moving the mouse not all the way to the bottom left and hitting the wrong app opening it all the time.  This is completely annoying.

One of the first things I did was to try and set up my GMail account with the Mail app present on the Metro screen.  Rather surprisingly, it worked.  Even more surprising was the People section which synced my contacts from GMail.  This was most encouraging.  Encouraging too that I could edit my notes section which I apply to client contacts through the People section in Metro.  I could just use GMail for everything in a Chrome tab, but the feel and satisfaction of the layout of the Mail and People app is rather nice.  Although I'm still undecided with regards to Mail as to whether I like or dislike my new mail being shown in bold at the top of the screen or whether the current way of manually moving up from the last read mail is better.  I certainly don't miss mails like before as I guess it forces you to read them all.

Pictures was a right pain and has to be improved.  I store all my pictures, music and videos on an external drive and I wanted to import folders from the external drive into the Pictures app.  Not only was the selection I wanted to move too big but they seemingly have to be moved into My Pictures when all I wanted is an app just to grab what I wanted and the folders that I wanted, not just selecting files.

I skipped on using IE10 as there are Flash security issues, but my choice of browser is Chrome anyway.  Chrome pages load fast, really fast.  But it is unresponsive at times as tabs and the browser itself locks and just doesn't work on times.  Another plus point in terms of speed and a negative in terms of stability.  On the second day of testing I also started to experience network connection drops, from an ethernet connection.  I had to keep manually repairing the network.  Also when I tried using Blogspot and Yola for web work, pages would hang on occasions and become unresponsive.

"If I sound a little harsh on Windows 8 then I may be misleading you.  I actually love the aesthetics, the speed and the freshness of it all.  I've even got to grips with the shortcut keys and corners.  But from a productive point of view, it may just be all too much for the normal user."

I also had a complete system error window popping up as the entire OS came to a juddering halt.  A reboot was required.  Users may also start to get annoyed and agitated at constantly having to go from one corner to the next and having tabs/apps/windows/bits and pieces flying all around the place.  You will, inevitably, get those moments after Alting, Window Keying, short cutting and apping and after several distortions of your hands across your keyboard come to a point where your head will go and you just grind to a brain freeze.  Normally a calm down period of up to thirty seconds is required for you to progress with your work.

If I sound a little harsh on Windows 8 then I may be misleading you.    I actually love the aesthetics, the speed and the freshness of it all.  I've even got to grips with the shortcut keys and corners.  But from a productive point of view, it may just be all too much for the normal user.  Going back to Windows 7 (because I just couldn't do any editing at one point with the crashing of Yola pages) felt like a nice warm pair of slippers.  But slippers are boring and dull aren't they, so therein lies the quandary for me.  Windows 7 seems sluggish in comparison, at least until it actually gets going.  I found myself looking for the app toggler where I could quickly and seamlessly flick between web pages and apps and documents.  But Windows 7 is stable, it's reliable.  The folks at M$ may well and truly iron out these issues for release from Windows 8.

My problem is, and this is the big question, do I really need Windows 8?  Apart from the gloss and the aesthetics, the unbelievable boot times and fresh approach, could I learn to love it and rely on it as an OS?  I'm not sure.  I'll definitely be switching back and forth until release, I may even use Windows 8 much more.  The upgrade price is also very generous too but Microsoft know that it has a battle on its hands to win this particular fight.  Talk of dumbing down the OS, of it being Vista II and just general outrage that an OS designed for the PC to get the best out of  a PC is being overshadowed by the Smartphone wars is always in comment boxes the web over.

I would love to give Windows 8 a solid five stars, I really would.  I think in a way it kind of deserves it.  But at the moment, there are just too many niggling issues that stop it from reaching its potential, that will hopefully be eradicated on release.  Whatever your opinion of Windows 8, it's a very bold move by M$ and is sure to go the full 12 rounds!

Nokia Lumia 920 review - Smartphone (Source : PC Pro)

By - Barry Collins PC Pro

 With a massive press launch in New York, Steve Ballmer turning up to lend his support, and a hell of a lot of ground to make up in the smartphone market, you might have expected Nokia to pull out something spectacular for its first Windows Phone 8 device. In truth, it hasn’t. There’s nothing like the jaw-dropping inclusion of the 41mp camera in the Nokia 808 PureView inside the Lumia 920. What there is, however, is a collection of superb features — some unique — which has put Nokia right back amongst the smartphone leaders once more.

Let’s start with the “PureView” camera. The branding briefly raised hopes that this slim unit would include the massive number of megapixels found in the 808. Alas, the leaks proved accurate: it boasts a run-of-the-mill 8mp sensor. But there’s still some extraordinary engineering going on here.

The entire camera housing is surrounded by springs, creating what Nokia calls a “floating lens”. This means that photos taken while the camera is shaken are remarkably blur-free, and that video taken while walking around is beautifully smooth. The stabilisation, coupled with what Nokia claims is the largest aperture of any smartphone camera (f2.0) means that photos taken in low light are actually keepers. Alas, the Nokia crew wouldn’t let us share any of the snaps with you — but we took several snaps in the dingier parts of the press demo room, and they were definitely a cut above what you’d normally expect from a smartphone.

Nokia’s also included a few software tricks. The “Blink Lens” takes a burst of photos of the same scene, so if someone walks into the back of one your photos, you can simply tap on them and remove the interloper. We couldn’t try this for ourselves, but if it works as well as it did in the demos, it’s a decent feature for casual snappers. Nokia’s also “borrowed” an idea from the Cinemagram app, allowing users to animate parts of still photos with video.

Wireless charging

The PureView includes a feature that we thought had died a death: wireless charging. This is based on the Qi standard, which charges devices by magnetic induction. Nokia has partnered with third-party manufacturers to create a selection of charging accessories, including a little charging pillow and speaker sets that can charge your phone while you listen to music.

We’re not convinced that people are going to pay through the nose for wireless charging accessories — the fact that you have to physically plant the phone on another device to charge it offers few advantages to simply plugging it into the wall. But if — and it’s a king-sized “if” — the charging technology is widely adopted by peripheral makers, it could be a worthwhile feature.

Music and Maps

The revamped Nokia Music service has much greater value — paradoxically because it’s free. The Spotify-like service allows users to stream unlimited music to their phones, and even download up to four playlists containing 50 songs each for offline listening. The service has all the major labels covered, and considering that Spotify users have to pay £10 per month to access the service on smartphones, it’s a feature that has genuine value.

The same could be said for Nokia Maps. With downloadable maps and live traffic data, it’s a cut above the free satnav bundled with Android phones, and a damned sight cheaper than paying for TomTom on an iPhone, although satnav will soon be integrated into iOS 6 — at what price, we don’t know.

Handset physics

The handset itself is solid, if unspectacular. The design is similar to the previous flagship — the Lumia 800 — but with a couple of key differences. There’s a generous 32GB of storage built into the phone, but there’s no SD card slot to expand on that storage. The screen size has been bumped from 3.7in to 4.5in, and the resolution has jumped from 800 x 480 to 1,280 x 768, which naturally gives the display a much finer look and helps show off the impressive photography. And that screen is IPS LCD, not OLED.

One exceedingly clever touch is the ability to operate the screen while wearing gloves — as Nokia’s Kevin Shields demonstrated in extravagant style…

The device is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, and even with the screen bristling with constantly updated live tiles, there isn’t even the merest suggestion of stutter as you scroll through the Start screen. We’ll wait until we have a full production unit in our hands before making any definitive judgement on performance, though. Likewise battery life, although with a 2,000mAh battery sealed into the case, there should be none of the battery problems that afflicted the Lumia 800 before the firmware update.

Good enough?

The killer question is whether the Lumia 920 is good enough to tempt people away from the iPhone or Android, and make Nokia and Microsoft a genuine third alternative? As we said at the top, there’s no killer feature that’s going to have people queuing up at stores at midnight.  There is, however, an ensemble of decent features, that together with a rapidly maturing operating system, mean that Nokia and Microsoft can reasonably claim to have caught up with their smartphone rivals. Although that might all change with the iPhone announcement due next week…

Two other factors are going to determine whether the Lumia 920 succeeds or fails. Price, on which Nokia churlishly refuses to be drawn, and app support. When the best third-party app Nokia can show off is an adapted version of Angry Birds, you know the pickings are slim. When Stephen Elop has a beer with Steve Ballmer tonight, he should be discussing how much money they’re going to throw at app developers to get this OS moving.

That said, we’re eagerly anticipating the arrival of the review unit of Nokia’s new handset, when it finally launches nearer Christmas. And it’s been a while since we’ve said that about a Nokia phone.

Read more: Nokia Lumia 920 review: first look | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2012/09/05/nokia-lumia-920-review-first-look/#ixzz25ffNSvCu

Review - AIMP3 (Music Player)

AIMP3
(Music Player)

AIMP3 is now the choice of Ascend after hearing it's fabulous sound quality.  All the basics are here for the normal user from playlists to visualizer to a whole host of other tweaking options.  Aesthetically excellent the player sits easily together with everything where it should be.  A multitude of options, plus high sound quality and stability combined with the lovely design finish make this my number choice.

Other sources and comments -
http://www.freewarefiles.com/review_6_73_28231.html
http://download.cnet.com/AIMP/3000-2139_4-10967793.html

The Battle of the Awesome phones - Galaxy Note v Galaxy S3

Here are the links to two mobile phone reviews, currently the beasts of the mobile world.  On the one hand, we have the Samsung Galaxy Note and on the other the Samsung Galaxy S3.  I have chosen CNET for consistency in product review.  The reviews are concise enough and detailed, however my personal opinions do not match the reviewers.  Currently, the Samsung Galaxy Note has a CNET rating of 3.5/5, which in short is a travesty.  The S3 fares much better, with a 4.5/5 vote.

However, scratch beneath the surface and look at the multitude of consumer reviews at the bottom of the page.  These are 'real world' opinions, the ones that matter and which give you the user, the best feedback on what it's like to use these phones in everyday life.  Judging by this criteria, currently, the S3 has an average rating of 4 (currently from 110 reviews), and the Galaxy Note 4.5 (from 63 reviews).

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-note-review-50004960/
versus
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-review-50006020/

I opted for the Galaxy Note, and I cannot say that I am disappointed.  Everything about this mobile oozes class.  The giant display is crystal clear, and can play videos at a canter.  The speed at which web pages load is excellent.  Navigation is simple, and yet there are just so many options and features inside.  This a great mobile for the business man and everyday person alike.  The only downside to it, if it is one, is the sheer size of the thing.  The aesthetically conscious ones may not like holding a phone of this size to their ears.  However, for me this is just an insignificant.  I simply cannot now imagine using anything smaller in terms of screen size.  It really is a mobile, computer, tablet, all rolled into one.  For me, phone calls are the least of my priorities when deciding to go with the Note.

Samsung Galaxy Note

Logitech K360 Keyboard

The Logitech K360 is an absolute delight of a keyboard.  I wanted something that resembled the new style MacBook keyboard layout, with the aesthetically pleasing design and the spacing between the keys for clumsy fingers.  The keyboard is extremely responsive although not as responsive as the MacBook feel.  Button presses are nice without having that top of the range feel of the higher end keyboards and Mac style keyboards.  Nevertheless, the space layout between the keys and the colour contrast of black keys on white background make typing at speed very enjoyable.  I find that I am able to touch type much better as well as the keyboard looking very funky.

The quick button controls on the top are all there with previous keyboard commands like PC shut down, windows lock, switch between monitor and projector and the usual short cut keys for documents and music are work satisfactorily.  

The design is gorgeous, the keyboard is compact but does have the side keypad for those wanting quick number typing, handy for those working on spreadsheets for example.  It is stylish and has quickly become my personal keyboard for long essay writing and reviews.  Ascend gives this maximum marks!

Logitech K360 Wireless Keyboard - 
Price - £12.99 to £19.99 (best Offer Dixons)

USB Network Adapters - TP Link v Belkin

TP Link TL-WN821N v Belkin F7D4101 v1

In my previous home, I used a TP Link network adapter to connect to the Internet as it was the only viable way to connect at the time.  Over the course of that year, I bought and sold many more TP Link adpaters to my own and others' satisfaction.  When I moved into the new home the router was positioned in my work area, but the connection was not the main telephone line.  The internet connection was slow in my work space and so I tried to put the router into the main telephone socket in the living room.  Again the connection was slower than my ISP had advertised, and eventually I found out there was a problem with the faceplate knocking my connection down from 4MB to just over 1MB.  The temporary solution at the moment is to connect the DSL filter into the test socket beneath the faceplate to get a true reading of my speed, which of course reveals the connections within, something that will have to be dealt with over this week.

But the quandary meant that I was now back to wireless to get my main PC and clients PC's to get connected to the Internet.  So with my Belkin F6D4630 router in place I needed a wireless device to get connected again.  In a rush, it was a visit to PC World where normally I only go if I am desperate as traditionally it has not been a happy place for myself or my clients, and bought the only viable option on display which was a Belkin F7D4101 v1.

BELKIN F7D4101 - Price £44.99 PC World

From startup there were initial problems.  The adapter would not connect straight away, and needed alterations from the router.  Switching from dual band-width to single and also changing the wireless mode from anything n, the device connected for five or so minutes, before again disconnecting.  A full reset of router settings and some days of configuring later, it seems that with my current PC setup, the device is only ever happy with wireless g turned on, on only a few select channels.  

The device also seems to upset the networking balance with the router and isn't happy when other laptops connect to the network.  Also, after a reasonable duration of say more than thirty minutes, the device seems to get very hot indeed, which may be a contributory factor as to why the connections are so fragile.  

Succinctly then, the device has caused nothing short of carnage.  I even had to revert back to my Sky Wireless G router and set everything to it's bare minimum (TKIP, a certain channel) etc.  Also the device, when working, displayed huge fluctuations in speed and when the signal strength ever reached excellent, the connection would drop.  Sometimes the speed would be 125.00 Mbps, and then fall dramatically to around 30 Mbps.  So between constant connection drops, issues with other connections on the networks, heat problems and it only working with a specific set of basic settings and staying clear from n connection, the device has been nothing short of horrific.  Which prompted me to change to TP-Link.

TP-Link TL-WN821N - Price £11.22 Amazon.co.uk

With the absolute pain that the Belkin was, I jumped straight into the deep end and there was no messing about.  I want a device that works and works well, as occasionally when I work I stream things like live sport or media on a 37" LCD alongside my work's computer via dual screen.   The TP Link therefore had no settling in period, and was given the chance to shine against router settings that included wireless n mode, dual bandwidth together with any channel I wished.  The device was plugged in and Windows 7 didn't install any drivers which is common, so it was an install off the disc, or rather the specific drivers selected from Device Manager's Update Driver option.  

Immediately I was greeted with a connection speed of 150Mbps and a four bar signal strength which was a constant very good.  The speed also didn't fluctuate one bit.  Running other devices over the network didn't make the router go insane and the device runs at a temperature that I would class as reasonable.  After a number of days of testing there was not one drop in connection and speeds and signal strength were a constant.  The bottom line is that I shall never stray from TP Link again, together with the lesson learnt that Belkin's USB adapters have a LOT to live up to.  One further note which everyone will have noticed, is the price differential.  To get the best signal and connectivity I actually paid over £40 for something that doesn't even work with a router of the same make, whereby the TP Link was less than £12!  Sometimes, you don't get what you pay for it seems.

OVERALL (performance, quality, value for money etc) 

TP-Link TL-WN821N - 
Belkin F7D4101 -