ADIC Scalar 1000

Advantages: Record onto DVD, Picture Quality, Remote Control, Features
Disadvantages: Standard Box, Chunky, Size, Picture, Price,

...the '+' version. Confused? Not surprising so when I had the opportunity to play with the new Philips DVDR-1000 recordable, I was not expecting an easy time in front of the box. Surprisingly, this machine put all our fears to rest and more. The Philips DVDR-1000 is one of the first stand alone DVD players that can record content off TV, video or another DVD player in the DVD+RW format. The biggest advantage of this format is that it is the most backwards compatible with the existing DVD player market out there at the moment. In the time I had this unit, all recordings onto the DVD+RW disc would playback on all players ranging from the recent Sony DAV-S300 Dream System right down to the first generation Pioneer DV-505. The only player that had issues with this disc was the Playstation 2 console. There are so many features that this player... Read review

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Advantages: price, durability, look, speed, memory
Disadvantages: N/A

...I bought the Dell Vostro 1000 for starting a Degree last september. The Vostro 1000 is marketed at businesses and as such is installed with Windows Vista Business. The laptop came with 2GB of RAM which is ample to run vista comfortably. The fact that the laptop is marketed for businesses has made no difference to me. In fact it has probably helped me with my degreee as it doesn't come with all the extra unnecessary rubbish that others do (e.g. solitaire, hearts etc)! The Vostro has been able to handle everything I have thrown at it; every game I have installed, the microsoft ultimate 2007 package, etc. The Dell Vostro 1000 is amazing quality for money and I would thoroughly recommend it, expecially for anyone on a limited budget. The battery once charged does not last for ages but it is not too bad at all; as with most laptops... Read review

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Advantages: Superb s/n ratio, 6 effects busses, 12 wave devices, 64 note polyphonic synth with 1200+ voices.
Disadvantages: no

...OK, so you're into music. You want a new sound card. You want a hard disk recording system. You want on board synthesis with 1000+ voices. You want 6 independent effects busses. You want all processing to be handled by the card. You want an unrivalled signal to noise ratio. You want a Yamaha 02R digital mixing console worth £3000 on a card the size of 2 floppy disks for £400. Well - what you're basically saying is that you want a studio in a box... and that is more or less what the SW1000-XG is. Where to start. Firstly - if you want to get the full potential out of this card you must understand MIDI - especially system exclusive messages. Although there are GUI editors to control most features on this card, there's a lot more that can be done if you understand SysEx. The card has 12 independent wave devices and 6 effects busses... Read review

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