Advantages: Budget, Supports Modern Titles, Sturdy, No Overheat
Disadvantages: Struggles with Crysis, A little Loud, Not an 8800 GTX!

...Being a hardcore gamer on a mediocre budget is not an easy task - particularly when you've got plenty of financial obligations every month and recently I found myself needing a graphics card that wouldn't empty my wallet but would fulfil my needs and for the most part the XFX GeForce 8500GT did! Just a quick overview on XFX; they're a Hong Kong based Pine Technology Holdings Limited Group which are renowned for their NVIDIA based graphics cards and are currently the 2nd most popular Graphics Card Manufacturer in the States and extremely popular in Europe at the moment. Most cards are built/modified at the high end of their capacity yet still at a budget appropriate to students and working class gamers. It's worth mentioning that others have over clocked this card further (its driver disk offers software for doing such... Read review

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Advantages: Fast, reliable, perfect print quality, 8 Seperate ink tanks
Disadvantages: Slightly more on the expensive side

...I've had one of these PIXMA IP8500 photo printers now for just over a year and I won't be upgrading for several years to come. My opinion: This machine rocks! features: 8 replacable individual colour inks 4x6 photos (borderless) printed in under 25 seconds In built duplexor Prints directly onto CD's and DVD's Prints bourerless up to A4 size 2 pictoliter ink drops (very fine printing) PictBridge Direct compatible USB 2.0 My real opinion If your the type (like me) that either prints a lot of photos or just likes to be able to print photos on demand then definitely give this printer some consideration. It's fast, reliable and I've never had a bad print or paper jam yet. It's quite sleek and stylish looking, it doesn't take up too much room either (dimensions: 17.8"W x 6.7"H x 11.5"D). With the software provided... Read review

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Advantages: Blazing speed for a sensible price
Disadvantages: Slightly louder than my old card

...Having decided to finally jump from AGP to PCI-Express I had to shift my old GeForce 6800 GT and I was sad to see it go, as we had been through so much together, so with a heavy heart I let it go and put the funds towards a new card. So with a budget of £220 I set out to pick a new card. Now having had experience of XFX in the past being great value and having fantastic build quality, I decided on them again as my brand of choice, so all I needed now was a product to buy, so the successor to the 7800 series of cards was the new 7900 series built on a smaller manufacturing process, the new chips pack more punch. So after consulting a few reviews I concluded that the new 7900 GT was faster then the old 7800 GTX (and comes in at a lower price). Armed with my new information I checked out my usual supplier, www... Read review

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Advantages: Handles everything you give it. Good overclocker.
Disadvantages: Very large card and heat sink.

...I bought this graphics card last week in order to upgrade my machine to play the newest games using DirectX 10. The previous card I had was a GeForce 8500GT. Immediately the difference between the cards is clear on paper. Not to mention the price difference. The 8500GT played most newer games on medium graphics settings with a below average frame rate. The ASUS 8800GT was a completly different story. All the settings were maxed out with an average frame rate and no stuttering. This of course was on DirectX 9 as I don't run Vista. This card is though, definately worth buying as it is future-proof with SLi Capability. I bought it with this in mind. For precaution though, I also bought a new PSU to make sure all the power demands were met. The card is fairly large though, it fits in my mATX tower, but is as long as my motherboard... Read review

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Advantages: Well balanced handling, hugely versatile, excellent residuals
Disadvantages: Expensive to buy, not as big as some might hope

...The Volkswagen Golf is possibly the most versatile car ever made. Never mind the fact that a huge variety of other VW group cars are based on exactly the same chassis, but focus just on the breadth of the Golf range. From the simple, old-fashioned functionality of the lower-powered diesel and petrol engines to the 197bhp GTi, which is nothing short of an icon, the Golf has the competition on the back foot. Whichever the best selling Golf model is, it's probably a diesel, and although it's on the sporty side the GT Sport TDi deserves to fly off the forecourts. The fifth-generation Golf's driving position is just about perfect. It's just as comfortable trundling through Carlisle's rush hour as it is darting from corner to corner along a tight Lake District B-road. GT-Sport specification is a step below the fabled GTi, featuring... Read review

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Advantages: Very good.
Disadvantages: Heavy.

...You are looking at a review on the Black & Decker GT 370 hedge trimmer. I am sure the letters GT mean absolutely nothing at all, however I can recommend this particular model. It is the bigger brother to my last one, the GT350. There was a lot of wear and tear on my old model, and it had served me well, so decided to get it replaced before it gave up the ghost. I did a review on that one too, but this one is bigger, as well as heavier, but of course that bit better. One possible design fault is the pressure operated handle switch, I keep hearing of people having no end of trouble, now perhaps I am just lucky but I have not yet had a problem - touch wood. The weight at four Kilos is enough, although not a problem for me, it would be for someone with a massive hedge, or dare I say, a woman, not being sexist, just practical... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant Graphics, Easy and Fun
Disadvantages: The sounds of the engines, and lack of dual screen activity

...you are going fast, when you are going slow you know you are going slow. Sound: 2/10 I don't know what the developers were thinking when they were making the sound for this game but it is certainly a let down, the sound quality is surprisingly grainy, and does not sound right on the stereo speakers. The volume is virtually impossible to set to the right level, too high and you get static, set it slightly lower and you cant here a thing. Once you finally do get it in the middle there are still masses of problems with the sound. The main problem with the sound is the engines, and how they all sound exactly the same, whether it is a Ford GT or a Lamborghini, big or small it doesn't make a difference. Drive through a tunnel, or on dirt at any speed it sounds the same. As a result of this you aren't really inspired by any of the once... Read review

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