Advantages: Extremely quite, beautiful machine
Disadvantages: CPU Cooling fan & the floppy drive connector are placed

...instruction manual covers both the Intel and AMD XC cubes in brief detail. There's absolutely no mention of the BIOS, features or settings. It presumes a prior level of knowledge on the user's part. A fold-out installation guide simply refers to how one should plug the keyboard and mouse into associated ports! Leaving me to wonder if they are having a bit of a laugh. one of the most important things to consider when building a system is your choice of CPU. AOpen's, as we know, has opted for AMD's Athlon XP range. The performance blot arrives in the shape of a maximum Front-Side Bus support of 166MHz, thereby limiting the EZ18 to an Athlon XP3000+ processor. Which is not bad, but with other systems now being capable of taking AMD's Athlon 64 Model 3400+ and Intel's 3.4GHz Extreme Edition without issue, truly high-end performance is beyond the EZ... Read review

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Advantages: Very silent, very stylish and very good at performing
Disadvantages: Not too many expansion possibilities, no DVI.

...Great little thing, this machine. I have always been a great fan of Shuttle computers - mainly for the thought that lays behind the systems and the designs. However two things have always been annoying about Shuttle: The price and the noise. AOpen has been pioneers when it comes to Pentium-M and this fact made me confident in buying a small form factor (SFF) system based on the Pentium-M. The system is brilliant and I use it for all my computing-tasks which are surfing on the Net, text- and powerpoint-handling as well as games every now and then and some audio recording and editing. My system is equipped with a 1.6 GHz Pentium-M (bought cheap from eBay), 1GB of Corsair RAM (two different types!), 533 MHz fsb. The system runs with Windows XP Home SP2 - and does so brilliantly. The good things about this machine: - Costs... Read review

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Advantages: Very cheap, intelligent electronics keep wasted disks to a minimum
Disadvantages: None so far. How long can something this cheap last?

...-RW and 24 speed read machine, was, as I’ve said, a good machine at the time of purchase, but it’s replacement, an AOpen CRW5224, is only costing me a shade over £30 (yes thirty!) from www.dabs.com, AND it’s got a maximum write speed to CD-R of 52x, making full CD copies possible in just a few minutes, and I do mean a few. AOpen may well be more familiar to you as the makers of motherboards. Even if this machine only lasts the 12-month guarantee period and no longer, it’ll only cost me 66p a week to own (as for the DVD player, the most that can cost me is 50p a week thanks to the 2-year warranty). Every month beyond the first year is a bonus for the AOpen, and if it lasts as long as the Yamaha, it’ll cost me about 22p a week. Anyway, that’s got the skinflint bits out of the way. What’s it like to install and use? A BIT OF THE OLD ‘IN OUT... Read review

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Advantages: Most stylish 4X4, hugely roomy, very comfortable, good value for money
Disadvantages: Expensive second hand, needs bigger engine, may not fit your garage

...I am very much aware that my wife is by a long way NOT alone in being a fan of this particular car. A good couple of years after its launch Volvo still have a healthy waiting list for them. That means two things; 1) Volvo actually under-priced this car when they launched it and; 2) that of all the 4X4's on the market the XC90 makes by far the most sound financial sense, its' residual (second hand) value is second to none. Volvo were undoubtedly surprised by the runaway success of their very first entry into the proper 4x4, or as the Americans would call it SUV, Sport Utility Vehicle, market. Sure, they had dabbled with four wheel drive versions of the V70 Estate, but this was a totally new departure for this ultra conservative Swedish firm. However with Fords financing and marketing know how, Volvo have powered from strength... Read review

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Advantages: Good durability, great for all day rides
Disadvantages: None

...Although to many tyre choice on a bike tends to come down to what the local bike shop have that's cheap, there's a few things beyond that which mountain bikers look at when buying tyres. The first main thing tends to be the use that the tyre's going to get. Shove a slick tyre with no tread on a bike that's going to get used in the mud, and you're going nowhere. Put a mud tyre on and go and ride on a hard surface and you'll be puffing and panting like Ivor the Engine with the flu. The Fire XC Pros fit in somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. As the XC in the name implies, this is a cross country tyre. Cross country riders expect some grip in the mud, but not at the expense of putting so much grip on the tyre that it's hard going all the time. Panaracer seem to have managed that quite well with the Fire XC Pro, although... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, Good battery life, Long range
Disadvantages: Lacks Features, Small screen

...After my cheapy binatone phone broke after a few weeks of buying it, I bought my BT Freelancer XC100. It was quite cheap, I got it for £15 so its available to pretty much anyone. The phone looks really nice, much better than in the picture and it is comfortable and light too. The reception is always good too, so I can sit in the garden whilst chatting to friends, which is always useful :) The sound quality is ok, it isn't as clear as a normal phone but its slightly better than a mobile phone. The battery life is good too, I can leave it away from the charger/base station for days and it will still have enough power to make a call. As with all BT products, its a high quality phone made out of strong plastic. It would be better if the screen was bigger, you can't really fit much on there. Its only really suitable... Read review

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Advantages: Great sturdy all round XC mountain bike. Sheer exhilarating fun.
Disadvantages: Tyres.

...I bought the 2007 model at the end of 2007 - paid £730. I love this bike. It is so flexible. The frame is excellent, very strong and has great geometry. I'm 5'10" and I bought the medium frame. It is great for down hills and XC as the name suggests. It's well built, well balanced and comfortable to ride. The gears are well chosen, I have not found that I needed a wider range. Changing gear could be better, replace the LX with the Shimano XT and renew the cables when you smash the old deraillers. I would also change the tires. Traction is lacking on the ones provided and they clog with mud quite quickly. Watch the wheel bearings, they are individual bearings with cones, but are fine when kept clean and well greased. Brakes, steering and suspension are all good with no niggles at all. The 100mm travel is more than adequate. I have... Read review

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Advantages: Light, nice ride, good brakes
Disadvantages: Chain should have shield,brakes bit squeeky,only availible from halfords

...I brought this as my last bike, a saracen, died on me, it was really in a terrible mess! I brought this for £400 in Halfords, which is a pretty good deal for what you get. The technician was very helpful in there, otherwise I probably would have brought a bike from a Local Bike Store. So, what do you get for your £400 here? Well, a light and strong bike, with hyrdaulics, 24 gears, thick tyres, nice wheels with strong spokes. "GT Triple Triangle Aluminium frame with butted tubes Suntour XCR 100mm travel fork with hydraulic rebound damping and on the fly lock-out Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes 180/160mm rotors Shimano Deore/ Alivio 24 speed gearing Truvativ Isoflow chainset Tioga Factory XC tyres WTB SX24 rims SDG Bel Air saddle GT over size bar and stem" All in all, a good bike for you money. So far, been so good... Read review

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Advantages: Simply one of the fiercest hip hop albums ever
Disadvantages: One or two below par tracks, and the two extra 'missing' tracks don't really fit in

...never come across before. Public Enemy's 'It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back' just blew up in peoples faces, and is one of the biggest political hip hop records that has ever seen the light of day, certainly regarding black identity and the emergence of the Nation of Islam in the hip hop scene. But if you're going to pick one record that embodies all the anger and frustration of ghettoized black America and one that almost predicts the real life future of what the disenchanted feelings would resort to, you would have to plump for Ice Cube's second solo release, 'Death Certificate', back in 1991. Ice Cube was one of the founders of NWA, who themselves were pioneers of what would be termed 'gangsta rap', and whose 'Straight Outta Compton' debut promised good things. The band pretty much imploded after being seen as public... Read review

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Advantages: Versatile, great flavour, convenient
Disadvantages: There is no excuse for not cooking

...My mum recommended these little wonder cubes to me and I have not looked back since. They have become on of the most important and most used items in my kitchen cupboard, even inspiring me to cook occasionally (they must be good!). You can find Knorr Mixed Herb Cubes in the same isle as Oxo Cubes and Bisto gravy. They come in little flat boxes about 4 inches by 2.5 inches (don’t look for fat boxes like Oxo cubes) and the box is mainly green with the red Knorr writing. By the way, for those that think packaging is irrelevant, I hope by describing the box I will help you find them quicker, as you have just got to try them if you like herbs. They cost around £0.89 per box and have a best before date of up to one year ahead. Inside you will find 8 rectangular herb cubes covered in a folder silver wrapper (which are therefore... Read review

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