Advantages: Lots of well known tracks, good british music
Disadvantages: None

...Well I thought I would start the new year on a happy note by reviewing a lively old album by a lively(ish) old group - The Electric Light Orchestra (or, as their friends and fans know them, ELO). Was it a Christmas present? No folks, I actually went out and bought this myself. Make of that what you will! It was a mere case of, I had a version of their Greatest Hits on vinyl (or an LP to those of us who remember them), but I decided I ought to listen to these guys on a piece of modern equipment - namely a CD! *** A Little Background Information on the Band *** = The Electric Light Orchestra was formed over 35 years ago by lead singer Jeff Lynne. Their popularity soared between 1974 and 1981 in which time they amassed 28 hit singles in the UK. The band split in 1986 and Jeff Lynne... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant rock classical sounds, great songs
Disadvantages: None

...Electric Light Orchestra were one of THE bands of the 1970s. Formed by Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne from the ashes of The Move, they fused the sounds of the rock band with elements of the classics. Things did not go according to plan, at least in Wood’s mind and after two albums he went his own way (with Wizard and others). This left Lynne to explore and develop this orchestral rock fusion to its peak. At the time of this album ELO were in their fully established line up of Jeff Lynne (Lead guitar and vocals), Kelly Groucutt (Bass and vocals), Richard Tandy (Keyboards), Bev Bevan (Drums), Mik Kaminski (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), Melvyn Gale (cello). I had the great fortune of seeing them at Newcastle City Hall during their UK tour in the late 1970s. This review is primarily of the CD release although I did own the album... Read review

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Advantages: Adventurous fusion of styles
Disadvantages: The old dull track or two

...ELO's third album, released early in 1974, was the first on which leader Jeff Lynne successfully honed his songwriting and arranging skills down to shorter, more commercial numbers. The first two had been far more experimental, one being a collection of nine separate tracks (almost separate projects) split between Jeff and original co-leader Roy Wood, and one a set of five pretty lengthy pieces. This was closer to the mark. Although Jeff hadn't yet mastered the knack of writing commercial songs that were potential hit singles in his sleep, here he came up with a more cohesive programme of songs and instrumentals, with a better, less self-indulgent balance between the main instruments of violin, cellos and synth. The record has a vague concept theme. On the third day, we are told, the land and seas were formed, and some... Read review

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Advantages: Incredible power and speed
Disadvantages: High end of the price spectrum

...The heart that beats inside any PC is the CPU, and the stronger the heart, the faster the system. There are two main rivals that give us the modern consumer-level CPU chips we have today. You'll either have an AMD or a Pentium CPU inside your PC, and both of them are trying to one-up eachother all the time, which is great news for us. The top-of-the-range chips we have today are incredibly powerful, and more than enough for the job. AMD's leading chip series is the 'Athlon XP', designed to work magnificently in XP systems, but just as well in non-XP Operators. Enter the AMD Athlon XP 3000+. The AMD Athlon XP 3000+ is one of those chips. a CPU chip designed for premium performance and responsiveness, and it looks like the aim was met with flying colours. The CPU is the small square of silicon that acts as the engine behind your... Read review

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Advantages: New European ('UK') and Asian buildings sets, landscapce editor, building editor, scenarios.
Disadvantages: No graphical update, no difference in gameplay, not all the have buildings change.

...--- OVERVIEW --- Like the rest of the Sim City series the aim is to build a city and control every aspect of it from transport to sewage to the police. There's no missions as such, although though there is the scenarios. The game allows for great creativity generally, create a city big or small, clean or polluted, grid plan or random sprawl the choice is very much yours. --- GAMEPLAY --- The gameplay hasn't changed at all in the UK edition except in the scenarios where you have missions to fulfill. These are not of great depth and work within the exisiting gameplay structure. So the fire of London scenario will involve using the fire icons to put out the blaze, not any different to if you had a fire in one of your own cities. The gameplay was pretty solid anyway, but UK/European/Asian specific aspects would have been nice... Read review

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Advantages: LOOKS GREAT, GOOD WARRANTY, GOOD WEIGHT STACK
Disadvantages: you have to change the weight resistance for every exercise

...THE WEIDER PRO 3000 MULTI GYM ----------------------------------------------------------- Right decided to get fit and buy a Multigym after searching the web for the awhile i found the weider pro series what first caught my eye was the colour red black and white much more atractive than all the other multi gyms i had been seeing after looking further into the weider pro series i found the 3000 was the best model for me so great i had found my multigym paid for it and waited for the delivery, Finally about a week later i received it so great lets put it together after opening the box i soon realized i had bit off more than i could chew it looked like a mammoth task so i got stuck in after and 2 hours or so and some help from my brother things started to come together nicely the instructions were very helpful they include a step... Read review

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Advantages: updated 2D graphics, good internet facilities
Disadvantages: incredibly hard, gets boring,

...develops. I admit the artificial intelligence of this game is quite good but no match for Black and White because that game just wins all. I prefer Sim City 2000 to be honest because it runs faster on normal computers, it's possible to complete the game and it's more playable. I believe Sim City 3000 is possible to complete but nevertheless me and lots of others find it too challenging compared to Sim City 2000. This is definitely not the best in Sim City series especially the lacking of originality, however, the graphics, sound and online features are far better. At first, I played the game and thought this was pretty cool, it should last me a few weeks. Then trouble built up, as I got really far into the game (took up quite alot of land), for some reason I wasn't pleasing the citizens, so I got working and tried to figure out what... Read review

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Advantages: Great Series, Plenty of Extras
Disadvantages: Not the best Packaging, only on Region 2

...futurama is an often overlooked cartoon masterminded by the creator of the simpsons, matt groening. it tells the story of a pizza delivery boy thrust into the 30th century, where he joins a package delivery company run by his distant relative - who's slightly insane. these 3 dvds carry 13 episodes, 3 of which were shown in the second series, as well as animatics and concept artwork. the transfer is excellent, with sharp lines and good, vibrant colours. the discs sound good, too, with a surround sound option in addition to plain stereo. as requested, here's a rundown of the episodes on the dvds: space pilot 3000: in these episodes, we meet fry, an unhappy pizza delivery boy. he gets cryogenically frozen and ends up in the year 3000. he then meets a kleptomaniac robot (bender) while trying to avoid being assigned a job by a one... Read review

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Advantages: Great features for the professional or the novice
Disadvantages: Not as compact as most digital cameras

...The Fuji FinePix S3000 Zoom is a very stylish and affordable update of the FinePix S304 Zoom. The main difference between the two models is a video-out connection for immediate playback of images via your TV screen. The Fuji FinePix S3000 Zoom has a 3 megapixel sensor, like most other digital cameras at the entry-level end of the market, but it stands out from the crowd due to its 6x optical zoom, which is equivalent to 38–228mm on a 35mm camera. The Fuji FinePix S3000 Zoom has significantly fallen in price since its launch in August 2003 and can now be purchased for under £200 indeed its now on sale at dixons for under £130. But is it the right budget digicam for you? The FinePix S3000 Zoom has a 3.34 megapixel CCD that delivers 3.24 million recorded pixels. There are 4 image sizes available (2,048 x 1,536, 1,600 x 1,200, 1,280 x... Read review

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Advantages: A tremendous instrument for the musically minded
Disadvantages: -

...was really getting hooked on the likes of Jimmy Smith (a jazz organist), so I turned my attention to the electric organ. My first instrument was a small Lowry Holiday followed by a small Hammond (great keyboard sound, but rotten base). In my twenties, I turned professional and purchased a small Yamaha with Leslie speaker - (a sort of spinning speaker inside a cabinet that produced a rich sound). Because of it's light weight for portability and reasonable prices compared to most other organs, I have stayed loyal to Yamaha ever since. I now own a HE 8 (old technology now, which I will soon be updated no doubt) and a PSR3000 - a 61-key electronic keyboard, which is the focus of this review. What I Like About The Yamaha PSR 3000 is the sound quality and a huge range of "voices" - these are synthetic sounds that even the most critical... Read review

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