Advantages: Photos you thought were damaged beyond repair can be digitaly restored
Disadvantages: There are a lot of people offering this service but not may professionals

...I recently had a number of irreplaceable photos ruined when a pipe burst in my attic. I thought all was lost until a friend recommended I try a photo restorer, I didn't know there was such a thing! Checking the web I found that there was a plethora of companies out there offering this service, after contacting a number of them the one the result was very mixed, in fact I never received a reply from several of them. Eventually I found a restorer which stood out from the rest as being very helpful and informative, this company is PCS Photo, on the web pcs-photo.co.uk, I was able to scan my photos and upload them on-line to their website, this is something I would recommend because it t means you never lose possession of the photo. I received a very competitive quote the same day as I uploaded the pictures and within 3 days I had received... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: good value, clean and bright premises, open 24hrs, fantastic facilities and PCs
Disadvantages: none

...Last night I went to Easyeverything in Tottenham Court Road for the first time and it was great, the only thing that was bad about it was that I couldn't log into Ciao! The way it works is as follows, you go in, put £1 in the machine and out comes a little voucher with a user ID printed on it. You then go and find a computer. These are all flat-screen computer with an excellent mouse and keyboard. You press the login button and type in your user ID and choose a password. I went in about 2030 and then my £1 bought me 74 minutes of internet access. The cafe is open 24 hours and if you are a nightbird you can get up to three hours Internet access for £1, a great deal. The computers were very quick and they are spaced out nicely from other PCs soyou don't feel like you are sitting on top of each other. There are 500 PCs in total... Read review

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Advantages: Compatibility, low price, PCI version available
Disadvantages: Can't match the newer generation

...The V3-2000 card is a really good choice for those who have PCs unable to cope with the all-singing, all-dancing cards of the latest generation. While it is not especially fast by today's standards (especially the PCI version, which I am reviewing), it gives a very welcome boost to computers with an older 3D card, or, more especially, with no 3D card at all. The fact that it is availble in a PCI version is also important, as many older PCs do not have an AGP slot. The first 3D card I ever had was a Diamond Monster 3D, one of the original "Voodoo 1" cards, so when the time came to upgrade, the V3-2000 was a logical choice. And the fact that it was compatible with almost every game was a major plus. Of course, Glide compatibility is less and less important nowadays, but people who use this card, and therefore probably have older PCs... Read review

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Advantages: They are reliable in their basic configuration
Disadvantages: No viable upgrade path, rip off prices

...Nothing indicates someone who hasn't got a clue about computers than choosing Compaq. A doubt if there is a worse combination than their dire pcs and profiteering attitude. I had a Prolinear model. Ugly looking thing and quite expensive, heavy too. Worked well and was always reliable. But as time went by I needed to upgrade it. On opening it I realised just what was so bad about Compaqs. Nonstandard components and fittings, low power psu, no ability to get to the bios to change settings. When I contacted Compaq for help every option had a huge price tag. Many times over shop prices for memory, processor, faster cdrom drives the whole thing was a rip off. You couldn't put a normal cdwriter in unless you replaced the cdrom. For the office environment they are fine. They basically have money to through about and Compaq PCs are reliable... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great value
Disadvantages: Poor customer service. Rated very badly in most PC magazines for customer support.

...I thought I would tell you about a friend's experience of Mesh computers (www.meshcomputers.co.uk). Mesh produce some excellent machines which are advertised in the national press and in many PC magazines. Their PCS look like very good value for money - where else can you get the latest machine for under £1000? As with most things in life there has to be some sort of trade-off somewhere and this is evident in their customer support. My friend bought a Mesh machine which broke down so he arranged for pick-up of the PC to be returned to Mesh. It took him several phone calls before the machine was picked up and returned to him. My brother and sister also had problems with their machines. My sister had a problem with her graphics card and Mesh refused to acknowledge that there was a fault. Only after she constantly pestered them they came... Read review

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Advantages: product lasts ive had it for 4 years now amazing value
Disadvantages: None how could there be £10.00 to get 2 pcs online

...With two pcs, one online, and three children. networking my computers together was a must. Since getting my kit four years ago. I have recommended it to everyone planning to link two computers. This kid contains everything you need to set up a network no extra parts are required. To buy all the parts in different brands would cost a small fortune other kits are available but at a much higher price. Dont be conned by small pc repair shops offering network set ups at high costs, It would be insane not to try this kit first. It consists of all cables, two ethernet realtek network cards and a router, full instructions are supplied and are very simple to follow.(I suggested this kit to a friend after she was quoted over £100 pound to set up a network she fitted it herself with no pc maintainance knowledge in half an hour). You do have... Read review

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Advantages: They go into more technical detail than some others
Disadvantages: Zero integrity, sell out to advertisers, con reviews

...PC Pro is rubbish. That's a tall claim and I'll explain..... 1. They are easily bought. It's not easy to maintain a semblence of "unbiased" reviews and still con the public but they are clever at it and unless you really follow the reviews, and track the advertising space taken by each advertiser you won't spot the ball. 2. Unlike magazines like PC Advisor, PCW, Custom PC (same publishers as PC Pro), Computer Active etc. PC Pro is the only magazine that does not accept review machines from anybody who doesn't advertise with them. So the reviews and their "Recommended" and "A List" logos etc are only awarded only to PCs from companies that advertise with them, NOT the best of the UK. No problem with that except that they don't make this clear to their readers. 3. They should be taken to the Advertising Standards Authority. When... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: much better system
Disadvantages: price of the components

...Well most of the people do not know what are the differences between Mac and PC, but normally the option goes to PC. Do you know what are the differences between Mercedes Benz and Beatle? You would probably be thinking in price, yes price is one of the differences, but it is not all down to the price. Ok, mechanically a Mercedes Benz doesn’t break down as much as a Beatle does, and when it happens the Mercedes Benz will fix it, but when a Beatle breaks usually everybody knows how to fix it and the parts are cheaper. This is what happens gener