Advantages: Great playback of CD as well as DVD
Disadvantages: None that come to mind.

...it. I hate to hear music from a CD played in some sort of psuedo surround mode. Even concert DVD's just don't seem right to me in surround. (And I've heard £50,000+ systems too!!) When did you ever go to a concert where some of the musicians were behind you? Or even to the side, for that matter. Music should be listened to coming from (preferably) just 2 speakers in front of you, IMHO. Don't even let me get started on the subject of subwoofers... End Tangent! The Cambridge Audio Azure 540D is a very capable player. It has all the connectivity you are likely to need other than HDMI (I'm on a bit of a downer on HDMI at the moment, so I don't see that as an ommission) but including a very good downmixed stereo sound out (Jargon decode - it makes surround sound encoded music DVD's sound nice ;-) ). In summary, I would buy one without... Read review

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Advantages: You can do two things at once... put this on while driving the car etc.
Disadvantages: Due to subject matter it should be stamped with a large (18)

..., whether it's not being able to play sport because of his asthma, or not being able to sing. One of my favourite tangents is where Fry describes how he got his bent nose and how friends have told him not to change it. He draws a parallel between this and the Royal Family, calling them the "bent nose of Britain"...we may consider changing them, but they look distinguished to other countries. A lot of Fry's quirks and memories put a smile on my face. But the most striking memories of all, lots of people may agree, are about first love. I'm listening to another audio book at the moment, Fry's "The Liar", a novel drawing much from personal experience. Fry quotes a section from it in "Moab" where Adrian Healey (based on himself) falls in love with a beautiful young boy called Hugo Cartwright. It was at the age of 14 that Fry falls head over... Read review

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Advantages: Great Stunning looks
Disadvantages: Lacks features

...When MP3 format was launched and the software decoder (read players) made their screen presence, what ensued was war. The fight to determine, which, is the best. Real Player, Windows media player, Winamp, Music match, and the list goes on. They came up with admirable features, stunning looks, skins. Some concentrated on organizing the music into playlists, some on the decoding/encoding/ripping, some on graphics and visualizations. Then they added video playing capabilities, streaming audio/video from the net, search for music capabilities. As a result, each of these technologies evolved into their present state. For eg: the search feature became so popular (thanx to music piracy), that p-2-p players thronged the Internet. They also added music playing capabilities. There were surprises, such as Irfan View, real good IMAGE EDITING... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution, audio support
Disadvantages: No manual overide

...It's surprising how many people have more than one PC at home although even more surprising is that many of them each have their own screen, keyboard and mouse. In many cases this makes perfect sense but sometimes, you know you'll only ever use one or the other - perhaps one is your general PC and the other your music workstation. In these situations you can save a lot of space and money by investing in a KVM switch. KVM stands for Keyboard, Video and Mouse and allows you to use one keyboard, mouse and screen shared between two PCs. This particular unit from Belkin is unusual in that it also includes audio support and also comes with all the leads permanently attached instead of being supplied as a separate cabling set. Wiring it Up Installation is simply a matter of taking each of the two main cables and plugging the sets... Read review

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Advantages: Portable, Easy set up, Cheap, Design, Functionality
Disadvantages: None noted

...Ok, this basically does what it says on the box. I had this as a Christmas present, and to be honest with you - didnt think it was going to be as good as it actually is. I found at that these units were being sold for £19.99 in ALDI, and have found comparible units for sale in other shops such as Currys, Dixons etc for approx £50 ( and these dont actually allow you to change the channel over like this one does - for this function, you have to select a different model, which is approx £15 / £20 more expensive * £65 / £70 ) When I first opended the box I noticed thattis un lso comes with the remote conro Infra Red sender, which allows you to actually change the channel from the alternative location that you are using the product in. This was really good as most of these types of units only actually send / receive the audio... Read review

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Advantages: looks, sound quality, build quality
Disadvantages: Cost

...I own a Musical Fidelity a3.5 Amp & Cd player and decided to upgrade my speakers to get the most out of my system. I went to Super-fi and Sevenoaks to hear what they had. I was immediately frawn to the Monitor Audio delection by these little speakers, but when i saw the price tag of £800 i thought they were overprices, especially seeing as they are only bookshelves. after tyring out some B&W 603 speakers i felt a little disapointed by the lack of detail and crisp-ness of hi-hat reproduction. I chose one of my favourite songs Nickelback - Someday as the song i would use to test all the different speakers. It is important that you use the same kit that you have when trying out speakers, because the amp, cd player, interconnects, speaker cables and mains cable can make a differnece. i have QED silver spiral interconnects... Read review

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Advantages: A spellbinding tale read to perfection by Stephen Fry
Disadvantages: None

...this scores 150 points and ends the game. Harry is the seker for his house team due to his great flying skill. For some reason Harry is much more affected by the Dementors than his fellow students. He asks the new teacher, Professor Lupin why that is - and is told that it is due to the awful events in his past. Professor Lupin then undertakes to hlp Harry deal with the Dementors. The rest of the book deals with Sirius Black, his real part in the death of Harry's parents and the close and ongoing friendship he has with Ron and Hermione. The Audio book I have read and loved all the Harry Potter books and would not normally get an audio book, but my nephew of 6 loves the stories and has seen the films but cannot yet manage the books. I bought the Audio book at a bargain book store in Stockton and thought I would give it to my nephew. I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: well made and easy to use
Disadvantages: positioning of front and back ports can get cluttered

...Amongst audio interfaces this is unique for having both audio/midi ports as well as the light-up top knob and buttons. These can be asisgned to functions in a wide range of audio DAWs from Apple's Garageband to Logic and Cubase. The unit is simple to install and use although I did have to download the latest drivers for it to be recognised on a USB port. With two audio inputs, guitar and a microphone or other instruments can be quickly setup. The back plate includes MIDI in and out ports to complete the connectivity. Once connected it immediately offers high-end audio clarity and 3ms latency which ensures you hear straightaway the music you're playing. Although this unit is now a few years old, its sturdy construction and versatility make it a better option than the newer Guitar Rig Sessions 3 XE device.... Read review

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Advantages: *AMAZING* Clarity, Depth and Soundstage, Compact!
Disadvantages: May have trouble filling larger rooms

...and ready to go at home. I always loved listening to my Rock music through my Sennheiser headphones, as they managed to give the music exactly as it should sound - None added, none taken away. Deep, juicy lows and crisp, sharp highs are what make the Sennheiser headphones the article of choice when it comes to a relaxing music session - But what if I wanted Green Day at loud, floorshaking volumes? The headphones would distort, and my ancient Wharfedale speakers certainly were not up to the job. They quake in their boots at the Windows XP Logon sound, let alone an hour of continuous, devastatingly loud Punk Rock! So do the Monitor Audio Bronze B1's keep music as it was recorded? Thankfully, the answer is yes. It really does sound as if my room has been teleported to a live concert if I crank up a live recording of a good concert! I... Read review

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Advantages: Small, Light, Good sound quality
Disadvantages: Poor display, fiddly controls, abd does not hold as much as it says

...Packard Bell Audio Move is a 512 Megabyte MP3 player. It runs for up to 12 hours on a single AAA battery. It comes with earphones (not all MP3 player do). It fits in the palm of the hand measuring 3 ½ inches x 1 inch x ¾ of an inch, and comes with a quick start guide, the guarantee booklet and a CD ROM with the instruction manual and software for older versions of Windows. I listen to lots of audio programs from Nightingale Connant Corporation, courses on Marketing, business and self help etc., and I like to take them out with me so that I'm not tied to the arm chair. But I don't like lugging a CD player and CDs everywhere with me, and it jumps around if you play it while walking. So I figured this justified investing in an MP3 player. At £45 I thought it a reasonable investment. I don't want to lay out the "astronomical!" cost... Read review

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