Advantages: Small, and makes internet sharing as easy as pie
Disadvantages: A bit expensive, no built-in hub, a bit ugly!

...When I signed up for ADSL, I got a free Speedtouch modem. It worked fine on my main computer - a PC at that time - but networking and sharing the connection was a bit of a hassle. For one thing, the main computer had to act as a 'server' all the time, and remain connected, for the second computer to access the internet. Then our modem gave up the ghost altogether. To be honest, I was slightly relieved. I'd heard a lot about how a router would make internet sharing easier, so I decided to go the extra mile and spend a few more pounds to upgrade. I needed something quick, so I unfortunately had to pay the premium and buy from PC World who charged me £80 for the Zoom X3. I'm sure it's available cheaper online. --> WHAT IS A ROUTER? Routers have been much more common in big business until broadband internet made its way into homes... Read review

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Advantages: Quick and Easy installation
Disadvantages: Low wireless range

...First of all I must congratulate Zoom for such a fantastic product. Out of all my experiences with wireless/wired routers including; Netgear, Belkin and Linkysys (Cisco), I have found the Zoom X6 Wireless ADSL router to be the most user-friendly router I have ever used. In the box you will get; The wireless router, Power Lead, RJ5 cable (used to connect the router to a base unit in order to cingure the router softwar, once the software has been configured the RJ45 lead may be taken out as long as you have a wireless receiver, i.e. USB, PCMCIA or PCI), instruction manual and CD-ROM software. The first thing to do when you open the box, lay out all your parts and make sure everything is there, then put the CD-ROM into your CD drive, the software is very straight forward and the whole setup process takes about 15 minutes... Read review

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Advantages: Has a very upmarket image and robust build quality
Disadvantages: Limited off road ability

...Before I say another word, let's get one thing straight - BMW's X5 is essentially a road car. More or less without exception, everything I've heard or written about the X5 praises its superb road manners and its saloon car like quality, comfort and poise. Having just spent a hard-charging week behind the wheel of this 3.0-litre turbodiesel model, I would second that. The BMW X5 for me is a perfect mix of new and old. In my opinion it successfully blends BMW's new futuristic look, with the clean muscular lines of the old X3. The X5 front-end face echoes the traditional BM "twin-kidney grill" , whilst its rear end retains that distinctive "boxyness" which made previous models so aggressive. Underneath the bonnet is BMW 3.0L straight 6 cylinder where the diesel does 235 hp and has a top torque of no less than 520 Nm. It's nicely packaged... Read review

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Advantages: excellent all rounder, great performance
Disadvantages: expensive, fuel consumption not too great

...OK, so lets start by saying that I love this car, its our fourth X5 and I love it very much. This car starts at #52,800, It's 8 cylinder V 4 valve technology engine has a 4398cc petrol egnine and it does 0- 60 in 7.0 seconds. The fuel consumption is 21.6mpg - not great but not that bad. The fuel tank has a capacity of 93 litres and the CO2 tax is 35% as are all X5's. it has a six speed automatic gearbox with steptronic control and sports suspension. As with all BMW's the car will vary dramatically by how you spec it, and spec-ing the car is by far the most fun! - you can do this on line at www.bmw.co.uk. From basic the car comes with all the usual, but rather than bore you with a list of specifications, I will try and tell you of my experiences with them. Ok, so lets tell you about the airbags - luckily enough so far I havent... Read review

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Advantages: Small, Light, Hands Free function, colour
Disadvantages: Only one game

...Have just bought a second hand MY-X5, on T-Mobile. A great looking little phone in silver, with a large colour screen. The first thing I did after getting it was to get it Unlocked. For the uninitiated this means that I am now able to use any Network, and I have since plonked in an Orange Sim card, as Orange is the best in my area. As for the features of the phone, coloured icons lead you through the menus, which are easily accesed using the arrow keys. First is the Phonebook, which can store 90 numbers on the Sim card, and 300 on the phone. Each person can be put into a category, such as friend, colleagues, VIP etc. Next up is Accesories, which includes a very functional and easy to use Calculator, Alarm Clock, and Currency Converter, and a Countdown Timer, great for making sure you don't burn your fairy cakes! Then comes... Read review

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Advantages: No restrictions, vast format support, colour screen, video support
Disadvantages: occassionally clunky interface, poor firmware following, video support is flawed

...it encouraging that Cowon are not so desperate to jump on the rights-grabbing bandwagon. However, some recent beta firmware builds have experimented with DRM support but is not at a stable release yet. Although the X5 supports images and video on its very lovely colour screen, I don't feel that either have been implemented very well. The pictures viewer suffers from a clunky interface for navigating them, and it's rather slow at loading each image. The ability to zoom into portions of the image is welcome. Video must be prepared in a certain format, and is limited to 15 frames per second. I've found that this generally works very well for animation, but movies, music videos etc. will stutter badly during high action or rapid camera movement. For those of us who haven't quite arranged our digital music collections into formal folder hierarchies, you... Read review

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Advantages: Good design, easy-to-use, vibrant colour display, loads of personalisation options.
Disadvantages: no bluetooth

...at www.sagem.com. Built for fun Apart from the drawbacks stated earlier in this review, the phone performed like a charm and it was pleasantly surprising how easy it was to find my way around the my X-5D. Having used primarily Nokia phones, which sport arguably the easiest user interface, I found the menus here very nicely laid out. There are two programmable shortcut/function keys under the screen, a four-way navigator and a start and stop key to help you get around. Additionally the asterisk and hash keys double up as shortcuts to silent mode and zoom mode (for SMS and WAP menus) respectively. The colour screen looks excellent and it adds much to the appeal of the phone, which comes with an array of personalisation features. For those who love to tinker, there is 400KB of space for downloadable objects... Read review

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Advantages: Good controls, good quality
Disadvantages: Low battery life, Sucks at night, pricey

...and clearer than competitors. The only down side is that the thumb pad is a tad on the small side. You can record onto mini DV and memory card, perform extreme close ups and have a very poor night vision along with classic features like: classic film, strobe, sepia, black and white, fades and wipes and 300x digital zoom. With regard to sound, this camera's most significant feature is its external mic jack, through which you can record good sound in the field or dub it in later. An external mic-level meter display is available, though there is no provision to control the levels in-camera. The GR-X5 offers a good basic assortment of still-camera features, including two quality modes, five resolution options (peaking at an interpolated 2,560x1,920), and three ISO settings. It also has several flash and burst-shooting modes as well as red... Read review

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Advantages: good value for money, good security, very fast basic installation
Disadvantages: must read the manual for advanced settings, beware of 'lemons'

...Dynamode R-ADSL-C4W-EG - wireless router review After 16 months of use, my BT voyager 210 router exhibited symptoms of failing i.e. intermittent loss of connection, slow download speed even the ADSL line is clear. I bought this ADSL2/2+ modem from Amazon at £24.99 (good value) for my ADSL connection (I am not with ADSL2 yet) and this router confirmed that my BT voyager router was on its last leg. After installation, the download speed was back to usual. What's in the box In the box it comes with the wireless modem, DC adaptor, microfilter (only one, if you have >1 phone socket in the house, buy more), an ADSL telco cable, an Ethernet/CAT5 patch cable, a CD-ROM (contains only the electronic quick installation guide and a 'must-read' user manual) and a one page, double-sided quick installation guide. The microfilter... Read review

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Advantages: Fast, Reliable, Cheap.
Disadvantages: High set-up costs for new users.

...I have had a ADSL internet connection for the past 3 years, of which ADSL4less has been my ISP for the last 8 months. I have had some terrible expieriences with previous ISP's and have ended up stuck with slow speeds and terrible customer service for 12 months. When i decided to migrate my ADSL connection ( change ISP) i decided to go for ADSL4less becasue there migration fee was only £15 and there was no 12 month contract. A minimum of 1 month was all that was required. However, set-up costs for new users i believe are currently around £60, please check the ADSL4less website for upto date figures. The migration all happened on time and before i knew it i was surfing the internet at mutch faster speeds with a much more reliable connection. I found dealing with the ADSL4less team easy and hassle-free, there were no problems... Read review

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