Table of contents for March 2020 in Computer Shopper

As I sit and write this, it’s just a few days before Christmas, and just over a week away until the end of another decade. Whatever the 2020s bring us, one thing is for sure: technology will be at the heart of it. I’m not referring to the oft-repeated predictions for the future – I don’t think we’ll all be zipping around in flying cars (or even self-propelled Hyperloop transportation pods going at over 700mph – sorry, Elon Musk); nor am I thinking of all our homes being staffed by a team of robots, doing the cleaning and folding the washing. Back in reality, it will be ever easier to access services and go about our daily lives thanks to technology advances. While currently that might be setting up a…

Tech pioneer and all-round good egg letters@computershopper.co.uk IT’S BACKGAMMON NIGHT at the Hole in the Wall, and someone is missing. Old Monty is not propping up the bar, and I assume the worst. But when I ask around it seems that Monty is neither dead nor in jail, but sunning his arse in Miami Beach, which is more or less the same thing in my opinion. Anyway, it’s all thanks to Google’s Pixel 4 smartphone, and it involves a long story which I will now explain for you in concise and simple terms. Here goes. Old Monty used to work for IBM, until they fired him. Then he worked for BT, until they fired him. And finally he worked for the Bell-Fruit Gaming Corporation, who also fired him, but not…

The biggest stories from the tech world, and what they mean for you SAY WHAT? WHEN CHRISTMAS 2020 comes around, there’s a good chance that a next-generation Xbox might be on many people’s list. That’s because the Xbox Series X will have been released by then, ushering in a new console generation for Microsoft’s gaming division. Formerly known as Project Scarlett, Microsoft revealed a small handful of details on its next-generation Xbox at E3 2019 in Los Angeles back in June. But before 2019 came to a close, the firm took the covers off not only the console’s name, but also its design. For those expecting something akin to a slick bit of industrial design, prepare to be disappointed, as the Xbox Series X resembles something of a black rectangular…

Jon gone Apple design guru Jony Ive has had his likeness and name removed from the Apple executive leadership page after departure from the company Baffling Boris Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been flirting with the idea of banning Huawei tech from UK 5G telecoms infrastructure, but he was seen using a Huawei Mate P20 Pro phone in public Axed accounts Twitter has announced a mass cull of accounts that are no longer being used, potentially freeing up Twitter handles for folks who failed to get the one they wanted in the first place BA grounded British Airways suffered another IT meltdown, with thousands of passengers having their travel plans disrupted…

IF YOU’VE EVER wondered what it would look like if a car maker of today tried to design a spaceship for the Star Wars universe, then wonder no more, as Porsche has teamed up with LucasFilm to create such a craft. Dubbed the Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter, the fighter-grade spacecraft has the rugged and practical aesthetic synonymous with the craft and technology found in Star Wars. This is in stark contrast to Porsche’s normal concept designs that are more akin to machines one would expect to find in an idealised future, with clean, smooth lines. The Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter has a few nods to Porsche cars, with its lights resembling those of the car maker’s Taycan electric car, and light strips at the rear of the ship similar to…

£3,789 • From www.apple.com/uk VERDICT This mildly upsized MacBook Pro is expensive, but high-performance laptops don’t get much better than this THE INTRODUCTION OF a 16in MacBook Pro isn’t technically as much of a departure as it might seem. The 15in model released last year actually has a screen that measures 15.4in diagonally, and since this one is exactly 16in, it’s only 0.4in bigger. Still, it’s easy to embrace even small improvements when this new MacBook Pro is among the most portable and compact high-power laptops money can buy. It’s a mere 16mm thick, 246mm deep and 358mm wide, and while its 2kg makes it no featherweight, considering the power squeezed inside – including an octa-core Intel Core i9-9980HK processor – that’s not enough to be off putting. FLY AWAY…

£80 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT It might not use a shiny new chipset, but the B450 Pro4 has the features of a much more expensive motherboard WITH THE RUMOURED B550 chipset still missing in action, even months after AMD marked the launch of its 3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs with the high-end X570 chipset, B450 remains the way to go for cheap Ryzen-based PC builds. On most motherboards, it even works with the latest chips following a BIOS update. The B450 Pro4 is very cheap indeed, but it’s also a spacious ATX board that has everything most desktop systems will need – plus, crucially, a few surprise luxuries. FULLY LOADED First, it has a full set of four DDR4 RAM slots, not just two, like a lot of budget boards settle for.…

£55 • From www.johnlewis.com VERDICT Epson’s XP-4100 does a lot for the money, until you factor in the ink EPSON’S EXPRESSION HOME XP-4100 is a smallish inkjet multifunction peripheral (MFP). Despite being relatively affordable, it’s well specified for home users, supporting wireless networking and automatic duplex (double-sided) printing. On the front panel there’s a decent-sized colour screen, although this doesn’t respond to touch gestures. Instead, it’s paired with some satisfyingly clicky control buttons. There’s no front-panel USB port or memory card slot for direct photo prints, however, and with no fax modem or automatic document feeder, it’s not aimed at home office use. Epson printers are usually easy to install, and the XP-4100 was breezing through its setup routine until it started checking for new firmware. The software recommends you…

£379 • From www.johnlewis.com VERDICT The 49UM7400 isn’t perfect, but there’s lots to admire at the price, especially HDR performance ASK ANYONE CRUISING into middle age and they’ll tell you 49 is the new 36. And that’s equally true of TV screen sizes: 49in once seemed unreasonably large for a television, but nowadays it’s an unremarkable size. What’s more, while our desire for a bigger screen is on the up, the price we have to pay for it is ever decreasing. The LG 49UM7400 has the sort of specification that would have cost more than twice as much a few years ago. GIVING DIRECTIONS This is a 3,840x2,160 HDR TV that uses an IPS LCD panel. It’s part of a range built to mop up sales from those customers who…

£329 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT GoPro’s flagship camera goes big on little enhancements, adding loads of convenient features in the process THE GOPRO HERO series has proven successful enough that major changes aren’t strictly necessary, but while the new Hero 8 Black keeps things familiar for GoPro devotees – it’s a similar shape and size as the Hero 7 Black (Shopper 372), and has a similar menu system – it does its best to shake things up within those restraints. Once again, it’s waterproof to 10m without needing a case, but unlike the Hero 7 Black it doesn’t need to be snapped into a plastic frame before being attached to a mount. That’s because it has a pair of fold-out mounting fingers embedded in its base: flip them out, slot…

£640 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT A mostly high-quality Android handset, but once again the commitment to 5G feels premature 2019 WAS SUPPOSED to be the year of 5G, but with extremely limited coverage and compatible handsets leaning towards the ultra-high end, it’s not been easy to take advantage of those faster mobile data speeds. The Galaxy A90 5 aims to break down at least one of those barriers: although it’s still an expensive smartphone, it’s hundreds of pounds cheaper than the Galaxy S10 5G. The A90 5G still has all the good looks of a premium Galaxy phone. The bezels are minimal and the back panel is comfortably curved glass, and outside of a lack of wireless charging, the design does well for practicality, too. There’s a microSD card slot,…

£100 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT The Kindle Kids Edition adds a protective case and a damage guarantee to a familiar device IN THE PAST, if you were a parent and wanted to get your children reading books on a Kindle, you’d have to make do with simply setting up a child’s profile and then choosing which books you want to add to their library. Now, however, Amazon has released the all-new Kindle Kids Edition. Following in the footsteps of the Fire Kids Edition tablets, it comes with a year’s subscription to Fire for Kids Unlimited content, plus the peace of mind of a protective case and a two-year guarantee against accidental damage. Otherwise, this is exactly the same device as the regular Kindle model launched in 2019 (Shopper 378). That…

01 A basic 1TB internal hard disk should cost around £40. This will be fast enough for general use and will provide enough storage for most users. Make sure the hard disk you choose has the appropriate interface type for your PC. Most hard disks and solid-state drives (SSDs) use the SATA3 interface, which enables faster speeds than the older SATA2. Pretty much every motherboard released in recent years will have multiple SATA3 ports, allowing you to connect several storage drives at once. 02 SSDs can make the most of SATA3’s high bandwidth for fast file transfers. They use flash memory similar to that found in USB flash drives, and although they tend to provide less capacity than mechanical hard disks, they’re significantly faster. More expensive SSDs use the NVMe…

01 You should be able to buy a decent inkjet printer for less than £40. High-quality printing is possible on such a printer, but it will be slow. The actual print speed of an inkjet can be half the quoted (maximum) speed for text documents, and even slower when printing graphics. Budget inkjet printers such as these are designed only for light use and can be expensive to run. 02 For £80 to £90 you can buy a more capable printer that’s either faster and better built or better at reproducing photos. If documents are your priority, you’ll want a high minimum speed and low print costs. Look for inkjets that can handle all your office media, such as envelopes and labels. 03 If photos are your priority, speed is…

01 A smartphone’s operating system (OS) dictates its basic features and which third-party software you can install. There are three main contenders: Apple’s iOS, which is found on the iPhone, Google’s Android, which is used by various handset manufacturers, and Windows Phone, which has few options, especially since Microsoft has discontinued support for its OS. Apple iOS and Google Android both have thousands of apps available. 02 All smartphones have colour screens, but their resolutions vary. Basic models have 1,280x720 pixels, but text can be indistinct. Look for a display that has at least 1,920x1,080 pixels so it’s easier to read text and watch Full HD videos. Don’t worry too much about built-in media players or Office document editors; you can always install apps to replace these with better versions…

01 Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes and sizes, so you’ll need to decide what you want to do with the speaker before you buy. If you don’t plan to take your music outdoors or around the house, look for a wired speaker. These are typically cheaper than speakers with built-in batteries. If you do want a portable speaker, however, pay particular attention to how much it weighs. Ruggedised models should be able to survive accidental drops, water spills and unexpected rain showers. 02 Many of the cheapest Bluetooth speakers use the lossy A2DP Bluetooth protocol, which is prone to compressing your music and discarding detail compared with the original recording. It’s hard to tell the difference when listening to pocket-sized speakers, but if you’re looking for a speaker to…

01 Wearable tech can include anything from chest-strap heart-rate monitors to augmented reality glasses, but the two most common types are smartwatches and fitness trackers. Both are designed to sit unassumingly on your wrist, and are almost always meant to be used in tandem with a paired smartphone. 02 Smartwatches are typically more complex and expensive, though more closely resemble a traditional wristwatch. You can use them to receive and reply to text messages and emails, quickly check maps and even play games – like a smartphone, most smartwatches allow you to install your own choice of apps. 03 Fitness trackers are much more dedicated to healthy pursuits. Step counters, heart-rate monitors and even sleep tracking are all common, and the data collected is fed back to you so you…

While the quality of the protection you get is the most important thing about security software, it’s not necessarily the only thing you should consider: there’s also price, features and the number of supported devices to take into account. This year, we’ve been very impressed by the calibre of the security software that we’ve tested. When looking at the paid-for software, F-Secure Safe, Trend Micro Internet Security, Comodo Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, Sophos Home Premium and Symantec Norton Security all protected against every single threat. Just below that, McAfee Internet Security and Eset Internet Security only allowed a single piece of malware through their defences; Check Point ZoneAlarm did, too, although it was far less successful at outright blocking attacks. Based on this, if you currently have any of…

£849 • www.johnlewis.com VERDICT A minuscule camera that shoots the best stills and videos you’re going to get from something this size MASS-MARKET COMPACT cameras may be in decline, but Canon is betting that the high-end combination of a small, convenient body with good image quality might show there’s life in them yet. The G5 X Mark II follows the three-and-a-half-year-old G5 X (Shopper 338), and keeps things interesting by redesigning the predecessor as it heads out to pasture. Gone is the faux DSLR shape with the EVF hunched over the middle of the lens; instead, the EVF is now a spring-loaded number recessed in the camera. There are a few changes inside, too. Resolution is fractionally down on the original G5 X: where the Mark I had 20.2 effective…

£299 • From www.wexphotovideo.com VERDICT A superb budget DSLR that’s ideal for beginners, even if it’s not a huge improvement on the D3400 PROPPING UP THE foot of Nikon’s DSLR offerings, the D3500 is the model Nikon hopes will tempt newcomers away from the current crop of superb mirrorless cameras. It replaces the two-year-old D3400 (Shopper 352), and while it’s only had a small weight reduction, 415g is still impressive. The D3500 is only 124mm wide, so it’s not much different in the hand to many mirrorless cameras. The rubber cover on the grip isn’t exactly the last word in luxury, but at the very least this isn’t a camera that will slip out of your hands. WIDE AWAKE Compared to many DSLRs, the screen – a 3in, 921K-pixel affair…

£899 • From www.parkcameras.com VERDICT Despite being pitched as a mid-range travel camera, the latest Lumix is a great all-rounder SITTING IN THE middle of Panasonic’s Lumix G series line-up, the G90 will appeal to photographers and videographers alike. It’s also a sign that Panasonic hasn’t abandoned the Micro Four Thirds format, which is good news for keen amateurs looking for a small, flexible camera at a reasonable price. The G90 is available body-only, but there are a few kit lens bundles as well. We tested with the 12-60mm lens, while the 14-140mm lens is arguably the more practical option for travellers, but costs about £70 more. DEEP COMPACT There’s plenty that puts the G90 ahead of other models in its price bracket. It’s physically smaller, and the small sensor…

Subscribe to COMPUTER SHOPPER today and save on the single issue price. Each issue of Computer Shopper will be delivered directly to your device each month SEE NEXT PAGE FOR SET-UP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO SUBSCRIBE… … on an iPad or iPhone STEP 1 Return to the Computer Shopper library STEP 2 Choose your subscription term and tap twice on the 'price' box STEP 3 whether to create an optional PixelMags account STEP 4 Enter your Apple ID password to confirm … on a Kindle Fire Kindle Fire subscriptions come with a FREE one month trial. STEP 1 Tap 'Free Trial Subscription in the Computer Shopper Library STEP 2 Chose your subscription term from the drop down menu on the popup that appears STEP 3 Tap 'Subscribe' … on an Android…

letters@computershopper.co.uk AmazingGrace Great article on Cobol from Kay Ewbank (Shopper 383). I read that Grace Marie Hopper helped develop the language in her belief that programming should not be limited to white coats. Another of her beliefs was that women are better programmers because they tend to finish the job. This, however, does not seem to be reflected in the industry today – or is it? Despite all the good that the likes of Grace (and Ada Lovelace) did, I don’t see a lot of women like Kay involved; I hope I’m wrong! James We heartily agree with those sentiments, James. As well as Kay, we’ve got a female editor, and here at Computer Shopper we keep a close eye on the trends around women in technology. Unfortunately, you’re correct in…

Software guru and Shopper legend letters@computershopper.co.uk BACK IN THE 1970s, there was a popular TV series called The Six Million Dollar Man. It had a great opening sequence in which, following the test pilot hero’s plane crash, the government scientists decide that “we have the technology to rebuild this man”, which they proceeded to do using cybernetic parts that give him superhuman strength and speed. In each episode he’d perform amazing feats and save the day. It was great, and I wanted some bionic bits so I could be heroic, too. I’ve been waiting for medical science to catch up ever since, and it’s getting a bit urgent. For a start, right now I could do with some bionic leg muscles to make it a bit easier to stride up…

SAY WHAT? INTEL NOT ONLY makes processors, it also makes components such as mobile modem semiconductors for the likes of Apple to use in its smartphones. But in December, Intel quit making mobile modem chips, selling that side of its business to Apple for $1bn. The reasoning for doing so was placed firmly at the door of Qualcomm, which is a major provider of modem chips for mobile gadgets alongside its Snapdragon chipsets. “Intel suffered the brunt of Qualcomm’s anti-competitive behaviour, was denied opportunities in the modem market, was prevented from making sales to customers, and was forced to sell at prices artificially skewed by Qualcomm,” according to Intel’s vice-president and general counsel Steven Rogers. “The victims were Qualcomm’s own customers (original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs), the long list of…

FOUR-LEGGED ROBOTS from Boston Dynamics are being used by the Massachusetts State Police as a form of mobile observation device to sniff out bombs and enter dangerous environments. Previously known as the SpotMini, Boston Dynamics first showed off the dog-like robot a few years ago, with a smaller take on a previous quadruped robot with an articulated arm for grabbing and manipulating objects; the robot could open a door and get through it, for example. The original Spot was more of a demo, while the SpotMini was compact and refined enough to be pushed out to organisations keen to put robots to use. This was a move by Boston Dynamics to see how the SpotMini, which has since been renamed to just Spot, could be used in commercial situations. It…

“Apple Boy Steve once looked into space… he saw Pablo Escobar with a phone beyond anybody’s imagination”An advert for the Escobar Fold 1 phone, developed by Pablo Escobar’s brother “I hope you also know that I am a perfect candidate to disrupt this system, and I fully intend to do so”Cyber security luminary John McAfee wants to be the next US president “You can invite people who want to be creative, who don’t want to be toxic, and you create an environment in which people can express themselves and build up a relationship”Father Robert Ballecer, tech blogger turned God fan, has a Minecraft server set up to be more welcoming than usual “With the debut of AI in Go games, I’ve realised that I’m not at the top even if…

£3,200 •From store.acer.com VERDICT The ConceptD 500 is a stylish and monstrously powerful PC for content creators; even at this price, it’s worth it ACER HASN’T SO much dipped a toe in professional editing and content creation hardware as leapt in boots-first. ConceptD is an entirely original range of premium PCs, laptops and monitors, including such bold products as the ConceptD 9 – a cross between a laptop and a Surface Studio, with its rotating touchscreen suspended on articulating arms – and this, the ConceptD 500 workstation. True, at £3,200 it’s a major investment, but it has the specs to match. There’s the octa-core, 16-thread Intel Core i9-9900K processor, a dedicated Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 graphics card, 64GB of RAM, Windows 10 Pro and not just a 1TB SSD but…

£2,000 • From www.lenovo.com VERDICT Clever design, excellent cooling and a powerful spec make the Legion Y740 a top gaming laptop COMPETITION IS FIERCE in the gaming laptop arena. The Legion Y740 is a 15in gaming contender trying to bring plenty of power to bear without being back-breakingly heavy. Lenovo has refrained from an emphasis on the sharp angles and red accents synonymous with many gaming laptops, instead opting for a tasteful grey finish. This classy design extends to its materials, with a mix of aluminium and hard plastic giving it a premium feel. It’s not as slick as a Razer Blade (Shopper 380) but, aside for a little flex in the lid, it’s a solid, refined build. Although it measures 361x267x20mm and weighs 2.2kg, the Legion Y740 is still…

£130 • From shop.westerndigital.com VERDICT A very decent, if rarely remarkable, portable hard disk for games and files alike AT THE IFA tech show in September, we had our first in-the-flesh look at WD’s new Black range of external drives. Like the internal, M.2-based Black SN750 (Shopper 376), these drives come with a focus on gaming, and once again it’s not exactly clear why, as good gaming storage only really needs high capacity and fast read speeds. Still, that also means that a hard disk or SSD that works well with games will also work well with everything else, so even the grumpiest of play-haters might find something to work with here. The Black P10 Game Drive is the most conventional external hard disk of the bunch. It’s a portable…

£221 • From www.ballicom.co.uk VERDICT This phenomenally thin portable monitor marries strong design with a surprisingly high-performing IPS panel PORTABLE MONITORS REMAIN a nice idea that has yet to be fully realised by a single, must-have product. The AOC I1601FWUX (Shopper 368) made a decent attempt for attractively little money, but at the cost of some deeply mediocre image quality. Thankfully, Lenovo’s ThinkVision M14 finds much greater success. At 14in and £211, it’s smaller and more expensive than the I1601FWUX, but by making far fewer compromises it ends up as the better choice. FINE LINES One of its greatest strengths is, fittingly, portability. The M14 weighs 570g and, if anything, it feels even lighter than that. It can be carried quite comfortably with a two-finger pinch, let alone a pair…

£110 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT With the full Alexa feature set onboard, the Fire TV Cube is smarter than the average streaming box THE ORIGINAL FIRE TV Cube never saw release in the UK, but one year and a product generation later, a new version has successfully arrived on British shores. This is, once again, three devices in one. First and foremost, it’s a streaming device, capable of playing all your favourite BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 shows, and Amazon Prime and Netflix if you’re prepared to pay their subscriptions. It will do this in 4K, with HDR and Dolby Vision if they are available. Where it differs from Amazon’s other Fire TV products is that it can also function as an Alexa smart speaker. Other streamers might…

£260 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT More an exercise in refinement than revolution, but the Vivoactive 4 does more than enough to succeed JUST IN TIME to replace the long-in-the-tooth Vivoactive 3 (Shopper 362), Garmin’s Vivoactive 4 brings along an overhauled design and a startlingly wide range of new features. It comes in a couple of different sizes, too. We’re focusing on the 45mm Vivoactive 4, but there’s also a 40mm 4S version for smaller wrists. Both exhibit improved looks compared to the Vivoactive 3: narrower borders and glass that’s subtly curved at the edges make for a watch that looks more sophisticated than its predecessor. In the 45mm Vivoactive 4’s case, it even manages this with a larger screen, up from 1.2in previously to 1.3in here. The screen isn’t an…

£729 • From www.apple.com/uk VERDICT While not quite as fabulous as the iPhone 11 Pro, the standard model is still superb DITCHING THE PREVIOUS generation’s XR model, the iPhone 11 sees Apple bringing its cheapest smartphone back into the fold. The look and feel of the phone, though still distinct, is definitely a lot closer to the iPhone 11 Pro (Shopper 383) and iPhone 11 Pro Max than the XR was to the XS and the XS Max. Case in point, it has the same rear camera plinth as its more expensive siblings, and once again the entire rear is made from one piece of glass, so there’s no ugly trim surrounding that square. However, it’s also not quite as pretty: the only part that’s matt glass is the camera…

01 A basic PC costing around £350 will be able to run everyday office, multimedia and education software and will easily cope with surfing the internet. It might even be able to run some modern games. Many PCs can be sold either with or without a monitor. If you don’t like the display the manufacturer is offering, you can always use your current one, or buy another one separately. 02 If you want to play games, you’ll have to upgrade the graphics card. Budget cards such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 will cope well with many 3D games, but to play the latest 3D games smoothly (and enjoy the best-quality graphics) it’s worth upgrading to a more powerful card such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070. 03 All modern…

01 It’s essential that you buy the right type of motherboard for your processor. For example, Intel’s Skylake, Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors all use the same LGA 1151 socket, but because each CPU generation introduced new chipsets, you’ll need to get a Z370 motherboard for a Coffee Lake chip, a Z270 board for a Kaby Lake chip and so on. 0 2All current Intel processors have built-in graphics chipsets, so if you want to use your chip’s built-in graphics, make sure the motherboard has the video outputs, such as DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. If you want to play the latest games, you’ll need to fit a dedicated graphics card in the motherboard’s PCI Express x16 slot, although this may block one of your other slots. 03 Normal tower…

01 Wireless routers each use a number of Wi-Fi standards, so you shouldn’t have any trouble connecting your computer or phone wirelessly if you get an 802.11n or 802.11ac router. Nearly all routers support 802.11n, so even a cheap model should provide decent performance. You can expect a transfer speed of around 40Mbit/s at a distance of 10m from any modern 802.11n router. The very latest routers use the 802.11ac standard, which provides tremendously fast transfer speeds. Some devices still don’t support the 802.11ac standard, so check the specifications before you buy. 02 If you subscribe to an ADSL broadband service, you should buy a wireless router that has a built-in ADSL modem. This will cost more than the equivalent cable router, but it allows you to connect your router…

01 All tablets rely on an operating system (OS) to run apps. You have three main choices: Apple’s iOS, which runs on the iPad; Android, which Google licenses to various manufacturers; and Windows 10, which has become common in hybrid tablets and convertibles. If you own an Apple or Google smartphone, you can download your apps, music and so on to a tablet that runs the same OS, so it makes sense to stick with a compatible device. 02 It’s important to pick a tablet that has a good-quality, high-resolution screen. Many budget tablets have 1,280x800-resolution displays, but better tablets have Full HD 1,920x1,080 panels, and we’re starting to see tablets that have even higher screen resolutions. Some are as high as 2,560x1,600 or even 4K. Entry-level tablets typically use…

01 Action cameras are typically much smaller than a regular camcorder, as they are designed to be mounted to a bike, board or car, or worn on your person. As the name suggests, they are designed primarily for shooting action footage, but because of their small size they are ideal for strapping on to your pet’s collar or your children’s toys for a different perspective. 02 Even basic action cameras will shoot Full HD video, and many will even shoot 4K, but frame rate is arguably more important than resolution when it comes to action video. Higher frame rates will mean smoother clips, and super-high frame rate videos can be played in slow motion to emphasise exciting shots. Keep an eye out for 4K/30, 4K/60, 1080p/60 and 720p/120 models for…

£1,459 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT The X-T3’s wide range of features and agreeable price make it great for photographers and videographers alike FOR ALL THE different DSLR and mirrorless cameras on the market, very few manage to excel at everything. Stunning still shots, top-quality video and high-end usability are easy to find individually, but all three rarely come in a single package. The X-T3, however, shows that Fujifilm has pulled off this feat. It has a large APS-C sensor shooting 26.1-megapixel stills, 4K video recording with 10-bit, 60fps and LOG shooting support, and more dials than the floor of a Rolex factory, all for a highly appealing price. SWITCH HUNT The arsenal of controls might even look intimidating at first, but they’re what make the X-T3 so eminently usable. You…

£1,849 • From www.jessops.com VERDICT Nikon’s mainstream mirrorless camera gets just about everything right THE NIKON Z6 and Z7 were announced simultaneously, and while the Z6 is the cheaper of the two, it still manages to be a superbly capable mirrorless camera. The Z6 houses a 24.5-megapixel, full-frame sensor, just shy of half the 45.7-megapixel resolution of the Z7. The build and handling of both models is, to the millimetre and gram, identical, with the same tilting screen, high-res electronic viewfinder and controls. There’s a decent array of buttons and dials, most of which are within easy reach of your right thumb. That leaves your left hand free to comfortably hold the lens. A useful display on top of the camera shows key settings such as aperture, drive mode, battery…

£1,225 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT Well priced but without sacrificing quality, Sony’s pint-sized mirrorless camera packs a punch SONY’S MARCH ON the mirrorless camera industry continues with the A6400, a much more affordable relative to the professional A7 and A9 models. At £1,225 it’s not exactly entry-level, but that money gets you a lightweight wisp of a 24.2-megapixel camera that offers 424 autofocus points and can shoot up to a speedy 11fps, not to mention the 18-135mm kit lens. Body-only, it’s only £629. MANY EYES Even with this lens, the A6400 is wonderfully compact: at just 120mm wide and 67mm tall, the body is barely any bigger than a high-end compact camera. It’s easy to handle; the front grip could be a little deeper, perhaps, but it’s comfortable and feels…

Send your problems to help@computershopper.co.uk A bit confused I am still running Windows XP as I need to use some old 16-bit programs, such as AmiPro 3.1. I also need to run some programs that I wrote in Visual Basic versions 3 and 6. I assume these are 32-bit, having been compiled on Windows XP. having been compiled on Windows XP. I have an Asus T100TA tablet with Windows 8.1, which runs these programs with no problems. I also have a Windows 10 tablet, which won’t run them unless I install an XP virtual machine on it. However, as I also need to be able to use some later software such as Word and Excel, I couldn’t do so on this tablet without exiting one system for the other. If…

Way back in 2010, I decided to replace my previous home-built PC with a new complete system. Based on a good Shopper review, I bought an Acer Aspire M7810 Desktop PC. With its 3.2GHz Intel i5-650 processor, two 640GB SATA drives, 4GB of RAM, 64-bit Windows 7 and an Nvidia GTS 250 graphics card, it was a much higher spec than I needed, but I wanted a future-proof system. After a while I added an old (2003!) Dell 17in VGA monitor as a second display using a VGA-to-DVI adaptor and this worked well alongside the DVI-connected Acer original. I also took advantage of the cheap upgrade to Windows 10 when it was offered. The system was initially excellent, but in recent years the machine became much noisier. More annoyingly, the…

Roland Moore-Colyer RAVES WHEN APPLE LAUNCHED the iPad Pro a few years ago, it championed the idea that it was a tablet for getting stuff done without the need for a laptop, even its own MacBook. The folks at Cupertino cooked up an advert that had a teenager using an iPad Pro ask “What’s a computer?”, suggesting that the iPad Pro was so capable that you wouldn’t need a PC. But while the latest iPad Pro models are very impressive, they simply don’t have the functionality of a laptop or a desktop. And I’m saying this while writing on an iPad Mini. Apple seems to have realised this, releasing two major computers in 2019. The first, the MacBook Pro 16in (see page 26), is a 16in laptop with a lovely…

New lease of Half-Life In an unexpected announcement, Valve revealed the return of Half-Life, only it’s not a sequel to Half-Life 2, but rather a VR game based on the character of Alyx Vance, hence its title of Half-Life: Alyx US-Away Huawei managed to make the Mate 30 Pro flagship phone without using a single component made in the US, effectively showing how the US trade ban on the Chinese firm won’t stop its smartphone efforts More core AMD has confirmed that it will release a 64-core, 128-thread third-generation Threadripper 3990X processor in 2020, aimed at professional high-end content creators rather than PC enthusiasts Turning a Page Google founders Sergei Brin and Larry Page have stepped back from their position at the top of Google’s parent company Alphabet, leaving Google…

MICROSOFT HAS PATENTED a set of cooling systems that work to conduct heat through a flexible vapour chamber across the hinge used in ‘foldable’ devices such as dual-screen smartphones and laptops. The company entered the so-called foldables market in October when it unveiled the dual-screen Surface Neo and Surface Duo. It’s now seeking to improve the performance and build of future iterations through next-gen cooling technology. Microsoft is planning to transfer the heat between regions of dual-screened devices through a vapour chamber, which runs across the full span, feeding into a flexible hinge that can withstand repeated bending cycles, according to the filing. “One disclosed example provides an electronic device comprising a first portion and a second portion connected by a hinge region, and a vapour chamber extending from the…

£1,449 • From www.microsoft.com VERDICT Improved in some ways and weakened in others, the Surface Pro 7 is a tablet in increasing need of a rethink BETWEEN THE REDESIGNED Surface Laptop 3 and the new ARM-based Surface Pro X, the latest standard Surface Pro tablet isn’t exactly the most exciting member of Microsoft’s 2019 hardware line-up. Major changes amount to Intel’s 10th-gen Ice Lake chips and the addition of a USB Type-C port; otherwise, the Surface Pro 7 is largely unchanged from the Surface Pro 6 (Shopper 372). That’s not entirely a bad thing, however. The Surface Pro series has long represented the best implementation of 2-in-1 design around, with a 3:2 aspect ratio, a 12.3in screen providing plenty of space, and the fully adjustable kickstand making it easy to…

£42 • From www.scan.co.uk VERDICT While unmistakably an entry-level chip, the 3000G’s value and overclockability might surprise you DESKTOP PROCESSORS HAVE progressed far enough that the notion of putting a mere dual-core CPU into your desktop PC might sound less like shrewd money-saving and more like tight-fisted silliness. The Athlon 3000G, however, shows that sometimes you really can do more with less. Like any Athlon chip, this accelerated processing unit (APU) sits well below AMD’s successful Ryzen series of mainstream CPUs. Regardless, it shares many of the latter’s qualities. There’s Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT), producing two extra virtual cores for a total of four threads, and Ryzen’s power-efficient Zen architecture is in use here as well. And while there’s no boost clock, the 3.5GHz base core speed can be overclocked manually…

£199 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT A smart idea to make mesh networking more reliable, but this router didn’t deliver the breathtaking speeds we were hoping for MESH SYSTEMS ARE our preferred method of putting Wi-Fi into any home, eliminating dead spots and getting you a strong wireless signal everywhere. But what if you run into problems with thick walls or you need to place a wireless satellite a long way from the router? In these cases, mesh systems tend to fail as they can’t get a strong enough wireless signal to work properly, leaving you with the option of having to run an Ethernet cable between mesh satellites. With the Deco P9, TP-Link offers a different option: each satellite has built-in Powerline networking, letting the satellites connect using Wi-Fi or…

£1,000 • From uk-store.acer.com VERDICT The stylish CP3271KP is a good professional monitor that comes frustratingly close to being a great one THE CONCEPTD RANGE doesn’t just span articulated laptops and wood-topped desktops like the ConceptD 500 on page 22. Monitors are another part of Acer’s attack on the professional market; hence we have the ConceptD CP3271KP, one of the company’s most highly specced desktop screens outside of the gaming-focused Predator series. It’s a 27in, 4K (3,840x2,160) IPS panel, and while it’s extremely expensive for its size, Acer is at least promising HDR 400 compatibility and professional colour accuracy. Like the ConceptD 500, it also appears to have been designed for those who want to bring a touch of class to their workspaces: there’s a similar faux wood finish on…

£137 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT It may be basic, but the SB362An-F6E delivers very high sound quality for the money VIZIO, THE TOP soundbar manufacturer in the US, is a name perhaps less familiar to consumers in the UK. The firm has been around since 2002 and is prolific in its native country, but it’s waited until 2019 to make its move in the UK, with the launch of three TV audio systems. The SB362An-F6E sits in the middle of this new UK range, and it’s typical of Vizio’s approach, aiming to deliver decent sound quality and features for not much cash. FINDING THE ANGLES It’s not luxuriously made and, as you’d expect of a sub-£150 soundbar, it’s predominantly built from plastic. Even so, it does look pretty good and…

£31 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT Unobtrusive and easily usable, the Galaxy Fit e is great value for money THE SAMSUNG GALAXY Fit e is a cheap and cheerful fitness tracker that walks in the shadow of its more expensive sibling, the Galaxy Fit. At a glance, it’s hard to tell the two apart, but the Fit e tightens its belt by taking the fundamental design of its stablemate and binning a few key features. GPS is the big one, but at least there’s everything here for basic tracking. It has a tiny 0.74in, 128x64 monochrome PMOLED display, and an equally small 70mAh battery to power a heart-rate sensor and an accelerometer. SEE THE LIGHT Happily, it doesn’t look as cheap as it is. The Fit e is sleek, durable and…

£240 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT The very first Moto G8 model is big and bright, with a heavily upgraded camera ODDLY, THERE’S NO Moto G8 to accompany this Moto G8 Plus; Motorola has taken the unusual step of launching a plus-sized version of a smartphone that doesn’t yet exist. Still, there’s reason to be interested. The Moto series has been arguably the best single family of budget smartphones for years, and the Moto G8 Plus updates things with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor and redesigned camera setup centred around a 48-megapixel sensor. The 6.3in screen dominates the front, with reasonably thin bezels all the way around. There are no sharp angles to speak of, and this continues on to the rear, which gently curves to meet a smooth polycarbonate back…

01 A basic laptop costing around £300 will run everyday office, multimedia and education software, but it won’t be suitable for 3D gaming or processor-intensive tasks such as video editing. Many laptops at this price have a 15.6in screen and weigh over 2kg, so they’re best used around the house and for occasional journeys. 02 If you want to play modern games, you’ll need a laptop with a dedicated graphics chip such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060M. Good gaming laptops tend to have large 15.6 or 17in screens and weigh around 3kg, so they’re best suited to use at home. 03 If you want a laptop that you can take everywhere, look for a model that weighs less than 2kg. For the best portability, buy one that has a…

01 A basic 24in LCD monitor costs around £100. It will be fine for typical Windows work but is likely to have poor viewing angles, so you’ll need to sit straight on for the best picture quality. Its colour accuracy may not be very good, either. 02 A VGA input lets you use the monitor with any PC, but the quality may not be as good as it is over DVI or HDMI. Both are digital connections and require a compatible graphics card but they avoid the need for digital-to-analogue or analogue-to-digital conversions, which can reduce image quality. A digital connection achieves the best picture automatically, so you won’t have to adjust clock or phase settings as you do with analogue connections. Many DVI and all HDMI connections support HDCP,…

01 A smart thermostat can save you a lot of money by intelligently controlling your heating. Most smart heating devices are designed to be used with hot water central heating systems, with the boiler directly controlled by the system. These typically require a relay to be wired into your boiler, with a wireless thermostat giving you direct control. Smartphone apps then tie into the system to give you remote control. While it’s possible to fit controls yourself, you may want to pay an experienced plumber to do the job: expect to pay around £150 for a typical installation. If you have electric heating, there are very few choices, and the big names (Nest, Honeywell and so on) do not directly support these systems. 02 Want smart hot water control? If…

01 If you don’t have space in your home cinema setup for a set of surround-sound speakers, a soundbar is the next best thing. Whether you opt for a soundbar (which typically sits in front of your TV stand) or a soundplate (which sits underneath your TV), you’ll be getting significantly better audio than the weedy speakers today’s flatscreen TVs provide. 02 If you want to cut down on cable clutter, look for a soundbar with multiple HDMI inputs and outputs as well as Audio Return Channel (ARC). Not all soundbars use HDMI, with many making do with digital optical audio connections instead. This means you’ll have to connect Blu-ray players, games consoles and set-top boxes to your TV and run all audio through a single cable. Also look for…

01 If you’re ready to step beyond the basic controls of a compact camera, or you want greater flexibility than an ultra-zoom can offer, a compact system camera (CSC) is the next logical upgrade. With interchangeable lenses, manual controls and stellar image quality, these cameras give proper digital SLRs a run for their money. 02 There are three competing types of CSC mount, and the one you buy determines the number of compatible lenses and accessories you have available. Samsung’s NX-mount is arguably the most limited in terms of lens selection, and the company has confirmed that it’s shutting down its European camera business, so it’s best to avoid these altogether if possible. Sony’s E-Mount has a slightly wider range, but Micro Four Thirds offers the widest variety. Both Panasonic…

Chat and Communication Evernote 6.21.2.8716 Store your notes, ideas and plans in the cloud, and synchronise them between computers. UPDATED Mailbird 2.7.5.0 A free desktop email client for Windows. Miranda IM 0.10.80 Chat with friends across multiple messaging platforms, including AIM, Facebook, IRC and MSN, all from one simple interface. Skype for Windows 8.54.0.91 Make internet voice and video calls for free, and buy credit to make calls to mobiles and landlines. Telegram 1.8.15 This free IM app synchronises your conversations across multiple devices, and can spruce up chats with stickers and GIFs. UPDATED WhatsApp Desktop 0.3.9308 A free PC and Mac version of the popular messaging app, letting you chat from your desktop. Customisation iolo System Mechanic Free 19.1.4.107 Speed up your system with iolo’s PC optimisation suite. Rainmeter…

£499 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT A user-friendly, well-made camera, albeit one that’s mainly for beginners GRADUATING FROM YOUR smartphone snapper to a ‘proper’ camera can be intimidating: too many features and controls and it can get overwhelming, too few and there would be little point. Enter the EOS M200. A relative snip at £499, it has an APS-C sensor that dwarfs that of any smartphone, and is compatible with all of Canon’s compact, lightweight EF-M mount lenses, or its DSLR lenses via an EF-EOS M adaptor. It has a handful of body-mounted buttons, allowing beginners to turn it on and start shooting, but it also offers plenty of manual controls for photographers who either know what they’re doing or are keen to learn. GROWING ATTACHMENT The EF-M mount has a…

£849 • From www.wexphotovideo.com VERDICT By distilling features from the X-T3 into a smaller, lighter and cheaper body, the X-T30 is everything you need in a travel camera FUJIFILM’S APPROACH OF applying the same features from more advanced models to cheaper cameras has produced some greats. Just as the X-T20 was a pared-down X-T2, so the latest X-T30 is essentially a baby X-T3. With the same 26.1-million-pixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS sensor and X-Processor 4 combination as the X-T3, the X-T30 should be capable of delivering the goods, quality-wise. The APS-C sensor may be smaller than the full-frame chips in cameras like the Nikon Z6, but Fujifilm clearly reckons this size of sensor is the perfect balance between portability and image quality: big enough to capture lots of light, but not…

£369 • From www.amazon.co.uk VERDICT This entry-level model from Olympus is a fun camera for vlogging and holiday snaps A BASIC MODEL at the bottom of Olympus’s mirrorless line-up, the PEN E-PL9 is designed to tempt those looking to upgrade from their smartphone’s integrated camera. As such, it includes a full complement of automatic and creative modes, as well as more advanced modes for those keen to learn. As always with the PEN range, Olympus has gone big on styling, with the E-PL9’s gorgeous retro look making it as much a fashion statement as a photographic tool. However, it doesn’t represent a huge upgrade from the older E-PL8: many of its specifications and features are identical, including a 16.1-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, 3-axis in-body image stabilisation and the 3in…

£2,999 • From www.wexphotovideo.com VERDICT A combination of smart design and technical trickery, the Sony A9 is a terrific high-end camera for stills THERE ARE MIRRORLESS cameras, and then there are mirrorless cameras. At the consumer end of the scale, they offer the best of both worlds: large image sensors capable of good image quality in a package that in many cases is all but pocket-sized. The top end of the market is a different place. High-end, full-frame mirrorless cameras throw caution to the wind, blending exotic sensor technology with supercomputer processing power to produce cameras that are nearly impossible to trip up, virtually silent in operation, and capable of incredible images that will withstand the most aggressive reproduction. The Sony A9 is a prime example. It has a 24.2-megapixel,…

clive@computershopper.co.uk The best unknown websites The internet might be full of stuff and nonsense, but there are also brilliant pages, trustworthy sites and amazing web apps out there – if you know where to look. Clive Webster is your guide to the digital unknown THE INTERNET. THE sum of human learning and understanding, a repository of progress, the ultimate melting pot of creativity and innovation. And all so clogged with junk, spam, fake news, info-trash, pseuds, trolls, ignorant arrogance and every last vile perversion of humanity. And pedants. Who have already slated this entire article by geeksplaining that, actually, the internet describes the physical structure of networked computers and that we’re actually referring to the World Wide Web. Sometimes you just need to skip the hassle of the online world…