The Acer Aspire laptops claim to offer a powerful performance, especially when multitasking, great graphics and playback, up-to-date communication tools and a stylish look. We at PC Site took a look at the Acer Aspire 5742Z and put these claims to the test.

What we like best

Firstly let’s tackle the issue of performance. The Acer Aspire 5742Z comes with an Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor, not the most power on the market but it’s still very fast at 2 GHz.

The Intel HD graphics makes for clear video playback on the 15.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, Active Matrix TFT Colour LCD screen. It comes with an integrated DVD rewriter so you can enjoy all your favourite music and movies all from one machine.

The Acer Aspire 5742Z comes with up to 8 Gb of RAM and up to 500 Gb hard drive, so you can multitask to the max. The Lithium Ion 6-cell battery means that you can keep working for hours without having to rush tot the nearest plug socket.

In terms of communication tools the Acer Aspire 5742Z is well hooked-up. It has an HDMI, 1.3MP webcam and a VGA port as well as 3 USB 2.0 ports. You have WiFi and an Ethernet port so staying online won’t be a problem.

To top it off the Acer Aspire 5742Z does actually look nice – you would be proud to wield this laptop at your nearest Starbucks! It is ergonomic and durable and comes with a unique mesh pattern on the chassis that makes it scratch and smudge resistant.

Working on the Acer Aspire 5742Z is like a dream. It has large chiclet keys that are comfortable to type on, good for all us writers! It also comes with a numerical keypad, good for those who work with numbers and the multi gesture touchpad means you can flip through pages, rotate images and move files with ease!

What we like least

There are only a few bad points about this laptop, though for this price it is hard to complain.

We would have liked to see it come with Bluetooth to take the communication factor to the next level and an Intel iCore processor would have been faster, but this would have jacked the price right up.

Some people may find 2.6Kg heavy for a notebook, but again, for the price, you can’t really expect a MacBook Air.

The new iPad 2, as expected, comes with two cameras, one front facing to enable FaceTime and the other outward facing to enable HD video capture. It now comes with a powerful dual-core A5 chip which makes it two times faster, so you get faster graphics and smoother surfing.

The iPad 2 is also 33% thinner and is 15% lighter that its predecessor. Apple has still managed to keep the long battery life, boasting up to 10 hours.

It comes with the latest operating system, iOS4 which claims to be the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. The iPad 2 is also now available in two colours – black and white!

With the iPad 2 you can also get some great new accessories such as the colourful Smart Cover. You can choose from 10 colours and either polyurethane or leather material.

The Smart Cover is possibly the best new addition to the iPad – it is designed as a slim line cover to protect the LED backlit screen. The iPad 2 has magnets built into its frame so that it aligns perfectly with the aluminium back of the Smart Cover. The cover folds back and acts as a stand to lean the iPad on – two birds with one stone there.

The Smart Cover (and I know I’m going on about it more that the iPad itself) also has an on/off mechanism built in. When you close the Smart Cover, the iPad goes to sleep, and when you open it again the iPad instantly wakes up – no need to push a single button!

Unfortunately the iPad 2 does fall down in the few areas. Still no USB port, and only up to 64 Gb storage – we expected at least 128 Gb. If you already have an iPad, an upgrade may not be worth the money.

Prices are estimated to start at around £439, a little higher that the first iPad. Actual prices will be revealed on release on 25^th March 2011.

It is for this reason that Norton has released a powerful new Cybercrime Index in London which tracks and warns computer users about the daily risks around the world.

The Norton Cybercrime Index is free to use and gives alerts about dangerous websites and the most hijacked search terms by hackers.

The power to create our own music and movies and burn them on our very own discs is something many people value and Nero Burning ROM delivers the goods.

What we like best

With Nero Burning ROM you can customise your burning and copying options, meaning that you can copy to multiple discs and different disc types. This feature is great for people that have to work with all types of media.

The long-lasting disc data readability in Nero Burning ROM means that you can burn data even if it is on a scratched or damaged disc or even if it is old. With cutting-edge SecurDisc technology, Nero Burning ROM makes this all possible.

The SecurDisc technology in Nero Burning ROM also means you can protect the data that you burn using encryption options and private passwords.

Nero Burning ROM doesn’t just burn your data, you also have the option to erase rewritable discs, rip audio CDs, retrieve data and convert audio files into other formats.

The bonus of this software is that it is easy to install, so even the most inexperienced user can upload it to their PC without trouble.

What we like least

Sometimes with an interface as simple as Nero Burning ROM’s people make the mistake of thinking they don’t have to read instructions. This is not the case.

If you want Nero Burning ROM to work for you properly, no matter how simple it looks, you need to read up on it and watch tutorials etc.

Roxio Video Lab HD is packed full of tools to help you achieve professional quality results. This package is great for beginners, intermediates or even professionals that don’t want to pay the earth for a decent video editing suite.

What we like best

One of the best features of Roxio Video Lab HD is the brand new 2D to 3D conversion. You can literally convert your 2D videos into 3D masterpieces and then even play it back on your PC – 3D glasses are included with the software.

You can create 3D movie and pictures even from standard cameras, and Roxio Video Lab HD does all the hard work for you.

On top of that users can edit both standard and HD video footage using a variety of effects titles and contrasts. Roxio Video Lab HD includes four video effects: aged film, skew, interference and newsprint.

After you are done editing with Roxio Video Lab HD you can share your Hollywood-style videos from within the VideoLab straight to popular social networks such as Facebook and YouTube.

Roxio Video Lab HD also allows you to burn and copy discs directly onto your Roxio Burn desktop widget. You can copy DVDs and Blu-ray discs in a matter of clicks and back up your movies, songs and TV shows from your iPod onto your PC.

A lovely extra that come with Roxio Video Lab HD is the ability to create personalised labels for your DVD cases. You can use professional quality templates or create your own from scratch. This is a great feature for those of you who like to keep organised.

What we like least

For a video editing product it is hard to knock it too much.

It can be quite slow when rendering and can take a bit of time to install which can be quite frustrating.

HP has updated the TouchSmart610 Consumer PC and the TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC with 23 inch diagonal screens that can recline up to 60 degrees. This new feature enables users to control the angle of the screen to allow for more comfortable usage.

James Mouton, senior vice president, Desktop Organisation, Personal Systems Group, HP, said:

“As a leader in touch computing, HP has made each iteration of the TouchSmart PC more intuitive, resourceful and fun for users. The latest generation is no exception with a new design that makes it easier and more comfortable to use, and it allows businesses to integrate the TouchSmart where convenience, space constraints and appearance matter.”

The new design see the TouchSmart PC recline up to 60 degrees and tilts forward up to five degrees. It is a wide-angle LED backlit display with multitouch technology, and this new improvement allows for even more accurate responses to your touch.

This display is optimised for touch-applications such as Hulu, Netflix and Twitter and is perfect for interactive computing.

The HP TouchSmart610 Consumer PC is expected to be available in April at a starting price of £999.

Earlier last year the HP Slate looked set to take on the tablet heavyweight champ, the Apple iPad, but was unfortunately killed off within a few months of its announcement. Now HP is teasing us with a look at the HP TouchPad – we hope this one actually hits the shops!

The HP TouchPad will be a webOS-based device, making it the first of its kind of the market. It has a 9.7 inch (diagonal) flush capacitive multitouch display, with a vibrant 18-bit colour, 1024×768 pixel resolution and weighs just 740g.

The HP TouchPad supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta in the browser and gives users access to thousands of webOS applications. It has a virtual keyboard, but if touch screen typing is not your bag you can purchase a wireless keyboard separately.

The HP TouchPad looks set to be a real contender for the iPad, possibly even more so than the previously talked-about HP Slate.

The best part about the HP TouchPad being webOS-based is that it means you can pause a game, open an email notification, open your Facebook, check your calendar and then go straight back to the game again without actually having to close the application first! It’s literally like working on a PC but in the palm of your hands.

It comes with a front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam which is perfect for using Skype or for video conferencing and comes with HP’s famous Beats audio. HP has also incorporated its state-of-the-art Touchstone technology to help HP devices work together.

For example, you can share a URL from your new HP Pre³ smartphone to your HP TouchPad simply by tapping them together – similar to the iPhone’s “bump” feature.

As of yet, HP has given no release date or even a price, but we are hoping to see these details come out after this year’s Mobile World Congress (14^th – 17^th February2011). We will keep you posted on all new information.

If you don’t want to fork out hundred of pounds for the most professional image-editing software, but still crave the ability to modify you images then Serif PhotoPlus X4 could be the perfect package!

What we like best

Serif PhotoPlus X4 simplifies image editing, meaning that even the most inexperienced user can alter RAW and HDR files with ease.

Other tasks such as red eye removal, spot repair and cropping are all simple and effective with Serif PhotoPlus X4. On top of that you can remove who objects from images using the clone and patch tolls and repair and restore old and damaged images, with scratch and blemish removers.

Thanks to the Lanczos3 resampling methods found in Serif PhotoPlus X4, you don’t have to worry bout reducing image quality when resizing your images. Users can also choose between a variety of paint and pencil tools, layers and masks and filters too, so you can personalise your photos with messages and borders.

The actual interface in Serif PhotoPlus X4 has had a bit of makeover and the customisable interface (another favourite feature) is easily accessible and easy to navigate.

Another feature we found very useful in Serif PhotoPlus X4, is that you can actually import and export Adobe Photoshop files with all the layers intact.

What we like least

The Serif PhotoPlus X4 package is quite complete, so finding something we didn’t like was difficult.

Professional users may be turned off by the lack of CMYK editing and it can be slow to import RAW files.

Pritham Shetty, vice president of video solutions, Adobe, said:

“At Adobe, we are committed to working with partners to develop solutions that enhance video workflows across a wide range of devices and platforms.

“The alliance with thePlatform, a leading video management and publishing services provider, is consistent with our strategy of helping video professionals extend the Flash Platform and make the most of their premium content.”

This computer software package gives users a variety of services and all for a price that won’t break the bank. PC Site finds out whether it is a match for its competitors.

What we like best

Inside Nero Multimedia Suite 10 you get Nero Vision Xtra, Nero Burning ROM and Nero BackItUp & Burn making a great value 3-in-1 package.

Firstly this latest version looks less old-fashioned than previous editions, making it clearer to navigate through.

Nero Vision Xtra allows users to edit images and videos and organize them in one place. You can arrange them in slideshows, personalise them with movie themes and then upload them to your social media sites such as YouTube, and Facebook.

BackItUp & Burn is the most useful new feature in Nero Multimedia Suite 10. It enables you to Autobackup in one-click without having to mess around with reconfigurations.

There is a comprehensive choice of places to backup your precious photos and memories to including hard drive, CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, memory card and online storage. It also has a recover feature that restored deleted or damaged files from hard drives, floppy discs, CDs and DVDs.

We found the video editing software the best part of this package. You can create HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies, and thanks to the efficient codecs in Nero Multimedia Suite 10, you don’t need a powerful Mac to be able to run the program.

What we like least

There were only a few quibbles with this software, the most prominent one being the lack of support for RAW camera formats.

The image editing is no Adobe Photoshop, but then again it doesn’t leave you quite as out of pocket as Photoshop either.