Acer Aspire Timeline M3 Ultra review

This is the fourth generation of Acer Aspire Timeline laptops and the M3 is described as an Ultrabook because it is amazingly thin at just 20.7mm and weighs in at 2.3kg. It does have a 15.6" display, though, so you'll have to be a bit more careful than usual when stuffing it into your backpack.

I was sent the bottom of the range M3-581T model which comes with four Intel Core i3-2367M processors clocked at 1.40GHz and 4GB RAM. It also has a basic Intel HD Graphics 3000 card, plus 320GB SSD storage - this particular model will probably set you back around £450 if your intensions are not too ambitious in terms of multiple simultaneous operations (especially in terms of gaming).

However, if you truly want to make the most of this model, then insist on buying the version with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M card with 1GB memory installed as this will ensure that you play games like Battlefield 3 with high frame rates even with the settings cranked up. You can also boost the storage capacity to 500GB.

What all the models in this range have in common is the positioning of all the ports round the back of the machine rather than along the sides. This is partly because Acer had to make room on the left side to include a DVD optical drive and a 2-in-1 card reader and also because they think it looks less clutered. Although this may in the end be a matter of personal taste, you do at lease get 3 USB ports (one of which is a USB 3.0), plus HDMI and Ethernet.

The styling of the M3 is deliberately low-key black throughout, with matching grey around the keyboard keys. The keys themselves are the typical chiclet style that are pretty universal these days but typing feels firm and responsive. There's a large touchpad underneath that is fine if you want to use lots of gesture controls like pinching, rotating and scrolling but can also be irritating at times if you catch it unawares when creating a document.

The other area where the M3 shows no variation across the range is the screen resolution which is a rather disappointing 1366 x 768 - surely if you're trying to promote this laptop as a good choice for gamers then they should deserve a higher spec than this? The other irony is that the only feature that is visibly promoted above the keyboard is the presence of Dolby Home Theatre sound technology, yet the speakers (as with virtually all laptop speakers) can never do justice to the content without plugging into an external source.

That aside, the Acer Aspire Timeline series has always had a good record on battery life and the M3 is equally impressive, even if it didn't quite reach the dizzy heights of the claimed 9 hours when I was using it with a mixture of video, sound and spreadsheets operating.

So be discriminating when choosing which version of the M3 best suits your needs and you may well find that it will appeal to both the low-level business user who wants a fast processor but limited graphics and the student gamer who also enjoys hours of social networking.


Score: 3.5/5

Canon imageFORMULA DR-C130 review

In an age of multifunction printers which provide all of the basic needs of a small office, sometimes the needs of the space-restricted business person on the move seem to be more neglected. You may have been handed some documents or graphics you require for a presentation or that have to be e-mailed at short notice and you don't have the ability to cart even a medium-sized MFP around with you.

At times like this, what would be ideal would be a compact scanner that would do the workload fast and yet be light and highly portable. So this is where Canon's new range of imageFORMULA scanners come into their own and I managed to lay my hands on the DR-C130.

It only weighs 1.8Kg and in its fully shut-up state measures just 298 x 160 x 160mm - i.e. perfect for popping in a suitcase or back seat of a car. Once in position it unfurls so that the front panel becomes the feeder tray and the hidden panel underneath drops down to be the output tray - very neat indeed.

After that you simply drop in the pages you want to scan, choose between single scan and multiple scan, install the software and away you go. Attach to the PC via USB lead and then it's up to you what you want to do with the data. Canon's impressive CaptureOn Touch programme not only lets you scan documents to e-mails and PDF files but also lets you access Cloud services like Google Docs, Evernote and Share Point.

In addition, CapturePerfect, BizCard, OmniPage, PaperPort, eCopy PDF Pro Office and Kofax VRS are all part of the included bundled software. Scanning at 600dpi resolution, the DR-C130 comes with duplex scanning as standard and the front feeder capacity of 50 sheets of A4 width and up to 3000mm length.

Canon claim print speeds up to 30ppm for both black and white and colour documents and in practice I achieved around 28ppm which is still pretty impressive. Even with a stack of bills of different sizes, I was pleasantly surprised at not having any paper jams - although there's a quick-release mechanism at the front to keep things moving if in trouble.

While Canon's official release price for the DR-C130 was £605, there are already offers of around £415 circling on the Web and as such is strongly worth considering as a lightweight, swift and versatile accessory to any small office or travelling business person.


Score: 4/5

DRAGON Naturally Speaking 12 review

Now I have to freely admit that I never learnt to be a touch typist or to do dictation but when I first became aware of Nuance's speech recognition software several years ago, I thought this had to be a useful tool for any hard-pressed secretary.

So with the latest - 12th - incarnation of DRAGON Naturally Speaking I felt it was time to see if a complete dufus like me could suss it out in a couple of hours and see if it could be of help to me as a journalist.

Once the basic software is installed, you're immediately encouraged into setting up your audio source - which for me meant headset first, then audio voice recorder. I took a few goes at getting the computer and software to recognise my new Tritton headset and arranging the voice levels so they were comfortable for me and loud enough for Nuance and then I was ready for action.

No-one can fault Nuance for not providing enough assistance - a sidebar drops down on your right which provides you with stacks of voice commands for handling text, navigating the Web and even sending e-mails. There's plenty of scope to create your own commands and build up your vocabulary and there's an additional Accuracy Center that will constantly improve the finished document.

The real eye-opener came when I started dictating this review, as the sheer speed at which the words appeared on the page was astonishing. Of course, you have to get used to adding your punctuation and paragraphs, etc., verbally as well but I was impressed by how quickly you fall into the habit. Once it was all down on the page, I then used the text-to-voice command to get the whole piece spoken back to me by a warm and friendly female voice that managed to get around 97% accuracy while still keeping plenty of believeable inflexion.

Navigating the Web took a little longer to master and creating and sending e-mails I'll admit is still a work in progress. However, it's easy to see how this software will be an invaluable tool for business in general and secretaries and journalists in particular.

For those already familiar with DRAGON Naturally Speaking, you'll be happy to know that scores of new, helpful features have been added including customisable Click commands, a Dictation Box for preparing material to insert in programmes like PowerPoint, more support for Gmail and Hotmail, the ability to disable commands you don't use much, and there's also a BestMatch V speech model that kicks in for higher spec PCs that have 2 or more processors and more than 4GB of RAM.

Naturally because we live in the age of the App, the Remote Microphone app that was only available for iOS systems in the last version is now extended to cover Android devices. Haven't had the chance to try this yet as somehow I don't think it's going to be my main priority.

I know I'm never going to be taken on as a legal PA, but thanks to my experience of Nuance's top notch DRAGON Naturally Speaking 12, I might be able to hoodwink a few firms into thinking I have great typing accuracy and speed....


Score: 4.5/5

Guild Wars 2 review

I remember when the first Guild Wars game came out and what was so astonishing was that you got to go out and explore this huge and mysterious world without having to pay a penny beyond the initial installation disc.

MMOs were still relatively in their infancy and there was still an air of excitement and surprise in the new genre. Then a fantasy monolith called World of Warcraft swallowed all the headlines and most of our cash and the age of innocence was over. From the moment WoW hit the shelves, every games designer across the globe began dreaming up clones or imitations with the aim of grabbing a slice of the Blizzard pie.

While the original Guild Wars was quietly adding new chapters that seemed to be drowned out by the hooves of the WoW stampede, some new kids on the block started making waves of their own. All this year Skyrim has been supreme in achieving for offline RPGs what WoW had succeeded in doing online - creating a vast, sprawling and cohesive world that you could lose yourself in for months - whilst creating a gripping core storyline. No wonder, then that The Elder Scrolls Online will shortly cross the divide for good.

But then suddenly along comes Guild Wars 2 and that breath of fresh air we were hoping was going to be blasted into the lungs of the MMORPG community has become a reality. The land of Tyria plays host to five main races - the diminutive but powerfully magical Asura, the mystical plant-beings known as Sylvari, the natural hunters called Norn, the death-or-glory savage Charr and the common or garden Humans.

I chose the Charr because - naturally - I love a fight and as there's plenty of scope for specialising your features you won't run into many copycats in the course of the game. The graphics are simply drop-dead gorgeous and what I liked immediately was the fact that you can get in and out very quickly with minimal load times.

Essentially there are three ways to play - follow your character story by gradually building up your levels through quests, achievements, XP, etc.; going straight into PvP, in which case you instantly level up to awesome abilities and weaponry and can go straight into a decent slugfest with small teams of like-minded friends; or playing World vs World where massive teams battle across four giant maps in true global combat.

But even if you want to do most of the action solo, the game constantly asks you to get involved with other players. As you explore each map, an event will be announced and all players in the area are encouraged to jump in and help. Unlike in most of its rivals, Guild Wars 2 rewards you with points and treasure even if you only land one blow on a target, so it takes the selfish frenzy out of each contest. The result is a truly cooperative game where you're constantly rewarded for even small victories as well as for reviving fallen comrades and you're thus emboldened to take on greater and harder missions.

What's even more exhilarating is that all your actions have personal consequences and the dynamic events system which is at the heart of this game constantly adjusts and redefines how you progress based on the choices you've made. Defend one community and its enemies might redouble their attacks on you - support one clan and they might come to your assistance when you need them.

There's a massive array of skills, crafts, traits and weaponry that you can accumulate along the way and if you die you can either wait for someone to revive you or restart at one of the many waypoints scattered round the map. Exploration is also heavily promoted as XP is handed out for discovering points of interest and puzzling out how to arrive at key viewpoints on the map.

Of course some battles will have to wait until you've levelled up sufficiently but the main enjoyment of Guild Wars 2 is from taking a risk with a group of like-minded combatants and engaging in a fight that might normally be out of your range. What ArenaNet have managed to achieve here is to put the fun and the buzz back into multiplayer online gaming and if for no other reason, this should be your MMO of choice. RIP WoW.

And - yes - it's still subscription free.

Score: 5/5

Canon PowerShot SX160 IS review

Canon PowerShots have always had a good reputation with comparative newcomers to the art of photography who want to try everything from basic point 'n' shooters to bridge cameras that allow you more freedom of expression and manual controls.

The PowerShot SX160 IS continues this tradition by creating a comparatively lightweight (290g) model that remains comparatively robust (albeit made of toughened plastic) and has a user-friendly array of controls that invites you to express something of your personality.

It feels generally comfortable in the hand but the thin metal strip at the front that is supposed to act as a grip is somewhat slippery. The control layout, however, will be very familiar to regular Canon camera owners - the firm mode dial on the top next to the shutter with a zoom ring outside and a recessed power button, plus the circular control dial on the back surrounded by dedicated buttons for exposure compensation, playback, display and menu.

The substantial 3-inch LCD has a standard 230,000 dots which is more than enough to provide plenty of detail and colour variation and the instant video capture button at top right of the back panel ensures you can instantly start shooting at 720p HD quality and then play the results back immediately via the HDMI port on the side.

The PowerShot SX160 IS has obviously been constructed with holiday snaps in mind, too, as the power source is two AA batteries, thus allowing you to carry several days' worth of photography without having to constantly recharge. In addition, a smooth acting 16x optical zoom which is perfect for those events where you want to capture close-ups of Disney floats or dolphins is further enhanced by a 4x digital zoom, which is probably best used if you can keep the camera on some stable surface. Zooming is also possible when recording video and the image stabilisation system does a good job of keeping the picture steady when on the move.

The quality of the images is especially sharp in lighter conditions, which is due in part to the expansion to a 16MP 28-448mm equivalent lens over the former SX150 IS's 14MP. You can also have some fun with this camera as the 32 possible scene modes include effects like Miniature, Toy, Fish-eye and Poster.

While the price (currently around £165) is highly attractive, that does mean you'll find certain restrictions that you wouldn't expect for more advanced cameras - i.e. no electronic viewfinder, maximum 800 ISO for low light photos and 15 seconds flash recycling times. But if these are your first tentative steps into digital photography, the PowerShot SX160 IS is not a bad place to start.


Score: 4/5