Wednesday 29 July 2015

Panasonic TX-50CX700

Panasonic TX-50CX700

Firefox, 4K and a smart design make Jamie Carter an instant fan of Panasonic's TX-50CX700

Many will expect a 50in 4K TV that sells for less than £1,000 to care little for design. Corners have to be cut somewhere. And yet Panasonic's £900 TX-50CX700 offers one of the most arresting style flourishes of all – two barely visible feet providing that ‘floating look’ that so many TV designers aim for but usually miss. This may be a budget TV, but it's a beauty.

Pioneer BDP-LX58

Pioneer BDP-LX58

Someone should remind this over-achieving Pioneer Blu-ray player that it only sells for £500, chides

The BDP-LX58 is Pioneer’s Blu-ray Prince Regent. By designation it ranks below the brand’s flagship LX88 (and sells for half as much), but it doesn’t doff its cap to anyone. It looks beautiful and is built like a hotel room safe. A 1mm-thick steel-plated bonnet keeps a lid on erroneous vibration, while the chassis features a 1.6mm-thick base, reinforced by a 3mm plate. In operation it’s library quiet. You’ll want to load discs simply for the pleasure of ejecting them again.

Rip, convert and stream your DVDs

Rip, convert and stream your DVDs

Wayne Williams shows you how to clear your living room of DVD clutter and bring your movie collection into the 21st Century

It’s a familiar sight in living rooms everywhere: towering stacks of DVDs littered around the TV, from muchloved movies and current favourites to birthday box sets and friends’ recommendations that are yet to be watched. While DVDs take up less space than chunky old video cassettes, they still clutter up shelves and cupboards, and the chances are that you only watch them infrequently. In this issue’s Weekend Project, we’ll show you how to kill two birds with one stone by freeing up space and making your movie collection more accessible.

Transfer any file to any device

Transfer any file to any device

Want to copy a file to or from your PC without having to faff about with USB drives? Jonathan Parkyn explains the easiest, fastest ways to transfer files between your devices

Windows to Windows


Emailing yourself files or using a USB memory stick is fine for the occasional transfer, but if you often need to move files between Windows PCs, then setting up a shared folder is the smartest option. First, make sure all the PCs are connected to the same network and belong to the same HomeGroup. To do this, click Start, type homegroup and click the HomeGroup option on each PC to either create or join a HomeGroup as required. Certain libraries are shared among HomeGroup PCs by default, including Music, Pictures and Videos, and you can also add specific folders.

Windows 10 The Truth

Windows 10 The Truth

Don't believe the hype! Wayne Williams reveals why Windows 10 might not be the all-conquering operating system that we've been waiting for - at least not just yet

Microsoft has released its fair share of bad operating systems over the years: Windows Me, for example, infuriated users with its frequent crashes, while Windows Vista introduced the universally loathed User Account Control. But even by those standards, Windows 8 was a mess, and it’ll come as no surprise to anyone who used it in its first year that it’s the software giant’s least successful operating system ever.

Firefox blocks Flash after hackers exploit countless flaws

Firefox blocks Flash after hackers exploit countless flaws

What happened?


Mozilla has blocked the Flash plug-in by default on its Firefox browser, after a host of bugs were found that were being used by criminals to attack users.

Mozilla said the block may only be temporary, suggesting it may reverse its decision if Flash’s developer Adobe fixes the security flaws. Other tech companies including Apple have long blocked the plug-in, which is used to show videos, adverts and other multimedia content online.