Tuesday 29 September 2015

Intel Skylake

Intel Skylake

Prepare for faster PCs that consume less power – but do you really need them?

What is it?


Self-explanatory, we’d have thought. Intel has built a giant lake in the sky. The company has invited everyone in the world for a dip.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega

The classic home computer returns

In the early 1980s, Sir Clive Sinclair masterminded Britain’s home-computing revolution. Eschewing the American big-business thinking of the Apples and Commodores of the day, he unleashed a tiny plastic DIY microcomputer, the ZX80, followed by the ZX81 and then his breakthrough: the ZX Spectrum.

Brother MFC-J5320DW

Brother MFC-J5320DW

An A3 multifunction printer for less

It’s no secret why printers are cheap to buy. When you add up what you’ve spent over the years, the price you paid for the machine itself represents a drop in the ocean. The real money’s in the consumables. A litre of petrol, one of the Earth’s most precious and fastestdwindling resources, will cost you a bit more than a pound, including tax. The same quantity of inkjet refills, however, would come to about £1,000.

Are hackers reading your text messages?

Are hackers reading your text messages

Think malware can’t affect Android or iOS? Think again. Jonathan Parkyn reveals how to find out if your phone or tablet is under attack and how to stop it

Aflaw was recently discovered in the Android operating system (OS) that could allow hackers to take control of your phone or tablet simply by sending you an infected multimedia message (MMS) – essentially a text message with a malicious video file attached.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

The most striking smartphone you’ll see this year

When it first appeared as a variant of the Galaxy Note last year, Samsung’s ‘Edge’ design brought something properly new, if arguably pointless, to mobile devices. Other phones have bigger or smaller or squarer or longer screens, but they’re all flat. Here’s a screen that goes all the way to the, well, edge, and wraps around. It may just be a few millimetres, but it’s enough to feel startlingly futuristic.

Motorola Moto X Play

Motorola Moto X Play

A capable smartphone that won’t break the bank

The Moto X was launched two years ago as an affordable mid-range smartphone. Last year it was reinvented as an upmarket metal option with a big screen. Now it’s got an even bigger screen, but it’s reasonably priced again. Oh, and there are two versions of it. Make your mind up, Motorola.

Windows 10. The 19 Best NEW Things You Should Do

Windows 10. The 19 Best NEW Things You Should Do

Upgraded to Windows 10? Then you’ll want to know how it’s better than Windows 7 and 8. Jonathan Parkyn and Daniel Booth reveal the best things you can do in the new OS that you couldn’t do in its predecessors

It’s now two months since Windows 10 launched, and the general reaction among Computeractive readers has been: ‘Yes, it’s good, but…’. Every user has their own ‘but’, whether it’s updates not working, software mysteriously vanishing or hardware packing up. As promised, we are continuing to fix your problems – no buts!

HP Envy x360 15-w001na

HP Envy x360 15-w001na

A full-size laptop that doubles as a full-size tablet

Next month, Apple will start selling the iPad Pro, a tablet with a screen as big as a laptop. Not a full-size 15.6in laptop, because that would be crazy. It will have an optional keyboard, albeit a special flat, lightweight keyboard, not a full-size laptop keyboard that’s permanently attached, because that would be crazy. And it’s fairly heavy compared to a regular iPad, but not as heavy as a full-size laptop, because – yes, you guessed – that would be crazy.

Dell Inspiron 15 5558

Dell Inspiron 15 5558

The latest thing in old-fashioned portables

We were beginning to wonder if it had been made illegal to release a normal, everyday laptop, and we’d missed it. By normal we mean not ultra-small or ultra-slim, not a MacBook, Chromebook or some hybrid convertible multi-touch fantabulet – just a conventional laptop. Well, here’s one, and it’s pretty good too.