Refurbished Tablets: Pros & Cons

Should you get a refurbished mobile device or spend more to get one new?

There's a lot to love about a decent tablet PC. They're compact lightweight enough to be portable from room to room, but heavy-duty enough to pack in serious computing power. Despite what marketers might think, the natural home of most tablets is in bedrooms and lounges, where they can be picked up and put down at a moment's notice in ways that larger PCs - even laptops - can't be.

Where To Find Refurbished Hardware

We look at the best places to find your new(ish) components and systems

The existence of refurbished and reconditioned hardware means there's a great opportunity for everyone to pick up some nearly new bargains, as long as you're willing to be a little bit flexible about their needs. One of the biggest disadvantages to shopping for refurb items is that you don't get to pick what you buy, because availability is on an individual, item-by-item basis. You can either take the bargain you spot or wait for the next to come along.

Refurbish Your Own PC

What can you do to bring your old system up to date?

There's something wasteful about old computers. Most of us know that under the right circumstances our old PCs could be coaxed back into life; we just don't have the time or the means to get it back into working order. But maybe that's just an excuse. Maybe, without a little polish, a PC destined for the tip could be turned into something useful to someone once more.

Buing refurbished systems

What to look for and where to look for it...

If you've never bought a refurbished device before, you might wonder what you should expect. Clearly the process of buying a pre-owned device isn't identical to buying a fresh one, even if it's been professionally restored, but how different is it?

To try to help you understand just how simple refurbished hardware can be, we've taken a look at the different types of systems you might choose to buy refurbished and what things you should look for when you're trying to pick one. Follow our advice and you can be certain that whatever you decide to buy, you'll end up with exactly what you wanted.

Guide to refurbished components

Which used parts should you buy and which should you avoid?

Although refurbished systems are worth looking at when you're buying a new PC, not everyone wants to replace their entire computer when the time comes to spend a bit of money. If you're the type of person who prefers to upgrade rather than replace, it's still worth looking out for a bargain - and refurbished or other open-box components might just provide the biggest bargain of all.

Tt eSPORTS CONTOUR

The smartphone revolution was huge for gamers. No longer are we chained to a TV or PC monitor to get our gaming fix. And today’s mobile devices are powerful enough to handle PC and console games from just a few years ago. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a major gaming franchise that hasn’t made the leap to smartphones and tablets in one form or another (excluding, of course, first-party Nintendo franchises–we’re still scratching our heads over that missed opportunity). But for those who’re looking for anything more than a casual experience, touchbased controls are oftentimes maddeningly inaccurate and force you to cover the screen with your thumbs.

Aerocool Aero-500

Aerocool is back with another one of its new Aero cases, which are part of the company’s PGS A series. This case, the Aero-500, looks a lot like the Aero-800 (reviewed last month), which looks a lot like the Aero-1000 (reviewed in the June 2015 issue). Now before you convince yourself that you’re seeing triple, realize that the Aero-500 differs from its fellow Aero cases in a few ways, so if the Aero-1000 and Aero-800 weren’t quite what you were looking for, perhaps this impressive case is just what the enthusiast ordered.

Fractal Design Node 202

Nowadays, HTPC cases come in a variety of shapes and sizes. On one hand, you have the tiny, handheld cases that are “big” enough for a computer on a card. On the other, you can go with a case so large that it lets you stuff a full-fledged high-end system inside. Fractal Design’s Node 202 falls somewhere between these two extremes, but one thing is clear as soon as you unbox it: This case looks the part.

MSI Nightblade X2

Many barebones PC kits feature an ultra-compact or exceptionally slim design that doesn’t leave room for full-size graphics cards. The GPU limitations mean that most barebones kits are relegated to home office duty. MSI’s Nightblade X2 is a different breed of barebones kit that supports a dualslot GPU up to 290mm long—enough space to fit a GeForce GTX 980 Ti. With that said, we imagine power users who’ve built their own gaming rigs might question why someone wouldn’t just pick all the off-the-shelf parts for complete control over what goes into the build. MSI designs the Nightblade X2 inside a compact mini-ITX case, so it’s much smaller than a conventional gaming system. MSI also optimizes the layout and cooling to ensure peak performance. Accomplishing the same precision in a DIY build would require lengthy component consideration.

AION Poseidon

Last month, we took an in-depth look at the AION Mars, a mini-ITX system with custom liquid cooling. And while the Poseidon is also a member of the AION lineup, it’s safe to say that this rig is a completely different, much bigger beast. Housed in an In Win 909 (an E-ATX chassis), the Poseidon is capable of quad-SLI and features your choice of Haswell-E processor. Liquid cooling is part of the package too, as is only befitting for a rig named after the god of the sea.

Off The Beaten Track

Gripping character arcs, revolutionary stories, intimate relationships and industry-leading gameplay… Naughty Dog has perfected all this in single-player, but where exactly does that leave Uncharted 4’s multiplayer efforts?

Naughty Dog is a studio invested in the human side of videogames: the human stories, the human animations, the human reactions, the human empathy. It revels in grand drama, Hollywood-inspired characters and narrative arcs that take you on an emotional journey as varied and intense as the physical voyages its characters embark upon. The multiplayer facets of Naughty Dog’s games, therefore, go somewhat unnoticed in the grand scheme of things: rarely are the multiplayer efforts of the studio’s games even reviewed, let alone written about in the many essays that come out about its games.

Detroit: Become Human

Do Quantic dream of electric peeps?

You might remember a tech demo all the way back in 2012 that caused a bit of a fuss. That demo was called Kara and its graphical prowess blew people away (the fact that it now looks rather unspectacular shows how fast technology moves). More than that, though, people were intrigued by the character and the story that the demo hinted at. It showed an android called Kara on the verge of being disassembled by a technician after she showed signs of ‘malfunctioning’. After begging for her life, however, the technician seemed to realise that she might just be selfaware, taking pity on Kara and allowing her to leave the factory on the production line to be sold as originally intended. People wanted to know what would happen next and were disappointed when Quantic Dream insisted that Kara was only intended to show off the capabilities of the PS3.

Gran Turismo Sport

Virtual racing with real rewards

There's a lot of money in eSports these days, which explains why all the big games seem to be pushing the pro gaming angle lately. Anything that can be played to a high level is being played to a high level, with mind-blowing prize pools for the best players to split – everything from Counter-Strike to Rocket League, COD to FIFA and Street Fighter to DOTA 2 has a booming competitive scene. It’s not something that will work for every kind of game, of course (don’t expect a pro Assassin’s Creed scene any time soon…) but you’ll be seeing a greater shift towards the eSports scene in the coming years.

60 PS4 tips, tricks & fixes

Get the most out of your PlayStation 4 by exploiting all of its great new features and best-kept secrets

ORDER YOUR PS4 AROUND

People don’t realise that you can control your PS4 using voice commands. We’re sure a lot of you are regularly playing games with a headset, in which case you’re already set up to start using them. Ensure ‘Operate PS4 With Voice’ is enabled in your system settings, say “PlayStation” to make your PS4 listen, and then you can order it about to make navigation swifter by ordering it to take you to your Library, the Home screen, PES 2016, or whatever else you fancy.

Far Cry Primal

Ubisoft goes prehistoric with its back-to-basics adventure…

We’re used to games stacking the odds against you. An army against one rebel. A city that needs liberating by one hero. A single soldier taking on a universe full of nasty aliens. But in all of these you’ve got the edge; a big-ass gun, a unique piece of technology, or a team at your back. Far Cry never bothered with that; you get dropped into a shitstorm and it’s up to you to survive. And in Far Cry Primal, that’s going to be harder than ever, because this time around there isn’t a bullet in sight.

Into the heart of darkness

We sent Josh West into the Belly of the Beast to go hands-on with Dark Souls III’s fresh hell

I would like to tell you that I had just died in battle facing overwhelming odds, brawling with the scourge of warped figures lining The Wall of Lodoleth. But the reality is far less heroic. After 132 minutes with Dark Souls III, I found myself looking upon a daunting dungeon door, concealing an inevitably soul-crushing boss within. As I prepared for conflict, imbuing my sword with Gold Pine Resin, a super-charged Knight ran me through off-camera, his glowing red eyes a haunting reminder that you are never safe in Dark Souls. The familiar ‘You Have Died” scrawl of shame faded from the screen as I sighed deeply. That was death number nine.

The Pro’s Guide to UI design

Johan Ronsse describes what it’s like to be a user interface designer, and gives some tips for how to become better at your craft

When I started my career, I was a web designer. I worked in web design for four years, starting with small business sites and eventually moving on to bigger clients. I found out that it wasn’t graphic design that interested me, nor working for bigger brand names. I was more interested in pagination patterns, the way people interacted with forms, and things like perceived performance, than the visual design of a web page.

Blame your tools

Interfaces are evolving, and our tools are struggling to keep up. Alasdair Monk explores what our design toolkits should look like

Looking back to 20 years ago, our workflow for web design relied heavily on creating a hi-fidelity, fixed canvas in Photoshop that would then be mimicked in HTML and FTPd out into the world. Since then, the increasing ubiquity of the internet has changed everything. We now boast a multitude of devices from which to consume, publish and share via apps. From watches to televisions, we’re now never more than a glance away from our beloved black mirrors.

BlackBerry Priv

BlackBerry finally makes its first Android phone, but the keyboard it’s famous for remains intact

Yes, BlackBerry has made an Android phone. The Finnish manufacturer used to jostle with the likes of Apple, Samsung and Nokia at the very top of the mobile phone tree, but it utterly failed to keep pace with the smartphone revolution, lurching from crisis to crisis refusing to shift from the boxy, physical keyboard designs and its own operating system.

ZUK Z1

Lenovo-backed ZUK attempt to emulate the success of OnePlus with a low-cost, high-value, Cyanogen OS device

It seems as though ‘low cost, high value’ is the new battleground. This unconventional approach to the market was pioneered by OnePlus with the One, a phone that packed great specifications at a knockdown price. It was inevitable that others would try and emulate this success and now they are: the ZUK Z1 ticks many of the same boxes and even includes Cyanogen OS, just like the OnePlus One.

Wileyfox Storm

The mobile that hopes to take the Android world by storm

When the Wileyfox Storm was announced, alongside its little brother Swift, the Android community was instantly intrigued. The British startup has partnered with Qualcomm and CyanogenMod, one of the world’s most popular Android forks, to create an Android phone that has that much needed unique element.

Cyanogen’s big selling points are its customisation and security. To get the Storm’s range of themes and security features you’d usually have to root your phone and flash a custom ROM yourself or download a ton of apps. However, by making Cyanogen the stock OS, Wileyfox has brought that level of customisation to the masses and given its users the chance to create a truly original phone.

HTC A9

HTC finally throws off the shackles of the M8

Back in the noughties, HTC was constantly fighting with Samsung for supremacy over the Android market. However, a series of mistakes and failed products has eaten into HTC’s profits and the company has been in a nosedive ever since. Although both the South Korean company’s HTC One (M8) and M9 were excellent phones, they failed to sell; the latter suffering due to a perceived lack of innovation from its previous iteration. HTC has decided to throw itself fully into the premium end of the mid-range market with the A9 at £419/$499.99 with reasonably high-end specs.

Nexus 5X

Will the Nexus brand remain the cream of the crop for Android heading into 2016?

For many an Android user, the launch of a new Nexus device is the pinnacle of the yearly cycle of smartphones. Notorious for being high-end devices at a competitive price point, this year has seen two very distinct devices enter the fray. While Huawei’s 6P is tailored to a more premium audience, the 5X developed by LG has a look and feel of a more mid-range affair.

Remembering... Chuckie Egg

David Hayward recalls one of the few games he's actually quite good at

For many gamers of a certain age, the defining ZX Spectrum title was Manic Miner, but for others, me included, it was Chuckie Egg.

Chuckie Egg is a classic example of how something as simple as running and jumping around a many-platformed screen can highly addictive. Although remarkably limited in its delivery, Chuckie Egg proves that a game doesn't necessary need to have the latest, most dazzling 3D graphical effects or studio-

quality audio.

Top 5 Jobs For Later

You know you'll have to do it at some point, but surely it can wait...

CyberGhost 5.5

David Hayward improves his online anonymity

Our online privacy has never been as more important as it is now. With various laws probably coming into enforcement over the coming months and years, with even more restrictions and government agency level 'observing' just around the corner, the situation is undoubtedly getting worse.

Roccat Kova

Streamlined performance from a rather clever mouse

Roccat has recently released a slew of updated and upgraded products from its healthy range of gaming mice. The likes of the Roccat Savu, Lua and Kone Pure Series are some of the best gaming mice available today, and let's not forget the impressive Roccat Nyth.

Edifier R12U Active Speaker

A small pair of multi-function speakers from Edifier

When it comes to buying a set of speakers, most people have three things in mind, the size, application and price. For example, you wouldn't buy a pair of 3ft high speakers for your laptop, and you probably wouldn't get a pair of 3" high units to accompany your 60" plasma (although I've seen some Bose speakers that could easily cope with that scenario).

Crucial BX200 480GB SSD

Crucial replaces the BX100 with a drive that is remarkable value for money

The BX200 is a very significant product, and perversely that is nothing to do with the technology or design work that Crucial put into it.

That might seem an odd thing to say, even for this writer, but the BX200 has special significance because of where it comes in the transition between conventional drive technology and solid-state drives.

BenQ W1080ST+

Looking for a decent living room projector?

BenQ's 2013 W1080ST projector was considered an unrivalled success for short-throw, full HD projectors. Now the company has released the W1080ST+, an updated version that addresses the flaws of its predecessor. But has the company done enough to keep the good name of the W1080ST up?

SanDisk Extreme 500 240GB Portable SSD

SanDisk expands its flash range with a portable SSD

Evidence about how far we've come with flash storage is most likely lurking at the back of a drawer. It's a flash USB key that holds 512MB or less, and most people have a few of those gathering dust somewhere.

The other end of that spectrum is the SanDisk Extreme 500, a portable flash storage device that comes in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities while offering speeds in excess of those you might expect from an internal hard drive.

Chillblast Fusion Drone Gaming PC

A budget AMD-based system with a few interesting tweaks

Last year, AMD took the decision to spread its budget processors across a wider audience, catering for those who want to build a decent gaming system without the cost overheads.

Filthy keyboard

Lord knows I’m not the world’s tidiest man, and my desk would give most efficiency gurus the shivers. It’s crammed with paperwork, mysterious cables, numerous CDs and an abandoned mug of coffee that seems to have transformed into primordial ooze. It has several books open, face-down, and the small tin that has held USB sticks now hosts discarded chocolate bar wrappers. Yet there’s only one thing on my desk that I’m actually ashamed of, and that’s my keyboard.

iPad Fast Fixes

Access the App Store when you can't fix sudden slowdowns and make space for upgrades without deleting apps

Not enough space to update

It’s frustrating when you want the latest iOS but don’t have enough free space to install it. Deleting apps frees up space, of course, but just giving Safari a spring clean may give you the space you need. Tap Settings, Safari, and then ‘Clear History and Website Data’, followed by Clear to confirm.

Still not enough? You could clear your Reading List too, because this stores loads of data for offline viewing. In Settings, tap General followed by ‘Storage & iCloud Usage’, Manage Storage, then Safari. Next, tap Edit followed by the red minus sign next to Offline Reading List. While you’re here, tap through the other apps to see if they too have data you can delete without uninstalling the whole app.

Who's selling your data?

AVG isn't the only company selling your data. Jane Hoskyn reveals the trusted tools that share your secrets - and explains how to stop it

Security firm AVG admitted selling your data to advertisers, who then use this data to target you with adverts for products you may (or may not) want. When confronted about this abuse of customers’ privacy, AVG did the digital equivalent of a shrug. Everybody does it, they said - it’s the way free services work. That may be true in a cold business sense, but it’s an insult to customers. Sharing your secrets for financial gain betrays your trust.

We’ve covered AVG in detail in our article on troublesome security tools, so here we’ll focus on the other companies that hand out your data - and reveal what you can do about it.

Epson WorkForce WF-100W

Print anywhere, at a price

Portable printers are a strange breed. They’re generally simpler, flimsier and print less well than full-size models, yet they cost more. That’s partly because they’re aimed at business users who’ll cheerfully spend their boss’s money. It’s also because printer manufacturers don’t make money selling printers, they make money selling ink, and a portable machine is likely to get used less, bringing in smaller profits over its lifetime.

Palicomp Intel i5 Revolution

A speeded-up Windows 10 desktop

If this computer looks familiar, that’s because the case it’s built into, from South Korea’s Zalman Tech Co Ltd, is used by several British PC manufacturers. Between 120mm fans front and back, it has a generous amount of room for expansion inside - as you’ll see if you peep through the window in its side panel.

Security tools you should stop using

Security tools are powerful programs that can have serious side effects Jane Hoskyn reveals the tools and apps that aren't worth the hassle

Just because something calls itself a ‘security tool’, that doesn’t mean it’s going to keep you secure. It’s a bit like the building trade - anyone can call themselves a builder, then charge you the earth to mess up your house and cause you untold stress.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 14

Photo editing made simpler - but there's not much new

Photoshop Elements is related to Adobe’s top-end, image-editing program, but it’s not just a cut-down version. Instead, it focuses on introducing tools and techniques to beginners. That makes it worth considering if you’ve looked at more advanced software and felt lost. On the other hand, it’s expensive for a program you might grow out of.

Apple TV (2015)

The iPhone of television

Apple’s boss, Tim Cook, used to say Apple TV was a “hobby”. Now he calls it “the future of television”. That’s a pretty big step up. This new version is still a little black box that you plug into your telly to watch programmes from the internet. Plenty of other boxes do that without so much hype. So what’s new?

Power to the people

In Just Cause 3, Avalanche liberates the open-world genre from its shackles

Science can’t wait. We may technically be halfway through a mission, but who cares? Our PETAbaiting experiment is attempting to answer an important question for all mankind: what happens when you try to take off in a helicopter with a cow tethered to the rotor blades? The first attempt fails when we leave too much slack in the line, and after a couple of spectacular rotations the bovine is flung some distance from our vehicle. This time, we’ve gently tensioned the rope so that the animal carcass is dangling upside down next to the cockpit. The engine spins up, and the aircraft rises two or three feet off the ground, precariously rocking side to side in an increasingly violent manner, before tipping over entirely and exploding. Screen mildly reddened, Rico Rodriguez stands up unchastened from the tangle of metal and well-done steak, and brushes himself down.

QNAP TS-231+

Feature-rich and easy-to-use OS

QNAP’S TS-231+ is aimed at the SOHO market and is an upgraded version of the company's TS-231 two-bay NAS. This device has a faster processor, twice the memory, and SSD cache support, which is something of a surprise in a NAS in this segment. It looks identical to the TS-231, with the same dual Ethernet LAN ports (which support link aggregation) and three USB 3.0 ports, but surprisingly, the TS-231+ does away with the eSATA port found on the TS-231.

Fostex PX-5HS

Fostex has tweaked its active PX-5 pro monitor to tempt audio fans away from their passive boxes

Having had a good time with the MunroSonic EGG100 near-field monitoring system, I was intrigued to try another affordable studio stalwart vying for wider acceptance in the domestic hi-fi market. Fostex’s £649 active two-way PX-5HS standmount speaker fits the bill perfectly. Essentially it’s the Japanese company’s PX-5 pro monitor tweaked to ease out the optimum listening distance from strictly near field to a more accommodating 5-7 feet, making it a good fit for smaller rooms. Fun-sized it may be at less than a foot tall, but the PX-5HS plays it straight down the middle when it comes to its pro roots. The mains socket, on/off rocker switch and dual-function volume/tone control on the metal back plate of each conventionally slab-sided enclosure drop a strong hint that its two drivers are powered by individual onboard amps served by an electronic crossover network. A true active design, then, rather than a powered setup with a stereo amp housed in one speaker, a market sector proposition gaining favour among people who like to keep things simple, neat and tidy.

Audio-Technica AT-LP5

Does this do-it-all deck have what it takes to wow new and returning vinyl fans? Ed Selley takes it for a spin to find out

The rise and market share of music being purchased on vinyl appears to be pretty unstoppable. At a time when there’s an abundance of some of the most capable digital media players available at terrestrial price points, it barely seems credible that new users are buying into a product that offers the bulkiness, fragility and potential expense of vinyl, but here we are.

Sony NW-ZX2: Walk on the wild side

Having been driven almost to extinction by the iPod and smartphone, the Walkman is back. Ed Selley checks out Sony’s flagship

Few names in the industry have managed to possess as much standing with the general public as that of the Walkman. For many years, it was up there with Hoover as a term that’s more or less interchangeable with the item it described. The advent of the iPod (which neatly usurped Walkman to become a catch-all term for the latest generation of personal audio players) very nearly destroyed the name for good. The move from physical media to stored files saw Sony wrongfooted and its initial offerings fell somewhat wide of the mark. The moment when Sony released an iPod dock was a fairly graphic indication that the Walkman had lost the fight rather emphatically.

Revolution Software

The British adventurers celebrating 25 years in game development

This year, Revolution Software celebrated a quarter of a century in the videogame industry. Yet a decade ago, reaching such a milestone seemed unlikely. Despite the critical and commercial success of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, it found itself in a financially parlous position. “At that point the recoupment model was broken,” the studio’s co-founder and managing director Charles Cecil tells us. So while the game’s publisher THQ gleefully informed Revolution that The Sleeping Dragon had earned roughly $5m in revenue, this was scant consolation for the studio, since the conditions of the publishing deal coupled with the cost of development had left it in the red to the tune of £200,000. Cecil managed to negotiate more favourable terms for the follow-up, Broken Sword: The Angel Of Death, but by then the company had become unsustainable.

Course and effect

Setting sail in Bossa’s mindblowing Worlds Adrift, a fully physical and persistent world that’s poised to change the MMOG’s tack forever

Scouring its official YouTube channel, it’s hard to grasp what Worlds Adrift is, never mind what it might represent. During our first hour at Bossa Studios, our interest is aroused, but a flying-camera tour around Adrift’s shattered, sky-bound islands fails to epitomise the titanic undertaking, in conjunction with tech startup Improbable, that Bossa is reluctant to label an MMOG. The innovations aren’t subtle, but rather so enormous as to demand a shift in perspective before their implications can be appreciated. As co-founder Henrique Olifiers and game designer Luke Williams mess about in the clouds, excitement starts to burn as if seeing Minecraft for the first time, and suddenly it seems a monstrous error of judgement that Bossa hasn’t shouted and screamed about these features in its marketing. But the team is worried. Worlds Adrift is such a dramatic departure from Bossa’s previous games, including Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread, that anyone not watching live might reasonably call it faked.

LibreOffice: Mail merging

Nick Peers reveals how to save time and master mail merge in LibreOffice using a combination of Base, Calc and Writer

Anyone who’s had to write the same letter to many different people, dutifully substituting names and addresses for each one, will appreciate what mail merge can offer. (So will those too lazy to write names and addresses on envelopes at Christmas time). Thankfully, LibreOffice Writer possesses a tool that can simplify the process in the form of its Mail Merge Wizard. A mail merge works by taking a list of contacts and automatically inserting key information from that list into specific parts of a document – eg the address block in a letter, or the personalised greeting that opens it. The contacts list is maintained separately and can originate from one of three places: a database, a properly formatted spreadsheet or a CSV file.

A1222?

Following the brief glimpse of the new Amiga motherboard, monikered Tabor recently, A-Eon Technology has put out a full press release regarding the motherboard and its itended initial home, in the form of the AmigaOne A1222 machine.

The motherboard has been developed by Ultra Varisys under commission from A-Eon in association with Acube srl, which has already seen prototypes go out to developers, and ports of various Linux distributions are already underway as well as AmigaOS 4.1 FE. A full (and oversubscribed) beta test programme of the board is about to get underway.

21 Ways To Speed Up Your Home Network

Does your home network feel a little sluggish? We have some solutions for you to try out

Ahome network a mere 15 years ago was something only serious computing enthusiasts could brag about. Since the advent of broadband, though, and with more complex routers being supplied by ISPs that handle this generation of broadband, home networks are now something virtually every home in the connected world has.