Never pay roaming charges again

You can now call relatives abroad and send photos home from holiday without paying a penny. Barry Collins reveals how to stay in touch for free

Mobile phones have certainly made it easier to keep in touch with family or friends around the world, but not necessarily less expensive. Likewise, phoning home from abroad can be a very pricey business, with roaming charges and mobile-data fees landing you huge unexpected bills.

That’s all changing now, thanks to free calling and messaging apps that use Wi-Fi, rather than gobble into your mobile contract or pay-as-you-go SIM card. Using Wi-Fi on a phone or tablet is no more expensive than using it on your PC - you simply connect your device to your home broadband, or public Wi-Fi if you're travelling.

Panasonic Lumix CM1

The best smartphone camera ever – but it comes at a cost

Virtually every mobile phone includes a camera, but few can match even a basic dedicated digital camera for quality and features. The Panasonic CM1 changes all that – it comes with a camera to rival premium compact cameras costing hundreds of pounds. Its sensor is nine times larger than those found in most phones. Sensor size is crucial for great-quality images, so the CM1 is off to a cracking start with this feature.

Things to do with an old XP PC. Final part. Gut it for spare parts

This issue, Jonathan Parkyn explains how to make use of (or cash from) your old computer’s components

Turn internal drives into external drives

Your old XP PC may have given up the ghost, but give it a closer look before you drive it down to the dump - you may be able to rescue useful components, including the hard drive.

Your old PC’s hard drive and DVD drive can both be removed and reused, either by installing them in another computer or by converting them into handy external devices.

Nikon Coolpix S9900

A pocket-sized camera with a big zoom

We like slim cameras that fit into coat or trouser pockets. We also like cameras that take clear, detailed photos, and that have big zooms for shooting distant subjects. Sadly, you usually can’t have everything. Squeezing two of these qualities into a single camera is a tough technical challenge, and no manufacturer has successfully combined all three.

Acer Revo One RL85

A small, attractive and upgradeable mini PC

Most PCs are large, hefty beasts wrapped in plain black casings, but the Acer Revo One RL85 is the polar opposite. This mini Windows 8.1 PC is about the size of a large mug. It could easily sit unobtrusively beside your TV or on a bookshelf because it comes in a striking, minimalist, white curvy casing.