Laptops Fast Fixes

Boost performance away from the mains, repair a faulty display, and fix sticky keys and typing glitches

Can't connect to Wi-Fi

Lots of things can cause Wi-Fi blocks. First, check that your laptop’s Wi-Fi is actually switched on. There might be a small physical switch for this on your laptop, or it might be activated by holding down the Function (Fn) key while pressing a key with a Wi-Fi or antenna icon. Next, click the Wi-Fi icon in the Notification Area at the far right of your Taskbar, click your Wi-Fi network in the list, then click Connect. Type your network password if prompted. If you’re using a public hotspot (in a cafe, for example), it often initially seems you can connect without a password, but chances are you’ll need to log in via a web page when you launch your browser and try to visit a website. Ask the organisation running the hotspot for the login details.

Read all your ebooks on your tablet

When you buy a paperback book, it's yours to read anywhere. Kat Orphanides reveals how to get this kind of freedom with heavily restricted ebooks

If you’ve read the news lately, you’d be forgiven for wondering what rights -if any - you have over the digital media you buy.

In October 2014, UK citizens were finally allowed to copy their MP3s, CDs, DVDs and ebooks - but just eight months later in June 2015, the law was rolled back. Now we’re not even sure if we can rip a CD for iTunes.

Amazon may seem restrictive with its proprietary formats, but its range of apps makes it easy to read ebooks legally on almost any tablet, phone or PC.

WD 2TB My Passport X

Need more storage for your console? Look no further

One of the biggest problems facing a modern console owner is the lack of hard drive space these things ship out with by default. True enough, there are ways and means to upgrade the current storage in an Xbox One or PS4, but often this relies on some screwdriver work, and a loss of warranty for the user. Western Digital, though, has come up with a tweaked version of the solution used by many PC users: a USB 3.0 external hard drive.

WD 2TB My Passport Ultra

A reasonably priced, and sizeable backup solution

This is the seventh generation of the popular My Passport Ultra product range, Western Digital has kept the line going for quite some time now, and it shows no signs of getting long in the tooth either. With a redesigned USB 3.0 bus powered interface and a flashy new look, this new generation of My Passport Ultra drives comes in a variety of capacities and colours. There are 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 3TB models on offer in black, blue, red and white coloured chassis’.

Xara Designer Pro X11

The latest update to Xara’s high end product, Designer Pro X11

Xara are one of the oldest software developers in the UK; starting in 1981 it has been responsible for some very innovative software, mainly in the realm of graphics. This latest product Designer Pro X11 is the culmination of its work in this field. Combining the elements from all of the Xara graphic products into a single all encompassing program that, certainly at the latest price, represents excellent value for money. It includes Vector Illustration, drawing, Photo Editing, Web Design and DTP layout all within a single contextbased interface, giving you just about everything a graphic designer could ever need. It also comes at a fraction of the cost of other leading brand products.

BT Dual-Band Wi-Fi Extender 610

Checks out BT’s own-branded ‘n’ class wi-fi extender

Having covered BT-branded gear recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that it avoids the bleeding edge of technology, because that invariably generates support problems. That reluctance, in a nutshell, defines this relatively inexpensive wi-fi Extender.

Netgear Powerline PL1200 Twin Pack

Netgear branches into high performance Powerline products with the PL1200

Back in February Devolo rolled out its 1200Mb/s Powerline adapters and, with the appearance of the PL1200 and PLP1200, its Netgear's turn to breing its equivalent hardware to market.

The PL1200-100UKS is relatively small by Powerline standards, and made to extend about 5cm below the wall socket position. The flipside of being unobtrusive is the PL1200 design doesn’t provide through power, so it needs an empty socket all to itself. Those of you reading that and thinking 'I’ll just stick it on a gang socket' had better think again because, while it might work, you certainly won’t get the best performance.

Transcend MSA370

Proof that mSATA isn’t done with just yet

It may feel like mSATA is a bit of a dying breed these days, what with the M.2 format taking precedence and gradually replacing it. However, there’s still life left in this relatively young format yet, as Transcend have proved with its MSA370 range of storage devices.

Top 5 Tech Things Kids Of Today Don’t Get

They don’t know how good they’ve got it, etc., etc.

1 Teletext Gaming

These days, when you’re watching TV, pressing the red button on your remote, even on Freeview, will open up all kinds of wonderful menus and features. You can get weather reports, video services and more, including, yes, games.

But not that long ago, if you wanted to play games using only your TV, then it meant using Teletext, a service that provided text and simple graphics via a television signal. If you’re anything like us, you would have wasted many hours of your life playing Bamboozle on Channel 4, a multiple choice quiz that involved answering questions by pressing the coloured buttons on your remote. If you’re nothing like us, then you probably had better things to do.