Improve your autocorrect

Autocorrect is fantastic, until it gets something wrong. Jane Hoskyn shows you how to teach autocorrect to write perfectly on your phone, tablet and PC

Let’s not be too hard on autocorrect. OK, Stuart Andrews was dead right to say it’s infuriating, and you’d be forgiven for viewing it as an arrogant, presumptuous imposition on your phone, tablet and even your PC. But it has come a long way – after all, Word’s spell-checker has been around since people first typed “Arrgh!” and the spell-checker automatically changed it to “Earth!”.

Scan 3XS Z170 Performance GTK6

A Windows 10 desktop PC with all the trimmings

It used to be a running joke among technology journalists that while Moore’s Law said everything would get twice as powerful every two years, Sod’s Law said a decent PC would still cost £1,000. As quickly as hardware improved, software would demand more of it. You can pay less for a PC, but only if you compromised.

D-Link PowerLine AV2 1000HD Gigabit Starter Kit

A faster way to network through your mains circuit

Both thick-walled old houses and modern insulated homes can stifle wireless networks, so most of us will find far-flung corners of our home where the signal is weak. Powerline network kits are the easiest solution. They come as a pair of three-pin power plugs. You put one in a mains socket beside your router, and the other in your Wi-Fi blackspot. They then use the 240-volt electrical ring main in your house to pass data. Any computer connected to the remote plug will receive a signal as if it were directly connected to your router.

50 most useful Command Prompt commands. Part 5

In the final part of our series, Jane Hoskyn reveals 10 commands for keeping your PC safe from hackers

41 Access your user info

The ‘cmdkey’ command, when used with certain parameters, lets you check usernames, passwords and other credentials stored on your PC (Windows Vista and later).

EE Harrier Tab

A tablet that can get online anywhere

EE is a mobile network, and the reason it wants to sell you a tablet at a reasonable price is to get you to spend more on a data tariff. Most people buy a tablet with Wi-Fi only, for when you’re at home or near a hotspot. But if you want to get online almost anywhere, the Harrier Tab connects to EE’s 3G/4G network.

Motorola Moto G (Gen 3)

New version of an old favourite

We’ve never tired of recommending the Moto G. It’s always been a very affordable phone (even without a contract) with no significant compromises. If we were being picky, it could look a bit swankier and work a bit faster. Well, now it does. This third version is the best yet, and once again a contender for top Android phone under £200.

Software you must uninstall NOW

Programs don’t have to be malware to devastate your PC. Jane Hoskyn reveals the software you must remove now – before it turns against you

Software. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Soft, sweet and friendly. Not at all like viruses, worms, rootkits and other nefarious creatures of the night that are out to steal your money or secrets or both.

Toshiba Satellite C40-C10K

A ‘cloudbook’ at an enticingly low price

As we mentioned recently (see our Toshiba Satellite Click Mini review): the netbook is back. Actually it never really went away, but it was so dull we all ignored it for a few years. Let’s face it, the combination of a scaled-down laptop chassis, a tiny screen and an underpowered processor is not the stuff dreams are made of. Nobody, upon winning the lottery, immediately thought: ‘Now I can get that netbook!’

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2015)

New version of the affordable e-reader

When we reviewed the Kobo Glo HD, we said Amazon had better watch out, because this ebook reader had a sharper screen than its similarly priced Kindle Paperwhite. As it turns out, Amazon already had an answer up its sleeve: a new version of the Paperwhite, upgraded from 212 to 300 pixels per inch (ppi).