PC World New Zealand Magazine: Technology advice you can trust.

Phones

Review: HTC One

Smartphone

Wednesday, 8 May, 2013 | 5 comments | 1 reviewThe HTC One is a top-tier smartphone with a revolutionary 'UltraPixel' camera, which sacrifices resolution for exceptional low-light photographic performance.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Users rating: User rating: 5

Review: Samsung Galaxy S4

Smartphone

Friday, 3 May, 2013 | 1 comment The Galaxy S4 feels a lot like an upgrade of the Galaxy S3, and some would argue that's not a good thing.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: Sony Xperia Z

Smartphone

Thursday, 7 March, 2013 | 4 comments The Xperia Z is a premium smartphone that manages to be waterproof and dustproof without looking at all 'rugged' on the exterior.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Review: Huawei Ascend W1

Smartphone

Tuesday, 5 March, 2013 | 6 comments | 3 reviewsThe phone is by far the cheapest available to run Windows Phone 8, but since it has to live up to Windows Phone’s base spec requirements, it’s not underpowered.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Users rating: User rating: 4

Review: Google Nexus 4

Smartphone

Tuesday, 29 January, 2013 | 7 comments The Nexus range is Google’s own series of Android smartphones, essentially the reference design for ‘droids everywhere. The Nexus 4 is the newest model, and is the first manufactured by LG Electronics.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: Windows Phone 8S by HTC

Smartphone

Thursday, 24 January, 2013 | 10 comments The name may sound a little pompous, but this phone has a genuine reason for a superiority complex - for the price, it's great.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note II

Smartphone

Tuesday, 27 November, 2012 | 1 comment It's big, bright, beautiful and astonishingly comfortable to hold and use for such a big phone. Even the battery life is bigger than Texas.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Review: LG Optimus L5

Smartphone

Tuesday, 2 October, 2012 | 8 comments The LG Optimus L5 is the perfect Android phone for someone who wants style on a budget. Unfortunately, it hasn’t got much else going for it.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2

Review: Huawei Ascend Y100

Smartphone

Thursday, 20 September, 2012 A pocket powerhouse with a screen that can make typing a little tricky

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

LG Optimus L7

Smartphone

Thursday, 20 September, 2012 For less than $500, any flaws the L7 has can be easily overlooked.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Review: Sony Xperia U

Smartphone

Tuesday, 4 September, 2012 | 4 comments Sony’s Xperia U looks, feels and is specced very much like an $800 smartphone. All nice bonuses, considering it retails for $399.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Vodafone Smart II

Smartphone

Tuesday, 4 September, 2012 | 1 comment The Smart II is tiny, attractive and the top sub-$200 smartphone we've seen to date.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: Motorola Defy Mini

Smartphone

Thursday, 30 August, 2012 It's semi-rugged and semi-sized ... sadly, we only found it semi-nifty.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2

Review: Motorola Defy XT

Smartphone

Monday, 27 August, 2012 While the Defy Mini dented our appreciation of Motorola's 'life-proof' smartphone range, the Defy XT steps up to redeem it a little.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Preview: Huawei Ascend Y201

Smartphone

Friday, 24 August, 2012 It's robust, has reasonable screen resolution, and ...surprise! It has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Review: Nokia Lumia 610 smartphone

Smartphone

Friday, 27 July, 2012 | 2 comments | 1 reviewWe loved the Nokia Lumia 800, and praised its cheaper alternative, the Lumia 710, almost as highly. The Lumia 610 is specced as an entry-level model to Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 range, available for $449 from Vodafone.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Users rating: User rating: 2

Review: Huawei Ascend G300 (U8815)

Smartphone

Monday, 23 July, 2012 | 1 comment Huawei’s Ascend G300 (also billed as the U8815) is a lower-mid-range smartphone running Android 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Review: Motorola Fire

Smartphone

Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 | 1 reviewThis keyboard-equipped smartphone is a palatable option for a cheap business phone, but falls far short of greatness.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Users rating: User rating: 1

Review: Samsung Galaxy Xcover

Smartphone

Thursday, 28 June, 2012 Samsung’s entrant into the rugged smartphone arena is the Galaxy Xcover – an IP67-certified smartphone, meaning that it is dustproof and waterproof for up to one metre for 30 minutes.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 2

Review: Samsung Galaxy S III

Smartphone

Thursday, 7 June, 2012 | 4 comments The smartphone battle of the quad-core handsets is hotting up, with the Samsung Galaxy S III generating nearly as much hype as Apple's iPhone. Galaxy S III vs HTC One X -- which one wins?

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Tablets

Review: Acer Iconia Tab W510

Windows 8 tablet

Tuesday, 30 April, 2013 | 4 comments Distinctive construction makes the Windows 8-powered Iconia Tab W510 one of the very few tablets we’ve tested that doesn’t look like an iPad impersonator.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: HP ElitePad 900

Windows 8 tablet

Wednesday, 10 April, 2013 | 2 comments HP’s ElitePad 900 is a Windows 8 tablet designed for business users. Unlike ARM-powered tablets such as Microsoft’s own Surface RT, the ElitePad runs full-on Windows 8 Pro atop a latest generation Intel Atom processor.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Review: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT

Tablet

Thursday, 31 January, 2013 | 7 comments Microsoft has taken a unique approach with the Surface, which is enabling it to gain some attention in a crowded tablet market. We wondered, though, where it might fall short and just how well it would hold its own against the competition.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Review: Asus Transformer Infinity

Tablet

Monday, 24 December, 2012 | 2 comments The Asus Transformer Infinity is a 10.1-inch Android tablet that docks with an included keyboard, to form a netbook-like device.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Review: Apple iPad mini

Tablet

Wednesday, 7 November, 2012 | 6 comments Love it or hate it, Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad is inarguably the archetypal ‘tablet’. Harley Ogier reviews Apple's smaller, more affordable offering, the iPad mini.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Review: Sony Xperia Tablet S

Tablet

Wednesday, 7 November, 2012 This 9.4-inch Android tablet improves upon the original Tablet S, which PC World reviewed early in 2012.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Tablet

Monday, 3 September, 2012 | 9 comments | 2 reviewsWe review Samsung's latest tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, running Android 4.0 and featuring some serious multitasking.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4

Users rating: User rating: 5

E Readers

Review: Kobo Mini

eBook reader

Thursday, 3 January, 2013 The Kobo Mini is an extra-small and lightweight ebook reader - a niche device ideal for reading on the go, if not much else.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Review: Kobo Glo

eBook reader

Wednesday, 26 December, 2012 | 1 comment This touchscreen e-ink ebook reader is essentially the same as the Kobo Touch, with a soft reading light built in.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: Sony Reader PRS-T2

ebook reader

Monday, 12 November, 2012 | 2 comments The PRS-T2 is a lightweight E-Ink-Pearl-based ebook reader. As with all E-Ink readers, it has a monochrome display, and long battery life – Sony estimates one-and-a-half to two months, or up to 30,000 continuous page turns when reading.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

GPS

Reviews: Garmin Forerunner 610

Fitness watch with GPS

Monday, 5 November, 2012 The Garmin Forerunner 610 is, at its most basic, just like any other modern fitness watch. You strap it to your wrist, press a button, wait for it to detect GPS satellites, and away you go on your run, or walk, or bike.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3

Review: GPS Log Book

Automatic in-car trip recorder

Monday, 24 September, 2012 The GPS Log Book is an Australian-developed product that makes it laughably easy to claim mileage expenses from your company, or as a tax-deductible expense for the self-employed.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 5

Review: TomTom Via 620

In-car GPS

Tuesday, 11 September, 2012 | 1 comment | 1 reviewThe Via 620 is TomTom’s biggest GPS screen “yet”, with a 6-inch touchscreen interface.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3.5

Users rating: User rating: 5

Review: Garmin Rino 650

GPS/UHF radio

Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 The Gamin Rino 650 is not the first product to combine two trailblazer’s tech tools: GPS, and the humble UHF personal radio (or ‘walkie-talkie’), but it’s one of the better ones we’ve seen.

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 4.5

Review: TomTom GO LIVE Services Update

In-car GPS software

Monday, 23 July, 2012 In-car GPS software that adds a social dimension

Editor's rating: Editor's rating: 3