Bargain basement plasma screens, sort of

USA
Gorgeous is the perfect word to describe the Benq 46W1-S plasma screen Available at e-tailer tigerdirect, it combines chic and performance as never before. At ease in a boardroom or in your living room, it features a XGA resolution - 1024x768pixels, outstanding contrast ratio 800:1, twice that of mainstream LCD screen.

But the most eye popping is its 46 inch colour-rich razor sharp screen. Its quasi 16:9 widescreen ration will make it a perfect companion for your DVD sessions. On top of that it comes with a coaxial input TV tuner and something called low grey level corrections which gives more details in dark areas of the screen as well as flicker-free picture technology thanks to BenQ patented Plasma's De-Interlace and P-Scan which can convert 480i to 480p formats.

At 78lbs and consuming 250w - nearly the weight of a 21-inch screen and twice the power it consumes, it is a heavy weight in every sense. Inputs are numerous - composite video, one DVI, one D-Sub and one BNC port, S-video - as are outputs. Compatible with PAL/NTSC and SECAM, you will more than blissed by it. The price? only $2499.99, half the suggested retailing price.

If you're looking for something cheaper then head for the BenQ H200, a smaller and cheaper LCD TV available for only $599.99, the third of its launch price of $2000 back in 2002. Its 20.1 inch screen diagonal provides more real estate than most CRTs on the market and while it supports only SVGA - Windows will feel cramped - it weighs only 12Kg with its stand and consumes a meagre 60w. It comes with two 3W speakers and features the WOW SRS surround system as well as other marchitecture features like Gamma Pro, Dynamic HDTV Pro. Inputs are numerous - SVideo, PC Audio, TV Tuner etc. HDTV compatibility extends to 1080i - supporting both Interlaced and Progressive Scan.

The quality of the picture is enhanced by the response time - 22ms - and the good viewing angles. Other than that the pixel pitch 0.51mm means that the picture might be a little coarse. The H200 integrates a 107 channels TV tuner which can decode closed captioning content via an integrated V-chip. A well thought product which earned itself a 4.5 stars out of five at hardwarezone. µ

UK
Let's face it, ebuyer.com is a controversial company which has spawned many, many threads all over the interweb. This is an American company - with a UK branch - and is vying to become the next big thing on the internet - like tigerdirect or newegg probably. To do so, it has redesigned its website and segmented its selling departments even more. They now even have their own appliances section. Ebuyer even sells vacuum cleaners now. They have a promotion on the Samsung X05 Centrino Enabled notebook which is sold at £904 - down from its £1399 launch price last year but also comes with a free Digimax 202 camera.

Now before you cry foul, this is a try two megapixels camera with a 2x digital zoom, an optical viewfinder and a 1.5 inch colour TFT LCD monitor. It has eight MB internal memory and accepts SD and MMC card. Although this might be smallish by today's standards, it still suits entry level needs. Image format is JPEG and its silvery body makes it seems more expensive than it is really. The Samsung Digimax 202 is on sale at £102 in the UK and represents the perfect entry level no-thrill camera. As for the X05 laptop, it is based on the Centrino platform with a 1.5GHz processor with 1MB cache - a Banias therefore - with 256MB PC2100 memory and a 30GB hard disk. Although the configuration is not that much high-endish, the looks of the X05 wins it all.

All reviewers who purchased it say that it is lightweight and a real treat to use. Its 30mm, 2.0Kg and real life autonomy of four hours make it ideal for working away from the office and from Mrs and the children. It also comes with a CDRW DVD combo drive and with Wireless Lan courtesy of Intel 802.11b Mini PCI card. Being essentially a business machine, don't be put off by its 14 inch monitor and its sub-par integrated video card.

You can also get S/PDIF digital surroud output but no parallel port or a floppy. You will get two USB ports, a firewire and a 3-in-1 card reader, etherhnet and PCMCIA slot. ZDNet says of it that "In fact, we were happy with the whole X05 package - Samsung has come up with a very nice, well designed and fast business notebook that ought to fly off the shelves." µ

France
MP3 on the move is set to become or rather has surpassed the Walkman revolution. All this thanks to the iPod and to technological marvels like the Archos MP3 studio Jukebox which can store up to 20GB of songs or around 5000 songs. Compatible with Windows and Mac, it allows you to connect via its USB port.

The speed though is snail pace thanks to the 1.1 rather than 2.0 choice. The Jukebox Studio 20 can be used as an external hard disk and with the musicmatch software, can be transformed in a true digital music server. It comes with four NiMH batteries and has an autonomy of ten hours. Its 350g makes it light in the pocket and slightly heavier than the walkman it replaces. A backlit LCD screen can show enough information for you to know some details about your song. No longer will you lose CD casing or tape inlets.

At only €207.51, less than £118+VAT, it makes a very convincing buy indeed. It does however only currently support MP3, while other similar hard disk based peripherals like the Nomad Zen also support WMA and WAV and weights less. Another plus though is the presence of a stereo digital and an analog line in. Latest firmware is available here.

Note though that the Studio Jukebox does not record sounds, it merely plays them. If you want something lighter and cheaper, then the CEBOP MP3 Run can fit the bill. At €125, around £71+VAT, you will be hard pressed to find something better. This MP3 player is tiny and is slightly larger than a gas lighter. It weighs only 32g with one batterya nd has a 512MB memory capacity and a LCD screen. Soundwise, the only noticeable function is the five mode equaliser. Unlike the Archos Jukebox, this one can record ambient sound and has a microphone embedded. A similar product in the UK will cost you twice the price. µ