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MAC 2015 – DESIGN AND CONNECTIVITY It’s easy to be blasé about the iMac’s all-metal-and-glass style. After all, it’s been around in this form since 2013. That would be doing it a disservice, though. The iMac remains one of the best-looking computers you can have on your desk. A metal stand holds up the screen and slim body, which manages to fit in a plethora of high-end components – including a discrete graphics card. The iMac isn’t a table ornament; it’s a workhorse, albeit a very pretty one. While the tapering rear is sleek, the screen bezels are chunky, especially when compared to more recent TVs and their impossibly thin bezels. This means it’s even bigger than it needs to be. And it is big, thanks to that 27-inch screen. The stand enables you to tilt the screen up and down, but there’s no way to raise it unless you use a pedestal, which is a shame. In order to keep the sides as thin as possible, Apple hasn’t included an optical drive. Those who desperately need ...

WHAT IS THE ACER PREDATOR G3-710? This striking machine is Acer’s latest attempt to gain a foothold in the lucrative gaming market. The Predator G3-710 is an mean-looking system that aims to blast through top titles at 1080p. The Predator faces an uphill battle. Although its £700 price won’t break the bank, with machines such as the  Overclockers Marvel 4K  promising far better performance and versatility for similar cash, it faces serious competition. ACER PREDATOR G3-710 – DESIGN, BUILD QUALITY AND CONNECTIVITY The Predator certainly attracts attention. The plastic front is angled in the middle and decorated with layered sections resembling tank tracks. An illuminated Predator logo sits close to the top, above which you'll find a triangular button that glows with red lighting. A handle can be found on the top of the chassis, and the upper portion of the façade has two spring-loaded sections that pop open – one holds the DVD drive and the other a spare 3.5-in...

WHAT IS THE ALIENWARE X51? Alienware is one of the strongest global brands of gaming PCs, with a range that now stretches to multiple mobile and desktop form factors. While many gaming PCs come in giant towers, the X51 packs a top-of-the-line CPU and mid-range graphics into a desktop chassis that’s not much bigger than a current-generation console. The X51 line has been around for a while – Trusted covered the previous version back in September 2014. This update is really more about introducing up-to-date technology and a spec boost than a radical design overhaul. Our original criticisms of the previous version focused on its specification, which wasn’t capable of gaming beyond 1080p resolution, lacked an SSD and lead to some toasty internal temperatures. Have these issues been resolved with new-generation hardware? ALIENWARE X51 – DESIGN The X51 is all about squeezing a capable gaming PC into a console-sized chassis. As with previous versions, its dimensions make it onl...

WHAT IS THE NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070? 2016 has been a great year for PC gamers. We’ve seen the arrival of top-notch virtual-reality headsets, such as the  HTC Vive  and  Oculus Rift , plus super-powered VR-focused graphics cards to back them up, such as the  Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 . With all the hype and optimism flooding the PC gaming market, you could be forgiven for overlooking the GTX 1080's less powerful sibling that's on test here. After all, if you’re going to upgrade your rig then the best option is the flagship, right? But those who dismiss the 1070 will be making a serious mistake. Sharing a common “Pascal” DNA with the 1080, the 1070 is one of the best value-for-money offerings available and should be the first on the list for any PC owner looking to enjoy judder-free 1440p gaming. Update : Since my original review of the GTX 1070, Nvidia has fleshed out its range of Pascal graphics cards, adding the new, VR-ready  GTX 1060  to its r...

  The  Amazon Echo  with Alexa looks like an incredibly cool device, but so far the US is the only country to see a full launch. And while we eagerly await an international roll-out, connected speaker maker Sonos has just given us another reason to want Amazon's smart speaker. As  IFA 2016  gets underway in Berlin, Sonos held its own event in New York to announce some new partnerships, alongside an update to its Sonos app. The company has teamed up with Amazon to bring Amazon Echo and Dot support to its range of speakers, meaning owners will now be able to control their Sonos music setups via those voice-controlled devices. Echo and Dot support means our American cousins can use commands such as "Alexa, what's playing?" and "Alexa, play me music" to control their speakers. On top of that, Sonos announced it will be opening its speakers up to third-party music streaming services, starting with Spotify. The new partnership with Spotify means use...

DISHONORED 2 – FIRST IMPRESSIONS Dishonored struck a chord when it released back in 2012. The art style was refreshing, the first person gameplay mechanics felt unique and the storyline engaged. Fast forward to today and Dishonored 2 hopes to provide that fresh air feeling once more. The trouble with sequels though, is that that's a hard for lightning to strike twice. Set fifteen years after the events of Dishonored, the rat plague is over. Story details are thin, but I'm introduced to a new playable character – Emily Kaldwin. Equipped with a fresh set of abilities, Emily is able to hide in the shadows, stalking her prey. Just as with Corvo from the original game, these abilities play a pivotal role in the success of combat encounters, and enable each player to tailor the experience to their individual style.   I'm shown two previews showcasing Emily and her abilities. At first glance one thing is immediately apparent – Arkane has kept the art style that made the...

Available on PC (version tested) and Xbox One Imitation isn’t understanding; so goes the fatal criticism of Alan Turing’s famous thought experiment. Machines may one day be able to imitate conversational speech, possibly so well as to convince a person they are speaking to another human, but what would this really prove? A machine can parse, but parsing isn’t comprehension. The experiment is flawed, and it’s a great irony that Bulkhead Interactive’s 3D puzzler, The Turing Test, suffers similar issues of imitation. The structural pillars of a fantastic logic game are present, but it unnervingly feels like the game has been reading from a puzzle building manual without understanding what makes dimensional conundrums so fun. Naturally, the elephant in the room is the comparison that you’re going to hear often throughout this review: Portal. Every puzzle game to follow Valve’s physics-based gaming oddity has born it’s leaden weight. If I were to create my own game with dimensional ...

The PS VR is arguably the best-looking and friendliest of the main VR headsets. The glowing lights and moulded black and white plastic aren't so intimidating, and it's very comfortable. It's comparatively light and the large visor, we're assured, can accommodate even large glasses frames. It's possibly the most social, too. While it uses a PS4, the PlayStation VR will also ship with a smaller box that sits between the headset and the PS4 to handle the 3D bits. An added bonus of this setup is you can connect the box to a TV, so people can see what you're seeing. Watching what's going on is far more interesting than watching someone on their own, so we can see this being a winning feature. You'll also need a PlayStation Camera for the PlayStation VR because it's how the headset tracks movement – it costs extra. Like the PlayStation Move controllers, the camera tracks the lights on the front of the headset as you move your head around. This w...

WHAT IS THE HTC VIVE? If you’ve tried Google Cardboard,  Gear VR  or even the  Oculus Rift  and think you know what virtual reality has to offer, then prepare for a rude awakening. The HTC Vive bombards you with the most immersive virtual reality experiences you can get right now. It’s incredible, and tops a promising 2016 for HTC after the excellent  HTC 10 . Trying to describe it in words is a near impossible task – there are none that can do it justice. It’s like trying to draw a symphony or sculpt a ballet – the essence can be evoked, but it needs to be experienced to be truly understood. This means that this review will be different to TrustedReviews’ usual ones. I’ll still make sure that all the positives and negatives are covered, but before you worry about any of that, you need to know that the HTC Vive is immense, wonderful and utterly fantastic. GETTING STARTED WITH THE HTC VIVE Development may have started later than it did for its...

8BITDO ZERO: DESIGN AND BUILD 8Bitdo's boast isn't a hollow one - this is easily the tiniest joypad I've ever used. It's 73mm wide, 35mm tall and 13.7mm at its thickest point, and slips so effortlessly into your trouser pocket that you'll forget it's even there. It even comes with a lanyard that allows you to tie it to your keys, making it a portable control option that's always with you. The pad is plastic, yet the build quality is decent enough. The D-pad is responsive and comfortable to use, despite its diminutive nature. The buttons are also high quality, and click reassuringly when pressed – no annoying sponginess to be felt here. Related:  Overwatch The small size of the 8Bitdo Zero might lead you to assume that it's awkward to use for prolonged periods, but I didn't find that myself. I've got quite small, Hobbit-like hands which probably helps, but the controller is comfortable to use and never feels too tiny. If you're use...

CORSAIR LAPDOG – DESIGN AND FEATURES The Lapdog is made of two main sections: a tough plastic piece on which sit the mousemat and keyboard, and a second plate that magnetically attaches to the underside to provide the padding. Related:  Best Gaming Keyboards Usefully, it's possible to replace the actual padding on the latter section without having to invest in a complete unit. Considering the abuse it may incur, and the fact that it isn't washable – nor can it be wiped down like the rest of the Lapdog – this is an advantage.   The plates are 2mm-thick slabs of aluminium, consisting of the 277 x 251mm mousemat, a top piece into which you can hide and cables, a lower section that holds the bottom edge of the keyboard, and an optional piece that comes into play only if you're using the shorter K65 range of keyboards that don’t feature a number pad. Corsair has made quite a name for itself for producing mechanical keyboards with a premium vibe and solid feel, so ...

INTRODUCTION You might assume that because the  Wii U  is now on the market, Nintendo is ready to sever all ties with its six year-old Wii system. After all, when you’ve shifted almost 100 million units worldwide, it must be difficult to find anyone in the developed world who hasn’t got one by now. However, Nintendo is no stranger to making odd commercial decisions (remember the ill-fated Virtual Boy?) and has delivered a stunning curve ball in the form of the Wii Mini. Announced in the wake of the Wii U’s North American launch, it’s a pared-down version of the insanely popular waggle-based console which features a revised case design, a top-loading disc drive and reduced functionality. It’s also exclusive to Canada, but there’s a chance that it could reach other regions in 2013. WII MINI - HARDWARE Although its moniker may suggest a significant reduction in size, the Wii Mini isn’t actually that much smaller than its predecessor. It’s certainly lighter - it wei...

LENOVO IDEAPAD 710S – DESIGN AND FEATURES This is a great-looking machine. Clad throughout with aluminium or magnesium alloy, it looks and feels every bit a high-end ultrabook. It can’t quite match the feel of being hewn from solid metal that the MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13 manages – because it isn’t – but it’s still a clear step up from largely plastic designs. It’s incredibly thin and light too. Weighing 1.1kg, it’s a touch heavier than the latest MacBook (0.9kg), but then it does house a larger 13.3-inch screen and nearly matches the MacBook for slenderness, coming in at 13.9mm. It also comfortably out does the MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13, both of which weigh around 1.3kg.   Thanks to the use of a very thin bezel around the screen, the rest of the machine is impressively small too, with dimensions of 307 x 214 x 13.9mm. You miss out on little in the way of key features, too. There are just a couple of USB 3.0 ports, plus an SD card reader, a headphone jack and a mic...

ASUS ROG GX800 – DESIGN, BUILD AND SCREEN Without its dock, the GX800 weighs 5.7kg. No worries, though: Asus supplies a travel bag and a wheelie case for it and the dock, so all you have to worry about at LAN parties is the machine being surrounded by amazed onlookers. You get a desktop-level number of ports around the outside of the GX800. There are three full-size USB 3 ports, two further USB 3.1 Type-C ports (one of which is Thunderbolt 3 compatible), a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 jack, an HDMI 2.0 port, separate 3.5mm jacks for headphones and a microphone, an SD card reader, a gigabit Ethernet port and an extra dedicated port for an optional external Wi-Fi aerial.   The screen takes the form of an 18.4-inch IPS panel. On my sample it was a Full HD screen, but in the final build this will be an Ultra HD 3,840 x 2,160 panel. This is one of those rare occasions where a laptop’s graphics hardware will be capable of driving a 4K screen. It's ready for G-Sync, too: This is actual...