Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS

(Hard drives)

"The WD5000AAKS has been the staple of my media storage since I bought my first at the beginning of 2007. I have owned three of the drives, they have all been quiet (especially the 65TMA0 revision) in both seek and idle noise, produce minimal vibrations and offer an excellent 70+ MB/s sustained write transfer rate. Compared to the ever falling prices of Samsung drives these giants are no longer as cheap as they used to seem, but are still good buys for solid storage disks."

Review date: 17 Jun, 2008

Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ

(Hard drives)

"The first thing that would attract many to the HD753LJ is its absurdly low price for a 750GB drive - I see MicroDirect now offer the drive for less than £60. It has more than just that advantage though, its seek noise is practically nil, and its idle noise is also incredibly slight. Unlike previous Samsung HDDs, its level of vibration is much more acceptable, so it can be used in the majority of PC cases out there without giving you a headache. It boasts one of the best peak and continuous data transfer rates of any drive in the industry. A truly remarkable product."

Review date: 17 Jun, 2008

Dell 3007WFP

(Flat panel monitors)

"These things cost a lot, but not when you compare them to the highest spec HDTV. The resolution and performance are much higher, and they're relatively light and compact. Build quality is relatively good, but the lack of any inputs other than Dual-Link DVI mean it is exclusively a PC monitor, whereas other monitors like the 2407 are compatible with pretty much anything."

Review date: 23 Jun, 2007

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP

(Flat panel monitors)

"Pricey, but well made, superb picture quality, no dead pixels, decent range of inputs, low weight and incredible stand versatility. Unless you're well off to sacrifice it all for resolution and size in the 3007, this is the only monitor you should ever buy if you can afford one."

Review date: 23 Jun, 2007