Apple : Mac Tips: How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite

---

Mac Tips: How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite Posted: Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. While we're always glad to see the upgrades and new features that are included with each new version of Mac OS X, it's definitely a drag when the new operating system prevents you from opening older apps or documents. In response to a reader question, we'll take a look at how to deal with some of those incompatibilities — specifically, how to open Appleworks documents in Yosemite. Question I downloaded and installed OS X 10.10 Yosemite. After the installation a dialog appeared saying it can't run Appleworks 6. What am I to do with the several thousand Appleworks 6 documents that are important to me? Is there any way to make them work? Answer Appleworks 6 is a rather old piece of software, with the last updates coming out nearly 11 years ago (in January 2004). Apple discontinued support for the software in 2007, around the time that Leopard was released to the public. While you have been able to use the software for a few years afterwards thanks to Rosetta PowerPC (PPC) software support on modern Intel Macs, Apple finally stopped supporting PPC in OS X Lion. If you still have documents lying around in this format, however, and wish to upgrade them to work with modern apps (say, Pages, Word, or TextEdit), you can do this with the available iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). For example, if you have an AppleWork 6 word processing document, then you can drag and drop it on the Pages icon in the Dock to have it open; if you have an AppleWork 6 spreadsheet or presentation file, then you can also drag and drop them on top of Numbers and Keynote, respectively. You might end up with some formatting issues, but in general this should allow you to access your old documents. Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.

Mac Tips: The 16 best free GarageBand plugins Posted: Getting started Even though Apple's GarageBand for Mac has all sorts of built-in instruments (and a smaller complement of audio effects), it has always been expandable by adding Audio Unit (AU) plugins. Besides the vast assortment of commercial plugins, there is also a treasure trove of free synthesizers and effects that will really inspire your creative juices. We've taken the time to sift through the mountains of offerings to locate the gems in the pile. Some of the plugins include an installer, but for those that don't, you'll need to place the plugin (identified by the .component suffix) into the support folder Macintosh HD\Library\Audio\Plug-Ins\Components before starting up GarageBand. Power User note: The latest versions of OS X might try to stop you from installing these plugins (it's a long story), but you'll have success if you use this trick: hold down the Command key while clicking on the installer, and select the "Open" command from the pop-up menu. Once in GarageBand, you can access your AU plugins by creating a software instrument track, then clicking on the "Edit" tab in the right-hand Track Info column (see left image). You can choose a custom AU synthesizer at the top of the stack, and there are hardwired slots for the Compressor and Visual EQ effects, plus four remaining slots for your installed Audio Units plugins. You can reorder them by clicking-dragging them up and down the stack, and the position will have a direct impact on your sound; sounds start at the top and work their way down. You can also use AU effects on any GarageBand track - recorded vocals and guitars, for example - as well as entire songs (the upper right Master Track tab, then the Edit subtab, where you'll find a single AU effects slot). Synth: Podolski Mac musicians in the know are keen to the amazing line of commercial synths and filters from U-He Software, and their free Podolski is a deep, wild source of animated, evolving pads and classic synth sounds that blows some other expensive synths out of the water - all for free! Synth: Tyrell Have the urge to unleash your inner Vangelis? With Tyrell, you'll be able to summon some of the darker elements of the "Blade Runner" score with this awesomely powerful softsynth, and tweaking the presets is a great way to cook up your own signature sounds. Another total winner from U-He. Synth: Lokomotive There was a time when you'd pay a hefty sum for a hardware synth that could pull off deep, wall-thumping bass, but in the GarageBand era, you'll score a gem like Lokomotive for the few seconds it takes to download from the web. Thick, luscious sounds galore are to be found in this processor-efficient, highly approachable beast. Synth: Crystal Crystal is wonderful synthesizer that's been around for years, and it's deep enough to keep you busy for eons, with intensely complex, evolving sounds perfectly suited for just about any kind of music you care to conjure. We really dig the ability to select two presets and "morph" them into a totally new sound. Synth: PG-8X Installing PG-8X, a sim of a classic Roland analog synthesizer, is a bit of a primitive process (you'll want to open the "Mac-AU-discontinued" directory of the included Dropbox link for the synth AU itself, and then manually download and load the preset banks when you open the plugin in Garageband), but the resulting sound is thick, classic Roland sugar. Synth: Clap Machine Talk about a one-trick pony: Clap Machine lets you conjure up an appreciative audience from thin air, with a variety of sampled hand clips you can trigger by pressing multiple notes on your keyboard. It's a bit silly, but if you need the sound of many hands clapping and find yourself alone, this is the quickest way to get some virtual crowd-sourced love. Effects: SonEQ Equalization is the primary spice of audio sweetening, and SonEQ delivers some serious vintage vibe, smooth sound, and a very straightforward interface. Effects: SGA1566 Don't worry about SGA1566's cryptic name; this virtual preamp adds some gritty analog warmth and drive to make brittle digital tones fatten up and smooth out, a perfect way to help make individual instruments stand out in the mix, or add some sweetness to overall songs. Effects: Nova-67P Nova-67P is the kind of amazingly powerful tool we'd expect to see as a commercial product, but you'll be able to take parametric equalization and multiband compression to the next level with this streamlined, pro-level sonic sculptor's tool. Expect a little learning curve on this one, but it's well worth the effort. Effects: Pitchproof The venerable DigiTech Whammy pedal became a key tool for bands such as Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead, and the funky results of that pitch-shifting hardware are duplicated spot-on in this little red monster. Pitchproof is funky-sounding, but a great way to make guitars sound like they're a mob of angry hornets. Effects: Multiply Nothing quite makes guitars and voices sing like a good chorus effect, and Multiply is a totally useful, silky-quality spin on this popular type of pedal. Add it to some acoustic guitar and marvel at how it opens up and softens the overall tone of the strings. Effects: MFreeEffectsBundle This vast collection of effects plugins is a cornucopia of excellence with something for everyone, from equalizers, compressors, and filters to some downright bizarre stereo effects. (The excellent Tremolo is pictured here.) There's simply too much to cover here — just be thrilled and grateful that a quality collection like MFreeEffectsBundle won't put a dent in your wallet. Effects: Voxengo Marvel GEQ The range and quality of the many free offerings from the folks at Voxengo is rather impressive, like Voxengo Marvel GEQ, an old-fashioned 15-band graphic equalizer that lets you quickly and intuitively gain control over your treble, midrange, and bass frequencies. Effects: Voxengo OldSkoolVerb Another totally useful Voxengo effect is the OldSkoolVerb, which adds some nice "space" around any track — a must for percussion and voices. Actually, it helps just about anything when used in moderation. Effects: Audio Damage RoughRider Any audio engineer will tell you that you can't have too many compressors in your toolkit. Unlike most other compressors, this beast is very far from transparent or subtle. Audio Damage RoughRider behaves a bit more like a rowdy teenager on too much Red Bull, but lay it on top of a flat drum beat, and it'll turn it into a sonic Frankenstein. Effects: SoundMagic Spectral A collection of 24 plugins that delivers some of the more extreme sound-mangling abilities to be found in plugin paradise, these gems lack refined interfaces, but make up for it by delivering some seriously bizarre audio processing. From shimmering glissandos to wild time-bending delays and some downright outrageous granular filtering, the SoundMagic Spectral plugins make conjuring up instantly captivating sonic textures rather effortless.

You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Apple news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

Software : Mac Tips: How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite

---

• Mac Tips: How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite
• Meet Big Data Analytics firm claiming to be 10x cheaper than the competition
• Mac Tips: The 16 best free GarageBand plugins

Mac Tips: How to open Appleworks files in Yosemite Posted: Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. While we're always glad to see the upgrades and new features that are included with each new version of Mac OS X, it's definitely a drag when the new operating system prevents you from opening older apps or documents. In response to a reader question, we'll take a look at how to deal with some of those incompatibilities — specifically, how to open Appleworks documents in Yosemite. Question I downloaded and installed OS X 10.10 Yosemite. After the installation a dialog appeared saying it can't run Appleworks 6. What am I to do with the several thousand Appleworks 6 documents that are important to me? Is there any way to make them work? Answer Appleworks 6 is a rather old piece of software, with the last updates coming out nearly 11 years ago (in January 2004). Apple discontinued support for the software in 2007, around the time that Leopard was released to the public. While you have been able to use the software for a few years afterwards thanks to Rosetta PowerPC (PPC) software support on modern Intel Macs, Apple finally stopped supporting PPC in OS X Lion. If you still have documents lying around in this format, however, and wish to upgrade them to work with modern apps (say, Pages, Word, or TextEdit), you can do this with the available iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). For example, if you have an AppleWork 6 word processing document, then you can drag and drop it on the Pages icon in the Dock to have it open; if you have an AppleWork 6 spreadsheet or presentation file, then you can also drag and drop them on top of Numbers and Keynote, respectively. You might end up with some formatting issues, but in general this should allow you to access your old documents. Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.

Meet Big Data Analytics firm claiming to be 10x cheaper than the competition Posted: Enterprise data warehousing is never going to be cheap, but it doesn't need to be nearly as expensive as it is. At least, that's what's driving big data analytics startup MammothDB and its hopes to disrupt the business technology sector. The software company, which is based out of Sofia, Bulgaria, offers 10-fold savings when compared to the analytics database solutions offered by bigger players like Oracle and SAP, as well as claiming to deploy 50 percent faster. MammothDB offers two core products; the cloud-based MammothDB 'Storm' solution and MammothDB On-Premises. According to the company, one particular use case saw logistics and parcel delivery firm DHL rollout MammothDB at a cost of €400,000 (about £286,000), compared to the €4m figure (£2.8m) quoted for SAP HANA. For the 'Storm' Enterprise Cloud, installations are customised based on an enterprise's needs, with the company quoting an average figure of $500 (about £325) per license, per node. Pricing for the On-Premises Enterprise Edition is more straightforward. Up to five nodes can be trialled for free with the individual price of nodes sold in pack of 10, 15 and 20, down to $2,000 (around £1,300). In terms of tech, MammothDB offers a native MySQL port so that any visualisation tool - whether it's a commonplace product like Excel or a more robust tool like Tableau - can be connected to the database. It's also compliant with certain open-source technologies, including components of Hadoop, so customers should be able to easily scale their implementations. Currently, MammothDB is part of Cisco's first European Entrepreneur in Residence programme, a tech incubator based out of Vienna and planning to expand to London in the summer. As well as Cisco, MammothDB is also partnered with Microsoft's Azure on the cloud-side of its operation. The company recently secured a €1.6m (around £1.1m) funding round with 3TS Capital Partners and Empower Capital. Can SQL and NoSQL databases live happily together?

Mac Tips: The 16 best free GarageBand plugins Posted: Getting started Even though Apple's GarageBand for Mac has all sorts of built-in instruments (and a smaller complement of audio effects), it has always been expandable by adding Audio Unit (AU) plugins. Besides the vast assortment of commercial plugins, there is also a treasure trove of free synthesizers and effects that will really inspire your creative juices. We've taken the time to sift through the mountains of offerings to locate the gems in the pile. Some of the plugins include an installer, but for those that don't, you'll need to place the plugin (identified by the .component suffix) into the support folder Macintosh HD\Library\Audio\Plug-Ins\Components before starting up GarageBand. Power User note: The latest versions of OS X might try to stop you from installing these plugins (it's a long story), but you'll have success if you use this trick: hold down the Command key while clicking on the installer, and select the "Open" command from the pop-up menu. Once in GarageBand, you can access your AU plugins by creating a software instrument track, then clicking on the "Edit" tab in the right-hand Track Info column (see left image). You can choose a custom AU synthesizer at the top of the stack, and there are hardwired slots for the Compressor and Visual EQ effects, plus four remaining slots for your installed Audio Units plugins. You can reorder them by clicking-dragging them up and down the stack, and the position will have a direct impact on your sound; sounds start at the top and work their way down. You can also use AU effects on any GarageBand track - recorded vocals and guitars, for example - as well as entire songs (the upper right Master Track tab, then the Edit subtab, where you'll find a single AU effects slot). Synth: Podolski Mac musicians in the know are keen to the amazing line of commercial synths and filters from U-He Software, and their free Podolski is a deep, wild source of animated, evolving pads and classic synth sounds that blows some other expensive synths out of the water - all for free! Synth: Tyrell Have the urge to unleash your inner Vangelis? With Tyrell, you'll be able to summon some of the darker elements of the "Blade Runner" score with this awesomely powerful softsynth, and tweaking the presets is a great way to cook up your own signature sounds. Another total winner from U-He. Synth: Lokomotive There was a time when you'd pay a hefty sum for a hardware synth that could pull off deep, wall-thumping bass, but in the GarageBand era, you'll score a gem like Lokomotive for the few seconds it takes to download from the web. Thick, luscious sounds galore are to be found in this processor-efficient, highly approachable beast. Synth: Crystal Crystal is wonderful synthesizer that's been around for years, and it's deep enough to keep you busy for eons, with intensely complex, evolving sounds perfectly suited for just about any kind of music you care to conjure. We really dig the ability to select two presets and "morph" them into a totally new sound. Synth: PG-8X Installing PG-8X, a sim of a classic Roland analog synthesizer, is a bit of a primitive process (you'll want to open the "Mac-AU-discontinued" directory of the included Dropbox link for the synth AU itself, and then manually download and load the preset banks when you open the plugin in Garageband), but the resulting sound is thick, classic Roland sugar. Synth: Clap Machine Talk about a one-trick pony: Clap Machine lets you conjure up an appreciative audience from thin air, with a variety of sampled hand clips you can trigger by pressing multiple notes on your keyboard. It's a bit silly, but if you need the sound of many hands clapping and find yourself alone, this is the quickest way to get some virtual crowd-sourced love. Effects: SonEQ Equalization is the primary spice of audio sweetening, and SonEQ delivers some serious vintage vibe, smooth sound, and a very straightforward interface. Effects: SGA1566 Don't worry about SGA1566's cryptic name; this virtual preamp adds some gritty analog warmth and drive to make brittle digital tones fatten up and smooth out, a perfect way to help make individual instruments stand out in the mix, or add some sweetness to overall songs. Effects: Nova-67P Nova-67P is the kind of amazingly powerful tool we'd expect to see as a commercial product, but you'll be able to take parametric equalization and multiband compression to the next level with this streamlined, pro-level sonic sculptor's tool. Expect a little learning curve on this one, but it's well worth the effort. Effects: Pitchproof The venerable DigiTech Whammy pedal became a key tool for bands such as Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead, and the funky results of that pitch-shifting hardware are duplicated spot-on in this little red monster. Pitchproof is funky-sounding, but a great way to make guitars sound like they're a mob of angry hornets. Effects: Multiply Nothing quite makes guitars and voices sing like a good chorus effect, and Multiply is a totally useful, silky-quality spin on this popular type of pedal. Add it to some acoustic guitar and marvel at how it opens up and softens the overall tone of the strings. Effects: MFreeEffectsBundle This vast collection of effects plugins is a cornucopia of excellence with something for everyone, from equalizers, compressors, and filters to some downright bizarre stereo effects. (The excellent Tremolo is pictured here.) There's simply too much to cover here — just be thrilled and grateful that a quality collection like MFreeEffectsBundle won't put a dent in your wallet. Effects: Voxengo Marvel GEQ The range and quality of the many free offerings from the folks at Voxengo is rather impressive, like Voxengo Marvel GEQ, an old-fashioned 15-band graphic equalizer that lets you quickly and intuitively gain control over your treble, midrange, and bass frequencies. Effects: Voxengo OldSkoolVerb Another totally useful Voxengo effect is the OldSkoolVerb, which adds some nice "space" around any track — a must for percussion and voices. Actually, it helps just about anything when used in moderation. Effects: Audio Damage RoughRider Any audio engineer will tell you that you can't have too many compressors in your toolkit. Unlike most other compressors, this beast is very far from transparent or subtle. Audio Damage RoughRider behaves a bit more like a rowdy teenager on too much Red Bull, but lay it on top of a flat drum beat, and it'll turn it into a sonic Frankenstein. Effects: SoundMagic Spectral A collection of 24 plugins that delivers some of the more extreme sound-mangling abilities to be found in plugin paradise, these gems lack refined interfaces, but make up for it by delivering some seriously bizarre audio processing. From shimmering glissandos to wild time-bending delays and some downright outrageous granular filtering, the SoundMagic Spectral plugins make conjuring up instantly captivating sonic textures rather effortless.

You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

Software : Google IO: Google Maps brings offline turn-by-turn navigation and more

---

• Google IO: Google Maps brings offline turn-by-turn navigation and more
• Google IO: Google wants to run your home with Project Brillo
• Google IO: Android Pay unveiled: this is the new Google Wallet

Google IO: Google Maps brings offline turn-by-turn navigation and more Posted: Google Maps is bringing increased functionality and voice turn-by-turn direction to its offline Maps, as well as transit directions support to more cities. To expand on its previous offline Maps experience, Google is making it easier to get where you're going without running up your data bill. At the Google IO 2015 keynote, Google displayed several functions that its upgraded offline Maps will have, including voiced turn-by-turn direction, opening hours for businesses, and even reviews for where you're headed. Google also announced that its growing transit direction capability will be expanding to more cities, including Mexico City. Google says that the new map features will be available "later this year". In the same vein, Google also unveiled it's been working on offlining pages from within the Chrome browser. Google also announced "YouTube Offline". This allows a user to save YouTube videos, which can eat up bandwidth, for up to 48 hours. This service is coming to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, growing markets where a solid connection is hard to come by. More details to come from Google IO 2015.

Google IO: Google wants to run your home with Project Brillo Posted: During Google IO, the company officially announced the previously rumored Project Brillo, another step forward in the Internet of Things. Brillo is an operating system that has been "derived from Android" with minimal system requirements that will be available in Q3 of this year. It supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to various, random objects in your home that allow Android connectivity. Not much else was detailed other than explaining "Weave," the programming language that will enable Brillo to function across the devices. Learn more about Android M, Google's latest mobile OS

Google IO: Android Pay unveiled: this is the new Google Wallet Posted: Android officially announces Android Pay at Google IO 2015. Google boasts simplicity with Google Play. To use, all a user must do is unlock their phone and place in front of the NFC terminal. No external app is needed to complete the purchase. For security, when your credit card is added to Google Pay, the system creates a new virtual account number, preventing your actual credit card info from being shared with the store. It currently is working with major credit card companies to make sure that your current card will work with Google Pay, as well as working with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to make sure that new phones will be Google Pay-enabled. Google Pay will work with any Android with NFC. Google Pay will work in over 700,00 retailers, including McDonald's, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's. Android will also be available from developers in-app, to help accelerate the purchase process, including Lyft, Grubhub, Chipotle, and Uber. More info to come soon, from Google IO 2015.

You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

Apple : Updated: Buying Guide: 9 best laptops for students 2015

---

Updated: Buying Guide: 9 best laptops for students 2015 Posted: Best laptops for students Even for those who feel at home with their nose in a textbook, the end of summer break (or Winter recess) is a big bummer. But as much as it's a return to school and schedules, it's an opportunity. This is a fine excuse to invest in some fresh tech to make the coming academia-addled year a little more bearable. If you're still reliant on a desktop, or if your laptop winces at the sight of a high-definition video lecture, it's time to look into an upgrade. And thankfully if you know where to look, it's possible to get a sleek and impressive notebook without blowing through your savings (or student loans). We've pored through ourarchives from the past several months and picked the best laptops for school. Our short list spans a variety of budgets that range from power-sipping Chromebooks to help you with that 1,000 page dissertation to more powerful machines that'll do better at a dorm room lan party. Update: If you're in the market for a durable convertible, the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 12 is a compelling device. Designed for business users, the ThinkPad Yoga 12 has a more conservative design, but don't let its buttoned-up looks fool you – the laptop can still do backflips and the screen has a 360-degree hinge to easily convert between a notebook and a tablet, and you can also use the tent and display modes in between. The business-class design also means that it has a more durable build quality than consumer convertible Ultrabooks on the market. Acer Chromebook 15 The perfect 15.6-inch media device to share with buds College life and an affordable 15-inch laptop are almost synonymous. While most college students will go with a Windows machine, you might be better off with something that runs Chrome OS. Meet the Acer Chromebook 15, the first cloud-based machine to come packing a 15.6-inch screen and a Broadwell processor. Not only does this laptop laptop also come as a well equipped and fully capable machine for multi-tasking, it has a positively radiant screen that's perfect for long Netflix binges. Acer has leveraged all it's past experience making Chromebooks to create a solid package, one that jumps over nearly all the hurdles early Chrome OS machines struggled with. Read: Acer Chromebook 15 review Acer Chromebook 15 C910 If the performance of the Celeron-equipped Acer Chromebook 15 isn't up to snuff, then you may want to consider the more powerful Chromebook 15 C910 ($499.99, £249, AU$620), also from Acer. The C910 model trades in the anemic Celeron processor for a high end Intel Broadwell Core i5 processor, putting it in the same class as this year's Google Chromebook Pixel. It's the biggest and most powerful Chromebook that's on the market today, but unfortunately, unlike with the Pixel, you won't get a touchscreen with the C910, and the resolution is limited to full HD. Read: Acer Chromebook 15 C910 review 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display Intel Broadwell and updated graphics deliver even stronger performance Updated with Intel's latest Broadwell processor, Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display delivers even stronger performance with its integrated Iris Graphics 6100 GPU. On the surface, Apple is keeping the same hardware design, with the exception of the touchpad. The notebook starts at £999 ($1,299, AU$1,690). On this year's model Apple is using the new Force Touch touchpad, a technology that was borrowed from the 12-inch MacBook. The new, non-mechanical Force Touch trackpad provides tactile feedback and can detect various levels of force. The haptic feedback simply replicates the feeling of clicking a mechanical trackpad (something it does perfectly – you really feel like you're pressing a real button). For example, you might press to fast-forward a video and press harder to speed it up more. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is an excellent option for students who may need more power than a Chromebook or a MacBook Air without sacrificing portability thanks to its long battery life, relatively light weight, and high resolution display. Students on a budget will be happy to know that they can get started right away as the MacBook Pro with Retina display ships with free copies of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote out of the box as well as iMovie, Photos, and GarageBand for basic, creative projects. Read: 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (early 2015) review Asus ZenBook UX305 A truly excellent ultrabook at a very agreeable price point While the Asus UX305 does not necessarily break any new ground in the Ultrabook scene, it's a nearly flawless device, for an extremely affordable price and that in itself is worth high praise. The ZenBook UX305 is a superbly-built, fully metal machine that's thin, light and very attractive. This lightweight system' also easily handled all my daily tasks whether I was browsing the web, watching video or editing images. What's more, you can get excellent battery life out of the machine considering its 1080p display. Of course, the most striking thing about the UX305 is that it comes at a $699 or £649 (about AU$902) price. This is a great price for any mobile computing machine, but in this case you're getting a premium, full-metal Ultrabook with an excellent full HD display and a 256GB SSD to boot. While isnt' exactly a shining symbol of innovation in the Ultrabook space, it is the most affordable Ultrabook out today and it won't disappoint you. Read: Asus ZenBook UX305 review 13-inch Macbook Air Still the benchsetter for thin and light laptops in 2015 Apple's ultralight MacBook Air is a thin and impeccably built machine. Despite the laptop's slim, cheese knife-like profile, it packs a capable Core i3 processor and an impressive battery that can last up to 12 hours. With this all-day battery life, it's a laptop that can get you through a whole day of classes as well as some internet browsing and Netflix bingeing. The MacBook Air is of the most affordable ways of getting into the Apple camp of mobile computing. There plenty of reasons to do so too with free software updates and a bundled copy of iWork. Where as on Windows you have the extra expense of having to buy Microsoft Office. Read: 13-inch MacBook Air review Asus ROG GL551 One of the best entry-level gaming laptop available There isn't anything too surprising about the Asus GL551. It checks off all the boxes you'd expect from gaming laptops without breaking the bank. Despite the value-packed price, this laptop isn't lacking in power at all. It performs admirably playing just about any title on medium to high settings. The Asus GL551 isn't the best looking gaming laptop around, however, it's mostly a joy to use and that's what really matters. The metal keyboard deck and palm rests is a solid platform for gamers to tap and click on well into the wee hours of the night. Plus the notebook comes with a decent set of tweeters. That saves you from having to invest in a headset to hear all of the splashy in-game explosions. Sadly, our biggest (and only) hangup with the Asus GL551 is its downright awful display for day to day use whether you're gaming or just browsing the web. Save for the display, though, the Asus GL551 is a sweet package for its affordable price and one of the very best affordable gaming laptops currently out today. Read: Asus GL551 review Acer Aspire V7 Offering great all-round performance this is ideal for a student Acer set out to split the difference between a 14-inch gaming machine with a portable Ultrabook machine, and it's struck a good balance with the Aspire V7. It's one of the slimmest 14-inch laptops around, thanks to its Ultrabook-inspired styling. As just barely a gaming laptop rig, the Acer will play games far better than most ultraportable machines that lack dedicated graphics processing. The Acer Aspire V7's screen was really love at first sight. Whether we were streaming movies or working in Lightroom the colorful display impressed us consistently with its visual fidelity and sharp resolution and great colors working in Photoshop. Acer has put one of the best laptop screens we've ever seen into the Acer Aspire V7, and photographers as well as media junkies alike will love it. The Aspire V7 also has a surprising amount of gaming power behind it despite its rather middling components. The machine was able to play a handful of modern games including Wolfenstein at 30 fps, and then at 58 fps with some visual tweaks. Read: Acer Aspire V7 review Surface Pro 3 Certainly the best laptop/tablet hybrid yet released This is not only Microsoft's most striking and versatile device to date, but the most convincing poster child for the hybrid category yet. And this ringing endorsement comes from a long-time skeptic of such devices. That said, the Surface Pro 3 (starting at $799, £639, AU$979) is hamstrung by flaws that cannot be ignored. Namely, the battery life might be in line with most Ultrabooks, but isn't close to what Apple's leading laptop and top tablet. And the Type Cover billed as an accessory doesn't help Microsoft's cause – it's quite pricey to boot. At any rate, this version of the tablet comes in cheaper than the most affordable iPad Air and 13-inch MacBook Air combined, even with the Type Cover, and that's the point. On paper, this slate is more powerful than either Apple device, not to mention most other comparably priced laptops and tablets. The Surface Pro 3 might not be perfect, but it's far and wide the brightest shining example of a potential tablet takeover. If you're not concerned about a downgraded performance, consider the new Surface 3, which doesn't provide as much kick as the Pro, but is lighter and a lot cheaper. Read: Surface Pro 3 review Surface 3 Affordably priced for students For students who may not need the extra processing power, screen size or cost of the larger Surface Pro 3, we found the Surface 3 to be a very capable machine with its Atom-based processor in our full review. With the same aspect ratio as the Surface Pro 3, the Surface 3 is now more usable as a tablet than its predecessor, and the slate also comes with support for the Surface Pen for those who require inking, drawing or jotting down mathematical formulas and equations in their studies. The Surface 3 starts at just $499 (£419, or about AU$814), but you'll need to budget for the Type Cover keyboard case and pen as these are optional extras. Read: Surface 3 review

You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Apple news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States