Reviews Round-Up: Acer smartphone woe

Is doesn't happen too often but we've got a couple of right duffers on review this week. Buffalo and Acer- you stand accused! At the other end of the scale, we've also got a couple of award winners from Lexmark and 2x.

Samsung SyncMaster LD220 monitor review

DisplayLink monitors are a great way of extending your desktop screen real estate, even if you don't have any spare video ports, and now you can get them in widescreen as showcased handsomely by this Samsung. We like.

Buffalo LinkStation Mini SSD - NAS review

We have to admit it this Buffalo gets a right kicking from our reviewer and that's for jumping on the SSD bandwagon. It's not that it doesn't do the job, it's just that there's absolutely no reason for it to exist. Standard hard disk based NAS boxes are almost as quiet, just as fast and much, much cheaper.

Lexmark C736dn - colour laser printer review

Fast, high quality and a cost effective colour laser printing is still something of a holy grail, and this Lexmark makes a good attempt at achieving that ideal. An award-winning product.

2X VirtualDesktopServer 7.1 review

Virtualisation is one of those technologies that is only as good as the ability to manage it. Otherwise you could end up wiping out most of the potential benefits. 2X's VirtualDesktopServer 7.1 impressed Dave Mitchell with its elegance and effectiveness. If you're managing virtual machines this is a product you need to consider.

Acer M900 smartphone review

Is this an iPhone killer? Answer - no, not by a rather lengthy piece of chalk. Slapping Windows Mobile and a keyboard behind a screen does not a happy smartphone make. Acer needs to go back to the drawing board on this one, with the Acer M900 leaving our reviewer "almost sobbing". And these were not tears of joy.

Benny Har-Even

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.